Sermon for the Sixth Sunday in Easter

I am looking forward to my return to Peace on June 10.  I have, however, enjoyed this time to meet other brothers and sisters in Christ in Northern Ohio.  I was invited to preach at Faith Lutheran Church in Lakewood on May 13.  What follows is the sermon I preached there.

What does love look like?  Is that a puzzling question or does an answer come immediately to mind?  What does love look like?

We’ve been listening to readings from 1 John all through the season of Easter.  And it has struck me this year just how important love is in this little book.  The word is used over and over again.  Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action....  Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God....  God is love....  Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also....  And today, by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  Combine this with Jesus’ pronouncements in the Gospel of John, “Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love” and “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” and we have a pretty powerful reminder that love--God’s love--is at the center of this life of faith.  So what does that love look like?

I don’t remember who first taught me about God’s love.  I do know that since before I could remember my parents have told me they loved me, and my grandparents.  I know that skipping stones in the Mississippi with my grandpa and going to visit grandma at the nursing home where she worked are some of my earliest memories, along with climbing into my dad’s lap to read story after story and remembering my mom staying up late to sew doll clothes or paint individual tulips on the wall of my childhood bedroom.  All of them, each in their own way, helped me understand what it means to love and to be loved.  

I don’t remember the first time I sang “Jesus Loves Me,” but I know that by the time I was in Kindergarten, I was so confident in that love that I stood in front of a group of sixth graders and scolded them, with hands on my hips, “How many times do I have to tell you, when you’re singing about Jesus you should have a smile on your face?”  Folks at my home congregation who remembered that story were not surprised when they learned that I was headed to seminary.

A pastor friend once told me that every night, he traces the cross on his children’s foreheads and says “Jesus loves you and so do I.”  Not long ago, he and his teenaged son had an argument that resulted in the son stomping off to his room for several hours.  But when it came time for bed, he emerged and came upstairs to tell his dad he was going to bed.  He leaned down to receive the blessing he had received nearly every night of his life.  “Jesus loves you and so do I.”  

Maybe your story is different.  Maybe you remember vividly the day that you first learned about God’s love.  That you first experienced it and took it in.  Maybe you remember the first time someone spoke those amazing words that are so full of grace and hope and promise, “Child of God, you are loved.”  Whatever the story we have to tell, isn’t that promise still absolutely amazing.  You are loved.

We love because God first loved us.  And, as you all know well, God’s love moves in us, through us, and around us.  When we really stop and take it in, we can’t help but be moved.  And it gets us moving, right?  Whether we speak of God’s love or show it, when we really take it in, we can’t help but to share it.  And since God gives us a variety of gifts, we use those gifts to the best of our ability to let light of Christ’s love shine in a world that so often needs to hear it again that love is more powerful than hate, that God is love, that you are loved.  

So what does love look like?  I took a look at your website and it looks to me that love at Faith looks a little bit like a community clothes closet or a community meal.  It looks like a place where “a church for all” is taken so seriously that there’s even a place for pets every once in awhile.  It looks like a place where quilts are created with love and resources are shared in the neighborhood and around the world.  It looks like a place where God’s people understand that love is active.  It looks like a place where generations have been nurtured and joys and sorrows shared and where strangers are welcomed as brothers and sisters. 

My husband moved last August to teach for the year at Oberlin.  I joined him at the end of November.  During our time in Ohio, we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to visit many different churches--ELCA, Episcopal, UCC, and Baptist.  This is what we’ve witnessed again and again: God’s love takes on many different forms.  We’ve stumbled into congregations that are tiny and some that are quite large.  We’ve seen confirmation students excited to share God’s love through service and college students who have experienced God’s love in places near and far.  We’ve watched as brothers and sisters in Christ washed one another’s feet and have knelt at many a communion rail.  I heard last weekend at the South Central Synod of Wisconsin assembly stories of congregations reaching out to show God’s love in various ways in their own communities--through community meals and outreach to immigrant communities.  I heard stories from around the ELCA of the ways God’s love is being shared with folks who have heard about it for years and folks who have just recently heard the promise for the very first time.

And when we stop and think about it, this love of God that is steadfast and encompassing and sure, we realize that that love surprises us and delights us and fills us with awe.  That that love works in many and various ways in and through the people around us--friends and family and strangers.  That God’s love is something to be shared.  That God’s love is engrained in us deeply and yet entirely new.  That God’s love empowers us and fills us and renews us and refreshes us.

Today, like we do most every Sunday, we gather at the Lord’s table, where we take in the body and blood of Christ.  Where we hear the words of promise “This is my body given for you.”  Words that are so full of love.  Words that change us.  Words that charge us to share that love, not just within these walls but out into the world.  The authors of a book on Lutherans and immigration called They Are Us put it this way “In the eucharist, we not only eat at the altar table of our congregations, but we follow the real presence of Jesus into the world to connect with the community.”  God’s love changes us.  It frees us to serve.  It sends us out into the world to use the gifts we have been given to the best of our ability, all in the name of Christ, whose love is so strong it conquers death.  That is a stunning and empowering reality for us, isn’t it?  In Christ, we have a promise of love so amazing it conquers even death.  So what have we to fear?  We lay down our burdens and follow the one who is love.  We are freed to love and sent out to serve.  

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear the promise at the end of Matthew’s gospel.  “Remember, I am with you always until the end of the age.”  God calls us to love and promises to be with us through the joys and the sorrows and challenges that an active love brings.  At Christ’s table, we are nourished once again to go our many different ways to love--neighbors and strangers and enemies and friends.  We love because God first loved us.  We do our best to obey Christ’s command to love one another.  We abide in Christ’s love, so amazing, so divine and we rest deeply in the promise that God is love.  Amen.

A Confirmation Day Reminder...for all of us

This is the sermon preached at the 8:00 service on Confirmation Sunday at Peace (April 29, 2012)

In a few minutes, we’ll watch Peace’s traditional Confirmation video--with pictures of the nineteen confirmands growing up.  Some of you will remember seeing those little faces.  Perhaps you have watched them play bells or soccer or sing in the school choir.  Maybe you even remember the day one was baptized, that he cried or she almost slept through the whole thing.  Some of them were baptized here at Peace, others at other places.  And today, they affirm the promises made to them in baptism.

It’s a special day for them.  A day when they are reminded of the awesome promises of God--the one who named them and claimed them and knows them each by name.  The God who loves them beyond measure.  And even though you might not be there at 10:30 when they stand before us and say their “I will and I ask God to help and guide me’s,” it’s a special day for all of us.  It’s  day when we can remember the promises that we have made over the years.  Promises to the strangers and promises to our loved ones.  Promises that we would support them as they grew.  And we remember the ones who made the promises to us.  No matter where it happened, the fact is that someone made a promise to you to help you grow in faith.

We believe we are united as the body of Christ.  So even though none of you were there on the day I was baptized, there were people who spoke for the body of Christ and made promises that they would help me grow.  And even though many of the people who have helped me understand what it means to live into the identity of child of God were not there on the day of my baptism, they have helped fulfill the promises those other brothers and sisters in Christ made.  We work together.  We speak for one another.  We are the body of Christ.  Together.  United across time and space by the God who knows us each by name.

Most of us were brought to the font by our parents.  They made promises to nurture us in faith, to help us grow and learn what it means to be a child of God.  But as Martin Marty writes to parents in his little book about baptism, “You will need all the help you can get.”

  No parent can do it alone.  We turn to others--the Sunday school teachers and choir directors and camp counselors and the person who always sits behind us in church and whose voice we miss when she’s not there.  All of those people help us grow up to begin to understand what it means to be a part of this mystical body of Christ.  To have brothers and sisters who are not biological, but spiritual.  Who are all part of this huge and amazing family of God.  

Living in community is part of what it means to be a child of God.  There are no only children in this family.  Instead, we have millions of brothers and sisters, spread across the world, most of whom we will never meet.  And yet, somehow in the marvelous mystery that is faith, when we make promises in baptism and when promises were made to us, all of those far away brothers and sister are included, too.  And when we pray for all of the baptized, we pray for a whole huge body of Christ.  It is mind boggling and amazing.  This is the stuff that makes this pastor really excited!

So what holds it all together?  God, of course.  But love has a big part to do with it, right.  Little children, John writes in our second reading today, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.  He calls that ancient community to task.  He urges them to attempt to understand that if they have any chance of living together in harmony, they better figure out pretty quickly what it means to show love, not only speak it.  To live it out in their actions.  Every day.  Even when they didn’t like that neighbor or didn’t get along with that one.  It’s a noble and worthy goal.  And it didn’t stop with that gathered community.  It’s the command from Christ: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  It’s hard, isn’t it?  And so we pray for help.  We keep turning back to God and asking, once again, for guidance and grace.  Because we struggle, we fall short, we fail.  And we try again and succeed and turn back to God for help.  And even with this saint-sinner life, God loves us.  Every single moment of every single day.

Even though our human communities are sometimes a little messy, isn’t it also in these relationships that we see God’s work most clearly?  Isn’t in these moments when we realize, in spite of our questions and our struggles, that yes, somehow God is at work in this world?  In laughter with friends or those evenings when all of the sudden you realize hours have passed and you didn’t even realize it.  When you witness the patience of a husband with his beloved of many, many years whose mind is wracked by dementia.  When you watch as the boundaries created by assumptions are tossed aside and perhaps only for a split second you feel as if you are catching a glimpse of the kingdom to come.  God is working in the world.  Through us.  In us.  Around us.  God is working in this world.  

Today is an important day for the confirmands.  And will tomorrow and the next day be.  And so will they be for you.  We don’t have to wait for confirmation day to role around again to remember the promises and affirm them.  Unlike baptism, which happens only once, we can affirm the promises every day.  It doesn’t take a special day to remind ourselves of the promises “to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”  Our faith does not play out only within the walls of this church.  The love of Christ is embodied in each one of us, the children he knows each by name.  And we carry that love out into the world.  And it makes a difference.

God’s love, which we have the honor and privilege and responsibility to share, makes a difference in this world.  It makes a difference when God’s love causes us to love the stranger or enemy or friend.  It makes a difference when it causes us to visit the sick or feed the hungry or see the homeless person on the street as a fellow human being.  It makes a difference when we take the time to see God’s image reflected in the folks we meet.  We don’t live our lives in individual bubbles.  We live them in community.  Most often, we probably live our lives among people we know and trust and love.  But every once in awhile, stop and ponder the promise that we also live our lives as a part of a great community of saints.  People of every time and place whose lives are intertwined with ours simply because we are called child of God.

At each of our baptisms a different community represented the whole body of Christ, promising to help us grow.  And that process takes a life time.  It involves questions and struggle and moments of clarity and moments of doubt.  It involves turning to trusted loved ones and sometimes total strangers.  It requires love, both given and received.  

We love because God first loved us.  We are bound together because God calls us to live not as individuals, but as community.  We are witnesses to the love of God that weaves through all of history.  We are members of the body of Christ.  We are known and we are loved.  And we are, each and every one of us, called child of God.  Amen.

Children of God--a reflection on 1 John 3:1-7

A reflection on 1 John 3:1-7.

This week, like most weeks, was a week filled with good news...and sad.  I saw a story about a 100 year old teacher who isn’t quite ready to retire.  I saw wedding pictures that made me a little misty eyed and received daily photos of our 2 week old nephew from New York.  My grandmother and father-in-law both spent time in the hospital and the grandmothers of two of my good friends died.  It’s part of this life we live--the ups and downs and all arounds, isn’t it?  

Through these moments--both the happy and the sad--I take comfort in the promise before us in 1 John 3: See what the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God.  Wow.  This is an amazing promise.  We are children of God.  We are wrapped in God’s love, held in God’s light, given the promise of new life in Christ.  Now.  Not in the distant, far-off, unknown future, but now.  Today.  And forever.

The community to which John wrote, not unlike our own, struggled to figure out what it meant to live in a world where we are simultaneously children of God (Lutherans like to say saints) and people who still turn away from God (ie sinners).  If we’re children of God, we can live like that now, John says.  There’s no need to wait.  Not a single one of us is perfect.  We can’t be.  We will sin.  It’s what humans do.  But I think John is trying to remind those people to whom he wrote so long ago that they don’t have to wait to live into that incredible, amazing identity of child of God.  We can hear that message loud and clear today, too.

You are child of God.  Period.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Whether you are two or twelve or eighty-seven or one hundred and four.  You are a child of God.  Name it.  Claim it.  See the beauty and grace in it.  You are a child of God.  Now.  Today.  And forever.

For a couple of weeks, I’ve seen this video floating around on Facebook.  But I didn’t actually watch it until earlier this week.  “Caine’s Arcade” tells the story of a little boy with a big imagination who creates a cardboard arcade in his dad’s auto-supply store in LA.  His first customer happened to be a film maker who asked permission to make a short film about the arcade.  “Well, it’s kind of a joke,” said his dad, “you’re his only customer.”  The filmmaker set about changing that.  Using social media, he created an event during which tons of people came out to play at Caine’s arcade.  It is SO worth the 10 minutes it takes to watch it.

Now, I don’t know anything about Caine’s family’s religious background, or the beliefs of the filmmaker or any of the people who came out that day to play, but here’s what I do know.  In their faces, I saw reflections of children of God.  I saw awe and wonder and creativity in Caine and kindness, generosity, and childlike playfulness in the folks who lined up to play.  I saw a whole bunch of children of God, throwing away assumptions about perfection and convention and embracing life.  They laughed and smiled and cheered.  And the smile on Caine’s face when he sees the line was precious and heartwarming.  My husband and I both got a little choked up watching it.  On that day, a whole bunch of people in LA embraced life.  And their joy is contagious.  The video has been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube.  That’s a lot of God’s children who saw a promise of new life, even though they might not have even realized it.  But I bet they realized that they saw joy and goodness and grace.  And that, my friends, is a glimpse into being a child of God.

This world is crazy.  Sin makes a big mess of a beautiful thing.  There’s no question that we all fall short.  We turn in on ourselves.  We turn away from one another.  We think we can do it on our own and turn away from God.  And God gets that.  And loves us anyway.  In spite of the messes we make, God calls us God’s children anyway.

I try to grasp this concept, but it’s hard.  And that’s the thing.  So much of God is pure and complete and utter mystery.  We can’t understand how God would see a mess and call it a masterpiece.  We can’t understand how God can hear all of our prayers or love us all or give us life everlasting, but we trust that God does.  We trust, in this Easter season, and in every season of our lives, that God is constantly at work making all things new.  That God is, somehow, working in and through and around us.  That God knows us and loves us and calls us by name.

See what love the Father has give us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.

Amen.

What about church?: A reflection on 1 John 1:1-2:2 on the Second Sunday of Easter

A reflection on 1 John 1:1-2:2.

“Forget the church, follow Jesus,” was the cover story in the April 8 edition of Newsweek magazine.  In the article, Andrew Sullivan argues that the church has been corrupted by politics and misguided theology and that, in order to get away from all of that messiness, Christians should simply follow Jesus.  He thinks that Thomas Jefferson had it right when he cut out the miracle stories and kept the teachings of Jesus.  Sullivan writes, “[Jefferson] believed that stripped of the doctrines of the Incarnation, Resurrection, and the various miracles, the message of Jesus was the deepest miracle.”

That’s all well and good, except for that fact that I’m not quite ready to shun the wonder of last weekend.  I’m not quite ready to shed the astonishment that hits every Easter when the proclamation is made “Alleluia!  Christ is risen!”  It is amazing, isn’t it?  Sure, it’s puzzling and defies human reason.  And it is the cornerstone of our faith.  That promise--that Christ has conquered death--is what has carried me through grief at the loss of friends and family.  That proclamation that we make every Easter, and, really, every Sunday, that Christ has conquered death, and in doing so promises us new life, too, carries us in the dark moments of life.  It gives us life.  It is the foundation of our faith.

But how does that carry out in every day life?  What does it mean for us as Easter people to believe in the promise that Christ is victorious and promises us new life for today, not just in the life eternal?  This by no means is a new question.  It’s the question pondered by the writer (or writers?) of 1 John.  Though it’s called a letter, 1 John is really more like an essay intended for a whole community to hear.  That community, not unlike us, was trying to figure out what it meant to live in this time after Christ had come.  What did it mean to live together?  What did it mean to live in the mean time?  What did it mean to live in the hope that Christ’s promise was true, for today and tomorrow and for life eternal?  What did it mean to live in a world that still kept turning, that wasn’t perfect, that was still captive to sin?  What did it mean to live?

One could attempt to live as spiritual a life as possible.  One could hunker down and live in a little spiritual hole and try to forget that other people--and thus the stuff that came along with other people--existed.  But that’s not God’s intent for us, is it?  God created us to live together.  God gave us the gift of one another.  And most days, that’s a beautiful gift, isn’t it?

So what does that mean?  It means that life together is messy.  It means that because we’re human, we will sin.  And if we say we don’t sin, we deceive ourselves (if those lines in 1 John sound familiar it’s because we often recite them in our confession of sin).  Turning in on ourselves and away from God will always be a part of our human tendency because we’re not God.  But, because God is God, God will forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.  God will keep on making us new--God will keep giving us new life--in this life.  Because that’s what God does.

And knowing that, John says, we can walk in the light of Christ.  And walking in the light of Christ means walking with one another.  You know, other people.  Jesus came as a human being--one who lived and breathed and ate and drank and died.  And because of that, we are most likely to see God at work in other people.  We also believe that Christ rose from the dead.  And because of that we are most likely to see new life in the people who surround us.  And, no, we’re by no means a perfect example of Christ-likeness in the world.  We forget that he said to love one another and we ignore his command to love our enemies and we don’t want to remember that thing about leaving everything behind.  And even so, we’re Christ’s body in the world.  A broken, scarred, beautiful body called to live, love, and serve in this world.

Sullivan says that we should forget the church in order to best follow Jesus.  But here’s the thing, even in all of our brokenness, the church--the gathered body of Christ in the world--is the best way for us to see Christ.  I get skeptical any time someone says we should throw it all out because I trust that, buried under all of our brokenness, there is a whole lot of beauty.  The church is no where near perfect.  Because the church is made up of people, we will mess up.  We’ll forget to welcome the stranger and we’ll make mistakes and we won’t always be the perfect example, but we’re all we’ve got.  And, sometimes, we will remember that we are the body of Christ in the world--and we will do our best to manifest that.  We’ll welcome the stranger and feed the hungry and cloth the naked and visit the imprisoned and the sick.  And we’ll proclaim the promise that Christ lives and because Christ lives so do we.  And we’ll eat some bread and drink from the cup and realize that, in doing so, we are empowered to be the body of Christ alive and at work in the world.  And we’ll remember that that promise isn’t just for us who gather, but for the whole wide world.  Because Jesus came not just for those of us who call ourselves Christians, or those of us who find ourselves sitting in church pews on Christmas and Easter and on Sundays in between, but for the world.  The whole wide world.  Which means everybody in it.  Even the people we don’t know or don’t like very much.  Jesus came for us all.  

At our best, that’s the message the church has to give the world.  But, because we’re a human institution, we bear scars of hatred and misunderstanding.  We bear the scars of sin.  If say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, writes John.  So we confess our sin and turn back to Christ.  Again and again and again.

We’re all we’ve got.  We will sin.  We will fall short.  And, so, we will turn back to God and ask for forgiveness.  We will trust in the promise that God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.  We will trust in the promise that new life is for today and for life eternal.  We will do our best to remember that this life is precious, and that the lives of our brothers and sisters on this earth are precious too.  We will look to the light, and in doing so, see that it is in fellowship with God and with one another that we see the beautiful manifestation of the body of Christ.  Alive and at work in the world.

Look in the mirror.  That reflection is surely one beautiful reflection of the image of God.  But then look all around you.  Not just at your friends and family, but at all of the people who surround you.  All of those people, the ones we see and the ones we don’t, all together, we make up the most beautiful image of the body of Christ.  We need each other.  In all of our messiness, we are the beautiful body of Christ.  Crazy, isn’t it?  And life-giving.  And amazing.  Bearing scars, even while we bear the good news that Christ is risen.  Alleluia.    

An Easter message from Bishop Hanson

Video message

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Christ is risen! Imagine the power in those words of promise.

When the disciples first heard Jesus speak of his death and resurrection, "they kept the matter to themselves" (Mark 9:10). But the news is too good to keep to ourselves. The life of Jesus Christ has been unleashed into the world.

Because Christ is risen, you can embrace life's complexities and uncertainties with a living, daring confidence in God's grace. The risen Christ goes ahead of you, meeting you in the most surprising faces and unexpected places. Christ's resurrection puts us right where God wants us to be -- in the thick of life.

Because Christ is risen, you have a word of hope. To those weary from mourning loss and fearing death, the assurance is given that nothing in all creation will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

The life of Jesus, God's own life, has burst into the world, restoring community. At the barriers we erect to divide us, the risen Christ meets us, turning those walls into tables of reconciliation. To those who live in fear and feel unworthy, the promise is given. "You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19).

Every morning you awaken with the mark of Jesus' death on your forehead and the promise of Christ's resurrection on your lips.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

In God's grace,

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

The cry of Christians the world over today as we celebrate the victory of life over death, the empty tomb, the risen Christ.  Today is the day when we remember most vividly God's promise of life, for each and every single one of us.

I decided before Lent that I was going to try to keep an eye out for signs of new life around me as part of my Lenten discipline.  Little did I know at that time that it would be one of the warmest and earliest springs on record, in both Wisconsin and Ohio.  As I kept watch for signs of life, I saw beautiful flowers and budding trees.  I saw birds and even caught some chickens that had escaped from their coop on a bright sunny day.  But the greatest gift of new life came on Good Friday with the birth of our nephew.  He is a wonderful reminder of life in the midst of death, of the promise of new life, and the miracle of new life.

As I've been pondering all of this new life, the thing that comes to mind for me is that, for Jesus, it's all about the body.  The Good Friday reading ends with the care of Jesus' body--they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with spices in linen cloths, according to the burial customs of the Jews (John 19:40).  Today, we hear of the empty tomb and the first appearance of the resurrected Christ.  And in the weeks to come, we'll hear the stories of Thomas and the breakfast on the beach and the promise of the Spirit with us, empowering us to be the body of Christ at work in the world.  It's all about the body--Christ's body, died and resurrected.  Christ's body--Christ's people--at work in the world.

It's pretty amazing, this promise of new life, isn't it?  It is all around us.  We see it perhaps most profoundly in this season of spring, but if we look closely, don't we see it every day?  In the sunrise and in mended relationships and in God's promise that life is victorious over death.  It's not always easy to see.  Darkness and death, violence, hunger, oppression; they all want us to think they get the final say.  But keep looking.  Today tells us that life is victorious.  God's promise of life will prevail.  Today is not the only day we see resurrection, though it is the day we celebrate it in the grandest way, with shouts of Alleluia, with flowers, and bells and trumpet sounds.  Keep watch tomorrow and the next day.  God's promise of life might be just as amazing then.  Because it is for every single day.  New life. For you and for me.

 Alleluia!  Christ is risen.  Christ is risen indeed.  Alleluia!




This video is a collection of some of the photos I took during this Lenten season.  The music is "Come and See" by Dakota Road, used by permission.  Enjoy!

A prayer for Easter
O God, you are the creator of the world, the liberator of your people, and the wisdom of the earth.  By the resurrection of your Son free us from our fears, restore us in your image, and ignite us with your light, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!









[Prayer for Vigil of Easter from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006]

Good Friday

The second of the Great Three Days, the Good Friday service continues the journey through Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection.  The Passion according to St. John is traditionally read today, celebrating Christ's victory on the cross.  As Jesus draws all people to himself, we pray for the whole world for which Christ died.  Finally, we honor the cross as a sign of forgiveness, healing, and salvation.  With all God's people, we are invited to ponder this mystery of faith.  Christ has died, so that we may live.


Find a Good Friday service near you.  It is guaranteed to be powerful and moving.  Services at Peace are at 1:00 and 7:00 today.


May you find peace in the paradox of this day.








Reading--John 18:1-19:42

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" ⁵ They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶ When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they stepped back and fell to the ground. ⁷ Again he asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." ⁸ Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go." ⁹ This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, "I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me." ¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. ¹¹ Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?" 

Jesus before the High Priest

¹² So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴ Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ The woman said to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." ¹⁸ Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

¹⁹ Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said." ²² When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" ²³ Jesus answered, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?" ²⁴ Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Denies Jesus Again

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, "You are not also one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not." ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?" ²⁷ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

Jesus before Pilate

²⁸ Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹ So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" ³⁰ They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." ³¹ Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death." ³² (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) ³³ Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" ³⁴ Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" ³⁵ Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" ³⁶ Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." ³⁷ Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." ³⁸ Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" 

Jesus Sentenced to Death

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him. ³⁹ But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" ⁴⁰ They shouted in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a bandit  

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³ They kept coming up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking him on the face. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him." ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" ⁶ When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him." ⁷ The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God." 

⁸ Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹ He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ Pilate therefore said to him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?" ¹¹ Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." ¹² From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor." 

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!" ¹⁵ They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor." ¹⁶ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. 

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So they took Jesus; ¹⁷ and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" ²² Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." ²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴ So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, 

      "They divided my clothes among themselves, 

          and for my clothing they cast lots." 

²⁵ And that is what the soldiers did. 

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

²⁸ After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus' Side is Pierced

³¹ Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵ (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) ³⁶ These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." ³⁷ And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

The Burial of Jesus

³⁸ After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. ³⁹ Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰ They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Prayer for Good Friday

Merciful God, your Son was lifted up on the cross to draw all people to himself.  Grant that we who have been born out of his wounded side may at all times find mercy in him, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

[Prayer for Good Friday from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006]

Maundy Thursday

Today begins the Great Three Days that tell of Jesus commandment to love one another, his death, and his resurrection.  These are the holiest days for Christians and are observed all over the world.  Maundy Thursday, is the day in which we remember Jesus' last supper and his command (mandatum) to love one another.  Services tonight often include the stripping of the altar area as a sign of Jesus' abandonment.  


Wherever you are, it is worth finding a Maundy Thursday service to attend tonight.  It is a powerful service that speaks of the new covenant, the promise, and the depth of God's love.  Worship at Peace is at 7:00.




Reading--John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴ got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" ⁷ Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." ⁸ Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." 

¹² After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord-- and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. ¹⁵ For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³² If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' ³⁴ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Eternal God, in the sharing of a meal your Son established a new covenant for all people, and in the washing of feet he showed us the dignity of service.  Grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit these signs of our life in faith may speak again to our hearts, feed our spirits, and refresh our bodies, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

[Prayer for Maundy Thursday from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006]

Wednesday in Holy Week

Reading--John 13:21-32

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

Prayer

Almighty God, your Son our Savior suffered at human hands and endured the shame of the cross.  Grant that we may walk in the way of his cross and find it the way of life and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.








[Prayer from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006]

Tuesday in Holy Week

Reading: John 12:20-36

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ³⁴The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you have called us to follow you.  Grant that our love may not grow cold in your service, and that we may not fail or deny you in the time of trial, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

[Prayer for Tuesday in Holy Week from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006]

Monday in Holy Week

Reading: John 12:11
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.




Prayer
O God, your Son chose the path that led to pain before joy and to the cross before glory.  Plant his cross in our hearts, so that in its power and love we may come at last to joy and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.








[Prayer for Monday in Holy Week from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006]

His Story--A Palm Sunday Sermon

This sermon was preached at Peace Lutheran Church on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1 by Rev. Kirsten Fryer.

What stories do you have to tell?  What stories about the ways that God is at work in your life, about what you’ve seen and experienced?  What stories of joys and struggles?  What stories do you share; which ones do you keep buried deep inside?  What stories do you have to tell?

During this little sojourn in Oberlin, I’ve been volunteering at the local retirement community.  Almost everyone I visit has at least a bachelor’s degree and have worked in all kinds of jobs.  They’ve been, literally, around the world.  They're in their late 80's and 90's and they have had so many experiences.  They have stories to tell.  And my job is to listen.  Week after week, I’ve been amazed, awed, and inspired.

Over the past several weeks, the Wild Word Project blog has had guest bloggers on Wednesdays.  They’ve shared stories about the ways they’ve seen God at work in the world.  The stories will continue to come.  Whether it’s here at church, or at dinner on a Friday night, or on Facebook or a blog, we all have stories to share.  Happy and incredibly sad.  Dramatic and mundane.  God is at work in this world in and through and around us.  So what stories do you share?

A few weeks ago, we saw Toni Morrison in Oberlin.  Her first grade teacher, who is now 101, was in the front row.  Ms. Morrison read from her new book and answered questions--both from the moderator and from students--about writing and living with her characters and letting them go.  Someone asked her about the relationship she had with her mother.  She responded that she had a relationship that was by no means perfect.  They disagreed and argued.  But, she knew she was loved.  “And,” she said, looking out at an auditorium filled with hundreds of people, “if my mother was talking in this crowded room, I would be able to hear her voice.”  This world-renowned author spoke of her process and her books and her incredibly complex characters, and yet, that is what sticks in my head from that night.  In a room filled with hundreds, I could hear my mother’s voice.

And it got me thinking about today.  And this week.  What voice do you hear above all the rest?  What story sticks out for you?

There are plenty of stories to hear, aren’t there?  Stories of tension--among neighbors or politicians or countries.  Stories of deep grief--among those who mourn the loss of spouses or children or parents or friends.  Among those who mourn the loss due to violence or famine or curable disease.  Lives that end much too young.  Lives that are ruined for one dumb decision.  Stories of war and distrust and discord.  Misguided assumptions that lead to deep hurt.  Stories of rising seas in some places and drought in others.  Unemployment and hunger and checks that just can’t be stretched until the end of the month.  Stories that make us wonder what is going on and when will it end and what can we do.

Two thousand years ago, a young man, who some saw as a trouble maker and rebel rouser, who others saw as a prophet and teacher and one who could cure, told his disciples to find a donkey and her colt so that, according to Matthew, the prophecy might be fulfilled.  And the disciples put their cloaks on them and he sat on the donkey, riding into Jerusalem, on a path which people covered with their cloaks and palm branches.  And those crowds shouted hosanna.  Hosanna, in the Hebrew those first century Jews spoke, meant  “Save us now.”  

From what did they want to be saved?  From oppressive government, from slavery, from fear?  From hunger, from disease, from the questions that kept them up at night?  We do not know.  We only know their cries, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  They trusted, that day, that he was Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.  What stories had they heard?  What stories did they tell themselves?  About him?  About themselves?

The stories fly all around us.  Some are true and some are not.  Some are the stories we tell ourselves in order to get by.  Some are the stories that make us strong.  That make us who we are.    For better or for worse.

And in the midst of all of those stories--the true one and the false; the beautiful and the incredibly sad; the ones that tear at our heartstrings and bring tears to our eyes--into the midst of all of them, enters the one whom we know as Christ.  The story teller and the one about whom we tell the greatest story ever told.  Into the midst of all of these stories comes Jesus, the word made flesh who lives among us.  Son of David.  Savior.  Messiah.  Son of Man and Son of God.

Perhaps it is during this week, the one that begins with the cries of “Save us now,” that we hear his story most clearly.  The story of his last days.  His triumphant entry into Jerusalem and his trial.  The dinner he shared with his disciples and the way he got down on his knees and washed their feet.  We hear the story of the one who betrayed him.  The stories of the journey to the cross.  The last words and the last breath.  These stories that are the cornerstone of our faith.  These stories that form the only foundation that has any chance of holding us up in the moments of deepest despair.  It is this week that God’s story rings clear and true, amidst all of the other stuff that threatens to get in the way.  This is the voice that we hear during this Holy Week--the story of the one that would not stop even at death to save us.  Who could not be held back, even by a tomb.  

This is the week, perhaps, we hear it most clearly.  The love.  The passion.  The grace.  The mercy.  That all of this--the trial, the death, the resurrection--is for us.  For each of us.  No matter what story we tell about ourselves.  No matter what story others tell about us.  No matter what.  This is for you.  

Easter is coming.  But before we skip ahead to next Sunday, we pause to listen, to hear once again, the stories of Thursday and Friday.  We’ll gather at the table, as Christians have done for 100,000 Sundays and then some.  We’ll hear the words of forgiveness.  We’ll sit in a sanctuary stripped of its decoration.  And we’ll hear once again the greatest story ever told.  Of giving everything for us.  The story that is full of promise.  That is full of hope.  The story that rings clear and true for us.  This week.  And every week.  Each and every single day of our lives.  Easter is coming.

Perhaps you’ve seen this video already.  But even if you have, it’s worth watching again.  It was created by David Lose and Karoline Lewis at Luther Seminary.  It tells the story as the world would have us hear it, and the story as it is turned upside down.

So which story will you tell?  The one the world would have us tell?  Or the one that turns the world upside down?

Amen.

A reflection on Psalm 51 for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

A reflection based on Psalm 51:1-12, which can be read here.

There is some beauty to the church year, in that during different seasons, we focus on different aspects of our understanding of the triune God and our relationship with God.  During the season of Christmas, we celebrate the incarnation.  During Epiphany, the light of Christ shining on all nations.  During Easter, resurrection.  During the Time after Pentecost, growth and vocation and learning.  During Lent, sin and forgiveness and reconciliation.  Some people find Lent depressing and long and dark.  Others find it refreshing and hopeful.  Saint and sinner, all of us, says Luther.  And Lent is certainly the season in which this becomes very clear.  

We sin.  It’s what we do.  We turn away from God and turn in on ourselves.  We sin knowingly and unknowingly.  We sin by doing and by not doing.  It’s part of life on this earth.  None of us can escape and none of us are completely innocent.  And, yet, we’re saints.  In baptism, we’re freed from sin’s power and brought to new life in Christ.  We’re cleansed and made whole.  We’re sinners who are forgiven.  We’re saints who still sin and find ourselves in need of forgiveness.  Simultaneously saint and sinner.  We’re both.  Every single one of us.  It’s the beauty of paradox.  It’s one of the things I love most about being Lutheran. 

www.oldlutheran.com

The website oldlutheran.com sells t-shirts, bags, and other items with all sorts of silly, Lutheran humor.  One of my favorites is a t-shirt designed by tattoo artist, Mark Palmer.  When worn, the people who see it on you see saint, but when you look down, you see sinner.  It is a beautiful design, but also a great reminder of the great need to look upon one another as saints, while still recognizing our own capacity to be sinners.  I think the world might be a different place if we looked at one another as saints, don’t you?  Don’t you think it might also be a different place if we recognized our own capacity for sin before pointing our fingers at another?  Sinner and saint, both.  Sinners in need of forgiveness, all.

Which brings us to today’s psalm.  The psalms are traditionally attributed to King David.  This one is supposedly written after the whole Bathsheba affair (remember that one--David saw Bathsheba on the roof, seduced and got her pregnant, then had her husband killed so he wouldn’t get busted, then their baby was born and died soon after).  Whether or not David actually wrote it, this much is certainly true--the writer understood the depth of sin and the despair.  The writer understood the longing for forgiveness.  The writer understood that he (or maybe even she) needed God because only God could offer the forgiveness he/she needed.  Only God could create the new thing--the new and clean heart.

The writer of this psalm knew how dark things could get.  He knew the weight of sin on his heart and mind and soul.  He knew those dark nights of the soul, of turning the thing over and over in his mind and trying over and over again to let it go.  And he knew that, alone, he could not free himself from the burdens of his sin.  He knew that, ultimately, he was desperately in need of the steadfast love, which can also be translated as undeserved love, that only God could give.  He knew that he had messed up terribly.  He knew he had rebelled and turned away from God.  He knew that he had hurt others by turning in on himself.  He knew that God’s mercy was the only thing that could possibly wash way the depth of his sin and allow him to start anew.  

In the Old Testament, the verb create has only one subject--God.  God is the only one who can create and the result of God’s creation is always something new.  How refreshing is that?  Create in me a clean heart, O God, prays the psalmist.  Make new in me a heart that is freed from the burden of this sin that I have brought upon myself.  Give me a fresh start.  Only God can really, truly forgive us from the burdens of our sins.

And yet, we know that God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.  We may experience God’s forgiveness by hearing the words “I forgive you,” from the one from whom we have turned away or from the pastor who proclaims the words during the absolution.  Those three simple words are powerful and have the capacity to give us new life.  Or perhaps we are called to be the ones to offer those words to someone who has hurt us.  Perhaps God is working on our hearts to forgive so that we, too, can experience the lifting of sin’s burden in our lives.  As any one of us who has struggled to forgive or has waited, with heavy heart, to be forgiven knows, it is not easy.  It is not easy to speak the words or to ask for them.  We really need God working in and through and around us to experience their healing effect.  We need God to work in and through and on our hearts to keep continually creating new hearts capable of love and grace and forgiveness.  We need God.  For everything.  Each and every single day of our lives.

Perhaps during Lent, we hear this the most clearly in church.  But Lent can happen at any time in our lives.  The all-to-real consequences of sin weigh heavy on our hearts and so we turn, sinners in need of forgiveness, back to the God whom we know to be gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.  God frees us from our burdens, lifts us up out of the depths, creates in us newness, and allows us to see the promise of hope and grace around us.  Each and every single day, by God’s grace, God sees in us saints, the forgiven sinners we are. 

And so we pray today, and maybe everyday, with the psalmist:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.  Amen.