confirmation sermon

+
Easter 5A – Sunday May 22 – Confirmation– “Welcome”
1 Peter 2:2-10 (Living stones), John 14:1-14

Welcome! Welcome to the confirmation students who have come this whole way. Welcome to their families and friends who have come to see them step up and affirm their covenant of baptism. And Welcome to the rest of you. Maybe you didn’t realize what we were doing today – and that’s okay – in fact that’s wonderful. You are not here by accident – not at all. God desires this building to be full when we pray for these young people. Too often we forget that these kinds of moments – the baptisms, the confirmations, even the weddings and the funerals – are not just for the people who are doing them – but they are part of the life and breath of the whole church.

That’s what I’ll be speaking about today – the life and strength of the whole church. You see, kids – this day is “all about you” but it’s not all about you. You’ve done some work, hung in there in your Christian education – but you’ll be making your promises ‘by the grace of God.’
My understanding of the process of Confirmation education is that you students ‘try on’ the promises to see how they fit. We invite you to practice worship, fellowship, study, service and justice. We’ve asked you think about those things, how you will experience them in your life. Some of you fought that pretty hard, some of you found a wonderful insight.

Bless your hearts – we’ve asked you to try and try on the promises of baptism – and – you weren’t perfect. Here’s the big reveal – nobody is – I’m not perfect, they are not perfect, no one on earth does it perfectly as God desires.

That’s why, this day, this event isn’t about you at all – it’s about our beautiful God, our loving God. A God who takes even people, imperfect people like you and me – and offers us a place in his house. Yep, even folks who have messed up occasionally – who have frustrated the pastors in class, who have absolutely sat in stone silence in class and only answered us with jokes –

• folks who aren’t totally sure what we believe, (Do I believe this enough to be here?)
• folks who wonder if we’re good enough, (Not as good as – that!)
• folks who are pretty sure if someone knew their deepest hearts –

Well – God does know – and God does care – how we live, what we do, that we fix our eyes on him, our lives on his power to change us – even then, when we are weak God does not discard.
God believes you are one of the living stones.

The author of our second lesson – the lesson from the First letter of Peter – speaks of living stones. Living stones are useful stones, are stones that have strength and beauty for a building. The author invites, yes, invites each of us to “Come to Jesus Christ,” and submit ourselves to be built into a temple. Come and be used. Interesting, isn’t it, that we are make for a purpose – for use.

Christ is the cornerstone – the place where it all begins and ends – but we are the bricks, the stones, the substance of this Temple, spiritual house. All of us, each one of us, confirmation student or parent or regular worshiper or musician or stranger who wandered in today – each one of has a purpose.

Yes, each of us is supposed to be here because together, and only together do we make the great Temple of praise. Here we find out what we are supposed to be doing – what all this was about, kids – is that you are the living stones of the Temple of Jesus Christ. You are the living stones. The role of the living temple – is to tell - is to praise – is to exclaim the Great Work, to point out the joy of the Real Story of Jesus. That happens here in this hour, but because we are a spiritual house – we take our mission with us wherever we go – we are commissioned to be the house of the LORD everywhere, every day, every encounter.

What happens when a brick isn’t there? There will be a gap, an absence, a missing support. Something will not be right. Now, tomorrow, you might say – I don’t matter here – it does not matter if I come to church or not – it does not matter if I keep my promises to this project, this person, to church, to God. Now only God can really answer that.

But the scripture here and in the Gospel makes a promise about promises – Our God promises that mercy and hope and honor will come to those who keep their promise. “once you were not a people – now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

That’s what this is all about today – WE are called to be God’s Living stones, his Temple, his priesthood, his nation, his voice, because we have all received mercy, not because we finished some years of education, not because we’ve done the right thing, not because we were born a Lutheran or American or anything.

The mercy is that We have been introduced to Jesus and through him know the Father. Come to him, a living stone – and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
+

neighbors

+
Good fences make good neighbors - is that the quote?

Our neighbor behind half the back yard put up a fence last year. They put it inside the property line and put the side with the supports outward. Black mark #1 - I was always taught it was neighborly to put the supports on the inside, so other people had the 'front' of the fence facing them.

#2 - then they did not mow outside the fence.

#3 - during the first big wind storm - one panel fell down - they put it back up - then it fell down again in the last windstorm. It's been at least two weeks, they haven't put it back up.

#4 - they aren't mowing.

I don't think anyone is living there. The garbage bin is surrounded by two-foot high grass (I can see it through the fallen down fence panel). There is no 'for sale sign' up. They are in the town - not the city. Not mowing the grass seems to be pretty common on the town side of things - I can see at least two other houses like that on that street.

Hmmm- maybe a call to the town offices might be in order.
+

the good gate

+
Something different to post today. This is a partial sermon that I do not know how to end.

Easter 4A, May 15-16 - STALLED SERMON – DID NOT KNOW HOW TO END IT. NEEDED A STORY ABOUT HOW HEARING JESUS’ VOICE CONNECTED WITH ABUNDANT LIFE.

Psalm 23, John 10:1-10 – True shepherd/gate/ abundant life – it’s not about death –it’s about living now. It is polemical – it is part of an argument with ‘them’ – so it is compare and contrast. Jesus=true shepherd/true gate/true way. ‘Pharisees/false teachers = death/slaughter/restrictions/destruction.’ Abundant life is not – destruction, but excellent, superior, great in measure.

****

I bless and love this Sunday and all the songs and sheepy imagery – but guess what – we aren’t sheep. We are a little smarter, and probably more confused than sheep. Our lives are probably more conflicted and noisy than Jesus makes the existence of sheep out to be. Our lives are full of life things, much more than eating and sleeping and growing wool. Our lives – oh my goodness – our lives are full of worry, and questions and gray areas. At some time, we fear death, and poverty and loneliness, we feel empty and angry and stuck. And we have times of joy and fulfillment as well. We are so much more complex than sheep.

That’s okay, because the point of all these ovine metaphors in the Bible isn’t sheep. The point is that we are in need of something – our existence, our human core, our best selves need to be connected to the bigger picture, to meaning, to the divine. We live, and we suffer, and we need to understand our lives and our suffering in a big picture. We need a way, a gate and a guide, a shepherd.

You see, the whole Good Shepherd discourse begins in the midst of miracle and separation. Maybe we forget that, or never knew it, because we see the Good Shepherd so naturally as the one who keeps us from pain, the hero, the fairy tale comforter. The image does appeal to children. But these passages are really for adults, for those of us who find ourselves lost in the middle of our lives, and for those who find ourselves full of grace and joy and miracle.

Yes, it’s both the loss of community and new beginnings. All these great words about the Good, True, Noble shepherd and his path, gate, way – this great promise of abundant life – begin with the consequences of miracle.

These words follow the great story of the man born blind, who discovers not only his physical sight, but his spiritual vision in Jesus. The man worships Jesus – because of that is separated from his family and community. Jesus is speaking to that man, and to his disciples, and to also all those who have opposed him. The man without community is beginning a new life – coming into a new community – and these words are intended to guide and warn him. And we are like him – now alive in Christ through his death and resurrection.

So Jesus says: I am the gate – the right way. I am the one to listen to.

The point of the Good Gate is the identity of Jesus and the relationship of Jesus to his followers. To say ‘I am the Gate’ is like saying “I am the way, the truth and the life’ – Jesus is making a claim that he, and he alone, opens the door to the Father, provides the living water, secures the abundant life. His voice is the One Voice of Life.

Jesus uses the image of the shepherd calling out his sheep as a model for the believer who will walk in the way of the Light of God – not turning right or left, not straying, but attending to the voice, on the right path.

We live a world full of static: Some time ago (May 28, 2009), USA Today reported the findings of a 2009 survey by Qwest Communications in which respondents were asked how long they could last before feeling “antsy” about checking E-mail, instant messaging, or other social networking sites. Of those surveyed, 47% said they couldn’t last more than an hour…46% said they could only make it one day…and the remaining 7% said they could probably go a week without checking in.

We live in a world full of competing voices. There is a whole industry devoted to making you and me loyal consumers of one brand or another. This industry – media consultants – takes aim at our need to belong, our confusion about the meaning of life, our intrinsic spiritual orientation and attempts to use that to develop ‘loyalty beyond reason’ (Frontline) and ‘brand communities’.

We live in a world where huge stakes rest on our loyality, our choices. My struggle – I want a Dyson Vacuum cleaner. I want the DC25 Animal Ball to be exact. I really want this. It’s not rational. Consumer Report has plenty of vacuum cleaners that perform better and are cheaper on their list. But I want the $550 Dyson, not the Kenmore, not the Hoover, and not the 150 dollar Eureka! Why is this? Branding. I’ve been brand-marked. I’ve been brand-influenced. This is a small and funny example, of course, but it’s real.

That’s how it works – it’s subtle, it’s subliminal, and it’s real. Other voices call to us, other voices obscure or contradict the voice of the Master. I can name many versions of this: the call to self-love that tells us that being happy is everything – the call to anxious security that warns us that generosity is foolish. You can name these voices as well – we once called them sin.

Jesus knows that – he says: Don’t listen to them! Don’t listen to the false shepherds, the hawkers of rules and fear – don’t listen to the siren songs of self-fulfillment and self-love. That’s what Jesus is saying – listen to my voice. There is the good life of the brand identity – and there is the True Good Life of abundance that Jesus is promising.

+

a very short Passion Sunday meditation

+

The story was read in chucks, with different voices reading each chunk. Everyone could be a story-teller.

PALM SUNDAY – PASSION SUNDAY MEDITATION –
AFTER READING OF THE CRUCIFIXION NARRATIVE

Why do we do this? Why do we insist on reading and hearing the whole, long story from beginning to end in one long service? I would say we do this so that we can know the truth.
The truth of the story of who Jesus is for us, the truth of his love for us, the truth that he stepped into the way of death, for us – is the story we need to hear. What happens between Palm Sunday and Easter morning is a tale often referred to, but not often experienced. This is the day, more than any other day in the calendar, when our emotions should be called up, when our imaginations fired up, our hearts touched.

Jesus did this for us. He entered the capital city at the center of a crowd. Yes, that crowd was foolish, that crowd was shallow and fickle. But look at Jesus – what would you say about him? I would say he was brave – for he understood this was the beginning of his death. Coming into the city, in this way, with hosannas and palms and shouts – was to assure his death. Jesus was brave for us.

And out of love he sat with his closest companions and offered a spiritual meal like no other. He offered himself in love. Jesus gave himself away for us. And yes, those disciples were shallow and fickle, and would run away – but look at Jesus – what would you say about him? I would say he was in love with each and every one of them – in love with them as they were.

And so it goes, with all the scenes of that terrible night and day. Jesus, in loving courage, steps up to take our place – ‘not my will, but thine be done,’ He says to God his Father. And so he goes through humiliation, pain, denial, desertion, torture – to die.

This is the truth – that the best one in the world – the most human Human, the most divine Divinity – went with courage and love through the some of worst human beings could do to each other – for the sake of all humanity – for all of us.

We tell this story because we need to hear the truth once more. The truth is = you are loved. Jesus is in love with you – and even if, we prove to be shallow and fickle – he waits for us to come back. He did all this for us – come and believe.

+

sorry no tooth fairy

+
there is no tooth fairy.
or fix a flat fairy.
or put the dishes away fairy
or wash the dishes fairy

And it's not me.
MOM
+

into the light

+
"with excuses to Sondheim - we will see 'Into the Woods' next week. Love that show.

Lent 4A, April 4/5, 2011 – “Into the Light” The man born blind – John 9

Ahh, another one of our long, long readings from the Gospel according to John. It’s a wonderful story, full of drama and development. The progress of the man-born-blind is amazing – from beggar to healed man to witness to confessor. At the beginning of the story he exists in darkness – and at the end he stands in the light of Jesus the Christ and worships the one who healed him.

Along the way – eyes are opening and closing among all sorts of people. Jesus refuses to attribute the man’s blindness to sin, probably startling the disciples. Instead he insists that this is a moment for God’s light to shine, to act. The theme of the whole story is how do people react when God’s light shines upon them? Do they, and do we – see? Or do we retreat back into darkness, into comfortable and safe places of rules and limitations? We learn about three ways of responding to the Light of the World.

The Pharisees cannot see this miracle for what it is – the work of God bringing light into the world – the presence of God as the light of the world - in the world. No, their eyes remain closed to the light, bounded by their own interpretation of sin and righteousness, their own fear for their control of religious things. They create their own darkness. All of us, except the greatest saints, I suspect, do this at times – we fear what change might bring – we cling to what has worked for us in the past. Do not condemn those Pharisees too quickly, for there may be a family resemblance.

The most poignant paragraph concerns the parents, I think – what confusion and fear they undergo! Finally, they retreat, for safety, into the dusk – not understanding what is happening to their son. Not understanding what would happen to them if they entered into the light.

Because coming into the light – experiencing the healing – the everyday elements of mud and spit and water changes everything for the man-born-blind. This nameless person – loses his identity, you see, loses his income, loses his parents, loses his place in the community, in the synagogue – but he receives everything – he learns to worship in Spirit and in Truth (from last week). He is set free for freedom’s sake – for the glory of God – and in the part of the story that is never told, he must become a disciple, a follower of Jesus, a student of the Master, a sheep of the flock, inheritor of the Kingdom of God.

Coming into the light may mean loss. Certainly loss of the comfortable rationalizations of sins – Someday I’ll do better, we say. Someday God will come first. Someday I’ll be ready for prayer, for service, for generosity. Someday God will be more important to me. Coming into the light may mean loss. Loss of sin – are we ready for that? Loss of distraction by the things of this world, loss of false directions, of false standards.

Coming into the light – means loss – and gain. That is the hope of this story – we gain so much when walk in the light. When we come to the water – as babies for the first time, or as adults remembering what God did for us (as adults witnessing this child being washed by God love) – we find a hint of what we gain –
Peace, and joy, and purpose.

We gain a chance to correct our mistakes, to step out in hope and faith, opportunities to do good, to serve, to care. We gain conviction that what we can do makes a difference. And finally, we gain hope that this life is not all there is – that we are part of a greater reality – a reality of light in the world, light that began with, yes, mud and spit and water and wine and bread and a cross and love.
+

gleaning on the edge

+
A much, much shorter version of this sermon was preached today after the endowment committee gave away lots of money. It was a nice tie-in to the messy, foolish, openhanded community.

Seventh Sunday of Epiphany, 2011 – Matthew 5:38-48, Lev. 19:1-2, 9-18
“Gleaning on the Edge” –
When we went to Germany, we also wanted to see the part of Poland where my husband’s ancestors came from – what was once Greater Pomerania – now it’s Poland. Driving across north east Germany, we all commented how much it looked like Wisconsin. The fields were reasonably sized, with hedgerows of pine and other trees. There were sections of woods, there were occasional farm buildings. It looked like a hospitable land, homey, a good place to live. That all changed when we crossed the border into Poland. The same topography, the same hills and valleys, the same farmland, had been opened up by the communist agricultural system. The fields were massive, huge, endless. There were no edges with trees, no small woodlots, there were no old farmsteads – all had been taken away. There were no hiding places for deer, for foxes, for wild animals at all. The farmers lived in apartment buildings in tiny villages – cramped together while surrounded by all that vast landscape. All was devoted to production –and all was about production with no waste allowed.

I tell you this story because I was most struck this week not just by Jesus’ strong words about relations with our neighbors and our enemies, but by one little verse in the Old Testament Lesson – which gives us a new way of looking at the words of Moses and Jesus.

In Leviticus - which is a book that I know most of us would rather ignore – God puts forth detailed instructions for his people. God desires his people to be holy, as he is holy. God wants his people to be good, as he is good. Jesus interprets this – be ye perfect, as our heavenly father is perfect. Jesus’ words are based on this Hebrew Bible tradition – the Ten Commandments and the elaboration of them throughout history. Let’s not discard this Law too quickly. It was important to our Savior, it should be important to us, too.

Perfection, Goodness, Holiness. That seems like too much for us, doesn’t it? We want to hear that there are ways out of those kinds of expectations. We are sinners, we know, we are imperfect, we just not capable of that kind of perfection. Many of the commentators and preachers I read and hear try to explain away Jesus’ words, explain away Moses’ words – wave them away so we can go living as we want to. The basic message is – since it’s impossible to be perfect – why even try? Since we’re not born holy – let’s enshrine all our sins, all our weaknesses and say that Moses and Jesus really didn’t understand human existence – that Moses and Jesus are asking too much of us.

Human life is messy. It is. We love imperfectly. We make mistakes. We are greedy. We are selfish. We try to tie everything up into bundles and keep our stuff safe and we become territorial and emotional and we can hurt each other. And all those elements of our being – those are part of the great gap between us and God. So are Moses and Jesus asking too much of us? I think that’s the wrong question to dwell on – let’s look at what is being asked of us.

That’s where the image of gleaning comes in. Gleaning is exactly described right there in Leviticus 19:9 – when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edge of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes. You will leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God. Gleaning is a harvest practice . . . it means to leave behind wheat in the field, grapes on the vines, olives and apples on the trees.

Don’t be too neat when you garden. Remember the fields of Poland and the fields of Germany? There could be no gleaning from the fields of Poland – they were too aggressively cultivated, too neatly manicured. God wants his people to be messy harvesters. It has something to do with holiness, God says. I am holy – you shall be holy – and people of a holy God do this: they are messy harvesters. They are called to be messy at the harvest for the sake of others – for the poor, for those who are passing through, those who have no one else. They are called to be open-handed to the neighbor. They are called to be foolish – not playing politics and treating the rich any better than the poor.

Does that have to do with us, and that question – Are Moses and Jesus asking too much of us? I think it does. The Old Testament world, and the Old Testament laws, and Jesus’ world and Jesus’ words – love your neighbor, love your enemies, give your coat and your cloak, don’t hit back, give charity freely, lend openly – all that stuff is related to call of God to God’s people – be holy. Be a holy community.

Be a community – that’s the key. Gleaning – the process of sharing the harvest with those in need – is a community thing. God’s command to allow gleaning points all of us to remember that we are not put here just for ourselves. We are not put here to neatly tie up all the ends and be secure by ourselves, in ourselves. People need people – as the song says – and people interact in all sorts of ways – we are messy with each other. And that is part of being a living, holy - messy, open-handed, foolish community.

The call to live together underlies all of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We hear those things that sound so tough – if someone takes from you your coat, give them your cloak also, hit on one cheek, turn the other. And if we are thinking of ourselves as solitary individuals, as only me, then, yes, this doesn’t make sense. But, Jesus isn’t thinking like that, like we are all alone, not at all. If you are forced to give your coat and your cloak away – then your neighbor, your community, will come to your aid. If you are being beaten up, then your community should step in to protect you.

Be a holy community, says God to Moses in the Hebrew Bible. Be a living community, says Jesus to the disciples and to us on the Sermon on the Mount. Go ahead, be messy around the ends. Be generous and kind, give to people who don’t deserve it. Don’t harvest to the edge of the field, but share with your neighbor and those who are in need. Watch out for those who are being battered on one cheek and the other, for those who have lost their coat and cloak, for those whose miles are longer and harder than yours. Be a community that loves the neighbor, that allows itself to be messy and open handed and foolish.

For Jesus himself was messy and open-handed, and foolish – and look what he did for us. Amen.
+