Hide and Seek - Sermon for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost Narrative Lectionary 3

Hide and Seek

Pentecost 25 – NL 3

November 10, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Jonah 1.1-17; 3.1-10; 4.1-11

But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1.3

Many of you have heard parts of my spiritual journey over the past year. Today I want to recall two such episodes. The first episode occurred post-Confirmation and mirrors the experience of many young people. I left the church, being disillusioned about the people. I became something of an agnostic if not a downright atheist who found it hard to believe anymore. The second chapter occurred when, now back in the church and at 30 years old, I sensed a call to pastoral ministry. But for various personal reasons, I ignored that call for eight years.

So it is that I feel a certain kinship with the prophet Jonah who flees from God’s presence, intending to go to Tarshish which would have been literally the ends of the known earth at the time. The story of Jonah is something of a morality tale and Jonah himself is something of an anti-hero. He does not come off very well. Most scholars believe that the story is set during the time of the Northern kingdom of Israel when it had bad kings and was constantly besieged and ultimately overthrown by the Assyrians to the north. However, they also believe it was compiled a few hundred years later when those who had been conquered and carried off into exile were able to return home.

There are features of the story that almost characterize it as satire and not just satire but satire with fantastical elements. As one way has noted, “The most believable part of the story is that Jonah was swallowed by a large fish.” Nineveh was indeed the largest city in Assyria but not nearly as big as the narrator states. And though the response of the people to Jonah’s reluctant and terse message was commendable, the vision of everyone, including animals, wearing sackcloth and ashes is comical.

What is not comical is the Ninevites’ proclivity for brutality, torture, and despicable acts. They were the original “Evil Empire,” feared by many. So one understands Jonah’s unwillingness to go there with God’s message. Even so, the Gentiles in the story come off looking better and more faithful than Jonah does. His shipmates on the boat are thoughtful and considerate, wanting to do the faithful thing. They ultimately acknowledge the God that Jonah is fleeing. And of course, the Ninevites from the king on down respond immediately to the call for repentance.

So, how do we put this all together? As a morality tale the moral of the story is to invite us to think deeply about what it means that God is a gracious God. And we are to contemplate that God’s graciousness does not extend just to the “insiders,” but also the “outsiders.” For me, as I pondered this question I did so as it intersected another question: in what ways do we flee from and what might we learn from the story of Jonah?

For me post-Confirmation, I fled from God when I rejected my baptismal promises and failed to live among God’s faithful people. I fled from God when I failed to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper. I certainly wasn’t proclaiming the good news of God in Christ through word and deed nor was I serving all people following the example of Jesus. Striving for justice and peace in all the earth, not happening. And I fled from God when I lost focus on what God has called me to do as a pastor. I think we can flee God when we fail to do this as a church as well.

But that’s not where the story ends because even Jonah knows that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, the sacrificial love that God has shown in his Son, Jesus Christ. God never gave up on me, putting people into my life to love me back to him. God never, ever gives up on us no matter how far we flee and loves us back into relationship with him and each other, dusting us off, inviting us to try again.

Some of you may be on your way to Tarshish, some of you in the bottom of the boat, some of you under that dead broom tree in the blazing sun, and even some walking through Nineveh. Wherever you find yourself today, know that God loves you and is with you, no matter what, even arriving at the place before 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.

For All the Saints - All Saints Sunday - Narrative Lectionary 3

For All the Saints

All Saints Sunday – NL 3

November 3, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

1 Kings 17.1-24

In addition to the Sidonian widow, there’s a second woman in our reading, hovering off-stage but exerting oversized influence nonetheless. Since Solomon’s dedication of the temple last week, his son Rehoboam has managed to undo what his father and grandfather, King David, had done in unifying the country, thus plunging it into civil war. Rehoboam takes bad advice from those who don’t know any better and the result is two kingdoms instead of one. The Northern kingdom of Israel now has its own set of kings separate from the Davidic kings of the Southern kingdom of Judah. More to the point, virtually all the nearly 40 kings (and one queen) with the exception of two are “bad kings,” doing “what was evil in the sight of God.”

What was the evil they were doing? They were marrying foreign women and forsaking the Lord for the gods of their wives. In this case, King Ahab’s wife is the infamous Sidonian princess Jezebel (yes, that Jezebel!) and the god he begins to worship is Baal. Ironically, in the midst of drought it is helpful to know that Baal is the god of vegetation and rain. Today, the prophet Elijah arrives on the scene and after being fed by ravens in Gilead travels deep into enemy territory of Sidon where he encounters the famine-stricken widow.

We tend to think that prophets predict the future, but a prophet’s job is to bring a word from God to God’s people. Many times it is a word of exhortation and sometimes it’s a word of comfort. So, more often than not, the prophet does more forth-telling than fore-telling. Even so, being prophet means using both words and deeds, also known as prophetic acts. This is the case today as we see with Elijah. Immediately after today’s reading, Elijah will chastise King Ahab again and he will enrage Jezebel by mocking Baal and destroying the prophets of Baal, fleeing for his life. But today Elijah demonstrates God’s power over life and death.

It is tempting in this election year to rant against leaders whose policies and positions negatively impact the most vulnerable and marginalized like King Ahab and the widow. Unfortunately, it is not the powerful who suffer for their misdeeds but the vulnerable such as the widow and her son. But given today, I’d rather focus on our dependence upon God in uncertain times. I admit that it is troubling to think about a God who causes a famine to punish the apostasy of the powerful and to use death to bring about life. We’ll see that next week in our story of Jonah. For today, we’ll trust that God is ultimately on the side of life.

That’s the message God sent in his Son Jesus, that no matter what life throws at us, God is continually working in, with, and through the world to bring new life. Death does not have the last word nor is it the most important word we hear. In providing for the widow, empowering Elijah’s resuscitation of her son, and the uncertainty of Jesus’ death on the cross, God speaks clearly that nothing is beyond God’s power.

Today is All Saints when we confess like the widow does to God’s life-giving power. As I mentioned in my newsletter article this month, I’ll be remembering my Uncle Vern who died a few months ago. I particularly remember his amazing memory, that even at the age of 98 he could remember every single car he bought, the year he bought it, and how much he paid for it. He was also a fantastic gardener with numerous hostas. I asked him once how many he had and without hesitation he responded, 220. But more so I’ll remember his assurance of heaven, the resurrection to eternal life, and his conviction that he will be together again with his wife, my aunt Elaine. 

And, if I may be so bold to stretch your wonderment a little bit, I’ll also entertain the provocative thought that even King Ahab and Queen Jezebel are not beyond God’s love and reach, because God holds all things in God’s hands. After all, every one of us is a “mixed bag,” both saint and sinner. Maybe they’ll even be gathered around the Table with us because nobody is beyond God’s love and the Table is “For All the Saints.” 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.

Cunning or Compassionate? - Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost Narrative Lectionary 3

Cunning or Considerate?

Pentecost 22 – NL 3

October 20, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

2 Samuel 7.1-17; Luke 1.30-33

What do you think? Is King David faithful and considerate or politically cunning?

Much has happened since last week’s story of Hannah’s prayer for the birth of a son. Hannah’s prayer is granted and in gratitude Hannah dedicates her son, Samuel, to service of the Lord. Samuel will grow up under the tutelage of his mentor, the prophet and priest Eli, eventually replacing him.  Samuel will be God’s instrument to anoint Saul, the first king of Israel. Of course, at this time Israel is more a collection of tribes than a kingdom. God allowed the Israelites to have a king in spite of God’s warnings. Israel persists because “everyone else has a king.” God’s admonition to the people that they won’t like a king is borne out with the displacement of Saul by the shepherd-turned warrior David after a bloody civil war.

David is anointed king over all Israel and decides to make Jerusalem the capital city, a city he conquered over the Jebusites. Hiram the king of Tyre, a small kingdom on the Mediterranean Sea, sends material and labor to build David a house. It is a house fit for a king. Then David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem as well, the ark being the seat of God’s presence and the box that contains the two stone tables with the Ten Commandments. The Ark has been residing amidst the elaborate and highly mobile tent that has been moving from place to place since its construction in Egypt. 

In today’s text, David asks his advisor, the prophet Nathan, about building a house for God. One strain of commentators believe that David is being considerate of God and is demonstrating appropriate piety towards God. After all, he is described as a “man after God’s own heart” and there he is sitting in a beautiful house while God is in a makeshift and impermanent tent. It seems it’s the least David can do. Besides, that’s what conquering kings do, they build a temple for their god. It’s the done thing. That’s precisely what other commentators use as proof that this is a cunning strategy that David uses to consolidate his power, both politically and religiously.

But God is having none of it. Whatever David’s motivations are, and they are probably mixed, Go says, “No.” In essence, God indicates that he will not be used for whatever purposes David has, noble or otherwise. As one commentator notes, “God cannot be bought off, controlled, or domesticated.” To make the point and reverse the tables, God recites all God has done for David to bring him to this point, all of it unmerited, undeserving, and pure grace.

And God isn’t done as God promises to make David a house, one that will last. Of course, this isn’t a house of cedar or stone, it’s a house full of descendants. This is a promise that is utterly fantastical, that the Davidic monarchy will rule forever. Think for a moment how many “kingdoms” have come and gone since David’s time: Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians, Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians, the list goes on. None of them has lasted more than a few hundred years.

We are pretty sure that David and his descendants didn’t think of Jesus Messiah when they read this text. However, as the followers of Jesus looked back into the Jewish scriptures to make sense of his incarnation, life, death, crucifixion and resurrection, they saw Jesus in it. The snippet from Luke’s Gospel, part of the Annunciation to Mary by the angel, expresses the assurance that God’s promise to David has been fulfilled in God’s Son Jesus.

Here’s where we need to be careful and take 2 Samuel 7 to heart: neither God the Father nor Jesus the Son will be co-opted for personal or political purposes. In the Sixteenth Century, Martin Luther got into an argument about the real, physical presence of Jesus in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. His opponents claimed that Jesus can’t really be there because he had ascended to heaven and sits at God’s right hand. Luther countered with an elegant argument that says not only can Jesus be wherever he wants to be, he declared that the right hand of God is wherever Jesus is. Furthermore, although Jesus can be wherever he wishes, he promises to be in the waters of baptism, the bread and wine of Holy Communion, the preached word, and among God’s faithful people.

On the one hand, we trust in God’s promises that God dwells among God’s people, but on the other hand, God will not be manipulated, controlled, exploited, or put in a box. The kingdom of Jesus is one where sin, death, and evil are broken through his sacrificial love not through a muscle-bound, six-pack abs Jesus with an AK47 in his hand.

Next week we will hear that God’s temple will be built, on God’s own time and through God’s purposes and not by someone with blood on their hands. Today we have a good reminder that, like David, we can be both cunning and considerate. But also, like David, we are blessed with God’s abundant grace through Jesus Christ and are forgiven wherever and whenever we fall short. 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.

The One True God - Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Narrative Lectionary 3

The One True God

Pentecost 20 NL3

October 6, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Exodus 32.1-14

God is angry and the word angry doesn’t begin to cover it. God is ticked off, mad, and decency prohibits other words that could express God’s anger. It hasn’t been long since God has liberated his chosen people from slavery in Egypt and parted the Red Sea so they could cross safely, preventing the Egyptians from following. Along the way, God has provided for their every need. The people have just agreed to a covenant, essentially what we now call the Ten Commandments plus other guidelines for living together. Then in just a few days the people replace Moses and God with a false image of that very God.

However, we need to understand that God’s people are scared. They’ve left the familiarity of the only life they’ve known, albeit an excruciating one. Now they number in the tens of thousands wandering in the wilderness. They are eating unfamiliar and rather uninspiring food (manna) on a day-to-day basis. There are enemies and wild animals all around, waiting to attack. Furthermore, their leader Moses has been gone 40 days, ostensibly chatting with God. They don’t know this God very well, and they’re not so sure about Moses either. They’re scared, and can we really blame them?

When you’re scared you do stupid stuff, and sometimes when you’re mad you say stupid stuff. The people are not yet a cohesive nation, more a collection of tribes. And though God is the God of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they’re just getting acquainted with this God after a long absence and haven’t caught the vision that God has for them yet. So, they don’t exactly throw out God and Moses. Rather, they make an image, one that they can see and touch and bow down to. Unfortunately, Moses’ brother and right-hand man Aaron doesn’t have the backbone to deny them.

In hindsight and with 3,000 years of wisdom behind us, it is easy to judge the Israelites for their apostasy. But our story today invites us to consider those ways we do the same, if not as blatantly as the Israelites. We need to ask, how does our fear cause us to put faith in poor substitutes of the One True God? We know that possessions and leaders are not our saviors, but how do we do stupid things, trusting in things that don’t deserve our trust. 

One example that concerns me and other pastors deeply is a growing movement called Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalism is a complex phenomenon in our country, but essentially it is understood as conflating what it means to be a follower of Christ with being a citizen of this country. This sermon doesn’t have the wherewithal to go deeper than to express concern and invite you into exploring this. Pr. Drew and I would be willing to discuss this further.

Back to the text. I think that the reason God is so mad is that God is deeply hurt by the peoples’ rebellion. When we love deeply, as God does us, it hurts deeply when we’ve been betrayed. God’s declaration to Moses that he will “consume them” shows just how hurt God is. But, as some theologians point out, God’s command to Moses to “let me alone” also shows an openness for more conversation. And Moses shows us just how open and vulnerable God is, to love, to talk, and to risk being hurt over and over again.

Those of us who are a certain age have had the experience of riding in a car with our siblings and fighting in such confined spaces, especially on long drives. After a while, one of our parents would say, “Don’t make me come back there!” I’ve seen billboards that ascribe a similar sentiment to God as it says, “Don’t make me come down there!” Yet, we as Christians believe that God ultimately does just that in his Son, Jesus Christ. We believe God so loved the world that God has come down, not to condemn us and the world but to save it.

If you are in a scary place right now, know that God is with you, all evidence to the contrary. And if you wonder if God is mad at you, know that God’s heart is broken because of all the brokenness in this world, and that he sent Jesus to love us and show us the way to wholeness and healing. In a few minutes, we will have concrete experience of that love as Jesus again comes down to us in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. This is not an image of God but the One True God made present for us. 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.

Between Dreams and Disclosure - Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost NL3

Between Dream & Disclosure

Pentecost 18 Narrative Lectionary 3

September 22, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Genesis 37.3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50.15-21

In April 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, TN. In 1991 a museum opened on the site with an expansion following a few years later. A wreath hangs on the balcony railing of Room 306 where Dr. King was standing when he was assassinated. On the ground below the wreath there is a historic marker explaining the events of the day. The marker quotes Genesis 57.19-20 in part: “They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him … and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’”

In today’s scripture reading, that sentence was uttered by Joseph’s brothers who had no idea of its significance thousands of years ago. The story of Joseph is monumental. It occupies 14 chapters in the book of Genesis, almost 30% of the total. Much has happened in Genesis since last week’s promise that God made to Abraham and Sarah, to be the ancestors of a numerous people. They indeed had a son Isaac, who in turn had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob, also known as Israel, has 12 sons through two wives and two mistresses. In part, the Joseph story is a bridge between the promise God made to Abraham and Sarah and its fulfillment in Exodus. There is much left out of today’s reading so I encourage you to read the entire story. It’s fascinating reading.

Though there is enough drama and dysfunction to make a latter-day soap opera, the real question the story asks and answers is, “Where is God in the midst of this messy family?” On the one hand, the brothers could not see how Joseph’s dream was tied to God’s promise of a numerous people, assuming they remembered the promise at all. Although Joseph’s dream signals a new possibility to God’s people, albeit unclearly, nevertheless it’s a threat to the brothers. At the same time, it was difficult for Joseph to see God’s presence in the suffering he endured at the hands of the slave traders and the Egyptian leaders.

Whether we realize it or not, we live in a similar place as Joseph and his brothers, between dream and disclosure. Another way to say this is that we try to be realistic about our current circumstances but need to do so without falling into despair and hopelessness. On the other hand, we try to be certain that God is present in our world and that God will be faithful to God’s promises. What the Joseph story tells us is that God’s presence and purposes may be hidden to us but they’re reliable nonetheless. But just as important, the brothers’ concern shows us that the new circumstances of their father’s death require new assurances of God’s care and concern.

We know that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream, that all people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin, echoed in the Constitution that all people are created equal, didn’t die with the death of the dreamer. But we also know that the dream hasn’t been fully realized either and that it continues to unfold, albeit slowly. 55 years ago, First English Lutheran Church here in Faribault had a dream for a new congregation in the southwest corner of this community, one that continues to unfold in unpredictable ways. The life of this congregation hasn’t been easy, but it has always been with the presence of God. It is in the unfolding of this dream that we continue to respond to the call on us, one that we dare not miss.

Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann admits this tension between dream and disclosure in his poem Dreams and Nightmares. It comes from his book Prayers for a Privileged People (Nashville: Abingdon, 2008):

Last night as I lay sleeping,
    I had a dream so fair . . .
    I dreamed of the Holy City, well ordered and just.
    I dreamed of a garden of paradise, well-being all around and a good water supply.
    I dreamed of disarmament and forgiveness, and caring embrace for all those in need.
    I dreamed of a coming time when death is no more.

Last night as I lay sleeping . . .
    I had a nightmare of sins unforgiven.
    I had a nightmare of land mines still exploding and maimed children.
    I had a nightmare of the poor left unloved,
      of the homeless left unnoticed,
      of the dead left ungrieved.
    I had a nightmare of quarrels and rages and wars great and small.

When I awoke, I found you still to be God,
    presiding over the day and night
    with serene sovereignty,
    for dark and light are both alike to you.

At the break of day we submit to you
    our best dreams
    and our worst nightmares,
    asking that your healing mercy should override threats,
    that your goodness will make our
      nightmares less toxic
      and our dreams more real.

Thank you for visiting us with newness
    that overrides what is old and deathly among us.
Come among us this day; dream us toward
    health and peace,
we pray in the real name of Jesus
    who exposes our fantasies.

God has a dream to love and bless the world and God sent his Son Jesus to fulfill it. There were those who attempted to silence the Dream by killing the Dreamer. Instead, they accomplished the opposite. God also calls us to see where that dream is unfolding, wherever we are, and to join in the work, reminding us that whatever stands in the way will not prevent its realization. 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.

Bounded Love - Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Narrative Lectionary Year 3

Bounded Love

Pentecost 16 – NL3

September 8, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Genesis 2.4b-7, 15-17; 3.1-8

The new owner of a surfside motel was concerned that guests on the second floor would fish off the balcony thus endangering the people and property below. So, the owner placed signs in all the 2nd floor rooms, “No fishing off the balcony.” Unfortunately, the signs had the opposite effect, increasing the number of incidents of broken glass. In a flash of inspiration, the owner removed the signs. The incidents of fishing off the balconies ceased.

In The Magician’s Nephew, one of the books in CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series, the title character finds himself in an alternate world, moving through a museum-like gallery with imposing images on both sides. In the middle of the gallery, he spots a bell and hammer with a sign that says, “Do not ring the bell.” He can’t help himself and does, resulting in chaos and all sorts of evil things being unleashed on that world.

A young couple have everything they could possibly want or need but are prohibited from eating the fruit from one tree. They can’t help themselves, resulting in a totally different future.

Doing what we don’t want to do is a central theme in our text for today. We begin our gallop through the Old Testament in the third year of the Narrative Lectionary, a series of readings that takes seriously the Bible as a story. Saying the Bible is a story doesn’t demean its truth. In fact, the Bible is deeply true, one that has a beginning, middle, and an open ending. As we begin this journey, here are some things to watch for. First, the Bible is a story of belonging, belonging of us to God, of God to us, of belonging to each other, and belonging to all creation. Another way of saying this is that the Bible is all about community. 

Second, the Bible is also a story of creation and re-creation. There is more than one creation story in the Bible. God doesn’t just create in Genesis and let things go. Creation is both a past event and an ongoing event. God continues to create. Third, the Bible is a story of God choosing to work through deeply flawed people and broken institutions. People like you and me, institutions like the church, including Our Savior’s. Finally, this lectionary highlights the role the Old Testament plays in the Christian faith. Christianity didn’t begin with the birth of Jesus.

There’s a lot going on in our reading today but there are also parts that are skipped over. For example, we realize there are two creation stories in Genesis, though we can consider the second one to be a deeper one of the first. The first creation story tells us that human beings are created in God’s image, though it doesn’t specify what that means exactly. The second story says that we are both “soil and spirit,” specifically we are from dust and will return to dust. But we are more than dust as bearers of God’s Spirit, the very breath of God breathed into us. 

Something else that is missed is the creation of the woman. That’s important to note because some people believe being created second implies an inferior position. That’s important because the text declares that she is an equal partner with the man, different from the man but equal to the man. (BTW, one response to the claim that the woman is inferior is to point out that God fixed the mistakes he made with the man. The woman is Humanity 2.0.) Finally, we miss hearing God’s pronouncement that creation is good. That’s especially important because God doesn’t claim that creation is perfect as we  assume; it is good.

A deeper dive into our text reveals some important points. The snake is not the devil or Satan; that’s an interpolation not found in the text but rather comes much later during the time period between the end of the Old Testament events and the birth of Jesus. Also, it’s important to note that the man and woman are likely together in the conversation with the snake, though it’s the woman who is leading the conversation. Furthermore, a fun fact is that we don’t know what kind of fruit was involved, apple or not. Finally, the text misses one of my favorite lines. Part of the reaction of the couple, besides hiding, is for the man to blame God for the woman, which deflects responsibility for his actions.

Now, we tend to think of Genesis chapters 1-3 as an origin story, about how life began for humans and creatures. Instead, I’d like to suggest we think of it as a prologue to the larger story, the one beginning with Abraham. This prologue explains the intimate connection between God, humans, and creation. It shows why the story from Abraham forward into the Jesus story is necessary. It shows why the Jewish people have been chosen to address a fundamental issue in the Bible, that humanity has “rebelled upward” by encroaching on territory that belongs exclusively to God alone. As Luther Seminary professor of Old Testament, Rolf Jacobson, says, it’s not so much a fall downward as rebellion upward.

For me, one takeaway of today’s lesson is the tension we live under as both “soil and spirit.” On the one hand, God created us in God’s image, and it seems that one meaning is the propensity to think, learn, and be curious, including our relationship with God and each other. But that’s balanced by a sense of humility, that we are not God and are to let God be God. One consequence of this is that we are to constantly ask, “What is God doing in the world and where is God inviting us to join in that work.” Too often we get this backwards and rush into making a decision and ask God to bless it on the back end.

There are at least two lessons to take away from today’s text. First, we’re not always going to get this distinction right and we’re going to mess up. In other words, we’ll do what we aren’t supposed to do. Or, as the Apostle Paul notes in Romans 7, we find it almost a law that we do what we don’t do or don’t do what we should do. Second, God will continue to work through our imperfections to restore our broken relationships. When we stumble and fall, God will pick us up, dust us off, and encourage us to try again. And God will go to great lengths to do so, all the way to taking on flesh himself and giving himself fully through the life, death, and resurrection of his only Son, Jesus Christ. So, as Martin Luther says, let sin boldly so that we may believe all the more boldly still. Amen.

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

Walking through Fire - Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost - Summer Series on Daniel

Walking through Fire

Pentecost 12 – Summer Series on Daniel

August 11, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Daniel 3.1-30

During my final year of seminary, it became clear that one of my classmates had been unfairly targeted by one of the professors.  Cindy and I had grown close to Matt and his wife, who we had invited to share Thanksgiving with us. So this felt personal. The administration held a meeting that I attended where we aired our concerns, but it was clear nothing would change. My angst at the situation was compounded by Matt’s leaving the seminary and finishing elsewhere. He became a pastor in another denomination and the ELCA lost a fine candidate, not to mention the respect that suffered because of this. Even more so, I came away feeling like I didn’t stand up against the injustice enough because I was afraid. Afraid of suffering the same fate after already giving up so much to go to seminary in the first place.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a difficult decision in today’s reading. This is the second in our five-week sermon series on Daniel. As we mentioned last week, the central question in Daniel is, “Where is God?” Perhaps an ancillary question is also, “Who is God?” Daniel was written to encourage a Jewish people who were going through a difficult time of oppression. The Assyrian king Antioches IV Epiphane was desecrating the temple and making life a living hell for them Though Daniel was set about 400 years earlier during a similar situation, this time the Babylonian exile, it was a story for the ages. Daniel and his friends, who had been princes in Jerusalem, now serve in the court of the Babylonian king. Nebuchadnezzar as we discovered last week was an unreasonable, insecure, and fickle tyrant. Nothing’s changed.

This week Daniel is put on the back burner, so to speak, as his compatriots, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego are literally on the hot seat. They are faced with an impossible choice: apostasy or death. Worship another set of gods or be thrown into the fiery furnace. The long list of officials and instruments highlights the absurdity of the king’s reign and his temper. As we know, it is the weird, crazy, and out of touch tyrants who are the most dangerous. But it’s important to know that this is the last in many ways their existence has been threatened. It began not only with their deportation from Jerusalem into Babylon, but then being stripped of their identities. Their name changes say it all, Daniel, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah, names that describe their worship of and connection to YHWH now become Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, name that connote worship of the Babylonian gods, Bel, Marduk, and Nabu. They have a new religion imposed upon them

As I watch the political scene these days, I’m concerned about candidates and elected leaders who demand absolute loyalty from their followers and practice retribution against those who question them. (An aside: I am neither a Democrat nor Republican.) (Another aside: if you are mad at me for what I’ve said, you are angry at the wrong person.) I also wonder about the ways we pressure immigrants to deny their heritage and cultural identity. How much do we try to strip people of their culture and force them into our conception of what it means to be an American? As the grandson and great-grandson of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants, I'm grateful for my cultural heritage that’s been preserved. (All seriousness aside, my forbearers could have left behind lutefisk.) The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego give those of us who find ourselves in difficult situations the courage to trust in God but not to presume upon God. And it reminds those of us in places of privilege to not abuse our position either.

Fast forward a few years past seminary and well into my first call. I’m at a pastor’s theological retreat and the bishop launches into a rant about something. This just didn’t feel right to me. At the end, this tirade roused the pastors to stand and applaud the bishop. That is, everybody but me. I stayed seated and didn’t cheer; somehow I knew I was being manipulated. Later, a few pastors said they wished they’d had my courage, realizing they’d been manipulated. (One more aside: not this synod or bishop.) But I’m not the hero, for I thank God for the ability to see what was happening and to act on my convictions, though it cost me professionally. When it came time to seek another call, the bishop agreed to send letters to other synods but did not try to convince me to stay in the synod. I think it worked out okay. I believe that God was with me.

I think this is what it means to take up the cross and follow Jesus, trusting in his presence. We don’t know who the fourth man was in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego. Nebuccadnezzar believed it to be an angel. Some say it was Jesus himself. We don’t know, but we do know that God is with us through times of trial. May you know God’s presence and be strengthened by it. Amen

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