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Your Faith Journey

All of us are on a journey of faith in our lives. At Faith Lutheran in Okemos, Michigan we bring people one a journey of faith each week and share that journey with the world.
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Now displaying: October, 2019
Oct 27, 2019

This is a special musical performance of Find us Faithful by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

Oct 27, 2019

It seems that we are daily bombarded with news about issues that pertain to truth and freedom.  In fact, questions regarding truth-telling and freedom are at the center of debates surrounding voting rights, freedom of speech, gun laws, racism, immigration and a whole plethora of other issues.  Well, today, Jesus is speaking to us about truth and freedom.  However, Jesus’ words regarding truth and freedom could not be more different from the way these concepts are discussed in our 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 Jesus 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.  And, 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 deepest 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 from unfaith and set free to love others as God loves us.

Today, we are celebrating the Reformation, a change that took place within the church when Martin Luther discovered something about the truth of Jesus over 500 years ago.  Throughout his life, Martin Luther struggled and participated in this dialogue of faith.  Luther was a man who knew intense inner struggle.  He was tormented because of his own sinfulness.  He was a man who knew the depths of depression.  Then, one day as he was studying today’s reading from Romans, he made a discovery that changed 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 became a new person.

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.  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.  I have shared this with you before, but I will share it with you again.  This understanding changed him so deeply that he changed his very name from Ludher to Luther, giving himself a name that meant “the free one.”

        Martin Luther found himself so deeply altered by this new understanding of truth and freedom that he wanted the church to grasp the reality of the message.  So, he nailed 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door describing changes he hoped to see within the Catholic Church.  His action then spurred a greater dialogue of faith that exploded in the Reformation – an explosion born out of struggle, a deep struggle that transformed and continues to transform and reform the church, even to this day.  In fact, as ELCA Lutherans, we claim an identity in which we are always being transformed, changed and made new.

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 any number of things in life.  And, quite often the things that hold us captive become a way of running from our fears and running from the pain of life.  I know.  I have spent most of my life living in captivity to work.  I also know my workaholic nature has been a way of running from my own pain.  

Friends, the One truth that will set us free from all our fears of living and of dying has eluded most people. The One 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, quite frankly, this ultimate and awesome reality doesn't keep us from the fires and trials of our life journey; rather, 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 when we consciously realize that we stand in the presence of God and are embraced by the gracious loving arms of Jesus, 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.

The Reformation that began with Martin Luther is a Reformation that is ongoing.  Yes, we claim that we are a reforming church.  We are continually reforming.  God continually calls each of us to change, to be transformed and become new beings.  God continually calls the church to participate in a dialogue of faith, a dialogue that is often struggle.  God is continually calling the church to engage in the process of reformation as we live into the in-breaking, coming reign of God. 

Yes, we are daily bombarded with words about truth and freedom.  However, on this Reformation Sunday, the good news that is before us is 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)

Oct 20, 2019

This is a special musical presentation of I Lift Up Mine Eyes by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Oct 20, 2019

Sometimes in our lives we come across people who are so persistent and preoccupied with a single, specific issue that they focus on nothing else.  Their entire being is consumed by hammering away on one topic or problem.  One of my dear friends often describes such a person’s persistent actions by saying, “They are like a dog on a bone.”  They simply cannot stop chewing on an issue or pet peeve.  Now, this can be a very harmful type of behavior, especially when the focus is something that is totally irrelevant and one’s action is used to manipulate, create discord and division, attack others, or stir up destruction within an organization or community.  However, such persistence can also be a good thing if the dogged person is tirelessly working to bring about change for the common good, change that is necessary, is healthy, and brings forth reconciliation, peace and justice.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells the story of a persistent, stubborn woman who simply does not give up.  She is like a dog on a bone. 

I think, far too frequently, when interpreting this parable, an assumption is made that the unjust judge is God and we are to pray to God as this widow who was so persistent with the corrupt judge.  When such an understanding is asserted, we get far too preoccupied with the unattractive comparison of God as an unjust judge and consequently we don't get into the deeper meaning of what Jesus is communicating.  This story is parable, and remember, when we hear a parable, we can place ourselves in any one of the characters.  Also, Jesus’ parables are meant to be cognitive time bombs that shock us into new understandings as we think about them over time. 

The scene of this parable unfolds in a place that is something like a hall of justice where a judge is seated on his judgement seat and throngs of petitioners are gathered about, some represented by lawyers while others are just shouting their requests from the crowd.  And, this widow is in that crowd every single day when the court convenes.  She wants vindication against an unnamed adversary.  She wants justice!  Day after day after day, she is present shouting out for the justice she deserves.  And, every single day the harsh, unsavory, immoral, corrupt judge, who “neither fears God nor respects people,” ignores her.  Yet, this poor, defenseless widow obstinately badgers the corrupt judge until he finally relents and renders a favorable judgment. 

Now, we must remember the writer of Luke is communicating to a Greek audience, people who would picture a typical Roman judge.  Judges in that culture had vast power within their jurisdiction.  If they wanted to, they could decide cases based on personal whim alone and they frequently did just that.  The judge in this story is such a judge, and he is depicted as having no concern for justice.  Jesus says the judge felt no “reverence” for people, but also no sense of “shame” in how he treated them.   And, the contrast in the story is between this powerful magistrate who can do whatever he feels like doing and a poor widow who must simply take what she can get. 

It is significant that Jesus portrays this woman as a widow.  Widows, at that point in time, were powerless and the poorest of the poor.  On the “power scale,” the judge is at one end and the widow at the other. Widows in the ancient world were incredibly vulnerable.  And, threaded throughout Hebrew scriptures we find widows listed along with orphans and resident aliens as those persons deserving special protection. The fact that this particular widow, unattended by any family, daily goes to beseech an unsavory judge who neither fears God nor respects people, highlights her extreme vulnerability.  In her single-mindedness, she is like a dog on a bone as she daily, stubbornly persists in her pleas for justice.  She keeps haranguing this judge, apparently making a public spectacle of herself...and him.  She mercilessly bothers the judge.  And, in fact, a more vivid and accurate translation of the judge's complaint when he says, “she keeps bothering me,” would be “she is giving me a black eye."  She's embarrassing him and calling into question his reputation by persisting with her case.  She is speaking truth to power.  When discussing this brave widow’s actions, one theologian suggests:

Like all black eyes, the one the widow's complaints threaten to inflict have a double effect, representing both physical and social distress. That is, the judge complains that the widow's relentless badgering not only causes him physical harm but also risks publicly embarrassing him. For this reason, he says -- perhaps justifying his actions to his wounded sense of self? -- that he relents not because he has changed his mind but simply to shut up this dangerous widow.

This judge finally decides that if he doesn't grant the widow's petition, she will wear him out - either figuratively or literally.  So, eventually, despite his callousness and his lack of integrity, he gives the woman what she wants.

In our own time and in our own culture, we have been experiencing a steady drumbeat of news, giving us reports of injustice after injustice perpetrated by one group or another.  And what has been done? Many of us do work for justice in a variety of ways and, when that longing for justice burns in your bones as it does in mine, seeking justice becomes part of the fabric of your life.  In this country, over time, some civil rights laws were established; and they have brought some progress, though such progress often comes quite slowly.  Globally, we have seen some of the worst offenders brought before international tribunals and tried for crimes against humanity.  Many organizations like the ONE Campaign, Bread for the World, and ELCA Advocacy have been working to raise awareness regarding issues of human rights, equality and poverty.  And, these organizations have been working hard to encourage lawmakers to enact policies that will help the poor and feed the hungry as we work to end extreme poverty in our time.  But, quite frankly, there are many who, seeing such things, have spoken words of lament but then gone right back to doing whatever else it was they had been doing.  So, I wonder: what does this parable mean for us today?  

If this parable offers a mirror for our lives, then maybe the face many of us will see when we peer into that mirror is the face of the judge who daily hears the cries of the poor and vulnerable and does not respond.  Or, are we like that vulnerable woman, tirelessly petitioning the judge for justice? 

When Jesus told a parable, quite often the deepest meaning in the story is the message of what God is like, what God is about, and what God is doing in this broken world.  So, as we hear the gospel in this parable, just maybe the really good news for all of us is that God is the one who is like that widow – unrelenting, persistent, assertive – like a dog on a bone.  God is the one who does not and will never give up.  God has not, does not, and will not ever give up on us, even when we have acted as though we "neither feared God nor had respect for people."  Just maybe, the real message in this short little story is that, because of God’s great love for us, God became vulnerable like that poor widow, even to the point of being nailed to the cross like a common criminal.   And, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s reign has broken into this world and continues to break into our world, bringing forth justice for all people.  Now that is the kind of good news worth sharing.  That is the kind of message for which each one of us can live and act like a dog on a bone!

Oct 13, 2019

This is a special musical performance of Holy Manna by the chancel choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Oct 13, 2019

We have heard a great deal about boundaries over the past few years.   And, while I believe some boundaries are necessary, very needed, and extremely healthy, I also believe that far too often we impose boundaries and build walls that not only keep others out of our lives, but also fence us in, isolating us from others and the world.  And, quite frankly, too often, as we have seen in our current political climate, we simply draw a line in the sand, create unreasonable boundaries and then refuse to cross those lines to seek common ground. 

When we meet up with Jesus today, he is continuing his journey to Jerusalem, his journey toward the cross.  As he and his disciples continue that cross-bound journey, they move into a border area, the boundary between Samaria and Galilee.  This boundary was a scary and uncomfortable place.  It was a boundary the Jewish people did not like to cross because it took you into that place where those hated and despised Samaritans lived.  And, look who Jesus meets at that border – ten lepers who raise their voices and cry out to Jesus saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  These lepers, knowing they are unclean, keep their distance from Jesus, because that is what the law stipulates.  By law, they are not to go near those who do not have leprosy.  Enduring the labels of “outcast” and “unclean” they are required to live apart from the rest of society.  They are required to live within yet a different kind of boundary, one that keeps them totally estranged from all others.  Considered ritually unclean, they were quarantined and treated as objects of revulsion and fear on the part of their neighbors.  So, as these ten lepers cry for mercy, not one of them breaks the social conventions that surround their disease as they cry to Jesus from a distance.

The writer of Luke’s gospel tells us Jesus sees these lepers and tells them to go show themselves to the priests.  This was also required by law because the priests would have to inspect the lepers and verify their cleanliness.  Only then could they be readmitted to the temple and be freed from their status as unclean.  So, they go, and while on their way, they become clean.  All ten are healed, but only one comes back to say thanks to Jesus for the healing.  This one leper, when he realized he had been healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude and glorifying God. 

So, why did only one leper return to offer thanks?  Part of the answer may be found in the identity of this healed man. He alone is identified as a Samaritan.  He was considered an outcast, not just because of his disease.  He was considered an outcast because he was a foreigner, a disgusting, hated Samaritan.  As such, he was twice scorned, twice rejected, and twice removed from community. 

It really is interesting that this despised Samaritan is the one who stops to say thanks.  The writer of Luke’s gospel again chooses a Samaritan to make a point.  And, as he does, we can pretty much assume his point is not about the proper etiquette for saying thank you.  Luke is not giving his first-century listeners a lesson in proper protocol for receiving healing.  No.  Again and again, we find Luke’s Jesus teaching in parables and living in ways that disorient his followers with the shock of something new.  Again and again, Luke’s Jesus shows the people that God is close at hand, in your neighbor, in those you don’t consider neighbors, in an act of compassion and in a touch of healing. 

So, why was it the Samaritan who came back to thank Jesus?  Jesus had not made a formal thank you part of the bargain.  He simply told them to go and show themselves to the priests. Well, we really do not know why the Samaritan is the only one to return.  However, just maybe the writer of Luke was more interested in describing the boundaries, or maybe we should say lack of boundaries, when it comes to God’s grace.  You see, when it comes to God’s grace, imposed boundaries will ultimately expand to include even those the world defines as unclean, immigrant, alien, foreign, and impure.  Luke seems to be telling us a story about a very daring boundary crossing.  A crossing that is daring on the part of Jesus, and also on the part of the Samaritan. 

So, the Samaritan alone returns and, if we look at his posture, we discover that he comes close to Jesus and humbly lies down at Jesus’ feet.  Of the ten who were healed, he alone – a despised foreigner - breaches the boundaries and moves from an experience and life of isolation to one of grateful intimacy.  While the other nine perform the necessary rituals and practices, he alone feels obliged to say thank you.  And maybe, just maybe, in his need to say thank you there was a yearning for intimacy with God, a sense that faith cannot simply mean performance of ritual.  Faith requires relationship.  Faith – something that in itself is gift – lures us, grasps us and draws us into relationship with God, a relationship that is healing, intimate, humbling, and yes, even dependent.

I cannot help but wonder if part of the illness we are seeing within today’s culture and climate is due to a deep self-centeredness, a viewpoint that assumes we are right, that assumes we are entitled to what we have.  We draw deeply entrenched boundary lines, and we do not want to cross those lines.  We become so preoccupied with our own needs, our own wants, protecting what we have while attempting to justify our unwavering position and perspective, that we maintain our distance from others while holding on to an illusion of absolute independence.  In doing so we continue to create divisions among people, cast others aside as unclean, and attempt to make others appear as outcasts.

“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back.”  One turned back from maintaining the protection of distance, turned back from going his or her own way, turned back from self-justification, turned back from the illusion of independence, and knelt down at Jesus’ feet, proclaiming ultimate dependence on God.  And, in doing so, gave thanks and showed deep gratitude. 

Gratitude!  The truth is, gratitude is an expression of our need for others, of our need for God.  We cannot live within our deeply entrenched boundaries, live at a distance, and become truly healed at the same time.  And, the fact of the matter is, all that we have, all that we think we are entitled to, all of our stuff, our health, our position, our job, the list goes on and on, all is gift

When we begin to grasp and understand that all is gift, we begin to know gratitude.  And, it is gratitude that teaches us about the truth of our very lives – the truth that we live in a profoundly interdependent world.  The strength and health of our communities, our country and our very selves comes to us as gift when we live in relationship to others

The healthiest people I know are those whose lives are not lived as the self-made man or woman, living within their protective boundaries.  The healthiest people I know are those whose very lives express deep gratitude as they have reached across boundaries to enrich and embrace others and be embraced by others.  The healthiest people I know are those who understand that to be truly well requires the embrace of the alien grace of Christ’s daring love, the embrace of the God who crosses all boundaries to love us where we are and as we are and make us God’s own.

 

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