there will be signs

On the first Sunday in Advent, the gospel of Luke has Jesus describe a series of global crises, political and ecological, that signify the end of the world.  Far from disastrous,however, they represent redemption and peace for God's people. These were people who experienced the dark side of these disasters.  They were the vulnerable ones, like the Haitians in Hurricane Sandy. They were the ones already beaten down, acquainted with suffering. But Jesus insists that life may get worse before it gets better.  Ah, good news for the new year.  We, on the other hand, disregard the tragic news we see. We have come to believe that the end is no nearer now than it was then.  Signs?  Not really. Just more of the same on planet earth.  

We have seen natural disasters and floods, tsunamis and super storms.  We have witnessed nations at war.  We have experienced terrorist attacks, hijacked planes, suicide bombers, death squads, drone strikes, covert operations, and all manner of violence.  Israel is still at war with its neighbors.  For thousands of years.   What we see every day:  These are not signs for us of an impending global theological crisis.  We do not wait expectantly for divine intervention.  We seriously doubt the Mayan prophecy or any prophecy about a coming end.  We have seen catastrophe on the nightly news. Jesus was not as well informed as we are.  They did not have mass media attention to every daily crisis that occurs on planet earth.  Now there are climate scientists, Bill McKibbon and others, who believe that global warming is fundamentally altering ecology.  Polar ice melt, record heat waves, droughts, floods, etc…all signs of a human caused disaster.  More doom and gloom.  And yet, we are still here.

That first generation of Christians expected Jesus to come and usher in the final judgment, the end of the age, the new creation.  They expected divine intervention, a miracle of biblical proportions, salvation, rescue.  When those first Christians experienced the destruction of the temple, and the death of the first generation, a new crisis emerged.  The crisis of when?  The previous crisis, the identity of the Messiah, had been resolved by Jesus.  But then they had to address his absence and the delay in his return. They had the stories of Exodus and exile to give them consolation and courage.  Those stories told them they had forty to seventy years.  That’s how long their ancestors had waited.  But even longer still:  Between the Exodus and reign of David—five hundred years.  Between David and the Exile, about  five hundred more. Between the exile and Jesus about five hundred more.  The Jews were not unaccustomed to waiting.  Much scripture commends them to wait.  From one crisis to the next, from generation to generation, they wait for the Lord.  They wait with hope.  Hope that God’s promises will be fulfilled.  Promises to end hunger, thirst, suffering, and death.  Promises to bring an end to violence and war.  Promises to bring peace and justice for the least and the greatest.  The promise of a Kingdom ruled by God’s anointed Son.  The Promise to be fully present, visible, accessible, real.  The promises of order, beauty, abundant provision, work and rest, friendship and love---promises made in the beginning and affirmed again and again. The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.   I think the Jews brought the gift of patience and an unyielding hope in God to the earth.  They brought the possibility of divine/human relationship, through prayer and the written word, to life.  They survive because they wait with hope in a day that is yet to come. So, too, the Christian people continue in hopes of a coming day of salvation, of peace, of new life. But I fear we grow weary and weak with time.   

We do not wait.  We do not hope. We fear.  We demand and we expect, but do not trust.  We want what we want when we want it and we want it now. We try to secure ourselves against the threats of the world. And when we fail to do so, we despair. We are anxious, in an age of worry. We shop to acquire things to fill our restlessness. We toil away at trivial things.  We make much ado about nothing.  We major in minor things. We protect ourselves.  We fear dying and death, because we do not trust what is yet to come.  We must begin to hope again.  We must begin to hear and trust God’s promises again. Christ will come to us.  Christ will raise the dead.  Christ will end the wars.  Christ will feed all people at a banquet that never ends.  If death and destruction must come first, let them come.  For God will finally act.  God will save us. 

So, what shall we do?  Wait. Practice patience.  Pray. Give and share, forgive and right wrongs because these are kingdom of God activities. Boldly bless people by your words and by your works. But mostly, I invite you, I challenge you to wait.  Wait for God.  Expect God to show up in your life, in your days, in your ordinary and extraordinary moments. Pause.  Breathe. Enjoy silence.  It is enough that you are chosen and loved by the creator. It is enough that God waits on you, waits for you. Jesus is waiting for us.           

   

Advent

Advent is a Latin word meaning “coming”. We do not use this word in normal speech.  No one says, “This Friday is the advent of my sister, who will be visiting from Rochester.”  One does not say to a potential guest, “When shall we expect your advent?”  The arrivals gate at Philadelphia airport does not announce the advent of flight 5143 from Phoenix.   No, Advent is a church word.  And a very good one at that.  A word that ought not to be relegated to the church’s ancient past, to the history of our religion, or to the catholic and apostolic churches like ours who stubbornly insist on following this old calendar of seasons and feast days. It is the beginning of the church’s year, the four Sundays before Christmas, December. This word, Advent, is a Christian word, part of the Christian lexicon.  It is part of our speech because it describes a particular event or events to which we find ourselves inextricably bound as believers.  “Advent” is always and forever pointing us to the story of a peculiar coming, an extraordinary arrival, a surprising visit.  For the Advent that we announce to the world is the Advent of GOD.  The divine creator, YHWH, the LORD, the Savior of Israel, comes.  GOD comes to us.  Once, long ago, in the town of Bethlehem of Judea, a son was born to a Virgin named Mary and her betrothed Joseph.  His birth marked the Advent of GOD.  And of course, one must ask a good question; from whence did he come?  Where was GOD before the Advent of this child?  What about this particular moment establishes God’s Advent in a way that distinguishes it from God’s coming before or since?  For surely, Christians have proposed that this Advent was exclusive, unique, special, and unequivocal (a word which here means, without equal comparison).   According to the Gospels, the birth of Jesus marks the Advent of God’s coming to God’s people in an unprecedented way.  This” Advent” was anticipated by Israel, God’s chosen people, and announced by the ancient prophets.  We must acknowledge that the Advent of God in the birth of Jesus was, at least initially, an exclusive Advent.  God came to God’s own people, in a way that was anticipated by their prophets. And yet God’s own people failed to recognize it.  (So said someone who had not failed to recognize it.)  Certainly, some people recognized Jesus as God’s Son, as the Messiah, as the Savior long promised. Failure to recognize God in the Christ, we are told, was a sign from God that validated the Advent experience, precisely because the coming of God in Jesus was NOT globally decisive.  One did not expect the Messiah to come in the vulnerable form of an infant.  One did not expect the Messiah to die on the cross at the hands of the very government Messiah was supposed to usurp.  God’s Advent was hidden and revealed in the flesh of a man.  Advent was subtle, yet not totally unnoticed. 

God’s coming to us in the infancy of Jesus gives us due pause; not in the powerful storm or the mighty army does he come, but in a baby boy wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in an animals’ feeding trough.  In poverty. In vulnerable mortality.  In human family and political controversy.  In Israel, but to the earth.  God’s Advent requires a context, a container, a place.  But it is not containable or limited to that place.  God’s Advent became a global reality over hundreds of years.  Because God’s Advent in Jesus Christ continues…it happened once and continues to happen.  Because somehow, some way, during this season of the year, God makes His way to you and me.   The peculiarity of Advent, the unprecedented and divine nature of it as that one cannot predict what it might do to you.  This year, perhaps, you may experience Advent in a way you have not before.  As if something new were about to begin, as if a birth was about to occur in your own life.  This Advent may mark a beginning for you, a way of experiencing God that you have not had before.  It is forever possible that Advent might happen to you or for you this year.  We anticipate, we hope, we expect.  We worship.  We give.  We receive.  We celebrate.  We sing.  We pray.  We wonder.  Advent is so much more than a countdown to Christmas.  It is the announcement of God’s arrival in Jesus of Nazareth.  It is the announcement that God has come for you and for me.  God has sought us out.  God has invaded our privacy.  God has visited our homes.  God has met us on the road.  God has shown up, disguised as one of us.  This Advent we will hear the remarkable story.  We will travel with Mary and Joseph.  We will gather with shepherds and angels.  We will witness the birth.  We will tell the good news.  God will come to you.  May you readily receive the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen.

                                                                                                                                    

why I hope the world comes to an end

Fiscal cliffs, wars in Israel and Palestine, Black Friday.  12/20/2012. The end is coming, I declare it!  Or not.

Doctrinally, Lutheran Christians believe in the end of the age, the return of Christ, and the final judgment.  But we don’t talk about it much, it's not our central message.  Of course, we believe in heaven.  Most Americans do.  About 80%.  Fewer Americans believe in hell.  About 60%.  I guess, when it comes to God and the afterlife, Americans are optimistic.  So, an afterlife is in the future.  But what happens after that is less clear.  As is the way to access the afterlife.  Many believe it is a given, regardless of religious affiliation.  Others believe something quite different. That your beliefs guarantee your future after death.  If you were to ask ten people the question; do you believe in heaven and how does one get there, besides that you have to die first; I would guess you would get ten different answers.  If someone asked you that question, what would you say?  If they asked you if you believe in hell and who goes there, what would you say?  What do you believe in your gut about these things? Will the world end?   I suspect most of you do not believe in the “Left Behind” fundamentalist Christian story line---a story that is about divine punishment and destruction, more than salvation.  I, for one, believe that we are saved.  And I hope that God’s salvation includes those I would exclude.

talents, parables, and Wall-E

For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.”His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. --St. Matthew, chapter 25.  Jesus' parable of the talents.

all she had to live on

As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’  Mark 12.

The widow’s mite. This gospel story is often used as the prime example for religious giving.   Used to inspire financial stewardship.  Christians ought to give like her.  100%.  All she had to live on.  In other words, she was broke.  She was as good as dead.  She could not support herself. She would depend on God and others to help her live, or she would die.  It seems to me that this is an unwise way to live.  She is choosing to become dependent.  We would never suggest to someone that they give away what meager income they had in order to become dependent on others to survive.  Dependency is bad.  Independence, self-sufficiency is good.  Government assistance, for example, continues to carry a negative stigma in this country.  Despite the original and continued intent of such programs, which is not to create a lazy dependent nation of takers, but to lift the poor out of poverty.  Food stamps and Medicaid are disparaged by conservatives as an economic burden the federal government and tax payers ought not to bear.  Are people entitled to food and shelter?  Or must everyone earn what they have?  Unfortunately, these matters have been politicized so that people who talk about poverty and the poor are liberals.  And we are inundated with economic news these days, making our heads hurt. Things like fiscal cliffs and tax policy and pre-Black Friday sales.  Money, money, money.  It’s our obsession.  We grow weary because so few of us seem to have enough.  We never have enough.  Because we make choices we can control and things happen that we can’t control that impact our household finances.  And talking about that is almost as bad as talking about your faith.  So it’s better not to speak about it at all.  After all, it is not appropriate to discuss personal finances.  I have noticed that what poor people do with the money they do have seems to interest people a great deal.  Example: yesterday, a friend was asking me what it means when they brought a low income family food from the warwick community chest, but they noticed the people smoked and had cell phones and a television.  Anytime I mention poverty and the poor among friends, the conversation goes that way.  Maybe there should be certain rules that restrict people in poverty from having access to certain things.  Of course food stamps and other government programs do impose restrictions, but there should be additional restrictions.  Like no tvs or cell phones or cigarettes if your income is below a certain amount.  I met a Vietnam Veteran this week, a proud man who needed food.  His income had changed recently.  He lived alone.  He could no longer work.  He collects no government assistance, but he was food insecure.  So we gave him food.  A veteran making less than $14,000 a year.  I don’t know his whole story. I saw a kid, a teenager, standing on Fruitville Pike with a sign that read;  I am Broke  out of gas.  Anything will help.  God bless.  I gave him $5.00.  Maybe he’ll buy food or gas or drugs or cigarettes.  I don’t know his whole story.        

Jesus suggested that the religious rulers, whose pockets were lined with peasant offerings, literally devoured widows by requiring them to give to the temple treasury. His observation of the widow is an indictment on the wealthy givers, whose proportionate giving is small compared to the widow.  They give out of their abundance.  Truth is:  That’s what all of us do.  On average, Lutherans  give about 2% of income to religious institutions.  Few practicing religious groups do better.  Southern Baptists and Mormons do better.  Most Americans give less than 4% to charity.  67% of US households made financial gifts totaling 289 billion dollars in 2011.  67% of Americans who make less than $100,000 give to religious organizations.  Only 17% of Americans who make over 1 million dollars give to religious organizations.  But households making over 500,000 give nearly 4% away, while families making $50,000 or less give 2% away. Nevertheless, the idea of the 10% religious tithe is more or less a myth.  Americans are generous because Americans have abundance.  Americans have discretionary income. We buy things we do not need and justify them.  Yesterday we participated in scouting for food, annual boy scout food drive.  We handed out plastic bags that we hope will get filled with non-perishables to donate to the Warwick community chest.  We were in a trailer court, putting bags on doors of households that may need food from the community chest.  The adults began debating about which Ipad is better, the regular size or the mini.  A whole conversation ensued about these devices.  They already had iphones and ipods.  Logically, the Ipad is next.  But, which one?  I was thinking, how can they afford these things?  We don’t have a working television right now.

I believe we are confused about money and wealth and poverty.  I believe Jesus took a simpler approach to the conversation.  Here is a poor widow.  She gives her last two coins to the temple treasury.  Her gift is greater than the tithes of all the wealthy.  She gave all.  This poor, dependent, dying widow becomes an example.  Because she becomes Christ.  She gave her life to God and to others.  She did not judge them worthy of her money.  She did not withhold for herself.  She did not worry about tomorrow, her next meal, her own body. She gave herself away.  Was she wise in doing so?  No.  Does her self-imposed dependency make her a social burden?  Yes.  She gave a gift.  A gift to God.  Because God gave her life.  She returned to God the full amount of what God had given her.  Without thought.  There are no makers and takers in the human community, only takers, only recipients.  Everyone of us takes what God gives us.  What we do with that is the basis of economics.  God gave His Son for us.  That we may have life with God.  Give thanks.  Amen.            

all the saints

On Sunday, my grandmother, Shirley Lenahan, joined the saints at rest.  She died at the age of 89 from Alzeimers disease.  

When I was seven, Grandma was my next-door-neighbor.  I had a new bike without training wheels that I could not ride.  Mom and dad’s idea of bike training was to push me down a small hill in our front yard and hope I didn’t hit a tree. So, after falling a few times, I became frustrated enough to suggest we sell the bike.  I also packed a bag and ran away from home.  My journey as a homeless and angry 7-year- old ended at Grandma’s house.  At Grandma’s there were wafer cookies and milk, and count chocula cereal, which turned the milk into chocolate milk. Grandma always had sugar cereal and cookies. Grandma and I did a puzzle, played a board game, and then dad showed up.  I’m not sure what happened next, but I ended up going home with him.  Eventually, I learned how to ride the bike.   All the way to Grandma’s house.  If she was home, the door was open.  And she always had sweets, cookies, cake, pie.  She could make entire buffets appear out of nowhere.  Her house was a curiosity shop with trinkets and old pictures and religious Kitch; you know, Mary’s and Jesus’s. A house from some other decade.  The 50s or 70s.  She watched Lawrence Welk and Judge Wopner and Wheel of Fortune.  She liked to play Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Chinese checkers, and Parcheesi with us. She was our babysitter and her house was an occasional refuge. Grandma was a quiet presence. Never too stern or scolding.  But you knew what behavior was acceptable.  She was a devout Catholic; prayed the rosary daily, went to mass weekly. She loved to play bingo.  She enjoyed her grandkids and liked when we visited her. I have childhood memories of grandma.  In adulthood, I moved away.  But she was still there.  Until the disease took her away, little by little. 

Grandma was a significant part of my childhood.  And no doubt she influences my adult life, in ways I have not known until now.

Grandma and I never talked about faith or God.  But she came to my ordination to the Lutheran ministry in 2001 and she received communion from me the first time I presided in worship at the Lord’s Supper. She, a devout Roman Catholic, her grandson a Lutheran pastor. We shared something deeper than a devotion to empty religious habits, contrary to what some may think about the Christian life.  She had faith, a gift from God that she passed to her children and her grandchildren. I am faithful, because my parents are, because she was.  This is what we mean when we say, "we believe in the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."  Something invisible is happening within us and for us that transcends our experiences and our reason.  God has become present to us in our lives.In her life, as in mine, she found comfort and peace in the promise of eternal life with God; that death does not separate us from God’s love or from one another.

All Saints Day is not about ancient saints or their miraculous deeds.  It is a day to celebrate ordinary saints---the baptized holy one’s, God’s chosen people, the faithful.  So we remember those who have died. It is through the demonstration of their faith in God, in loving service, worship, generosity, and prayer that Christ is made known to the world.  

The story of Lazarus in John 11 is a sign to us of the future that awaits all who believe. All the ones we remember today, will rise again to a new and glorious life. In the story of Lazarus is the confirmation of our hopes; death cannot bind God’s people forever.   “He will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all people, the sheet that is spread over all nations, he will swallow up death forever…” “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

It takes faith to accept these things. A mystery, faith.  Who gets it and how?  Why do some embody faithfulness and others cannot?  Why do some share their faith and others hide it? It is a gift from God.  But faith is not exclusively a personal connection with God either.  Even in the story of Lazarus, he does not unbind himself or tear off his own grave clothes.  Nor does Jesus unbind him. Lazarus’ family and friends are invited to unbind him and set him free. Faith in God binds us to one another and calls us to life, beckoning each of us from the grave, from the darkness, from the abandoned loneliness and silence. "With a loud shout he commanded, Lazarus, Come out!"Out we must come, if we are to be the church.  Out from fear and insecurity and self-protection.  Out from comfortable systems and behaviors that benefit some and hurt others.  Out from family systems that wound us. Out from addictions that overwhelm us.  By faith, we are being called out.  Out of this life and into the next.  Some of us are already there. The rest of us are on the way...Amen.  

My name is Matt and I am a Lutheran Pastor

My name is Matt and I am a Lutheran Pastor.  If that sounds like the beginning of a 12-step recovery meeting, fine. I'm in a kind of recovery, I think.  I have been a Lutheran Pastor for 11 years now. At a recent meeting, my clerical identity was pinpointed as a stumbling block for church renewal and change.  Now, the person was not attacking me personally as a pastor, but was raising a point of contention.  He suggested that the pastoral office gives a perception that those who wear a black shirt and collar are spiritually aloof, haughty, distinctly above the laity. He claimed that Pastors are part of the problem, because we are not one of the people. We don't have to work in the world like everyone else. We are sheltered by church life.  By title and uniform, we "outrank" our parishioners, giving us more power or votes when it comes to decisions. We are set apart by virtue of a seminary degree and a special wardrobe. Anti-clericalism is as American as apple pie, so I'm not shocked that it was tossed on the table as a source of the problems we face as a church.  I'm just not convinced its the real problem.  It may be symptomatic of the bigger problem, redefining what it means for us to be Church in the 21st century. I think we are in recovery as a church. Our habits and behaviors must change in order that we might flourish again. Recovery is hard work, accomplished by the grace of God and a surrender of the self.  So, I am a recovering Lutheran Pastor, whose life is being re-formed somehow.

Lutherans and Mennonites Worship and Serve Together

In 2011, the local mission work of Zion Lutheran Church and Akron Mennonite Church around two symptoms of poverty, affordable housing and food insecurity/hunger, drew them together at the Mennonite church’s annual Mission Fest weekend.  Typically, the weekend highlighted the global mission work of the Mennonite congregation and its deep relationship with Mennonite Central Committee, headquartered in Akron.  But the growth in local mission through the proclamation of a “local theology rooted in Scripture and community life” encouraged the Mennonite congregation’s leaders to consider a local focus for the mission fest weekend. 

whoever is not against us is for us

Gospel of Mark 9:38-50
John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
Temptations to Sin
‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
 ‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’

I received a letter from the church of the Latter Day Saints this week, on official letterhead.  It was directed to me and the ministry of hospitality we call "Peter's Porch".  At Peter's Porch we serve breakfast and give out food, clothing, and other essentials to financially-struggling families in our community.  The letter from the Mormons offered to partner with us in our ministry by donating $1,000 worth of food to our food pantry.  My first cynical thought was, “What is this? The Mormons?  Are they trying to improve their reputation or give an impression for the sake of their candidate?”  Awful, I know.  Maybe they want to be generous. Maybe they want to help.  

emergence

“The seemingly coordinated movement of a school of fish or a flock of birds is not controlled by any leader. Instead, it emerges naturally as each individual follows a few simple rules, such as go in the same direction as the other guy, don’t get too close, and flee any predators. This phenomenon, known as emergence, may someday help experts explain the origin of consciousness and even life itself.”  Nova Science Now website.  I was listening to radio labs on NPR yesterday when I heard them speak about emergence.  It is the phenomenon described above. For example: How does a leaderless ant colony of tiny, small-brained creatures accomplish such coordinated, organized efforts at colonization and sustainability?  Individual ants are not particularly interesting.  Two of them have been observed pulling the same twig back and forth for months.   But a colony of ants is a complex organism that can do many things; ants farm, they have livestock; they make gardens; they organize wars with generals and soldiers; they take slaves; they nurse young; they tunnel; they engineer and orchestrate massive public works projects.  How can so many tiny stupid creatures organize in such a way as to accomplish very complex tasks? This is the science of emergence.  I was fascinated by this idea.  If you take a jar of jelly beans and ask a group of people to guess how many beans are in the jar, do you know what will happen?  As a group, the average of all the guesses will be closest to the actual number.  That means, that as a group, the guessed amount will be closer than any individual’s guess.  Unless of course someone guesses the actual amount.  Nevertheless, when tested, a group’s estimate is typically closer to the actual amount than any individual.  What all of this means is that living things organize and that collectively we are smarter and better than we are individually.  In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts-a saying attributed to Aristotle.  Since the 18^th century, we have seen and experienced the world in terms of its smallest parts.  Atoms and particles and the building blocks of energy, reducing life to its smallest component in order to discover its simplest or most elegant expression.   Biology, chemistry, and physics—the High School sciences, basically have a reductionistic approach to knowledge.  To understand something, separate it into its smallest parts. You may have heard of the God particle, the Higgs Boson, a tiny subatomic particle that scientists believe gives mass to the universe. This summer, physicists looking at the smallest micro level of existence seemed to discover a subatomic boson that slows down other particles and gives them mass.  Turning energy into mass is the building block for all matter, according to this theory.  And yet, there are things that happen at a macro level, like an ant colony or a city that cannot be understood by reducing it to a micro-level.  A single ant is nothing compared to the accomplishments of the colony. 

Enough with the science.  What’s the point?  We are better off when we organize into communities; when we share; when we work and think collectively; when we follow a rule of life that brings order and purpose to things.  We are not made for isolation, for personal independence.  Our society is more fragmented, individualistic, and reductionistic than ever before. Like two ants pulling a twig back and forth for months without purpose or progress, our political system is stalled by two parties at odds with one another; neither of which has the greater good as a primary objective.  Our religious life is fractured as congregations struggle to survive in a world where the individual consumer is replacing institutional values with self-interests.  The result is apathy toward others, selfish accumulation of things, political strife, violence, war.  Even the “United” States is reduced to red versus blue states.  We are not so much one nation as we are a loose collection of the many.  When we break everything down, everything breaks down.  Church ought not to mimic the brokenness of the world.    

What if church was a proposal to the world to live organically as a united body made up of individual members?  What if we were called to be a people living together with a unity of purpose? What if our mission was to participate in the flourishing and growth of life for all?   The fullness of God’s presence, complete shalom, the kingdom of God, the body of Christ cannot be reduced to a single person, a single congregation, or a single denomination.  It is always bigger than the sum of its parts. That is why I believe that an independent church is not church. It is why I believe we need to be a synod, and a catholic church.  The church gives dignity and value to every individual living thing by seeing it and cherishing it as part of the organic whole that is God’s creation. The triune God is one God with three distinct persons precisely because the very nature of things is a unity of diverse things.  Reconciliation, forgiveness, healing are all necessary for alienated persons to rejoin community. Jesus and his followers draw the marginalized and the vulnerable into community because they cannot flourish alone.  As church today, we are lacking this organic oneness, this organized communal expression that gives purpose and definition.  We will not survive like this.  Finding ways to come together, to share a common life, to worship the God who made us, to serve others and draw them into the bigger picture—that is the future of the church in Akron, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the U.S., the world.  The independent congregation must come to an end as the primary expression of the gospel (the gracious and loving presence of God found in Jesus Christ).  In its place?  An organic movement of believers gathered together  to accomplish God’s work of justice and peace for the sake of all living things.                      

Competition in the Church

Dear Church,
We are a people obsessed with winning.  I enjoyed the Summer Olympics in London as much as anyone, I suppose.  I rooted for the USA and enjoyed watching some amazing athletic performances.  More than a few times I wondered aloud, "How did they do that?" Competition is fun.  But it is also a way of life for a lot of people. It is how they view the world.  It is the mechanism that drives progress and builds empires.  It weeds out undesirables and favors the strong, the beautiful, the intelligent.  When there are winners, there are losers.  We know which team we prefer to play on or cheer for.  
I get that we live in a competitive, market-driven world. I get the temptation that comes with success in the market place.  I see how churches connect to this view and adopt it as a strategy for successful growth.  For us, our share of the market has to do with the number of people connected to our respective religious assembles. If a congregation is successful numerically, that may also be a sign of divine endorsement, which becomes a useful marketing tool.  Sort of like restaurants posting awards or recognitions like "voted best burger in Washington DC".  Churches boast about attendance, programs, and charismatic leaders in order to increase their marketability.  Churches use language like "relevant", "progressive", "innovative", and "awesome" to attract others.  But is this the language of Jesus and his first followers?

Five More Things Jesus Actually Said

1.  "The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who went out and sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping,an enemy went out and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away." Matthew 13:24.
What Jesus meant:  The problem of evil is a problem precisely because we cannot understand why a benevolent God would permit evil to happen.  We assign blame. We say that evil is a sign of God's judgment on an individual, a community, a nation. We say that God is responsible for the good and the bad.  We say things like "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."  Jesus' story about the kingdom of heaven says otherwise.  There is an opposition force at work and a rebellion taking place in God's kingdom(the heavens and the earth).  God is loathe to stop it because of the negative implications that would have on what God has "sown".  The enemy is stealthy and does his work "while everyone was sleeping." According to Jesus' story, the ending involves the fiery destruction of the weeds and a gathering of the wheat. God's purifying love allows for a fruitful harvest despite the weeds that grow up in the "garden".   God is good.  Bad things happen.  They do not have the last word, the final say.  There is a good future in store. This is not saying bad people go to hell and good people go to heaven.  Jesus is saying that all wickedness will be destroyed, burned away.What will remain in the end is goodness in the garden.
2."Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life"...  "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him." John 3:15, 17.    Everyone knows John 3:16. Not everyone knows John 3:15 or 17.  The context of these verses is a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Jewish biblical scholar and religious leader who was perplexed by Jesus' teachings.  John, the gospel writer, is saying that Jesus' death on the cross was analogous with the story of the serpents from the book of Numbers.  A rebellion against God inthe wilderness leads to suffering and death, until God gives the people an antidote.  The rub is this:  People rebel against God's ways. The result is death.  God's intent is life.  God's agency alone saves us from ourselves.  God comes to us, participates in our suffering and death, and therefore infuses death itself with God's own life.  God attaches himself to death so that no barrier exists between us and God; neither our rebellion, nor the consequences result in separation from God.  When we see that God is present to us in suffering and death, we are saved.  Because faith is believing in things that have been hidden.
3. "Go and do likewise." Luke 10.  Mercy means to sacrifice one's own self to come to the aid of another. Mercy is most Godlike when it is offered to a stranger, an enemy, an outcast.  Mercy is expressed in one-to-one relationships between people divided by race, culture, ethnicity, or language.  The Good Samaritan is a story about how a Palestinian Arab from the west bank illegally crosses a border into Israel to help a victim of a crime (a crime I imagine is perpetrated by other Israelites).  The Arab provides medical attention, lodging, and additional care for the man before fleeing back to the safety of the west bank. When he arrives at the border, the guards stop him and ask him what he is doing in Israel.  When he tells them the story, the guards do not believe him. So they arrest him for illegally crossing the border and he is thrown in jail.  This is the Jesus' intent.  His command to go and do likewise shows that mercy is more important than personal safety.
4.  "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and a house divided against itself cannot stand." Mark 3, Matthew 12, Luke 11.  Quoted by Lincoln in an address on slavery in 1858 at the republican convention.  In its original context, Jesus was addressing people who sought to damage his reputation by claiming that the source of his power was malevolent, satanic, evil.  If you are combating evil with goodness, hatred with love, discord with peace, sickness and injury with healing and restoration, hunger with food, and death with life then you are not responsible for the cause of suffering.  God does not cause suffering in order to resolve it. Bad things don't happen for a reason.  They do not serve God's purposes. Jesus and God are united in a common mission to restore order, beauty, and peace to God's creation.
5.  "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  John 8:7.  The law demands retributive justice, condemnation, and punishment.  Jesus demands forgiveness and freedom.  A law that condemns a woman for sexual sin and does not condemn the man for the same crime is misogynistic and ungodly.  Grace releases us from punishment under the law.  No one is without sin.  We cannot uphold God's justice, God's demands, God's intentions.  We fail.  Because of Jesus our failures are not counted against us.  Jesus' kind of justice sets us free from condemnation and punishment.  As such, we ought to set others free from punishment and condemnation.  In so doing, we give people a chance to be human again, more than the sum total of their mistakes.
 

5 more things Jesus actually said

1. "Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven." And like it: "Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well." Matthew 9:2 and 9:22.
What Jesus meant.  Healing is intimate and personal. It starts with an acknowledgment of one's identity.  Jesus sees a man, not as a paralytic, but as a son.  He sees a woman, not as someone with a blood disease, but as a daughter.  Disease can become one's identity. Think of cancer or HIV/AIDS.  Jesus restores personhood, childhood, relationship.  And he releases them from the root cause of their suffering; alienation, guilt, abuse.  How can we restore someone's dignity and humanity when they are suffering with illness or injury?  Tell them they are God's children. See them as children.
Also, healing seems to have a lot to do with one's capacity to trust God. When one trusts God, the giver of life, nothing threatens you.
2.   "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." Mark 6:31.
What Jesus meant.  Life is more than the sum total of one's achievements and accomplishments.  Work and productivity do not alone give life meaning.  Rest that is granted after a day of labor is an essential part of a healthy rhythm.  Sabbath-keeping, according to Jesus, is not about legally forcing people to take a day off and go to church.  Sabbath is a gift to replenish the weary body, mind, and spirit. And we all need it.  We need to rest daily and weekly. And we all need to engage in some meaningful work; work that benefits others and promotes well-being.  Work that affirms and gives dignity to others.  Work that provides for the needs of others.This work may be professional or paid work.  But for many people, meaningful work will be volunteer service.  Jesus invites people to rest with him. How can we develop a rhythm that includes rest for our bodies, minds, and spirits every week?
3.  "You give them something to eat." Mark 6:37.
What Jesus meant.  You look at the world's economy and see scarcity.  You have been trained to believe that there is not enough for everyone and that one must acquire more in order to survive.  You have been taught to consume first and share second.  Jesus looks at God's world and sees abundance.  Jesus sees more than enough for all.  He invites us to share first and consume second, because he knows that there will always be more.  Those of us who have food are obligated to share with those who do not have food.  As a rule, never eat alone.  Always find company and share.  Life is better (and food tastes better) when we do.
4. "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who does not take his cross and follow is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37.
What Jesus meant.  In Jesus's 1st century world, the family was the source and center of a stable and sustainable life.  Without one's family, you had nothing.  So, this message is a radical departure from common sense and conventional wisdom.  Does Jesus invite people to abandon family life?  I don't think so.  But Jesus is creating a new culture and a new kind of community.  Life with Jesus is demanding and requires one's full attention and allegiance. We allow so many other people and things to place demands upon us, to which we readily submit.  We are surrendered to many systems that demand our allegiance and loyalty.  Those systems, however, are not as forgiving and gracious as Jesus. (Try not paying your mortgage and see what happens to your house.) So, if you serve Jesus do not expect life to be easy, heavenly, or more prosperous.  Jesus does not promise blessings.  He promises the cross.  If you like a challenge, an adventure, and a way to live that promises a few surprises, join Jesus. A new kind of family, community, culture and sense of belonging emerges when one connects to Jesus.
5. "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Matthew 8:26. Jesus calmed storms that threatened his disciples.  While they tremble in fear because of the storm, Jesus slept on a cushion. He seemed fearless. We have been taught to fear so many things.  Invisible threats; from diseases to terrorists.  We fear death.  We fear poverty.  We fear suffering.  Jesus claims that faith diminishes fear.  How does Jesus experience calm in the midst of a storm? Is his reality different from ours?  What does he see and know that we do not?  Eternal peace?  A love stronger than death?                

Chick-fil-a and the Bread of Life

What are you hungry for?   Have you ever stood in your well-stocked kitchen or sat at a restaurant to decide what to get on the menu and asked that question of yourself?  What am I hungry for?  Sometimes when we offer a certain meal or snack to our children they respond, “I’m not hungry for that.”  I think we are confused about the difference between hunger and self-indulgence.  For many of us, access to more than enough food is not a problem we face.  But this church has met the face of food insecurity here. We know people who struggle to put food on their tables.    If Christianity were the Olympics, fasting would not be not our best event.   We are told that it is not healthy to skip meals. So we don’t.  And we don’t think it’s right if anyone is forced to skip meals because of their circumstances here. So we feed people.  This church is a food relief site inspiring other churches to become food relief sites, too.  Jesus fed hungry people and so do we. 

This week food and faith made the news.  Some Christians or Republicans decided to make chick fil-a some more money by eating there on Wednesday as a sign of moral unity with the COO of the restaurant chain, who spoke out in opposition to same sex marriage in an interview last week.  Apparently there were crowds at chick fil-a on Rt. 30. On Friday a counter protest was launched. Apparently one man from Quarryville quietly picketed the same chick fil-a.  He is a gay man and he carried a sign that said choose empathy.  One man against the crowd. I ask you: Where was Jesus in that story?

what Jesus actually said

People say things in the name of Christianity all the time.  Some of those things are not true.  Some of them are slanderous.  Some of the things they say hurt the gospel, because their words are not good news. Today I am posting five things Jesus actually said. Then I am commenting on them by saying what I think Jesus meant. If you read my comments and wonder how I know what Jesus meant, especially if you disagree with me, all I can say is that I have known Jesus for a little while. I don't know exactly what he meant. I also do not fully understand the context and culture in which he said them, being that Jesus original audience was 1st century Palestine/Israel and I am a 21st century American. What I hope you hear, though, is Jesus speaking from a place of compassion and mercy, with a heart for the least, the poor, and the oppressed minority of his day. Not everyone claiming to speak in His name does the same.


1. ‎"In everything do to others as you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets."Matthew 7:12. 
What Jesus meant. As a rule, your behavior toward others ought to be determined by an honest self-assessment of the ways you wish to be treated by others. Do you wish to be assaulted, maligned, rejected, slandered, humiliated, cursed, forgotten, ignored, misinterpreted, falsely accused, scoffed at, demonized, and abused? I doubt that very much. The entire message of the bible comes down to whether or not your treatment of others reflects the way you expect to be treated. 


2. "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth." Matthew 6:24. 
What Jesus meant: you are fully devoted to one thing. What or who is it? To whom do you answer, who do you serve? Yourself? Your bank account? Your household? Your job? Where does your time, energy, and loyalty lie? If you say you are devoted to God, how would anyone know it?  


3.  ‎"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25. 
What Jesus meant: You spend a lot of time shopping for food and clothing, don't you? I suspect you are more consumed by the questions about food and clothing than about any other thing. Thoughts about them pervade your mind all day long. What will I eat? Where will I get it? What will I wear? You know. STOP IT! Do you not have enough already? If you are truly lacking these things, seek God's kingdom and you will find them. And where is God's kingdom found? In generosity, compassion, loving service... 


4.  Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Matthew 4:19.
What Jesus meant: Your skills, your abilities, your preoccupations, your hobbies, your passions, your interests can be put to use in the ongoing work of God's creation. Through your daily work, you can draw others closer to God. When what you love to do enhances the lives of others, you are doing the work of God. When your skills are put to use to bring health, peace, relief from suffering, joy, and/or beauty to people, you are following Jesus.


5.  Jesus said, "I do choose. Be made clean." Matthew 8:3.
Healing and health care is more than a physical act.  Curing disease is good.  But it is not the only way to achieve a healthy life.  Health is also about belonging and acceptance into the larger community and its benefits.  Isolation is the root cause of a lot of suffering.  We live in an isolating culture. We isolate the sick, the elderly, and those whose skin is different from "ours", even if we do not consider ourselves racially biased.  Jesus, on the other hand, chooses to connect with and offer healing to the very people we neglect, abandon, or discard. He chooses to touch people, because in so doing they are reconnected to humanity, both theirs and ours. When Jesus heals, their humanity is acknowledged and restored. Even more than physical healing, people need to be touched by someone else as an act of corporate solidarity. We are more alike than different.  We are more alive together than we are apart.  We need each other in ways we rarely recognize. Jesus chooses to make us clean, whole, complete people.  When we choose to do the same for others, we embody the compassion of Jesus.        

an either/or Christian

I am not an either/or Christian. Luther said Christians are 100% Sinner and 100% Saint all the time. This describes both my moral failures and my moral goodness. At the National ELCA Youth Gathering last week, Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz Weber said that it describes her enormous capacity for self-destruction and her enormous capacity to be kind and generous too. I know that within myself; I make huge mistakes and I do really good things for others. I cannot escape this lived reality. There is good and bad in me. Nevertheless, Jesus death and resurrection restores my true self and my relationship with God the Father. Christians with an either/or morality mentality do not get Jesus yet.  They think that one's behavior defines one's relationship with God.  They think "salvation" is a personal state of reality contingent upon my willingness to believe and do the right things. I believe that I cannot believe in Jesus Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit in me.  In other words, I cannot get to God, but God can get to me. There is something so powerful and good knowing that God chooses to love us, even though we are messed up. Unconditional love is the power behind Christianity, not moral rectitude.       

a steady stillness

In order for a 2,000 year-old story to speak to us today, we have to look for consistencies, points of connection.  The first and 21^st century have a few things in common: Chaotic times characterized by political and religious turmoil, a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor, war, negative stigmatization of certain diseases, illnesses, or social behaviors, suffering caused by poverty---all things we see addressed by Jesus in the gospels.  All things that continue to plague the world.   Knowing that there are similarities begs the question, has anything changed?  Sure, there has been a lot of progress.  But that progress has not always reduced suffering, sometimes causing greater suffering in the world.  In 2 millenia, what difference has Christian faith made?  What has Jesus accomplished?  We have to admit that sometimes it seems like God is asleep at the wheel, that God does not care about the circumstances of life that threaten to overwhelm us, to drown us, to destroy us.  Sometimes God’s invisible presence is not enough, God’s silence is inadequate, God’s ambivalence toward evil and suffering is downright disturbing.  There are days when we feel like life is out of control and no one is steering.  When people of faith are engulfed in fear, we turn from God in search of safer waters. We isolate. We shop.  We eat.  We self-medicate.  We seek entertainment to distract.  Rarely, do we pause and reflect on the state of anxiety or fear in which we find ourselves.  We are avoiders.  

At the end of the book of Job, the man whose life was characterized by meaningless suffering endures a verbal assault from God the creator, who has heard Job’s cries, his laments, his quest for meaning.  This book is about a man who cannot avoid His sufferings, but seeks to address the cause of them with His God and a few friends.  In the end, God tells Job that there is an important distinction to be drawn between Job’s mortality and God’s immortal presence.  Job is a creature, subject to all of the qualities of creaturehood—good and bad.  God is not subject to the powers of mortality, the fear and anxiety that accompany vulnerability and the fragility of life.  And yet, God is not unmoved by our suffering.  The bible consistently tells us that God is a deliverer, a healer, a redeemer, and help in time of trouble.   The bible claims that God is personally invested in peace.  And yet we remain vulnerable and afraid. 

the third way. church for the rest of us, part 1

I live in a beautiful part of central Pennsylvania.  Lancaster County is known for the anabaptist community, especially the Amish.  It is known for farm preservation and conservative politics.
In Lancaster County, there are two primary ways of religious expression: Conservative American Evangelicalism or non-practicing, non-religious.  I am neither of these two things.  I am a practicing religious Christian and I am not a conservative evangelical.  Sometimes I feel that I have more in common with non-practicing peers than with my religious friends.  There are a few progressive mainline churches, even within the Mennonite community.  But these are not the most prominent religious identification  in the county.  First, I intend to unpack some things about the religious community.

on spiritual poverty. a public manifesto part 1.

Poverty is unattractive.  It is not a word with which people hope to be identified.  In our culture, being poor is tantamount to having leprosy or gangrene.  Poverty is a political hot button in an election year when the domestic economy is the key issue.  How can one avoid becoming aligned with the poor and appear not to neglect the poor? Government support, the so called safety net programs, is under scrutiny.  Many politicians would like to reduce or eliminate these programs.  Christians should be concerned about federal budgets that increase military or defense spending, but reduce spending to help the poor. But we have been party to that logic for a few decades now.  And Christians are not outraged. The majority of us are not poor and those of us who are poor do not have a voice.  So, with rare exception, Christians do not share one mind or one voice on poverty and the poor.    

I have said before that I have come to see poverty as deeply systemic and broader than financial sufficiency.  There are wealthy people who are impoverished in their relationship toward God and others.  There are financially poor people who are rich toward God and others. There is a spiritual poverty that can accompany financial poverty or wealth.  Spiritual poverty is at work in every aspect of health; mental, physical, and relational/emotional. But Americans have privatized spiritual matters to the extent that we do not see the connection between God and wealth.  We do not correlate spiritual poverty and other presenting issues.  We don't have the diagnostic tools to recognize how our spiritual condition affects the life we are living.  We have marginalized or ignored those people who have those tools.  We prefer to listen to people with a positive message.  We only appreciate the power of positive thinking and our ability to tune out negative voices.  Avoidance,denial, and self-medication to amelioriate pain is the name of the game.  Because pain relief is the key to life.  We thing that acknowledging the poverty in our lives is acknowledging failure, weakness, and insufficiency. BUT, avoidance is costing us our very souls! (Not the 'going to burn in hell for eternity' cost; but the 'quiet acquiescence to the hellish brutality that is life on earth' cost.)

A brief history of the Holy Spirit

Creation.  God’s Spirit hovers over the waters.  The wisdom and imagination of God is set loose to make the worlds.  Prophecy.  God’s Spirit inspires preachers to call God’s people to account for sin and to imagine an age to come when all the people of the earth will worship God in unity and peace.  Jesus.  The breath of the Spirit leaves his body on the cross and enters the disciples hearts, filling them with peace.  Pentecost.  The sending of the Holy Spirit fanned the flames of fledgling faith into a wildfire of witness and service in the name of the risen Lord Jesus.   Jesus’ disciples became public witnesses, announcing that God has indeed inaugurated a new age through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus of Nazareth.  This new age will be characterized by love, peace, and mercy for the sinner and the outcast.  The promise of eternal life with God gave them confidence to face trials and death with hope and courage.  They boldly and passionately called God’s people to believe in Him and walk in His ways.  They demonstrated the Spirit’s power with stories of Jesus and miracles.  People are healed.  Widows are fed.  And the community of believers grows and expands, reaching from the margins of the Roman empire to its very center—Rome itself!  In one generation, this Jewish messianic movement becomes an unstoppable global phenomenon.  The first three centuries of the Christian movement was the age of belief.  The gospel story was told and demonstrated by faithful Christians, who made a difference in the lives of non-believers.  They too became believers, who began to adhere to this community of the resurrection.  Baptism, Eucharist, prayer, and giving marked the life of the believer.  There was a clear distinction between the Christian community and the non-Christian community.  Believing in Jesus was a mark of distinction that subjected you to persecution, and maybe even death.  Believers met in secret.  Despite the hardship, the movement grew rapidly.  Believing in Jesus and belonging to His church mattered.  Through the Spirit people experienced the presence of God and the flourishing of life. 

soil

We have been gardening for about three years now. We have a tilled plot of about 600 square feet in the back corner of our property.  The trouble is our soil is terrible.  We have no topsoil, only rocky ground.  I suspect that the builder/ developer sold the topsoil when they cleared the land for this development, leaving some homeowners with a problem.   I spent a couple of days last week amending the soil in my garden. The area was overgrown with weeds, leaves, and rocky debris.   Topsoil is so essential in plant growth. We can’t even grow grass in our rocky soil.  When the sun heats the ground, the grass withers and browns.  On the plus side, I don’t have to mow my lawn from late June until late September.  (Thanks to a warm winter, however, I stopped mowing in December and started mowing in early March this year).   So, in order to grow a better garden this spring, I trucked in a load of topsoil to cover the entire area.  I pulled all the weeds, tilled the ground, and raked out the rocks.  Adding a layer of topsoil, along with the compost we made all winter, has restored the garden.  It looks like the rest of the farmland in Lancaster County---dark brown, fertile soil ready for planting.  I know that this good soil will receive seeds and foster wonderful vegetation that will yield good vegetables for our consumption this coming season.  This soil will give us tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, squash, cucumbers, green beans, sweet corn, and a few other vegetables and herbs.  Growing up on the farm taught me the importance of soil and the proper care for it.  I spent a lot of time in fields as a kid.  Dirt is in my blood.  I know that some of you love gardening, grew up on farms, and appreciate good soil too. 

There is a hymn called “Lord let my heart be good soil”. The text is: “Lord let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word.  Lord, let my heart be good soil, where love can grow and peace is understood.  When my heart is hard, break the stone away.  When my heart is cold, warm it with the day. When my heart is lost, lead me on your way.  Lord, let my heart, Lord, let me heart, Lord let my heart, be good soil.”  The soil analogy works for people who know the difference between good and bad soil.  Jesus’ knew the difference and so should we.  Christians ought to have a connection with the land, because it teaches us about God, growth, and grace. 

Jesus’ parable of the sower in Mark 4:  “He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”  Good soil is essential to crop production.  Eroded soil, rocky soil, and thorny ground all prevent plant growth.  In Jesus’ interpretation  of this story, Jesus compares the way people receive God’s Word with the way the four different soil types receive the seed.    How do you receive God’s Word?  Are you open to God’s voice, God’s commandments, God’s promises?  I suspect many of us are like the seed that fell among the thorns.  The worries and changes of life choke out the word, like weeds in the garden.  And so no fruit grows.  God wants His people to be receptive to His Word because God’s Word produces fruit in our lives.  God’s Word produces peace, joy, love, faith, compassion toward others, generosity, gentleness, kindness, and self-discipline.   God’s Word produces Christ-like behavior and an attitude of grace and thanksgiving.  But, our hearts can be hard or full of weeds. When the soil becomes too dry and sun scorched, nothing grows.  Spiritual dehydration occurs when we ignore the promise of Baptism over our lives, failing to identify with Christ and the church.  Many people have ignored the work of spiritual cultivation and find themselves facing stones and weeds where little vegetation grows.   How does one amend the soil of the heart?

Weekly worship, prayer, and serving others cultivate and nourish the soil of the Spirit.  When we are rooted in the Word and Sacrament community, the soil of our hearts becomes a place where God can grow His love, His peace, His joy.   If the soil of your heart needs amended, come to the master gardener’s workshop.  He’s available anytime, but the soil workshop is in session on Sundays at 9:30 am. 

Hope to see you there.  May God’s garden, the church, grow and produce the fruit of life this season.  

    

transcendence

When was the last time you experienced a moment of transcendence?  You know, some awe-inspiring experience that made you affirm your belief in God.  Maybe it was something beautiful—music or the natural world do that for me.  Or maybe it was an experience with someone else.  Love, friendship, joy.  Transcendence cannot be created, it is not man made.  It happens to us.  It captures us.  Excites us or gives us a deep sense of peace.  It sometimes surprises us.  When it happens you may tear up or laugh or become silent.  You may shout aloud as when the Phillies win, which this year may require transcendence.  If you cannot recall a transcendent moment or if you are not sure if you have had on before, I am sorry.  Again, they are not contrived or man made.  They happen. Like a beautiful sunset when you are in the right place at the right time.  Transcendence is hard to describe to someone else because they just had to be there.  The feeling that it creates cannot be easily reproduced in the telling of the thing. And so telling someone else about it is often counterproductive because, as much as you’d like the other to share the experience, they cannot.  And so the telling can become a downer for both you and the hearer.  Nevertheless, transcendence happens.  I read a story just this week...

the ending of the story

Have you ever gotten to the end of a good book or a good movie and said, “Really, that’s it?”  Some endings do not satisfy us.  We need closure.  Living in the middle of our own stories we may wonder how it’s going to turn out. In the first half of life you may wonder, will we win that soccer game?  Will I graduate, get into a good college, get a job, be successful, get married?  In the second half of life you may wonder, will I raise children well?  Will I be healthy, live a long life, enjoy meaningful work, retire, enjoy  time with the people I love?  IN the twilight, you may wonder, how will I die and what really happens then? Will I be remembered?  Will the ones I love be okay?  Along the way, we face many threats, stresses, and things that cause pain. When things are going tragically wrong in our lives, we may become very discouraged.   We hear the nightly news or read the daily paper and wonder if the world’s story unfolding before us is a good story or a bad one.  It’s certainly a messy one, where violence threatens, the vulnerable are exploited, the weak suffer, and the innocent starve.  And in our own lives, we experience losses, disappointments, pain, grief, frustrations, fatigue, and failure.  We feel powerless and defenseless, so we seek escape from reality through entertainment, vacations, and self-indulgences.  Rather than face and address the world’s problems we run and hide, afraid to deal with reality.  Sometimes I think sleep is a daily escape from reality, in which we might dream alternative stories. Like the women at the tomb we accept the world as a tragic story, in which we play a small and insignificant role in its unfolding. We, therefore, attend to our own self-interests.  And we go about our business every day.  We show up, we weep at our losses, we bury our dead, we try to move on.  Along the way, some good things happen to us, for us, because of us.  We may even be grateful for those moments.  But despite the good we are permitted to give and to receive, we are not all that optimistic.  We wait with expectancy for more bad news to come.  And it does. We become desensitized to it, so much so that we don’t even think about  the future very much.  It produces anxiety anyway.  The future is an enigma, a mystery we dare not speak about.  With live with deep uncertainty.  We have no imagination, no energy left to generate what we need the most.  A future colored with HOPE.  

The women fled the tomb and said nothing to no one for they were afraid.  The end.  Really?  That’s the best Mark could do with this story.  No resurrection appearances.  No sharing of the good news.  No rejoicing.  No lilies.  No majestic hymns like the one’s we sing today.  Easter is characterized by an empty tomb, the interpretation of a stranger, and a couple of frightened women running away.  Hardly credible testimony.  Mark leaves us not sure what to believe.  Of course Mark’s entire story from beginning to end is like this:  The people who should believe, don’t get Jesus. And the people who do get Jesus, are not credible witnesses.  A demon-possessed man and a Roman centurion offer the best testimony to Jesus’ identity.  Hardly believable.  His own disciples abandoned him, denied him, betrayed him.  They surely did not believe him when he said that he would suffer, die, and be raised.  They believed that their own failure was the end of their story.  They believed the building of the new Kingdom project failed on Friday afternoon, when the cross finished its work and Jesus’ breathed his last.  And so the gospel ends in failure.  Except…

There is one character in this story who may yet come to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead,  One character who may be bold enough to tell others that they believe it too.  There is one character who may stake their own lives on the validity of this story without evidence or credible testimony to back it up.  One character left, on whom the writer depend to keep this story alive and let it shape their lives and the future of the world.  There is a character who sees hope in this story about an empty tomb and the declaration of a nameless stranger.  Who?

You. What this world needs more than anything is a storyteller that creates the capacity to hope.  The capacity to imagine a world that is not just falling apart, not just drifting in space, not just overrun by evil, greed,  decay, suffering, and death.  What the world needs is people who believe that, if there is a GOD, and if that God is good, and if good will overcome evil, then this GOD must first make good on a promise by raising Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. Because if his life was truly a great life, an abundant life, a life worth imitating; then his violent death must not be the end of his story.  We need a story, a dream really,  that promotes the power of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation of broken relationships.  We need a story that encourages  non-violent solutions to major human strife, the possibility for real change of hearts and minds, and the strength of love to make a broken world new and whole again. We need to imagine a world after death, a world after suffering, a world after injustice. We need to envision an empty tomb and a promise that the crucified one is on the move, in the world, bringing resurrection life and hope to everyone and every thing he touches.  Because when your life has been touched by his, everything changes. Everything old is being made new, everything lost will be found, everyone who dies will be restored to life again.  The women in Mark's gospel said nothing to no one.  In response, this is our mission; Say Something to Someone today. Do not be afraid. Share the good news.  Alleluia! Christ is risen.  Amen.   

Losers and Winners

IN the news:  “Who are the lucky three? That was a common question on the minds of all the rest of us Mega Millions losers on Saturday after lottery officials announced that three lottery tickets sold in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland hit the world record-breaking $640 million jackpot. The morning after the drawing, most Americans were left with dashed fantasies of what they would have done with more than half a billion dollars.  In New York City, Sean Flaherty hoped to trade in some of his 12-hour days working as a video game tester to spend more time with his wife and daughter.

"I knew that when I bought the ticket, that I wouldn't win," Flaherty said Saturday. "But I did it anyhow. Because, I don't know, it would be like Christmas." Sean is a loser.  His important life’s work testing video games keeps him away from his wife and daughter. And now he has lost the lottery.  Sorry Sean. 

Did any of you play the Megamillions lottery.  $640 Million is a lot of money.  Remember when a million was a lot? If you’re not approaching a billion these days, you’re not winning.  We assume that more is better, that having the most is the best.  I did not play the lottery.  Never do.  Maybe we Lutherans should get in the game, though.  If all of us bought ten lottery tickets with the promise that the winning ticket-buyer keeps 10% and gives away the rest, we could collectively bail out the Lutheran church in America.  Apparently there are three winners.  I Doubt that they are thinking about contributing to the Lutheran church.  How many people spent money to buy tickets, knowing the odds were not in their favor, with the dream that they would win, believing that winning the lottery is a ticket to a better life.  Like the man said: it would be like Christmas.  Because Christmas is all about acquiring more, which is the meaning of life.

There are always winners and always losers.  Whether it’s the final four (Kentucky and Kansas) or the Civil War, we divide the world thus.  Winners have the power, the money, the record of success.  Their stories are told, so that they become example.  Sometimes winners in life are beloved, sometimes they are demonized.  No doubt Adolf Hittler succeeded. He ruled Germany and nearly the western world.  He successfully established a program to eliminate an entire population of people.  Now no one disagrees that Hitler’s atrocities were some of the very worst crimes against humanity.  But Hitler was popular and powerful.

When we think about the meaning of success, a successful person, what or who do you think of? Are you successful?  How we have come to define success and failure, winning and losing, is important.   I like how Presidents are elected here.  For a short time that person seems to garner the support of the people. That changes.  He is demonized, maybe even Hitlerized.  The four-year Presidents are the least memorable, defeated mid-term, as it is.  A new ruler rises and will also fall.  Do any of you believe that the next guy is going to be so much better than the one who came before?  Does history bear that logic out?  Or is it as likely that the next guy will fail us too?   

We see the rise and fall of successful people all the time.  One day they throw you a parade the next day they throw you under a bus.  Tiger Woods rose and fell.  If you’re lucky enough, they will let you make a comeback---because Americans love comeback stories and underdog stories.  We love rags to riches stories. We don’t like stories about losers who stay that way.  We don’t like tragedies. 

Before us is a tragic story in two parts.  Part one:  Jesus the Rabbi, compassionate Galillean healer and forgiver of sins is the King of the Jews.  The crowds shout in his honor:  HOSANNA in the Highest!  He is paraded into Jerusalem at Passover on a donkey.  He spends a week confronting the powers of the temple court and acting with authority and power, acting like a king. He leads a crusade to purify the temple, to restore the Kingdom of God. In so doing, he challenges the political system.  Part II:  He is betrayed for money by a friend, convicted by his peers at a mock trial, arrested, beaten, and presented before the crowds.  The crowds could spare his life.  They could stand behind the man they celebrated last weekend.  Instead they shout CRUCIFY.  They could rise up as an army to defend him.  Instead they abandon him to the real power of Pontius Pilate and the Roman military machine.  Their King is led away to the ultimate Roman punishment.  He is crucified outside the city during the Passover festival.  He dies on a Friday afternoon and is buried in a tomb.  Jesus loses.  He fails.  He dies. 

But Christians dare to believe that Jesus’ loss and death is our gain.  We dare to believe that his death is sacrificial and protects us from a meaningless death. Those who lose their lives for my sake will find it.  In a great reversal, a counterintuitive way, Jesus demonstrates the power of failure, the power of losing.  Could it be that our definitions of winning and losing, success and failure are reversed? 

What if sacrificial giving and a willingness to lay down your life for someone else characterized Christianity?  Too often Christianity has wanted to be on the wrong side of the winning/losing equation.  We have wanted to be MEGA church with money and youth and persuasive cultural powers. Not to mention the best music and coffee in town. 

 Jesus teaches the power of downward mobility.  To take the losers seat.  To be smallest, least, weakest, oldest, dying. For it is in losing that we find God.  Amen.