Wrestling with God
Confirmation Sunday (Pentecost 18-Narrative Lectionary 2)
September 27, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Genesis 32.22-30
Two of my college buddies, Cec and Bomber, wrestled in high school. Once in awhile, they’d do some wrestling in the dorm, I suppose to pass the time. One time, Cec convinced me to wrestle with him. Of course, I had no illusions about beating him and, in fact, he beat me pretty handily. He did compliment me though, saying that I very good balance. I responded that’s true, but had very little upper body strength, which makes being a good wrestler difficult. As difficult as wrestling Cec in college was, wrestling with God was even more so.
A lot has happened since last week’s miraculous birth of Isaac to the elderly Abraham and Sarah. Isaac has grown, gotten married to Rebekah and had children of his own, twins in fact. Esau was the older and Jacob the younger, though close behind, literally holding on to Esau’s heal. Jacob’s name can mean “heal”; it can also mean “supplanter” or “cheater.” Indeed, Jacob will cheat Esau out of his birthright and his blessing as the oldest son through trickery and deceit.
Fearing for his life, Jacob flees to the land of his uncle Laban and there takes Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel as his wives. Jacob seems to have met his match regarding trickery in his uncle, but through God’s help he still manages to have many children and increase his own flocks in addition to his uncle’s. Jacob commits one last shenanigan and heads toward home with all of his possessions.
Unfortunately, Jacob is caught between a rock and a hard place: he discovers his brother Esau along with an army of 400 men stands between him and home. In an attempt to appease Esau, Jacob splits his possessions and sends them on ahead. Then he sends his wife and children as well, leaving him alone at the River Jabbok and the marathon wrestling match we heard a few minutes ago.
As I thought about this story and the five young people who have made their Affirmation of Baptism this morning, it seemed that Jacob’s story holds some lessons for us in the life of faith as well. So, pardon me as I spend a few minutes talking with them for the next few minutes.
We have talked about Confirmation as being that time that you publicly take responsibility for the life of faith. You didn’t have any say about your baptism, but you have now said that you agree with what your parents did for you and that you will continue to follow Jesus. The first thing that I want to tell you about this life that you have affirmed is that it is often one of struggle, akin to a wrestling match.
This life of faith will require from you a different way of living that will make your life more complicated. It’s a life that calls you to love and serve people who very often aren’t lovable. It asks you to set aside time for worshipping God, praying and reading scriptures when you could be doing other things. And it asks you to give of yourself and your money when you could be spending it elsewhere. And there may be times when bad things happen to you and you are tempted to curse God and say, “Why me?” The life of faith is very often a life of struggle.
But the second thing you need to know is that in the midst of this struggle you might be wounded and broken is such a way that will change you forever. While you are in the middle of this, your woundedness and pain will not seem like a good thing, don’t be afraid of them. The good news is that God is present in this struggle, even in the brokenness and pain, in ways that you cannot imagine and won’t always be able to see. In fact, it will be in these times that you will even be able to see God face-to-face. The life of faith is a struggle, but God is present in the midst of it and will use your wounds and pain in significant ways.
This leads that the third thing I want you to know: that you are never alone in your struggles in your lives of faith. I want you to stand up, turn around and look into the faces of these people behind you. You see, each one of these people has their own woundedness and pain, each one has wrestled with and seen the face of God, even though you may not know it. And they are here for you if and when you encounter your struggles as well. Even if you travel from here, there will always be places like this for you to come and share your struggles with, to be used by God.
But, there’s one last thing you need to know: as important as these folk are going to be to you, please know that you are just as important to them. Not only are you now fellow travelers on the journey of faith, you are a sign to them that there will still be others on the way. You are signs of hope and joy, assurance that the love of God in Jesus Christ will continue to be spread in word and deed in the years to come. (You can sit down again.)
You see, all of us are “Israel,” strivers with God. As for the original Israel, he will cross the river and meet his brother, Esau. Surprisingly, Esau will greet Jacob-Israel with joy and forgiveness and Jacob-Israel will declared that he has seen the face of God in his brother.
Congratulations on this milestone on your journey of faith. When you seem to be wrestling with God, don’t be afraid, even if you become wounded. You will be blessed and see the face of God in ways you can’t imagine. You are not alone, because God always gives us one another even as we give ourselves away. Amen.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
"Holy Humor" - Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Humor
Pentecost 17
September 20, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Genesis 18.1-15; 21.1-7
Much has happened since last week’s story on the creation of Adam and Eve, who are set to work in the Garden of Eden. God has shown them the garden gate because of their disobedience. One son in a fit of jealousy kills the other. God tries to do a reboot on humanity and all of creation with a flood. That doesn’t work, because humanity tries to ascend to God and so God disperses the nations throwing down the tower of Babel.
Finally, God tries another tack through the call of Abraham and Sarah, a most unlikely couple. God promises to make of them a great nation, a nation that will be a light to all other nations. But it’s been 10 years and the promise is wearing thin. Thus develops the incident of Sarah’s maid, Hagar and Ishmael, Hagar and Abraham’s son. Really, who can blame Abraham either for their doubt or their initiative?
Then three visitors show up and in typical Middle Eastern fashion, Abraham lavishes hospitality upon them. However, the party turns sideways when one of the guests asks about Sarah, known for her beauty. But anxiety quickly becomes incredulity when the guest tells them they are going to have a son. Now, Sarah and Abraham are not ignorant folk. They know where babies come from, who can and cannot have them. At 89 and 99 respectively, Sarah and Abraham are long past what it takes to have babies. They are in that sense “dead.” So Sarah laughs.
This past Wednesday evening, we speculated a bit on what kind of laughter this was. Was it an embarrassed laugh born of strangers speculating on the state of her womb? Was it more of a guffaw, like “you’re kidding!? Or was it a laugh born of disappointment now turning to tears? Whatever it was, the visitor, now identified as the Lord, with perhaps a twinkle in his eye and a smile twitching at his lips says, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” Then the Lord promises them a child in due season. Indeed, Abraham and Sarah do have pleasure, a baby is conceived and a son is born.
Now the laughter turns joyous and in an act befitting the situation, they name him Isaac: “he laughs.” Abraham and Sarah will have their joy, but the laughter will cease a few years later when God asks Abraham to do the unthinkable: sacrifice Isaac back to God. It’s only at the last minute that God provides a ram instead. One wonders: what did Sarah think? I’m guessing there wasn’t any laughter. What kind of God would do this, asking someone to give up their precious and beloved son? Many people see in the Isaac narrative a foreshadowing of another story of another Beloved Son.
Fast-forward 2,000 years: a Jewish rabbi tells his followers he is destined to die and rise again. So, imagine the kind of laughter from theme. There may have been embarrassed laughter that wonders if someone has gone crazy. It might have been the guffaw as in “you’ve got to be kidding!” But the laughter doesn’t end there, because there is the mocking laughter of those determined shut him up because his message of love and mercy are too dangerous to hear. I also imagine that Satan was laughing while Jesus was hanging on the cross, thinking he’d won. But then there’s the incredulous and even skeptical laughter of those same followers who welcome him back, just as he said.
You see, God not only gets the first laugh but God always gets the last laugh. For some reason God delights using broken and imperfect people to accomplish his work. As on medieval mystic said, God draws straight lines with crooked sticks. Another more recent commentator says it this way: “God does some of his best work with the most unlikely people.” Or, as the writer Ann Lamott, who knows from personal experience, says, “He’s such a show-off.” But the best thing God delights in doing is to bring life out of death and hope out of despair. God is working in our lives and in the world to do the same, just as with Abraham and Sarah. In a few minutes we’ll gather around the table where we will encounter God’s very being in, with and through the bread and wine of Holy Communion. I don’t think God would mind a chuckle or two as we eat. Amen.
Pentecost 17
September 20, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Genesis 18.1-15; 21.1-7
Much has happened since last week’s story on the creation of Adam and Eve, who are set to work in the Garden of Eden. God has shown them the garden gate because of their disobedience. One son in a fit of jealousy kills the other. God tries to do a reboot on humanity and all of creation with a flood. That doesn’t work, because humanity tries to ascend to God and so God disperses the nations throwing down the tower of Babel.
Finally, God tries another tack through the call of Abraham and Sarah, a most unlikely couple. God promises to make of them a great nation, a nation that will be a light to all other nations. But it’s been 10 years and the promise is wearing thin. Thus develops the incident of Sarah’s maid, Hagar and Ishmael, Hagar and Abraham’s son. Really, who can blame Abraham either for their doubt or their initiative?
Then three visitors show up and in typical Middle Eastern fashion, Abraham lavishes hospitality upon them. However, the party turns sideways when one of the guests asks about Sarah, known for her beauty. But anxiety quickly becomes incredulity when the guest tells them they are going to have a son. Now, Sarah and Abraham are not ignorant folk. They know where babies come from, who can and cannot have them. At 89 and 99 respectively, Sarah and Abraham are long past what it takes to have babies. They are in that sense “dead.” So Sarah laughs.
This past Wednesday evening, we speculated a bit on what kind of laughter this was. Was it an embarrassed laugh born of strangers speculating on the state of her womb? Was it more of a guffaw, like “you’re kidding!? Or was it a laugh born of disappointment now turning to tears? Whatever it was, the visitor, now identified as the Lord, with perhaps a twinkle in his eye and a smile twitching at his lips says, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” Then the Lord promises them a child in due season. Indeed, Abraham and Sarah do have pleasure, a baby is conceived and a son is born.
Now the laughter turns joyous and in an act befitting the situation, they name him Isaac: “he laughs.” Abraham and Sarah will have their joy, but the laughter will cease a few years later when God asks Abraham to do the unthinkable: sacrifice Isaac back to God. It’s only at the last minute that God provides a ram instead. One wonders: what did Sarah think? I’m guessing there wasn’t any laughter. What kind of God would do this, asking someone to give up their precious and beloved son? Many people see in the Isaac narrative a foreshadowing of another story of another Beloved Son.
Fast-forward 2,000 years: a Jewish rabbi tells his followers he is destined to die and rise again. So, imagine the kind of laughter from theme. There may have been embarrassed laughter that wonders if someone has gone crazy. It might have been the guffaw as in “you’ve got to be kidding!” But the laughter doesn’t end there, because there is the mocking laughter of those determined shut him up because his message of love and mercy are too dangerous to hear. I also imagine that Satan was laughing while Jesus was hanging on the cross, thinking he’d won. But then there’s the incredulous and even skeptical laughter of those same followers who welcome him back, just as he said.
You see, God not only gets the first laugh but God always gets the last laugh. For some reason God delights using broken and imperfect people to accomplish his work. As on medieval mystic said, God draws straight lines with crooked sticks. Another more recent commentator says it this way: “God does some of his best work with the most unlikely people.” Or, as the writer Ann Lamott, who knows from personal experience, says, “He’s such a show-off.” But the best thing God delights in doing is to bring life out of death and hope out of despair. God is working in our lives and in the world to do the same, just as with Abraham and Sarah. In a few minutes we’ll gather around the table where we will encounter God’s very being in, with and through the bread and wine of Holy Communion. I don’t think God would mind a chuckle or two as we eat. Amen.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
"Seeking Truth" - Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Seeking Truth
Pentecost 16
September 13, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Genesis 2.4b-25
This past holiday Monday I was “relaxing” by reading my Facebook feed. I was interested in the early buzz on today’s text. However, such relaxation quickly drained with a posting on the Narrative Lectionary page and severely impaired it. The Narrative Lectionary Facebook page is a resource for those of us who use the Narrative Lectionary. One pastor was worried about how he was going to address controversy about sexuality. He was afraid that some people would use today’s text to say, “See, God made ‘Adam and Eve,’ not ‘Adam and Steve.’” In response another pastor said hers was an RIC congregation (Reconciled in Christ, open and affirming to the GLBTQ community) and she was going to deconstruct the text. Deconstruct too often means “tear down” without putting something else in its place. I’ve been stewing ever since, but I decided to put on my big-boy pants and figure a way through.
Both pastors’ comments highlight two unhelpful approaches to scripture, particularly the Old Testament. One way is to take the ancient texts literally and use them as weapons to attack and convince people of our positions. A second way is to dismantle them as being from a certain time and place so much so that they become virtually irrelevant. Now, there is nothing wrong with asking what the “plain sense” of the text is; Martin Luther used that approach as one among many. And it is helpful to ask about the context a text is written. But too often, these approaches result in something unhelpful, literalism on the one hand and relativism on the other.
I think that there is a better way, one that’s important for us especially as we use the Narrative Lectionary moving through the Bible. A more helpful way is to acknowledge scripture as narrative and stories we tell about God and humanity that express Truth (with a capital T) about both. It’s important to recognize that most of the time Truth does not mean Fact. For example, I can say that I love my wife with my whole heart, and that would express a deep Truth. But I don’t literally love my wife with this organ called my heart, so the statement is not factual. Yet, it is True.
So, for today, it’s really not helpful to use this creation story to argue for or against sexuality. Nor is it helpful to dismiss the text as pre-science mythology devised by people who didn’t know better. Ancient peoples understood far more than we give them credit for. Rather, it’s more helpful to ask, “What Truth is expressed by the idea that God created humanity from soil and breathed some of God’s spirit into us? What is significant about humanity naming animals and tending the garden? What does it mean that humanity shouldn’t be alone? Why didn’t God just make another person the same way God made the first one?” There are other questions we could pursue.
We can’t address all of these today, but I do want to throw out some ideas about the last two questions. First, it seems to me that when God says it is not good for humans to be alone it tells us the importance of community and expresses the Truth that we are meant and built for relationships. None of us can do anything, be anything or achieve anything without the help of others. The building blocks of society is family units, but we know that the definition of family is not “one size fits all.” Here at Grace there are many different kinds of families. Frankly, this is hard for me personally. I have a hard time asking for help from others. So, I need to remember that God made us in God’s image, and God is relational in God’s being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
That leads me to another Truth I think is expressed here: our relationships are interdependent. When I work with couples preparing for marriage, we read this text and talk about complementarity, how we bring different gifts to the relationship. I usually mention that if my wife and I were both alike, one of us would be unnecessary. But that notion is not just in marriages, of whatever kind, it exists in communities as well. When we were looking for a Minister for Discipleship and Faith Formation, the primary criterion for the person was “not Scott.” As we have done the StrenghsFinder in a staff retreat last year, we’ve affirmed the gifts of John Odegard who complements me with gifts I don’t have. By the way, it’s instructive that God is the one who most often is called helper (ezer) in the Old Testament. Perhaps a better translation for helper would be “sustainer.”
As we move forward through the Old Testament and the stories it tells, can we ask the Truth questions? And someday, when it comes time for us to deal with the sexuality question at Grace, can we involve in the conversation people who may have a different perspective than our own, to hear their stories? It’s important to follow the Participatory Golden Rule: consequence takers need to be decision makers. If it affects you, you need to be in the conversation. That’s the kind of place I want Grace to be, where we can struggle with our faith questions in a safe way, where we can all seek a deeper understanding about who we are and Whose we are. Amen.
Pentecost 16
September 13, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Genesis 2.4b-25
This past holiday Monday I was “relaxing” by reading my Facebook feed. I was interested in the early buzz on today’s text. However, such relaxation quickly drained with a posting on the Narrative Lectionary page and severely impaired it. The Narrative Lectionary Facebook page is a resource for those of us who use the Narrative Lectionary. One pastor was worried about how he was going to address controversy about sexuality. He was afraid that some people would use today’s text to say, “See, God made ‘Adam and Eve,’ not ‘Adam and Steve.’” In response another pastor said hers was an RIC congregation (Reconciled in Christ, open and affirming to the GLBTQ community) and she was going to deconstruct the text. Deconstruct too often means “tear down” without putting something else in its place. I’ve been stewing ever since, but I decided to put on my big-boy pants and figure a way through.
Both pastors’ comments highlight two unhelpful approaches to scripture, particularly the Old Testament. One way is to take the ancient texts literally and use them as weapons to attack and convince people of our positions. A second way is to dismantle them as being from a certain time and place so much so that they become virtually irrelevant. Now, there is nothing wrong with asking what the “plain sense” of the text is; Martin Luther used that approach as one among many. And it is helpful to ask about the context a text is written. But too often, these approaches result in something unhelpful, literalism on the one hand and relativism on the other.
I think that there is a better way, one that’s important for us especially as we use the Narrative Lectionary moving through the Bible. A more helpful way is to acknowledge scripture as narrative and stories we tell about God and humanity that express Truth (with a capital T) about both. It’s important to recognize that most of the time Truth does not mean Fact. For example, I can say that I love my wife with my whole heart, and that would express a deep Truth. But I don’t literally love my wife with this organ called my heart, so the statement is not factual. Yet, it is True.
So, for today, it’s really not helpful to use this creation story to argue for or against sexuality. Nor is it helpful to dismiss the text as pre-science mythology devised by people who didn’t know better. Ancient peoples understood far more than we give them credit for. Rather, it’s more helpful to ask, “What Truth is expressed by the idea that God created humanity from soil and breathed some of God’s spirit into us? What is significant about humanity naming animals and tending the garden? What does it mean that humanity shouldn’t be alone? Why didn’t God just make another person the same way God made the first one?” There are other questions we could pursue.
We can’t address all of these today, but I do want to throw out some ideas about the last two questions. First, it seems to me that when God says it is not good for humans to be alone it tells us the importance of community and expresses the Truth that we are meant and built for relationships. None of us can do anything, be anything or achieve anything without the help of others. The building blocks of society is family units, but we know that the definition of family is not “one size fits all.” Here at Grace there are many different kinds of families. Frankly, this is hard for me personally. I have a hard time asking for help from others. So, I need to remember that God made us in God’s image, and God is relational in God’s being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
That leads me to another Truth I think is expressed here: our relationships are interdependent. When I work with couples preparing for marriage, we read this text and talk about complementarity, how we bring different gifts to the relationship. I usually mention that if my wife and I were both alike, one of us would be unnecessary. But that notion is not just in marriages, of whatever kind, it exists in communities as well. When we were looking for a Minister for Discipleship and Faith Formation, the primary criterion for the person was “not Scott.” As we have done the StrenghsFinder in a staff retreat last year, we’ve affirmed the gifts of John Odegard who complements me with gifts I don’t have. By the way, it’s instructive that God is the one who most often is called helper (ezer) in the Old Testament. Perhaps a better translation for helper would be “sustainer.”
As we move forward through the Old Testament and the stories it tells, can we ask the Truth questions? And someday, when it comes time for us to deal with the sexuality question at Grace, can we involve in the conversation people who may have a different perspective than our own, to hear their stories? It’s important to follow the Participatory Golden Rule: consequence takers need to be decision makers. If it affects you, you need to be in the conversation. That’s the kind of place I want Grace to be, where we can struggle with our faith questions in a safe way, where we can all seek a deeper understanding about who we are and Whose we are. Amen.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
"Singing Our Faith: Beautiful Savior" - Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Singing Our Faith: Beautiful Savior
Pentecost 15
September 6, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Psalm 8
This summer we have been putting some of our favorite songs in conversation with scripture and our lives of walking with God. We have called this series “Singing Our Faith” and I think that it’s been great. Today we end with Beautiful Savior and Psalm 8, but it also represents a beginning. I’ll say more about this later. Beautiful Savior was nominated by Dorothy George and Quentin Peterson. It was their Confirmation song back in 1938. I didn’t even know they had Confirmation songs. I can understand how meaningful it is. We sung it at my mother’s funeral 32 years ago and I still tear up when I sing it.
We don’t know who wrote the either the text or tune for Beautiful Savior. The original German text ("Schönster Herr Jesu") appeared anonymously in a manuscript dated 1662 in Munster, Germany. It was published in the Roman Catholic Munsterisch Gesangbuch (1677) and, with a number of alterations, in the hymn book Schlesische Volkslieder (1842). The translation, primarily the work of Joseph A. Seiss, was based on the 1842 edition and first published in the Sunday School Book for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Congregations (1873). Another well known translation based on the 1842 version is the anonymous Fairest Lord Jesus, published in Richard S. Willis's Church Chorals and Choir Studies (1850). Apparently Beautiful Savior is the Lutheran version and Fairest Lord Jesus for the rest of the Protestants.
We do know a little bit about Seiss (originally Seuss). He was born and raised in a Moravian home in Graceham, MD 1823. After studying at Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg and completing his theological education with tutors and through private study, Seiss became a Lutheran pastor in 1842, though both his father and his bishop discouraged his study for the ministry. He served several Lutheran congregations in Virginia, Maryland and notably two churches in Philadelphia where he died in 1904. Known as an eloquent and popular preacher, Seiss was also a prolific author and editor of some eighty volumes including several hymnals.
The tune appears to be an eighteenth-century tune from the Glaz area of Silesia and has always been associated with this text. It was first heard among haymakers in 1839 and subsequently written down, but it seems to have roots further back, to at least 1766. After Franz Liszt used the tune for a crusaders' march in his oratorio The Legend of St. Elizabeth (1862), the tune also became known as ST. ELIZABETH. By 1850 the tune had come to the United States in Willis’ collection mentioned earlier. An arrangement of Beautiful Savior has been sung by many college choirs, the St. Olaf College choir perhaps the most notable.
It’s easy to see connections between Beautiful Savior and Psalm 8: they both use exalted language and extol creation. Psalm 8 is the first hymn of praise in the Psalter and the only one exclusively praising God. The psalmist looks at the moon and the stars and stands in awe of all that God has made. The psalmist doesn’t equate creation with God, but can see God’s handiwork throughout it all.
The psalmist then declares two things about humanity’s place in creation that seems at odds with each other. The first is an overwhelming sense of humility because of our size in relation to all creation. Though human beings at that time didn’t have the same understanding of cosmology we do, they certainly share our feeling of inferiority compared to the immensity of the universe. Yet, the psalmist also declares that in this vastness, God has given as a special place in creation, an authority that is derivative of God’s own. A little lower than God, we have dominion over everything God has created.
This is a good text for us to read today, for a number of reasons. First, we need to remind ourselves that with this incredible God-given authority comes great responsibility. The French call it noblesse oblige. With great authority comes great responsibility. Second, this is a great lead-in to the start of this year’s narrative lectionary that we begin next week in Genesis. In essence, we have the creation story here where humanity is made in God’s image as created co-creators. Next week we will hear the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Lurking in the background of that text is the story of the Fall, how humanity disobeyed God. That brings us to number three: dominion does not mean domination. Though I’ll have more to say next we, we realize how far short we are, both in our care of creation and how we treat one another as fellow children of God. It is difficult to talk about the pervasiveness of racism and its effects, but it is important that we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the AME Church to recognize today as “Confession, Repentance and Commitment to End Racism Sunday.” We are obligated to do this precisely because of the role God has given to us.
Finally, we always come back to God, because that’s where both Beautiful Savior and Psalm 8 begin and end. We remember that Jesus is not only Lord of creation and the Nations, but we also remember that his exaltation was through his lifting up on the cross and resurrection. Following the Beautiful Savior means being a suffering servant as he was. Yet it also means that we are not in this alone and it means that through God, new life comes out of brokenness and chaos.
Pentecost 15
September 6, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Beautiful Savior, King of Creation, Son of God and Son of Man…
This summer we have been putting some of our favorite songs in conversation with scripture and our lives of walking with God. We have called this series “Singing Our Faith” and I think that it’s been great. Today we end with Beautiful Savior and Psalm 8, but it also represents a beginning. I’ll say more about this later. Beautiful Savior was nominated by Dorothy George and Quentin Peterson. It was their Confirmation song back in 1938. I didn’t even know they had Confirmation songs. I can understand how meaningful it is. We sung it at my mother’s funeral 32 years ago and I still tear up when I sing it.
We don’t know who wrote the either the text or tune for Beautiful Savior. The original German text ("Schönster Herr Jesu") appeared anonymously in a manuscript dated 1662 in Munster, Germany. It was published in the Roman Catholic Munsterisch Gesangbuch (1677) and, with a number of alterations, in the hymn book Schlesische Volkslieder (1842). The translation, primarily the work of Joseph A. Seiss, was based on the 1842 edition and first published in the Sunday School Book for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Congregations (1873). Another well known translation based on the 1842 version is the anonymous Fairest Lord Jesus, published in Richard S. Willis's Church Chorals and Choir Studies (1850). Apparently Beautiful Savior is the Lutheran version and Fairest Lord Jesus for the rest of the Protestants.
We do know a little bit about Seiss (originally Seuss). He was born and raised in a Moravian home in Graceham, MD 1823. After studying at Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg and completing his theological education with tutors and through private study, Seiss became a Lutheran pastor in 1842, though both his father and his bishop discouraged his study for the ministry. He served several Lutheran congregations in Virginia, Maryland and notably two churches in Philadelphia where he died in 1904. Known as an eloquent and popular preacher, Seiss was also a prolific author and editor of some eighty volumes including several hymnals.
The tune appears to be an eighteenth-century tune from the Glaz area of Silesia and has always been associated with this text. It was first heard among haymakers in 1839 and subsequently written down, but it seems to have roots further back, to at least 1766. After Franz Liszt used the tune for a crusaders' march in his oratorio The Legend of St. Elizabeth (1862), the tune also became known as ST. ELIZABETH. By 1850 the tune had come to the United States in Willis’ collection mentioned earlier. An arrangement of Beautiful Savior has been sung by many college choirs, the St. Olaf College choir perhaps the most notable.
It’s easy to see connections between Beautiful Savior and Psalm 8: they both use exalted language and extol creation. Psalm 8 is the first hymn of praise in the Psalter and the only one exclusively praising God. The psalmist looks at the moon and the stars and stands in awe of all that God has made. The psalmist doesn’t equate creation with God, but can see God’s handiwork throughout it all.
The psalmist then declares two things about humanity’s place in creation that seems at odds with each other. The first is an overwhelming sense of humility because of our size in relation to all creation. Though human beings at that time didn’t have the same understanding of cosmology we do, they certainly share our feeling of inferiority compared to the immensity of the universe. Yet, the psalmist also declares that in this vastness, God has given as a special place in creation, an authority that is derivative of God’s own. A little lower than God, we have dominion over everything God has created.
This is a good text for us to read today, for a number of reasons. First, we need to remind ourselves that with this incredible God-given authority comes great responsibility. The French call it noblesse oblige. With great authority comes great responsibility. Second, this is a great lead-in to the start of this year’s narrative lectionary that we begin next week in Genesis. In essence, we have the creation story here where humanity is made in God’s image as created co-creators. Next week we will hear the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Lurking in the background of that text is the story of the Fall, how humanity disobeyed God. That brings us to number three: dominion does not mean domination. Though I’ll have more to say next we, we realize how far short we are, both in our care of creation and how we treat one another as fellow children of God. It is difficult to talk about the pervasiveness of racism and its effects, but it is important that we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the AME Church to recognize today as “Confession, Repentance and Commitment to End Racism Sunday.” We are obligated to do this precisely because of the role God has given to us.
Finally, we always come back to God, because that’s where both Beautiful Savior and Psalm 8 begin and end. We remember that Jesus is not only Lord of creation and the Nations, but we also remember that his exaltation was through his lifting up on the cross and resurrection. Following the Beautiful Savior means being a suffering servant as he was. Yet it also means that we are not in this alone and it means that through God, new life comes out of brokenness and chaos.
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Beautiful Savior, King of Creation, Son of God and Son of Man,
Truly I'd love Thee, truly I'd serve thee,
Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.
Amen.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
"Singing Our Faith: Here I Am Lord" - Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Singing Our Faith: Here I Am, Lord
Pentecost 14
August 20, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
1 Samuel 3.1-20
"I, the Lord of sea and sky… [1]
Most of us know these words to Daniel Schutte’s hymn, Here I Am, Lord if not by heart then by spiritual osmosis. Schutte is an accomplished American composer of Catholic liturgical music and a contemporary Christian music best known for this hymn but has composed others. Born in 1947, he was one of the founding members of the St. Louis Jesuits who popularized a contemporary style of church music set to sacred texts sung in English. Although his compositions are mostly for Catholic liturgical use, his works have found their way into Protestant worship. For us, Here I Am, Lord first appeared in the blue hymnal supplement, With One Voice and, of course, is in our newish cranberry hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Not surprisingly, various polls among musicians cite Here I Am, Lord at or near the top as favorites. Schutte is presently Composer-in-Residence at the University of San Francisco.
Jill Helling, in nominating this hymn for our sermon series, “Singing Our Faith,” gives one reason why it is so meaningful:
It’s a powerful song from a powerful story of how the boy Samuel hears and responds to God’s call. What’s also important is how Samuel came to be in the service of God with Eli. Earlier in 1 Samuel we read how his mother Hannah was unable to conceive and how in a moment of fervent prayer at the temple at Shiloh, Eli thought her drunk. Hannah actually promised that if God would give her a son she would make him a Nazarite and give him back to God. Though he wasn’t aware of her promise, Eli told Hannah to go in peace, that God would grant her petition. Hannah did indeed conceive and give Samuel back to God.
"I, the Lord of snow and rain … [2]
As I thought about this story in 1 Samuel and the song, I couldn’t help also thinking about Kenneth’s baptism here today. I thought about how his mother trusted him to Marty and Amanda, and how all three of them have answered God’s calling in the night. I don’t think any of them think they are doing holy and heroic work, but they are. God calls to each of us in the midst of our lives, disrupting us to bring healing and wholeness.
This past week at a pastor’s gathering, a pastor read the following blog as a devotional. It’s from Glennon Doyle Melton’s blog “Momastery” and is a letter to her son, Chase in 2011 as he enters the third grade. It’s titled, “The One Letter to Read Before Sending Your Child to School.” [3]
Hey Baby.
Tomorrow is a big day. Third Grade – wow.
Chase – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.
Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.
And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.
I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.
I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.
So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.
Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a little part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Chase! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.
Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.
Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.
Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’ team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.
When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.
Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.
We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.
We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Because brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.
Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.
Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.
Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky boy . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.
I love you so much that my heart might explode.
Enjoy and cherish your gifts.
And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.
Love,
Mama
Melton gives permission on her blog for anyone to use this by substituting your child’s name for hers. It also works if you peg the writer as God, our heavenly parent.
So, I end with an invitation for you to hear God’s voice calling to you. There is a call already out there asking you to step up in various ways, to help with Faith Night meals, worship and especially teaching. Please respond, not because John or I need you, but because God is calling and placing a burden on your heart for those that need you to be brave. Please don’t tell us that you are too old, because if 90 year old Jimmy Carter can teach Sunday School following a cancer treatment, you can do something here. Besides, just as there is no expiration date on Kenneth’s baptismal certificate I doubt there is one on yours, either. Yes, it’s scary, but the same God who answered the call, who took on human flesh, and who went to the cross and answered the call to die for us, gives us everything we need.
"I, the Lord of wind and flame … [4]
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Amen.
Pentecost 14
August 20, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
1 Samuel 3.1-20
"I, the Lord of sea and sky… [1]
Most of us know these words to Daniel Schutte’s hymn, Here I Am, Lord if not by heart then by spiritual osmosis. Schutte is an accomplished American composer of Catholic liturgical music and a contemporary Christian music best known for this hymn but has composed others. Born in 1947, he was one of the founding members of the St. Louis Jesuits who popularized a contemporary style of church music set to sacred texts sung in English. Although his compositions are mostly for Catholic liturgical use, his works have found their way into Protestant worship. For us, Here I Am, Lord first appeared in the blue hymnal supplement, With One Voice and, of course, is in our newish cranberry hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Not surprisingly, various polls among musicians cite Here I Am, Lord at or near the top as favorites. Schutte is presently Composer-in-Residence at the University of San Francisco.
Jill Helling, in nominating this hymn for our sermon series, “Singing Our Faith,” gives one reason why it is so meaningful:
I have been fortunate to have parents, grandparents, mother-in-law, relatives (etc.) that were examples of people who were strong faithful followers of their Christian faith. From the time I can remember church/Sunday school was part of our daily life. At many of the family funerals this hymn was sung reminding me and our family that if we listen and pray God is always there, even when we have lost someone we love.“Strong, faithful followers of their Christian faith”; indeed, if we aren’t already people such as this we certainly aspire to become such. Here I Am, Lord has long been a favorite of mine. We sung it at my ordination service and it is on my short list of songs I want at my own funeral.
It’s a powerful song from a powerful story of how the boy Samuel hears and responds to God’s call. What’s also important is how Samuel came to be in the service of God with Eli. Earlier in 1 Samuel we read how his mother Hannah was unable to conceive and how in a moment of fervent prayer at the temple at Shiloh, Eli thought her drunk. Hannah actually promised that if God would give her a son she would make him a Nazarite and give him back to God. Though he wasn’t aware of her promise, Eli told Hannah to go in peace, that God would grant her petition. Hannah did indeed conceive and give Samuel back to God.
"I, the Lord of snow and rain … [2]
As I thought about this story in 1 Samuel and the song, I couldn’t help also thinking about Kenneth’s baptism here today. I thought about how his mother trusted him to Marty and Amanda, and how all three of them have answered God’s calling in the night. I don’t think any of them think they are doing holy and heroic work, but they are. God calls to each of us in the midst of our lives, disrupting us to bring healing and wholeness.
This past week at a pastor’s gathering, a pastor read the following blog as a devotional. It’s from Glennon Doyle Melton’s blog “Momastery” and is a letter to her son, Chase in 2011 as he enters the third grade. It’s titled, “The One Letter to Read Before Sending Your Child to School.” [3]
Hey Baby.
Tomorrow is a big day. Third Grade – wow.
Chase – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.
Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.
And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.
I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.
I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.
So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.
Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a little part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Chase! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.
Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.
Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.
Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’ team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.
When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.
Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.
We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.
We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Because brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.
Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.
Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.
Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky boy . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.
I love you so much that my heart might explode.
Enjoy and cherish your gifts.
And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.
Love,
Mama
Melton gives permission on her blog for anyone to use this by substituting your child’s name for hers. It also works if you peg the writer as God, our heavenly parent.
So, I end with an invitation for you to hear God’s voice calling to you. There is a call already out there asking you to step up in various ways, to help with Faith Night meals, worship and especially teaching. Please respond, not because John or I need you, but because God is calling and placing a burden on your heart for those that need you to be brave. Please don’t tell us that you are too old, because if 90 year old Jimmy Carter can teach Sunday School following a cancer treatment, you can do something here. Besides, just as there is no expiration date on Kenneth’s baptismal certificate I doubt there is one on yours, either. Yes, it’s scary, but the same God who answered the call, who took on human flesh, and who went to the cross and answered the call to die for us, gives us everything we need.
"I, the Lord of wind and flame … [4]
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Amen.
[1] Due to copyright limitations, reprinting
of the lyrics to Here I Am, Lord is prohibited. Please see verse 1 in your favorite
hymnal.
[2] Please see verse 2.
[3] See more at:
http://momastery.com/blog/2014/08/21/the-one-letter-to-read/#sthash.iKyYp8iv.dpuf
[4] Please see verse 3 and refrain.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
"Singing Our Faith: When Peace like a River" - Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Singing Our Faith: When Peace like a River
Pentecost 11 – Summer Series
August 9, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
1 Corinthians 15.51-58
Late in 1873, Chicago businessman Horatio G. Spafford was to take a vacation to England with his wife and four daughters. Delayed by business, Spafford sent them on ahead aboard the French liner, the Ville du Havre. While crossing the liner was hit by the English iron ship Lochearnon and sunk. Spafford’s wife survived, but all four daughters perished. Upon reaching Wales, his wife cable Spafford the message, “Survived alone.” Spafford immediately sailed to join his wife, crossing the very spot his family went down. As he did, he penned the words to the hymn, When Peace like a River.
Hearing the news, family friend Dwight L. Moody (founder of the Moody Bible Institute) traveled to England to comfort them. He reported that Spafford said about the tragedy, “It is well; the will of God be done.” Philip Bliss, another family friend, wrote the tune that accompanies the lyrics and named the tune after the liner, Ville du Havre. We also know the song as It Is Well with My Soul. Jason Glaser, who nominated the song, echoes many of our thoughts about why he chose the hymn: “The background to the lyrics, and the depth of faith shown against such catastrophic loss. Could I do it? Doubtful, but I do sing the song to myself on darker days.”
The heart of the message and the basis for Spafford’s (and ours) assurance is the promise of the resurrection. For many of us, the promise of the resurrection to eternal life has various implications. For example, some of us are assured that there is more than this life. Others take comfort in knowing that whatever pain or suffering we are enduring will not last. Still others are heartened at the anticipation of being reunited with loved ones. If fact, we almost take the resurrection for granted because we have celebrated the promise so long. However, that was not true for the earliest Christians, especially at Corinth.
For the Corinthian Christians, the resurrection seemed to be at best open-ended and at worst in question. To understand why this is the case, we need to remember that there was no single Jewish viewpoint about resurrection in the first century and there were contrary ideas in Greek philosophy as well. Some people denied any kind of resurrection. Some thought the achieved immortality through their descendents. Some believed in the immortality of the soul while others believed in a bodily glorification. There were even some various combinations of these. Though we don’t know for sure, some of the Corinthians appeared to believe that resurrection already happened to them, that they had already arrived into some sort of spiritual being and that there was nothing else to do.
The question of an afterlife is not just something from 2,000 years ago. I have begun watching a new TV show on TNT called Proof. The story line is that dying genius billionaire wants to find definitive evidence of whether or not there is an afterlife. He essentially bribes a hard-science cardio-thoracic surgeon with donations to her favorite charity to explore various phenomena and report back to him. This is not just some intellectual exercise for the doctor, who though skeptical about the afterlife, has not only had an NDE (Near Death Experience) herself, but has recently lost her teenage son in a car accident.
For Paul, this is no academic exercise or philosophical question; the question of the resurrection goes to the heart of Christian faith. It’s so important that he spends an entire chapter, 58 verses, to hammer home the point. Christ’s resurrection, and by extension ours, is the core of the gospel, the good news of Jesus. If we deny Christ’s resurrection, and ours, then Paul says, our faith is in vain and we are to be pitied. But for Paul, the resurrection isn’t just some future promise; it makes a difference in our lives today. So the Corinthians were partially correct; we have new life available to us right now, but as is always true with God, there is more.
Spafford knew this, too. So here’s the rest of the story: Spafford and his wife went on to have three more children, a son and two daughters. At the age of four, the son died of scarlet fever. Their Chicago church, seeing all of their tragedy, accused them of some secret sin. They believed that God must be punishing them. (Apparently, they were unfamiliar with John 9.) This ostracism caused Spafford and his family to leave and start their own group. Spafford, who had developed an interest in biblical archeology, took the group to Jerusalem in 1881, establishing the American Colony.
Joined by Swedish Christians, the colony engaged in philanthropic work among all peoples, including Christians, Jews and Muslims. Although Spafford had died in 1888, the colony lived on and was instrumental in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations both during and after WWI by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages, etc.
My brothers and sisters, may you, like Spafford, be sustained by the promises of the resurrection. May it not only be “well with your souls,” but enable you to “excel in the work of the Lord” knowing that your labor is not in vain. Amen.
Pentecost 11 – Summer Series
August 9, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
1 Corinthians 15.51-58
Late in 1873, Chicago businessman Horatio G. Spafford was to take a vacation to England with his wife and four daughters. Delayed by business, Spafford sent them on ahead aboard the French liner, the Ville du Havre. While crossing the liner was hit by the English iron ship Lochearnon and sunk. Spafford’s wife survived, but all four daughters perished. Upon reaching Wales, his wife cable Spafford the message, “Survived alone.” Spafford immediately sailed to join his wife, crossing the very spot his family went down. As he did, he penned the words to the hymn, When Peace like a River.
Hearing the news, family friend Dwight L. Moody (founder of the Moody Bible Institute) traveled to England to comfort them. He reported that Spafford said about the tragedy, “It is well; the will of God be done.” Philip Bliss, another family friend, wrote the tune that accompanies the lyrics and named the tune after the liner, Ville du Havre. We also know the song as It Is Well with My Soul. Jason Glaser, who nominated the song, echoes many of our thoughts about why he chose the hymn: “The background to the lyrics, and the depth of faith shown against such catastrophic loss. Could I do it? Doubtful, but I do sing the song to myself on darker days.”
The heart of the message and the basis for Spafford’s (and ours) assurance is the promise of the resurrection. For many of us, the promise of the resurrection to eternal life has various implications. For example, some of us are assured that there is more than this life. Others take comfort in knowing that whatever pain or suffering we are enduring will not last. Still others are heartened at the anticipation of being reunited with loved ones. If fact, we almost take the resurrection for granted because we have celebrated the promise so long. However, that was not true for the earliest Christians, especially at Corinth.
For the Corinthian Christians, the resurrection seemed to be at best open-ended and at worst in question. To understand why this is the case, we need to remember that there was no single Jewish viewpoint about resurrection in the first century and there were contrary ideas in Greek philosophy as well. Some people denied any kind of resurrection. Some thought the achieved immortality through their descendents. Some believed in the immortality of the soul while others believed in a bodily glorification. There were even some various combinations of these. Though we don’t know for sure, some of the Corinthians appeared to believe that resurrection already happened to them, that they had already arrived into some sort of spiritual being and that there was nothing else to do.
The question of an afterlife is not just something from 2,000 years ago. I have begun watching a new TV show on TNT called Proof. The story line is that dying genius billionaire wants to find definitive evidence of whether or not there is an afterlife. He essentially bribes a hard-science cardio-thoracic surgeon with donations to her favorite charity to explore various phenomena and report back to him. This is not just some intellectual exercise for the doctor, who though skeptical about the afterlife, has not only had an NDE (Near Death Experience) herself, but has recently lost her teenage son in a car accident.
For Paul, this is no academic exercise or philosophical question; the question of the resurrection goes to the heart of Christian faith. It’s so important that he spends an entire chapter, 58 verses, to hammer home the point. Christ’s resurrection, and by extension ours, is the core of the gospel, the good news of Jesus. If we deny Christ’s resurrection, and ours, then Paul says, our faith is in vain and we are to be pitied. But for Paul, the resurrection isn’t just some future promise; it makes a difference in our lives today. So the Corinthians were partially correct; we have new life available to us right now, but as is always true with God, there is more.
Spafford knew this, too. So here’s the rest of the story: Spafford and his wife went on to have three more children, a son and two daughters. At the age of four, the son died of scarlet fever. Their Chicago church, seeing all of their tragedy, accused them of some secret sin. They believed that God must be punishing them. (Apparently, they were unfamiliar with John 9.) This ostracism caused Spafford and his family to leave and start their own group. Spafford, who had developed an interest in biblical archeology, took the group to Jerusalem in 1881, establishing the American Colony.
Joined by Swedish Christians, the colony engaged in philanthropic work among all peoples, including Christians, Jews and Muslims. Although Spafford had died in 1888, the colony lived on and was instrumental in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations both during and after WWI by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages, etc.
My brothers and sisters, may you, like Spafford, be sustained by the promises of the resurrection. May it not only be “well with your souls,” but enable you to “excel in the work of the Lord” knowing that your labor is not in vain. Amen.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
"Singing Our Faith: Psalm 119" - Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Singing Our Faith: Psalm 119
Pentecost 10
August 2, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Psalm 119.1-16
Each synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has a candidacy committee, a team responsible for the approval of ministry candidates, lay or ordained. Candidates meet with the committee regularly and go through several approval levels. Many candidates call this process “jumping through hoops.” So, it’s no surprise that ministry candidates often see candidacy committees as gate keepers whose job is keep them out. Unfortunately, that’s the way many committees operate; you have to prove you are worthy. Fortunately for me, my committee over 20 years ago provided more shepherding than gate-keeping. Although I still had to meet the requirements for ordination, I felt they wanted to do whatever it took to help me.
The distinction between shepherding and gate-keeping is important as we think about Psalm 119. Psalm 119 extols the virtues of the Torah—or law—in the life of Israel in almost ecstatic terms. So much so, that it makes we who are 20th century Lutheran Christians almost break out in hives. We have had “we are saved by grace and not by works of the law” so pounded into us we that we squirm at this kind of rhetoric. And then there is the almost over-the-top gushiness of the language that makes us blush. Appreciating the place of the law in our lives is one thing, but getting mushy about it is quite another.
We need to step back a bit and see what is going on otherwise we are in danger of dismissing the psalmist’s message altogether. John’s scripture introduction is a good place to start. As we have done with other songs in this summer’s sermon series, “Singing Our Faith,” we look at who wrote it and why. Although a lot of the Psalms are credited to King David, we really don’t know who wrote it. We also don’t know when it was written, but the psalms are at least 3,000 years old. We also want to remember that the psalms were not only the songs of the Jewish people, they were also the songs of the early church. Neither the psalms nor the rest of the Old Testament is to be dismissed out of hand.
What we do know about Psalm 119 gives us a hint about how it functioned in the life of the Jewish people. The psalm consists of 22 groups of 8 stanzas each, each group beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, forming an acrostic. For example, verses 1-8 each begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph. Each line of verses 9-16 begin with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, bet, and so on. It seems as if the structure is teaching device that helps the people learn something about God’s law.
Furthermore, each set of eight stanzas contain different phrases for Torah: ordinances, statutes, law, commandments, decrees, precepts, word, and promises, with some variations. For example, the words ways and paths are used frequently as well. Yet, even though the NRSV translates Torah as law, it should really be “instruction.” And that gives even more insight into the place of Torah in Israel: learning as a way of life. Psalm 119 reminds us that Torah, or God’s instruction, was never meant to be an arbitrary set of rules set by an arbitrary God who tells us to “shut up and do it.” Rather, Torah teaches us to how to live.
In other words, Torah was and is God’s gift to humanity. It was not meant as a burden to bear but a help to us live our lives. Unfortunately, we are the ones who turn it into a burden (and the Bible as a whole, for that matter) by making it our Lord and Master in a way it wasn’t intended. Torah points us to God. Here’s where we remember that God’s initiative, grace and mercy always come first. Just as God chose the Jewish people first and then gave them the Torah to help them live into that identity as his people, we who are saved by grace are given an outline of kingdom living.
One of my first confirmation students was Raymond, who almost weekly would ask me, “Why do I have to do this?” and “What happens if I flunk Confirmation.” Each week I would respond the same way, “You don’t have to, you get to” and “You don’t pass or fail Confirmation, you either do it or you don’t. After nearly two years of this, just as was being tempted to say, “Because I said so!” Raymond approached me one day and said, “I get it now.” Somehow, Raymond no longer saw me as a gate-keeper to being confirmed but a shepherd who truly wanted to help him grow in faith as a child of God.
This is one reason why Jesus made a big deal of saying he came to fulfill the law, not abolish the law. It’s why he said the greatest commandment was to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And it’s why he says loving neighbor is pretty much the same thing. Just as the cross points to God’s love for us, draws us closer to him and outside ourselves, Torah points us to the one who gives us life and invites us to live that life he set aside for us more fully. We haven’t chanted the psalms much lately, but as we do so today I hope you’ll be reminded these are the songs of the early church and that even Lutheran Christians can sing them passionately. Amen.
Pentecost 10
August 2, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Psalm 119.1-16
Each synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has a candidacy committee, a team responsible for the approval of ministry candidates, lay or ordained. Candidates meet with the committee regularly and go through several approval levels. Many candidates call this process “jumping through hoops.” So, it’s no surprise that ministry candidates often see candidacy committees as gate keepers whose job is keep them out. Unfortunately, that’s the way many committees operate; you have to prove you are worthy. Fortunately for me, my committee over 20 years ago provided more shepherding than gate-keeping. Although I still had to meet the requirements for ordination, I felt they wanted to do whatever it took to help me.
The distinction between shepherding and gate-keeping is important as we think about Psalm 119. Psalm 119 extols the virtues of the Torah—or law—in the life of Israel in almost ecstatic terms. So much so, that it makes we who are 20th century Lutheran Christians almost break out in hives. We have had “we are saved by grace and not by works of the law” so pounded into us we that we squirm at this kind of rhetoric. And then there is the almost over-the-top gushiness of the language that makes us blush. Appreciating the place of the law in our lives is one thing, but getting mushy about it is quite another.
We need to step back a bit and see what is going on otherwise we are in danger of dismissing the psalmist’s message altogether. John’s scripture introduction is a good place to start. As we have done with other songs in this summer’s sermon series, “Singing Our Faith,” we look at who wrote it and why. Although a lot of the Psalms are credited to King David, we really don’t know who wrote it. We also don’t know when it was written, but the psalms are at least 3,000 years old. We also want to remember that the psalms were not only the songs of the Jewish people, they were also the songs of the early church. Neither the psalms nor the rest of the Old Testament is to be dismissed out of hand.
What we do know about Psalm 119 gives us a hint about how it functioned in the life of the Jewish people. The psalm consists of 22 groups of 8 stanzas each, each group beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, forming an acrostic. For example, verses 1-8 each begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph. Each line of verses 9-16 begin with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, bet, and so on. It seems as if the structure is teaching device that helps the people learn something about God’s law.
Furthermore, each set of eight stanzas contain different phrases for Torah: ordinances, statutes, law, commandments, decrees, precepts, word, and promises, with some variations. For example, the words ways and paths are used frequently as well. Yet, even though the NRSV translates Torah as law, it should really be “instruction.” And that gives even more insight into the place of Torah in Israel: learning as a way of life. Psalm 119 reminds us that Torah, or God’s instruction, was never meant to be an arbitrary set of rules set by an arbitrary God who tells us to “shut up and do it.” Rather, Torah teaches us to how to live.
In other words, Torah was and is God’s gift to humanity. It was not meant as a burden to bear but a help to us live our lives. Unfortunately, we are the ones who turn it into a burden (and the Bible as a whole, for that matter) by making it our Lord and Master in a way it wasn’t intended. Torah points us to God. Here’s where we remember that God’s initiative, grace and mercy always come first. Just as God chose the Jewish people first and then gave them the Torah to help them live into that identity as his people, we who are saved by grace are given an outline of kingdom living.
One of my first confirmation students was Raymond, who almost weekly would ask me, “Why do I have to do this?” and “What happens if I flunk Confirmation.” Each week I would respond the same way, “You don’t have to, you get to” and “You don’t pass or fail Confirmation, you either do it or you don’t. After nearly two years of this, just as was being tempted to say, “Because I said so!” Raymond approached me one day and said, “I get it now.” Somehow, Raymond no longer saw me as a gate-keeper to being confirmed but a shepherd who truly wanted to help him grow in faith as a child of God.
This is one reason why Jesus made a big deal of saying he came to fulfill the law, not abolish the law. It’s why he said the greatest commandment was to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And it’s why he says loving neighbor is pretty much the same thing. Just as the cross points to God’s love for us, draws us closer to him and outside ourselves, Torah points us to the one who gives us life and invites us to live that life he set aside for us more fully. We haven’t chanted the psalms much lately, but as we do so today I hope you’ll be reminded these are the songs of the early church and that even Lutheran Christians can sing them passionately. Amen.
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