This is a special musical presentation of Hear, Oh Israel, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

Another incident of gun violence in Maine. Israel has begun stage 2 their ground attack. We have a new Speaker of the House. People have all different ways of viewing these things. Christians have different ways of viewing these things. Thus, what is the churches’ role in all of these things.

Some would say stay out of it. Can we do that if we are commanded to love our neighbor when our neighbor includes everyone? Our neighbors are affected by gun violence, whatever decisions the House now makes, and innocent people are being killed and dying in the Israel/Hamas conflict.

I would not tell you how to act on these things, but I will suggest through what lens to view them. Feelings are involved in all of these things and as much as they can give energy, they can also skew our lens in which to view them. So, what role does the church play in these things? I do not believe that the church should tell us what to believe about these things, but rather who to believe in, in order to see what our role and view of them is.

In the gospel of John, Jesus tells us that the way to God is through Him. First of all, we are told that Jesus was from the beginning, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God and became flesh and stayed with us for a while. Jesus goes on to say that he is the way, the truth and the life and he is the only way to God. In today’s Gospel lesson we are told that if we abide in the Word, we will truly be Jesus’ disciples and we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.

There is a great deal packed into these two verses. Jesus is the Word, and we are called to abide in Jesus. When I think of abide I think of embracing. We can embrace in different amounts of strength and energy.

So today I would like us to think about embracing Jesus the Word with as much strength and energy as we can. Jesus has also told us that he is the way, the truth, and the life. With what kind of strength and energy do we embrace Jesus. It will be different in different times of our life and can be different every day and hour.

With the amount of strength and energy that we embrace Jesus, will be how clearly we are able to see what Jesus wants us to see and then act. This is an individual journey that then intersects with others in the body of Christ. As we share what we learn through embracing the word with each other, Jesus’ vision for us as individuals and as a community of faith can become clearer.

It is in this relationship with Jesus, embracing the word, Jesus, that we can discover the truth and experience freedom to love our neighbor. We still may not view all things in the same way, but we will be at a better place to listen and see Jesus in our neighbors. Martin Luther taught this. This is what I believe allows us to love our neighbor better as we have been commanded to do.

For me embracing the Word is about a relationship with Jesus, both personal and corporate. Each one of us are in relationship with a number of people. We gauge how much we embrace these relationships. Those closet to us get more strength and energy in our embrace.

We all have experience embracing people. What does that look like for us? It has to do with amount of time and the quality of it. There is only so much time in each day, thus we do have to make choices. When it comes to family and close friends it also has to do with the time that we are not physically present with them. Are we thinking about them, does our behavior represent them well, let alone ourselves?

It is difficult to embrace someone fully without seeing them, but that is what God in Jesus Christ is asking us to do. God’s history with God’s creation says that we can trust this relationship. God has given us the tools we need to live with each other. Unfortunately, we need reminders of this all the time. We as human beings do not learn very well from history.

Since it is Reformation Sunday, it is always good to hear what Luther has to say about the Word. Martin Luther felt that the Word was the fundamental reality from which everything follows. For Luther this included tangible, material reality. As I mentioned earlier, he also said that we should see Christ in our neighbor.

This does not mean only our Christian neighbors. Thus, when we look at gun violence, world conflicts and work of our government, do we see Christ at work? To God in Jesus Christ, the shooters in gun violence, the new speaker of the house and people on both sides of the Israel/Hamas conflict are important to God in Jesus Christ. No matter what party you identify with, we are asked to see Christ in the new speaker of the house. Some will say yes of course, others may say not with his history on some issues, but God calls us to look for Christ in him. The conflict between Hamas and Israel includes many other people. We are asked to see Christ in all of them.

Through our human eyes we can’t see Christ in everyone, but through Jesus’ eyes and trying to see Jesus in our neighbor it is possible. I believe this is what will reduce the hate in this world, the insecurity in this world, the desire to always have power and control. We are called to embrace the Word, Jesus.

When we embrace the Word, Jesus, it will give us more of the ability to see the truth. The truth can empower us and show love to our neighbor. The ability to see more clearly also means then that we will be able to see what does not line up with Jesus through what we can see. When actions and words do not line up with loving our neighbor, it is sin.

This is where we need to be careful. We do not determine someone’s salvation. We are not the judge either. God in Jesus Christ has already done this. We are, however, called to speak out about what we see, but in love.

I am asking you to view people and issues through Jesus’ eyes. He is the Word. When we embrace Him through the study of the written Word and then ask and listen we can see more clearly what is right for us. It is important to remember it is still about living in community and what is best for it. We have been commanded to love our neighbor

This community of faith has, through Jesus’ eyes, has seen, chosen and has stated that all people are to be loved and accepted. You have seen through Jesus’ eyes as individuals and then as a community that this is what we are called to do. We have embraced the Word, Jesus, to come to this belief.

In looking at what is going on in our country and world, this then informs our role and view. When we look at our neighbor through the eyes of retribution, and taking away power and control and viewing others as less than, which puts  our neighbor in a negative, non-loving light. As human beings we are capable of this.

I cannot fully tell you what to see in your view, but what I am asking you to do is to embrace the Word, Jesus. Spend time with Jesus the person and written word as it is all Jesus. This is what gives us more of the ability to see more clearly what our role is and the role of the church as we navigate such issues as gun violence, the government and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

I believe that we do have a choice of how we view our neighbor. It is not easy as our neighbors often say or do things that is not what we are seeing. Remember that we are someone’s neighbor also.

Today I am challenging us to embrace the Word, Jesus Christ with great strength and energy and then we will be free to love our neighbor as we have been commanded to do by God in Jesus Christ.

Join Bishop Craig A. Satterlee as he shares the sermon on October 22 at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos. Michigan.

When I can read for fun, I enjoy reading mysteries. I remember reading the Happy Hollisters when I was in late elementary school. It was about a family who figured things out. When I go on vacation I have read a number of books by James Patterson and Tess Gerritson. I like to figure things out. Some of these stories leave you until the very end before everything falls into place.

Jesus likes to tell stories that leave us scratching our heads, such as the parable of the wedding banquet which is our Gospel lesson for today. Over the years we have often tried to equate God in some way with one of the characters. That doesn’t work this time. 

When we try to compare God to the king, at first it seems to fit as the king was inviting everyone to the wedding banquet. The wedding banquet sometimes has been thought of as the final banquet where we all sit down with Christ. But people don’t seem to be interested in coming.

This celebration and how it went reflected on the king. Thus, when people started refusing to come, needless to say, the king was not happy. He sent his slaves or servants out to entice them with what he was offering at the banquet. They made light of it and some even took his slaves, mistreated them and even killed them.

Now the king was enraged. He then sent his troops to destroy the murderers and burn their city. Now this is where it is difficult to compare the king to the God that we know. God’s invitation to the eternal banquet is not shrouded in violence. God freely invites all people.

Then he sent his slaves out to the streets to gather all the people, good and bad. It was important for him to look good and thus he needed to fill the banquet hall. When the king came out to greet his guests, he noticed that one did not have the appropriate attire.

Now I am not sure what the king expected as the people that were there, were from the streets. I’m surprised that more were not appropriately attired, but then maybe the story only needed one to make the point. The king had expectations for this banquet, even though he had to basically have his staff go out and find people.

The point that we can take from this parable is that God invites everyone to the banquet. Everyone is part of God’s family. This is why we cannot compare the king to God. God invites all and does not throw anyone out. God accepts us where we are at. Now that makes sense, but we had to dig through the parable to get there.

Jesus doesn’t always make it easy. Jesus wanted to make sure that the people were listening, the chief priests and Pharisees and I’m sure others were paying attention too. He knew that culture may have said that the king had the power to do what he did. It was his party, and he was the ruler and there were expectations for the proper attire.

The chief priests and Pharisees were placing expectations on the people in regard to the law. Once again Jesus was trying to point out that they were not modeling it nor had the correct interpretation of the law. Could Jesus then be related to the rejected man as they were both not people’s expectations?

What would have happened if the man who was not dressed appropriately would have stayed? Who was he going to hurt? It was really about the king’s expectations and how the king would be looked upon by others. If he didn’t make a scene, I guess people would have thought less of the king.

Remember last week Jesus quoted Psalm 118 and said that the very stone that the builders rejected was now going to be the cornerstone. Jesus was referring to himself. Jesus was upsetting the applecart. Jesus had a new interpretation of the law. One that saw the law out of the eyes of love.

Jesus saw the law as a way to give structure to the kingdom, the community. It seems that this is what God intended when he gave the law. It was now being used for the gain of individuals and not the community. Has it changed?

Last week I mentioned the black race and the horrific things that we as the white race did and continue to do to them. This is the same as with the Indigenous People. The true history for both of these races and our treatment of them need to be told truthfully. 

As we learn the true history, we will be able to see more and more of the rejection of people because they were different than we are. Different does not mean less than. Unfortunately, this seems to be part of our human nature. 

What I also see in history is that the world revolves around land and control. As history went on money was also included. History continues to repeat itself right up to today. 

          Could part of what we see in the Middle East be history repeating itself? Unfortunately, we cannot change what is going on in the Middle East. I believe what we can do is to learn the true history and to work on not repeating the rejection. Our anxiety gets in the way of listening to the stories of our brothers and sisters of other races. Most of them are not easy stories to hear, but they are all important.

As Christians, it is not our call to go and tell them what to do let alone that they must believe in Christ. So many people of other races have a distrust of the white race, they may not even trust us even  if we choose to share our faith. Recently, I have been having conversations with my trainer, who is white, and he wonders about the church’s rejection of races and minority groups in general.

I believe one thing that we are doing honors what we have learned from our Indigenous people and that is the work of our Green Team. The Indigenous People have known how to care for the land and so many in the past would not listen to their wisdom. We are being respectful of the land and using the natural resources that God has given us and this is honoring the wisdom of the Indigenous People.

As we continue to move through this time of transition, I challenge us to really listen first to each other. When we get to looking at the needs of the community, to try and find ways to welcome and affirm other cultures and races in our community.

In the kingdom of heaven which Faith Lutheran church is part of we are called to view and treat all races and cultures equally and affirm them and not reject them. God’s love through Jesus is for all equally.

This is a special musical presentation of My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with Gwynne Kadrofske on flute and Ian Morgan on oboe at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is telling yet another parable. I wonder if Jesus doesn’t think that his crowd, which included church leaders, chief priests and Pharisees, were not getting his point. Or maybe Jesus knew they understood what he was saying but they were not willing to admit it. Here Jesus was telling another story that was really about his audience, especially the church leaders.

I can’t directly recall anyone or myself fully using this approach to get a point across. But what does come to mind is an Old Testament character that listened to a story told by a prophet, and he recognized himself in the story. That character being David.

So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.  One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”

David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!  He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.  I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.  Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

David Confesses His Guilt

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.“ Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord^[a] by doing this, your child will die.”

David fasted and wept while the child was alive, as he thought that Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to him and let the child live. But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”

Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David^[c] named him Solomon.

David recognized that he was the person in the story and confessed his separation from God, his sin. What he realized is that he had misused the power that he had been given. He used his power to take advantage of many people. This is the issue here as well as in our Gospel lesson.

God have given the chief priests and Pharisees a great deal of power and control which they used for their gain and not the gain of others. Does this sound like last week’s sermon? Jesus is still making the same point.

In our Gospel lesson we have a landowner, which we can relate to God. The landowner gave his tenants, which can be related to the chief priests and Pharisees, responsibility over the land and the agreement was that they would pay the landowner for the use of the land. The tenants thought that they would exert power and control over the landowner and not pay him and keep the land.

When it came time to collect, the landowner sent first his slaves to collect the payment. The tenants killed one and stoned the other. More slaves were sent with the same treatment. The landowner sent his son thinking the tenants would respect his son, but no they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

The tenants felt that since they were on the land they were in control. Of course, when Jesus asked what would happen when the landowner came, the chief priests and Pharisees said that he would put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the land to other tenants. But wait a minute, who was Jesus really talking about?

Jesus reminded them of the scripture, Psalm 118:22 that the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The cornerstone was and is Jesus, which they were rejecting. Jesus tells them that since they are not producing fruit in the kingdom that the kingdom will be taken away from them.

Once again they wanted to arrest Jesus, but he had the backing of the crowds as they looked at Jesus as a prophet. Thus, they were scared to arrest him. Jesus was questioning their teaching of the law. 

We would like to say that we are not like the tenants or the chief priests and Pharisees. In reality we may not be as violent as they were. My hope is that we might be able to see how we do reject Jesus and along with the tenants can be blind. They somehow thought that once they took care of the son, they had it made.

The tenants focus was not on producing fruit for others. This is what Jesus was saying that kingdom living is about. We are called to show love to our neighbors. Here at Faith, we do show love to our neighbors in many ways, but what might we be missing?

In listening to the YouTube videos for our Christ’s Kaleidoscope study, I am reminded over and over again of the history that we are not teaching in our schools. We don’t want people to feel uncomfortable. If we don’t feel uncomfortable then we are not learning the truth of what white people have put races other than our own through.

On Friday night I went to see To Kill a Mocking Bird at the Wharton. Even though written in 1960, the issues with racism are still with us. They seem to be camouflaged in our systems today. This creates a blindness for us to see our racism.

We often think racism is whether we like someone or not, but it is about words and ideas and how they affect others. At the heartbeat of racism is denial. Anti-racism is about confession. Before we can try and say that we are not racist, we are called to study the history of races and our role as white people in it. 

You see it’s not only what is happening today, but it is the history of races that brings us to where we are today. Many white people are scared of not being the ruling race. I don’t believe that that is the way God set it up. All races are equal in God’s eyes.

Jesus tries to tell us again today that it is about a God’s beloved community working together for the betterment and support of each other. I continue to discover my blindness to my racism and white privilege. It is an ongoing process as we have been indoctrinated to think that the white race is the superior race.

I believe loving our neighbor is about learning about other races’, in general other people’s histories that are different than we are. It will help us to see that we are all equal in God’s eyes.  This will reduce our blindness in being able to love our neighbor.

Let us pray, Gracious God, you call us to love our neighbors, but sometimes it makes us feel uncomfortable. We have been taught throughout history that the white race is superior even though we don’t believe that is what you have tught us and continue to try and teach us. Even your son, our savior, Jesus was Jewish.

We ask that your Holy Spirit would shine on our blindness and help us to begin to see that you love all people and not just one person or race is superior.

In Jesus, name, Amen.

This is a special musical presentation of Jubilate Deo, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Singing Sinners Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘authority’? Who has authority? How do we get it? Do we want it? Sometimes the older you get the less you want, other than over your own life.

The way our world is set up there are levels of authority. The way our church is set up there are levels of authority. The way our lives are set up there is authority.

We are surrounded by authority. In some respect we have a choice whether we want to recognize it or not. Often there is a price to pay if we don’t recognize authority.

We first learn about authority in our homes growing up. Our parents or guardians are the first authority figures that we meet. Parents set healthy expectations to help children learn how to set healthy boundary lines for their own lives. As we are growing up we desire autonomy over our lives and once we have it we find out that it takes work to maintain it.

          Throughout history we have seen healthy uses of authority and unhealthy. We have seen this in the church and in homes. Unhealthy authority occurs when we think we have all the answers. Healthy authority happens when we are willing to listen and work with others.

Unhealthy authority often causes us to want to keep things the same, as that is when we think we will have the most control. Jesus challenges the authority of the chief priests and elders of the people in our Gospel lesson for today. To put this scene in context in our Gospel lesson, let us first look at what came before this in chapter 21 of Matthew.

At the beginning of the chapter, we hear the familiar Palm Sunday story. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey with the people shouting Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The crowd was saying that he was the prophet, Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

Then he entered the temple and began tipping tables and driving out those who were buying and selling. This is one of the only times that we see Jesus exerting this kind of physical energy toward people. He said to them that they had made his house a den of thieves but it was supposed to be a house of prayer. 

This is the backdrop for today’s Gospel lesson. I’m sure when Jesus walked into the temple again, the chief priests and the scribes did not know what Jesus would say or do. Jesus wasn’t what their expectations for a Messiah were, but when he came into the temple earlier he sure took authority. 

They wanted to keep their authority or maybe take back their authority.  For the chief priests and scribes, their identity was wrapped up in the work they did in the temple. Their approach was to go right up to Jesus and ask him who said you could be teaching here as this is our territory.

Typical Jesus, who very seldom gave a straight answer, asked them a question, who gave the authority to John the Baptist to be baptizing, was it divine or human? Can you picture them huddling trying to give an answer that would help them keep their authority? Well, “If we say, ‘From divine,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe John?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Jesus then told a parable to drive home the point that he was really trying to make.  A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I’m on my way; but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, Of course “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before you. ³²For John came walking on the road of justice and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”

Jesus is not looking for people to just tell others what to do and not do it themselves. My husband’s mother used to say, “you have to walk your talk”. Authority is not about power and control. It is about living out what we say is true. If we have rules or guidelines, I believe we need to follow them until we change them.

Paul reminds us today about the model of Christ. In our 2^nd lesson for today we have the same lesson often read on Palm Sunday as it points out that Jesus wielded a different type of authority. It was not one that people were used to, as the authority that were used to was one about taking advantage of others. Jesus authority was about loving others. Jesus modeled obedience to what God expected.

God came down to earth to be human. Most people at that time did not recognize God in human form as it wasn’t what they expected as the Messiah. John the Baptist had rocked the boat and people were beginning to listen to him. He was not trying to exert power and control over people but letting them know what he believed to be the truth. That was to repent and believe.

Jesus was rocking the boat as he was challenging everyone to actually live the law out of love for God and neighbor. In reality, this was following the law. Jesus was pointing out that the chief priests and scribes were not trying to follow the law, what they were teaching.

This is what Jesus continues to challenge us to do, to walk our talk, to follow the law out of love for God and neighbor. Laws are meant to be in place to protect the community and individuals, not so others gain power and control over others for their own gain. This kind of living, following the law that God in Jesus Christ gave us out of love for God and neighbor, is what tells others who our ultimate authority is.

This kind of living, which is the kingdom living that we continue to talk about is not easy. Walking our talk holds us accountable for saying that we are a Christian and loving God and our neighbor. We are taught authority and then we usually test it out.

So as Christians when we walk our talk we are challenged to model our love for God and others. This then tells people who our ultimate authority is. This type of authority is not about power and control, but about love for God and each other.  This surpasses politics and corporations, educational institutions, etc. At one point in our life most of us have some level of authority, Jesus challenges us to use that authority out of love.

Pentecost 17 – A -09/24/2023

It is so easy to plan out how something should happen. Often we don’t consider all of the variables. There will be different approaches when we work with one or more people other than ourselves. Each one of us processes differently. All of us have different skill sets and experience.

Yet as human beings we have our set of expectations that we think are the right way to accomplish something. What have we learned and experienced about our expectations? The more set-in stone our expectations, the more disappointments and frustration that we may experience.

So often we want someone to do something differently than they have ever done it before. When it doesn’t happen, the way want it to, we become frustrated and irritated with the person. In reality, we have set ourselves up for failure.

It says that we have not paid attention to this person to see how they work, how they process. We have not really listened to them and considered their skill sets and experience. I’m not trying to place judgement on the other person as they are who they are.

The healthy way of getting something accomplished is guiding the process to the completion of the desired task. For me part of the fun is to experience other people and their way of thinking and processing. How we actually get there is not as important as the participation and the richness of what people bring to the table.

In our Gospel lesson today, the landowner had a task that needed to be accomplished, work done in the vineyard. He went out and collected workers throughout the day. He was very clear on his expectations and their pay. The workers also had their expectations.

When the workers first heard what was expected and their pay, they agreed to it. One scholar has said that every parable has an absurdity to it. The absurdity in this parable is the fact that at the end of the day everyone got paid the same amount. It didn’t make any difference if they had worked an hour or two or all day. The absurdity is what is begging us to really to listen to what Jesus is saying.

Originally, everyone had agreed on the wages, but when it came to receiving their pay, those who had worked more hours, of course wanted more pay. This is not what they had agreed to. It didn’t seem fair that those who had worked less got the same pay as everyone else.

Now, I myself am just as comfortable being up here or in the back row or at an instrument or singing in the choir. It doesn’t make me any better or less than any of you. The point is every one of us is important in God’s eyes. In the end we all receive what Jesus promised, forgiveness, salvation and new life. This is the gift and not the payment for what we do.

God in Jesus Christ promised the same to everyone regardless of what we do or don’t do. So then why do anything if the promise is already there? We are asked to do it out of thankfulness for what we have been promised. Jesus always carries through on what he has promised.

In this respect this is like the landowner, as he followed through on what he had promised. The workers who had worked more hours changed their expectations when they felt that they were entitled to more wages. I believe we have a whole different way of thinking and acting when we feel entitled.

Entitlement blinds us from seeing the generosity of God in Jesus Christ. In the end the workers in the vineyard received their wages and most likely had enough to take care of their families for that day. This was what their first expectation was.

I believe that we can see more clearly when we look through the eyes of generosity rather than entitlement. We are taught through scripture that we do not own anything, that everything belongs to God, and we are the caretakers. This is not the way our culture thinks and promotes.

In our second reading for today, we find Paul in prison. I can imagine this is not what he expected. He expected to get back to Phillipi and continue building the church. He adjusted to his new setting and didn’t want it to get in the way of the church’s growth in Phillipi. Thus, he chose to write a letter to encourage the Philippians to continue in their faith.

Paul was saying no matter what our setting is, what is most important is growing in Christ. Just because he cannot be with them does not mean that Christ is not with them. Christ’s generosity does not stop because they are not together. Christ’s promise of forgiveness, salvation and new life is still the same.

Paul was concerned that the expectations that the Philippians had of him being with them to grow in their individual and corporate faith should not get in the way of their growth as followers of Christ. He tried to encourage them so as not to get stuck in this expectation as he did not know when they would be together again.

Paul says²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. ²⁹For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—³⁰since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

It is so easy to get stuck in our expectations that we forget about the outcome of a plan. For Christians, the final plan being that eventually we will go home to be with God in Jesus Christ. In the meantime, while we are living here on earth we are called to practice kingdom living.

Kingdom living today is remembering that we have a generous God who offers us freely forgiveness, salvation and new life. This is a gift not an entitlement or wages for what we do. Kingdom living is about living for Christ and not ourselves.

Paul reminds us today that living for Christ is about putting Christ first. In doing this we are promised to have what we need to live. When we start getting into entitlement as our society teaches we can lose sight of what we already have. What do we expect from others and from ourselves?

We are called to check out our expectations, are they for our gain our Christ’s gain? Whose plan are we trying to follow?

As absurd as it was the landowner stuck to what he had promised. Jesus does the same. We, along with the workers, as human beings can easily get into the entitlement mode instead of the generosity mode and change our expectations.

In kingdom living we are called to live in the generosity mode which helps us to see more clearly what Jesus wants us to see. It more fully allows us to live for Christ. It allows us to better keep our expectations consistent and in line with Christ.

Remember as Paul says we are all in this struggle together to follow Christ and grow in our faith. It’s not about how much we do, but that we are called to serve graciously.

This is a special musical presentation of Whoever Would Be Great Among You, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus continues to teach his disciples and us how to live in his kingdom. Today we hear Jesus talking about forgiveness. It seems that Peter wants to push the ticket and really get Jesus to spell it out. So, Jesus did, in telling a parable. One has to wonder if Peter liked the answer.

The king was very generous, and he was hoping that this was a model for his servants. Unfortunately, that was not the case. In the end the generosity was basically revoked. 

This was a harsh revoking of generosity by the king. This is where we need to be careful not to totally compare the king to God. Jesus was trying to make a point, but we do not know this to be God’s nature. What we understand Jesus to be saying is how important it is to forgive and from your heart.

We know that there are some things that are easier to forgive than others. When forgiveness is needed it means that there is some kind of brokenness. For forgiveness to happen a change needs to occur in one or both parties. Sometimes it will only occur in only one party.

When someone doesn’t follow through once or twice and they say that they are sorry, most often we can forgive and let it go. When it continues to happen, the sorry part begins not to work, and forgiveness becomes more and more difficult. So, does Jesus say that we just continue to forgive?

If you continue to set up something to do with them, yes then you are probably expected to forgive. You can forgive, but then draw boundary lines and say this is the last time I am going to try. I don’t believe that Jesus is saying you need to be a doormat.

Forgiveness is a process. As the level of hurt deepens, the longer it can take to be able to forgive. Part of the process is realizing that the forgiveness can really be for you also. The longer that you hold on to a hurt, the more it can debilitate you.

Forgiveness is a way of life that Jesus calls us to and models for us. True forgiveness comes from the heart Jesus tells us. It is not easy and again most of what Jesus asks us to do is not easy. 

Remember last week Jesus was talking about how to handle disagreements or conflicts and was teaching about listening to each other. We know that this is not easy at times. Now today, Jesus knew that these disagreements could turn into conflicts and produce hurt and in order for the kingdom to function and carry out the mission of love they need to be addressed and healed. This is where forgiveness comes in. 

When we carry around hurt, our effectiveness to love diminishes and will continue to, until we address the conflict that needs healing. Sometimes this healing or resolution will only happen in one person. We are only responsible for ourselves.

Healing for us who have been hurt is about letting it go. Acknowledging it, speaking to the person that we have felt harmed by and then begin the process of letting it go. There are times, depending on how deep it goes, one may need professional help.

This really becomes more about our own health. We do not have control over the other person; thus it is better to go into the conversation not expecting them to understand. If they do, then it will seem even easier to let it go.

Now we may be the person who may have done the hurting. Honestly, it is easy to hurt others unintentionally. We can say we didn’t mean to do it, but can we still take responsibility for our words and actions? 

We could say well now you have hurt me by saying that I hurt you. But no, stop. Jesus is teaching about forgiveness today and loving. The bottom line is that we make mistakes, and we always will. We are called to acknowledge how we may have hurt someone in any way. This is how healing and restoration happens in Jesus’ kingdom. It happens through forgiveness.

At times we may not feel like taking on this character of generosity of loving and forgiving as there are times we choose to wallow in hurt. Our need to preserve “me” can become overwhelming if we do not choose to make forgiveness part of our behavior, part of our character. Forgiveness is generous and it is not all about me.

We have the most gracious model in God coming to earth in God’s son Jesus to offer us forgiveness, salvation and new life. We can say that we are not Jesus and that is true, but we are not called to do this forgiving thing on our own. We have been given the Holy Spirit to help us.

In reality we cannot do anything completely on our own of what Jesus teaches us as to how to live in the kingdom. Jesus is only looking for our willingness or obedience to say yes to picking up the cross and continuing his work. Today Jesus is reminding us how forgiveness works in the kingdom. Then to allow the Holy Spirit to help us as we stumble along trying to follow Jesus’ teaching about how to live in the kingdom and specifically today, forgiving.

God in Jesus Christ was and is extravagant in loving and forgiving and in turn we are called to be extravagant in our loving and forgiving. There is an example that I would like to remind you of:

1)    Amish ShooterSiege at Amish School Ends in Murders, Suicide

StoryCorps September 30, 20164:38 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By NPR Staff

Ten years ago, a gunman barricaded himself inside a one-room Amish schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pa. Then he opened fire. Charles "Charlie" Roberts killed five children and injured five others before killing himself.

The Amish community responded in a way that many found surprising: They forgave the shooter. And, in the years since, they have grown close to his family.

Charlie’s mother turned on the radio that morning to hear" the newscaster say that there had been a shooting at the local Amish schoolhouse," "By that time she was at her son's home, and she saw her husband and the state trooper standing right in front of her as she I pulled in, "She looked at her husband and said, 'It was Charlie.' He said, 'I will never face my Amish neighbors again.'

That week, the Roberts had a private funeral for their son, but as they went to the gravesite, they saw as many over 40 Amish started coming out from around the side of the graveyard, surrounding them like a crescent.

"Love just shown from them," Terri said. "I do recall the fathers saying, 'I believe that I have forgiven,' but there are some days that she questions that."

Terri found it especially hard to accept that forgiveness when she thinks of one of the survivors, Rosanna. She was the most injured of the survivors and had injuries to her head. She was now 15, still tube-fed and in a wheelchair and continue to have seizures. They were worse when it got to be closer to the anniversary date.

Terri asked if it would be possible for her to help with Rosanna once a week and she began reading to her, bathing her and drying her hair"

Terri had heard one of the fathers say, 'None of us would have ever chosen this. But the relationships that we have built through it, you can't put a price on that.' "
"Their choice to allow life to move forward through forgiveness was a healing balm for all of them.," she said. "And I think it's a message the world needs."

How many of us ask the question could we have forgiven Charlie and his parents? The Amish had forgiven Charlie and his family to the point of inviting his parents into their lives. I don’t believe they could have done it without the help of the Holy Spirit. Not that they were perfect, but they were wearing their generosity of forgiveness and love as they knew God in Jesus Christ had forgiven them out of love.

This is what we are called to do, to live a life of generosity in love and forgiveness, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Healthy communication is the key to all healthy relationships. I believe that you would agree with this. As soon as there is a disagreement, our healthy communication is tested. How can we continue to hear each other and in communicate in a healthy manner?

In reality, we know that we will never agree on everything. If this can be used as a premise for a relationship, then it is not so much of a surprise when there is a disagreement. Too often, it is not, and communication breaks down. There are many stories of churches splitting because a person was not invited to a party. In reality, we know it is how it was handled that caused the split.

I have done couples counseling. Unfortunately, often by the time that they came to see me, I had to interpret English between the two. I set the chairs up so that they were facing each other. Boundary lines were set. Many times, they could just not hear what the other was trying to communicate. I understood what they were saying but needed to assist them in hearing what each other was trying to say. By this point in their relationship, usually, one had already decided they were done.

No matter what type of relationship it is, healthy communication continues to be what will keep the relationship healthy. I believe in our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus is saying that disagreements that can continue into conflicts will happen in the earthly kingdom in our communities of faith. Jesus gives us a way today to handle this which begins with only two people. Jesus knows that we can often unintentionally hurt someone in the way in which we communicate.

We don’t always know their story. Too often, when we don’t know how to say something, we kidding around, and that can be risky if we do not know the person well enough. In a singing group that I directed where we were on the road for summer, kidding around went too far one day. There was a concert that not all of the group sang in as they were to upset. I told the group that if they were not able put it aside for the concert, that they did not have to sing.

Some chose not to sing. I was emotional before beginning the concert. I gave people the space that they needed. We were able to process the conflict in the next few days. Everyone stayed with the process, and we became closer after that.

Almost every time that there is a conflict, there is hurt involved with one or both parties. Jesus is saying that we need to listen to each other. He didn’t say that we have to agree with each other on everything.

Listening takes work. It means that we have to be quiet. I remember in a small group class that I took, that we could only speak if we were going to share something about what we were feeling or thinking. At times there was a great deal of silence which can also be uncomfortable.

There are times to be silent and there are times to speak. Listening takes silence for one person in a dyad of communication. It is difficult to listen without immediately thinking of a response without the other person finishing. Jesus is saying there will be disagreements that can turn into major conflicts and to resolve them we need to listen as fully as we can.

I believe we often forget that there is an unseen person in every communication that occurs and that is Jesus. I wonder if our conversations would take on a healthier tone sometimes if we realized that Jesus was there. Also, the fact that Jesus is not there to take sides but love each person, equally.

Every conversation that we have, remember that Jesus is present. When a disagreement/conflict can be resolved within the dyad, no one else needs to be involved. Human nature often takes over though, and we feel that we need to involve other people and then it gets messy. Listening then becomes more difficult.

If we can’t hear each other, we will probably not hear Jesus or be cognizant that Jesus is present. When we realize that we are not hearing the other person, it may be good time to find a neutral person or two or three that you and the other person can agree upon. The witnesses would only be there to help each other hear each other. Also, to keep it honest.  Jesus will still be there.

So why spend time talking about this? How we manage ourselves and our community of faith is a model to others of Jesus’ love. This does not mean that we will ever do this perfectly, but others are watching how we handle disagreements/conflicts. Jesus gave us a model of how to do it in his kingdom and today we are reviewing it.

In Chapter 15 of our church’s constitution under Discipline and Adjudication this Gospel lesson is used as a guide. I’m sure you all have a copy of the constitution at home. Council members, do you have a copy of the church’s constitution? All of this to say that this is the model that Jesus gave and the ELCA has made it part of the way we are called to function as a community of faith.

Jesus says to us, look I know that you are not perfect. Feelings and emotions, though, are part of you, and can often make you somewhat deaf and not able to hear each other. Jesus says I have asked you to love your neighbor as yourself and this includes listening to each other. I have asked you to love me with your heart, soul and mind and this means recognizing that I am a part of every conversation you have, whether with one person or a group of people.

The more people that get involved the messier it gets. Out of love for Jesus’ kingdom we are called to address disagreements with the person you have a disagreement with first. Try and resolve it and remember that Jesus is there for both of you.

Thus, it still boils down to Love God and neighbor even if you disagree by striving to listen to each other and acknowledge what you have heard out of love. This is the model of healthy communication that we are called to have as Christians.

Let us pray, Gracious God and yes we need your grace as we are not always the best listeners. You have given us a model to address disagreements that thoroughly involves listening. May your Holy Spirit remind us that you are present and you have called us to love our neighbor and you. When we experience disagreements, help to take a minute to breathe and that you are there to help us express ourselves in a loving manner. In Jesus name, Amen.

This is a special musical presentation of Good and Simple Gifts, performed today by the Singing Sinners Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

When I think of how fast everything fell into place for me to arrive and begin here, it really has been a whirlwind. Yes, I considered my options, but I could have just as easily decided I did not want to start over again and I could have retired or at least stayed in the UP. I tried to weigh out my needs and what or who God was calling me to.

If I had thought any longer, I could have allowed fear and uncertainty to lead me. I could have also said yes and then allowed my fears and anxieties to take over. Since I have made other major moves, I felt if this is where God is calling me to, it would work out.

 I can’t tell you that there were not times that I thought about stopping the whole process. There are so many details, and one has to stay amiable in order to navigate changes. When I got the flat tire in St. Ignace on my way down to my home inspection, I could have thought that this was a sign to stop the process, but I just decided that I had to breathe and make it work.

Fortunately, I come from a family stock that stays the course. I have also learned that you continue to tell people what you need, or you have little chance of getting it. It is so easy for us to plan out how things are supposed to go and then I think that God laughs.

In last week’s Gospel lesson, which we did not use due to Pride Sunday, Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah. When Peter heard Jesus say that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great sufferings at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and then be killed, and on the third day be raised, he did not like it. This was not fitting Peter’s expectations of Jesus as the Messiah.

Just as I had fears and anxieties, so did Peter. Peter actually took Jesus aside and emphatically told Jesus no, that this would not happen! Typical human beings, make a proclamation and basically back peddle because what was happening wasn’t fitting their plan. I like how Eugene Peterson paraphrases Jesus’ response to Peter, Peter, get out of the way. Satan get lost.

You see Peter was not relying on Jesus, but himself and this allowed satan to work. Satan was capitalizing on Peter’s fears and anxieties which was caused by relying on himself to know who the Messiah was and what the Messiah was supposed to be doing. Satan was working to foil God’s plan and Jesus was not having it. Peter went from proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah to becoming a stumbling block for others in completing God’s plan.

As soon as a plan has some bumps, it is so easy to want to turn back. We want to go back, even if something was not healthy. It feels more comfortable because we know what to expect. We knew what to expect and therefore could manage it better, as that is often the human being’s approach.

Life does not always allow us to turn back. Change happens whether we like it or not. Our expectations are not always met, and it can cause us to question the plan or direction.

The older we get, the more of these experiences we have. We can learn from them or allow them to consume us. Peter in our Gospel lesson for today is allowing Jesus’ foretelling of his life, that doesn’t fit his expectations of Jesus who had proclaimed to be the Messiah, to consume him.

He told Jesus no this just can’t happen. This is not what is supposed to happen in Peter’s way of thinking. What a switch! Peter was saying at first that he believed Jesus was the Messiah. We could take this to mean that if Jesus came to save the world that Peter was following him in obedience.

Now he turns around and tells Jesus, the Messiah, how the plan was to supposed to happen or at least how it was not supposed to go. Peter probably didn’t want to see Jesus suffer, but maybe also, what would that mean for Peter who publicly proclaimed him as Messiah? Satan may have been saying to him, you know you will not look good in other peoples’ eyes if this happens.

It is that voice that can throw a follower of Jesus off track. Peter in that moment could not trust that what Jesus was saying was true. Also, it could have been that he didn’t want to be associated with a Messiah that was going to suffer and die. I’m sure that this was very confusing to Peter.

Jesus pointed out to Peter that he was focusing on and listening to the wrong voice. That voice was creating a lack of trust which produced fear and anxiety. It caused Peter to feel insecure and Jesus was telling him that he needed to turn this around and focus on Jesus.

Jesus then turned to his disciples and said, again from Eugene Peterson, Anyone who intends to be with me has to let me lead. You are not in the driver’s seat, I am. Don’t run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I will show you how. Self-help is not help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.

That is quite blunt. Peter was trying to be in the driver’s seat and Jesus knew that is not the way it works. It is possible that the other disciples were thinking like Peter but didn’t have the guts to tell Jesus. Thus, Jesus wanted to clarify more what it would mean for them to follow him.

Basically, if you are going to follow me, it won’t be easy.  You will be going against the grain of society. Jesus asks us to pick up the cross and he was and is the model for how to do it. It is not about self-help, but self-sacrifice.

This does not mean that we are doormats, but that we will have to step past our fears and anxieties in order to be Jesus’ followers and proclaim his love. You see it is not about what we can gain, but what others gain and that is Jesus’ love. The church, the beloved community struggles with this as it clashes with our society.

Richard Ward in his commentary on this Gospel lesson says that the church too often says no to Jesus’ way far too often, we need, like the disciples, to be reminded of the differences. Our society says that cross-bearing is for losers. The winners are those who know how to master the game of life and have the goods to prove it. This is not what Jesus is calling us to. Cross bearers are winners and not by anything that we have done.

The winners may have goods and the goods are all gifts from God in Jesus Christ. Jesus won everything for us that means anything and that is forgiveness, salvation and new life which are all signs of God’s love for everyone. Thus, everything that we do is a response to God’s love. So, when Jesus asks us to carry the cross, he is hoping that our response would be yes out of love for all that we have received. Jesus modeled what it meant to carry the cross out of obedience and love and now he asks his disciples, you and me to continue the cross bearing.

During this next year, I will be working with the transition team and asking hard questions that may make us feel uncomfortable. It will create fear and anxiety. Through all of it we are called to carry the cross not as a burden, but as a response to Jesus’ love for each of us.

So, the question then for us will be, as we experience fear and anxiety is, “who is in our driver’s seat?”.  I know in my journey here, there were many times I had to take myself out of the driver’s seat or I may not have made it here. It is a constant process that continues until the day that we leave this earth.

I believe it is good to ask questions of Jesus if we don’t understand something. We still may not understand it, but I believe our trust grows as we see things work out even if it is not what we expected. I continue to learn that things take time and if they are meant to be it will happen or it may happen another way or not at all.

Cross bearing is really about letting Jesus be in our drivers’ seats. Giving our fears and anxieties over to Jesus, follow in obedience out of love and find joy in the ride of life.

This is a special musical presentation of Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone), performed today by Deb Borton-McDonough and Bob Nelson at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Pride Sunday – 08/27/2023

Today is Pride Sunday. You have had this celebration here before, but I don’t ever remember participating in a Pride Sunday. Thus, for me, this is a blessing. Pride is often thought of in a negative sense as to why do you think you are better than anyone else. Of course, it is quite the opposite, as it is about recognizing that every person is a child of God. This is regardless of anything.

In many churches and with a number of people we in the LGBTQIA+ community have been seen as less than, committing some kind of great sin for being who God created us to be. We at Faith Lutheran church do not believe that. Our welcoming statement spells out many groups who are often excluded, where we are here to welcome and include.

For me today is about celebrating diversity and inclusivity. God did not create us all alike and that is a beautiful thing. In Psalm 139 we read from the New Living Translation: O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Wonderfully complex. This is something that all of us are called to grapple with. For those of us in the LGBTQIA+ community, in order for us to find wholeness we have to affirm who God made us to be. This is not an easy process it means we are different than the main-stream person. We are different than what has been seen as “the norm”.

Yet God has created us to be complex beings. As God’s people we are called to celebrate this. This is not easy when we have people who are afraid of this complexity. There are churches who like to pull out the Bible and find texts to support their fearfulness. For me this is limiting and denying who God has wonderfully created. Everyone in this room and listening online are wonderfully created by God who loves everyone equally!

In our first lesson today, we find that famous rainbow that has become the symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community. The rainbow colors that we encounter in this Bible story are the colors that when mixed with each other produce all of the possible colors that we can think of. Basic, but yet wonderfully complex.

In the story of Noah’s Ark, the rainbow comes at the end of a cleansing of people and animals. God was hoping that taking a family and two of every animal, that God could start over again on the earth. In the end God did not like this and used the rainbow as a sign that God would never do this again.

This is a promise for all people and animals. The rainbow was and is a sign of hope that God would never flood the whole world again and start over. A symbol of God’s love for all of creation in the complexity that God created.

The rainbow Pride flag was designed in 1978 by artist and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker. He came up with the design after he was encouraged by Harvey Milk, another gay rights activist, to create a new, positive symbol that the entire LGBTQIA+ could rally behind.

Up until this point, a pink triangle was being used. As you may know, it was Adolph Hitler who conceived this sign during World War II as a stigma placed on LGBTQIA+ people, just as the star of David was used against Jews. Harvey Milk felt that a new symbol was needed that would symbolize love and not oppression.

As a basis for deciding on the rainbow flag, Baker went back to Noah’s Ark where it was used as a symbol of hope, a covenant between God and all of creation. Baker also found that it had been used in Egyptian and Native American history. Rainbow flags were flown for the first time in 1978 at “Gay Freedom Day” in San Francisco.

Colors have been added to the flag to represent people of color and the trans community. There are many versions of the flag also, to represent the complexity of God’s creation. Once again we are not saying that we in the LGBTQIA+ community are trying to put ourselves above others, but to celebrate who God made us to be.

We can as a community of faith enlighten these colors of diversity when we allow the light of Jesus to shine through us. Jesus tells us in our Gospel lesson for today that we are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.

As followers of Jesus, we do not create the light, but we allow Jesus’ light to shine through us. When we use lights, there is a reason for it. We wouldn’t turn it on to read and then put it out again. Jesus says once my light starts shining through you, don’t cover it up or put a bushel basket over it. If you are going to start shining my light, let it shine all over.

Unfortunately, as human beings it is easy for us to bring that bushel basket out to cover the light. Sometimes we are not even aware of it. We all have biases, some we know, and others are hidden. Biases are a bushel basket. They can come from things we have learned as children growing up. Biases are passed on until we can identify them and see a need to change our way of thinking.

All of this is a process. I believe biases can be changed over time. It takes the willingness to educate ourselves to begin to identify our biases. Then to see how they have and continue to affect other people. It is when we are willing to let the light of Jesus shine on our biases that we can see the wonderful complexity that God has created. When we begin to work through our biases we are better able to celebrate diversity and begin to embrace inclusion.

This fall I and a friend of mine will be leading a discussion on racism, Indigenous People and gender and orientation. It will be on Zoom for one hour on Sundays at 4:00 pm for five weeks starting September 24. There will be around 1 hour of reading and things to listen to each week that we will then be used in our time together. Please see the announcements and the FLC news for more information and to register.

Identifying what our bushel baskets are and working to erase them is what will allow Jesus’ light to shine through us. Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase of the Bible, The Message, says it this way: You are here to be light, bringing out the God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We are going public with this, as a public city on a hill. If I make you light bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand-shine! Keep your house open, be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous parent in heaven.

Today on this Pride Sunday, we are called to be light bearers, that Jesus’ light may shine through us and bring out God’s colors in the complexity of God’s wonderful creation.

If this were the only Bible passage you had heard about Jesus, you might question for a bit who Jesus is. Even from everything that we have heard about Jesus this doesn’t fully sound like him, does it? Everything else that we have heard and read about Jesus had him holding up women with respect and loving all people. But that is not what we hear initially in this Gospel lesson.

]Jesus basically calls the woman a dog and he doesn’t have time for her. She comes to Jesus out of concern for her daughter who is tormented by a demon. We don’t know what the demon was, but the Canaanite woman came pleading to Jesus for help. Out of respect for who she knew him to be, she addresses him Lord, Son of David.

]Jesus ignored her and did not answer her. His disciples got into it and said send her away for she keeps shouting at us. Then Jesus finally answered and basically said that I am not here for you, “I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep.”.

]The woman further acknowledged Jesus by kneeling before him and said “Lord, help me.” Jesus answered. It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs. The woman replied, Yes, Lord, but even puppies get the crumbs that fall from their owner's table.. Jesus then answered her, “Woman great is your faith! I will grant your request. The woman’s daughter was healed instantly.

Could it be for just a moment that we see a glimpse of Jesus’ human side? It seems that he lost his focus. Matthew’s Jesus was always talking about adding to the kingdom. Inviting more and more in. At times Jews called Gentiles dogs as they did not feel that the Gentiles measured up to the keeping of the law. In this moment it seemed that only the Jews were Jesus’ focus.

Jesus as a human being lost his focus and for just a brief moment was drawing a smaller circle. Jesus was telling the woman at first that he did not come for her. His disciples really picked up on this and pushed the point to get rid of her. But, it was the persistent woman that brought Jesus back to his focus. The focus being that the kingdom was for Jews and Gentiles, in other words everyone drawing a larger circle.

The woman knew who Jesus was. She addressed him Lord, Son of David. Lord, a step above others. One to be worshipped. There have been people in high-ranking positions who have chosen not to listen to people as they are beneath them. This woman believed that Jesus would honor her request and would eventually listen to her.

When Jesus tried to ignore her, she got down on her knees to plead. This was another form of respect that she was giving Jesus. She did not stop pleading, Lord, help me. Then probably the most degrading thing that Jesus said about a woman came out of his mouth, you dog, are not worthy to even have the crumbs from the masters’ table. She came back again and said even the dogs or as some translate it as,puppies, the Gentiles eat the crumbs.

It was as if a switch went off in Jesus’ head and he realized that he was out of focus. This Gentile woman recognized who Jesus was and what he was capable of. She treated Jesus accordingly. Her persistence seemed to make Jesus remember again that he was there for all people, Jews and Gentiles, drawing a larger circle.

In our churches today we have many different sizes of circles as to who is in and who is out. It seemed as if Jesus was drawing a smaller circle until he was reminded that the kingdom included everyone and that meant drawing the larger circle. At Faith, we have tried to draw a larger circle as we have stated in our welcoming statement.

We, at Faith Lutheran Church, welcome you as a child of God. As Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, “for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” (Galatians 3:26) We strive to be a place where everyone is welcomed and affirmed.

No matter your age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, marital status, faith background, political leanings, or mental or physical ability – you are welcome as you are. As children of God, we are all one in Christ Jesus and rely on the unconditional nature of God’s love and grace to be our help and guide.

Last Saturday was our community dinner. I have heard many positive comments about it. This is drawing a larger circle. When youth are saying that they appreciate our church, I believe we are facing the right direction or focus. The challenge is how to further connect with them.

I have heard many good options, but I don’t know if we are set up to do many of them. Throughout this next year we will be looking at our system and how it empowers our mission statement, welcoming statement and goals or doesn’t. A one-person evangelism/outreach committee is not able to do a great deal.

This is why it will be important to again identify the gifts God has given Faith and to use them where God is calling us to use them. The community picnic is a great connection with the community, drawing a larger circle, and can we use that as a foundation to further connect with the community. It doesn’t seem that we have a system that would allow us to do that at this time.

Faith cannot meet all of the needs of the community, but the more focused and intentional that we are the larger that we can draw our circle. Just as the woman recognized who Jesus was and continues to be, so are we called to recognize him. Lord, Son of David, please give us direction. She believed that Jesus could fulfill her need and she wasn’t stopping until he did.

I believe the only way that we can intentionally keep drawing the circle larger is to seek Jesus’ guidance. We have learned in our own lives that it doesn’t always come on our time. It is persistence that tells Jesus that we are serious about having our need met. Our need being Jesus’ direction on the mission work that we are being called to.

When Jesus didn’t seem to be listening, the woman knelt before him and showed him more honor. She even dared to respond to his derogatory comment calling her basically a dog. She could have taken this to mean that Gentiles are not as important Jews. This did not stop her, and she said even the crumbs are important. Whatever Jesus can do for her is important to her.

Jesus then recognized her great faith. No matter what, she was persistent. Jesus once again remembered what he had been preaching and teaching, that the kingdom was for everyone, drawing a larger circle. He remembered that he had been preaching and teaching that God loved everyone equally, no matter whether you were Jew or Gentile.

For us, we have put into words and on paper that this means: No matter your age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, marital status, faith background, political leanings, or mental or physical ability – you are welcome as you are. As children of God, we are all one in Christ Jesus and rely on the unconditional nature of God’s love and grace to be our help and guide.

I truly believe that Faith has a heart for drawing a larger circle and is striving to do so. During this transition time we will be challenged to examine and assess how we are drawing a larger circle and who God wants us to be reaching out to. For us to do this will take persistence in seeking God and being willing to humble ourselves as the woman did in her kneeling that we may draw the largest circle possible.

This is a special musical presentation of The Quiet Heart, performed today by Chris Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Brethren, We Have Come to Worship, performed today by Elaine Harrison, Brenda Kopf, Megan Nyquist, Gretchen Paige at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Prayer of the day :

"O God our defender, storms rage around and within us and cause us to be afraid. Rescue your people from despair, deliver your sons and daughters from fear, and preserve us in the faith of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen."

Sermon

I Kings 19: 9-18, Psalm 85:8-13, Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 14:22-33        

Now the Silence

[God] said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”  Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind, an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

This reading from I Kings is paired with the Matthew story of Jesus going up on a mountain by himself to pray.  Elijah had been sentenced to death by Queen Jezebel, held responsible for the death of the 450 prophets of the god Baal.  He was running for his life, surely scared but also so depressed that he just wanted to die.  We read, in the wilderness “he asked God that he might die.  ‘It is enough, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’”  (Read 19:3-10)

Then these words from God, “Go out and stand on the mountain…”

In the gospel story Jesus has just dismissed an enormous crowd where the sick were cured and 5000 men plus women and children had been fed by the disciples with five loaves and two fish blessed by Jesus.  

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray.  When evening came, he was there alone…

But, unlike Elijah, Jesus was not running for his life.  Surely he too was grieving, though not for himself like Elijah, but from the news that his cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded by order of King Herod.  And Jesus was no doubt weary from a very long day caring for probably 10,000 or more people.  And likely he was mindful that the day would come when he too, like John, would be put to death. Jesus needed to be alone; he needed quiet; he needed time to pray.

During the Confession of Sins, the moments when we are silent are intentional.  And I have asked Bruce to wait a minute or so after this sermon before introducing the hymn of the day just for silence.  It was in “a sound of sheer silence” or in other translations “a still small voice” or “a softly whispering voice” that the LORD spoke to Elijah.  I think it was how his Father spoke to and with Jesus, his Son…And I suspect, a primary way the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speak to all of us.

I am only beginning to appreciate the words of Martin Luther who said that when he knew the day ahead would be especially challenging, he would pray for two hours before engaging all that would come that day.  [I am nowhere yet near that laudable discipline!]  But don’t you and I know that when we have been still, as still as best we can be, if even for a few minutes, we are sometimes given greater focus and clarity about what’s next in our lives; yes, what and how God would have us be and do for the most loving living of each day?

“Now the Silence” is a beautiful hymn you may have heard and perhaps sung.  I’ve asked Deb to sing it during Holy Communion today. I speak the words now:

Now the silence, Now the peace, Now the empty hands uplifted; Now the kneeling, Now the plea, Now the Father’s arms in welcome; Now the hearing, Now the pow’r, Now the vessel brimmed for pouring; Now the body, Now the blood, Now the joyful celebration, Now the wedding, Now the songs, Now the heart forgiven leaping; Now the Spirit’s visitation, Now the Son’s epiphany, Now the Father’s blessing.  Now.  Now.  Now.

Now the silence, now wherein the still small voice may be heard…  For Jesus and for each of us in whom he dwells, such silence is filled with God’s very self.  The sheer silence is a way God prepares us for challenges, including the storms that lie ahead.

When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.  And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.

Early in the morning, early each morning, might we say, might we believe Jesus is walking toward us?

I think about the people on the island of Maui where the wind and the waves and, most disastrously, the raging fires have swept through entire villages. Can they believe that Jesus is walking toward them, these shocked and devastated people?  Can they believe that his Father’s arms are now and forever holding even loved ones who have perished? …For the survivors, maybe not right now.  Maybe now God is for them at best an apparition, at worst bringing judgment and death. 

But can we believe that Jesus is walking toward them?  Can we believe that when their hope and their faith is failing, when they are drowning, Jesus is reaching out to rescue them?

A member of Faith in a recent Tuesday Bible study shared a challenge for our congregation.  It is, albeit, much, much less consequential than that faced by the people of Maui. In approving our annual budget, we counted on the sale yet this year of a portion of our property to eliminate our still significant nearly half-million building debt.  But now it seems likely that the sale will not be consummated so quickly. 

Granted, this is nowhere near the challenge faced by the people of Hawaii, but it is our challenge.  Will we meet our obligations of providing Word and sacrament and other forms of caring for each other and of providing consistent care for others in this hurting and frightened world we have been called to generously and steadfastly serve? 

But hear the gospel for the people of Hawaii and for the people of Faith:  For this and for any other challenges we face, whether great or small, Jesus on the mountain, in the night of our distress, has already prayed for us.  And now Jesus is on his way to help us. Though we may not immediately recognize him, can we not in the silence of our hearts hear him say, “Take heart, it is I.  Do not be afraid.”?

But maybe we are Peter: 

“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  [Jesus] said, “Come.”  So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.  But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 

Hear the gospel:

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

One thoughtful commentator has suggested that Jesus’ words, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” were not a harsh, belittling criticism, but a gentle, softly spoken reminder to Peter to trust that Jesus has got this.  The worst storms in our lives cannot separate us from God’s saving love made known to us in his Son.

Now, in the silence following this sermon, think of a strong, battering wind in your  life.  Then hear Jesus, walking on troubled waters, saying to you, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Amen.

This is a special musical presentation of Beautiful Savior, performed today by Emily Brown at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.