Devotion - Wednesday of Holy Week

Passover began yesterday. Tonight our LCM students will join Hillel is an observance of Seder. This “order,” is a walk through the events and the emotions which have formed Jewish history. It is a relaxed meal, one taken at leisure, one intended to remind us that our protection and our hope are found in God.

This is the meal Jesus was observing with his disciples when he took that loaf of bread and the cup of wine and said, “Drink, eat from this, all of you.”

Gathering to remember these events, gathering to rekindle the ancient emotions, enables us to more fully embrace the gift which comes our way.

An article we discussed at yesterday’s Pre-seminary gathering, reminded us that our rituals and gatherings should do more than teach us facts or mold our behaviors. Our practices ought to bring us into contact with the One who lies beyond them. Our worship achieves its promise when we encounter God.

We go through the motions of Holy Week, we re-live these occurrences, all the while anticipating that in them we will see and experience the very presence of God.

Devotion - Tuesday of Holy Week

Holy Week is a time for worship services. We gather Wednesday with Jewish students for the Seder. There are liturgies Thursday and Friday evening. All this time in church is to bring to mind the events associated with Jesus’ death; it is the chance to participate in his glorious resurrection. We learn, through these liturgies, the way of the cross.

But the true way of the cross is not to be lived in church – it is to be lived in the world. In A Reflection on the Cross, Luther writes, “Real mortifications do not happen in lonely places away from the society of other human beings. No! They happen in the home, in the market place, in secular life.”

The events we gather to observe are significant when those gatherings prepare us for the engagement with the world. They equip us for the challenges we face in daily life. They find their meaning as they prompt us to God’s servants in the world.

Retreat this week to a lonely place, come to church. But in that retreat constantly ask yourself, “How is this time away preparing me for the work that God has called me to do?” It is in answering this question that we most fully participate in the sacrificial way which is the way of the cross.

Devotion - Monday of Holy Week

Jesus enters Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!” The crowd celebrates all that he has done; all that he has revealed to them. It is a celebration of the hopes of the disciples.

Our expectations run high, too. We know enough of the story to have reason to think that in all this there might be something for us. We are familiar enough with the story to begin to identify the places in our lives where a miracle or a kind word could be experienced.

But such thoughts are about us, and our immediate needs, than about the reasons for Jesus’ arrival. These are the purposes toward which we would see this moving, rather than the purposes God has intended.

In a few short days, God’s way of addressing our need will be fully revealed. Jesus will hang on a cross, die, and then be resurrected. Within seven days, we will know what it is that God intends. Today, we are left with our temptations.

It is his sacrifice which fully reveals Jesus as Messiah. It is his setting aside his own desires and accepting God’s vision which results in the centurion’s acclamation, “Surely this was the Son of God.”

While we might be tempted to use what we know of the story as impetus for a search of what this might mean for us, the events beckon us to lose our self-centeredness. The events of this week remind us that the call of God is a call to realize there are more important things than the immediate desires which we so often accept as substitutes for the marvelous gift of God salvation.

Devotion - Thusday, March 25

Spring break is a horrible interruption to our Lenten journey. Regardless of how well we had been maintaining our discipline, these nine days throw everything out of whack. The days of Lent are about to reach their end. It is time for us to enter into the experiences of Holy Week.

Passion Sunday (this Sunday) is the day on which we begin our rapid march through Jesus’ welcome into Jerusalem; his disgust with what he sees there, the rejection and finally the betrayal. All of this begins in a few short days.

If your Lenten journey has been interrupted, return to the path. Remember the devotion which moved you to alter your routine and adjust your actions. Reclaim as much as you can of the mood and attitude of your Ash Wednesday confession.

The journey of Lent prepares us for the events of Holy Week. Prepare yourself for what will be experienced in the week to come.

Devotion - Wednesday, March 24

The week before spring break was a busy one. There were tasks which needed to be done; could not be postponed until our return. Among these were writing several reference letters. Writing letters of reference is something I am asked to do quite often. I do get to know the students well; there are many opportunities to see how they interact, offer leadership, and assimilate new ideas. It is an appropriate request, of one’s campus pastor, to ask for a letter of reference.

In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul speaks of “letters of reference.” He speaks not of written letters, but of the “letter of recommendation, written on your hearts.” This letter, he reminds us, is superior to any which might be created by pen and paper.

It is my intention that each letter I write is nothing more than an attempt to write of that which has already been written upon the heart of the student in question. That what I write is what has been etched in their lives and that all I am doing is sharing what it is that has been exposed.

In the end, I guess this is what every letter created by pen and paper ought to be.

“Show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.”

What further reference could ever be needed or called for.

Devotion - Tuesday, March 23

In preparation for our trip to Germany, the students copied the lessons from the daily lectionary and made sure that each of us had a copy. These texts served as the foundation for our student-led devotions. The lectionary contains three readings, one from the Old Testament, one from an Epistle, and a Gospel reading. It may have simply been the power of suggestion, but it intrigued me that so many of those who offered a reflection chose a verse or idea out of the Epistle.

These selections were from I Corinthians. Several of them spoke of spiritual gifts.

One this, our first full day back, I found myself drawn to these Epistle readings. In the 14th chapter, Paul advises the young church to make sure that every action, every expression of the Spirit is offered up in such a way as to further the hopes of Christ. “Let all things be done for edification,” he writes.

Too often we observe “Christians” showing off what they have received. Too often, bad stereotypes develop of persons of faith acting more like persons of ambition. That which we have received has been given to us freely; we ought to freely share with others.

How easy is it for someone to observe us and from what they see to know to what we have committed our lives? Is it apparent that we serve a God whose prime instruction is to love, in a way which reflects how we have first been loved?

It is wonderful to read the Word and to reflect on what it is saying to us. But let us also live in a way which reflects God’s desire that all things be done “decently and in order.”

Devotion - Thursday, March 11

Part of our Wednesday evening routine is our sharing of “Good News-Bad News”. It is a wonderful expression of our life together. We remember events of the week; we ask for prayers for the challenges we face.

Last evening’s sharing was rather true to form. There are always a couple of folks with really funny stories. Someone has had an accomplishment that might go unnoticed but among the fellowship it is freely shared and celebrated. And then someone apologizes for the “downer” and proceeds to remind us that amid all the wonderful things happening in our lives we come together in order to receive comfort from all those things which rage around us. Far from being a downer, the request for prayerful support is exactly why we gather in the first place.

Carlyle Marney writes, “I have never been quite comfortable with a (pastor) who always has a perfectly clean desk. There is something a little too sterile about it. He is too well caught up on his work and it could mean that he is not participating, he is not in contact, he is not involved with enough unfinished things in his life.”

It is the “unfinished things” to which Christ calls us. It is attention to that which remains undone, to that which needs additional work, which defines the lives of Jesus’ followers.

We will celebrate all the wonderful things which occur; we will laugh at the funny stories; but let us never forget that it is the unfinished things which make our community the community of Christ.

Devotion - Wednesday, March 10

At our Pre-Seminary gathering yesterday, we considered reflections from a guy who advocates “listening” as opposed to “talking” with regard to evangelism. “We can’t argue someone into faith,” he points out.

In our conversation, we admitted how impossible it is to convince someone to believe in Jesus. Even if we were to find some way to get them to accept the logic, how can they “love,” when they were moved to agree based on arguments?

I remember a slogan, read off one of those church signs: We are not to change people so God will love them; we are to love people so God can change them.

God loves us, while we were yet sinners. God’s love is not dependent upon our actions. When one becomes aware of being loved it changes what we think and believe.

Devotion - Tuesday, March 9

In Mark 6, Jesus sends out his disciples. He sends them out two-by-two.

We overlook the desire of our Lord that each of us have a traveling companion. No one is to embark on this journey by themselves.

Having someone with us has many benefits: When we are down, they are there to lift us up; when we are arrogant, they are there to remind us of our humanity; when we have opportunity to rejoice, they are there to share our joy; when the need comes for tears, they are there to help bear our sorry; when we gain an insight, they are there to help us work it through; and when we are in error, they are there to remind us of the Word of God.

None of us should embark on this journey without a traveling companion. The followers of Jesus go two-by-two.

Devotion - Monday, March 8

I was asked to make a guest appearance at the Confirmation Ministry Class. The previous week, they had been discussing miracles, and one question remained unanswered, “Why does God perform some miracles but not heal everyone who asks?”

This morning’s appointed Gospel lesson would have been a good story to repeat. In the middle verses of Mark 5, Jesus is on his way to the home of Jairus. Jairus’ daughter is ill, and he comes to seek Jesus’ aid. As they are making their way, a woman with a flow of blood makes her way up behind Jesus and touches the tassels on his garments. Immediately she is made well.

What happens next may be familiar to you. Jesus stops, and begins to ask “Who touched me?” There is a great crowd pressing from every side to the disciples remind him, “Everyone is touching you.” But Jesus is looking for the one who touch was different. When the woman comes forward to tell what has happened to her, Jesus speaks to her. He points out to her; he instructs her as to why this thing has occurred.

She might have thought of those tassels on his garments as some sort of magic potion. She might have believe that the power was in those corners to Jesus’ prayer shawl. But Jesus tells her the power is somewhere else. “Your faith has made you well.”

Jesus is not some magician, capable of putting on a show for all to see. Jesus is the one in whom we have faith. It is in order to instill faith that Jesus performs his miracles. The end result of every miracle is a deepening of faith.

I do not mean to imply that requests for God’s intervention which go unheeded are somehow an indication of insufficient faith or a block against faith. Rather, I would like to shift the focus away from concern with our physical selves to a better appreciation of that part of us which reflects the image of God.

Sermon - March 7, 2010

Third Sunday of Lent – Year C
Luke 13:1-9

A Little Care and A Lot of Patience


One of the family stories often retold around my home was of the ferns my mother purchased at the Wacamaw Pottery Barn. We were all there, the five of us and my brother-in-law Doug. We had gotten separated and were milling about the place when my sister and brother came up on tables and tables filled with these little bitty ferns, tiny things. They were trying to sell those twigs protruding out of the earth for nineteen cents. “Who in their right mind would pay good money for such a sorry looking plant?” my sister asked.

It wasn’t five minutes before we rendezvoused with mother, to discover that she had four in her basket.

Wait, the story gets better. Mother brought them home and planted them. She watered them and nurtured them and with her natural green thumb those tiny twigs became beautiful hanging baskets. I am sure that it was intentional that she would be out there watering them when my sister came for a visit, just so she could say, “Probably the best nineteen cents I have ever spent in my life.”

That which looked so pitiful was indeed capable of being loved and cared for and nurtured into something that was absolutely amazing.

The owner of the vineyard was inclined to give up. He had waited three years for the fig tree to produce. His instructions to the gardener were to cut it down and remove it from the vineyard. The gardener, with compassion and a natural ability provide nurture, asks for one more year and the opportunity to transform the tree into something amazing.

This was a message eagerly embraced by the early Church. The early Church looked more like a scraggly little fern than a flourishing hanging basket. It was to this Church, and of this Church that Luke writes his Gospel. Let’s not forget that Luke’s Gospel is finalized some sixty years after Jesus’ death. These were difficult times for the followers of Jesus; they had many opportunities to lose heart. As Luke was trying to decide which of Jesus’ sayings to include and which to leave out, it may have been the circumstances of day-to-day living which influenced the selection of this story. He knew that the early Church could see itself in the fig tree, planted securely in the vineyard, yet unable to meet the hopes of their master.

Jesus speaks of events which are unknown to us. There are no other references in the Bible to the death of the Galileans or the eighteen who die in Siloam. This history is hard to reclaim. We do have better knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the life of those who would have been among the first to read Luke’s offering. They were a weak and struggling bunch. There were many eager to cut them down and cast them out of the garden.

We know of Paul’s persecution of the early Christians. When he converted, he no longer carried out the persecutions, but there were many others ready to step in his place. Jesus’ followers were hunted down and destroyed both by the leaders of the Jewish Sanhedrin and by the officials of Rome.

The cry, “Why O Lord,” is natural. It was certainly to have been ringing from the mouths of all those who found themselves doing their best to follow Jesus, only to find their own blood mingling with their sacrifices. If Jesus is our savior, if Jesus is the one who has come to protect us, then why are we being beaten down and destroyed? Many may have had the inclination to give it up and to throw in the towel. Enough is enough.

It is at such a time that Jesus’ words of encouragement would have meant so much to his followers. It is at such a time that it would have been important to remember that we not only have an owner who has planted us, but a gentle care-giver who will see to it that we have the opportunity to rebound and produce fruit.

One has to be careful not to allegorize a parable. Parables are parables, stories told in order to make one, simple point. Never-the-less, there are ways in which the parable can encourage us to think of a wider context. It is a vineyard into which the fig tree is planted. Amid the vines, something new is introduced. I am not enough of a gardener to know the effect that one plant would have had on another. Were there negative side effects to a fig tree among the grape vines? I don’t know – and I didn’t raise the question early enough in the week to contact my agricultural extension agent.

What we do know is that infrastructure for growing grapes differs from that needed by fig trees. It may take a while for the owner, and his gardener, to figure out exactly what is needed. It may take a while, perhaps even as long as it has taken to get this whole thing off the ground.

If, by the time Luke wrote his Gospel, three years was already the accepted duration of Jesus’ earthly ministry, then perhaps it is reasonable to suggest that it would take multiple years for his followers to begin find their footing and get about the business of bearing fruit. The early Church, beset by so many and sometimes prone to be seen as ineffective might hear in this story the encouragement to be patient; they might receive he assurance that the one who planted and the one who gently guides are ready to give more time, and attention, in order to see us flourish.

Many among us may not live to see the wonderful future to which Jesus pointed. Some among us will give up and begin to turn away. But if we are patient, if we allow the gardener to continue to nurture us and provide for us we might find that we are indeed capable of producing the fruits Christ is hoping for.

It is actually around the start of the third century that this rag-tag band of followers finally blossoms into a flourishing community of faith.

The Church of our day may seem to bear few similarities to that early Church - may seem so. But there are places and ways in which we remain the same. We may be bearing some fruit, but certainly there is opportunity for a more abundant harvest. Where it might not be so difficult to relate is if we turn the conversation to focus on our individual lives. Again, in no way meaning to minimize the faithful offering of any of the saints of God, the purpose of the Lenten season is to continue to increase our service to Christ. We are that fig tree, planted in the world, in order to bear fruit worthy of our calling.

Bearing that fruit can be tough. Meeting the hopes of the one who planted us can seem daunting. But the ever present and always vigilant gardener will be there to help us and to aid us. In the end, the tree can only produce when it is cared for. We too can only do the good God hopes for us when we are fed.

To allegorize this parable one more time – it helps if we see the two actors as Son and Holy Spirit, rather than as Father and Son. It is Christ who has planted us here; it is the Holy Spirit who will guide us into production. The Son makes God known to us; it is the Spirit that leads us into sanctification. Learn all you can from the words and teachings of Jesus; allow the Spirit to mould your thinking and guide your response.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, March 4

Jesus continues, in Mark 4, to tell parables. Verse 34 concludes, “With many such parables he spoke to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.”

The advantage of Jesus teaching in parables is that we are more apt to remember a story than we are to remember a statement. Stories stick in our minds and form a life of their own. We can draw conclusions from a parable, only to later find another truth in the same parable.

The disadvantage is that parables have to be interpreted. We have to draw conclusions as to what the speaker was trying to say.

Some parables are clear; there is little doubt as to the point Jesus is making. Other parables expose a wider range of meaning. We can draw conclusions, but we must be prepared to accept that other conclusions are equally valid.

Jesus leads us to understanding. With the twelve, he explained everything. Living in his presence, we too come to see and understand clearly. But living into that presence takes time and attention. Living into that relationship takes patience.

Here is today’s thought – we sometimes want to know, now, the rule or the teaching or the truth. This is not the way that Jesus went about establishing his Church. What he had in mind is something that takes time; it involves lots of interactions.

We will only understand the parables when we spend time discussing them with other followers. We will only come to know their truths when have spent time with them. Jesus does not send us a miracle, salvation pill. Jesus invites us into a relationship and into a community which leads us to the way of salvation.

Devotion - Wednesday, March 3

Moving from the south to the upper Midwest presented me with a number of challenges. One of these was to be understood. We sometimes tease about dialects, but it isn’t a laughing matter when you are preaching and the congregation can’t understand what you are saying.

I was the guest preacher at a neighboring congregation. The lesson was the same as today’s appointed reading from Mark 4:1-20 – the parable of the sower who cast his seed, some on the path, some on the rocky soil, some among the thorns, and some on good soil. I did not make reference to the actual words of the text, but started in on my introduction. I recall the murmur which passed through the group, about six paragraphs into my reflection. “It took us that long to realize you were talking about ‘soil,’” I was later told. “We thought you were saying ‘souls.’”

“What kind of soul are you?” took the congregation by surprise.

The kind of soil we are, does affect our soul.

In seminary we learned the wisdom of the ancients, “My soul is restless till it finds its rest in thee.” If I am the rocky path where the word of God is snatched my soul will not find its rest. Nor can it come to peace when there are thorns which choke out the word. The same is to be said for the rocky soil, where there is no depth of root. It is only when the word of God takes root in the good soil that my soul will find its rest.

Hearing clearly affects our ability to get the point. Listen carefully to the Word of God. Without a clear hearing, the rest we seek will be hard to find.

Devotion - Tuesday, March 2

In our mobile society, we have an even more difficult time than our ancestors understanding that the invitation to follow Christ is an invitation to join community. When Jesus picked those twelve, he was establishing a tight bond of fellow followers. In singling out the Apostles, he was creating an identifiable community.

Following Jesus isn’t just about following some rules or directives; following Jesus means joining the community which follows.

This community makes our following easier. From one another we draw strength for the journey; from our fellow followers we gather insights into what Jesus would have us do; from those slightly in front we see a direction to be followed. There was great wisdom in Christ establishing this pattern for his followers.

But there are drawbacks. Anytime we are in a community there are going to be differences. Anytime we tie our future to the futures of others there are going to be factors beyond our control. Those we depend upon may not be dependable.

Perhaps this is, in the end, another benefit to being in a community of followers. When our actions affect not only our relationship with God but also our relationships with others, there exists the opportunity to be gently guided back into the fold. If our actions not only transgress God, but also the promises we have made to our brothers and sisters, one of those brothers or sisters can call the misdeed to our attention.

There are clear advantages to not only being a follower of Jesus, but a member of the community which follows Jesus. There are drawbacks. But the previous outweigh the latter. And together, we are more likely to discern the way of our Lord and Savior.

Devotion - Monday, March 1

The appointed Gospel reading for today is Mark 3:7-19a. Here, we read of the selection of the twelve apostles. There is a verse which drew my attention this morning. It is a verse which exposes the human tendency to envy.

“And (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

Great multitudes are following Jesus. The implication is that not all are called up on the mountain. Of those who are called up on the mountain, twelve are singled out. What of the others called to the top of the mountain but not selected? What of the multitude who remained, faithfully waiting, at the bottom of the hill?

Envy creeps into our lives when we find ourselves so close we can see it all taking place, but left out.

Did some come down the mountain and stop following Jesus because he didn’t pick them? Did some come down the mountain and experience doubt – wondering if there was something Jesus saw in them which made them unfit or unworthy?

The GALSM retreat was focused on the seven mortal sins – envy is one of these. It became easier for me to understand the severe danger of envy as I read this text and identified with those who were not among the twelve.

Mark 3 reports no such reaction among those who went up the mountain nor among those who were left at the base of the hill. I guess it must have been Jesus’ presence, his words, his way of explaining what was happening which allowed them to understand that though they were not singled out in this way, they were highly valued and loved. Must have been something that Jesus was able to do, which anyone else would have found difficult to do.

Perhaps if we focus on Jesus, feelings of envy will not creep into our lives either.