Guest Preacher this Sunday - Pastor Mark Donald

This Sunday morning we welcome Pastor Mark Donald as our guest preacher. Mark serves as the pastor/executive director of Christikon, our ELCA Bible Camp up the Boulder River. He served as the interim director for two years and was called as permanent director at Christikon’s Annual Corporation meeting last November.
Mark is the son of a registered nurse and Lutheran pastor, and grew up in California and Minnesota. Keep reading... He has a History/English degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, a Masters in Education from the University of Minnesota, and a Masters of Divinity from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. In the past 19 years Mark served congregations in Seattle, WA, Minneapolis, MN, Fergus Falls, MN, and Billings, MT.
He married Julie Heinz 22 years ago and they have two boys, Alec and Micah. Julie teaches 5^th grade in Billings and is pursuing her Administrator’s Licensure through Montana State University. Alec is an 11^th grader, and Micah is in 9^th grade, both at Skyview High School. Both boys run Cross Country and play baseball.
Mark’s connection with Christikon spans some 29 years. His youth director, Julie Rogness (herself a former staff person), brought his youth group out for Sr. High camp, and in the ensuing years Mark spent six summers on staff. He is one of  the 60+ former staff people who went on to ordained ministry, and Bob Quam played a significant role in encouraging him towards that profession.
As a youth director in the Pacific NW and later as pastor in northwestern MN, Mark completed a circle by taking his own groups up to camp. Upon accepting a call to First English Lutheran in Billings, Mark soon found himself on the Board, and watched with joy as his own children were old enough to go to camp. Christikon has indeed been a blessing and major shaper of Mark’s life thus far.

If you would like to support the mission and ministry of Christikon, envelopes will available on the narthex table, or you can give on the Christikon website.

Please welcome Pastor Mark on Sunday!

Star Followers - Advent 2015

Join us each Sunday in Advent as we learn what it means for us to follow the star to Bethlehem. The series begins this Sunday, November 29th. (Yes, it's the magi who followed the star to Bethlehem, and we celebrate their journey and arrival on the Day of Epiphany, January 6th. But most of us experience Advent-Christmas-Epiphany as all of a piece, so work with us here!).

• November 29th, “A New Hope” (Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36). Jesus encourages us to, “lift our heads, for your redemption is drawing near.”
• December 6th, “The Empire Strikes Back” (Malachi  3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6) In the midst of Roman rule, John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The Apostle Paul writes from a Roman prison.
• December 13th, “Return of the Baptist” (Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18) John points to Jesus as the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
• December 20th, “Faith Awakens” – Sunday School Advent/Christmas Program (Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 1:46b-55, Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45) Elizabeth blesses Mary, because she believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

Let them deny themselves and take up their cross...

They say that preachers preach the sermons they need to hear. And some Sundays that seems more true than others, at least for me. This past Sunday was one of those. I've continued to think about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, and to deny my selfish, self-seeking, self-justifying self. And it's that last one (self-justifying) that gets me most often. What about you?

The Poor Will Always Be With You, and Deuteronomy 15

While preaching last Sunday on the day's Gospel reading from John 12 (verses 1-8), I said I'd write a post about Jesus' response to Judas' complaint about Mary of Bethany's use of some REALLY expensive perfume to anoint Jesus' feet. This is it.

Jesus told Judas, and everyone else within earshot, "You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me" (John 12:8).

What did he mean by that?

Many of the commentaries I read in preparation for preaching focused mostly on the first half of the sentence. Few spent much time discussing the fact that Jesus was only six days away from crucifixion here. Perhaps Jesus intended to draw attention to the fact that his death really was imminent. After all, he said that Mary "bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial." Here, on the day the lambs for sacrifice at Passover would have been selected, Mary's actions make it obvious that Jesus has been selected for sacrifice, as well. His days are numbered and tending to him is appropriate and right.

So, what about the poor? Does Jesus mean we're off that hook? In some times and places, some Christians have said, yes.

Carol Howard Merritt wrote at The Hardest Question last week about conversations and experiences she's had, in which people dismiss opportunities to help the poor, because "the poor will always be with us."

In my mind, he had twisted the words of Jesus to let me know that there was no use trying to work for the greater good of people, we might as well turn our back on the plight of the poor, because some people will just be victims of fateful poverty.

I heard the words when our church planned to spend millions of dollars to rearrange the furniture in the sanctuary. When people questioned spending so much money on cosmetic updates while so many homeless people needed to be fed in our neighborhood, I heard, “The poor will always be with us.”

In our country, as the middle class dwindles and the rich hoard more in their off-shore accounts than the GDP of many countries, I hate these words. And so the hardest question for me becomes, how do we preach the love of Christ, who fed and healed people, in the light of Jesus saying, “The poor will always be with us?”

(You can read her whole post here).

Yet Jesus didn't speak these words, nor did John record them, in a vacuum. If you flip to the Old Testament, you find that Jesus wasn't the first to say this. Deuteronomy 15:11: "...there will never cease to be some in need on the earth..." Ah. Right.

But wait a second, back up a bit more and read those words in context. Deuteronomy 15 is all about releasing the poor from debts. God's people were not to create a permanent underclass with borrowing that never saw an end or way out. Deut 15:1: "Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts." Radical? Yes.

Go grab your Bible and turn to Deuteronomy 15. Verses 4 and 5 say, "There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the LORD is sure to bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession to occupy, if only you will obey the LORD your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today."  It seems like that could be true, if everyone's debts are forgiven every 7 years.

But then check out verse 7: "If there is among you anyone in need..."

And then verse 11: "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'"

That's a big move in just a few verses, from no one in need to no end of people in need. The command, though, is clear: be generous.

Mary was generous to Jesus. Jesus has been generous to us. Now we can be generous to all those in need.

What do YOU think? Comments welcome!

I wanted to say more on Sunday during the sermon...

Friends in Christ,

I wanted to say more last Sunday during the sermon, but I ran out of time.

I have posted here a quote from Father Robert Capon, an Episcopal priest who has written a number of excellent commentaries on the Four Gospels. I have read many of his books and use his commentaries (where appropiate) when I prepare to preach.

I was directed to this quote from Capon by Rev. Brian Stoffregen, who has written many fine commentaries on the Four Gospels as well. You can find Stoffregen's commentaries at www.crossmarks.com.

I love the quote from Capon. He is rock solid as a theologian, and he doesn't mind telling the church to stay on message, that is, preach the Good News of God in Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of sins.

In Easter joy, Pastor Grant


Here is a quote from Robert Capon (Hunting the Divine Fox: An Introduction to the Language of Theology, [pp. 132-3] republished in The Romance of the Word: One Man's Love Affair with Theology [p. 345])to help us understand the nature of forgiveness and being the church.
... The church is not in the morals business. The world is in the morals business, quite rightfully; and it has done a fine job of it, all things considered. The history of the world's moral codes is a monument to the labors of many philosophers, and it is a monument of striking unity and beauty. As C.S. Lewis said, anyone who thinks the moral codes of mankind are all different should be locked up in a library and be made to read three days' worth of them. He would be bored silly by the sheer sameness.
What the world cannot get right, however, is the forgiveness business – and that, of course, is the church's real job. She is in the world to deal with the Sin which the world can't turn off or escape from. She is not in the business of telling the world what's right and wrong so that it can do good and avoid evil. She is in the business of offering, to a world which knows all about that tiresome subject, forgiveness for its chronic unwillingness to take its own advice. But the minute she even hints that morals, and not forgiveness, is the name of her game, she instantly corrupts the Gospel and runs headlong into blatant nonsense.
The church becomes, not Ms. Forgiven Sinner, but Ms. Right. Christianity becomes the good guys in here versus the bad guys out there. Which, of course, is pure tripe. The church is nothing but the world under the sign of baptism. ...

We Easter people have been sent to forgive sins.

That Movie I Mentioned

Last weekend I mentioned a song that's been stuck in my head on more than one occasion. Here's the YouTube video:

When better isn't better

The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures for last Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent, was Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11.
Chapters 56-66 are generally considered to be from the post-exilic period of Israel's history. Remember how the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom (Judah, and its capital, Jerusalem) in 587BC? Well, in 539BC, the Persian king Cyrus had defeated the Babylonians and decreed that the exiles should return to their homeland and rebuild their city and their temple. (Want to read more about Cyrus? Check out Isaiah 44:21-45:8. In Is 45:1 the Lord calls Cyrus his annointed - his messiah!)
Perhaps I've seen too many movies with happy endings, but you'd sort of expect things to be "all good" once the people returned to their homeland, right? Not so much.
The mourning continues, rising out of frustration and humiliation over the failure to rebuild the city and the temple to match their former glory. Things definitely are not "all good." Economic disparities and religious and political factions within the city remain. The reality of life didn't match up with their expectations.
Sound familiar? Has that ever been the case in your life?
Have you ever felt crushed by unmet expectations, to the point that it felt like your faith was shaken to its core?
Then Isaiah's words may provide some comfort for you, too, especially since these first verses are those chosen - and fulfilled - by Jesus when he read in the synagogue (Luke 4:14-30).
The story isn't over yet. God comes to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners, and to comfort all who mourn.
And it is these, the ones who heard the news, the newly released or comforted, who will "repair the devastations of many generations."
God's story with God's people (even you and me) continues, and hope remains.

Reflection on today's sermon

The Gospel lesson for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost is Matthew 16:13-20.
Have you been thinking at all about how you would answer Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?"
Or about what you might say if someone asked, "What is it you believe?"
What follows is one of the songs we sang quite a bit at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp during the week CtK types were there back in July. And if we'd had music for it (instead of just the guitar chords) perhaps I would have chosen it for one of our songs in worship today. Perhaps the lyrics can serve as a prayer for you this week, and help you think about who Jesus is in your life.

You are holy.
You are mighty.
You are worthy,
worthy of praise.
I will follow. 
I will listen.
I will love you
all of my days.

I will sing to and worship the King who is worthy.
I will love and adore him. I will bow down before him.
You’re my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for you.

You’re the Lord of lords, You’re the King of Kings, you are mighty God, Lord of everything.
You’re Emmanuel. You’re the Great I Am. You’re the Prince of Peace who is the lamb.

You’re the living God, You’re my saving grace, You will reign forever. You are Ancient of Days.
You are Alpha, Omega, beginning and end. You’re my Savior, Messiah, Redeemer and friend.
You're my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for you.

Sermon reflection for March 27, 2011

Connecting

Last Sunday I said in my sermon that Jesus connected with the Samaritan woman at the well by asking for a drink of water. He also connects by talking to her, even though she is considered an outsider to his faith. Remember, she is a Samaritan and he is a Jew. Jesus took a considerable risk by interacting with an “outsider to his faith.”

How might you connect with someone “outside the Christian faith?”

If you’ve had the opportunity to connect, what was it like? What was the outcome of your conversation? Did you learn anything from the encounter?

Thoughts on the Genesis reading from the first Sunday in Lent

This past Sunday was the first Sunday in Lent. When you walk into the worship space, you can tell something us up: the pews are rearranged into the shape of a cross - with the baptismal font and processional cross in the center, there are purple paraments hanging around the space, and there are many crosses hanging on the walls around the room. Those crosses are on loan from members of the congregation. I hope they serve as additional visual focus during this season of repentance and renewal.
On Sunday I preached mostly on the assigned passage from Gospel of Matthew, with brief references to Romans and a passing comment on the text from Genesis.

In case the Genesis passage left you wondering, or provided some food for thought, here's some more, from the Working Preacher website of Luther Seminary. (The commentary was written by Dennis Olson, Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.)

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Wrongheaded Assumptions about Genesis 2-3
This Sunday's Old Testament text from Genesis 2-3 highlights what is traditionally known as the "fall," the Bible's first temptation and act of disobedience by the human man and woman in the garden of Eden. The popular conception of the garden of Eden story often includes elements of the following assumptions:
* God created an absolutely perfect and static world
* humans lived in a luxurious paradise with no responsibilities
* the evil serpent is a Satan figure who brings evil into God's perfect creation the woman alone succumbed to temptation and so she alone is responsible for bringing sin into the world (see the questionable exegesis of Genesis 3 in 1 Timothy 2:11-14)
* the central aim of Genesis 3 is to explain how evil came into God's perfect creation.

Offering a More Faithful Reading of Genesis 2-3
A careful reading of Genesis 2-3, however, would undermine or nuance each of these assumptions. Let's examine each assumption in turn.
1) God does indeed create a "good" world but not a "perfect" world in the sense of a closed, static, and totally divinely-controlled universe
In the Genesis 1 creation story, God repeatedly calls creation "good" (Genesis 1:4, 12, 21, 25, 31). But the primeval "deep" or "waters" which were understood as the source of evil and chaos in the world in ancient times did not disappear with God's creation. God's ruach ("wind, breath, spirit") swept over them and pushed the waters of chaos back behind the "dome" that formed the sky and also under the earth (Genesis 1:1-6). Evil and chaos thus continue to lurk at the margins of creation and can come rushing back as in the story of Noah and the flood, if God allows it (Genesis 7:11; 8:2).

Moreover, God invites humans and other elements in the creation to exercise responsibility and stewardship over creation (Genesis 1:26-28). In the creation story in Genesis 2, God's process of creating is open and dynamic. After creating the human and the garden, God discovers a problem: "it is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). So God creates the wide variety of animals and invites the man to name them. The animals may help with the loneliness problem, but something is still missing (Genesis 2:20). Thus, God tries another strategy and creates a woman from man, and that solution does seem to work (Genesis 2:23). But the impression is that God's creating activity is a work in process from the beginning, not a "perfect" world in the sense of a fully-formed, static and pristine universe.

2) In the Genesis 2 creation story, the human has work and responsibility from the very beginning
God places the man in the garden "to till it and to keep it." This is no Caribbean vacation in paradise! From the beginning, humans are made for a regular rhythm of doing work that has meaning and purpose for the good of creation along with regular periods of sabbath rest and enjoyment (Genesis 2:2-3). While there is great freedom for the human ("you may freely eat from any tree"), the garden also contains one boundary that restricts the human. God decrees the first biblical law (eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [or bad/pain) and the consequence of breaking the law (immediate and certain death "in the day...you shall die [the Hebrew is emphatic--you shall surely die!]" (Genesis 2:17).

3) In its original OT context, the serpent in Genesis 3 is not Satan who invades God's creation from the outside
The serpent is a very clever and talkative (!) animal "that the LORD God had made" (Genesis 3:1). The serpent is one of God's own creatures who simply poses some questions and alternative explanations concerning God's motivations in creation for the humans to consider. At any point in the conversation, the humans could have told the serpent that he was full of it and to please go and bother someone else. But there was something already in the human that resonated to the hermeneutics of suspicion that the serpent offered as one option for interpreting the words and actions of God.

4) Often the scene of the temptation in Eden is portrayed as the woman standing alone with the serpent, but a careful reading suggests that the man was likely present all along
The scene is of one piece: the serpent and the woman engage in conversation, she takes and eats the fruit, and she gives the fruit to "her husband, who was with her" all along! God had earlier observed that "it was not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Likewise, in Genesis 3, it was not good that the woman should be alone in fending off the serpent's temptations and suspicions about God's motivation for restricting the humans' access to the forbidden fruit. The man failed to speak up, to speak out, and to join the woman in an alliance against the serpent's attempt to appeal to the suspicions and yearnings that somehow were already within the humans' heart. This is a story of human disobedience and rebellion against God, not a story of the woman who alone was tempted and who alone was responsible for sin entering into the world (contra 1 Timothy 2 :11-14).

5) The central aim of Genesis 3 is to describe the mystery of sin, not to explain its origin
Sin is a mysterious force that arises from within God's "good" creation. The serpent is simply one of God's creatures. And the yearnings and suspicions of the humans about God's motivations are somehow already embedded within the human heart from the beginning and simply needed the encouragement of the serpent to bring them out and convert them into action. Thus, Genesis 3 is less about "explaining" the origin of sin and more about describing the reality of what it is to be human and our mysterious human tendencies continually to rebel against God, to resist the gracious boundaries and limitations that God places around us for our own good, and to desire to be like God rather than thankful creatures of God.

Message by Walter Wink

Here's the text of the message by Walter Wink that I mentioned in my sermon on Sunday. I hope you enjoy it and that it is helpful as you grow in your understanding of the world in which Jesus lived and just how radical his message was, and is. Thanks be to God that Jesus is Lord!

"The Third Way"
One of the most misunderstood passages in all of the Bible is Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek. The passage runs this way: "You have heard that it was said, `An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. And if anyone takes you to court and sues you for your outer garment, give your undergarment as well. If one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two."
This passage has generally been understood by people as teaching non-resistance. Do not resist one who is evil has been taken to mean simply let them run all over you. Give up all concern for your own justice. If they hit you on one cheek, turn the other and let them batter you there too, which has been bad advice for battered women. As far as the soldier forcing you to take his pack an extra mile, well are you doing that voluntarily? It has become a platitude meaning extend yourself.
Jesus could not have meant those kinds of things. He resisted evil with every fiber of His being. There is not a single instance in which Jesus does not resist evil when He encounters it. The problem begins right there with the word resist. The Greek term is antistenai. Anti is familiar to us in English still, "against," "Anti"-Defamation League. Stenai means to stand. So, "stand against." Resist is not a mistranslation so much as an undertranslation. What has been overlooked is the degree to which antistenai is used in the Old Testament in the vast majority of cases as a technical term for warfare. To "stand against" refers to the marching of the two armies up against each other until they actually collide with one another and the battle ensues. That is called "taking a stand."
Ephesians 6:13 says, "Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand (antistenai) in that evil day and having done all to stand (stenai)."
The image there is not of a punch drunk boxer somehow managing to stay on his feet even though he is being pummeled by his adversary. It is to keep on fighting. Don't retreat. Don't give up. Don't turn your back and flee but stay in there and fight to the bitter end.
When Jesus says, "Do not resist one who is evil," there is something stronger than simply resist. It's do not resist violently. Jesus is indicating do not resist evil on its own terms. Don't let your opponent dictate the terms of your opposition. If I have a hoe and my opponent has a rifle, I am obviously going to have to get a rifle in order to fight on equal terms, but then my opponent gets a machine gun, so I have to get a machine gun. You have a spiral of violence that is unending.
Jesus is trying to break that spiral of violence. Don't resist one who is evil probably means something like, don't turn into the very thing you hate. Don't become what you oppose. The earliest translation of this is probably in a version of Romans 12 where Paul says, "Do not return evil for evil."
Jesus gives three examples of what He means by not returning evil for evil. The first of these is, "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also." Imagine if I were your assailant and I were to strike a blow with my right fist at your face, which cheek would it land on? It would be the left. It is the wrong cheek in terms of the text we are looking at. Jesus says, "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek..." I could hit you on the right cheek if I used a left hook, but that would be impossible in Semitic society because the left hand was used only for unclean tasks. You couldn't even gesture with your left hand in public. The only way I could hit you on the right cheek would be with the back of the hand.
Now the back of the hand is not a blow intended to injure. It is a symbolic blow. It is intended to put you back where you belong. It is always from a position of power or superiority. The back of the hand was given by a master to a slave or by a husband to a wife or by a parent to a child or a Roman to a Jew in that period. What Jesus is saying is in effect, "When someone tries to humiliate you and put you down, back into your social location which is inferior to that person, and turn your other cheek."
Now in the process of turning in that direction, if you turned your head to the right, I could no longer backhand you. Your nose is now in the way. Furthermore, you can't backhand someone twice. It's like telling a joke a second time. If it doesn't work the first time, it has failed. By turning the other cheek, you are defiantly saying to the master, "I refuse to be humiliated by you any longer. I am a human being just like you. I am a child of God. You can't put me down even if you have me killed." This is clearly no way to avoid trouble. The master might have you flogged within an inch of your life, but he will never be able to assert that you have no dignity.
The second instance Jesus gives is, "If anyone takes you to court and sues you for your outer garment, give your undergarment as well." The situation here is dealing with collateral for a loan. If a person was trying to get a loan, normally they would use animals or land as collateral for the loan but the very poorest of the poor, according to Deuteronomy 24:10-13, could hock their outer garment. It was the long robe that they used to sleep in at night and used as an overcoat by day. The creditor had to return this garment every night but could come get it every morning and thus harass the debtor and hopefully get him to repay.
Jesus' audience is made up of debtors -- "If anyone takes you to court..." He is talking to the very people who know they are going to be dragged into court for indebtedness and they know also that the law is on the side of the wealthy. They are never going to win a case. So Jesus says to them, "Okay, you are not going to win the case. So take the law and with jujitsu-like finesse, throw it into a point of absurdity. When your creditor sues you for your outer garment, give your undergarment as well."
They didn't have underwear in those days. That meant taking off the only stitch of clothing you had left on you and standing nude, naked, in court. As the story of Jonah reminds us, nakedness was not only taboo in Israel. The shame of nakedness fell not on the person who was naked, but on the person who observed their nakedness. The creditor is being put in the position of being shamed by the nakedness of the debtor. Imagine the debtor leaving the courtroom, walking out in the street and all of his friends coming and seeing him in his all-togethers and saying, "What happened to you?"
He says, "That creditor has got all my clothes," and starts walking down to his house. People are coming out of bazaars and alleys, "What happened? What happened?" Everyone is talking about it and chattering and falling in behind him, fifty-hundred people marching down in this little demonstration toward his house. You can imagine it is going to be some time in that village before any creditor takes anybody else to court.
What Jesus is showing us in these two examples so far is that you don't have to wait for a utopian revolution to come along before you can start living humanly. You can begin living humanly now under the conditions of the old order. The kingdom of God is breaking into the myths of these people now, the moment they begin living the life of the future, the kingdom of God.
Jesus' third example is "If one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two." Now these packs weighed 65 to 85 pounds, not counting weapons. These soldiers had to move quickly to get to the borders where trouble had broken out. The military law made it permissible for a soldier to grab a civilian and force the civilian to carry the pack, but only one mile. There were mile markers on every Roman road. If -- and this is the part we have left out -- the civilian were forced to carry the pack more than one mile, the soldier was in infraction of military code, and military code was always more strictly enforced than civilian. So Jesus is saying, "All right. The next time the soldier forces you to carry his pack, cooperate. Carry it and then when you come to the mile marker, keep going."
The soldier suddenly finds himself in a position he has never been in before. He has always known before exactly what you would do. You would mutter and you would complain, but you would carry it. As soon as the mile marker came, you would drop it. Suddenly, this person is carrying the pack on. The soldier doesn't know why, but he also knows that he is in infraction of military law and if his centurion finds out about this, he is in deep trouble. Jesus is teaching these people how to take the initiative away from their oppressors and within the situation of that old order, find a new way of being.
It is interesting that Gandhi said, "Everyone in the world knows that Jesus and His teaching is non-violent, except Christians." What Jesus is articulating here is a way of living in the world without violence, a way of overcoming domination in all of its forms by using a way that will not create new forms of violence. In the past, we have thought we had only two choices, either resist evil or don't resist evil. Jesus seemed to be saying, "Don't resist evil," and, therefore, non-resistance seemed to be the only alternative. Be supine, submit, surrender, flee, give up. It seems as if Jesus were asking us to be a doormat for God, to give up all concern for our own justice as well as the justice of others. Now we see in this passage interpreted in a new light, Jesus is not calling on people to be non-resistant. He is calling on them to be non-violent. He is calling on them to resist, yes, but to resist in a way that is not injurious or harmful to the other person.
In just the last few year, non-violence has emerged in a way that no one ever dreamed it could emerge in this world. In 1989 alone, there were thirteen nations that underwent non-violent revolutions. All of them successful except one, China. That year 1.7 billion people were engaged in national non-violent revolutions. That is a third of humanity. If you throw in all of the other non-violent revolutions in all the other nations in this century, you get the astonishing figure of 3.34 billion people involved in non-violent revolutions. That is two-thirds of the human race. No one can ever again say that non-violence doesn't work. It has been working like crazy. It is time the Christian churches got involved in this revolution because what is happening in the world is that the world itself is discovering the truth of Jesus' teaching, and here we come in the church, bringing up the rear.
This is the most exciting time a person could imagine to be alive. The gospel has never been more relevant. The world has never been more ready.

Sermon Reflections

Some questions and thoughts to follow up on the sermon from 1/9 - The Baptism of Our Lord.

What do you remember about the day you were baptized? If, like me, you don't remember it for yourself, what have you been told about that day? How did the people around you feel and what did they think? How have their understandings of baptism changed and grown since then?

Are there any concrete things you do each day to remind yourself or others that you/they are loved and called by God? Martin Luther suggested remembering your baptism each day when you wash your face. Maybe you could trace the cross on your forehead - or your family members' foreheads - each morning as the day begins and each night as you head to bed.

What does it mean to you that you have been claimed by God?

Feel free to respond in the comments!

A new (old) sound for Advent

This is not Wyle E. Coyote's anvil, though when I think about it, that's probably where most of my exposure to anvils came from as a kid: Road Runner cartoons. No, this is Isaiah's anvil, as in Isaiah 2:4: They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 2:1-5 was the Old Testament reading for the first Sunday in Advent in the Revised Common Lectionary this year. And we heard it at CtK last night during our Advent Evening Prayer. Perhaps the sound of sledgehammer meeting anvil is a better soundtrack for Advent than jingle bells and cash register drawers (thanks to Rolf Jacobson for talking about Jim Liburg's sermon with the mother of all object lessons: an anvil in the sanctuary).

Can you imagine a world where no one learns war anymore? Where soldiers aren't trained to kill, children are not left orphans or dead as collateral damage casualties themselves, where women aren't victims of sexual assault as a weapon of war, and the whole world actually lives in peace?

Isaiah can imagine it. The prophet has seen it in a vision from God.

May God grant us faith in the coming Prince of Peace, and hope so sure that we can start using that anvil, even now. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Power of Hope

In addition to being Christ the King Sunday, at CtK in Bozeman today's the third Sunday in a three-part series titled "Grow as Stewards though Faith, Love and Hope!" And today's theme was "hope."

In the sermon I asked the congregation to consider what boosts their Christian hope. Is there a particular Bible verse or story that always consoles and brings hope? Or a hymn or worship song that puts things in perspective and restores hope?
One thing I always love about returning to Luther Seminary for continuing education is going to worship in the chapel. Without fail there will be at least a couple of hymns chosen that are perfect for four-part (at least) harmony - and that many seminarians, professors, pastors and church workers in one place guarantees singing with gusto and all four parts being covered. It is so fun, and inspiring, to feel a part of such a choir, so much bigger than just myself - the words and the harmonies seem to pick me up and carry me - what I hope is a foretaste of the feast to come.

What else brings you hope? What demonstrates the power of hope in your life?

One sermon illustration I left out (because, let's face it, the sermon was plenty long as it was) but which I love for the picture of hope it provides, is the movie "Shawshank Redemption." At the end of the film, Red, played by Morgan Freeman, has been released from almost a lifetime in prison. He has to negotiate life "on the outside" for the first time in decades, something a friend released before him was unable to do (Brooks took his own life out of despair). But Red has a plan to join his friend, played by Tim Robbins, in Mexico. And this is what Red says, "I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it is in my dreams. I hope..."

What a difference hope makes.

I hope for the coming of Christ. I hope that God will change my heart and make it more like his. I hope my new daughter will know that her Lord and her parents are crazy in love with her. I hope God can use me to help others know the mercy, forgiveness, love and belonging that are given in Jesus.

What do you hope for? Leave a comment and join the conversation...

Sermon reflections 10 October 2010

Read Luke 17:11-19

1. What are you thankful for?
2. How do you express thanks to God?
3. How can your life reflect an outward expression of thanks?
4. Are you thankful for someone in your life? Make a commitment this week to reach out and tell them. No texting or emailing, please. A person to person chat is best. A phone call is second best.

Sermon reflection for Sunday 3 October 2010

Read Luke 17:5. Lord, increase our faith!

Questions from FAITH TALK as mentioned in my sermon.

Actions
1. Most people know times when Christianity seemed to be nothing more than a set of rules and regulations. What restriction troubled you as a child or youth? Why?
2. Do you or your friends ever talk about religion or what faith means to each of you? Describe.
3. How does someone in your day to day setting express faith through actions?
4. In what situation would it be the most awkward for you to talk about your faith? Why?
5. Christ asks us to “take up our cross and follow” him. What comes to your mind when you consider what this command might mean for you?
6. How does your Christian faith relate to your everyday life?
7. The Ten Commandments describe a life style associated with the Christian life. Which one seems to be ignored most today? What prompts your choice?

Values
1. List and prioritize the five things you value most.
2. If someone asked you what your faith means to you, what would be your response?
3. Did you ever go through a period of doubting there is a God? Tell about it.
4. What benefit do you see from believing that Christ is present in your life?
5. How do you distinguish between a true faith and a false faith?
6. What is childlike about your faith?
7. How has your faith changed since you were a child?

Etchings
1. What is one of your favorite Bible passages? Why is it significant to you?
2. What piece of music says something about your faith? In what way?
3. What unique symbol of faith is most important to you?
4. If you could choose one person to be your spiritual mentor or guide, whom would you choose? Why?
5. Tell about a time when your faith seemed especially weak.
6. Do you find Sunday worship services a good experience? Why or why not?
7. What effect does nature have on your faith?

Memories
1. Tell about a childhood religious education (Sunday School) teach you remember. Why does this person stand out?
2. What traditions or rituals did your family have at Easter time? Christmas time?
3. What was the first religious song you learned?
4. Recall a humorous event that occurred at your church.
5. Tell about a sermon or inspirational talk you remember.
6. Tell about a time when God seemed to be far away?
7. What do you wish your father had told you about his father?

Tag-Ons to Pr. Grant's sermon reflections

On Sunday morning, Pr. Grant once again confessed to having raided the stacks of books I'm reading (yes, there's always more than one book being read at a time, perhaps it's my own version of having a short attention span...)
The book he mentioned on Sunday was The Story of Stuff, by Annie Leonard. She wrote the book after her short movie, of the same name, received a ton of attention, and many folks asked her to expand on the ideas she'd condensed down for easy communication in short video format.
I haven't read the whole book yet, but it is very thought provoking. If you pick up a copy, let me know, I'd love to know what you think.
Here's the video that started it all:



And here's the latest video, The Story of Cosmetics, which makes me glad I got over the habit of making up my face every day. I find it very interesting that companies are not required to prove the safety of their products or ingredients before encouraging us to rub them all over our bodies. Just because it's for sale, doesn't mean it's safe. Thoughts?

Sermon reflections September 19th

1. Read Amos 8:4-7
2. These words are written in the front of one of my study bibles. "God's Word comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." How do these words apply to you and your situation.
3. Do you know of a company that handles toxic materials in a responsible way? Emily Natale on Sunday reminded me that Apple resources its raw material for production from reliable sources that do not exploit their workers or the environment. Thanks, Emily!
4.Here's an exercise in wise financial management. Pull the credit cards from your wallet/purse and determine the balance you owe on each of the cards and the interest rate charged by each card. You may discover that the $45 you spent on sandals last week are costing you $10 in interest every month you don't pay off the balance owed on the credit card.
5. Is there hope in this bleak passage from the prophet Amos? Where are you bringing hope to the poor here in Bozeman and in greater Gallatin County?

Sermon reflections

Sorry this is getting out a bit late.
The in-laws were in town last weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed their company (as well as them taking us out on a Costco run).

1. Read Luke 15:1-10.
2. Think about the last time you felt lost. It could mean being physically lost or mentally lost due to a divorce, job loss, or death of a family member or friend.
How did you feel? What helped you get oriented once again?
3. How does God "find us?" Can God "find us" through the proclamation of God's Word, or by receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion?
4. Do you rejoice when a loved one is "found?" Can you rejoice when a complete stranger is "found" by God?
5. Name the ways Christ the King helps sinners feel welcomed. Can we do a better job at making them feel more welcomed?

Sermon Reflections

I know I'm a bit late. Some weeks are like that...

Last Sunday's reading from the Gospel according to Luke was a tough one. After worship I asked Grant if my sermon seemed harsh. He hesitated. So I added, "Well, Jesus' words were harsh." And he said something like, "Yes, and you stuck to them." There you go, then.
(Check out the reading, Luke 14: 25-33 and see for yourself.)

We had friends from Missoula stay with us Saturday night, who also came to worship Sunday morning. Julie is a pastor's kid, grew up in the church, and now is raising her son in church, too. We talked a little about the reading, and the sermon, over brunch. She said she appreciated the challenge to live differently, noting that following Jesus isn't always supposed to be easy or comfortable. It might make us squirm to have our shortcomings called out, but that doesn't mean it's not good for us.

I told her about a great line I read somewhere (I have no idea where): People don't commit to that which requires no commitment.

Jesus requires commitment of his disciples. To me it goes back to the first commandment: You shall have no other gods. God is first. In all things. Lord help our lives reflect that, each and every day.