Luke 12:13-21 Are We Ruled by Things?

Remember I told you last week that there are some passages that can make you go,”huh?” Well, this one will definitely make you think twice. This passage can be misunderstood and quite controversial. Why; because it talks about things that make us very uncomfortable. This passage talks about having nice things and wealth. That, alone, can make us all uncomfortable.

This person comes up to Jesus and wants Jesus to settle this dispute with his brother. I can hear the voice, “Jesus, tell my brother to give me back what is mine!” It can sound like us when we were much younger. I can them yelling “Its mine! Is not! Is too! Although it sounds childish, inheritances were important in Jesus time. Property and items were passed down from families. It helped in the continuation of the community. Inheritances helped define the station in life of the person who survives. It helped when it came to marriage dowries, defined the place in the community, and it helped maintain a person’s wealth status or determined wealth. Inheritance was important and this person…could have been a man or woman…wanted their fair share.

So they go to the person they think can sort all this out, Jesus. Jesus knows how important inheritance is. He is Jewish and know that inheritance can mean so much and helps determine so much. I mean, we are in the twelfth chapter at this point so we know who Jesus is and many in the crowd have seen how much authority Jesus has been given at this time. By this time in our Gospel, Jesus has healed, driven out demons, raised from the dead, and Peter gave his declaration about Jesus, “you ARE the Messiah.” Surely, these people have some idea who Jesus is; and they go to him to settle this issue.

Jesus gives an answer that we might expect and misunderstand. "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Did he just say what I think he said?! Did he just say we cannot have nice things? That could be a little troubling. I think we all want to have nice things. Why is it so wrong to have nice things; a nice car, cell phone, computer, clothes, etc. What makes all these things so bad? We will cover that in a minute.

Jesus does not stop there. Jesus begins telling a parable. Parables are teaching tools that Jesus uses to help illustrate his point. Some of them are quite clear while some can be a little confusing. He tells this parable of a wealthy man. His fields are yielding an abundance of crops. There is so much that he cannot store his crops with what he has. So, he decides to tear down his barns. Sounds like a good decision. After all, he needs a place to store his stuff and why shouldn’t he build a new barn to store these crops. Why is this a problem?

Question: Who does he consult in this decision to tear down his barn? Scripture says he thought to himself. He asks himself, “What should I do?” Then he says…and I love this part…”soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years…” Do you notice that throughout this whole parable the wealthy man is talking to HIMSELF! He uses the first person singular “I, me, mine.” This wealthy person is talking and thinking to himself in his planning. One could say, “well, it is his crops.” It is true that they are his crops but there is something missing from this parable.

What is missing is that there is no room for anyone else in this man’s world. There is no room for others in the world. This man is thinking only about himself and what he needs to get by. He is not thinking about the workers who harvested his crops. He is not even thinking about the blessings that he received these crops. The point of this story and the scripture reading is not “don’t have nice things.” The point to this reading is that this man in the parable is storing all this for himself. He is allowing the possessions that he has define who he is. Meaning, if he has all this harvest, then he has to maintain all of it so that he can “eat, drink, and be merry.” In Jesus time, I said before, being a good host to parties (if you have wealth) was important. Serving good meals was important. This person is going to make sure that he has enough to hold all these parties while maintaining enough for himself. That can get daunting and tiring; so much so that there isn’t a whole lot of time for other things like friends, family, fun, and God.

That is what Jesus is telling the person from the crowd. He is saying that when there becomes an overabundance of things, we tend to work harder at trying to keep our things; to the point that we become sidetracked and isolated from more important things and our focus is more what we have then who we are. It means that we let our possessions define our lives; we let the things we have drive (figuratively and literally) what we do in this world. We have seen the stories of Lottery winners who are so inundated with money that they don’t know what to do and some lose all their winnings and sometimes their homes. Things don’t always go well or as well as we would like them to. Jesus is warning us not to lose the relationships in our lives as people and as a community with one another and with God.

This parable warns us to be mindful of our relationships. What are those things in our life that can distract us from the love and care of God? What are those things in our lives that allow us to put the power, grace, and mercy of God off to the side and say it is not important? What are those things that sidetrack us as a community from our relationship with God? I am not telling you that you cannot buy the car, the I-pad, the lottery ticket, or anything like that. Those decisions are between us and God.

What Jesus is telling us is to not let things run our lives. Possessions don’t give us value and don’t determine who we are. Possessions don’t show us worth, don’t speak to us, they just sit there and cause us to spend more time and money to maintain them. It is our relationships with one another, the larger community, and most importantly God that defines who we are. For it is God that shows us worth; God created us and gave us the gift of one another and to care for the world and for each other. God gave us value in the gift of sending his only son into the world and that son who would end up on the cross for us.

So what is our response? What is our response to a God that has given forgiveness by God’s only Son on the cross? Do we sit back as the man in our parable and say, “soul, I got what I wanted. I’m done. Eat, Drink, be merry?” Or do we think to ourselves that God has been so gracious and merciful that we respond in sharing the compassion that we have been given with one another and with the community?

AMEN

The importance of prayer

Luke 11:1-13

            There are times in our lives as Christians when we read a passage in the bible that can confuse, baffle, or just cause us to shake our heads and go, “huh!” This morning might be one of those Sundays. We have this really nice passage that we know very well. We hear the words that we are going to say later in this service, “Our Father in heaven, hollowed be your name…”

            It seems pretty cut and dry. The disciples want Jesus to teach them how to pray. They want to know the words that are needed in order for God to hear their words. Are they thinking that there is some secret formula in prayer? Maybe they do. Here is a known fact: Jesus prays more in Luke’s Gospel than in any other Gospel. So, maybe, these twelve have seen him praying so much that it is something they want to learn how to do. That would make a whole lot of sense, because maybe Jesus’ prayers are silent; who knows the reason, but it is important that they want to know how to pray.

            Jesus’s gives us these all important words. In some traditions it is called the Lord’s Prayer and in others it is often referred to as the “Our Father.” This is how we hear and understand that we are to pray. If you notice, this prayer is not very complicated. Sure, it was translated from Greek but these words are not that difficult. Lutheran Professor David Lose of Luther Seminary in Minnesota points out three observations about this passage and how we look at prayer.

            The first part he describes is the simplicity of prayer. This Lord’s Prayer opens with us asking for help to keep God’s name Holy. Help us to act in a way that honors God,  helps us to live out God’s kingdom on earth through seeking forgiveness and giving forgiveness, giving us bread (food and the word of God) to sustain us each and every day; and through that forgiveness save us from trials and tribulations.

            His second observation is that faithful prayer is honest. Honest means many things. Honest prayer means using your words. It means speaking to God in everyday language. Unless you speak using thy, thous, thee, use your words. There is not a template or fill in the blanks when it comes to prayer. If you are confused when you pray, then say you’re confused. If you’re angry, then say so. When I prayed by just asking God for things (and I will come back to that in a little bit). When I went to seminary, there were no classes on prayer or spirituality. So I continued praying the way I did when I was a kid; I asked for things. The point is that being honest in our prayers and using our own words and not someone else’s helps us to be more faithful because it helps us tell God what is in our hearts.

            The third observation is that prayer is based on trust. When we pray to God, we open ourselves up. We become vulnerable and we expose something that we might not want anyone to know. We expose who we are. It might be a part of our lives we might think is hidden, not only from friends or family, but we might think that part is hidden from God. Yet, when we pray we trust that God is listening. We put our trust in that God will still accept us, forgive us, and/or love us for who we are. We put ourselves out there to God and that is a scary thing, because sometimes our society tells us not to trust anyone; and that is not always a good thing.

            Jesus tells us something more about prayer. He tells us to ask and it will be given to you. That’s a problem. This is Jesus telling us that if we pray and are honest in our prayer “it will be given you, search and you will find, knock and the door will be open.” This is a problem because I am sure we have asked for many things and it appears that God, either did not hear or care, because we did not get what we wanted. When I was a teenager, I asked that if God could just get that girl to go out with me, my life would be okay; OR, I would say “if you do this God, I will do…” There were many problems with this line of thinking. The one relating to the girlfriend was that God might have answered the prayer but I was too shy to ask these people out. The second (If you do, I will do) was not, for me, necessarily heartfelt. I was putting a condition on God. Who did I think I was? I also think back to the Garth Brooks song “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

            Looking back, those are trivial prayers but there are times when these prayers are not trivial. This past week, I was on two very different ends of the spectrum. On Thursday morning, I was at the home of Suzie Smith. I and many others prayed for two years that Doctors would be able to cure her cancer. We all asked God to take this away from her. Yet, it seemed that our prayers were not answered; she passed away Thursday morning. By the afternoon, I was praying with thanksgiving that it looked like another person was going to be going home from Frederick hospital. It appeared that God heard all those prayers.

            So what happened? I know that God does hear our prayers…all of them. I know that because Jesus, the Son of God tells us to ask and if he tells us to ask, then God must be hearing. Jesus is telling us that God wants us to have those things that give us life. That is why I do not believe that God is going to take someone away from our lives to punish us or the person who passes on. God does want us to know that God wants the best for us and that is why God walks with us in times of sorrow tragedy. God cries when we cry and God mourns when we mourn.

            So, some may say, “why bother praying?” The answer to why bother is the same answer to why we share personal stories with people that we trust; because we know our friends care about us and want the best for us as does our family. We bother because God wants the best for us. Sometimes we may ask for things that God may not think is in our best interest. It might be something that could put us at risk or a prayer of sacrifice (i.e. take me instead of). That is one of the greatest mysteries of faith as to God answering prayers or not.

            Of all of this there is one thing that is sure and true. Jesus tells us to ask for what we need. Maybe it is that girlfriend (in our youth), maybe it is to know that God is with us, feeling the presence of God in the world. The point is that Jesus tells us to ask…pray for whatever it is that we need because we can trust God in that God showed us that we are loved. Jesus at the cross shows us God’s love. We know we are cared for because God brought other people into our lives that we can share some of the most intimate details of our lives. We know that we are God’s children because we have been claimed in the waters of baptism that God will never let us go. Not even death can keep us from the love of God.

            So, pray when you are happy, sad…use your words to tell God how you feel and ask for what you want. Opening our hearts to pray can be an amazing, scary, and hope-filled exercise: AMEN!

Listening for God's Word

            What would you do if Jesus was coming to your house? I can tell you what would happen at my house; and I say this with my wife knowing what I am about to say. My wife would go into her, what I call, “power mode.” She would start making a list of what needed to be cleaned: the carpet needs vacuuming, the floors need sweeping and waxing, There is too much dust everywhere, the back porch needs sweeping…and better mow the yard cause it needs to look good. And then she says the thing that really gets to me. I am known for having my “piles” of papers, books, junk mail, whatever it is I have at least one pile; and she asks that question, “Can you move your pile or take it downstairs.” Maybe it is a guy think, I don’t know, but that is the thing that gets to me and I guess that is a sermon for another time.

            In our Gospel reading, Martha goes into her power mode. Jesus comes to the house and Martha wants things to look just right, after all, she and Mary are the hostesses. They are greeting the Lord into their home. She wants things to look good, the food to taste good, and the guests to be happy. It makes sense because who would go to a house where the food was bad and the host hadn’t cleaned or even cooked a decent meal? In the time of Mary and Martha, that is what hosts did; made sure everyone was happy and fed.

            As our reading goes further, we see that Mary is not working as hard as Martha. In fact, she is not doing anything to be a good host. Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus. Martha is getting angry because Mary is just sitting there, literally. She is not helping to clean or cook; not checking to make sure the food isn’t burning, isn’t checking to make sure the disciples or any other guests are happy. We could say that Mary is not being any kind of hosts because she is letting Mary do all the work.

            And Martha has had enough. She goes to Jesus and complains and Jesus tells Martha that Mary is doing something very important. Jesus tells Martha that she is being distracted by “many things”. He tells her that Mary has chosen better. Mary is not jumping around and making sure there is enough drink or food. She is not vacuuming the floor or sweeping the floor. So what is this important thing that Mary is doing?

            Mary is listening. That is the better choice for this story of Jesus? Mary is sitting at his feet and listening. Now that is a loaded statement for people like me. Jesus is not saying that it is okay to let the house get so dirty. We cannot respond to our spouses when asked to help clean up, “I am listening to Jesus.” Jesus is telling Martha that Mary is listening to what HE is telling her. Jesus is saying that it is important to listen to the word of God. Listen to what Jesus is saying about so many things. Listen to him as he tells his life story, how he acted, what he said…listen to his call to action, “love God with all your heart, mind, and soul,” and Listen to the passion story of how Jesus will be handed over  and rise in three days.

            Jesus is telling Martha and us that Listening to the Word of God is important. It is not something just said for Mary and Martha or the 12 disciples. Jesus is telling us all to listen. He calls us to listen to his words of God that he is sent by God not to condemn the world but to save the world. Listen to the words of Jesus in his call to action that we heard last week to love our neighbor as ourselves; when he says “this is my body and blood given for you…” When we really listen to these words, do we hear that we are SO loved that God is willing to sacrifice his only Son for our sin, for our sake…because we are loved. Jesus tells us to listen to the words “into your hands, Father, I commend my spirit.” Jesus also tells us to listen to the words “he is not here….why do you look for the living among the dead?”

            Jesus is telling us to listen so that we hear and know that: God sent Jesus into this world to walk with us, to know the struggles we face, and to help us through those struggles. So when you hear the words to go out proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Son of God and the price for our sin has been paid because of the sacrifice of God’s only Son on the cross, you hear and know this to be true. Hearing the words “My body and blood given for you” lets you know just how precious you are in the eyes of a loving God; and that it is for the forgiveness of our sins makes it all that more important to hear. We are no longer bound by sin but gathered in love. AND hearing the words that the tomb is empty shows us that Death does not have the last word but that it is God the creator who promises us eternal life.

            Friends in Christ, we are much like Martha. How many times have we gotten caught up in the world? How many times have we heard the world calling us? How many times have we heard that you have to have this or that to make your life better? “you can’t do without this or that product?” How many times have we heard “Don’t worry about this or that person, they can fend for themselves.” Here is my favorite, “God only helps those who help themselves (that is not in the bible, by the way).” We have heard all these things and more about looking out for ourselves and survival of the fittest. You have got to be at three places at one time: sports, practices, at your job, or trying to keep your job, or find a job…the list can go on and on. It is EASY to not have the time to listen.

            With all that going on, NOW, Jesus wants us to take time to listen? The simple answer to that question is YES. Jesus tells Martha that what Mary is doing IS IMPORTANT! Therefore, it is important for us to listen! When all these things are going on, there are times to be able to listen to God. For example, on your lunch break, while you are waiting to get from one place to another or sitting in the parking lot waiting. Listening does not have to be done in silence, either. Sometimes I listen for God’s voice  and presence when I listen to music, when I pray, or even sitting at a red light. Sometimes I can listen as God uses one of my friends or family as we talk about something.

            So brothers and sisters, I will give you homework like I give our youth in the young people’s messages. Your homework is to go out into the world, this week, speak to God, pray to God and start listening. Open your bibles this week to read God’s Word and listen for God’s word in your world this week but also in the weeks to come: AMEN!

Luke 8:51-62 Mission Possible

            I have a confession to make. I had a plan for my life. I had an entire map drawn out in my mind of what my entire life would look like from beginning to end. Now, to show you how amusing it sounds, I did not have the plan until I was about 15; you know, that time when we ALL knew exactly what our lives would look like. Here are some examples of how wonderful a plan it was. I would be married by the age of 22, have three kids (cause I wanted to make sure I wasn’t too old as they grew up). I would retire from the military by the age of 37, maybe 40, as either a Lieutenant Colonel in the army or Commander in the Navy. Sounds good doesn’t it? Sounds like the life. So I began on this journey. First, I needed a girlfriend and that was the first sign that things weren’t going to go well. But I was focused on having this life that I planned. My mind was set on this life that I took the time to plan. My focus was all about this plan.

            Our Gospel reading has Jesus on a mission. His face was set toward Jerusalem. It is a clever way for Luke to say that Jesus is setting out on this mission. He knows where he is going and what he is going to do. Kinda sounds like a well scripted movie, doesn’t it? Jesus sends out his messengers to the Samaritan village to announce that Jesus is coming through. I can picture it as if it were from a movie. I could imagine that the Samaritans get ready to line the streets to greet the approaching Jesus with songs and giving Jesus honor, maybe even their version of a ticker tape parade; the leader coming out to greet Jesus and give him a key to the city. It would be nice if that happened, but it didn’t.

            The Samaritans did not do any of that. The Samaritans did not even receive Jesus. They were not even concerned that he was coming to town. Our Gospel reading says they did not receive him because his face was “set toward Jerusalem.” Jesus was on a mission! Did the Samaritans think they were less important or not part of the mission? There was a history of Samaritans and Jews not getting along; so, was this just another Jew coming through town. Our Gospel reading does not tell us why they did not receive him. There reaction to Jesus approaching is important because we then see the reaction of the disciples.

            When James and John see the reaction of the Samaritans, they go into full blown “anger mode.” I mean they don’t say “let’s just leave.” NO! They ask Jesus if they should command fire to come down and take them all out. Talk about over-reacting! These two guys want to take out the whole village. They are ready to say BURN IT DOWN! Flatten the place! James and John are waiting for the instruction to take out the town and all who live in it (as if they had the power to command such a thing). They are ready to curse the place and be on their way, without a thought.

            Jesus remains focused on his mission. He does not want the place destroyed because his mission is bigger than town’s people. His mission is so important that he cannot let people who do not receive him sidetrack him from this mission. Because we all know the mission that Jesus is on. We all know the importance of this mission and that this mission leads to the most important place, for you and for me; that this mission will take Jesus to a place that was regarded as a place of shame.

            Yet this mission also tells us something about ourselves. As Jesus is focused on his mission to the hill outside of Jerusalem, there are many others who want to join this mission. There are many who want to follow this leader wherever he goes; because they have been touched in some way shape or form by his words and his actions. Their encounter with Jesus touched into the deepest part of their being…their heart. They were so moved they wanted to set their faces toward Jesus, the Messiah. When they tell Jesus they want to follow, but first they want to say goodbye, Jesus responds, “Let the dead bury themselves” and “no one who puts hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.” It sounds like Jesus is seriously scolding the people who merely want to say goodbye.

            Jesus is not scolding them. Jesus is telling them that this mission to follow, this calling to follow him means giving up control. It means giving up control of our lives no matter how much we have planned out, whether it be every year of our lives, our friends, careers, spouses, the number of children we have, or the house we live in; Jesus is telling us that when we live our lives as disciples of God, focusing on God’s promises of Grace and Mercy, and with God’s love at the heart of who we are, God leads us in a very different direction than what we might have planned.

            Out of all those plans that I made for my life, not one of them happened at the time I had planned. I am not a father of three. I am a stepdad to two men who can be frustrating at times because “that’s not the way I would do it…” but bring much joy to my life. I did not retire from the military, at all, but went into careers that I felt God had a physical hand in getting me to where God needed me to be. I did not try and ask God for fire to consume anyone or any town.

            While that all sounds nice, there was never a promise that any of this would be easy for any of us. Through our lives we all have had struggles. We have dealt with diagnosis of illnesses with ourselves or loved ones. We all, at one time or another, struggled in some way shape or form in our personal lives, professional lives and in our faith lives. Jesus never promised that it would be easy. I don’t know about you but that is one thing I wish Jesus would have promised. Through all our struggles, we do have the promise that God is with us; God walks with us to lean on, yell at, and to cry with, in those times of struggle and to celebrate in our moments of great joy.

            Jesus is telling us to look forward to the promises of God. Have you ever plowed a field, driven a car or walked down the street looking behind you? If you did, I am confident that the straight line you think you were walking or driving would send you off in a bad direction. Jesus is telling us to look forward to the promises of God. Because, Jesus mission is set on that hill outside of Jerusalem. It is that hill where the cross that was once a symbol of shame becomes a cross of Glory. It is the cross where we see Jesus’ mission as not only going to Jerusalem to overturn tables in the temple, but to Go where God called his only Son to be placed and pay for our sins to show us that we are loved beyond what we may be able to comprehend.

            This week we will celebrate the founding of our country. A large group of people whose mission was to create a country…this country. We celebrate, starting tomorrow, 150^th Anniversary of men whose mission it was to protect a small town in Pennsylvania just a few miles north of here. Fifty years ago, this summer, we will celebrate a speech that was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was given by a man who was said to carry the bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other. In all these cases, all these groups felt called by God to do these things, say these things, live out God’s call to follow.

            Just as they were called to a mission, we too are called to a mission. A mission to proclaim the Good News that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The Good News that Christ walks with us in our journey and in this world to show us and share with others the love of God. We bring our burdens to the cross and rejoice in that Jesus mission was for our sake. We come because we look forward to the promise of forgiveness and life eternal in a loving God. Thanks be to God: AMEN

Luke 8:26-39 What is your name? Answer: Child of God

            We are going to try something today. I want you to think of three words, just three, that describe you. Now that you have the three words, I want you to turn to the person next to you and tell them the three words. I will give you an example by going first: I am a husband, Stepdad, and grandfather. I could use different words in different situations: I am a pastor, friend, and partner. So turn to the person next to you or in front or back and share your three words.

            You might notice that you might describe yourself according to who is sitting next to you. You might describe yourself differently when you are writing a resume. I had two resumes when I worked as a paralegal. I had one that highlighted organizational and managerial skills and I had one that highlighted my work in electronics, in case I wanted to go back into that field (much of that information has long been forgotten).

The point is that we all look at this statement: “What’s in a name?” One of my first experiences with ministry was working at a place called “N Street Village” It was located at 14^th and N Street in Northwest, Washington, D.C. It is a transitional women’s homeless shelter.  It accepted women right off the streets who had nothing; no home, no job, and no means of support. This shelter helped women from the streets and gave them training, education in job skills and resume writing, doctor’s appointments, and was able to work with the mayor’s office so that they could get housing; the goal was to enable them to be productive in society and have their own life.

In my short time there I heard stories that would break your heart. So many stories of people who lost everything, sometimes by their decisions and sometimes by situations they had no control over. The common thread through all these stories comes down to one thing: They all lost who they were. When they had to live on the streets, there were no more descriptors that would define them other than homeless, crazy, weirdos, neglected…these are some of the terms that I heard people on the street use towards these women.

In our Gospel reading, we find Jesus being confronted by a man possessed by demons. This man does not have a home, but lives in the tombs where the bodies are buried. I could imagine that the town’s people might be afraid of this man. I can picture him running around and saying things that may not make sense to you or me…mumbling to himself saying “who knows what.” This man, by appearances has lost everything. I could imagine that the people of the town might call him crazy, weird, and other kinds of names: It might be that his descriptors may have replaced his name.

When Jesus asked him his name his reply was merely a descriptor. This man was not named “Legion” but he was telling Jesus what was happening to him. He is telling Jesus that he is possessed by a legion (100) demons. This man had lost his identity of who he was; that he might have been a father, brother, uncle, prominent business man, farmer…whatever it was that he could choose to describe him was now gone. Now he was known by another term, maybe the most polite would have been “man possessed by the demons.”

This man and the women that I met at N Street village share this common bond. All have lost their identity, whether it is through a description of who they are, an adjective…whatever it is…they have lost their identities. They have lost who they are in the world. They have been swallowed up by all the things in the world that can take them away from the love of God. They may have been caught up, either by their decisions or by circumstances and have nowhere to go, no support network, no friends to lean on.

I think that we might be able to relate to these people as well. We, too, may feel like we have lost our identity. We can get so caught up in our world that we can feel lost. Look at our society, everything is given a number. When I was in the service, we were identified by our social security number. If it is not a social security number, its account numbers, pin, numbers, and such. We can get caught up in our work lives and with all that is going on in the world that it seems we don’t matter. We can feel so much pressure to do so much at work in so little time that it feels like our worth is measured in how much we produce, not by who we are. Our society is set up that way: our worth is determined by output…do more use less.

Today, we hear that it does not have to be that way. Today we hear in this Gospel text that we are not nameless faces; rather we are valued in the eyes of God. This man who is possessed is no longer held captive by the demons; just like the women of N Street Village who lost their identity. The ministry of N Street Village is to be God’s hands and feet in giving back to theses women, their name and show them that they are valued children of God.

Jesus shows us all through his actions and words that we are remembered, we are loved, and we are named child of God. Through our baptism, we are declared loved and precious in the eyes of God. We are claimed to one descriptor and that is: “Child of God.” We are named and claimed by a God who will go to any lengths to show that love; even sending God’s only son to the cross, for our sake. So that we KNOW we are loved and can feel that we are loved.

Remember that phrase, “What’s in a name?” When it comes to who we are, everything is in a name. It means that because we have the name child of God, we have a loving God that we can lean on, and ask questions of when we struggle. When we have had a tough day because of the pressures of daily life, we can look to the one who showed us we are valued. When have tough decisions in our lives we have a God that promises to never leave us. We have a God who cares so much that he brings friends into our lives, people that touch our lives, we have support networks of friends and family that we can share our struggles with as well as our joys. It is through the Word of God that we know not only who we are but whose we are: Child of God.

This morning we are reminded of it as we welcome Landon into the body of Christ. We know the difficulties of this world and we know that he and his parents will need strength and support in this journey of faith. God calls us to lift them up in prayer and support so that they remember and can hold onto the promises of God in a world that can be so challenging.

Hold onto the name; child of God. Hold onto that identity, embrace it and may it bring you comfort, strength, and a peace this day and forever more: AMEN!

Its About Forgiveness and Gratitude

          Luke 7:36- 8:3 

           As I was preparing for today’s sermon, I started thinking about Father’s Day and what it all means. I was wondering why it was always on a Sunday and how it came to be.

So here is what I found: Father's Day was inaugurated in the United States in the early 20th century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting.  After the success obtained by Anna Jarvis with the promotion of Mother's Day in the US, some wanted to create similar holidays for other family members, and Father's Day was the choice most likely to succeed. There were other persons in the US who independently thought of "Father's Day", but the credit for the modern holiday is often given to Sonora Dodd, who was the driving force behind its establishment.

Father's Day first came to be officially in Spokane, Washington at the Spokane YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd.   Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. After hearing a sermon about Jarvis' Mother's Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them.  Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, the pastors did not have enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.

  A bill was introduced in Congress in 1913 to make it a national holiday and that did not happen. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father's Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation.

Attempts were made again in 1957 by Senator Margaret Smith of Maine. She did not think it was fair to single out one parent over the other. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.

It took a few strong willed women over the course of a number of years to get Father’s Day treated as a national holiday.  And today, we lift up the positive, loving, caring characteristics of not just fathers, but men of all backgrounds and ages.  We celebrate what they contribute to our families, communities and world.  We look to the role models, those men who do the right thing…even when it’s not so easy. 

And today…of all days…we are introduced to a rather racy story.  I spoke of God’s love and forgiveness crossing boundaries; and today, boundaries are being crossed all over the place, misunderstandings are running amok, long-standing assumptions are being displayed and Jesus will have none of it.

Our Gospel reading has Jesus at a dinner party and Jesus is the guest. Simon has planned this dinner when, all of a sudden, this WOMAN comes into the dinner. Her actions are bold because she heads right to the feet of Jesus. She found out he was going to be there and Luke doesn’t waste any time. He puts her right behind Jesus and then she goes to his feet. Luke does take the time to identify her as a sinner; and I will get to that in a moment. She wipes his feet clean with her tears and anoints the feet with expensive oil.

Simon, the Pharisee, has a different opinion of this situation. He knows what is going on and knows who is who in the town. Simon knows that this woman is from the streets and so he is thinking, “I know who this woman, but if Jesus WAS a prophet, he wouldn’t be hanging around this woman.” Simon has already made a judgement about who this woman is. He thinks that if Jesus really was a prophet…the voice of God…God would tell Jesus who the woman is. Simon might be believing that this woman is unclean and might cast other aspersions on her because she is from the CITY and the STREETS.

It appears that Simon is only seeing one side of this situation. He is focused on this SINNER who has barged into his dinner and touching, let alone, washing the feet and anointing the feet of this PROPHET who he doesn’t think much of; because he is letting this woman touch his feet. Simon is looking at the failings and the broken boundaries that are occurring: A woman approaching the men, she does not know her place of being silent, and the idea of an unclean person coming into the dinner and making anyone she touches unclean. This has serious ramifications from Simon’s point of view.

Simon is not understanding that this story is about forgiveness and gratitude. Jesus tells us that this is about forgiveness. He tells Simon directly that this woman’s sins HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN. Jesus uses the words HAVE BEEN forgiven. It sounds as if Jesus has met this woman before, because that important phrase means that this forgiveness occurred sometime before. So, why would this woman come back and do all these things?

This woman is acting out her gratitude. She is showing Jesus the gratitude that is in her heart for being forgiven. As I said earlier, she is described as a sinner. We might have an idea about what Simon thinks it means for her to be a sinner. The fact is we don’t know what sins she has committed. The fact is that “sin is sin.” we, as Lutherans, do not recognize degrees of sin because each and every sin works to keep us from God’s love and promises.

To drive home his point, Jesus gives Simon a parable about forgiveness. This parable is about who would be forgiven more, the man with 50 Denarii debt or 500 Denarii. Simon picks the right answer. Some might say it is because he sees the light. Some might say that he picks right because Simon knows how to add. He chooses the greater debt should be forgiven. 500 Denarii is over a year’s wages. Think about the time span of one year and the amount of trouble we can get into.

That is a lot of forgiveness and this woman realizes the incredible gift that she has been given. She is giving back to Jesus with all her heart the gift that she has been given. This gift of forgiveness gives her the ultimate gift of freedom. She is no longer bound by her sins of the past. She does not feel the burden that often comes with sin. It is the burden of carrying the weight of her actions around every day. You see, Simon is defining her by her actions…her sin. He is  judging her worth by her sin and her brokenness. Jesus forgiving her frees her from judgement and brokenness; she is now able to live her life without being weighed down. Jesus words and actions give her the gift of living in God’s love and light.

So what does that mean for us? What does this woman have to do with us? Her story has everything to do with us. We might be able to see this woman, from the city…the streets, and make judgements about her. We might see a woman, man, or young perons on the street and make judgements about the person, simply on outward appearances. We might make judgements about what someone…anyone says or does; without getting to know someone. As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for our sake, for the forgiveness of our sin; just like the woman has been forgiven, WE HAVE BEEN forgiven. So I believe an important question is: “How will we show our gratitude to Jesus…God for the freedom from our burden that is sin?” AMEN!

God is for the unlikely and for all. Luke 7:1-10

Luke 7:1-10

            The Gospel reading that we have this morning is a little unusual in several different ways. Typically we hear and read stories of Jesus going to the people of Israel and teaching them, healing them; he tells them to repent for the Kingdom of God draws near. Jesus goes to the Pharisees, Priests, and Scribes telling them about God. Or, Jesus is performing a miracle and speaking about God’s love and heals out of love and compassion for the afflicted because of their faith or the faith of someone who loves them.

            Our Gospel, today, addresses healing much in the same way. However, there is something very different in this story. Jesus goes to someone who might seem to be one of the most unlikely people we might think that Jesus would ever go to; Jesus goes to a Roman centurion. Do you know why that is so unlikely? Who were the Romans in Jesus time? That’s right, the Romans were occupying Israel at the time. A Centurion, is the leader of a group of about 100 soldiers and they were “the enemy.” They controlled this nation of Israel. They were an army where soldiers could come into a house and take anything they wanted for their government or for their personal use. I think it would be fair to say that the people of Israel did not think too much of this occupying army.

            One of the unusual parts of this story is how Jesus came to this place. Jesus just finished his teaching and went into the village of Capernaum. Who knows why he was going. Maybe it was to rest or get something to eat. He enters the village and the Centurion sends people out to Jesus. The centurion knows about Jesus. He has heard stories of what Jesus has done, he has this slave that scripture says he values “highly.” We don’t know anything about this slave…we don’t even know if he is an Israelite; but the centurion considers this person special. So, he sends out the elders of the church to ask Jesus to come.

            The elders come to tell Jesus that this centurion is more than just a soldier. The centurion has been helping the people out. The elders tell Jesus that the centurion has love for the people. He has even helped them build synagogues. There is more to this centurion than one would think. We could easily paint him as an occupier, an enemy of the state. It would be easy to paint this person with all kinds of derogatory statements and even hatred because of his role in the Roman occupying force. But this centurion, this man is different than what we or the people of Jesus time would think.

            There is a compassion in this man, in this soldier. This compassion enables him to do his job but also to show care for the people that he is responsible for; whether they are in his military charge or they are the people that he is watching over. This care that he displays enables him to listen to the stories about Jesus, not just with his ears but in his head and heart. To the point that he comes to know who Jesus is; that Jesus has the power to heal someone that he cares about and wants to be well. He knows that Jesus has the authority to heal the sick and so he calls for Jesus.

            Jesus goes and as he approaches, a friend comes out to tell the story of unworthiness. That’s right, a story or a confession of being unworthy. Imagine a Centurion or any type of military commander admitting with people around, “I am not worthy!” That is a shocking statement for a leader to admit in front of the people who see you as a person that could easily abuse his power and authority over the people of that region. It is a startling admission and could put the soldier in a tough spot with the people. They could have risen up against this person and overthrown him, but that did not happen.

            Jesus heard this confession and scripture says that he was “amazed.” Imagine that…someone stumped Jesus! Jesus is amazed because of all the things he had experienced before this. Throughout our Gospels, the people of Israel listen to the words and witness the actions of Jesus. Some ask to follow while others plot to arrest him. Some still question asking for him to prove who he is while some walk away. Where the people of Israel doubt and do all this I just mentioned; this Centurion recognizes the power and authority of Jesus Christ and asks Jesus to heal; and Jesus DOES heal.

            What does this tell us about God’s compassion? It tells us that God’s compassion goes far beyond what we THINK we know. God’s compassion is not only for the people of Israel but it is extended beyond geographical boundaries. In Jesus time, not all Roman soldiers were “Roman.” So we know that God’s compassion extends beyond ethnic boundaries. We also don’t know if the soldier practiced any religion, but we do know that this soldier asked Jesus, the Son of God, to heal someone that he cared about and it was Jesus compassion for this soldier that he healed the slave; without seeing him, speaking, or touching him. God’s healing came to someone that could seem like the most unlikely person.

            What does that tell us about God? God reaches the most unlikely people as well as the faithful. This soldier may not have practiced any religion or held any religious beliefs, but he built a synagogue. He treated the people under him fairly to the point that they loved them. We are seeing something very important here folks. We are hearing that God’s compassion is for all people, regardless of ethnicity, income, geographical boundary, and status in the community.

As Christians, we hold that God created everything and out of that creation came the gift of compassion, love, and grace. They are gifts that God has shown and given to us through the actions of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. We also acknowledge that God has made these gifts available to all that God has created…for you and for me. And this gift of love and grace is available to all. We see these actions after tornadoes and tropical storms of neighbors helping neighbors. We saw it this past week in the woman who was pulled out of the collapsed building in Philadelphia when workers continued to look for survivors. We saw it a couple of weeks ago when people literally saved the life of an infant in cutting the baby out of a sewer pipe, refusing to let this child suffer.

They may seem like unlikely people to receive God’s grace and compassion. We don’t know their backgrounds but we see that there is something inside of them that calls them to be compassionate in those moments that I mentioned. They may not seem like the only unlikely people to receive God’s compassion and grace. We also might consider ourselves unlikely or even unworthy of God’s grace. We have all done things we are not too proud of. We have all made mistakes; Yet it is because of God’s compassion and Mercy for us, through Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection that we are made worthy children of God. It is because of what God has done for us that we are no longer unlikely or unworthy; but we ARE LOVED and WORTHY of God’s compassion.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we gather here in this place because it is the place we are fed; fed with the word of God. It is the word of compassion and grace. It is here where we are fed with the bread and wine of forgiveness. It is the place where we witness the unworthiness of ourselves in the world and our transformation to worthy, loved, children of a loving, compassionate God; full of grace and mercy for all that God has created. AMEN!