Messages, Meditations, and Musings on the Life of Faith by Rev. Dr. Scott E. Olson, Interim Pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, Preston, MN

Sunday, March 10, 2024

The Way of the Cross: Loving Neighbor - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent Year B, Narrative Lectionary 2

The Way of the Cross: Loving Neighbor

Lent 4B-NL 2

March 10, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 12.28-44


Please pray with me: Lord, open my lips, that my mouth shall declare your praise so that no dishonorable words would be uttered by my tongue. Open the eyes of everyone here, that we may see your wondrous beauty in all the world  and not be blind to your ongoing acts of creation. Open our ears, that we may not be deaf to the cries of the needy but hear your call on our lives. Open our minds, that our imagination for mission may be stretched and not closed to new possibilities. Open our hearts, that they may not be cold to you or the ones you love but be fertile soil for the planting of your word. Open our hands, that we may not cling to those things that draw us away from you but receive the blessing you have for us and others through us. Open our awareness, that we may remain in the present moment because that’s the only one we have. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.


“The first [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12.29-31)


Loving your neighbor is hard.


I walked into the cafeteria after class one day and went over to the table where my good friend Dick and others were having coffee. But before I could say anything Dick said, “Scott, I don’t have time for you today.” I was crushed. Obviously I had done something to upset Dick, but I had no idea what it was. Even worse, I felt ashamed because Dick did this in front of several people. Eventually, Dick and I talked and I learned he was upset because I had bad mouthed his former girlfriend after they broke up. I thought I was taking his side, helping him feel better about the breakup. Dick told me the real reason they broke up. It was a very serious one that helped me understand why it happened. I realized I was being judgmental without all the facts and worse, didn’t bother to understand. I thought I was taking the moral high ground and being a friend. I ended up doing the opposite.


Loving your neighbor is hard with someone you like, and even harder when it’s someone you don’t like. Today we continue our Lenten series, “The Way of the Cross,” which we understand in two related senses. The first is the literal sense as we journey with Jesus to the upper room, Golgotha, the cross, and the empty tomb. The second sense is the spiritual journey we are making as we go deeper into learning how to follow Jesus. As we make this journey, we remember Jesus’ words to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow him. As we do this, we know that something in our lives must die so we might have life and have it abundantly.


In Mark’s version of this story, unlike Matthew’s, a religious leader is not testing Jesus, but really wants to know what the greatest commandment is. As a scribe, he is well-versed in the law, and is not surprised when Jesus begins with the Shema, the statement about God’s oneness that every Jewish person recites at the beginning of each day. Then Jesus equates the two commandments to love God and neighbor. After the scribe enthusiastically affirms Jesus’ response, he receives an “atta boy,” and the promise that he is not far from the kingdom of heaven. But then a few verses later, other religious leaders are not treated so kindly. Jesus has harsh words for them because their practices produce suffering of widows, a group they were entrusted with watching over and to treat much better. Loving a neighbor is hard, especially when you forget what is important in God’s kingdom.


I enjoy listening to a podcast called Hidden Brain, hosted by Shankar Vedantam. It explores the psychology behind what we do and why we do it. Vedantam has been doing a series called “US 2.0” which unpacks our divisions especially in our current and fraught political climate. Lately, I heard an episode called, “Win Hearts, Then Minds” with sociologist Rob Willer. Vedantam began the podcast with a quote from the Dalai Lama: “In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.” Then Willer talked about how arguing with someone, trying to change their mind, doesn’t work. That’s something we all know through experience. Willer goes on to say that we need to hold our beliefs in abeyance as we build a relationship with someone else and discover their values. In other words, we need to exercise not only intellectual humility but also moral humility. We still hold onto our values and beliefs, but loosely as we explore what others might be able to teach us.*


Loving our neighbor is hard, especially when it is someone we disagree with, have fought with, who we don’t respect and might even hate. Yet, that is our calling as followers of Jesus and the way of the cross. We are asked to set aside our fiercely held beliefs and values to listen to others. We are invited to see things from the perspective of the other and to open ourselves to the possibility that God might be teaching us something through them.


In my interaction with Rick, I wish I knew then what I know now. Even so, I don’t always get this right; I’m still learning. So it is helpful that we realize Mark’s Gospel reminds us that the last word is always love. Our text that we hear today is at the end of Jesus’ public ministry and from this time forward Jesus will be interacting with his followers and antagonists. So it is that at this ending, Jesus invites us to love God and love our neighbor. We remember that those who are opposed to Jesus aren’t so entrenched that they can’t be open to God’s leading. And remember that love is not an emotion we feel but rather a path we travel, however imperfectly. It’s love that starts this on our journey with Jesus and love that will bring us home.


In closing, I’d like to pray this prayer from St. Francis of Assisi:


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 

Amen


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

*You can find the Hidden Brain podcast, "First Hearts, Then Minds," here.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

The Way of the Cross: Going Last - Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent Year B, Narrative Lectionary 2

The Way of the Cross: Going Last

Lent 1B – NL 2

February 18, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 10.17-31


I’m not going to ask you for money today, but by the end of the sermon, you might wish that I had.


Back in 2011, about this time of year, I was preparing to give my doctoral defense. I had sent off my thesis and wanted to be done with it. I had been part of a cohort that had been together for five years and this was the culmination of much effort. One last thing remained: we had to sign up for presentation slots. I really wanted to go first, not because I thought my thesis was so awesome, but I just wanted to get it over with. But someone else got there first and I decided that if given a chance, I’d go last instead. There was part of me that was trying to be courteous, but if I couldn’t go first, I’d go last. I must admit that I would do so because of the conventional wisdom regarding sitting in an interview: if I couldn’t make a good first impression then I’d make a good last impression.


I don’t think that’s what Jesus had in mind at the end of this story when he says, “The first will be last and the last will be first.” This is the second of three times that Jesus makes this pronouncement. We first heard it on Ash Wednesday when Jesus takes a child in his arms and upends our idea of greatness. Next week we’ll hear it again when Jesus referees a squabble between two of the disciples, again about priority in the kingdom of God, and asks if they will be able to drink the cup that he is going to drink. In a very short time, Jesus must remind his followers again and again that the ways of the kingdom of God are upside down from our culture’s ways and that the way of the cross is contrary to conventional thinking.


Today, the object lesson is not provided by the disciples themselves but a rich man. In other Gospels he is known as a rich young ruler. This man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. So, we wonder: does he truly want to go deeper into the life of faith or is he simply trying to justify himself? Is he looking for an “atta boy” from Jesus or does he truly want to follow him. My guess is that he is sincere, otherwise he missed a great opportunity to call it good after Jesus’ first answer and say, “Nailed it!” But he presses on and then wishes he hadn’t: Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and follow him. The fact that Jesus looks upon him with love indicates the man was, indeed, sincere in his desire to find life.


Now, here’s where we start to get antsy. Is Jesus’ command just for the rich man or is it meant for everyone. Jesus talks a lot about money in the Bible and the dangers of wealth. The American humorist Mark Twain puts it this way. “It’s not the parts of scripture I don’t understand that bother me. It’s the parts I do understand.” Said another way, “Possessions are their own punishment.” Our possessions can end up possessing us. Biblically, possessions were a sign of God’s blessing But that was something that our forebears perverted with the so-called Protestant Work Ethic. They worked hard to achieve material blessings so that they could be assured that God blessed them.


But, notice what Jesus asks of the rich man: everything he wants to know is from the Second Table of the Law, the Ten Commandments. The First Table has to do with our relationship with God: “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” However, the Second Table of the Ten Commandments has to do with our relationship with our neighbor. In essence, Jesus is asking the man about what he is doing with his possessions. As the man receives blessings from God, is he closing his fist around them or is he holding them with an open hand? Is the man willing to let go in order to gain the most important thing, abundant life?


There’s a story that is told about how indigenous peoples trap monkeys. They cut a hole in the top of a coconut just big enough for a monkey’s hand to get through. They securely tie the coconut to a stake or tree and put meat inside. The monkey will put its hand into the coconut and grab the meat, but won’t let go even when in danger of losing its life.


Of course, Peter can’t leave well enough alone and wonders about him and the others. They’ve given up everything, right? It sounds like Jesus gives them a pat on the back, giving them the “atta boy” that the rich man was looking for. Jesus tells them they will receive a hundredfold, but then he slips in “as well as persecutions.” Yikes. I think that Jesus wants to remind us that it isn’t what we do that’s important but rather what God does through us. Just as we rely on God for everything that we have, we even rely on God to help us let go of what is holding us back.


This is the second stop on our Lenten journey, “The Way of the Cross,” whereby we make two journeys. The first is the physical trip as we go with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, which will involve suffering, rejections, the cross, and the tomb. But we also make the spiritual journey of the way of Jesus, what it means to follow him. Today we are encouraged to ask what we might be holding onto that keeps us from following Jesus. What do we need to let go of to pick up the cross? It could be physical things like our possessions, but it could also be things like anger or resentment or jealousy or greed or pride. Maybe it’s even letting go of the notion of needing to go last. Whatever it is, know that we don’t go alone or without resources. For the One who gave himself on the cross continues to give himself in the bread and wine, his very body and blood. For with God, all things are possible. Amen.


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Listen to Him - Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday Narrative Lectionary 2

Listen to Him

Transfiguration B – NL 2

February 11, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 8.27 – 9.8


“This is my son, the Beloved; listen to him!”


Back in late summer of 2020, about 13.5 years ago, shortly after arriving at my last settled call at Grace in Mankato, I suddenly lost hearing in my left ear. Not having a doctor yet, I went to urgent care and was diagnosed with an ear infection. Furthermore, I was advised by the doctor to schedule a follow-up visit with an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor). I didn’t, but when I didn’t regain my hearing, I did what I should have done sooner. After tests and scans, I was told I had Idiopathic Sudden Sensory Hearing Loss. (Idiopathic means “we don’t know what causes this,” but doctors can’t bear to say that, so they use “idiopathic.”) I was also told that there was  nothing they could do because even if they were to attempt surgery to correct what might be a vascular or neurological problem, the surgery would do more harm than good. Furthermore, hearing aids wouldn’t help. I did get a second opinion that agreed with the first.


I suffered for about 5 years with this condition until I thought my hearing had deteriorated further, so I went for another test. This time I was told hearing aids could help. They do help, but only partially. I have a lot of trouble in crowded, noisy places, and the theater is almost impossible. People think talking loudly helps, but not necessarily. It’s not that I can’t hear things, it’s that I don’t understand what I’m hearing. Even so, part of the blessing of having hearing loss is that I can relate to what older people must deal with.


So it was that my ears “perked up” as I worked with today’s Gospel reading from Mark. God says, “This is my son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Today is the end of the short, green season of Epiphany which helps us grow in our understanding of who Jesus is. (Much like the longer green season of Pentecost during which we grow in our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.) Epiphany is bookended by two white festivals, Baptism of Our Lord and the Transfiguration. (It’s also why we’re celebrating Communion today.) Along the way we’ve discovered Jesus being revealed as healer, teacher, miracle worker, and one who goes where no one else dares go, even into death, and one who has and gives authority. Today we hear again how Jesus is not only the Son of God and Son of Man, he is the Messiah/Christ/Anointed One, God’s Beloved.


It’s a pivotal time in Mark’s Gospel as Jesus turns toward Jerusalem. In this text Mark essentially asks us if we are going to keep following Jesus or or turn aside. It’s a theological fork in the road and Mark could be channeling the words of the incomparable Yogi Berra: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” To push us in this direction, Jesus asks a seemingly innocent question, “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples take the bait and answer. “Some say Elijah, some John the Baptist, and others one of the prophets.” Jesus stops suddenly, looks them in the eye, and becomes more pointed, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, in a burst of insight prompted by the Holy Spirit declares Jesus to be the Messiah, also translated as the Christ or the Anointed One. But then blows it when he rejects Jesus’ declaration that is is necessary for the Messiah to undergo suffering, rejection, crucifixion, and being raised.One can imagine they all go pale when Jesus says they must deny themselves, take up his cross, and lose their lives to save them.


So, when God says, “This is my son, the Beloved; listen to him!” we ask, “Listen to what?” And perhaps we can add, what gets in the way of us hearing Jesus and following him? One pointer comes in the text itself, that what gets in the way is setting our mind on human things rather than divine things. There are so many messages in our culture and society that make it hard to hear Jesus. For example, there are factions in our country that demand allegiance to a political party or person. This breaks at least one Commandment and probably more. The first Commandment says, “I am the Lord your God, have no other gods before me.” While we’re at, in the process of breaking this one, we break the Eighth: “You shall not bear false witness” or, as Martin Luther admonished us in a positive way, to speak well of others. (By the way, if you are assuming that I am a Republican or Democrat, I’m neither. What I’m saying cuts across political parties.) I am also not advocating for a theocracy where religious leaders are in charge. I believe that engagement in our democratic process is important, even critical. Yet, the way of Jesus is even more so.


Of course, it’s not just the political cacophony that drowns out Jesus’ voice. You could name as many as I can, such as materialism and consumerism, maybe more. But my aim today is not to gore anyone’s particular ox. Rather, I think that listening to Jesus, following his way gives us grounding and perspective to hear these voices. Following the way of Jesus gives us “hearing aids” if you will, to discern healthy messages from unhealthy ones.


To help you with this listening, Pr. Drew and I have put together a Lenten Sermon series, “The Way of the Cross.” This title can be taken two ways. First, we are inviting you to walk with Jesus this Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and to the empty cross on Easter Sunday. The second way is to listen deeply to the scripture texts each week that inform us what that way looks like in our lives of following Jesus, what walking the way looks like. We begin this coming Ash Wednesday on “Being Great.”


One final thought: listening to Jesus is hard work, taking up the cross, and denying self. Yet, we are not left with resources for, as ML says, we pray “Lord, give me what you’re commanding.” Furthermore, as we take the gift of Holy Communion we believe that Jesus is present in the bread and wine, giving us food for the journey. So, will you join Pr. Drew, me and your fellow companions of the journey, listening to Jesus? Some day it’s the journey, not the destination, but we believe it’s both. Amen.


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Saving Faith - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Narrative Lectionary 2

Saving Faith

Epiphany 4B – NL 2

January 28, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 5.21-43


In March 1980, Mt. St. Helens in Washington state erupted in what was arguably the worst volcanic disaster in North America. A column of ash rose 12 miles in the air and spread for 10 straight hours. One of my aunts who lived in Washington state sent me a coffee cup made from the ash. It’s very light. At least 57 people were killed and hundreds of square miles were reduced to rubble. The resulting mudslides reached as far as the Columbia River, about 50 miles away from the volcano. The total devastation caused an estimated $1 billion damage, about $3.2 billion 2022 dollars.


Two characters in our reading, an unnamed woman and a prominent father, face life-changing death and devastation. Today is the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, the shorter green season that explores who Jesus is, literally bringing us “aha” moments. So far, Jesus has been revealed as God’s beloved Son, healer, and teacher. Last week Pr. Drew told us that Jesus is the one who goes where others refuse to go as we saw in his encounter with the man possessed by demons. Today, Jesus is shown to go even further, where others can’t go: into the realm of death.


Mark has crafted a wonderful “sandwich” story, a story within a story that is called an inclusio. This format serves to heighten the tension prevalent in the story. Jesus is now back on Jewish soil, surrounded by crowds, approached by a Jewish religious leader. Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet and desperately begs Jesus to heal his daughter. His actions highlight the seriousness of her illness. Jesus agrees, the crowd follows, but then he is interrupted by another desperate person. This one is an unnamed woman, suffering for 12 years with a flow of blood. Not only has she been bankrupt from paying doctors, they’ve actually made her worse.


The woman tries to be inconspicuous, but to no avail. Jesus calls her out, doing so to use the opportunity to praise her faith. He then tells her to go in peace, that her faith has made her well. Meanwhile, a contingent comes from Jairus’ house informing them that his daughter is dead. Jesus shrugs off the crowd, takes a few disciples with him, and tells Jairus to fear not but believe. Ignoring the jeers of the mourners, Jesus resuscitates the girl to everyone’s amazement.


The woman with the flow of blood was desperate because as someone ritually unclean she was dead in the eyes of the community. She could not be around anyone because her presence would make them unclean. Nor could she worship in Jairus’ synagogue for the same reason. In other words, she was also dead to God. Jairus’ daughter, of course, was dead. Really dead (“sleeping” is a euphemism Jesus uses to indicate that death is not beyond him). But she’s dead in another sense. She has been cut off as she entered maturity, short of becoming a woman, marrying and having children. She’s dead to any future she might have had. Yet,  Jesus enters into their deaths, the woman and the father on behalf of the girl, and invites them into a trusting relationship, one that results in salvation and peace, also known as shalom.


In the “Heaven” Bible study this past Wednesday, Pr. Drew led an excellent discussion about Hell. You can’t talk about heaven without talking about hell. Pr. Drew pointed out what we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, that after Jesus “was crucified, died and was buried,” he “descended to Hell.” Aside from not knowing what Jesus did there (some say he preached the gospel!?), we agreed that the larger meaning is there is no place outside of God’s presence and love, not even death. The Apostle Paul in chapter 8 of his letter to the church at Rome declares that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus, not even that great separator, death.


What is often missed in the Mt. St. Helens story is the rapid recovery of the area. True, the gaping crater remains, and the landscape altered irrevocably. But as Rabbi Ed Friedman notes, within weeks everything that appeared on the third day of creation appeared at Mt. St. Helens. (That is no reason to ignore the effects of climate change because, as Friedman notes, the planet will do us in before we do it in.) The bottom line is that there is nowhere God in Christ Jesus can’t go, including death, and bring about life. That doesn’t mean that all will be healed or resuscitated, because new life may look different.


As Our Savior’s Lutheran Church recovers from the experiences of last year, we have “Saving Faith,” trusting that God is present in, with, and through all that happens to us. God in Jesus goes anywhere and everywhere to bring life out of death. Thanks be to God! Amen.


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Epiphany: Jesus as Teacher - Sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany Narrative Lectionary 2

Epiphany: Jesus as Teacher

Epiphany 2B – NL 2

January 14, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 2.1-22


Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. Mark 2.13


As I thought about Jesus as a teacher, I couldn’t help but think about one of my favorite teachers. The one that came to mind was my high school Biology II Anatomy & Physiology teacher, Joe Michel. Of course, he was Mr. Michel to us. I enjoyed the experience so much I came the next semester as a teaching assistant. One of the things I liked about Mr. Michel is that he had a deep appreciation for the marvels and wonder of the human body. That was something I resonated with and didn’t feel my usual embarrassment about. I could be unabashedly geeky. Also, Mr. Michel not only made learning interesting, he also accepted us for who we were. He connected with everyone in the class regardless of ability and was fully present to each and everyone of us. 


Even so, Mr. Michel also challenged us. He made us want to be the best we could be, to do the best we could do. Finally, I also appreciated his vulnerability and openness. He told us once that he was planning to be a medical doctor but there was one small problem: he couldn’t stomach the sight of blood. (Frankly, I’m glad he didn’t become a doctor, though he would have made a good one.) Years later, it was his example that gave me courage to change directions in my life, first when I decided to pursue another career other than medicine and then when I answered the call to seminary.


Today is the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, a season during which we explore who Jesus is, how he has been revealed to us. Last Sunday, Pr. Drew talked about Jesus as a healer and today we discover Jesus as a teacher. He is teaching to a crowd in his house when he is interrupted by four people who dig through a hole in the roof to lower their paralytic friend into Jesus’ midst. Then he scandalizes the religious leaders by forgiving the man’s sins. Furthermore, Jesus amazes those present by healing the paralytic. Then he adds to the scandal (and foreshadows conflict) by calling Levi, a tax collector, to be one of his key followers. (By the way, if this was the Gospel of Matthew, Levi’s name would be Matthew. It’s not uncommon for people to have two names.) Then, not leaving well enough alone, Jesus accepts table hospitality from Levi and eats with societal and religious outcasts. That’s a no-no for an observant Jew.


Whether Mr. Michel knew it or not, he embodied many of Jesus’ characteristics as a teacher, though he wouldn’t have made the comparison himself. First, Jesus is fully present to people wherever and whenever he happens to be. He accepts people for who they are, whether tax collector, sinner, or even religious leader. Jesus was Mr. Rogers before there was a Mr. Rogers. And though people often seek him out, Jesus more often goes where he needs to be the most. Even so, it’s not the observant religious people of the day who need him most, but the marginalized and outcast.


The second thing Jesus does as a teacher is to be a challenging presence. He meets people where they are but they are not the same afterward. Jesus does this by asking a lot of questions. In fact, Jesus asks far more questions than are asked of him and he often “answers” a question with a question. He does so in a sneaky and often annoying way, such as through parables and metaphors. For example, Jesus notes that he has come for the “sick” and is doing a new thing that doesn’t fit their old preconceptions. In this way Jesus challenges both their thinking and our thinking and preconceived notions about the Kingdom of God, who belongs, and what its values are.


How might this challenge us? We’re in a time of transition at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in a changing world. We are discerning what God is doing in our midst and what God is calling us to do. We are doing that in a Faribault community that is changing as well. So, how might Jesus be showing us, in word and deed, who on the sidelines we need to walk with? What new thing is Jesus doing in our midst that won’t fit on old cloth or in new wineskins? It’s always important to ask these questions, but even more so now, and to remember that, when we do, Jesus continues to be present, walking with us, guiding us, inviting us to follow in his way. Thanks be to God. Amen.


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Just the Beginning - Sermon for the First Sunday of Christmas - Narratve Lectionary 2

Just the Beginning

Christmas 1A-NL 2

December 31, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 1.1-20


On a day when the Vikings play the Packers, I hate to begin the sermon with a story about legendary Green Bay Coach Vince Lombardi, but it’s a good one. In July 1961 at the beginning of training camp, Lombardi decided that  would begin each season by taking his team back to the fundamentals. He began doing that because his Packers fell short in the previous season’s title game and he didn’t want that to happen again. So, he addressed the assembled training camp players by holding aloft a ball declaring, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” (By the way, one of the players, probably Paul Hornung, quipped, “Can you slow down Coach? You’re going too fast.”) 

It worked, because that year they won the title and Lombardi never lost a playoff game again.


In today’s Gospel reading we hear that this is “the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Son of God.” Last September we have been working our way through the Old Testament up to the story of Jesus’ birth. Today’s reading begins our trip through Mark’s Gospel from now to Easter and there are things it would be helpful for you to know about Mark. For instance, Mark was probably the first Gospel written and most likely the basis for Gospels Matthew and Luke. (John is a whole other matter, different from all three.) Also, you can see by today’s lesson that Mark moves fast, hardly pausing for a breath. Jesus is always “on the way” somewhere and things happen “immediately.” Mark can’t be bothered with endless genealogies, angels, shepherds, foreign wisemen, or histories. Finally, though the reader is told that Jesus is God’s Son, his followers are often clueless as to who Jesus is. Others seem to know, but not his disciples.


So, although Mark seems in an all-fired hurry, thought it would be helpful to linger a moment over that first and fundamental sentence, “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” What does Mark mean by “the beginning of the Good News?” One possibility comes from one theologian’s description of a Gospel as “a passion narrative with an extended introduction.” In other words, this is prelude to the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Perhaps Mark is rushing us ahead to the “good stuff” that’s really important in his mind.


But I think a clue to another reason for Mark’s claim that this is the beginning comes in the ending. After the women encountered the empty tomb, they fled in terror, and “said nothing to nobody, for they were afraid.” Mark’s Gospel ends abruptly, so much so that later writers felt the need to add not one but two separate endings. But I think it was Mark’s intention to end that way, that the Gospel was meant to be open-ended. In other words, the good news of Jesus Christ is just beginning, with the story continuing to be written in our lives.


One privilege of being an interim pastor is to hear the stories of how God has worked and is working in the congregations I’m serving. And I also am privileged to hear how peoples’ personal stories intersect those of the congregation. In both instances I hear also how God has been present in, with, and through those stories. At Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, I’ve been astounded how every difficulty and setback – and there have been several, serious ones – has not been seen as an ending but rather as a new beginning of ministry. You haven’t taken those difficult and even traumatic events lightly, but they haven’t finished you either.


I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions nor do I typically look at January 1st as starting over. But perhaps just this once I can make an exception. Let’s go back to the basics. To do so, I invite us to take the time to think about what beginning God has in store for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church this next year after a very challenging last year. Can you be open to what is unfolding in God’s kingdom? Let’s ask ourselves, “What is God up to at Our Savior’s and what does God want to do?” I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that we can figure it out together. Meanwhile, know that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, crucified and risen, continues to work. So, Happy New Year! Amen.


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

The Christmas Story - Sermon for Christmas Eve 2023

The Christmas Story

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Luke 2.1-20


It seems that Christmas is a good time for stories, and no doubt many will be told this year, around the Christmas tree or table.If we were to gather, our family would tell the story of a bachelor uncle who grudgingly came each year, demanding that we not get him a gift yet get anyway. We’d talk about the year that all four of us children got identical clock radios by parents who scrupulously made every Christmas equal, down to the last penny. And there’d be that poignant Christmas when my sister, then too old, got her last doll. And I’d tell about the Christmas time when I baffled that same sister by disguising her present so well that it made her crazy. Then there’d be the time my mom made lutefisk because my Swedish great aunt and uncle came to dinner, a dinner that stunk up the house for days.


Of course, in many homes the Christmas story will be told again in one fashion or another, either around the tree or the table. It’s the story about how God took on flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth, as the Gospel writer John tells us. It strikes a chord in us, not just because it’s about a cute, vulnerable, baby. And not just because it involves angels and shepherds and animals and wise foreign visitors. It strikes a chord in us because we want to be reminded that God cares about us enough to be with us.


Unfortunately, there’ll be competing stories told this Christmas that stand against this one. Some of us will tell ourselves that God is distant and doesn’t care about us anymore, if at all. We’ll tell ourselves the story that God may come for other people, but God doesn’t come for us. We’ll tell the story that we have done such awful things that God couldn’t possibly come to us. Or perhaps we’ve bought the story that our worth is based on what we give or what we get. Most deadly, we tell ourselves that we must be happy because this is a happy time of year, and everyone else is happy so we should be happy, too.


I’m not going to tell you those stories aren’t true, because they might be your truth this year. Rather, I want to invite you into the larger one that encompasses these smaller stories. The Larger Story of Christmas tells us that God meets us where we are and as we are, no matter what. Two thousand years ago, God came to a people “who lived in great darkness” amid oppressive governance and so God continues to come to us, especially in our darkest times. The Larger Story says to the Smaller Stories that, evidence to the contrary, God continues to come. And, as Mary, who pondered all these things in her heart, we take to heart the Larger Story that surrounds our stories.


As you gather around the Christmas tree or table this year to tell stories, please hear the Larger Story of God’s love for you. Hear of a love so strong that God will go to any length to show you that love. In a few minutes, God will come down yet again and be made flesh in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. You will hold God in your hands and know that the one who gave God’s self at Christmas continues to give that Love over and over again. We think that this story is too good to be true. Rather, it is too good not to be true. Merry Christmas, God’s Beloved. Amen.


My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.