Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, October 31st 1517. I first saw that door on October 5th 2012. I came up to it at night, and it does have that shrine feeling to it. A silence came over me, a tear welled up: in spite of all the mythology, the hype, the centuries of repristination, the tourism — this was still the place...where it all began! [pause]
Actually it had begun long before, but this is a monumental scene and today we mark and commemorate this pivotal moment in our church’s history. The action of nailing up the 95 theses was only at the beginning of Martin Luther’s brave and theologically grounded public, political protests. He was only 34 years old! Standing up to the immense and dangerous powers of his day. (Ooh, I wonder what Luther would say to the powers of our day…I’m sure he’d be railing against all those who oppressed people who are poor and marginalized…some even doing it from behind the thin veneer of religious piety.
And Luther stood up to them — why? — for personal fame and fortune? To be a big hero in history? For his own glory? No, Luther stood up, spoke, acted, protested because his “conscience was bound.” He was compelled by the word of God, by these words that we read again today from Romans and John — “for we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law”…“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Luther was freed by grace.
And so are we, friends. So are you.
503 years later, we Lutherans — even we Lutherans — can operate like we’re still bound by the letter of the law. But friends in Christ, we are freed by grace. (In fact, many scholars point out that it’s not “faith in Jesus,” like most bibles translate. But more accurately it’s possessive/genative: we are saved by the faith of Jesus…whole ‘nother sermon! It’s Jesus’ faith — not our own — that saves us! I mean, it’s all grace...grace upon grace!)
So we go then, to share, to stand up, to tell the story of Jesus and his love, to speak out and protest publicly, and serve our neighbors and those who are poor, and love our enemies, and take care of our own bodies and God’s planet, not because we have to or because we’re supposed to, not because we’re bound by some law to do these things...but because we can’t help ourselves. This is what grace does to us! AMEN?! Our good works are simply a “consequence of God’s grace,” as one of our daily Christ in Our Home devotions put it. I like to call it eucharistic centripetal force: when we come in contact with this grace we are flung out into the world by a force beyond ourselves, i.e. God’s mercy and love!
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A few years ago I had the pleasure of hearing one of our premier Luther scholars in the ELCA, the Rev. Dr. Former-Bishop and now President of GettysburgPhiladelphia’s United Lutheran Seminary Guy Erwin, who talked about the Continuing Reformation.
One of the pillars of the Protestant Reformation, he reminded us, is that it’s ongoing. Semper Reformanda. Always Reforming. And as he reflected on this ongoing reformation and what the church looks like as we’re moving now into the next 500 years, Dr. Erwin suggested that we be a church that’s “bound-at-the-center, not bound-at-the-edges”.
I loved it! It reminded me of that image I’ve talked about before of the church as a herd of good cattle, congregating around good water. We are bound by what we come to the center to receive, not by strict boundaries at the margins. The edges are fluid and permeable. God’s people are held together — not by a high wall or an electric fence that makes clear cuts, and defines and divides us from/apart from/even above the rest of the sorry world. No, our walls and gates are open. God’s people are held together instead by what’s at the center: the cross, the font, the Holy Book, the healing oil, this welcome table of grace…
Dr. Erwin was suggesting that much of the past 500 years (not all, but much), has been about binding/defining ourselves as church at the edges — who’s in and who’s out. What if the re-formation continues with a focus instead on God binding us at the center, God leading us, freeing us, God gathering us around good water?
How does the farmer get the livestock to stay together? By building bigger walls, stricter fences, or simply by offering better water and food? Grace frees us to tear down the walls that divide us from the world.
The truth makes us — locked up and set apart? — no, the truth makes us free indeed. Luther was freed by grace. And so are we.
So how do we open up our walls, our borders, our fences and gates even more? Here in this place? How do we interact with neighbors and strangers, with the world...arms wide open?
—
I remember the setting where Dr. Erwin said all these things. It was in a big hotel conference room: there are doors all around the edges, and they were open! He didn’t say it, but I thought it was the exact visual of what he was talking about: People were coming in and out of the room as he was speaking. You could hear the murmur of conversations out in the hall. I guess you could be distracted by it, if you wanted, but what Dr. Guy Erwin was saying was the real draw, it was so good, that most of us weren’t concerned with who was coming in and going out, with who was sitting down and who was getting up to leave. The edges were permeable, see? How might we make our walls more permeable, our gates more open?
I think Facebook is another image of that. No one’s keeping anyone here. You are free to sit down, visitors are free to sit down…and by grace we are free to get up and leave! There’s nothing keeping anyone. The gift of the church now is that we don’t have that kind of power — which is a false notion anyway. It breaks my heart when I get a sense that people are serving and participating in congregations because of some holy obligation, or guilt or burden on their shoulders. You can always pick up on that when people use the word “should”... Lutherans would never admit to “holy obligation” in those RC words...but sometimes, I know our actions prove otherwise, and we can still bind ourselves by the law.
Hear these words again, friends in Christ:
We are justified by the faith of Jesus, apart from our works, free from holy obligations prescribed by the law. This is most certainly true.
The Mighty Fortress doesn’t mean a high wall of rules and regulations about who’s in and who’s out!
The Mighty Fortress is our God, and our God is everywhere (!) — both in here and out there! Our God is saving grace, boundless love, peace, joy and forgiveness — not just for you and me, but — for this whole world!
It’s easy to mis-imagine the mighty fortress, as our church fences, our ecclesiastical border walls.
This new day, these new years of re-formation that are before us, call us to permeate our borders and re-focus on the center: the Meal, the Story, the oil of healing and forgiveness, the waters of baptism, and the cross (i.e. God suffering with us in our suffering).
The Reformation continues, friends. I’ve always thought that when the church falters, we falter from a lack of imagination, and we falter from our slavery to fear. Martin and Katie Luther stand for the opposition of slavery to fear, they stand up as saints who have gone before us, who point us back to freedom by grace. Both of them faced incredible fears in their lives, in their time and place...
Paul’s letter to the Romans and the Gospel of John, call us back to the liberated imaginations that God has given and intended for us. The movie The Hurricane, which has always been one of my favorites, the main character calls it “transcending”:
Denzel Washington portrays the boxer and falsely accused of murder Reuben Hurricane Carter. From prison he speaks to a young man he’s mentoring about his imprisoned predecessors and contemporaries — Nelson Mandela — and how we must transcend the bars that keep us down.
Romans and John call us back from fear and into freedom — freedom from worrying about what might happen if we fling wide open our doors and windows, freedom to let the Spirit move in our midst without our permission, freedom to let change unfold all around us as we stay centered and held together at this [bowl] well of welcome.
Siblings, friends in Christ, we are freed by grace, and so we go, as God’s church, to love and serve the world, to love our enemies, to welcome the outcast, feed the sick, clothe the naked, accompany the downtrodden, and care for our own bodies and the broken body of this earth. Let’s go sing the story of God’s love!
We are freed by grace. We can’t help ourselves. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Sunday, October 25, 2020
October 25 -- Bound at the Center (Reformation Sunday 2020)
Sunday, October 18, 2020
October 18 -- Giving, God and Grace (Pentecost 20A)
“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
This text has been used in all sorts of ways.
It’s been used by some to argue that we shouldn’t have to pay any taxes. Can you see why? Pay no allegiance to Caesar, is what Jesus is saying.
It’s been used by others to argue that we should certainly pay taxes, that this offers us a model of civility in living harmoniously in both the worldly realm and the religious realm. That’s kind of how Luther used this passage in his time, where people wanted to rebel violently against the powers that were...
Unfortunately Jesus doesn’t answer the Pharisees’ question about money directly…I believe, mostly because the Pharisees weren’t asking it as a stewardship question on their Pledge Sunday, during their Stewardship Month. They had different intentions: they wanted to trap Jesus. And they knew they could trap him with either answer he gave.
So I’m not sure how directly helpful this text is for Stewardship Sunday. Jesus isn’t giving us any clear cut answers. Other places in the Bible he does: he says very plainly just 2 chapters before this – “go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor...then come, follow me.” Jesus said much about money in the Gospels.
There’s also that passage in Acts where those who don’t give a percentage of their income are accused of “stealing from God”…which is a continuation of an over-arching theme throughout the OT. Good thing we don’t read those today, right? ;) This text today is not so blunt. Rather it leads us to understanding and insights about offering up money in more indirect…and grace-filled ways.
In this text, there’s not a straight answer for us on how much to give. Rather we are offered two things:
an idea about intentions, and we are led once again to a beautiful conclusion – that all “our” money and stuff is actually God’s.
First, I think the Gospel story today raises for us the question of intentions when we talk about money. The Pharisees had intentions when they asked Jesus about money. As you consider what to write or what not to write on your pledge cards for 2021, what are the intentions behind the questions you might have: “Why am I being asked to make a financial pledge to this church, again?” What might the intentions be behind that kind of question? In other words, what gives birth to your questions about financial stewardship in the church? Sometimes just our tone of voice can be a give-away for our intentions. Are our questions born out of mistrust, anger, fear, or a way to trap…like the Pharisees?
Or are our questions around money and what to offer born of something else? Joy, peace, trust in the abundance of God’s love and grace. “How might God use me? How can I make a pledge that is an expression of my thankfulness to God, for all God has given me?”
This question of what to pledge is really a chance to reflect on yourself. To look in the mirror at yourself, to look at your own life, and to consider God’s blessings, God’s presence in many and various ways. Maybe that sounds obvious, but pledging once again this year is not about looking at the church and determining whether a larger or smaller sum is appropriate “for the church” for this year. It’s about looking at yourself and considering God’s grace and abundance in your life.
I hope you’ve been able to sit with your pledge card, set some time aside, say a prayer of thanksgiving, and then write down your pledge. (if you need some more specific direction in that – I like to just stick with the biblical model of tithing, 10% of your income, or at least working up to that each year…gives us direction, like a compass)
Pledging at your central place of worship (whether that’s here or elsewhere), during stewardship season, is ultimately a gift for you, not your gift to the church.
[pause] It is an opportunity for each of us to make a statement about how much we trust in God.
Are your intentions and your questions around money and giving born out of distrust and fear, anger or the need to trap or control? Or are they born out of joy, peace, trust, thanksgiving? Or maybe you’re somewhere in the middle…wanting to have your questions born out of joy and peace, but feeling stuck in fear and distrust – distrust of institutions or people, maybe even distrust of God – and angry about it all. Siblings in Christ, God is with us in our bitterness and resentment, in our mistrust and anger. God is with us, nudging us, holding us, comforting and challenging us…as the Holy Spirit guides us into new realms of joy and thanksgiving.
You know, I used to say that I hated stewardship time, as a pastor, having to talk about money and giving, how hard that is, and then I’d even drag other pastors in with me and make a blanket statement…but…over the years, I’ve experienced a sort of evolution in my talking about these things:
It’s a joy to be able to proclaim and bear witness to the fact that your being invited to offer up one of this earthly life’s greatest treasures, your money, is a gift.
This day and this text is a gift, Stewardship Sunday, Jesus talking about “give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s”, for it all brings us back to the blessed conclusion … and prayer we say every Sunday:
We joyfully release what you have first given us — our selves, our time, our money, signs of your gracious love. Receive them...
Friends in Christ, it all belongs to God. All that we have comes from God, belongs to God, and what we offer, with joyful and thankful hearts is a just a faithful token of that fact. It was all God’s in the first place.
Giving in this way is all wrapped up in thanksgiving. I’ll share just one personal story, Heather and I are tithers to whatever church we belong to. We were taught at an early age how to move the decimal over to figure out what 10% is. So it’s always been something we’ve practiced. But when we had a capital campaign at the last church for a building project, we were really worried about how we could give above and beyond the tithe. I was sweating it. I wanted to be a model for the congregation, but didn’t have the kinds of funds we needed to impress everyone with a lead gift. And we had this campaign consultant Phil down from Seattle, and he just said to me, “Dan, you’re missing the thanksgiving part of this. Whatever you put down on that pledge card,” he said, “do it with thanksgiving. Say a prayer of thanksgiving.” Stewardship is taught, faith is taught, living in thanksgiving — we have to be taught this stuff at some level; it’s not natural. It’s learned.
And Christ is our teacher, calling us back. Blessing us richly, loving us unconditionally, still with us now — right here with us in the midst of the election, the violence, the sickness, the sorrow, the fear, the chaos, the confusion — Christ is right here. May that peace that passes all human understanding keep you, friends, keep your heart and your mind in faith, hope, gratitude and even joy. AMEN.
Sunday, October 11, 2020
October 11 -- Showing Up (Pentecost 19A)
Micah’s at his second weekend of travel baseball tournaments here in October. Last week he and Heather were over in Delaware, this week they’re down south. And I’m reflecting on how much baseball for him — and for us by extension — has changed since he was a Little Leaguer. You sports families may be able to relate to the evolution we’ve experienced. I’m thinking about how the coaches, in particular, have changed over the years:
Gone are the days of constant affirmation. I mean, there’s affirmation when you do a great job, but not when you’re just doing your job. Gone are the days of cupcakes and box drink apple juice after the game. Gone are the days of “everybody plays, everywhere on the field.” Remember those days?
No, Coach expects his players to “show up” — practice, hustle, pay attention, be out front. “Bring everything you have to this field,” they say.
In fact, if you don’t “show up,” he’s going to play someone else. If you’re distracted from the game and not bringing your all, you’re going to sit out.
—
The king, in Jesus’ parable today, calls the wedding guests to “show up”. It’s time for a party. And the king’s pulling out the stops. Everyone’s paid for, food and drink will abound, the table is set, the candles are lit, the band is cued up, the meal is hot and ready to be served...
And nobody shows.
They all have excuses. Most of them just have to work. No time for any frivolous, excessive partying.
Some have a “better” offer, pre-existing plans. Others just don’t really want to come — I mean, they don’t really know the wedding couple anyway — so they make something up, and bow out with a quick, friendly text.
[slowly] And then there are others, who might actually like to go, but some voice in their head is telling them they’re not worth it, that they don’t deserve this party. [pause] They’ve hosted weddings themselves and know how expensive it can be, and so they don’t want to put the king out — they’ve got a bit of a martyr complex, they mean well, but they fail to see value in themselves, and they just can’t let themselves be loved and lavished by the king...
That’s a little like in the text when some actually seize and kill the king’s servants who are managing the RSVPs.
It just kills the spirit of the feast. Have you ever had someone decline a lavish gift you’re excited to give. And they pass, citing some “oh-not-on-my-account” or “oh-don’t-want-to-put-you-out” excuse?! It just sucks the spirit of joy and generosity and celebration out of the room. It’s like killing the king’s servants. So, those suffering, martyr-complexed ones decline the invitation too.
In fact, nobody, the text says, who was originally invited “shows up”. And this infuriates the king: I should do a little textual analysis here. Matthew says the king goes out and kills these no shows, burns their city!
Fundamentalists read this clearly as a reference to hell and the fires of damnation...if you don’t “show up” for Jesus.
Most mainstream scholars look at this in the context of the time Matthew was writing — that this was an obvious reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the lackadaisical faith of the chosen ones, the insiders, who are squandering the goodness of God. You have to decide what you think this means.
But anyway, the king’s going to play somebody else, put someone else in to the celebration. You know, like when the kid on the team who’s biggest and strongest and probably has the most talent, but who’s also had a really bad attitude these days? Playing only for himself, cutting down his teammates, mouthing off arrogantly...So the good Coach takes that kid out, benches him — he’s not “showing up” — and instead puts in the kid who’s all heart, and might just have enough gumption to turn this game around. The king’s going to put someone else in because the privilege-round draft picks didn’t “show up”. Is that so heartless...or is it actually a great move, even loving...for the good of the whole.
So the master’s servants (they’ve been through a lot, haven’t they?) again go out and invite everyone now. [Gentiles - the Gospel opens up to everyone!] This is what the kingdom of heaven is compared to, Jesus teaches — A king who invites [pause] everyone.
[slowly] The riff-raff is welcome. Just verses before, Jesus was talking about tax collectors and prostitutes getting into God’s good graces before those puffed-up and self-righteous Pharisees. This parable is an elaboration on that. And I hope our baseball real-life metaphor can be helpful too...
“Those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
Here’s what occurred to me this week: [pause] We’re the riff-raff. You’re the riff-raff.
We’re the ones who are left. We’re the ones who got scooped up by God’s love, and here we are. We’re the ones who Coach just put into the game. All heart.
You’re not a perfect group of churchy people. I’m not a perfect pastor. We’re broken. And jealous and bitter and hungry and sad and lost and struggling and scared. But here we are, scooped up by God’s love, probably because of one of God’s servants who invited us — maybe that was a parent or grandparent that brought you into the banquet hall long ago. Or maybe it was a friend or even a stranger.
But here we are at our Lord’s banquet — candles lit, food and drink abounds! Here we are: still serving and being served, still feasting, still drinking wine and eating bread, still ingesting and digesting this word of life, this Word of God. We’re the riff-raff, siblings in Christ. The good and the bad, all wrapped up into us, all wrapped up into you!
And God’s gathered us in: “And the wedding hall was filled with guests.” [pause]
Now what about this guy who gets bounced from the party because he wasn’t wearing his wedding garment? That’s a whole ‘nother sermon, but let me say this:
When God invites us into the banquet, when God calls us onto the field, we ought to bring everything we have...including that free garment of grace that God’s given.
Those wedding robes in those days were something no one could afford...they were provided by the king at the door of the wedding feast, like worship folders at the beginning of a church service...only way more expensive.
God’s love and grace is provided freely at the door, before we even sit down, so for God’s sake, put it on!
Don’t think that you can pass without wearing God’s free garment of love and grace. This one guy did, and he was thrown into the outer darkness. How we too can be tossed out, when we choose not to accept God’s offer, God’s robe of forgiveness and peace. (We pretty much toss ourselves out at that point.)
Here it is, given freely and shed abundantly for you. This welcome to all, this challenge to both receive it, to give it our all on the field, and to seek to extend that same welcome to everyone else, just like we’ve received from God. That’s the party. That’s the game. That’s the joy.
This is where we find ourselves these October days, sisters and brothers in Christ. God’s hospitality is multifaceted and exciting and lavish...and you’re in! You’re on the team. You’re on the field. [pointing] “Play ball.”
Amen.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
October 4 -- Wine Pressing On (Pentecost 18A)
One of the things I really miss during this seemingly endless season of physical isolation from one another — especially in worship — is the Children’s Talk! I think that’s why Pastor Time children’s messages have been such a priority for me. There’s this moment I really miss, and can’t replicate virtually and that’s when you’re with children and you need a volunteer. Teachers know about this too. You know that moment? Our kids here at Bethlehem have arms that shoot up in the air before I’m even finished asking, “OK, I need a volunteer, who would like to volunteer?” Doesn’t matter if its work or fun or a mystery, we have kids who are ready and willing to step up. Isn’t that a wonderful image. [imitate] “Ooo, ooo, pick me, pick me!” I love it.
We have an rich Gospel text before us this day…Because Jesus is looking for good tenants, good stewards…on this Caring for Creation Sunday, on this kick-off of stewardship month, and I know Christ is looking in our direction today. Jesus identifies the Pharisees and the chief priests (the insiders) as evil tenants, and basically says “If you can’t produce good fruits, then I’m looking for someone who can.” Could we be the ones Jesus is looking for? Is Jesus saying, “I need a volunteer.” Friends, Christ wants to entrust vineyard work to a people who produce good fruit. And Jesus this moment is looking over in our direction. Are we willing to be the ones who reach out in the love of Christ…
or simply the recipients of the reaching out? Because that’s there for us too:
Friends, we are all recipients of the reaching out of Jesus, who rescues us from sin and the power of death. He is the one in the parable who is killed, he is the stone that the builders rejected, the head cornerstone.
And today Jesus is looking at us, and asking are you willing to help me reach those who are in need, those who are hurting, those who haven’t yet heard of God’s love and forgiveness, those who are hungry, sick, lonely and lost? This is a stewardship text, this is an environmental stewardship text. Are we willing to respond to what God is offering?
All that we have is on lease from God. Maybe you hear this all the time, but think about it again today in terms of this vineyard text. Our Triune God, the cosmic landowner, planted the vineyard (like the text says)—the plants, the trees, the animals, the oceans—God planted everything.
God built a watchtower—a way to see what’s coming, a way to protect the vineyard, the earth. That is, the cosmic landowner gave us minds to think and learn and understand and study and see what’s coming, protect the vineyard, protect all that God has planted. We have the ability to climb up and look out with our intellects.
Then God built a wine-press—a tool for producing and enabling good things to flow from us and from our hard work. In other words, it’s not just our minds, God also gave us bodies — hands and feet, voices, and hearts, that press/squeeze out good things for this world. Think of your bodies as a wine press this day, crushing out good things for this world. And in so doing, we don’t always stay clean. Pressing good things out for the world is exhausting and messy. The wine-press is a great image. Two ways to press wine back then: 1) giant rocks were fashioned to crush grapes, which took lots of back breaking work, and 2) people stomped on grapes, which was a big mess (like the famous “I Love Lucy” episode).
Our church body, the ELCA has a signature phrase: “God’s Work, Our Hands” (I’d add “Feet”). The wine-press…our own bodies, are not ours. They’re God’s, but the produce comes directly from us. God leased all these things, all this responsibility to us.
What if we responded like the kids at the Children’s Talk? “Ooo, ooo, pick me, pick me, Lord!”
But something can happen and often does, even at an early age — we can most definitely loose this enthusiasm and willingness. Why, what’s happening there?
sometimes it’s because we have other things to do
sometimes we just don’t want to
sometimes we don’t think ourselves good enough/smart enough/eloquent enough/wealthy enough/ connected enough/free enough (too busy)
sometimes it’s an even deeper doubt of ourselves…
sometimes it’s a bitterness, that I’ve already served/done my part: others should...step up/serve/give
Bishop Graham on raising your hand…
Council positions the same way…
Yes, this is a powerful lesson for today…because there have been many distractions, both internally and out there in our crazy/dangerous/divided world.
These distractions come along, and I wonder if it’s almost like God’s checking to see if we’ll loose track of what we’re all about, of who we are…
I’ve been saying with more confidence lately that I’ve never felt so called as the church of Jesus Christ in the world. I often feel like the church’s voice (our voice) heard to hear — like a screaming mouse — but what we should be saying and doing has never been clearer to me: just read the Gospel of Matthew: clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding the hungry, nurturing the child, welcoming the stranger, proclaiming and practicing forgiveness, mercy, generosity, justice and peace…
Maybe you’ve heard the line “God’s church doesn’t need a mission. God’s mission needs a church.”
We can get so caught up in all the drama, the fury, the pettiness, the overwhelming concern for our own selves and our own safety and security — I know of a church right now that is only concerned (my judgement) about their own survival. Nobody is saying “Pick me, Lord!” They’re bitter and angry and scared and grasping at every little thing they can to stay afloat. It’s that saddest picture of a church loosing its mission. My friend is trying to help them see...
How we can forget this invitation to stewardship and be like the Pharisees and the scribes—how we we can miss this opportunity to respond to God’s goodness—that God is offering us—to be the ones to raise our hands (not just dutifully) but even enthusiastically: “I’ll go in there, Lord! Pick me!”
Sisters and brothers in Christ, as broken and imperfect as we might be, we are the church for God’s mission – clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding the hungry, nurturing the child, welcoming the stranger, proclaiming and practicing forgiveness. Bethlehem is called to be a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. And in so many ways we already do!
Ruth’s generosity and kindness…
Mike and Marva’s care for the beauty in the sanctuary...
Ramona’s opening our eyes to racism and white supremacy…and a deeper care for one another...
Tim’s passion for keeping us, for keeping this church safe…
Alison’s gift of music and all her good, hard questions...
Marie’s picking up a phone and checking-in with so many of us during this time of isolation…
Richard’s continued dedication of time and organization and resources to FACETS…and feeding hungry people...
Ann’s witty sense of humor...
John’s hugs...
Kristin...
See the risk here is all the people I’m not naming...right?
But this is just a few Bethlehem wine-pressers, crushing out good things for God’s church and God’s world!
I know that all of you are pressing out good things for God’s world! We are the church of God’s mission. AMEN?
-God knows that none of us are ideal tenants, perfect stewards of everything God has given us.
-God knows and we know that we’ve fallen short.
-But look at what God has already done here!
I love the line in our text for today, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes.” Look at all the amazing things God has blessed us with here, and wherever you are! It is amazing in our eyes!
There is an aspect of biblical stewardship that is often forgotten, and that’s the spirit of joy that accompanies the giving. (Lucy starting to having fun)
Reaching out, tending the vineyard, this is always hard, messy work…but it is also accompanied by an indescribable joy. Experiencing joy in sacrificing is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to explain. I guess it’s like golf, you have to try it to get it: You just have to try...reading to children, picking up trash on the ground, visiting inmates in prison, signing a percentage of your paycheck over to GOD before you do anything else with it (that’s biblical stewardship), taking extra time from your job to be with your kids who need you, listening to a friend who is grieving, donating time at FACETS or Lamb Center. Each of these examples of tending the vineyard, are difficult—sometimes literally backbreaking, always messy—but because God smiles at the church accepting the mission, we smile too. It’s contagious God’s joy becomes our joy. That’s how it works for us resurrection people of the cross! Joy abounds, like the joy of children jumping up and down saying, “Pick me, pick me, pick me to light the candle!”
IN SPITE OF…WE PRESS ON. That’s how we roll at Bethlehem. IN SPITE OF…WE PRESS ON.
God made the wine press. And we squish out good things for this world. We press on...
In spite of all that would tear us down, we press on. In spite of all that would distract us, we press on. In spite of evil and danger in the world, we press on. In spite of white supremacy and all the work we have to do to condemn it, in spite of attacks on us and our community, we press on. In spite of environmental abuse — animal abuse, forest abuse, Chesapeake Bay abuse, air abuse, we press on. In spite of families breaking apart, we press on. In spite of ourselves—our own brokenness, selfishness, inabilities, we press on. We press on in God’s mission because Jesus is there with us, because nothing (not even death itself) can separate us from the love that Christ has for each of us, because God has called us to be the church in mission, because we are soaked in the powerful waters of baptism and will never the same, because we are fed and nourished with the body and blood of Christ’s own self at this table where all are welcome!
The earth is God’s, the wine press [pointing to you and me] is God’s, and it is amazing in our eyes. And so we give thanks with our lives. But we press on because whether we live or whether we die, we belong to God. AMEN.