This is a special musical performance of In the Name of the Father by Stan Pethel by the Chancel Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
When I was serving my year of internship in the Fort Worth, Texas area and Trinity Sunday approached, my supervisor told me that I would be preaching on that day. He said he always had his interns preach on Trinity Sunday. The reason? Well, it is not the most popular festival Sunday for preachers, a majority of whom dread this Sunday, because the Trinity is all about church doctrine. Other festival Sundays during the church year celebrate events. Throughout the church year we focus on the many events that took place in the life of Christ. But, on Trinity Sunday, we celebrate a church doctrine, one that is notoriously hard to understand.
The doctrine of the Trinity itself cannot be found explicitly in scripture. Yet, it is scriptural to its core. It is the result of approximately 250 years of the early church reflecting on scripture and on its experience of God's self-revelation, as those encounters are recorded in scripture. I love the way Nadia Bolz Weber talks about the shaping of this doctrine. She writes:
God is three persons and one being. God is one and yet three. The Father is not the Son or the Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father or the Son. But the Father, Son and Spirit all are God and God is one…So to review. 1+1+1=1. That’s simple enough. It’s no wonder that so many of the early church councils were called to try and make sense of the Trinitarian formula. The church took it’s time coming up with the doctrine of the Trinity.….much ink and much blood has been spilled on the matter, but it’s hard to see what there is to actually celebrate on this “Church Doctrine Sunday.” Where’s the good news in that? God as bad math?
The doctrine of the Trinity is a human attempt to explain who God is, who the Christian church has understood God to be, on the basis of Scripture. And, it is the result of the church's continuing experience of God over us, of God with us, and of God in us.
We talk so much about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that we need to remember they are three portions of the one reality we call God. In today’s Old Testament reading, Isaiah gives us this wonderful big picture understanding of God. Isaiah is in the temple and, in a vision, he is given a big picture experience in which he catches a glimpse of the grandness and greatness of God. He catches but a glimpse of the hem of God's robe, and even that is so imbued with God's holiness that Isaiah must turn away his eyes, crying out, "Woe is me." One of the many things being communicated in this passage is that God is holy, God is completely other and set apart. That is what holy means. God within God's self is so separate from everything else in existence, so different, that we simply have no reference for God – no analogy will completely do. Theologians know that every metaphor for God finally breaks down. God is like but not like; nothing in creation is comparable to God. So wholly other is God that even the seraphs – those heavenly beings that guard God's throne – shield their eyes with their wings as they cry out their eternal hymn of praise: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord...." (And, by the way, that hymn as expressed in this Isaiah passage is where we get the Holy, Holy, Holy, we sing during the celebration of the Eucharist. Just take some time to ponder that.) In Isaiah’s vision, the seraphs sing their song, and it reveals something more about God than simply God's holiness. As holy and set apart as God is, not only is heaven filled with God’s glory. Earth is also filled with God's glory, filled with God's presence. And, here is the divine contradiction: God who is one, who is so beyond and unlike anything in the created order that nothing can be compared to God, is nonetheless personal, fully present, and at work in this world, revealing God’s self to the world.
The Bible reveals this God coming to us in three distinct ways, as three distinct co-equals – over, with and in us. Yet, these three are one. God is over us as our source, our creator, our protector, the One above and beyond who governs justly throughout all creation – the Divine Parent Jesus called "Father," beginning and preserving all things. But this One God is also a loving Savior, revealed as a Son, who is reconciling, liberating, saving and redeeming so that we might live in communion with God. And this God also renews, transforms, empowers and sustains everything within creation and remains eternally present to us as the Spirit. All of this is the work of the One God who is indivisible in being, purpose and work; God is one.
God the Father, or God the Mother as some name God, is a God beyond all gender, male or female. Remember, nothing in the created order is suitable for defining God and capturing God's essence, save what God gives us. We call the first person of the Trinity “Father” or “Mother” because this is the Parent of the Son and the source of the Spirit, the source of all that is.
We call the second person of the Godhead "Son" because he comes from the Father, was sent by God as God's incarnation to reveal God to us, to be God with us, to live out his life with and for us as one of us.
The Spirit of God is the wind of God Jesus spoke of in today's gospel. This Spirit or wind blows where it will, and the Spirit’s work is to give new birth, to transform, renew, sustain, and make us children of God. The Spirit is the lifeline through whom the risen Son is present to us in life – it is the Spirit's work to make bread and wine into Jesus' body and blood for us and to use it as the means of drawing us into Christ's risen presence so that we can feed on him. One might say, the Holy Spirit is the “wireless connection between us and the Son and us and the Father because they, the three in One, are ‘hard-wired’ together in the one essence we call God.”
Parent, Son and Holy Spirit – three distinct means of God being over and above us, with and for us, in and among us, and three distinct relationships with one another, who are nonetheless one in essence, will, purpose and work. And, they work in concert, the three playing their different parts – three voices forming a relational trio of grace-filled melodies that harmonize into one glorious sound, in order to accomplish the same purpose. And, the relationship between the three voices is like a dance of love. This relationship is all about love – a circle of self-giving, creating, liberating, healing love that is so inclusive it encompasses all of creation. And, as we look at this dance, God is not the dancer, but God is the dance itself, calling us into God’s love and inviting us to join the dance.
This is the mystery of God we celebrate on this Trinity Sunday – the God who is the dance of love. God over and above us, God for us and with us, God in us and among us. One God – the God who created us and makes us God’s own, the God who is revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and the God who is the Spirit in us and among us, inviting us into this mysterious dance of love and using us to share the good news of God’s love and purpose for all.
This is a special musical performance of Spirit of God, Abide With Me by the Faith Lutheran Church's Chancel Choir.
This is a special musical performance by the Faith Lutheran Church's Flutes of Faith Flute Choir.
The Spirit is a-moving and the activity of the moving Spirit is dangerous indeed! Those who talk about wanting to feel God’s “sweet, sweet spirit in this place,” or those who say they are “spiritual but not religious” may need to question that thinking as we hear the words given to us today about the movement of the Spirit.
We tend to read a line like Romans 8:26 about the Spirit helping us “in our weakness,” and think, “Oh, that is pleasant, so sweet.” However, such thoughts of pleasantness fail to put that verse in its proper context, and we quickly forget the prevailing image Paul gives us in this passage from Romans is that of childbirth – “the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains.” Now, any woman present in this gathering who has actively given birth can testify and bear witness to the fact that childbirth is neither a sweet process, nor is it a gentle, comfortable, pleasant process. And, I can imagine that there comes a point in almost every birthing process when every woman yearns, maybe even screams out, for help in her weakness, asking for something for the pain.
So, as we reflect upon St. Paul’s words in his letter to the Romans, it is interesting that he uses the metaphor of giving birth as he talks about the activity of the Spirit in the lives of believers as well as in all of creation. He writes, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now.” Paul is referring to the fact that all of creation waits, along with all believers, for the fulfillment of God’s plan for the world, including our final adoption as the sons and daughters of God and the full redemption of creation. We wait, the process is happening, but it is an “already, not yet” process. It is not finished.
The groans of creation that Paul describes continue in our time and perhaps even increase as pollution, overpopulation, inequitable distribution of food and resources, and human induced climate change confront us. The groans of believers also continue as we await a consummation of faith. If we tried to put those groans into words, we can articulate quite a list just by looking at the news of this past week. We see horrific violence between Israel and Gaza, we have seen yet another mass school shooting, we see war waging around the world, global terrorism, sexual exploitation of women and children, modern-day slavery, oppressive regimes, drug and alcohol abuse, marital and family distress, incurable diseases, chaos, corruption, dysfunction and more. It is nearly impossible to articulate all the problems we come face to face with in this present world. And, yes, maybe the best we can do is groan and sigh and hope.
If this is where we find ourselves, if we find ourselves groaning and sighing and hoping, Paul’s words to us today are assuring because he tells us we are on the right track! We hope for what we have been promised in faith, but we do not yet see. We pray, but often inarticulately, given the weight of our concerns. And, when concerns overwhelm us, the Spirit is there to carry our burdens for us, interceding with God on our behalf. The Spirit knows both what we need and what God’s will is for us and this world. What the Spirit does for us today is to bring our concerns and the will of God into harmony. We may live in difficult times; nevertheless, God is guiding creation through the plethora of birth pains to a future fulfillment of promise.
Birth pains, groaning, the rush of a mighty wind and tongues as of fire. These images for the movement of the Spirit are not sweet, saccharine images. The bestowal of the Holy Spirit is not for the weak of heart. “Tongues as of fire,” may mean speaking in unknown languages, but it more likely means being pushed out of our comfort zones to speak about Jesus to others in a “language” not our own, uncomfortably and fearfully learning to talk to people with whom we normally would not associate. And it might mean speaking truth to power, addressing issues and concerns some people would rather the church not talk about. The Spirit might prompt you to say things that are so out there, so against the grain of what most people think and believe, that someone is likely to ask you, “What have you been smoking?” This is, of course, the 21st Century equivalent of accusing you of being drunk at 9 am.
Yes, this Holy Spirit business is a dangerous thing. Peter is quoting the prophet Joel when he talks about women and men prophesying, about the young seeing visions and the old dreaming dreams. We all know that visions and dreams and prophecies are dangerous things. They can in fact be frightening. They require risk. Far too often, we tend to think it is better that we stay safely rocking on the porch, watching God’s mighty wind blow on somebody else, somewhere else. But, here’s the catch – it doesn’t work to try to stay on the porch. What’s that old expression, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” The Spirit will find you, just like it found the apostles, huddled together in one place, behind four walls in a closed room. Yes, the Sprit will find you, and it will fill you, and it will give you a tongue as of fire, and it will push you out of your cozy chair and into a wild ride through the world. And really, all one can do is take a deep breath and hang on for dear life.
As I think about the movement of the Spirit in this place, I see it has been happening and it is happening. The Spirit has moved us beyond our comfort zones and off our porches to become a Reconciling In Christ congregation. That Spirit will be seen as members of this congregation walk in the Pride Parade in June, carrying a Faith Lutheran Church banner and handing out “Martin Wufer” dog biscuits to the dogs along the parade route. The Spirit has been moving us beyond our comfort zones and off our porches to create a Green Team and encourage all of us to address the groaning of creation by becoming good stewards of creation. The Spirit has been moving us beyond our comfort zones and off our porches as we have created an Annual Community Picnic through which we attempt to connect to the greater community, offering our neighbors the gift of food, music, activity and presence. The Spirit has been moving us beyond our comfort zones and off our porches as we continue to fill the food bank we have created in the office of the apartments across the street. And, the Spirit has been moving in this place as we have fixed up the old parsonage and are taking in these unaccompanied immigrant kids. With this project, every hurdle that has appeared before us has been obliterated and it is truly a God/Spirit thing. People from various churches and faiths have come together to support this effort. When we take time to think about what has happened in just a few short months, we can see the movement of the Spirit at work in this place, moving us beyond our comfort zones and off of our cozy porches to truly care for all others.
Oh, yes, the Spirit is moving in this place and it is a dangerous thing. All creation is groaning with labor pains and the wind of the Spirit is blowing. Yes, the Spirit is moving, and it is a radical, mysterious and dangerous thing because the Spirit is always at work forming us into the Body of Christ for the sake of the world. And, the Spirit is always at work giving birth, giving birth to something new through the Body of Christ. So, watch out, because you cannot sit on the sidelines when the Spirit of God is at work!
This is a special musical performance of God Has Gone Up With A Merry Shout by the Chancel Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
John 17:6-19; Easter 7B; 5/13/2018 Pastor Ellen Schoepf
Some of you I am sure remember those iconic ‘70’s television ads for Calgon which used the slogan, “Calgon, take me away.” The commercials encouraged us to slow down and relax with a bubble bath using Calgon bath beads. It was a call to let go of the real, often difficult “stuff” of our daily lives and escape to a seemingly whole different dimension where we would have a lush, luxurious, heavenly spa experience. It was all about experiencing escape from life as it is.
There is something very tempting about escaping from the world, and we all pursue escape in one way or another. This desire to escape from the challenges of life is as ancient as human history. The human desire to escape is definitely as ancient as Christian faith and, I think religion often tends to intensify this desire. For people of faith, once we experience and begin to understand what is holy, set apart and good about life together within the context of Christian community, we have a tendency to want to avoid the clamor and conflict of the greater world. We tend to want to escape and cocoon ourselves within the safe, comfortable confines of Christian community while staying away from the major issues that confront the greater community, our country, or the world. Monasteries, convents, utopias, and different types of communal living all testify to this desire to live unencumbered by the world while simply focusing on a faithful, set apart life.
This was the kind of desire John’s community was facing as the gospel writer penned the words of the Bible passage we read today. Written at the end of the first century, John’s community was facing increasing conflict with authorities who opposed the gospel message. These disciples were facing increasing persecution. Many people thought that if they could simply stay together and remain in supportive fellowship with each other, they would not have to defend their beliefs. Many felt that living together in such a community, where they would remember Jesus’ stories and sense his presence in their meals of bread and wine, would provide a safer way of life as they faced a growing hostile world.
In today’s gospel reading, John’s faith community and each one of us get to overhear Jesus’ prayer for all those who follow him as he is about to face his own death. On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus speaks words of prayer and promise for all his disciples. We overhear him praying for all his followers, including each one of us, as he faces his own death, what John calls his “hour of glory,” his whole purpose for being here. And what is it that Jesus prays for? He prays that his followers may find God’s support, encouragement, strength, protection and courage to face the challenges that come from living in the world and bearing witness to the gospel of grace and love that comes from him. And, he prays that his followers may be one in fellowship with each other and with God.
The world was a hostile place for early Christians and the world can be a very difficult, challenging place for us today. The words we hear from Jesus on this day do not sugarcoat the challenges his followers face. Jesus speaks words of truth about the world in which we live. This is a world where war seems to be a constant. Terrorism is a threat both here and abroad. Poverty and homelessness are very real and present in our own community, throughout our country and around the globe. Hunger is a monumental challenge around the world. Chaos and uncertainty seem to reign supreme and explosive news confronts us every day. It seems as though we are living in a culture that is becoming increasing dysfunctional as people become more polarized and tribal in their thinking and beliefs. Racism is very present and there is a rage and anger that is just bubbling and festering below the surface in our own society. Yes, the world is a difficult place and Jesus does not deny that. In today’s reading, we hear him speak words of truth about what the disciples will face. And, we who call ourselves Christian, need to hear these words, and we need to speak and hear words of truth about what we face in 2018.
Jesus’ words provide his followers with no escape from life’s difficulties. His words to the Father are, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” He asks for God’s protection and support against all the evils of the world for all his followers. Jesus does not pray that we be taken out of the world, but that we be fully present to its difficult and painful realities. Jesus does not promise us exemption from the struggles of life, but he does promise and assure us that we are not alone in the struggle. And, instead of retreating from the world, Christ offers us an alternative model that can empower us to live in the world without succumbing to its values and pressures. We are to live amid all the knotted complexities without getting ourselves entangled. And, by immersing ourselves in God’s word and God’s action through the living Word, by feeding us with the nourishment of Jesus’ very life through weekly Word and Sacrament, God reorients our yearnings for escape. By immersing ourselves in the living Word, God transforms us as the truth of God’s word is revealed to us in the very real stuff of the world.
As this prayer continues, we then hear a great crescendo as Christ prays, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” This is a very strong phrase because the words “sent into the world” are the exact opposite of escaping from or “getting out” of the world. This verse in today’s gospel is patterned on Jesus’ own life and calls the church to follow his example by becoming engaged with the world in all of its distorted powers and pressures. It is Jesus’ prayer that we be able to engage the dangers of this world while wholeheartedly entrusting our protection to God.
We do live in a difficult and often painful world. And, we can at times become exhausted, even feel despair as we view ceaseless violence and corruption both here and around the world. This feeling can cause us to want to stay cocooned within our own safe community, not addressing the needs of the world. However, Jesus’ words today tell us we have been sent to bear witness to the truth that God loves this whole world, broken as it is. Our work and our mission is to trust that God does protect us while we are in this world so that we might engage it fully, unafraid and free. And, we have been promised Christ’s presence with us and to us as we vitally and faithfully live into this mission. Energized and fed by the truth of God’s word, we are called not to escape, but to do the necessary work to which we are called so that all people might have a more abundant life here and now.
This is a special musical performance of Sing of the Lord's Goodness by the Chancel Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
Today, our gospel reading from John is a continuation of the words we heard Jesus speaking last Sunday. This whole section of John’s gospel is known as Jesus’ Farewell Discourse because he is preparing the disciples for his death. He knows he is going to die and he will be leaving them. In John’s gospel, these words are some of the last words Jesus speaks during his earthly life, and his last words are all about love. Jesus speaks of his love for the disciples and, by extension, his love for us. Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I love you, and so you should love one another.”
In our culture, the word “love” is highly ambiguous. In Greek, there are many different words for different types of love that become translated into English simply as the word love. In today’s passage, the word that has been translated as love comes from the Greek word agape. This kind of love describes the excellence of character that God has by nature. It is all about relationship and it is the kind of love we find characterizing the relationship of the three persons of the Trinity. It is the kind of love in which we participate through sheer grace. Agape describes the Father’s love for the Son and it describes God’s love for us. Agape is all gift – a gift from God. Agape is not a feeling or inclination. It is the kind of love that responds as obedience to God’s commandment to choose to love others as God has chosen to love us. Agape love is always primarily interested in the good of the other person, rather than one’s own self. It is never a love that attempts to possess or dominate others. The concern is always for others and agape is never subordinating. It always allows authentic, genuine space for others to be and become and grow. And, it is always offered without reserve – it is superabundant.
We live in a culture that is extremely self-serving and self-focused, a culture in which love takes on possessive characteristics. In fact, there is frequently a tendency to view love as a commodity, even something that becomes a scarcity as some people begin to think others are receiving more love than they are. This is never what love is about.
In his book, What’s So Amazing about Grace?, Philip Yancy tells this wonderful story about Mother Teresa and the definition of agape love that she shared at a National Prayer Breakfast. He writes:
… Rolled out in a wheelchair, the frail, eighty-three-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate needed help to stand up. A special platform had been positioned to allow her to see over the podium. Even so, hunched over, four-feet-six-inches tall, she could barely reach the microphone. She spoke clearly and slowly with a thick accent in a voice that nonetheless managed to fill the auditorium.
Mother Teresa said that America has become a selfish nation, in danger of losing the proper meaning of love: "giving until it hurts." [p. 244]
I have to say Mother Teresa’s analysis of our nation was right on. We have become a very selfish nation and far too often self-interest is placed at the top of any list of priorities. In fact, we have become a nation that is increasingly exemplifying the characteristics of narcissism – America first. We also tend to be people who talk about love as this warm feeling inside, this euphoric feeling one has when with some special person. We talk about “making love.” We throw the word love around and use it in cheap ways as we talk about loving objects like our house or our car. Quite often we talk about loving something we want to get or have or possess. What we claim to love is often borne out of a consumer driven culture. But, when it comes to people and relationships with others, we can be rather stingy about our love. And, yes, we are self-serving.
So, today it is fitting that Jesus’ words break into our lives with a message of love, the love God has for this world, for all people and for each one of us. The love God calls us to live into every day is a very different kind of love. The nature of this love is giving – as Mother Teresa says, giving until it hurts. That is the love Jesus was talking about and that is the love he lived. Jesus not only gave until it hurt, he gave of himself unto death on a cross, all for the sake of love. That is how much he loved the disciples and each one of us.
When we live into this kind of love, it is a choice. We choose to love and it becomes a way of life through which we become changed. To love in this manner means obeying Jesus’ command to love. Agape love is a disciplined habit of care and concern, one that we work on perfecting over a lifetime as the living Word changes us, continually challenging us, taking us to new places, and continually making us new. The love God shows toward Jesus is a demanding love, but it is also full of presence, promise and joy. It is a love that prunes, cleanses, challenges, molds, forms and carries Jesus throughout his ministry, and it does the same to us. It is that kind of love we are called to live.
The love of God that we are invited into is a love without limits. It is a wasteful love. It is love that is selfless and thus produces and enhances life. In fact, this love we see in the person of Jesus Christ is a love that invites us into a whole new dimension of what it means to be human, a love through which we become more fully human. When we live this kind of love, the strictures of life – the boundaries that establish status and power – are reversed and all human images of protective barriers that provide security are removed. When we live this kind of love, the boundaries that have been created to separate us from those considered “others” are obliterated. This love is a servant love that truly cares for all others. When God’s love lives in us, we will serve the world. We will give our love and our life to others. The status games that human beings play no longer work when we live into this kind of love and when we experience this new consciousness because there are no master-servant relationships inside the embrace of love.
Friends, God is defined as love. And, the love of God, the love we are called to live, is not an entity so much as it is a penetrating experience. It is the experience of God in our lives. We discover that God’s love embraces people as they are. And, we discover that we cannot create this kind of love. One can only receive it and, when it has been received, it must be immediately shared. The love we are called to live is a love that cannot be stored. This love cannot be saved for a rainy day and it cannot be used later like leftovers. The love we are called to live must be passed on because love that is not passed on dies. This is the love that binds us to God and one another. And, this love is the very meaning of Jesus.
Adelle, Owen, Viktor, Atu, Griffin and Brenna, today you will be making public affirmation of your baptism as you are confirmed into Christian faith. This is important, life-changing stuff! This is a life-giving commitment you will be making today. Confirmation is not like graduation. Confirmation is all about making a commitment to fully become part of the faith community, to become deeply connected and live into relationship with God and others as you participate in this Faith community. And, as you make affirmation of your faith, you are called to love and continue to live into this love God has for you and all people.
Today, Jesus’ last words to the disciples and each one of you are, “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done – kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.”