sacraments for all!!

this week in class we talked about the sacraments and luther's understanding of the sacraments.  the discussion that i found especially meaningful had to do with infant baptism and then what it meant for communion.  all of this is also in the context of two adorable kids i've been blessed to interact with the last few weeks at my ministry-in-context (mic) site.

this past sunday, one of the children (maybe 5 years old) came up for the children's sermon.  at my mic site the baptismal font is at the front of the church so that we pass it as we come up for communion.  the font has a fairly good sized clear bowl (with high sides) holding an inch or two of water.  as the child came up, he reached up on his tippiest of tip toes and reached down, just barely reaching the water with the tip of his finger.  after dipping it in the water, he brought his hand to his own forehead and made the sign of the cross on his forehead!

each week that i have helped with communion, one child (about 3 years old) continuously comes up for communion with her mom.  the pastor blesses her and she holds out her hands expectantly and her mom, after receiving a piece of bread from the pastor breaks her bread in two and gives a piece to her daughter.  the child is so eager for communion, but has to receive it through her mother rather than directly from the pastor!

the child remembering his baptism pointed to two things for me: 1-kids get the sacraments way more than we give them credit for (and, perhaps, way more than adults like me do!), and 2-we need more water in that font!!  each time the other child comes up for communion, i am reminded also that kids get the sacraments in ways many of us adults don't and i question what she is being taught as she has to receive communion by way of her mom.

luther argued for infant baptism for a variety of reasons.  jesus tells his disciples to baptize all in his name an children are part of that all.  also, baptism has been practiced from the beginning of christianity and infant baptism has lasted for so long that it can't be a heresy.  if it were a heresy, the holy spirit would've conveyed that by now and we would've stopped doing it.  god blessed children and has accomplished great things in and with them, so why shouldn't we trust god to work in them through baptism?  also, and one of the most compelling reasons for me, infant baptism affirms that we as humans don't contribute to baptism.  it's all god.  god's grace, not our effort, work, or initiative.

this then raised the question: why don't we do infant eucharist as well?  if we trust god to work in baptism, why don't we trust god to work in eucharist?  growing up, my family was the god family for another family's two kids and i distinctly remember at their baptism the priest (they were episcopal) telling as all that the candidates for baptism, following their baptism were welcome to come and receive communion as well.  baptism into christ's death and resurrection - baptism into the body of christ; followed almost immediately by communion, christ's body broken for all of god's people.

when a child comes to me with hands open eager to receive communion, i will have a really, really hard time not just giving it to them.  no matter what i will seek out a conversation with their parent(s)/guardians as soon as possible.  if we deny children communion, are we not denying christ as well?  are we not denying god's power and grace?  i can't help remember my sermon from christ the king sunday last week: christ frees us to encounter christ in everyone everywhere.  christ frees us to encounter christ in the least of these.  if children are not the least of these, i don't know who is.  communion is at christ's table and we are just recipients: god gives we receive, who are we to try to control god?

word and sacrament for all!

according to luther all of us, through baptism, have the authority to preach the word and administer the sacraments!!  for luther, this meant that even in his time, when women were not allowed to be pastors, they were allowed to do emergency baptisms (since it was primarily women who were present for births as midwives and there was a high infant mortality rate, this was a really handy position for luther to have). 

this ontological sense of calling to word and sacrament ministry has strong implications for what it means to be an ordained minister.  all of us are called as a priesthood of all believers, some of us are called to ministry in teaching, farming, banking, etc., while others are called to ordained word and sacrament ministry.  after all, if everyone has the authority to preach the word and administer the sacraments, then why is there even a need for pastors?

in a simply practical sense: it's necessary for someone to be appointed, because if everyone did it each time, it would be total chaos.  instead, from the community we pick people to represent the community in the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments.  because the call to word and sacrament ministry is a call for all, no individual can just usurp the position.  no person can say "I'll do it and no one else."  The call must come from the community as well, which is why the elca candidacy process is so nice and complicated.  many other churches have a simpler policy, yet the elca's candidacy process is one of mutual discernment for individuals and the communities calling them to ordained word and sacrament ministry.

one of the really cool things about ordination is the role with respect to the sacraments.  ordination is not considered a sacrament itself, at least not for lutherans, but because ordination to word and sacrament ministry includes administrating the sacraments, those who serve in this capacity function as a means of the means of grace.  the sacraments are understood as a means by which we experience god's grace, so those who administer them are a means for them.  what an honor it is to be called to a life as the means of the means of grace!

since, as i already mentioned, all of us are priests, a calling received at baptism, we each have the possibility to be the means of the means of god's grace.  indeed, we can daily be the means of god's grace in our interactions with each other and with ourselves, but we also can be the channel through which god's grace is experienced in a tangible person-to-person interaction and in a tangible sacramental interaction.  the sacraments bring us all together and in our gathering we choose people, recognizing and affirming their gifts, to administer the sacraments on behalf of the whole community. 

christ frees us to encounter christ the king sunday

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’

And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’

Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

 -  (Matthew 25:31-46)

Before starting seminary, I spent a year with the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission program in Slovakia.  During the year, I worked with Roma, or gypsies, and non-Roma, or gadje, in after school programs, youth group, and church. 

During orientation for my year, we were told that as we went to our countries of service, we were not going to bring God to the people there.  Instead, we were going to find that God is already at work in and with the people we were going to serve.

It wasn’t about trying to be Christ’s presence for others, trying to be, as Martin Luther said “little Christs.”  It was about recognizing Christ in those we were to encounter.  In the family I lived with, the youth I worked with, in the Roma, discriminated against because of things they could not change, in the “gadje,” trapped in the role of oppressor, discriminating because they knew no other way. 

How hard it was for me to see Christ in those I disagreed with. 

Salvation meant something completely different to my host parents than it did to me.  The gadje youth who distrusted and joked about the Roma youth I connected with so deeply.  The Roma youth who spoke bitterly of the gadje youth I also connected with so deeply.  I struggled to see Christ in each person I encountered while I was in Slovakia.

Even harder, though, has been coming back.  I have been back for just over a year now and each day I struggle, much of the time forgetting, to recognize Christ in those I encounter on a day-to-day basis.  Sometimes I wish God could give me one of those big orange highway signs, but instead of “men working” it would say “Christ working.”  But that’s what this reading is.  This reading is our “Christ working” sign, making sure we know that God is working and Christ is in, and indeed is, all those around us.

Although this reading has oftentimes been used to encourage people to acts of charity, its radical nature lies not in what people do, but precisely in where Jesus is found.  Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, just as you did (or did not) do it to one of the least of these, you did (or did not) do it to me.”  Here, Jesus fully identifies as the “least of these.” 

Jesus!

the Son of Man

king

Lord

the Christ

fully identifies in humanity. 

He doesn’t just say that we should treat each other nicely, he says that as we treat others so we treat him.  Our interactions as humans with other humans are no longer simply person-to-person, they are interactions with Christ. 

Neither the group on the right nor the one on the left really gets what Jesus is talking about.  They respond to Jesus’ declaration of what they have or have not done by asking when exactly this took place, because they don’t seem to quite recall it.  The two groups are simply living their lives, yet Jesus surprises them as he reveals that their actions were not ordinary actions, but were actions done to Christ. 

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me,” the king answers the group on the right.  

 “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me,” he tells the group on the left.  Christ is in those that each group encountered daily. 

Now I can use my resources to buy fair trade, but if I am motivated more by pity or guilt than by love and recognition of Christ in those who grow the coffee beans I buy, then what does it mean?  In the reading for today, we find the climax of Matthew’s identification of who exactly this Christ is.  We find that Christ is “the least of these.”  Christ is not there to encourage “good behavior,” but to be the “other.” 

Like the people in today’s reading, Christ surprises us when Christ is present in the “other” we encounter each day.  Christ surprises us and frees us to encounter Christ in the Starbucks barista. Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the blue line train operator taking us to work or school each day.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the person who cuts us off in rush hour traffic... and in the person we cut off in rush hour traffic.  Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the annoying person on their phone on the bus.  Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the gossiper, the snitch, the teacher’s pet, the reject, the goth, the popular one, and the athlete. 

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the person asking for money or food at the Kennedy Expressway exit. Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the person unwilling to give even spare change or a sandwich to alleviate our hunger.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the classmate who is harassed and bullied each day ………and in the bully who knows no other way to feel good than to bully.  Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the neglected.   the abused.   the addicted.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the 99% and in the 1%. Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the Republican, the Democrat, the Independent, the Tea Party-er, the Occupy-er.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the lesbian woman, the straight man, the gay man, the transgender woman, and the precious child of God still questioning and exploring who they are and whom they might love. 

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the homeless, the home-blessed, and the homebound.  Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the hospitalized, the disabled, the temporarily abled, the differently abled.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the one behind bars, the one keeping others behind bars, the one who should be behind bars, and the one who is free............. But what about Penn State?  How can we possibly encounter Christ in Jerry Sandusky, Coach Joe Paterno, President Stanier, the survivors, the students rioting and those holding vigils? 

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the Christian, the Jewish, the Muslim, the Buddhist, the Atheist neighbor. Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the Native American, the Caucasian, the African American, the Latina/o.  Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the recent immigrant, who shares a room with five to ten other immigrants some with papers and some without all scrimping and saving money to send back home to put food on the table.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in those who have power over us and in those over whom we have power. Christ frees us to encounter Christ in our children, our siblings, our parents, our grandparents, and cousins.  Even when we are stressed by all of those gathered around our tables and TVs with food to be shared.  As we look ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is easy to be overwhelmed with the prospect of so many people in one space at one time, and yet Christ is there and frees us to encounter Christ among all the chaos!

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in the parking lot, in the playground, in the Three Brothers’ Garden, the hospital, the nursing home, the office building, the grocery store.  Christ frees us to encounter Christ as we come together today to be fed.  Christ welcomes all to a common table to share in the feast—the body and blood of our Savior, uniting us in one body—to receive God’s grace in the midst of this community.

Christ frees us to encounter Christ in each other and Christ frees us to encounter Christ in ourselves. Christ frees us to encounter Christ everywhere because Christ our King’s reign is   just.       that.        big!

Amen!

we are the church!

one of the coolest things to come from the reformation and martin luther is luther's doctrine of the church, specifically when it comes to who the church is.  at the time of the reformation, the common understanding of the church as very hierarchical.  in this model, the clergy were considered the church.  luther flipped this understanding on its head.  instead of the church being clergy, the church was the people!

the people!!

i don't know if you realize how awesome and crazy that is!  even today we have trouble understanding who the church is.  luther used the german word gemein(d)e which is church as in a community, a group of people, a congregation.  this is more in line with the greek word ekklesia, which means an assembly and is the word used in the new testament to refer to the church.  in the greek, ekklesia refers not just to any assembly, but a democratic assembly.  a place where the gathered people have voice!  in today's (lutheran) church, we have gotten away (to greater or lesser extents) from the idea of church as clergy and very hierarchical, but i don't think we always remember the church is the people.

usually when i talk about church, it's understood that i'm really talking about the chapel or building where worship takes place.  i say i am going to church, not i am the church, or even better: we are the church.  in today's day and age with so much focus on the economy and possession (whether it's those that have not sharing or those that do not demanding it), we have even made church into a possession.  the dynamism of a body of christ is lost in the church as a building concept.

to bring back the understanding of us as church, we not only have to let go of our obsession with possessions, but we also have to let go of our "rugged individualism."  christianity is a communal religion.  we are called into community and understood as a unique community of god in the world.  throughout the epistles, we as the church are identified with christ's body.  we have a plethora of diverse gifts, yet christ's love for us and our loving response unite us.  this means that we are to be radically countercultural as we concern ourselves with the well-being of all of us, not just 1% and not just 99%, but all 100% of us.  we are the church!

this also means that if you or i don't like something the church is doing, there's a really simple solution: do something different!  if we are the church (which we are), then what we do is what the church does and what the church does is what we do. 

a couple weeks ago we celebrated the reformation, a time when people didn't like what the church was doing.  instead of complaining, though they did list their complaints, they changed what they were doing, causing the church to change.  in that case it resulted in a split, but there have been smoother changes in the church as well.  in the elca, we didn't like what the church was doing, so there was a movement to begin ordaining women again (after all, there were plenty of women leaders in the early church) and to recognize and affirm the gifts for ministry of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

change inevitably brings anxiety as we enter into a new unknown, but we are the church and so we must change as the holy spirit continues her amazing work in and through us.  may we rise to the promise: we are the church!