Genuine Imitation - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Narrative Lectionary 2

Genuine Imitation

Easter 4B – NL2

April 21, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Acts 17.1-9; 1 Thessalonians 1.1-10

One night when I was a boy, my father took me with him to watch his bowling league. It was a real treat because it was at night when I’d normally be asleep. There must have been no school the next day. I don’t remember much about that night. What I do remember is my dad introducing me to one of his bowling buddies. Immediately, the friend said, “Oh Carl, I know he’s your son, he walks just like you.” What little chest I had puffed out with pride and joy, and I remember thinking to myself, “I’m Carl’s son. I walk just like him!” Now, I know he taught me how to bowl, though I don’t remember the specifics. Even so, I know I imitated him. A few years ago after I finished bowling, the man at the counter must have been watching me because he commented, “Someone taught you to bowl.” “Yes,” I answered, “my father.”

Genuine imitation is a theme that runs through our readings in Acts 17 and 1 Thessalonians 1. We’ve made a big jump since last week's story in Acts 3. The Apostle Paul has had his Damascus Road experience of encountering the risen Christ, which “converts'' him to the gospel. And the Apostle Peter has had his own conversion experience regarding the inclusion of Gentiles, the young church at Jerusalem has made a huge decision to extend their mission to non-Jews. Though Peter initiates this move, the torch is passed to Paul. That mission is going to “the ends of the earth” signified by a mission to Greece. Thessalonica was a major port on the Aegean Sea and capital city in the Roman province of Macedonia. It also laid along the major trade route, the Via Egnatia, and therefore held strategic importance.

Paul did what he normally does when entering a city, goes into a synagogue if there is one. (If not, he’ll find a “place of prayer,” usually down by the river.) Now, when it says that he argued with those present, the sense is more of discussion, dialogue, and reasoning, something that typically happened in a synagogue. Indeed, some people are persuaded, including upper class women and Gentiles. However, the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection wasn’t good news to all for some people got incensed to the point of violence. Even so, it is good to be reminded that “Jews” most likely refers to religious leaders who felt threatened, not all Jews. So, Paul et al. are forced to leave and go to Beroea where they get a better reception.  However, trouble followed them as some Thessalonians could stand to see them succeed there.

After a while, Paul will send Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on the nascent church and report back to him. This first letter to the Thessalonians is Paul’s response to Timothy’s news. In what’s probably our oldest New Testament document, Paul uses a standard format for letter-writing in the ancient world. He begins with a greeting and then follows with a thanksgiving. But this where Paul deviates from the norm: the thanksgiving is greatly extended and takes up a good chunk of the letter. In it we can hear Paul’s deep care for the church as he encourages it from a distance.

Now, if we can get beyond the “mutual admiration society” between Paul and the church, we can explore a theme that runs throughout the texts: mutuality or “genuine imitation.” The Thessalonians have strived to imitate Paul’s example of faithfulness during duress. In turn, the Thessalonians themselves have become a similar beacon to other churches. Paul, in praising their faithfulness, offers them encouragement as they continue to endure.

I wonder what kind of letter Paul would write to the church at Faribault, Our Savior’s. Here’s my take:

Scott, Drew, and Grace. To the church of Our Savior’s Lutheran, Faribault, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, siblings beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. We give thanks for your perseverance and resilience in the face of so many challenges, that despite the challenges, or maybe because of them, your faith and example are stronger

Of course, we know that we aren’t perfect and we’re not always the best role models. What we do know is that God loves us no matter what we do or don’t do, and that love inspires us to share God’s love. Because God loves us unconditionally, we are freed to proclaim that love in word and deed. We are strengthened in this work through Jesus Christ who not only gave himself on the cross in the ultimate display of love but also through him who gives himself in Holy Communion. May that love strengthen you as you continue to be the church God has called you to be. Amen.

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

Wait, Wait, Then Tell Me - Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter Year B - Narrative Lectionary 2

Wait, Wait, Then Tell Me

Easter 2B – NL 2

April 7, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Acts 1.1-14

To be a pastor in the ELCA, and many other churches, we are required to do 400 hours of chaplaincy called CPE or Clinical Pastoral Education. For me that was after my first year of seminary. Normally, you would do CPE in a clinical setting, such as a hospital. I chose to do mine at the Gettysburg Lutheran Home, partly because it was close to where we were living.  But it was mostly because I had little experience with elderly. My paternal grandparents died before I was born and I saw my maternal grandparents rarely because they lived far from us. There weren’t many aunts and uncles or great-aunts and great-uncles either.

So, I was looking forward to that first day with both anticipation and anxiety. After a brief orientation by the CPE supervisor, the six of us were instructed to go out and meet people on the floors. I panicked. I thought that the supervisor was supposed to train me to do what I needed to do. We debriefed that experience and the Chaplain, Jim, said that, although he agreed a bit more instruction would be helpful, that he trusted we had what we needed, and the seminary chose us well.

Jesus’ disciples, i.e., learners, are now suddenly apostles, i.e., ones who are being sent. I wonder if they had a similar feeling of apprehension that I did as they shifted to their new role. It seems jarring to us to go right from Mark’s abrupt ending at Easter to this reading in Acts. Unlike Mattew, Luke, and John, Mark has no post-resurrection appearances. So, these first few verses bridge that gap and at the same time start to unfold what Pr. Drew indicated at Easter: that God will continue to write the story through us.

Acts begins to tell that story, at least of the early church as it tries to figure out what they are to do and how they are to live out the implications of Jesus’ resurrection. They seek to answer the great Lutheran question even before there were Lutherans: “So, what does this mean?” As we travel through Acts these next several weeks, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, “The Acts of the Apostles” as it is fully named, is more correctly called “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit is mentioned 43 times in Acts and clearly guides the unfolding ministry. Second, there are three movements in Acts. Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome, metaphorically the “ends of the earth.” Peter starts out as the main character but gives way to the Apostle Paul. And what begins as Jewish movement is extended to all people known as Gentiles. Finally, there is one obvious thing: the apostles are making it up as they go along and they don’t always get it right.

That happens immediately as they ask Jesus about the coming kingdom of God. We wonder if they still had visions of a warrior Messiah who will come and kick out the Romans. But Jesus shifts their attention to something we almost miss: they are to go back and to wait. They are to wait to receive power from on high, the Holy Spirit at a time we now call Pentecost. Notice that doesn’t mean they aren’t doing anything; they’re devoting themselves to prayer. Even so, in the next verses, they feel like they must do something, so they hold an election to fill Judas’ spot. Isn’t that typical?

None of us has seen the risen Christ as those first witnesses did, but there has been an unbroken chain of witness for 2,000 years that has been passed down to us. Now it’s our turn. That responsibility weighs hard on us as we think that sharing the Good News of Jesus. I can sense you getting anxious, sweaty, and nervous as you think being a witness means going door to door, buttonholing people, and using the threat of hell on them to believe in Jesus. However, I want to tell two stories that might relieve that anxiety.

In my first store as manager for Minnesota Fabrics in the Chicago area, I had an employee Marty who invited me to dinner. She and her husband, Floyd, were hosting an out-of-town friend Mark and they thought we’d get along. I agreed. Indeed, we had a great evening together. Suddenly, imperceptibly, the conversation shifted over coffee. I don’t know how or why because it certainly wasn’t intentional, I found myself telling them about how a few months earlier that I’d returned to church after being away for many years. I told them how I discovered that the church was the place to seek answers to my questions about God. As a result of that conversation, Mark and Marty started examining their faith, Floyd not so much. But I want to be clear that I’m not the star of this story. God through the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit created the space for the conversation.

The second story comes when I was a pastor in Winona and a funeral director, Brian, called me about a funeral for a non-member. This person considered themselves Lutheran even though they were unaffiliated. Furthermore, the family wanted a Lutheran pastor who wouldn’t preach at them. So, Brian said, “I thought of you.” (I guess there was a compliment in there somewhere, but I was sure I knew what he meant.) So, I made arrangements to visit the family and racked my brain thinking about how I’d bring Jesus into the conversation. After all, my call is to preach the promises of the resurrection. But when I arrived, I discovered that they were already talking about God. I mentally slapped my head for I realized what I should always know, that God not only beat me there, God was always there.

Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand wrote a book, When Church Stops Working. Among other things they say that we should not be like our surrounding culture, focusing on more.  That focussing on more programs, more people, and more money is misguided. Those aren’t bad things, just not the focus of our work. They have more to say that’s helpful, but the most important is to point to today’s text from Acts and something we miss: we are to wait. We are to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us into the future.

Although your Transition Team will be doing things, we’ll mostly be waiting for the Holy Spirit to speak to us and through us as we see what God is up to at Our Savior’s, what kind of leadership needed to walk with you into the future. Above all, know this: Like my experience in CPE, God has given Our Savior’s what is needed. As my experience with Mary, Mark, and Floyd, the Holy Spirit creates the space to do it. And like my experience in Winona, God goes ahead of 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.