March 27, 2022 – Fourth Sunday of Lent – Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
First Trinity Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN
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Continue readingI Blame Jesus
March 20, 2022 – Third Sunday of Lent – Luke 13:1-9
First Trinity Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN
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Continue readingRoom for Everyone
March 13, 2022 – Second Sunday of Lent – Luke 13:31-35
First Trinity Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN
This was our first attempt at livestreaming worship, and it actually worked pretty well. We’ll make a few improvements here and there, but for the most part, I’m pretty satisfied!
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Continue readingNo One Is Beyond the Reach of Jesus’ Forgiveness.
Have you figured out what you’re giving up for Lent? I confess I don’t really give up anything for Lent. But I used to. I grew up Roman Catholic, though we didn’t really go to church. But something changed in college. I went to mass all the time. I was strict about fasting. I was sure it was some kind of huge spiritual awakening. But with a little age and wisdom, now I realize that it was also a fantastic way to get attention at a Lutheran university. We all rebel in our own way, I guess. So here’s the funny story. I sang in one of the choirs, There was one other Catholic in the choir, so we commiserated. The choir went on spring break tour during Lent, singing in Lutheran churches. And they used to feed us starving college kids. Guess what the good Lutheran moms served us for dinner on Friday night? Lasagna! But the two of us were so proud of ourselves for taking a stand and only eating salad. It’s just a little bit embarrassing…..
This is what Jesus means when he says – “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them.” And he gives us a laundry list of what NOT to do. Don’t give offerings in order to show off our generosity. Don’t pray in front of others to show off our holiness. Don’t let our fasting look like we’re trying to win a round of Survivor. Basically, Jesus is digging into our motives. Are we really just trying to be seen, or earn praise, or get attention?
Continue readingYou Are Qualified. You Are Authorized. It’s a Promise!
Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday – Luke 9:28-43a
Yesterday we had an interesting conversation in our adult class. We were talking about confession and absolution. I’ve taught this lesson with a couple other groups, and there’s always a controverisal part. It’s when I suggest that you don’t have to be an ordained pastor to forgive sins in Jesus’ name. A lot of folks never got that memo, but Martin Luther calls it the “mutual confession and consolation of sinners.” I think it’s just that we’re so used to hearing it from a pastor. Probably because we do it in worship services. So our subconscious starts thinking, oh, that’s their job. Like you have to be trained and approved to say the word that Jesus gave us. We’re always like, “are you SURE I can do that?” But the truth is that it’s not the pastor who forgives sins. It’s that Jesus forgives sins using the pastor’s mouth. Like a megaphone. A lot of folks don’t realize that. So, I’m really interested in the question of authority. Where does it come from, and who gets it? Because it’s so important for how we follow Jesus. And what a coincidence that our gospel reading today is all about that authority.
So, Jesus has just come back into town. He was away in a high place with three of his disciples – Peter, James, and John. Not that Jesus doesn’t love all his disciples, but it sure seems like these 3 are the team superstars. Anyway, there’s a huge crowd and a commotion. Some guy yells, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son. My only child. A spirit seizes him. It makes him shriek and foam at the mouth. It mauls him. It never lets up. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they couldn’t!” Now, right there, this is tragedy. Any of you who are parents, how devastating would this be? Like a vicious disease that the smartest doctors in the world can’t figure out. But thank goodness that Jesus showed up! So Jesus does his thing. He heals the boy, and it’s so dramatic that everyone’s astounded at the greatness of God. Or in other words, everyone’s overwhelmed with faith.
Which is great, but why couldn’t Jesus’ disciples do it?
Continue readingIn the Kingdom of God, No Cheek Would Ever Be Struck
Sermon for Seventh Sunday after Epiphany – Genesis 45:1-11, 15 & Luke 6:27-38
This week I almost had to serve on a jury for a criminal case, involving domestic violence. Now, when I watch TV shows with a court scene, I have a pretty strong opinion about whether I think folks are guilty, and what I think they deserve. I think most folks have the same thought, even though we may not want to admit it. But as the defense attorney questioned us in order to figure out who he wanted to keep or dismiss, it struck me that all of his questions seemed to revolve around a central strategy. In the absence of any other evidence, based on witness testimony, could you convict? Now, I’m not sure if he was aiming to go for a he said/she said strategy, because after a few hours we were dismissed because there weren’t enough jurors. But it drove home the seriousness of making such a decision, and I found myself wondering how exposed it would feel like to be talked about in the third person in front of a court of strangers. Even if the perpetrator is guilty beyond reasonable doubt, when you’re face-to-face with someone, assigning a sentence is a solemn task. And, what makes a victim believable? So, I was glad to be dismissed.
It got me thinking about the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph makes a lot of claims about God’s will, but how believable are they?
Now, there’s a lot to like about Joseph. Every time folks push him down, he rises. His brothers are jealous that he’s the favorite son. They’ve got to get rid of him, so they sell him to traders. Then he’s bought by Potiphar, the captain of the Egyptian army. But just as he earns Potiphar’s trust, Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him. He resists, so she frames him for adultery and they throw him in prison. Then Joseph starts interpreting dreams for other prisoners. Word spreads. Pharaoh hears. So when Pharaoh has a nightmare, he asks for Joseph. Joseph warns about a coming famine, so Egypt needs to stockpile food. Pharaoh’s grateful. He puts Joseph in charge. Joseph prepares so well that when the famine hits, the whole world comes to buy grain, including his brothers.
And lo and behold, Joseph actually forgives them. He gives them land to move nearby. He pledges to take care of them through the famine. And he says, “Don’t be distressed for selling me into slavery. It was all God’s plan to put me in Egypt, so when famine comes I could take care of you.” That’s super-human virtue right there.
But what if Joseph’s too good to be true?
Continue readingScriptures That Trigger Us and the Promise That Keeps Us Going
Sermon for Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – Luke 6:17-26
I normally like to start my sermon with some kind of funny story to ease our way into the hard stuff. But it’s hard to do that with this reading from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus speaks so plainly. He preaches four blessings and four woes. And they’re pairs. “Blessed are you who are poor, but woe to you who are rich. Blessed are you who hunger, but woe to you who are full. Blessed are you who weep, but woe to you who laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, revile you, defame you, but woe to you when they speak well of you.” Jesus isn’t sugar-coating anything.
How do Jesus’ words make us feel? Reassured, or guilty? It depends on our situation. If we’re destitute or struggling, maybe Jesus sparks some hope, that this isn’t how things are always going to be. He doesn’t promise us WHEN a change will come, but he promises a change WILL come. But what if we’re rich or full or laughing or popular? In other words, all the ways you can be successful and satisfied in life. In that case, it’s not such a great sermon. Like he’s saying get ready, because everything’s about to turn upside down and it’s going to be ugly. In preaching classes, there’s an old saying – sermons are supposed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I’d say mission accomplished.
I confess, I don’t love this sermon. I’m not rich or popular by a long shot, but I’m comfortable. I don’t have to struggle to get by. Though I’ve struggled before. Times when I couldn’t get a job. Medical scares. Accepting the unacceptable from some folks because I didn’t think I had a choice. Some of these things I caused, and some things just kind of happened. I think most of us are like that. We live somewhere in-between the two extremes. Not on top, not being crushed at the bottom. Just somewhere in-between. Yet this reading can still trigger us. Why is that?
Continue readingThe Promise that No One Can Cancel
Sermon for Fourth Sunday after Epiphany – Luke 4:21-30
Have you heard of “cancel culture”? Where someone famous says or does something offensive and folks campaign to get them dropped from TV or the internet. It’s pretty controversial. Some folks argue that this is like a mob mentality or an attack on free speech. Others argue that it’s a way to hold powerful people accountable. Now, I know free speech is crucial, but when folks spread misinformation, I confess I don’t mind it when their Facebook and Twitter accounts get suspended. Though it can be tiring to hear story after story of celebrities being canceled, especially when it’s folks I don’t know. Here’s a funny story. This week, the musician Neil Young just demanded that the online music streaming service Spotify remove all his music, to protest that they promote Joe Rogan’s podcast, where he tries to turn folks against vaccines. So millennials are like, “who’s Neil Young?” And some older folks are like, “what’s Spotify?”
Continue readingEven the Mystical Body of Christ Needs a Leaky Sinus or a Colon
Sermon for Third Sunday after Epiphany – 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Well, it’s official. I’m middle aged. And it’s hard! I was initiated this week – my first colonoscopy. Actually, the prep wasn’t that bad. But I learned something. Jello is like manna from God. I was good all day beforehand, but by 10pm I was starving. And after they remove a few polyps and tell you about them, you kind of miss not knowing. And then there’s my shoulder that locks up. And my sciatic nerve that likes to remind me its there. So apparently middle age is just God’s way of making sure I learn to appreciate all those secret parts of my body that I didn’t know before. Because when they act up, it’s breathtaking.
When you think about the human body like this, it puts a whole new spin on the Body of Christ, doesn’t it?
Continue readingThe Sweetness of Community
Sermon for Second Sunday after Epiphany – John 2:1-11 & 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Have you ever run out of gas? I have. Once upon a time, I had a truck whose gas gauge stopped working. But of course, it’s never convenient when these things happen, and I’m always busy. I didn’t want to deal with it, so I just got used to obsessively monitoring the odometer. I had to track when I last filled up, how far I’d gone, and so forth. It worked really well for a long while, until the time I inevitably forgot. So, I was driving to work, when dashboard indicators I’d never seen before began to light up, and my truck started making noises I’d never heard before. Luckily I made it to the side of the road. And I sat there for some time, not really sure what to do and blaming myself full force, like you do. But then, I saw a AAA assistance vehicle pull off the road behind me, and suddenly I heard angels singing (not quite), and thought, “Ah, my savior has arrived at last!” They gave me a little gas, enough to get to a station to properly fill up. And even now, whenever I see one of those vehicles on the road, I feel a wave of thanks and gratitude, even now. But, in hindsight, I also recognize that I caused my own problem. By choice.
It can be hard to sympathize with something like that. When folks seem to cause their own problems. Procrastinating. Making bad decisions. Ignoring warning signs. Poor planning. Like throwing a wedding reception and running out of wine?
Continue reading
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