Learning

My House

My House
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Todd Buegler
January 24-25, 2009
Lord of Life


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

We continue our week-by-week journey through the Old Testament together by taking a look today at Joshua. If you would grab your Bibles, and would turn with me to Joshua, chapter 24. If you’re using one of the pew Bibles, it can be found on page 213. And while you’re looking that up, I’m going to set the stage for you.

Last week we talked about the story of Moses, the Israelites and the Exodus. After the Jewish people left Egypt, they were headed for the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. However, in the journey, the Jews lost their faith and began worshipping other Gods. Remember the story of Charlton Hest…oops…I mean Moses going up on the mountain to the 10 Commandments? While he was on the mountain, the Jewish people lost their faith and began worshipping another God, a golden calf. When Moses returned, he found that they had completely wandered away from the God who had led them that far. And so God punished the Israelites. And for 40 years, he led them through the wilderness, so close to the promised land that they could almost touch it…but never quite taking them there.

After 40 years of this, and after Moses had died, God finally led them into the land of Canaan. He had selected a new leader, and his name was Joshua. Joshua was a man of faith and courage; a brilliant military leader and a strong spiritual influence. But the real key to his success was how he submitted himself to God’s will. When God spoke, Joshua listened, and was obedient.

This then, is the theme of the book of Joshua: Obedience to God and following God’s will. In the first half of the book, the story is told of the Israelites moving into the land of Caanan and the struggles that took place in that move. The second half of the book, from chapters 13-22, records the assignment and settlement of the territory. And the book concludes in chapters 23 & 24 with a gathering of all the people, a farewell address, and the death of Joshua.

We’ll pick up the story in chapter 24, verse 14. Joshua is giving what will be his farewell address to the people. He says to them “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

In these verses, Joshua clearly plants his flag. Look with me in verse 15. Joshua says “…if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…” and then comes his slam-dunk line: “but as for me and my household…we will serve the Lord.” He is emphasizing that whatever you decide to do, is up to you. But Joshua’s house will be a house of the covenant. Joshua, widely admired and beloved, was making an important statement to the Jewish people; he was telling them now is the time. Today. Phone or get out of the booth; (wait…ok…you’d only get that reference if you’re over age 40.) Ok, fish or get out of the boat; make a decision about what kind of household, what kind of people you are going to be? People of the covenant? Or people who wander spiritually?

As I’ve been thinking about this piece of scripture over the last couple of weeks, it has led me to a question: What does my house stand for? It’s a question I’d like for us to think and wonder about this morning. I think it is a healthy question to ask ourselves, on a couple of different levels:

What about this house? This church? Lord of Life has been so blessed! In the 21 years I have worked with children, youth and families at Lord of Life, I have seen this place grow both wider and deeper. I have seen faith strengthened in young and old. I have seen homes built for people in need…I have seen hundreds of thousands of meals packed and shipped around the world…and tons of food distributed through our local food shelves. I have seen homeless fed and clothed…I have seen feet washed, literally and figuratively…I have seen the power of prayer…I have seen healing…I have seen God’s grace given through the water, the bread and the wine… As for this house. I have no doubt. This house…this community, it has, and it will continue to serve the Lord.

So what about our houses? What about in our homes?

You see, I believe that the home is the most important institution in this country; and in all honesty, I believe that it is an institution that is at risk. I’ve heard a story about a giant oak tree falling down in Vail, Colorado a few years ago. Trees fall down all the time. What’s the big deal? Well, this tree coming down was a big deal; such a big deal that it made all the local news broadcasts that night. This tree was more than five hundred years old. It had been a mere sapling when Columbus sailed to America. It had been struck by lightning fourteen times; it had survived storms, withstood earthquakes, and endured mud slides. Everyone was curious about what had finally brought it down. After an extensive examination, it was discovered that some tiny beetles had bored under the bark, dug into its heart, and eaten away at its fibers. The mighty oak was destroyed from within, and it came tumbling down.

Over the years, I have been blessed to spend time with many, many young people and their families. And my observation is that our culture places incredible strain on our homes, from the inside out. Whether your home is a family of 5, or you’re a single mother, or you’re a single person, we all struggle with the tyranny of busy-ness. We struggle with rampant consumerism. We all struggle with communications and with the pace of change. I have no doubt that our homes are under stress. It feels like a family’s faith life together frequently gets squeezed by everything around us. From my vantage point, it is clear: families are at risk. But the challenges families face are not political, social or time management issues; they are issues of faithfulness. Faithfulness to God, and faithfulness to each other.

And Joshua’s words to the Israelites, who have spent 40 years trying to be faithful, but occasionally losing their way, could be spoken to us as well. Joshua could look at each of our households and say to us: “choose whatever you choose…but as for me and my household, we will be faithful to the Lord.”

Faithfulness is a value. And families are places where values are taught, and are passed on. Whether house and home is 1person, 2 people, 4 people, 6, 8 or 10; however you define family, we all live within a values system and those values are passed on from person to person. It has been said time and time again that the home is the first and most influential school any of us attends. If we don't make an intentional effort to pass along Christian values and family traditions to others; parents to children, friends to friends, spouse to spouse…if we don’t; well then perhaps no one else will.

Here at Lord of Life we talk a lot about ‘passing on the faith’, and about ‘being families of faith. It’s a lot like a relay race in track; the most difficult part of a relay race is when one runner passes the baton to the other. Relay teams spend hours practicing this simple action; because they know, no matter how fast you run…if you screw up passing the baton, nothing else matters.

It's similar in the home. One of the primary responsibilities and opportunities of the Christian home is to pass values from one generation to the next; from one person to the next. It is not easy. But as Christians, we all live in households of faith, and we share the faith with others, and that’s how faith is grown. And studies have shown the benefits of being a family that practices its faith in the home; that prays together, that talks about their faith together, that serves together; relationships are stronger…at-risk behavior is reduced…school grades are higher…self-esteem is better, and marriages are stronger.

You might be familiar with Peder Eide, the Christian musician. Peder has sung at Lord of Life many, many times. This year he is our regular musician at our Confirmation Sunday Night Festivals. Peder and his wife, Sherri, are the parents of 5 young children. To help bring order to the chaos that can sometimes be a household of 7 people, Peder and Sherri have established what they call their “Family Rules”. These rules have become the DNA of their home. There are 5 things that they teach the kids and are re-enforced every single day. To help the kids remember, they have assigned one rule to each finger. For the thumb the rule is “have fun.” For the pointer finger, the rule is “glorify God.” Then it’s “serve your neighbor and your family”. Then “never give up”. Finally, it’s “family never leaves family behind.”
• Have fun.
• Glorify God
• Serve neighbor and family
• Never give up
• Never leave family behind.

They live and breathe these values. When one of the older kids gets tired of helping the younger sister with coloring, Peder or Sherri can just look at them and can point to their pinky finger, and without even saying a word, the kids know: “Never leave family behind.” When one of them grabs food before the family has said their dinner prayer, Sherri or Peder can hold up their pointer finger, and the kids know: Glorify God. They have integrated their faith into their household. They have decided. As for Peder, Sherri, and their house, they will serve the Lord. They have chosen faithfulness.

Faithfulness is the value Joshua was speaking of. Faithfulness is what we want our lives and our homes to be about. And we can do that. We can do it because God makes it possible for us. God gives us the gifts…and the tools to live lives of faithfulness. It isn’t easy…and there will be challenges. The same was true for the Jews. After Joshua’s death, while they worked towards faithfulness, they still encountered challenges. They still slipped. But they worked towards faithfulness.

We live lives of faithfulness because God is faithful to us. God looks at all of creation…he looks at our world…he looks at our nation…he looks at our church…he looks at your home…and God says “as for me and my house…” (and remember, that God’s house is really, really big. It is all of this) …”as for me and my house…I will be faithful to you. There is always room for you in my house…there is always love and grace…there is always forgiveness.”

• My friends, be faithful, because God is faithful.
• Be faithful, because God loves you unconditionally.
• Be faithful, because we are the children of God, and God never leaves family behind.

Amen.

Failure: The Secret to success

"Flesh and Blood"

"Flesh and Blood"
2 Samuel 5:1-5
John 18:33-37
Christ the King Weekend
Todd Buegler
November 22-23, 2008
Lord of Life

 

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

In this, the “Year of the Word” at Lord of Life, we continue working our way through the Old Testament.  Today, we are going to spend a little time looking at King David, one of the most well-know characters of the Old Testament. 

There are lots of great stories about David, many of which are very familiar.  But on a weekend when the Christian church celebrates “Christ the King” weekend/Sunday, I thought it might be appropriate for us to focus on David as the King of Israel. 

First, a little background:  After David defeated the giant Goliath as a boy, a story which can be found in the book of 1^st Samuel, David continued to serve Saul, the Jewish King.  David had become something of a golden boy in Saul’s army.  Quite simply, he could do no wrong.  In 1^st Samuel 18 it says that “Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.  This pleased all the troops and Saul’s officers as well.”  David was a successful military officer, and his popularity continued to increase; so much so, that Saul eventually began to feel threatened by David’s success and popularity.  Much of the books of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel are about David’s rise in power, and the intrigue, deception and conflict that took place between Saul and David.  It’s a great soap-opera type of story.  And finally, after the death of Saul, David is made King.

That’s where I’d like to pick up the story.  I’d invite you to open your Bibles and to turn with me to 2^nd Samuel 5:1-5.  (If you’re using the pew Bible, you can find it on page 276.) The opening reads: “All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "We are your bone and flesh.. For some time, while Saul was king over us it was you who led out Israel and brought it in.   The LORD said to you, ‘It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be ruler over Israel.' "

This is the story of David being chosen as King.  There was no deliberation, it was acclimation.  Thankfully, there were no campaign ads.  There were no primaries.  There was no election, and there was no recount.  This was a “draft David as King” movement, plain and simple.  In verse 1 it says that “All the tribes of Israel came to David and said ‘We are literally your flesh and blood.’”  Two observations:  First, it says that all the tribes of Israel came to David.  Not a few…not some…but all.  All the tribes.  All the people.  There was unanimous agreement and they all came.  David’s approval rating sat at 100%.   Can you imagine the thousands…the tens of thousands of people who must have gathered together for this moment? 

But second, and I think most important, are the very first words that were spoken.  At the end of verse 1, all of the gathered tribes said to David: “We are your own flesh and blood.”  We are your own flesh and blood. 

This statement is puzzling, until we understand that people during the time of David understood themselves in a fundamentally different way than we understand ourselves.  In our culture, we tend to look at our identity as being what we do.  We are defined by our actions, our accomplishments, our jobs and our productivity.  An example:  Almost universally, if you are in a group of people and everyone is introducing themselves, one of the first things people will tell you is their occupation:  “I am Stephanie.  I am a teacher.  I am Jay, I work as a software engineer”.  Greg the accountant.  Todd the Pastor.  In our culture, we define ourselves by what we do.  This is different from how people in Biblical times looked at themselves and others.  They identified themselves by their  family, lineage and history.

Looking back over this fall’s sermon series through the Old Testament, we have read many stories that referred to family relationships, and to the blessing, or the inheritance that came from generation to generation.  Think of Cain and Abel; of Jacob and Esau; of Joseph and his brothers; these stories were all about the passing of a blessing, an inheritance from one generation to another.  Understand that in the Hebrew culture, lineage and family were everything.  The Israelite people did not define themselves by what they did.  They defined themselves by who their ancestors were…by where they came from; by the blessings they received.

So before they elected him King…before they told him their intentions…before anything, the Jewish told David “we are your flesh and blood.”  It was an important statement about his identity, and theirs.  Before naming him as King, they wanted to name him as family; as flesh and blood.

You’ll see this frequently in scripture; people were referred to not by what they did, but to who their parents were.  It wasn’t James and John the fishermen, it was “James and John, the sons of Zebedee who he called the ‘sons of thunder’”, and it was James, the son of Alphaeus, and so on. 

Can you imagine if our culture operated this way?  I would not be “Pastor Todd”.  Instead, I would be “Todd, son of Jerry, son of Elmer.”  (Ok, well maybe it lacks a little of the drama of “son of Zebedee, son of thunder!”, but you get the point.)  There was a time in my life when I was younger when I would have resisted almost anything that tied or connected me to something my father would have done.  Then I reached a point in life where I found myself saying things and thinking to myself “Wow.  Did I just say that?  That sounds just like something my Dad would have said.” 

Now that I am older, and Lori and I have 2 boys of our own, there are parts of my life that I try to model after my father’s.  I consider it an honor to be Todd, son of Jerry, son of Elmer.  I am their flesh and blood, and my hope is that my life honors theirs. 

And my deepest hope is that Nathan and Samuel, sons of Todd and Lori, can follow their lineage, and can live the lives of faith and integrity that Elmer, Jerry and hopefully their parents lived.  We want them to know from where they came.  Their ancestors have helped shape them.  They are our flesh and blood.

For the Jewish people during Biblical times, lineage was everything.  So we can’t begin to think about Jesus Christ as King of creation without understanding his lineage. 

In your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew 1.  In the pew Bibles, it can be found on page 877.  In this Gospel, Matthew begins with the ancestory of Jesus.  In verse 1 he says “An account of  the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  And then beginning in verse 2, he takes the reader generation by generation from Abraham through David, all the way to Jesus.  To be honest, whenever I’ve read the Gospel of Matthew, I’ve always ignored this chapter. I always figured: “It’s just a list of names.  It can’t be very important.”

But in the Jewish culture, this would be critically important.  This chapter would tell the reader much about Jesus.  Take a look at some of the names here.  The genealogy begins with Abraham.  We know that Abraham was called the “Father of nations”.  Through him, all would be blessed.  There are other familiar names:  Isaac, Jacob, Ruth, and then we come to King David.  And from David, we are 27 generations to Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, who is called “The Messiah.” 

Matthew was writing for an audience of Jewish readers, who would have paid very close attention to this.  In this chapter, Matthew is planting his flag, and is telling them: “Here he is!  This is him!  This is the Messiah!  The one you’ve been waiting for!  Straight from David, he is the King.  Straight from Abraham, he is the covenant, live and in person.”  2000 years ago, people who heard or read this would have been stunned.  They would have understood: “Jesus fulfills the promises…he fulfills the prophecies…he is the King!”  He is David’s flesh and blood.

They would realize that the lineage of Abraham, of King David points us directly at Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the King of all creation.

For 2000 years, people have been struggling to understand the identity of Jesus.  Human?  God?  Both?   How does it work?  It is the question at the heart of our Gospel for this morning.  Pontius Pilate is questioning Jesus.  Pilate directly asks him “Are you a King?”  You see, Pilate didn’t know.  He didn’t know Jesus’ lineage.  He didn’t know what Jesus had done, and was going to do.  So he washed his hands of Jesus.

2000 years later we do know.  We know who Jesus was and where he came from.  And we know what Jesus did.  We know that he died and was resurrected.  We know that this King carried the sin and the punishment of His people.  We know that this is no ordinary King.  We know there is more to the story.

And we know that the lineage of Abraham, of David and of Jesus does not end at the resurrection.  In 2^nd Peter, 2:9-10, the author, writing to the early Christians…and to us… describes where the lineage of Jesus goes:  He says “…you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not God’s people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 

My friends, the lineage, from Abraham to King David to Jesus Christ tells the story: you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.  This scripture promises to us that we are inheritors of the promise of Jesus Christ.  Through Christ, the blessing that used to be passed down from generation to generation is now given freely to all of God’s people.  We all receive that blessing, that grace.  Not because of what we do, but because it is Jesus Christ who shapes our lives.  We are the children of God.  We are all Kings and Queens, princes and princesses.  As inheritors of the promise, we are in the lineage.  We are the family of God.    And that gift of mercy and grace, that blessing, it is for you, his flesh and blood.

Amen.

"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.