Category: Homilies

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said: “I thank you Lord of heaven and earth…because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

• Why hide things from the wise and learned?
• Isn’t it the usual way of affairs for the wise and learned to know things that are simply beyond the grasp of little children?
• Isn’t it the other way around:
• Little kids cannot grasp things that learned adults can?

 

Well…there is a reversal going on here…typical of Jesus…typical of the Bible.

• Younger brothers are picked instead of the eldest.
• Infertile women give birth.
• The greatest shall be humbled…the humble…exalted.
• Whoever would be greatest must be slave of all.
• The hungry are filled…the rich sent away empty.
• The first shall be last…and the last…first.
• Itinerant fishermen are picked to be apostles.

 

Today…Christ extends his invitation to all his little ones who would regard it:

• “Come to me…all you who are weary and burdened…and I will give you rest.”

 

I would like to share with you something about a little one…a little-known American immigrant.

• His name was Korczak Ziolkowski.
• Korczak was born in Boston in 1908 to Polish parents and orphaned at the age of one.
• He spent his life being shuffled through a series of foster homes in poor neighborhoods.
• Though he never received formal art training…
• In his teens he worked as an apprentice to a ship maker…
• And began to demonstrate his skill in carving wood.

 

In 1939…Korczak moved to the Black Hills of South Dakota to assist in the creation of the Mount Rushmore Memorial.

• Less than a year later…Korczak’s marble sculpture of Ignacy Jan Paderewski…
• Pianist…composer and prime minister of Poland…
• Won first prize at the New York World’s Fair.

 

Shortly afterward…he was approached by several Lakota Indian chiefs who asked him to build a monument honoring Native Americans.

• Korczak accepted the project and began research and planning for the sculpture.
• Three years later the project was put on hold while Korczak enlisted in the United States Army.
• He was wounded on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy.
• After the war Korczak moved back to the Black Hills and began his search for a suitable place for the monument.
• The Lakota considered the Black Hills a sacred place and wanted the memorial built there.

 

When completed…the monument…a three-dimensional sculpture of the Indian Chief Crazy Horse sitting on a charging steed…

• Will be the largest sculpture in the world.
• To put the size of the memorial in perspective.
• Just Crazy Horse’s war bonnet is large enough to contain all the presidents’ heads on Mount Rushmore.

 

Korczak died thirty-four years after starting work on the mountain.

• The statue far from being completed.
• His final words to his wife were:
• “You must finish the mountain…
• But go slowly so it is done right.”

 

The whole thing was absurd.

• A man with no money.
• No training and no heavy equipment.
• Decides to carve a mountain.

 

Korczak had galleries of critics who threw barbs and insults at him:

• “You are crazy…you are a fool…you will never do it.”
• But every day he climbed his mountain and with a chisel here…
• A blast there…he moved tons of stone as his dream emerged from the mountain.
• Korczak knew he’d never live to see his work finished but this was no reason to stop.

 

As he lay dying…he was asked if he was disappointed to not see the monument completed.

• “No” he said… “you only have to live long enough to inspire others to do great things.”
• And this he did.
• As the mountain took form…the masses began to dream too.

 

Today millions come from around the world to see Korczak’s Mountain.

• And a professional crew works year-round to move the dream forward.
• It is no longer a question of if the statue will be completed.
• Only when.

 

Korczak’s greatest legacy is not a public one.

• The massive stone mountain that he conquered.
• But the mountain he first conquered in himself.
• A mountain that he climbed not alone but yoked to Jesus.

 

There are moments in all lives…

• Great and small that we must trudge…
• With our Lord at our side yoked to us…
• Into infinite wilderness…
• To endure our midnight hours of pain and sorrow.
• The Gethsemane moments…when we are on our knees.
• That these moments are given to us is neither accidental nor cruel.
• The Spirit of the living God Melts us…Molds us…Fills us…Uses us for ministry in the Kingdom of God.

 

Like Korczak’s monument…our mission will not be completed in our lifetime.

• And in the end…we will find that we were never sculpting alone.
• Korczak said:
• “I tell my children never forget that we are not complete beings in ourselves.
• There’s something greater that moves us.
• I was never carving a mountain.
• But God was carving me.
• While God was yoked to me…he was at the same time carving me.”

 

Many try to shoulder burdens alone…

• Burdens that Christ would like to shoulder with us.
• Jesus said: “My yoke is easy…and my burden is light.”
• To be yoked with Christ is to allow him to share the burden of our daily lives.
• To allow him to take off our shoulders the weight of trying to solve our problems alone.
• Being yoked with Christ is one of the secrets of a full and productive life.

 

Jesus stands today with the yoke upon His shoulder.

• He calls to each one and says:
• “Come and share my yoke…
• And let us plow together the long furrow of your life.
• I will be a true yokefellow to you.
• The burden shall be on me.”
• “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” says Jesus…
• For I am gentle and humble in heart…
• And you will find rest for your souls.
• For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 10:40-42

To be welcoming is to exude a spirit of excitement and expectation.

• Welcomes are a smile…not a frown.
• Welcomes are open arms…not crossed ones.
• A welcoming spirit is positive and upbeat.

We experience this every day.

• When we were kids…and took the Chevy or Ford on a cross-country vacation…
• We stopped to take a photo at the state line where there was a huge sign that said:
• “Welcome to Wyoming”?
• The entire family was excited.
• Wyoming likes us!
• So how could we not like Wyoming in return?

Airports welcome us.

• Walmart welcomes us and even has greeters at the front door.
• A welcome is good news.
• We are accepted. We are wanted.
• More than that…here in Wyoming or at Walmart…everything will be done to make our vacation or shopping a save money…live better experience.

Hospitality is among the most ancient of human traditions.

• It’s about providing the essentials of life for another person.
• Especially another person who is on a journey.
• Food…water…a roof over one’s head.
• The offering of hospitality brings two people…guest and host…closer.

 

Most of us contribute to charitable causes.

• Especially those that aid the poor.
• We sign a check or click “enter” to send a contribution.
• But that’s not what Jesus recommends in our Gospel.
• Jesus says: “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple…
• Truly I tell you…none of these will lose their reward.”

 

Jesus is saying:

• Get right in there and help God’s suffering children with your hands.
• That is our church’s slogan: “God’s Work…Our Hands.”
• Just a cup of water…how ordinary!
• But a cup of cold water handed over personally to a person who’s thirsty…that’s extraordinary!

 

Remember how Peter Falk’s character…Columbo’s MO…was to fumble around in his rumpled raincoat and smudged tie…

• Looking like the most incompetent detective ever.
• The perpetrator would relax:
• “I’ve got nothing to fear from this fool!”
• But then…as Colombo was leaving the room…
• He would always turn around and say:
• “Just one more thing.”

 

It was then that he would drop the critical question.

• The insignificant-sounding afterthought that sprung the trap.
• The steely logic behind the question would catch the perp unawares.
• And they would stumble into a contradiction that would incriminate them.

 

At the end of Jesus’ long list of parting instructions…

• It’s as though he turns to go away…then stops.
• But the “one more thing” he says is no trap.
• It is a vital word of instruction.
• Don’t shrink from offering a cup of cold water to “these little ones.”

 

He’s been telling the disciples what a tough world it is out there.

• They are going to be scorned and rejected in some villages.
• In other villages they will receive wonderful…spirit-filled hospitality.
• They will not know…as they enter the next village…what to expect.
• They need to trust God every step of the way.

 

And then Jesus says:

• “Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.
• And whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.
• And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple…
• Truly I tell you…none of these will lose their reward.”

 

A cup of cold water seems like such a little thing.

• But it’s not.
• Cold water was a rarity in Jesus’ culture.
• He could have just said “a cup of water.”
• But he said: “a cup of cold ”

 

Well…most of us can get cold water whenever we want it.

• It’s as easy as taking ice cubes from the refrigerator.
• We have refrigerated water…water fountains and water coolers.
• Sit down in a restaurant and a glass of cold water just appears.

 

Yet…getting a cup of cold water in Jesus’ day was not so easy.

• There was no running water.
• No refrigeration.
• A household’s water came from the village well.

 

Early in the morning one of the women or girls walked to the well with a clay jar.

• Filled it and came back with it balanced on her head.
• She would place the water jar in a shady space inside the house.
• But as the hours passed it lost that cool…crisp…fresh-from-the-well taste.

 

By late afternoon.

• The time most thirsty dinner guests were likely to arrive.
• You were lucky if room-temperature water was what you had left.
• At that time of day…a room in a first-century Palestinian house…was hot.

 

If someone brings a cup of cold water to one of “these little ones” …

• One of Jesus’ disciples…whom he’s sending out to do God’s extraordinary work in ordinary ways.
• It means she got up…ran to the well…and came back with fresh…cool water.
• A special trip…a special effort…for a special person.

 

That’s what hospitality is.

• Last week we attended a memorial grave-side service for our beloved niece Kate in Wisconsin.
• Susan and I were house guests in my sister and brothers-in-law’s home.
• They made that extra effort.
• They went that extra mile to make it exactly right.
• Great food and a perfect bed and wonderful conversation.
• Oh…and cold water…what a joy!
• It was the acts of kindness Beth and John did not have to do.
• We did not expect it…but they did it anyway.
• That is what GRACE is!

 

So many gifts in this world are given according to the ordinary calculus of human values:

• An eye for an eye.
• You take care of me…I take care of you.
• You scratch my back…I scratch yours.
• You’ve done the work…you are entitled to be paid.
• A cup of ordinary water from the household jar.
• It is all anyone is entitled to.
• Oh…but cups of cold water are not so common.
• They are as rare now as they were in Jesus’ time.

 

A cup of cold water.

• Not just any water.
• Cold water.
• A gift nobody deserves.
• Because it is nothing but grace.
• It is free.
• It is priceless.
• It always has been.
• It always will be.
• We receive without price.
• Now…we give without pay.

 

We are alike in our thirst.

• We are alike in our need.
• And the only person who can quench that thirst is the one who offers not just ordinary water.
• But living water forevermore.

Matthew 10:24-39

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to this earth” we hear Jesus telling the twelve disciples in Matthew this morning.

• “I have not come to bring peace…but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father…and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…
• And one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”

 

Oh My…this is tough stuff!

• Breaking up of families.
• Not bringing peace to this world.
• But rather division and a violent sword.
• This is harsh.

I have seen these words of Jesus used to justify war or the breaking up of families because a parent is undocumented…

• Or because a family member comes forward about their sexual orientation.
• And the list goes on.

But here’s the thing:

• When we read the Gospels in their breadth and scope this message is so out of character for Jesus.
• The one who proclaims good news to the poor and who brings liberation for the oppressed.
• The one who commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
• To welcome the stranger.
• To feed the hungry.
• To provide health care to those who are sick.
• The one who sought to tear down walls that diminish.
• And who gave his life so that the world might be saved.
• Well…let’s take a closer look.

Our gospel this morning comes a bit after our Matthew reading we heard last Sunday.

• Last week we saw Jesus summoning the Twelve and commissioning them to continue his work in the world.
• And now today we hear Jesus telling the disciples about what it means to be a disciple:
• One who will bring the good news of Jesus out from the dark and into the light.
• One who will not just whisper Jesus’ good news but who will proclaim it for all to hear.

OK then…as Jesus explains this…he gives the Twelve a sharp warning about what they will face when they do follow Jesus in this good news work.

• And it’s not pretty.
• Just before today’s passage…Jesus says to the Twelve:
• “See I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.
• Beware of those who will hand you over to councils and flog you in the synagogues.
• You will be dragged before governors and kings because of me.
• People will hate you because of my name.
• Some of you will be betrayed even by those you love.
• Even brothers will betray brothers.
• Fathers will betray children.
• And children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.”

Why? Because Jesus’ good news disrupts.

• It challenges the status quo.
• It is a threat to the Empire and those who hold power in it.
• And so there are going to be people who will get ticked off and will resist it… and often will do so with force.
• Being a disciple of Jesus is risky business.
• And this is what Jesus is warning the Twelve about.
• Jesus did not come to keep the peace.
• Rather he came to make peace.
• A kind of peace that would bring about the sword from those who found it threatening.
• A kind of peace that would cause divisions.
• Even among family members and friends.
• A kind of peace that would bring about Facebook wars and twitter trolls.
• Uncomfortable holiday dinners and changed relationships.

“But have no fear” Jesus says.

• “For nothing is covered up that will not eventually be uncovered…
• And nothing is secret that will not eventually become known.”
• And there it is…” the truth will set us free.”

Therefore…we should not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul…we hear Jesus tell us.

• We should not fear what others will think of us…or what they will tweet about us…or how they will respond to us.
• Jesus urges us to only worry about how God sees us.
• For we are beloved.
• We are cherished.
• We are more valuable than many sparrows in God’s eyes.

“So” …Jesus concludes… “Take up the cross and follow me. Those who will find their life will lose it.

• And those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
• Jesus is saying that as followers…we must deny our old selves that make the Gospel centered on us while diminishing others.
• We must deny our constant desire to have power over others.
• We must stop trying to save our self-importance by striving to always be first.
• To be the most successful…to have the biggest home…to be the smartest…to be the most faithful.
• We must give up our need to always be liked by everyone.

This is our sin:

• We put God in our own image.
• We speak for God with our own interests and needs in mind.
• We make God look like us.
• We were made in God’s image.
• Not the other way around.
• What comes after Jesus’ death on the cross is the resurrection…New Life.
• To take up our cross means that something must die for new life to come about.
• To take up our own cross means we must follow Jesus’ way that sees the image of God in our neighbors and in ourselves.

And I think this is what Jesus was trying to convey in our passage in Matthew.

• This little triad was passed down from Miss Susan’s grandmother.
• And it is so simple.
• And through the years I have heard it said often.
• To follow Jesus and take up the cross means we must live our lives putting:
• “God first. Others second. Me last.”

Matthew 9:35 – 10:8

The 1963 movie Lilies of the Field…

• Obtained a groundbreaking Oscar for actor Sidney Poitier.
• The first African American to win the award.

 

The story is set in the Arizona desert.

• Poitier portrays an itinerant laborer named Homer Smith.
• Homer pulls off the road…looking for water for his battered car’s radiator.
• There…he discovers a group of impoverished nuns.
• Refugees from war-torn Europe.
• Now eking out a living from the dry soil.
• The Mother Superior believes Homer Smith’s accidental arrival is God’s answer to her prayers…
• For someone who will come and build a chapel of adobe bricks on the ruins of an earlier failed attempt.

 

Well…Homer sees it differently.

• He asks to be paid for some repairs he made around the primitive convent.
• And he Quotes Luke 10:7:
• “The laborer is worthy of his hire.”
• And Mother Superior responds by quoting Matthew 6:28:
• “Consider the lilies of the field…how they grow…they toil not…neither do they spin.”

 

As the story progresses…Homer ends up building the chapel.

• He finds a part-time construction job to help pay for materials.
• Like Mother Superior…he also has a dream.
• He wants to be an architect.
• But he exhausts himself with crushing labor in the hot sun.

 

A crucial scene comes when his dedication inspires many of the Hispanic day laborers in the region to donate materials and labor.

• This leads to a crisis for Homer.
• If he allows others to help…will it still be his accomplishment?
• His pride causes him to quit.

 

But then…he realizes his skills in design and supervision and motivation.

• The laborers gladly share the back-breaking labor.
• And so…this becomes both his triumph and the community’s accomplishment as well.

 

When the chapel is completed…Homer quietly drives off: (Singing Amen).

• Well…Homer becomes a figure in local legend.
• The new chapel becomes not only the home for the community’s life of worship…
• But also…the launch pad for schools and hospitals to be part of a growing ministry.

 

Homer Smith struggled with the idea of working with other laborers.

• OK then…if anyone could ever accomplish everything without the help of others it was Jesus.
• He was able to feed the multitudes by blessing and breaking bread.
• Healing? He did not even need to be present.

 

Matthew…in today’s reading…is describing not just days…but weeks and months:

• Journeys between cities and villages.
• Hours spent speaking and healing.
• There is no suggestion…as there are in other places…that Jesus failed in any way.

 

But Jesus compassion leads him to lament to his apostles that the work of the kingdom requires more workers.

• More laborers to bring in the harvest.
• The one who is more self-sufficient than anyone.
• Feels the need for collaborators.
• Which leads to the calling of the twelve apostles…the twelve collaborators.

 

Why twelve?

• I am not sure…but it seems that Jesus is drawing a parallel between the twelve tribes of Israel…
• And the twelve disciples.

 

During the era of the great prophets…

• The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and led their 10 tribes into exile.
• Later…the two tribes of the southern kingdom…Judah and Benjamin…
• Were led into exile by the Babylonians.
• A couple of generations later they were permitted to return to their homeland.
• But there was still a feeling of being incomplete.
• Ten tribes were missing.
• These twelve disciples were chosen to show that God’s kingdom is one of wholeness and homecoming.

 

Today…we as the Body of Christ are meant to represent wholeness and homecoming as well.

• We are complete when we are all together.
• Jesus referred to those of daily life in his teaching:
• Shepherds…sowers…day laborers…homemakers…lawyers…
• Scholars…the rich…the poor…
• Mothers and harvesters.

 

These are still part of our world…to be sure.

• But our daily lives also include marketers…programmers…truck drivers…mechanics…
• Professional athletes…broadcast television…smartphones…the internet…oh…and so much more.

 

Well…the teachings of Jesus still apply today.

• And we are meant to share the compassion of Jesus for these “harassed and helpless” sheep.

 

Among the twelve apostles?

• Militants like Simon the Zealot.
• A tax collector.
• Peter…the betrayer.

 

Perfection is not a requirement for membership in this body of Christ.

• Nor are our tasks meant to be equal in expenditure of energy or time of commitment.
• We do not have the same skills…the same outlook or the same politics.

 

In the movie…Lilies of the Field…there was the doubtful owner of a construction company who donated materials for the building of the chapel.

• And then there was the nonbelieving owner of the café.
• There were some who donated chandeliers and stained glass.
• Others became stained with sweat as they carried heavy loads up and down the ramps as the chapel was built.
• Mother Superior was the great overseer.
• And Homer Smith was the brains behind the operation.
• All had something to do.
• All were important workers.
• Some would be remembered.
• Others only recalled as a name mentioned in passing.

 

But they…like us…all have a part in the great work of Jesus…the Kingdom of God.

• We are called to great ministries.
• We are called to be collaborators.
• We are called to Call out new apostles.
• We are called to mentor each other.
• All together.

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

It began 5 years ago when Jerry…my 4 pm coffee buddy for many years…

• And a retired computer technician…met a young clerk at a 7-Eleven.
• He complimented her on the way she deftly handled a complaining customer.
• During their conversation…he learned that the young woman had dropped out of college…
• Because someone had stolen her laptop when she was taking online classes.
• Wanting to help her…he refurbished a laptop he had and gave it to her…gratis.
• She was able to go on and complete her associate’s degree in business.
• That was the beginning of his work as the “Tech Angel.”
• He collects broken laptops and computers.
• Repairs them and gives them to those in need.
• Over the last five years he has given away more than 300 computers…laptops and tablets to students and families.
• While his work often changes the lives of those he helps…
• The 76-year-old retiree benefits as well:
• “It keeps me busy…keeps me challenged.
• I’ve got the skill.
• I’ve got the time.
• I’ve got the resources.
• So…who wouldn’t do it?
• For me to spend my time productively to the benefit of others is my reward.”

 

Maria runs a small restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch.

• The place is her life.
• Her regulars are like family.
• I know because Susan and I were regulars.
• I know…because it was my second congregation to the one I served in Seminole Florida.
• I baptized and counseled and married and buried many of the regulars who ate there.
• Maria often struggled to keep her little café open.
• But she also saw the struggle of many families to put food on their tables.
• So…after she closed each day…she gathered up leftover food…soup and fresh bread and drove it over to a local soup kitchen for the evening meal.
• Thanks to the community…she is doing OK.
• So…she is happy to give back.

 

They have discovered the truth of the adage:

• If want to master something…teach it.
• So…these students…high school seniors at the church I was serving at the time…
• Carved out an afternoon a week to serve as tutors at a local after-school program for kids-at-risk.
• The smiles on these young children’s faces when they showed them the “A” they got on their latest math test…
• Or…writing assignment was the absolute best.
• But they soon discovered that their own writing skills had sharpened.
• And their ability to grasp the material in their science and math classes had improved also.
• No mystery…really.

 

Jane Hamrick…a disciple/member of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd…in Seminole Florida…was a firecracker.

• Jane made men’s ties.
• She would say:
• “Go over to JOANN Fabric and get the material you want for your tie.
• And I will make it for you.

 

And she always had…with her…hundreds of ties she had ready-made.

• In case you did not want to go to JOANNS.
• And she would take you out to the truck of her car.
• I was always embarrassed to go out to her car-trunk with her.
• Because I knew it looked like a drug deal was going down.
• I really should not have been concerned.
• Jane was in her 90’s at the time.
• And she would sell the ties for $15 or $20 dollars…I don’t remember.
• But all the money would go to Lutheran Services of Florida.
• Jane joined the Saints of Heaven a while ago now.
• What a joy she was.

 

And over the years…think about it.

• The woman’s groups that made and continue to do so.
• Quilts and prayer shawls and hats and blankets for babies.
• And the men…gardeners and fixers and builders for Habitat.

 

 

It’s that simple:

• To follow Jesus…as Matthew is called to do.
• It is a matter of acting out of the spirit of compassion and generosity as Jesus does in the Gospel.
• No matter what “booth” we work at.
• No matter what our skills.
• Our simple acts of charity.
• Our joy in giving and sharing whatever little we have.
• Our reaching out to someone whose needs are as great as our own.
• Are the “fringe of Jesus’ cloak.”
• That the poor…the sick…the troubled and hurting can grasp and be made well.

 

The Kingdom of God is within our grasp here and now.

• All we must do is be as merciful as we have been shown mercy.
• To love as we have been loved.
• To lift up as we have been grasped by God.

John 17:1-11

There is a cartoon of a man being rescued from a desert island that shows his rescuers asking the man about two buildings on the small island.

• “Oh” …he says…pointing to one building… “this’s my church.”
• “And” …he continues…a little sheepishly … “the other building is the church I used to attend.”

 

So…in the scripture passage we read today we heard that Jesus’ followers “will be one.”

• But then…just think of how divided Christianity is worldwide.
• People who keep track of these things say there are about 2.6 billion Christians in the world.
• If we look closer…we find Christians separated into Catholics…Protestants and Orthodox.
• But those divisions do not include everyone who identifies as Christian.
• And they do not begin to describe the loss of credibility in the institutional church.

 

For instance…Baylor University…a Baptist institution…tells us that Baptists divide up into 22 different denominational identities.

• And that’s just in the United States.
• There are more than 30 different Methodist branches just in North America.
• With the new Global Methodist Church added last year as a break-away denomination from the United Methodist Church…
• Because of that large denomination’s most recent schism.
• Lutherans? Well…about 150 separate Lutheran bodies globally.
• I could spend the rest of this homily listing hundreds of other branches and divisions within Christianity.
• I do wonder whether all that division breaks the heart of Jesus.
• Today…let’s take a few minutes to think about what Jesus meant when he asked his disciples…and his eventual followers…to “be one.”

 

It is my opinion that Jesus did not have in mind a single institutional church at all.

• Rather…he wanted his followers…to pay attention to his words and his mission and the meaning of his life and death.
• This is because Jesus knew that his own first followers were not all alike.
• Yes…his 12 disciples were all Jewish males.
• But Peter was not a duplicate of Nathaniel and Nathaniel was not a carbon copy of Matthew…
• Who was quite different from brothers John and James…the sturdy sons of Zebedee.

 

Jesus even had a follower who felt free enough to express grave doubts about Jesus’ resurrection…a man we call Thomas.

• Beyond that…Jesus had plenty of female followers.
• Many of whom exercised leadership roles.

 

So…can we find a way for all of us Christians to “be one” …

• Without being locked into a kind of soul-crushing sameness of worship style or institutional makeup?
• Yes…we can find such a way.
• We can hold to the center of our faith simply by recognizing the sacrificial way God graciously loves us.
• And by responding to that love in praise and gratitude.

 

As the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

• There are different gifts of the Holy Spirit…and we should respond to the gifts the Spirit gives us.
• Paul emphasized unity in Christ in his letter to the Philippians:
• “Let each of you look not to your own interests…but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
• In the prayer we read from the Gospel of John today…Jesus asks… “that they will be one…as we are one.”
• In that phrase…just “as we are one” …Jesus is not saying that he is an exact replica of the God we call Creator or Father.
• Rather…he is saying they are one in purpose…one in spirit…one in love.

 

That is the beauty of true pluralism.

• Pluralism is a conscious…built-in decision and celebration of the benefits that come from having people together who are different.
• Diversity…by contrast…happens by chance.
• Pluralism happens on purpose.
• And it engages us in a deliberate recognition that strength for good can come out of differences.

 

OK then…Jesus wanted his followers united.

• Not in the language used to create dogmatic statements.
• Not in this or that architectural approach to church design.
• Not in worship style.
• But rather united in allegiance to Jesus the Christ…the savior.
• But rather united in allegiance to the good news.
• But rather united in allegiance to the loving God of all creation.

 

I will end with this:

A man was walking across a bridge one day and saw another man standing on the edge…about to jump.

• The first man ran over to him and said: “Stop. Don’t do it.”
• “Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.
• “Well…” the first man said… “there’s so much to live for.”
• “Like what?” was the response.
• “Well” …the first man said… “are you religious?”
• He said: “Yes.”
• “Me too” …the questioner said. “Are you Christian or Buddhist?”
• “Christian.”
• “Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
• “Protestant.”
• “Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
• “Baptist.”
• “Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?
• “Baptist Church of God.”
• “Amazing. Me too. Are you Original Baptist Church of God…or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
• “Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
• “Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God…Reformation of 1879…or Reformed Baptist Church of God…Reformation of 1915?”
• The potential jumper replied:
• “Reformed Baptist Church of God…Reformation of 1915.”
• Which caused the first man to say: “Die…you heretic” and he pushed him off the bridge.

 

Oh yah…humor hits us where it hurts.

• Because…at times…we have not understood the pain and anguish Jesus was in when…
• Right before he was hauled away to be crucified…
• He prayed that all his followers might be one.

He was not asking us to wear standard uniforms.

• Or to understand his multi-layered parables in only one approved way.
• Or to base our social witness to the world on some political party’s platform…
• Instead of on Christ’s own teaching.

No…he was asking us to be one in spirit.

• He was asking us to be one in spirit to love one another as he loved us.
• He was asking us to be one in spirit to the joy of sharing Christ to a wounded world in need of such wonderful…good news.

John 14:15-21

Remember the first time:

• You walked home alone from school.
• You are left alone at home as a child.
• You are allowed to be alone at home in the evening without a baby-sitter.
• Your parents are away overnight or for a weekend and the house is all yours.
• Strong moments…scary and exciting!

 

Remember sleeping away from home for the first time.

• The first dance.
• The first kiss.
• Learning to tie shoelaces.
• Learning to tell time.
• Learning something by heart.
• Learning the news of a death of a friend or parent or grandparent.

 

“I’ll never forget the first time I…” is followed by stories about getting the first real job.

• To being elected to an office at school.
• To finding out you are pregnant with your first child.

 

The moment when something of importance happens to you for the first or only time is a liminal moment.

• The phenomenon of liminality.
• Liminality and threshold moment mean the same thing.
• From the Latin root limin…meaning the centerline of the doorway.

 

Liminality is the moment of crossing over.

• It describes the transitional phase of personal change.
• Wherein one is neither in an old state of being nor a new state of being.
• And not quite aware of the implications of the event.
• All stages of life include liminality.
• Life is nothing but moments of crossing over.
• Stitching these moments together into the comforting quilt of wisdom is the task of one’s later years.

 

And this is where Jesus meets his disciples and us in John this morning.

• In a state of liminality.
• A threshold moment.
• A moment of crossing over.
• A state of being with Jesus physically.
• To a state of not being with Jesus physically.
• And so…Jesus gifts his disciples…he gifts us…with the comforting quilt and gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

The six of us met during our first semester at Luther College back in our freshmen year.

• We found ourselves sitting at the same cafeteria table for breakfast during our first homecoming.
• Thrown into the excitement and anxiety of the college experience…
• Our friendship helped us survive.
• We were three couples.
• David and Karen.
• Stan and Sharon.
• Chip and Susan.
• The three young women were roommates.
• We three men were their homecoming dates.
• Together…we made our way through the next four years of lectures…lab experiments…research papers and midnight study sessions.

 

The” brains” in our little group got all of us through our math and science classes.

• The thoughtful ones were able to translate philosophy into real English.
• The quiet members always knew the right thing to say when one of us was going through a rough time.
• The easy-going ones made sure everyone did not take everything…include themselves…too seriously.

 

We held one another up in the wake of rocky times in our relationships…

• Academic struggles and the joys and concerns going on back home.
• And toward the end of our college careers…we toasted grad school acceptances…first jobs and engagements and subsequent marriages.
• And oh yes…one of us entered the military and served in Viet Nam for several years.

 

Commencement marked a turn…not an end…in our friendship.

• We continued to be there for one another.
• In good times and bad times.
• Each couple always knew that help…support…a listening ear and understanding were only a phone call away.
• Always honest and frank.
• Always loving and forgiving.
• Never judgmental.

 

We celebrated one another’s threshold and coming of age moments.

• And more births.
• And more baptism.
• Graduations
• Supported one another as we coped with our experiences of death and loss.
• And…of course…we continue to remain on each other’s Christmas card list.

 

Last year we met at our college for our 50th reunion.

• But when we met in the college reception and reunion welcome area…we were not six…
• But five.
• Karen had recently joined the Saints of Heaven from Alzheimer’s disease.
• But despite our sorrow and morning…we picked things up as if we saw each other yesterday.
• You see…we all meet once a year at homecoming.

 

We are older…grayer and wiser since that first breakfast.

• But the experiences we have shared and the memories we cherish make our friendship as strong and as real as the morning it first took root a half century ago.

 

Shared memories are what bind us together.

• Shared memories are what bind friends together.

 

A similar memory binds us together as a Church:

• The memory we share and celebrate in the event of Jesus.
• A memory that is as real and as enduring among us today as it was for the Twelve that Holy Thursday night in the room in which the Last Supper was held.

 

The Spirit of truth…the Paraclete…is the creative…living memory of the Church.

• The Spirit/Paraclete unites us and energizes us as we come together to share.
• As we come together to relive and learn from our memory of the Risen Christ.
• Jesus…the wise Rabbi…
• The compassionate Healer.
• The friend of the rich and poor.
• The friend of the saint and sinner.
• The obedient and humble Servant of God.

 

The Spirit of truth…the Paraclete…is a living presence among us who makes of us a community of faith.

• A family…a circle of friends who offer Christ’s love…support and compassion to one another.

John 14:1-14

She walks into her new room. The biggest change is that it’s her room…a room of her own.

• She carries all her clothes and a couple of toys and books in an old suitcase.
• Since her parents all but abandoned her…she’s been shuttled from one shelter to another.
• From one foster family to the next.
• Now she’s been adopted by our next-door neighbor…Carey.
• Carey is a single woman…never been married…middle aged.
• Her new 9-year-old daughter’s name is Chrystal.
• Carey is kind and understanding.
• Carey has lots of loving support from our neighborhood and her family that lives nearby.
• Carey has made a place for Crystal.
• A place of welcome and care.

 

It’s her first day at a new high school.

• Because of my vocation…our family has moved to a new church call in Seminole, Florida.
• But changing high schools in midyear is a new thing.
• And a frightening experience for our daughter.
• Katie asks a student for directions to her first class.
• After quick introductions…she tells the student that this is her first day.
• After giving Katie directions to her class…
• The student invites her to meet her for lunch in the cafeteria.
• There she introduces her around and she makes her first friends.
• Her new high school seems a little less intimidating now.
• The students have made a place for her.

 

We are lost and overwhelmed.

• Susan and I nervously inch our way into Peace Lutheran church in Hong Kong just as worship is starting.
• A greeter sees us and comes over to help us.
• We struggle with Mandarin…so he asks us to wait a moment.
• He walks up a side aisle and motions to a parishioner to come to the back.
• The parishioner smiles at us and begins to speak to us in English.
• Translating the Mandarin into English as the worship progresses.
• When worship is over…the parishioner escorts us to the narthex where he and his family are gathered.
• The family and the people around the family smile and welcome us.
• And make sure we come for the post-worship coffee hour.
• That congregation in Hong Kong made a place for us at their table.

 

In his Last Supper farewell to his disciples…Jesus assures them that he goes “to prepare a place for you” in “my Father’s house.”

• As Christians…we live in the eternal hope of one day living in God’s dwelling place.
• But that “place” of hope and compassion and peace exists here and now in the places we make.
• Where the poor and sick are cared for.
• Where the fallen are lifted up.
• Where the lost and rejected are sought out and guided home.
• In the places we make for our sisters and brothers…
• We begin to find the place Jesus has prepared for us.
• In this way…we build God’s house in this time and place.

 

The forge in the makeshift blacksmith shop glows orange and lets off a low roar.

• The furnace fires up to 2,000 degrees…hot enough to soften metal.
• The blacksmith goes to work…slowly and carefully hammering the glowing hot metal resting on the anvil.
• Shaping and re-shaping it.
• Before long…it’s finished:
• A trowel…a small shovel used to plant flowers in a garden.

 

Just a few minutes before…it was a shotgun.

• The “blacksmith” is not working at some small outpost in the Old West but in Guilford, Connecticut.
• He is one of dozens of volunteer smiths who are part of Swords to Plowshares Northeast.
• An organization that takes the guns collected in police department buy-back programs and repurposes them into gardening tools:
• Shovels…picks and cutting blades.
• The finished tools are donated to community gardens and agricultural high schools…
• That grow and harvest vegetables for soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

 

One of the volunteer blacksmiths is retired Episcopal Bishop James Curry.

• He is one of the founders of Swords to Plowshares.
• Inspired by similar Mennonite programs…
• Bishop Curry began organizing Swords to Plowshares after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
• Bishop Curry officiated at the funeral of one of the young victims at Sandy Hook.

 

Bishop Curry sets up his “portable” forge at churches around Connecticut to demonstrate the process.

• And he invites parishioners to take the hammer themselves to transform a weapon of death into a tool for life.
• Bishop Curry is emphatic that his group is not “anti-gun” but “anti-gun violence.”
• “We focus on voluntarily given-up guns that are unsafely stored.
• A lot of guns are just plain forgotten about.”

 

The cross that Bishop Curry wears around his neck is a constant reminder of that transformation.

• “It is made of pieces of an AK-47.
• The piston that creates the automatic action and the sights” used for shooting…Bishop Curry explains.
• “But God takes that element and God’s love breaks it apart.
• Reshapes it…then transforms it into the sign of greatest hope…the cross.”

 

On the night before he dies…Jesus asks his disciples to take up “the work that I do”:

• The work of humble servanthood that places the hurts and pain of others before our own.
• The work of charity that does not measure the cost.
• The work of love that trumps limits and conditions.

 

The “work of God” that Jesus asks us to take on is to use whatever means we have.

• Whatever skills and talents we possess.
• To transform despair into hope.
• Violence into peace.
• Hatred into respect.

 

The trowel made from a shotgun is the perfect image of today’s Gospel.

• And the work that we have taken on by virtue of our Baptisms:
• To bring the peace and hope of the Risen Jesus into our homes.
• And churches.
• And communities.
• And marketplaces.

John 10: 1-10

Sheep do not follow strangers.

• They only follow the Shepherd…whom they know.
• This is a fact.

 

Since the shepherd is known by the gate keeper.

• The shepherd comes directly to the gate that is opened for him.
• Then he goes into the sheep and lets himself be known.
• After which he leads them out of the pen…into the open pasture.
• The shepherd has no need to climb over the wall in the dead of night…to steal the sheep.

 

Jesus wants his followers to know him as the Good Shepherd…not as a thief.

• Simplistic as it sounds…
• Jesus wants people to know him as one who comes without pretense…as the authentic one.

 

As simple as this sounds…Jesus’ disciples did not understand what he was saying to them.

• So…Jesus had to try again.
• Telling them that he was the door to the sheep.
• The reality through which the sheep must pass to get to pasture.
• Jesus had to tell them that he was not like the thief who comes to steal the sheep.
• His purpose…as the Good Shepherd…was to give life and to give it abundantly.
• Unfortunately…the disciples would not know this for some time to come.
• Not until after the crucifixion and the resurrection.

 

OK then.

• Most of us make things very difficult for ourselves.
• We tend to deal in confusion.
• And so…it is very difficult to understand what really is happening in our world…to ourselves…or to others.

 

When we suffer loss…we tend to muddy and confuse what has happened to us.

• We ask questions that are confusing to ourselves and to others.
• We want answers.
• “What is the meaning?”
• “What is the purpose?”
• “Why me?”
• “Where is God in all of this?”

 

We say that we want to know the truth that can make us free.

• But at the same time we become more confused by our anxiety.
• And we may turn to people who say that they know the answers to our questions…our problems…
• And they may even try to give us all the answers we are looking for.

 

As in our time…it was also true in the time of Jesus.

• There were many people popping up all over the place who said they knew all the answers.
• “Lo … here… and Lo … there” they would say.
• “I am the answer! I am the one who can lead you to the truth!
• Trust me!”
• It all sounds familiar.
• It happens in every age.
• It is happening in our world right now.

 

We become involved in complicated situations.

• Turning to this person or that person for answers.
• And sometimes there is just enough in some of the answers to make us think that we have finally discovered the truth.
• But then we find out that this is not so.
• The answers are not what we wished or hoped them to be.
• And we become disillusioned again.

 

We look for leaders.

• As we are doing again today in this country and in this world.
• We hope that someone is going to rise out of the ashes of our perversity and lead us into the light.
• Where everyone will have a job…and food…and peace…and prosperity.

 

We want to believe that a leader can do this for us.

• Can save us from our folly…our sin.
• He or she may be an evangelist on television or a political leader.
• We want to believe that someone can save us.

 

Recently…a presidential candidate stood before a large crowd of people and said:

• “What this country needs is someone to lead…and I am the one.”
• The audience clapped.
• Even though everyone kind of knows that this is game playing.
• That there is no such thing as a leader who can lead us.
• Not in the sense that we want to be led.
• And those who claim that they can do this for us are like thieves and robbers.
• And we…who seek them out…are responsible for accepting more opiate.

 

Jesus was very well acquainted with the history of his people and aware of what was going on in his country at the time.

• His people also longed for a leader.
• For a Messiah.
• For someone to lead them out of their pain.
• And in those times…the would-be Messiahs…were popping up everywhere.
• And Jesus had to warn about this because sometimes…
• The would-be messiahs led people into rebellion and slaughter.

 

Well…our life experiences are adapted to this wolfpack approach of going over the wall at night.

• Rather than through the gate during the day…to lead the sheep…to lead us.

 

The name of the game is to develop the answer and to perpetuate it.

• Sell the idea that a particular kind of ointment on my scalp can make me look younger.
• Well…at $40 for 3 ounces I tried it.
• And you can see that it did not work.
• I am still bald…bald…bald.
• Or if you drink the right kind of colored water…you can be more…
• Well…you fill in the blank.
• You can be MORE of whatever you want to be.
• You and I know that MORE is Satan’s favorite word.
• Because if there is any MORE…then GRACE is not alone.
• MORE…I am happier because I have a turbo charged automobile.

 

It is always the same promise we are being given by the thieves.

• They tell us that we will escape pain and enter into pleasure.
• That there is no cross…and no reason why any of us should endure suffering.
• “You deserve the best there is”…we are told.
• Before holding out a bottle or a pill or anything else we are being asked to buy.
• It is all an illusion.
• And the tragedy is that we can be so eager to believe it.
• And even to perpetuate it.

 

But…there is hope.

• Jesus is saying something very good here.
• Jesus is giving us hope.
• He is saying that there are people in this world who have a gift to discern the Truth.

 

There are people who see through the illusions and will respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd.

• Who will follow no other leadership than that of love.
• Rather than manipulation and exploitation.
• There are people who will not follow the thieves and the robbers.
• Through them…we will know the truth…and that truth will make us free.
• They are the people of peace who pick up the broadcast of love and hope that are the essence of Christ’s gospel.
• And these people are eager to become the servants…to serve.

 

It is important for us to affirm these spiritually minded human beings who say:

• “Yes” after the final “No” has been uttered.
• They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
• And they are here…among us.

 

By nature…we are functional atheists…all of us.

• We tend not to believe the voice of Truth…even to avoid it.
• But Christ affirms the reality of divine intuition.
• There are those who hear the voice of love…of light…of truth.
• Who follow the Good Shepherd.
• And so…Jesus’ message for us this morning is one of profound hope.
• Thanks be to God.

 

 

Luke 24: 13-35

Karl Barth…one of the twentieth century’s most famous theologians…was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland…where he lived and lectured.

• A tourist to the city climbed on the streetcar and sat down next to Barth.
• The two men started chatting with each other.
• “Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired.
• “Yes,” said the tourist.
• “Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?” asked Barth.
• “Yes,” he said, “I’d love to meet the famous theologian…Karl Barth. Do you know him?”
• Barth replied, “Well as a matter of fact…I do. I give him a shave every morning.”

 

The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted.

• He went back to his hotel saying to himself: “I met Karl Barth’s barber today.”

 

That’s amusing…isn’t it?

• That tourist was in the presence of the very person he most wanted to meet.
• But even with the most obvious clue…he never realized that the man with whom he was talking was the great man himself.

 

It reminds us of Mary’s reaction on Easter morning.

• In her grief…she thinks the man she is speaking to is the gardener.
• It is not…of course.
• Until he called her name…she did not realize that she was speaking with the risen Christ.

 

And it reminds us of that scene on the road to Emmaus.

• When later that same Easter day…two of the disciples walk for a while with the resurrected Jesus.
• And they…too…had no idea with whom they were talking with.

 

On that first Easter Sunday…the women took spices and went to the tomb.

• They found the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb.
• But they did not find Jesus’ body.
• Two angels ask them: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here…he has risen!”

 

That is why the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus is so important.

• Because the two men were among those to whom the women shared their story of the empty tomb.
• These men were on their way to a village called Emmaus.
• About seven miles north of Jerusalem.
• They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

 

We do not know precisely who these men were.

• The name of one of them was “Cleopas.”
• The other may have been Luke himself.
• And that he omitted his own name out of modesty…we really do not know.
• And we do not know why they were headed toward Emmaus.
• Most likely…that was their home.
• And…in disappointment…they had concluded that their grand adventure of following Jesus of Nazareth was over.
• So…they were packing it in and heading back to the lives they had before they met Jesus.

 

What we do know is that…as they walked and talked with each other about their experiences…

• Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.
• But…they were both kept from recognizing him.
• Their despair stood in the way…disappointed with the way things turned out.
• They had lost hope and were discarding their dreams.
• Blinded to the good things that still surrounded them.
• We too…should not let temporary disappointments blind us to the good God is doing in our lives.
• We should never assume that any disappointment is God’s last word on any situation.

 

The followers of Jesus certainly thought their dreams had turned to dust.

• The last thing they expected was to discover that Jesus was alive.
• Maybe this is why they did not recognize him.
• They were blinded by their disappointment.
• It’s a beautiful story of two men who were in Christ’s presence and did not even know it until he chose to reveal himself.
• We too…at times…get distracted from our faith by a great disappointment or defeat…blinded by our circumstances.
• We do not even know that we…too…are in the presence of the risen Christ.

 

Those who were closest to Jesus did not recognize him until they shook off their disappointment and despair.

• They realized he was in their midst.
• And their hearts burned within them in joy and peace that the Lord Jesus Christ was alive.

 

God tends to hide behind foolish disguises:

• He is the homeless man lumbering through the park talking to himself in a loud voice.
• A pint of Cuervo Gold tucked into the back pocket of his jeans.
• She is the teenager texting her boyfriend and applying mascara at the stoplight after it has turned green.
• He is the young father gambling away his children’s dinner at a casino on his way home from another day at the sewage treatment plant.
• She is the elderly woman slowly counting out change at the convenience store when you are late for the job interview.
• And he is the Very Busy Man who does not give you the job.

 

You understand that this is why all the sacred teachings remind us to be vigilant:

• God could pop up anywhere…anytime.
• And drop his mask.
• When he does…we must be sure we have treated him like God.
• No matter how he was behaving.

 

On the roads we travel to our Emmauses…God appears to us in so many different appearances…shapes and sizes.

• In all of them…God guides us…nudges us…challenges us and confronts us:
• Where are we going?
• What are we seeking on this journey?
• How do we experience meaning and purpose in our lives?

 

God makes himself known in the rich… the poor…the stranger…the troubled.

• And so…calls forth from us the compassion and mercy and peace of his Easter promise.