We Know This Story, Don't We? - Sermon on Luke 15:1-3; 11-32b

Listen to the gospel lesson and sermon here.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."³ So he told them this parable:¹¹ "There was a man who had two sons.¹² The younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them.¹³ A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.¹⁴ When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.¹⁶ He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, "How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."²⁰ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.²¹ Then the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son."²² But the father said to his slaves, "Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.²³ And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.²⁵ "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.²⁶ He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.²⁷ He replied, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.'²⁸ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.²⁹ But he answered his father, "Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.³⁰ But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'³¹ Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.' " 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before...There was a man who had two sons...The younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.'  So the Father does. The son leaves his family and squanders his fortune. With nothing left..not even his pride...he returns home. And the whole way home he’s rehearsing his apology speech.  And as he arrives the Father welcomes him with open arms as though he were lost and is now found. And that bugs us...and the older brother, because this kid shamed his family, blew his fortune, and dragged himself home to grovel...and he’s welcomed with a party of all things.

That’s a familiar story isn’t?  Second to The Good Samaritan, this is probably Jesus’ most popular, or at least well known parable.   And any time I start to read this parable publically, like I did a moment ago, I get nervous right around the first line.  I worry that as soon as I say “There was a father who had two sons…”, most people check out. Oh I know that story...the prodigal kid and the loving father.  I know that story. We’re the kid and the father is Jesus. Got it, preacher. I’ll meet you at the end when you tell us we can sit down.

Now I’m being a bit facetious, but that’s my worry primarily because that is also my typical reaction.  It’s a problem. I’ll admit that. But how often do we hear the old familiar stories of our faith...whether prodigal son, good samaritan, Jesus being born, The passion narrative… how often do we hear them thinking, “oh I know that story” and then check-out because the story hasn’t changed in several thousand years, doubt it’ll change this time.  

Well that’s the beauty of faith and the power of scripture as the living word of God.  It’s always moving and breathing. The words may not change,...it may all sound the same...but when the Spirit is afoot, we may interpret it differently every single time we read or hear the story.  The stories of our faith speak differently to every person in every context. Scripture is alive. The Word of God is speaking and breathing. It’s prying and pushing, nagging and convicting, affirming and rewarding.  Scripture always speaks. 

That’s why we embody the seasons of the church year.  From Advent through Christmas and Epiphany...From Lent through Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost.  We enter into the seasons of the church and follow the accompanying passages of scripture not because it’s redundant and known.  We don’t journey through the texts of Lent and the narrative of Holy week because we know them. If we checked-out of church and worship because we know the old stories of our faith then we deny the power of the Spirit.  

We engage in the texts of our faith again and again because the Spirit is always swirling.  We read and hear well beyond the parts we know best, always listening to what the Spirit might be telling us, here and now.   It’s why we commit to extra services on Wednesday night during Lent. And if you haven’t come yet, it’s not too late to join us.  We are using worship stations, and while that may sound intimidating, I promise it’s not. You and the Spirit worship at your own pace, picking and choosing where to spend your time. 

It’s why we have extra services during Holy Week.  Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.  We don’t have worship those evenings just because that’s what we’ve always done.   We gather those nights for worship, not just to learn the stories of our faith because most of us know them like the back of our hand.  Those services are important because they are they honor, remember, and celebrate the foundation of our faith. That Christ became incarnate, died on the cross, and rose again so that all may have life and life abundant.   We knowthe story of Jesus’ passion and Holy week. We know the stories of wandering in the wilderness and the temptation.  Weknowthe parable of the prodigal son and the good samaritan.  But we never stop telling them. And we never stop hearing them.  Because the Spirit never stops speaking to us.

And today is no different.  There was a man who had two sons.  Now the younger son was arguably selfish and naive, and he makes a bold choice to ask his father for his share of the property.  This decision ultimately brings shame upon the family because it’s the same as wishing his father dead. Nevertheless, the father agrees and the son abandons his family, turning away from all that he has and has known to explore the lures of the world.

The son made some poor choices and squandered his property away.  He soon found himself broke and unemployed, with a great need. He lucks upon a minimum wage job slopping for the pigs and sinks to rock bottom.  At this low point, he has a revelation, actually it’s more of a memory or realization that back home, even his Father’s hired hands lived better than him.

So, he swallows his pride, and makes the journey home.  The whole way home he’s practicing his apology speech, seeking the exact words necessary for his father to forgive him and welcome him home.  Can you imagine how guilty and ashamed...how scared and vulnerable he must have felt walking up to his home.

And what does the Father do?  He does what Jesus always does, he embraces the son with open arms.  Adorns him with robe, sandals, and ring. Calls for the fatted calf to be cooked for a great celebration, because what was lost has been found.  The son has come home.

This parable sits so well within the season of Lent, doesn’t it?   The themes of the parable seem so relevant and appropriate. 

The younger son betrays his family.  Claims inheritance, turns his back, and abuses the gift.  He squanders the goodness he was given. Almost as though he didn’t even know or appreciate what he really had.

He wanders the world, literally to another country, and journeys through his own personal wilderness.  A wilderness wrought with the lures of the world. A wilderness that eats his material possession, leaving him for dead and despair.

He experiences a sense of revelation or remembrance.  A moment of self-discernment and assessment. It’s such a moment that he turns around to head home...a home with an uncertain welcome.

The younger son arrives home, ready to confess and repent, but before he even has a chance to say he’s sorry, the father is already rejoicing.  The sin isn’t given power in the story...rather forgiveness takes top billing. 

And how about the father.  It was not the custom of the day for older men to run.  But this father, whom I imagine had waited weeks or more for his son to return.  Despite the shame upon his family and the judgement of neighbors...once he glimpse the dust of his son’s feet on the horizon, he grasps the edge of his robe and runs.  Runs to his son. Embraces him with love and forgiveness and showers him with grace. The father doesn’t even give the son a chance to confess...not because confession isn’t important, but because forgiveness is so much powerful.   Grace prevails.

We know the story like the back of our hand don’t we?   Its characters and parallels? 

So often the story bates us into relating to the younger son..  Perhaps we too have been short-sighted, naive, and lost? ...wandering on our own, squandering the gracious gifts we have been given to pursue the lure of worldly temptations?  Most of all the parable then reminds us of a Father so loving and forgiving, that grace is freely and abundantly given. Without condition? That maybe confession isn’t a prerequisite for God’s grace, but rather an expression of it?

The story then calls us to our own experience of self-assessment and discernment.  Have you wandered and squandered? Are you ripe for repentance? Scared to return to the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, body, and mind?   It’s an easy and honest parallel for us to make. Us as the younger son.

But I think it does us well to remember why Jesus told us this parable in the first place.   In verse 1, he says, Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  They were grumbling that Jesus welcomes all to the banquet table. Not only welcomes, but seeks out. Pulls up the edge of his robe and runs after.  Welcoming them home with an embrace of forgiveness before that have a chance to fully confess their sin. They were appalled and disgusted that Jesus would conduct himself in such a way.

Remember now, there was a man who had two sons.  And the older son offers a more convicting reality for us.  Perhaps we find ourselves with the older son? Hard-working, patient, and obedient.  Going the extra mile in our faith. Taking the extra steps to ensure that the gifts promised to us are rightly accepted?  Maybe you relate to the older son, annoyed by God’s ability to forgive again and again, people who you may think don’t deserve it. Angry at the father’s unconditional forgiveness?  Frustrated at how delighted God can be to find the squandering sinners and welcome them home? Are you ever weary that perhaps the repentant sinner isn’t worthy of celebration just yet?  Good for them for repenting, but are they really worthy of such an extravagant party?

Both sons have something to teach us.

The father leaves his house for both sons.  Pursues them both. Invites them both to the banquet.  And most of all, ensures them both that his love is endless and abounding, steadfast and abundant.  It never wavers. And it never judges.n

We know this story, don’t we?  The story of a God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  A God who waits in the most abiding way as we wander restlessly in our faith?  A God who pours out the most abundant and gracious gifts of grace and forgiveness...again and again despite our squandering.  A God so loving and caring. A God that dines with sinners and offers the most outlandish celebration for each and every sinner.  A God who always, always, always welcomes us home. And it’s not so much THAT God welcomes us home again and again, but the way God welcomes us home.  With open arms and persistent forgiveness. Running to us. Again and Again. Pursuing us with love and mercy.

We know this story, don’t we?  

This is why we participate in the season of Lent and the Great Three days of Holy Week.  Not simply to hear again the stories we know...but to know that we are apart of God’s story.  To experience the radical love of a Father for his son. For his children. 

Amen.

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached 03.31.2019 at St. Mark's JAX

Business (not) as Usual - Sermon Easter 7B - 5.13.2018

Listen to the gospel and the sermon here.

John 17:6-19

⁶”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.¹⁴I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

On Thursday this past week we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus Christ.  Our friends from All Saints Episcopal Church across the street joined us in worship and celebration.  And on Thursday, the 40th day of Easter we not only celebrated Jesus’ joyful ascension, but we recalled Jesus’ commission to the disciples.  To be witnesses to all the ends of the earth.  From Jerusalem to Samaria and beyond.  Jesus lifted his hands to bless the disciples and while he was blessing them he left them and was taken up into heaven.  The disciples were left looking to the sky

The disciples have had a rough few weeks haven’t they?  For starters they dedicated their lives to following a rabbi, trusting and hoping for him to be the Messiah.   And in a matter of weeks everything seems to come unhinged. First they paraded into Jerusalem knowing good and well that they’ll face opposition.  They share an intimate meal with Jesus not knowing it’d be his last.  Jesus speaks a bit prophetically about things to come.  While praying Jesus is taken into custody.  He is tried, beaten, crucified and murdered.  Their hoped-for Messiah is dead.  But wait, three days later he’s alive, appearing to them behind closed doors and on a dusty road to Emmaus. They rejoice for he is alive and once again among them.  And then there is the Ascension, where Jesus blesses them one last time and then ascends to heaven.  And just like that he’s gone again.  

What a emotional and spiritual whiplash their relationship with Jesus is. They’ve crossed the highest mountains and the lowest lows….through fear, joy, death, betrayal, denial, and hiding, and now after all of that the text says they returned to Jerusalem with great joy...praising God.  

The disciples return to Jerusalem, and it’s back to business as usual. The disciples regroup with a crowd of about 120 people, let’s call it a congregation.  And Peter steps forward to remind them that they down one member, they’re a council member short.  If you recall, Judas who betrayed Jesus chose money and greed over his relationship with Christ and he then took his own life.  So Peter, council president, reminds the congregation that Scripture foretold this moment, and therefore the time has come to fill Judas’ place among the disciples.  So they hold an election.

Maybe I am biased, but does this whole scenario not seem a bit weird?  Hear me out.  We’re only weeks from the shock and awe of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Days after Jesus commissions them and Ascends to heaven.  And this is their priority?  Jesus said go and tell and they said, “yah ok, in a minute…”

Sure replacing Judas fulfills scripture and therefore must take place, but the timing of the whole situation seems odd.  Call me crazy, but your best friend, your rabbi, mentor, teach, messiah was brutally murdered.  He was dead and buried. You were in mourning. Then he rose from the grave. He came to you in your hiding on multiple occasions telling you to hit the streets and spread the word.  

Finally, the once dead now alive Messiah blesses you and tells you to go to all the world and spread the good news…and the first thing they do is check the constitution and its bylaws?

Nevertheless, the nominating committee identifies two among them suited to serve ...Joseph and Matthias.   They cast lots to avoid human influence on the election and the lots fell the Matthias.   So Matthias joined the other 11 disciples in order to fulfill scripture.  Business as normal. Easy enough.

Last Sunday was a Spirit-filled morning. We celebrated the resurrection together over word and wine.   Then I hung out with 4 of our St. Mark’s kids to talk about first communion.  We made bread.  We talked about the sacrament of communion.  We talked about God’s promise of love and grace in the meal.  We talked about Jesus being present through the bread and wine.  We talked about welcoming everyone to God’s table to be fed and nourished.  We even broke bread together over lunch.   I was on fire with the joy of the Spirit when I left this church home! I mean every Sunday those 4 kids reach out their hands to me at the rail, begging to taste and see.  Obviously the Spirit was moving and I was excited.  But the moment I walked in my house, set my stuff down, and let my dog out, I nap.  Apparently my fervor for the Spirit was no match for the couch.

Perhaps it is that I take the Spirit for granted.  I know that Spirit is at work and I know that the Spirit will continue to be at work...so in the meantime I’ll focus on me and the pressures of the world...and I’ll catch the Spirit next week.  

When I woke up from my nap, I made my to-do list.  From washing dishes and vacuuming...answering emails and scheduling appointments.  I was back to business as usual.

What about you?  When you come to this nave, to be among friends and community, siblings in Christ.  When you worship God, receive forgiveness, sing alleluia, and pray for the world.  When you come to the table to be fed and nourished…when you hear the word of God proclaimed, the love and grace of God who loved the world so much that Jesus came to walk among us and experience the depths of life…After all of that, and the Spirit alive within you...what do you do next?  Do you take to the ends of the earth, or do you settle back into business as usual? 

Maybe the disciples had thought they had seen it all.  Death and resurrection. The story of Easter, what could the Spirit possibly do next that they hadn’t seen already. Between resurrection and ascension, was it really possible for the Spirit to catch them off guard...there will be plenty of time for proclaiming the gospel and living out Jesus’ commission later…“yah ok Jesus, in a minute…”

Have you ever experienced this “setting-aside” of the Spirit.  Almost as though we compartmentalize God and the call?  Maybe we feel an immense presence of the Spirit in worship, and like the disciples we’re looking to the ascended Christ in awe,  Yet some time between 11:00 and noon today we might set that aside.  Check it off the list.  Put the lid back on the box until next week?  It’s back to business.

It seems easy to put faith aside.  To prioritize the busy-ness of life over the Spirit.  Give me just a minute God and I’ll be right there.  Hang on for a few days and let me finish these other tasks and then I promise I’ll make some time for the Spirit to lead. It’s easy to move from one thing to the next, carrying on our lives business as usual, unaccepting or unaware that just maybe the power of God in Christ might have actually changed us. 

It is precisely those moments when the Spirit intercedes.  We think we have a handle on things and then the Spirit wakes us up and shakes the priorities of our lives.  Just as we get comfortable the Spirit will be up to something.

I give the disciples a hard time.  And it’s easier looking from the outside in.  At first glance it seems like they haven’t been changed at all by the events that just took place.  But in the midst of their logistical business we glimpse or sign of what’s to come.  The text tells us that they selected two among them as candidates for this apostleship ministry.  And before they cast lots….they prayed.  They prayed “Lord you know everyone’s heart.  Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship.”  Before they cast lots the disciples prayed, “Lord, thy will be done.”  Just as Jesus had taught them.  Lord, thy will be done.

It’s a minor detail in the overall story, but I think it’s a testament to their lives in Christ.  Maybe it’s a tiny change, but it is a powerful change. Even in the midst of their mundane logistical business, they seek God’s guidance and the Spirit’s presence. And if they truly have been changed by God in the death and resurrection of Jesus as well as the commission to proclaim the gospel, then business will never be as usual. That small moment of prayer is a symbol of their new lives in Christ. From here on, everything they do and say, every action they take...Thy will be done. 

Friends, the same is true for us. The Spirit is alive and well within us.  And the Spirit is up to something.  Even in the nuances of our lives...the busyness of work and family...even in the trivial check-list items of our everyday living, the Spirit is working. Make no mistake, we can not separate ourselves from the Spirit.  No matter what we do, we do not go without the presence of the Holy Spirit.  

This is what Jesus promised the disciples at the Ascension.  Jesus promised they we will never walk this journey of life along.  Though he may no longer be physically present, the Spirit accompanies us in our life of faith.   We can not and will not be detached from that truth.  In the resurrection of Jesus we are forever changed.  And perhaps, just maybe...the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy...praising God because they finally knew this to be true.  

They may have no idea what the Spirit will do next, and nor do we, but in the meantime, even in the logistical tasks of the early Christian church, the disciples give witness that God’s will be done. I think we would do well to follow their example.  After all the Spirit is not something we can dismiss or defer our attention.  The Spirit is always present.  So rather than delay faith or set the Spirit aside, God would have us embrace her.  It is God’s promise to us..even during tests or projects, exams or deadlines, from reports to elections, to-do lists and beyond...The Spirit abides in us.  It is God’s gift for us. Amen 

© Preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on May 13, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church

Sermon Easter 6B - 05.06.2018

Listen to the gospel and the sermon here.

John 15:9-17

⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. ¹²“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. This is my commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.”  “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Look, Full Disclosure: I’m going to preach a sermon about Jesus telling.. commanding us to love one another in the same selfless, sacrificial way that Jesus loves us.  I promise to preach with sincerity and humility, but the honest truth is...try as hard as I might...by the end of the day I will likely fail at this commandment.  “love one another as I have loved you.”  Within hours of today’s service the odds are high that I will cast judgement for no other reason than being judgmental.  I’ll probably mumble something under my breath at someone driving in traffic.  I might sigh or dismiss someone’s story or experience...and it will all likely happen without me thinking about it.

This is my commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.”   There’s something to be said for straight-forward, no guessing, tell it like it is Jesus.  The parables and metaphors might be a bit confusing, but at least we can interpret them in ways that allow us to to hide or avoid the parts that feel convicting.  But when Jesus speaks so...explicitly, it’s almost a bit frustrating. My heart and my mind tell me that Jesus is right.   He is preaching absolute truth and it’s a commandment, but everything else in me says, “Yah right Jesus...easier said than done.”  Or better yet, Jesus, I’m willing to meet you halfway.  I’ll love my neighbor just as you love me...as long as I get to pick and choose who my neighbor is.

Today’s text are about love.  For those of you counting, our lessons today use the word love 14 times.  And by the end of the sermon I’ll have used the word love 90 more times.  But despite how many times we read or say it, there is an enormous loss in translation from the original text to English. 

In English, we’re a bit loose with the word love.  We tend to toss it around from one extreme to another and rely on our tone of voice to convey how much affection we put behind the word.   I love board games.  I love sweet tea. I love my NC State Wolfpack.   I love fried shrimp.  I love my dog, Cooper.  I love my family.  I love my wife.

Somewhere in all of that there is an implied understanding as to how much, or how deeply I love.  Surely my love for sweet tea or fried shrimp doesn’t register on the same scale as my love for my wife, let alone my love for God. 

The original biblical language, the greek does well to account for the breadth at which we use the word love.  The Greek has 4 different words for love, and I won’t get into those specifics today, but three of those words...three of those greek words parse out all of my aforementioned loves.  Right, my love for food or drink...love for pet..love for family or spouse….All of those implied understandings are parsed out in Greek by these three different definitions of love.  

But there is a 4th word for love.   Agape.  And what’s important to know, is that the Greek reserves this one word for love, Agape, to describe God’s love for God’s son, and Jesus’ love for us.  Agape love, is a selfless, sacrificial love.  It’s not a romantic or emotional love.  It’s not a kinship or friendship type of love.  No Agape is reserved to intentionally to describe the power of God’s love in Christ, and Christ’s love in us.  Agape love is the kind of love that is unconditional, unwavering, unlimited.  Love that Christ laid down his life for our salvation.  It is agape love that God created the world.

And Jesus says, “this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  Jesus uses Agape when he talks about the command to love. In fact, every single use of the word “love” in today’s texts is the word Agape.   So like it or not, Jesus is commanding, not suggesting, or encouraging… he’s commanding that we love one another as God love Christ and Christ loved us. Not to love one another as we love a TV show or a favorite restaurant. Not to love someone as we love the Jags, Noles, Gators, or Steelers.  Not to just love in a warm and fuzzy, emotional way.  Not to love someone like we love a sibling or family member.  But rather, Christ commands us to love one another with the same selfless, humble, life giving, sacrificial, unconditional, unwavering, unlimited love that Christ showed us.  A Love that consciously risks everything for someone else.  

And the disciples, the saints,.. you and me…we’re commanded to this love...this agape love, which until this moment was reserved in scritpture to only talk about the way God loves the world and the way Christ loves us.

OK, Jesus, I hear ya, I do,” but again I say that’s going to be easier said than done.”  

What do we do with this command?  In a world and society that is more receptive to divisiveness, greed, self-destruction...people hurting one another...what do we do with this command from Christ?  

With countries at war, fighting over land, oil, terrorism, nuclear capabilities...as borders are defended, attacked, and destroyed...nations against nations...what do we do with this command from Christ to love one another?

Even this weekend as almost 200 refugees caravan to the US border, or the thousands more out of syria, the middle east, and beyond who travel to various other countries...as they flee in fear seeking a place to live peacefully...what do we do with this command from Christ to love one another?

Or in the midst of such significant cultural movements…from #me too to #black lives matter.  From march for our lives to #times up.  What do we do with this command from Christ to love one another? 

To be sure, the list goes on.  Our communal lives together in society and in the world are inundated with conflict, divisiveness, terror, fear, disagreement…you name it...So what are we to do with this command from Christ to love one another?

Sometimes it seems so hard, so unachievable, so impossible to reconcile Jesus’ command to love with the realities of our daily living. I think that we view this command from a distance as something we all agree should be the standard.  And we do our best, we try our best, we ask God to help us, but for whatever reason we struggle to achieve such a level of love.  I fear that we view this command of love as something for us to strive towards or achieve.  Hide behind that.

But the truth is, in Jesus, the command is quite the opposite.  This agape love is not a hoped-for outcome, or a worked-towards goal.  This agape love is not unachievable or so far off that we can write it off.  Rather, it is who we are created to be.  As Jesus said, you did not choose me, but I chose you.  God claims us in the water and makes a new, loving servants of Christ.  We are Christ’s body in the world.  And rather than lament or excuse that we may never do as Christ commands us to do, we would do well to remember that is is who we are.  We are Christians, washed and saved by love so that we might be love. 

And look friends, agape love for one another doesn’t mean everything everyday is perfect and peaceful. It doesn’t mean we won’t have conflict or disagreement.  It doesn’t mean we won’t clash over personal opinions, morals, or ambitions.  After all, Jesus had his fair share of encounters with political, social, and religious opposition.  Even his best friends, his disciples argued with him.

But what this command DOES mean is that we are called, commanded, created to begin and sustain each and every relationship with a foundation of Agape love.  Agape love for one another is a starting point, not a hopeful ending. Love for another as Christ loved us.  Because that is who and whose we are.So what do we do?  Where do we start?

Well, we usually start with confession. Before God and one another that “We are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.”  Sin that pits us against one another and distances us from the source and command to love.  We confess that we have not loved with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.”   

And in that confession God forgives us and reminds us the we are claimed children in the body of Christ.  For God chose us, we did no choose God. God entered into a relationship with us and that relationship is rooted in love.  Agape love. Selfless and sacrificial. It is unwavering, unlimited, and unconditional.  That is the foundation for God’s relationship with Christ and with us.  And God willing, by Christ’s command, may it always be the starting point for us and one another. Amen. 

© Preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on May 06, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church

Welcome & Welcome Back - Easter 2B Sermon

Listen to the sermon here.

John 20:19-31

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” ²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” ³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.One week since

Well, fancy meeting all of you here!  But in the nicest way possible, may I ask, what are you doing here?  One week after the Easter story was proclaimed, what brings you back?  Last week the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.  The angels proclaimed to Mary that that Jesus of Nazareth is not here, he is risen and he has gone ahead to Galilee to meet you there.  Remember? Alleluia, Jesus is Risen….he is risen indeed, alleluia!?

Now granted, not all of us were together in this space for worship last week, and if you weren’t here I hope that you were able to worship with a community of faith elsewhere for Easter.  But seriously, what are you doing here?

Christ is risen from the grave. God has fulfilled the promise of life over death.  

Sin and the devil are defeated. Jesus who was crucified has risen and gone ahead as promised. And we, along with Mary and the disciples were tasked with the responsibility and privilege of going and telling the world about Jesus!  Yet here we are.

Maybe your 1st week of Easter was packed with going and telling.  Perhaps you ran the streets like an ice cream truck singing the praises of God.  Shouting up Alleluia.  Serving anyone who was intrigued.

Maybe your 1st week of Easter was a moderate, more subtle week of proclaiming Christ is risen. Maybe you shared your Easter experience with someone in the office.   Called to check in on family and friends and catch up through conversations of faith.

Maybe you talked to a stranger about Jesus or even invited them to come and see for themselves. Maybe you helped a neighbor or someone in need...took intentional efforts to be a witness to the resurrection ...a light in the world.  

Maybe you were unmotivated, unchanged by the Easter proclamation. Maybe you were scared to talk about Jesus or afraid of what the Spirit might be up to.  Maybe you were sucked right back in to a routine that suppress the glory, joy, and energy of Easter morning.

Maybe some of you stood graveside with a loved one, experienced terror hatred.  Maybe some of us were reluctant to even care about Jesus at all because it feels as though Jesus has failed to care about us.  So why bother.

Whatever our experience of this first week of Easter, faith and the Holy Spirit have led us here; gathered together in this sacred and safe place.  Whether to have the flame of Easter fanned once more, confess a reluctance to embrace the call of going and telling.  Whether to ask hard questions about faith, seek clarification, or plea to God for a sign to help our unbelief...we are here again.  After the first week of Easter, Welcome to some. And Welcome back to others.  It is good to be together again.

The first week of Easter is precisely where we find the disciples this morning.  Mary returns from the tomb that first Easter morning proclaiming that she has seen the Lord.  

She went to the disciples as she was instructed by the angels.  Now either disciples believed her without question and were just waiting for Jesus to show up or her message feel on deaf ears.  Because Mary proclaims the Easter message and not a word was said in return to her.  

The disciples are hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.  Their fear was amplified for various reasons, but mostly they were afraid that their proximity association with the supposed Messiah might land them in a similar situation.  And I suspect they were terrified because they had dropped everything to devote their lives to following Jesus hoping for him to be the Messiah and now that he’s dead they don’t know what comes next.  Their uncertainty leads to hiding.

And regardless of their fears, Jesus Does show up.  Alive. And Jesus offers them peace. Breathes on them the Holy Spirit and says, “as the father sent me, so now I send you.”  This is their Easter celebration.  The text says they rejoiced.  I imagine them shouting Alleluia and praising God.  Perhaps some high fives were thrown around. Friends leaning over to say “I told you so.”  Maybe they had an Easter brunch and enjoyed fellowship with one another.  Maybe some then took a nap.  But that was their Easter celebration.

And here is that crazy part. One week later they are still garrisoned inside this room, hiding behind a closed door.  For whatever reason, the Easter story was not met with a fervent and urgent response to tell the world what had happened.

So one week later, insert Thomas. Thomas gets a poor reputation for requesting proof. He’s faulted for his desire to see it for himself.  History labels him a doubter but the truth is he doesn’t necessarily doubt his best friends and their experience of Jesus. Thomas just wants his own experience with Jesus.  He wants the Easter moment to see and know that Jesus is alive.  

Thomas is simply a brother in the body of Christ eager to have his faith affirmed.  He’s willing and ready to believe, but he wanted be strong-armed or pressured into faith.  He won’t be argued or forced into believing. Thomas will not be shamed into believing. And too often history has mistaken his prudence for doubt.  

Our gut reaction is to appreciate Thomas because he validates our own hesitations of faith. Thomas embodies our own curiosities and desires to be met by Jesus. And while that’s true, perhaps Thomas’s story is more than just a validation of our own journey of faith.  

Perhaps Thomas is also a good representation of the world to which we are called to proclaim Jesus Christ.  Like Thomas, the world is desperate to meet and see Jesus.  They are aching for a sign or resurrection experience.  They’re willing to believe, but like Thomas, they won’t be strong-armed, bullied, or argued into faith. They simply want or need to experience Jesus for themselves.  This is what makes Thomas’s story so powerful.  

The reality is that we are called to proclaim Christ. To go and tell all the world.  And perhaps a greater reality is that people won’t always believe you. The world is not always so ready to believe and confess. The call is hard work, relentless work. After all, if 10 disciples couldn’t convince one of their own to believe after seven days of talking about their experience of the risen Christ, then how much more work is ahead of us.

A desire for clarification and understanding; a need for personal experience and encounter is a perfectly acceptable response to the resurrection story. And when our going and telling is met with what we perceive to be “doubting” it doesn’t mean we stop telling.  Just like Thomas’ 10 best friends kept on telling him, we too keep on telling the world.

Take heart that God is the one who confronts unbelief and hesitant faith.  God is the one who is appears behind the locked doors of our everyday lives. God is the one who gives a breath of promise when we’re grasping on to hope. We proclaim a God who doesn’t condemn what we perceive as doubt, but rather cultivates a faithful curiosity.  

Friends, I’m glad you’re back. Whether your first week of Easter was spent shouting Alleluia to anyone and everyone, or whether you lamented and despised anyone who was overly excited for Jesus. Welcome back. Whether it was a week of ceaseless praise, or uninspired prayer.  Welcome back. 

Because Here in this place, where some of us are wrestling with faith and all the curiosity, uncertainty, anxiety, and doubt that comes with it...and where some of us are telling our friends over and over our experience of Jesus.  God is surely present.  

The good news is that this is a safe and loving place for our moments of wrestling and our endless praising.  All are gathered and welcomed here because here in this place we are sure to meet Jesus.  In water and word, wine and bread.  Jesus and the breath of the Spirit graces us in worship as we are forgiven, nourished, and sent.  

And friends, as much as we love gathering together in this place, we are always reminded that Easter means we will always be sent.  Again and again. To go and tell.  To tell the story of Christ risen, from the perspective of doubt and uncertainty as well as a posture of confidence and assurance.   Either way the call to go and tell is the same.  And Jesus will surely be present.

© Preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on April 8, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran, Jacksonville, FL

Go and Tell! - Easter Sunday B Sermon - 04.01.2018

Listen the gospel and sermon here.

Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. ⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!  Amen…

How sweet the sound of Jesus being raised from the dead.  The message that Christ is alive and has gone ahead of us the greatest story of our Christian faith. It’s the foundation for all we say and do. And I know full and well that anything I say after from here on out is secondary to the good news that Christ is risen.  

Christ, the Lord Jesus, God’s only son, has been raised from the dead.  God’s promise has been fulfilled.  And we gather this morning through the promise of baptism that we are buried in a death like his, and raised into new life like his.

Now the truth is, we are Easter people.  Every day is a witness to the celebration of the resurrection.  We live our daily lives as a gift from God because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. We have been given new life, A promise that God will always be with us.

But on this day, this liturgical Easter Sunday we recall that very first Easter morning. The empty tomb.  The stone rolled away.

The proclamation that “Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified.  He is not here.  He has been raised.”  On this Sunday specifically we remember how we became Easter people in the first place.  

Today is a day of celebration and thanksgiving.  A day of new birth and new life, hope is restored. Thanks be to God, that we are no longer bound by the power of sin death and the devil.

Thanks be to God that the powers of the world are no match for God’s love and grace.

Thanks be to God that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ we are granted salvation, a promise of eternal life.  A promise that is not conditioned on our own ability, work, or effort. A promise that is blind to our own divisiveness…race, sex, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, height, weight, or other.  God’s promise of eternal life is fulfilled on Easter morning for all who believe.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!  Alleluia, Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia Amen…

…So now what?  What happens next?

Mark’s gospel account this morning is a bit open ended.  The text tells us that the women went to the tomb with spices to anoint the body, as was custom.   They arrived and found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.  

The young man says “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified,  He has been raised; he is not here.” “But go,” the man says, “tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee there you will see him, just as he told you.”

And here’s where it ends: "So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

           

The women left for terror and amazement had seized them and said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Well if we take our cue from Mark then I suppose what’s next is the uncomfortable part. Perhaps the hardest part.  Go and Tell.  Shout and share!  Make disciples! Proclaim the Good News, Sing Thine is the Glory, and Jesus Christ has risen Today in the streets. Proclaim the empty tomb and the stone rolled away. Shout Alleluia! Not just in the church or in worship, but in all of life.  

I suppose what’s next is talking about Jesus. But you and I both know that when we’re honest...the call to go and tell about Jesus is easier said than done.  

It makes me wonder if the women that first Easter morning were overcome with terror and amazement because God had actually fulfilled what Jesus had talked about, or if they were afraid and seized because they realized that they were now entrusted with the privilege and responsibility of proclaiming the good news. Go and tell meant going and telling.

You and I both know that proclaiming Christ crucified and risen is an intimidating call.

And I don’t think we’re afraid of the Good News itself, But perhaps we’re seized by what the Good News is calling us to do. To be. Sometimes the hardest, scariest, most terrifying thing to do is to point to the empty tomb.  To proclaim the resurrected Christ.  

It is not an easy call to challenge a resistant world with a message of hope and love.  To proclaim victory over death to a not-so-receptive society.

So it is that we gather this morning, not necessarily for the sake of being change, but to remember that we are changed.  Like the women who at the tomb that first Easter morning, we gather today to remember and celebrate that we too are tasked with the privilege and responsibility of going and telling.

Today is not the initiation of a new call.  It is not simply the start of something new.  We gather this Easter morning not so much as a reenactment of that first resurrection dawn but rather as a renewal of faith.  A re-affirmation of God’s endless and eternal promise to be with us always.  And furthermore we reaffirm our call as Christians to go and tell.

Therefore it is not enough to sing Thine is the Glory, and Jesus Christ is risen today if only to return uninspired to daily living in a world that adamantly works to darken the light of Christ

It is not enough to shout alleluia Christ is risen…to sing praise and thanksgiving to God for what God has done, is doing, and continues to do if only to leave this place and return to our penitent Lenten lives.

           

It is not enough to sing Hosanna in the highest…to be fueled with the flame of eternal life if we only let Easter Sunday be a sigh of relief to an exhausting Lenten season. Make no mistake, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ the world is forever changed.  In God’s infinite love through Jesus Christ, from death to life,you and I were...are forever changed. Changed into Easter people.  Changed into Christians who live in the light of the resurrection.

God calls us to something new.  Something better. We are called to be disciples in an uncomfortable world. We are called to suffer, die, and rise.  To come and see. To point and to follow. To Go and to tell.  To shout Alleluia, Christ is risen!

And the Good News of Easter morning is not that Lent is over and we can finally eat sweets, watch TV again, or indulge again…It’s not just that the tomb was empty or that Jesus has risen.

But the Good News is that God promises to be ahead of us wherever we go to meet us there.

Through the crucifixion and resurrection God has promised to be present with us at all times and in all places.  God covets to never leave us orphaned.

In a world desperate for God’s love yet utterly resistant to the message of hope and love, we proclaim Christ risen in the full assurance of God accompaniment. Because if God can be present through death and the grave then how much more can God fulfill the promise of abiding presence to God’s people. 

And if God is with us, then Christian beware: because to go and tell means the power of the Gospel just might seize us in terror and amazement.

Not terror and amazement rooted in fear or anxiety, but rather in God’s presence we are seized by awe and wonder.
   Awe of a God who stomped satan down
   Awe of a God who resisted temptation, who challenged the systems of this world, even to death.

   Awe of God that laughs in the face of death and boasts life and life abundant.
   Awe and wonder of a God who claims us and chooses us to share in that abundant and eternal life.

It is this God that raised Jesus from the dead.

It is this God that commands us to go and tell.

It is God that abides by us in our walk of faith

Until all the world might be: 
   seized by the glory of God.
   seized by God’s love and goodness.
   seized by God’s faithfulness.

 And Until all the world might know his holy name…we go and we tell.

 Alleluia, Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia

© Pastor Daniel Locke, Preached April 1, 2018 at St. Mark's Lutheran Jax, FL