choices

Sirach 15:15-20

If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every human action. He has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.

Modern Psalm response

One: The love of God is deep and wide, but we have historically continued to choose narrow paths of judgment and fear.

All: Nevertheless, God persisted

One: God offered us life, and we chose death

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us liberation, and many chose condemnation

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us joy, and many chose bitterness

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us forgiveness, and many chose to hold grudges

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us diverse ecosystems, and many chose monoculture

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us water in the desert, and many chose to look back fondly to slavery in Egypt

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us a place to live when we were nomads, and many chose to hoard the gift

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God offered us freedom, and many chose to turn away

All: Nevertheless, She persisted

One: God will persist in pursuing us with love and justice, mercy and grace, forgiveness and life. It is God’s way, sending prophets and teachers to hound us, to encourage us, to call us ever forward into freedom, until all of us are free.

All: For every time we persist in stubborn spite, God persists in stubborn compassion. May we come to reflect that persistent compassion in our daily living, until all of us are free.

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Matthew 5:21-37

[Jesus said to the disciples:] “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I saw to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body o go into hell. It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and however marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes,’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

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Free will and responsibility. This doesn’t sound like a very Lutheran sermon from the start, with the emphasis on keeping the law, but love and grace are not cheap, that we should grasp at them and cast our pearls before swine. Every day we have choices. And, yes, we are in worship to hear how much God loves us, we are in worship to refresh and renew, we are in worship to be refueled and filled with hope for the future after whatever the previous week did to wear us out. But we are in worship with millions of other people across the world who are living in all varieties of livelihoods, all varieties of beliefs and values and experiences and struggles. We cannot be in worship of a God this big and forget how big the community of God is, how far-reaching is this love, how many people in worship this morning are going hungry every night and how many are homeless and how many are enacting the very practices that keep them hungry and homeless. We are a church divided in a world divided, and lest we feel stuck in an inescapable rut, we must remember that we always have the power to choose, and the responsibility to own and learn from our choices.

The great lie is that we will fail and remain fallen, that we will be defined only by failure if we try anything new, that we will do something so terrible that we will be ultimately rejected by the love that only appeared to be unconditional. It is when we believe this lie that we fall prey to it, when we believe this lie that we kill each other, when we believe this lie that we find ourselves powerless and pointing our fingers and claiming that we are ‘only doing our job’ when we go with the crowd, and stop challenging authority, and do terrible things because they are easier.

Life is complicated, indeed. Patterns, habits, expectations, traditions, all seek to tie us down and lead us like sheep to the slaughter. Which is why the Lamb of God, in the power of every freedom imaginable, all authority in heaven and on earth, went to the slaughter like a lamb, freely, to be beside us even in our weakest moments. But that’s not the end of the story, brothers and sisters. That’s not where our road has to lead, where our journey naturally ends. We have a choice, every moment, to change direction, to stop causing harm, to think differently about our neighbors and our enemies, to see something, anything, from someone else’s point of view.

And in so doing, we will not earn God’s love, we will not earn heaven, will not earn redemption or another star in our crowns. These are not things to earn, notches in our belt or badges of honor to parade around like teacher’s pet. We already have God’s love, unconditionally, already are good enough, as our starting point. Any God worth our worship does not threaten us with hell for missing the mark when we try to uncover heaven in our midst, but if we are to claim to follow and worship a God who has made the cosmos and called it all ‘good,’ then we have the challenge and the moment-to-moment choice to live like we actually believe it’s true.

many uses for salt

Matthew 5:13-20
[Jesus said:] “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to so the same, will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

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The last time I paid attention to salt was in a long bath soak, where those Epsom salts are used to draw out impurities from the skin. It's rare to slow down long enough for a nice long soak in the tub lately, so much to do, but drawing out toxins is important work. Especially when those toxins have been planted so deeply for so long that they have taken root, it might make us sick at first to pull out those structures that hold up disease, so as to make way for health. Like going for a really good massage and forgetting to hydrate after, if we don't recognize the toxins and take care of cleansing and resting and repairing after breaking up the infections, they just come back, resettle, root a bit deeper and get nastier as time goes on. Which is another reason salt is important - when you conquer an area and destroy the city of the oppressor, you salt the earth so they can never again put down roots in your land. It's extreme, but salt is cleansing, it is powerful and valuable, and our ability to tolerate injustice has gotten to the point that extreme measures are looking less and less extreme in comparison. Not only that, but injustice robs us of our voice, our diversity, our health, and our character, so the power of salt to highlight our natural flavor is also vitally important in these days. You want to see the kingdom of God? Righteousness, my friends. It exists in the righteousness that celebrates, rather than ostracizes, diversity. The righteousness that claims justice for the least of these, as expressed in the laws of God, which stress care for the outcast and widow, protection for those who cannot protect themselves, leaving the gleanings of our fields for the migrants who pass through, remembering ourselves what it means to be a wandering people. Even the laws in Leviticus about what animals we are to eat or not to eat center on the theme of not hunting those creatures which have no defense against us.
We live as salt for the earth both when we uproot injustice and when we contribute to the thriving of those whose lives are different than ours. This of course takes effort, because the entropy of privilege lulls us with promises of comfort, of safety if only we keep our noses clean, of peace kept by avoiding conflict. But that sort of passive inactivity is how a garden becomes overgrown with weeds, how neglect of a body leads that body to wake up with bedsores and brittle bones to boot. Sure, we can ignore the injustice around us as long as it does not affect us directly, but the way of it is those vines creep into our view eventually, choking off our lives by first shrinking the diversity of our ecosystem until we no longer live by the give and take of diverse minerals and nutrients. Am I making sense to anyone? You know they say if you want your insides to function optimally it's a good idea to ingest diverse bacteria, probiotics, to recolonize the guts with those organisms that help our internal systems to function in the healthiest way possible. Yet injustice acts as swallowing bleach or trying to subsist on only super bowl snacks, it might feel awful for some at first and great for others, but eventually the entire body suffers for it.
This is a lot of metaphors, isn't it? And lots of Jesus' stories are meant to connect in us with the contexts where we live, so they're not really specific, but illustrative of themes and values, so that we can think for ourselves about how they translate into our understandings of what makes for a world that thrives. And whether the law prohibiting preachers from pushing politics from the pulpit it lifted or no, it should be made clear that everything we do is political, because it all has an effect on the world and the people around us, and all that politics is is how we live with people. How do we decide who deserves what and what to do about it when those expectations are not met or different expectations from different life experiences come into conflict. Refusing to voice our values or preventing others from doing so would be to deny our saltiness, to refuse to feel our feelings or let others be heard and seen, that is the opposite of righteousness.
So how in this day and age is your saltiness coming into contact with the world that needs its full flavor to thrive? How is your saltiness uprooting injustice and bringing out the natural flavors of those who have had their cultures and characters stifled? And how are you uprooting those injustices that have kept you captive, how are you being supported in celebrating your full humanity? Because if you're not, then you need to find a way and a community where that does happen. God did not make you to stifle you, but to experience your fullness in community with the fullness of your neighbors, so that life may thrive in every place, in every color, in every shade of light and dark, in spite of every tragedy and fear. That, my friends, is the kingdom of God. Nobody gets left out or left behind. Nobody gets turned away. Nobody has to prove their worthiness, because everyone's unique flavors are uncovered and embraced, uplifted and made to shine. Because salt cannot lose its saltiness. Just by existing we have already changed the world. So, salt, keep on being your holy, human selves, keep on encouraging your neighbors of every color, language, and nationality to do the same.

Beatitudes Baptism

Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the LORD says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Baalam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shiitic to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”

“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Psalm 15

LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill? Those who lead a blameless life and do what is right, who speak the truth from their heart; they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil to their friends; they do not cast discredit upon a neighbor. In their sight the wicked are rejected, but they honor those who fear the LORD. They have sworn upon their health and do not take back their word. They do not give their money in hope of gain, nor do they take bribes against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be overthrown.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom rom God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

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Preaching for a Baptism feels a bit like being one of those fairies at the birth of princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. Here is the story to bless your life and faith journey that begins today, young Brady. Of course, it’s not like a horoscope or fortune-telling, and it’s not magic, but in some ways it can feel that way. There will be days when today’s reading of the Beatitudes will come up in Brady’s life as instructive, or as a blessing for his own choices, grounding for his values. Will he choose to embrace or reject them? That is something only time will tell. One thing is for sure, Brady is being baptized into a world that needs these blessings of Jesus, this reminder of Paul from his letter to the Corinthians. Let’s hear them again:

“Consider your own call, kindred: Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are…” Pretty powerful stuff. And Paul knew of which he spoke: his is one of the most influential voices in the formation of Christianity, and he wrote from places of persecution, on the run, incarcerated. Of course, he was still a man in a man’s world, so he had some social advantages, to be sure, and the baggage of his day elevated him above women and slaves in a way human rights advocates today would outright reject. Knowing his power, though, was part and parcel in how he was able to use that power for as much good as his imagination would allow. 

Now, I’m not thinking we are here to send Brady off to a life where we hope he will end up in prison like Paul, but we certainly are here to remind Brady, and one another, of our positions of power in this world, even when the world might seem otherwise to deny that power. I don’t mean  only race and class and citizenship and gender privilege. I mean the power of knowing yourself, the power of recognizing your character, of accepting your wholeness and owning the compassion to likewise accept others in their wholeness.

Because here’s the thing: too many Christian preachers are telling us that we know God is on our side when we win the lottery or can afford a second car or just narrowly miss some disaster or tragedy. Which of course means that God is against anyone who can’t make ends meet, that the poor somehow deserve to be poor because God would make them rich if they were righteous enough. I would say those preachers are missing the point of the Beatitudes and probably have chosen to ignore Paul’s letter to the Corinthians which was read today. Then again, we all tend to pick and choose which Bible passages support ideas and values we already hold, don’t we? So it’s not so much that we’re promising today to teach Brady to read the Bible in the ‘right’ way, or come to be the ‘right’ kind of Christian, as it is that we’re promising today to remind Brady and his family day after day that they are loved no matter what, that they belong no matter what, and that God will never reject them. Which is also something that can be argued both ways, depending on which scriptures we decide have the most importance.

As Lutheran Christians, we hold that the love of God shown in the cross of Christ is our defining value. That God would rather die beside us than live separated from us, that’s the promise we cling to, the central story that informs how we read and interpret the rest. We do not baptize Brady today to save him from the fear and fires of hell, or to simply check the box of what ‘good traditional family values’ require - no. We gather to witness this washing, to support these promises and affirm this commitment to love, as a reminder to us all that we are born good enough. God requires nothing of Brady, neither understanding nor assent nor even potty training, to love this child. God requires none of these things from us to love us, either.

I think the Beatitudes are a beautiful reminder to us of how far-reaching is the love of God, how deeply embedded in the grit and struggle of daily living is the compassion and acceptance of divinity. Jesus does not tell his disciples to pity the poor or the grieving, he tells them that they are blessed. Jesus does not tell his disciples to save the meek and the merciful, he tells them that they are blessed. Protect the pure in heart? Sure, but don’t underestimate their power. And the peacemakers - not peacekeepers, peacemakers - reflect the divine so much they will be called God’s own children. Especially in a day and age when so many are chomping at the bit for the rush of adrenaline and glory that come from war, the peacemakers are the ones who reflect God’s nature to us.

So, Brady, consider your own call. You may not seem powerful, but your very existence has already changed the world. There are people now whose entire lives revolve around caring for you and preparing you to set out into the world independently. You are becoming your own person, and our freedom is wrapped up in your freedom, your thriving is planted now in our thriving, whatever that might look like in the years to come. But know this: whatever your circumstance, whatever your choices, you are to be celebrated, never pitied, you are to celebrate others, not pity them, because you are human like the rest of us, human like God became human in Jesus, human like the blessed ones, blessed like the human ones. May you dwell deeply in that blessing, root firmly in the compassion of a God who forever loves and accepts you, and grow strong in the power of that inherent goodness, as you learn about who you are, and teach us more about who we are, too. We will make many mistakes together, and we will learn over and over again together just how deep that well of compassion and acceptance runs, because we are blessed. And blessed are you.

Grace undivided

Isaiah 9:1-4

There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time the LORD brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they will rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

Psalm 27

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? One thing I ask of the LORD; one thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life; to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek God in the temple. For in the day of trouble God will give me shelter, hide me in the hidden places of the sanctuary, and raise me high upon a rock. Even now my head is lifted up above my enemies who surround me. Therefore I will offer sacrifice in the sanctuary, sacrifices of rejoicing; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Hear my voice, O LORD, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me. My heart speaks your message - “Seek my face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek. Hide not your face from me, turn not away from your servant in anger. Cast me not away - you have been my helper; forsake me not, O God of my salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crisps and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Matthew 4:12-23

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea - for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

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I have long loved what Paul wrote to the Corinthians precisely for this morning’s reading from that letter: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” We have many ways historically to look at the difference between perishing and being saved. Preachers and theologians have interpreted those images from many perspectives: from places of academic distance from life and death, and from the places of actually being hunted and killed, and in those in between places where it’s hard to tell which way the wind is blowing. That is the way we interpret scripture over changing times. We look for what speaks to the now, rather than expecting a story will always have the same infallible and simply black and white truth to speak for all time. But where we are in the now varies much between people, too. After something like Friday’s inauguration, Christians are reading Scripture from all sorts of different emotional places. Christians stand in all shades of the emotional spectrum in response to our new president, and the whole rest of the world, which does not claim Christianity in any form, is similarly mixed in its reactions.

But first we look to our own house. How we are divided, church. Look around at the world and it is not difficult to see the ways in which Christ’s church is publicly splintered in so many ways. Some point to the beauty of this diversity, as each denomination or smaller community can be seen to represent a part of the greater body, while some struggle mightily with the realities of ongoing persecution from branches which claim the same root to the tree. That every Christian stream has raised extremists for violence or justice, as well as scores of silently lukewarm who simply look the other way, is unsurprising. It’s historically written into the DNA of this institution. Of course, we have all the choice and power in the world to alter our history as we write it. But so often we in the middle remain where we are, carried by the prevailing winds of the system, while those who cannot escape persecution cry out to a God whose people refuse to hear.

The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. An all-powerful deity who willingly and joyfully lays down that power to suffer alongside the outcast, is absolutely ludicrous to those afraid of losing their influence and sense of control. Our fear kills us, over and over again. Our anxiety blinds us to the beautifully good and creatively powerful both within and around us. Our living is best served in the great mix of diverse ecosystems where we were planted, yet we try so hard to remain ‘pure' that we kill each other and ourselves in the process of trying to save ourselves. We are dying in so many ways that the very idea of an all-powerful love giving itself to and for us without reservation seems completely inconceivable.

Church, we have a problem. A history of problems. And we are so very divided against one another that we have not been able to come together against the very death that drives us toward more death. So we have this message of the cross to guide us. The life granted by a love strong enough to be unafraid of death, that is the salvation in which we live.

Paul reminds us of this unifying love in the letter he writes to the church in Corinth. It’s not a competition of who has the better human leader, who learned from the most prestigious school, who has which credentials backing them up to make them the ‘better’ spiritual leader. Everyone has something to learn and something to teach. Even fishermen.

In the Gospel this morning, Jesus calls fishermen to be his disciples. And in case we’ve gotten used to the idea, fishermen were not exactly high achievers in the eyes of society. Of course, in reality, we know labor-intensive work is really hard, takes a lot of stamina, and if they were running the family business it takes a certain amount of intelligence to organize and plan, to prioritize and prepare for various outcomes. But just as today, labor wasn’t socially valued on the large scale the way more intellectual or political positions were, and so the class divide between fishermen and the educated was stark. Imagine if a published expert on theology asked entry-level fast food workers to stop flipping burgers to be her upper management. I’m not saying it’s alright for us to treat fast food workers as any less than CEOs of large companies, but I know we already have these patterns of behavior, and it seems to fit the illustration.

What this points to is that our credentials aren’t our defining character traits. Our character isn’t proven by the amount of money we make in a year or which guru we attach ourselves to. It’s the way we treat one another, the way we care for each other, the way we protect the marginalized and stand up for the ones who have historically been silenced, the way we lay down our privilege and take up the strength to love. Living by the message of the cross, the power of God for those who are being saved, means we don’t rely on the ‘proof’ of labels to back up our decisions, but on the power of compassion and mercy, the freedom of a life lived without fear of death.

Simon and Andrew weren’t chosen because they had what the rest of the leaders would call the ‘right connections.’ They were, after all, fishermen, because they were deemed not smart enough to continue in their academic studies. And that means everybody who worked with them knew they weren’t smart enough, hadn’t passed the bar, didn’t have what it takes. Do you know how that feels? To be on the receiving end of that sort of assumption? We judge ourselves, and each other, all the time, but we don’t have to. Jesus didn’t tell Simon and Andrew that they needed more training to follow him, he just called them to follow, and they did. They learned as they went, and they were good enough from the start. Just as you are. 

Wherever you find yourself these days, you are part of that light in the darkness. Which means sometimes seeking out the darkness and listening to where light is needed. It means sitting with others who are in darkness to listen to where the rod of the oppressor needs still to be broken. It means we cannot be intimidated by the powers that arrested John the Baptizer, cannot be made fearful by threats of violence or injustice. Living the gospel of the cross of Christ means we already have the power to lift one another up, that we are not afraid, that we do not have to earn goodness or value, or be fearful that others might somehow prove us less good or less valuable. We are already enough. We already have enough. We don’t rely on powers and authorities to give us the rights to live in the freedom we were born to. And neither does anyone else.

God does not make distinction between who deserves grace and who does not. The grace and mercy of God are spilled out from the cross for all that lives, regardless of where we come from or what else we have earned. Wherever you stand today, know that grace and mercy are on your side, just as much as grace and mercy are on the side of those who stand opposite you. So let’s live like it, like the kingdom of God has come near.

Washed and dedicated

Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faith or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

Psalm 29

Ascribe to the LORD, you gods, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due god’s name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is upon the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is a powerful voice; the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar trees; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon; the LORD makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD bursts forth in lightning flashes. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare. And in the temple of the LORD all are crying, “Glory!” The LORD sits enthroned above the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forevermore. O LORD, give strength to your people; give them, O LORD, the blessings of peace.

Acts 10:34-43

Peter began to speak to Cornelius and his household: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Even Jesus isn't above the law. Sure, we’d expect somebody who wrote the laws to be able to bend them a bit, get around them, call in a favor every now and then, but Jesus follows this standard of righteousness by acknowledging he is right there with us in the thick of things and getting baptized alongside folks who wanted to look holy and folks who were pretty convinced nothing they ever did would be holy enough and folks who had been told they were holy and folks who had heard all their lives nothing but how unholy they were. Whoever had come to John for this washing, signifying a new start rooted in turning their lives around, no matter how many times they had tried to change and failed to do so, how many times they repeated the ritual hoping hard it would ‘take’ this time and they could finally be free of their burdens, how many times they had come just for the spectacle, how many times they had gone through the motions because their friends urged them to try it, Jesus went right into that water with them. Once. Since three of the four gospels hold no real insight into his life prior to this event, we can read into this baptism that it was a turning point for Jesus, an end to whatever life path he had been on previously, and a complete and total dedication to the work set before him on the long road to Jerusalem. 

Many, though not all, of us have been to the waters of baptism at some point. Some of us remember that day, some of us were far too young to recall the sights, sounds, and smells, or the feel of the water and chrism oil on our heads, the lighted candle, the promises of parents and sponsors. Our theology proclaims that infant baptism is a sign for the whole community of God’s unending and unconditional love and acceptance of us, even before we have a chance to reject or deny that love. Some who are baptized as infants go on to leave the church and the faith entirely, some come and go, some make of the church a second family, and whatever decisions we make that precede or follow baptism, the fact that we are loved as we are does not waver. Will we fall short of our expectations, or the expectations of others? Will we disappoint or anger somebody from time to time? Will there be conflict? Of course! Baptism is not a ticket to instant comfort, not an award proclaiming we are always right and completely above those who may not be baptized in a way we recognize. God knows we need physical reminders of these intangible promises, so we have the sacrament of Baptism as a sign to point to, with elements as everyday, as basic to human living, as water and stories. We have these elements joined to the promises of God so those reminders surround us each day.

We talked a bit about baptism last week, when we read about Jesus’ naming day, when he was only eight days old. Two thousand years ago, the rites and rituals were very different than they are today. They adapt to culture and context over and over again, so the baptisms we celebrate today look almost nothing like they did when Jesus came to John at the Jordan, at a time when baptisms meant a very distinct choosing of a particular spiritual path. In many traditions today, it still carries the same meaning. And while that is not our theology as Lutherans, it does beg the question: to what are you wanting to devote your life? What direction do you wish your life had taken? I’m not talking about New Year’s resolutions, I’m talking about where your values lie and how closely the pattern of your life so far reflects those values, that vision of the world. God has already unequivocally claimed you and accepted you, there are no depths of failure to which you can fall where God would be so petty as to abandon you, so if there is no failure to be afraid of, what can you turn toward, what can you try, what will you be willing to risk, to live into the life that really is life?

Because, friends, we only have this one life. We have hope of resurrection, yes, but we cannot let that hope in heaven rob us of our life in the here and now. Baptism is not a ticket to salvation so that nothing else we do matters - it is quite the opposite. It is an invitation, and a dedication, to co-creating heaven in the here and now with the God who created us to begin with. Far from nothing we do matters, everything we do can be significant, can be full of holiness, can bring life and light into dead and drowning places. Whether we give or receive this hope hardly matters, because we will have days when we hardly have the energy to hope for ourselves let alone to share any with others, and sometimes being loved is the best we can do. That’s okay, too. That’s better than okay, in fact, that’s what we live for.

Jesus refused to be removed from the world we live in when he submitted to that baptism. He immersed himself in our rules and rituals and expectations and pressures and lived his own life as his own person in spite of it all. Yeah, we killed him for it. We harassed him and threatened him because his life of freely joining us in our struggles threatened our hierarchy of power that separates people into righteous and unrighteous, worthy and worthless. God has watched generation after generation of holy people dismantle and disavow one another for the sake of some self-imposed systems of oppression and power which we didn’t need for survival, we didn’t need for success, we didn’t need for thriving. And God came down in the flesh to walk in those systems and let them throw their worst at him, and love us all through all of it anyway, even though they are the vey systems we build and perpetuate. Every step along his ministry, Jesus is recommitting to us, again and again, dedicating himself to this relationship so that we might finally trust the promise that we are loved no matter where we come from or what’s in our hearts, no matter what we’re hiding or hiding behind.

And the best part? Even if you don’t think God could possibly love you, for whatever reason, or that God couldn't possibly love a certain somebody or type of somebody, for whatever reason, God’s love is bigger, stronger, more mind-boggling and more stubborn than all of our problems, than everything we call ‘sin,’ than every fear or bad habit. That water that washes us in baptism? Jesus is in that water with us. And that water is in us, that water makes this planet livable, that water is everywhere. Almost as much everywhere as God is.

Gardens watered with tears

(Liturgical readings first, sermon to follow. Hymn of the Day is "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming")

Isaiah 63:7-9

I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD, the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, because of all that the LORD has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely”; and he became their savior in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Psalm 148

Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise God in the heights. Praise the LORD, all you angels; sing praise, all you hosts of heaven. Praise the LORD, sound and moon; sing praise, all you shining stars. Praise the LORD, heaven of heavens, and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD, who commanded, and they were created, who made them stand fast forever and ever, giving them a law that shall not pass away. Praise the LORD form the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps; fire and hail, now and fog, tempestuous wind, doing God’s will; mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars; wild beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds; sovereigns of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the world; young men and maidens, old and young together. Let them praise the name of the LORD, whose name only is exalted, whose splendor is over earth and heaven. The LORD has raised up strength for the people and praise for all faithful servants, the children of Israel, a people who are near the LORD. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 2:10-18

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have oneFather. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you." And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.” Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that though death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Matthew 2:12-23

Now after the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” When Herod died, an angel of the LORD suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

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Having only last week gathered in candlelight to sing Silent Night, and the week before that to watch our children share a Christmas pageant with us, this first Sunday of Christmas takes a turn for the terrifying, doesn’t it? Or did you also prefer not to hear that line in the middle of today’s Gospel, where Herod the king was so insecure in his authority, so threatened by a prophecy about a newborn infant, that he lashed out and killed every child two years old and younger? Granted, he had a reputation for brutality toward his own wives and children, so we can’t exactly be surprised. This is what we mean today when we say ‘fragile masculinity.’ A grown man, king, no less, who feels his power is threatened by his wife, his children, a baby, probably shouldn’t have that much power to begin with. I’m sure we would all prefer to ignore that whole infant genocide part, but this is the sort of state-sanctioned terror that makes refugees out of otherwise ordinary folks just trying to live their ordinary lives. And if we don’t talk about it in the text today we will certainly be all the more able to ignore it happening all around us in present day current events.

Did you see the pictures from Aleppo last year? Or hear about the southern border, all those migrants running for their lives having basic human needs cut off when water stops in the desert are dismantled? Or kids here in the States trying to get out of systems of poverty and racism being stopped at every opportunity they might have and redirected into the prison system? Every day, millions of kids, millions of families, are running for their lives, the way Joseph took Mary and her child and ran to Egypt. 

So many families were destroyed and distraught by Herod’s desperate grasp for authority, it hardly seems right to celebrate this one that escaped, but we can celebrate while we grieve, we can hold both terror and joy in tension as we learn to live in this world. It’s not easy, but to cut off one experience for the sake of preserving another, only makes one go stale and the other turn to gangrene that poisons the whole body. Jesus wasn’t born into a black and white world, but one which is all kinds of shades of grey. We don’t live in a strictly joyful or strictly grieving world, either. God didn’t create us to only live with joy and comfort, to avoid conflict, to live without passion or compassion, but gave us free choice, responsibility for our own bodies and for the care of those who have been cast aside. 

The birth of Jesus didn’t make the world into a Hallmark card or a Precious Moments scene, it didn’t clean up the afterbirth and leave bright sparkling white swaddling cloths for the baby. In a way, nothing changed when Jesus was born. But in a way, everything changed when Jesus was born. King Herod knew that power was tenuous, knew his authority was shaky, knew the system was broken, in the same way Pharaoh decided to turn the Israelites into slaves when they outnumbered the Egyptians. When Jesus was born, it was a challenge to that corrupt system, a healthy medicine injected into an infected body, and the sickness fought back tooth and nail.

We know this feeling in ourselves, when we change bad habits for healthier ones, when we struggle to take better care of ourselves in a series of failed new year’s resolutions. Breaking bad habits is hard, even when we know those habits may be killing us, but we fall into the rut of patterns of behavior that we take for granted and have gotten used to. Kind of the ‘better the devil you know than the devil you don’t’ way of thinking. 

But what if we were all refugees, and the kingdom of God welcomed each and every one of us in, without background checks, without paperwork, without proof of our good intentions? What if we could, like Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, escape the murderous self-hate talk that surrounds and invades us, and start over, begin anew, plant in fresh soil, draw upon a clean slate? What if we all were uprooted and re-aligned with mercy and compassion, instead of dragging our heavy feet through death and fear? What if we could drop our guard and be embraced for who we are rather than for what side we choose to be on or what family we come from? What if we could stop running? What if the whole world could stop running from death and live in that tension called life, with the depths of emotions and experiences that will not destroy us after all? If we were loved strongly enough to feel strong enough to see the world as it is, to look at it all head-on and recognize God present in it all as God is present in us as part of it all?

Kindred in Christ, this is the world Jesus was born into. The world we are living in. It is fragile, it is complicated, it is sometimes rather ugly, and it is often very heartbreakingly beautiful. Gardens of roses watered by tears, powers corrupted by fear being overturned by powers rooted in compassion, and every day a fresh start. A fresh start for everyone in God’s own carefully tended garden.

Christmas Eve 2016

Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own town to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid for see -I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was  with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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In those days a decree went out to count all the people, to take a census, to make sure taxes were being properly collected, to keep track of who lived where, how concentrated was the Jewish population in which places, how many soldiers might be needed to keep the peace if the oppressed got it into their heads to protest how Rome was mistreating them. I know it's the way our Christmas story begins every year, but consider how often this year already we have heard history repeating itself, how many reminders of days some people still alive can remember: other times Jews were gathered together to be counted, even tattooed with numbers to keep track of them, or when Japanese Americans were taken from their homes to be collected all in one place so the rest of us could keep an eye on them, or the talk these days of creating a Muslim registry. Now the administration wants also to know who worked with Hilary Clinton on gender equality initiatives, and which scientists have studied and reported on climate change. Everybody gets counted, categorized, put into smaller and smaller boxes to be set against each other and controlled, so those in power can keep their power while the rest of us go hungry and blame each other. 

And yes, it's political. We’re starting a story about Christmas with a story about taxes and government control. This, my friends, is the world into which Jesus was born. And this isn't a conspiracy theory, it’s how power corrupts and fights to hold onto privilege. The people aren’t the problem, the inequality, the fear, the anxiety, the constant fight for worthiness, that’s the problem. Our story of creation begins with God saying that we are very good, and the rest of the downhill fall is that we don’t believe it. God tells us again and again that we are good enough, that we belong, that we are connected and seen and remembered and heard, and on the large and small scale we continue to discount that word, to disregard that promise of faithfulness, to expect the worst of ourselves and each other, until we come to utterly despair of humanity’s goodness. Even if it’s not we ourselves who we can’t imagine being good enough, we do it to one another every time we let insults fly and injuries go untended. It’s like we’ve gotten it into our heads that there isn’t enough love to go around and so we have to fight one another and prove ourselves better in order to get a corner on the acceptance market.

What complete and utter cow crap that is! And it’s precisely literal cow crap that Jesus was born surrounded by when Mary gave birth in that stable. Whether it was a barn or a cave doesn’t really matter for the point that Jesus wasn’t born someplace high and lofty and comfortable, but right in the middle of the census, when his people were being closely watched for conspiracy and threats of terrorism. Jesus was an undocumented migrant, living in a place that was overcrowded and unwelcoming. Today he would probably be deported, harassed, his mother targeted for sexual harassment and his father shamed as an aging contract worker. This is the world we have made.

But, this is also the world he chose freely to enter and to live in. For ever time we decide this world isn’t good enough, God chooses to live in it. For every time we decide that somebody else, for reason of color, nationality, language, gender, religion, class, or whatever, isn’t good enough, God chooses freely to be made manifest in those very people we have put on the margins. For every time we look in the mirror or look back on our lives and decide that, for whatever reason, we ourselves are not good enough, God comes to us in the flesh to say that, yes, being human is in fact good enough. Not only good enough, but that first word about us at creation was that we are very good.

So this Christmas, we may have any number of emotions around the holiday itself, around the current political climate, around our own so-called successes and failures, but the point of this Christmas is God showing us in the very flesh and blood, sweat and tears, of Jesus, that being human is in fact just as good as being God. God put down all divine power to be human, after all, and that is what we celebrate today. We are good enough. God said so at the beginning, and still continues to say so today, and if we can’t take God’s word for it, God will come to earth in our own very flesh, and live and die just like the rest of us, to prove to us that, yes, indeed, being human is holy, being human is a miracle, being human is immeasurably enough.

Which is hard enough to hear for ourselves, let alone to remember when strangers and neighbors and family members are complete jerks to us, or when people we have been taught to hate and fear turn out to bleed just like we do - because God’s Word came to be flesh in the most human and vulnerable way possible, in the skin of someone who has been ridiculed and hunted from day one. Shepherds knew what that was like, so shepherds were among the first to recognize him. Will we recognize God in our own flesh? In that of our Muslim neighbors? Our black neighbors? Our female neighbors? What will that do to the world when we can recognize divinity in the very dirt from which we were made and to which we will return? When our eyes are opened to the holiness all around us and within us?

Come and worship the One who has chosen to live in and among you. He is coming, always coming, and he is already here.