Thanksgiving Eve!

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday.  For me this day has involved eating lots of good food, spending some time with family members, and enjoying a time of leisure as I have often been off work or school for four or five straight days.  It is a time that for me has generally been free from stress and worry.  For many years I was pretty oblivious to how privileged that I am to enjoy a Thanksgiving holiday that is free from worry.  My wife was the first person who challenged my belief that Thanksgiving is an easy day and she caused me to be more aware of what other people are experiencing.  Thanksgiving is actually a very difficult day for many people.  Preparing the big meal can be quite stressful because it is a lot of work and requires a lot of planning.  Many people also feel anxiety over being around large groups of people and the very real possibility that you will be seated next to another guest or family member who is not your first choice for a conversation partner.  Of course, for some people a large Thanksgiving feast is not possible.  Many in our community are food insecure and are struggling just to put a simple meal on the table.  Others are alone and do not have friends and family with whom they can celebrate.  Others are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet and would love to have just one day off work much less a four-day holiday weekend.  I am ashamed to admit that I have often failed to see the worry and anxiety that many people experience during the Thanksgiving holiday.

The worries present in modern America are much different than those of first century Palestine.  The majority of the people in our society live at a level of affluence which would have been unimaginable to a first century Palestinian peasant.  However, many who live comfortable lives today still feel inadequate as we are constantly being bombarded with images and messages from advertisers, media, and sometimes even friends and family, that encourage us to consume and to accumulate more possessions.  These messages often make us feel unhappy with what we have and lead us to worry that we do not have enough which leads us to buy and consume even more.  We also know that despite our society’s affluence there are many who deal daily with the harsh consequences of economic failure and that a traumatic event such as a job loss or a large medical bill would be a financial catastrophe for almost all of us.  Poverty and homelessness are realities that impact many in our society.  We live in a world where our fears seem to be ever present at all economic levels so this encouragement from Jesus not to worry seems to be contrary to the reality of our modern life. 

Jesus also seems to be a bit disconnected from his first century audience as many of those hearing his message would have had real concerns over their material needs.  However, I argue that Jesus is very well aware of the hardships faced by his followers.  Earlier in this same teaching discourse known as the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught the crowd to pray the petition “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Jesus knew that meeting physical needs is an important part of life.  The point that Jesus is making in today’s text is not that we ignore our material needs but that we avoid excessive worry over them.  Yes, our material needs must be met but this call to avoid excessive worry reflects the promise of God that we are all unique individuals created in God’s image.  Each and every one of our lives has meaning and purpose and we are not simply beings who are focused on simply satisfying our material needs.

As Christians we are called to live according to values that often contradict the values lifted up in our society.  As Jesus tells us in verse thirty-three, we are to strive first for the kingdom of God.  Striving for the kingdom of God means that Jesus expects his followers to put forth energy and effort into things that give meaning to life.  Life will continue to be difficult and at times it will be a struggle to make ends meet but as Christians we live in hope that our lives do have meaning and purpose.  If we are able to avoid being paralyzed by excessive fears and worries, we see that God provides abundantly for all of God’s creatures.  The God who sustains the lilies of the field and the birds of the air has also given us the opportunity to live beautiful and amazing lives and accompanies each of us on our journey through life.

On this Thanksgiving holiday whether your celebration resembles the famous Norman Rockwell painting Freedom from Want or whether you are eating a sandwich by yourself in front of the television I invite you to avoid excessive worry and to remember that you are created in the image of God, that your life has meaning and purpose, and that you are not alone because God is always with you.  Thanks be to God.

 - Vicar Kyle Anderson

Christ the King

Today is Christ the King Sunday. For this Festival Sunday, the Minneapolis Area Synod provided an online worship service with a sermon from Archbishop Musa Filibus from the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria. I encourage you to watch that service – it is available on our website. However, they did not provide a copy of the sermon but I watched it and wanted to reflect and share with you some of the wisdom that the Archbishop shared and also to put it in the context of our life and the challenge that our Bishop Ann Svennungsen has given to us. 

Archbishop Filibus began with the question that Pilate asks Jesus when Jesus told him that “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate asks: “What is truth?” 

 In Pilate’s day, they didn’t have Snopes.com or other fact checkers evaluating whether or not public figures were speaking the truth or how much truth was in their statements and how much of what they said was simply what they wanted to be true. So maybe Pilate asked the question sarcastically, based on his own experience in the political realm. Or, maybe he was a seeker. We don’t know. This is one of those times in which I wish we could hear the inflection in his voice. Instead… we can only judge Pilate’s words by his actions. 

As it has often been said, actions speak louder than words.  

Kings were pretty brutal in getting and holding power in those days. Herod had his own sons executed when they dared to try to usurp his power.  And listening to the news today, we can easily see that political leaders can still be tyrants too – and the result is refugees fleeing from terror at home and often finding nowhere to go.  

So, what does it mean to call Jesus a king? When we think of kings, we so often think of power and might. But Jesus makes clear that his kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world – in his day or ours.  By his actions, he shows that his kingdom is not one that revolves around power, might or violence.  Instead, when people were hungry, he fed them. When he met a woman by a well – he offered her living water. He wept with Mary and Martha when they were grieving the death of their brother and he healed the sick and cured those who were hurting.  

Jesus witnesses in his words and by his actions love, hospitality, and forgiveness for his enemies. Jesus, by his words and his actions, teaches us to love God and love the neighbor.  

As Filibus says, “In a world where there are so many voices beckoning, those who listen to the words of Jesus are radically transformed in the way that they treat their neighbors.” 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a great example of this. He urged Christians to put aside violence as a means to an end, saying, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” 

And this, Filibus says, is “the truth that Jesus call us to because it matters who we say that Jesus is and who he is in our lives.” 

This is why, when the Minneapolis Area Synod’s international partner, the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria asked for help raising the money to build a Lutheran University in Nigeria, Bishop Ann said, “Yes.” She saw the need – only 40% of the students who are eligible are able to attend a university. In part, this is because students are often given a university spot – not based on merit or ability. The Lutheran church in Nigeria already has a network of primary and secondary schools, but without a university in their region, their students are often passed over - even if they are well qualified.  

The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria has already obtained the land that is needed, they have raised the initial funds and have received the permit to begin from the government. However, the government insists that they have $500,000 in the bank before they can lay the first brick. The urgency of raising these funds now is that if and when the government changes – which happens often in Nigeria – the opportunity to build this school may vanish.   

This is not the only need that we, as Christians will encounter. There are many needs – both inside our church, our community and around the world.  What matters for us is how we show God’s love to our neighbor who is nearby, our neighbor across the street and our neighbor on the other side of the world.  When we not only see Christ in our neighbor – regardless of where they live or what they look like –  but also respond to our neighbor with words and actions of love and compassion, then we reflecting the love of God.   

We proclaim Christ as King – not as other kings – but the King of love, the King of compassion and the King of our lives. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Widow’s Mite

Contradictions can be both fascinating and frustrating.  In so many areas of our lives we live daily in a world of contradictions.  When it comes to dining there is the old standby “nobody goes to that restaurant.  It is too crowded.”  Or for that weekend at the lake when you tell your kids “Don’t go near the water until you learn how to swim.”  Or in human relationships is it true that “birds of a feather flock together” or is it true that “opposites attract?”  Trying to think through contradictions makes me just want to go on a working vacation.  I think that a quote attributed to Socrates sums it up best.  “I only know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

Contradictions can be very annoying but often when we spend time wrestling with them, they actually start to make sense.  In this gospel text Jesus uses a contradiction to invite us to consider deeply how we want to live our lives and how we can be good stewards of the abundant riches that God has provided to us.  Jesus begins by talking about the scribes.  Jesus paints a picture of the pretentious scribes complete with long robes and sitting in places of honor.  Jesus then goes on to complete the picture by mentioning that they devour widows’ houses the meaning of which is not entirely clear to me but could be interpreted to mean that they impoverish widows and rob them of their homes.  Of course, we know from the Old Testament that the oppression of economically vulnerable widows is heavily criticized by the prophets as being unjust.  Jesus makes the scribes seem even less sympathetic when he appears to insinuate that they try to hide their unjust actions by saying long prayers.  The scribes are guilty of injustice and the statement that they will receive the greater condemnation is a pretty clear declaration that the unjust scribes will be punished.

After the scribes are denounced then the story moves on to those who are giving to the temple treasury including this poor widow.  Things seem to be going quite well as the wealthy are putting in large sums.  Even the poor widow puts in two copper coins which gets the attention of Jesus who is quite impressed.  After seeing her contribution Jesus immediately points out to his disciples that the widow has given the most of all because she has made her contribution despite her poverty.  Viewed by itself the offering of the widow appears to be an action of faithful discipleship that we should simply imitate by giving away everything that we have.  However, the widow’s offering coming immediately after Jesus denounces the scribes highlights the contradiction that makes this text worthy of further consideration.  The widow is supporting the institution that has helped to perpetuate the crushing poverty that has impacted the widow and others like her.  Why would Jesus be supportive of the widow giving all of her limited financial resources to support the institution that he just criticized because it mistreated widows by devouring their houses?

My approach to analyzing this contradiction is to consider what is motivating the widow’s desire to so generously give what little she has to the temple treasury.  It is possible that the widow gave to the treasury out of a sense of obligation.  The idea of a tithe comes to mind here.  I do not think that this fully explains the widow’s gift.  In fact, I would challenge this assertion and argue that the widow actually has no obligation to give anything to the treasury.  I have had the misfortune of sitting through numerous income tax courses over the years.  Tax policy wonks of different political persuasions have many differing views related to tax theory and the structure of an income tax system.  The one thing that the tax policy nerds agree on is that there is a certain level at which the income tax should not apply.  The agreement that the poorest of the poor should be exempt from income tax is universal and the widow would fall into that category.  I am not an expert on the intricacies which would have applied to contributions to the treasury during the time of Second Temple Judaism but I am confident that the widow would not have been expected to contribute so I do not think that an obligation to give explains her contribution.

The widow also may have donated because she felt that her contribution would be able to alleviate the suffering present in her community.  I completely agree with the idea that our small contributions can add up to do great things but there are limits to what our individual donations are able to achieve.  When I coordinated a free breakfast intended to help low- income individuals in an economically depressed part of St. Louis I would pick up the food and supplies each month and the charge to the church credit card was about $250.  Me and a team of anywhere from four to eight people would feed a group of about 150.  It did make a huge difference to those individuals, but there are thousands of people living in poverty in each of our major metro areas.  I could empty out my savings accounts and feed a group of 150 people three meals a day for a month or so.  I might be able to get up to six months if I was able to cut costs by buying in bulk and if I cleaned out all of my retirement savings.  I would eventually run out of money and of course these people would still be food insecure and they would also still have to find a way to pay for healthcare, housing, and transportation expenses as well.  Therefore, I don’t think that the lesson here is to give away everything that one has in order to solve all of the social ills of the world.

Ultimately, I think that the widow gives to the treasury because it is a way for her to express her values and to show how the love of God has brought joy and meaning to her life.  I think that her giving is motivated along the lines of the Winston Churchill quote, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”  Through her offering the widow is empowered.  Her giving is a way for her to show that her life matters despite her low social standing as she uses her giving to demonstrate what is important to her.  She is taking a risk here as maybe these two coins will just further enrich the scribes but I think that in the widow’s mind, she feels that she is giving to a cause in which she believes.  The widow believes that contributing to the temple treasury is a risk worth taking because she has a strong faith and hope in the promises of God.  She believes in God’s justice and God’s love and she wants everyone else to also experience God’s justice and God’s love.  Even though the scribes may not always practice what they preach she ultimately believes that God’s justice and God’s love are part of the ministry being done in the Temple and in the community.  The widow is secure in the knowledge that she is a beloved child of God and she feels a desire to share Christ’s love and her treasure with others.  She has a close relationship with God and so now she is giving everything that she has to the treasury.  This giving is an expression of her priorities but even more importantly she uses this gift to demonstrate that the love of God is so deep within her heart and soul that she is willing to give her entire life to God.   

We now have our opportunity to be like the widow and give our entire lives to God as we use our giving as a way to express our faith and our belief in God’s love by supporting what is important to us.  Despite the pandemic there is vibrant ministry occurring here at Faith-Lilac Way.  We are gathering for worship in-person, in the parking lot, online, and through printed worship materials available online and sent out by mail.  We are learning as we have kids in Sunday School and adults who are participating in our hybrid educational offerings.  We are continuing to fellowship and support each other.  We are also still very engaged in our neighborhood.  We open our space for groups like the scouts and two different horticultural organizations.  We continue to participate in meaningful collaboration with the Wildfire churches as well as our siblings in Christ Greater St. John’s Baptist Church.  We work to alleviate poverty through our support of Every Meal and NEAR Food Shelf.  We support global mission as we raise funds for the proposed new Lutheran university in northeast Nigeria.  I am very proud to be serving a congregation that is engaged in these ministries.  What we are doing here is very meaningful and I know that you value it greatly.  The love of Christ is present in the ministry of this faith community.  As we make our stewardship commitments to support the mission and ministry of Faith-Lilac Way, I know that many of you have prayerfully considered your giving.  Today I ask you to be like the widow.  I am not asking you to give every last coin that you possess but I am asking you to examine your priorities and to give your time, talents, and treasures in a way that not only reflects what is important to your life but also invites others into the love of Christ.      

On first glance when I focused on the widow’s offering as a contribution of coins it appeared to me to be a puzzling contradiction.  However, when I think of the widow’s offering as a gift of her entire life it makes much more sense and inspires me to give my entire life to God as well. Thanks be to God.

All Saints Day

Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

I don’t know about you… but if I had a choice… I would just skip over that “weeping” part and focus on the “Joy comes in the morning.” After all, as I like to remember, every Sunday is a little Easter.

But… as Mary and Martha could tell you… weeping comes first.

Mary and Martha wept when their brother died. They prayed, they called on Jesus to come to heal Lazarus. But their prayers were not answered in the way that they wanted. When Jesus did come, it was too late. Lazarus had already died. Mary said to Jesus, “IF ONLY… you had come.”

I’ve prayed prayers like that – both prayers begging for healing for people I loved and prayers asking Jesus why he wasn’t doing what I asked. But, like Mary and Martha, my prayers aren’t always answered in the way that I want.  Maybe you too have prayed a prayer or two that Jesus hasn’t answered in the way that you want. If that’s the case, you probably know…. weeping may linger for the night.

There has been a lot of weeping in this past year around the world. 5 million people… 5 MILLION people have died because of the coronavirus…and we are not done.  There has been weeping for lives lost, hopes shattered, plans derailed.  Exhausted nurses and doctors and medical workers have quit - simply out of despair. Family members – cut off from their loved ones – have wept outside of hospital doors not even able to go inside and hug their loved one … one more time. Whether the tears have come from mourning one who died too soon or in compassion for a loved one who lingers in pain too long… weeping may linger for the night …and the night may be longer than one night.

Jesus wept too. Jesus wept at the hospital doors with the doctors, with the families, with those whose lives have been turned upside down. And Jesus wept with his friends Mary and Martha.

Our Gospel lesson only tells a part of the story. Earlier, when Jesus first returned, Martha saw him and, like Mary, she chided Jesus for not being there to heal Lazarus. Jesus didn’t argue. Instead, he said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” … And, when the crowd comes… Jesus shows her – and us – what that means…

Against the objections of Mary who was worried about the smell – and you can’t really blame her, right? It had been 4 days. Jesus asks the community that had gathered to take the stone away from the grave. Notice that he doesn’t call upon the holy angels to move the stone. Instead, Jesus asks the crowd – the community -- to lend a shoulder. And then just as a shepherd calls to a sheep, Jesus called to Lazarus, “Come out!” And Lazarus came out –  bound up in graveclothes. Again, Jesus addresses the community, “Unbind him, and let him go!”

Weeping may linger for the night… but joy comes in the morning.

Joy certainly came to Mary and Martha and of course, to Lazarus on that morning. But joy also came to the community. They were the ones who rolled back the stone; They were the ones who unbound Lazarus from the graveclothes. They were a part of the story of new life for Lazarus. But the story goes beyond this community.

The story of Lazarus also foreshadows Jesus’ own death and resurrection. There are important differences. While Lazarus was returned to life for a time, Jesus was resurrected to eternal life – and with his resurrection comes the promise of everlasting life for Mary and Martha and Lazarus and all the saints who have come after. As we read in Revelation, the vision of the end times, God will wipe away EVERY tear and give us new life. 

On this All Saints day, we remember those who have gone before us, those whom Jesus has called home. And sometimes, the memory is bittersweet – because we miss them. But the promise of eternal life with Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, is the joy that comes in the morning, on the last day when the weeping is done and the tears are wiped away. On that day, all that is left is joy.  

This summer while hiking, I noticed an old tree in forest that had fallen down years ago. Along the trunk of the old tree, a sapling had sprouted. It’s roots were buried in the old tree’s trunk, receiving both nourishment and protection. I sometimes think of the faith of those who have gone before us as nourishing us and supporting us in our faith – like the tree supporting the young sapling. It was because of the witness of my grandmother reading me countless Bible stories, my grandfather serving as the gravedigger and the bell-ringer of his country church, the Sunday school teachers telling the story and making countless crafts and many more people in my life and in your life witnessing by their words and their deeds – this is how you and I have heard the story of Jesus. This is the joy that comes in the morning.

Because Jesus came – not only to give us hope for life after the grave but also on this side of the grave. Jesus brought Lazarus back to this life – and called on the community to remove the barriers, to take away the stone, to unbind the graveclothes so that Lazarus may live among them and share the story of Jesus.

We too have Lazarus moments in which we are called to share the story of Jesus. We too are called to remove barriers and unbind that which keeps people from hearing or seeing God’s good news.

The other day as I was walking along Minnehaha Creek, I saw an artist with his easel painting a beautiful bend in the creek. I stopped to look and was amazed at the way he captured the trees bent over the water and the leaves reflected in the river and added a bit of mystery, of wonder to the canvas.  I was so impressed that I started asking him questions. He seemed to enjoy explaining his craft and so I stayed and watched as he chatted with me, and added a little more dimension to the painting. As he was painting, he said, “I must be the luckiest man alive. I just recovered from three kinds of cancer. I didn’t even know I had one kind of cancer… my wife calls it a miracle.” I told him, I do too. I don’t think you have luck. I think you have been blessed. You have a gift from God to share.

Joy comes in the morning.  This man’s mission was to capture the beauty of the river to share with others in his painting. My mission, our mission, is to share Jesus who is life itself and is with us always, surrounding us and bringing us new life and joy. Weeping may linger for the night but JOY comes in the morning. Thanks be to God who makes it so. Amen.

WorkingPreacher.org Commentary on John 11:32-44 by Brian Peterson 2018, Jaime Clarke Soles 2012, Henry Langknect 2009

Sunday Sermon

Years ago, a partner at a big law firm was asked by an aspiring lawyer, “What is your secret? What is most important to you?” The lawyer replied, “Law, golf and my family… in that order.” It’s not surprising that he was divorced not long after.

If you were to ask that question on the internet you will get a lot of answers, “The 10 most important things” or “12 essential things in life” and so on. But Jesus makes it simple: Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself.

Most of you have heard Jesus’ two greatest commandments before -this is not new. We know the right answer – in our heads.  And yet, it is still a challenge to live into those commandments. How do you square your life and the everyday decisions you make with the commandment to love God and love your neighbor as yourself? – especially in the midst of a pandemic, natural disasters, and civil unrest?

This was the situation in Martin Luther’s day. The 1918 pandemic was in his community – and there was no vaccine or ventilator or what we would call real medicine. There was drought and famine and civil unrest. Germany was not a single country at the time but rather a group of little kingdoms with various princes vying for power. Meanwhile, the church was extracting huge sums of money from the poor to build cathedrals and to line the pockets of corrupt officials and priests. How was one to follow Jesus’ commands to love God and love the neighbor in such a time as that?

Luther turned to the Psalms. He was a professor as well as a pastor at that time and as he taught and preached, he discovered the power of the Psalms. He found such comfort and strength in Psalm 46 that he put the words to music. Luther writes:

          We sing this psalm to the praise of God, because He is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell,   against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin.1

The words of Psalm 46 spoke deeply to Martin Luther and his community in his day and they can also speak to us in our pandemic times, in the midst of our unrest and our daily life challenges. This is the beauty of the Psalms… although written thousands of years ago, they are timeless prayers and songs of the human heart speaking openly and honestly to God and listening for God’s promise, presence and redeeming Word.

We have been challenged by our Faith Practices and Neighboring practices group to grow in our faith as a congregation and as individuals. And so, we are going to begin by exploring and praying the Psalms together as a congregation in worship. I also encourage you to try this for your daily devotions at home too.

However, I know reading the Psalms is different from reading other things. While many of you may know the 23rd Psalm, other Psalms are not as accessible. I’ll never forget the honesty of one woman who I visited when I was an intern. She told me, “Everyone tells me to read the Psalms but I can’t get anything out of them!”

Well… it turned out that she was reading a King James version of the Bible. Hebrew poetry can be difficult to understand anyway, and the King’s English wasn’t helping her either.

This experience taught me that it’s important to not just read the Psalms but to take a little  time to reflect on what these ancient words have to say to us.

In his teaching and writing2 Luther Seminary Professor Rolf Jacobson suggests that the best way to begin praying the Psalms is to first learn the different types of Psalms. He divides them into 5 categories: Psalms of praise, help or lament, forgiveness, thankfulness and trust. And then, he suggests we memorize ONE verse or phrase from each type.

Today’s Psalm, Psalm 46, is a Psalm of trust. So, I invite you to memorize just this line: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

That’s not so hard, right? My guess is that a lot of you already have already memorized that line or a variation of it because you know the hymn, “A Mighty fortress is our God.”

So you are already on your way. But let’s look a little more deeply at this Psalm. It begins with our memory verse which proclaims who God is: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. This metaphor, this image of God, is a reminder to us that God is bigger and stronger and more powerful than anything we can imagine.  This is not the only image of God in the Bible, but, especially when we are overwhelmed, it is helpful for us to be reminded that God is so much bigger than we are and that we can trust in God.

Further, look at the pronouns of this verse. Psalm 46 is a psalm for the whole community. “God is OUR refuge and strength.” God is not just my refuge but God is a refuge, a fortress for us all. We all have a place, a refuge, with God. And this is why the Psalmist can proclaim:

“Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. “

God’s got this. We do not need to fear. There is no power that is stronger than God.

The second stanza of this Psalm is one that I admit, I often have passed over. But this time, I noticed where the Psalmist says that God is – God is in the midst of the city. Our God is not a God who is far off. God is here, with us. It is God who provides life giving water to refresh and sustain us. And, even when nations are in an uproar, and human systems fail, and even when the ground beneath our feet seems unsure, God is with us and is our refuge.  

Finally, as we read in the last verse, God will bring peace to the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  This day…is not yet. But this day will come.

In the meantime, God speaks directly to us in this Psalm: “Be still, and know that I am God!”

Sometimes I need to just sit with that verse for a little while. I know for a time I was addicted to listening to the news reports – anxiously hoping and praying for a release from this pandemic and making sure I was on top of the latest news. Don’t misunderstand me. It’s important to be informed so that we can make good decisions. But I also realized that I was overwhelmed by it. If that is sometimes your temptation too for this or anything else … I invite you to give your concerns to God and then sit with this word from God: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Like Martin Luther and so many of the Saints who have gone before us, we can turn to the Psalms and pray the Psalms to help us learn to trust in God who is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Thanks be to God. Amen.

1Martin Luther quoted by Dr. Mark Throntveit, WorkingPreacher.org October 25, 2015

2 Rolf A Jacobson and Karl N Jacobson Invitation to the Psalms, 2013 and podcast Praying the Psalms.

October 31, 2021    Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church        Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Have you ever tried to count the stars? Or wondered at the beauty of the sunset? Or breathed in deep after a fresh rain and looked up to see a rainbow? These are all God’s gifts.

But God doesn’t stop there. Have you ever held sleeping baby? Or skipped rocks with a friend, a child or a child at heart? Or listened to the stories of a grandparent or elder? Relationships are God’s gifts too.

Have you ever watched a musician playing; an artist drawing; or a chef cooking and seen the joy of creating something beautiful? Have you ever heard someone speaking passionately about volunteering at a soup kitchen or a food shelf? Or knit mittens to give away? Or shoveled their neighbor’s walk? All of these skills are gifts from God.  And the time that it takes to do these things? That’s a gift too.  Furthermore, as Paul writes, your gifts inspire others to also give thanks to God.

God is generous with God’s gifts. God wants us to be generous too. As Paul says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” It isn’t because God is lacking in anything – the whole world belongs to God after all – but God knows what happens to us when we give joyfully. We are filled with even more joy.

In our Gospel lesson we meet a young man who has it all. He’s rich. He’s faithful. He’s earnest.  Jesus looks at him and loves him and invites him to follow. And yet… that rich young man goes away from Jesus deeply saddened.

This is a hard story to understand because, as Greek scholar and pastor Karl Jacobson said, “It’s not translated very well.” When the rich man asks, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" he is not asking about one deed or action but rather is saying “What good must I do” a general sense.” And in response, Jesus simply points him to God saying, “There is one good one.” In other words, look to God for the goodness. And then Jesus points the young man to the commandments. But the young man continues, asking simply, “Which? As in, which one have I failed to keep? How can I do it better?” 1

I once thought that this young man was just trying to justify himself. But, on this reading, I think this young man is earnest. He wants to do the right thing. He is seeking something, perhaps because he knows that he is missing something. His wealth and obedience are not bringing him joy. And so it is out of love that Jesus invites him to experience the joy of giving in a really extravagant way - sell it all and give it all away to the poor. And then come… and follow.

This story challenges what people in the disciple’s day – and I dare say ours –think about money and riches. The disciples are surprised and confused when Jesus says, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"

But Jesus is not saying that wealth is bad but rather that there is a limit to what money can do. As the song says, “Money can’t buy you love.” And Jesus tells us: money can’t buy you salvation either.

Jesus illustrates his point with a pretty vivid picture, saying, “it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.”

It’s a funny image – a camel trying to get through a needle? But throughout the years… people haven’t been laughing. Instead, there have been lots of attempts to try to soften that statement of Jesus. At one time I heard a story of a gate in Jerusalem called “the eye of the needle” in which a camel had to get down on her knees and take everything off of her back in order to make it through the gate. It was a nice story. But.. it turns out that someone just made it up – just like people do today on social media. They wanted to find a loophole  – a really big needle. But… sorry…there is no gate in Jerusalem like this.

Instead… Jesus is using hyperbole making a point… it’s impossible for a camel to get through a needle. But…those of you who are rich – do not despair! Jesus also says that what’s impossible for people, including those who are rich, is not impossible for God. Money can’t buy you love and money can’t buy you eternal life because neither one is for sale. Love is a gift from God and so is eternal life.  

God is generous. And gives us so many gifts! So how do we respond? We can hoard the gifts that we have been given. But do you remember what happened when the Israelites hoarded the manna that God sent to feed them when they were traveling in the wilderness? It turned moldy – rotten – and they got sick when they ate it. In a similar way, I think the problem for the young man isn’t that he has wealth. The problem is that the wealth had him.

But that is not our only option.

I was at a conference a few years ago in which all of the participants were invited to bring a gift to give. This wasn’t for a silly gift giving game. Instead, this gift had to be something that we already owned and could not be worth – in monetary value – more than about $20. And it had to be something that we, ourselves loved. In other words – no cleaning out the cupboard and giving away what we were going to give to Good Will anyway. And… we had to be prepared to tell a story about the gift that we were giving.

The gifts were interesting. One woman was a talented musician and she brought a cd of her songs. Another person brought a signed copy of a book that they had loved. Still another brought a piece of jewelry, another brought a knife that they had carried with them for years. But it wasn’t the actual “stuff” that was given that touched my heart. It was the stories that were shared and the spirit of generosity that came from telling the story and giving away something that was important to you to someone else. The item was only a piece of the gift. The true gift was the relationship that grew as a result of sharing precious stories and giving a piece of yourself to someone else.

Jesus is generous – and gave himself to us.  It is this kind of generosity that Paul invites us into as well.

Paul invites the Corinthians to give gifts joyfully and out of a sense of gratitude to God – not only to support the mission of the church and the “bare needs of poor Christians” but also, so that we all join together in praise and thanksgiving to God for all of God’s gifts.

It is out of a spirit of gladness and generosity that Paul urges them and us to “show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone.” So that others can see the extravagance of God’s work in your lives and respond with thanksgiving to God in prayer. We are called into the community of Christ. Thanking God for this gift, his gift, we respond to the gifts of God with joy, generosity and thanksgiving. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”   Amen.

Faith -Lilac Way Lutheran Church    October 24, 2021                    Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane

1 Rev. Karl Jacobson, October 10, 2021  http://www.goodshepherdmpls.org/worship

Sunday Sermon

Today’s gospel lesson is not a shining moment for James and John.  After reading this story it is apparent that Will Rogers never met James and John.  If he had met them, it would have been hard for Rogers to say that he never met a man that he did not like.  James and John appear to have excessively high opinions of themselves.  They also show themselves to be quite selfish.  They also completely overestimate their ability to live in the way of Christ which is not a surprise as they reveal that they completely misunderstand the mission and ministry of Jesus.  James and John obviously have flaws which they reveal in this story, and now that they are established as the villains in this text, I could easily spend the next ten minutes tearing these two disciples to shreds but before I do that, I think that it is only fair that I start by pointing out what the sons of Zebedee get right.

I admire James and John for being willing to take some risk and to be bold in their request.  They come forward and ask Jesus “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  They are direct and forceful and they do not mince any words.  They are not afraid to directly approach Jesus and make their demand.  They know that if a request is not made then it cannot be granted.  In this case I surely would have preferred it if these two disciples had used their assertiveness to ask the Lord to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, or to lift up the oppressed rather than asking Jesus to grant them positions of power on his right and left.  However, in the act of making this bold request we see that an essential thing that James and John get right in this story is that they absolutely recognize the greatness of Jesus and express a desire to be close to him.  They understand that Jesus is the real deal.  They followed Jesus and journeyed with him because they were so enchanted with this charismatic itinerant teacher.  They had seen Jesus do many amazing things and they knew that Jesus was capable of doing even greater things.  This request to sit at the right and left of Jesus is definitely rash and self-centered but I think that it can be viewed as an affirmation of their initial commitment to leave their boats and nets behind in order to follow the Lord.  They still believe that Jesus has great power even if they misunderstand the way that Christ works in the world. 

In contrast to James and John many of us often fail to recognize the greatness of Jesus.  We have the testimony of the Bible, the witness of the saints, and a Savior who is always with us but we continually turn to other people, places, and things rather than approaching Jesus.  We recognize greatness in our athletes, entertainers, and authors and we rush out to support their endeavors by buying tickets, books, or whatever they happen to be hawking at that time.  We obsess over our favorite celebrities and the latest trends.  We want to emulate those whom we admire, and in the process, we tend to ignore the great and merciful Son of God.  We are quite comfortable relegating the greatness of Jesus to just one hour per week on a Sunday morning while we spend hours on trivial things.  We limit singing the praises of Jesus to our church building and our church community and we fail to proclaim to the world that it is Christ who has the power to transform our society and in fact is doing so before our very eyes.  We often fail to recognize that it is Jesus who has the power to heal this broken world where many are impacted by the consequences of climate change, where many have suffered loss because of COVID-19, and where many are food insecure.  Unlike many of us, these disciples fully acknowledged that Jesus is capable of things beyond our limited imaginations.

After hearing this request, Jesus eventually has to set them straight.  The reward for following Christ is nothing like the luxurious banquet that James and John have imagined.  Much like James and John we tend to seek power and use it to control others and to benefit ourselves.  In our society many of us hope to ingratiate ourselves with the rich and successful and then leverage our relationships with those in power to benefit from certain perks whether it be a lavish meal, or a trip, or a plum work assignment, or simply more money.  In my time working both in consulting and in the corporate world I experienced first-hand this trend of vying for the attention of those considered great in order to enrich oneself.  In fact, I am even guilty of it myself.  However, things are different with Jesus and the places on his right and left are already reserved.  Mark writes in chapter fifteen that Jesus was crucified with two bandits.  One was on Jesus’ left and the other was on his right.  Mark does not give us any further information about the bandits.  They may be petty criminals or possibly felons or maybe insurrectionists as evidenced by their being sentenced to crucifixion.  It is clear that these individuals who were crucified next to Jesus were people of low standing.  The fact that Jesus suffered along with them shows that his mission was to come into this world and to be in solidarity with the oppressed, the impoverished, and all those who our society deems to be outcasts.  The places at the right and left of Jesus are reserved for those who have been oppressed by our unjust social structures.  On the right and the left of Jesus are those who suffer from injustice, discrimination, and abuse.

The request of James and John is denied but that is not the end of this story.  As I discussed earlier despite their rather selfish and impetuous request it is apparent that these disciples are bold and they see that Jesus is extraordinary.  Jesus sees that they are misguided but he knows that they have great potential to serve God’s Kingdom so he extends a very special invitation to them.  Jesus personally invites James and John to participate in his death.  On the surface the meaning of cup and baptism may be ambiguous but when read in the context of Mark the meaning is clear.  Today’s reading from Mark comes immediately after Jesus has predicted his death and resurrection for the third time.  The cup that Jesus offers is the same cup which motivates his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  By offering them this cup and this baptism Jesus is inviting James and John to die to their old ways and now live in the way of Christ by humbly serving others.

Baptism and the cup are not just for James and John.  Through the water of Baptism and the cup of Holy Communion Jesus also invites us to participate in his death.  As we read in verse forty-five Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for many.  The good news is that we are assured that “the many” includes all of us.  Jesus has given his life for us and this includes an invitation to share in his death.  Just like James and John we are also called to die to our old ways and to now live in the way of Christ.  Because Jesus loves all of us so much, we are invited to share in his death.     

Today’s gospel passage ends with Jesus explaining how his way is not conventional.  The way of Jesus is different than the way of the world.  It is not an exercise of control over others but it is a way of loving service for others.  With Jesus death is not permanent but it is essential to resurrection.  Through his death and resurrection Jesus redefines what it means to be first and to be great.  The giving away of oneself to others is following in the way of Jesus.  Those who walk in the way of Christ are those who are dedicated to serving all because to follow a servant Messiah is to act as a servant.  We all get caught up in seeking power, wealth, and glory but through his death Jesus frees us from our captivity and invites us into a new way of living.  Jesus liberates us not to become great as the world understands greatness, but to live as servants of Christ.  By offering us this cup to drink and inviting us into baptism Jesus gives us a remarkable gift which remakes our lives and reconstructs our society.  Therefore, by sharing in the death of Jesus we also share in his life affirming resurrection.

May we all be bold in our request to be close to Jesus.  May we recognize the greatness of Jesus which brings goodness and new life to the world.  May we accept the invitation of our Lord Jesus Christ to fully participate in both his death and his resurrection.  Thanks be to God.

 -         Vicar Kyle Anderson

Be Bold

Be BOLD when you pray. Do not be afraid to ask God for help for your needs, your cares, and your concerns.

Joel Boyers did not realize that he was being bold when he prayed this past summer for meaning in his life. I imagine that he was much like many of us, tired of the pandemic, feeling rather stuck. He was ready to do something meaningful, something that would make a difference.

It wasn’t long before he was given a chance. Boyers, a helicopter pilot and co- owner of a small aviation business in Nashville, had just finished helping Melody Among, his fiancé, earn her pilot’s license. They were flying home to celebrate when he got a call from a woman in Pennsylvania. Her brother’s home in Waverly, Tennessee was underwater from a flood and he and his daughters were trapped on the roof of their house. Could Boyers help?

Be BOLD when you pray. But then be ready because Jesus listens to your prayers.

Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, was pretty bold. He shouted: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” And when the crowd tried to hush him up, sternly ordering him to be quiet, he called out even louder than before, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” He knew what he needed, and he wasn’t afraid to ask for it.

Bartimaeus’ boldness paid off because Jesus not only heard him but asks the very people who had been trying to keep Bartimaeus quiet to, “Call him here.”

Again, Bartimaeus responded boldly – springing up – abandoning his cloak which was probably his only possession -- his garment and shelter and what he used to gather the few coins that people dropped in his lap. He just threw it off – with the faith that he would no longer need a beggar’s cloak when he had eyes to see.

Jesus healed him with the words: “Go; your faith has made you well.”

How did Bartimaeus – a blind beggar – have such faith that Jesus commended him?  We don’t know. After, all, faith is a gift. But I wonder… if Bartimaeus, sitting by the side of the road day after day, had had a lot of time to pray. And I also wonder if he had become a really good listener.

After all, Jesus has told his disciples three times that he is headed to Jerusalem where he will be betrayed, suffer, and die before he rises again in three days. And yet… the disciples never seemed to quite understand. But Blind Bartimaeus sees – that is knows - that as surely as he is Bartimaeus the son of Timeaus, Jesus is the “Son of Man.”

Knowing who he is – and knowing who Jesus is - Bartimaeus boldly asks for what he wants and then follows Jesus on the way. 

What about you? What about me? Do we pray boldly for what we need? Do you trust in Jesus to give you what you need – even if you do not receive what you want?  Do we have the courage to follow where Jesus leads?

If I’m honest I have to say, “Sometimes.” Sometimes I pray boldly and passionately. Other times… I could be a bit bolder, a bit more persistent in my prayers and I could trust Jesus a whole lot more. But even when I’m not as bold as I wish, I do know this: Jesus knows who I am. And Jesus knows who you are. You are a beloved Child of God.  And Jesus hears your prayers.

When he first received the distress call from the woman to rescue her brother and his family, Boyers didn’t think about his prayer for doing something meaningful was being answered. But he did wonder: “‘How would I feel if I told her I’m not even going to try?’” And then he said, “She just so happened to call the right person, because I’m the only person crazy enough to even try to do that.”

And so, even though the weather was rough and there were high voltage power lines along the way and the internet was down, and he knew that he could get in trouble if he interfered with the work of the police and fire rescue crews, Boyers and his fiancé flew on anyway.

When he got to the overflowing river in the town of Waverly, Boyers said, “it was nothing but tan raging water below me…There were two houses that were on fire. There were cars in trees. … [and] tons of debris… I knew no one was going to be able to swim in that.”

There were a few people in boats trying to rescue stranded people. But the rescue crews had not been able to get there because of the bad weather. And so… even though Boyers knew he wasn’t really authorized to do this, he started flying up and down the flooded creek, picking up anyone he could. Sometimes he had to maneuver around power lines and balance his skids on sloped rooftops and hover over the floodwaters. 

When they were done, he heard from the woman who originally called him. Her family was safe, and he realized his prayer – to do something meaningful – was answered that day.

There were a lot of bold prayers answered that day. And there was heartache too. Praying boldly does not guarantee that you will get the answer that you want. But it does mean that you will have the assurance that Jesus is with you – regardless of what happens. For Jesus walks with us on the way, hearing our prayers, healing our wounds, and making us whole.

So, brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, be bold in asking God for what you need. And then listen and be ready to follow Jesus’ on the way – because he is already here. Thanks be to God, Amen.

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church            October 10, 2021            Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane

Loving & Caring for Creation and being cared for by Creation

What is your favorite place in God’ creation? Do you love the mountains? The vast plains of the Dakotas? Or maybe you love ocean beaches or wind-swept deserts or trout filled lakes and streams? Maybe you find solace in the quiet of deep forests or the sound of birds in sun dappled meadows? Or maybe you prefer city parks or even your own back yard.

I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s hard to choose. There is a great diversity in the terrain of God’s creation… and I have found that everywhere I go, I see beauty of the land and water.  As God declared in the very beginning, “It is good.” Yes. “It is so very good.”

God also created a great variety of creatures - fish and animals that swim like the dolphins, roar like a lion, run like a gazelle or fly like a bird or buzz like a mosquito. Although… I have to admit, I have some distinct preferences this time.  I’d rather see a frog – than a snake. I’d rather hear a bird sing than listen to a mosquito buzz in my ear. But…   God declared, “It is good.” And it is… it is ALL good.

And yet… while the creation may be “good” it is not tame nor safe. One day the lions may lay down with the lambs without the lambs becoming lunch… but that time is not yet.

When we were hiking in Montana’s Bob Marshal wilderness, my spouse and I took bear spray along for our own protection. And…while it might have been interesting to run into a bear, I was happy that the only bear prints we saw were ones that were imprinted in long since dried up mud on the path.  But they were a reminder… the bears live there… we were just visiting. And when we came upon a dead young wildcat along the path… we did not tarry long to determine how it came to its demise. Instead, we picked up the pace and moved on. We didn’t want to be anywhere near that dead wild kitten if its’ mama came by.

The wilderness is awesome and rugged but also fragile. One day we gazed up into old growth forest trees that seemed to reach to the skies with trunks that I could not reach my hands around and the next day we walked through an area that had been burned by fire… thirty years ago.  The trees were still laying like matchsticks strewn across the mountainside for miles and miles. There was no shade to be found. New growth was coming… but after thirty years it was just getting started.

This is God’s creation, this amazingly beautiful and yet wild and dangerous, rugged and fragile world. And God entrusted this beautiful world to us! God tasked us with the responsibility to care for it with the hope that we tend to it with love.

But…our response, quite honestly, has been mixed. We have made some mistakes. We have mistreated and abused the earth and the seas and the sky. There are huge islands of garbage floating in the ocean that are bigger than our state. We have polluted the earth and the sky. The smog is so bad in some places that people have difficulty breathing. Our lack of care for the earth, the water and the sky has caused so many problems for the world – and for us – with climate change among the most severe.

Clearly, we have made a lot of mistakes in caring for our world. And the scars show. But fortunately, there are some things that we have done right. We have been wise enough to set aside places to keep wild and other places to keep green. The parks and wild lands in our country and across the world are sanctuaries for plants and animals to thrive and they provide respite for us too.

There are also things that we can do personally to better care for our world. One church recognized that the relationship between people and creation needed tending. So, they began a ministry called “Holy Hikes.”1 Their goal is to help individuals re-establish what has been a broken relationship between creation, our Creator and our human community by simply inviting  people to “take a step, perhaps even a hike.” With the understanding that “people will protect what they love,” they invite people to experience and thus rediscover the beauty of the earth and their place in it. And it is amazing what can happen.  For when we stop to listen and to pay attention to the world that we live in, we are blessed. Being in nature can be a tonic to our souls.

My family discovered this a long time ago. There is a little creek near our house. When our children were little, we discovered the best parenting tool was to simply take a walk to the creek whenever one of us got a little fussy. Somehow … just hearing the bubbling brook...and maybe throwing pebbles and pooh sticks into the river… was just the healing salve that they – and we -- needed. I’m still walking to that creek – and every time I go there, I come back refreshed.

In the same way, for those of you who have animal friends that live with you, just caring for the pet may be the best medicine you have ever taken. And judging from the pictures that some of you sent – your care for your pet has paid off. Your animal friends are thriving. 

We are not yet at the time of the beautiful kingdom when lions and lambs bed down together. But we can bless the animals that we live with, so that their lives will reflect the mutual relationship of love and care that we seek to have with all of creation.

In this mutual relationship of love and care, we and all of creation can join together in praise of God our creator. As the Psalmist wrote:

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy! Psalm 96:11-12 NRSV

 Thanks be to God. Amen.

1Holy Hikes is established as a ministry of All Saints Episcopal Church in San Leandro, California. https://holyhikes.org/about/

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church        October 3, 2021            Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane

Salted

As some of you know, when I went hiking in the Bob Marshal wilderness this summer some mountain goats visited our campsite. It was our first day on the trail and we had just finished the long and steep path over the mountain pass. We were tired and sweaty but happy to have found a beautiful alpine meadow to set up our hammock for the night. So we were really surprised to find these wild mountain goats so interested in us! At first, we assumed it was because other campers may have fed them. And that may be the case. But we later learned that what they were most likely interested in – was our salt. Sweaty salty bandanas would have seemed like a salted caramel nut roll to them.  They wanted salt.

Salt is essential not only for goats – but for us too.   What would we do without it?  We use it not only to season our food, but also as a preservative, a cleaner and even hate to think about it yet but to melt ice in the winter.

Probably because we use it for so many things, the word “salt” has come to mean much more than its everyday uses. In Jesus’ day, salt was so valuable that Roman soldiers were paid in salt – which is where we get the word “salary.” When warring tribes came together to make peace, they did so over a meal which had meat and… of course salt. So when a covenant, an agreement was made, they said it was “salted.” 

Jesus uses the word metaphorically in Matthew, telling his followers, “You are the salt of the earth.” In our passage today from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus says three different and kind of confusing things about salt. But I want to focus here on the last one (Our Bible study on Sunday will focus on the other two). Jesus invites his disciples to, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

To understand what is going on, let me remind you that the disciples had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. Jesus answers that if they want to be first, they must be last and servant of all. And then, he picks up a child – a person in those days who had no status whatsoever – as an example of who he wants them to welcome. Jesus wants the disciples – and us – to see that he is turning the world’s values upside down. It isn’t who you know or how much money you make or how much status you have that is important.

But before Jesus can even set the child down --- John interrupts by telling Jesus about how he and the other disciples told off some guy who was using Jesus’ name to heal because he wasn’t a part of their group – he wasn’t following us – that is, the disciples. 

At this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is already heading to Jerusalem. He has been teaching in parables and showing his might and power through acts of healing. But there isn’t much time left. So Jesus becomes a lot more direct. As Flanner O’ Conner once said, “To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” And that is just what Jesus does. He uses hyperbole and strong language to get the attention of his disciples because he doesn’t want the disciples or us to get distracted by tweedle beedle battles or spend their energy fighting amongst themselves.

For what Jesus wants for his disciples and us is to live like the people that God has made us to be. This is why he extolls them and us to: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” For Jesus knows, challenges will come.

And challenges have certainly come for us this past year. And by “us” – I mean everyone. As is always the case, the poorest and most vulnerable were hit hardest, but pandemic has affected everyone in some way – some got ill, too many lost loved ones, many felt isolated, children fell behind in school, parents were stressed, those on the front lines were pressed into hard service again and again and we all got weary.  And when we get tired, that is when it’s easiest to stumble.  At least that’s what I’ve found.

It was a long way up the mountain pass but I had my eye on a big rock that I assumed was the top of the pass – and it didn’t look so far. But… when we got to that rock, we discovered that it was only a lovely plateau. Hidden on the other side of that rocky ledge was a very large rocky avalanche field with a narrow path that wound back and forth and up and up and up the mountainside and I could not see where it ended. All I could see was that it was going up. The sun was getting higher; there was no shade. My pack was feeling heavier and I was getting weary and I was starting to grumble on the inside but I kept on trudging forward because I knew we had a long way to go. I was trying to smile but my feet were starting to stumble. 

My partner noticed. Maybe his feet were tired too. He had an even bigger pack than I did. He said, ‘let’s sit down and have lunch and drink some water.” And so we did… we had a meal of chicken salad and salted nuts. With my backpack off, I was able to look back and see how to see beauty around us and look down at the glacier fields below us and see how far we had come. We still had a long way to go but it didn’t seem as impossible as it had before. I felted refreshed and “salted” and ready to begin again. 

I wonder if that is what we need to do for one another. Perhaps what we need is to be “salted” – so that we can be at peace with one another.  After all, this is a time in which I think everyone is weary from dealing with the pandemic and so sometimes we do not act as our best selves. So what if we recognized this in ourselves – and in others – and gave both yourself and whoever you consider “other” a huge helping of grace – or call it “salt.”  For what Jesus wants for us and for all of God’s children, including or maybe especially for the weak, the vulnerable, the powerless, is that we be “salted” and be at peace. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

September 26, 2021          Faith -Lilac Way Lutheran       Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane

Mark 9

In today’s gospel lesson it is obvious that the disciples are utterly clueless.  This story comes from chapter nine of Mark.  At this point they have been with Jesus for a while.  They have given up their occupations in order to travel with Jesus.  They have seen him heal.  They have been taught many important lessons and heard him preach to them in parables.  They were there when Jesus calmed the storm, when Jesus fed five thousand, and when Jesus walked on water.  Despite all of this they still do not understand this specific teaching about Jesus’ death and resurrection.  They fail to comprehend that it is central to the incarnation of Jesus that the Son of God has come into this world not only to serve others but to save the world through his suffering and death.

I can definitely identify with the clueless disciples in this story.  I think back to some times in recent years when I have been distracted by worries or fears as my mind has not been focused on the task at hand.  It does not tend to go well for me.  I remember when I scratched up our sort of new and freshly repaired car while parking it when my mind was more focused on a full day of meetings at the seminary and at work while I was also thinking about the three papers that I had to write in the next week.  And sometimes my distractions cause me to be completely oblivious to the obvious like when I failed to notice that my wife’s Diet Coke had exploded when we were in the car.  At that time the things running through my mind were worry about my sore back and thinking about my summer intensive class and when it would work best for me to visit my family in order to celebrate my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.  Later I felt foolish when I asked my wife why she had changed her clothes and was taking towels down to the garage.  When I am preoccupied with my worries and concerns, I am clearly not at full capacity and I miss things that I should never miss.

I imagine the disciples in this story to be like I was in these examples which I just cited.  I assume that they are distracted and therefore not at their best.  They are focused on other things so they are not fully able to comprehend the impact of this second prediction of death and resurrection.  As you may remember from last week’s gospel lesson they were there when Jesus predicted his death and resurrection the first time but according to Mark a few things have happened in between these two predictions.  The lectionary skips these events but I want to mention them because I think that they provide insight into the disciples’ state of mind.  Earlier in chapter nine Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain and they see Jesus transfigured.  It was quite a scene as Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white and Elijah and Moses both appeared.  Jesus did order Peter, James, and John to be silent about this event until after Jesus had risen from the dead, and the text of Mark indicates that they kept the matter to themselves.  Even if they did not brag about what they had witnessed Peter, James, and John would certainly have been impacted by the Transfiguration and it would have been natural for them to now be a little bit cocky about their place in the hierarchy of the group since it was clear that they were in the inner circle.  The other disciples may not have known what had happened on that mountain but they knew that they had been excluded from participating and they would now have a reason to be insecure about their place in the group.

After the Transfiguration the disciples then encountered a boy with a spirit who was having seizures.  The disciples were unable to cast out this spirit and were subsequently scolded by Jesus.  After Jesus had cast out the spirit, he told them that this kind of spirit can come out only through prayer.  The disciples had been unsuccessful in healing the boy and now they were processing their failure.  They were likely questioning their abilities and they had been accused by Jesus of failing to pray so they also felt their dedication to the Lord to be in question as well.

In addition, they appear to be in the middle of a rigorous stretch of travel.  They are passing through Galilee heading to Capernaum and then at the very start of chapter ten which is the next chapter they are going to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan.  These were not short fifteen-minute car trips with no traffic.  They were walking for miles in a warm weather climate.  They were totally dependent on their legs so a sore knee or a blister on a foot would mean lots of pain on this kind of journey.

I think that taking this background into account is really important to understanding today’s text as we see that the disciples were clearly not at their best because of the long journey, the failure to heal the boy, and the apparent divisions that were appearing within the group.  Rather than dealing with the root causes of the matters at hand they do what many of us would do and begin to debate a completely unrelated issue.  They turn to squabbling about the question of who is the greatest.  They are likely feeling insecure at this point so they argue about hierarchy and power.  They may be wondering if some of them will soon be replaced.  The disciples are essentially trying to justify their existence by making their cases about their relative greatness.  It is human nature.  They know that they have failed but now they are trying to rationalize their actions.  Peter is likely arguing that since he is in the inner circle that he is better than Thomas.  Thomas is likely arguing that he is not a greedy tax collector like Matthew.  Matthew is likely arguing that as a tax collector and future Gospel writer he is better because he has education that the others do not have.  I could go on but you see what is happening.  Because of their insecurities and recent failures, they are now arguing about something that has nothing to do with the mission and ministry of Jesus.  The disciples even seem to know that their arguments with each other are completely fruitless as they are silent when Jesus confronts them when he asks them what they were arguing about on the way.

Jesus has just told them about his death and resurrection for the second time and his disciples are arguing about status and power.  Jesus knows that at this time the disciples do not understand what he is telling them and they are afraid to ask him.  He knows that he needs to hit the reset button on today’s lesson.  It is apparent that Jesus needs to take a different approach in communicating his message that he is the servant of all and that his followers are called to service.  He also knows that the disciples need love and comfort as they are struggling right now.  He decides that the best way to reach them is by using a little child.  The disciples may have been distracted and not fully engaged with Jesus’ message but they did know where children fell in their patriarchal society.  In any society children are vulnerable and they are dependent on others for their survival and well-being.  Because of the child’s low standing Jesus identifies with the child just as throughout his ministry Jesus identifies with the lowly and the oppressed.  The message being taught by Jesus is that greatness consists of warmly welcoming one with low status like a child. 

Welcoming one of the vulnerable is welcoming Christ himself.  The disciples themselves are among those who are vulnerable.  In this simple embrace of the child Jesus shows the disciples how they are to be the servants of those in the community.  As followers of Christ, we are invited to represent those who are on the margins and who lack an advocate.  Humble service to the community is the way of Christ and true greatness is to be the least of all and the servant of all.  In addition, the disciples also see that the love of Christ is freely available to them and that they are welcomed into his warm embrace during this time when they themselves are also struggling.  The way of Christ connects us all in community and none of us are alone as we are all invited into the arms of Jesus.   

Many of us can identify with the clueless disciples.  We are distracted by our busy lives and all of the worries of the world including our desire for wealth, status, and power.  Much like the disciples we argue with each other about our relative merits and in so doing we fail to see that Jesus has extended his arms toward us inviting all of us into his love and grace.  Our preoccupations may keep us from seeing what is happening right in front of our eyes but an essential part of the gospel of Christ is that he is always there with his arms extended waiting to welcome us.  If we are able to look beyond the distractions of this world and our daily lives, we then can see that the invitation to experience the love of Christ is one that is free even for us clueless disciples to accept at any time.  The call of Christ to resist wealth, status, and power and to live a life of humble service is rooted in the radical grace of God.  It is this grace which completely destroys the world’s idea that greatness is based on wealth, status, and power.  Through this radical idea of humble service, we have the opportunity to embrace the vulnerable in our arms just as we are brought into the warm embrace of the love of Christ.

May all of us clueless disciples serve each other and be embraced in the arms of Christ who welcomes all of us to be with him.  Thanks be to God.

 -          Vicar Kyle Anderson 

On the Way

“Who do people say that I am?".

That’s an easy question for the disciples. At this point in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has healed the sick and those who were blind, deaf and mute. He has cast out demons and fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. And he’s taught with authority. Clearly, everyone is talking about him. So, it’s easy for the disciples to report: Some say "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."

But what would we say if Jesus asked that question of us? We live a world in which there are many religions and beliefs and people who claim not to have any faith. Some people would say that Jesus is a prophet, others call him a teacher, and some say that Jesus is Savior, Lord, Messiah, Prince of peace. Many have heard about Jesus but not really know who Jesus is.

I used to assume that everyone knew who Jesus is. Growing up in a rural farm community in Wisconsin, everyone I knew went to church – at least at Christmas. But that is not the case anymore – not here and not there either.

And this is what makes Jesus’ second question even more relevant today. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Peter nails it with the response: "You are the Messiah."  

But then… Jesus makes it clear that while Peter may have said the right words, he did not understand what they meant. Jesus did not come to be the kind of Messiah that Peter and others were looking for – a king to restore Israel and put down their oppressors. Instead, Jesus declares he will suffer, be rejected by both the authorities and the religious leaders and be killed before he rises again.

This is the way of Jesus – and he invites his disciples and you and me to follow him on the way. This is not the way of glory and easy living. It includes sacrifice and living for others. This is a path that sounds foolish to those who do not understand, to those who want to put themselves, and their family, their friends, their own selfish self interest first. But as Jesus declares, what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your life?

And… Jesus is still asking the question: “Who do you say that I am?”  

What would you say?

Would you quote Peter? Or John 3:16? Or maybe you would remember something from your catechism or the creeds? Or would you be so surprised that you don’t say anything at all?

A few years ago as part of a pastor’s conference, Christian writer and speaker Brian McLaren interviewed Dr. Peter Senge, a pioneer of systems theory. He asked him for his best advice for Christian pastors. Senge replied that he was thinking about that the day before when he was in a big bookstore, and so Senge asked the bookstore manager what the most popular books were. The manger replied that the most popular were about how to get rich. The second most popular were about spirituality, and in particular about Buddhism.”

When asked why Buddhism and not Christianity, Senge replied, “I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of beliefs.” 1

Is that true? Have we, as Christians, been so focused on what we believe that we have neglected to teach the way of Jesus as the way of life?

It is true that Christians – across many denominations -strongly profess our faith in Creeds that have withstood the test of time and been passed down from one generation to another, teaching our children and our children’s children the creeds, the Lord’s prayer and the commands – all as part of our Lutheran catechism.  This is what we promise to do when we baptize children and adults into the faith.

But, as McLaren puts it, in addition to teaching and proclaiming what we believe, we must also “rediscover our faith as a way of life.”2

Like Peter, we need to have more than the right words. We need to learn and relearn how to live out our faith in our daily lives.

I love to walk on a path that runs along Minnehaha creek – some of it is paved and has lots of foot and bicycle traffic on it. But the part that is closer to my house is more of a goat path that used to get overgrown with weeds – that is - before the pandemic. Now, that path is wide and well-trodden. It seems that during the pandemic, more people were out walking than ever before and so, to quote Brian McLaren again, “we make the road by walking.”

That’s the title of a devotional and guide book that he wrote about faith practices. Just as the way a goat path becomes a road by people walking that path every day, the way that we live into our faith is by practicing it, walking in the way of Jesus.

During the pandemic, we as a faith community have had to adapt some of our faith practices, including expanding the ways we worship.  Some were high tech ways – meeting on zoom and watching worship online  - and some were pretty low tech ways – delivering worship bags, worshipping in the parking lot and spreading out when we worship inside. All of these were ways of being Christian community and you, as a faith community, have been doing a really good job of trying to stay connected with a phone call or by sending a card. But, we have room to grow as we seek to live out our faith as a way of life, as the way of Jesus.

This is one of the reasons that I am so excited that Faith-Lilac Way was chosen to be part of a cohort of Wildfire and other congregations learning both faith practices and neighboring practices. Our team will be learning some new faith practices and teaching them to you and our neighbors.  One of the goals of this program is to equip us and you to be able to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?”

Because Jesus is still asking the question – and challenging us to live out our faith as the way of life. You and I are on the way. We haven’t arrived yet. We still need to listen and reflect upon and seek to live out the way of Jesus as we face the challenges of our daily lives. We need to drink deeply of the water of life and be refreshed by Christ’s body and blood and the Word of God.

And, we need to work on being good neighbors. Part of our mission as a church and as baptized Christians is to invite others to embark on the way of Jesus with us and to also be refreshed by the waters of life.  I know just the thought of this makes people uncomfortable – but what if we thought about our role not so much as giving other people the answers or telling other people what to think, but rather that we can invite them to hear Jesus’ question and to reflect with us on what it means and how it informs the way that we live.3

Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, Jesus invites you to follow so that you may live an authentic and meaning filled life and so that you may be a witness, inviting others to join us on the way, trusting in Jesus to lead us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

1 Finding Our Way Again, Brian McLaren, page 3 Thomas Nelson publishing, 2008

2 Ibid. page 3

3 Workingpreacher.org, Sept 2009   Alyce M. McKenzie

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church            September 12, 2021                Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane