Being a Witness - Sharing Your Story

Merry Christmas! Yes, it is the Christmas season still in the church, for a few more days. In these twelve days after Christmas eve, we still rejoice in its light.

Today we have this beautiful prologue to the gospel of John. It describes Jesus as the Word, the logos, who was present with God from the very beginning of creation. It tells us Jesus has made God known to us so that we may be God’s children. It tells us with boldness: the light shines in the darkness and “the darkness did not overcome it.”

And we also have this character, John the Baptist, or rather, John the Witness. He comes as a witness to testify to the true light, who was coming into the world. To testify to Jesus, the logos, the one in whom we meet and see God.

All of this sounds wonderful, but what does it really mean? Witness - testify? How often do you hear these words in Minnesota Lutheranism? What if I asked you to stand up right now and give a testimony of your faith? Don’t worry, I’m not going to do that. But we don’t need to be afraid of words like testify and witness, either. Yes, they have been abused by some Christians - you can’t just make up what you want and claim it’s from God. But let’s not allow the actions of a few to keep us from witnessing to our faith and testifying for God.

Being a witness means sharing your faith in Christ, living your life in response to who God is and what God has done for you.

Being a witness is believing that God truly became Incarnate, became human, so that we may see and know God. This is something to be excited about! That God is here, dwelling among us. What an incredible gift!

We can witness by recognizing this ourselves and sharing it with other people. I have found - and this is a generalization - that we in the ELCA, myself included, are good at talking about God and not as good at naming where God is or sharing what they believe and why.

We are able to say, “God is love, God is light, God wants us to care for our neighbors,” but we are less able to say, “I saw God in you when you comforted me after my friend died,” or “I trust God is always with me because of this set of experiences …”

If you are able to share these things naturally, then please encourage others! If not, I want to walk you through what makes it hard and offer a few examples of witnessing to your faith.

First - why is this even important? Why witness? There are many reasons I could give you, but considering this text and the Christmas season I will say we witness because God’s actions and creativity did not end with Jesus. We continue to respond to the Incarnation because God has not left us, and we want others to know this, too. And God is too expansive, too great, for us to comprehend. There is no end to how many ways we could testify for God or name his presence - so we keep on witnessing, because God keeps on acting. We trust that God will work through one of these many ways so others might know him, too.

Second - what makes it hard? One thing that makes it hard is not wanting to be like those who forcefully share their faith. We’ve been convinced that sharing your faith at all is offensive and will make people think you’re obnoxious, like those guys yelling with hateful signs on the street.

Another thing that makes witnessing hard is that we don’t want to tell anyone what they should think - we don’t want to come across as pushy. We want people to be free to make their individual choices.

Lastly, we may be hesitant to witness because we’re afraid we’re wrong, or that we won’t say exactly the right things. We let fear and insecurity convince us that maybe it wasn’t really God or that we’ll just sound stupid if we try to speak confidently about our faith.

I want you to know that sharing your faith is possible, and it should never look like those people shouting hate. You don’t have to have all the right words or ideas or the perfect stories and examples - just share and live from your heart, from what you know is true, from your relationship with God.

Witnessing can be as simple as sharing a story about God’s presence in your life with someone else.

If you’re unsure, focus on how amazed you are by God’s love, how grateful you are for God’s coming in Jesus, and how deeply your faith has influenced and changed your life. Would you want someone else to have the chance to experience these things too? I hope so! It is possible that you will open up these experiences for someone else by your witness, your sharing, your faith.

In places where you can’t talk openly about your faith, witness through your actions. Advocate for others. Give generously of your time and resources. Forgive and try to understand people’s situations. Perhaps others will notice your example and do likewise. Or maybe they’ll just be annoyed that you’re not acting the way they want you to. Either way, you’re still living our life as a witness.

I said earlier that witnessing can be as simple as sharing a story about God’s presence in your life with others. So, I’m going to share two stories from my own faith with you, in the hopes of being a witness and an encouragement for you to witness. In other words, I am putting into action what I have been preaching, and I hope something in my story will resonate with yours.

Many of you know I grew up in Moose Lake, Minnesota, about two hours north of here. It’s a small town of about 2,000 people. There’s a K-12 school, a hospital, a post office, and several bars and churches - as is typical. My home church is Hope Lutheran of Moose Lake. I spent a lot of time there in high school, helping out with whatever I could. And the friends I made there my sophomore year were ones I could really trust.

Chris and I in particular became good friends. He was a senior and wanting to go Augsburg College to pursue youth ministry. I hoped to be a pastor. We talked a lot about vocation, theology, the church, and just about anything else. There was a depth and trust to our friendship I hadn’t experienced before. He was also very good at making me laugh, and had a natural gift for working with the kids at church.

Unfortunately, Chris also lived with chronic depression. Although he had a loving family, a supportive church, and a closeness with God, the illness ended up taking him. One morning in June 2008, I woke up to a call telling me that my best friend had hung himself. This wasn’t unexpected - I knew he had depression and had been in treatment for it before. But nothing prepares you for the death of someone you love, especially not when you’re 16. Obviously I felt a lot of pain.

As you can imagine in a small town, everyone pulled together. With only 40 or so kids per grade in school, everyone knew everyone and so we were all affected. The pastor and youth director at my church made time and space for students to come together, to grieve, to just be with one another. I saw my church and people I looked up to being there for others. I heard from them that God does not cause this kind of pain, God does not have some set time for each person to die. God did not plan for Chris to kill himself. Rather I heard that God weeps with us, loves us, and is present in the very midst of despair. At his funeral, I saw in the faces of my friends and my church that God was weeping with us, that God was embracing us as we embraced one another, and that God was living and active right in the heart of all this agony and pain.

Looking back, I can name God’s love and activity in that situation and the days that followed, and I can share this story with you as a strong example of why I believe God is present even in the darkest of places and why I believe that the darkness can never overcome the light. I felt and saw and heard God in my pastor, youth director, friends, and congregation, I trust that God was with Chris even as he took his last breath, and the light I witnessed in people taking care of one another could never be swallowed up by the darkness. It might have not always felt like it at the time, but God’s love radiated through. So basically, what I’m trying to say is: even when life sucks, I believe God is right there.

The second story I have to share is one of having faith and following God. Just as many of you know that I grew up in Moose Lake, you also likely know that I am a relatively quiet person. I don’t think it takes long to figure out I’m more of a listener and definitely an introvert. Growing up with a rather loud and sociable extended family, I certainly felt out of place. I assumed that introversion was somehow a deficiency, that something was wrong with me, and that I would always be shy and quiet and not able to speak in front of others. I didn’t understand that introversion simply meant you gain energy from being alone, and it didn’t mean that you couldn’t be social or a leader -- it just meant it took more energy for you to do these things than it did for extroverts. So in the 9th grade when, with really no warning, this inkling came that I should consider being a pastor, I felt surprised and my reaction was something like: “How the heck am I supposed to do that?” But the inkling grew into a deeper sense of call and it was something I couldn’t help but follow.

So I started to push myself outside of my comfort zone. I read more in class. I gave a couple of homily-encouragement talk type things during a few youth retreat weekends I was involved with. I went to a theological camp at Augsburg College. I started talking to my pastor and youth director about ministry and a sense of call. I took on more leadership roles in high school and in college. There were all sorts of experiences along the way, and I continue to live into that. Of course there are times I doubt or think maybe I shouldn’t be doing this, I don’t have the ability. But then I find the more I am willing to follow this call and to go beyond my comfort zone and trust in God, the more I find this is a real calling and I can do it. This whole journey is why I believe that God calls the unexpected and is with you the whole way.

I hope something in these stories resonates with you. I encourage you to witness to others by sharing your stories, in all of their joy and pain. There are no bounds to where God might be at work, so go beyond your bounds, your comfort zone in being a witness, and notice God as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to name the places where God has come to dwell with you. You never know how your witness might welcome someone else into relationship with this most incredible God. Get out there, your story, and be the witness God is calling you to be. Amen.

Katelyn Rakotoarivelo
1.3.2016
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran

The Light Shines in the darkness

P: The Light Shines in the Darkness
C: And the darkness cannot overcome it.

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

At the time Isaiah brings this message to God’s people, they were in the midst of a political crisis, a crisis of national identity and a crisis of faith. It was a time of deep darkness, a time that seemed hopeless. Yet into this seemingly hopeless time, Isaiah inserts both a hope and a promise for the people of Israel, God’s people. 

It’s been awfully dark lately here too. Not only have we been in the darkest time of year, a time in which the sun has slipped behind the horizon earlier and earlier each night, but for many days this month the clouds have blanketed the sun. It’s been dark. In addition, some have lost loved ones, health, jobs or relationships. And, if you feel that you are the only one who isn’t “ho-ho-hoing,” Christmas-time can be a “blue season.” 

These times of darkness are not to be discounted. But, in addition to seasonal and personal times of darkness and despair, there is a deeper darkness afoot, a darkness that will not dissipate with the turning of the season or the sun breaking through the clouds or even the passage of time. There is a crisis or maybe a series of crisis both in our country and in the world that threatens our freedom and seeks to shatter our hopes and dreams. The security crisis against terror has reverberated around the globe – from Paris to Beirut to San Bernadino… people acting in terrorist ways have not only hurt innocent people but also cast shadows of suspicion upon all who look like them. While our and other governments threaten to destroy the groups that claim responsibility for such atrocities, the fingers of fear continue to creep out into the world. Likewise, violence in the street, violence by and against police, racquets up even more violence and fear and threatens to snuff out joy and hope in our neighborhoods, our country and our world. 

Yet… into that darkness, we proclaim: 
P: The Light Shines in the Darkness;
C: And the darkness cannot overcome it.

Twenty-five years ago, the people in East Germany were living a pretty bleak existence. Rather than develop products or industry, much of the economy of that country was swept up into an elaborate system of spying. The Stasi police had a file on every single citizen – and took photos of and opened a file on every single person who entered the occupied territory of East Germany. Neighbors spied on neighbors. The system was pervasive. Protests were shut down violently. Darkness seemed to reign. 

But in the East German city of Leipzig, the people at Nikolaikirche, 
St. Nicholas Lutheran Church, were allowed to gather for prayer services. And so they gathered and lit candles – and prayed for peace. It started with only a few people. But soon others, hungry for a chance to express their hope and need and desire for light instead of darkness, also gathered to light a candle. The pastor welcomed everyone in. With candles lit, they marched for peace. It started with only a small number. But their numbers grew rapidly. The Stasi police were on high alert. At one point, they tried to pack the pews with spies and police officers. But the pastor “reserved” the balcony for real pray-ers and protestors. And the peaceful, candlelit prayer marches continued. 

On the night of October 8, 1989, more than 70,000 citizens gathered in the streets of Leipzig. Before the march the St. Nicholas pastor admonished the demonstrators, “Put down your rocks.” Meanwhile, the Stasi officials were waiting instructions to put down the demonstration with force. The orders never came. A month later, the Berlin wall fell. In a film depicting the struggle, the security chief who wanted to subdue this “rebellion” is shown staring out at the crowd in front of his headquarters and saying, “We planned everything. We were prepared for everything…except for candles and prayers.” 1

Remembering the candles and prayers of the people of Leipzig, we proclaim:
P: The Light Shines in the Darkness
C: And the darkness cannot overcome it.

As my family and I walked through the former headquarters of the Stasi police – now a museum -- it was easy to see the light shining out of the darkness. There, we were looking with 20-20 vision back into the past. It was a bit more disconcerting when we went to Checkpoint Charlie. We entered what we thought was a little museum of people who had escaped or tried to escape the Berlin Wall. But it wasn’t a little museum. It went on…and on… and on. We read the stories of those who fled oppression and the stories of those who didn’t make it out. It was a bit overwhelming – but also irresistible. So we kept going, reading story after story. Suddenly… we realized… we weren’t back 25 years anymore. The stories on the wall were no longer those fleeing East Germany. They were current. This was a living museum that was continuing to tell stories of people suffering oppression in the Ukraine, in Russia, in Afghanistan, and in other parts of the world. It was a reminder that we can’t simply pat ourselves on the back for the light that came through the prayers and candles of the Lutheran church in Leipzig. The darkness of oppression continues. And yet, we proclaim:

P: The Light Shines in the darkness
C: And the darkness cannot overcome it. 

Robert Fulghum, the man most famous for the book, Everything I Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten, wrote about what might have been the greatest lesson he learned – quite a bit after kindergarten. 

Fulghum had been attending a conference at an institute for peace in Crete, an island of Greece on the sight of some of the bloodiest fighting between German Nazi soldiers and Crete villagers. The center had been built for healing between the countries – and this conference was part of that intent. It was the last day, the last hour of a two week long conference and the speaker, a doctor of philosophy and a founder of the peace institute, Alexander Papaderos, rose and asked the question that is often asked at the end of a conference: “Are there any questions?” 

Fulghum raised his hand and asked, “"Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?" 

People laughed – and started getting ready to leave. But Papaderos held up his hand, stilled the room and said, “I will answer your question.” 

Reaching into his wallet, he brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter. He explained that during the war, his family was very poor. One day, on the road, he found the broken pieces of a mirror from a German motorcycle. He couldn’t put the pieces back together, but he kept the largest one and filed it down with a stone to make it round. He began playing with it as a toy – and became fascinated by the fact that he could reflect light into dark place, places where the sun would never shine – into deep holes, crevices and dark closets. It became a game – to shine the light into the deepest and darkest and least accessible places he could find. 

Even as he grew up, he kept the mirror – and in idle moments would continue the game. But as he became older, he realized that this was not just a child’s game. Rather, this was a metaphor for what he could do with his life. 

Papaderos said, “I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light -- truth, understanding, knowledge -- is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it…I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world…. and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."2

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the meaning, the purpose of our lives too. At your baptism, people of God lit a candle and proclaimed Jesus’ words to you: “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”  And so, sisters and brothers, by the light of Christ let us proclaim:

P: The Light Shines in the darkness
C: And the darkness cannot overcome it. 
P: And all God’s people said, “Amen.” 

Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane
Christmas Eve, 2015

1 The Christian Century Nikolaikirche by Wall, James M. Film is Nikolaikirche, directed by Frank Beyer and based on a novel by East German author Erich Loest
2 It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, by Robert Fulghum

Transformed by a Song?

Grant that what we sing with our lips, we may believe in our hearts and what we believe in our hearts, we may show forth in our lives.

John was barely responsive. He nodded a few times to questions. He managed to take communion. But it was hard to tell if he was really following.  Sometimes he seemed to be completely absent. But when we began to sing “Silent night,” he smiled, nodded his head, and as we left, he said in a clear voice, “Merry Christmas.”  Those may have been his last words. 

Music is powerful. It somehow – in ways that I do not understand –seems to have its own “back-door” into the soul and can express what words alone cannot.

Mary’s song – the scripture you just sang – is like that. It’s actually a pretty radical song. Mary – a poor unwed pregnant teenager – sings of joy and blessing, and dares to proclaim God’s new world order.  Who is she to proclaim a new order for the world? And yet, her song proclaims a world in which the hungry, poor and humble are lifted up and the proud, scheming, ruthless and rich are dashed, exposed, cast aside and are sent off unfed.  It’s a song for justice – God’s justice.

And Mary’s song wasn’t the first.

Mary’s song mirrors a song that Hannah sings when her prayer was answered. Hannah had been bullied for not having a child – somehow they thought it was her fault. So when God answered her prayers with a child, she sang a song of joy and praise and proclaimed God’s justice. Her child, Samuel, later became a great prophet in Israel. But she wasn’t the first to sing a song of justice. Hannah’s song was inspired by the song of Miriam, the sister of Moses, who sang a song of joy and triumph after crossing the Red Sea and escaping their captors.  

Why did God act in the lives of these three women?  None of them were powerful in the eyes of the world – in fact as women, and because they were poor, they were some of the least likely candidates in the eyes of the world.  Yet, God acted in each of their lives, transforming their personal lives and through them, transforming the world.

And they each responded with a song, a song of justice – and joy. At a text study, I remember a pastor friend saying, “Justice is always Good News to the poor.” But what made it memorable was the question that hung in the air:  Yes, justice is good for the poor – but how does it look for us?"  

Music has a way of entering through the back-door and with the music comes the message.  So, while we are singing “Mary’s song” – it becomes our song too – our witness to God’s plan for justice for the world. And while we may think of ourselves as “ordinary” and not the kind of people who make great changes in the world… certainly not the kind of people that would bring about “justice” – that is precisely the kind of people that God taps to carry out God’s plan for the world.

Indeed, God seems to delight in using ordinary people – like Mary, Hannah, Samuel, Miriam – and you to make a difference, to become a part of God’s salvation story. As theologian Judith Jones explains, “Jesus loves us just as we are but an encounter with Jesus never leaves us just as we are."1 That was true for Mary, Hannah and Miriam.  But it’s true not just for them – but also for people on the other end of the spectrum.

Take Zacchaeus for example. You remember the story - probably from the song. Zacchaeus was a wee little man – and a rich tax collector. And NO ONE liked him. But Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus – just like everyone else. So he climbed a tree.  It was very unusual, and not very respectable for a grown man to climb a tree. But Zacchaeus wanted to see – and so he literally put himself above everyone else. And Jesus called him down. But Jesus did not shame him. Instead, Jesus called him down out of the tree and then… raised him back up to the same level as the other children of Abraham, children of God.

Jesus loved him as he was, but this encounter transformed Zacchaeus to become and to act like the child of Abraham, child of God that God made him to be. So, in response to this encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus was transformed. He repaid those he had cheated and he gave to the poor. The children’s song about Zacchaeus reminds us of Jesus’ grace – given freely– and the transforming power of justice.

That’s the kind of transformation that Mary is singing about. The rich and poor don’t exchange places. Instead, encountering Jesus blesses and transforms both the rich and poor.  For the poor, as my friend said, “it’s always good news.” And he’s right. God’s new order is good news – but, again, it’s good news not just for the poor. It is good news too for the very rich like Zacchaeus. He was restored to the community. He was allowed to share and, in being restored to community, he helped restore economic justice in his community.

It’s also good news for people in-between, people like you and me.  For like Mary, Hannah, Miriam and Zacchaeus, Jesus loves you just as you are – but Jesus does not and will not LEAVE you just as you are. And that is a good thing.

The world cries for justice.  As citizens of our community we can agree that we want “justice.” As Christians, we promise when we are baptized or when we affirm our baptism, we will “care for others and the world God made and work for justice and peace.”  And yet, how we do that can be a challenging question.  We talked in the adult education class a few weeks ago about justice. We didn’t come up with lots of answers. The desire for justice is strong – and yet enacting justice is especially challenging because the road to “justice” often seems elusive for some in our community.

But God has not given up on our world – and neither should we.  In seeking justice we need to remember that the biblical word for justice is the same word as the word for “righteousness.” In other words, there is no justice in retribution - in “getting even” or in exclusion or in scapegoating. God’s justice is not a system of  “winners and losers.” Justice comes when people are made “right” with God and with one another.  This is God’s justice; this is the justice that truly transforms.  It doesn’t come through power or status or guns or money. But it just might sneak in through a song.

It might sneak into our hearts and minds through a song, through music – because somehow… music can bypass all of the barriers – intellectually or otherwise constructed.  So sing! But don’t sing just any song. There are lots of songs out there with all sorts of messages. They may be catchy but they don’t all bear God’s word. So instead, in these few days of Advent that we have left, I invite you to sing boldly God’s songs of justice, love and grace so that the message of God’s love will saturate your hearts and transform your lives - and others'.

After all, as African American theologian Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman wrote:

The Work of Christmas Begins…

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among people,

To make music in the heart.2

May the song of Jesus Christ soak deeply into your heart, transform you and bring you love, light, peace and joy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane  
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church
December 20, 2015
 

1Prof. Judith Jones Working Preacher.com 2015
2Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman (1899-1981)

Repentance & Change

Reading: Luke 3:7-18

“You brood of vipers!” “You group of snakes!”

That’s not a good way to begin a sermon, or what you should be telling people who have come to be baptized. You wouldn’t want a speaker like this to be in a charge of pastoral care or to lead a youth group. You wouldn’t ask someone like this to be the face of your church.

But this is John the Baptist. And he has a unique agenda. He’s a wild character. In Matthew, it says he wore clothes of camel’s hair and ate locusts. He certainly would have caught people’s attention, in both his appearance and his words.

Now, John does have some very strong statements. It may be hard to hear any good news in what he's saying. But they’re words we need to hear, and there's good news in here somewhere. I think John’s startling comments in this text deserve our full attention.

He tells the crowds who are waiting to be baptized, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance!” In other words, you are not perfect, and there are parts of your life that need changing! This is true for us too. Repentance means examining your life, seeking God’s forgiveness, and committing to transforming your life for the better.

In the Lutheran tradition we have a beautiful focus on God’s grace and unconditional love. It is true that there is nothing you can do to earn God’s grace and love, but this doesn’t mean that you are unchanged by God. Being in relationship with God and having faith naturally lead to a new kind of life.

So John is telling us rather sternly that repentance -- which includes change -- is an essential part of this life with God.

But perhaps someone thinks, “Well, my family has been Christian for hundreds of years. I’m good to go. I just need to keep showing up each Sunday because that’s already more than a lot of people do.” John has some words for this, too!

He tells the crowds, “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” Being a descendant of Abraham was a valued identity for these people. But John is telling them that this alone isn’t all that it takes. Likewise, your family having been Christian for generations and attending worship regularly, while important, and wonderful, are not the whole story.

Again, repentance and a changed life are central to being a Christian. Repentance is a turning, a change of direction into God’s truth.

There are things in each of our lives that we need to repent of, to ask God’s forgiveness for. Maybe the time you’ve spent online and using electronics has taken away from your relationships with family and friends in ways that you never intended. Maybe you have neglected to take care of yourself and so your ability to live well and serve others has been negatively affected. Maybe you have been deceitful. Our society has things it needs to repent of and change as well, like systems of injustice, abusing creation, hoarding of resources. All of these things require honest examination, admittance, forgiveness, and transformation.

But we don’t like to admit that we’re wrong. I know that’s difficult. And things like forgiveness and reconciliation and real change aren’t exactly the most popular in our society. We like immediate results, but profound change takes time, attention, and hard work. Most of all, it takes an honest examination of what’s wrong and a willingness to hear and see the truth, even if it’s hard or if it hurts.

But we need this. We need to repent and we need God’s work in us to help us live differently. This applies to us not only individually but as families, as neighborhoods, as the whole body of Christ.

John also offers answers to the people when they ask “What should we do?” You might ask, “How should I live?” Essentially, he comes up with things that hopefully we all value - integrity, compassion, fairness, honesty, kindness. He tells the crowds to share their excess of coats and food with those who have none. He tells the tax collectors to collect only what they’re supposed to. He tells the soldiers to not extort money from people and to be satisfied with their wages.

These aren’t ground-breaking, exemplary actions. They’re good ways to live based in what God intends and desires. And yet these actions of compassion, integrity, and honesty are so often beyond us.

“As long as there’s one homeless child in America, we have no room for refugees.”

“Close all U.S. borders to Muslims.”

“Give everyone a gun.”

I’ve seen these comments a lot the past few weeks. They are the opposite of compassion and integrity. I’ve also read this statements going around claiming that there is room for but one loyalty, one language, one allegiance in the United States, and that immigrants are only to be treated equally if they assimilate themselves completely to the American people, whatever that means.

All of this terrifies me. We close ourselves off. We seek safety with placing guns in the hands of people who may not properly use them. We perpetuate violent stereotypes about Muslims and immigrants even though we would never say “All white men should be locked up because one may be a mass shooter.” We tell Mexicans “learn English!” when it’s likely our immigrant ancestors were unfairly assimilated too. We claim to want diversity and to learn from other cultures and yet we aren’t willing to cross boundaries or really love each other. None of this is consistent with our faith or our God.

If we would live with honesty, compassion, and integrity with God the world would be different.

So we need to come to before God, on our knees if we must, because we can’t do this alone. We need to repent. We need the filth in our lives to be swept out. John says God will “gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Racism, deceit, sexism, hatred, abuse … these are the chaff that needs to be burned away.

Verses 16-17 in the  Message version of the Bible say, “But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

This isn’t about casting people into damnation for eternity. It’s a refining and transformation of who we are and what’s in our lives.

This is scary and big and different. But coming before God and admitting what’s wrong, being forgiven, and living in response to this forgiveness is powerful. Incredible. Real.

If you don’t know where to start, start with looking at your positions in life. John told the tax collectors and soldiers to use their positions with integrity and fairness. If you’re a teacher, teach to the benefit of your students. If you’re a parent, raise your kids with love. If you’re a man, use your privilege to stand up for the equality of women. If you’re a supervisor at work, set the example of what’s expected.

Or start with an honest examination of yourself. The point isn’t to degrade yourself or to make you feel terrible; the point is to be real about what needs changing and to ask God to guide you more fully into the life he intends for you.

These might not seem like big things but they matter. And when we all do this together, we can create real change, starting in our own lives, our own homes, our own communities. We can be rid of all that needs to be cleaned out, and be filled more and more with the truth and ways of God. This is good news indeed. Amen.

Vicar Katelyn Rakotoarivelo
Faith Lilac Way Lutheran
12.13.2015

PAY ATTENTION: The Kingdom of GOD is HERE!

Today is the first day of Advent, the start of the church year, the year of the Gospel of Luke.  So you may wonder, why do we start at the back of the book with this doomsday sounding story of the coming of the Kingdom of God?  

I’m not sure why we always start with “eschatological” readings – which is just a long fancy word to say the end of time, the time in which Christ comes again. However… it might be to remind us that we read the whole story as one that is not over yet.  

Especially at this time of year in which the culture gets so wrapped up in sentimentality – we can use a reminder that Jesus, the Son of God, came with a purpose.  Jesus came into the world as one of us to set us free from the powers that threaten to destroy us. But that’s not all. Jesus promised to come again. In our lesson today we are reminded, the Kingdom of God has come near – but it is not complete.  God is not done.  That means we live “in the meantime.” And Jesus has a job for us – so pay attention.

Pay attention.  As Jesus says, there will be strange earthly signs and signs of war.  For the people first hearing Luke’s Gospel, they would think immediately of the destruction of the temple in 70 AM. That was a terrifying time for the city of Jerusalem and for both the Jews and the new Christians who fled the city as refugees.  

People today might worry about terrorists in Paris or refugees fleeing Syria or Russian planes being shot down over Turkey. Some have worried out loud about whether this is a prelude to World War III.  

Jesus does not pacify his followers of any age. Bad things are going to happen. But Jesus’ message is not to prepare for the end of the world or to succumb to fear. He does not issue a call to arms or to fight. But neither does he give platitudes. Instead, Jesus gives two commands. First: “Be on Guard” so that we are not distracted or our senses dulled with dissipation – that is wild and reckless living, drunkenness or the anxieties and fears of this life. Secondly: “Be watchful.” In other words, don’t ignore the world around you.  PAY ATTENTION. Jesus knew – and told his followers – that the world is a dangerous place but he also knew – and demonstrated by his actions – that the world was a place in great need.

Pay attention, because as followers of Jesus, you and I, like Luke, have a role to play. We know the end of the story. Our job, a job that we have been called to do by Christ, is to both do Christ's work in our world of need and be witnesses to Jesus at work in our world. We are called to be witnesses to God’s work in our world because, by faith, we are able to see what others do not.

I heard this story at a conference a few years ago about two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and says, "What the heck is water?"1

Sometimes it’s the most seemingly obvious things that don’t get spoken – that don’t get named.  As Christians, as followers of Christ, we are called to name the water. We are called to point out the work of Christ. Others don’t have eyes to see it.

Another story. A Christian and an atheist were having an argument about faith. Finally the atheist said – you know, I tried prayer once. But it didn’t work.  The Christian said, “Really?  What happened?”  The atheist said, “Well, I was out in the middle of a snow storm up in Alaska and I had completely lost my way.  I thought I was a goner for sure. So I prayed to God for help.”

The Christian said, “Well… you’re here aren’t you? Your prayer must have been answered.”

The atheist replied – “No. I got lucky. Two Eskimos on a dogsled happened to be going by and they stopped and brought me back to safety.”2

How would you interpret that story? The Christian saw it with eyes of faith. The atheist saw it as good dumb luck.

As followers of Christ, we can see that we are swimming in the water of the Kingdom of God. And so we are called to “Pay Attention” to Christ’s work in our world.  We are called to point out the work of the Holy Spirit. Christ has come.  The Kingdom of God is not just near – it’s here!  Christ has come… And Christ will come again.

But what does that look like?  Knowing that we live in the waters of the Kingdom of God, how do we live out our lives – especially when situations when things look dire?

One May day in the early years of the Connecticut House of Representatives, the room was bright and so the delegates were able to do their work by natural light. But then, right in the middle of debate, the day turned to night. Clouds obliterated the sun, and everything turned to darkness. Some legislators thought it was the Second Coming. A clamor arose. Some wanted to adjourn. Others called for prayer. A cry went out to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

But the speaker of the House had a different idea. He was a solid Christian believer of good faith and not easily rattled.  So he said, “We are all upset by the darkness and some of us are afraid. But, ‘the Day of the Lord’ is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. And if the Lord is returning, I, for one, choose to be found doing my duty.  I therefore ask that candles be brought.”

And so they went back to their desks and resumed their debate.”3

Do your duty. It sometimes feels rather ordinary.  How do we, as one Christian wrote, get caught “living the sort of life that makes people say, ‘Ah…so that’s how people are going to live when righteousness takes over our world.”4 The truth is that often other people won’t notice.

And yet, whether other people notice or not, Jesus calls us to care for one another.  And so we: feed the hungry: bring dinner to shut-ins at dinner at your door; supply food to the foodshelf, provide breakfast for the community, brighten someone’s day with a gift to the NEAR toy exchange.  These are ways – seemingly ordinary ways – in which we, as followers of Jesus, can love and serve the neighbor.

Loving and serving the neighbor takes practice.  And it takes intentionality.  On youth trips, one of the questions that we ask the youth in the beginning of the day is to pay attention to how they see God at work.  It’s amazing what they share at the end of the day after they have spent the day looking for God’s work.  Some see someone helping a child. Others recount the hard work that they did – and the grateful response they received.  Still others note a small kindness – an act that might otherwise have been forgotten.

And so, brothers and sisters in Christ, I urge you to be a part of God’s work in our world AND pay attention. Pay attention because the Kingdom of God is at work in the world.  

And…. if you have eyes of faith to see it – then Jesus Christ asks you to share that Good news with others so that all can see.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane    

November 29, 2015

1 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address - May 21, 2005 by David Foster Wallace

22005 Kenyon Commencement Address - May 21, 2005 by David Foster Wallace

3 http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/advent-1c

4Standing on the Promises by Lewis Smedes

Lens of Love

This summer as I traveled in Norway, I wanted to capture the beauty around me. As I rode the train through the valley looking at huge mountains right beside me rising up out fjords with gorgeous waterfalls at every turn, it took my breath away. My cell phone camera snapped pictures again and again, trying in vain to capture the beauty. Not a photographer by nature, I wanted the whole picture – but my lens could only contain one small piece, one small perspective.

Today is “Christ the King” Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year before we lean into Advent.  But for us who live in a country that deposed its king long ago, what perspective, what lens do we have to think about or even imagine Christ as “King”?

Teacher and theologian Delores Williams tells about Sunday mornings in her congregation in the south when the minister shouted out: "Who is Jesus?" The choir would respond in voices loud and strong: "King of kings and Lord Almighty" Again the preacher asked, “Who is Jesus?” This time a little woman, Miss Huff, in a voice so fragile and soft you could hardly hear, would sing her own answer, "Poor little Mary's boy.” The preacher asked again and again, "Who is Jesus?" Back and forth the choir would belt out “King of kings and Lord Almighty,” and Miss Huff would sing, “Poor little Mary's boy.” Delores explained, "It was the Black church doing theology."

Who is Jesus? "King of Kings" cannot be the answer without seeing "poor little Mary's boy" as a vulnerable God Incarnate, God with flesh on, who was crucified, bled and died for you.1

The images clash. One is big and powerful, the other small, poor and seemingly weak.  But both tell the Biblical story. John’s Gospel begins with the mighty words, “In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word Was GOD.” Luke’s Gospel begins with a baby born to a poor girl, Mary. The images do not align and yet we can’t even begin to answer the question “Who is Jesus?” without holding both images together.  

Who is Jesus? Pilate wants to know.  He specifically is interested in the claim that Jesus is the “king of the Jews” because he hears “King” as a political term and Pilate’s job is to suppress and kill anyone who has political aspirations.  So Pilate asks, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Pilate isn’t Jewish – but he knows that Jesus IS.  As he says, “your own nation and chief priests handed you over to me.”

Unfortunately, in this lesson – and other parts of the Gospel of John --the term “the Jews” is used for the chief priests and their allies.  This designation of “the Jews” has caused Christian pastors and church leaders to blame the death of Jesus upon Jewish people. This has been the cause or the excuse for anti-semitism.  How soon we forget that “the Jews” are the Children of God, chosen by God to be God’s people!  

Regarding the issue of being a “King,” listen to what Jesus – a Jew – says, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over.”  He is being handed over to the religious authorities who then handed him over to Pilate, the political authority.  Pilate is asking Jesus for his defense. But Jesus – King of Kings and Lord of Lords – does not call an army of a thousand angels to fight or call on his disciples to take up arms. Instead, Jesus, poor little Mary’s boy says, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

The Truth takes on flesh in a little baby born to a poor young girl in a stable while angels sing GLORY.   In the scope of creation and in looking at Jesus as both KING of KINGS and Poor little Mary’s boy  - we have such a tiny viewfinder.  It is impossible to take it all in. And yet… the lens that Jesus hands to us – his followers – is the one that he uses – the lens of love.  Jesus looks at the world with the lens of love for God’s people. ALL of God’s people.  Even when we act more like sinners than saints.

So how do we, as followers of Jesus, look at the world around us with the lens of love?  It is not easy.  But we can begin with prayer.

Last Sunday, as we lifted up in prayer the people of Paris who were grieving the loss of freedom and the injustice wrecked upon their lives from the terrorists, we also prayed for the people of Beirut and the people of Lebanon – who had also suffered losses from terrorists.  And then we prayed for “the next place.”  We did not have to wait long for “the next place.” One of the “next places” that terror struck was Mali.  Terrorists stormed an upscale Radisson Blu hotel, and took over a hundred people hostage – only releasing those who could recite verses from the Koran.

It would be easy to point the finger at Islam.  But just as the lens of bigotry and hate employed by the Nazis during WWII and the KKK here in the United States is the opposite of the lens of love that Jesus gives us as Christians, in the same way, the lens of hatred and violence displayed by the terrorists is not the lens of Islam.  In Paris, faithful Muslims gathered to pray and to recite the verse from the Koran that states if you kill one innocent person, it is as if you are killing all of humanity.  As Christians, we can pray with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

In addition to prayer, as followers of Jesus, we look to scripture to guide us.

Our Bible verse for this month is Micah 6:8: “O mortal, what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.”

As we dwelt in this Word at council this past week, several council members lifted up the word “justice.”  On a theoretical level, “doing justice” just sounds like the right thing to do.  We can all agree – we want justice. But what is justice for Jamar Clark’s family?  What is justice for the police officers who responded to a domestic abuse call?  The call for justice soon becomes more complicated.

After Jamar was killed, Black Lives Matter and the NAACP led a peaceful protest.  Most people were peaceful but not all. According to the NAACP, “The hard truth of the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter protests is that communities of color have no trust in their police force to give them justice.” Another said, "We want justice immediately."2  

Everyone wants Justice. But justice – according to the rule of Law – takes time.  And it can only mete out punishment and restitution. Legal justice does not restore life or hope.  

One of my last stops in Norway was at the Vigeland sculpture garden. In 36 expressive, life size or larger sculptures, the artist, Gustav Vigland, captured human emotions and the relationships between fathers and sons, sisters, mentors and the most famous, one very angry little boy who looks about 4 years old.  The story is told that Vigeland wanted to illustrate a child’s ire and so he gave a little boy an icecream cone – and then took it away. Imagine what that looks like. It’s quite expressive.3

But the sculpture is noteworthy for another reason as well. The angry boy has a golden hand. It wasn’t made that way - but so many people want to hold the little boy’s hand that the bronze has reacted to human touch – and has turned golden.  

Jesus not only gives us the lens of love but also the ability to touch someone with love. Jesus’ lens of love allows us to reach out to those who are hurting – including our neighbors in Paris and Mali but also closer in North Minneapolis as well as your neighbors, your workplace, your household.  It takes courage – and we need the gifts of prayer and scripture to guide us – but Jesus gave us the gift of love for our neighbor for a purpose. So love your neighbor – for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane
Christ the King Sunday
November 22, 2015

1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-kay-lundblad/john-18-33-37-a-different-kind-of-king_b_2166819.html

2 https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/hard-truth-minneapolis-black-lives-matter-protests-communities-color-have-no-trust. Article by By Jana Kooren, ACLU of Minnesota NOVEMBER 19, 2015 | 12:15 PM

3 http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park/vigeland-park

Evil Has Not Won

There are no words sufficient for the atrocities of our world, like the terrorist attacks in Paris Friday night. That evening, we watched as the news kept coming and the death toll kept rising. More than 150 dead. Others severely injured. Borders closed. Ambulances rushing.

An international city frozen in fear.

What...why...how…? We have all kinds of questions. It just doesn’t make sense. How can we be doing this to one another? What kind of hatred and evil pollute us?  

I don’t have answers for you. But in the midst of tragedy, we seek guidance from our faith, our Scriptures, and our God.  

At first, we might jump to the conclusion that the attacks in Paris are a sign of the end, like Jesus seems to be describing in Mark 13. People rising against each other, natural disasters, birth pangs. This all sounds like our world, like topics from a newspaper, right? All of these horrible things are happening.

And what about how Jesus says, “Beware that no one leads you astray.”   The people committing these awful attacks have been led astray by extremist ideology and groups. These extremists may not be pretending to be Jesus, but they are professing to have ultimate truth and authority, which we reserve for God and Jesus alone.  

But I don’t think running around in fear proclaiming the end of times is going to do you any good. I don’t think there’s going to be some God-ordained destruction of the world. People have always been fighting and hurting each other, and there have always been natural disasters.

The difference today it’s is easier to mobilize and attack, we have more powerful technology and weapons, and we have access to far more media and real-time information about what’s going on, so everything seems bigger and more horrendous. And perhaps there are more problems in the natural world, but I believe this has more to do with how we are treating creation than with some cosmic impending doom.  

Jesus may very well be speaking of the end of humanity or the world in this passage, but we’re doing these things to ourselves. War and mass killings and cruelty aren’t part of some divine plan -- they’re evils arising from us. If and when humanity’s time on earth ends, it’s likely we’ll have had something to do with it.

Humanity’s inclination to head down the wrong path is not new. There’s even a glimpse of it in in the gospel text. The disciples are in awe of the “large stones and great buildings” that they see in the temple. It was an impressive structure. But Jesus tells them, “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

For us, this can point to the “great stones and structures” in which we place our value, in which we place our trust. Money. Power. Guns. Privilege. Comfort. Winning. Individualism. The list goes on.

As one Bible commentator (Karoline Lewis) writes, “We love bold. We love big. We love better. That’s the human motto, in every form, it seems. The disciples are no different than we are and we are no different than the disciples back then … Regardless of time, regardless of proximity to Jesus, regardless of so-called illumination, disciples across the age are attracted to splendor and grandeur. We are drawn to the biggest and the best. The most influential. The most powerful. The most anything. We love superlatives. Lest we think we are any more knowledgeable than Jesus’ first disciples, we are not.”(1)

In other words, our attraction to the biggest and the best gets us in trouble. And it causes deep pain. Whether someone kills one person or a hundred, they’re wanting to take away someone’s life, to have more power, to strike fear. Those who attacked Paris want control, they want assimilation, they want the world to know their power and potential.

Fear is an appropriate response. But if we stay there, evil wins. If we stay in fear, the wars and killings will never end.  

But what are we to do? Hebrews tells us that Jesus has opened for us a new and living way, so that we might approach life with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Our faith can be subversive. It is a bold and daring thing to rise up from the shadows unafraid.

In the midst of these terrorist attacks in Paris, we are rightly in fear, but following this living way of Jesus, we can boldly proclaim that God is here. God is weeping with the world. God is embracing Paris. God is active and alive and present no matter how dark the night.

Alone we might hide away in fear forever, but with Jesus there is another way. A living way. A way of going forward in full assurance of faith that God is with us. That God is with the whole world.

These “great stones” we tend to put our trust and value in aren’t there for us in the end. But our God is. Our “great stones” -- like power and influence and money -- tell us to respond to terrorism with even more hatred, violence, and revenge. I saw a news cartoon with the Statue of Liberty carrying a machine gun across the ocean to France, with the caption, “I’m coming.” We think that bigger and better weaponry and even more killing will change the world for the better. I promise you it won’t.  

I’m not saying we should drop all weapons and never protect each other. I respect our military. I’m saying that our obsession with this “great stone” of bigger and better force and destruction has got to stop.

Solidarity with weapons is not the only way to stand together in the world.

Again our Scriptures and our God have something to say. Hebrews tells us, “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together … encouraging one another.”  

I told you earlier that I didn’t have answers for you. But if there is an answer, I believe it is this instruction from Hebrews.

In the face of terror we have to provoke one another to love and good deeds. We have to meet together. We have to encourage one another.

The attacks in Paris were not the only tragedy this week. Lebanon experienced an awful loss of lives in Beruit. Refugees are still fleeing and seeking new life around the world. A suicide bombing killed several at a funeral in Baghdad.

All of this is too much to bear alone. We have to stick together.

Our prayers rise up today for the whole world. We must be as outraged and heartbroken by what happens in Lebanon and Iraq as we are about what happens in France. All of these people are our brothers and sisters and friends.  

While it may not be popular, we must speak up on behalf of our Muslim neighbors, knowing full well that these extremists are no more Muslim than the KKK are Christian. This awful ideology has no place in any religion, and we cannot seek revenge on our peaceful Muslim neighbors -- we are to meet together with Muslims and encourage one another in love.  

We must also love the refugees. They are no more responsible for the evil in our world than you and me. We are called to speak up on behalf of them as well. These attacks did not occur because of France allowing in refugees -- these attacks were committed by the same people the refugees are trying to run away from. We are to meet together with refugees and encourage one another in love.  

As Roque Dalton, a Salvadoran poet who lived through horrendous times, wrote, “I believe the world is beautiful … and that my veins don’t end in me but in the unanimous blood of those who struggle for life and love.”  

We weep with our brothers and sisters of all colors and creeds, who are struggling for life and love. Our veins run in theirs. We pray for the people of Paris, of Beruit, of Baghdad, of the whole world. Let us perpetuate not a cycle of violence but a world of peace. God calls you to radical love. Rise up from the shadows unafraid. Proclaim God’s presence in the midst of despair. Hold one another in love.  

I believe, and I hope you do too, that evil has not won. Evil does not have the final word. If we all stop putting our trust in unlasting stones and structures and follow this new way of life in Jesus, maybe we won't destroy ourselves. We just might change the world.

This might seem like a lofty dream, but I believe our God is far bigger than we can ever imagine, and that when we follow God, things can really change.

For I believe the light has shined in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Amen.

(1) “Storied Stones,” by Karoline Lewis on WorkingPreacher.org. Accessed Nov. 13, 2015. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3724

Katelyn Rakotoarivelo

Sermon 11.15.2015

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church

What would Martin Luther Luther say about that?

A dialogue sermon featuring the (translated) words of Martin Luther Luther…and a bit of poetic license

Martin Luther:  Whew. That’s a lot of stairs for an old man like me.  Say.. what year is it now?

Pastor Pam: It’s 2015

Martin Luther:  2015? You mean it’s the Year of Our Lord two thousand and fifteen? That’s almost 500 years since I nailed the 500 theses on the door in Wittenburg.  That makes this the 21st century!

Pastor Pam: Yes.  It’s true.

Martin Luther:  Why…. One would think that someone would have invented something by now to help an old man like me up the stairs.

Pastor Pam: Like an elevator?

Martin Luther: Luther:  Elevate… OR… what?

Pastor Pam: An elevator – it’s like a very small room that you can walk into or push a wheelchair or a cart into, push a button and it goes up and down.  It’s really helpful for people who have a hard time with stairs – even if they aren’t as old as you.

Martin Luther:  Hmm. Wheeled chairs. Magic rooms that travel up and down. People have been busy in the last 500 years.  But tell me, how does an elevator, as you call it, help you preach God’s Word?  We never went into the bowels of the church, unless we were preaching to the mice!"  

Pastor Pam:  Personally, I try to avoid the mice – even if they are church mice.  But seriously, we use our basement for lots of events.  Our kitchen and large fellowship hall are downstairs and so we use it for everything from church dinners, to community breakfasts, to large meetings of church and community groups. Plus, with our main level being a few steps above our entrance, we need an elevator for some people to even get to worship!

Martin Luther: That IS a problem.  As I wrote to my people: “To gather with God’s people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.” 

Pastor Pam:  So you see our problem. That’s why TODAY we are beginning our pledge drive both for next year’s budget and for the elevator. Say… would you be willing to help?  Our goal is 100% participation. 

Martin Luther: Who… me? 

Pastor Pam: Sure, why not?

Martin Luther: But how can I help? My currency isn’t much good here. But shall I warn them about the dangers of hoarding their money?  After all, “the more a miser accumulates riches, the more his mind or his greed is stimulated. A miser is always in need and is poor in the midst of his riches (from the “Lecture on Ecclesiastes,” 1526)

Pastor Pam:  That’s a good teaching too. But I was actually wondering if you could remind us about your teachings about freedom.  We are asking everyone to participate – but we don’t want people to feel forced to give. Instead we want people to want to contribute because of a desire to serve their neighbor.

Martin Luther:  Yes. Yes. I wrote about that in my treatise, Freedom of a Christian. “The Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.”

Pastor Pam (almost interrupting):  That means that no one can tell Christians what to do.  Right?  But won’t that just encourage people to use their money and time and resources frivolously? 

Martin Luther:  It could if that’s all I wrote about Freedom.   But that’s just half of the story, just one side of the coin.  Christ sets us free from all of the things of this world that would bind us and tell us what to do. That’s why I said, “The Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.” However – the other side of the coin, the other half of the story is this: “The Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

Pastor Pam:  Servant of all. Subject to all? But how can you both tell people that they are free to do whatever they want and at the same time tell them to act like a servant to everyone?   Isn’t that contradictory?

Martin Luther:  Not for Jesus.  Jesus came as a servant and He is our Lord.

Pastor Pam:   So true. But how can ordinary people like us live like Jesus?

Martin Luther: That reminds me of a verse I wrote for a hymn:

“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God–
Naught else is worth believing.

So I’ll ask YOU. What does the Word of God say?

Pastor Pam:  Well, today’s Gospel is a hard one for people to hear. 

Martin Luther:  Why is that?

Pastor Pam: Jesus points out rich people giving tons of money to the church coffers – and then to a widow who puts in 2 copper coins – which were worth about a penny.  Jesus told his disciples that those two coins were more than all that the rich had put into the treasury because they contributed out of their abundance – but she put in everything she had, all that she had to live on.”

Martin Luther: Why is this a difficult word to hear?   As I said in the catechism “God daily and abundantly provides shoes and clothing, food and drink, house and farm, spouse and children, fields, livestock and all property – along with all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life. God protects me against all danger and shields and preserves me from all evil…. For this I owe it to God to thank and praise, serve and obey him.”

Pastor Pam:  This is most certainly true.  The question is how do we rightly thank and praise, serve and obey God? The widow gives it all away.  Jesus even said, “all that she had to live on.” Yet, people have obligations to feed and care for their family, and pay their bills. 

Martin Luther:  In my day, there was a group of priests who were bullying the poor to buy indulgences and pardons that they could not afford.  So as one of my 95 Theses, I wrote that good Christians “are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.”

Pastor Pam: The priests of your day sound like the scribes of Jesus’ day.  Jesus said that they were devouring the houses of the widows.  What they were supposed to be doing, according to Jewish law, was to care for the widow.

Martin Luther:  Absolutely. That was a problem in my day too.  In a letter against the fanatics of my day I wrote God has created us in order that we should be our neighbor’s steward”… (from the “Against Fanatics,” 1526)

Pastor Pam: The scribes were not doing their job of caring for the widows and vulnerable.  They were not being their neighbor’s steward.  In putting all she had to live in into the offering it was as if she stepped into the offering plate and gave herself.  And Jesus noticed…

Martin Luther: Jesus calls us to care for the neighbor.  Indeed, “We are to give heed to do everything in behalf of our neighbor, ever mindful, that since Christ has done this and that for me; why should I not also for his sake freely do all for my neighbor?”

Pastor Pam: So, in other words, we are freed by Christ to become like Christ!  And, just as Christ loves us and provides for our every need, so we can love and serve the neighbor.   

Martin Luther:  That’s right.  In fact, one of my 95 theses stated that: “Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons. “

Pastor Pam:  But here we are – back to works again. How does this focus on “works” for the sake of the neighbor relate to God’s gift of faith and grace?  I thought God’s grace was free?

Martin Luther: “Faith is God’s work in us. It changes us and makes us to be born anew of God. This faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that believers would stake their lives on it a thousand times.”

Pastor Pam: That’s a great word.  Thanks for visiting us Dr. Luther. Any parting thoughts?

Martin Luther: Get that elevator working! Don’t let that be a hindrance to sharing the Word.  Don’t you know: “Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. How could anyone know where Christ is and what faith is in him unless he knew where his believers are?" 

Pastor Pam:  We’ve got it ordered. And as I mentioned, we are kicking off the pledge drive to pay for it and the upcoming year of ministry.

Martin Luther:  Do not let lack of money get in the way of ministry.  As I wrote in my lesson on 1st Timothy: “Where there is Christian faith, gold is not one’s god. Gold is the god of the world. Scripture and experience both tell us this….God supplies it so abundantly that we cannot use it up. We see Him place these things in our hands, and we are surrounded by an abundance of all good things. ( “Lecture on 1 Timothy,” 1528)

Pastor Pam:  Thanks for the reminder Dr. Luther. God entrusts us with an abundance of good things and the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Martin Luther: This is most certainly true!

Care in Community

Give Death the Finger

 I had to look twice.  The Burma shave style sign read: “Give Death the Finger.”  I dismissed it as the work of some prankster for Halloween.  But then I saw it again – further down the street. It didn’t look like a jokester’s sign - it looked like a city sign.  I had been thinking about death and dying a lot lately – from the funeral this past Friday to the funeral this coming Friday and from a number of conversations that I had during the week… death was on my mind.  So… even though I was a little apprehensive about what I would find… I googled it.  And this is what I saw:  (Smoke Detector).

 Below it were these words:

It might sound too easy, but it’s true—five seconds and a single finger can save you and your entire family. Because most home fire deaths occur in properties without working smoke alarms, the Golden Valley Fire Department kicks off National Fire Prevention Week with a strong message: “Give death the finger” by checking your smoke alarms.

 Save a life - - Prevent a death by making smart decisions: like check your fire alarms, get a flu shot, don’t smoke; if you do smoke – quit; don’t drink and drive; eat healthy foods, exercise. These are healthy lifestyle choices, choices we encourage ourselves, our children and one another to do.  Although I’m not sure I want to agree with the latest health report… but they say you should beware of bacon.  It can cause cancer.  Oh well.   I’m not ready to totally give up bacon – but I – like you --strive to live well.

 But sometimes…. even when you – or someone you love does everything “right”…. things go wrong. Healthy people have heart attacks. Or accidents. Loved ones die – too soon.  Maybe they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe they had an unknown health condition. But for whatever reason… or worse… lack of reason… they died.

 It is at times like these that we often turn to God and ask: “Why?”  Why them?  This doesn’t look just or right or fair.  We ask God for an accounting. We aren’t the only ones.

 In today’s Gospel, Mary, in words that can be read simultaneously as words of faith and accusation, says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Or as Martha said to Jesus earlier in our Gospel, “IF ONLY… If ONLY you had been here…If ONLY….

 If… If Only… those words are full of pain, regret and unrealized hopes and dreams – for us, our community, our world.  Examples come to mind far too easily…tragedy in the whole world...smart intelligent immigrants suffocating in a truck… or closer to home… Joseph Wetterling – back in the news as a potential abuser/killer comes to light… the grade schooler Barclay from Crystal, murdered.  Christians – including pastors -- are not immune. Former Bishop Chilstrom and his wife Pastor Corrine wrote a book, Andrew You Died Too Soon, after their son committed suicide. Hopes and dreams and plans dashed.   The list could go on and on.

 Jesus looks at Mary and the mourners and it is as if he takes on their pain – and his own.  Our translation says, Jesus “was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” which is to say that Jesus was filled with a grief that came from somewhere deep within, a grief touched with fury, erupting with tears. Jesus was not shedding the wise all-knowing yet sympathizing tear. Jesus felt the deep pain of grief and loss; Jesus was fully human… one of us.

 When they come to the tomb, Jesus, fully human, again is overcome with grief…and compassion.  Here Jesus, recognizing his unique power to actually change, transform this situation and bring life out of death, prays out loud so that others may come to believe.  And then he does something that is really against his culture.  He insists that they open the tomb. Martha, the practical one, objects. It’s going to smell!  Yet, he insists and so they open the tomb – and he orders Lazarus to come out. And he does. Lazarus comes out all wrapped up in cloths.

 It’s a miracle. That’s worth celebrating.

 But… the story is not over.  Notice what Jesus does – and doesn’t do.  He does not snap his fingers or say magic words or wave his arms so that the clothes would drop away.  Instead, he tells the people, the community: UNBIND HIM… and let him Go.

 Jesus restored Lazarus to life – but also restored him to community. He called upon the people to do the work of unbinding Lazarus so that he could re-enter the community.

 That is how God acts in the world.  From the time in which we are baptized… remember how we gathered around this year around these babies and little ones whose names we read as our baptized saints?  At their baptisms God adopted them as brothers and sisters of Christ and then we promised to pray for them and to be their COMMUNITY, a Community of Christ.  But it goes beyond the day of the baptism.  We are called to continue to walk with the whole family as they grow in faith.

 That’s what we are called to do when people die too.  However they die, expected or not, God wraps them in his arms and calls them home.  And then God calls us, the Community of Christ, to surround those who mourn with love and care.  But it goes beyond the day of the funeral. We are called to continue to walk with those who mourn.

 Today, on All Saints Sunday, we remember ALL the baptized, those living and those who have died because they are ALL part of the COMMUNITY of CHRIST.  God’s Community transcends the boundaries of time and space and includes all of God’s people, including YOU.  As a baptized child of God, you have been called with mothering love by the Holy Spirit, adopted by God the Father and marked with the Cross of Christ forever.

 And, as members of the Community of Christ, you have been given a job. Jesus calls you and me to UNBIND that which would keep those who once were dead or outcast or shunned or smelly (even if they smelled like Death like Lazarus) from participating fully in the community of Christ. 

 But what are the things that keep people bound in pain, shame, fear in our communities and in our world?

 There are many – but imagine just a few examples of people who are “stuck” today.  Imagine a migrant fleeing war wondering if she will find welcome or destitution. Imagine an HIV man wondering if Clare house in Robbinsdale could really be home. Imagine someone who looks like you…maybe IS you… wondering – doubting and yet hoping to find a safe community to belong. 

 God gave each one of these people life; Jesus offers new life.

 But that is not all.  Jesus also calls you – and me – to unbind the Lazarus’s of our world – and restore them to community, or, in other words to continue to walk with them. 

 So what does that look like? How can we be a part of God’s solution without being overwhelmed by the many needs?  Responding to the needs of the immigrant may start with sharing a gift with ELCA hunger or Lutheran Disaster Response.  We’ll be sharing more about Lutheran Disaster response next week, but 10% of the money raised from our elevator appeal will be matched by Prince of Peace Lutheran of Brooklyn Park.  What’s different about the response of the ELCA is that, while other organizations respond to a crisis – the ELCA has people already there and we stay until the people are restored to community.

 Responding to the needs of AIDS victims is not a simple task either.  The Clare Terrace House, at the corner of 36th and France in Robbinsdale, is being built to respond to the needs of primarily homeless AIDS victims – who have nothing.  As part of the WILDFIRE churches, we’ll be putting together a welcome housewarming basket for a new resident – and that will be a good start. However, Clare House is looking for other ways that we can welcome and invite the residents into the community. I’ll be looking for people who are interested and willing to be a part of that welcome.

 These are worthwhile ways for us, as the community of Christ, to respond to Christ’s call to unbind those who are bound.  But… if you also find yourself bound by fear, shame or anything else… I offer THIS Community of Christ at Faith-Lilac Way, a community of forgiven sinners made saints by the power of God.  For, we are called by Christ to love and serve the neighbor. 

 The sign said, “Give death the Finger.”  Jesus Christ has done better than that.  Jesus has conquered the power of death and empowered the community of Christ – which includes you – to set God’s people free. Amen.

Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane

November 1, 2015

All Saints Sunday

Jesus as Servant-King: A Call to Servant Leadership

How many of you find that following Jesus is predictable, a clear path, and that Jesus is always exactly as you want him to be? I didn’t think so. Jesus often defies our expectations, and he certainly defies the expectations of the disciples in our gospel today.

James and John come up to Jesus and demand, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask … Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

Even though they’ve heard Jesus anticipate his suffering and death twice already, they still “imagine a triumphant, regal scene with themselves sitting in positions of honor at King Jesus’ right and left.”[1] They want power and prestige.

But they’ve got it all wrong. Jesus tells them, “You do not know what you are asking.” James and John think that following Jesus will lead to admiration and high status, but that’s not reflective of who Jesus is.

Jesus says,  “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant … For the Son of man came not to be served but to serve.” Jesus is still great -- he is still a leader, a king, someone with authority, but in a very different scene than the one James and John have imagined. Jesus is a leader who serves, a king who walks among his people, not one who reclines in some throne far away.

 But then why call him a king at all if he doesn’t act like one? How can Jesus the servant and Jesus the king possibly be the same person?

After all, a king is someone who wields a lot of power, who can even be a tyrant and lord his authority over his subjects. Think about the kings you’ve heard of.

Henry VIII of England divorced and executed wives who didn’t bear him a living son. He executed clergy and other rulers that didn’t do what he wanted. He possessed great power and wealth, and used it for his personal agenda at the expense of people’s lives.

Or what about Emperor Nero of Rome? He was a tyrant too. He executed countless people, even his own mother. It was also his mission to ruthlessly torture and execute Christians -- he is considered the first major persecutor. Nero also eliminated those who might rival his throne and was described as being “obsessed with personal popularity”[2] -- which is yet another trait we associate with those in power.

Do any examples of kings who serve or who were willing to die for their people come to mind easily? Although this kind of leader may have existed in history, we do not readily associate “service” or “being willing to die” with the role of a king.

And yet we do have a king who serves and who was willing to die for us. Jesus defies our expectations and redefines the cultural understanding of who a king is.

Jesus uses his authority to teach others about God and God’s kingdom. Jesus uses his power to heal the sick and grant sight to the blind. Jesus uses his position to be an example of how to live in response to God’s love.

Jesus shows us who a king -- or really any kind of leader -- is truly meant to be: one who serves their people and uses their power to benefit others. So it is not Jesus who has this whole king and leader identity wrong -- it’s us.

Likewise, our stereotypes of a servant are not in line with who Jesus is, either.

Let’s take a couple of fictional examples that are representative of how we tend to imagine servants.

First, Cinderella. She is ordered around mercilessly by her stepsisters and stepmother, having to take care of nearly all the domestic duties. She is treated without dignity and respect, overlooked as a human being. Her duties are done quietly, and she must shrink who she is because she has no other choice.

Another example are the servants, the house workers, we see on Downton Abbey. If you’re not familiar, this is a show about an English Lord, his family, and his staff at the turn of the 20th century. The servants at the Downton estate are like a well-oiled machine. They’re always a step ahead of their superiors, and keep the house running without much recognition.

They also know all of the gossip of the house, and share that with one another. Not only do they have the details on their superiors, like Lord Grantham, they also know secrets about one another.

The servants are often caught in their own mix of power struggles, lies, and negotiations. While the servants portrayed on this show are treated better than servants were treated in the real Victorian era, they certainly don’t have much power to affect change or to do anything outside of their employer’s rules.

But Jesus isn’t a timid servant or caught up in local gossip. He isn’t without agency or a full personality. Servanthood doesn’t mean you neglect who you are or hide behind the scenes all the time. It means that you use who you are to benefit others, and that the focus of your life is outward.

Jesus serves by breaking boundaries to be with those on the margins. He serves by teaching what it means to participate in God’s kingdom. He serves, as our text says, by offering his life as a ransom, a deliverance, a redemption of all people.

Jesus might be many things, but he certainly is not meek and mild. Nor does he simply follow rules for the sake of good order. He chooses to be a servant, he has agency, and he uses that way of life to make a difference, to transform lives, to create change.

Again, Jesus does not conform to our expectations. He defies them.

Our Jesus is both servant and king, king and servant. For him, these two identities go hand in hand. He is both a leader who serves and a servant who leads. I hope you are beginning to see that these are not mutually exclusive.

But what does this all mean for us? It is well and good that Jesus is our king who came to serve, but we aren’t kings or rulers, right? This is true, but in some way or another, each of us is a leader, which means we can follow Jesus’ example of servant leadership.

The connecting piece in Jesus between leader and servant is that he uses who he is in each of the roles to benefit others. While you are not the savior of the world like Jesus, there are plenty of ways for you benefit others.

You can embody qualities like compassion, attentive listening, and encouragement. If you are a parent, for instance, you are a leader in your family. It’s up to you to set the example for your children in how to be compassionate, empathetic human beings by interacting with them that way. This both an act of leadership in setting an example and an act of service in treating them well.

Or perhaps you are in a supervisory position at work, and the people you are supervising refuse to collaborate on an important project. Your task could be to use your position to step in and model collaboration. In this way, you are leading them in the direction you want them to go, and you are serving them by being willing to walk alongside them instead of lording your power over them.

Or maybe you are organizing an event to raise awareness of something, like the need to stop stigmatizing mental health and the need to foster a culture where people aren’t afraid to talk about it. In this case, you wouldn’t hide behind the scenes and just print pamphlets about the issue, you would use who you are to speak up, get others involved, and organize a time for education. Here, you are a leader making a difference, and you are servant working for the benefit of those stigmatized by mental health.

You see, in Jesus, we are set free from the cultural expectations of who we are supposed to be, and we are set free to live this life of servant leadership using who we are.

There is no better example in the world than Jesus, our servant-king, to follow. He overturns our definitions of what a leader and a servant are to be, and he leads us by example into a radically different life of servant leadership -- thank God we are to follow Jesus’ standards and not our own.

So get going -- get following Jesus, get leading, get serving. Get to this life of being the servant leader Jesus calls you to be, and don’t worry about the world’s expectations or even your own -- Jesus will lead you and serve you every step of the way. Amen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          [1] Mark Vitalis Hoffman, Commentary on Mark 10:35-45, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2641.

[2] Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero.

Money Makes the World Go Around, Right?

Imagine, for a moment, that there was a great big wall in front of you.  You could hear the sound of laughter and joy on the other side. You wanted to be a part of it -- you could not get there. You could not see over the wall. You could not see under the wall. You could not see through the wall…   You tried to walk around it.  But there was no way around the wall.  You hear a voice calling to you, saying “Come!”

 Suddenly you realized why that voice sounds familiar. It’s Jesus. Now you wanted all the more to get there. But the only way to Jesus was through that wall.   So what is that wall made of?  What was getting in your way?

 For the man in the Gospel, it was his money.  He came to Jesus to find out what he was lacking, wondering: what was he missing?  He comes to Jesus and our narrator Mark tells us, “Jesus loved him.”  He doesn’t say, “Jesus condemned that greedy man.”  He says, “Jesus loved him… and then Jesus invited this man to follow him. What an honor! But then Jesus told this man what it was that was getting in his way.  Jesus said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

 The wall, for the man in the Gospel, was his money. He had been invited to follow Jesus.  But he went away sad, for, as the Gospel tells us, he had many possessions.

 Money and love of possessions can get in the way of following Jesus.  It’s a challenge for us too. In our consumer culture, money and possessions give status. We are urged to buy – bigger, better, more.  In my neighborhood I watch in wonderment as house after house gets torn down and rebuilt into mansions. I read recently that storage lockers are on the rise because people can’t fit all the stuff that they buy into their homes. That may not be you.  But it’s easy to fall into the consumer culture – even on a smaller scale.  Many of us spend money on things once considered a luxury – Caribou coffee, cable TV, internet access, cell phones.  These are products and reflections of our culture – and they are not necessarily bad in and of themselves.

 But it is important for us to remember that we are a wealthy people. It doesn’t always seem that way because we can always point to someone else who has more.  I can look at my neighbors in their 750 thousand dollar homes with landscapers working on their yards and say, “I’m not wealthy!” But I am – and most of you are too. In the eyes of the world, anyone who has enough food to eat and a roof over their head and access to health care is wealthy.

 Is it wrong to have money and possessions and wealth?  Let’s look at what Jesus says and does. Jesus loves the rich man in today’s Gospel and invites him to follow him.  Jesus goes to Zacchaeus – you remember the rich tax collector who was sitting in the sycamore tree?  He invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house, which was a huge honor for Zacchaeus.  It was only after the invitation that Zaccheaus proclaims that he will give away a portion of his wealth and repay those that he had cheated fourfold. It was a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea who cared for Jesus’ body after he died. Jesus does not condemn money.  He did not tell everyone to sell everything they had. But he does tell this rich man to sell everything because this man’s money and possessions were getting in the way of his relationship with Jesus.

 Is this still a challenge for us?  Can our money, property, stuff get in the way of our relationship with Jesus?   A professor of mine quoted the saying: "It is not wrong to have wealth, but it can be dangerous."  It can be dangerous because it is easy to forget that it’s entrusted to our care – that we are to care not only for ourselves but also for the world around us. Besides, as another saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.” 

When we forget that everything belongs to God – and that God has entrusted us to be stewards of the earth, of our relationships, of our resources, of our time, of the talents that God has given us – then it is tempting to use them not like a steward would use them, always thinking how the owner, the master would want these gifts used – but instead thinking of our own benefit. That’s when we can get into trouble, because that’s when something else gets in the way of our relationship with Jesus.

 Jesus is calling on the rich man – and us – to put our relationship with Jesus as our first priority in our life.

 Wayne Muller writes in his book, Sabbath: Finding rest, renewal and delight in our busy lives, that according to our society, “A ‘successful’ life is one in which one is always terribly busy, working hard, accomplishing great things, and making a great deal of money.”  But this is not the mark of success of a follower of Jesus.

 Muller’s own life – before he wrote this book – would have fit the earlier definition of “successful.”  He was a psychotherapist with lots of clients, ran a non-profit, traveled around the country lecturing and teaching, served as a chaplain, writing a book and trying to be a good father and husband.  His life, seemingly successful, landed him in the hospital – exhausted.  He let the busyness of his life – all good stuff – get in the way of taking time for Sabbath – time to follow Jesus.

 For us, as followers of Jesus, a “successful life” is simply one in which we put following Jesus first in our use of ALL the gifts God has entrusted to us.  Putting Jesus first in our use of time means spending time worshiping God, spending time listening for the Holy Spirit’s leading, taking time for Sabbath rest.  Putting Jesus first in our use of treasures means using wisely the resources God has entrusted to us both for ourselves and for the sake of our neighbor.  Putting Jesus first in our use of our talents means letting our hands and feet, voices and abilities be used for the glory of God. 

 Jesus’ disciples thought that this would be hard.  Since their culture valued rich people as the ones who must be doing the right things to have received a blessing from God of riches, the disciples were quite anxious when Jesus said that it would be difficult for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom. They asked, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus responded, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

 That’s the good news. While always putting Jesus first in the use of our time, our talents, our treasures is hard – Jesus even calls it impossible for us on our own. But, Jesus also says, “For God all things are possible.”

 Jesus did more than declare it possible - Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to lead us-- and also gave us one another to support each other.  I saw that happen this past week.  Some of you shared financial gifts to buy food, others used your talents of baking and cooking and others used your time and talents to serve a meal to the families of children in the hospital at the Ronald McDonald house.  There was an abundance of funds, talents and people to share the load.  Some of you shared your financial gifts to fund Kidpack.  Some of you gathered together to sing and prepare for worship today. An elevator task force gathered because providing access to ministry to all people is what Jesus would have us do.  You all prioritized worship today.  That’s what putting Jesus first looks like. 

 Money does not make the world go around – God does.  And, for God, all things are possible.  So, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and trusting in God’s grace, may you seek to follow Jesus every day and in every way and may God give you the courage and conviction to do so.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran