on religious hypocrisy and authenitic community

Gospel of Luke 11
"While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. ³⁸The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. ³⁹Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.
42 ‘But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practised, without neglecting the others. ⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market-places. ⁴⁴Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.’"

Jesus was no lover of vain, empty religious practices.  Jesus was intolerant of hypocrisy, especially among religious people. They do what is expected of them publicly, but privately they are greedy and wicked.  They follow their religious rules in order to appear holy or better than others.  They go to church, but they have no compassion in their hearts.  They neglect justice and the love of God.  Jesus called them out for their hypocritical judgment, because they accused Jesus of abandoning right religious practices and habits.  Instead, Jesus practiced excessive mercy and radical forgiveness and selfless love.  He did this without the endorsement of the religious leadership.  He taught without their authority and consent.  He was more concerned about broken people than about broken rules.  He noticed that the religious system actually prevented people from encountering the God he knew as Father.  It actually replaced an authentic relationship with a living, speaking, acting God with a religious transaction---do these things and you will be blessed.  Fail to do them and you will be cursed.  The myth we still buy into today goes something like this:  If your life is hard, perhaps it is because you are not religious or faithful enough. If your life is good, it is because you are obeying God's will.  Suffering people may be faithful, but they are most likely in God's disfavor.  Doing what is right is necessary to have a good life. Blessed people prosper.  Cursed people suffer.   Jesus debunked this myth. A crucified man is supposed to be a cursed man, according to the Hebrew Scripture.  But he says the cross is the way of salvation. He says the poor are blessed. He says the sick and sinful belong to God. He says the vulnerable are our neighbors to whom we are called as servants.  We can see why religious hypocrisy causes so many people to reject Christianity and even God. 

Religious practices, including Sunday morning worship, can prevent us from living a God centered life.  Jesus implies that those who claim to have a relationship with God and have hatred for their neighbor do not really know God.  You can't claim to have an UP/DOWN relationship if you have no terrible OUT relationships.   We think that if we show up, are members of a church, pay our dues, and do the rituals then that satisfies God and insures us a place in God's care.  We can do our duty to God and never serve anyone else.  We can, in fact love God with our lips and hate our neighbors, especially those who are not like us.   

But, Jesus proposes an alternative to religious hypocrisy. For Jesus, the table was the place of radical inclusion, welcome, and encounter--where God is present in food and drink and human companionship.   He proposes an authentic life of love, mercy, and justice.  This takes place within the human heart first and extends outward through our actions and words.  Jesus shows us what it looks like to have an authentic relationship with God demonstrated in the ways we show love to other people. Jesus shows us authentic relational balance. It is costly.  It requires a lot of grace.  And he envisioned and established a community to practice it.  What if church was more like that and less like 1st century Pharisaic religion---a religion that drew very clear exclusionary lines between those who were in the club and those who were not?     

How have you experienced religious hypocrisy?  What about this alternative message appeals to you?    Who do you know that has been turned off by religious hypocrisy, exclusion, and bigotry?  How might you invite them to the table of grace?       



       

On the Difference between Right and Justified

Preached on October 23, 2016

gospel: Luke 18:9-14

[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Who are those who trust in themselves that they are righteous and regard others with contempt?  Not me. I’m not like those hypocrites, those self-righteous do-gooders who think they’re better than everyone else.  I’m a Lutheran.  We’re humble church folk. This is who we are and what we believe. Listen to these four statements: 

• Know the difference between right and wrong and choose what is right. Do the right things. 
• The bible teaches us the right way to live.  Follow the bible’s teachings and you will please God.  If you’re on the wrong track, turn around and get yourself right with the Lord. 
• A right relationship with God and others is the key to a happy life.
• God wants you to know that you are good, that you can do good things, and that doing good things for others is the calling of all Christians.   

Do these statements describe us?  I think we can all agree that these statements sound, well, right.  To a certain extent, this is what we believe isn’t it?  Christianity teaches us how to live the way God wants us to live, teaches how to behave, what righteousness looks like.  From the ten commandments to the Sermon on the Mount, from the prophets words of admonition to Paul’s Christian household codes, the bible is a manual for holy living.  Now, we Lutherans are taught that we are all sinners, incapable of following the law.  So Jesus was sent to die for our sins, freely taking my place on the cross, so that I can receive forgiveness and eternal life.  We call this amazing grace.  And it frees us from slavery to sin so that we can be the good people God intends for us to be.  As a result, we are encouraged to try harder.  We are free from the threat of punishment to work harder at doing God’s will, doing what is right.  Because of Jesus, we are able to confidently move toward righteous obedience.  We call this sanctification, becoming holier as we reject sin and follow Christ.  Our actions, worship and service to our neighbors move us closer and closer to sainthood.  The more we do, the closer we get.  The less you do, the further you get from God.  Non-practitioners of the faith are maybe more lost than unbelievers.  They don’t know any better.  Right>  but saved people should act like they are grateful.  Again, this sounds right in our ears.  This is the correct formula for a Christian life.   I suspect that most people who come to church do so to hear a positive message, an uplifting message and an encouraging message.  Mainly that God cares about you, that you are loved and capable of real goodness.  We love stories of people doing good things for others.  I suspect this is what we want Christianity and church to be about.  Feel good, do good, be good.  It is what we do or don’t do that counts for or against us.  Our behavior is a sign of our character.  Morality is the hallmark of the Christian life.  Salvation is the reward of a life lived well.  Either good people are saved or saved people are good.  This is what we have come to believe.          

So, Jesus tells a story.  Two men go up to the temple to pray.  One thanks God that he is a good man who does the right things.  He is upright, religious, faithful.  He brings no guilt or shame or remorse.  But he is grateful.  He contrasts himself with immoral people like the other man praying nearby.   The other begs God for mercy because he is not a good man.  He is a tax collector, a traitor working with the enemy occupiers.  He has guilt, shame, and remorse.  He is not right with God or others.  He is not a good person.  He has made bad choices.  Both men pray to the same God.  But only one man goes home justified.  Only one man goes home changed.  Only one man goes home lighter, freer, happier.  Only one man goes home with a new relationship with God, a clean heart and a clear conscience. 

To be righteous is to trust in our own ability, our own goodness, our own moral character.  To be righteous is to live in contrast to those around you who are not, who are wicked, bad, immoral, sick, depraved, etc…this is how we so easily ignore criminals, the poor, the addict.  Righteousness can become arrogant disassociation, detachment from those other people.  Righteousness divides people into good people and bad people.  And it is a false reading of the bible. 

To be justified is to experience myself as a sinner, to fall on my knees, to cry out for mercy, to hope for unearned acceptance, and to receive a great gift.  To be justified is to surrender one’s self to God, who might very well punish or reject you, and instead chooses to embrace you and welcome you home and restore you to your created self, child of God.  To be justified is to be clothed with Christ in baptism, fed by Christ at the table, crucified with Christ, and raised with Christ.  To be justified is to be seen by God in the likeness of Jesus.  We set nothing right.  When we try, we are more likely to sin.  Our work is to beat the chest and cry out for mercy and hope for God to listen and take action for you and for your neighbor.  Our work is to have faith enough to believe that God has the power and the glory forever.  Amen. 

On Reformations, personal and public

This weekend begins a year-long commemoration of the 500^th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation.  The Pope, once called the antichrist by Luther who was condemned by that Pope in 1520, is this week joining Lutherans in Lund, Sweden to kick off a year of commemoration with a joint worship service.  We are moving toward restored communion with Rome and historic levels of unity among Catholics and Lutherans.  499 years ago tomorrow,  Dr. Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on indulgences and the authority of the Pope on the doors of the Wittenburg Church.  Luther was a Black Augustinian monk, a Roman priest, and a university professor of the bible.  The result of his theses and the debate about them that followed was fuel on a fire that had already been lit.  By 1520, Luther was a heretic and by 1521 a fugitive from the law and both the Roman and German authorities.  In the years that followed, Luther and his colleague wrote the Augsburg Confession, a document outlining the principle assertions of the reformers.  What they said about God, Jesus, the human condition, salvation, and the church’s mission are not mere dogmatic statements, but a confession of what the reformers believed to be the truth.  Their rebellion was three-fold.  First they dared to believe in their own interpretation, their own reasonable understanding of the scripture.  They took as their primary authority’s scripture and faith and the grace of God.  The Pope didn’t like that.  Second, they dared to imagine and establish an alternative Christian community, a reformed congregation outside the confines of Roman authority.  Third, they dared to put the scriptures into the hands of peasants and ordinary people.  They took the great commission task of the church seriously.  As evangelical Christians, they saw as their mission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them.  The Reformation gave the bible to the world.  Of course the danger in all of these things has been realized too.  There has been blood shed between Catholics and protestants, animosity, and discord. Only in the last century has some of that begun to fade.  Also, if you put scripture in everyone’s hands you risk its misuse, misinterpretation, and biblical idolatry. We continue to see how sin and the devil interpret the bible and use it to drive wedges between people.  But, Luther was a teacher of the bible who believed in rigorous study of the Word, in communal interpretation, and a theological education for all people.  This is, perhaps, what is missing.  Disciples, after all, are those called to be students of God’s Word. We are called to hear God’s Word speaking to us law and gospel, sin and salvation, death and resurrection, responsibility and relationship, failure and forgiveness. 

At its core the Lutheran Reformation is a daring, personal experience of the grace of God made known to us in the Word, the water, the bread and cup.  Faith is a living, daring confidence in Jesus Christ.  For Luther, the movement was always personal, always an inner struggle with God and the neighbor to live as Christ.  It was a struggle against sin, death, and the devil.  It was a struggle to love the neighbor, the enemy, the ignorant coworker, one’s wife and children. 

But salvation is given and received, it is not earned or rewarded.  The only condition of salvation is faith in God and in his son Jesus, a faith which is given by the Holy Spirit.  Faith is a particular way of seeing.  Even seeing God hidden in suffering, in struggle, and human failing.

 Zacchaeus was a Jew. Not a very good one according to most.  In fact, he had made full use of his privilege as chief tax collector, a member of the Roman occupation bureaucracy set to oppress his own people, by abusively forcing taxation and collection, with threats of prison and death carried out by Roman soldiers at his suggestion.  Luther said,  “The Lord commonly gives riches to foolish people, to whom he gives nothing else.” Zacchaeus was increasingly troubled in his spirit about the damage he’d done and about is own status among his people.  He was rich, but despised.  And his wealth was gained by exploitation and violent oppression.  He hated what he had become.  So when he heard about Jesus, teacher of mercy and forgiveness, he wanted to see for himself.  Some said Jesus was the Messiah, sent by God to restore Israel.  ON his way to Jericho, just hours before, Jesus had supposedly restored the sight of a blind beggar.  Recovery of sight to the blind.  So Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a view from the back of the large crowd from Jericho who had come out to meet Jesus on the road.  Jesus must’ve asked someone who that little man was perched in the sycamore tree like a sparrow.  Zaccahaeus, our chief tax collector, a fiend.  Did the crowds boo when Jesus approached the tree, called him by name and told him to come down so that he could host Jesus in his house that day?  They grumbled, He’s going to that sinner’s house? Anger and envy swept through the crowd.    Whatever they did, didn’t matter.  Zacchaeus came down and stood before Jesus.  Something broke open inside and he declared, “  “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”  He will exceed the demands of the Law to set things right.  WHY?  To impress Jesus?  Or because meeting Jesus changed his heart?  We cannot know.  But Jesus declares, “Today Salvation has come to this house.”  In Christ, it is not your past or your future that are in question.  It is this present moment.  Salvation is both release from a troubled and sinful past and a promise of future glory in the coming kingdom.  But chiefly salvation is what is happening for you in the present moment.  What is God doing for you right now.  How is God’s Spirit changing the human heart right now, calming fear, bringing peace, offering comfort to troubled souls?  This is the ministry of the Gospel.  To apply the salve to the wounded heart. If the Zaccaheus’ can change, there is hope for everyone.  Salvation leads us to work that reconciles, work that heals, work that blesses others.  Salvation opens our hearts to serve our neighbors. 

Luther says that in Christ we are freed from sin to love and serve the neighbor.  It is this freedom that makes us disciples. The liberating grace of God that changes the human heart and makes us children of God and heirs of eternal life.  Today, the church is undergoing a season of reform.  Every 500 years or so, we need to do some housecleaning.  Freshen things up a bit.  Fix what’s broken.  In a divisive world, we see signs of healing of the old division between Catholics and Lutherans.  We are becoming something new.  As a church, we will not be what we were. We are becoming smaller, older and younger, and more attuned to the needs of our neighbors.  We must remain rooted in the Word as the source of our mission, faith, and life together.  And above all else, we put our trust in Christ who by the cross and resurrection has set us free from sin to serve all people with generosity and joy.  We do not celebrate schism.  We do not celebrate Lutheran doctrines that set us apart or make us more right than any other religious group.  We celebrate the grace of God made known to us by faith in Jesus Christ.  We celebrate that today salvation has come to this house as each of us here encounters the life changing Word, are fed and forgiven and sent to serve. Today, we are the church because we have heard good news that we have to share.  May we do so boldly, with confidence, for our neighbors.  Amen.        

All the Saints

Today is November 1st, All Saints Day.  Christians have observed this day for centuries, perhaps since the first millennia.  (Before 1,000 AD).  It is a day to remember the Christian faithful who have died, or fallen asleep, and now await the day of resurrection.   We often associate saints with people like Mother Theresa, Francis of Assisi, and Augustine.  And they are.  The Apostles of Jesus, early Christian martyrs, and desert monks are Saints, whose devotion to Christ accounts for the spread of Christianity in the first 500 years.  There are hundreds of saints, whose lives of very public faith, witness, and service demonstrate Christ to the world.  Roman Catholicism venerates saints, prays to saints, and celebrates saints throughout the Christian year. 

But, sainthood is not an unattainable condition merited to only the most devoted practitioners of Christianity.  Saints are not perfect people, or those who attained some special place because of their virtue.  Beyond the martyrs and holy ones who led exemplary lives, saints include all baptized Christians.  Saints live ordinary lives of faith and doubt.  Saints go to the bathroom and house the homeless.  Saints worship God weekly, pray daily, and eat at McDonalds.  Saints follow Jesus and follow the Chicago Cubs.

In my life, my parents and my pastors and Sunday School teachers were my saints.  They guided me, taught me, loved me, and called me into a life of Christian faith.  Bernie Gigliotti was one of the first people to encourage me to think about becoming an ordained pastor.  I still see him sitting on the pew in the narthex of Our Saviour Lutheran in Utica, NY.  I still receive meaningful counsel and inspiration from the compilation of Daily Readings from Luther's Writings given to me as a gift from Pastor Bill Preuss at a church assembly in 1994---two years before I graduated from college and seven years before I would be ordained.  I believe that assembly, filled with the saints, inspired me to serve the church as a pastor and evangelist. 

My wife and sons show their devotion to Christ every week as they share their gifts with the faith community.  My friends who gather around the table every Sunday, hungry for God to speak and give life to them, embody the life of ordinary saints.  We drink beer together.  We care about and for one another.  We struggle with each other.  We encourage each other.  We pray for each other and for the world.  We hope for things to get better and strive to be part of that hard healing work.  We feed hungry neighbors.  We grow food.  We accompany people through hard decisions, through illness, through seasons of suffering.  We try to live in community, to serve our neighbors, and to do things that matter. 

Martin Luther had this to say about ordinary saints:  "You say that the sins which we commit everyday offend God, and therefore we are not saints.  To this I reply;  Mother love is stronger than the filth and scabbiness on a child, and so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us."   

If you're reading this, you are probably a saint who has inspired me in some way.  So, thank you.  You have shown the love of Christ to me and to others.  You are blessed.     

Reluctant Messenger

WORD: Jonah 3-4

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ²‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ ³So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ ⁵And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. ⁸Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. ⁹Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it."

I haven't written in a while.  I've been neglecting or avoiding this part of my call.  I know that I am called to write, to share a message of hope that comes from a heart and a mind of faith.  I have a lot to say.  But I have not wanted to say it.  I have been discouraged.  I have been tired.  I have been weary.  I have felt indifferent.  I have wondered why I am called here.  I have been frustrated with church, with myself, and with the uncivil national public debate. We are living in dark times, people.  We do not know right from wrong, good from bad, up from down.  There is mass confusion caused by a deep mistrust in institutions that used to be sources of truth.  Religious institutions are so divided that they are not trustworthy. There is political gridlock and real animosity.  The election of 2016 is symptomatic of some deeper problems.  Let's call it a crisis on every level; personal, communal, and national.  I have been reluctant to speak against the current situation.  Not unlike Jonah.   

Jonah is a reluctant prophet.  A prophet is someone who speaks a message of truth, a message from God.  The message is often discomforting, a little scary, and hard to hear.  It usually deals with infidelity and disobedience in the relationship between God and God's people.  Often social, racial, and economic justice are themes of the prophet.  Some prophets suggested that God is more interested in human equality and the ethical treatment of vulnerable people than in religious ceremonies and rituals.  Also, there are false prophets.  And discerning between true and false ones is important.  True prophets are often reluctant, unexpected, humble, and yet powerful in their delivery. Jonah is an authentic prophet. 
Jonah did not go to Nineveh the first time he heard God call and send him there.  Jonah despised the people who lived there.  He saw them as evil people, unworthy of God's mercy.  And because he believed that God was merciful, he feared that God was going to use him to announce mercy to those who didn't deserve it.  Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh. 
God will have God's way with us, though.  Eventually, after a stormy night and a fishy rescue, Jonah reluctantly goes to Nineveh.  He walked into the city and gave the least inspiring message that he could possibly give.  "In forty Days, Nineveh will be overthrown."  That is the entire message.  Seven words of pending doom.  Notice, Jonah does not say that God will destroy Nineveh.  His delivery was simple, powerful, and effective. 
Upon hearing this word, the people receive it and undertake a massive city wide day of humility. Even the King gets involved, decreeing a day of repentance, in the hope that God's mind might be changed by their changed behavior.  They hope to avoid the path of destruction by heeding the warning and taking public action.  As a result, God does change God's mind and does not bring calamity and destruction upon them.

Words matter.  Jonah announced a hard truth to the people.  They were not living in a way that was good, just, or pleasing to God.  But, people can change. The Ninevites publicly shame themselves.  They want to avoid divine wrath.  They fear that they are indeed destroying themselves.  I suspect people know when things are going in the wrong direction.   
God shows mercy, undeserved forbearance.  God changes from anger to compassion. 

We are called to speak hard truths.  God is not responsible for our self-destructive ways.  There is no one to blame but ourselves.  But there may be another chance.  We may get to try again.  We may get to make amends.  Guilt that leads to positive change is healthy guilt. Sometimes, hearing the truth is both painful and necessary. 

If I was told that I was going to lose everything unless I stopped doing something, would I stop doing it?  Would you?  What if I did stop, and my life got somehow better?  Would I tell others my story?
As we stand together on a precipice, what do we do?  What do we believe?  What matters to us?
I believe in the power of mercy, forbearance, and the prospect of justice.  I believe our political life can get better, if we learn to trust one another and see one another as brothers and sisters and not enemies. I believe that God sends messengers to tell us the truth, to wake us up, and call us to acknowledge our weaknesses and explore the possibility of our better selves.  I believe I am sometimes called to be that prophetic voice.  And so are you,  So pay attention.  Someone greater than Jonah is coming.

Reluctant Messenger

WORD: Jonah 3-4

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ²‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ ³So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ ⁵And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. ⁸Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. ⁹Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it."

I haven't written in a while.  I've been neglecting or avoiding this part of my call.  I know that I am called to write, to share a message of hope that comes from a heart and a mind of faith.  I have a lot to say.  But I have not wanted to say it.  I have been discouraged.  I have been tired.  I have been weary.  I have felt indifferent.  I have wondered why I am called here.  I have been frustrated with church, with myself, and with the uncivil national public debate. We are living in dark times, people.  We do not know right from wrong, good from bad, up from down.  There is mass confusion caused by a deep mistrust in institutions that used to be sources of truth.  Religious institutions are so divided that they are not trustworthy. There is political gridlock and real animosity.  The election of 2016 is symptomatic of some deeper problems.  Let's call it a crisis on every level; personal, communal, and national.  I have been reluctant to speak against the current situation.  Not unlike Jonah.   

Jonah did not go to Nineveh the first time he heard God call and send him there.  Jonah despised the people who lived there.  He saw them as evil people, unworthy of God's mercy.  And because he believed that God was merciful, he feared that God was going to use him to announce mercy to those who didn't deserve it.  Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh. 
God will have God's way with us, though.  Eventually, after a stormy night and a fishy rescue, Jonah reluctantly goes to Nineveh.  He walked into the city and gave the least inspiring message that he could possibly give.  "In forty Days, Nineveh will be overthrown."  That is the entire message.  Seven words of pending doom.  Notice, Jonah does not say that God will destroy Nineveh. 
Upon hearing this word, the people receive it and undertake a massive city wide day of humility. Even the King gets involved, decreeing a day of repentance, in the hope that God's mind might be changed by their changed behavior.  They hope to avoid the path of destruction by heeding the warning and taking public action.  As a result, God does change God's mind and does not bring calamity and destruction upon them.

Words matter.  Jonah announced a hard truth to the people.  They were not living in a way that was good, just, or pleasing to God. People can change. The Ninevites publicly shame themselves.  They want to avoid divine wrath.  They fear that they are indeed destroying themselves.  I suspect people know when things are going in the wrong direction.   
God shows mercy, undeserved forbearance.  God changes from anger to compassion. 

We are called to speak hard truths.  God is not responsible for our self-destructive ways.  There is no one to blame but ourselves.  But there may be another chance.  We may get to try again.  We may get to make amends.  Guilt that leads to positive change is healthy guilt. 

If I was told that I was going to lose everything unless I stopped doing something, would I stop doing it?  Would you?  What if I did stop, and my life got somehow better?  Would I tell others my story?
As we stand together on a precipice, what do we do?  What do we believe?  What matters to us?
I believe in the power of mercy, forbearance, and the prospect of justice.  I believe our political life can get better, if we learn to trust one another and see one another as brothers and sisters and not enemies. I believe that God sends messengers to tell us the truth, to wake us up, and call us to acknowledge our weaknesses and explore the possibility of our better selves.  So pay attention.  Someone greater than Jonah is coming.      

family detention

22 women are conducting a hunger strike in Leesport, Berks County.  They are Los Madres Berks.  They are being detained with their children by immigration and customs enforcement---the federal government---along with about 43 other women and children.  Many of them have been detained for over 200 days, some for as long as a year.  Their crimes?  They fled violent, impoverished Central American countries with their children and traveled thousands of miles to seek asylum and assistance in the U.S.  They have experienced trauma, abuse, and mistreatment.  They have not experienced protection or merciful justice.  They were arrested at our southern border and brought to the Berks Family Detention Center, one of three family detention centers in the U.S. They are in federal custody in a facility run by Berks county.  They are appealing a court order that blocked their application for asylum, because the process of determining “credible fear” was improperly conducted.   There living conditions are poor.  Children cannot attend schools.  Pennsylvania revoked the facility’s human services license in February because of the conditions under which the children we living.  The county is appealing.  In the meantime, nothing gets better for these women and children. Family detention was started in 2014 as a result of an influx of unaccompanied minors into the U.S. from central America.  Specifically, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. 

On September 6^th, 2016, Christina Smoker, Michael Kelly and I attended an interfaith prayer vigil on the grounds of the detention center.  We joined about 250 others in song, prayer, and protest.  We were joined by Lutheran Immigration and refugee services staff and other Lutherans concerned for immigrants and asylum seekers.  Muslims, Buddhists, Unitarian Universalists, Lutherans, other religious groups, and human rights advocates gathered in unity and solidarity with the madres Berks and their children.  We stood on one side of a fence, on one side of a street.  The women and children stood together opposite us, about 200 yards away.  We were divided by space, but our hearts and voices were united in a common hope. They stood hand in hand and sang in Spanish as we stood together, with candles lit, and sang in English.  They seek freedom, asylum, compassion, mercy, and just treatment.  They fled dreadful lives in their home countries.  They came here.  They were forced to flee because of gang violence and economic poverty.  They want what all mothers want for their children.  They want their children to live, to get educations, and to thrive in safety with opportunity. 

The biblical witness calls the people of God to a stance of welcome and hospitality toward the foreigner, the stranger, and the resident refugee.  Leviticus 19:33-34 and 24:22 says,  "When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.  The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt:  I am the Lord your God.”  Jesus said, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Matthew 25.   

As Lutheran Christians, we are called to practice solidarity with and public advocacy for vulnerable peoples.   We are called to demonstrate hospitality and mercy for the least among us. We are called to serve as Christ served us.  Family detention is unjust and unmerciful.  We must call on our government to do better for the sake of these mothers and their children.     

To learn more about family detention and a Lutheran response please go to:  http://lirs.org/immigrationdetention/ 

Excessive mercy

WORD of LIFE:  Matthew 5:17-20
‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,* not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks* one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God's law.  This means that to know what pleases God, what completes God's ultimate intentions for the human being, we are to look at and listen to Jesus.  He fully embodies God's justice, God's goodness, God's truth and health.  The law of God is defined as God's good and perfect will for all creation. And we know that we cannot fulfill or complete it.  We fail to do the things we know we ought to do; we do the things we know we ought not to do; we do and say the wrong things or fail to do or say the right things without actually knowing it.  Nevertheless, we are not exempt from the threat of the law of God.  There are conditions for life on earth, set by God, with which we fail to comply.  Thankfully, Jesus of Nazareth embodies and demonstrates for us what it means to live fully into God's will, God's hope and intentions for us all.   And he challenges us to live more like him, to imitate his life, and to do what is right and good and true even if it kills us.

Today, I received a call from a woman. A mutual friend referred her to me.  She and her family (husband and 3 young kids) are stranded about an hour east of Lancaster, near Philadelphia.  They have no working vehicle, no money, and no housing for tonight.  She sought assistance. I am reluctant to spend money to help them.  I found out that they have a bad history with transitional housing in Lancaster county.  They did not follow the rules.  They destroyed property.  And the reason they left for Philly was to seek shelter with family after their situation fell apart here.  They will not be welcomed back here by some parts of the homeless relief community.  They may face criminal charges for their behavior, according to social service professionals who dealt with them recently.
They tell another story; That they were mistreated here; that they are trying to do what is right and judged wrongly by relief organizations ans churches. That they care for their children.  That they were misunderstood and misguided by people who were supposed to help and support them.  
Given their situation and the concern for the children, I called law enforcement in their current location.  A police officer arrived and is intervening as I write this blog.  After hearing the story I heard from social service agencies today, I was reluctant to provide any assistance at all.  But I spoke with both of the adults on the phone and realize that, even if they have broken rules and failed to comply with systems of assistance, they and their children do not deserve to be cast out and left homeless.
Fulfillment of the law means to love as Christ loves, to show mercy, to bear the grief of others with them, to be close to those at the bottom of the human pyramid, to make peace, to admit spiritual poverty and failure, to do the right thing even when it is hard or unaccepted.  Today, calling on reinforcements in the police department was the right thing to do.  Some might think any intervention on my part was excessive.  I didn't have to do anything.  I could have said, "Sorry, we can't help you." Some would not have any problem responding in that way.  But I chose to do something because they are human beings in need of mercy.   Hopefully, this family will experience mercy tonight and a desire tomorrow to set things right.
Prayer
Jesus, you complete the law of God by means of sacrificial love.  You provide healing mercy for those who suffer. You care for the homeless and those in distress.  Be with this family and any family experiencing homelessness tonight.  Amen.

Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16.  
"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt becomes tasteless in what way will it become salty again?  It is no longer any good, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.  You are the light of the word.  A city on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to the whole house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."

Hiding out and blending in.  The followers of Jesus are supposed to have a distinctive flavor, a brighter light in dark times.  But, when we love justice and show mercy and walk humbly with God, we will stand out.  I think the church is too often silent about and absent from the hard things, the ugly and broken things.  We hide in our sanctuaries and in our homes.  We hide ourselves, our own hearts and minds.  We keep silent in the face of critics and detractors.  We do not stand with those who experience the cross of shame and suffering in their lives.
Today, I'm going to a meeting of the NAACP chapter in Lancaster.  They have invited clergy to gather and discuss racial tensions, violence, and law enforcement.  I go to listen, to share my hope in the God of justice and peace, and to walk with others who are deeper in the struggle than I.  It would be easy not to go, to say its not my thing.  I have plenty of other acts to accomplish today.  White privilege and suburbia largely shelter me from the struggle.  I don't have many black friends.  I can easily say, "This is not my problem, my concern."
But what if I don't show up?  About the Good Samaritan story Dr. King said,

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth105663.html.

This is the church's mission, to stop and help, to show up, to be present in the struggle, to accompany the suffering, to confront the violence and hatred with acts of love and mercy.  I will bring my distinctive experience and wisdom and compassion to the table.  

Salt and light.  If you're in a dark place, you know when the light comes in.  When your food is salted, you can taste the difference. What difference does it make others that I am a child of God and a follower of Jesus?  What does my presence expose or enlighten?  What darkness does my presence confront?   Today, I intend to be salt and light--to make a difference in the lives of those around me.  I intend to do all that I can to share the light of Christ.  To me this light-sharing involves participation in the community struggle for racial justice and reconciliation.  What can you do today to be salt and light, to bring the distinctive flavor and vision of the gospel to others?  How can you share a hopeful word, a brave act on behalf of someone else?

On my way, I think I'll sing:  

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine; this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.  This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine."

Summer

After a couple of months of blog silence, I decided to return in the month of August.  Sometimes, I need time and experience to inspire the writing process.  And I needed a break from the daily grind. June included our annual synod assembly, a week of church camp, and time with my parents in central New York.  During that visit, we acquired a new puppy.  She has taken up the last month, like having a baby in the house again.  Church camp provided a week of restorative play, teaching, and rest.  After camp, my family picked up a new labrador retriever puppy.  She has brought joy and puppy mischief back into our house.  I forgot how cathartic it is to walk a dog.  Its one of my favorite daily activities again.  

This summer has been strange.  The American political story is unfolding for 2016 and it becomes more bizarre every day.  The contrast between the two primary political parties cannot be more clear. The leaders of the respective parties cannot be less similar.  One of the presidential candidates is a lifelong public servant and political figure.  She is unpopular, but doggedly determined. Her candidacy includes scandal and concern over her record as Secretary of State and first lady.   One thing we cannot say about Hillary Clinton, however, is that she lack political experience.  She knows how politics work, from the executive and the legislative branch of government. And she has spent time under harsh scrutiny.  She has enemies.  Some people want her to be indicted and imprisoned for what they perceive as treasonous, illegal abuses of power.  She comes with a public record, some of which is unflattering--none of which disqualifies her to be president.  And I have to say, she is the first woman in U.S. history to be nominated by one of the two major parties to become president.  It only took 240 years.  And 100 years since women's suffrage.  She must be commended for her courage in the face of adversity.  She has been defeated and she has fought back.    
The other candidate is Donald Trump.  He has won the Republican nomination amidst bigotry, violence, and a darkly negative almost apocalyptic view of the country.  He has tapped into a dark nationalism fueled by anger and fear.  He believes that he alone can fix all that is wrong with the country, perhaps the world.  He is anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and pro "law and order" (a phrase from the Nixon era of politics that led to the failed war on drugs and the systematic mass incarceration of racial minorities.  His slogan, "Make America Great Again", has a pre-Roe v. Wade, pre- Civil Rights era, male dominating, white privilege nostalgia to it.  He is anti-politics, an outsider hell bent on ignoring the rule of law and the constitution to protect his self interests. Every day he says something that would disqualify other candidates from public office. He's a walking, talking scandal.
The public life has taken on new meaning now, because the nature of discourse has become so uncivil.  Freedom of speech has been misinterpreted as license to verbally abuse, malign, attack, and intimidate those with whom you disagree.  There is little room for conversation or compromise.    

In June, the country was rocked by more gun violence.  A mass shooting in a gay night club in Orlando, perpetrated by a Muslim American, with a variety of semi-automatic weapons opened up the debates about guns and terrorism and the LGBT community.  America's vulnerable underside was revealed again.  Bigotry, violence, and fear attack us and threaten freedom.  I spoke out on social media in opposition to gun violence.  I experienced slander and attack from angry people who do not want their 2nd amendment rights violated because of mass murderers using semi-automatic rifles to kill unarmed people.  White police killed unarmed black men in separate incidents.  Then an angry black man killed five police officers in Dallas.  One cannot help but think that we are in the throes of a national crisis.  Fueled by fear and prejudice (institutional racism), we cannot admit that we have a problem.  Like an addict, we react to gun death by purchasing more guns and ammunition.

The violence, politically and socially, compels us to retreat from public life.  This is a time when courage is essential to face injustice with the power of Christian love.  To that end, I intend to offer commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, the teaching of Jesus, over the course of the next week. If people adhered to the teachings of the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-8, what would the human community be like?  What would change?

Matthew 5.  

When Jesus^* saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^* on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, those who show mercy, those with pure hearts, peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for saying and doing what is right before God.  The world may not perceive greatness or power or blessing in those who embody this humble way of life.  But God blesses what the world curses or rejects.  God blesses what the world hates.  God blesses human goodness.  To be blessed is to thrive, to prosper, to live in contentment, to live in the wellbeing of God.   


   

a soldier's faith. a servant's life.

The story.   Gospel of Luke 7:1-11

¹After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ²A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. ³When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” ⁶And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

 What's it mean? 

This weekend many of us pause to remember those men and women soldiers and sailors who gave their lives on the battlefield’s of American history.   With bravery, most of these sacrifices were made in foreign countries; Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia…President Obama has made pilgrimage to Hiroshima and Vietnam in recent weeks---mainly to suggest that former enemies can become allies, partners, friends over time with diplomacy and leadership.  Germany and Japan have become important U.S. allies and points of stability in the world.  The moral arc of the universe bends toward Justice.  As we remember and honor the soldiers who gave the last full measure of valor, storming beaches, invading jungles, crossing deserts, we hear a story about Jesus and a Roman soldier---the enemy occupier of Israel. 

The Roman centurion is a commanding officer responsible for 100 Roman soldiers.  He is there as part of the occupying forces on the ground in Israel.  He is stationed in the north away from the city of Jerusalem.  He’s thankful for that.  Jerusalem is far more dangerous.  Apart from a few rabble rousers, his time in Galillee has been relatively easy time.  He has learned that military occupation of foreign territory requires some finesse.  He appreciates the stress civilians experience with soldiers patrolling their streets.  And some soldiers do not act with valor or respect toward others.  He does.  He has come to like these Jews.  When their synagogue burned down last year, he and his men joined the work crew and helped them rebuild it.  By doing so, he has built relationships with local leaders.  He can acquire intelligence from them and Capernaum remains a safe place for everyone. 

There is a Rabbi who heals sick people.  They say he made a blind person see and a paralyzed man walk. When the centurion’s servant boy becomes deathly ill, he remembers the rabbi called Jesus.  He speaks with a couple of the Jewish elders, asking them if they thought Jesus might help him. But why would a Jewish Rabbi help the enemy?  Why should he care what happens to Roman soldiers or their households?  The man knows he is not a Jew, knows he is the enemy of Israel.  But the Jewish elders insist that they go and ask Jesus on his behalf.  When they return to say that Jesus is on his way, the solider is shocked.  But the boy, his slave has gotten sicker.  He will die without help.  He sends friends to meet Jesus on the way and to tell him that he understands authority and power.  He knows that when he gives an order, even from a distance, if it isn’t carried out people could die.  He knows that authority and command are given from a higher seat of power.  He draws a parallel between his life and the life of the healer.  And he knows that if Jesus says the Word, his servant boy will be healed.  Jesus is astonished and announces that his faith exceeds that of all of Israel.  And the boy is healed.  A soldier, enemy occupier of Israel, has faith? 

What does Jesus mean by faith?  Faith is not personal assent to religious belief and practice.  Faith is not rooted in ethnicity.  It is not tied to one’s piety.  Those who go to synagogue, or church, who read their bible and pray daily are not the only ones with faith.  We do not know what this man knew of holy scripture, of prayer, of God.  He was a Gentile Roman soldier, enemy of Israel and he had great faith.  Perhaps it was his character---the Jews say he is worthy to have this done, but he himself says he is not worthy to receive Jesus into his home.  Humble and generous.  So is that why Jesus calls him faithful?  I think it is simply for this reason:  Because he called on Jesus and believed that Jesus could heal.  He did so on behalf of a very sick child.  Faith may be a single act, in which a community of people act together on behalf of someone in need.  Those people may be enemies who come together for a common cause.  What does it mean for us to respect the faith of our "enemies"? When we face matters of life and death, faith shows us the power of God.     

I noticed how many people are involved in the care of this sick slave boy.  Jewish elders, friends of a soldier, a Roman Centurion.  A community of people, both Jews and Gentiles, seek out Jesus for his sake, for a slave boy.  Everyone is worthy to be healed in the kingdom of God.  No one is insignificant.  GOD favors the poor, the slave, the servant---those in the bottom of the economic and social pyramid.  God sees them and powerfully helps them.  And those who cannot speak or act for themselves can be borne up to God.  Something about this story is like intercessory prayer.  When we pray for others, Jesus hears us.  And something about this story is an answer to the prayer of Solomon, who prayed that God would even hear and answer the prayers of the foreigner.  Solomon, King of Israel, prayed that God would listen to his enemies!  And now God listens to Israel’s enemies, who come to Jesus for healing! Foreign enemies are included in the Kingdom of God, a borderless kingdom.    

Something like this story is happening in our midst.  Today a child has been borne up to us.  She has been brought here to this community, brought for healing and cleansing from sin and death.  Today, we baptize Tegan Lynn and welcome her into the kingdom of God.  Tegan comes here because of the faith of her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents.  This is the place where they met Jesus.  Those people helped to build this place. They are worthy to have this done for them. Though we do not perform baptism today because of that or them.  It is not their character or their religious devotion that gives them access to Jesus, to the mercy and love of God.  It is only this.  They asked on her behalf.  Those who are far off and those who are near; those who have been enemies and those who are friends, those who are ethnically and culturally other and those who are citizens, foreigners and strangers and dearest loved ones---all are received and welcomed into the household and  kingdom of God. No one is insignificant here.  Rejoice today, the Lord brings rebirth, healing, and new life here and now. And a child is blessed and we are blessed to be part of it.  Amen.