The Paradox of Faith - Sermon for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost A - Narrative Lectionary 2

The Paradox of Faith

Pentecost 21A – NL2

October 22, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

2 Samuel 5.1-5, 6.1-5; Psalm 150; Mark 11.8-10

I love language, especially putting words together to both amaze and amuse. The events of the past few weeks and the texts this week prompted me to think of those things in language that we call oxymorons and paradoxes. An oxymoron is two words when put together make you scratch your head. My favorite oxymoron is “jumbo shrimp.” A paradox is two ideas which seem to be contradictory yet are both true. In the Lutheran church we say that we are both saints and sinners at the same time. We are saints because we have been fully redeemed by the blood of Christ. However, we are also sinners because we still mess up. To use another phrase, we are “already, but not yet.” Sometimes oxymoron and paradoxes seem to bleed over into each other as in these two wonderful desserts, a hot fudge sundae or Baked Alaska. These are paradoxically both hot and cold while using oxymoronic names.

There is a lot of truth in today’s readings today but there are inconvenient truths that are unfortunately left out. Last week we heard the story of Ruth, a non-Israelite living in the time of judges, who follows her mother-in-law Naomi to Israel with hesed, steadfast love and faithfulness. There Ruth marries Boaz and has a son Obed, who also marries and has a son Jesse, who marries and has eight sons. It is the eighth and youngest son, Ruth’s great-grandson, David, the boy shepherd, who becomes anointed king of all Israel. And, I should add, it is David who is the ancestor of the One anointed as Messiah, Jesus.

As I said, there is much truth expressed in our readings today. It is true that it is David who is able to unite the people of Israel, who is recognized as their de facto leader over and against the former King Saul. And it is true that it is David who chooses the neutral city of Jerusalem as his capital and who brings the Ark there ensuring that God is at the center of the life of the people. This movement is appropriately celebrated with unbridled joy. It is true that most theologians believe it is David who wrote Psalm 150, rightfully praising God. Finally, it is also true that Jesus enters Jerusalem to the cheers of crowds as the anointed Messiah.

Even so, there’s other truths lurking. David’s triumph has come with unbridled bloodshed, the killing of King Saul by his followers, the killing of those who opposed him, and the soon-to-be extinction of the Philistines. It’s also true that David brings the Ark to Jerusalem to consolidate his power and that this “man after God’s own heart” impregnates another man’s wife and then conspires to have him killed. Finally, it is true that Jesus enters triumphantly one day only to be arrested, tried, and crucified a few days later.

It’s important to recognize these paradoxes as we think about Israel and Palestine. It is true that Hamas is a terrorist organization that openly states that their goal is the annihilation of Jews and the Israeli state. It is also true that Israel openly states that their goal is the destruction of Hamas. It’s true that historically the Jews have been persecuted wherever they’ve lived in the world and it’s also true that the Jews who were once the oppressed have now become the oppressors of the Palestinians. They’ve had their knees on the necks of the Palestinians for 75 years.

It is true that Hamas is not the same as the Palestinian people but it’s also true that Hamas are the only ones standing up for Palestinians, albeit inappropriately. It’s true that Israel the political state is not the same thing as the religion known as Judaism and the religious and the secular often clash. It is true that Hamas is Muslim, but it is also true that most Muslims do not advocate terrorism. It is true that some Christians, especially in the US, support Israel’s oppression of Palestians because they believe in Zionism, that Jesus will return to Jerusalem.

So, what do we do about this? Does our faith tell us how we might deal with these tensions? I think so. First, we might humbly admit our part in this conflict, ask God’s forgiveness, and seek what we can do. Second, we recognize we can’t resolve the tensions but rather recognize them and live with them. Life is complicated and the Bible is honest, sometimes brutally so, about the human condition. Third, we realize that this is complex and will take time to work through. There are no easy answers, despite what some claim.

Meanwhile, we are to go where Jesus went: to the cross. The cross is the place where we stand with those who are oppressed and we do so by showing compassion, which literally means to suffer with others. There’s a phrase that might help, “Think Globally, Act Locally,” which could involve prayer for our leaders and advocating with them for just solutions. This could also include sending support to sufferers through Lutheran Disaster Response, the Red Cross, or other worthy organizations. And we can promote conversations and understanding, such as we are doing this next Wednesday.

It is meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise God. We do so even, and especially when, our hearts are breaking amid the brokenness of this world. The best Psalms are the ones that lament our situation yet proclaim God’s love and faithfulness. That’s the great paradox of our faith, that to live for others means to die to ourselves. Because the One who died for us did so that we might live and that’s not oxymoronic, that's the truth of faith. 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.

Steadfast Love - Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Narrative Lectionary 2)

Steadfast Love

Pentecost 20A (NL2)

October 15, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Ruth 1.1-17

This past Wednesday I asked the worshippers what made a good friend, just as I did with our young people this morning. As today, they gave several excellent responses: a good friend keeps confidences, doesn’t tell stories, is a friend no matter what you do or don’t do, gives you hugs, and is honest with you even if it’s hard to hear. I’m guessing that you could add several more characteristics to this list.

These characteristics could be summed up in the biblical term hesed, which means steadfast love, faithfulness, or loyalty. Hesed is something that is at the forefront of our reading from Ruth this morning. Since the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites last week, they have wandered in the wilderness 40 years and finally settled in the Promised Land, grouped into 12 tribes. It’s a loose confederation with no central ruler and where disputes are settled by judges. It is in this setting that the book of Ruth finds context.

Because of a famine in the land of Israel, Naomi, her husband, and two sons travel to Moab for a better life. There the two sons take Moabite wives. Ultimately, all three men die, the two sons are sonless themselves. Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem because the famine has eased and decides to leave her daughters-in-law so they might be able to build families themselves. Orpah reluctantly goes back, but Ruth steadfastly refuses and utters that famous declaration, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there I will be buried”

We don’t know what Naomi did to stir up such steadfast love and loyalty within Ruth. Perhaps it was shared grief or that Naomi’s God was more attractive than Moab’s gods. But we do know that this relationship is remarkable because historically Moabites and Israelites were enemies. We also know that for Naomi to return as a widow in Israel was very precarious. Without a husband or sons, she would have no means of support and life would be very hard for Naomi. Perhaps Ruth saw that and was determined to help.

Another remarkable feature of the story is that Ruth would face certain discrimination in Israel for being a foreigner Now, discrimination isn’t remarkable in and of itself, given the history of Israel and Moab. We’ll learn that even when Ruth displays her incredible faithfulness to Naomi and, as we will see, her subsequent marriage to Boaz, a prominent Israelite, she’ll always be “the Moabitess.” Yet, through it all, Ruth remains steadfast, and she and Naomi find a way where there was no way.

Now, here is “The Rest of the Story” as Paul Harvey used to intone. Ruth marries Boaz, whose own mother, Tamar, was of questionable repute. They have a son, Obed, who also has a son, Jesse. Jesse will have seven sons, the youngest who is a “man after God’s own heart,” David. As we’ll see next week, it will be David who becomes king and unites the 12 tribes of Israel. And, if you read chapter 1 of Matthew, it will be David’s descendant, Jesus, who will be the Messiah. Ruth is the great-grandmother of Jesus 28 times.

The story of Ruth is not only some interesting bit of backstory to the Davidic monarchy and the Jesus story. The steadfast love and faithfulness of Ruth is a microcosm of that of the God who does the same. As we’ve seen already this fall, this is a God who makes a way where there seems to be no way. We saw God make a way by providing a son to a couple well past child-bearing age. This God made a way by freeing a people out of slavery, and making them numerous while bringing them into the Promised Land.

We still have a lot more story before we get to the Jesus story at Christmas, but through it all and beyond God will demonstrate God’s hesed, God’s steadfast love, loyalty, and faithfulness. It is this assurance that sustains us in our faith journeys, both individually and together as a community of faith. It is God’s steadfast love that carries us through this time of uncertainty, trauma, and chaos. As we gather around God’s Table, we receive God’s very self, God’s assurance that God will make a way for us where there seems to be no way. As God does so, we are not surprised when that way includes unlikely people like Ruth, me, and you. 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.

A Re-Membering God - Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost A - Narrative Lectionary 2

A Re-Membering God

Pentecost 18A NL2

October 1, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Exodus 1.8-2.10; 3.1-15

After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Exodus 2.23-24)

I was eating lunch with other interim pastors when the young woman approached our table. “Pastor Olson, do you remember me?” As I panicked a bit she revealed her name, Carwyn. Had she given me a few seconds more I would have indeed remembered her because I not only taught her in Confirmation but her older sister and brother as well. Not to mention I officiated at her sister’s wedding and the baptism of her sister’s first child. Besides, Carwyn hadn’t changed all that much. After inquiring about her and her family, she had to finish lunch and get back to her work. As I sat down, a colleague said, “Don’t you just hate that?” Actually no, because I was grateful she remembered me.

In the midst of their suffering, the Israelites in Egypt wondered if God had forgotten them. Much has happened since our text from last week when Jacob wrestled with God at the Jabbok River, getting a blessing and new name in the process. He reconciled with his brother, Esau, finally returned home, and had a twelfth son, Benjamin.

But it’s the 11th son, Joseph, who the rest of Genesis focuses on. Out of jealousy, Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery down in Egypt where he ultimately rises to power as Pharaoh's right-hand man. Through dream interpretation, he helps prepare Egypt for seven years of famine. The famine results in his whole family moving to Egypt where they are welcomed and given a home. That is, until a king arises that doesn’t remember Joseph and becomes afraid of the Israelites and their ever-growing numbers.

God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We don’t know how long the Israelites were groaning before “God remembered,” but we do know it was at least as long as it took Moses to be born, grow up, and spend years in exile in the desert. It seems as if God has forgotten God’s promises to the Israelites, but the Hebrew indicates that it may be more that God’s attention wandered. To the groaning Israelites, there is not much distinction. Regardless, the situation now has God’s full attention because Moses is ready for God to act through him. And this time, unlike last week, God is prepared to disclose who God is: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

In that statement, God not only discloses something of God’s self, God tells them they aren’t forgotten. God isn’t some Johnny-come-lately who happens to show up and claim to be their God at the last moment. God not only always has been, always is, and always will be, this is the same God who has always been with their ancestors, beginning with the promise made to Abraham, repeated to Isaac and Jacob. All evidence to the contrary, God has been paying attention, working to re-member them.

Though none of us has had to endure generations of slavery like the Israelites, there are times in the midst of our suffering when we wonder if God has abandoned us or even if God exists. In a book published after her death, Mother Teresa of Calcutta admitted to enduring a “dark night of the soul” for years, even decades. And with conversations with some of you, you wonder how much more trauma Our Savior’s can endure. The good news is that those promises made the Israelites continue to be ours through Jesus Christ.

The Exodus, God’s deliverance of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land will become a seminal and defining event. It will also become a prominent theme at Jesus’ Last Supper as Jesus becomes the Passover lamb who is sacrificed and whose blood sets us free from bondage to sin, death, and the devil. But through it all is the remembering, as Jesus admonishes us in the Lord’s Supper to “Do this in remembrance of me.” It’s important to know that this is a special kind of remembering, where Jesus is not merely brought to mind but rather is made present in a very real and tangible way, his very body and blood taken into our very selves.

In this meal we’ll be receiving soon, we’ll not only remember God’s saving acts that assure us that God has not forgotten, but we’ll also be re-membered, that is, put back together and made whole. “Do you remember me, God?” “Oh, my child,” God says, “more than you can possibly know. How can I ever forget someone who I claimed in baptism, marked with the cross of my Son? But so that you can remember that I remember, here is a piece of me to hold onto. For I am the God of your ancestors who will be with you always, even unto the end of the age.” 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.