"Don't Mess With Mama"

Don't Mess With Mama

Matthew 15:21-28

Pentecost 14

Todd Buegler

August 16-18, 2008

Lord of Life

 

 

Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God,

and our Savior who brings us life!  Amen.

 

A year ago, I was leading a small group of senior high young people through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.  It was a warm, sunny day, and we were coming through the portage from Alpine Lake into Red Rock Lake.  For the uninitiated, a portage is when you pick up everything you have, and haul it down a trail, sometimes, rocky and treacherous, from one lake to another. 

 

I knew that on the other side of this portage, was a nice little swimming hole; a good spot to cool off.  Coming around the last bend of the portage, I discovered that we were beaten to the punch.  In the middle of our swimming hole was a large, mother moose, and her calf.  The calf was swimming around, and the mother was standing in shoulder depth water, keeping an eye on her young. 

 

The pair was about 25 yards away.  It’s pretty rare to be this close to a moose for an extended period of time.  We signaled each other to be quiet, and we silently put our stuff into the canoes and launched ourselves into the bay to get a better view.  We drifted, we took pictures, and we watched.  As we did, the current slowly moved us a little closer.  It was an amazing experience.

 

However, at some point, our canoes crossed some invisible line on Mother Moose’s radar system.  Suddenly, her head swung up in our direction, and she made a very loud snorting noise.  We froze.

 

One of the kids whispered over and said “what was that?”  Before I could respond, the moose gave another loud snort. 

 

I whispered.  “Ok everybody, calmly, quietly, paddle backwards.  Now.”  We did.  The entire time we backed away, Mama moose watched us…suspiciously.  When we were on our way to the next portage, I said to the group, “that was moose communication.  She was letting us know:  “Don’t mess with Mama.”

 

The maternal instinct to protect the young is strong.  It’s one of the characteristics that most of creation shares in.  We protect our young.  And generally, mothers can be fierce in their protection.

 

When serving as a chaplain at Mercy and Unity Hospitals, I witnessed this maternal instinct to protect many times.  I’ve watched mothers who, if I just ran into them on the street, I might think of as quiet, or frail, completely take down medical professionals if they thought their concerns about their children weren’t being taken seriously.  I’ve seen Moms who are upset about a decision made at a school, or sometimes even here at church, go after the cause of the problem with an intensity that would make a Marine drill instructor proud. 

 

I’ve learned:  you don’t mess with Mama. 

 

I don’t want to leave fathers out of the equation here.  The instinct to protect is just as strong.  When something threatens a child, parents become very, very upset.  It’s just the way we’re wired.

 

So keeping this important information about human nature in mind, we can totally understand today’s gospel lesson.  A woman comes to Jesus who is extremely upset because her daughter is very, very sick.  The Bible tells us that she was severely possessed by a demon.   During Biblical times, they didn’t understand infections, mental illness, epilepsy, viruses and other diseases, and demon possession was a very common diagnosis by doctors.

 

Can you imagine living during Biblical times and having your child go into convulsions?  You don’t know what causes it.  So you’d go to the local doctor  and he would examine the child, then say to you, “well, your child has a bad case of demon infection.  What did the child do, or what did you do that was so bad it would cause a demon to live inside her?”  Can you imagine?  That was often the line of questioning that was a part of the treatment. 

 

So then you’d go to your religious leaders.  And you’d ask if there was anything they could do.  And they would examine the child, then say to you “whatever will be will be.  It is the will of God that your child is sick.  You’ll just have to learn to live with those convulsions.  That’s the way it is.”  Thanks. 

 

However, this woman a Canaanite, whose daughter was threatened by illness or possession, wasn’t satisfied to settle for those answers.  While Canaanites were not exactly considered to be enemies by the Jewish people, they definitely were outsiders.   

 

So this Canaanite woman heard that Jesus was in town, and she decided that if there was a chance that Jesus could heal her daughter, she was going to grab it.

 

She finds Jesus, and kneels before him and even though he’s a Jew.  Even though she grew up in a different faith, and this is really important, she identifies him as the Messiah:  She says, “Jesus, Son of David, would you please heal my child?” 

 

What does Jesus do when faced with this woman who was emotional, in need, probably scared and certainly desperate?  He turns his back on her and gives her the silent treatment.  What? 

 

But she doesn’t give up.  She goes back and talks to the disciples and begs them “would you please talk to your master and ask him to heal my daughter?”  So the disciples come to Jesus and ask on her behalf.  He says “Listen, I am here to heal the Jewish people.” 

 

But this woman is desperate.  She doesn’t give up.  The silence of Jesus, the rejection of Jesus, does not intimidate her:  In attempt number three, she falls down at Jesus’ feet.  She calls out “Jesus, have mercy on me and heal my daughter.”  He replies to her “Woman, you are like a yelping puppy at a man’s table.”  And the woman being quick witted and determined says “Well, a master takes crumbs off the table and feeds his yelping puppy and shuts him up.  You just heal my daughter and you will shut me up.”

 

Jesus looks at her, and smiles and says “Great is your faith woman.  Go.  Your daughter is healed.  The woman went home and found her daughter well.

 

I love this story.  I love it because I think there are several important truths that this woman and Jesus teach us:

 

The first is this:  God’s love is for all.  One of my serious questions about this story is “Why did Jesus treat the woman this way?  Why was compassion so slow in coming to her?”  I’m not totally sure of the answer, but I believe that Jesus might have been making a point to his disciples, and the others around.  The Jewish people, even Jesus’ own disciples, believed that the Messiah was reserved for them and them alone.  Redemption was a gift for the chosen people.  The rest:  Out of luck. 

 

But this woman, this outsider, knew Jesus as Messiah.  She proclaimed that by calling him the Son of David, a phrase the Jews would equate with “Messiah.”  And Jesus acknowledges this when he said “Great is your faith woman.” 

 

Many times we fall into the same trap as the Jewish people of Jesus’ time; we like to think that we have the inside track.  We can fall into religious arrogance.  We’ve got the way, the truth and the life all figured out.  Jesus is reminding his followers that sometimes deep faith can be found outside of our own traditions.  Jesus is saying “to know me is the key.  The rest is just detail.”

 

The second truth I have learned from this story is that this woman did not put up with the evil that was a part of her life.  She didn’t go along with the teachings that the disease was her daughters fault, or was her fault.  She didn’t go along with the religious leaders who said “you’ll just have to live with it.” 

 

I like this woman.  I like her because she said “no” to this kind of logic.  Robert Wallace, a Scottish theologian, says that “9 out of 10 times, the evil that is part of your life is not the will of God.  It is the will of evil.” And so we should do everything we can do to eradicate this evil, just like the woman did.  Whether it’s an evil in our family, in our work place, in our community or our world…we should stand against it, with the same veracity the woman showed. 

 

Evil is not inevitable.  There does not have to be hunger.  There does not have to be war.  There does not have to be homelessness.  God calls us to stand against this.  To continue.  To not give up.  God’s plan for dealing with evil?  It’s you and me.

 

The third thing I learned from this story is the importance of persistant prayer. 

 

This woman came to Jesus, and she did not give up.  She faced silence; she faced answers she didn’t want to hear.  Sometimes that is what it feels like when we pray.  Sometimes it feels like there is no response.  Sometimes it feels like the response is not what we hope for.  And in truth, there are times that God answers prayers in ways that are not what we ask for.  We do have to trust that God knows best.  However, the woman does not give up. 

 

I believe that this is the way God wants us to pray.  God wants us to pray with that kind of bugging, nagging persistence. 

 

Our five year old, Samuel, loves music.  He love to sing.  He loves to listen to the music of Radio Disney.  And he loves to run around the house with his little plastic guitar and to “jam” to whatever is on the radio.  Sometimes I’ll flip the radio to WCCO AM just to annoy him.  But he asks me all the time.  “Daddy, can you teach me to play guitar.”  Yes, I can.  “Daddy, will you teach me to play guitar.”  Sometime, yes, I will.  “Daddy, today can you teach me guitar?”  “If there is time.”  His hands won’t even go around the guitar neck.  But “Daddy, can you teach me?”  Persistent, unrelenting.  Do you know children like this? 

 

God says “This is the way we are to pray.”  We are constantly to be bugging God, coming after God and asking these things.    This is the kind of persistence that is needed in our prayer life:  where we go to God constantly, asking God to overcome those things which are evil in our lives, in the world.  We go to God and ask for healing for ourselves, for others.

 

Now we know that God is busy.  God has got big issues of life to deal with, and we might not feel like God has time for our little petty concerns.  God’s got the universe, the laws of nature, of thermodynamics, of law, of physics to work on.  Me?  I’m nothing. 

 

But that’s not what Jesus teaches.  Jesus teaches that God is concerned about our family member’s cancer, that God is concerned with our financial problems, that God is concerned with our addiction, that God is concerned with our marriage, that God is concerned about all these things which for us are not petty at all.  God wants us to come and persistently ask him in prayer. 

 

I love the story about this woman.  I love her faith.  I love her persistence.  I love that she gets in Jesus’ face and makes “the ask.”   She is this way because she cares so deeply for her daughter that she will do anything to restore her.  She doesn’t take “no” for an answer.  And we know:  you don’t mess with Mama.

 

And Jesus response?  Jesus looked at this outsider, and made a point out of her.  God’s grace is for her, and her faith was in his estimation, great. 

 

My friends, God looks at each of you. 

• If you feel like an outsider, he says “Come to me.  My love is for you.”
• If you feel overcome with evil.  If you carry your demons, whatever they are, he says “come to me, my healing is for you.”
• If you are discouraged and are ready to quit.  He says “Come to me.  What faith you have is more than enough.  In fact, it is great.  Come to me.”

 

Understand the faith of this woman, and experience the love of the Messiah.  It is for you.

 

Amen.

 

The Extravagant Farmer (Matthew 13:1-9 & 18-22)

Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God, and our Savior who brings us life! Amen.

My Grandfather held my hand. I was probably 8 or 9 years old, and my Grandfather, a stoic, Swedish farmer who had spent his entire life on the family farm in southern Minnesota was walking me around the Butterfield Threshing Bee. Now just a show of hands; how many people here have ever been to a threshing bee? I thought so.

A threshing bee is an exhibition of the big, old, large steam driven pieces of threshing equipment that used to travel from farm to farm at harvest time. It is a showcase of old farm tools and implements. It is a way of remembering how things used to be done. And so I remember that on this sunny day in Butterfield, my Grandfather, who was probably in his late 70’s at the time, and was dressed in his overalls, held my hand and walked me all over the threshing bee. And he would stop…and he would tell stories about the equipment and about how he grew up using it. He told me stories about the past; about our family, about our friends. There, and at other times in other conversations, he taught me about the importance of family; about the importance of church; about life. My Grandfather was a farmer. He planted and raised crops. He raised livestock. That day, however, he was doing a different kind of farming. He was planting seeds in me.

You see, we are who we are because of the people around us. It is true. Who I am…what I like to do…how I like to spend my time…my life…my parenting…my vocation…are all heavily influenced by people around me. My parents…my grandparents… my wife…my children…my friends… all have a hand in me being who I am. And as I think about my life, and my vocation as father, husband, son, pastor…much of my identity, and much of what I try to teach Nathan and Samuel, can be tied directly back to all these people, and to conversations like the one at the threshing bee, where seeds were planted.

Our gospel parable for today is all about the planting of seeds. Jesus picked this image on purpose. He knew his audience. He lived in an agricultural society. So the ideas he was talking about made total sense, and would be obvious to the folks who heard him. They would say: “Seeds on rocky soil? Well, of course…that’s not going to work…we all know that. Thorny soil? No, that would never work either…what is that farmer thinking?”

So then I can’t help but wonder. If the people Jesus was speaking to knew all of this, what then was point of what he was trying to teach them? Jesus does give an explanation. And in the explanation, Jesus basically divides the world into three kinds of people:

• There are those who hear the Word of Christ, and do not understand it at all.
  


• There are those who hear the Word of Christ, and who receive it, but either lack the depth to sustain it, or who allow it to be choked out of them.


• And finally, there are those who hear the word, and who understand it, integrate it and live it.

As Jesus has done other times in scripture, he is drawing a distinction between people. He is asking his listeners, us, to stop and reflect on our own lives. What kind of soil are we? How open are we to hearing, to integrating the Word of God into our daily life? Good questions, and ones that we all need to take seriously. And in all honesty, when we read this Gospel, this is where we are tempted to stop. The point is simple. We should all be good soil, open to God’s Word. Amen. So be it. In the past, that’s how I’ve always read the story. It’s about us.

But if we just end this way, I believe that we miss the point, the key point of the parable.

You see, if you were a first century Jew, and you were listening to Jesus tell this parable. You would have been shocked. But not at the way Jesus differentiates between people, comparing them to soil. You would have been shocked at the behavior of the farmer.

Again, it was an agricultural society. You would know your farming. You would understand the level of work it takes to grow crops in a hot, arid, desert environment. It was a hard life! You would not take rain water for granted. The weather could be brutal and long droughts were common. The middle east does not resemble the rich, fertile farmland where my grandfather planted.

And you would recognize that this parable is not three separate stories. It is not a “compare and contrast.” This is one story of a farmer planting all of his crops in a single season, in all different kinds of soil. If you were listening to Jesus tell this story, you would be shocked that a farmer would ever plant seeds on a path where people and animals walked…and then in rocky places…and then in thorns…and then finally on good soil. You would say to yourself “is this farmer nuts? Is he crazy? Seed is precious! Seed is valuable! Why is he just wasting it?”

Farmers at that time, in that place, would only plant seed in places where they knew that it would grow, and would produce crops. They were strategic, and careful where they planted. To do what the parable suggests would be like me telling my grandfather I was going to go plant seeds in the middle of the interstate. He’d look at me like I was crazy.

So what point is Jesus trying to make in this parable?

This story is primarily about the farmer. The story is about someone for whom seed is in such abundance, that he can afford to scatter seeds wildly, with abandon. It is about a farmer who is of such means, that he can take a chance and invest seed in all kinds of soil, even in places where he is not sure what will come of it. This is the story of the extravagant farmer.

This parable is about the abundant, rich, extravagant love of a God who has so much grace to share, that it can be shared not only in the hearts of people where God knows it will take root, but in people whose hearts and spirits are rocky, are full of thorns, or where the seeds might be choked or taken by others. This grace is a grace not just for those who live the lives of the righteous, but for the sinner; for those whose lives are broken, who are in pain, or who doubt their faith. This grace is a grace for you…for me…for all of us.

I just returned last week from 12 days on the road with a fantastic group of 22 senior high youth on one of our AWOL (that’s A Work of Love) mission trips. We worked with the Macon, Georgia chapter of Habitat for Humanity, building homes and working on a church in a poor and broken neighborhood call the “Peach Orchards” in south Macon. I could tell you stories of many, many seeds that were planted during the 12 day trip.

I’d like to share one of these stories with you. Leah had never gone on a mission trip before. One night, while we were at the Laundromat, I did video interviews with some of the kids about their trip experience. Leah surprised me. She said: “…my faith has changed here. When I first came here, I didn’t have any faith. And we started doing devotions in the morning and at night. And the day Kevin did his, we started singing “Shout to the Lord” and I couldn’t sing it, because I finally found God…I finally found my faith. And it was a really revealing and satisfying and uplifting experience for me. I’m going to go home and tell everyone about my experience. It’s changed me a lot. And I’m going to go home and change how I see life, and I’m going to change how I am towards people and towards my parents. It’s changed me a lot.”

Seeds were planted in Leah’s life. And she opened herself up to the work of God, and the seeds took hold. Seeds took hold in the lives of all of us on that trip. Seeds took hold in the whole Peach Orchard neighborhood.

Yes, we have a responsibility to wonder about what kind of soil our lives are for the planter. We need to ask ourselves questions: am I open to God working within my life? Is my heart rocky? Is my spirit full of thorns? Am I open to the distractions, to the things that will choke the seeds from growing within me? How are my relationships? Am I too tired? Am I too sad? How is my faith life? How is my prayer life? Do I read scripture? Can I create space in my life for God’s love and grace to work?

But even more, Jesus is telling us to remember the one who plants the seeds. God is the extravagant farmer.

God’s love and grace comes to each of you in abundance; even if your life feels rocky; even if you feel overwhelmed; even if you don’t feel worthy of that love. Jesus’ love comes to the distracted, to the overscheduled, to the busy, to the addicted, to the beat up, to the abused, to the abuser, to the sick, to the sinner and to the saint.

There is no kind of soil in your life, which will prevent the farmer from sowing seeds of love and grace. God knows no limitations. He plants wildly, extravagantly and with abandon. We don’t get to decide where God chooses to plant. God plants in all of you. God works in all of you. God gives grace to all of you.

Ultimately, how we live our lives does matter to God, who wants our hearts to be rich and fertile soil for God’s Word to dwell and grow. We have the freedom to choose how to respond to that gift; to these seeds: we can accept it, we can ignore it, we can reject it. But we cannot prevent it. The farmer who plants the gift of grace within us is relentless. Our God is persistent.

My friends, receive that gift. Open yourself to the work of God. The farmer is planting. Be good soil. And experience, and dwell in the extravagant grace of God.

Amen.

Test Driving Theology

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I love this post

by Seth Godin

Is it worthy?

Is this the best I can do?

I’ve paid for the rent and the furnishings and the menus and the staff and the insurance... is this plate of food worthy of what went before it?

I’ve flown across the country to visit this museum--a building that cost more than a billion dollars to create and fill and maintain. Is my attention focused enough?

We paid $300 in marketing costs just to get this phone to ring this one time. How shall we answer it?

I’ve had a great education, suffered and scraped and scrounged to get this point... is this diagnosis, this surgery, this prescription, this bedside manner the end that justifies that effort?

We live in a stable democracy, a place where people have lived and died to give us the freedom to speak out... is that talking head or this spinning pundit the best we can do? Or is he just trying to make a profit and air another commercial?

Is cutting corners to make a buck appropriate when you consider what you could have done? What would someone with a bigger vision have done instead?

Is being negative or bitter or selfish within reason in face of how extraordinarily lucky we were to have been been born here and born now?

I take so much for granted. Perhaps you do as well. To be here, in this moment, with these resources. To have not just our health but the knowledge and the tools and the infrastructure. What a waste.

If I hadn’t had those breaks, if there weren’t all those people who had sacrificed or helped or just stayed out of my way... what then? Would I even have had a shot at this?

What if this were my last post? Would this post be worthy?

The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all.

Random Observations

Non-sensical random thoughts from the last few days:

• The Twins are going to break my heart in micro-fissures...a game at a time.  Watching them is like being pecked to death by a duck.
• "What did I get myself into?"
• "It's all about the mission."
• We're 1/6th of the way through summer, and we have yet to have a really hot day.  I don't like hot days...so that's good.  But I'm not interested in an extended winter either.
• I am so grateful for the lives, faith and friendship of all those who have just graduated.
• I'm really excited to spend time with good people in Macon next week.  I'm guessing that when there, I'm going to discover where the heat and humidity have gone.
• Change is scary, for the chang-er and the change-ee.
• The Wild Rumpus Bookstore (children's) is an amazing place.
• Equally amazing is Cafe 28 for lunch, next door to the Wild Rumpus.
• The Barenaked Ladies music is timeless.
• There is something pure about mowing the lawn on a Saturday morning.  

That's what I've got for now.

Weddings in Unusual Places

Tonight I got to do a wedding at the James J. Hill Library in downtown St. Paul.  Generally, I'm not a huge fan of doing "off-site" weddings...they tend to be a lot of work.  However, tonight was a little different.

First, it was a great couple.  Congratulations to Aaron and Kara!

Second, just a few minutes after the tail end of the wedding, we were serenaded by the unbelievably loud screech of the tornado sirens.  Storms hit the Twin Cities (again) tonight.  But I got to see the most amazing wall cloud I've ever seen...it looked literally like it was "churning" as it went over.  We also saw funnel clouds.  No tornado, but there was some pretty serious rotation going on.

But the final thing that made it cool was the location.  The James J. Hill Reference Library is an amazing place.  I've never been there before.  But the architecture is absolutely amazing.  It was very cool  They quite literally could not build facilities like this again...there is no way anyone would/could pay for it.  

Giant pillars...towering book stacks...amazing, dungeonlike tunnels down below.  

I could spend some serious time wandering around in there.

The change business

I just read in Kelly Fryer's blog a great line.  I'm not sure if it's hers or not, but I'll happily give her credit for it.  She says "Jesus did not come to maintain museum-like buildings, or..."

I'd even just shorten the line to "Jesus did not come to maintain..."

It strikes me that one of the fundamental truths about Jesus is that he was change.  Incarnate.

He changed everything.  Internal/external/perception/reality/death/life/crucifixion/resurrection/sin/grace....the list goes on and on.  

So those of us in ministry?  We are change agents.  Across a broad spectrum:  individually, socially, spiritually, organizationally, communally, congregationally.

This, I have discovered, is hard work.  And frankly, it's not what we are trained to do.  The seminaries of the ELCA do not change organizational dynamics, or organizational psychology.  They do not instruct people new to ministry in how to not only navigate and survive, but to direct and thrive change.  People either learn it or they do not.  Those that do, do it.  Those that do not, eventually wind up in places that are not interested in change.  While convenient for them, it winds up perpetuating the problem.  

Change.  How do we create a culture adequate, and with the capacity, to complete this call?

The Problem When Something Goes Well

I have to admit to a certain amount of disappointment tonight.  We hosted the MGSH Baccalaureate service, and it went really well.

No, that's not disappointing.

What's disappointing is that this means we'll be doing it again next year.

Friday, Saturday and today, I was ready to chuck it.  It wasn't worth the hassle, people had dropped out of some tasks they were doing, and I was convinced we needed to complete this year, declare success, and then NOT do it again.  (Sometimes the best decision you can make is to discontinue something...even when it isn't terrible.)

So I was ready to pull the plug.

Then the unexpected happened:  It went really well.

The talks were great.

The music was great.

The fellowship was great.

The other congregations with whom we partner on it are all in.

I guess it's happening again!  Who'da thunk it.

"Breathe"

Breathe

John 20:19-23

Pentecost

Todd Buegler

May 10-11

Lord of Life

Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God, and our Savior who brings the gift of the Spirit!  Amen.

 I spent the better part of the day on Thursday with my Mother down at Abbott Northwestern hospital, where she was having a medical procedure.  In the past, I have spoken about how she has been dealing with breast cancer and has done the full gamut of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.  Thankfully, she is cancer free now…the procedure on Thursday was going to kind of “close the book” on the medical journey she has been on for the last 15 months.  Now she moves from treatment, to monitoring.

 As I drove her to Abbott, I had to laugh.  At one point in our conversation, she said something like “Todd, I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry about what this has done to your schedule.” 

 Right.  My schedule.  My mind immediately jumped back to my childhood.  My father’s work caused him to have to travel quite a bit, and my Mother was often put in the position of having to ‘single-parent’ 3 boys who were…well, now-a-days we might use the euphemism: Active.

 That means that in addition to chasing us around the neighborhood, Mom spent lots of time driving us from place to place, lots of time at Dr’s offices, time at sports practices, band concerts, emergency rooms, principal’s offices…for my brothers…church events, scout meetings, the list goes on and on and on and on and on…

Yeah Mom.  You should feel pretty bad about messing up my schedule. Riiggghhhttt…  No.  In the cosmic balance sheet of how we spend our time, I am pretty seriously in the deficit column in terms of what I’ve been able to do in my relationship with my Mother. 

That’s why I find it interesting that this weekend in the church we celebrate two important events:  First to mind:  we celebrate Mother’s Day, when we remember and are grateful for the love given to us by Mother’s.  And today in the church we celebrate Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit, that manifestation of God that we most closely associate with nurture and care, Motherly characteristics, came to the disciples in quite literally a whirlwind, that gifted and formed the church.  

Of the three aspects of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit that has always been the most confusing and mysterious to us.  Just out of curiousity, I googled the phrase “Holy Spirit” and came up with 12,300,000 different web pages about the Holy Spirit.  I gave a read through the first 2-3 million pages that popped up…what I discovered is that there is very little consensus on the Holy Spirit; and there is a huge variety of experiences.  I’m sure you’ve experienced God’s Spirit in different ways.  I certainly have: 

Years ago, when I was a college student, I worked in the media services department at my school as a media specialist.  My wife insists on using the phrase “AV Geek”, but I really prefer media specialist.  One weekend, I was asked to set up and run sound for a visiting group from a Pentecostal denomination for their worship service.  After a fiery sermon, the pastor called people forward for special time of healing.  I’d never seen anything quite like it. 

The preacher, with one hand on the mic, would place the other hand on the forehead of the person desiring healing…he’d pray…he’d speak in tounges…a language none of us could understand, and then the preacher would push back on the forehead and the person would fall straight back, into the waiting arms of assistants, who would lower them down to the ground, where they would lay, sometimes for a long time, twitching occasionally.  Let me be clear, I don’t mean to diminish or discount this form of healing.   It is an important part of the faith of many different traditions.  But for someone who grew up with a traditional, stoic, Scandinavian Lutheran church background, well…this was all a little weird.  At that time, it was just outside of my definition of the word “normal”. 

After awhile, one of their ushers noticed me at my sound board.  Obviously I was the only person in the room who was not from their church.  I’m pretty sure he thought that made me a candidate for recruitment.  He smiled and approached me and said “so do you have any questions?  Is there anything I can help you with?”   “No, thanks! I’m all good! I’m just running sound!”  He smiled as if he was partially disappointed, and then asked, “well, are you a Christian?” “Yep!  Yep I am!”  “Ahhhh…Well, have you been baptized in the Spirit?”  I didn’t really know what he meant by that and I suddenly got a little nervous that he was going to put his hand on my forehead and push, …so I just said “Oh yeah…sure!  The Spirit!”  and then I pretended that I had knobs on the sound board that needed adjusting.  He smiled and left…but I could tell that he wasn’t convinced that I was going to make the cut. 

It seems that people are able to create an image of the Holy Spirit that best meets their needs, wishes and desires. 

• For some, the Holy Spirit is a warrior, or a guardian, whose sole job is to protect us and to fight against the powers of darkness. 
• For others, the Holy Spirit is a power source…it is where we get our spiritual energy. 
• For others, the Holy Spirit is a healer who brings health and wholeness.
• for many, perhaps going back to the old-school phrase “Holy Ghost”, the Spirit represents the mystery that is God…it is the “behind the scenes God”, the invisible God. 

We all have our own ideas, shaped by our own history and our way of thinking about the Holy Spirit.  But our Gospel for today guides us: 

It begins in John 20 immediately after the resurrection.  The disciples are gathered in a closed room.  The doors are locked because frankly, they are terrrified and bewildered.  If the Jewish people were willing to have Jesus crucified, wouldn’t hesitate to have the disciples arrested.  Jesus was dead, and his body had vanished.  Mary reported having seen a resurrected Jesus, but the other disciples hadn’t seen any proof yet…so they were confused, and worried.  So the doors are locked and the windows were closed.  They were regrouping.  Suddenly, in the middle of the room, without warning, Jesus appeared to them.  They had to be shocked and maybe scared.  But Jesus’ first words?  “Peace be with you!”  To prove who he was, he showed them his wounds, and they rejoiced. 

Then he repeated himself:  “Peace be with you…as my Father has sent me, I am sending you” and he did something unexpected:  he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  He breathed on them.  And in that single moment…in that single act, the world…our world, was changed.    

Jesus breathes.  And says “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  And the Hebrew word he uses for Holy Spirit is the word “Ruach Hakkodesh”, which literally translates to wind, breath or Spirit of God.  “Receive the breath of God.”  Here, Jesus uses the same word that is found throughout the Bible to describe the Spirit of God. 

• In the creation story of Genesis 1, when the Spirit of God, the Ruach Hakkodesh hovers over the waters when the earth is formless and empty…
• In Genesis 2, when God breathes the Ruach Hakkodesh into the nostrils of Adam and Eve to give life to the first humans…
• Throughout scripture, in the Psalms, in Isaiah, in Ezekial, in the story of Jesus’ baptism… whenever God’s Holy Spirit is referred to, it is as Ruach…the breath of God. 

Jesus is saying that God’s work in the world is quite literally, breath.  Like the human body depends on breath, the world depends on the breath, the Spirit of God.  God’s Spirit surrounds us and quite literally brings life. 

Then, after Jesus breathes, and after he gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, he gives them a charge:  He says “If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  

When you think about it, this is a tremendous responsibility.  He is telling his disciples, you now have the power to proclaim forgiveness to those around you…and you have the power to withhold forgiveness.  I do not think it is an accident that these two acts: the giving of the Holy Spirit, and the command to forgive others are linked together.  Forgiveness of sins is not a human act.  Ultimately, it is God alone, through the Holy Spirit, and then proclaimed by God’s people, who forgives.  Jesus is saying to the disciples, and then to us: “as I have forgiven, I empower you now to forgive.”  And so we can forgive in God’s name.  We can reach out to each other to wipe away the dried and dirty tears of pain and guilt from one another's faces and pronounce God's forgiveness, giving power and courage to live in a world of hurt. When we forgive someone, the Spirit of God is literally breathed out on them and those who sin experience freedom and life.  When we do not forgive, we all remain bound by sin. 

On April 20, 1981 I celebrated my 16^th birthday.  On that same afternoon, I received my driver’s license.  On that same night, my parents handed me the car keys for the first time.  (I had to run back to school to get something that I had “forgotten” in my locker.  Riiiiggghhhttt.)  I remember that it was raining that night.  I had no idea at the time, what a leap of faith that must have been for my parents.  It was an incredible transitional moment.  For the first time, I was being given a great responsibility.  I was being given an adult responsibility.  But my parents believed and trusted me.  I am certain now, that my parents were probably pacing the entire 45 minutes that I was gone.  I am certain now, that there was a giant sigh of relief when I pulled the car back into the garage. 

In this Gospel Jesus does something very similar for His followers. Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, so send I you." He blesses them with the Holy Spirit, and he gives them the power to forgive.  Jesus is handing the keys to the kingdom to His disciples. He is demonstrating to them that He is entrusting to them the message of the gospel. He gives to them a great privilege, and a great responsibility.  He is showing them that He believes in them.  And he is giving them the “Ruach Hakkodesh”, his breath…his Spirit…his life… 

My friends, today, we gather here in this place, like the disciples did 2000 years ago.  And we are the inheritors of that same promise, and that same responsibility.    And Jesus says to each of us “As my Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Jesus promises that we do not go alone.  The breath of God blows through this place.  God’s presence is here.  And because our God is a God of love and Grace, this promise is for you.  Each of you.  

God comes to you.  God breathes on you his Holy Spirit.  “Ruach Hokkodesh.”  God promises you the inheritance of peace and blessing.  And God sends you out, strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, to continue His work in the world.  To care, to serve and to proclaim to people the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ. 

Breathe in deeply, and receive the Spirit of God.

Amen.

Being Remarkable

Less Does Not Equal More

I love politics...and I love to talk/debate/argue politics.  And I generally have pretty strong opinions about politics.  But, generally, I choose not to write too much about them.  While I love having these conversations with friends and family, my role is quirky enough that I don't want to take a chance on a political view getting in the way of an important (and often ministry-based) relationship that I want to maintain.

So, all that being said, I'm going to now break my rule, though I'm going to do this in as non-partisan a way as I possibly can.

I've watched with some amazement in the past year as government has operated more and more from a scarcity mentality, instead of from an abundance mentality.  

"No new taxes.  No new fees.  The answer is to cut/reduce spending...only."

"We can stimulate the economy by cutting taxes."

Why do we really think this might work?  Has it ever?  (hint: the answer is 'no')

So now, because the state has cut funding to education, forcing school districts to rely on referendums, and when the referendums fail, my son's first grade class (which has 19 people in it this year) will have 33 next year.

I believe that you get what you pay for.  I have no problem paying taxes...even paying more than my fair share (assuming some can't pay their fair share) if it ensures a quality standard of living, which means education/health/human services/etc...  Don't get me wrong...I'm as anti-waste as anyone.  But that's not what we're talking about.  We're talking about 33 2nd graders in a class designed for 22-24 max.  We're talking about 188 teachers being cut.  We're talking about services for special education, and for early childhood education, being slashed.

Less does not equal more.  Less equals less.  It's simple.

I'd rather be about the more; and our society is definitely a culture of abundance.  Let's steward that abundance instead of acting like it needs to be defended.

Does Merger = Loss?

I don't understand my reaction to a corporate merger.  Northwest Airlines and Delta have announced their intent to merge.  This is not a shock.  It's been in the news for months, and it has been the subject of much conversation and commentary.

So yesterday it was announced.  The merger is on, and in a year or so, barring any disruption from the Department of Justice, the familiar logo and look of nwa is going to vanish from the skyscape.  

So why am I bothered by this?

Yes, there are the obvious concerns about our local economy, the jobs lost, etc...

Yes, there is concern about the level of competition (which never was very level in the Twin Cities anyway)

Yes, there is the concern about the cost of travel.

But frankly, (and this makes almost no sense to me) I think I'm going to miss them.  I grew up on Northwest.  I remember the radio commercials:  "Northwest Orient...Airlines."  My Dad traveled 1-2 weeks per month when I was growing up.  So I went to the airport a lot to drop off and/or pick up.  I got my worldperks card the same year I graduated from high school.  I've watched the red-tailed airplanes flying over my home and community all of my life.

Is it possible that I feel grief over an airline?

Perhaps it's more likely that I grieve the role it played in my life and the life of lots of good people around me.  

I don't completely understand it.

But NWA, RIP.

The Winter that will not End

I am normally not one of those people who are complaining about the weather.  I always figured that if people can't handle a Minnesota winter, they should move somewhere else...Indiana, or Missouri, or somewhere a little wimpier in its winter.

And really, our winters have come down in intensity in the last 20 years too.  I don't want to sound old when I say this (though I will), but I remember typically 2-3 seriously kick-butt winter storms/blizzards every winter when I was growing up.  There would be a run on the grocery store...people would stock up on batteries...and the snow would come and would turn country highways into "chutes" after the plows went through.  

I seriously don't remember the last time that happened.

So, all that being said, I don't want to come across as too wimpy.  BUT...would this winter just END please?  I mean, for Pete's sake, it's April 10!  Our lawn was green...well...er...crud gray... at noon today.  Now it's back to white.  

After I get back from Jamaica every late March, I'm pretty much ready for spring to begin.  HELLO!  It's April 10 today!  Any time now...

Ok, I'm done griping.

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Looking Back

Looking Back
Luke 17:1-4
Lent 5 – Thursday Lenten Service
Todd Buegler
March 13, 2008
Lord of Life


Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God, and our Savior who is forgiveness! Amen.

My Grandfather used to say that you have to start a project with the end in mind. In other words, if you have something important to do, you think of the end-result and work backwards to figure out what you need to do to achieve your end result. Pretty good advice. And I think this is as true in life as much as it is in projects at work or at home. We live life with the end in mind.

Let me frame that in the form of a question: When I am in the twilight of my life, what do I want to be able to look back and say about how I lived?

We could spend a lot of time looking at, creating and examining our lists. We’d want to be good to our families…good at our jobs…we’d want to be great golfers…no wait, that was Pastor Peter…we’d want to be good friends… many thing on the list would be pretty easy to write. But once I got past these first words; fairly easy to come up with, there would come other words…things that are a little more about qualities and less about activities. On the top of this list? After 6 weeks of Lent together, studying the book The Art of Forgiveness, after sermon series and Lenten services on forgiveness, it probably wouldn’t be a shock to realize that I have forgiveness on my mind. So, when I’m in the twilight of my life, in 150 years or so, I’d like to be able to look back and say that I was a good forgiver.

What is a good forgiver? Well, to be honest, I don’t feel like I’m as good at that as I’d like. So I’d like us to listen for a moment to two people who are looking back…who are examining and reflecting on their life. And it seems like they’ve been pretty good forgivers. I’d like us to listen to Norm and Ethel.



So what can we learn from Norm and from Ethel? What can we discover about forgiveness from their long life together? I think there are three things:

1. Forgiveness doesn’t have a shelf life. When we forgive, we forgive and move on. We don’t come back to it. Notice how Ethel said that “he never brought it up…he never used it against me…” The idea of “forgive and forget” is a myth. If someone does me wrong, even if I’ve forgiven them, I can’t totally set aside what has happened. I will always remember. And there’s no way that this experience won’t affect the way I deal with them. That’s human nature.

But relationships of love trump anger. Every time. And while we may be angry for awhile, ultimately we know that a relationship based on love will overcome that anger. Ultimately, the relationship will win out and we will move beyond even the memories.

2. Forgiveness is a choice. We have to decide to forgive. It is a step we take, and it cannot just be assumed that we will always forgive. For once someone assumes that the gift of forgiveness is coming their way, they cheapen the power and measure of that gift. Even after 50 years of marriage, a husband, a wife, a friend, a co-worker has to ask for forgiveness with sincerity so that the gift can be given freely.

Relationships of love trump the taking of each other for granted. Every time. In a relationship based upon love, the person in the wrong should always ask for forgiveness rather than assume it, because they know that this love is precious and is worth guarding and protecting. And we want the other person to forgive. So we ask…gently and respectfully…we ask.

3. Forgiveness requires patience. Norm and Ethel said this several times. Forgiveness requires patience. We forgive over and over and over; even when it is hard. In our human economy, we look at things through the lens of “cost effectiveness.” In other words, we will forgive until the cost for forgiving becomes too great for us; until it is just too difficult, or too painful. Norm and Ethel would seem to suggest the opposite. In their life together, they have chosen a different economy; one based on love. In this economy, one cannot forgive too many timees.

Relationships of love trump cost-effectiveness; every time. The relationship based on love looks at the other first and realizes that the love we have in the relationship is of more value than the feelings of anger I may carry.

A caveat here: This kind of relationship doesn’t mean that we tolerate or justify continued abuse…or injustice…or bad behavior. Sometimes we do need to draw a line and say “no more.” The greek word is “metanoia.” It means “complete turn around.” When there is metanoia, and someone asks forgiveness, when someone repents, the relationship based on love will always be there offering forgiveness.

All of these observations are based on forgiveness being nested in a loving relationship. The ultimate relationship based on love is the relationship we have with God. Jesus Christ, because of grace, and through no work of our own, loves us so much that every time we come back to him and ask for forgiveness, we are granted that gift. Every time we repent, we are given grace. That is what God does for each of you.

In the twilight of my days, I want to be known as a forgiving person. But I know that the only way that this can happen is if I totally rely and depend on the grace, the love and the forgiveness of God.

God’s love has no shelf life. It exists because God chose to give it, and because God is patient beyond our ability to understand.

It is gift. And because it is given in abundance, we are able to share, to re-gift it to others. My hope for all of us is that we can live now with the end in mind. That we can remember both the forgiveness we have received, and the forgiveness we have given; that we live in the bold confidence that we are both forgiven, and forgiving and that we rely on grace.

Amen.

The Journey to Forgiveness

The Journey to Forgiveness
Luke 17:1-4
Lent 5
Todd Buegler
March 8-9, 2008
Lord of Life


Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God, and our Savior! Amen.

I was awakened by the phone at 2:30 in the morning. I knew who it was and what was coming. I was 23 years old and in my first apartment and Peter, my roommate was sleeping in his room next door. He slept like a log…nothing woke him up, not even the phone. So I answered: “Hello?” It was the same voice as the night before: “Hi Todd, this is Joy…I’m really sorry to wake you up, but is Peter there?”

Joy, the fiancé, was a nurse on the overnight shift. Every night she would call Peter on her lunch break. And every night, I would answer. After about a month of this, something snapped and that night, when she said “Hi Todd, it’s Joy, I’m sorry to wake you”, I interrupted with “no you’re not.” There was a pause…”No, I’m not what?” No, you’re not sorry…because if you were sorry it would mean that you weren’t going to do it again, but I know that you are.” Long pause. “Oh. You’re right. So is Peter there?”

The next morning when I woke up, after a couple cups of coffee…I realized that I had withheld forgiveness. And I felt a little guilty. Now, 20 years later, we joke about it, and my relationship with Joy was fine. That night, we came to an understanding. She kept calling…I kept answering, and she just quit apologizing.

Forgiveness is a tricky thing. Frankly…we all know what it is. And we all know we should do it. Jesus is actually quite clear. In our Gospel today, he says that as often as people come back to apologize, we should forgive…basically, to “forgive infinitely.”

But it’s not that easy. Forgiving someone who has done something to us…well, it’s complicated. And there are questions.
How do we forgive when the pain is still there?
What if they don’t apologize?
How can we forgive when we can’t forget?

There are many questions and no easy answers. But as hard as it is, we know that the alternative to working out the questions is to poison ourselves and our relationships. To not forgive is to carry around the weight of frustration, anger and despair. It is an emotional load that over time takes its toll on us.

We all know people who are like this. The level of bitterness that angry and unforgiving people carry can seem overwhelming. They are not fun people to be around. And over time, their negativity and pain can begin to influence the world around them like a virus.

This is not how we want to live…it is not how God wants us to live. And to be honest, it is a choice we make. We do not have to live lives of anger. We can all choose to forgive. For many, it takes time…it is not easy…there is much to overcome…but we can choose to forgive.

Erik Lomax is a British veteran of World War II having served in the Pacific. He was captured by the Japanese and was tortured while on the Burma-Siam railway. He wrote a book called The Railway Man. I’d like to share with you an excerpt from his story. He writes that:

“If you are a victim of torture you never totally recover. You may cope with the physical damage, but the psychological damage stays with you forever.
In 1945 I returned to Edinburgh to a life of uncertainty, following three and half years of fear, interrogation and torture as a POW in the Far East. I had no self-worth, no trust in people, and lived in a world of my own. The privacy of the torture victim is more impregnable than any island fortress. People thought I was coping, but inside I was falling apart. I became impossible to live with; it was as if the sins my captors had sown in me were being harvested in my family. I also had intense hatred for the Japanese, and was always looking for ways and means to do them down. In my mind I often thought of my hateful interrogator. I wanted to drown him, cage him and beat him - as he had done to me.

After my retirement in 1982, I started searching for information. The need to know is powerful. In the course of my search I learnt that Nagase Takashi - my interrogator and torturer was still alive; was active in charitable works, and that he had built a Buddhist temple. I was skeptical. I couldn’t believe in the notion of Japanese repentance. I strongly suspected that if I were to meet him I’d put my hands round his neck and do him in.

In 1987 I found “The Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture”. At age 68, I entered therapy. And for the first time I was able to unload the hate that had become my prison. Seeing the change in me, my wife wrote to Nagase. The letter he wrote back was full of compassion. When I read the letter, I lost whatever hard armor I had wrapped around me and began to think the unthinkable.

The meeting took place in 1998 in Kanburi, Thailand. When we met, Nagase greeted me with a formal bow. I took his hand and said in Japanese, “Good Morning Mr Nagase, how are you?” He was trembling and crying, and he said over and over again: “I am so sorry, so very sorry.” I had come with no sympathy for this man, and yet Nagase, through his complete humility, turned this around. In the days that followed we spent a lot of time together, talking and laughing. We discovered that we had much in common. I discovered that he was human. We promised to keep in touch and have remained friends ever since.

After our meeting I felt I’d come to some kind of peace and resolution.“ Lomax concludes by writing that “At some time the hating has to stop.”

Erik Lomax’s journey of forgiveness was be a long one. Our journey of forgiveness can be long too. I would never presume to minimize the very real pain people feel from being hurt…sometimes long, long ago. But in the journey, we often become stuck. And when stuck, we are not able to forgive. We are not able to progress. We are not able to grow into the people God hopes and calls us to be.

Erik Lomax went through a process to forgive. And frankly, it was his process. No one could tell him how to make this journey. There is no template…no step by step process to forgiving. Everyone’s journey is unique.

But Lewis Smedes, in his book The Art of Forgiving that our congregation has been studying this Lent, identifies some helpful stages for us in the forgiveness journey.

Smedes believes that to forgive, we need to think and to evaluate. We cannot forgive if we do not have clarity as to what actually happened. This takes time. It is not easy. We need to process the events and discern what happened, and to ask ourselves questions: Could it have been an accident? Was it a misunderstanding? Or did he or she know what they were doing? Was it a lapse, or has this been a habitual problem? Am I annoyed, or was I truly wronged?

Our primary human reaction is to assume the worst. Because we have been hurt, we want to assume that there must be someone who created the hurt with intent. That might not be the case.

The next stage Smedes discusses is to talk. Talk to another person. Use them as a sounding board, as Lomax did at the Foundation for Victims of Torture. Often when we are emotionally hurt, we are too blinded by the pain to see and think objectively. Often I’ve had a good friend tell me “You’re not thinking this through clearly…could it merely have been (fill in the blank)?” Maybe it was an accident when my brother locked the house when I took the garbage out…or when he “forgot” to drop my car payment envelope in the mail. It could have been! Usually, the people I talk with are right. On the forgiveness journey, we seek out wisdom and good advice.

The next stage is the one we tend to blow by the quickest: we need to name our feelings. We need to be able to identify the emotions we experience. Naming these things is important, because when we forgive, we need to be able to identify what it is we are forgiving for. “I forgive you for causing me anger…disappointment… frustration…pain…for making me feel bad about myself, or someone else… If we cannot name the feelings, we cannot honestly say that we are willing to forgive someone for causing them.

Finally, Smedes says we pray. To be honest, we are all sinful and broken people. I am just as sinful as the person who has done wrong to me. You are just as sinful as the person who has done wrong to you. It is only through the work of God’s Holy Spirit that we can forgive and let go. So we pray. We are honest with God. We tell God how much we hurt…how full of anger we might be…we admit we need help…

In prayer, we rely on God. We remember that it is God who first forgives. You receive that gift every time you confess…every time you ask…every time you receive the sacraments… God forgives you of all of your sins, unconditionally.

Dr. Alvin Rogness was the president of Luther Seminary. I’ve told this story about him to our confirmation leaders in the past. Once a student came into his office for pastoral counseling. She had been unfaithful in her marriage vows. They talked for a long time. She confessed and Dr. Rogness gave her the words of absolution…of forgiveness. After they had finished with prayer, she stood up and said “Well, I guess I’m going to have to go tell my husband about it.” Dr. Rogness looked up at her, puzzled and said “about what?”

His point was that God’s forgiveness is complete. Our sins are wiped clean. She might still need to come clean with her husband…but as far as God is concerned…our sins are gone. God has moved on.

We might not be able to forget. But we are able to forgive. And while what has happened may remain in our mind, God’s call is for us to forgive and to move ourselves as far away from that event as possible. To come as close to “forgetting” as we are capable.

The journey to forgiveness is one that was first paved in the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And because of this gift, we can walk on that road as well. We all have the capacity to forgive, as God forgave us.

Again, I don’t mean to suggest for a single moment that this is a “one size fits all” solution to forgiveness. I wish it were this easy. But the journey to forgiveness is different for all of us. There are a thousand variables. For some of us the journey may be short…for others, like Erik Lomax, it is long,. Some may spend almost all of their time and energy in one of these stages, while another else skips right past a stage.

So all of this begs the question: Who do you need to forgive? The odds are good, that there is someone in your life that you carry a hidden resentment towards. I do. There are people in my life that I have been angry at for a long time. I am not proud of this, but it is true. And these are people who I know that eventually I am going to have to forgive…for the sake of our relationship…for the sake of my spirit.

What about you? Who do you carry anger towards? What name, or face comes to mind right now? Are you on a forgiveness journey towards them? Are you moving on that journey? Or are you stuck? When we confess where we are, we can begin to move forward. So I invite you to think, to talk to someone you trust, to name your feelings and to pray. I invite you to take the next step on the journey to forgiveness.

It is difficult…it is hard…it can be a rocky road. But the journey to forgiveness is one that is a gift from God, because God first forgave you. It ultimately sets you free from the pain and anger of your wounds. It is a path to life…it is a journey to healing.

It is a journey that Christ calls us to take. Take it…forgive…and be healed.

Amen.

"If You Could See What God Sees"

“If You Could See What God Sees”
Matthew 6:25-33
Todd Buegler
October 27 & 28, 2007
Lord of Life

A sermon for confirmation


Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God, who is the light of the world! Amen.

Let me be the first today to say “congratulations” to all of you on this chance to affirm your baptismal vows. For most of you, baptism happened somewhere around 16 years ago, when your parents made promises for you. Today, it is your turn. And we are all very, very proud of you!

What we’ve been a part of here is about God’s work in your lives. We’d never want to reduce it all to cold, hard statistics. But, sometimes I get a little curious, so I’ve done some math and want to share with you all some statistics about this group of young people. There are a total of 167 of you being confirmed this weekend in four services. You were a part of 22 different small groups that met on Wednesday nights and on retreats for a total of 74 hours of time together. Add up all that time your class gave to small groups in your faith journey and it comes out to 11,990 people hours. Together, you have all given (and this is a conservative estimate), 5,130 hours of service to people in need, and to the church. You have turned in a total of 5,130 worship notes. (actually, the number was 5,127, but as soon as the 3 of you still turning in the last ones on this sermon do so, it will be 5,130.) Finally, and perhaps most remarkably, over three years, your class personally ate 1,233 large Domino’s pizzas.

When all is said and done, however, confirmation ministry at Lord of Life is not about numbers and statistics. It is about a single word, and an opportunity. That word is “yes.”

Yes, is a powerful word. We don’t think about it often, but we all love to hear the word yes. There are so many different ways that we want to hear this: “Can I use the car tonight?” Yes. “Can I stay over at my friends house?” Yes. “Can I go out with my friends after the football game?” Yes. “Will you go out with me?” Yes. That’s a biggie! And as we get older, our questions become bigger…will this college accept me? Can I succeed in what I want to do for a living? Does he, or she love me? Yes, is maybe one of the most important words in the English language…and it is a word that universally, we all love to hear. Yes, is a powerful word.

In particular, there are two “yeses” I want us to think about today. The first is the one that was said to you in your baptism. Now, most of you were too young when you were baptized to remember. But back then, you were brought here, to a font very much like this one. Your parents, or your Godparents, held you over the font, and the pastor poured water over your head three times: “In the name of the Father…in the name of the Son…in the name of the Holy Spirit…” and you were baptized. In that baptism, God spoke a word to each of you. That word was “yes.”

I don’t remember my baptism. I was something like six weeks old. But I do remember bringing my two sons, Nathan and Samuel, to this font for their baptism. And I remember holding Nathan over the font. I remember Pastor Peter pouring the water. And a very profound thing happened for me: I remember at that moment, thinking to myself…”Nathan isn’t mine. He belongs to God. He is on loan to me to care for…but he really belongs to God.” And God says, “Yes, he belongs to me.” And in that moment, God makes promises. He says “yes, he will have eternal life. Yes, I will forgive you all of his sins and brokenness. Yes, I will know and love him wherever he is, and yes, he will be a part of a family of others that I’ve also said yes to.

God does this for all of us. You all belong to God. In the waters of baptism, God says “Yes”, to each of you, and God claims you as his own. They all belong to God. God has said “yes” to them and claimed them as well. We all belong to God, and God says “Yes.”

God says this because God looks at us differently than we see ourselves. Now, let’s just have a moment of total honesty: When we stop to take a look at ourselves, we don’t always like what we see. Here, I grabbed this mirror. Could you hold this for me? Thanks! When I look at myself in the mirror, do you know what I see? Wow. I have a lot less hair than I used to. And I really need to give some serious thought to getting into shape…this robe has never made me look very good…I wonder if I can get one that makes me look thinner. When I look in the mirror, I see my faults. I see my insecurities. I see my fear. I look in the mirror, and I don’t always like what I see.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see the same kind of things? Do you see your faults and your insecurities? Does it remind you that you might not be completely happy with who you are? That’s normal. That’s part of the brokenness that is who we are.

When we look at ourselves, we aren’t always happy with what we see. Sometimes, we look and say to ourselves “no, that’s not how I’d like to be…that’s not who I want to be…or what I want to be like.” But do you know what God says when God looks at us? God looks at you and says “yes!” God says “You belong to me…you are who I created you to be.” Every single day since the day of our baptism, God has looked at each of you and God has said “yes.” And do you know what? Nothing you say or do can change that. And I really believe that if we could look in a mirror, and could see ourselves the way that God sees us, our lives would be totally different.

Our Gospel for today reminds us of this. It’s pretty straightforward. In God’s eyes, you are precious. Jesus is teaching us that the things that cause us stress…the things that worry us about ourselves, are all things that will pass away. Our concern about how we look, how we act, what we do or don’t do, about whether we fit in or not, about our self-esteem…even worrying about the strength of our faith…all these things…at the moment, they might worry us, but we have to keep them in perspective. All of these things pale in comparison to God’s faith in us. Jesus says “You are much more valuable than all of these things.” When we look in the mirror and see uncertainty, fear and doubt, God looks at us and says “Yes! Child of God. You are mine. I love you! Don’t worry about these things! Look at yourselves the way I look at you.”

The phrase we use for what we are going to do together in just a few minutes is “affirmation of baptism.” That means that we are going to together say “yes” to God’s “yes.” We have the opportunity to respond to God’s yes to us by saying yes to God. You will have the chance to say “Yes, I believe.” Yes, I believe in the father…yes, I believe in the Son…Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit. Is this the only time you’ll have the chance to do this? Of course not. Every single day we can do this. Martin Luther taught that every morning, when he washed, and the water hit his face, it was a reminder that in baptism, God had said yes to him, and that he could say yes, back to God.

And if you don’t have this whole faith thing completely figured out…if you still have doubts and questions, does that mean you shouldn’t say yes? Of course not. None of us have it completely figured out. That’s why we call it faith. We all have questions. This is also an affirmation of your faith. Asking questions and having doubts is healthy, because faith is a journey, not a destination. Church is a place not for people with all the answers, but for people who say “Yes, I believe, and we’re figuring it out together.”

Our hope and prayer is that C3 has been full of “yes” moments. Moments where you experienced God in a new way. Moments where God’s love for you came alive. We seek these moments. I believe that our greatest need, the thing we strive for more than anything else, is a relationship with the God who seeks a relationship with you. We spend our lives looking for how to have this relationship. We sometimes try to fill the void with other things…success, ambition, greed, chemicals, whatever it may be…but nothing can fill that “God sized” hole in our heart like the presence of Christ. And the grace of God is for each one of you. It is a constant. It is always there.

So say “yes”, and open your eyes and read the scriptures. When we hear the story of the God who loves us unconditionally, our eyes are opened to recognize Him.

• Say “yes” to the bread and wine of communion. When we receive the meal, when we receive God’s grace, when we come into contact with the Holy, we are able to experience Jesus.
• Say “yes” to community. I read your faith statements and your C3 evaluations. I know how important your small groups have been to your faith. Remember that there are always people in the Christian community to connect with. You are always welcome.
• Say “yes” to serving others. It is when we humble ourselves and care for others that we experience the kind of giving that Jesus speaks of.

Today, at your confirmation, God stands behind you, leans forward and whispers in your ear: “Yes! You are mine. See my work in your life. Be in relationship with me.” But remember that this is not a one-time event. Now it is your responsibility is to remember that every day, when your feet hit the floor in the morning, God says “Yes, I believe in you!” And everyday, when you look in the mirror, God wants you to see yourself as God sees you…as a precious, valuable child of God. And you have the opportunity to say “yes” to that love that God gives to you.

May your faith journey be rich, full of the grace of God, and as God says yes to you, may you say yes to God.

Amen.