This is a special musical performance of O Holy Night performed by Lindsay Snyder at the 10pm Christmas Eve service at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special musical performance of O Holy Night performed by Chris & Paige Lewis at the 4pm Christmas Eve service at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This year, Ken and I were gifted with two new grandbabies. And, next year, another grandbaby will make his or her appearance in our lives. I must say, there is nothing like the joy of seeing each of these babies for the first time. I think many of us can relate to that feeling and experience. Seeing and holding a new baby is a precious, holy experience, and I do believe it changes us. Seeing the beauty of a baby’s face and recognizing in that face the miracle and gift of life that has been born into this world is an experience treasured by almost everyone. And, on this night, we come to this place wanting to catch a glimpse of a baby. We come to get a glimpse of the Christ child who has been born among us, born to us and born for us.
The Christmas season gets so very busy and many of us find our lives filled up with all kinds of time-consuming details – schedules to keep, presents to buy and wrap, parties and concerts to attend, rooms to clean, decorations to put up and get in place, food to prepare. The list seems rather endless. But, on this night of nights, all of that busyness is to be laid aside. On this night of nights, all our striving, our actions and our efforts are to be put aside, because this night is all about gift. On this night of nights, as we come hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby that has been born, I invite you to let go of your adult issues, let go of your worries and let go of all the noise that challenges your minds. I invite you to enter into the mystery and wonder that God holds before us, because this is a night that is all about the gift of God’s love for the cosmos.
Quite honestly, the story of this night must be told to us again and again because we are hardheaded, heartless and greedy. So, at least once a year, we need to proclaim and hear the story about a vulnerable, precious baby that brings change to the world. We need to celebrate the incarnation and be reminded that the God of creation came in the flesh as one who bears our nature in order that we might be healed. We need to hear the news that the God of the cosmos pitched a tent among us and took an address in our neighborhood by taking on human flesh and blood. You see, the incarnation is all about the fleshing out of the grace of God – God’s descent into this broken world so that God might raise us up. And, as Presbyterian theologian, Frederick Buechner, once said, “What keeps the wild hope of Christmas alive year after year in a world notorious for dashing all hopes is the haunting dream that the child who was born that day may yet be born again even in us.”
The birth of this child is not just a one-time event that took place a long time ago in a lonely, wretched stable. No, it is a birth that happens throughout our lives and our faith journey as God continues to become incarnate in us. As Thomas Merton once said:
Christ is born in us today
In order that he may appear
To the whole world through us.
You see, the beauty of this night is that we again rejoice in God’s coming anew, not as a newborn Babe, but as the hidden presence of God born within each one of us and among us. The beauty of this night is that, to our great astonishment, we have now become God’s dwelling place as God is at work being born through us. I find 13th century German mystic, Meister Eckart’s words, helpful on this night. He wrote, “We, each one of us, are called to be mothers of God – for God is always waiting to be born.” We become like Mary and we are now God’s Bethlehem. When talking about Mary and how we become like her, listen to what theologian, Barbara Brown Taylor, writes in her book, Mixed Blessings:
On the one hand [Mary] was just a girl, an immature and frightened girl who had the good sense to believe what an angel told her in what seemed like a dream. On the other hand, she was the mother of the Son of God, with faith enough to move mountains, to sing about the victories of her son as if he were already at the right hand of his father instead of a dollop of cells in her womb. … When we allow God to be born in us, there is no telling, no telling at all, what will come out.
Friends, this Child is as close to us as our very soul. Yes, often hidden away under doubts and denials in our lives, but deep within us waiting to be born anew. The question is not where will we find the Child, for the Child is everywhere. The question is whether we will bow to the Child. The question is whether we will serve the preciousness, the sacredness, and the healing energies of God that have been planted deep within this Child. The question is whether we will live our lives in such a way that the love of the Christ child shows through us.
On this night of nights as we contemplate the love of Christ shining through our lives, I share with you more words from author and retired Presbyterian minister, Frederick Buechner. I have shared this story with you before, but it is worth sharing again. Buechner writes:
A minister friend told of a Christmas pageant in which he once participated when he was the rector of an Episcopal church. The manger was down in front at the chancel steps where it always is. Mary was there in a blue mantle and Joseph in a cotton beard. The wise men were there with a handful of shepherds and of course, in the midst of them all, the Christ child was there, lying in the straw. The nativity story was read aloud by Buechner’s friend. And, carols were sung at the appropriate places. All went like clockwork until it came time for the arrival of the angels of the heavenly host as represented by the children of the congregation, who were robed in white and scattered throughout the pews with their parents. At the right moment they were supposed to come forward and gather around the manger saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men," and that is just what they did except there were so many of them that there was a fair amount of crowding and jockeying for position, with the result that one particular angel, a girl about nine years old who was smaller than most of them, ended up so far out on the fringes of things that not even by craning her neck and standing on tiptoe could she see what was going on. "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will among men," they all sang on cue, and then in the momentary pause that followed, the small girl electrified the entire church by crying out in a voice shrill with irritation and frustration and enormous sadness at having her view blocked, “Let Jesus show!”
There was a lot of the service still left to go, but the rector said that one of the best things he ever did in his life was to end everything precisely there. “Let Jesus show!” the child cried out, and while the congregation was still sitting in stunned silence, he pronounced the benediction, and everybody filed out of the church with those unforgettable words ringing in their ears.
So, on this night of nights, come. Come bring your heart as an offering to this baby. Come, see and worship the Christ Child because it is Love that is born tonight! Receive it. Live in light of it. And, let Jesus show and shine through you every day of your life!
Let us pray,
Gracious and loving God, you who are the God of millions of faces, yet whom nothing and no one can reveal completely except the face of the child of Bethlehem, we pray to you. Continue in our lives the mystery of Christmas. Let your Son become flesh in us so that we may be for all others the revelation of your love. Amen.
This is a special musical performance from the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan of Holy is His Name with Linda Hirt and Gwynne Kadrofske accompanying on Flute.
Come and experience the 2018 Christmas Pageant with youth from Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
This was a special performance from the Flutes of Faith at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. The Flutes of Faith presented a number of songs including: Carol of the Bells, Hallelujah Chorus and others.
This is a special musical presentation of Away in a Manger by the Faith Bells of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
Narrator: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
Commentator: Nazareth? God sent an angel to the podunk, insignificant, nothing of a town called Nazareth?
Narrator: Yes, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said,
Angel: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
Narrator: But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Commentator: What kind of greeting is that Mary? Had you ever been called favored before? Mary. They are all called Mary aren’t they? Mary the sister of Lazarus, Mary from Magdala, That other Mary and Mary the mother of Jesus. So common a name. Almost as though when the writers couldn’t remember a woman’s name they just automatically called her Mary. Like Jane Doe- it’s just this side of forgettable Mary. So common but yet now angelically deemed “favored one”. What kind of perplexing greeting is this calling a common Mary “favored one”. Did you look behind you to see if someone else named Mary was standing behind you? Mary; common and favored.
Narrator: The angel said to her,
Angel: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."
Commentator: You found favor with God? Like you were looking for favor everywhere until bang! You find it with God? Or was it more like it is with God that you are the favored one though not so much favored elsewhere. We aren’t given a litany of all the things you did and personality traits you inhabited that made you favor-able. Perhaps it is the fact that you are chosen by God that makes you favored not that your favorableness made you chooseable.
Angel: "And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Commentator: Mary, you are a marginalized young Jewish girl living in the midst of an occupied land. But, you now hear these words “throne …reign … kingdom.” This is nothing less than cultural, political, religious and spiritual insurrection for the common to be favored and the favored to be common.
Narrator: Mary said to the angel,
Mary: “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
Narrator: The angel said to her,
Angel: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Commentator: Elizabeth – barren and pregnant. One of God’s favorite ways to prove that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. God’s ways are not our ways…continually challenging and even violating our polite family values. Elizabeth – barren and pregnant. Mary - common and favored. This is the invasive fruitfulness of God. Willing life where there is no life. Making a way where there is no way. Messing with all of us in the way that only true mercy can do.
Narrator: Then Mary said,
Mary: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Narrator: Then the angel departed from her.
Commentator: Here I am you say …just like Isaiah after the coal touched his mouth. Here I am you say. Send me. Did it burn you too, like Isaiah’s own lips? Let it be with me according to your word you said. “Here I am, the Servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word”. So beautiful. We try and domesticate you Mary like a trinket of docile, submissive womanhood but you are bolder than that, more defiant almost. Some try to hide from their calling (Moses, Jonah, Elisha) but you said “Here I am. Sign me up.” Did you know what this word was going to mean for you?
Narrator: And Mary said,
(Magnificat is sung as psalm chant by Mary)
My soul proclaims the greatness of | the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in | God my Savior,
for you, Lord, have looked with favor on your | lowly servant.
From this day all generations will | call me blessed;
Commentator: Is that what being blessed looks like? We usually use that word a bit differently. You know, like, “You’re so blessed to have that new boat.” So, Mary, how exactly are you using that word? Did you feel blessed as your unwed belly grew under the gaze of disapproving others? Did you feel blessed when laboring and giving birth amongst sheep and straw? Mary, common and favored…Did you feel blessed when your heart dropped realizing you left your 12 year old son in Jerusalem? At his arrest did you feel blessed seeing rope dig into the wrists of both God made flesh and the flesh of your flesh? Did you feel blessed when they lifted him up on a cross? No one else was his mother. Just you. Blessed are you among women. Common and favored. And blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. God and Man. “We hail Mary, Queen of Heaven,” proclaims Martin Luther, “because in her we come to know that ours is the God who comes nearest to us in our brokenness.”
(Mary continues psalm chant)
you, the Almighty, have done great | things for me,
and holy | is your name.
You have mercy on | those who fear you,
from generation to | generation.
You have shown strength | with your arm;
and scattered the proud in | their conceit,
casting down the mighty | from their thrones
and lifting | up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry | with good things,
and sent the rich | away empty.
You have come to the aid of your | servant Israel,
to remember the prom- | ise of mercy,
the promise made | to our forebears,
to Abraham and his chil- | dren forever.
Commentator: There’s nothing like a song about upturning the whole social order to warm the heart. That or scare the be-jesus out of you. …………. Hmmm….. So maybe that’s what God is up to here. Transgressing the boundaries of human society. The podunk town of Nazareth becomes a Jerusalem. The favored become common and the common become favored. The barren are pregnant. The hungry filled. The rich, hungry. The proud leveled and the downtrodden lifted up until it’s all blurred past distinction. The prophet Mary sings in the new inverted reality of God’s kingdom on earth and this is it’s fight song. It’s your song, all of you. A song of this God who entered so fully into this muck of human existence and upturned our expectations and religiosity and self loathing and self satisfaction enough to usher in a new reality. And this reality is that God became one of us so that we might become children of God. Gregory of Nyssa writes, “What was achieved in the body of Mary will happen in the soul of everyone who receives the Word.” You, all of you, each and every one of you, are blessed and full of grace. So, may the God through whom nothing is impossible help you to be Marys….carrying the gospel into this hurt and broken and beautiful world. May it be with you all according to God’s Word.
This is a special musical presentation by the Faith Lutheran Joyful Noise Handbell Choir and flute soloist Gwenn Kadrofske.
This is a special musical presentation of Who Would Send a Baby by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir.
I love the gospel of Luke! One of the reasons I like this book is because the writer of Luke’s gospel is such a good storyteller. And, I do believe that, if he was writing today, he would use multimedia to tell his story. I think he would have used tools like satellite images, Google Earth and video to help communicate his message. Just think about the way today’s gospel reading begins. The imagery that comes to my mind at the beginning of this reading is one of seeing the world from the perspective of outer space. Then, as the reading progresses it draws us down into a geographical location. I can imagine the writer of Luke’s gospel using resources like Google Earth to gradually zoom in on the Mediterranean, then the Middle East, then the country of Israel, and finally the wilderness area by the Jordan River.
While the writer of Luke had no access to imagery of this sort, he is doing something very similar with words as he introduces the story of John the Baptist. Placing the focus of action within a definite historical and political framework, Luke begins by naming the Roman Emperor. He begins with the big wig ruler of the empire and gradually zooms in on a specific, historical point in time by continuing to list the powerful, regional rulers, the local politicians, and finally the Jewish religious leaders. The writer of Luke’s gospel wants to make sure his readers understand that what he is telling them did actually happen at a given point in time and history. And, he also wants his readers to understand it took place in a precise location as he finally places the story in the barrenness of the wilderness.
Against this backdrop of important, high and mighty, historical, flesh-and-blood political and religious leaders, Luke zeros in upon the wilderness and this very unusual, eccentric, peculiar guy named John. In the wilderness, a seemingly godforsaken, wordless, often scary and confusing place, the Word of God came to this nothing son of a nobody named John.
Now, while the wilderness was often scary and confusing, it was also the location where God had spoken to God’s people. It was the place where God had led God’s very own people to a new and promised life. The wilderness was the place where Israel was tested and the place where the covenant was given. The wilderness could be a place of renewal and transformation. So, into this seemingly barren, wordless wilderness, God speaks. And, God chooses John. God chooses this nothing son of a nobody, a man whom the world sees as insignificant, and works through him to do something marvelous – John becomes God’s spokesperson and messenger. Like the prophets of old, and steeped in hundreds of years of prophetic tradition, John receives a Word from God and then begins proclaiming a baptism of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
John is a man on a mission from God as he calls the people to return to faithfulness. He calls them to alter the direction of their lives, to turn around, to reorient themselves, to turn from sin and turn to God. He calls them to respond to the grace of God and he calls them to prepare, to prepare and get ready for the coming of God’s salvation.
We live in a culture that is so very broken, a culture that I find increasingly seems to look and feel like a wilderness. The economic divide continues to grow. The poor go hungry as big wig policy makers argue about budgets and cut funding that will help the poor while trying to fund their pet projects and pockets. Violence and acts of hatred are increasingly becoming commonplace. And quite frankly, I find that our inability to address and curb these issues speaks volumes about the void and emptiness in our lives if not in our very souls. Over and over again, we seem to experience the barrenness, the seemingly godforsaken, wordless, scary and confusing place that has become our wilderness. However, we will never find the salvation we desperately seek unless we face our wilderness of despair. The wholeness and salvation we long for is only found when we face the wilderness and hear and respond to that call to repentance. This call meets us, not in the empire of the high and mighty and the powerful of the world, but in the depth of the wilderness of our lives. And, that call to repentance takes us to a different world, one that can literally transform both us and the empire.
Repentance is always about turning around, about changing direction. Repentance is always about living into the forgiveness and grace of God. The call to repentance that John, this nothing son of a nobody, was preaching is a Word from God for us. My dear friends in Faith, I have some earth-shattering news for you. In the eighteenth year of the twenty-first century, when Donald Trump was President of the United States, when Rick Snyder was governor of Michigan, when Ronald J. Styka was supervisor of Meridian Township, when Elizabeth Eaton was presiding bishop of the ELCA and Craig Satterlee was bishop of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod, the word of the Lord came to the members of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan! And that word, my friends, is a call to turn around because salvation is coming. We are being called to turn around, so we can be taken to the true king, the Lord Jesus, the seemingly helpless baby who will be found lying in a dirty cattle stall. It is there, in that wretched place, where we will find the salvation, the wholeness, the grace and the love we so desperately seek.
And, what kind of change will this baby, this bearer of salvation, bring? Well, this true king, this true ruler, is bringing justice and mercy and leveling the playing fields of the high and mighty, the big wigs in this world. This infant king is bringing a regime change so powerful and radical that the mountains will be flattened, and the valleys will be raised. The powerful will be brought down from their thrones and the lowly will be lifted up.
We will never find salvation in any emperor or ruler or political big wig. Salvation will not come through any president, governor, local politician or even a religious leader - not any of these seemingly important people. No. We will only find salvation, wholeness and healing in the one who comes as a baby in a dirty cattle stall of a manger, the one who comes as Immanuel, God with us, God incarnate, God in flesh. We find salvation in this One who comes in flesh and does not even save himself or his own flesh from death on a cross. And, in that cross, all flesh, the entire world, shall see the salvation of God! The Word of God that came to a nothing son of a nobody in a godforsaken wilderness along the river Jordan is the same Word of God that comes into the void and emptiness of the godforsaken wilderness in the little town of Okemos, Michigan in the United States of America. That Word is a Word of healing, hope, love and salvation. And that salvation being proclaimed, was not just for Israel or for any one group or people, but for the entire world! So, get ready and prepare my friends, because we are being called to live and proclaim that good news!
This is a sermon based on Mark 13: 1-8. Pastor Darrell Nieves preached today at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
This is a special musical performance of For the Beauty of the Earth by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special musical performance of Give Thanks by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
My professor, Lois Malcolm, teaches that some people need to check their ego while others need to start taking up some space. Just before the Gospel we heard today from Mark, Jesus says that the second commandment after loving the LORD your God is to “Love your neighbor as yourself” Jacqueline Bussie reflects on this commandment and also recognizes people who need to take up space. She writes that some people, like her mom, like me, maybe like you, need to view this commandment as “you already adore other people and you are fabulous at it, now remember to love yourself as much as you do them.” It is within the context of loving my neighbor and loving myself that I consider the message of scripture today.
We hear about two widows and I wonder if they’re victims of the one-way love street as well. Within the patriarchal system of the time, widows had no rights, they were the poorest of the poor and were often reduced to begging. Neither woman is named, which is perhaps yet another sign of the marginalization of widows within this culture. Sometimes I’m astounded by the outrageousness of ordinary people’s actions in the Bible. I consider myself a fairly ordinary person, but compared to these people, not so much. My first reaction is to feel guilty because I don’t give nearly as much as these ordinary people. I see myself residing in a comfortable bubble of security where I first recognize my privilege. But when I hear the words of Lois Malcolm and Jacqueline Bussie and Jesus, I see that this comfortable bubble is not just about money, possessions and privilege, it’s about something else too. My guilt doesn’t serve God, and so God is poking my bubble. God is trying to show me a way out of my bubble, a way of faith.
In 1 Kings Elijah is sent by God to Zarephath where God has commanded a widow to feed him. Both God and Elijah don’t seem to accept the present societal system that widows are poor and probably don’t have enough to share. I’m astounded by outrageous act #1: Elijah doesn’t question this command to go away to be fed by a widow, he just travels to Zarephath. Outrageous act #2: Elijah arrives and meets a widow right at the gate of the town! It seems that he didn’t have to look far. Outrageous act #3: He actually calls out to her for a drink of water, and as an aside, to bring him some bread too. I’m a bit relieved that she reasonably argues that she has so little food, not enough to share, she plans to go home and die with her son. Outrageous act #4: Elijah tells her “Do not be afraid;” go make some bread for me first then for you and your son. “Do not be afraid” he tells her. So, she doesn’t back-talk Elijah, this stranger who just ordered her to fix him some food -- at the moment of her greatest despair when she expects she will die, she does outrageous act #5: scripture says “She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail.” Outrageous act #6: They ate for many days. This widow demonstrates incredible generosity and faith during the time of her deepest need. She gives everything she has and God shows up.
This seems like a straightforward message until we hear today’s Gospel from Mark. It begins with Jesus teaching and criticizing the Temple leaders for how they expect and receive the best treatment and respect while “They devour widows’ houses”. This is not an outrageous scene for me, although I wonder if it should be, this is a too-familiar scene. A scene I see in news reports about powerful people enjoying their place of privilege openly, seemingly unaware of the oppression this privilege imposes upon others. It’s the paradox of the powerful and the oppressed, the ego-driven and the nearly invisible. Not long after Jesus’ teaching, A poor widow enters the Temple and drops two copper coins into the treasury. Jesus exclaims that she “has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Here I see outrageous act #7: she put in everything she had, all she had to live on. And outrageous act #8: Jesus notices. Again this widow demonstrates incredible generosity and faith, but Jesus doesn’t praise her for this.
Along with these outrageous actions, Jesus’ teaching makes me wonder if these widows are making smart choices. Even as a person who is still learning to take up her own space and love herself, I recognize that these are not smart choices. We live in a culture where it’s smart to save money for college, for retirement, for an emergency, for home improvements, for vacation, the list goes on. While Jesus was criticizing the system that oppresses this widow, he does not agree with her choice to give the last of her money. Jesus condemns the value system that motivates her action, and he condemns the people who conditioned her to do it. I can almost hear Jesus telling the widow “Stop! Love yourself!” It first seems like God is calling people to give everything they have and yet human experience and even Jesus insists that giving everything isn’t a very smart choice. This is not a one size fits all message, God loves each of us as we are. Where does this paradox leave us?
God is not asking us this morning to empty our cupboards and bank accounts, but God is challenging us to reconsider the way we operate. This is not an either-or operation, it draws us into operating in a way of both-and. God asks me to hold the tension between security and chance, between checking my ego and taking up space, between loving my neighbor and loving myself. God gives us the freedom to choose and to learn how to hold this tension. At the same time God is calling us to a place of deeper faith and trust in Him for the sake of God’s kingdom on earth. A place where we recognize God in ourselves and in one another. A place where the powerful see the oppressed, and respond! The good news is that God shows up in my life and is replacing my insecurities with strength. Strength to recognize oppressive powers and live into the person that God has created me to be. This is how together, we as the church, can change communities, nations and the world. God shows up. God is telling us “Do not be afraid.” Have courage. Courage to take another chance, to give all that we have, and to witness the awesomeness of God showing up. . .again. “Do not be afraid.” Step outside of your bubble.
This is a Special Musical performance of Day by Day by the Joyful Noise Children's Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a Special Musical performance of Gaudeamus Hodie by the Chancel Choir and Joyful Noise Children's Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special musical performance of Twelve Gates into the City by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
Over the past few weeks, I feel as though we have been living what one theologian calls “the Saturdays of our lives.” The Saturdays of our lives represent those desperate places in life between the crucifixion of Good Friday and the resurrection of Sunday. They represent the stench of death we have experienced and felt over the past few weeks. They represent the wilderness of despair. They represent those places in life where what is crystal clear is the suffering and the pain and the agony and the chaos, and where Sunday, the resurrection and the promise of new life, seems like a fantasy or fairytale that is certainly nowhere in sight. Living in the Saturdays of our lives is a difficult place to live. And, that desperate place of despair – that is the context for our reading from Isaiah on this day. It was the 8th century BCE and the people were in a dark place. The Assyrians had swept in. They had captured the Israelites and forced them to scatter throughout the empire. It was, in essence, yet another wilderness experience and the people were asking that despairing question, “Where is God?”
Many had lost their faith and it was there, in the anguish, that God came to the people of Israel. God met them right where they were, made God’s presence known to them through the prophet Isaiah, and gave them words of hope they desperately needed to hear. God gave them words of hope and promise that ring down through the centuries to provide the words we so desperately need to hear on this day.
It is interesting that when the Bible deals with matters of death, it talks about them in terms of the future. It offers words of hope in terms of a future that is out in front of us but not yet here. The Bible often does this by means of poetic writings and visions. And, in Isaiah, we hear these beautiful, poetic, hope-filled words of a future day when God throws a big party, when the “Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food.” We hear the hope-filled words of a future day when God will destroy “the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations.” We hear of that future day when God will swallow up death forever, wipe away the tears from all faces and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth! Oh, these are hope-filled words we so desperately need to hear in the Saturdays of our lives.
Then, in our reading from the Book of Revelation, we are given another vision of the future as the writer describes a whole new heaven and new earth. And, what is so interesting about this vision is that it is about the future of ALL things. It is about an amazing future that God is creating where the chaos and pain and destruction of this present time will be no more! Oh, we need to hear the promise of this future as we experience Saturdays of our lives!
But, wait. There is yet another story of hope and promise! On this day, we are also told of the raising of Lazarus when the very shroud of Lazarus is cast off. Oh, we need to hear these words because the stench of death and the roiling chaos reeks all around us.
Lazarus, Jesus’ close friend, has died. Mary and Martha knew their brother, Lazarus, would not have died had Jesus been present. They are living and experiencing the Saturdays of their lives. And, like us, we discover Mary using the “if only” phrase as she kneels at Jesus feet saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then, as Jesus responds to Mary’s weeping, we are confronted with the harsh but ultimately comforting truth of the situation. In this moment of darkness, this moment that renders God’s Word silent, we find that Jesus himself weeps. It is in this moment that we discover the incarnate God who weeps with us as Jesus reveals the passion and love of a powerless yet seemingly almighty God. And, in this moment, Jesus reveals one of the most important characteristics we can ever learn about the heart of God: "Jesus weeps." When Jesus experienced Mary and Martha weeping for their dead brother Lazarus, he was "deeply moved in spirit and troubled."
The God whom Christians worship is not a remote and aloof "sky god" somewhere out there. No, God is a tender God who is deeply moved, even grieved, by anything and everything that threatens our human well-being. In this moment, we discover God with us, a God who even weeps with us. And, oh, as we experience the Saturdays of our lives, we need to hear these words!
But, the story does not end there. Jesus commands them to take away the stone blocking the entrance to the tomb. Now, there is nothing pretty about death. Death brings decay, rotting and stench. Oils and spices applied to a dead body would have held unpleasant odors at bay for a while, but after four days the stench would have been overpowering. And, so it was with Lazarus. Martha becomes the realist as she says, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” However, Jesus responds by saying, “Take away the stone,” and with those words we cannot help but be reminded of Jesus’ coming resurrection. Oh, yes, we need to hear these words in the Saturdays of our lives.
When Jesus cries out with a loud voice saying, “Lazarus, come out!” he heralds a stunning new possibility as the stench of death meets the fragrance of the resurrecting power of God’s Son. It is fascinating that the Greek verb used for come out occurs only eight times in the whole Greek Bible, six of which are in John. And, it is used four times for the shouts of the crowd that cries out to crucify Jesus. So, isn’t it interesting that while the crowd’s shouts will bring death to Jesus, Jesus’ shout brings life to Lazarus! Lazarus, the dead man, emerges from his tomb, bound from head to foot in burial wrappings. Jesus then commands that these burial wrappings, the last remnants of death, be removed as he says, “Unbind him, and let him go.” The shroud, that death sheet that had been spread over Lazarus’ body, is removed and the stench of death is gone. Oh, we need to hear these words in the Saturdays of our lives.
My friends, Lazarus is us. Bound by death in our current lives, we are called to life by Jesus who is the Light and the Life of the world. And, it is from the light of Easter dawn that we confront the darkness of death. Jesus stands at the edge of the Saturdays of our lives, at the edge of our tomb, the many tombs in which we presently exist, as we shrink from being fully alive. Jesus stands shouting, “Come out!” He calls us to come out and walk into the light of day, pulling free of our grave clothes as we go. From the other side of Christ’s resurrection, we gain the courage, not to deny death, but to be honest about its ability to cripple us. We gain the courage to not let the fear of death distort our lives, but to walk through it and figure out ways to integrate it into our lives. As we do this, we walk placing our faith in the Risen Christ who has promised us that death does not have the last word. And, knowing that death is not the last word, we are free to live. We can stare death and darkness in the face and even embrace its reality as a part of earthly living – even in our grief, and even in our pain. Oh, yes, we need to hear these words on this day!
Friends, we are Lazarus, and the good news is that, in Holy Baptism, we have been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection. And, we have been promised not only life eternal but also abundant life right here and right now. We are called to live as though the Eternal were now because God is, and because God is present to us here and now. We are called to live as though we belong to God, in life and in death. We are called to live fully alive because we have been given the promise that neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. So, we can let go of the despair and the fear. We can let go of all that holds us in the Saturdays of our lives because the future God holds out before us is not dominated by death. It is one of life and God calls us into life! Oh, yes, we so desperately need to hear these words in the Saturdays of our lives!
This is a special musical presentation of Freedom is Coming by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan with percussionist Ian Levine.
As we approach yet another election day, issues of truth-telling and freedom are in the forefront of our minds. So, I find it interesting that, on this day, Jesus is speaking to us about truth and freedom. However, Jesus’ words to us regarding truth and freedom could not be more different from the way these concepts are discussed in the news and in present culture.
Today’s passage from John takes place within the context of a dialogue between Jesus and his opponents. Jesus’ opponents are trapped in their sin, trapped in a dead-end life, and they do not believe in him. They do not believe he is the new revelation of God, the truth. The focus of the dialogue is all about Jesus’ identity, it is all about who Jesus is. It is a dialogue of faith that centers around two words – truth and freedom. Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The truth Jesus is talking about is himself. This truth is not just some concept; it is not an abstract idea and it is not the opposite of falsehood. This truth is a real, living person – the person of Jesus, himself, the person who reveals to us the truth of what God is like, the truth that God is a God of love. And, to connect to Jesus and live in his truth is to be set free, set free from unfaith, from a life of living without faith.
Today, we are celebrating the Reformation, a change that took place within the church when Martin Luther discovered something about the truth of Jesus 500 plus years ago. Throughout his struggles and throughout his life, Martin Luther participated in a dialogue of faith. Luther was a man who knew intense inner struggle. Luther was tormented because of his own sinfulness. He was a man who knew the depths of depression. Then, one day as he was studying the passage we heard today in our second reading from Romans, he made a discovery that transformed not only his life, but also the life of the church and, ultimately, our understanding of the gospel. Luther heard the following words as if for the first time and they transformed his entire being. Listen again to these words. ““For there is NO distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift!” Did you hear those words? Justified by his grace AS GIFT! And, who receives that gift? The writer of Romans says, “There is NO distinction – ALL have sinned, and ALL ARE JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE AS GIFT!” The Gospel is quite clear. ALL receive the gift! When Martin Luther read those words and truly heard what they were saying, he was so transformed that his new understanding brought change to the world.
It was when Luther made this great discovery about justification by God’s grace as gift that he finally began to understand the truth of Jesus’ identity. He understood that Jesus is the truth, and Jesus reveals to us the truth about God, the truth that God is love. Luther knew his own captivity to sin, and he was very aware of the church’s captivity to sin. Luther also knew he was not able to free himself from bondage to sin. His freedom could only come through Christ.
Becoming truly free is never easy. Luther found out that grace and truth are not cheap. Knowing the truth of Jesus and living in that truth always means facing the cross. And, the cross always means death, death to self, death to systems, death to ideologies, and even death to religious practices when they are not faithful to the Word.
When we face the truth, we ultimately must look at ourselves. We cannot become free from the chains that bind us unless we can honestly face all that holds us in bondage and unless we die to self.
There are all sorts of ways we live in bondage. Not one of us is totally free. We live in bondage to addictions, to competition, to work, to consumerism, to ideologies, to fear, to anxiety, to narcissistic behavior, to any number of things in life. And, quite often the things that hold us captive become a way of running from the pain of life.
Friends, the One truth that will set us free from the chains that bind, including the fear of the living of these days and the fear of dying, has eluded most people. The absolute truth, which liberated Luther, and which liberates all who believe it, is the truth of Jesus as he tells us God loves us and bathes us in grace and mercy and accepts us as we are. We do not have to become something else before God loves us!
Now, I have to say that this ultimate and awesome reality doesn't keep us from the fires and trials of our life journey; but, it strengthens and carries us safely through and beyond them. That is what Luther experienced and that is what we experience. The good news for you and for me is that we stand in the presence of God and we are embraced by the gracious loving arms of Jesus and, when we truly understand this, we become able to face the cross. And, when we continue in the Word and become faithful disciples, only then are we able to live into the freedom of the Son.
Now, the church has not always communicated this good news to the best of our ability. In his book, Between Noon and Three, Episcopal priest, Robert Capon, talks about this freedom we have been given and he discusses the way the church has responded to this freedom when he writes:
If we are ever to enter fully into the glorious liberty of the [children] of God, we are going to have to spend more time thinking about freedom than we do. The church, by and large, has had a poor record of encouraging freedom. She has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of making mistakes that she has made us like ill-taught piano students; we play our songs, but we never really hear them, because our main concern is not to make music, but to avoid some flub that will get us in dutch. She has been so afraid we will lose sight of the laws of our nature, that she made us care more about how we look than about who we are; made us act more like the subjects of a police state than fellow citizens of the saints. [p. 148]
Friends, we have been made free! So, the questions before us really are this: “Now, what do we do with that freedom? How have we been changed and how will we now live life since we are truly free?”
On this Reformation Sunday, the good news that is before us is a word that is all about a truth and freedom that are of ultimate concern, a truth and freedom that will change your life. Jesus is saying to each of us, “[Come, let go of your issues and get to know me. Live in my love and live in my Word.] If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you….[because] if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.” (The Message)
You are free, my friends. Knowing that, what do you plan to do?
This is a special musical performance of Better is One Day by the Joyful Noise Childrens' Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special musical performance of Heart of Nations by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
Who Is My Neighbor in a Climate Threatened World?
Pastor Ellen: Today, we think about creation and ask the question, “Who is my neighbor in a climate threatened world?” The concept of environmental stewardship originates with the first of the creation stories, in which God gives humans dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the animals of the land (Gen 1:1–2:4). Traditionally, Christians have distorted the mandate of “exercising dominion” to mean that creation was made for human beings and that we have a right to dominate and exploit creation for our own wants and needs. This has led to incalculable abuses of nature. But, what we now know is that the Hebrew word for dominion does not mean “to dominate” or “to exploit.” Rather, it means “to take responsibility for,” as a ruler would be responsible to assure the well-being of those in the realm.
Natalie Dingledine: In the first creation story in Genesis, human beings were created last, not as the so-called “crown of creation,” but in order to exercise responsibility for the well-being of the garden Earth. According to Genesis 1, exercising responsibility as part of God’s creation is the main reason humans were created. Therefore, being stewards of creation is foundational to what it means to be human. Caring for creation is not an add-on, not a sideline, not related just to part of our calling. It represents our proper human relationship to Earth. This portrayal puts human beings squarely in a caretaker position in regard to environmental stewardship.
The all-embracing vision of God for creation is violated, when there is injustice by humans against humans. The biblical authors know the close relationship between the ways people exploit Earth and the ways people exploit the poor. In the Bible, when people are oppressed, the rest of creation suffers too – the land languishes and the grains fail (Jer 2:7; Isa 24:4-7; Joel 2:2-20). We are called to steward resources not only in ways that generate sustainability for Earth’s resources but also in ways that sustain life for the poor and vulnerable. In biblical terms, we are to act out of God’s compassion for “orphans, widows and the resident aliens among us.” We are called to care for the least and the lost – human and non-human alike – just as Jesus “came to seek out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). And, therefore, in light of our calling to be good stewards of creation, on this day we ask, “Who is my neighbor in a world threatened by a changing climate?”
Jack Dingledine: Climate change is wreaking havoc on our world, and on our nation. In the past eighteen months alone, we have witnessed devastating hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, and the Atlantic coastline. There have been incredible droughts and record-breaking wildfires in the West, destroying lands and forests and polluting the air: for a few days this year the pollution level in Seattle from these fires was even greater than that in Beijing. In 2017, the cost to the US economy from climate related disasters exceeded 300 billion dollars for the first time, and we may exceed that amount in 2018. Just imagine the good that could be accomplished for our nation with 300 billion dollars.
A recent report by an intergovernmental panel on climate change describes the dire consequences of a warming planet on its inhabitants. From 2008 to 2015, more than 100 million people were displaced by floods, 60 million by storms, and nearly 1 million by extreme temperatures. Over the past four decades, the rate of such dislocations has increased by 60 percent. The number of likely “environmental migrants” or “environmental refugees” from climate changes is projected to be 50 million to 200 million. Again, in light of our calling to be good stewards of creation, on this day we ask, “Who is my neighbor in a climate threatened world?”
TULA Nagasala: In many parts of the world, water is scarce, often due to the impact of climate change and severe droughts, and what is available is increasingly hazardous to drink due to the toxic nature of nuclear energy, fossil fuel production, and the impact of extractive industries like mining and logging on sources of water. In many developing countries (including Tanzania where I grew up), poor wastewater, animal waste and sewage management are the main sources of contamination in domestic water sources. The effect of climate change has a deeper negative impact to many communities due to lack of resources, funding to help with development and appropriate management. Unpredictable rainfall patterns, too much rainfall in a short time and extended dry seasons create water scarcity problems and food scarcity especially because of high dependence of rainfed agriculture. Lack of water availability always leads to poor water quality which has serious health impacts on families especially women and children. Water-borne diseases are a major cause of maternal and infant mortality in the world. These challenges affect women physically and even socially because in many cultures of the developing world, women are responsible for water collection, along with other chores that are related to taking care of their families.
Water sustains the environment and supports livelihoods, but when it is scarce or polluted, food production is disrupted, and people migrate. Migration, in turn, generates conflict and violence, as in much of the Middle East and South Asia, and sometimes war, as in the case of both Syria and South Sudan. Again, in light of our calling to be good stewards of creation, on this day we ask, “Who is my neighbor in a climate threatened world?”
As we look at the impact of a changing climate, we need to face ourselves and recognize that we have been ruthless and unjust stewards of Earth. We too often place profits above people; we put security for ourselves above security for all; and we act as if the world is there for our use alone. As climate change takes place, it is already impacting the most vulnerable in this world. And, as climate change continues to progress, many who are the most vulnerable will no longer be able to live in parts of the world that will come increasingly dry and arid, in places where land becomes submerged in sea water, and in places where heat will rise to unlivable temperatures. Ecological disasters have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable people – third world countries, the poor, people of color, the sick, and the elderly. These also happen to be the ones with the least resources to respond.
This church, Faith Lutheran, is a great example of a body of Christ that is always there to help our neighbors. Because of the big support from this Faith family, today, Naitolia village in Tanzania has a reliable source of water that has been constructed properly and it is capable to sustain climate change by storing water all year round. The impact that this church has made in that community in Tanzania is huge. I speak as someone who grew up with water scarcity issues and who understands the frustration. We have a responsibility to discern our immoral and destructive ways, confess them as sin, and turn to a new way of living. Again, as Christians, called to be stewards of all creation, on this day we ask, “Who is my neighbor in a climate threatened world?
Pastor Ellen: Making wise choices as God’s Earth-keepers may involve sacrifice on our part as we seek to live a simpler lifestyle and walk lightly on Earth. In our Christian life, the key to making our world sustainable is viewing our change of behavior and our sacrifices as acts of love and kindness toward all creation – toward other people; toward other creatures; and toward the well-being of land, sea, and air. By doing these things as part of our spiritual discipline, we exercise our vocation as stewards of creation not out of fear, guilt, shame, outrage, or despair. Rather, what makes this journey sacred is that we act with a gratitude nourished by the fountain of God’s grace, an inexhaustible source of “living water” that will sustain us for a lifetime of loving creation, and that will enable us to be good stewards of creation with hope and joy!
So, as we continue to ponder our call to care for creation as a sacred trust on behalf of the entire Earth-community, we must be willing to go beyond our own wants and desires in order to see creation through the compassionate eyes of the God who empowers the weak and is always walking with the most vulnerable. Again, we need to continually ask, “Who is my neighbor in a climate threatened world?”
Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, give us your heart for creation. Give us your heart for the diverse people of this world. Give us your heart for the most vulnerable people in this world. And, give us your heart for the nations of this world. Amen.
This is a special musical performance of On Eagles Wings from the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.