May 24, 2009 - Easter 7

Set Apart and Sent
John 17:6-19
Easter 7 – May 24, 2009

On this Memorial Day weekend, I was thinking, as it is right to do, of our military men and women who have served and are still serving our country. And an image came to mind – the image of the time when then-President Bush stood on an aircraft carrier in front of a banner that proudly declared, “Mission Accomplished”.

Now he got a lot of flak for that sign, but in one way, that sign was true. The Iraqi government had been overthrown, Sadaam Hussein had been ousted & was on the run, and it seemed like the major battle was done. With an evil dictator out of the way, certainly the rest would follow. The way was open for something new to happen there.

But here we stand, more than 6 years later, and in retrospect, it is easy to see that our mission has not yet been accomplished. Our military is still there, fighting against the insurgency that sprang up, battling the pockets of resistance and rebellion that plague a country that knows no peace.

But I wasn't just thinking of the Iraq war because it is Memorial Day tomorrow. It seems to me a fitting metaphor for the situation Jesus' disciples were facing in the gospel story we heard this morning.

This passage takes place during the last supper, just before Jesus & the disciples will head out to the garden where Jesus will be betrayed and arrested. And if we were to read a few more chapters into the story, we would find Jesus hanging on a cross. And his last words, according to John's gospel, are, “It is finished.”

It is finished! All the work Jesus has been sent to do is done. In his life, he has made God the Father known to those who follow him, and in his death, he has conquered death. He has defeated the powers of sin and evil. It is finished! Mission accomplished!

On the one hand this is very much true, but as we look around us, we see that there is so much work left to do. If Jesus' mission is accomplished, then why do 25,000 people die every day of hunger and hunger-related causes? If the powers of evil and sin have been defeated, how can 1 out of every 4 homeless people in America be a child? How can so many people we know and love struggle with deadly diseases like cancer, or the daily difficulties of depression? Why do war and conflict rage in so many parts of the world? Jesus has dealt death and evil and sin their fatal blow, but the reality is, for now, they are still very much alive and active in the world. They don't want to give up the fight. The world is filled with these pockets of resistance and rebellion. And even though we know the final outcome, it is enough to make us wish that Jesus hadn't left so soon.

I'm sure the disciples were thinking something along those lines that night and during the time that followed. They saw the power of the world in full force, not just in Jesus' death, but even beyond his resurrection and ascension. Already when the author of John wrote this gospel, the early church faced the oppression and hatred of a world opposed to the Word and the ways of God. That's what the world stands for in John – everything that defies God. I am sure there are times when they felt all alone down here. I'm sure there were moments when they wished Jesus had not left them so soon, days when they wished that Jesus would have taken them with him, that he would come and take them out of this world where they faced so much hostility and hurt.

But that's not what Jesus did. That wasn't part of the plan. Because no matter how hard the world fights against God, no matter how much it rejects what God has to offer and rebells against God, this is still the world that God loves so much that God sent the only Son – not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Jesus had accomplished the heart of his mission, but that was just the beginning. Jesus has initiated God's new reign of peace and love, but it has not yet come to its fulfillment. It's what Lutherans call the already but not yet. Jesus has already done what God sent him to do, but it's not yet complete. We are still seeing it play out around us.

And more than that, we have a part to play in God's plan to redeem the world. Jesus prays for us in this prayer, just as he was praying for the 1st disciples. He says, “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world... and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one... As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (vs. 11, 14-15, 18).

We who follow Jesus no longer belong to the systems of this world. We have declared that our allegiance lies with God, not with any worldly powers. It happens in the rite of baptism and every time we affirm our baptismal life together. We stand in the presence of God and each other, and we announce to all who will hear that we renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God; we renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God; we renounce the ways of sin that draw us from God. We renounce them, and then we cling to the love of God that marks us with the cross of Christ and seals us with the Holy Spirit. As we remember and return to our baptism, we realize that we have been sanctified, just as Jesus prayed, for to be sanctified means not that we are holier-than-thou, but that we have been set apart for God's purposes, commissioned to do God's work in the world.

God's vision for the world is of a place where the sick are healed, the hungry are fed, and the outcast is welcomed. It is a place of peace instead of violence, hope instead of despair, love instead of hatred. This is the kingdom Jesus initiated when he came to dwell with us on Earth. It is the kingdom we have been invited to live out in our lives, letting our lights so shine before others that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Clearly we have our work cut out for us. Even though Jesus has won the ultimate victory, the world is still filled with pockets of rebellion and resistance. But it is this world that we are called to live in, this world we are called to work in, this world we are called to love – because the world needs to know that a new king has come, a new kind of king – one who rules with mercy, grace, and love – and Jesus has sent us to share the story.

Amen.

May 17, 2009 - Easter 6

Jesus Puts Us on His Team
John 15:9-17
Easter 6 – May 17, 2009

One of my favorite TV shows of all time was Freaks & Geeks. It didn't last long, but it was good while it lasted. It was about a brother & sister & their groups of friends. Sam, the brother, was in the geek category, and so were his 2 best friends, Neil & Bill. Most of the time they didn't care what people thought about them. They had a great time together.

Well, one episode revolved around what happened when it came to gym class. They were playing softball, and the coach picked the 2 most athletic boys to be team captains. And of course, they picked the fastest, strongest, most talented boys first. Poor Sam, Neil, & Bill. No one ever wanted them. Bill especially. He was always the very last to get picked. We can all imagine how he felt, knowing he would be the last one, knowing that he wouldn't really get to play, knowing that he wasn't really part of the team. Bill & the other misfits got sent way out in the field to play backup outfield, where there was no chance that any action would ever come their way.

Well, poor Bill really wanted to play. He watches the pitcher & catcher & shortstop gather for a conference on the pitcher's mound & he wonders what they're talking about. He wants to be in on the conversation, to feel like he's a real part of the team. He just wants a chance to prove himself. So, through a comic chain of events, Bill gets a chance to tell the coach how he feels & he convinces him to let him be a team captain. The other captain is another geek, always next to last to be picked. And as they start picking their teams, you see Sam & Neil smiling from ear to ear, because they know because their friend is the captain, this time they will be picked first for sure.
When the game gets underway, Bill is at shortstop, where he always wanted to be, and he makes Sam the pitcher, and Neil the catcher. Turns out that Sam really isn't that good. Half of his pitches don't even make it all the way over the plate, they drop in mid-air & kind of roll over the plate. And as Sam is getting discouraged, Bill calls a meeting on the mound. Sam apologizes, tells Bill he should put one of the good kids in to pitch. But Bill isn't there to give him a hard time about his pitching. He just wanted to confer with his friends on the mound, to know what it's like to be at the heart of the game.

The next batter is usually one of the team captains, and Sam somehow manages to pitch the ball across the plate. Crack! The bat hits the ball & it sails up over Bill, who runs back and leaps in mid-air, grabbing the ball and catching it as he falls to the ground. Bill & Neil come racing to Bill, jumping and shouting and laughing and grinning, over the moon! Meanwhile, the other team's players have tagged up and are racing for home - but they don't care. They are just overflowing with the joy of actually getting to be part of the team, of getting to work & play together for once.

We all know why Bill & Sam & Neil were so happy, because we all know what it feels like not to be wanted. We know what it's like to be passed over, to feel like the only reason we got picked at all is because we were the only ones left. We know what it's like to feel like we're not good enough, that we're never going to measure up to what someone else (or maybe we ourselves) think we should be. We all want to be a part of the team, to know that we are welcome & wanted. None of us wants to be sent to play backup outfielder; we want to know that what we do matters, we want to know that we are making a difference, that our lives count.

I kind of think that Jesus' disciples were like Sam & Neil & Bill. They were like most of us. To look at them, no one would have expected much. They weren't the most religious. They weren't the most educated. None of them had a distinguished pedigree. There was nothing about them to suggest that they would amount to anything.

But then Jesus came along, and everything changed. He saw something in them no one else could see & he called them to come & follow. He saw them standing on the sidelines, and he picked them out of the crowd. Jesus, their great team captain, chose them to be a part of his team. Here in the gospel story, during the last supper, he reminds them of that: “...I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” He invited them out to the pitcher's mound to be part of the conference. He says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last...”(vs 15-16).

These are words for us today too. “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” We'll see the truth of those words again as we participate in the baptism of little Lily here - too young to know who Jesus is, too young to know that she needs what only he can give. She is a beautiful, precious child, but she's too young to even pretend that she is choosing Jesus, too young to seem like she has anything to contribute to the team. And yet in a few moments, we will hear Jesus say to her, “I choose you.” God says to her, as God says to each of us when we are baptized, “You are my child. I choose you. I love you. I name you, and I claim you. You are mine, and you have a spot on my team forever.”

It's amazing to realize that Jesus has chosen each of us, picked each one of us to be on his team. But being on the team means that we have work to do. Nobody gets to be a backup outfielder. We are chosen & appointed to go & bear the fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. We are to go into the world with the wonderful news of God's love. We are to be God's hands & feet, letting God's love transform us & through us, the world! And the only way we can do that is for us to work together. As much as some athletes might like to think that they could win the game by themselves, that their teammates' efforts are nothing in comparison to their own, the truth is, no one does it all alone. Even superstars need the help of the team, working together, training together, playing together if the team is going to be successful.

But teammates don't always get along. They squabble, they fight, they compete, they get on each others' nerves. And that's true of all of us, even within the church, even with Jesus' first band of followers. I think that's why Jesus commands them to love one another. It doesn't mean that they will always feel loving. It doesn't mean that they will always agree (just come to a church meeting or synod assembly if you don't believe me!). It doesn't mean that they will always get along or that they'll never irritate each other.

But Jesus' command to love one another is not about our feelings, it's about our actions. It is a call to bear with each other, to see past our annoying idiosyncrasies to the gifts we each bring to the game. The command to love means being willing to own up to the times when we are wrong, to admit when we have hurt each other and to ask for and offer forgiveness, because we have been forgiven. Loving each other means supporting each other & celebrating together & challenging each other to grow deeper, to hone our skills, so we may all be a productive part of Christ's fruit-growing team.

Being part of a team is never easy. But Jesus has picked each & every one of us. No one is here by accident. And when the team comes together, when everything clicks, through the power of Jesus at work in us, we do things we never thought we could do! But no matter how the game goes, when we play with passion and joy and love, we make Jesus proud. And oh the joy of serving him together in love!

So let's get out there and play some ball! Amen.

May 10, 2009 - Easter 5

Jesus Gives New Life Through the Vine
John 15:1-8
Easter 5 – May 10, 2009

I'm not very good at keeping in touch with people much these days. Once upon a time, I was. When I went away to college, my high school friends & I wrote countless letters back and forth, talking about roommates and classes and new friends. And I racked up pretty decent phone bills back then too. But then time went by, and that slowed down to a very occasional letter or a once in a while phone call. I missed talking with them, but we just always seemed to be too busy.

And then, along came the Internet, and when I finally got a computer, I knew that was the answer to my communication laziness! I knew that my friends (college & high school both, by now) would keep in touch this way. How easy is it to sit down & shoot off a couple of lines about how your day or week was & then hit “send”? They get it instantly on the other end! Amazing!
And yet, as time wore on, I found out that e-mail really didn't solve my problem either. We could e-mail quickly & easily, but we didn't. Still too busy. But then along came the ubiquitous cell phone, with unlimited night & weekend minutes & long-distance calls included! Certainly, now I would talk to far away family and friends much more often & maybe even reconnect with those old friends I had lost touch with.

Well, you know the end to that story. Even with all of the quick & easy & cheap ways we have to keep up with each other (& I didn't even mention text messaging!), we don't. I've lost touch with a bunch of good friends from high school and college and my old job and seminary, because we all seem to be too busy to call or e-mail very often. There's just too much going on in our lives & we don't take the time to reach out & reconnect.

I don't know about you, but too often, that sounds an awful lot like my relationship with Jesus. We have lots of ways to stay connected, to abide with him – through prayer and reading the Bible and serving and worshiping – but even with all of that, there are a lot of days when I feel too busy to take the time to spend with him, to make the quality time to reconnect that every relationship needs. Instead, I'm running around, doing all sorts of things – writing sermons, visiting people, going to meetings, cleaning the house, walking the dog, grocery shopping. All good things, all things that need to be done. But sometimes I just get so caught up in my to-do list that I forget to do what Jesus says here. I forget to abide in him.

To abide simply means to remain with someone, to live with them, to dwell with them, to have your lives interconnected. That's what Jesus wants for us; he wants us to stay connected to him; he wants us to draw our life from him, the way branches do from the vine, but most of the time, we're so busy running around that we forget that there's even a vine there! We forget to just be with Jesus, to spend time with him, to let his life flow through us so that we can be healed and renewed. And then all of a sudden, we get to feeling dried up and worn out, brittle, ready to snap, & we wonder what's going on. We wonder why we're not experiencing the abundant, full life Jesus promised us.

But that's what happens when branches don't stay connected to the vine. When branches come off the vine, they're cut off from the source of life. They can't continue to grow, to be green and vibrant and full of the fruit they were meant to produce. After they've been away from the vine – and it doesn't take too long to see this start to happen, eventually they wither up and die away, becoming brown & lifeless.

You know, even when branches stay on the vine, there are times and seasons when growth stops. A few leaves start to wilt and go brown. Another part gets injured in a storm & growth stops while the plant tries to heal. Or maybe there are too many leaves and no fruit. That's when the gardener comes in, tending to the plant carefully, trimming the dead parts, healing the wounds, pruning the plant so that new life can sprout and grow, so that it will produce an abundant harvest.

So I ask you this morning as I have been asking myself all week, what does your branch look like? Are you still connected to the vine? What are the dead, dry parts of your life that need to be trimmed away? Are you busy everywhere, growing lots of leaves, but no fruit? What things are sapping away the life that Jesus wants for you? What prevents you from abiding in Jesus?
No matter what it is, no matter how disconnected you feel from Jesus, the source of life, I want to remind you that there is always hope. Recently, a lot of those friendships that I thought were long dead because of neglect and distance have started to send out shoots of new life through the wonders of the Internet and a little site called Facebook.

And if we humans can do that, imagine what God our gracious gardener can do! No matter what your branch looks or feels like, even if you feel disconnected and dying, God hasn't given up on us. God, who is tender and merciful, knows just what to do to bring us back to life again. God knows what parts of our lives need to be pruned so that new life can flourish. God knows what we need to sustain us, to help us grow strong in the vine.

God longs for us to have an abundant, fruitful life, and so God sent Jesus into the world, so that we might live our lives in him. Christ's very own life flows from him into us as we gather to worship, as we read & absorb his words, as we eat the meal that he provides. As we abide in him, and he in us, Jesus renews us, calling forth new life, making us sprout and grow. And when we are connected to the vine, when we draw our life from his, we can't help but bear fruit – the fruit of his love lived out in our lives, love shared with our brothers & sisters and the whole world! It is a fruit that nourishes & sustains others. And it might be just the thing that causes them to come looking for the source of all that good fruit & in looking, find Jesus the true vine.

So come. Abide in Jesus. Let him abide in you. Be brought back to life. Be renewed. Bear fruit for the sake of a hungry world. Amen.

May 3 - Easter 4

The Lord Is My Shepherd 

Psalm 23

Easter 4 – May 3, 2009

The 23rd Psalm is one of the best-known, best-loved pieces of Scripture that we have. Many of you may know it by heart – maybe in the old poetic style of the King James Version. It's one of those parts of the Bible that we turn to for comfort during times of grief or anxiety. It's so beloved because it speaks, as so many of the psalms do, of our experiences and of our own feelings.  

Or maybe a better way to put that would be to say that it says the things we would like to say, the things we would like to believe are true abou us.  We can relate to the what the psalmist is going through. Just like the person who wrote this psalm, we have been through all sorts of difficult situations. Many of us here this morning find ourselves in the middle of those anxious times. We have wandered around in search of green pastures, wondering when we will find that place where there is “enough”, where we will be content at last and able to lie down in that safe and peaceful place, instead of lying awake at night worrying. We have lived with the kind of anxiety that gnaws away at us, while we wait for our souls to be restored. We have walked down unclear paths, longing for guidance and the certainty that we are doing the right thing, that this is the right way. We have entered into those deep, dark valleys where sunlight is scarce and the shadows of death and fear linger and loom large over us. We have felt under attack, surrounded by enemies that would attack and destroy us and all we have worked so hard for.  

Yes, we know the types of things the Psalmist has been going through. When the Psalmist speaks of all these kinds of trouble, he speaks for us. And yet he speaks of a trust in God that many of us can find hard to have. The 23rd Psalm gives us great comfort, but it is hard to live out the utter confidence it declares. The psalm says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want,” - and as much as we want that to be true, there's a part of us that says, “But I do want!”

It says, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil;” - but our secret hearts are often very afraid. We say that God's rod & staff comfort us, but sometimes we don't feel comforted. We can see the enemies –of our addictions or disease or debt – but the meal and overflowing cup are not so obvious. And goodness and mercy? They may be following us, but they haven't caught up to us yet!

It is hard, when we are in the middle of scary circumstances, when we are unsure about the future, to put our trust in the Lord, even though we know he is our shepherd. It is a tough call to follow faithfully through the dark valleys and to trust that we are being led to green pastures and still waters. When we are wondering how the bills will get paid this month, it is hard to believe that because the Lord is our shepherd, therefore we shall not be in want.  

And perhaps that is why we do take such comfort in this psalm. Because we can tell that the psalmist has been through the same things we have been through. He has known uncertainty and fear. He has been worried and anxious. He has faced the dark valleys of death and squared off against the enemies who surrounded him and sought to do him harm. And yet, he can say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want...You are with me, so I shall fear no evil.” He has lived through all of these scenarios, and what he discovered, the truth that resonates so deeply within each of us, is that no matter how scared he has been, no matter how dark the path seemed, no matter how alone he may have felt, when he remembered to look for the Lord, the Lord was always there. Looking back over all he has been through, he realizes that the Lord has never abandoned him. What he has learned is that when he was in need, the Lord provided. When he was distressed, the Lord led him to a place of peace where he could lie down and rest, where his soul could be renewed and restored. When the path wasn't clear, the Lord guided him. Even in that scariest of places, the valley of the shadow of death, God was with him, protecting him with the rod, and directing him with the staff. When everything seemed to be going against him, he found that the Lord was there – and because of that, he has learned that he doesn't need to fear.  

This is the promise the psalm offers to us today too, the promise of a shepherd who will always be with us.  And we know who this shepherd is - It's Jesus, who says in the gospel of John, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me.” Jesus, our Lord and shepherd, knows each of us by name. He knows what we are going through, and he knows that we need him to guide us and guard us, to feed us and comfort us. He never promised us a life free from dark valleys, but he did promise that he will be with us always. Jesus is the good shepherd, who is willing to lay down his life for the sheep. Jesus proved his love for us on the cross, and he invites us today to let him be our shepherd, to follow him, to trust him with every part of our lives, to believe that he cares for us and will never leave us alone, so we may dare to say with the Psalmist:   
 
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want."

Thanks be to God! Amen.