God's grace is for your whole self: 8th after pentecost

The other reading I reference is the gospel for the day: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46, 51-52.

A reading from Romans (8:26-39).

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness;

       for we do not know how to pray as we ought,

              but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

       ²⁷And God, who searches the heart,

              knows what is the mind of the Spirit,

                     because the Spirit intercedes for the saints

                            according to the will of God.

²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God,

       who are called according to God’s purpose.

²⁹For those whom God foreknew

       God also predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son of God,

              in order that the Son might be the firstborn within a large family.

              ³⁰And those whom God predestined God also called;

                     and those whom God called God also justified;

                            and those whom God justified God also glorified.

³¹What then are we to say about these things?

       If God is for us, who is against us?

              ³²The very Son of God was not withheld,

                     but given up for all of us;

                            will God not along with the Son also give us everything else?

                            ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?

                                   It is God who justifies.

                                          ³⁴Who is to condemn?

                                   It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes,

                                          who was raised,

                                          who is at the right hand of God,

                                          who indeed intercedes for us.

                                          ³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

                                                 Will hardship,

                                                        or distress,

                                                        or persecution,

                                                        or famine,

                                                        or nakedness,

                                                        or peril,

                                                        or sword?

                                          ³⁶As it is written,

                                                 “For your sake we are being killed all day long;

                                                        we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

       through the one who loved us.

              ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

                     nor angels, nor rulers,

                     nor things present, nor things to come,

                     nor powers,

                     ³⁹nor height, nor depth,

                     nor anything else in all creation,

                            will be able to separate us from the love of God

                                   in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Word of God, word of life.

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Grace is one of the most essential parts of our theology as Presbyterians and Lutherans.  Grace—that God’s love cannot be earned and cannot be lost.  Grace is the gift that is given to us because the God who creates us is Love.  The God who sends planets and stars swirling into being, filling the cosmos with energy, also infects the whole cosmos with love.  The God who is the source and ground of all being, grounds the essence of what it is to live in love. 

This is the God who created each of you and whose love has knit us together, journeyed with you through life, and continues to guide us.  This is the Spirit who knows us so well that she “intercedes with sighs too deep for words,” carrying the deepest prayers and truths in our heart, even when we cannot find words.  This God knows only love            for you and for me, for our enemies and for the whole cosmos, so there is no other way that God can even relate to you except through love.  A love that is as fundamental to God’s own being as breathing is to our own living.

But God’s grace can also be the hardest part of our theology to actually believe or trust.  In the world in which we live, it is easier for us to believe that we are not good enough—never good enough—for God than that God could love us.  It is easier for us to believe in a vengeful, punishing God than for us to believe that God could forgive the things we cannot forgive, even in ourselves.  It is easier to believe that God would require payment for wrongs than that God loves exactly who we are.

Do we actually believe that God loves our whole selves completely and unconditionally?

Can God possibly care about us that much?  We, who can feel as insignificant as a mustard seed.  Does God even pay attention?  Does God love us even in our insignificance?

Yes.  Paul tells us in Romans, “³²The very Son of God was not withheld, but given up for all of us; will God not along with the Son also give us everything else? … ³⁴Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”  God cares about every beloved child, Jesus came for every person and all of Creation.  There is no one too insignificant to be loved by God.  If the dominion of heaven can be like a mustard seed, then God’s love can be for you.

But what about your past?  What about the things we’ve done that still cause us shame or regret?  Can we ever atone for the things we’ve said in anger or fear?  The things we’ve done out of a sense of duty or as the lesser of two evils?  The times we haven’t acted when we should have?  How do we overcome these mistakes, these royal screw-ups, these things we wish we could erase from our lives forever?

Certainly there is room for confession and forgiveness and we did that today.  We confessed our sins this morning as we do each week and we received God’s complete forgiveness as we do each week.

If that’s not good enough.  If we think there is anything that we could or have done that can make us unworthy of God’s love, then we’re still not understanding grace.

The dominion of heaven is like yeast.  The sourdough starter is added to 3 measures of flour.  Now when I first heard “3 measures of flour,” I was thinking in terms of cups, but that’s not biblical.  “3 measures of flour” really means about a bushel—80 pounds—of flour!  About 16 5-pound bags!  Plus if you throw in the necessary water, that is over 100 pounds of dough!!  The dominion of heaven is so over-the-top extravagant that the yeast will invade the whole massive amount of dough so that there is no doubt that all the people of the village will be fed by the Bread of Life.

The dominion of heaven is so abundant that, as Paul says, “…I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  There is nothing you have done that can separate you from God’s love.

There is no violence you have committed—no killing, no injury, no hate, no neglect—that can separate you from God’s love.

There is no judgment you’ve made, no anger you’ve caused, no injustice or discrimination you’ve been a part of that can separate you from God’s love.

There is no inaction from fear, no standing by in the face of bullying, no silence when witnessing oppression that can separate you from God’s love.

Whether you seek out the dominion of heaven intentionally, as the merchant who discovers the pearl of great value or stumble upon it accidentally as does the person who happened upon the treasure hidden in a field, the dominion of heaven is for you.

The circumstances of your life, the worth or worthlessness you feel, the hardships you face, the depression, anxiety, doubt, fear, or hurt—none of it is greater than God.  Paul assures us: “³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”  No.  Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.

The grace that God gives, God gives to every single person.  The grace of God is God’s love for you.  Your whole self.  The whole you that you are.  The things about yourself and your past and the things you hate or would rather forget or change.  They all fall within God’s love.  Because, as Paul states, “It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”

Joel Workin was one of the first candidates for ministry in the ELCA to come out as gay.  Joel was denied the possibility of ordination by the then-newly formed denomination.  Often in these situations of rejection, we carry our own senses of guilt and of God’s judgment upon us.  Yet even this does not separate us from God’s love.  Joel, in his wisdom, once wrote in an article in a ReconcilingWorks newsletter, “The most precious grace God gives us is the grace to be ourselves.  And now, it is time to let grace abound.”

God loved the whole of Joel, even the parts that others might have wanted to erase or ignore, even after those in power told him that his being and identity disqualified him from ordained ministry.  God loved the whole of Joel, including his past and experiences.  And if Joel, even after facing that rejection in the name of God, could still trust in the love and grace of our God, then can we not also place our trust in that grace?  

What is to prevent us from trusting God?

 “³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth,” nor depression, nor anxiety, nor violence, nor shame, nor fear, nor regret, nor hate, “nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Thanks be to God.

God calls us to come out: 7th after pentecost

The first reading is Isaiah 44:6-8.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (13:24-30, 36-43).

²⁴Jesus put before the crowds another parable:

       “The dominion of heaven may be compared to a man

              who sowed good seed in his field;

                     ²⁵but while everybody was asleep,

                            an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat,

                                   and then went away.

                     ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain,

                            then the weeds appeared as well.

                     ²⁷And the slaves of the householder came and said to him,

                            ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

                            Where, then, did these weeds come from?’

                     ²⁸He answered,

                            ‘An enemy has done this.’

                     The slaves said to him,

                            ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

                     ²⁹But he replied,

                            ‘No; for in gathering the weeds

                                   you would uproot the wheat along with them.

                            ³⁰Let both of them grow together until the harvest;

                                   and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,

                                          Collect the weeds first
                                          and bind them in bundles to be burned,

                                                 but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

³⁶Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house.

       And his disciples approached him, saying,

              “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

³⁷Jesus answered,

       “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Humanity;

       ³⁸the field is the world,

       and the good seed are the children of God’s dominion;

       the weeds are the children of the evil one,

       ³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil;

       the harvest is the end of the age,

       and the reapers are angels.

              ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire,

                     so will it be at the end of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Humanity will send his angels,

       and they will collect out of his dominion all causes of sin and all evildoers,

       ⁴²and they will throw them into the furnace of fire,

              where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

                     ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun

                            in the dominion of their Father.

                                   Let anyone with ears listen!

The gospel of the Lord.

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This week, as many of you know, I was at the Proclaim Gathering for continuing education and renewal.  The theme this year was Healing the Violence, which was particularly poignant in light of our texts for today.  Isaiah with God speaking to a people in exile, the psalmist’s prayer for help while surrounded by a band of violent people, the labor pains of all of Creation in Romans, and a pretty violent parable with burning bundles and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in Matthew.

As in the texts for today, so too in our lives, violence is all around us.  Physical violence is perhaps the clearest, but even so, domestic and sexual violence can hide behind closed doors, long sleeve shirts, and makeup, going unnoticed by many of us.  The economic violence of a system in which unemployment and underemployment are required, tax loopholes for some, inadequate pay, and lost jobs are all closer forms of violence to many of us.  The violence of language is so easy to slip in and out of that we may not even notice the harm language can do in ignorance, abuse, and harassment.

Violence in its many forms is no stranger to us or to God.  In fact, we hear in Isaiah as God proclaims a different identity, a different way.  As the Israelites prepare to leave their exile and return home, God calls them to come out, to boldly proclaim their faith—their trust—in one God, an anomaly among the dominant, polytheistic culture surrounding them in their exile.  As they prepare to go home, God recognizes the importance of claiming their identity as worshipers and children of our one God in the face of oppressors who worship many gods, reminding them of why they are going home.

It reminds me of Harvey Milk, a gay city-county supervisor in San Francisco in 1978, as he called LGBTQIA folks to come out to their friends and family, to challenge the homophobic Proposition 6 that was going through California’s State Senate.  Milk called on folks to come out because knowing people who are LGBTQIA is how sentiment changes and homophobia is challenged.  That is God’s call through Isaiah and through Matthew to this church today as well: to come out about the God in whom we trust.

When Jesus introduces parables, he frames them in two main ways: he either says what the dominion of heaven is like or he says what it may be compared to.  We don’t always pay attention to this difference and so parables like the one for today can be alarming when compared to Jesus’ other teachings.  Words matter and Jesus isn’t telling us what the dominion of heaven is like, instead, Jesus is comparing the dominion of heaven with the parable he tells.

The dominion of heaven may be compared to this parable of black and white theology from a judgmental “Master” God.  In the parable, especially as many have historically interpreted it, Jesus is the Master of slaves, sowing the seeds to grow the wheat.  But when has Jesus ever identified as this kind of Master?  After washing the disciples’ feet in John 13:13-14, Jesus says, “You call me Teacher and Master—and you are right, for that is what I am.  So if I, your Master and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”  And later on in Matthew, Jesus says “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

So the dominion of heaven may be compared to a theology and worldview in which God exists to exert power over all else.  This other theology separates people into good and evil.  There is no “a little bad” or “kind of good” or “messed up a few times.”  Instead there are “children of God’s dominion” or “children of the evil one,” and never the twain shall meet.

As the parable continues, we wrestle with who gets categorized as which.  Who is pure evil and who is pure good?  And then what happens at the harvest?  In the parable, at the harvest the weeds are collected and bound into bundles to be burned.  And the wheat?  It is also collected, first into the barn, and then to be put into the fire—after all, this was how they cooked in the first century, without any of our microwaves and electric ovens. 

So in the world of black and white theology, in the end, all is subject to fire and all is consumed.  But the dominion of heaven is such that the Master, the Son of Humanity, enters the world as a baby, God-with-us, servant of all.  The Son of Humanity doesn’t send messengers to do the dirty work of picking and choosing who counts as evildoers.  The Son of Humanity enters into the field, growing with us, bridging the gap we create between wheat, which we decide we want, and weed, which we decide we don’t want.  And Jesus’ own self will be cast out for the love of humanity.

And this is the dominion of heaven—a God who joins with us.  The Son of Humanity who casts his lot with humanity.  That is the church we belong to, the dominion of heaven in which we find our resting place, and the community of faith about which God calls us to come out.

In Isaiah, our God, our Sovereign, Redeemer, and Rock is the one who comes to us with grace and a love that claims us as God’s own.  And if this is true, if this is the loving God in whom we trust, then why would we keep quiet?  With a gift as great as God’s love, how can we not proclaim it? 

How can we not come out to our friends and neighbors about the love and care we experience here and which God has for them; the radical welcome and hospitality that say people with immigration papers and without are welcome here; people who are unemployed, underemployed, employed full- or part-time, retired, in school, and homemakers are welcome here; people who have known and survived violence are welcome here.

This is too good not to share.  How could we keep the joy, love, and community of this fellowship from others?  How can we not share it with them?  How can you not come out and proclaim God’s love for all of the hurting world—including yourself and including your neighbor?  Will you come out?

Jesus gives you rest, a guided meditation: 5th after pentecost

This week's sermon was a guided meditation based off of the second part of Matthew.  I had some help and guidance in this from some colleagues as this is the first one I've tried to lead.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (11:16-19, 25-30)

Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:

¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation?

       It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

              ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you,

                     and you did not dance;

              we wailed,

                     and you did not mourn.’

              ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say,

                     ‘He has a demon’;

              ¹⁹the Son of Humanity came eating and drinking, and they say,

                     ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard,

                            a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

              Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

²⁵At that time Jesus said,

       “I thank you, Father, Sovereign of heaven and earth,

              because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent

                     and have revealed them to infants;

                            ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

       ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father;

              and no one knows the Son except the Father,

                     and no one knows the Father except the Son

                            and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal the Father.

       ²⁸“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,

              and I will give you rest.

              ²⁹Take my yoke upon you,

                     and learn from me;

                            for I am gentle and humble in heart,

                            and you will find rest for your souls.

                                   ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The gospel of the Lord.

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Today we’re going to do something different called guided meditation.  Guided meditation has been a meaningful spiritual practice for me and I hope it will be meaningful for you as well.  If you are feeling fidgety or need something to fidget with, there’s stuff in the pews for you to hold quietly to help you focus.

As we begin, feel free to get your wiggles out and make sure you are sitting comfortably, perhaps with your feet on the floor, leaning back—whatever feels comfortable to you.

You can close your eyes or leave them open.

Take a few slow breaths to begin.

As you sit, notice your connection to the pew you’re sitting in,

       the solid feel of the wood

       and its connection, with your feet, to the floor.

Notice the connection go deeper through the floor and walls

       to the foundation of this building

              and the earth below it,

                     grounding you in all of creation.

And feel the connection spread widely,

       across your pew and around this room,

       connecting you to each person who is here

              and in these connections, connecting you also to God.

Then come back to focus on yourself and your body. 

       Turn your focus to your hands,

              holding them with the palms up. 

                     If you want, you can rest them on your knees.

As you breathe,

       notice the breath in your body. 

       Notice the air coming in and out,

              the rise and fall of your shoulders,

                     the lightness of each breath.

Reflect also on the weight,

       everything that is weighing you down. 

              The worries,

              The fears,

              The anxieties,

              The pain,

                     Everything that makes you weary. 

              The burdens you carry each day, each week, right now.

Imagine those burdens and that weight in your hands. 

       Feel the weight of them—

              how heavy they are in your hands.

Now turn your hands over,

       and picture all those burdens—all that weight—falling out of your hands

              and into the earth—

                     into God’s hands. 

       As God is strong and loving enough to hold the whole world,

              cradled in a warm embrace,

                     God is also strong and loving enough to carry all your burdens—

                            to give you rest.

As you let go of those weights, those burdens,

       feel how much lighter you are—

              your shoulders, your neck, your back, your arms, your whole body. 

                     Feel the weight fall off into God’s hands, ready to hold your burdens.

Feel again your connections—

       to the earth, to the other people in this room, and to God. 

Feel the warmth and strength of God’s embrace

       and the rest that is there for you. 

Take some deep breaths and remain in that embrace until you are ready to come back and open your eyes.

God welcomes. Do we? - 4th after pentecost

The first reading is Jeremiah 28:5-9.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (10:40-42).

Jesus said:

⁴⁰“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me,

      and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

      ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet

            will receive a prophet’s reward;

      and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person

            will receive the reward of the righteous;

      ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water

            to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—

                  truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

The gospel of the Lord.

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As Jesus sends his disciples out, his message for those of us they might encounter along the way is clear: welcome them.  Don’t just tolerate, put up with, or quietly ignore them, but truly welcome them as we would welcome Jesus.  Welcome a prophet as a prophet—recognize their calling, what makes them unique, and even perhaps what they say that makes us uncomfortable.

Last week and this week, we’ve been encountering Jeremiah in our first reading and though I didn’t preach on him, he is a great example of a prophet in the sense that he embodies just about everything a prophet could possibly go through. 

Rev. Liddy Barlow, points out that as a prophet, Jeremiah preaches what people don’t want to hear, occasionally even the opposite of what might make sense at the time or in the short term, he has plenty of doubt and despair as we heard about last week, and his performance art—engaging in symbolic acts to convey the heart of God’s message—like breaking pottery and wearing literal yokes, can definitely make folks uncomfortable.

When Jesus says, “⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward,” he’s certainly familiar with Jeremiah and other prophets who, like his own disciples that he’s sending out, are likely to make their hosts a bit uncomfortable.  But Jesus’ concern is not with comfort.  It is with the vulnerable ones—the prophets willing to speak truth to power, even under threat of violence or death; the righteous—those committed to being in right relationship with God, their fellow humans, and all of creation; the little ones who need a refreshing drink of cool water; and all those who will know the Good News of God’s healing and love because of them.

With the events of the last week and July 4^th coming up, I can’t help but think of the Statue of Liberty and Jewish immigrant, Emma Lazarus’ poem at its base.  Though many of us are familiar with the second half of The New Colossus, the whole poem is striking              as it refers to the imposing Greek Colossus of Rhodes, pictured on the left.  The Colossus of Rhodes was the Greek titan-god of the sun, Helios, a symbol of power and military victory, which Lazarus then compares with the Statue of Liberty.

The Colossus of Rhodes

The Statue of Liberty

The poem reads:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Like Jesus in today’s gospel and the prophets and faithful throughout biblical and human history, the welcome of this poem, symbolized by the Statue of Liberty, isn’t a welcome for those who already fit in.  It isn’t a welcome to those willing to assimilate to the unassimilating culture that has become dominate in this country.  And it isn’t a welcome to those with the “right” belief, creed, politics, family, or connections.

The welcome of the Statue of Liberty, of Jesus, and of the prophets is a welcome to whoever is most in need of welcome, shelter, or refuge.  A cup of cold water sounds simple, but it can be the difference between life or death in the Sonoran Desert, provided at stations along the route of many immigrants to this country by organizations like Humane Borders and churches like la Iglesia Luterana San Lucas in Eagle Pass, Texas. 

Asylum-seekers, refugees, and immigrants come to this country for a million different reasons, and I wonder at the ways we do and do not welcome them.

This week, NPR’s The Takeaway reported about one of the three family detention centers in the united states where asylum-seekers are held until they are accepted as having a well-founded fear of future persecution or harm in their country of origin and then processed, which can take quite a while due to the current backlog.  The workers at the center refuse to drink the water provided to those being detained because it has been contaminated by nearby fracking and, although it is legally required in order to hold children, the detention center still hasn’t been certified as a childcare facility.  And yet, if you are a Thrivent member, your money supports the for-profit prison company,Corporate Corrections of America, which runs the facility.

This week the Supreme Court reinstated parts of the president’s travel ban, which, as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) states, “will mean individuals whom the U.S. has historically offered protection through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) will be denied that protection – at least for now – despite their having been appropriately vetted through top security and intelligence agencies.”

Closer to home, in our most recent legislative session, language was included in the budget bill that will make it even harder to reinstate the ability of undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers’ licenses like they had been able to do in the past.

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me,” Jesus says. “⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.”  It is in these, at times uncomfortable, encounters with prophets, little ones, the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched refuse, the homeless, tempest-tost that we receive Jesus’ rewards.

We are not the rewards, nor are those we might welcome, but it is in the very act of welcoming, that everyone involved receives Jesus’ reward.  It is in the relationship that forms, the connections created, and the love both given and received.  It is in the work of LIRS, joining together new immigrants and refugees with communities eager to welcome them to this country.  It is along the side of the highway when cars stop to help someone change a tire or get the help that they need.

God gives us glimpses of the reign of God as it will be, God shares a truth deeper than any government or news agency could report, and God uses us, the people we encounter, and the interactions themselves as their own prophetic, performance art and symbolic acts, which embody the Good News.  Through these acts, God welcomes each of us into the dominion of heaven and brings us all closer to the world and the country as we hope it will be.

Thanks be to God.