God fulfills Their promises: advent 1 year c

Sunday I preached again at Capitol Hill Lutheran Church for the first Sunday of Advent.  The day before, Capitol Hill had hosted the ordination of Pastor Nat Bothwell, whose spouse, Pastor Minna Bothwell, serves as pastor of Capitol Hill.  I drew on River Needham's queery of Jeremiah as well as my queery of Luke for this sermon.

I explored the meaning of Advent as well as the places of distress, fear, and foreboding in our lives and country, challenged by God who fulfills Their promises and the ways God's Word is powerful as well as the glimpses we get, like snowflakes on a dull, gray winter day or stars only visible in the dark of night.

This is the image I preached from at both worship services.

I notice the connections between the queeries and the final sermon, but if you're curious or have any other comments or questions, let me know!

Jesus' resurrection is for bodies: easter 3 year b

The holy gospel according to Luke. (24:36b-48)

[³⁶While they were talking about this,]

Jesus Themself stood among the eleven and their companions and said to them,

     “Peace be with you.”

³⁷The disciples were startled and terrified,

     and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

³⁸Jesus said to them,

     “Why are you frightened,

     and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

          ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet;

               see that it is I myself.

                    Touch me and see;

                         for a ghost does not have flesh and bones 

                              as you see that I have.”

⁴⁰And when Jesus had said this,

     They showed them Their hands and feet.

     ⁴¹While in their joy those gathered were disbelieving and still wondering,

          Jesus said to them,

               “Have you anything here to eat?”

                    ⁴²They gave Jesus a piece of broiled fish,

                         ⁴³and Jesus took it and ate in their presence.

⁴⁴Then Jesus said to them,

     “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—

          that everything written about me

               in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”

⁴⁵Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

     ⁴⁶and said to them,

          “Thus it is written,

               that the Messiah is to suffer 

                    and to rise from the dead on the third day,

               ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed

                    in Their name to all nations,

                         beginning from Jerusalem.

          ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.”

The gospel of the Lord.

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A couple weeks ago, Rev. Beth Wartick, a colleague in this synod, posted on Facebook, “Friends: the resurrection is for bodies.”  The post was a bit unsettling at first, because I think I’ve gotten pretty used to making the resurrection into an exclusively spirit and soul-centered or even an intellectual reality, I like to talk about it, but I’m less sure about its physicality. Our resurrection accounts both last week and this week, however, provide us with ample evidence for her statement.

Last week we encountered Jesus in the gospel of John presenting hands, feet, and side to the slow-to-believe and fear-filled disciples, prompting Thomas’ great declaration of faith, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus’ presentation of Their actual resurrected body, wounds and all, speaks to the disciples in a way that no number of eye-witness accounts could have, and this week’s resurrection account is no different.

Jesus has just spent the day walking along the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and another disciple, explaining everything that Holy Week—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and that very Resurrection morning—meant.  Jesus had literally and figuratively walked them through all of scripture, interpreting it just for them.

But it wasn’t until Jesus sat with them and blessed and broke bread—the nourishment for their own bodies—that they recognized the Resurrected One.  And when Jesus shows up with the rest of the disciples in today’s reading, it is once again about the body: “³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,” says Jesus.

Jesus knows the same truth as Pastor Beth: “The resurrection is for bodies.”  There is knowledge and wisdom in our bodies and embodied lives that our intellect can only ever grasp at futilely.  Jesus knows that our bodies carry in them the truths of our lived experiences, of our ancestors’ lives, and even the sparks of stardust that are scattered throughout the cosmos.

Each body comes from and is nourished by the dirt of the earth and is also made up of the stardust of that first Big Bang of life.  Each body reflects a piece of the image of God.  Jesus’ resurrection is about bodies because bodies matter to Jesus.  Bodies are part of our whole selves and when we create this false binary that divides souls from bodies, we fracture who we are.  We lose track of the fullness of our humanity and our belovedness by God.  We don’t just do this with words and ideas, we fracture the whole body of Christ, the image of God that we bear together, in physical ways as well.

Before moving to Iowa, I served as a pastor in rural southeastern Minnesota and I spent quite a bit of time with beloved children of God who worked on farms near town—not only those who owned or ran the farms, but especially those who make the oftentimes difficult and life-threatening trip north from Mexico and Central America to get up in the middle of the night to milk the cows, or early in the morning when it’s still below freezing to start harvesting the crops.

Their immigrant bodies, which carry so much of the burden and weight of feeding our country, are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies of those who cultivate the earth on farms, in personal or community gardens, and even in potted plants are also part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

Your bodies, our bodies, weary from carrying us through decades of life, from backpacks full of school books, from the energy and demands of new babies and young children, or from the pressure to be or act a certain way are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies that struggle with stairs, standing, or even eating are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies of victims of violence, whether the violence happens in the confines of their home, at a party late at night, in the stares and fear of others on the street or at the coffee shop, across the world with chemical weapons and bombs in Syria, or anywhere in between are all part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies of refugees, fleeing violence, seeking hope and compassion, allowed in some countries and not in others are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies around the world, in our fullest possible diversity—bodies that don’t look anything like yours and bodies that are so similar it isn’t possible to deny that you are kin—all of these bodies and your very own body are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

Bodies contain wisdom and understand truths that can be hard for us to grasp.  Jesus presents first a body with wounds—a broken, yet resurrected body—knowing that once the body understands the reality, the structure or skeleton, of the resurrection, then the words can give flesh to those bones.  Jesus’ words are good, but first Jesus’ body must convey the truth.

Jesus’ resurrection is bodily.  Jesus blesses and breaks bread.  Jesus eats broiled fish!  Jesus loves bodies.

And so a blessing from Pastor Beth:

“Friends: the resurrection is for bodies.

The resurrection is for: skinny bodies, fat bodies, in-between bodies.

The resurrection is for: brown bodies, black bodies, olive bodies, white bodies.

The resurrection is for: female bodies, transgender bodies, male bodies, tall bodies, short bodies.

The resurrection is for: undocumented bodies, citizen bodies, visitor bodies, immigrant bodies.

The resurrection is for: wrinkly bodies, smooth bodies, hairy bodies, swimsuit-ready bodies, sweatpants-ready bodies.

The resurrection is for: old bodies, young bodies, able bodies, disabled bodies, tired bodies.

The resurrection is for: any bodies, every body, your body.

Jesus loves your body enough to give it new life. Treat your body and your neighbor's body with the same respect you'd show to anything beloved by God.”

Amen.

Christ shows up in the suffering: Reign of Christ

The other reading referenced is Colossians 1:11-20.

 

The holy gospel according to Luke (23:33-43)

³³When they came to the place that is called The Skull,

       they crucified Jesus there with the criminals,

              one on his right

              and one on his left.

³⁴⟦Then Jesus said,

       “Father, forgive them;

              for they do not know what they are doing.”⟧

And they cast lots to divide his clothing.

³⁵And the people stood by, watching;

       but the leaders scoffed at him, saying,

              “He saved others;

                     let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God,

                            the chosen one!”

³⁶The soldiers also mocked him,

       coming up and offering him sour wine, ³⁷and saying,

              “If you are the King of the Jews,

                     save yourself!”

³⁸There was also an inscription over him,

       “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding Jesus and saying,

       “Are you not the Messiah?

              Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying,

       “Do you not fear God,

              since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

              ⁴¹And we indeed have been condemned justly,

                     for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds,

                            but this one has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²Then he said,

       “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kindom.”

⁴³Jesus replied,

       “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

The gospel of the lord.

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Today, as the final Sunday in the church year, is Reign of Christ Sunday. It is the day we name Christ as the ultimate authority over all.  We celebrate our God who has all the power.

When we say Christ reigns or Christ is King or Lord—or, in today’s language we might say, Christ is our President—we are making a statement about whose authority we follow.  This is the day that our Gospel reading especially gives us great insight not only into who Jesus is, but more deeply into what power and authority mean to God.

What do they mean?  How do we best understand Jesus? 

Through the cross.

Christ’s reign—Jesus’ power and authority—is best understood in the One who would rather die than kill anyone, who talks to criminals, and challenges the assumptions of his day; the One who doesn’t give into complacency, the One willing to suffer for another.

As Jesus suffers and dies on the cross, we find that, as the letter to Colossians says, “in Christ all the fullness of God [is] pleased to dwell.”  When all of God’s power and might is on display, that power places itself below—it takes on the suffering of the world. God becomes incarnate—taking on our very flesh all the way to the cross, so that when we proclaim that Christ reigns, it is really that Christ is most present in and with those who suffer.

Christ shows up when we’re filled with anxiety at unmarked cars driving by and word of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, la migra, in the area.  Christ sits with us in our anxiety, recalling what it was like when his own family had to flee his home country and live without papers in a strange land.

Christ shows up when the doctor calls about the biopsy and says we should come in to talk to her.  In the waiting and the heartbreak, in the treatment and the sickness.  Christ sits with us in our pain, recalling the pain of the cross.

Christ shows up when we wonder if it’s safe to go out in public because at least 295 of our transgender and gender nonconforming siblings were killed this year just because of their gender identity—23 in this country alone.  Christ sits with us in our fear and dies with us in our death, crucified again and again with each person killed.

Christ shows up.

Whenever and wherever there is suffering, Christ is there. 

Tears rolling down, beaten and broken by people or life itself, Christ shows up.  That is the God we know and the God we worship.  The One who shows up.  The One who takes on all our suffering. 

Because God has literally been to hell and back, there is no experience too foreign, too painful, or too awful, for God.

Christ gathers “all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power” and sits down in the sackcloth and ashes.  Christ relocates the power and authority from the places we usually look to, to the places of suffering.  For Christ, power exists to be given up and given over, because no matter how loud or how strong we try to become, strength and power cannot have the final word for a God who gave it all up to come be with us.

It’s like Kid President says, “Even if hate has a bullhorn, Love is louder.”   It is love—in solidarity—that has the final say.

It is in our ability to be with—to be in solidarity with those who suffer—that we also encounter Christ’s truest self.  When we sit and breathe, when we go to doctor’s appointments, when we cry, we encounter Christ with us.

So we follow Christ—our Lord, King, and President.  We follow Jesus to the cross and we look on wondering what to do about that one who suffers.  Do we stand by watching with the crowd?  Do we scoff, mock, and deride?  Or, like the criminal, do we ask Jesus to recognize us, to draw us in? 

And Christ does—Christ always will.  Again and again Christ shows up.  When fear, anxiety, illness, and even death overwhelm us, Christ shows up in full.

Sometimes we recognize it and sometimes we don’t. But Christ is still there.

Christ is in the brokenness.  There is an art form in Japan called Kintsugi where broken pottery is repaired with gold so that the thing that was broken becomes even more beautiful in the brokenness—a new thing is born out of the old that would be discarded or destroyed.

That is Christ’s work.  In communion, Christ, the bread that is broken, connects us to each other and to God.  Our broken bodies come for broken bread and become one body of Christ.  In Christ’s fullness, bread is broken, wine is poured—and Jesus gathers all the brokenness of the world to himself on the cross and fills our cracks, our anxiety, illness, and pain with a love that casts out fear.  Christ’s presence in communion fills us and Christ walks with us in our fear through a dangerous world, through a sick world, through a scary world. 

Christ shows up and Christ shows up on the cross.  Perfect power and authority made known in perfect love and service, not because it is required, but precisely because it is so freely given.

That is who Christ is.  Christ, our King, Lord, and President, is Christ crucified, Christ who suffers with the suffering ones.

Thanks be to God

God's love is who we are: 26th after pentecost

The holy gospel according to Luke (21:5-19)

⁵When some were speaking about the temple,

       how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God,

Jesus said,

       ⁶“As for these things that you see,

              the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another;

                     all will be thrown down.”
⁷They asked Jesus,

       “Teacher, when will this be,

       and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”

⁸And Jesus said,

       “Beware that you are not led astray;

              for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am the one!’

              and, ‘The time is near!’

                     Do not go after them.

⁹“When you hear of wars and insurrections,

       do not be terrified;

              for these things must take place first,

                     but the end will not follow immediately.”

¹⁰Then Jesus said to them,

       “Nation will rise against nation,

              and country against country;

       ¹¹there will be great earthquakes,

              and in various places famines and plagues;

                     and there will be dreadful portents

                            and great signs from heaven.

¹²“But before all this occurs,

       they will arrest you and persecute you;

       they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons,

       and you will be brought before rulers and governors because of my name.

              ¹³This will give you an opportunity to testify.

                     ¹⁴So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance;

                            ¹⁵for I will give you words and a wisdom

                                   that none of your opponents will be able to withstand

                                          or contradict.

       ¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents and family,

              by relatives and friends;

                     and they will put some of you to death.

       ¹⁷You will be hated by all because of my name.

              ¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish.

                     ¹⁹By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

The gospel of the Lord.

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No matter who would have won this week, we as a community of faith would have work to do.  Our country, and even our own community, is deeply divided.  The words of Jesus from today’s gospel paint a stark picture of the world and yet for many in this country, “dreadful portents” feels accurate this week or even this year. 

Throughout this election, those who are most vulnerable in our country have been used, tossed aside, or manipulated.  Poor and working class people of all races have been excluded in favor of a focus on the “middle class,” so many others have been explicitly degraded and villainized.

It is not a matter of being a democrat or a republican.  It is not a matter of voting a certain way.  No matter who you voted for or what your reasons for voting, the results of the presidential election tell those of us who are already more vulnerable that we don’t matter or that we matter less.  This is not because a certain “side” won or lost.  It’s deeper than that.

Muslims, immigrants, people of color, and lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, and queer folks have been taunted; in play grounds with “Build the wall!”, harassed and beaten up,             with hijabs, the headscarves some Muslim women wear as an expression of their faith, torn off                         on college campuses and in people’s own communities.  Women have been harassed on public transportation and at work. Graffiti and threatening notes have popped up everywhere. [1]

Not only that, usually the crisis text line has about 30-80 people working at one time to field all of the texts that they receive from people in crisis from anxiety, depression, and other causes.  Tuesday night, it took over 500 counselors at once to meet the demand.  This has continued to be the case across the board with suicide and crisis hotlines.

For many of us who voted, probably even the majority, the intended message was not this, but for those people who jumped on board with the fear and voted precisely because of the violent, racist, xenophobic rhetoric, they see the results as affirmation of their views.  They understand the results as a country that thinks whiteness is best and should be the only race allowed, where other religions are illegitimate, where people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ folks, and women don’t deserve full citizenship, where violence, harassment, and bullying is ok. 

Many now feel justified in acting on their bigotry and fear.  And many are responding to that out of their own justified fear and anger.

That has become the message of this week.

But Jesus says, “¹³This will give you an opportunity to testify.”

Because that—that hatred and fear—is not who we are as a community of faith.  Violence in any form is not who we are as a community of faith.

Jesus says “they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before rulers and governors because of my name….¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents and family, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷You will be hated by all because of my name. ”

Following Jesus is not easy.  It means taking risks, it means standing up to bullies on playgrounds, on the streets, and even in politics—from Republicans, Democrats, Third Parties, and Independents.

Today, tomorrow, and in the coming months, we will have the opportunity to testify.  What will your witness be? 

Yesterday we celebrated Carina’s ordination.  We celebrated this community of faith and the ways the Holy Spirit has worked through you all to encourage Carina and lift up her gifts for ministry and leadership. 

You have nurtured in her a faith that understands a neighbor’s pain as her own pain; that sees Christ’s suffering in those who suffer throughout the world.  You were the first ones to share with her about Jesus, to care about being in relationship with her, to encourage her call to ministry.  You embodied God’s love to your neighbors and to her.  Christ’s love has been carried in this community and Christ’s light has shined brightly through you.

In the coming months, we will again have the opportunity to testify to God’s love for Muslim children of God, for immigrant and refugee children of God, for children of God who have survived sexual assault, and for children of God with disabilities.

Not because you have to, but because of God’s love.  God loves immigrants, people living and working in poverty, Muslims, survivors, the vulnerable and the forgotten.  God loves you.  And God’s love is who we are as a community of faith—as beloved children of God ourselves.  God loves us so much that God feeds us in bread and wine; Christ’s own self, given in love for the sake of the whole world.  And through us, God also feeds others—pies, pasta, mole, cheese and crackers, and the nourishment of love, friendship, and support.

The Holy Spirit has been at work in this world since long before any of us were alive and since long before this election even began.  God claims each and every person as beloved and in our baptism, God calls us into the world as witnesses of God’s love—to smile and greet strangers who are really neighbors in the grocery store, to go out of our way when we’re in Rochester or LaCrosse to warmly greet women wearing hijabs, so that they know that we care about them and are safe people for them, to challenge ourselves and friends or neighbors when we think or they say something about “those people” whomever “those people” may be.

We live in a small town, filled with nice people, and it’s easy to think that we aren’t connected to the rest of what is going on in our country or the world.  Yet our interactions are bigger than Rushford and Peterson.  God makes them ripple outwards.  God’s love surrounds us and expands the impact of the love we show to others. 

May the Holy Spirit continue to make our witness ripple waves of love into the universe just as she has always done.

Amen.

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[1] If you need more examples, you can go to whyweareafraid.com

[2] Alex Darling-Raabe’s friend Maryanne Dyer, who volunteers for the crisis text line.