Luke 23:33-43
Colossians 1:11-20
Today is the festival of Christ the King or the Reign of Christ, a feast established by the Catholic Church in 1925 to witness against the increasing secularism of that age, and in defiance of the rising fascism of Italy’s Mussolini. And it is the eve of a new year in the Church. Next Sunday, Advent begins, but for the last six months we have been in the long green season of ordinary time, when we have watched as Jesus and the disciples traveled to Jerusalem, and now they are there and the predictions he has made about the Son of Man (Luke 9:21-22; Luke 9:43-45; Luke 18:31-34) are coming true.
And instead of a triumphant parade, noisemakers or fireworks, today we are watching as Jesus is stripped, beaten and executed. Luke tells us that, during his crucifixion, Jesus was mocked and above his head the soldiers hung a sign that said, “the King of the Jews.”
So this morning we celebrate that Jesus is our Lord and King, even as we find ourselves in a Good Friday world where nothing is what we expect it to be.
Thankfully we know what happens next. We know that evil does not win because Jesus defeats death in the resurrection. But we cannot forget this scene. We cannot follow Jesus in life unless we die at the cross with Him and are given a new life of the Spirit. (Romans 7:6)
So with this in mind, let’s return to Paul’s letter to the Colossians. These were believers in what is modern-day Turkey, and Paul wrote to them during a period of his imprisonment in Rome. Paul’s language praises of God declaring in verse 13 that we have been rescued and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. For Paul, becoming a Christian meant moving to a new home where “nothing is as we have known it.” [i]
For all of us who have moved from one place to another, you probably remember the goodbyes that made it hard, cherish sweet memories and perhaps you even hold onto a wistfulness for the places you left. But then, in each new place, a new community invites you to learn what makes it special, who your neighbors are and where you fit in. And you begin to call the new place “home.”
I still remember the first time I ate at Red Bridges with the call committee and how I learned about Kings Road from the Lamberts when we moved into our house. Finding a place to call home is often about small things that make you less of an outsider.
As Christians, we are invited to make our home with God: to learn new rhythms and language, and discover who God is through Scripture and music, study and prayer.
You wouldn’t move into a new neighborhood and continue to live exactly as you did someplace else. Just going out your front door would force you to do things differently, let alone food shopping or visiting a new school, bank or pharmacy. In the same way, God invites us to explore and discover the kingdom of God, with a holy curiosity and an eager anticipation for where God will appear.
And there is room here for any of you who have never moved. Maybe you think you know all the insider language and shortcuts; there’s nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) You’ve known the traditions and words of the liturgy, the Bible stories and the hymns for as long as you can remember. But you are invited to participate in this kingdom life as if it were brand new to you.
Paul’s letter continues with the verses known as the Christ Hymn, verses that reverberate with praise for the Lord of all that exists, and declare the promise that “in him all things hold together…in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile himself to all things.” (Colossians 1:17,19-20) Whenever the world feels too small or too broken, Paul reminds us that there is a fullness in Christ that is ours to experience as we make our home with God.
As we go into the new Church year and the new season of Advent, may we all be curious and explore that fullness that is available to us. Maybe there are parts of Christian tradition we haven’t experienced before, whether that’s reading the Bible in a different translation from the one that is familiar to you, experiencing the Blue Christmas worship that will happen later in December at the Episcopal Church, or listening to the music at the community Thanksgiving worship here on Tuesday night. Maybe it’s a new prayer practice you haven’t tried before, like midweek morning prayer or contemplative silence. Let’s open our ears, our eyes and our hearts to the new thing that God is doing.
Let us pray…
Merciful God,
Thank you for coming to us in the fullness of Your Son Jesus, our Lord and King. You rescued us from sin and evil and redeemed us. You moved us into the kingdom of the Son of God where we are given a new life of the Spirit. By your Spirit encourage us in faith to make a new home in Your love. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
[i] David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Location 11629). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Lectionary 33C/ Proper 28
Luke 21: 5-19
This is one of those lections where it feels ironic to read the passage and then proclaim, “The gospel [the Good News!] of the Lord.” And yet we do.
Every year as the church year approaches the reign of Christ, which we will observe next Sunday, the lectionary features one of the synoptic gospels’ apocalyptic texts. Here, we are in the third and final section of Luke, that has Jesus in Jerusalem, speaking to his disciples.
In today’s lection, Jesus prophesies the destruction of the Temple which was the place of God’s presence at the center of God’s people. He wants his disciples to recognize how
in the course of history…something that has been good will be no longer, something that has served as a reference of faith will vanish away stone from stone.[i]
The disciples’ reaction to Jesus is to question him, asking, “When will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" (Luke 21:7)
But Jesus redirects them, pivoting instead to the question of how they will respond to the disasters and calamities in their lives. Where will they direct their attention? Will they despair quietly with fear and a sense of foreboding about the upheavals, or will they bear witness or testify to the faith that sustains them?
Luke wrote his gospel sometime after 90 CE, more than 20 years after the Jews witnessed the actual destruction of the temple. The prophecy that Jesus spoke had happened and the Jewish and Christian communities had been living with its repercussions. In his poem “The Second Coming” William Butler Yeats wrote, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”[ii] Yeats describes the anxiety we feel when we hear Jesus’ words and we know that Luke’s audience, too, would have felt it viscerally. The question is, “How do we cling to God’s hope even in the midst of disasters, past, present and future?”
Hearing Jesus’ description of devastation, I was reminded of stories I listened to last weekend on public radio. Last Saturday, the 9th, was the first anniversary of the Camp Fire that burned 153,000 acres and destroyed the rural mountain town of Paradise, California. NPR had a series of interviews with people who have remained in the Paradise, which, before the fire, was about the same size as the City of Shelby. They talked about the barren land where buildings and shopping centers had once stood, and about the community that has been lost. More than a dozen churches and worshiping communities lost buildings including one congregation that had stood since 1909.[iii] Truly, “Not one stone stands upon another.” (Luke 21:6)
Today, the town that had 26,000 people is just 3,000 people and where 11,000 homes burned in the fire, only 11 have rebuilt. But the people in the interviews, the ones who have stayed, see themselves as pioneers, as witnesses to the hope that they hold onto. [iv]
Each of us has experiences in our life when we have felt devastated and disoriented, endured prolonged suffering or unimaginable loss. In this gospel, Jesus reminds us that faith is not silent at those times. Faith testifies in the emptiness and loneliness, in the confusion and disappointment, and in the places where fear lurks:
God is present and at work and while the things of this earth, including our mortal bodies, will pass away, we will not perish. (Luke 21:17)
And that IS good news!
Let us pray with the words from one of the ancient Christian fathers Saint Ephraem Syrus:[v]
Let us turn in continual prayer toward you, our only hope, O Lord.
Our heart is filled with sadness: bring joy to our sadness, Lord, and give refreshment to our burning hearts.
Day and night sorrow and affliction surround us: cool, O Lord, the flame of our hearts.
For apart from you we have no hope to comfort us in our grief.
Place your finger, that gives life to all things, on the pain concealed in our heart.
Let our soul not be robbed of your strengthening, O Savior, so that we may not be plunged into the waves of despair.
Amen.
[i] Dirk Lange. “This Far by Faith.” Dear Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5393, accessed November 15, 2019.
[ii] William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming.”
[iii] Kate Shellnut. “Paradise Fire Burned Most Church Buildings, But ‘the Church Is Still Alive’.” https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/november/paradise-california-churches-camp-fire-revival.html, accessed November 15, 2019.
[iv] Kirk Siegler. “The Camp Fire Destroyed 11,000 Homes. A Year Later Only 11 Have Been Rebuilt.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/09/777801169/the-camp-fire-destroyed-11-000-homes-a-year-later-only-11-have-been-rebuilt, , accessed November 15, 2019.
[v] Ephraem, in Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, IV, 350.
This is one of those lections where it feels ironic to read the passage and then proclaim, “The gospel [the Good News!] of the Lord.” And yet we do.
Every year as the church year approaches the reign of Christ, which we will observe next Sunday, the lectionary features one of the synoptic gospels’ apocalyptic texts. Here, we are in the third and final section of Luke, that has Jesus in Jerusalem, speaking to his disciples.
In today’s lection, Jesus prophesies the destruction of the Temple which was the place of God’s presence at the center of God’s people. He wants his disciples to recognize how
in the course of history…something that has been good will be no longer, something that has served as a reference of faith will vanish away stone from stone.[i]
The disciples’ reaction to Jesus is to question him, asking, “When will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" (Luke 21:7)
But Jesus redirects them, pivoting instead to the question of how they will respond to the disasters and calamities in their lives. Where will they direct their attention? Will they despair quietly with fear and a sense of foreboding about the upheavals, or will they bear witness or testify to the faith that sustains them?
Luke wrote his gospel sometime after 90 CE, more than 20 years after the Jews witnessed the actual destruction of the temple. The prophecy that Jesus spoke had happened and the Jewish and Christian communities had been living with its repercussions. In his poem “The Second Coming” William Butler Yeats wrote, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”[ii] Yeats describes the anxiety we feel when we hear Jesus’ words and we know that Luke’s audience, too, would have felt it viscerally. The question is, “How do we cling to God’s hope even in the midst of disasters, past, present and future?”
Hearing Jesus’ description of devastation, I was reminded of stories I listened to last weekend on public radio. Last Saturday, the 9th, was the first anniversary of the Camp Fire that burned 153,000 acres and destroyed the rural mountain town of Paradise, California. NPR had a series of interviews with people who have remained in the Paradise, which, before the fire, was about the same size as the City of Shelby. They talked about the barren land where buildings and shopping centers had once stood, and about the community that has been lost. More than a dozen churches and worshiping communities lost buildings including one congregation that had stood since 1909.[iii] Truly, “Not one stone stands upon another.” (Luke 21:6)
Today, the town that had 26,000 people is just 3,000 people and where 11,000 homes burned in the fire, only 11 have rebuilt. But the people in the interviews, the ones who have stayed, see themselves as pioneers, as witnesses to the hope that they hold onto. [iv]
Each of us has experiences in our life when we have felt devastated and disoriented, endured prolonged suffering or unimaginable loss. In this gospel, Jesus reminds us that faith is not silent at those times. Faith testifies in the emptiness and loneliness, in the confusion and disappointment, and in the places where fear lurks:
God is present and at work and while the things of this earth, including our mortal bodies, will pass away, we will not perish. (Luke 21:17)
And that IS good news!
Let us pray with the words from one of the ancient Christian fathers Saint Ephraem Syrus:[v]
Let us turn in continual prayer toward you, our only hope, O Lord.
Our heart is filled with sadness: bring joy to our sadness, Lord, and give refreshment to our burning hearts.
Day and night sorrow and affliction surround us: cool, O Lord, the flame of our hearts.
For apart from you we have no hope to comfort us in our grief.
Place your finger, that gives life to all things, on the pain concealed in our heart.
Let our soul not be robbed of your strengthening, O Savior, so that we may not be plunged into the waves of despair.
Amen.
[i] Dirk Lange. “This Far by Faith.” Dear Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5393, accessed November 15, 2019.
[ii] William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming.”
[iii] Kate Shellnut. “Paradise Fire Burned Most Church Buildings, But ‘the Church Is Still Alive’.” https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/november/paradise-california-churches-camp-fire-revival.html, accessed November 15, 2019.
[iv] Kirk Siegler. “The Camp Fire Destroyed 11,000 Homes. A Year Later Only 11 Have Been Rebuilt.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/09/777801169/the-camp-fire-destroyed-11-000-homes-a-year-later-only-11-have-been-rebuilt, , accessed November 15, 2019.
[v] Ephraem, in Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, IV, 350.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Lectionary 32C/ Proper 27
2 Thessalonians 2: 1-5, 13-17
Friday morning I had a meeting in Greenville and I didn’t check the address, and sure enough when I arrived, I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. It was ok; I was close and I got where I was going despite the disruption. Then, that afternoon as I was driving over to the church to meet folks to go to the high school and feed the football players, coaches and trainers my car acted up. It had been chirping at me every now and then and I knew the noise had gotten louder that morning, but as I was driving here, I decided I better stop at the garage and make sure it was safe. The good news is it was. And I got where I was going despite the disruption.
My dad calls moments like these when you are trying to live your life and you are thwarted by random obstacles “Screwtape moments.” You may remember me telling you about “Screwtape” before. He is a character that theologian C.S. Lewis portrays as a highly placed assistant to Satan in his book The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape corresponds with his nephew “Wormwood” as he directs the younger inexperienced demon to corrupt a young man he knows.
“Screwtape moments” are one way of thinking about the discouraging, nonsensical and chaotic moments that happen in life, but underlying any comical elements is an acknowledgement that the devil and evil are real. “Old Scratch” is another nickname given to the devil. Both Screwtape and Old Scratch embody evil in ways that modern enlightened thinking is quick to dismiss, because in our “secular age” we live in a largely “disenchanted world” where “talking about the Devil is more and more awkward” and more “like telling a story about ghosts, alien abduction, or Bigfoot.” [i] But if we name the existence of forces that work against God, the powers and principalities of this world that perpetuate evil, then, as Rev. Dr. Barbara Blodgett notes, “[we can ] take all the more comfort in the One who saves us from them.”[ii]
When Paul writes his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, he describes the presence of evil in the world in yet another way.
Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and the people in the church there were converted Gentiles, but there were others in the city who did not believe in Jesus Christ and persecuted the Christians.[iii] Paul who had first traveled to Thessalonica after a rough reception from the people in Philippi regarded the Thessalonians with affection that we hear clearly in his first letter.
Now he has heard that they are suffering, and he writes to them to reassure them, to remind them of the promises of their faith, and to comfort them. In this letter, he describes “the lawless one” and the presence of rebellion against God and deception by the ones who are against God. (v. 1-5)
Although the western church does not experience the kinds of oppression that existed in the first century Christian church, we do not have to look that far back in history or even in today’s headlines to see evidence of destructive evil and suffering in the world.
This weekend marks the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, during which Nazi soldiers executed pogroms or destructive violence against Jewish communities throughout Germany and other annexed states. The troops torched synagogues, businesses, schools and homes and thirty-thousand Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.[iv] The destruction is remembered as “the night of broken glass” and its memory continues to bear witness to the shattering of Jewish life that happened during the Holocaust years.
Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians is not to deny the presence of evil, but to remember the promises of faith in spite of it.
Paul tells the church, “Don’t fall for deceptions or false truths or be misled.” The Lord Jesus Christ — the incarnation of the Living God, the Lord of our lives and the Messiah or Savior of the world — is the One who loves us, and by His grace, comforts us and gives us hope.
Remember that you are called to faith by Jesus Christ. Have confidence in the faith you have received, a faith rich with God’s promises, not that evil won’t manifest, but that it will not prevail.
That same promise is ours today. Evil will not prevail.
Kristallnacht is not the only anniversary being remembered this weekend. Thirty years ago the border dividing East and West Berlin in Germany was opened. What is now remembered as “the day the wall came down” began as a political announcement removing barriers that had obstructed the movement of people between the two states, but it quickly escalated into the removal of the physical wall as people chipped away at it to collect souvenirs and bulldozers moved in.
While most of us remember the day the wall came down in Berlin, what many of us might not have known is that seven years earlier, the people at Nicolai Church, a Lutheran church in the East German city of Leipzig began holding prayer services. People, numbering in the hundreds, came together every Monday night, gathering to pray for peace and democracy in the divided country.
When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was in East Berlin on October 7, 1989 to celebrate the East German state’s fortieth anniversary, pro-democracy demonstrations were put down with force.
But two days later, there were 2,000 or so inside Nikolai Church for the Monday prayer meeting, and when those two thousand went outside, they joined tens of thousands waiting with candles in their hands.
Pastor Christian Führer recalls, “Two hands are necessary to carry a candle and to protect it from extinguishing so that you cannot carry stones or clubs at the same time.” So, though there were some arrests, and the East German military units were on alert, there was no massive display of force.
What had begun as a few hundred gathering at the Nikolai Church had swelled to more than 70,000, all united in peaceful opposition to the communist regime.
The following week, 70,000 became 120,000.
And then 120,000 became 320,000.
They laid their candles on the steps of East German secret police headquarters and, waiting, they prayed and sang.
And thirty years ago on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell and East and West Germany began to find a new way forward together.
The Good News from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is that the hope we have in Jesus Christ is not in vain. As Christians, we are not defeated by this world or the evil in it. But we aren’t called to ignore it either. Reflecting on this text, Presbyterian pastor Neta Pringle writes, “God
wants to find us at work for those things that are dear to the heart of God.” [v]
Forces that defy God and powers of this world that rebel against God continue. Even as we recognize veterans for their service this morning during worship, it’s estimated that nationally 20 veterans complete suicide every day and 46,000 veterans are homeless.[vi] [vii] Heart-breaking evil persists and humankind suffers.
As Christians we are called to respond to the suffering we witness, and not with “a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love…”[viii] God wants us to live out our baptismal covenant where we promised to serve all people following the example of Jesus and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”[ix]
Here, Paul reminds us that we are not defeated, and we are not helpless. We are Christ’s church, called to bear God’s love and mercy, comfort and hope into the world.
Let us pray…
Holy Comforter,
Thank you for your grace, love and mercy known through You Son Jesus, the incarnation of the living God, Lord of our lives and Savior of the World.
By your Spirit empower us to bear hope into the world, confident Your light will dispel any darkness.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
[i] Richard Beck. Reviving Old Scratch. xv.
[ii] Barbara Blodgett. “2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17.” David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 9938-9939). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[iii] Robert Brusic, Matt Skinner. “Thessalonica.” Enterthebible.org. Luther Seminary. https://www.enterthebible.org/newtestament.aspx?rid=13, accessed November 9, 2019.
[iv] “Kristallnacht.” History.com. A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/holocaust/kristallnacht, accessed. November 9, 2019.
[v] Neta Pringle. “2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17.” David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 9984-9985). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[vi] https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/09/26/suicide-rate-spikes-among-younger-veterans/, accessed November 9, 2019.
[vii] http://nchv.org/index.php/news/media/background_and_statistics/#facts, accessed November 9, 2019.
[viii] 2 Timothy 1:7
[ix] Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ELCA. 236.
Friday morning I had a meeting in Greenville and I didn’t check the address, and sure enough when I arrived, I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. It was ok; I was close and I got where I was going despite the disruption. Then, that afternoon as I was driving over to the church to meet folks to go to the high school and feed the football players, coaches and trainers my car acted up. It had been chirping at me every now and then and I knew the noise had gotten louder that morning, but as I was driving here, I decided I better stop at the garage and make sure it was safe. The good news is it was. And I got where I was going despite the disruption.
My dad calls moments like these when you are trying to live your life and you are thwarted by random obstacles “Screwtape moments.” You may remember me telling you about “Screwtape” before. He is a character that theologian C.S. Lewis portrays as a highly placed assistant to Satan in his book The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape corresponds with his nephew “Wormwood” as he directs the younger inexperienced demon to corrupt a young man he knows.
“Screwtape moments” are one way of thinking about the discouraging, nonsensical and chaotic moments that happen in life, but underlying any comical elements is an acknowledgement that the devil and evil are real. “Old Scratch” is another nickname given to the devil. Both Screwtape and Old Scratch embody evil in ways that modern enlightened thinking is quick to dismiss, because in our “secular age” we live in a largely “disenchanted world” where “talking about the Devil is more and more awkward” and more “like telling a story about ghosts, alien abduction, or Bigfoot.” [i] But if we name the existence of forces that work against God, the powers and principalities of this world that perpetuate evil, then, as Rev. Dr. Barbara Blodgett notes, “[we can ] take all the more comfort in the One who saves us from them.”[ii]
When Paul writes his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, he describes the presence of evil in the world in yet another way.
Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and the people in the church there were converted Gentiles, but there were others in the city who did not believe in Jesus Christ and persecuted the Christians.[iii] Paul who had first traveled to Thessalonica after a rough reception from the people in Philippi regarded the Thessalonians with affection that we hear clearly in his first letter.
Now he has heard that they are suffering, and he writes to them to reassure them, to remind them of the promises of their faith, and to comfort them. In this letter, he describes “the lawless one” and the presence of rebellion against God and deception by the ones who are against God. (v. 1-5)
Although the western church does not experience the kinds of oppression that existed in the first century Christian church, we do not have to look that far back in history or even in today’s headlines to see evidence of destructive evil and suffering in the world.
This weekend marks the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, during which Nazi soldiers executed pogroms or destructive violence against Jewish communities throughout Germany and other annexed states. The troops torched synagogues, businesses, schools and homes and thirty-thousand Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.[iv] The destruction is remembered as “the night of broken glass” and its memory continues to bear witness to the shattering of Jewish life that happened during the Holocaust years.
Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians is not to deny the presence of evil, but to remember the promises of faith in spite of it.
Paul tells the church, “Don’t fall for deceptions or false truths or be misled.” The Lord Jesus Christ — the incarnation of the Living God, the Lord of our lives and the Messiah or Savior of the world — is the One who loves us, and by His grace, comforts us and gives us hope.
Remember that you are called to faith by Jesus Christ. Have confidence in the faith you have received, a faith rich with God’s promises, not that evil won’t manifest, but that it will not prevail.
That same promise is ours today. Evil will not prevail.
Kristallnacht is not the only anniversary being remembered this weekend. Thirty years ago the border dividing East and West Berlin in Germany was opened. What is now remembered as “the day the wall came down” began as a political announcement removing barriers that had obstructed the movement of people between the two states, but it quickly escalated into the removal of the physical wall as people chipped away at it to collect souvenirs and bulldozers moved in.
While most of us remember the day the wall came down in Berlin, what many of us might not have known is that seven years earlier, the people at Nicolai Church, a Lutheran church in the East German city of Leipzig began holding prayer services. People, numbering in the hundreds, came together every Monday night, gathering to pray for peace and democracy in the divided country.
When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was in East Berlin on October 7, 1989 to celebrate the East German state’s fortieth anniversary, pro-democracy demonstrations were put down with force.
But two days later, there were 2,000 or so inside Nikolai Church for the Monday prayer meeting, and when those two thousand went outside, they joined tens of thousands waiting with candles in their hands.
Pastor Christian Führer recalls, “Two hands are necessary to carry a candle and to protect it from extinguishing so that you cannot carry stones or clubs at the same time.” So, though there were some arrests, and the East German military units were on alert, there was no massive display of force.
What had begun as a few hundred gathering at the Nikolai Church had swelled to more than 70,000, all united in peaceful opposition to the communist regime.
The following week, 70,000 became 120,000.
And then 120,000 became 320,000.
They laid their candles on the steps of East German secret police headquarters and, waiting, they prayed and sang.
And thirty years ago on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell and East and West Germany began to find a new way forward together.
The Good News from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is that the hope we have in Jesus Christ is not in vain. As Christians, we are not defeated by this world or the evil in it. But we aren’t called to ignore it either. Reflecting on this text, Presbyterian pastor Neta Pringle writes, “God
wants to find us at work for those things that are dear to the heart of God.” [v]
Forces that defy God and powers of this world that rebel against God continue. Even as we recognize veterans for their service this morning during worship, it’s estimated that nationally 20 veterans complete suicide every day and 46,000 veterans are homeless.[vi] [vii] Heart-breaking evil persists and humankind suffers.
As Christians we are called to respond to the suffering we witness, and not with “a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love…”[viii] God wants us to live out our baptismal covenant where we promised to serve all people following the example of Jesus and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”[ix]
Here, Paul reminds us that we are not defeated, and we are not helpless. We are Christ’s church, called to bear God’s love and mercy, comfort and hope into the world.
Let us pray…
Holy Comforter,
Thank you for your grace, love and mercy known through You Son Jesus, the incarnation of the living God, Lord of our lives and Savior of the World.
By your Spirit empower us to bear hope into the world, confident Your light will dispel any darkness.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
[i] Richard Beck. Reviving Old Scratch. xv.
[ii] Barbara Blodgett. “2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17.” David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 9938-9939). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[iii] Robert Brusic, Matt Skinner. “Thessalonica.” Enterthebible.org. Luther Seminary. https://www.enterthebible.org/newtestament.aspx?rid=13, accessed November 9, 2019.
[iv] “Kristallnacht.” History.com. A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/holocaust/kristallnacht, accessed. November 9, 2019.
[v] Neta Pringle. “2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17.” David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 9984-9985). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[vi] https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/09/26/suicide-rate-spikes-among-younger-veterans/, accessed November 9, 2019.
[vii] http://nchv.org/index.php/news/media/background_and_statistics/#facts, accessed November 9, 2019.
[viii] 2 Timothy 1:7
[ix] Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ELCA. 236.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
All Saints Sunday (November 3, 2019)
Luke 6:20-31
Today, on All Saints Sunday, we remember church members, family and friends who have died over the last twelve months. And as we recall them and their lives and their significance to us, we also remember the gifts they shared with us, especially those gifts we continue to carry into the world in their honor. Their spirits live on in their children, families and friendships.
Author Alice Walker once wrote a short essay called “A name is sometimes an ancestor saying, “Hi, I’m with you.” Across cultures indigenous peoples call the people who lived before us throughout history our “spirit helpers.”[i] Because her name comes from the Greek word for “truth” Walker names Sojourner Truth as one of her own spirit helpers, writing,
She smiles within my smile. That irrepressible great heart rises in my chest. Every experience that roused her passion against injustice in her lifetime shines from my eyes.[ii]
Walker writes, “The spirit of our helpers incarnates in us, making us more ourselves by extending us far beyond.”[iii]
She then suggests that this is how we might understand the transformation we experience through faith, a way of becoming not only “like” Jesus but embodying Jesus to the people we meet.
In today’s gospel, Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Plain, and while we often hear the language of blessing and woe as language of divine favor or damnation, it’s hard to find the good news in that interpretation. Luther Seminary New Testament professor Matt Skinner suggests that the meaning changes when, instead, we hear “blessed” as “satisfied” or “unburdened.” Skinner also translates “woe” as “yikes” or “look out!”, and Eugene Peterson writes in his Message paraphrase, “There’s trouble ahead!” The word is like a bright yellow traffic sign or flashing lights.
With these woe statements, Jesus cautions us to be alert for those things in life that are distractions that divert us from following Jesus and from being Jesus to those we meet.
The poor, the hungry, the grieving and those who have been discarded by the world are people who trust God because their other options have been stripped away. Trusting God is more difficult for anyone who still thinks we can stand on our own or make our own way; it is more difficult when we only look for God’s mercy after we’ve exhausted every other possibility, instead of beginning on our knees at the foot of the cross with God.
Addressing “those who are listening” Jesus seems to acknowledge that some won’t listen, even among those who are close to him, even among those who profess to follow him.
And then Jesus gives a rapid succession of commands to the disciples, instructing them to live in faithful obedience with their eyes set on Jesus, saying:
Love. Do good. Bless. Pray. Submit. Give. Serve.
Just like six of the ten commandments Moses received on Sinai, these commands are focused on our relationships with the people in our lives. Jesus tells us to be motivated by the love and mercy of God to be Christ to them:
But just as Walker suggests that our “spirit helpers” empower us to be more ourselves, who we are created to be, Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians that we have been “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” (v. 13) — that we are no longer trying to imitate Christ by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us.
This process of becoming more Christ-like, of being made holy and righteous, through faithful obedience is sanctification.
As Martin Luther wrote in the explanation of the third article of the Creed,
Too often we live out of our brokenness, and when we do that, we will have trouble ahead.
But, from Jesus we hear the Good News that through faith, we can live in a world in right relationship with God and with each other.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are called to live holy and perfect in an imperfect and broken world. We have a great cloud of witnesses who went before us and whose memories continue to sustain us even as we follow Jesus now.
Let us pray…[vi]
Holy and Redeeming God,
We give you our thanks and praise that through your Son Jesus you make us holy and count us among your saints;
By your great power you have called us to a rich hope and given us the word of truth that gives us life in Christ.
Send us out as your witnesses, confident that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, that we may love others and live out Your Good News in the world.
We pray in the name of Your Son Jesus, our savior and Lord. Amen.
[i] Alice Walker. Living by the Word. 97.
[ii] ibid
[iii] Walker, 98.
[iv] David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 8521-8522).
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[v] “Small Catechism, Book of Concord, 355-56.
[vi] adapted from Laughing Bird Liturgical Resources, http://laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html
Today, on All Saints Sunday, we remember church members, family and friends who have died over the last twelve months. And as we recall them and their lives and their significance to us, we also remember the gifts they shared with us, especially those gifts we continue to carry into the world in their honor. Their spirits live on in their children, families and friendships.
Author Alice Walker once wrote a short essay called “A name is sometimes an ancestor saying, “Hi, I’m with you.” Across cultures indigenous peoples call the people who lived before us throughout history our “spirit helpers.”[i] Because her name comes from the Greek word for “truth” Walker names Sojourner Truth as one of her own spirit helpers, writing,
She smiles within my smile. That irrepressible great heart rises in my chest. Every experience that roused her passion against injustice in her lifetime shines from my eyes.[ii]
Walker writes, “The spirit of our helpers incarnates in us, making us more ourselves by extending us far beyond.”[iii]
She then suggests that this is how we might understand the transformation we experience through faith, a way of becoming not only “like” Jesus but embodying Jesus to the people we meet.
In today’s gospel, Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Plain, and while we often hear the language of blessing and woe as language of divine favor or damnation, it’s hard to find the good news in that interpretation. Luther Seminary New Testament professor Matt Skinner suggests that the meaning changes when, instead, we hear “blessed” as “satisfied” or “unburdened.” Skinner also translates “woe” as “yikes” or “look out!”, and Eugene Peterson writes in his Message paraphrase, “There’s trouble ahead!” The word is like a bright yellow traffic sign or flashing lights.
With these woe statements, Jesus cautions us to be alert for those things in life that are distractions that divert us from following Jesus and from being Jesus to those we meet.
The poor, the hungry, the grieving and those who have been discarded by the world are people who trust God because their other options have been stripped away. Trusting God is more difficult for anyone who still thinks we can stand on our own or make our own way; it is more difficult when we only look for God’s mercy after we’ve exhausted every other possibility, instead of beginning on our knees at the foot of the cross with God.
Addressing “those who are listening” Jesus seems to acknowledge that some won’t listen, even among those who are close to him, even among those who profess to follow him.
And then Jesus gives a rapid succession of commands to the disciples, instructing them to live in faithful obedience with their eyes set on Jesus, saying:
Love. Do good. Bless. Pray. Submit. Give. Serve.
Just like six of the ten commandments Moses received on Sinai, these commands are focused on our relationships with the people in our lives. Jesus tells us to be motivated by the love and mercy of God to be Christ to them:
- Love your enemies; love the very same people you despise or you think are unlovable.
- Do good regardless of whether you will reap the benefit or your good will be appreciated or even acknowledged.
- Bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you; importantly, Jesus doesn’t say to subject yourself to continued abuse or continue in relationship with the abuser, but we are called to see each person — no matter how much it upsets our dual-thinking — as someone whom God can love and redeem.
- Jesus then says to offer your other cheek to one who slaps you and offer your coat to the one who would take your shirt. He commands us to adopt a posture of humility in the world, to submit to God’s care and provision.
Give to those who beg. - And “do to others as you would have them do to you,” an instruction to serve others selflessly, entering into relationship with them and addressing their needs as brothers and sisters.
But just as Walker suggests that our “spirit helpers” empower us to be more ourselves, who we are created to be, Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians that we have been “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” (v. 13) — that we are no longer trying to imitate Christ by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us.
This process of becoming more Christ-like, of being made holy and righteous, through faithful obedience is sanctification.
As Martin Luther wrote in the explanation of the third article of the Creed,
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but [the Holy Spirit] calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies [or makes righteous] the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith...[v]This is faith active in our lives, transforming us, setting us apart, sanctifying us or making us holy, and empowering us.
Too often we live out of our brokenness, and when we do that, we will have trouble ahead.
But, from Jesus we hear the Good News that through faith, we can live in a world in right relationship with God and with each other.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are called to live holy and perfect in an imperfect and broken world. We have a great cloud of witnesses who went before us and whose memories continue to sustain us even as we follow Jesus now.
Let us pray…[vi]
Holy and Redeeming God,
We give you our thanks and praise that through your Son Jesus you make us holy and count us among your saints;
By your great power you have called us to a rich hope and given us the word of truth that gives us life in Christ.
Send us out as your witnesses, confident that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, that we may love others and live out Your Good News in the world.
We pray in the name of Your Son Jesus, our savior and Lord. Amen.
[i] Alice Walker. Living by the Word. 97.
[ii] ibid
[iii] Walker, 98.
[iv] David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 8521-8522).
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[v] “Small Catechism, Book of Concord, 355-56.
[vi] adapted from Laughing Bird Liturgical Resources, http://laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html
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