Lectionary 14B

Mark 6:1-13

Merry Christmas!

While I know some people begin a countdown to Christmas six months ahead on June 25, we are only celebrating Christmas in July on this one Sunday. Celebrations like ours have been around since at least the 1940s and every one of them is unique. Today, at Grace, we are celebrating through our music, using this long, green church season of Ordinary Time to connect with Christmas, a day and a season that often feels crowded with family gatherings, parties and gift-giving. Santa Claus isn’t here, but hospitality is providing Christmas cookies for the coffee and fellowship time after worship.

Our readings are not the Christmas readings, but we do hear about Jesus’ mother Mary and her husband Joseph the carpenter, as well as his brothers. We don’t hear about the donkey Mary rode to Bethlehem or the baby Jesus whom we celebrate at the Nativity, but we do meet a grown-up Jesus back in his hometown and we hear about the new life the disciples will have as they are sent out into the world.

And that’s where my focus is for us today.

Just like many folks go home for the holidays, Jesus and his disciples have returned “home.” But instead of being warmly welcomed and encouraged, the people there, including Jesus’ own family, are skeptical and question what he is doing. You can almost hear them sneering and asking, “Just who does he think he is?”

Mark even says Jesus’ own power was limited by their unbelief.

This verse has been used in harmful ways to tell people to “have more faith” and to “believe more” when they are experiencing challenges, trials and tribulations.  But faith and God’s works aren’t an “if/then” proposition.  They are always a “because/therefore” statement. Witnessing God’s works in our lives is never a question of “IF you believe, THEN God will act.” It is always “BECAUSE God loves you, THEREFORE God acts.” And yet, faith is important; faith is how we know God, live for God, and show others what God is doing in our lives.

Thankfully, when faced with unbelief and hostility, Jesus doesn’t falter. He knows who he is, and that his power and authority come from God. So, he takes his disciples to other villages, and he teaches there.

And then Mark tells us that Jesus chooses the first twelve apostles or “messengers” to carry the Gospel to others. They have already witnessed Jesus’ rejection by his family and neighbors. And they have witnessed his determination to persist in teaching about God’s abundant, boundless love despite the disappointment and hurt caused by those who dismissed him.

So, he sends them out, in pairs, and gives them authority over the devil and all the forces that defy God and the powers of this world that rebel against God, and he gives them instructions, warning them that they too will face rejection. It’s just part of following Jesus – not everyone will have ears to hear the Word that God loves them; not everyone will receive messengers of God’s love with kindness. And, before they go out, he tells them how to respond.

Does he tell them to holler at those who won’t listen? Does he say to mock them or curse them? No! As Eugene Peterson says in his paraphrase The Message, “Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.” (Mark 6:11)

Whenever I remember these words, I remember that God knows more than I do.

I remember the Sower of the seeds that we meet earlier in Mark’s gospel (Mark 4). The Sower’s job is to sow; it is not to measure the results, and it is entirely possible the Sower will never see the fruit borne. All we can do as we follow Jesus is share the Good News of Jesus Christ that we know and experience. The rest is up to God.

And I remember that God is with me when I face rejection, when following Jesus is scary or hard, or I cannot see the fruits of my work and discipleship. And I feel less alone.

On a Sunday when we are celebrating a new child of God with the baptism of Luca Carlos, our Gospel reminds us that the baptismal journey that begins at the font is a lifelong journey - one that is filled with ups and downs, and one on which God always accompanies us.

Let us pray.

Good and Gracious God,

We give you thanks for your Son Jesus,

who calls us and sends us out to share your good news.

We give you thanks that at the font, you call us your children, and our life with you is everlasting.

Give us faith that we will remember you are always working in the world and help us see your presence in and around us.

We pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

" I is for Israel" The Good Book Summer Series

Genesis 32:24-28 (NRSV)

and in the Message 

This morning, we heard the second of four stories from the Old Testament as we explore some of the stories of our ancestors in faith.

Today’s text is from Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, and it’s a story about Jacob.

A few chapters earlier in Genesis, we meet Jacob and his twin brother Esau at their birth.

I wonder if you had a nickname in your family? Or if you gave one to your brothers or sisters?

When Esau arrived first, he was given a name that reflects his red and hairy appearance, but Jacob was born holding onto his brother’s heel so his name means “heel sneak” or “usurper” which refers to someone who takes what is yours and claims it as their own.

The boys’ parents were Rebeka and Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah. And while most parents say they don’t have favorites, the biblical text says that Isaac favored Esau and Rebeka favored Jacob. It also tells us about an encounter between the brothers when a very hungry Esau gave his birthright – or share of his inheritance – to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of hearty stew. (Genesis 25)

But it was when Isaac was very old, and his eyesight was failing, that Jacob truly lived into his name.

When Esau leaves to go hunting, with their mother Rebekah’s help, Jacob tricks Isaac into giving him his blessing before he dies. When Esau learns how Jacob has deceived him and their father, he’s angry and their mother warns Jacob to flee to her brother’s home.

Today’s story takes place more than twenty years later as Jacob is going home and preparing to meet his brother Esau.

If you have been unhappily separated from a family member, you can imagine the uncertainty and anxiety Jacob was experiencing. He was afraid. He didn’t know anything about his brother’s character. He didn’t know whether Esau’s anger had been simmering for two decades, or whether he had forgiven him.

So, he sends his family and servants ahead with gifts for his brother, and he camps alone for the night by the river Jabbok.

And as our text told us, there he wrestled all night long with another man.

Jacob was a fighter. He had fought with his brother to be born and came in second; he fought with him again, stealing their father’s blessing. So, when this stranger found him, alone in the night, Jacob did what he knew how to do – he fought.

Today, wrestling matches are six minutes long. Jacob and his opponent wrestled all night long, hours upon hours without surrendering. Imagine the exhaustion and frustration that they felt.

Our text says that when the man saw that Jacob would not yield, he touched his hip, dislocating it. But even then, Jacob did not let go of his opponent.

Instead, Jacob demanded a blessing.  And incredibly, instead of turning away from Jacob or punishing him for the deceits he had practiced during his lifetime, the man gave him a new name, saying “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." (Genesis 32:28) and before he left Jacob, he blessed him.

The author of Genesis could have had Jacob emerge from the story more decidedly victorious, but he doesn’t. Instead, we see how Jacob wrestled with God, not against Him. He hung in there all night, refusing to be cast aside. And he came away changed. He walks with a limp. He has a new identity, no longer a “heel sneak” but a “God-fighter” or “one who strives with God” as his new name can be translated.

Now we know the story better,

what can we learn from Jacob’s stubborn and determined wrestling?

Dr. Anna Carter Florence is the author of “A is for Alabaster”, the resource we’re using for this series, and one question she asked as she talked about the chapter titled “I is for Israel”, is,

“How do things change?” from decade to decade in our lives. How different are the things with which we wrestle or for which we strive when we are 20, 30, 40 or 60?  

I don’t want us to answer too glibly or dismiss what our younger selves sought. I hope the question helps us reflect on which things endure, which ones are central to our identity as God-fighters (and followers), and which ones may be part of our own hubris or arrogance.

Because I think we are all a little like Jacob at some point in our lives:

wanting what someone else has;

unable to recognize the sufficiency of what God has already provided; and,

being afraid to face the consequences of our mistakes and the ways we hurt others.

The Good News we have from Jacob’s story is that God’s grace is sufficient, in fact, abundant. And in the face of our all-too-human responses to the world around us, God still loves us, and names us, “God’s child now and forever.”

One of the professors at Luther Seminary Dr. Rolf Jacobson, noting that Jacob was buried in the same place as his grandfather Abraham, wrote,

We don’t know if they wrote anything on his tombstone, but if it were…, it would have said, “Here lies Jacob, a thief and a sinner claimed by God in order that God might bless the entire world.”[i]

Let us pray.

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for wrestling with us and not against us.

Help us recognize you when we encounter you,

And remember the blessing we already have by your grace,

That you call every one of us “God’s child now and forever.”

Amen. 

---

[i] Crazy Book. Rolf Jacobson, Editor. 132.

Lectionary 10B

Marcos 3:20-35

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos…
Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean aceptables a tu vista, Señor nuestra fuerza y nuestro redentor. Amén.

Una de las formas de estudiar la Biblia es participar en una práctica llamada "vivienda en la palabra". Es similar a otra práctica llamada "Lectio Divina". La idea es leer el texto como si fuera la primera vez:

Escuchar las palabras;

Prestar atención a las imágenes y a las frases;

Escuchar lo que se destaca para ti en esta lectura y observar lo que es nuevo para ti.

Es una buena práctica porque a menudo llegamos al texto con suposiciones. Si hemos estado mucho en la iglesia, creemos que sabemos lo que dice el texto. Y algunas historias a menudo se repiten, por lo que creemos que conocemos el significado.

Pero la Biblia es una "palabra viva" y el Espíritu Santo está activo.

Y somos seres humanos que cambian todos los días, por lo que incluso si hemos escuchado un texto antes, ahora somos diferentes y podemos escuchar algo nuevo.

Digo todo esto porque esta semana, escuchando el evangelio y mirando hacia atrás en cómo he predicado estos textos antes, escuché algo nuevo. En el pasado, he predicado sobre Jesús y su familia, y sobre lo que significa blasfemar al Espíritu Santo. Esta vez, escuché sobre el hombre fuerte.

Y al escuchar de nuevo, creo que el hombre fuerte es Dios.

Escuche el versículo veintisiete de nuevo:

... Nadie puede entrar en la casa [de Dios] y saquear la propiedad [de Dios] sin atar primero [a Dios]; Entonces, de hecho, la casa puede ser saqueada.

Y eso me hace preguntarme,

¿qué significa "atar a Dios"?

¿Cuáles son las formas en que intentamos contener a Dios?

¿Para limitar lo que Dios está haciendo?

Hay un artista llamado David que dibuja dibujos animados sobre la fe y Dios, y uno de sus dibujos animados muestra a una persona que empuja un cuerpo grande, puedes ver los pies y una de las manos, en una caja etiquetada como "TEOLOGÍA".[i]

Con demasiada frecuencia, tratamos de obligar a Dios a entrar en nuestras cajas, nuestras categorías y nuestra comprensión, pero Dios es demasiado grande para eso.

Cuando permitimos que nuestras ideas definan a Dios, en lugar de al revés, estamos limitando a Dios. En efecto, estamos "atando al hombre fuerte". Y
permitiendo que la casa de Dios sea saqueada;
permitiendo que el amor de Dios sea llevado y se imponga a otros como un avaro con su dinero, en lugar de dejar que fluya abundante y espléndidamente.

Hacemos esto de manera grande y pequeña:
cuando usamos el nombre de Dios para decir que alguien no es bienvenido ni amado;
cuando sugerimos que alguien debe cambiar para ser aceptado;
cuando insistimos en que nuestro camino es la única forma correcta.

Cada vez que caemos en el hábito de considerar el mundo como blanco y negro, o binario, y no permitiendo la posibilidad de más.

Dios es más grande.
Y afortunadamente, Dios es más fuerte que nosotros, y será triunfante.

Por nuestra parte, estamos llamados a estar unidos en Cristo, porque somos hermanos en Cristo, y somos más fuertes juntos.

A finales de mayo, participé en la reunión del Sínodo de Carolina del Norte; En el escenario principal, había una obra que fue comisionada para la reunión. El artista compartió estas palabras sobre la obra que presentaba una cruz plateada con un corazón rojo en su centro.

El artista y pastor Paul Birkedal escribió:

[La pieza de la cruz superior] está bordeada por tres hilos de yute individuales con un solo hilo en el medio bajando como si del cielo para tocar el corazón. En una inspección más cercana, uno podría ver la curva de hilos externos como las manos para acariciar o bendecir el corazón al igual que el amor del creador por el Hijo. Las otras piezas cruzadas están bordeadas por hilos trenzados de yute. Esto representa la participación de nuestra implicacion en la cruz de Cristo y de la fuerza que nosotros, como amado de Dios, recibimos mientras trabajamos juntos como el pueblo de Dios.[ii]

Esta vez, escuchando el evangelio, no escuché solo una persona de la Trinidad: Jesús el Hijo, el Espíritu Santo o Dios, sino cómo los tres están presentes y trabajando, y cómo debemos trabajar juntos como el pueblo de Dios, unidos y no divididos.

Oremos…

Poderoso Dios,

Gracias por tu amor ilimitado por tus hijos.

Gracias por tu presencia permanente y por la fuerza que nos das para vivir, unidos por tu amor por nosotros.

Ayúdanos a ser instrumentos de tu paz y misericordia en un mundo dividido.

Oramos en tu santo nombre,

Amén.

---

[i] https://nakedpastor.com/products/god-box-cartoon-1?variant=34479267512487

[ii] “We are More Than Victorious” Synod Gathering Bulletin Cover Art on Mixed Media, Based on Romans 8:35-39 with Emphasis on v. 37 

Mark 3:20-35

One of the ways to study the Bible is to engage in a practice called “Dwelling in the Word”. It is similar to another practice called “Lectio Divina”. The idea is to read the text as if it is the first time:

To listen to the words;

To pay attention to the images and to the phrases;

To hear what stands out to you in this reading and notice what is new to you.

It’s a good practice because often, we come to the text with assumptions. If we’ve been in church a lot, we think we know what the text says. And some stories are often repeated, so we think we know the meaning.

But the Bible is a “living Word” and the Holy Spirit is active.

And we are human beings who change every day, so even if we have heard a text before, we are different now and may hear something new.

I say all this because this week, listening to the gospel, and looking back at how I’ve preached these texts before, I heard something new. In the past, I have preached about Jesus and his family, and about what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. This time, I heard about the strong man.

And in listening anew, I think the strong man is God.

Hear verse 27 again:

…no one can enter [God’s] house and plunder [God’s] property without first tying up [God]; then indeed the house can be plundered.

And that makes me wonder, what does it mean to “tie up God”?

What are the ways that we try to restrain God?

To limit what God is doing?

And when we hear the verse this way, does it help us to understand the futility of trying to bind up God?

There is an artist named David who draws cartoons about faith and God, and one of his cartoons shows a person shoving a large body – you can see the feet and one of the hands – into a box labeled “THEOLOGY”.[i]

Too often, we try to force God to fit into our boxes, our categories, and our understanding, but God is too big for that.

When we allow our ideas to define God, instead of the other way around, we are limiting God. We are, in effect, “tying up the strong man.” And

allowing God’s house to be plundered;

permitting God’s love to be taken away and meted out by others like a miser with his money, instead of letting it flow abundantly and lavishly.

We do this in big ways and small:

when we use God’s name to say someone is not welcome or loved;

when we suggest someone must change to be accepted;

when we insist our way is the only right way.

Whenever we fall into the habit of looking at the world as black and white, or binary, and not allowing for the possibility of more.

God is bigger.
And thankfully, God is stronger than we are, and will be triumphant.

For our part, we are called to be united in Christ, because we are siblings in Christ, and we are stronger together.

At the end of May, I participated in the Gathering of the North Carolina Synod; on the main stage, there was a piece of art that was commissioned for the Gathering. The artist shared these words about the piece which featured a silver cross with a red heart at its center. Pastor Paul Birkedal wrote:

[The upper cross piece] is bordered by three single strands of jute with a single strand in the middle coming down as if from heaven to touch the heart. On closer inspection, one might see the outward strands curve like hands to caress or bless the heart as does the love of the Creator for the Son. The other cross-pieces are bordered by braided strands of jute. This represents the participation of our involvement in the cross of Christ and of the strength that we, as God’s beloved, receive as we work together as God’s people.[ii]

This time, listening to the gospel, I didn’t hear only about one person of the Trinity – Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, or God, but how all three are present and at work, and how we must work together as God’s people, united and not divided.

Let us pray…

Mighty God,

Thank you for your boundless love for your children.

Thank you for your abiding presence and for the strength you give us to live, united by your love for us.

Help us be instruments of your peace and mercy in a divided world.

We pray in your Holy Name,

Amen.

---

[i] https://nakedpastor.com/products/god-box-cartoon-1?variant=34479267512487

[ii] We are More Than Victorious” Synod Gathering Bulletin Cover Art on Mixed Media, Based on Romans 8:35-39 with Emphasis on v. 37

Lectionary 9B

 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Between Thursday and Saturday, I participated in the North Carolina Synod’s gathering at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The theme for the Gathering was “We are More”, taken from lines from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans where he is writing about the suffering of the present day, and asks, rhetorically, how God’s people ought to respond, and whether we should despair. He answers his own question, writing,

“No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:38)

Throughout the Gathering, in worship and in conversation, we reflected on what it means to be more ̶ to be more than us and them, and to be “we”.

 And while I was there, I read the verses we have today from another of Paul’s letters, this time not to the Romans, but to the church in Corinth. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was writing to help the young congregation there navigate the thorny places where faith and life conflict. Knowing there were conflicts in the community there, Paul wrote to remind them of their unity in Christ Jesus.[i] Our reading today comes from his second letter, and at this point, Paul’s relationship with the believers in Corinth is more strained. (2 Corinthians 2) They have been hosting teachers whose teachings are contrary to the Gospel, and now there are divided loyalties among God’s people. There is an “us” and a “them”.

That’s why our reading begins with Paul reminding God’s people, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord….” (4:5)

We find our identity in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Our identity is sealed by the Holy Spirit at the font in baptism. To borrow from Paul again,

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:7-8 NRS)

For us, as Christians, Christ Jesus is at the center.

Never ourselves. Never another human being or ideology.

When Paul writes in this letter, “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7), Christ is the treasure. The love of God, abundant and boundless, for each and every one of us; the forgiveness of our sin and our redemption and sanctification –that happens in relationship with God. It is the treasure that we are given when we are named God’s children. We don’t find it or earn it, but receive it, freely from the God who created us and loves us.

We are the clay jars. We are the fragile, mortal vessels that carry Christ into the world, whose hearts shine on the world that they may know God’s love and mercy. We are the vessels through which God’s love reaches our neighbors, that expansive “we” that encompasses both “us” and “them”.

I was challenged in our conversations to think about who I might name as “us” and “them”, in my own complicity in dividing the world into parts.

It is human instinct.

Just like Pastor Jonathan is dedicated to the Gamecocks, as far back as I can remember, I have watched Duke basketball. Maybe you’ve heard how serious the rivalry between Duke and Carolina is.

Both my mom and my dad went to Duke, and my granddaddy worked at the Medical Center there. We have always cheered for Duke!

But there was a faithful couple in my first congregation who were Carolina fans, and I did learn to cheer for Carolina, as long as they weren’t playing Duke!

In a more serious vein, you may have noticed I am a woman in ministry.

Within the Christian faith, there are siblings in Christ, even within Lutheranism, who do not condone women in ministry and who would not recognize my ordination or allow me to preach or preside at Holy Communion. It is easy for me to “other” those believers and dismiss them as unworthy of relationship. And yet, listening to Paul’s words, I must remember what we heard earlier, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord….” (4:5) I don’t have to agree with others or even share the same beliefs to enter into relationship with my siblings in Christ if I begin with God’s love for us all.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy, or fun. It is really hard. Paul tells us,

⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  

⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

¹¹ For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. (4:8-11)

Afflicted,

perplexed,

persecuted and

stricken,

all for Jesus’ sake.

I can watch a ballgame with Carolina fans. It’s harder, but not impossible, to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t honor the ordination of women. Harder still to have honest, hard conversations with people whose beliefs are different than mine about who God is, or about how to solve the problems of the world and who should make those decisions.

The kingdom of God is broader than my opinions,

no matter how right I believe I am.

The kingdom of God is bigger than my imagination,

because it isn’t Christina’s kingdom, it is God’s.

If we are going to be “more than” we are,

we must widen our embrace to include those we would other.

To include those with whom we disagree on big things and small.

We must proclaim Christ Jesus, and not ourselves,

that Christ’s light will shine through us to a hurting world.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for the abundant and boundless love and mercy that you freely give us.

Thank you for your Son Jesus, in whom we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

Show us how to widen our embrace of those who are different from us; give us wisdom and help us love well,

Not because we are the same, not because we are in full agreement, but because we belong to you.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

---

[i] Luther Seminary. EntertheBible.org

Trinity Sunday (Día de la Trinidad)

John 3:1-17

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos...                
Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean agradables a tus ojos, oh, Señor, fortaleza y redentor nuestro. Amén.
 
Uno de los podcasts que escucho habla sobre la Biblia y discute cuidadosamente ideas sobre lo que Dios está haciendo en las Escrituras sin usar lo que llaman "lenguaje de vitrales". Para aquellos de nosotros que pasamos mucho tiempo en la iglesia y en conversación con personas que asisten a la iglesia, olvidamos fácilmente cuántas de las palabras que usamos no tienen sentido más allá de las puertas de la iglesia. Ciertamente, hay palabras extrañas y difíciles como "perichoresis" y "escatología", pero incluso palabras más comunes como "bautismo" y "salvación" son malinterpretadas, y, en este domingo, dentro y fuera de la Iglesia, creo que todos estamos confundidos por el significado de la "Trinidad".
 
Hoy es el Domingo de la Trinidad, uno de los pocos días festivos en la Iglesia que no se centra en una persona o evento, sino en la idea teológica de que Dios es tres personas en una. A menudo, los predicadores intentan explicar la Trinidad, pero las metáforas se desmoronan.
 
Un teólogo escribió:

cuando los seres humanos tratamos de describir a Dios, somos como un montón de ostiones tratando de describir a una bailarina. Simplemente no tenemos el equipo para entender algo que está más allá de nosotros, pero eso nunca nos ha impedido intentarlo.[i]

 
No voy a tratar de explicarlo. Creo que está bien que, como gran parte de nuestra vida con Dios, esté más allá de la comprensión humana.
 
Entonces, ¿por qué celebramos el Domingo de la Trinidad?
 
Bueno, la teología importa.
 
Recuerdo que en el seminario aprendí que la definición de teología es cómo pensamos acerca de Dios. Según esa definición, cualquiera que hable de sus ideas sobre Dios es un teólogo. Cada uno de nosotros.
La teología importa porque todo el mundo tiene ideas acerca de Dios. Incluso las personas que no creen en Dios están diciendo algo acerca de Dios al declarar su incredulidad.
 
Y nuestras creencias acerca de Dios dan forma a nuestra identidad. Como Pablo escribe a los Romanos, "todos los que son guiados por el Espíritu de Dios, son hijos de Dios". (Romanos 8:14.)
 
Y nuestras creencias acerca de Dios dan forma a nuestra respuesta al mundo que nos rodea. Como cristianos, estamos llamados a responder al mundo de manera diferente a como si no estuviéramos siguiendo a Jesús.
 
El Evangelio de hoy es una historia familiar. Nicodemo es un fariseo que viene por la noche a hablar con Jesús, buscando entendimiento.
 
No sabemos por qué viene de noche, pero podemos especular. Tal vez Nicodemo estaba siendo reservado porque seguir a Jesús no era una respuesta popular entre sus compañeros. O tal vez reflejaba su propia incertidumbre acerca de quién era Jesús. Aprovechando la oscuridad, no tuvo que reconciliar sus creencias como líder religioso con su deseo de encontrarse con el que se llamaba el Mesías. No tenía que responder a las preguntas de los demás sobre a dónde iba o por qué.
 
Pero está claro que para Nicodemo, la comprensión es difícil de alcanzar. A cada paso de la conversación, cuando Jesús habla de Dios y de lo que Dios está haciendo, Nicodemo trata de decirlo en términos terrenales. Están hablando el uno al otro o por encima del otro, sin conexión ni entendimiento.
 
Estoy agradecida por Nicodemo, en primer lugar, porque nos muestra que incluso los expertos religiosos de la época luchaban por entender la actividad de Dios en el mundo, ¡y tenían a Jesús allí en la tierra con ellos! Creo que Nicodemo nos ayuda a ver cómo existe una tensión entre lo que entendemos que es el mundo y lo que Dios quiere que sea el mundo.
 
Y segundo, porque la historia no termina perfectamente con Nicodemo de repente teniendo un entendimiento milagroso. Los siguientes versículos dicen que después de que Jesús termina de hablar con Nicodemo, se va y continúa viajando con sus discípulos.
A Nicodemo le queda reflexionar sobre lo que Jesús dijo, luchar con ello y ahora reconciliar lo que creía y lo que había oído de Jesús.
 
Y creo que esa es una definición fiel del discipulado:
leer y observar, escuchar y luchar con lo que la actividad de Dios en el mundo significa para nosotros y cómo vivimos.
 
Jesús concluye su conversación con Nicodemo, diciendo las palabras que ahora conocemos tan bien:

Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo el que cree en él no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna. En efecto, Dios no envió al Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para que el mundo sea salvo por él.

 
Y con esas palabras, Jesús describe el poder redentor y lleno de gracia de Dios para unir a las personas en una sola comunidad. Es una comunidad amada y vivificante que nos invita a cada uno de nosotros a la plenitud del amor de Dios por nosotros y por nuestro prójimo.
 
Si bien no sabemos lo que Nicodemo decidió acerca de Jesús, nuevamente podemos especular porque regresa a la historia después de la crucifixión. Esa noche, Nicodemo trae especias y aceites para ungir el cuerpo de Jesús para su entierro. Claramente, él no dejó su encuentro nocturno con Jesús sin cambios, y nosotros tampoco podemos hacerlo.
 
Oremos,
Dios de vida abundante y misericordia,
Gracias por tu Espíritu que nos guía,
Para que Tu Hijo nos enseñe,
Y por tu amor transformándonos
por el bien del mundo.
Amén.

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[i] Barbara Brown Taylor, citando a Robert Farrar Capon, "Three Hands Clapping", en Home By Another Way, Boston: Cowley Publications, 1999, 152-153.

John 3:1-17

Let us pray…         

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

One of the podcasts I listen to talks about the Bible and carefully discusses ideas about what God is doing in Scripture without using what they call “stained glass language”. For those of us who spend a lot of time in church and in conversation with people who attend church, we easily forget how many of the words we use don’t make sense beyond the doors of the church. Certainly, there are strange, difficult words like “perichoresis” and “eschatology” but even more common words like “baptism” and “salvation” are misunderstood, and, on this Sunday, inside and outside the Church, I think we are all confounded by the meaning of the “Trinity.”

Today is Trinity Sunday, one of the few festival days in the Church that is centered not on a person or event, but on the theological idea that that God is three persons in one. Often preachers attempt to explain the Trinity but the metaphors fall apart.

One theologian wrote,

when human beings try to describe God we are like a bunch of oysters trying to describe a ballerina. We simply do not have the equipment to understand something so utterly beyond us, but that has never stopped us from trying.[i]

I am not going to try to explain it. I think it’s okay that it, like so much of our life with God, is beyond human understanding.

So why do we observe Trinity Sunday?

Well, theology matters.

I remember in seminary learning that the definition of theology is how we think about God. By that definition, anyone who talks about their ideas about God is a theologian. Every one of us.

Theology matters because everyone has ideas about God.
Even people who don’t believe in God are saying something about God by stating their unbelief.

And our beliefs about God shape our identity. As Paul writes to the Romans, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:14)

And our beliefs about God shape our response to the world around us. As Christians, we are called to respond to the world differently than if we are not following Jesus.

Today’s Gospel is a familiar story. Nicodemus is a Pharisee who comes at night to speak to Jesus, seeking understanding.

We don’t know why he comes at night, but we can speculate. Perhaps Nicodemus was being secretive because following Jesus wasn’t a popular response among his peers. Or perhaps it reflected his own uncertainty about who Jesus was. Under the cover of darkness, he didn’t have to reconcile his beliefs as a religious leader with his desire to encounter the one being called the Messiah. He didn’t have to answer questions from others about where he was going or why.

But it’s clear that for Nicodemus, understanding is elusive. At each turn in the conversation, when Jesus talks about God and what God is doing, Nicodemus tries to frame it in earthy terms. They are talking at or over each other, without connection or understanding.

I am grateful for Nicodemus, first, because he shows us that even the religious experts of the day struggled to understand God’s activity in the world, and they had Jesus there on earth with them! I think Nicodemus helps us see how tension exists between what we understand the world to be and what God intends the world to be.

And second, because the story doesn’t wrap up neatly with Nicodemus suddenly having a miraculous understanding. The next verses say that after Jesus finishes speaking with Nicodemus, he leaves and continues traveling with his disciples.

Nicodemus is left to ponder what Jesus said, to wrestle with it and now to reconcile what he believed and what he has heard from Jesus.

And I think that is a faithful definition of discipleship:

to read and observe, to listen, and to wrestle with what God’s activity in the world means for us and how we live.

Jesus concludes his conversation with Nicodemus, saying the words that are so well-known to us now:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

And with those words, Jesus describes the grace-filled and redemptive power of God to unite people together in one community. It is a life-giving, beloved community that invites each one of us into the fullness of God’s love for us and for our neighbors.

While we don’t know what Nicodemus decided about Jesus, again we can speculate because he returns to the narrative after the crucifixion. That night, Nicodemus brings spices and oils to anoint Jesus’ body for burial. Clearly, he did not leave his nighttime encounter with Jesus unchanged, and neither can we.

Let us pray,

God of abundant life and mercy,

Thank you for your Spirit leading us,

For Your Son teaching us,

And for your love transforming us

All for the sake of the world.

Amen.

[i] Barbara Brown Taylor, quoting Robert Farrar Capon, “Three Hands Clapping,” in Home By Another Way, Boston: Cowley Publications, 1999), 152-153.

Day of Pentecost

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

Last week, we remembered the Ascension of Jesus, when he left the disciples with the promise that they would receive power from on high, and today the Acts text tells us what happened ten days later when the disciples and “Jews from every nation were gathered” were filled with the Holy Spirit, but today’s gospel returns us to a time when Jesus is still with his disciples, before the crucifixion.

These verses are part of what’s called the “Farewell Discourse” and it is the second time we hear this promise from Jesus, that he will send an Advocate to the disciples when he leaves them. (14:16, 15:26, 16:13)

So, what does it mean that we have an advocate?

The Spanish word for lawyer is “abogado” or “advocate” and certainly, one definition of an advocate is “one who pleads in a court of law”, but advocates have other public roles, too, pleading for the care of the vulnerable or becoming a champion for a cause or policy in the public square. We speak favorably of “patient advocates” and “guardians ad litem” who advocate for children in cases of abuse or neglect.

When Jesus promises that he is sending an advocate to us, he is acknowledging what we are so often reluctant to admit – that we are vulnerable, and that we are we are dependent upon God for our understanding and for our strength and endurance, against the powers and principalities of this world.

After all, Jesus has traveled with Peter and the other disciples, and has seen how they still do not understand when he tells them that He is the Messiah, sent by God to us. He has heard their questions and misunderstanding and confusion. He knows that, like our ancestors in faith before us, we will falter, and we will continue to need God’s salvation from our brokenness and sin.

And so, he promises to send an Advocate who will intercede on our behalf, and who will defend us against the powers that rebel against God and draw us away from God.

Other names we hear for the Holy Spirit are helper, comforter, or counselor, but in his description, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit both an Advocate and the “Spirit of truth” and promises that this Spirit will abide with us and in us. (14:17)

Psalm 43 when the psalmist is addressing God, also says,

“O, send out your light and your truth; let them lead me,….”

So, on one hand, yes! we have an advocate who is for us. But I think we are also guided by this same advocate,who is the “Spirit of truth”, to speak truth into difficult situations and be advocates for others.

A preacher I know tells the story of a woman who was suffering from addiction who found herself in despair one night. Somewhere along the way her mother had given her the phone number for a counselor, and, at some point in that very long night, as the minutes stretched into hours, she pulled out the scrap of paper, and called the number.

She poured out her story to the person who answered the phone. The two of them stayed on the line talking until daybreak. In the early morning light, the woman thanked the person on the phone and complimented them for caring so well, and for listening to her, saying, “How long have been a counselor?” And the person answered her, saying, “I have to admit that the number you called was a wrong number. I’m not a counselor. I’m a nobody. But I knew I couldn’t hang up on you [i]

And today, when the woman tells this story, she says, “It only takes a tiny pinhole of hope to let grace come flowing into your life.”

In faith, we are guided by God’s light and truth, through God’s Holy Spirit, and when we show up for others, in our words and actions, we are ambassadors of the hope that is in us through Christ Jesus.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “…hope that is seen is not hope…. ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” And it occurred to me that hope can be a difficult thing to explain.

One could say a hope is a dream, an aspiration, even a wish. But it is more than that. Poet Emily Dickinson wrote,

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,…[ii]

And Dickinson isn’t wrong, hope is unstoppable.

But Christian hope is grounded in the knowledge of Christ Jesus and of the truth of the gospel that tells us “God so loves the world that God gave God’s only Son …in order that the world may be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17) 

When Jesus is speaking to the disciples, he says that they “are to testify because they have been with him from the beginning.” But that doesn’t mean that we are off the hook!

And although we did not meet Jesus face to face during his earthly ministry, we do have the testimony of our ancestors in faith - generations upon generations of those who came before us, who testify to the ongoing power of God in their lives.

And today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth is alive in us, and we too can be witnesses to those who may not yet know the truth of God’s love for each and every one of us.

Let us pray,

Holy and loving God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus who came and lived among us to show us your boundless love.

Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to us to advocate for us when we turn away from you, and to guide us and lead us in truth.

Help us to show up for those who are hurting and vulnerable, that all may know your love.

We pray in your Holy name,

Amen.

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[i] Pastor Taylor Mertins, “Crackers and Grape Juice” podcast, May 17, 2021.

[ii] Emily Dickinson, “‘Hope’ is the Thing with Feathers” from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.

Ascension of our Lord (La Ascensión de nuestro Señor)

Lucas 24:44-53

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos… Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestro corazón sean aceptables ante tus ojos, oh Señor, fortaleza nuestra y redentor nuestro. Amén.

El evangelio de hoy es la historia de la Ascensión: cuarenta días después de la resurrección, Jesús se despide definitivamente de los discípulos que lo acompañaron a lo largo de su ministerio terrenal.

Aunque Lucas es el único escritor del evangelio que incluye un relato de la Ascensión, hay escolares que dicen que este día es tan importante como la natividad, la crucifixión e incluso la resurrección.

En el nacimiento, vemos cómo Dios viene a la tierra como un ser humano que experimentará todos los altibajos que ofrece la experiencia mortal.

La crucifixión exige que veamos cómo nosotros mismos somos cómplices del rechazo del amor de Dios por nosotros.

Y la resurrección nos asegura que el pecado y la muerte nunca tendrán la última palabra; que Dios es victorioso sobre todas las cosas. 

Pero la historia cristiana no termina con la resurrección.

Si bien escuchamos promesas similares de Jesús en el evangelio de Juan, el relato de Lucas sobre la Ascensión es la primera vez en los evangelios sinópticos (los evangelios de Mateo, Marcos y Lucas) que se nos promete que el Espíritu de Dios estará con nosotros después de que Jesús se haya ido de nuestro vista. 

La promesa que se da es que Dios enviará “poder de lo alto”, el mismo Espíritu de Dios, el Espíritu Santo. (v. 49) y que los discípulos o seguidores de Jesús serán revestidos de este poder.

Cuando escucho la promesa de que seremos revestidos de este poder de lo alto, recuerdo cómo Jesús, después de su propio bautismo y tentación en el desierto, “regresó en el poder del espíritu” para comenzar su ministerio terrenal. (Lucas 4) Y también escucho un eco de las palabras de la acción de gracias por el bautismo que recuerda: “Todos los que son bautizados en Cristo están vestidos de Cristo” o “están revestidos de Cristo”. (ELW 280; Gálatas 3:27)

Uno de los dones del bautismo en nuestra comprensión luterana es que se trata de la acción de Dios por nosotros. Recuerde, ¡Dios recibe todos los verbos!

Dios es quien nos llama hijos de Dios,

y Dios es quien nos equipa para la vida como discípulos.

Nos presentamos y recibimos el don de este sacramento, para ser llamados hijos de Dios.

El bautismo es el comienzo de nuestra vida de fe, y regresamos a la comunidad de creyentes, y especialmente a la mesa, para ser nutridos en esa fe, una y otra vez.

En el Pequeño Catecismo, Martín Lutero enseña que el Espíritu Santo es Quien nos llama, nos santifica y nos mantiene en la fe. No es posible por nuestro propio entendimiento o fuerza, sino sólo por la obra de Dios en nosotros.

En el evangelio, cuando Jesús promete que recibiremos el poder del Espíritu Santo,

nuevamente se nos recuerda que es Dios quien nos transforma,

y nos hace testigos de todo lo que Dios hace posible.

El poder que se nos ha dado es Dios obrando a través de nosotros.

Nunca es poder sobre los demás, para avergonzarlos o coaccionarlos.

Y nunca es por nuestro propio interés.

Siempre se nos da poder para compartir con otros que ellos sabrán que el amor de Dios es para ellos también.

Es el poder que vemos cuando Jesús derriba barreras y crea una bienvenida más amplia.

Es el poder que vemos cuando Jesús sana a los que han sido expulsados y ama a los que han sido ignorados.

Es el poder de Dios obrando a través de nuestras palabras y acciones, a través de nuestras voces, nuestras manos y nuestros pies.

En el siglo dieciseis, Santa Teresa de Ávila fue una noble española de raíces judías. [i]  Fue una Monja carmelita y mística, escribió las siguientes palabras que creo que son una comisión del Día de la Ascensión para nosotros y para todos los que seguimos a Jesús:

Cristo no tiene ahora ningún cuerpo, excepto el tuyo.

No hay manos, ni pies en la tierra, excepto los tuyos.

Tuyos son los ojos con los que mira.

Con compasión en este mundo.

Al reflexionar sobre lo que significa para nosotros estar revestidos del Espíritu Santo y el poder de Dios, que siempre seamos Cristo para aquellos con quienes nos encontremos.

Oremos…

Santo Dios,

Gracias por tu Hijo Jesús que nos muestra lo que puede ser tu reino aquí en la tierra.

Ayúdanos a recordar siempre que nunca nos dejas ni nos abandonas.

Tu Espíritu Santo prometido está con nosotros, fortaleciéndonos y capacitándonos para ser tus testigos en el mundo y mostrar a otros tu amor. 

Ayúdanos a vivir como tus discípulos. 

Amén.

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[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila

Luke 24:44-53

Today’s gospel is the story of the Ascension: forty days after the resurrection, Jesus says a final farewell to the disciples who have accompanied him throughout his earthly ministry.

Although Luke is the only gospel writer who includes an account of the Ascension, there are scholars who say this day is just as important as the nativity, the crucifixion, and even the resurrection.

In the nativity, we see how God comes to earth as a human who will experience all the highs and lows that mortal experience offers.

The crucifixion demands that we see how we ourselves are complicit in rejecting God’s love for us.

And the resurrection assures us that sin and death never get the last word; that God is victorious over all things.

But the Christian story doesn’t end with the resurrection.

While we hear similar promises from Jesus in John’s gospel, Luke’s account of the Ascension is the first time in the synoptic gospels – the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke -that we are promised God’s Spirit will be with us after Jesus is gone from our sight.

The promise that is given is that God will send “power from on high”, the very Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. (v. 49) and that Jesus’ disciples, or followers, will be clothed with this power.

When I hear the promise that we will be clothed with this power from on high, I recall how Jesus, after his own baptism and temptation in the wilderness, “returned in the power of the spirit” to begin his earthly ministry. (Luke 4) And I also hear an echo of the words from the thanksgiving for baptism that remembers, “All who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ” or “been clothed with Christ”. (ELW 280; Gal. 3:27)

One of the gifts of baptism in our Lutheran understanding is that it is all about God’s action for us. Remember, God gets all the verbs!

God is the one who calls us children of God,

and God is the one who equips us for life as disciples.

We show up, and we receive the gift of this sacrament, to be called children of God.

Baptism is the beginning of our life of faith, and we return to the community of believers, and especially to the table, to be nourished in that faith, again and again.

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther teaches that the Holy Spirit is the One who calls us, makes us holy and keep us in faith. It is not possible by our own understanding or strength, but only by God working in us.

In the gospel, when Jesus promises that we will receive the power of the Holy Spirit,

we are again reminded that it is God who transform us,

and makes us witnesses of all that God makes possible.

The power that is given to us is God working through us.

It is never power over others, to shame them or to coerce them.

And it is never for our own self-interest.

It is always power that is given to us to share with others that they would know God’s love is for them as well.

It is the power we see when Jesus breaks down barriers and creates a wider welcome.

It is the power we see when Jesus heals those who have been cast out and loves those who have been ignored.

It is the power of God working through our words and actions, through our voices, our hands and our feet.

In the sixteenth century, Saint Teresa of Avila was a Spanish noblewoman with Jewish roots.[i] A Carmelite nun and a mystic, she wrote the following words that I believe are an Ascension Day commission for us and for all who follow Jesus:

Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks
With compassion on this world.

As we reflect on what it means for us to be clothed with God’s Holy Spirit and the power of God, may we always be Christ to those whom we meet.

Let us pray…

Holy God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus who shows us what your kingdom can be here on earth.

Help us always remember you never leave us or forsake us.

Your promised Holy Spirit is with us, strengthening us and empowering us to be your witnesses in the world, and to how others your love.

Help us live as your disciples.

Amen.

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[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila