This is a special musical presentation of Mary Did You Know, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Christmas Eve 2023

          Throughout this past year, we all have had our joys and struggles. Some of our experiences we have considered good news and blessings and others not. Tonight, we gather together to hear the story, maybe a few for the first time and for others, we may have lost count. What might the good news or blessings be in this old story?

          This old story is about the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, our Messiah, God coming to earth to save us, God’s people. It is easy to glamorize this story, but when we do that, we may miss the good news of the story. The time period that Jesus was born into was not an easy time. Transportation had not been developed and there were many laws or customs that were expected to adhere to.

          When we begin to look at how Jesus’ birth came to be, it rocked many boats. Mary was a teenager who had not had sex with Joseph, and they were not married. Mary’s family could have disowned her, and Joseph could have told people that he was not the father. Was this conception good news and a blessing or was it a curse?

          When the angel Gabriel came to tell Mary, of course Mary was asking, ‘how could this be?’.  I am a teenager and have not even been with a man. It seemed that when Gabriel told Mary that her aunt Elizabeth was also pregnant and she was quite old, Mary felt that she could affirm this conception as she would not be alone.

          Since some of Mary’s fears were allayed, she was able to reframe it. Mary was able to see this conception as a way to serve God. She really did not know what she was in for, but she was honored to be a servant for God. Mary looked at this as good news and a blessing. She sang a song of praise to let God know that she was joyful to be able to serve. Something that could have caused her to be stoned she reframed into a blessing, good news.

          Then there is the census that caused them to have to travel. Could the census have been good news and a blessing? Our first thought could be that it caused a hardship for Mary and Joseph. As the census required them to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Remember Mary is pregnant. The distance is ninety miles and there were no cars. The story tells us that she rode on a donkey. Have many of us have walked ninety miles, let alone with someone who is pregnant?

          Does this sound like good news, let alone a blessing? For us this would be like walking from Okemos to Holland or Grand Haven. The census was actually bringing them back to where Joseph grew up. This established Joseph as being in the line of David, which was foretold in the Old Testament to be where the Messiah was coming from. When we can reframe the census, it can become good news and a blessing.

          It gave Mary and Jospeh a sense of belonging and status, which they may have been struggling with. It became good news and a blessing when this information came together. If they were going back to where Joseph grew up, they probably had family and friends around to support them. Thus, the census could them be viewed as good news and a blessing.

          So often we have heard of the angry motel keeper who wouldn’t let Mary and Joseph into his motel. Jesus was place in a manger, possibly then in a family room of a family member.  What if placing Jesus in a manger was a provision for safety and security? Could this be looked at as good news and a blessing as God provided what they needed at the time? Again, reframing a situation that seemed to be of lack, but could also be seen as abundance.

          As we can reframe these different parts of this familiar story, can we begin to see that even in what may seem like the darkest moments in our lives, that when we can reframe them, they may become good news and a blessing? In each situation in our Christmas story God provided what was needed. In each situation in our lives, can we see where God has provided what we needed at that time? This is good news and a blessing for us to share with others.

          It also reminds us that God is always with God’s people. Even in what may seem like our darkest moments in life, we can see God’s love shown for us. God loves us enough to come to our messed up world and continues to show up and be with us and our stories into good news and blessings.

          God provided for Mary, Joseph and Jesus throughout this old story. As our stories continue to unfold, God continues to provide for us. At times we may need to do some reframing in order to see God’s presence in our stories. The good news and blessing is that God came to earth out of love and continues to love us by providing for us what we need, when we need it.

          We have gathered to hear this old story again to be reminded that God walks with us in our stories continuing to love and provide for us. God continues to turn our dark moments into good news and blessings. This is the good news for us and the good news that we have to share with others.

Let us pray: Loving God, we have looked anew at the story of your Son’s birth. The story tells of many challenges that Mary and Joseph had. A story that also shows your presence with them in many ways and providing what they needed when they needed it. A story that shows how your love for them allowed them to reframe challenges into good news and blessings. Help us tonight to be able to see the good news and blessings in our lives that you have given to us out of love. Help us to share the good news of your love and blessings with all people. Amen

Today was the 2023 Christmas Pageant . Come and celebrate the Christmas season with youth from Faith Lutheran.

Endings have beginnings and beginnings have endings. So often we dread endings. The endings of a life, sometimes the endings of a school year, a graduation or position. As emotionally difficult as they can be, there can also be a sense of celebration in each one.

Normally when there is an ending, there will be something or someone that we will be missing. This is when we come more to the realization that hopefully we can be thankful for these people and times. At 63, I have been through a number of seasons in life as many of you also have been. We learn to savor moments with people and things.

Beginnings can be difficult also, but it is what keeps us going and moving on to new moments to savor. In our gospel lesson today, we hear the beginning of our first Gospel ever written. In Mark we hear, The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Context is always important. This Gospel was believed to have been written in AD 70. This is when the Roman Empire destroyed and looted the temple and Jerusalem itself. This event ended the revolt and huge numbers of Jews left Judaea to make a home elsewhere.

Mark’s Gospel is the shortest. He doesn’t start out with a Christmas story as Mathhew and Luke do. I’m wondering if he felt he needed to get some good news out as soon as possible. He begins by announcing that this is the beginning of an account of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. Mark was putting down Jesus’ story.

Mark immediately moves on to John the Baptist by using the prophet Isaiah who prophesied John the Baptist many years before. In our Old Testament lesson, we hear the prophet Isaiah reminding people that Jerusalem needs comfort. They have just returned from exile. This time it was the Babylonians who had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

The prophet Isaiah in this section of the book is trying to give the Hebrew people comfort, hope and joy. Even though it was their behavior that led them into exile, God was still there for them. We hear those familiar words of comfort hope, and joy, “Comfort, O Comfort my people, says your God. Isaiah also says, In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This was first prophesying John the Baptist and then Jesus, God coming to earth.

Now in Mark, history is repeating itself and the people are looking again for God to come and comfort them and walk with them. Mark is reminding them of Jesus by retelling Jesus’ story from his point of view. God had come to earth in Jesus in order to prepare God’s people for the restoration of their lives, land and temple.

God has promised to be with God’s people and has never given up on this promise. God’s people then, in Isaiah’s time, Mark’s time, and now us, need constant reminders of God’s expectations and promise of comfort, hope, and joy. Might John the Baptist be giving us the stance or posture that we need to constantly be in the process of restoration?

First of all, John the Baptist was out in the wilderness. He was not in a town, nor in the temple. One could say he was different, dressed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He was preaching a baptism of repentance, but yet there was someone coming who was greater than he. John said he was not even worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of this person’s sandals.

The statement about his sandals must have been important as all four Gospel writers have used it. John was making the point that the focus should not be on him. He was the messenger. Jesus was the savior that the people were looking for. He was the one to bring comfort and joy.

Even though John the Baptist was baptizing, he said it wasn’t the full baptism. The one coming would be baptizing with the Holy Spirit. We are in the first chapter of Mark, in the first eight verses and we are already hearing about the Holy Spirit. Did they even know who the Holy Spirit was?

John the Baptist was out in the wilderness telling people to get ready for this one who is greater than he. Mark identifies this person who is coming as Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and that he is bringing good news. This is what the people needed to hear as Jerusalem had been demolished and they wanted to restore what had been broken. John’s posture or stance was one of repentance and being vulnerable in order to recognize Jesus in the unexpected places.

Good News came to the Hebrew people in Isaiah’s time, came to the people in Mark’s time and continues to come to us today. God fulfills God’s promises to bring comfort, hope, joy and walk alongside God’s people to restore what has been broken. Sometimes the brokenness comes from decisions that have been made and sometimes it just happens.

Each one of us makes decisions and will continue to make decisions that cause brokenness in our lives and other’s lives. There will be things that happen to us and the ones we love that we do not have any control over that cause brokenness. I am sure that every one of us here and online can think of someone and maybe ourselves who are experiencing brokenness right now.

The good news is that regardless if it was because of decisions that we made or someone else has made or just because it happened, that God in Jesus Christ comes to comfort us and walk beside us. Many of us have received comfort, hope and joy in our times of brokenness and we have offered words of comfort to others in their brokenness.

The prophet Isaiah reminded the people that regardless of Jerusalem’s choices that may have gotten them into exile originally, God still loved them and wanted to help them be restored to wholeness. When we read Jesus’ story, he never turned anyone away, especially if they were seeking restoration, wholeness.

This is the good news for us and good news that we are called to offer to others. This Advent season is about remembering the comfort, hope and joy that we can have in Jesus. People seem to repeat history. God in Jesus Christ remains constant in comforting us, giving us hope and joy and walking beside us through our brokenness into wholeness which brings us joy.

It is when we receive the words of good news, of comfort, hope, and joy, a reminder of God’s constant love that we can move from endings into beginnings.

This is a special musical presentation of Climb to the Highest Mountain, performed today by the Singing Sinners at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Waiting for Bethlehem's Light, performed today by the Chancel Choir with Gwynne Kadrofske on flute at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Happy New Year!! We had our New Year’s Eve gathering at the Williamston Theater last night. We usually don’t stay up until midnight to welcome the new church year in. Part of what the church year has done is to try and offset the regular calendar. This is how we got December 25 for Christmas, as it used to be a pagan holiday.

So, what do we do differently in Advent? In some sense it is a penitential time, similar to Lent. We always talk about slowing down, but how often do we really slow down. It often gets busier. Even though we hear the words in our Gospel lesson this morning to stay awake, be alert, do we? The busier we are the less that we see and are able to experience.

Jesus paints quite a picture in our Gospel lesson today of what his second coming may look like. Quite stark language, During the days after this trouble comes, the sun will grow dark, and the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall from the sky. And the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Jesus had just told his disciples prior to our Gospel lesson, that the temple would be destroyed, not one stone would be left. Up until this time the presence of God was thought to have been in the temple, thus this was a radical departure from what they grew up with. Can you imagine the anxiety that this must have created? Then Jesus paints this picture of the Son of Man returning. I am not sure the disciples fully understood what Jesus was talking about.

How and when all of this would take place, Jesus says no one knows except God. In the meantime, stay awake, keep alert. We could read this as don’t go to sleep, but we know that is not the way God made us.

There are some people who will focus on, “you will see these things taking place” and then you will know the time and the hour. Many people have waited at a certain place at a certain time, but Jesus did not return at that time. Thus, I don’t believe waiting and keeping alert means that we stand still.

In Mark, Jesus is changing the focus of where we will find God’s presence. God’s presence is not only found in the temple, but out in the wilderness, outside the doors of the temple. In the next few weeks, we will encounter John the Baptist who was out in the in wilderness. People left their cities and towns as they were seeking something more than what they were finding from the church leaders in the temple.

Since Jesus has not come back yet, we can easily become complacent. We only talk about Jesus’ second coming at the beginning and the end of the church year. When we talk about it, I would like to suggest that it can encourage us not to be fearful or complacent, but to continue seeking God’s presence in our lives. For me, this is what it means to be awake and alert.

Our Old Testament lesson from the prophet Isaiah, may help us be in a posture to do this. Some of the people have returned from their exile. They returned to a demolished temple and plundered land. At least now they were home, and not under the Babylonian authority.

The prophet Isaiah is not happy with God and kind of feels that God has abandoned them. Isaiah says tear open the heavens and come down to us and help us get back on our feet. Although, he recognized that God had done awesome deeds that they didn’t expect. He recognized that God intervened for those who waited for God.

At the same time, Isaiah was blaming God for their sin as God hid God’s face from them. This may seem quite bold to blame God, but if we are honest, there are times we blame God for things also. Isaiah was asking God, since you are angry with us, where does that leave us?

Yet, says Isaiah, since you are our parent, we are your clay, and you are the potter. This can be good news, but what does it mean for us to be clay. Clay is a lump of wet gooey stuff. Is this what we want to be? Is this what we are called to be?

For us to be clay means that we are vulnerable and flexible. It means that we will continually be reshaped until the day we are made perfect and go home to God in Jesus Christ.

The Potter's Hand

Verse 1

Beautiful Lord wonderful Saviour I know for sure all of my days are

Held in Your hand crafted into our perfect plan

Verse 2

You gently call me into Your presence, guiding me by Your Holy Spirit

Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life Through Your eyes

Pre-Chorus

I'm captured by Your holy calling, set me apart I know You're drawing

Me to Yourself Lead me Lord I pray

Chorus

Take me mold me, Use me fill me, I give my life to the Potter's hand.

Call me guide me, lead me, walk beside me, I give my life to the Potter's hand

CCLI Song # 2449771

Darlene Zschech

© 1997 Wondrous Worship

For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 720217

When we allow ourselves to be molded by God’s hands, the potter, we will be awake and alert. It also means that we may need to slow down in order to see people and situations through Jesus’ eyes. In order to be molded, we are called to be vulnerable and flexible.    

During this Advent season, there may be things that we need to let go of, that are holding us back from more fully experiencing God’s presence. Where are we looking for God. We often find God in the unexpected places. This will mean changing our hearts and minds being clay and allowing God the potter to be remolding us.

May we pray the prayer together printed in your bulletin:

Change My Heart, O God

          Change my heart, O God; make it ever true.

          Change my heart, O God; may I be like you.

          You are the potter; I am the clay.

          Mold me and make me; this is what I pray.

          Change my heart, O God; make it ever true.

          Change my heart, O God; may I be like you. Amen

In some churches when I say that we have come to end of our stewardship campaign, people often breathe a sigh of relief. The thought may be that we don’t have to hear money talk again for another year. If you have noticed here at Faith, the past two Sundays have not been about money. It has been about how Faith has embraced people and how we use the resources that we have been given to take care of and are shared with our neighbors.

Over the years, stewardship has gotten a bad rap. It is all how we define stewardship. I have said once or twice that the word comes from the old English and means keeper of the pig sty. To be a steward means that we take care of what has been entrusted to us.

What has been entrusted to us is time, talent and treasure. This really does include our relationships, with ourselves and others. So, stewardship is about how we take care of all of these things and people. The bottom line is that we as Christians believe that we do not own anything, God owns everything.

This way of thinking does not fly too well in our society. We all work hard to get what we have. As Christians, we are called to think about we and not I. We were created to live in community. This is what God in Jesus Christ has been trying to teach us how to do since God put human beings on this earth.

Somehow when we can focus on what we are thankful for, it is easier to have the we way of thinking. Thus, it is more than appropriate to celebrate Stewardship/Thanksgiving Sunday together. Stewardship is about living our lives in thankfulness.

I would like us to think about how often we have talked about giving back what we own, where in reality, we don’t own anything. I would like us rather to think about, how we use what we have been given to manage. Nothing is permanent, in reality everything is temporary. We are challenged to use our time, talent and treasure to the best of our ability to glorify God in thanksgiving and in consultation with God in Jesus Christ.

Worshipping here together is one way in which to express our thankfulness. When we gather in thankfulness it can refocus our way of thinking in order to navigate the week ahead. It can put our hearts in a place to think of we and not I.

Psalm 100 offers some suggestions on how we can worship together. I believe when we gather that there is a combination of individual and corporate worship. When we all focus our hearts and minds on thankfulness to God, there creates a connection that brings us to a place of peace and openness to experience Jesus together.

Psalm 100 was used as a processional by the Hebrew people into the temple. I would like to read you a different paraphrased version.

^1-2 On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
    sing yourselves into God’s presence.

³ Know this: God is God. God made us, and we belong to the creator.
    We are God’s people and God’s well-tended sheep.

⁴ Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
    Give thanks to God. Bless God’s name.

⁵ For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.

I’ve asked in a few groups that I read this in, what would happen if I asked the congregation to applaud God and they looked at me like I was crazy. We applaud human beings, but what about God. Our applause normally comes when we are overwhelmed by a performance or a talk or sometimes just showing our thankfulness.

Worship can be a place where we let it all hang out, but we usually don’t. Some of you have clapped on some songs with the beat. We applaud at the end of the postlude and sometimes after other musical pieces. Why not for God?

Then there is laughter. So, what about bringing a gift of laughter? What does laughter do, but to relax us and open us up and allow us to be freer. Laughter is a release. It is acceptable to laugh in a worship service. Most likely God laughs at some of the things that we do.

The Psalm goes on, Know this: God is God. God made us, and we belong to the creator. We are God’s people and God’s well-tended sheep. God knows us as God has created us. God desires us to be in relationship. This knowing is an intimate knowing. Have you ever been overwhelmed by God that you were brought to tears, that you wanted to raise your hand, wanted to express your thankfulness in some way, but then felt what would people say?

When we intimately love someone with our whole heart, we often do things out of our character. I often think of parents doing things with their kids that they would not normally do. There may be something that we do for our partners in life that is out of our character. Why not for God?

One of the reasons that we gather to worship is to say thank you to God with our time, talent and treasure. God invites us to worship, to be at home, talking praise, giving thanks and blessing God’s name. Thus, the password, thank you, can flow out of our hearts. It is not a password that is easily forgotten.

I would challenge us to express our thanks, maybe in ways that we have not tried and may feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe a better way to say it is that I give you permission, or better yet that God gives you permission. I’ve never turned down an amen either.

We can be healthy stewards in showing our thankfulness through our time, talent, and treasure in worship as well as in every area of our lives. When we come with an attitude and realization that everything including ourselves and relationships are given to us to care for, our approach to life is different. We are better able to think more about we than I. The good news is that even though we will always struggle with this, God’s lover never leaves us.

When we bring our pledge cards up today or return them at some time, remember that it is really a commitment of how we are going to use one part of what God has entrusted us with, to take care of. This commitment is between you and God.

The time and talent sheet will be coming out soon. In the closing prayer of the sermon, I am going to ask God for us how to use what God has entrusted to us. God can tell us how to use our time, talent and treasure that will help us to think more about we than I. It will also be then what is best for the community.

Stewardship is about thanking God for what God has entrusted to us to take care of for God. It is how we are called to live our lives as Christians.

Let us pray. Gracious God, you have given us everything that we need to live our lives for you. We have often forgotten that we are stewards and not owners. Today we ask you how you want us to use what you have given to us to take care of, our time, talent and treasure. You have blessed us as individuals in so many ways as well as us as Faith Lutheran Church. May your Holy Spirit speak to us now and every day as how to use what you have entrusted to us to take care of.

In Jesus name, Amen.

This is a special musical presentation of For the Beauty of the Earth, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with Gwynne Kadrofske on flute at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Today we are celebrating the resources that God has entrusted to us to use in the community. We have heard from three of those ministries. Our Noisy Offering that was taken today goes to support another important ministry and that is our Micro-Food Pantry. These ministries all are in obedience to the command to love our neighbor as ourselves.

 Unless we our visible in the community, it is difficult for people to see Jesus at work. I want to state that we do not do outreach to gain members. This may be a possible outcome, but not the reason we are called to be present in the community.

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, we have been hearing the Kingdom of Heaven is like…. It is like sharing what God has entrusted to us with those who are in need. While we are waiting, this is what we have been called to do.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus talks about waiting. He tells a story about 10 bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom. Part of this waiting is being prepared. All 10 bridesmaids have lamps. But five have no oil as they did not think ahead that the bridegroom may be late. He is often late as he sometimes has to finish up the arrangements with the bride’s family.

The five with no oil asked the five with oil if they could borrow some and they said no. They suggested that they go and find some themselves. The bridegroom came and the five bridesmaids who had the oil went in, and the doors were shut. When the other five returned, they could not get in as the doors were locked.

One could easily interpret this passage to say that this is an ends time message that if you are not ready you won’t get into heaven. For us the good news is that Jesus has does the work for us to get into heaven. We are asked to acknowledge this in the way that we live our lives.

Jesus is challenging his disciples to be ready and that includes you and me. The ten bridesmaids could represent the church and being exhorted to do good works. This is only on the surface level. We could easily say that we are doing good works, thus we are ready.

I believe that we would be too easy. O Wesley Allen, Jr, in his commentary suggests that we ask the question, “In what ways are we not prepared to meet Christ ever anew?” as opposed to simply, “Are you ready?” 

This is what we are called to ask especially during this time of transition. I believe to experience Jesus anew means change. Doing the same things over and over again doesn’t challenge us to stay awake. Our leadership has looked at the system we have in place in which to do our ministry here. It is only the beginning. A report on this conversation will be in our December newsletter.

It has been said that the church is often 10 years behind the world around us. I don’t believe that is where we are. Because we choose to share the Gospel in a way that welcomes and affirms all, we think and do things differently. But we need to have a plan in which to do this on a broader basis so that people in the community know this. This is where we can meet Christ anew.

Today we can celebrate the opportunities that God gives us to share the resources entrusted to us. This is what Jesus continues to challenge us to do as part of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are also challenged in our Gospel lesson to discover other ways to do this, that others may know of Jesus’ love for them in order to meet Christ in new ways.

In order for us to do this, we are challenged to ask ourselves the question “In what ways are we not prepared to discover Christ anew over and over again?

Today we gather to remember the saints who have lived and served faithfully. This body of Christ meant something to them, and this is what kept them active here. Today we have heard from present saints who have found a home here and are active.

On this All Saints Sunday, when we come to the table, remember that we will all be together around Jesus. My mother has always said that when she takes communion she is taking it with those saints who are already at home. We are the communion of saints gathering around Jesus to be strengthened, to be reminded that we have and continue to receive forgiveness, salvation and new life.

Everyone is welcome at this table. Today In our second lesson from Revelation we hear about one of John’s visions. Picture this - There was a great multitude of people gathered before the throne. They were from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, robed in white with palm branches in their hands. What a picture of diversity and inclusion!

Gathering before the throne can be for us gathering around the altar. It reminds us that in Jesus’ eyes we are all viewed equally. It is where we remember that God’s agape, sacrificial love was poured out through Jesus for all of us. The white robes in this lesson can remind us of this. It is one of the reasons for the white pall that some churches use at funerals to remind us that Jesus sees all of us the same.

The altar is also a place where we can bring ourselves just as we are. It is where we can bring our joys and concerns. The place where we can bring it all, what we are confused about, people we are concerned about, victims of injustice. It is a place where the voices of suffering can be heard.

We can gather around the altar in solidarity with all of the saints. This is what it means to be the communion of saints, the body of Christ, the beloved community. As the people gathered before the throne, and for us the altar, we can all shout “ Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

Can you imagine if for just a moment, if we could recognize the beauty in the diversity of God’s creation? It is where we are centered on bringing worship to God in Jesus Christ on the throne, around the altar along with those saints who have gone before. This is what we are doing today!

So today we gather around the altar as the communion of saints. Those of us worshipping here today and those who have gone before us. Each of us, all together have come to worship Jesus. In this body of Christ, Faith Lutheran Church, we are strengthened by Jesus in the bread and wine, his body and blood, that we may go out and tell others about Jesus who offers all forgiveness, salvation and new life, to continue sharing the Gospel as our saints did who have gone home and they are now cheering us on.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Confesses His Guilt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Jesus, name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pentecost 17 – A -09/24/2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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