God Pause for Saturday, 31 August 2013

Saturday:  "When Peace Like A River" ELW #785
1 When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

2 Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.  

3 He lives -- oh the bliss of this glorious thought;
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!



4 Lord, hasten the day, when our faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

God reminds us that even in pain, sorrow and death we cannot be separated from the One who loves us.  There are harsh realities in this broken and sinful world:  some have much but will not be generous, while others go hungry and fall into despair.  We are helpless to stop sinning and helpless to fully heal the brokenness of this world.  Yet it is not so with God.  Whether peaceful and content or wracked by doubt, sorrow, fear or guilt, in Christ we all have assurance that it is well with our souls, and that the day will come when all of God’s children will live in peace in the presence of the living God, full of sight and praise, faith made real and sins washed away.

Lord, we travel rough seas in this life.  Our sins shake us to our very bones.  This broken world surrounds us with reminders of how often we have failed you.  Yet you promise mercy.  Renew our faith in the assurance of your righteousness and mercy, that it may be well with our souls.  Amen.

God Pause for Friday, 30 August 2013

Friday:  Luke 14.12-14
12He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”  

Parables are hard work, especially oblique ones like this.  The first temptation is to spiritualize the parable, to interpret “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind” as people who are all those things in spirit.  But this is the Gospel of Luke, where the Beatitudes are specifically NOT spiritual.  In Luke, Jesus says “Blessed are the poor.”  Period.

There’s two things going on here.  First, Jesus is exposing the way we use people and keep track of favors owed, love expressed, etc.  Our relationships are not to be commodified.  Second, Jesus is reminding us that if it’s accounting we’re after, it’s not our friends who matter:  it’s God.  Want to put a good mark in the ledger of righteousness?  Invite those who can’t repay you.  Period.

But it’s the last four words that hold my attention.  “The resurrection of the righteous.”  All the accounting in the world can’t make us righteous.  That’s what Jesus does for us.  So stop keeping track of the poor and the rich, the lame and the healthy, the blind and those who can see.  See the people around you, all of them, as God’s beloved children, because that’s how Jesus sees them.

Mighty God, rip away our selfish and short-sighted weighing of relationships.  Show us the world through your cross, where all your children are made righteous in your love alone.  Amen.

God Pause for Thursday, 29 August 2013

Thursday:  Luke 14.1, 7-14
“On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely…  7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.  8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.””

I don’t know about you, but when we invite people to our home, we usually have an idea about where everyone’s going to sit.  It’s our house, after all, and usually the invitation is in celebration of someone or something that’s going to have the place of honor.  Maybe it was different in Jesus’ time, but I figure the guests sorting themselves out has always been a serious breach in etiquette.  Part of the pleasure of providing hospitality is honoring one’s friends, neighbors and beloved guests:  it just won’t do to have them squabbling over the choice seats.

Notice, however that Jesus doesn’t reorder the seating arrangements.  It’s not his place.  He’s not the host.  It’s a parable:  a story told alongside reality.  Here the seating is unimportant.  In the kingdom of heaven, God IS the host, and we the guests:  time to stop fighting over who gets to sit at the head of the table.

Merciful God, forgive us when we fight for what is not ours to determine.  Have mercy on us when we bicker over our place in your world.  It is enough to be in your banquet hall:  humble us, and help us to enjoy the feast of love and grace you offer.  Amen.

God Pause for Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 (NRSV)
1 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body.
4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never fail you nor forsake you."
6 Hence we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?"
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

In the Nooma video Rich, theologian Rob Bell states, "I have a car. Eight percent of the people in the world have a car. Ninety-two percent of the people in the world see you and me driving in our cars...and they think, 'Rich.'" It is hard to realize exactly how much we take for granted. Yet we never seem to have enough. We don't show hospitality. We put people in prison and forget about them. We dishonor our bonds of marriage & family. We chase salaries and can't get away from advertising designed to create "needs" we never realized we had. Truth is, we seem always to have operated in the same way. But so has Jesus. The Christ who is the same yesterday and today and forever forgives us our current sins of excess and covetousness just the same way he always has. Then he sends us out to do good and share—the sacrifice that pleases the God who has blessed us with so much.

Loving God, you entrust us with so much—help us to share with others for the healing of your world. Help us to open our clenched hands and live for the world you love. Amen.

God Pause for Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Psalm 112:1-6 (NRSV)
1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for ever.
4 Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever.

I saw a t-shirt a few weeks ago with the words: "I came into this world with nothing, and I've still got most of it left." It's funny, but the words were far truer than I think the person who wore it realized. We "have" far less than what we think we have if we believe God entrusts the world to our stewardship rather than our ownership. The righteous who fear the Lord are wealthy and rich in life and grace, not necessarily in abundance of possessions. To be generous and just is to remember Who has created all things and to Whom all things must return. God gives us the commandments to restrain us individually so that the community of believers might flourish. To delight in God's commandments is to delight in being part of God's world, to be rich in connectedness to one another, to be a light in the darkness of greed and envy.

Generous God, we ask your Spirit to dwell in us richly, that we might live generously and justly. Amen.

God Pause for Monday, 26 August 2013

I was asked to write the "God Pause" devotions for Luther Seminary this week.  I'll be posting here as they're published.  If you'd like to subscribe (you should:  yours truly being the exception, they're consistently good little devotions for the day), point your browser in this direction.

Proverbs 25:6-7 (NRSV)
6 Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great;
7 for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of the prince.

My fourth year in college I was fairly certain I'd be playing principal euphonium in the Wind Ensemble, the best concert group at my college. I met two good freshmen players during auditions, and told them I thought they were good enough that one of them would be playing with me. Little did I know they would both be better players and I would be playing bass trombone instead. Humility is a funny thing: you never know you need it until you get it. That's why it's passive: we "get" humbled far more often than we "are" humble.

Mighty God, humble us gently. Even at our most gracious, we're often far too sure of ourselves. Make us certain only in you and proud only in being claimed by your Holy Spirit for work in your world. Amen.

Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost: "Healing the Sabbath"

A Fully-Packed Friday Five

From RevGalBlogPals:

We are 90% done with the pack-em-up-and-move-em-out week here are our hacienda. One daughter is moving to her first apartment, the other daughter to her dorm for her freshman year of college. Not gonna lie, it was an adventure these last few days!

As a part of the process, we let our daughters manage their own packing (with our input and support.) Part of that educational experience (for all of us) was letting them figure out how to create their own organization, make choices, and consolidate what they were packing. And also pack carefully enough so that they could still get everything in the car -- and in the dorm/apartment!

It made me realize that there are some elements to packing and moving that are learned, and some that are innate. So let's talk "packing or pack rat?" for this week's Friday Five.

Should've Known Better

Someone posted a link on the ELCA Clergy Facebook page earlier this week.  I followed the link.  Read the article.  Read the comments.  Then I posted a comment of my own.  Then this happened:

Sermon for 18 August 2013

We Should All Be #ChurchNerds

I got up excited this morning.  Today was the first day of school for our girls:  Ainsley is a 1st grader and Alanna will start pre-Kindergarten tomorrow.  In addition to this momentous occasion, the third ballot for Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was to be held in Pittsburgh at 7:00ish CDT, and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I could follow via streaming video even though I'm halfway across the country.  So I sent this out:

Following #ELCACWA while making first day of school breakfast! #churchnerd (@ The Parsonage) http://t.co/pHslQSb3J5
— Scott Alan Johnson (@saj_nachfolge) August 14, 2013

Churchwide Assembly 2013

It's that time again:  Lutherans from around the United States are landing in Pittsburgh for the 2013 Churchwide Assembly.  Church nerds like myself are sitting at home pining for the day when we get our chance to join in all the fun.  

The theme for our 25th anniversary and this year's Churchwide Assembly.
Click here for the ELCA Churchwide Assembly page.

This year there's more import to what we do, for two reasons:

Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost: "Where Your Treasure Is"

After Ten Years

Bishop Rolf Wangberg, me, Prof. Dennis Everson at my ordination
Salem Lutheran Church, Wakefield, NE.

Today is the tenth anniversary of my ordination.  I'm amazed to think it's been that long already, and at the same time I give thanks because after ten years ministry still feels like the thing I've always been meant to do.  Here are ten things I've learned in ten years as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:

July Culture Update

When I finished Cryptonomicon a few weeks ago, I swore I wouldn't read another big thick Neal Stephenson book.  I loved Snow Crash & The Diamond Age but I really struggled with Cryptonomicon.  Then Amazon offered Quicksilver cheap on audio & Kindle - paired together it would be less than the cost of a paperback copy.  Guess who's now sailing toward England on the Minerva with Daniel Waterhouse and Captain van Hoek?  I'm happy to say I more or less get where this one is going a little better, and frankly it's a little more humorous as well.  Seems more tightly focused than Cryptonomicon was.  The sheer number of characters gets a little overwhelming at times, but thankfully the reader for the audio version is excellent at creating distinct accents for all of the characters.  I've never listened to Jim Dale doing the Harry Potter series, but I would imagine Simon Prebble is a close second if what I'm hearing now is true.  I'm also trying to finish Evensong by Gail Godwin before it's due back at the library.  She knows pastoral ministry in and out, even if the novel itself gets a little clunky and the main characters are incredibly high church Episcopalians.  It's good stuff.  Just yesterday I checked out Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs from the library and I'll get into that one as soon as I'm done with Godwin.

Sermon for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Friday Five: Keeping My Cool

This was our house in Minnesota the day we baptized Ainsley in 2007.
Keeping cool, indeed.

Ahhhhh... Just a few short months ago, we were shoveling snow. Today, we're sweating buckets!

Highs in the 90s. Humidity in the "uncomfortable" range. And air quality in the "red" zone. It's summer here in the Washington, DC Metro area, and I'm not really a fan.

Recognizing that RevGalBlogPals are from around the world, your weather may be different. But play along and tell us how YOU beat the heat when it's in season with this week's Friday Five.

Friday Five: Church Libraries

From RevGalBlogPals:

Church libraries seem to be diminishing and even disappearing in some churches. Our church is full of scholarly books that no one looks at, and how should it change, be developed, or continue? As the de-facto chairperson of the library, I need ideas and suggestions about church libraries in this day and age. Please help!

Things We Should Let Go

Legend has it that when he was asked to preach in Chapel at Luther Seminary years and years ago, Prof. Gerhard Forde walked to the podium with a thick file folder, dropped it loudly on the surface and told his hearers, "These are all the letters I've received as a pastor and teacher over the years.  I just want you to know what being faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ might get you."  

Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost

The second of three very-much-overdue podcasts...

Between a vacation during the week and some other stuff going on, all of it good, we've been pretty busy lately.  This is the sermon from 23 June on Galatians 4.  I'm having trouble tracking down copies of the two weeks prior, so probably this will be as far back as I go.  The disc I have for July 7th is corrupted, so it's going to be a couple of days before I post that sermon finishing up the Galatians series.  BUT if I remember to set up my recorder tomorrow, I'll post my sermon on the Good Samaritan before we leave to go camping Sunday afternoon.  Have a great day, everyone!

The first of three very-much-overdue podcasts.

Culture Update

We have been on a lucky movie kick lately.  First Iron Man 3 as my annual birthday summer blockbuster stuff-what-gets-blowed-up-real-good movie.  Loved it, though it bogged down more than a little at the end.  Great movie.  Then Oblivion when a dear friend surprised us with a free night of babysitting.  I think I enjoyed it even more than Iron Man 3 since it had no real expectations going in.  Great story, incredible visual work & special effects, and for all his craziness, Tom Cruise is just a hellishly good action hero who's almost impossible not to like.  Finally, Star Trek:  Into Darkness.  Star Wars when the time comes.  Zachary Quinto is great as Spock and Benedict Cumberbatch was in-freaking-credible as John Harrison.  You wouldn't think the mannered, abrupt Sherlock of the excellent BBC series could pull off a physical, menacing role like that, but he does it and makes it look natural.  Can't wait to see how he plays the Necromancer when they get him onscreen in The Hobbit.

Friday Five: Take Five!

Whoosh! My calendar is packed. And June is almost gone! There's the old saying, "Bad luck comes in threes" but I've decided that "Busy-ness comes in fives!" So this week we'll take things five-at-a-time. Tell me:

Hometown Run

I walk down the hill north of the house my parents have built in town.  That in itself is different.  This is not the farm where I grew up.  This is the town I've always called home, but from a different perspective.  The snotty little brother of my best friend in kindergarten built this house for my parents, built it as well as the house he built for himself across the street.  Times change.

In Which The Pastor Takes A Day Off To Sweat, Swear And Get Filthy Dirty

Much fun was had by all.  Well, some fun was had by most.

I spent most of the day yesterday helping install a new playground at our local elementary school.  My wife had been part of the fundraising team and a few weeks ago she asked if I'd be willing to help.  I said, "Sure!"  Here's why.

Sermon for Holy Trinity Sunday

Sermon for Pentecost, Year C - "Fire and Works and [Sometimes] Fireworks"

Sermon for Easter 6, Year C - Unity

The Small Moments That Change Everything

20 years ago, I was a college freshman working in the snack bar of one of the dorms at the University of Nebraska. I didn't have a job for the summer and was getting nervous. One night, my co-worker Brigette's boyfriend Mike wandered down to walk her home after we closed. He was wearing the staff shirt of the Lutheran camp I had attended as a kid. I told him I'd been a camper there and always thought maybe it would be fun to be a counselor. He handed me a business card for the camp and told me to call them, since they were still looking for male counselors. 

I hadn't been to church since arriving on campus. I didn't think a lot about faith. I was going to be a band director and maybe get a job playing in a symphony on the side. But thanks to a chance conversation with the boyfriend of an acquaintance, my entire life changed. (Said acquaintance is now a friend, and also an ELCA pastor, but at the time we weren't anything more than co-workers. Love ya, Brigette!)

So, I asked my colleagues:  what are the small changes that led you to where you are now?  Here are the answers from those folks who’ve responded.

2013 Book List: May Update

Here's the list of books I've read in 2013, updated monthly, for fun or for some sort of edification, professional or otherwise. Recommended titles are in bold, and formats are +(Kindle/eBook), *(audio/iPod).

Sermon for the 5th Sunday in Easter - "There Goes the Neighborhood"

You can subscribe to this podcast here.  Thanks for listening!

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter - "The Dangerous Call to Follow"

If you'd like to subscibe via iTunes, follow this link:  http://www.buzzsprout.com/10202.rss

Sermon for Easter 2C - John 20.19-31 - "Thesis"

2013 Book List: April Update

Here's the list of books I've read in 2013, updated monthly, for fun or for some sort of edification, professional or otherwise. Recommended titles are in bold, and formats are +(Kindle/eBook), *(audio/iPod).

Sermon for Resurrection Sunday

The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting? 
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour, 
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour, 
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And she that arrived after the sixth hour, 
let her not doubt; for she too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour, 
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And she who arrived only at the eleventh hour, 
let her not be afraid by reason of her delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to those who come at the eleventh hour, 
as well as to those that toiled from the first.
To this one God gives, and upon another God bestows.
God accepts the works as God greets the endeavor.
The deed God honors and the intention God commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord! 
First and last alike receive your reward; 
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, 
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of God’s goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty, 
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that she has fallen again and again; 
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
Christ has destroyed it by enduring it.

Christ destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
Christ put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God. 
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Sermon for Good Friday: "The Kingdom of God - Revealed in the Cross"

Ecce Homo by Antonio Ciseri

"'Ecce homo - behold the man!'  In him the world was reconciled with God.  The world is overcome not through destruction, but through reconciliation.  Not ideals, nor programs, nor conscience, nor duty, nor responsibility, nor virtue, but only God's perfect love can encounter reality and overcome it.  Nor is it some universal idea of love, but rather the love of God in Jesus Christ, a love genuinely lived, that does this.  This love of God for the world does not withdraw from reality into noble souls detached from the world, but experiences and suffers the reality of the world in the harshest possible fashion.  The world takes out its rage on the body of Jesus Christ.  But he, tormented, forgives the world its sins.  Thus does reconciliation come about.  Ecce homo - behold the man!   The figure of the reconciler, of the divine human Jesus Christ, steps into the middle between God and the world, into the center of all that happens.  Through this figure, the mystery of the world is disclosed, just as in the same figure the mystery of God is revealed.  No abyss of evil can hide from him through whom the world is reconciled with God.  But the abyss of God's love encompasses even the most abysmal godlessness of the world.  In an incomprehensible reversal of all righteous and pious thinking, God declares God's guilt toward the world and in so doing extinguishes the guilt of the world.  God sets out upon the humiliating path of reconciliation and thereby pronounces the world free.  God wills to be guilty of our sin, and takes over the punishment and suffering sin has brought upon us.  God answers for godlessness, love for hatred, the saint for the sinner.  Now there is no godlessness, no hatred, no sin which God has not carried, suffered, and atoned.  Now there is no reality, no world that is not reconciled and in peace with God.  God did this in God's beloved son Jesus Christ.  'Ecce homo - behold the man!'"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics

Yes, behold the man.  Behold the kingdom of God - revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ.  In the Gospel of Luke, we read, “Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.”  Joseph of Arimathea, looking for the kingdom of God, found Jesus hanging on the cross.  The sign above his head read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  Pilate intended it to be a message:  this is what happens to those who threaten the rule and power of Rome.  The message God proclaims, however, is different:  this is the kingdom of God - beholden to no power of throne or violence or sin or death.  On the cross Jesus takes everything.  The loving reign of God is established from below.  

You know the lament of the psalmist, “Out of the depths I cry to you!”  You have cried it yourself.  “I am alone!”  “I am afraid!”  “Is my faith enough?”  “Will God be merciful to me, a sinner?”  “Does God know my fear?  My anger?  My failure?  My trial?”  These laments are answered on the cross:  “It is finished.”  “It is accomplished.”  Now there is no depth of creation or sinfulness that remains unplumbed by the self-emptying love of God.  God does know your loneliness.  God does know your fear.  God does know your failure.  God does know your trial.  The kingdom of God, revealed in the cross, is where God meets the worst of all we are and refuses to abandon us.  It is finished - Jesus has loved his flock to the very end.  Behold the man - Jesus Christ our Lord.  Behold the kingdom of God, revealed in the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Sermon for Maundy Thursday: "The Kingdom of God - Founded in Glorious Love"

Why I Don't Wash Feet In Church On Maundy Thursday

It's Maundy Thursday today.  The word "Maundy" is a bastardized version of the Latin mandatum, meaning "commandment."  Liturgically, we remember this day as the day Jesus gave his last meal and commandments to his disciples before his betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection.  We will gather in worship tonight to remember Jesus' last words to his disciples:  "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." (John 13:34)

In some congregations, this service will be marked by foot washing.  It won't be in ours.  Here's why.

The Genesis of a Sermon

I don't know if you've ever wondered how a sermon comes about, but I'm going to tell you anyway.  At least, I'll tell you how this sermon came about.  Actually, it's how this year's entire Triduum (Three Days) series came about.

New Podcast - "Music and the Making of a Preacher"

The sermon from Lenten Luncheon a few weeks ago in audio format.  This is fun!

A Letter to the Editor of Metro Lutheran

To the Editor:

I was so very disappointed to see information regarding faculty eliminations and retirements attributed to people speaking on the condition of anonymity in your recent article, "Layoffs, retirement of staff, faculty reduce Luther Sem’s debt."  I realize Metro Lutheran is in the news business and that this has been a very important story for the Lutheran community within the Twin Cities.  However, given the openness with which Luther Seminary has approached the situation since it has come to light, the seminary administration, faculty and staff deserved the opportunity to manage the release of information regarding staff and faculty eliminations as they felt most appropriate for those affected and their family and friends.  It appears that your use of anonymous sources forced the seminary to release that information earlier than they had intended, and your irresponsible and uncharitable reporting may have exacerbated the already painful losses the seminary community is undergoing.  

On your website, you claim that "Metro Lutheran is supportive of Lutheran church bodies and the institutions and agencies through which they carry on their work."  These are your brothers and sisters in Christ, some of whom have been serving Luther Seminary for more than thirty years.  They deserved better support than to be outed by a source who would not reveal their name.  

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Scott Alan Johnson (M.Div Luther Seminary, 2003)
St. Petri Evangelical Lutheran Church
Story City, IA

Sermon for the 5th Sunday in Lent - "The Cost of Feeding the Poor" - John 12.1-8

A new thing - a podcast!  Listen in if you like.  

Music and the Making of a Pastor

Our local ministerium is doing a series of Lenten Luncheons this year, touring area churches and inviting one another to tell how we became pastors.  Today was my turn.  Here's the story:

There is a text of Paul’s that comes to mind when I think of my faith story.  Philippians 3.5-6:  “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”  In many ways you could tell my faith story in this way:  “If anyone has reason to be confident in midwestern European Lutheranism, I have more:  a member of the people of Sweden, and also of a tribe of Missouri Synod Germans, a Johnson born of Johnsons; as to the farm, a native son; as to zeal for all things Cornhusker, a fanatic within the state religion; as to righteousness under the lutefisk, blameless.”  I’m a farmer’s son going back four generations in my hometown, baptized and confirmed at the same church my great-great-grandparents joined when they emigrated from Sweden in the late 1800s.  My mother’s family emigrated from Germany in the early 1900s and my uncles still live on the farm they owned seventy-odd years ago.  I grew up walking beans.  I’ve harvested Rocky Mountain Oysters.  I know what it’s like to stack straw bales in the loft of your barn and blow brown snot for the rest of the week.  I can put a fence together made up of rusted gates and baling wire.  I know how to hook a manure spreader to a tractor and spread fertilizer.  In many ways I could not be a more stereotypical midwestern farm boy.  But that is not the whole story of my faith, and frankly, I'll bet it's not the whole story for any of you, either.  

2013 Book List: March Update

Here's the list of books I've read in 2013, updated monthly, for fun or for some sort of edification, professional or otherwise. Recommended titles are in bold, and formats are +(Kindle/eBook), *(audio/iPod).

And Now A Word from Your Pastor...

You may have heard about The Bible, a miniseries produced and directed by Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) and Mark Burnett (Survivor) airing on The History Channel beginning Sunday, March 3rd.  A few of you have asked what I think about it, perhaps not realizing I've seen as little of the actual show as you have.  :-)  

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Lent: "Living Between Trust and Anxiety"

So last night I spent the final hours of the day pounding my head against a sermon that WOULD. NOT. BE. WRITTEN.  It happens like that sometimes.  It's no crime to admit you can't bring a new word every single week, particularly if you've got something in the hopper that folks where you're at haven't heard before.  That was the case this morning.  

Faith Five: SHARE - (2 Corinthians 1.3-7)

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, ⁴who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. ⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. ⁶If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.⁷Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation. (2 Corinthians 1.3-7)

Sent to Nineveh

Today is a big day for ELCA seminarians.  It's the day regional assignments are released and students find out where they've been "drafted."  It's a day of high anxiety and fear.  Some students will find that fear alleviated by receiving the regional and synodical assignments they requested.  Some students will find that fear confirmed by being sent to a part of the country with which they have no experience and for which they feel ill-equipped.  A lucky few are able to go wherever they are needed and simply hope to find a good place to begin their ministry, but the overwhelming majority have a general place in mind where they hope they are called to serve, for whatever reasons may seem best to them.

A Valentine's Post: Flirting with My Beloved

Warning:  this is SAPPY.  There's no way it won't be.  But it's fun all the same.  At least, I remember it being fun.  I can NOT believe all of this happened ten years ago.  No way has it been that long  Yet here we are...

Sermon for Ash Wednesday - Saved In Ashes And Rent Hearts

The story that gives rise to Psalm 51 is terrible.  King David, the man after God’s own heart, the shepherd boy chosen by God to be the leader of God’s people, was standing on high and looking out over the city of Jerusalem when he saw a beautiful woman bathing and fell victim to his own desire and power.  He had the woman, Bathsheba, brought to his chambers, where he took her against her will and conceived a child with her.  When she told him she was pregnant, King David brought her husband Uriah home from the battlefield so that he might visit his wife, sleep with her, and thus hide the illegitimate pregnancy as one of his own.  But Uriah was faithful to King David and his fellow soldiers.  Uriah refused to leave King David’s house.  He slept on King David’s doorstep the first night, and stayed there the second night even after King David fed him wine and rich foods to get him drunk and fool him into going home.  In the end, King David sent Uriah back to the battlefield and ordered his commander, Joab, to put Uriah at the front of the army, attack their enemy and pull back quickly so that Uriah would be killed.  Joab followed King David’s orders, Uriah was killed, and King David took Bathsheba into his household as one of his wives soon after.

2013 Book List

Here's the list of books I've read in 2013, updated monthly, for fun or for some sort of edification, professional or otherwise. Recommended titles are in bold, and formats are +(Kindle), *(audio/iPod).

Culture Roundup

We gathered with some friends for the Super Bowl last night and, true to form, spent more time watching the commercials than the game.  One of these years I'm going to have to adopt an NFL team I truly love so I might actually care about the game itself if said team ever makes it to the top.

As it is, I'm considering proposing legislation to ban GoDaddy from ever producing a commercial again.  Yeesh.  And as some of my friends noted, there aren't a lot of farmers like the ones Paul Harvey described who could afford the $50,000 pickup Dodge was selling in their commercial, no matter how much it might tug at your heartstrings.  That one and the Clydesdale commercial win for "most likely to make me cry if I watch it by myself."  The Oreo Riot, Miracle Montana Stain and Babylandia were my biggest Laugh Out Loud moments.  And our friends brought a "Snackadium" for us all to enjoy, which we did.  Sloppy Joes, queso, Chex Mix - it was a good night for my tummy 'round these parts.

Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany - Jesus Came Into The World For...

There have been stories over the last few years about the difficulty of being a lottery winner.  You may have heard of this:  the first thing every big lottery winner should do, according to the people who run the lottery, is hire a lawyer and get ready for everyone you’ve ever known to come out of the woodwork.  Today being Super Bowl Sunday, the members of the Ravens and the 49ers have had similar problems dealing with ticket requests.  One former player interviewed on NPR said he made his spouse deal with ticket requests so he could focus on the game.  I can only imagine how well went over with the spouse.  But what it boils down to is this:  when a local boy or local girl makes it big, everyone comes running to share in the good news.  This was as true in Nazareth in the days of Jesus as it is today.  

The people of Nazareth were welcoming back the hometown boy who was building a good reputation for himself.  “Hey, did you hear Jesus will be back in town on Saturday?”  “If he healed that guy over in Capernaum, just imagine what he’ll do for us!”  “I remember Mary’s boy Jesus when he was still waddling around the house in his diapers.”  “I always knew Jesus would make something of himself.”  But Jesus had harsh words for these folks who thought they knew him so well.  First, as you heard in today’s reading from Luke, Jesus amazed the crowd by claiming that the promises of Isaiah were fulfilled as they listened to him read them aloud.  Odd, but that wasn’t the worst.  The worst was the moment when Jesus picked a fight with the hometown crowd.  

Jesus said, “I’m sure you’re expecting me to do some great things here, things you’ve heard I’ve been doing in other towns.  Well, you’re not going to like what I have to say to you here.  People who speak the truth from God are never welcomed in their hometowns.”

What happens here sets the tone for the rest of the gospel of Luke.  Jesus tells these people who have loved him that their connection to him is not what makes them special.  Jesus makes it very clear:  he has not come into the world to make sure that these people who’ve known him can exploit that connection for their own benefit.  Messiah came into the world for much more than the people of Nazareth.

Jesus came into the world for the Gentiles - for more than just one tribe, more than just one clique.  In Luke 2.10 the angels say that God has brought “good news for all people.”  A few verses later the prophet Simeon says Jesus will be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”  When John the Baptist arrives on the scene to prepare the way of the Messiah, he proclaims that in Jesus salvation will be seen by all flesh.”  Jesus was promised to Israel for centuries, but the promise was never limited to Israel.  

You have to ask yourself:  what’s the problem for the people of Nazareth?  That they want Jesus to do great things?  No!  The problem is that Nazareth wants Jesus for themselves at the exclusion of others who also need him.  If he is the Messiah, he’s our Messiah - and they will set up walls to keep Jesus in and keep the rabble out if they have to.  There’s no room for outsiders, no room for those who don’t look like us, act like us, don’t meet our standards.  Make no mistake - this is not a failing limited to Nazareth - the same problem lives in us today and will live in us forever.  Jesus is for Nazareth, but Jesus is also for those outside of Nazareth.

Jesus came into the world for sinners, no matter where they might be found.  The things he said to the people of Nazareth offended them because Sidonites and Syrians were sinners.  We can’t say this for certain, but it sure sounds like Jesus picked a fight on purpose to prove his point.  Want to know what it feels like to hear what the people of Nazareth heard?  Imagine that person who epitomizes everything wrong with the world, and put their name in the place of the widow of Zarephath or Naaman the Syrian.  It sounds offensive because it is meant to be offensive.  It is meant to be offensive because God wants to offend our sense of entitlement, which always rises up and gets in the way when we think we’ve joined the “in” group by being part of the church.  God blesses whomever God chooses to bless.  It is not under our control - God blesses whomever God chooses to bless.  

At a concert in 1997, a few months before he died in a car accident, Rich Mullins said, “Being a Christian doesn’t mean you build a community and fence it in, where there are no minorities, no gays, no sinners.  Being a Christian means loving what Jesus loved, and Jesus loved the poor.”  We simply can’t tell God what God should do, whom God should love.  God is free.  God is free to do whatever God wants, even if it doesn’t make us particularly happy.  God can and does call us to love and serve the outsider, the imperfect, those who aren’t necessarily what we think they ought to be.  Above all, the message from Jesus is this:  “DON’T YOU DARE PRESUME TO TELL GOD WHO IS IN AND WHO IS OUT.”  Living in Nazareth didn’t make for a special claim on the Messiah.  Neither does being a member in good standing of St. Petri Lutheran Church, or the ELCA, or the Roman Catholic Church, or any other community of faith.  God decides who is in and who is out, and if God wants to ignore what you might think is your better judgment, well, you’re going to have to take that up with God.  And I wish you good luck.  

Here’s the great thing, though:  you can indeed take this up with God, because if Jesus came into the world for the outsiders and sinners, that means that Jesus came into the world for you.  Or are you going to sit there and tell me you’ve never felt like an outsider - or that you’ve never been a sinner?  If being part of the hometown crowd didn’t do anything for the people of Nazareth, being here this morning isn’t going to make God feel any better about you, either.  It’s not about who you’ve been - it’s all about who Jesus is and who Jesus came into the world to save.  Ann Landers once wrote that the church “is not a hotel for saints:  it’s a hospital for sinners.”  Jesus also seemed to feel this way about faith and why he came into the world.  He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  

Jesus didn’t come into the world to play favorites.  Jesus didn’t come into the world to be the eternal nanny, forever keeping track of our spiritual chore sheets and who gets an extra spoonful of sugar this week.  That’s not how it works.  The people of Nazareth were blessed by Jesus presence, but not because it got them better seats at the resurrection:  they were blessed because God Incarnate grew up among them!  The Word of God took on flesh and bone and lived with them, and they saw his glory - that’s all the blessing we people of God could ever need!  We aren’t righteous here at St. Petri because we’ve got our theology right, or because we got the budget in the black, or because we’ve braved the elements on a cold Iowa morning when it would have been more comfortable to just stay in bed.  We here at St. Petri are blessed because Jesus Christ, the truth of God, came into the world for sinners like us, and in him we’ve been set free of all those other things we think are so important.  God’s church is meant to be a safe place, a hospital for sinners, but it is NEVER a place where the blessings of almighty God are expected as a result of what we do or limited to a chosen few that look, act, and think the way we do.  God’s church is meant to be a safe place turning itself inside out, offering God’s mercy and love to a world that needs it desperately, welcoming those who don't know the story and who haven't been part of the 'in' crowd at the church before.  

This world is changing.  God’s church is changing.   But God’s love hasn’t changed.  From our deepest history, God’s love has always sought outsiders and sinners and made them free in mercy for the sake of the world.  God's reckless love isn't happy until it gives itself away freely.  In the church, God is creating the 'inside-out' crowd, gathered by the Holy Spirit, forgiven in Jesus’ name, sent into the world to proclaim the love of God for all humanity.  Jesus didn’t come into the world to play favorites - Jesus came into the world for outsiders, for sinners, for you.  Be blessed, God’s chosen people.  Amen.

Friday Five: Smile!

Posted by Jan at RevGalBlogPals:  

Remembering that Meister Eckhart said that if you pray "thank you" that that is enough of a prayer, share with us five things, memories, or activities that bring you smiles and gratitude.

Culture Roundup

Hey, you know what?  I haven't done one of these in a while.  Let's see...

Just finished reading Dead Beat, book 7 in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.  I'm really enjoying this series. It's formulaic, and a bit chauvinistic at times, but I really enjoy the Harry Dresden character and the group of folks who continue popping in and out of Harry's life.  Smart-ass wizards with cool friends make for some fun reading.

A Week In The Life

Clint Schnekloth challenged some colleagues to post about a week in the life of a pastor. The past eight days seemed as good as any for such an endeavor.

SUNDAY, 6 January
9:30 am Worship, which means I'm up at 5:30 or so to get caffeinated, run over my sermon one last time and get to the office by 8:30 at the latest for details.  I practice briefly with the choir, meet with the lector & assisting minister to go over any last things, check in with the organist, do a sound check and try to remember to put on my alb and stole sometime before 9:28 so I can do it slowly and prayerfully and not "HOLYCOWIT'STIMEFORWORSHIPANDI'MNOTREADYWHYCAN'TITIEMY
CINCTUREHASANYONESEENMYIPADTELLTHEORGANISTTOPLAYFORAFEWMOREMINUTESKTHXBAI..."  We worship - it's a small crowd since the college students have gone home and the high holy days of Christmas have gone by.  But it's a good day nonetheless.  In the afternoon, I find time to read the Sunday paper while watching football, then I catch a 20 minute nap before working on the evening Confirmation lesson from 4 until the class actually begins at 6pm.  We do Confirmation jointly with the other ELCA congregation in our school district, meeting every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month, alternating between the churches.  I'm leading this week because we're at the other church, so I put together the lesson plan, get the media display ready, etc.  We have class, and likely the high point is explaining what "eunuch" means.  It's certainly the moment at which I have the keenest attention of the group.  After class, I'm done for the day: home, a few hours of TV and reading, then sleep.  Sweet, sweet Sunday night sleep.

MONDAY, 7 January
Monday is usually my Sabbath day.  We get up, drop our kindergartener off at school and head to the gym with our preschooler, who stays with us on our day off.  I get in a good workout, and as a special treat there are several friends in the weightlifting class I attend.  We come home for lunch, then I break my Sabbath for a brief meeting with our Stewardship Chair (it's the only time she can meet before Wednesday's Council meeting).  I spend the rest of the afternoon reading, napping and puttering around the house. After supper my colleague & friend Jamie came over to watch the college football title blowout...er, game. So sad to end the best season of all with a butt-whipping, but man, that Alabama team was good!

TUESDAY, 8 January
Back at the office early in the morning - I check email and sort through some administrivia from the weekend.  At 10:30 I visit a parishioner, then lead a lunchtime Bible study before heading back to the office.  I spend a few hours finishing up various projects apropos to the time of year:  my annual report, looking over Council matters & other reports, reading mail that comes in, etc.  If I remember right I continued some more unpacking & organizing of my files - particularly stuff I don't use regularly but need to have from time to time.  After picking up our eldest from kindergarten and our youngest from preschool, we go to the gym together, then come home for the night.  As Tuesdays go, it's a light one, which is good because Wednesday is going to be a doozy.

WEDNESDAY, 9 January
At 7:00am, while I'm in the shower, I get a voicemail telling me a member of our church has died.  So we swing into funeral mode.  The family knew this was coming, so there's not a lot of pastoral care I need to do at the moment.  But there are details to put in place.  I know I'm going to be very busy the rest of the week, so I take my normal Wednesday morning sermon writing excursion to a local coffee house in the hopes I can get a very good start and not have to scramble after the funeral.  After lunch I'm at the office doing more administrivia.  At 3:00 I have an appointment with the family of the deceased and their funeral director, where we plan funeral details and remember the deceased with laughter and a few tears.  After that meeting I pick up our girls and go to a local plasma donation center (I use my plasma money for fun stuff like golf, music, etc.).  At 7:00pm I'm supposed to be in committee meetings for our monthly Council night, but at 5:30 we got a text from our babysitter telling us her car broke down and she won't make it.  I stay with our girls until the backup babysitter gets there, then head over to the church at 7:30 for Council.  The actual meeting begins at 8:00pm and runs for over two hours due to an overwhelming agenda, including annual meeting stuff, job reviews and constitutional review.  It's exhausting, but it's important work and for the most part everyone does it well.  Still, when I get back home sometime after 10:30, the best part of my night is the dram of Glenfiddich and cigar I give myself as a treat every month after Council is done.

THURSDAY, 10 January

The living room at The Sanctuary. Did most of
my reading in that red easy chair.

In the morning I was supposed to drive to Iowa Falls for our regularly scheduled Riverside Conference meeting, but due to the full schedule I had for the remainder of the week, I elected to stay home and catch up on a few things.  I read the newspaper, a spiritual discipline I follow daily to keep up on what's happening in God's world, then go to the office to finalize funeral plans and get them sent to the people who need them.  This takes longer than you might imagine, and by the time I'm done it's lunchtime.  Kristin and I eat lunch at the parsonage together, then we have our weekly staff meeting at 2:00pm.  At 3:00pm I pack my bags and head out to my 24 hour Prayer and Planning retreat.  I am trying something new - spending time "off the grid" at a nearby spiritual retreat center to get a better big-picture focus for the work I need to do.  In the afternoon I finish reading some journals and a book I'm using for a stewardship class coming up in a few weeks, then in the evening I start planning worship for Lent and Easter.  At 9:00 or so I call it a working night, break out Dead Beat, the next book in the Dresden Files series I'm reading by Jim Butcher, and read until I fall asleep.

FRIDAY, 11 January

The office at The Sanctuary.
That's my worship stuff spread out over the desk

In the morning I get up and realize the retreat center is out of coffee, so I have to drive into town and find a local coffeeshop.  After I get back home, I continue worship planning until 11:00 or so, then channel my inner Tolkien:  I fire up a good pipe and take an hour-long walk in the woods.  I can barely hear traffic noise from the highway, so it's a good, long, quiet walk (note to self:  the waterproof hiking boots you've been considering just moved from "wouldn't it be nice" to "gotta get some").  After my walk, I spend a few more hours planning worship & sermons, then clean up the retreat center before coming home around 5:00pm.  At 6:30pm I lead a short prayer service at the funeral visitation, then hurry home to see the girls for the first time since breakfast Thursday.  Friday night me & the missus spend some quality time watching TV together, then hit the sack.

SATURDAY, 12 January
Unfortunately, I see a lot more of Saturday than I planned.  Every once in a while my brain will NOT shut off at night, and tonight is one of those nights.  So I read in the easy chair in our bedroom until at least 3:00am or so, then fight for a few hours of sleep before the funeral.  I get to the church around 9:30, get everything ready to go with our sound guy, the funeral director and the family, then officiate the funeral at 10:30am.  We drive 15 miles to the cemetery for the committal, which is the coldest I've had in quite a while, particularly for Iowa.  The poor soldiers who came to play taps and present the flag to the widow are shivering even though they try to hide it - I admire their dedication to one of their own.  After the committal, it's back to the church for the funeral lunch, and after helping our volunteers a bit with the cleanup I check some emails in my office before heading home around 2:30 or so.  I didn't read the paper that morning, so when I get home I spend a couple of hours reading the Friday and Saturday newspapers while watching the playoffs and letting Kristin catch a nap.  In the evening we all make supper together, then play some games before the girls go to bed.  I'm not too far behind them.

SUNDAY, 13 January
And the week begins again.  Up at 5:30am to run through my sermon and cover last details for worship.  Today is the Baptism of Our Lord, so we need water in the font for a blessing prior to communion and a few other out of the ordinary things.  There are some emails related to a Council issue to read and write, and a quick conversation after worship about the same thing.  Decent attendance with at least three people who don't make it because it's flu season:  we don't shake hands for the passing of the peace.  I've got a bug myself: congested sinuses and a bit achy, so I hit the hand sanitizer often and don't shake hands after the service.  After posting my sermon on the blog, I'm done with "work" for the day - time to come home, read the paper while watching football and catch up on some rest after a very busy week.

This is what I do.  It's rarely boring, sometimes exhausting, but always rewarding.  I love being a pastor and can't imagine another calling giving me such a sense of joy and well-being. And I like to think that as I approach the 10th anniversary of my ordination (is that even possible?), I'm starting to figure out how to do it well, also. 

Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday - "Baptism Is Not The Point"

"The Baptism of Jesus" by He Qi

I remember the first time my campus pastor shocked me.  We were sitting around the lounge of the Lutheran Student Center one Sunday morning after worship, eating the last of the donut holes, drinking the last of the coffee, leafing through the Sunday paper and watching football.  Somehow the conversation in our little circle of chairs got to baptism, and after a while somebody asked Pastor Larry, "Have you ever refused to do a baptism?"  That was when he shocked us, because his answer was, "Yes."

Sermon for the Nativity of Our Lord - "Christmas Belongs To Children"

Christmas is a time that belongs to children.  Think about all the Christmas stories and songs you know, and the role that children play in them.  

• A Christmas Carol:  where Tiny Tim understands the spirit of Christmas better than Scrooge, Marley, and even his own father, Bob Cratchit.  

• Miracle on 34^th Street: where the child believes in Kris Kringle when no one else does.  

• A Charlie Brown Christmas:  no adults even appear in this story!

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas:  Cindy Lou Who speaks for all of Whoville.

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever:  the Herdmans, even though they get everything wrong, get it all right in the end.

Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent - "Change Is Coming"

Brothers and sisters, grace and peace to you from God our Creator, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and from the Holy Spirit, present and active in our midst this morning. Amen.

First, turn to your neighbor and take a minute or two to answer this question: what are the things you need to feel like you’re celebrating Christmas?

For me, it seems like food plays a big role. I was in Ames yesterday looking for potato sausage. Didn’t find any, where I went, but my friend Heidi said Dahl’s sometimes has it, and Linda Fevold said there’s a shop in Gowrie that might have some also. I don’t know if there’s enough time to get some for this year, but it certainly bears remembering for next year.

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent - "On Jordan's Banks...and Ours"

Preaching Texts

1 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry

announces that the Lord is nigh;

awake and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings!

We know how Advent and Christmas work, right?  Put up the tree early in December, string the lights.  Get the gifts on Black Friday if you want to get nice stuff and save lots of money.  Clean the house.  Clean it again.  Prepare for the coming of the relatives.  For us this year, it’s ALL the relatives on Kristin’s side.  I’m about to become Clark Griswold.

But that’s window dressing.  If we knew that JESUS was coming, actually and really entering the world, what would look different?  Would anything look different?

Pastor Brian Stoffregen writes, “Perhaps if we want to properly prepare for the coming of Jesus, rather than looking in the manger, or decorating trees and houses, or buying and wrapping presents, we need to listen to John. While only two gospels mention the nativity, all four talk about John who prepares the way for the coming of Jesus.”  John says it’s more than just family and good food coming:  the LORD is coming.  And the way must be prepared.

2 Then cleansed be ev'ry life from sin;
make straight the way for God within,
and let us all our hearts prepare
for Christ to come and enter there.

Luke makes it clear that John comes out of the wilderness in a time of powerful people.  Emperors, governors, kings and high priests.  But the word of God doesn’t come to these powerful people, and for all Luke’s talk of “casting the mighty down from their thrones,” we would do well to notice something:  all of these powerful people Luke lists at the beginning of the gospel are still in their seats of power at the end.

Power is not the reason John proclaims the coming of Jesus.  Repentance is what John preaches, from the highest to the lowliest.  Repentance for sin, for the mistakes we make and for the ways we miss the coming of our Lord’s reign.  Every last one of us, from the most powerful to the least, walks this world under the bondage of sin.  If John were to re-proclaim his message today, it might go something like this:  in the 5th year of the Presidency of Barack Obama, when Terry Branstad was governor of Iowa, during the papacy of Benedict XVI, when Mark Hanson was the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA and Steven Ullestad the Bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod, the word of God came to John in the wilderness:  REPENT.”  This message of repentance is not about the downtrodden rising up to take the place of the powerful:  it is about the burden under which all of us stagger through this life.  Rich or poor, strong or weak, old or young, Republican or Democrat, faithful or fearful:  John calls us all to turn toward the One who is coming, who brings salvation for all.

3 We hail you as our Savior, Lord,
our refuge and our great reward;
without your grace we waste away
like flow'rs that wither and decay.

We noted that all the powerful people Luke catalogues remained in their seats of power at the end of Jesus’ life.  But today they are only history:  only names in the annals of time.  Tiberius was emperor in name only when John began preaching in the wilderness - he died in exile about eight years after Jesus’ crucifixion.  Legend has it Pilate died in exile as well.  Herod Antipas died in exile in Gaul.  No one knows anything about Annas and Caiaphas beyond their involvement in Jesus’ life in the gospels.  There is no life in these powerful people:  as Isaiah says,

“All people are grass,

their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,

when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.”

It’s worth taking our time to reflect on that word, “Savior.”  The implication, of course, is that we need saving.  It goes against the grain of the season, doesn’t it?  As we prepare for “perfect” holiday gatherings, with lovingly decorated treats, wonderful new drinks, lavishly decorated houses and as we shop for the “perfect” gift for those special someones in our lives, John comes proclaiming that the One who saves us is coming.  For all our dedicated festivity, we are as flimsy as the tissue paper we use to wrap our gifts:  here for only a short time, and none of us able to save one another.  Only the Savior saves.  Only the grace of God lifts the burden of sin from our lives.  Only the one John proclaims is coming to give life to His people.  


4 Stretch forth your hand, our health restore,
and make us rise to fall no more;
oh, let your face upon us shine
and fill the world with love divine.

John was not only a prophet to the people of Israel:  in John’s own words, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”  John’s father, Zechariah, said it even more boldly when John was born:

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.  By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

John was called to be the voice of God to the entire world, to point to the coming day when all people will see the greatness of God and live in the glorious light of God’s kingdom.  And John wasn’t just talking about life after death – John didn’t say a word about death or hell here.  John was talking about forgiveness, repentance, transformed lives in THIS world, in THIS time.  John wasn’t preparing the people to be taken away from this world – John was preparing this world for the in-breaking of God, right here, right now, among us.  And when Jesus came, all of history began to be re-interpreted in the light of Jesus’ love, grace and mercy.

On Jordan's banks and on ours, the prophecy of John continues to ring out: "prepare the way of the Lord."  God is breaking into this world - repent, turn your hearts and your lives toward the heavens, and receive the gift of grace which all of this world's rulers cannot give.  John brought the message.  God brings the kingdom.  We turn our eyes toward the wilderness, and we hear the joyful songs that herald our Lord's arrival.  Come, Lord Jesus.  Come quickly, and in your unending love save us all.

5 All praise to you, eternal Son,
whose advent has our freedom won,
whom with the Father we adore,
and Holy Spirit, evermore.

Clear Mission

We are disciples of Jesus Christ,

called to grow in Christ and to invite all to follow him.

Every worship service at the congregation I serve begins and ends with this mission statement as part of its liturgy.  I love our mission statement: it offers both an inward and an outward focus, is clear that we are about the work of being disciples (not members), and in its brevity and simplicity it is both wide in scope and easy to remember.  By now I imagine folks who worship at St Petri twice a month have memorized our mission statement:  how many of our churches can say the same? (Note: that's an observation, not a comparative statement)

I'm traditionally leery about overplaying the effectiveness of mission statements, etc.  We all have a tendency to engage in magic bullet thinking about such things, as if composing a good mission statement is the one key element missing from a church equation and, upon completion of said task, the pews will magically fill, the budget will be exceeded and the pastor's kids will behave in worship.  The only magic bullet that will make those things happen is hard work, particularly the last one.  But there is a place for a good mission statement, and that place is most certainly not a once-every-three-years Council retreat where we navel-gaze for a Saturday and promptly forget everything we put together.

I hope that incorporating this elegant little statement into each and every one of our public worship gatherings brings a continual awareness that we are about discipleship, growth and invitation.  Yes, membership is important: God's church needs members to carry out its work in the world.  But our mission is not to get more members for St. Petri Lutheran Church:  our mission is to follow Jesus and invite others to do the same.  Our mission is God, both through our congregation and in other ways also.

Does your congregation have a mission statement?  Do your people know that mission?  If not, find ways to incorporate it into everything you do: worship, letterhead, emails, the works.  Be clear about who you are and why you're here: you will do yourselves and the world around you a great favor.

Open Orthodoxy

I had an interesting experience the other day.  We have a Bible study group that meets weekly over lunch at a local restaurant, and a question was raised about whether or not the early church wound up erecting a structure to fit the happenings after Jesus ascended to heaven.  In other words, is the historic faith we have shared, including the Biblical canon and the many, many practical decisions made along the way, our best attempt to make sense of the world post-Jesus, or is it only and always the working of the Holy Spirit?  And, to even ask such a question:  is this faith or heresy?

Running Thankful

So, um, yeah, I'm still here.  Sort of.

Tonight was our Thanksgiving Worship at St. Petri.  Can I just say that I love the fact that we do this worship on Tuesday night?  For families that are traveling tomorrow, like ours, we can leave as soon as school is out and be at our destinations at a reasonable time (I should arrive back home sometime near supper, Mom).  I don't know why it never occurred to me that Tuesday night might be the better night for worship in Thanksgiving week.  Going to be my recommendation from here on out.