Category: Homilies

Acts 11:1-18, John 13:31-35

John 10:22-30

John 21:1-19

John 20:1-18

John 12:1-8

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

When our son…Jason…was in fourth grade…I dropped him off 15 minutes early for school.

• I had never done that before…but Susan was teaching at another school and I had to make it to a meeting…
• And the school did allow students to be dropped off early.

 

Two hours later…I was in a meeting…when the school called asking why Jason was absent.

• My heart dropped into my stomach…and my body took over in a hyper-ventilating mess of a way.
• My mind raced thinking that someone had scooped my child into a van…
• Remembering that I had dropped him off early.
• Breathing became impossible and I started to hyperventilate.
• My child was gone.

 

Fortunately…Jason was not taken…and was totally fine.

• It was just the day of the Scholastic book fair…and he had lost track of time…
• Looking at books and had not been around when they took attendance.
• He was not in danger.
• He was in a book fair.

 

I have no idea what kind of soul-crushing pain one must experience when a child is really gone.

• But the few minutes I experienced a glimpse of it…
• An experience shared by many when they cannot find their child at a carnival…
• Or a shopping mall or when they do not get off the school bus one afternoon…
• Are the most heart-breaking moments of our lives.

 

Because…when it comes down to it…it is vulnerable to have a child.

• To create or adopt a child is to leave yourself vulnerable to a broken heart in the way nothing else can.
• Which is why I started wondering this week about the vulnerability of God.

 

The Lord be with you…

There is much talk about the strength of God and the mightiness of God and the awesomeness of God.

• But what of the vulnerability of God?
• That God would breathe into dust… and create us in his own image…
• That God would bring humanity into being as his own beloved children…
• Was to leave himself vulnerable to a broken heart in a way nothing else could have.
• What a risk God took creating us.
• Giving us enough freedom to be creators and destroyers.
• Giving us enough freedom for us to make a mess of everything and act as our own gods…
• And to also trust in God and love each other.

 

I wonder if this is what Jesus is telling us about in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

• I confess to you that early on in my ministry I thought the word prodigal meant returning…
• And having repented of your wrongs.
• Or at least I thought prodigal meant coming home after having been independent and stupid for a while.
• I am sure you already know this…
• That the word prodigal means spending resources freely and recklessly.
• Being wastefully extravagant.

 

I have always heard this parable…one of the most famous stories in the Gospel…titled the Parable of the Prodigal son.

• But out of everything we could say this story is about…
• Why do we say it is about the wasteful extravagance of the younger son?
• Why is that the focus when it is not even that interesting?

 

What I mean is this:

• It is common for young people to leave home…waste their lives and their money for a while…
• Until they have no other option…but to come home to the parents they did not treat very well…when they were leaving in the first place.

 

I think we make this a story about the wasteful stupidity of the younger son…

• Because it is a story we are more familiar with…
• Than the alternative…which is this:
• If the word prodigal means wasteful extravagance…
• Then is it not really the story of the prodigal father?

 

Is it not wastefully extravagant for the Father to give his children so much freedom?

• Is it not wastefully extravagant for the Father to discard his dignity…
• And run into the street toward a foolish and immature son who squandered their fortune?
• Is it not wasteful for the father to throw such an extravagant party for this kind of wayward son?

 

But…I love that kind of grace.

• I love that Jesus tells this story of the prodigal father…
• In response to the Pharisee’s irritation that Jesus would eat with tax collectors and prostitutes…
• Because…when it comes down to it…we are a church filled with saints and sinners…
• Not a church filled only with pious pharisees.

 

Some of us might find the grace the father shows to the younger son bordering on offensive.

• But the thing that really gets my attention…in this story…is how wastefully extravagant the father is toward the older
• The son who never left him.
• The one who has always done everything right.
• The son who is clean cut and went to college right out of high school…
• And came back to work in his father’s business.
• The child who always signs up to do jobs at synagogue…
• But resentfully notices all the slackers who show up and never help at all.
• The child who feels entitled.
• The child who cannot stomach going into a party to celebrate the return of his screw-up of a brother.

 

I cannot stand that older brother…even as I cringe at the ways I am like him.

• It is wastefully extravagant that the father says to that kid:
• All that is mine is yours.

 

What risk God takes on us.

• Children who waste everything in dissolute living.
• Children who begrudge grace being extended to people who so clearly do not deserve it.
• But this is a risk born of love.
• God risks so much by loving us…
• Which is why I prefer calling this the Parable of the Prodigal Father.

 

Because it is here…we see that our relationship to God…is not defined by our bad decisions…or our squandering of resources.

• It is not determined by our virtue.
• It is not determined by being nice or being good.
• Our relationship to God is simply determined by the wastefully extravagant love of God.
• A God who takes no account of risk.
• But…runs toward us no matter what.
• Saying…all that is mine is yours.

Luke 13:1-9

If you could go back and tell your 21-year-old self-something…what
would it be?

• When I was 21…I was a senior in college…and would graduate the next May.
• When I was 20…after I graduated from college…
• I thought I would enter graduate school and move toward a masters and then a PhD in American history.
• But I was just not sure what I wanted to do when I grew up.
• But then at 21 it became apparent to me that God was calling me to the ministry.
• So…following my graduation…I would enter seminary and move toward becoming a Lutheran pastor.
• And so…I also decided to take two semesters of Greek.

 

If I could go back and tell my 21-year-old self-something…what would
it be?

• I would tell myself to simply enjoy the moment.
• When I was 21…I was intent on moving my life forward.
• I was focused on the future.
• What I wanted to do in the future…future goals and aspirations.
• I was afraid I would make the wrong choices regarding the rest of my life.
• If I could go back…I would tell myself not to be so afraid and concerned about the future.
• To live in the moment…to enjoy the moment and just be myself.
• And if I did that all would be well.

 

If you could go back and tell your 21-year-old self-something…what
would it be?

• Well…I wish I was someone who could answer that question with something inspiring like: “never give up!” or “believe in yourself!”
• But honestly…I think I would say: “You are not bald”.

 

As old age softens every inch of my body…heart…and spirit…

• I think about how my 21-year-old self-had no idea how wonderful my life was…
• And how my Lord had gifted me with such a glorious creation.
• But instead…I was dissatisfied and concerned about the next steps in consolidating my life.
• So…yes…I wish I could go back and tell myself “OMG…Enjoy the moment.”

 

The Lord be with you.

Today we are blessed to hear together the story of the fig tree from the Gospel according to Luke.

• And it got me thinking that my 21-year-old self would have connected to that fig tree story.
• At 21 we are all…well along the path of wondering…why bad things
• And our fig tree story seems to hold a bit of wisdom as to why.
• According to the gospel writer Luke…Jesus had something to say about such wonderings.
• Jesus seems to suggest that bad things do not happen to you because you are bad but rather because bad stuff happens.
• The Galileans were victims of a man…blinded by power…to command such horrific slaughter.
• And the second group were victims of
  poor construction.
• Bad things happen to good people.

 

The call of Jesus to repent is curious…

• But I think it has something to do with the urgency of how Jesus wanted others to follow in his way.
• The ones who died by Pilate’s hand were Galileans…they were not followers of “Jesus’ way.”
• And those killed…when the tower of Siloam fell on them in Jerusalem…were also not followers of Jesus.
• I think Jesus was trying to say
  that people who follow the way of radical love…who follow his way…
• Live deeply and there is not a moment to lose.
• He urges the listeners of this story to do what you need to do to follow.
• To not let another moment pass by.
• To follow the way of love…now.
• Because tomorrow is not guaranteed.
• The people who died were not bad or deserving of their end.
• It is just that their lives ended and there was so much more.

What then of the second part of the story and that poor fig tree?

• Is that tree going to produce figs or is it going to be fuel for the campfire?
• The end of the story is not ours to read.

 

Like our 21-year-old selves we do not know what the future is going to hold.

• The Landowner in the story is a familiar soul.
• We understand what the landowner sees in that poor fig tree.
• For we are all well versed in that vision:
• If it is not useful…then it is just using up limited resources.
• If it does not produce something we can sell…then it is of no value.
• If it does not follow the norm…produce when it should…
• Then something is wrong with it…and therefore…it is disposable.

The vision of the landowner is very familiar even if we have never
seen a fig tree.

• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision.
• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision and see graying hair and changing abilities and ask:
• What good am I? I am a burden using
  up valuable resources.
• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision and see that they
  cannot find work…
• Or find a way through addiction or fight their way out of poverty…
• And conclude they are of no value.
• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision and see differing abilities…
• And think they do not fit the supposed norm…therefore something is wrong.
• They are disposable.
• The vision of the landowner is very familiar even if we have never
  seen a fig tree.

It is the vision of the blessed Gardener that we need to embrace.

• The one who is patient.
• Who takes a posture of nurture and care.
• Who sees potential and lives with hope for tomorrow.
• Who is not afraid of doing what
  needs to be done…
• Even if it means shoveling a few loads of manure.
• Unpleasant yes…and yet necessary to give the fig tree every opportunity to
  be its true self.

 

When we were 21 we could not read the end of our story.

• It was unknown and was only found through our living.
• We do not know how it ends for the fig tree.
• It is unknown and it is only found in the choices made.
• We do not know…nor can we know what the end of the story…or our story will be.
• It is in the way we live now that we write the end.

 

When we were 21 years old…we had no idea where we would be today.

• It was in the living of everyday…along the way…that determined our today.
• My hunch is the journey to here and now was not all sunshine and roses.
• There were days when the Landowners’ vision got the best of us.
• But there were days…too…that the Blessed Gardener’s vision led us on.

 

Now…we might not be where we hoped to be this day.

• But…remember…our story is not finished yet.
• None of our stories are
  ended yet…there is still time.
• The Blessed Gardener is with each of us.
• But time is of the essence.
• In 1 to 5 to 10 years what do you think you will want to tell yourself
  today?

Luke 4:1-13

If given a choice…most of us are not going to choose a path in life that is filled with difficulty (we raise our children teaching them to avoid it).

• But spiritual depth and growth happen as we respond to the trials…troubles…temptations…
• Testing and fear that arise in life.
• For many of us…it is in those times of challenge that we truly learn dependence on God.
• In such times we find that God graciously provides for our needs in all of life’s seasons.

The Lord be with you…

So…as we begin our forty-day Lenten journey…we intentionally take time for reflection and repentance.

• We do this by following the example of Jesus.
• And…as we meet up with Jesus today…
• We find he was led by the Spirit in the wilderness…where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. 
• This is interesting…the Spirit does not just drop Jesus off in the wilderness to fend for himself.
• The Spirit continues to abide with him and enables him to grow stronger through this wilderness season.

 

As the devil tempts Jesus…he is in a state of utter mental and physical desperation.

• He has not eaten in weeks.
• He is hallucinating.
• He is thirsty and tired.
• He is feeling empty and powerless.
• He feels as though he is about to die.
• He feels vulnerable and alone…gaunt and weak.
• He feels scared.

 

But…he responds to these temptations rooted in the foundation of scripture and faith.

• First…Jesus is tempted with food…and Jesus says: one does not live by bread alone.
• Then…Jesus is tempted with power over all the kingdoms of the world.
• And Jesus answers: I worship God…not power.
• And finally…the devil tempts him to prove who he is by throwing himself down from the pinnacle of the temple.
• And Jesus refuses saying that we should not be in the business of trying to test God…or make God prove anything to us.

 

Now…you and I are not Jesus.

• We are far more vulnerable to being tempted by evil when we are weak and tired and hungry and alone…and most of all…fearful.
• And…fear creates anxiety.
• Our culture is ridden with fear and anxiety and stress.

 

Studies show that when people are under stressful conditions:

• The anxiety of losing wealth or status…
• The anxiety of illness…or worry over the decline of the middle class.
• The anxiety of poverty…or the fear of terrorism or war…
• People are less likely to love the stranger.
• In other words…when you and I are in the wilderness of perceived powerlessness…
• We adopt xenophobic…prejudiced and intolerant…tendencies to fear those different than us.

 

We adopt tendencies to scapegoat…to blame…to become more tribalistic…

• And surround ourselves with people we perceive to share the same values and the same characteristics.
• So…it should come as no surprise that we are most apt to be tempted by power when we are feeling powerless.
• We are tempted to believe we can control terrorism and violence through religious persecution.
• We are tempted to believe that our comfort level and safety is more secure…
• If we move to a geographical place where there is little racial…ethnic and economic diversity.
• We are tempted to believe that we can control an insecure economy by hoarding our own wealth…
• And by excluding and demonizing various groups of people like immigrants…welfare recipients…or any considered “other.”

 

That is…we are less likely to welcome the stranger when we are afraid.

• We are most vulnerable to being tempted by evil when we see the world in terms of scarcity…
• Rather than abundance.
• When we see people in the world as objects to be feared and despised…
• Rather than as God’s own beloved.

 

And so…we exploit the worst stereotypes we can think of about each other…

• So that we can no longer see one another.
• So that we can no longer see God in one another.
• And yet…Jesus reminds us:
• It is written…Worship the Lord your God…and serve only him.
• Which means simply:
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart…with all your mind and with all your soul…and love your neighbor as you love yourself.

 

OK then…we all face fear.

• But…we are asked to abide and live by the law of Love…
• To transform fear into beauty.
• I think that is one of the reasons why we come to church.
• So that we can use our fear to make something beautiful together.
• We as a Faith community do this through Good Gifts…and DayStar Life Center…World Hunger…Disaster relief…Lutheran Social Services…I could go on and on with this list…
• That is how we use our fear to make something beautiful.

 

We also use our fear to make something beautiful when we apply God’s grace to our very selves.

• We need to begin our Lenten journey knowing we are beloved children of God.
• Because voices other than God’s voice try to tell us our worth.
• Because the voices of professional advancement try to tell us our worth.
• Because the voices of various ranking systems in society try to tell us our worth.
• Because the voices in our own head try to tell us our worth.
• And when these other voices do that…may we again remember our baptism.

 

Remember that we have renounced the Devil and all his empty promises.

• Remember that we are marked with the cross of Christ.
• Remember that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
• Remember that we belong to God.
• Because nothing…nothing else gets to tell us who we are.

 

Lent gives us a time to live into this baptismal identity we have been given.

• A time to come clean about those things that tempt us.
• Lent can be a time when we flip the script on some of the harmful…inherited stories of our very own lives.
• This Lenten journey is a time when we can allow ourselves to be honest and vulnerable.
• It is a time when we can consider the way we try to hide our pain and our fear and the brokenness that shapes our being.
• Lent is a time when we find the freedom to confess the messiness of our lives.

 

Jesus’ receptivity to God’s grace shows us the way to turn toward God…

• Rather than away from God during our trials and temptations.
• And in turning to the grace of God…
• We will encounter a faithful God who leads us through the wilderness to new life.

Psalm 51:1-17

I understand why confessing our sins…marking ourselves with ashes and reminding each other that we are all going to die is not exactly Disney on Ice.

• But it’s not depressing.
• If anything…it’s refreshing.
• It is refreshing in a way that only the truth can be.
• Because we know deep down that we live in a death-denying culture…
• Which tells us that we can live forever with the right combination of exercise…yoga…vacations and elective surgery.
• All pathetic attempts at immortality.

So…it is a refreshing thing we Christians all over the world do today.

• We gather to remind each other of the truth.
• To remind each other of our mortality.
• We confess that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
• Smack in the middle of our societal anxiety about impermanence…
• We just blurt out the truth as if it is not offensive.
• But the thing about blurting out this kind of truth…
• Is that after we do it…you can finally exhale.
• Because all the while we are denying the truth…God is delighting in it.

This is what we hear in Psalm 51:

• Indeed…you delight in truth…deep within me…and would have me know wisdom…deep within.
• This truth we speak today…about our mortality…
• Is only offensive if it’s heard as an insult and not as a promise.
• It is only offensive when it’s heard as being the last word.
• It is not the last word.

 

The same is true about confessing our sins.

• One end of the church tells us that sin is an antiquated notion that only makes us feel bad about ourselves…
• So…we should avoid mentioning it at all.
• While the other end of the church tells us that sin is the same as immorality…
• And totally avoidable if we can just be good and squeaky-clean.
• Yet when sin is boiled down to low self-esteem or immorality…
• Then it becomes something we can control or limit in some way…
• Rather than something we are simply in bondage to.

 

But I cannot free myself from the bondage of self.

• I cannot…by my own understanding or effort…disentangle myself from self-interest.
• And when I think that I can…
• I am attempting to do what is only God’s to do.

 

So then…there is great hope in Ash Wednesday.

• Great hope in admitting my mortality and my brokenness.
• Because then I finally lay aside my sin management scheme to allow God to be God for me.
• A God of hope and promise.

 

The promise we hear at baptisms and funerals…

• The promises of birth and death are so totally wrapped up together.
• For we come from God and to God we shall go.
• And…Oh My Gosh…there is so much that gets in the way of that simple truth.

 

Lent is not about punishing ourselves for being human.

• The practice of Lent is about peeling away layers of insulation and anesthesia which keep us from the truth of God’s promises.
• Lent is about looking at our lives in the light of Christ.
• It is during this time of self-reflection and sacrificial giving and prayer…
• That we make our way through the overgrown and tangled mess of our lives.
• We trudge through the lies of our death-denying culture to seek the simple weighty truth of who we really are.
• Lent is about hacking through self-delusion and false promises.
• We let go of all the pretenses and the destructive independence from God.
• We let go of defending ourselves.
• We let go of our indulgent self-loathing.

 

Then…like the prodigal son…we begin to see a God running with abandon to welcome us home.

• But we cannot begin to see this God until we hack through our arrogance and certainty and cynicism and ambivalence.
• The Psalmist says that God delights in the truth that is deep in us.
• Therefore…there is no shame in the truth of who we are.
• The broken and blessed beloved of God.
• There is no shame in the truth that our lives on earth will all end…
• And that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
• It is not depressing.
• What is depressing is the desperation of trying to pretend otherwise.
• What is depressing is to insist that I can free myself…
• I just have not managed to pull it off yet.

 

What is wonderful about Ash Wednesday and Lent is that by being marked with the cross…

• And reminded of our own mortality…we are free.
• We are God’s very own redeemed sinner…
• Beloved in all our broken beauty.
• So…as we receive these ashes and hear the promise that we are dust and to dust we shall return…
• Know that it is the truth…and that the truth will set us free in a way that nothing else ever can.