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.