I Love to Tell the Story

When I was in high school someone once told me "You have a story for everything."   And I don't think I have changed much since then (at least in my storytelling).

The word story seems to be every where for me lately.  I use biblical storytelling for the gospel.  I use Godly Play methods in our education program which presents the bible stories with props for a more interactive and hands on learning method.  I'm on a committee that is forming a new ministry in Connecticut and my job on the communications team is to "help tell our story."  Next fall, Bethlehem while be using the Narrative Lectionary in which each week we will focus on a different bible story.  (Okay I know a lot of those examples are about bible stories but you know I am a pastor).

In some ways the word story seems childish because we relate the word often with fairy tales or children's books; adults read fiction or novels.  Or the word seems old fashion, related to myths and legends.  In the modern world, we care about facts.  Or the word has connotations of make-believe and fantasy.  I have in the past felt bad about using the word story and have looked for a different word because I felt it was too childish or that the subject of the story must not be real.

But I have come to accept the word story because I LOVE stories.  And I love being surrounded by stories and storytelling because stories are such a profound way of communicating.

• If people know a story about you, they are more able to relate to you.  By telling someone a story from your last vacation, they learn more about you than if you just told them where you went. 

• Through a story, you can simplify a complex idea into something much easier to grasp.  World hunger can be overwhelming if you are surrounded by facts.  But by sharing the story of one person who goes hungry, it become easier to realize that everyone can make a difference. 

• Through a story, morals are taught, ideas are shared, mores are dispensed.  Jesus taught through parables.  Many of us learned about the world through Aesop's fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales.  

• Stories can change.  I loved Choose Your Own Adventure Books growing up, because the story could change.  When you tell stories orally, they change each time you tell them.  Different words are emphasized, hands actions and gestures change, the tone of voice is higher or lower or louder or quieter.  The words you choose even alter each telling.  This is because stories are interactive, and the teller adjusts subtlety with each telling based on the listeners reactions.  Stories aren't set in stone, even when everything about them seems the same. 

So maybe we need to reclaim the word story, and realize they are an important part of how we communicate with one another and how we teach others about who we are, and what we believe.  And that stories are for all people to hear and tell because we all have stories.  

What I Have Learned from Biblical Storytelling

It has been a little over a year since the first Sunday that I memorized the gospel and told the story instead of read it and I have learned a lot about storytelling, the bible, ministry and myself during that time.  Here are seven of the top things that I have learned.

It doesn't take a lot of time but makes a big impact
Most weeks I can start memorizing on Thursday and be fine.  Really maybe a hour on Thursday, normally done while driving (yes I have a copy with me and read at stop lights then practice while moving), and another half hour on Saturday as I practice both the gospel and my sermon.  Plus maybe once or twice on Friday and Sunday morning while getting ready for the day.  And yet these distracted few hours are probably the most important to conveying the good news to people in the pews on Sunday as through storytelling people retain the story more than if I had just read the story.

I don't have to follow the script nor should I stand still.
At first I worried about getting every word exactly as they are written in the NRSV translation that is printed in our bulletins.  But as people have started to put their bulletins down to hear the story instead of read along, I have become more flexible in changing words because the phrasing in the NRSV is just not natural in my lexicon or in order to emphasis a phrase.  I have also started to move around more using the entire area in front of the altar.  Standing in different spots for the different characters, hand gestures and facial expressions have become just as meaningful in telling the story as the words and vocal inflections.

There is actually a lot of humor in the bible
I grew up in congregations that were fairly causal in style and laughter and clapping were commonplace.  But I can't remember ever laughing during a scripture reading.  And yet the scriptures are full of moments that are meant to be laughed at.  Just this last week's gospel in John 9 when the man born blind and the pharisees are going back and forth in verses 24-34 about what happened to the man born blind, there is a sense of humor that happens when the man asks if the pharisees want to be Jesus disciples or when he tells them "that the amazing thing, you do not know where Jesus is from and yet he opened my eyes."  And it is not just humor that comes across more through storytelling but also sorrow, grief, shock, and much much more.

The bible is open to interpretation
Well duh!  Anyone who has ever study the bible for more than a minute can tell you that.  But just like all forms of written word, emails and blogs included, the emotions do not always translate.  This coming Sunday's gospel has Thomas saying "Let us also go, that we may die with him."  I always thought Thomas said this in bravery but what if he said it sarcastically?  Just the tone of voice when a person is speaking can change the meaning of the text.

The impact is greater that you can ever expect
Biblical storytellers are rare.  I never heard or heard of anyone who memorize the text before I went to baby pastor school last year.  Most weeks I get at least one person who says something to me about they don't know how I memorize the text.  Visitors almost always do a double take as they are reading along and look up and realize I'm not in the pulpit.  Kids get excited to hear the gospel.  I have even been applauded a few times. There is a new energy, a new life at Bethlehem that I think really does come from this core of excitement from the gospel, which starts from really hearing the gospel.

Jesus was a storyteller
Recently in preparing for a confirmation lesson on the parables, I realized that Jesus was a storyteller.  He told these stories to his disciples and other followers and he probably told them more than once.  I picture Jesus sitting around a camp fire with the disciples on in a house that he is visiting and teaching about God but also sharing stories.  Retelling the time he walked on water or recounting the stories of Abraham, Moses or David from the Hebrew Scriptures.

We are all storytellers
We all have stories.  We tell stories about ourselves to get to know people.  We tell stories to share morals.  We tell stories for entertainment.  Everyone has a story to tell.  And we naturally want to repeat the good stories.

These are just a few things that I have learned over the last year.  This has been an exciting development in my ministry and I don't think I'll be going back to reading the text on a regular basis anytime soon.

For more information on biblical storytelling check out gotell.org or the Network of Biblical Storytellers website and youtube channel.

Catching Up.....Again

Okay yet another Monday, yet another weekend that I didn't post my God moments.  Maybe by the end of Lent I'll get this thing down.

Thursday I saw God at a meeting. Yes a place when most people see their lives slowwwwwlllllyyyyy passing in front of them, I saw God. I'm on the board for Lutheran Campus Ministries at Yale/Luther House.  Luther House is currently in the midst of a transition with the help of interim pastor Jack Saarela.  We are creating a mission statement, finding areas of ministry we want to focus on in the upcoming year or two and getting ready to start a search for another pastor on top of the normal board operations of making sure the finances, staff and building are running smoothly.  And yet with all that to do it is a delight to go to these meetings.  The meetings seem to be not only going well but also beyond expectations.  It is wonderful to go to these meetings and within an hour and a half make leaps and bounds towards opening the next chapter in Luther House's ministry.

Friday I again saw God at Yale (yes I was there a bit this week).  I went to an ecumenical gathering of full communion partners.  The ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson was one of the panel members along with representatives from the UCC, Presbyterian Church (USA), UMC and Episcopalian Church.  It was interesting to hear the history of how full communion partnerships have developed but boy id God show up at vespers.  The sermon was a phenomenal witness to ecumenical partnership and one psalm that was sung by two cantors was wonderful.  It was a jazzy version and just one filled with joy.

Saturday God appeared again to me at church.  I was there for Worship Together, the parent/child focus worship.  Two boys, who are brothers, were acting kind of goofy before we began and were pretending to be dogs.  And when I sat on the step to get started they both nuzzled up on either side of me, again pretending to be dogs and I just had this moment.  I realized that I was part of this family, someone that these two boy feel comfortable enough with to nuzzle up to when hearing a story.

Yesterday I told one of the longest gospel text in the three year lectionary cycle.  And for me I actually made the text longer by adding the 4 verses before the assigned text to give a little background of why Jesus ended up in Samaria.  Because the text was so long, I invited the congregation to remain seated during the gospel. And because Jesus was sitting in the gospel, I sat when I was speaking his words and stood for the woman at the well and the disciples.  There was three points in the gospel that the congregation especially responded. The first was when I sat down because I had a step stool in front of the altar railing and I'm sure many were curious about it.  The second was when Jesus said "The water I give will become like a spring of water in them gushing to eternal life".  At gushing people just responded like "yeah that is what I want to."  The third was when Jesus tells this disciples "I tell you look around and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting" and I gestured to the congregation.  Again there was some nods or other minor murmurings which I read as "oh yeah I'm part of that harvest".  I know those connections would not have been made if I just read the text.  (Granted if I just read the text there would not have been a step stool in front of the altar.)  And in those moments I felt God was with me and I became more relaxed and even more comfortable with biblical storytelling.

Come and See

Yesterday's sermon was based on the gospel John 1:29-42.  As my norm lately, the written version was expanded upon during my actual preaching.  I wrote the sermon before I started to memorize the gospel and in the memorizing process I realized just what a stupid question Andrew and the other follower had for Jesus "Rabbi, where are you staying?" Not "Rabbi, is it true what John says about you?" Not "Rabbi, are you really the lamb of God?"  But yet for any of the questions they could have asked there, Jesus' answer of "Come and See" was still appropriate.  


This was also one of those great gospels that so lend itself to biblical storytelling, pauses for effect and turning different directions to indicate various characters or the narrator, using volume and tone as John testified about Jesus or as the disciples asked such a dumb question.  I really enjoyed playing with the text as I practiced telling the story.  


And here is my sermon based on Jesus' simple invitation to come and see. 




It is a little scary isn’t it? Inviting a friend to church. What if they decline? What if they think I’m one of those crazy Christians? What if they think I’m judgmental?

In the media, Christians are often portrayed as wackos. They are the crazy people picketing at the funerals of soldiers and the victims of the recent shooting in Tucson. In the news, Christians are the anti-gay, pro-military people who disagree with science on everything from evolution and creation to global warming. They are the patriotic flag wavers with mottos like “God, Guns and Guts made America great.” In movies Christians are constantly trying to convert others and if they aren’t converting them they are judging others for being adulterous, lusting, greedy sinners.

This idea of a Christian is part of our fear. It is part of the reason why we don’t tell others about our faith. It is part of the reason why we often do not invite people to worship with us, or tell others that we are praying for them, even if we really are. But it is not the only reason we are afraid to talk to others about our faith.

It is scary just to talk about our faith in public. If I mention anything religious will it start a debate? If I tell a non-believing friend that I’m praying for her mom who has cancer, will she just roll her eyes at me? Will I insult my Jewish friend if I mention something about Jesus? What if the person response by asking me a question that I do not know the answer to?

Faith is a controversial topic. It is right up there tied with politics as the two topics of conversation you avoid when having polite conversation with friends. But even politics is an easier topic to talk about as long as you know your audience.

And this fear is not only for you all sitting in the pews. Last week after worship I went to a friend’s baby shower, and as I entered the door I realized I had yet to take out my clerical tab. Later when my friend’s mother-in-law turned to me and asked where I serve as pastor, I was a little hesitant to answer. In fact I’m always hesitant to answer this question to people that I don’t know. I worry that it will start a debate in one of two ways: that either the person is an atheist and believes that I’m wasting my time, or the person is one of those Christian crazies I was talking about earlier and think that I’m violating the bible by being a female pastor.

What are your fears when if comes to talking to someone else about your faith?

It doesn’t come easy, it doesn’t come naturally to talk about our faith. There are fears of being judged, there are fears of beginning an argument, there are fears about not being able to say the right words, there are fears of offending others.

But yet it is also so easy to invite others here to this place, to this house of worship. Jesus invites Andrew and another of John’s followers to “come and see.”

Three simple words that changed the world: Come and See.

Andrew went and saw Jesus and then Andrew so changed by God’s grace, went and told his brother Simon Peter. Simon Peter went and saw Jesus and was so changed by God’s grace that he became the rock on which Christ’s church was built.

At some point someone invited you to come and see Jesus. They invited you to the font for baptism, to the table for communion, to pray for all the people of this world and to listen to the scriptures. That person, whether a friend or family member, was acting as Jesus in this world.

For Jesus invites us with those simple three words “come and see.” Jesus invites us to the font to be baptized that we “come and see” God’s grace poured out on us. Jesus invites us to the table, that we “come and see” the goodness of the Lord. Jesus invites us to pray for the whole world and “come and see” what God will do in this world. Jesus invites us to hear the scripture and “come and see” how the Word of God changes you.

Three simple words that changed our world: Come and See

And we are commanded by Jesus to continue to ask people to come and see. Come and join me for worship and see what my congregation is about. Come and see how this little congregation is part of my community, my family. Come and see why I go here week after week.

Is that a little less frightening that actually talking about our faith?

Not everyone will respond to the invitation. Not everyone will jump at the chance to come and see. But keep inviting, did you come the first time someone invited you to dinner? Did you always say yes the first time someone ask you on a date? Do you always say yes the first time someone asks you to join them for an exercise class, coffee, to watch the game?

Where to Sit?

Today was the first Sunday since I started memorizing the gospel for biblical storytelling that I did not memorize the text.  I went camping this weekend and forgot to bring a copy with me to practice on the drive (which is how I normally memorize the gospel) and while I tried going over it a few times yesterday, it just didn't stick.  It also didn't help that my brain wasn't really working during worship today because the dogs woke us up multiple times this morning starting at 5am.

I feel a little disappointed in myself that I didn't memorize the text, but also realize that it is not the end of the world.  I know that I'm one of very few pastors that memorize the gospel every week in order to tell the story in a more dramatic way.  But after so many positive comments about how people have heard gospel lessons in new ways because of how I tell the story and not just read the text, it is a little hard on the ego to admit that you can't do it one week.

The gospel text in question was Jesus' parable on hospitality in Luke 14.  I also referenced the first reading, Proverbs 25:6-7, which is pretty much the Reader's Digest version of the gospel lesson.  Below is my sermon for these text.  It is not my best sermon.  Earlier in the week I had a hard time connecting to the text and I thought that I should maybe even ditch this sermon and preach extemporaneously, but again I refer you to the dogs waking us up at 5am and therefore not having the mental capacity to do so this morning.  


So if I didn't connect to God in preaching this morning where did I?  It was in the laughter of the congregation after the worship assistant prayed for the lame and the bland (not a typo for me, but it was for her) and I felt God's presence as we gathered around the altar to communion each other and finished our worship singing and praying around God's table we were are all invited.


Enjoy the sermon, and remember that you are welcomed to Jesus' table.


Well isn’t that good advice. Really isn’t Jesus’ parable just basic advice, almost a “no duh” situation. Of course you don’t want to sit at the head table only to be told on no you can’t sit there, and by the time someone tells you to move the only spot left is way in the back. Instead sit in the back and be invited forward.

An in case you can’t remember the entire parable of Jesus, hopefully you can remember the Readers’ Digest version that we hear in Proverbs: “Do not put yourself forwards in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”

So is that it? Is that our gospel, and our sermon for the day: it is better to be honored than be put to shame. Well yes it would be if our gospel stopped at verse 11, but Jesus continues after his parable. He turned to his host, the person who had invited him to the dinner he was now attending and told him that he shouldn’t have invited all the people who were in attendance – his friends, siblings, relatives and rich neighbors. Instead that man should have invited the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

Now just imagine that you are at a party, one of the guests is someone who you have heard a lot about, people either love him and seek out his advice, or they think he is full of ____ and causes trouble wherever he goes. Well this guest gets up and starts telling a story, it starts out normal, a simple story of advice, but then he tells your host that she should haven’t invited you, since you are her friend/sibling/relative/rich neighbor. Instead the host should have invited a nobody off the street. Now think about it. Did this guest just insult you? Did that guest just tell you that you are not good enough to be invited to this party, but a homeless person would be good enough?

Did Jesus just offend all the guest at the party he was at? Yes!

And not only did he offend them by saying that they weren’t worthy of being invited to begin with, he waited to tell his story, his piece of advice after everyone else was already seated. Luke says “when he noticed how the guest chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.” If you were one of those guests in a place of honor, at the same table with the host, wouldn’t you be squirming a little in your seat during this story, expecting the host to say that someone more important that you needs to sit there and therefore you need to move?

And instead of just making the few people be uncomfortable about where they are sitting, he made everyone uncomfortable by saying they all are unworthy.

What then does this have to do with us? What does Jesus’ offensive advice and lack of regard for social ranking have to do with us, especially when we are able to honestly look at ourselves and realize that most of the time we are given a high social ranking?

This may be hard to hear, but Jesus doesn’t care about your social ranking. Jesus doesn’t care if you normally sit at the head of the table. Jesus doesn’t care if you normally are given a place of honor. Jesus doesn’t care if you are 40 years old and still sitting at the kiddy table at Thanksgiving. Jesus doesn’t care if you are asked to eat outside or if you aren’t even invited to the party to begin with. Social ranking and all social orders are not of God, they are constructs that us humans have created. And in the kingdom on God there are no pecking order, we all will sit in places of honor, we will all be invited to the ultimate party in heaven.

And this idea is offensive to many people. Why does that person get the same rewards as me, I work harder, I give more money, I am a more upstanding citizen, I am more respected, I am the better Christian……..So then why are they also invited to the same party and given the same gift.

The gospel is offensive, the good news that Jesus Christ has given to us, breaks away from our preconceived ideas about what is right, about what is nice. Jesus did not come to play nice with everyone, Jesus did not come to pat people on the back and tell us that we are doing a good job. No Jesus came to upset, to turn the world upside down.

And when we are too concern about being nice, about not offending, about making sure that everyone gets along with us and that no one, especially the people with the deepest pockets, is made uncomfortable, then we are not preaching the gospel.

But when we preach the gospel, people, including us, are caused to squirm in our seats, are we in the right seat? Are we giving as much time and money back to God as we are able to and as God is calling us to? Are we hearing God’s word in our lives? Are we seeing Jesus in others? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to move in our lives or are we blocking it at every moment we get?

But the good news is that Jesus does have a place for you at his table. Jesus has a place at the table for you that is equal to everyone else, no one is put higher, no one is put lower. Jesus welcomes everyone to the table, sinners, saints, strong believers, people who aren’t really sure about who he is, people who willing accept his invitation, people who might need to be invited a few more times, people who may never accept the invitation are still invited to the table.

Jesus invites us to his table, and everyone is a guest of honor.

Free From "Ought To"

Today's sermon was based on the healing of the bent over woman in Luke 13:10-17.  I really enjoyed using this text with biblical storytelling.  The hand actions and body positions that I was able to do both helped me remember the text better and I believe helped convey the meaning of the text to the congregation. 

Enjoy the sermon!

Jesus heals a woman! How could anyone be upset that Jesus healed a woman who had been disabled for 18 years? But instead of joining in on her praises to God for the miracle that they just saw occurred, the leader of the synagogue and other witnesses to Jesus’ miracle start to grumble and complain. They are shocked!

But they aren’t shocked and filled with awe over how awesome God is, no they are shocked and appalled. They are shocked that Jesus did work on the Sabbath, God’s holy day. They are shocked that he touched a strange woman, something that just wasn’t done in polite society. And not only did he touch a strange woman, he touched a woman who had a spirit within her that crippled her. He could now be infected by that spirit, he could now carry with him whatever sin and evil that caused that woman to be so stooped over.

The witnesses to this miracle were so outraged by the taboos that Jesus broke that they were not able to see that God was standing there in front of them.

And aren’t we like that at times? We have our set ideas about what is proper, especially in a house of worship, especially on our day of worship that we are not able to see the needs of those people or that God is in them. Can you remember the first time you saw someone wear jeans to church? Or if someone wore flip-flops. We get caught up on these things and many others that they distract us from worship. Oh no, the pastor is not wearing vestments, or the communion bread was crumbly and pieces fell on the floor. Or the candles didn’t get lit, or worship started 2 minutes late. Or the kid in the back is crying.

I have to say overall, we at Bethlehem aren’t that bad at this. The organ has cut out, and we just keep singing. The wrong prayer gets read, oh well. And my personal favorite worship memory: Ellen has a spider crawling on her during communion, freaks out, nah we all laugh.

So maybe we aren’t caught up about how worship should be, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have our other hang ups about what is right and how things need to be done. Many of those are personal, and I can’t stand here and name them for you. But I can name mine: Parents who don’t watch their kids while at restaurants really frustrate me. Drivers who cut me off, especially when there is plenty of room to merge properly, make me want to either give driving lessons or be able to pull them over and give them a ticket. People in the self checkout lines at the grocery store who have no clue how to operate the machine make me roll my eyes and start eyeing the checkouts for shorter lines. Why can’t people recycle? Why do people insist on behaving such a way? Why can’t people just behave exactly like me?

We are in bondage to these things. We are in bondage to what we feel we ought to do and what we think other people ought to do. And when people do not do what they “ought to do” it annoys us, it upsets us, and it can ruin our day, drive, meal, trip, or worship. Just like when Jesus did not do what the synagogue leaders wanted him to do, he ruined worship for them.

But Jesus did not come to ruin worship for people, that was not his intent. He came to free that woman from her bondage. And in freeing the woman from her bondage, Jesus also freed the crowd from their bondage of Sabbath laws. He freed them from their preconceived idea of what ought to happen on the Sabbath, from their ideas about how one is to behave. He freed them from their restrictions on when God’s work ought to happen.

Jesus came to free that woman from her bondage, and Jesus came to free us from our bondage. Jesus came to free us from our preconceived notions. Jesus came to free us from our ideas of what is right. Jesus came to free us from the shoulds, oughts, have tos, musts and needs to.

The Sabbath is not about what we ought to do in order to appropriately worship God. Nor is it about what we should NOT do that would offend God on the holiest day of the week. Instead the Sabbath, and any day really, is about what God has done for us and by recognizing that we realize what we can do for others in God’s name.

Because of God and God setting us free from the things that bind us, we are able to see that people are still able to worship God in jeans and flip-flops, if that is what they choose to wear. Because of God setting us free from the things that bind us, we are able to love the children running around in a restaurant and enjoy the joy for life they bring to any situation. Because of God setting us free from the things that bind us, we are able to take a deep breath when someone cuts us off and drive a little safer so that we do not cut off another driver. Because of God setting us free from the things that bind us, we are able to offer to help the person in line in front of us and help them through a process that could be new or frustrating to them. Because of God setting us free from the things that bind us, we are able to see Jesus’ presence in the face of everyone we meet and show them God’s unconditional love and grace, just as others have shown us God’s love and grace.

Jesus came to set us free! Free from the bondage of this world, free from the bondage of sin, free from the bondage that we impose on ourselves.

Wrestling with The Message

This last week I have been wrestling with the idea of reading this Sunday's gospel, Luke 12:49-56 (NRSV link), from Eugene Peterson's biblical paraphrase The Message.  (Luke 12:49-56, The Message) Normally, Bethlehem uses the NRSV and the verses are printed in Celebrates, a bulletin insert provided by Augsburg Fortress.  The NRSV translation is what I use for biblical storytelling, granted I almost always change a word or two because it is easier to memorize, or I add "Jesus said" or change a pronoun to a proper noun in order to clarify for people who are listening to a portion of the text instead of the full story.  And overall I'm satisfied with the NRSV.  


But I also look that The Message for personal use.  I read from The Message Remix for my personal devotion and bible reading since it reads a little smoother and it has also allowed me not to gloss over the text since it is not the same translation I have heard all my life.  When preparing for my sermons, I almost always read The Message version of my key text in order to gain new insight into the read, (granted I often look at multiple translations and my Precise Parallel New Testament is a wonderful resource for that).  I have even used The Message before in worship, (but it was a youth worship service that while I preached at, I wasn't the main worship planner).  


Overall I find looking at a variety of translations to be helpful in preparing for preaching or general bible study.  


But that is the problem, The Message is not really a translation, more of a paraphrase or transliteration, and even if you call it a translation, it must be prefaced that it is not an accurate nor ever intended to be.  So their is something that holds me back with wanting to bring it into worship.  And even this text is an example, but there it is also an example of why I want to use it in worship.  


So maybe I should start with my specific reasons against using it first.  

• There are times that The Message changes verses in ways that don't make a lot of sense 
• For example verse 50 in the NRSV is "I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! " but in The Message is "'I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished!"  Those are far from the same verse! 
• I believe it is important to stick to the Greek or Hebrew.  
• It we each write our own paraphrase or transliteration we can make the Bible say just about anything that we want.  
• It seems sacrilegious to change scripture in worship, especially to something that is not a translation.  
• On a practical level, even though the majority of the congregation does not read along when I say the gospel, for those that do because they listen better that way, I don't want to confuse them by using a different translation, even if I do warn them that what is written is not the same.

But I also have many reasons for using The Message in this case.

• Verses 54 and 55 are much more "down to earth."  They sound like something people would actually say.  
• You say "This'll be a hot one" (The Message) not "There will be scorching heat" (NRSV)
• The descriptive words in verse 51 have more meaning for me.  
• "Smooth things over and make everything nice" compared to "bring peace on earth" and "disrupt and confront" instead of "division"  
• The Message is often easier to understand.
• Such as in the example of verse 50 above, the NRSV takes background information and study to understand while The Message is easier to understand without additional information. 
• We hear the NRSV so often that it is easier to tune out, glaze over, since we have it partially memorized.  This partial memorization is also why the gospel has less of an impact than it should.  We already know what it has to say.
• Really this is how I passed Greek so easily in seminary, once I figured out about three words from a sentence I was able to recall the rest of the verse.  
• I think often The Message keeps to the heart of Gospel message more even if the text is not accurate
• In last week's gospel, Luke 12:35a is an example of this.  The NRSV's "Be dressed for action" doesn't quiet get to Greek's essence which is more accurately translated "Gird your loins," but The Message's "Keep your shirt on" does keep that essence a bit more.  But notice that neither are an accurate translation.  
• I kinda want to use The Message in worship primarily because I have been told not to do it! 

Yes I am that kinda of person, do something just because I was told not to.  See I put up on Facebook my dilemma about using The Message, and I got back fairly strongly from my pastor friends to either not do it at all because The Message has no place in worship or to read the NRSV during the normal gospel time and then start off my sermon with rereading any key verses in The Message and maybe say why I like The Message more for that verse.  Well I don't agree with the former and the later seems repetitive and like a lecture in biblical translations instead of a preaching on the text itself.  

But I also asked the same question on chat board on Raverly, an online community for knitters and crocheters that I belong to.  On the chat board, made up of liberal Christians from around the world, many of which are not pastors, the people who replied to my post were divided in their answer (hmm maybe this week's text about Jesus bringing division is at heart here).  Most said that they enjoy hearing from different translations but do like a heads up if it is a different translation than what is printed.  The others said that they prefer a more accurate translations but admit that they have studied Greek and therefore it is important to them.  And one person was absolutely against The Message, saying it inspires revulsion in her.  But there were two people's responses who brought back to me why I'm struggling with this.  

The first said "Jesus used colloquial language. He wanted to be understood. The most important point of the sermon is to be understood." And the second said "Ask God. See what He leads you to do."  Hmm The Message is using colloquial language and is easier to understand than the NRSV at times.  And I must be struggling with whether or not to use The Message because God is leading me to figure out how this text can have the most meaning for the congregation on Sunday.

So what am I going to do?

Well after much internal and external debate, a mini-fight with my husband, asking others, asking God through prayer, thought and reflection, I have decided that I really don't like either translation for use in this Sunday's worship service.  Instead I'm combining the two - yes I know I'm a heretic, I'm sure the bishop's office already knows but in case you would like to report me here is the phone number for the synod office: 508-791-1530.  

So here is my version Luke 12:49-56, a combination of the Message and the NRSV, which will be printed in the weekly announcements so anyone who would like to read along can.  

Jesus said: I’ve come to start a fire on this earth

and how I wish it were blazing already.

 I have a baptism with which to be baptized

and what stress I am under until it is completed!

Do you think I have come to bring peace,

to smooth things over and make everything nice? 

No I tell you.  I’ve come to bring division, to disrupt and

confront. 

From now on, five in one house will be divided,

                Three against two, and two against three

                Father against son and son against father.

                Mother against daughter

and daughter against mother

                Mother in law against daughter in law

                                Daughter in law against mother in law

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising

in the west you immediately say “storm’s

coming”  and you are right

And when you see the wind blowing from the south,

you say “There’s going to be scorching heat”

and you’re right. 

You hypocrites and frauds! 

You know how to interpret the appearances of the earth

and sky, the changing of the weather, but why do

you not know how to interpret the present time?”

The Word of the Lord Spread

We have entered the Time after Pentecost or Ordinary Time.  It is the LONG green season in the church lasting from two weeks after Pentecost (mid May to mid June) and ending in late November.  Many pastors dislike this season because it last forever and things are the same for so long.  Right now I'm loving getting to this Ordinary Time.  For Bethlehem it has meant using a new liturgical setting for the summer and another for the fall, doing the psalm in a different way, and it means going back to stories!  After the season of Easter when we had so many gospel lessons that were parts of Jesus' theological discourse to his disciples shortly before he was killed, I'm excited to have gospels and other lessons that have a plot.

I'll let you know if I change my tune by November ;-)

One of the main reasons why I'm excited to have stories is because they are easier to learn and remember for biblical storytelling.  Yesterday gospel, while short at only 7 verses, took me about a third of the time memorize and I was more confident remembering it, even with so much less prep time, than I have been since "doubting" Thomas on April 11th.

Also for me stories are easier to preach on, often they are more applicable to our lives, even when such as yesterday's gospel (Luke 7:11-17) the stories are about something that doesn't happen too often in our lives. For yesterday's sermon  I even talked about the Old Testament lesson, 1 Kings 17:17-24, and the New Testament reading, Galatians 1:11-24, as well as the gospel.

The following is my written sermon.  I ended up doing a last minute, for me, rewrite on Saturday evening.  So I realize there are some flow issues and maybe even a sentence or two that make no sense in the written document (I did a lot of copy and pasting from the original sermon) but verbally they were edited and let's face it, I'm too lazy to change the written sermon now. 


What is the heart of this gospel lesson?

To me the heart, the meat, the point of today’s gospel is not that Jesus raised a young nameless man from the dead but that the crowd began to glorify God and the word about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

Yes Jesus raised a man from the dead, and that is amazing, but his resurrection on gets a small blimp on the screen of this lesson. A crowd was there. Jesus had compassion for the mother, we aren’t told anything about the man other than he was an only son. Jesus tells him to get up and then the crowd is seized with fear and begin to glorify God by saying things like “A great prophet has been risen among us” and “God has looked favorably on his people”. And then reports about Jesus, the word of the Lord, spread.

Throughout Luke’s gospel we are told that reports about Jesus spread. Spread like gossip, like wildfire, quickly throughout the land. And crowds form. Already Jesus has a crowd that follows him to Nain, and then there is the crowd of mourners from the town. And the crowd, both those following Jesus and the town’s people, are amazed at what Jesus has done and begin to glorify God.

And the word of the Lord spreads throughout the surrounding country.

Throughout scripture, it is the words of ordinary people that spread the word of the Lord. The widow at Zarephath, whose son Elijah brings back from the dead, proclaims to Elijah “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” Do you think she kept her son dying and being brought back to life a secret? No I’m sure she spread the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord that was in Elijah’s mouth is now in her mouth as she tell her friends and neighbors about the great things that were done in the name of the Lord.

And the word of the Lord spreads throughout the surrounding country.

Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians that the gospel he proclaims is not of human origin. He goes on to tell of his amazing conversion story and how Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem were upset with him for not being an authorized speaker of the word of the Lord. Yet he continues to tell the word of the Lord.

And the word of the Lord spreads throughout the surrounding country.

We have heard the word of the Lord because of the widow told others. We have heard the word of the Lord because of the crowd told others. We have heard the word of the Lord because Paul told others.

Who spread the word of the Lord to you?

Both our actions and our words spread the gospel, the word of the Lord throughout the surrounding country. Our words and actions, whether we are God incarnate, a prophet or just us regular folk, proclaim the gospel to others. The gospel, the word of the lord, is a living word! It is living in the words we speak and in the actions that we do. When we have compassion for others and care for those in need we are proclaiming God’s love. When we cloth the naked, feed the hungry, care for the sick and visit the imprisoned, we are showing others that the Word of the Lord is truth. And that the word of the Lord is alive.

I recently read in Take this Bread, a wonderful description of how the word of the Lord is alive. Sara Miller describes the word of the Lord something like this: The word of the lord is not just the words printed on the page of a bible. The word of the lord is what is heard by the people of God when the Bible is read. The word of the Lord, the gospel message, is not living because it is magical but because over and over down the centuries, believers have wrestle with texts, adapted them, edited them, interpreted them, swallowed them whole and spat them out. The stories in the Bible are records of human attempts to understand God, attempts that were hopelessly incomplete. But through words and acts we keep trying.

Our Gospel is alive. The word of the Lord is alive. And it continues to be alive with each retelling, with each time we glorify God. The word of the Lord is alive every time we tell others about Christ and every time we proclaim the good news. We probably are not able to name each person who has shared the word of the Lord with us, our Sunday School teachers, pastors, a person of faith who first taught us part of scripture, or even random strangers on the street but they did share the word of the Lord with us. And they were able to do so because they first wrestle with those texts after someone taught them, and that person was taught by someone else and so forth on up the line back to those who were there, who saw Christ

For we have heard the word of the Lord because of the widow told others. We have heard the word of the Lord because of the crowd told others. We have heard the word of the Lord because Paul told others. We have heard the word of the Lord because others have told us. And others hear the word of the Lord because we tell them.

Having Vision

Well it was bound to happen:  I screwed up while telling the gospel.  The gospel for Sunday was John 14: 23-29 which is a very disjointed text.  Basically the gospel is 7 verses that have very little in common (other than the first two).  I had each section memorized individually but had a hard time remembering the order of the verses.  But I thought I was good (though I had a cheat sheet in my alb pocket) and I got through verse 26 and then my mind went blank.  And while I got out the cheat sheet I as then bad for the rest of the gospel.  Oh well, we laughed and moved on.

This sermon looks at that gospel reading but it also looks at the first reading for the day Acts 16:9-15, Paul having a vision and going to Philipi where he meet Lydia.  I did have a map during the sermon so the congregation could see where all the cities are mentioned, you can find a similar one here.  Macedonia is in the upper left hand corner of the map.

What is your vision? What is your vision for your future? For Bethlehem?

What I have gathered from conversations with many of you over the last year is this congregation’s vision for the future: that Bethlehem will be a small strong congregation focused on being a true Christian community (worshiping the Triune God, loving and serving others) which is not focused on the things of this world (material goods, wealth, power) that is active in supporting the needs of this community and the world through giving and our time, talents, goods and other resources.

One definition of depression is not having positive future vision of yourself.And I think this vision is a positive one. I think that is an excellent vision. It is an excellent hope for our future and good start for discerning what God is calling us to do. And I say start because even though this congregation is over 100 years old and this vision is one that we are on our way of achieving, it is just a start because a like all good visions, it is one that will never be fully realized for there will always be new ways of being a Christian community, and new needs of the greater community and as we continue striving for this vision we will have new visions.

But just because we have a vision doesn’t mean that we know exactly how we are going to make that vision a reality or what each of the steps along the way are. A vision is not a plan, a vision is a hope for the future and idea about where, who and what God is calling you to be. And sometimes our visions, our hopes, especially collective ones, take years to fully grasp though sometimes they come to us in an instant, in a moment of clarity or in a dream. And sometimes they can be shocks to the system, an instant when you realize you are headed in a different direction than where God is calling you.

Paul had one of those moments of vision. During the night, probably through a dream, Paul sees a Macedonian (someone from modern day northern Greece) standing in front of him and immediately Paul knew that he was not to head east to Turkey but west to Macedonia.

And Paul traveled west.

But he didn’t know exactly where he was going. And he didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to do there. He went to Troas then Samothrace then Neapolis and then finally Philippi. And even in Philippi he wasn’t sure what exactly he was suppose to be doing. On the Sabbath he went outside the gate by the river where he supposed there was a place a prayer – Paul didn’t know for sure, he didn’t know what he was going to do there, who he was going to meet. He probably didn’t know when he set out for Macedonia that he would be thrown in jail, which we will hear about next week. He didn’t have a plan; he just knew what God was calling him to do.

But along the way, through his journey to Macedonia he preaches about Jesus, he heals people, he befriends them and he baptizes them. And one of the first people he meets in Philippi is Lydia, who soon is baptized along with her entire household. And Paul’s vision to come to Macedonia and help them starts to become a reality.

So what are our first steps to make this vision, this vision for Bethlehem, become a reality? What do we need to do now to have us be a small strong congregation focused on being a true Christian community which is not focused on the things of this world that is active in supporting the needs of this community and the world? What are things that we can do now to make this possible in the future? What are our first steps, our pits stops in Troas, Samothrace, and Neapolis so that we can go to our Philippi and beyond?

Now from here we can do two things… One, we can do what is very popular in modern culture and create a plan, figuring out each step in order to reach our vision and a timeline for when each step should be accomplished by. And while that is a wonderful option and many people, companies and churches use that option in order to make their visions a reality, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for the Holy Spirit to guide us to new visions along the way and it leaves a lot of room for failure which creates fear. What if we aren’t worshiping such a number by next fall? What if our giving doesn’t increase? What if a new ministry become evident and necessary but in order to attend to that ministry it will take us away from this plan?

So the other option is to just do. Start on the journey. Make those first few steps and see where God takes us. Churches with vision do ministry even if they do not have the finances and people to make it happen on paper. Churches and people with vision are not afraid because they make those first steps.

It means you individually making worship a priority in your life and encouraging others both members of this congregations and people in the greater community to make it a priority in their life to.

Having this vision for this congregation means being a good steward of your finances and times by giving generously to this congregation, the larger church and other ministries and encouraging others to do so.

Having this vision for Bethlehem means reading scripture personally and corporately in bible study and worship so that you can continue to received new vision for yourself and the congregation.

And having this vision for Bethlehem means being open to prayer, finding times and ways to pray that work for you. Moments when you can converse with God and continue to be open to the Spirit so that you know the next step on the journey, the next vision, and so you can give up to God any fears that you may have along the way.

We can start achieving this vision, we have started achieving this vision, with just a few steps because we are lead by the Spirit. Jesus has given us the Spirit, the Advocate, who as the gospel tells us, will teach us everything and remind us of what Jesus has said to us. And when we are lead by the Spirit, and when we are on the journey towards our vision we have nothing to fear. A vision is not a goal, a thing that we must achieve by a certain deadline, but a way of living in the idea of who, what and where God is calling us to be and there is no need to fear that, no need to fear that we will miss the mark. Because as long as we living out part of that vision, striving for that ideal, we have no quota to meet, no deadlines. >And sometime we might stray from this vision because a new vision has been given to us, but that is not something to fear. Instead we have the hope and joy of knowing that God loves us, Jesus died for us and the Holy Spirit lives in us. And through God we will be able to journey towards this vision and the many other visions that we will receive along the way.

What's in a name

Yesterday's gospel, John 21:1-19, is the story of Jesus last appearance to the disciples in John after his resurrection.  It is almost two stories in one, the first half about Jesus again appearing to the disciples and their excitement over seeing him again.  The second half is a very poignant conversation between Jesus and Peter when Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him.  This second half of the text is a prime example of what comes out during biblical storytelling.  During a normal reading of the gospel, the emotion can be lost and it just sounds like a repetitive conversation.  But by pausing, after each question, putting a sigh before Peter's response and asking the question of stating the reply slowing while looking people in the eye, you convey emotions that are so often missed.  Juliana Rowe, a biblical storyteller, does a good job conveying the emotions of the text here just in how she uses her voice.  And this is whyI LOVE biblical storytelling!!!  Can I say that again? I LOVE biblical storytelling!!!

It has been such an eye opening experience for me to step down into the aisle and tell the gospel story as I look into people's eyes and say phrases like "Do you love me?" or "Yes Lord you know that I love you."  To see the emotions in their eyes as they realize just how much emotion occurred during the original conversation between Peter and Jesus.  Or by using hand gestures or voice tone or even moving forward or backward I can convey distance, size, anxiety, fear, love, joy, hope, a secret, which make the scripture not just be something that we read but something that we experience. 

Over the course of the last two months I have seen people put down their Celebrates (the bulletin insert with the texts written on them) and listen to the Bible.  And not just for the gospel but also for the 1st and 2nd lessons as well.   A variety of people have complimented me on my memorization skills but the comments that I really appreciate, that really make the difference for me is when people talk about how meaningful the scripture was to them or that they were almost in tears hearing the gospel.  Those comments are the reason why I continue to memorize the gospel in order to tell the story.  And they are the reason why I don't think I could ever go back to just reading the gospel, even if I have a busy week and don't find time to memorize the text, I would still read it very dramatically.

Below is my sermon from yesterday which also played with the idea of what emotions were going through Simon Peter's mind as Jesus asked him three times if he loved him.

Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him.  Three times!  Peter must have been heartbroken.  Not only did Jesus ask him three time if he loved him, Jesus was also no longer calling him by the nickname that Jesus gave to him.  Jesus doesn’t call Peter, Peter, the nickname Jesus gave him meaning Rock.  He calls him Simon his given name.  He even addresses the question with more formality calling him Simon son of John. 

Imagine the heartbreak in Peter’s eyes as with each question “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” as he is once again called by his formal name and not his nickname.  Imagine the heartbreak in Peter’s voice with each answer “Yes Lord; you know that I love you” as Peter remembers the three times he denied Jesus during Jesus’ trial.  Peter must have thought that Jesus no longer cared for him.  That he was putting Peter to a test, keeping him at a distance.  For here is Jesus, the person who gave Peter his nickname, who gave him a new identity, calling him by his old name.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives Simon his new name the moment they meet.  In John 1:42, Jesus’ first words to Simon Peter are “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter^*).” 

And from that moment on Peter is called Peter or Simon Peter in every reference in John until this conversation.  15 times in John he is called only Peter.  17 times he is called Simon Peter, but he is only called Simon 6 times, three times before Jesus gives him his new name and then these three times here. 

Did Jesus forget his name?  In all the trauma of dying and rising again did Jesus get a bump on his head and now forgot what Peter was called?  But maybe Jesus calls Peter, Simon as a term of endearment, as a sign that Jesus knows who Peter really is.   That Peter can become the leader of the church, the rock on which it is built but he is still at the core Simon son of John.

Now I’m not big on formality, or even my given name.  Very few people in this world call me Rebecca.  Normally the only people who call me Rebecca are people who do not know me but have only seen my name on official forms.  In fact when I go to the doctor’s office or the mechanic and somebody calls for Rebecca it always takes me a moment to realize that they are referring to me.  And one of the first things I say is “call me Becca.”

But think about when our formal names are used.  Yes I was called Rebecca Elizabeth a few times by my parents when I was really in trouble growing up.  But more importantly that name is the name that is on our marriage license, it is the name that was said at my high school, college and seminary graduations, it is the name that was used at my ordination and it was the name that was called when I was baptized.  Our formal names are used during the important moments of our lives.  Our formal names are used during the milestones moments, during moments when we want to take everything in and remember every detail for the rest of our lives.

So Jesus does not call Peter, Simon son of John as a way of insulting him, as a way of reminding him that “hey a few weeks ago you denied even knowing me three times”.  No he uses that name that formal name so Simon Peter realizes that this is an important moment.  That this is a moment that Peter will want to take everything in and remember every detail for the rest of his life.  And Jesus is recalling his words when they first met: “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter^*).” 

And with each question “Simon son of John do you love me?” and each answer “Yes Lord you know that I love you” Jesus gives Peter a task.  Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.  With each question, with each formality, Jesus is giving Peter a task.  He is calling on Peter to lead the church, to care for the church, to tend to the church.  Jesus trusts Peter. 

Even after denying Jesus, even after all the idiotic things that Peter said to Jesus, even after confession his faith in Jesus then question if Jesus is the messiah, Jesus is still trusting Peter.  Jesus is still putting Peter in charge of the church, in charge of the people whom Jesus cares about, in charge of Jesus’ ministry.

And just like when they first met, Jesus ends the conversation with two simple words: Follow me!  Even with the trust, authority and power Jesus gave Peter, even after predicting the kind of death Peter was to die, he still lets Peter know that he is to follow Jesus.

Jesus too has trusted us, he has given us the authority to feed the lambs, tend the sheep and feed the sheep, but we are also still sheep.  We are also to still to follow Jesus to go where Jesus goes, to allow Jesus to be the one who ultimately lead us, to be the one who we follow.  For Jesus loves us and trusts us, and calls us by name. And we are like Peter saying, confessing, “yes lord you know that I love you.” And that love comes from the Easter message Alleluia Christ is Risen!

Where was Thomas?

Fortunately I didn't have to ask where was everyone else. Normally the Sunday after Easter is a low attendance Sunday but at Bethlehem we had above average worship attendances - WOOHOO!! Though I was a little worried when at 10 minutes to 10 there was the choir and maybe 6 other people in the building.

So my sermon was based on the gospel lesson: John 20:19-31. In a side note on my adventures in Biblical story telling, I did memorize the gospel but was having some difficulty reciting it that morning (probably could have used one more day), including forgetting the very important line "Do not doubt but believe" so I stood at the pulpit just in case I needed to refer to the text, which of course I didn't. Though it was not an accurate telling but at least 80%.

I do apologize, I found multiple typos in my written text which I use on Sunday mornings but that copy got tossed and I need to run out the door in a few minutes so I don't have time to edit the sermon currently. So fair warning, there are probably more typos than normal, but let's be honest, there are always typos in my sermons. Hope you can get past them and enjoy:

Where was Thomas on that first Easter evening? Why wasn’t he with the rest of the disciples in that locked room? Apparently the disciples were afraid to walk about the streets of Jerusalem hence why they were in a locked room. They were afraid for their lives, afraid that they would be the next to be crucified. They were confused about what to do next, their leader of three years was just killed. The stories, the promises he had made them about heaven, eternal life, the Son of God, have now seemed to them to be just that – stories. The man they thought was the messiah had been killed as a political prisoner, as a enemy of the state. And one of their own, one of the people that they considers a friend, a brother was the one who betrayed Jesus, the one who turned him into the authorities.

The disciples had probably been in the house with locked doors since Friday evening. And now it was Sunday evening. That morning Mary Magdalene and some of the other women came to them telling them some wild tale about the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid is now empty and that Mary had seen and talked to the risen Jesus. That Jesus is alive again. And yet they were still in a locked room, frighten, confused, maybe even a little heart-broken. And then Jesus appeared to them. But where was Thomas?

Had he abandoned the disciples? Did he try to catch the first caravan out of Jerusalem? Was he so afraid for his life that instead of hiding he ran? Well that doesn’t make a lot of sense because he came back later to hear the disciples’ story of seeing Jesus. And then he was still around a week later when Jesus reappeared to them.

So where was Thomas? Maybe he had gone on a food run. They had been holed up in the house for three days. Their food supply was running low, so maybe he went to go get some sandwiches, or to the market to buy some bread and a lamb, they would have been half price since it was now after Passover. But it was evening, most of the shops would have been closed, unless he purposely went late in the day so to avoid the majority of people since he was afraid for his life.

Or maybe Thomas wasn’t there because he went to go see the empty tomb for himself? He had heard the story of Mary Magdalene and the other women, he had heard Peter’s tale of seeing the empty tomb. Maybe Thomas too wanted to check for himself. Maybe he understood what the empty tomb meant. Maybe he didn’t see the need to be hidden away because Christ is risen! Maybe he wasn’t there because he was being more faithful than the other disciples. Imagine Doubting Thomas being the faithful one!

Regardless why Thomas wasn’t there that first Sunday, that first Easter evening, later he hears the other disciples stories. He hears that they had seen Jesus alive again. They hear about the wounds in his hands, feet and side. And he doesn’t believe them. But he doesn’t give up on them either. A week later he is still with the disciple, still in that stupid locked room.

But maybe that is why Thomas didn’t believe the disciples. Maybe it wasn’t that Jesus was alive again that caused his unbelief, maybe Thomas’ unbelief was because these disciples had seen the risen Lord and yet there they were in that locked in that stupid room. They had seen Jesus alive again, walking and talking, they had received the Holy Spirit and been given the power to forgive sins and yet a week later they were still locked in the room acting like it was still Good Friday. Their messiah was back, the words he had told them about the Son of God dying and coming to life again has come true. They had seen the living Lord, and yet they were still locked in the room. They had experienced the resurrection and yet they were still locked in the room.

Maybe it wasn’t the disciples’ words that caused Thomas to not believe but their actions. If they truly had seen the risen Lord, if they truly had seen the messiah, if they truly had received the Holy Spirit, if they truly were given the power to forgive sins, if they truly experienced the resurrection shouldn’t they be out there, out on the streets of Jerusalem telling others about what they had seen, telling others how great God is, forgiving the sins of the crowd who called for Jesus’ crucifixion, forgiving the sins of Pilate, the Pharisees and the Sadducees would captured Jesus and sentence him to death? If the disciples truly believed what they had seen, shouldn’t they have been out there telling others and not in the locked room waiting for people to come to them?

Maybe that is some people’s problem with Christianity, why they find it hard to believe in the Risen Lord. They hear the stories that Christians have to say about the Risen Lord, about Jesus in their lives, about what Christ calls us to do. They hear the stories from scriptures and the stories that people claim occurred in their own life that they attribute to the Holy Spirit and to God intervening in their lives – miraculous medical cures, a friend or neighbor keeping them from the brink of emotional, mental or financial disaster.

But yet they see Christians who allow the poor to remain poor, who refuse to not just give money to the panhandler on the street but to even look at them. Christians who allow food to rot in their kitchens each day but never give a spare can of food to a food pantry or help out at a soup kitchen. Christians who want the best medical care for themselves but publicly speak out against having universal health coverage because it will affect the amount of taxes they will have to pay or because it would mean a longer wait at the doctor’s office for them. Christians who talk about how we should support the widows and orphans, and yet they never visit their elderly mother in the nursing home. Christians who talk about the risen Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit but their actions do not follow their words.

And we are no better than those hypocrites, those disciples. I am no better than those hypocrites, those disciples who talk about how great it was to see Jesus but then do not listen to his words. In many ways we are locked in that stupid room. We are locked in this church. We expect people to come to us. Yeah we send out food to Redding Social Services or household goods to Lutheran Social Services. But it has been multiple years since I last served a meal to a homeless person. How about you? I don’t think I have ever been to a nursing home to just volunteer and hang out with the residents. Sure I have been to them to visit someone I knew, I even worked at a nursing home for a summer, but if I ever did anything like that it was when I was still in Girl Scouts. When was the last time you volunteered to care for the elderly or for orphans, especially people that you did not know? When was the last time our faith, the words that we speak, the creed that we recite each week match our actions? Maybe you have done something like this with in the last week but for the majority of Christians who are at church today, this low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, when the true Christians, the hard core members come out, for the majority of us, our words often do not match our actions.

We are still the disciples lock in a room waiting, wondering and worrying about what to do next. We have seen the risen Lord yet we wait for more. And yet there are Thomases out there, people who are clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, supporting the elderly and orphans who have not seen Jesus, do not believe he is risen, but yet continue to do what they do because they know it is right.

But we have seen the risen Lord, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power to forgive sins. And that is what we as Christians have been called to do. That is what we as Christians are hoping to do. And we don’t need to continue to wait for Jesus to reappear, for Christ has already appeared to us. The Holy Spirit has already been given to us. We have already be commissioned to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, care for the sick, support the elderly and orphans. So isn’t it time that we leave the locked room and go out to not just tell other, not just shout to others, but to proclaim to others Alleluia Christ is Risen!

Extravagant Love

For the fifth and last sermon of Lent, we hear the story of Mary pouring perfume on Mary's feet from John 12:1-8 and we hear Isaiah's warning to the Israelites to not remember the former things for God is about to do something new in Isaiah 43:16-21.

I again memorize the gospel in order to tell the story in a more meaningful way. I can't believe the responses that I have received. Many people are just shocked that I'm able to memorize the text, though this week I was a lot less accurate. But even more heartwarming are the people who have said that the gospel stories have become much more meaningful to them and it has opened the Bible to them.

But anyway onto the sermon:

Can you imagine the smell? How overwhelming must it have been to be in Lazarus’ home and smell the pound of perfume that was poured on Jesus’ feet? Many of us love the smell of various perfumes, but often just a dab or a quick spray is enough to leave that lingering scent. But yet most of us have been somewhere when someone had on too much perfume. Too much of a good thing can cause headaches, dizziness, sinus pressure. And it doesn’t matter if it is a teenage boy who sprayed the entire bottle of Axe Body Spray on him before his date, or the elder woman who accidentally put on too much perfume before going out to dinner with her family.

I’m one of those people who practically run through the perfume section of the department store or try to plot a way to get around it. So when I come across someone with too much perfume on I wonder if they bathed in it or I try to figure out who they are trying to impress, and sometimes I even wonder if their sense of smell works. I can’t say I have ever wondered if someone else bathed them in perfume as a sign of their extravagant love for them.

But that is exactly what Mary did. She took this bottle of expensive perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet with it and then wiped the excess away with her hair. This was a sign of love. Can you image the adoration that must have been in Mary’s eyes and she did such an act? Can you image how humble Jesus must have felt when Mary did this? I wonder what Mary felt like as she anointed Jesus’ feet; did she feel like she was doing one of the most important things in the world.

But yet Judas points out that Mary was wasteful. Now let’s cut Judas some slack about that side comment about him stealing what was in the common purse. Judas makes a very valid point. That perfume was worth something. It was worth a lot of something. If Judas’ estimate of the cost is correct, that perfume was worth a year’s labor for the average worker. That perfume could feed and house a family for a year.

$40 Thousand dollars is the current average income for US workers. So how would you feel if right now I bought a Chevy Tahoe just to crash it or blow it up? Or if I consumed a $40 thousand dollar meal? Or if I took out a bottle of perfume worth the same amount and dumped it on your feet? We might at first thing the explosion was really cool or enjoy the smell of the food or perfume but I would venture a guess that many of our minds would start to wander and think about the cost of such extravagance and what else could have been done with that money.

But yet Jesus does not agree with Judas, Jesus is not concerned about the cost. He tells Judas to leave her alone for she has bought the perfume for his burial. Jesus knows that his death is coming, that God is about to do something new through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And Mary, through her extravagant love of Jesus, has allowed God’s work, God’s love, to be demonstrated to others in that room.

In our Old Testament text today, Isaiah commands the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon: “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing.” Jesus is telling Judas not to worry about the poor for God is about to do something far greater than what could have been done with the sale of that perfume. No amount of money in the world would be able to free Judas and everyone of us from the power of sin and death, in fact often money leads to sins, but it is through God that a new covenant, a new promise of salvation, a new forgiveness of sins is about to happen.

So what does this mean for us? Are we suppose to just forget about the past, the last 100 year history of this congregation or the past 500 year history of the Lutheran church or the past 2000 years of Christianity or the past 3000 years since the words of Isaiah? No Isaiah’s words do not mean for us to forget the past, they mean for us to be open to the new things that are coming through God, through Christ, through the work of the Spirit in each and every one of us. If we are so focused on the past, and our mindset is stuck on what has been, how great we once were or that “we’ve never done it that way before” then we are not allowing the Spirit to work in us today in order to demonstrate our love for Christ to others.

If Mary only thought about how perfume is suppose to be used, because that is the way it has been done before, then Mary would have never shown such a demonstration of her love for Christ. If Martin Luther was only concerned about what had been done before, what was the status quo, in the Catholic Church then he would not have spoken out against things he considered spiritual injustices and the reformation would have never happened. If the founding members of this congregation were only concerned with how they had worshiped before at home in Aland, than this congregation would have never started, worship would have never been done in English and I would have never been called as a pastor solely because I am female.

But yet these things happened. They happened because we are a reforming church, they happened because God is constantly doing new things, they happened because people were moved by the Holy Spirit to show their love, their extravagance for Christ. God’s new things come from our extravagance. New missions support and social ministries are created because we have an extravagant need to care for others. Evangelism happens because we have an overwhelming desire to tell others about Christ. Worship happens because we have an extreme need to praise God from whom all blessings flow.

But when we stop being extravagant in our love, new missions and ministries dry up, no one new shows up and worship becomes the same boring ritual that happens week in and week out. God doesn’t want that to happen, God does not want us to become bored. God doesn’t want us to stop caring, stop being concerned about others. That is why God is constantly doing new things, that is why God is constantly showing us signs of God’s extravagant love for us. Water that is poured out upon us in baptism, bread and wine in the Lord’s supper, new life in young children, new seasons in the flowers, cool breezes and warm sunshine that we have enjoyed so much this week. Those plain, every day things are signs of God’s extravagant love for us. And those plain everyday things move us to ask: how can we show our extravagant love to God?

And I think that answer begins with showing God’s extravagant love to others, especially as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead this Easter. It begins by following Mary’s example of pouring out our love for Christ for all to see.

Sibling Rivalry

Yesterday I did something new, hopefully I will do it again. I memorized the gospel text, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32, the story of the prodigal son. As I have talked about before I have been playing with Biblical storytelling. I have been trying to read the gospel text more dramatically, putting more emphasis on the emotions conveyed in the scriptures. As I was preparing for this sermon, I realized just how much emotion was in this story of the prodigal son. The father was jubilant at seeing his younger son. The younger son was scheming to go back home in order to survive but was probably truly repented when his father put his arms around him and kissed him. And the older brother was truly, truly angry at the father. Those emotions do not come out when this story is just read out loud, but when I was up there running, rubbing my chin in a scheming way and yelling, those emotions are conveyed.

It was also interesting to watch people react to me. I started at the pulpit like normal but then moved out of the pulpit after a few words. Most people started reading along with the text and after a bit would look up at me, notice I was not in the pulpit, look down again at the text, look up at me again and then just put the text down and listen. Since we had lost an hour of sleep the night before, I think people were a little slower than normal noticing that I was not just reading along. And at the end, when I said "the Gospel of the Lord" there was the longest pause. I'm not sure if people thought that they should applaud or if they were waiting for me to bow or if they forgot their response. Maybe they were just stunned - it is one of the longer gospel text.

But the biblical storytelling went over quiet well and I do hope to do it again - especially for text that have so much emotion.

But now onto the sermon. Below is the text that I wrote for yesterday's sermon. It is not quiet the sermon that I preached. I realized on Sunday morning before worship that I just wasn't quiet happy with what was written but I figured between the biblical storytelling, communion, singing Amazing Grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, people were going to hear the gospel. So I used this text as a starting point and kinda went from there. Read it, enjoy it but add much more about forgiveness and you will then pretty much have the sermon that I preached.

During my first two weeks of seminary, we had a prolog course. Basically it was two weeks of introducing us to the variety of topics that we would discuss within the four years of seminary. At some point during these two weeks, the powers that be invited a few seasoned pastors to impart their knowledge upon us hopeful future pastors and church leaders.

During this discussion, a question came up about preaching and the use of the lectionary, the three year rotation of readings which we follow in the Lutheran church. One of these seasoned pastors said that if it wasn’t for the lectionary he would probably preach on the Prodigal Son 23 times a year. And I just remember sitting there thinking: 23 times a year?! Are you kidding me, what could you talk about that often!

Now granted I have to tell you first about my personal bias against this text. I was a camp counselor for two summers. Each year there was a theme and each day of the week there was a bible text that we would talk about with the kids that explored that theme. This allowed the kids to learn a variety of stories, but it also meant that for 13 weeks one summer every Wednesday I would do a bible study on the Prodigal Son and for 13 weeks every Wednesday I would see the same dramatization of the Prodigal Son performed that was based on some song. This repetition causes you to grow a little weary of certain text and makes you realize that you don’t want to preach about the same topic for 23 weeks within a year.

But my dislike for this parable is not just because I overdosed on it one summer, it is because it continues past verse 24. If the son came home and was forgiven and life moved on, it would be a great story about forgiveness and love even after someone basically tells you to drop dead. If the story stopped with the father forgiving him, it would be a great tale about letting your children go out and find themselves, to allow them to make mistakes but be able to help pick them back up if they fall.

But no the parable does not end there, it continues, it continues with a very angry, very upset older brother. Not only does the older brother not want to forgive his younger brother for telling their father to drop dead then fleeing the area and spending all his money. Not only does the older brother not want to forgive, he also gets upset at his dad for forgiving his brother. He sees this as an injustice, the dad has not treated him fairly, forgiving the younger brother after everything that he has done, yet he has been following every command and had never received such extravagance.

The younger brother was only given his future share of the inheritance, what specifically did he do to cause harm to the older brother, to cause such anger? Would the older brother have been so angry if their dad just allowed him to quietly come back home and not have thrown a party? Did the older brother ever even ask for a young goat so that he could have a party with his friends?

It is hard to forgive and sometimes it is even hard to watch somebody else forgive. Was there more to the story? Has this been a repeated pattern of behavior with the younger brother and the older one knew that he would just take advantage of the father again? It can be hard to watch someone who has been abused forgive the abuser yet again, knowing that the cycle of abuse will just continue.

But sometimes it is hard to watch someone else forgive because we know that we do not have that ability to so radically forgive in us. And instead of having compassion for the forgiver, we have anger at them.

When a man walked in a shot a group of Amish school children before taking his own life and the Amish community forgave the man and his family, many Americans were moved at the amount of forgiveness and compassion that the Amish showed. But a few people were outraged, upset, discouraged and even angry that they could so easy forgive the person would took the lives of their daughters.

And our anger over forgiveness isn’t always directed at others, sometimes it is even directed at God. A former co-worker of mine was obsessed about knowing if the guy who pushed the button that drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be in heaven. For some reason he thought that the guy who actually pushed the button, not the one who created the bomb or flew the plane or order the bomb to be dropped or all the other people who have done evil things during war, that that guy should not be allowed into heaven. My co-worker said that if he went to heaven and the button pusher was there, he would walk right back out. Well I think he might be surprised once he gets to heaven. A lot of us might be surprised once we get to heaven at who else is a child of God.

Because God is the father, God radically forgives us. God forgives us of our sins, God forgives us if we do something that we consider a minor offense: swearing, gossiping, running through a red light. But even when we commit what we consider a major offense, God forgives us: murder, adultery, dropping a bomb on a city, telling our parents to drop dead. When we repent, God radically forgives us.

And God even forgives us for our anger over who is forgiven. God forgive us for having a unbalanced sense of injustice. God forgives us for our jealousy over the forgiven.

We can sit here and keep tally, having sibling rivalry with all of our siblings in Christ, over who has been forgiven the most and then become angry at God for forgiving such offenses. Or we can celebrate with God the Father, the one who radically forgives, because such a person was has repented there sins and has come back to God. Because when we celebrate, we know that there is nothing we can do, no sin great enough, that can separate us from the radical love and forgiveness that is found in Christ Jesus. And that is truly something to celebrate and possibly even preached about 23 times in once year.

Let us pray. God of forgiveness and grace, we know that we are sinners and often times do not deserve your forgiveness. But we thank you for the forgiveness you have given us, and pray that you help us learn to radically forgive others. In your name we pray, Amen.