The Teachings of Matt Day

Fourth Sunday in Lent

2011-04-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5: 8-14
John 9: 1-41
Attoway Kimberlin Lutheran Parish
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Year A
April 3, 2011

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Nobody believed him that he was healed and they threw him out of the temple. Nobody believed him. How strange is this? A man is healed and instead of celebrating the wonderful miracle that occurred, the leaders question him and eventually put him out of the temple because he told the truth.

The truth. What exactly is the truth? Is the truth only what we want to hear? Does the truth chose who or what it may hurt? Can the truth lie or say only what we want it to say? What makes something true? What gives truth relevancy?

I recently read a news article about Richard Nixon’s presidential Library now feature an exhibit on the notorious Watergate Scandal. The library only received the Watergate papers, tapes, and videos four years ago after Nixon’s foundation turned over the papers to the National Archives. The Library’s director felt he had a responsibility to portray this part of Nixon’s presidency. He had a responsibility to tell the truth even though it meant casting our 37th president in a bad light.

What was once the smallest exhibit in the library is now the largest - leaving mixed emotions with Nixon loyalists and every day men and women visiting library. The truth, in this case, hurts. It hurts our nation because we see a leader cast in a bad light but in the same regards, the truth serves as a powerful witness to the mistakes of our past. We are fortunate because this truth can change our future. It can open our eyes to corruption that can come forth even when the best intentions are in mind.

What about the truth in Japan’s nuclear disaster? It is hard to get a straight answer from any government or news agency. What is the truth in this situation? Leaders are torn between disclosing to much information and not enough. Too much information and people panic and possibly leave the country - leaving fewer and fewer people to rebuild the 3rd largest economy in the world. In the same notion, not enough information and people wonder what is being hidden? Leaders are constantly having to weigh the anticipated results of their decisions. Even with the best intentions in mind, sometime mistakes can happen.

Maybe then, we need to look at leaders of the temple with the same attitude and/or mindset - give these leaders the benefit of doubt that they only had the best intentions in this story. The leaders of the temple were charged with a great responsibility. They controlled a massive amount of goods brought in every day by people offering a sacrifice and distribute the food and goods back out to the people. They had to follow the prayers prescribed by the Law of Moses, teaching and answering questions from the people, and insure general order in the temple or face the wrath of the Roman government.

General order was extremely important. Rome did not want an uprising on their hands. Rome needed to worry about their enemies on the outside and conquering kingdoms so that they could grow their government and power. If an uprising would occur within their boarders, they would swing the sword first and ask questions later. They did not have time nor the resources to deal with a long, drawn out conflict within their borders. The temple leaders knew this - they knew the best way to keep Rome off their backs was to keep their people quiet and happy.

But you can’t keep your people quiet and happy if you have a man going around and healing people, teaching people that the rich and powerful will pulled down while the lowly are lifted up, and performing miracles such as creating bread and fish. Jesus is like the superman of warriors - able to heal injured soldiers and feed them. Think what this could do for the people’s morale? Jesus could be their answer to remove the Roman oppression. Jesus could be their ticket to freedom. Jesus could be the one who brings down everything the leaders of temple worked so hard to maintain.

The leaders needed to know what happened to this blind man so that they react properly. They needed to know what this Jesus could really do so that he could be silenced. They needed the truth but in reality, they were not ready for what they heard.

“What do you say about him?”1 “A prophet,” the blind man replies. “He must have never been blind. Bring in his parents.” “...This is our son, and he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes.”2 They call the blind man back and ask if Jesus is a sinner. “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”3 Where does he come from? Where does he get his powers? “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”4 “You try to teach us even though you were born in sin? Get out.”

The truth for the leaders was not easy to hear. Their status quo was being challenged by one man with strange powers - with a different message and a large following of people. The leaders were not ready and the people praying to God to send them a savior were not ready. They are not ready for a “Superman” from Nazareth. They are not ready to for a man to witness God’s love and mercy first to the poor and then to the world by hanging on a cross. The truth is not easy for anyone to swallow and it remains hard for us to swallow as well.

We are all blind in a way. We are asked to identify Jesus, but like this blind man, we have never seen his face. We only speak the truth - for once I was blind, now I see. This is what ministry is all about. We go out into the world and say that I have never seen the man who healed me; I know he is greater than myself and is here to heal you as well. Our very faith relies on never seeing Jesus but still believing all the more that he is our savior and that he touched each and every one in this room. It was through our baptism that we now can see - through God coming down to us this sacrament, through the water infused with God’s word. We are share in one common mission, proclaim that though I have never seen this man, he has healed me as my blindness and restored me back to be a child of God.

Let us never forget, that despite the fact Jesus did heal this man of his blindness, it is events, such as a this event, that ultimately led to Jesus death. The people were not ready for Jesus’s message and so they crucified the one sent by God. The truth is not always easy to hear and so the question remains, “CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?”

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1 John 9:17
2 John 9: 20b
3 John 9: 25
4 John 9: 30-33

Palm Sunday Sermon

2011-04-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16 (5)
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 21:1-11
Rural Retreat Lutheran Parish
Palm Sunday
Year A
April 17, 2011

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”1 If only the people knew what they were asking for.

These were very difficult and strange times for Jesus and his followers (more difficult for Jesus). Jesus knew what faced him in Jerusalem. He knew in a few days he would eat his last meal; be handed over by one of his friends; be stripped, beaten, humiliated, and eventually crucified. He knew the pain he would face and would have to endure so that God’s Will could be done.

The disciples, well they probably think this is great. People are cheering for Jesus. They are walking on Palm branches and coats - something only reserved for the most important dignitaries of their day. They hear people chanting for their friend. Finally, people are taking notice of Jesus and the work they are doing. All the sacrifice they have gone through seems to be paying off.

Others in the group have hate and evil intentions brewing in their hearts. They see this as an opportunity to promote a different angle - the fall of Rome. Jesus, the “superhero” of sorts (able to make bread and heal the sick in one single bound), has a lot of influence over the people. Some of the people are beginning to think that maybe Jesus could be used to lead a revolt, take down Rome, and create a new nation. It is probably why Judas made a deal with the Jewish authorities. If Jesus was not going to cooperate, then he had to be disposed of or risk having him fall into the wrong hands.

It is strange that Jesus was crucified because he did not want to fight. He did not want to become the greatest of the greatest nor did he want to create enemies. Rather we crucified Jesus because he said love each other, become a servant to each other, love your enemies.

Jesus never wanted his disciples to pick up arms and fight but rather, take off their sandals and wash one another feet. Jesus wanted his disciples to become the greatest servant of all - to deny entrances such as the one they recently experienced and instead, be the person caring for those who the world never cheers for.

The truth Jesus brought to this world was not something anyone was ready for and still remains something we, at times, fear. The truth Jesus brought told a story of loving one’s neighbor; caring for the sick and dying, loving those who nobody else would love; making sure that the last, least, lost, and lifeless are no longer the last, least, lost or lifeless. Jesus’ message is the light in our our world - a world engrossed in darkness, full of sin and evil, but yet remains our mission field.

Today marks the beginning of a week that has touched the lives of billions over the years. These lessons remain at the heart of our faith because we know how incredibly important this next weeks is for the world. This week, we see how Jesus becomes the King of kings. We see how Jesus’ promotes change. This week we will see how one man changed the world.

Jesus Christ, the son of the living God did not change our world by declaring war on those who disagreed him or by dropping bombs on people who opposed him. Jesus changed the world by preaching love. Today we celebrate the start of this change.

Today we chant Hosanna with the millions of saints who have gone before and those who are still to come. Today when we ask for Jesus to SAVE US, we are given the ever sure hope that Jesus has saved us. It is by no means a coincidence that today we chant, “Hosanna” which means save us and on Good Friday chant, “Crucify him.” Save us Jesus from the brokenness sin has brought to our relationship with God. Save us Jesus from hurt sin inflicts on the people we love and do not love. Save us Lord because we have nobody else to turn too.

This week reveals that when we cry out “Hosanna, Save us Lord,” our cry has been be heard. The cross, the center of gospel message, the chief foundation for Paul’s theology, the source of our salvation shows us that yes, we have been saved. Saved not by anything we have done or deserved but saved because the great God of all loves us so much that he sent us his son. We have been saved from an existence of not knowing the love God has to offer. We have been saved and redeemed so that we can confidently never fear death as an end but only the beginning of God’s magnificent power and love in our lives. Today is the beginning of the story of how God saved the world.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Baptism of our Lord

2011-01-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 42: 1-9 Rural Retreat Lutheran Parish
Psalm 29 Baptism of our Lord
Acts 10: 34-43 Year A
Matthew 3: 13- January 9, 2011

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A little boy was upset with his parents' financial situation, so he decided to write God a letter.

Dear God,
My mommy and daddy need $500 for bills and I don't know who else to ask. Could You please help?
Johnny

The letter was received by the local post office and put in the 'dead' letters pile. The clerk, being curious of the letter addressed to God, opened to see what it said. As you can imagine, he was touched by the letter and decided to help. He asked all his fellow workers to 'chip-in' a few dollars to help a family in need. When all the money was collected, it came to $300. The clerk sent a money order in an official Post Office envelope with the return address simply, God.

Several weeks later the same clerk found another letter addressed to God in the same writing. The letter said,

Dear God,
Thank you for the $300, but next time don't use the Post Office, they have a $200 service charge.
Johnny

Thankfully and joyfully, God does not have a surcharge for baptism. It is a free gift where God claims us as one of his own and sets us free from our bondage to sin. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, describes baptism as literally being clothed in Christ. This means that our identity is no longer found in worldly things such as Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female but rather we are all the same. We are all wearing the same clothing and there is no way to distinguish what class, gender, or race we are. We are all simply one people, united in Christ.

In very similar wording to Saint Paul, Martin Luther describes baptism as “not simply plan water” but it is water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s work.”1 Baptism “brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the word and promise of God declare.”2 We are not merely dealing with something as simple as water or taking a bath in baptism. We are dealing with something of epic proportions--something that God commanded us to do so that we might find forgiveness of sin, unity with one another, and safety form the evils of this world--death and devil

Interestingly, Luther also equates baptism to that of a daily dying experience. He beautifully explains baptism as dying from our old ways daily but also rising each day--instantly forgiven, renewed, and restored as God’s people and children. We experience both death and life each and every day because of our baptism into Christ.

Our Baptism serves as the best possible reminder of life after death—even though we might die, God has sealed a promise with us to never abandon us and that one day we will all be raised back to life. Even amidst one our greatest fear, we still have that sure hope that God never breaks a promise—that we will have life.

Luther never underestimates the great mystery surrounded in baptism. He says:
In Baptism every Christian has enough to study and to practice all [their] life. [He or she will] always [have] enough to do to believe firmly what Baptism promises and brings— victory over death and the devil, forgiveness of sin, God’s grace, the entire Christ, and the Holy Spirit with his gifts. In short the blessings of Baptism are so boundless that if timid nature [individual] considers [all the blessings found in baptism], he or she may well doubt whether [these blessings] could all be true.3
That last line really drives home the greatness of God’s grace and how easy it is to forget the great power baptism has in our lives. Our God promises to forgive us even when we cannot forgive ourselves, prevail against the devil and death, and bless us continually. We could spend an entire lifetime contemplating the nature of Baptism and not even begin to grasp the magnificence of this sacrament.

Today in our gospel, we witness only a glimpse of God’s power in baptism. In Jesus’ baptism, as soon as he comes up from the water, we hear God claim Jesus and announce to the world that this is God’s son, the one who we all have been waiting for has come.

This is Jesus, God’s only son, born of the Virgin Mary, son of Joseph the carpenter, and made man. This is Jesus, claimed by God so that all righteousness may be fulfilled and we might be brought closer to God. This is Jesus, our crucified and risen savior, who claims us the same way God claimed him at his baptism.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we need to know that our baptism is different from the one Jesus experienced. For Jesus, his acceptance of his baptism meant two things: One, he was accepting the death on the Cross—a death he freely accepted—and Two, he was accepting his own humanity—he was accepting that he was just like you and me.

Where our baptism is more about forgiveness, Jesus’ baptism was more about a promise. Jesus needs to, in a way, have the torched passed to him. John is the last prophet to prepare the people for what God is going to do. Now Jesus is on the scene and he needs to take over. Instead of signing a contract, he is baptized and promises us that God’s plan for us will be done. God is pleased and the will of God can now proceed as planned. Jesus can now begin his journey to Jerusalem--his journey to the cross.

This is what this season of Epiphany is about--The beginning fulfillment of how God revealed his glory to the people (to the everyday people). That is why we hear stories about The Magi coming from the east, Jesus’ baptism, and creating Wine from Water so that the party could continue. These are a the beginning events of Jesus’s ministry and how God began to reveal his glory to us through Jesus. But equally important, Epiphany is a time when we continue to see how God will reveal his magnificent glory to us: in our sacraments, in our preaching, in our churches, in our people, our ministries, governments, and even in people like us--living in small towns or big cities. God is still working in our world.

That is the best part of our story. God is still here with us. The story did not end at Calvary or at the Ascension. Today is only the beginning of this great story because God has not given up on us yet. We are all claimed as children of God because of Jesus and sent out to proclaim that God is not done with us yet.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1 A Contemporary Translation of Luther’s Small Catechism, The Sacrament of Holy Baptism, translated by The Rev. Dr. Timothy Weggert, 1996, 35.
2 IBID
3 Lutheran Quarterly, Luther on Baptism, Mark D. Tranvik, 1.

Sermon for Proper 25

2010-10-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Video at www.theteachingsofmattday.blogspot.com

Jeremiah 14, 7-10, 19-22
Psalm 84: 1-7
2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18
Luke 18: 9-14
October 24th, 2010

In the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Now promise not to laugh at me but one of my favorite political analyst is Steve Cobert. He appeared before congress about a month ago to testify on a number of different issues including immigration. While most of his testimony was entertaining to watch, he said something very propounding that made me scratch my head and even post on facebook. One of the legislators asked Cobert about why he was so focused on the issue of immigration. He said,

“It seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are migrate workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result and yet we still invite them to come and then ask them to leave. It is an interesting contradiction to me. What so ever you do for the least of my brothers and these seem like the least of our brother right now. A lot of people right now are the least brother but migrant works suffer and have no rights.”

Regardless of where you might stand on the issue of immigration, Cobert does have a point. Who stands up for people who have no voice--who have no rights?

It is the same question Jesus is asking his disciples in this parable. Who stands up for people like tax collectors? Tax collectors were not well liked and, as I learned from the confirmation class this past week, modern day tax collectors are still not liked. Many Jews and Gentiles sorely hated tax collectors solely because of their occupation. Tax collectors made their money by adding a surcharge to the taxes and they would keep the surcharge. Many people thought the surcharge was a form of robbery but they missed the giant white elephant in the room—the excessive tax charged by Rome. Instead of condemning the excessive tax, the people condemn the middlemen who were only trying to make a living.

They were seen as evil and horrible people because of what they did for a living. “God, I thank you that I am not like those people.” These men worked for Rome--they worked for the Government that oppressed the people. “God, I thank you that I am not like those people.” They were ostracized from the temple--from God and their religion because they were only trying to make a living. “God, I thank you that I am not like those people.”

But what about those “other people” this Pharisee is talking about? What about people who do not feel welcome or who are thrown outside a town, village or city because some do not think they worthy of God. What about those tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, sick, dying, blind, or lame. What about those people who are told by the society--who are told by their religion, “you are not welcome here?” What about those individuals who have had fists shaken at them and told, “God, I thank you that I am not like this person.” What about them?

How quickly we forget that we are all the crowns of God's creation.1 Each one of us has been gifted by God, created in God’s own image but yet we all still raise our fist at one another and say, “God, I thank you that I am not like those people.”

We have all shaken our fist at another group of people for one reason or another. We have all thought deep down and even said aloud, “God, I thank you that I am not like those people.” But those people who we shake are fist, like the tax collector in our parable, are the people who Jesus seems to always go after.

The Pharisees seem to always track Jesus down to ask him questions. But Jesus always seems to track down those who society shakes their fist at. He touches the unclean, he eats with tax collectors, he defends a women caught in the act of adultery, he raises the dead back to life, he gives the blind slight and the lame the ability to walk. Jesus helps those who are not able to help themselves or who society says are not worthy of any kind of help or love.

Robert Jensen’s quote really hits home the message of this parable. “Whenever you want to draw a line to mark who is outside the kingdom and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line. Jesus is always with the outsiders." Whenever we shake our fists at someone else and say, “God, I thank you that I am not like those people.” or when we say “God, I thank you that I am not like those people in the middle in east, or those people who can’t find a job, or those single mothers, or those single fathers, or those who did not graduate college or even high school, or those who are of a different faith background”--whenever we rather shake our fist at someone else instead of opening our arms and embracing them as Christ embraces them for who they--a child of God--we are acting like this Pharisee in the parable.

Whenever we judge someone else for simply being different we miss the point of this parable—we miss the point of the gospel. It was God in God’s infinite wisdom that created us to be in God’s own image. We are all different for a reason. But we are all alike in one key area--we are all children of God. And even more than just children of God, we are all baptized into Christ. It is in our baptism that we are identified as followers of Christ—followers of a man who sought out the people who we shake our fists at. We might all not wear the same cross around our necks but we wear Christ on our bodies and in our hearts.

We might be very different from the followers of Jesus’s day but we all are still claimed and sent out by same man who we confess to be our crucified and risen saviour. All of us, at one time or another, have shaken our fist at someone and thank God for not being like them but how quickly we forget that we are all beggars--we are all beggars of God’s grace just like this tax collector.

Every week when we gather for communion, we become beggars looking for God’s grace just as that tax collector was begging for God’s grace. We come up with outstretch arms, unworthy of God’s love, hungry for something that can sustain us more than bread or water could ever sustain us. We come unworthy to the table, with open hands and open mouths begging for God and are fed with the body and blood of Christ Jesus.

It is this same Jesus that we feast on every week that seeks us out. He was deemed an outsider. Who became an an outsider. Jesus was an outsider. Maybe we should be one as well.

In the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Performance at Lutherans at the Lincoln

2010-10-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Sermon for Proper 22

2010-10-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 37:1-9
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10
Attoway-Kimberlin Lutheran
Proper 22
19th Sunday After Pentecost
October 3rd, 2010

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“Increase our faith.” Increase my faith. For many Christians, myself included, this has been a prayer and request for a long time. Surrounded by the many and great sins of the world, tempted every day by the devil and the other evil that lurks around us, pulled away from God, we beg God “Increase our faith, increase my faith.”

So what is faith? Why do we want to increase it? It is interesting that each of the four gospel writers use the word “faith” differently. Our modern day understanding of the word “faith,” according to Webster Dictionary, is a “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” Luke and Mr. Webster are about on the same page. Luke did not see faith as a possession--not something you can hold in your hands. Rather, Luke views faith as a “disposition: Faith leads to a faithful behavior; lack of faith leads to anxiety and fear.” Faith is a lifestyle that builds us up even among fear and anxiety.

But living in anxiety and fear? It is true that the disciples live in and anxiety and fear. Even broader, the people who followed Jesus lived in fear. The original audience reading this letter lived in fear. Some of us reading this gospel some 2000 years later still live in fear.

For 2000 years, the people of God have lived in fear unjustly. Jesus knows this. He knows the people are hurting from the oppression of unattainable laws and rituals. Jesus knows the people are hurting from all of the taxes they must pay. He knows the people are starving while the rulers of Rome live in the lap of luxury. The people live in fear of God because they have be told they are being punished for not keeping the law—for not being good enough. The people are crying out, “GIVE US FAITH” because they have nothing else left to hold onto. They are swimming in a great ocean of despair and they didn’t bring a boat. But then Jesus comes along. He heals the sick and dying, he goes to poor, and the outcasts. He brings a new message about God and the people ask, “Give us faith” and Jesus responds with, “You only need a drop of faith to have faith.

A drop of faith means that any of us can say to a Mulberry Tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey. But hold on there for second. Now I tried to do this the other day with an Oak Tree and it did not work. Does this mean I do not have any faith?

To answer this question, we need to look at the big picture Luke is painting. Throughout the gospel narrative, Jesus has never said we have to do anything to receive our faith. Faith simply happens. Our faith is our identity. It is who we are. Our faith is a gift given to us and we live out faith each day not as something we earn but as something live by.

In the explanation to the Third Article of the creed in the Small Catechism, Martin Luther writes:
“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with the Spirit’s gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as the Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith...”
Martin Luther says it best here. We do not accept Jesus but Jesus accepts us. We do not call out to God but God calls out to us. We do nothing here because God is in control.

Jesus is not criticizing those who doubt and feel unworthy. He is criticizing the Pharisees who are holding back the people of God from God because the Pharisees think the people are not worthy enough to receive God. (and I might add that the Pharisees Jesus is referring to here is a radical group. The Pharisees are the ones who do care for the people but like with any religious groups, there are radicals and then there are the normal ones). In this parable, we do not earn our faith but we receive it out of Grace.

The Pharisees argue that the law is where we find God. Specifically, by following the law we receive God. But what if can’t do it? What if we can’t keep the law? What if the people could not give to the temple and to Rome and still be able to feed a family? What if I eat shell fish or pork? Does this mean I cannot receive God? Or the question that many of us ask ourselves. What if I doubt and cannot say, truthfully, “I accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour?” Should those who ask this question be denied God then?

When our faith is not sufficient, Jesus makes up for it. Our faith is smaller than a mustard seed because we all have much learning to do. Faith is lifestyle, and therefore needs to be learned. It is the same for our careers. Pastors go on internships because they need to learn what it means to serve a parish. Carpenters go on apprenticeships so that they learn how to properly build a house. A farmer learns to farm. A businessman learns a business. A nurse learns to be a nurse. We all learn and grow into our careers over time just as our faith grows within us.

Joel B. Green writes, “Jesus remains open to the possibility that the Pharisees will hear the word and respond in obedience, but is aware equally that the disciples, if they are to be his disciples, remain in need of formation.” We do not just wake up one day and say, “I GOT IT.” Rather, we wake up desiring to know more about our faith.

My worship professor, Dr. Mark Oldenburg, told me about two of his fellow classmates from seminary. They were both put into a parish where confirmands were quizzed before the congregation. Both pastors did not like the tradition and neither did their students. Both pastors appealed to the council for some help. The first pastor went to the council and they said he had to quiz them—it was a tradition and the church needs to keep doing it. So the pastor went back to the confirmation class and told them all to raise their left hand high after he asked a question but to only hold up their right hand in front of their chest if they knew the answer. The other pastor was also told no by the council and given roughly the same answer. So he told the council that the quizzing would go down as such. For every question I ask the confirmands, you all must also answer a question because confirmation and developing our faith does not end when we are confirmed but should continue long after confirmation.

We are no different from the disciples. The disciples’ faith did not stop growing after Jesus’s Ascension. But it continued to blossom and grow. We do not stop growing our faith after our baptism or confirmation. Our faith is not perfect and we do not always need to have the right answer but, rather, open to new possibilities God is doing with our faith. Our faith is a wonderful gift. Frustrating, yes but yet still amazing and wonderful. It is a gift given to us and we live it out each day by living as Jesus lived. It is not an easy life to live but we know there is forgiveness for when we stray. There is forgiveness when we cannot say, “Yes, Lord, I believe.” It is okay when we don’t have answer. It is okay to cry out, “Give me faith, give us faith” because when our faith is weak, Jesus will make up the rest.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Proper 21 Sermon

2010-09-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“Only the dogs would come and lick his sores.” If this line gives us any kind of a inclination into the life Lazarus is living, then we know Lazarus was a man yearning for something more than a dog’s tongue. He was yearning to eat even the scraps of bread used to clean the grease off of the rich man’s hands, yearning to have a small place at the table, yearning for the care of another human for but only finds the care a few dogs (and I wouldn’t exactly want a dog caring for me).

But what about this rich man? Is he more of a man than Lazarus? I think it is interesting that he has all the money and food he could ever want or need but yet he remains nameless. The guy who, most likely, has power in the community, has so much money that he is able throw bread onto the floor, the guy who walked by Lazarus, the man who walked by the great disparity of Lazarus, a man most likely dressed in purple (only rich and/or roman leaders could even wear purple) while Lazarus wore rags, a man who walked by Lazarus every day and did nothing for him, this rich man, does not have a name. You think a man with this social caliber would have a name but Jesus omits it from the parable.

This makes me scratch my head. Names are important. They identify our familial roots. They hold a history (just look at all the great Matthew’s of history). They hold a personal meaning. Why would Jesus omit such a detail? One commentary suggests that Jesus wants the audience to fill their names and therefore wants us to take a closer at our actions towards the poor. But can it be that simple? The simple truth is never simple. Maybe Jesus uses this as an opportunity to talk about the real measure of a person.

What creates our identity? What makes us identify with each other? Is it our wealth, our house, our cars, our children? Is it something more? Why do we cringe every time we hear about a victim of a shooting? What makes us feel remorse when we hear of a tragedy happen to someone we have never met? What makes us feel sorrow for Lazarus? What makes some of us feel no remorse for the rich man suffering in agony?

It is so easy for some of us to feel little to no remorse for the rich man. He did live in the lap of luxury for his entire life. He did walked by Lazarus every time he left his house and did nothing for him. Now is in agony while Lazarus stands next to Abraham. We even hear the rich man’s smugness when he asks Abraham to send Lazarus down him and serve him some water. The rich man does not get it. It is so easy to think, “Turn the flames up Abraham because I don’t think he gets it.” But is that how God operates?

God does not sit on a throne and casts punishment on those who do not follow God’s ways. God is about grace and love. The kind of judgement God does cast on us is simply the judgement of being God’s own—a child of God. God is not some angry monster set out on a path of war and violence. God loves us because we are God’s own. Even this rich man, as horrible as he was, is still a child of God. He is not being punished for being rich but he is being punished because of his indifference to the whole situation--for ignoring Lazarus and hoarding the gifts God gave him to share.

What is at the heart of this parable is the call to “remember.” Abraham says, “‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things...’” When we zoom out and look at the bigger picture Luke is painting, we see “remember” is used a number of times. An example of this can be found at the cross when the Criminal said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” There is also the scene at the tomb when a man in dazzling white clothes asked, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words...”

The reason the rich man is suffering is not because he is rich but because he did not remember Lazarus during life and all that the prophets have preached about the care of the poor. Brian Stroffgren writes:
“The great chasm between the rich man and Lazarus existed long before their deaths. It would seem that during their lives, the rich man couldn't bridge the "chasm" between his house (and his wealth) and the poor man outside his gate. He couldn't reach across it to give starving Lazarus a bite to eat or medicine for his sores or shelter from the weather.”
Whether we care to admit it or not, we have all created deep chasms between with others. Sometimes it is done on purpose while at other times we do not even realize the great chasms we have created with one another. Whenever we cast judgment on another individual, we create a chasm and we become like this rich man. Whether we judge someone because of their wealth, their house, their family, their skin color, their ethnicity, their religion we create a chasm. These chasms separate us from one another simply because someone is different. Our identity is not found in our earthly possession or our appearance. Our identity is found in God. We are created in God’s image and therefore we are claimed as God’s own. That is how we have already been judged.

What if God acted like this rich man? What if God turned God’s back on us? God should have just walked away from us but that is not how our God operates. Our God likes to build bridges. We have Jesus Christ who comes into the great chasm of our sin and lives with us. He suffered on the cross, died, and was buried. But on that third day, the thing that Moses and the prophets foretold came to fruition. Jesus finished the bridge. Christ Jesus built the bridge to connect us back to God and, being set free, we now can begin to build bridges for the other chasms we have created.

We are convinced of God’s love for us because we see Jesus Christ crucified and risen. Everything Moses and prophets foretold makes sense, and only makes sense, because of Jesus and the cross. The prophets called for the people to live a new lifestyle—to care for the poor Lazarus’s in this world just as Jesus cared for the outcasts. We are called to not act like the rich man but to act like Jesus. We are called to love someone simply because we all need love. We are called to remember what has been taught for centuries--to care for the abused, beaten, hungry, tortured people.

It is not fair that Lazarus lived his life in agony and only felt relief in death especially when it could have been prevented. Yes, one day we will all see God face to face. All of our pain and our burdens will be relieved in the resurrection but until then, we have many Lazarus(es) in our world and in our community who need more than a dog’s tongue.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Proper 19 Sermon

2010-09-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

There is a speech that I had to memorize in middle school. It was written by a famous Civil Rights activist, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His legacy has touched the lives of many Americans and his witness has opened the door for many Americans oppressed simply because of the color of their skin. Listen to part of speech:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
...
This is our hope...1”

This is our hope. It is our hope that one day, that one day, our social distinctions and classifications will not matter. It is our hope that our “children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” It is our hope that one’s identity will not be found in the human things of this world but in the love for one another.

But right now it is only hope and not reality. For thousands upon thousands of years humanity has oppressed a group (or groups of people) simply because of a human classification. These classifications range from cultural identity, money, race, sinner...

Sinner. Now that is a strange classification. What is even stranger is to think about oppressing Sinners. It doesn’t make much sense in our Christian mindset when we think about it today (because our concept of a sinner is that we all sin and therefore we are all sinners by its definition) but what did it mean to oppress a sinner in Jesus’ day?

Throughout the scriptures we hear about this dualism of Righteous and Unrighteous/Sinner. A biblical definition of Righteous is someone who fears and loves God; who follows God’s commands; who places God above all things. We know there were “righteous people” or so called “righteous people.” However, it is still unclear how righteous an individual had to be in order to be consider righteous. Did someone only need a drop of righteousness to make he or she righteous or was there more too it? Did one drop of sin make someone a sinner?

How one determined their status of righteousness was through the law. An individual was deemed righteous by obeying all the laws. A truly righteous person kept the law of God and an unrighteous person, a sinner, was someone who did not keep the law (whether was on purpose or not on purpose). The law does guide us into God’s will but it also shows us that we cannot follow it all the time. We have a bondage to the ways of sin and not the way of God. The overall intent of the law is to assist us in following God but it gives us ammunition to oppress those who are not following the law--who are not one us. In Jesus’ day, if the law was misinterpreted, it can forbid God’s grace to be shown because only a strict adherence to the law was acceptable.

This is the situation Jesus has been placed in. He was eating a meal with sinners (tax collectors, prostitutes, the poor, the sick, the blind, the lame) instead of with the great leaders of the synagogue and temple--not with the elite of the community. Sound familiar? “Mommy, Jesus isn’t playing with me. He is playing with THOSE people.” It sounds very childish but this was (and maybe even remains) the mindset of us all. These leaders felt as they were more privileged than the sinners--than the outcasts of the society.

The leaders described in this passage felt as though they deserved God more than the sinners. The leaders believed they were the only ones privileged to God’s love. If Jesus was the messiah, than they should have their needs cared for first because they were the best. But Jesus does not do this. Jesus does not go to the leaders but to the people forgotten by the world and cares for them.

This makes no sense to the Pharisees and even to us today. Why would the Messiah, the anointed one, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the one foretold by prophets for centuries would choose to eat not with the elite--not with the ones who have power to convince the masses--but with the sinners? Why would God care about the sinners? Why not go to powerful and proclaim “Ta da I’m here?”

But God has always cared about the sinners. God has always cared more about God’s people, particularly the outcasts--the last, lost, lost, least, lifeless--than about laws. Actually, the law of God was originally intended to ensure the well being of all God’s people--not just the elite and powerful.

The parables Jesus told to the crowd reminds us that God is the one who would leave behind the large group of sheep to go out and find the one sheep who went a strayed. That God is the one who throw a party after God finds a single coin--a party that cost more than what the coin was ever worth. These parables reveal that God has always done the unthinkable. God always goes after the one lost soul, God always throws the biggest parties. God choose to die on a cross so that we might live.

The elite feel that they deserve God more than the rest of the world but Jesus says no. Robert Jensen, retired professor at LTSG writes, “Whenever you want to draw a line to mark who is outside the kingdom and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line. Jesus is always with the outsiders." This particular group of Pharisees questioning Jesus’ actions were denying the kingdom of God to a group of people simply because they could not obey the law. They wanted to deny God’s kingdom, God’s love, to a group of people because they are not good enough, because they are not rich enough, because they are not the right color. But Jesus came to reveal what God has always been about--grace and love for all people. Jesus came to reveal the great joy God still has and has always had for us.

What does it mean to have a sinner repent and all of heaven rejoice but the rest of world stays silent? Will we be able to look past someone’s status and simply love them as God loves that person? Will we be able love simply out of love with no strings attached as God loves us? Will we be able to rejoice when just one repents? Will we be able to look past someone’s skin color, religion, economic status, job status, someone’s social identity and see them for who they really are? When we follow in Jesus’ example and love one another, yes even those who are not like us, we will experience this great joy God has over one sinner who repents. Maybe when we let this happen, “when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, [black and white], Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics,” (Muslims and Christians, Northern and Southern, rich and poor, Democrats and Republicans, Europeans and Americans, the entire world, all of us) “we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old [African American] spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”2

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Endnotes
1 http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
2 http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Sermon for Proper 18

2010-09-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Amazing Grace is a favorite hymn of mine to both play and sing. I love the message it carries--of God’s amazing grace looking past all my faults, all of my failures, and hearing God still loves me. The words are very touching and speak well of our faith but how the song was written is just as equally touching. The song was written by man named John Newton. He was the captain of a slave ship in England. One night his ship was caught in a horrible storm. Many of the men on his ship were killed. As the waves were crashing over the ship, Newton knelt down and prayed for help. Newton made it through the night and his ship safely arrived in port. After this experience, Newton promised to changed his life. He eventually left the slave trade industry to pursue the life of an ordained pastor. He later teamed up William Wilberforce, who was a member of the British Parliament and who lead the fight to end slavery in Great Britain. Newton experienced the Grace of God first hand. Newton felt the strong and comforting touch of God’s grace. In a way, we saw the light and left the safety of the darkness to find something better--God’s love.

Now If we were keeping score it would be God:Infinity and humanity:negative infinity. It is quiet a large debt we owe God. Newton, who sold God’s creation--God’s own children--into slavery felt forgiveness. Newton felt grace. Newton had a debt he could never repay, just as we all have a debt we cannot pay, but that did not stop God from turning leaving Newton behind.

We don’t always have a perfect storm experience like Newton felt in order to feel God’s grace. We all have felt God’s grace in one form or another. For most of us. We experience God’s grace every time we hold out our hands and receive the bread at communion or when we open our mouths to receive the wine. You see that is grace. In the words, “The body of Christ, given for you” or the “the blood of Christ shed for your sins” we hear how unworthy we are to receive Christ Jesus. But yet, we still receive him. We are still able to hold out our hands or open our mouth and have them filled. That, my friends, is grace. It is because of God’s Grace alone we are able to reap the rewards of God’s love. Nothing else but simply God’s grace.

It is this grace that Paul is reminding Philemon about today. Philemon is an interesting fellow. We do not know to much about him. He is not mentioned anywhere else in scripture. According to the letter, Paul and Philemon are friends--close friends. It is probably safe to assume that Paul convert Philemon to Christianity. What we do know comes from a sociological study of the letter. We know Philemon owned a house--a house big enough to hold a church. Owning a house conveys a certain economic level--the bigger the house the better off you are. Owning slaves also conveys an even high economic level and we know he did own at least one slave name Onesimus.

Here in lies the problem. Onesimus is a slave of Philemon. More importantly, Onesimus is a runaway slave of Philemon. This is a problem. For Philemon, it is like his car ran away. Roman cultural saw a slave as property--not a person. Not the flesh and blood that Onesimus was. Onesimus set off running for freedom only to find Paul--A friend of his former owner. And you thought you had bad luck.

Onesimus becomes a convert of Christianity all while Paul is in prison. But then Paul tells Onesimus he has to go back to Philemon. Imagine the look on his face. I call it, “What ya talking about Willis?” It is crazy for a runaway slave to go back to his master but Paul tells Oneismus to trust him because Paul has a unique

In the introduction of Paul’s Letter, Paul reminds Philemon of their relationship. Particularly, the Christian Relationship they have. Paul and Philemon are on the same level not because both are wealthy (and Paul was not wealthy. Remember, he sold tents for a living and moved from city to city. That is how Paul was able to turn down financial support from the congregations he served). Rather Paul and Philemon are equal because they are both Christian.

It all goes back to baptism. Baptism is how we become a part of the community. In Baptism, we are literally clothed with Christ so that we are all the same. When we look in the mirror we do not see different faces or different races or different size bank accounts but rather, we see simply Christ.

Oneismus was changed in his baptism the same way we were all changed in our baptism. We are literally clothed, change with Christ--Change by Christ out of love.

This is what Paul is appealing to. Paul knows Philemon is mad with Oneismus but Paul appeals to Philemon out of love. It is this Agape love, the sacrificial love that all Christians share with each other, that Paul is appealing to Philemon with. Philemon had the law on his side. Onesimus is a runaway slave, property of Philemon, and therefore could be killed for running away. But Paul is appealing to Philemon to forget the law of Rome and find the law of God. Onesimus is now a Christian, one of us, and therefore equal to Philemon just as Paul and Philemon are equals. “I am appealing to you for my Child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment” I appeal to you, Philemon, out of love for my son--your brother. Love him as I have loved him and as I have loved you. Paul is appealing on the bases of the relationship he has established with Onesimus. Paul calls Onesimus a son.

Essentially, he raises Onesimus status. Peter T. O’Brien writes,”this was the first news Philemon had of his slave since he ran away and he might be expected to react negatively to the mention of his name. So with delicate tact, Paul first establishes the central fact that Onesimus has become a Christian, converted during Paul’s imprisonment.” Paul is making his appeal out of love and not out of law. Verse 16 tells it all. Oneismus is “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a dear brother. He is especially so to me, and even more so to you now, both humanly speaking and in the Lord. (Phm 1:16 NET)” Think about what Paul is doing. He is challenging “a Christian slave owner to defy the conventions: to forgive and receive back into the household a runaway slave’ to refuse financial reparation when it is offered, mindful of what one owe to christ as proclaimed by Paul’ to go father in generosity by freeing the servant’ and most important of all from a theological view point to recognize in Onesimus a beloved brother and thus acknowledge his Christian transformation.” Paul is not looking to impose his will or ideas onto Philemon but is looking for Philemon to do the right thing.

Paul is asking him to receive Onesimus as he would receive Paul--as a dear brother (FAMILY).By saying charge everything to him, Paul cancels out Onesimus’ debts to Philemon because Philemon owes Paul his life. We all have a debt that can never be paid. We all owe God more than we can ever afford. But Jesus paid this debt and revealed to us God’s love and grace for the world. The cross revealed to us God’s grace and God’s love for the world--the same love that Philemon has shared with his congregation. This love changed the people of Philemon’s church. This love continues to change us. It changed a slave owner so that a runaway slave could return home and not suffer the consequences. It changed a Slave Ship Captain and Abolitionists to see how wrong slavery was. Love changes people because in Love we see God’s grace. Go, therefore, and share it.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Proper 16

2010-08-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

I welcome your comments. I know I preached entirely too fast but I got a little excited over my message. A sociologist will always get excited for a text about loving others and ignore laws that oppress.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Why Jesus? Why? I mean tell me, why do you always have to pick a fight? You know the leaders do not like it when you do work on the Sabbath. I mean come on Jesus. You do this all the time. You are going to get the leaders angry and the people riled up. Then Rome is going to get involved and probably kill us all or threatens to tear down our temple. Our temple Jesus. You know the one that has been built, destroyed, built, destroyed, and finally built again by Herod. We got protection now Jesus. Why do you have to always throw a wrench into it? Just sit there and be quiet. Things aren’t that bad.

Well maybe things are that bad. Maybe Jesus did need to heal the woman that very instant. We know Jesus was not in the business of just sitting around idly by while some injustice was happening. But at the same time, I know some of you, well maybe it’s just me, might be wondering, “Why did Jesus always have to make a scene?” As I sat at my desk pondering this question, I found myself going back to an even larger question--“Why was Jesus given to us?”

This question has remained a mystery for the church for centuries. Thousands of Christians, theologians, pastors, priests, and even Popes have tried to answer the age old question--“Why was Jesus given to us?” While we have some suspicions and theories we cannot nail down an exact answer as to why Jesus came to be with. I worry about those Christians who say with surety, “I know why Jesus came” because every time we come up with a theory, it just opens the door to another question. Those that say Jesus came to die can never get pass the next question why did Jesus have to die. Doesn’t God love us? Why couldn’t God just forgive us? You see, it creates a snow ball effect. One answer leads to another question which leads to another answer and then another question. We do not need to know why Jesus came but we do need to respond to his teachings, commands, life and actions. Particularly the action today’s reading—ensuring the wellbeing of all no matter the circumstances. Unfortunately, that tends to upset people.

In almost every story, Jesus upsets another person by telling them they are wrong and there old way of doing things is not good anymore. Jesus never holds back but calls out individuals who are no longer following Gods word or they are not open to a new way of understanding God’s word. Jesus does not let injustices go unnoticed. Jesus will even call out his own friends when they are wrong. Just look at Peter. It does not matter who you are or where you come from, Jesus has a message and the world will hear it.

What Jesus is preaching is not all that unheard of. It has been preached for thousands of years before by prophets and angels--Love one another just as God has always loved you. It is the message that the prophet Isaiah is preaching:
Isaiah 58: 10-12
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
Every time I hear a text like this on, I give myself a little bop on the head. It is a “duh” moment. Maybe Jesus did have a point in this situation. Maybe Jesus was not doing something radical here. Maybe Jesus is not doing the wrong thing. Maybe what Jesus is doing is following the will of God. MAYBE WE ARE WRONG AND JESUS IS RIGHT. (I know it’s a crazy idea but Jesus knows a things or two.)

So why was the synagogue leader wrong? Brian Stoffregen writes:
"It is the synagogue leader who calls Jesus' actions "healing" (therapeuo in v. 14 twice) -- and thus a "work".
But misses the boat.
“He doesn't see it as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of releasing from bondage -- or a re-enactment of the Exodus journey from slavery to freedom."
He misses the grace of God. He doesn’t open his mind to the big of God’s love and God’s grace. How many times have we missed the big picture? How many times have we made a bad call all in the name of keeping the law or keeping the word of God? Humans will always be tied down the legalities of a situation and forget look at the big picture because of sin.

This sin condemn us. It reminds us of how we just cannot make the cut. But the cross changed that. God took an instrument of torture and death to show us that love can exist anywhere-That God can even love us broken and sinful. That is what the cross shows us and the same message is being said in our gospel text today. Yes, God does care about laws but God cares more about us and that is made visible in the cross.

The welfare of God’s creation always come first. It is foolish to think that this woman who had been bent over 18 years, crippled and a social outcast for 18 years, could not receive healing by Jesus on the Sabbath. Even a donkey is given water by his master. It makes no sense that a poor, crippled woman is not able to receive nourishment far beyond what simple water could ever do for her but an animal is. This was not just a healing of her aliment but also a restoration of her status--and status meant everything to the people in this day. Robert Capon writes, “if Jesus had waited until sundown, his wonderful miracle would have supported the people's expectations of a victorious and immortal messiah -- one ‘who is coming to punch the enemies of the Lord in the nose.’” Jesus was not an immortal messiah who came in with guns blazing. Jesus came and taught that we need to start caring more about people and less about tradition or laws.

We all have some kind of aliment that cripples us. We all have something that has kept us bent over, unable to stand up straight. We are not perfect and we are not immune from being an outcast. Simply by confessing our Christian Faith we create ourselves as an outcast because we believe there is something more to this world than status and wealth. What the world tells us is of great wealth we respond with the cross--a symbol of shame, death, pain, torture. The cross represents everything the world tells us to avoid but we, as Christians, cling to it. The cross is where we find salvation and love. The cross is where we find the true wealth of the world. The cross is where we see a man--who told us to love one another, who told us to think differently about who God is, who stood up to leaders that denied the poor life, who stood up for a woman bent over for 18 years and released her from her bondage, who broke the law to save the lives over—-the cross is where we saw a good man crucified. The cross is where we see the innocent killed but brought back to us on the third day. Jesus stood up for those who could not stand up for themselves. We all have an aliment and maybe, just maybe, we should take Jesus’ advice and begin to care for each other--ignore what the world tells us to do and just care for each other just as Jesus cared for this woman.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon from Proper 14

2010-08-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

It is not uncommon for many urbanites to feel a sense of fear every night before they fall sleep. “What if my house is broken into?” I still have that fear living here in Rural Retreat, VA. This fear for many urbanites, like myself, is all too real: My family’s house was broken into a couple of time, my bike was stolen off the front porch, and to top it all off the church was even broken into a number of times. Thieves--a thief in the night--is a never a metaphor I want to use to describe Jesus. But Luke does.

So the question is why a thief and what is this treasure Jesus is talking about? First let’s talk about the metaphor thief. What Godly qualities do thieves have? What good are they to the world or to God for that matter? But then it hit me. Thieves teach us. Whenever we were robbed we changed something. We bought new locks, installed an alarm system, and learned something. Every attack, every robbery, taught us something about ourselves and made us change our ways. In a way, our fears brought us safety because we knew how to prepare ourselves for the next thief.

So how do we prepare for our “Godly thief” named Jesus? It is hard to know how to prepare for Jesus when Luke changes the meaning of metaphors constantly in his Gospel account. Luke loves to bounce back and forth on metaphors such as knocking on the door or a thief. For example, In Luke 11, we are the ones knocking on the door but in this story Jesus is knocking on our doors. I think I am beginning to see why the disciples never had a clue what was going on. “Did Jesus just say WE are the ones knocking on the door? I thought he said were the ones who were supposed to knock.”

This is why we always need to look at the big picture that Luke is working with. We can’t get bogged down with the details and intricacies of the text. Preparing for a Godly Thief is not as important as knowing what this text, this story, this Gospel say about the Kingdom of God. You see, parables are not simply little metaphors or allegories where we are to put Jesus or ourselves into the characters of the parables. Parables are so much deeper than that. I mean, they did come from Jesus. So how is this parable showing us the Kingdom of God? Is the Kingdom of God like a thief or the Kingdom of God like something we could never imagine?

I was recently reading a synopsis on an old classic--Count of Monte Cristo. The author of the synopsis writes:
“Over a century ago, Alexander Dumas created one of the really fascinating characters in literature the count of Monte Cristo. Dumas introduces Edmond Dantes, a young sailor who is about to become captain of his own ship and marry the girl of his dreams. Then he unfolds the story of a double-cross, a false accusation and 14 years in the dungeon of the Chateau D'If. After licing in fourteen years of darkness, Dantes’ brightest hope was the old priest, Abee Faria, who told him of a great treasure buried on the Isle of Monte Cristo. Escaping through the sea, Dantes travels with smugglers on the Mediterranean Coast until finally he is alone at the mouth of the treasure cave. The closer Dantes came to that treasure the more terrified he felt. His terror was not that the treasure was a fiction, but that it really was there. Dumas observes that it is one of the strange phenomena of human nature that we feel. We dread of the daylight more than the darkness. Why? In the light we can be seen, watched, observed.”
In the light, we see what we truly are—we see our sin and this sin is terrifying because it creates fear; What if my sin is too great for even Christ to love me.

It is this kind of fear that Jesus has in mind in today's gospel when he tells his disciples, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Fear not. Fear is what holds us back. We have all been freed from sin by Jesus but it is our fear of the future that paralyzes us. Do not be afraid. We fear what we do not know. We fear what we cannot see. We worry about tomorrow and if we will have enough money, enough clothes, enough of ourselves because we cannot see what the future holds. That is our greatest fear--the fear of the unknown and the loss of control because in the end we need to trust in God and not ourselves.

Imagine doing what Jesus tells us to do. Sell everything we own, what the world considers treasures, and give it away. Imagine the fear we would have of not knowing where our next meal would come from or where we would lay down our heads. We like to be in control. We like being in a routine but God has no routine. God simply loves us. In a way, that is God’s routine--God constantly showing us God’s love. God’s love encompasses everyone and God always has the welfare of God’s creation in mind. There is never anyone left behind.

Now we know we are never going to be forgotten by God but we are still left wondering how we are to live in a world where we are constantly afraid of the unknown? Jesus does not offer a simple answer of how to overcome this fear but simply offers us a lifestyle. We are left with a practice of daily stewardship where we put first the things that matter most to us--what the real treasure of the world is:
-God
-The Church
-Our Spouse
-Our Children
-Our Grand Children
-Our Great-Grand-Children
-Those things we would run into a burning house for.

It is because of verse 34 (For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also) that we need to begin to consider what is important to us and not what the world tells us is important to us. We need to covenant the real treasures of our world—God’s treasures.

Personal valuables and material goods do not have any significance or relevance because in the end, a thief could come and take them away. Jesus, the people hearing this parable, and we the readers all know how fragile life is. Jesus is reminding us of this well-known fact. This fact, unfortunately, stands the test of time. Instantly, lives can be changed and Nobody is immune from tragedies but we all can place the real treasures of our lives first. This is what Jesus is calling us to do. Our gospel text this day is calling us all to forget about the material goods and place the real treasure of our world first--God’s children. That is what the real treasure of God is—it is the people of God. It does not lie somewhere in a bank or in a far away land. God’s treasure is every one of us sitting in this room, in Rural Retreat, in Virginia, in the ELCA, in USA, in Christendom, in the world. Now while we all may look different, we must always remember that have been created in God’s image. That is the great gift of God’s treasure. Though we may be different, we are all valuable to God. May God give us the strength to see the real treasure of the world does not lie with money, fame, or fortune but is the welfare of all God’s children.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2010-08-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

NBC, for a number of years now, has been running a program called “the Apprentice.” It’s theme song title is “Money, money, money, money.” Donald Trump is the host and the prize is a job in his company. Teammates live in the lap of luxury till they are voted off, FIRED, by the Trump himself.

Computer programmers turned billionaires like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have turned a simple “toy” into a powerful machine. Computers have transformed industries from health care to higher education. And the driving force behind all these ventures is money.

Money. It rules our lives, our nations, our world, and even the church. Without it, we could not function (or so we think anyway). It has invaded our lives and causes us only to desire more of it. It is an addiction. If you don’t believe me, take a trip out to Las Vegas or Atlantic City and watch how every individual’s eyes light up when they see a slot machine or a sign that says, “WIN A MILLION DOLLARS!!!!” Money is all we ever think about but yet it is such a taboo subject in the church. I cannot think of a single pastor, other than maybe a bishop or supply preacher, who says, “SURE, I WOULD LOVE TO PREACH A SERMON ON MONEY. THEY ARE MY FAVORITE!” It is not an enjoyable topic but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Lutherans love to talk about Justification by Faith, Love, God’s grace. We even enjoy talking about things not found in the bible like Martin Luther. How quickly we move towards theological ideas like these that may only appear in scriptures 10 or 15 times (some not at all) but yet avoid preaching and teaching about one of the most talked about subject in the entire bible--MONEY and ECONOMICS!

It is for good reason that money and economics talked is mentioned a lot in the bible. We all have this notion that Hebraic Law is very complicated (frankly, any law system is complicated though) but there is one main theme throughout Hebraic Law--TAKE CARE OF THE POOR. Every law could be ignored as long as the poor were taken care of. God does not practice survival of the fittest. It is never okay to leave someone behind because they are too weak, too poor, too much like an outcast. The decision to leave someone behind, an act still forbidden by God, should never be determined by any kind of human classification but especially because of an individual’s economic status.

Money and economics has always been a main topic of scripture but our way of thinking about economics is slightly different from biblical economics. We think more globally but the early prophets and writers did not have such a global mindset. The world was a much smaller place 2000-3000 years ago in their understanding. But there are still similarities between the ancient civilizations and us today. Mainly, humanity has always been concerned with the short term. This short term focus is what biblical scholars call Human economics. In human economics, we ask, “How do I make the most money the fastest? It is all me, me, me. We are never thinking about the long term--not just 15-20 years long term but rather generations down the road. That is the divine economy. God’s economy looks at the whole picture. We look through a telescope but God looks at the entire sphere--God looks at the past, present and future--to create a plan. We want instant gratification but God wants sustainable gratification.

Well okay preacher, sustainable gratification. I can deal with that. So preacher, tell me, how is storing up grain in a barn or storing up money in a bank account not sustainable gratification? To answer that question, I need to tell a story my father told me once.

There was a man who was dying. The night before he died he summoned his wife. He told his wife to put everything he had in a box, all his money and gold, and place it in the window upstairs. Once he died, he would take the chest up to heaven with him. His wife did as he asked and later that evening, the man died. The next morning, his wife went upstairs, found the chest in the same spot she left it and still full of all the man’s riches. The wife said, “Shucks, I knew I should have put this chest in the basement.

The moral of both the biblical parable and this parable is that it doesn’t matter how much you have on earth. Once you die, it means absolutely nothing to you or God. The men in both of these parables, the one Jesus told and the one my father told, were both fools. Joel B. Green, NT scholar defines a fool, in biblical terms, as someone who denies God through their actions. Storing up an abundance rather than trusting in God’s promised of sustainable gratification--sustainable abundance--is foolish. Now this word abundance needs to be defined more clearly. If you look at the text very closely, it says he filled up his first barn. I believe, this text is saying he has enough to make it through winter. He is able to get through till the next harvest. Once his barn is full, he is left with an over abundance of crops. Instead of using the abundance to help those who do not have an abundance, he hoards it for himself. The poor are not able to reap the bounty, the hungry go away empty, but the rich fool sits on top of his “extra-large barn” and says, “relax, eat, drink, be merry.” The text never says it is bad to save what is needed to live rather it is bad to hoard what is not needed.

In Jesus’ day, one did not get wealthy by simply working harder. One got wealthy by hurting, trampling, and stealing from the their family, friends, and community. What is even more startling is the people Jesus is speaking to know this all too well. One commentary writes:
“Greed was widely regarded as a form of depravity, both in Jewish literature and in the larger Greco-Roman world.”
Greed was essentially seen as stealing--taking candy from a baby. This man was wealthy because he withheld God’s abundance from the community. He is wealthy because he saw his abundance as his own and not God’s own abundance. Think about what is going on here economically. By holding back his abundance, he is able to increase the market price of his goods and sell them at a high cost. Supply and demand. Low supply means high demand. High demand means high prices. Higher prices means a larger profit. Instead of helping his community, he only cripples them even more. He secures his economic status by being the “big dog on campus.” He doesn’t trust in God to secure his future but tries to do it himself. If recent news has shown us anything, the only one worth trusting in anymore is God. Banks can fail, governments can fail, and computers can fail (unless you buy a Mac but they can even fail).

My friends, this text is not all about money. This text is about faith. That is what Stewardship is about. It is about our faith in GOD providing for us. How do we trust in God? Do we do it by hoarding or do we share it confident God will provide for us in the future just as God has provided for us in the past? We commit our abundance, rather God’s abundance, to the community and ensure a better community for everyone. It does not mean depriving ourselves our own basic needs but sharing what we do not need. We do this by spreading the gospel, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the widows and orphans, the abused, the neglected. This is God’s divine economy. We need to think long-term and not short term. Yes, there is God’s grace if we mess up and yes, maybe God’s divine economy is just a utopia and unattainable but that doesn’t mean we abuse God’s grace and abundance by hoarding it all for ourselves. It doesn’t mean we do not try. We have been graced with abundance and we trust that God will continue to bless us with the same abundance in the future--we are not to be or act like a fool. If you forget everything I have said today, remember this; God was not cheap with us--God sacrificed God’s Son so that we might see the revelation of God’s love. God was not cheap with us, why then should we be cheap with God’s grace and abundance? Amen.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My First Sermon at Rural Retreat Parish

2010-07-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

This was recorded at Grace Lutheran. Enjoy.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14

The parables of Jesus have been long debated stories. Their meaning has remained somewhat hidden over the 2000 years. Some, if not all, are difficult to understand. But at the same time, Parables give us a glimpse into the coming dominion of God. Complicated vs. Simple. Whoever said God was simple?

For myself, I struggled over the interpretation and understanding of this parable. At first, I thought the parable was about prayer and how God will give us everything but then I start thinking. I know “Danger Will Robinson.” I wondered about what happens when we do not receive what we were expecting? What does it mean when we pray but only feel forgotten by God? Was I not persistent enough? Do we need to work harder? These questions are what anger me about some of the theology being promoted today by tele-evanglists and the religious right wing because everything is put on our shoulders and we forget that there is still evil left in the world. Where is the grace? We forget the life and death Jesus lived and we put the sole responsibility of our situation on ourselves--Not onto the life, death, and teachings of Jesus Christ.

But why do we need prayer? I just said our actions and deeds do not control the will of God. Why, then should we pray? Brian Stoffregen, a Lutheran Pastor in Yuma, Arizona writes:
“First of all, we need to admit that prayer is not "putting coins in a vending machine." It is not putting our prayer in the right slot, pushing the right button, and waiting for the vending machine God to spit out exactly what we want. God is not a vending machine."
God is so much more than just someone who sits on a throne and answers yes and no to our requests. That word “Father” (πάτερ--pater) in the Lord’s Prayer shows an intimate relationship—literally means daddy in the Greek. Luke is trying to show kind of relationship we all have or, in some cases, desire to have with our parents. (πάτερ--pater) identifies what we are to God. We know we belong to God because of our baptism and this Lord’s prayer reminds us of the community we have been baptized into--We are one of God’s Children. Since God is our Parent, our (πάτερ--pater), we now have establish what God means and does for us. We can look at our relationship with some of our parents and see the relationship I am talking about. I do not know about anyone else is parents but my parents were not a vending machine. They would not sit in their lazy boy reclining chair and say yes and no to my brother or me. They would play with me. They would teach me. They would be with me. That is our God. Our God is our (πάτερ--pater)—our daddy. We do not have a God distant from us, rather, we have an intimate relationship with God.

It is this relationship that we all share with God and that creates our community--God is our “Father” (πάτερ--pater) and we are God’s children. This prayer--this Lord’s prayer--is meant to be prayed as a community and to gather us as a community. “Lord, teach us to pray...” and “When y’all pray” (literally that is what the Greek says). This prayer creates a community for us. It binds us together because of the relationship we all share with our (πάτερ--pater) so that when one cannot pray this prayer there are 20 or 30 others (sometimes maybe just one other person) there to pray for that one individual and lift them up.

It is with this perspective of community, communal prayer and worship, that we read this parable. We should no longer view this parable as persistence with prayer or God being a vending machine but view it as a parable that shows the Dominion/Kingdom of God is going to be a community: where there will be ample bread, where the needs of guests and outsiders are taken care of, where our neighbors will not stay in their beds but will rise up and help those in need.

Martin Luther writes in his explanation of the first four petitions of the Lord ’s Prayer (particularly the 3rd petition) that “In fact, God’s good and gracious will comes without our prayer but we ask in this prayer that it may also come about in and among.” We pray because we know that when we knock that door will opened for us. We pray because we know that Jesus will always be with the last, lost, least, little, lifeless--the outcasts of our world. We pray because something better will happen. And this is all made possible because of the gift Jesus gave to us on the cross. This parable may sound complicated but there a great message throughout this entire section of Luke--God Calls us to be in communion--live in community with one another:
--To pray and worship together.
--To care for the strangers that arrive at midnight.
--To wake up and help a neighbor.
--We do all of this because the dominion/kingdom of God going to be so much better than this.

This past week in VBS, we all lived in community with one another. We all gathered as one and ate supper. We all worshiped as one. We all learned the same stories of our faith as one. We worked together to raise money for mosquito nets so that people in developing countries would have protection from mosquitoes who carrying deadly diseases. In turn, we also raised awareness in our community about the struggle many people around the world face every day. And most importantly, we all prayed together. VBS showed our kids and our leaders a foretaste of the community God has in store for us.

We must always remember that this community (Grace Lutheran, Saint Paul Lutheran, Rural Retreat Lutheran Parish, Virginia Synod, the ELCA, GOD’S CHILDREN) is a great gift from God. What we have here is a blessing. We have a God who always opens the door when knock. We have a God who has ample bread and gives us what we need and not always what we want. We know that Christ will come again and that everything is in God’s hands. The evils of this world—whatever they may be for you--will not win because Christ has and will continue to deliver us from them. These evils might at times cause us great despair now but GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE US but will lead us to a hope we cannot even imagine. That is our Gospel message. Let us live it as one people by God’s grace and not by works in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Ecology and the Theology of the Cross: A continuation of a study on the Theology of the Cross

2010-04-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jürgen Moltmann, author of the book “The Crucified God,” begins his book by explaining “the cross is not and cannot be love.” Moreover, he further notes that “only the crucified Christ can bring the freedom which changes the world because it no longer afraid of death.”1 The cross was a method of torture, humiliation, and murder and it is here that Jesus’ revealed his glory to the world. In the first paper, a summary was given about the two theologies by mainly focusing on the work of Gerhard Forde. The relevancy of a theology of the cross can still be debated. We live in a post modern-world where scientific fact is valued more than religion or philosophy. It is for this reason that a more in depth comparison study is needed between contemporary theologies and a theology of the cross. The Theology of the Cross is still relevant in the church today especially when view through Ecological theology.

First we must begin by looking at the historical context of Eco-theology. The cross is at the center of any credible Christian Theology. It has come to define the faith of Christians, but not always in the same way. For any theologian, whether they be an Ecologist or a Liberationist theologian, “the cross either offends rationality or becomes a tool to perpetuate an anemic will and a slave-like disposition.”2 The interpretation of the cross is a complicated debate in the church today. Each group holds a different interpretation of the cross and the crucifixion. For some, the cross is a gruesome sign of torture and is avoided at all cost, while others see the boldness “of a god that dies the death of a condemned criminal” as something to be desired.3 Living 2000 years post the cross event, it is difficult to determine what the intended meaning of the cross was for Christianity. The church is still left with questions as to why Jesus had to suffer and because of these questions, multiple interpretations of cross abound rather than unity surround the Cross event.

The study of ecology first began in the 1950s, and was intended to explore what humanity’s affect has been on the environment.4 In recent years, Ecology has become an important issue in the church once again. Kwok Pui-lan, author of the article “Ecology and Christology,” expands on ecology as not only encompassing “nature (natural ecology) but culture and society (human ecology, social ecology, and so on).”5 According to Victor Westhelle, author of the book “The Scandalous God, the early church viewed ecology and creation as something to be cherished, not to be exploited and abused as it is today.

Ecology, when viewed through a theological lens, finds its origins in the Doctrine of Incarnation. According to Westhelle, this doctrine and the ideas found within are uniquely a Christian construct. It is here that God’s embodiment “is not a lofty display of God’s majesty, but a descent into the most deprive level of the human condition, down to the abject death itself.”6 God did not separate God’s self from creation but became a part of creation. Martha Kirkpatrick, author of the article “For God so loved the world: an incarnational ecology,” argues that the covenant made with Noah was not just to humanity, but was made with all of creation. It was this covenant that express “the constancy of God’s love for all life, human and non-human alike.”7 God is constantly recreating the world “by deconstructing it until nothing remains but a stump, so that it may be redeemed.”8 Simply put, God went to the bottom of creation, into humanity, so that all of creation might be encompassed.

God has included all of creation into the covenant but how does that covenant translate into life at the end of time? Is the world condemned or will the world be resurrected just as we will be resurrected? There are scripture references, however, that could be interpreted where creation is condemned. In Luke 23:42, Jesus tells the condemned convict hanging on the cross next to him that he will join Christ in paradise. Westhelle argues that this promise essentially condemns the world. Reformation theology tries to combat the notion that all creation is condemned. Martin Luther’s supposed claim that he would plant an apple tree even if he knew the world would end tomorrow shows the idea that creation will not stop when the world stops but will continue.9 There is a Latin dictum that says, “Justice be done even if the world is doomed” but does that mean creation will be resurrected just as we are resurrected?10

The importance of creation can be seen throughout Luther’s sermons, commentaries, letters, and lectures. Luther taught “the view we have of nature is the blindness we have to creation” and “only faith can see creation.11 But to acknowledge creation as good also means acknowledging that parts of creation has evil interlaced in it. To deny this claim would mean denying the cross.

Suffering and evil are a result of the human condition and are therefore a part of creation. Westhelle uses the metaphor of a neatly wrapped present to explain this. While the wrapping is beautiful, the true gift is not the paper, but rather what is inside that holds the promise. We have to trust and hope that the gifts given are good but sometimes the gifts we receive are not what we were expecting. Evil can exist even in the best wrapped gifts but we still need to open the box and explore so that we can show the respect the gift rightfully deserves. Creation is the same way. To limit God to just the beauty of the wrapping paper would limit the power of God and the ability to have God revealed on the cross. God is not just hidden in the beauty and goodness of nature but also in the ugliness and evil of nature as well.12

Now that we have a basic understanding of an eco-theology, we now can begin to investigate how this contemporary theology fits into a theology of the cross. Both a theologian of the cross and an ecologist will argue that God is even present in the evil and ugliness of creation. It is because of this understanding of God in this way that our entire view of God has to change. This is where a distinction of a theology of the cross and a theology of glory can be made. A theologian of glory would call all of creation good because it is created by God and ignore the evil and ugliness left in creation. A theologian of the cross calls a thing what it is--evil and ugly. Westhelle makes the point that “God should not be praised for the greatness of creation in spite of evil; God should be praised in the midst of evil where God’s continuing creation works out the annihilation force of evil.”13 When God created (and still creates) God’s creation, God created “out of nothing, out of sin and evil, the terrifying abyss of utter emptiness (creatio ex nihio).”14 To deny that God cannot take something as evil and turn it into something astonishing is to deny the cross event. It is here that God took the cross, a representation of evil and ugliness in the world, and revealed what the coming Kingdom of God would envision.

For both a theologian of the cross and an ecologist, evil is a part of the world because of the human condition of sin. All of creation suffers because of humanity’s sin. Westhelle argues that we cannot “ignore the visible or to flee from it in search of the pure Word.” To do this would “take the cross out of this world.”15 To deny evil and suffering as a result to the human condition denies the cross.

Westhelle argues that ecologists believes all of humanity shares in the responsibility of the world’s problems. It is here that our failures and faults come to the surface and our suffering “makes the visible transparent when the suffering seen is proclaimed by the Word to be the suffering for which humans share responsibility, either by action that perpetrates it or by omission in failing to respond to it.”16 Ecologists argue that we all share in this common responsibility to care for the creation that suffers because of our own sin. Jesus never tells us that we can simply sit on the side lines but that we all need to invest ourselves into the community and world around us. The cross gave us the revelation of God’s kingdom, but it also showed us that Jesus was crucified because he taught us to care for one’s neighbor and community. It is through the cross that we are given the ability to strive for more and to care for what God has deemed good. We are no longer limited but liberated by the cross and are therefore freed to do what Jesus taught us to do.

Puilan offers three ways to show God is with all of creation: “In acts of compassion and solidarity, in movements of people who are bearers of hope, and in rituals that celebrate life and evoke the power of the divine.”17 First, we must remember that Jesus’ life was spent among the poor, the needy, and the oppressed. Jesus went against the status quo and proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was for all. For many Christians today, humanity is at the top and the rest of creation is below humanity. In both of these theologies, however, humanity is at the bottom and by Christ going to the bottom, all of creation benefits from the cross. Second, Jesus disclosed himself as a renewer of society and was therefore condemned to death for it. The authorities condemned and tried to destroy everything Jesus stood for. But by the cross, all that Jesus taught and did was brought to the surface. If it was not for the cross, Jesus would have been in vain. Finally, it is in the rituals that we not only remember but we see the incarnation of Jesus. Christians have been doing rituals for centuries. They remind us of not only who we are, but also shows us a glimpse of God’s love. In communion and baptism, our earthly elements are taken and made holy. God takes the ugliness of our earthly elements: societal outcasts, the cross, and our rituals and creates something beautiful. Our rituals may define us but it is the cross that gives meaning to the rituals.18

It is through a “theology of the cross [that] the suffering in and of the world is recognized as the locus of God’s creative work.”19 In Jesus’ death, we see who God is meant to be, how God takes evil and ugliness and turns it into something good and beautiful, and it is in creation that we see God’s imagination continue.

A theologian of the cross and an ecologist view the cross very similarly. The church has always been for creation and it is only recent years that this mindset has been lost. Ecology’s first goal was to study how humanity has affect creation and the cross reminds us that we all have a responsibility in creation. The cause of evil is our human condition. God will continue to create good out of evil, but we are left with the responsibility to care for it. God is in creation, both good and evil, just as the cross is found in both joy and suffering.

------------------------------

1 Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), I.
2 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006), 2.
3 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 2.
4 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 27.
5 Pui-lan, Kwok. "Ecology and Christology." Feminist Theology: The Journal of the Britain & Ireland School of Feminist Theology no. 15 (May 1997): 113.
6 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 27.
7 Kirkpatrick, Martha, "For God so loved the world": an incarnational ecology." Anglican Theological Review 91, no. 2 (March 1, 2009): 199.
8 Kirkpatrick, Martha, "For God so loved the world": an incarnational ecology," 200.
9 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 94.
10 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 94.
11 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 97.
12 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 101.
13 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 101.
14 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 101.
15 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 103.
16 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 103.
17 Pui-lan, Kwok, "Ecology and Christology," 124.
18 Pui-lan, Kwok, "Ecology and Christology," 123-124.
19 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 103.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

2010-04-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

This was a sermon I preached in class. Enjoy

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

As we complete our Easter and Pentecost season, we enter into a point of the church year where we grow as a community. Easter was a time when we heard the stories that make us who we are (creation, Noah and the Ark, the great Exodus to just name a few) and now we will hear stories that define our Christian faith. We grow as a community not only in numbers but in faith as we learn the life that God wants us to live. Today, we begin this cycle with the raising of a widow’s son.

And I know what some of you may be thinking. How does this story of the raising of a widow’s son help us grow as a community? Well you will just have to listen for a bit. First, we need to look at the Old Testament for some background information. This particular story in Luke parallels two other stories found in 1st and 2nd Kings. They involve the prophets Elijah and Elisha. In the first story, Elijah is summoned to a widow’s house because her son has died. She is bitter at God and Elijah at the death of her son. Elijah cries out to the Lord, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?"
Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again" (1Ki 17:20-21 NRS). Notice who does the actions. We will come back to that in a bit.

The second raising was done by the prophet Elisha. If you remember your biblical history, Elisha was the “apprentice” to the prophet Elijah. Elisha met a Shunammite woman back in 1st Kings. She showed hospitality to the prophet. However, her son falls ills and eventually succumbs to his illness. I can only imagine the pain Elisha felt at the loss of the young child. He enters the house and prays over the body to the Lord. The child received life back into his body and Elisha called for his mother said, “Take your son.”

Flash forward some 800 years. Jesus is traveling from village to village proclaiming that Kingdom of God is near. He comes upon the tiny, little village of Nain. I am talking small and insignificant. It is in the area that hold no real religious significance to people. Who would have ever thought something significant would happen in this place? In this village, he is met face to face with a grieving widow who just lost her only son. The crowd following Jesus meets the crowd following the widow. Jesus looks at the boy’s mother and says, “Do not weep.” Now let’s talk about this for a minute. “Do not weep.” The woman just lost her only son, her husband is dead, and now she has nobody to support her. And Jesus says, “Do not weep.” It would be cynical for any of us say “do not weep.” You have lost your son, your sole source of income, your social status is now gone and now this stranger walks in says, “Do not weep.” Ah but there is more to these three simple words. Luke does something here and I am sure everyone read over it without even thinking about it. Luke calls Jesus, “Lord.” Not only that, this is the first time Jesus is call Lord in the Gospel. Now for us, Lord means so many things. Lord could be a dignitary’s term and also used to identify someone who owns land. But it is so much deeper than that. κύριος, Lord, is how God is referred to in the Old Testament. In both of the stories in 1st and 2nd Kings, Elijah and Elisha pray to κύριος. Now Jesus is κύριος.

Jesus touches the structure carrying the body and says, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" "Young man, I say to you, rise!" Notice, Jesus does not pray to the κύριος but rather commands the man to sit up, to rise up, to get up, to live.The dead man sits up and fear seizes the crowd for they saw the glory of God that day. They saw the κύριος, Jesus, raise a man from the dead by his own power.

Imagine the look in everyone’s eyes. Imagine the awe, shock, and amazement they all felt. Imagine the feeling the mother felt when Jesus handed back her son from the grave. The young man is not the only one healed in this story but the widow has also been healed. In fact, I would even make the argument that she is the central character in the story and not her son. Woh Woh Woh preacher. What are you talking about? Jesus raised her son from the grave not her. Right but she also received a death sentence once her son died. She was poor, an outcast, uncleaned and Jesus restores her righteousness. Literally, Luke points the entire story to the widow. As one commentary shows, “the dead man (remember males were dominate) was his mother’s only son.” That statement shows ownership of the man by a woman. Woman were not allow to own anything. Further, “the focus of attention is on her: she was a widow, the crowd was with HER, Jesus saw HER, had compassion on her HER, spoke to HER, and finally, gave the dead man brought back to life to HER. She who is husbandless and sonless and in mourning, she who epitomizes the “poor” to whom Jesus has come to bring good news, is the real recipient of Jesus’s compassionate ministry.”

So now 2000 years later, we are left with this story in a time when we, as a community, is supposed to be strengthen physically, mentally, and spiritually. We are left to continue preaching this story of resurrection to a world where these stories seem strange and, at times, even outdated. But there is so much more we can learn from this story. It was here, through this healing, that Luke now begins to refer to Jesus as κύριος. It is through the raising of the young man (the widow’s son), in a village known to very few people, Jesus restores the boy’s life, his mother’s life and even the town. More importantly, Jesus always goes to the last, lost, least, outcast, and weeping and restores them--restores the weeping mother. A man, of great knowledge and importance, who attracts crowds through his words and his miracles, stoops down to the last, lost, least, outcast, and weeping. That is the mission Jesus is calling us to follow. That is at the center of Jesus ministry. Jesus does not start at the top but works his way through the bottom of society, through people who never expected the power of God (the kingdom of God) to come upon them, to come upon people like you and me. That is who Jesus wants us to minister too. That is mission we are all called to be in. Jesus went to the bottom and so shall we. It is here, at the bottom, that Jesus finds us. It is here that God will bless the works of our hands because we are following the example of the κύριος, of our Lord and savior, Jesus the Christ who now lives and reigns with the Father and Holy Spirit amidst the weeping widows of our world. Amen.

Second Sunday after Easter

2010-04-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

I preached this sermon at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in WV. I tried to combat Decision Theology. I welcome your comments.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia.

That does not get old. Christ has certainly risen and we continue to proclaim that message--My Lord and my God has risen. And today we continue in this Easter season with the very famous story of a man named Thomas whose awe-inspiring faith inspires us each and every day.

Now I love the look on some of your faces. “I thought this was called Doubting Thomas.” Thomas’s faith is awe-inspiring? Actually his concept of faith is at the heart and center of our Lutheran Confessions:
“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with the Spirit’s gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as the Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith...”

A number of years ago, I was working as a Patient Transporter at St Joe’s right outside Baltimore. One day, I was taking a patient and her family down to have a heart cauterization. This particular patient was in her mid-forties and had a number of different family members there with her. One of them was a nurse and asked if she could walk with the patient down operating room. I didn’t see a problem with that so I dropped the family off at the waiting room and we keep walking down the hallway to the operating room. Now I am the first to admit that the walk to the lab is a very interesting walk. Patients usually would make a confession to me or ask me to say a prayer. This particular patient was very different. As we are walking, the patient’s friend says, “No matter the outcome, Jannie is not afraid because she is saved. Have you found Jesus? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” The conversation stopped as I wheeled the patient into the operating room and I do not remember how I answered. I was more dumbfounded that both the patient and her friend tried to convert me while being wheeled in to an operating room for a heart operation.

But those two questions have remained with me for several months (years even). Some days I could say yes but other days I could not. I mean, I really try hard to believe, to do everything that a Christian is “suppose” to do. But I fail and when people ask me that question I feel ashamed answering Yes.

It is amazing that this very simple, closed-ended question, who intent is to strengthen an individual’s faith, can ruin the faith of so many. This has become a issue in the Christian church and we need break down these two question for a minute and compare them the text so that we all have a better idea of what the true Christian message is here.

“Have you found Jesus?” Last week, my GPS broke on my way to preach in DC. It was not the best place to break and for a time, I was a bit lost trying to find the nursing home. And I happened to giggle a little when I thought about Jesus getting lost. Have you found Jesus? OMG he is missing?!?! Alert the hounds. The King of the Universe, the Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords is MISSING! No that is not the case. In fact, our Gospel text disproves this idea that we need to find Jesus:
-When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus CAME and STOOD among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
-A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus CAME and STOOD among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus entered into the house. Jesus entered into the locked house. Jesus entered into their locked and fearing hearts and said, “Peace be with you.” The disciples were the one who were lost. They saw Jesus crucified, tortured, laid in the tomb and now the women of their group come running back saying, “They have seen the Lord.” Jesus found Mary in the garden, Jesus called her name and she recognized them. Jesus entered into the Lock room and found his chosen followers--his friend.

“Personal savior.” Now that is an interesting idea. Jesus is my personal Savior. I feel kind of privileged now. “Just keep on bullying me, I am going to sick my friend Jesus on you and he is going to mess you up. He is going take his sword and his shield and just go ballistic on you.” But is that case? Is that the Christian message? Jesus used violence to beat down Satan and death? How quickly some forget the scripture, “At noon, they Crucified Jesus with one criminal on his left and one on his right.” Talk about going ballistic. Jesus won the battle by becoming a victim, by dying on the cross. We are not privileged but rather we are promised that Jesus has conquered death and the grave.

Jesus’ death was not a private act but very public. Jesus ministry was not just for the individuals he touched or the individuals he taught but rather for the entire community, for the entire church both the past, present, and future. Yes, Jesus speaks to us but we are still a part of the church, we are still a part of the community. Notice, it was a week later that Jesus appeared to Thomas. Jesus didn’t find Thomas in a market the next day but he waited till the group was all together. If Jesus was just his personal Savior, why didn’t Jesus just find Thomas alone at night? That is why there isn’t just a personal savior because Jesus never just appeared to one individual but to the entire community just as he appears to us today. There is no personal savior but a Crucified Savior for all--There is a God who so loved the world (THE ENTIRE WORLD).

John Hoffymer wrote an amazing article about the theology of the cross. In this article, he shows Jesus as not just Crucified but a victim of torture and it is through this torture that we Jesus revealed. He writes:
Jesus is raised from the dead with the marks of his torture very much present. When the resurrected Jesus appears to the gathered disciples for the first time in John, he shows them his wounded hands and side. In seeing Jesus with his wounds, the disciples are able to rejoice in “seeing the Lord” (Jn 20:20).
Those marks on his hands, those visible signs of torture and pain--of the Cross--reveal Jesus to us. It is in those signs of torture and victimization that Jesus’ power and grace is revealed. It was here, when Jesus came into the midst of the community, Thomas sees the wounds (not even need to touch them) and proclaims, MY LORD AND MY GOD! Thomas is the first to proclaim Jesus as θεος. The first to proclaim Jesus as God because of the wounds bore on the cross.

So when someone asks you “Have you found Jesus?” I want you to boldly proclaim, “No I have not but he has found me.” When someone asks, “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?” I want you to say, “No but he has accepted me as broken and sinful--not deserving his love but receiving it all the more.” When someone asks if you have ever seen Jesus I want you to boldly and triumphantly say, “YES, by the wounds on his hands and in side, in the pain and suffering of the world, in the joy and amazement of a young child--There is Jesus. Jesus is always in our midst.” Amen.

Easter Day Sermon

2010-04-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

I preached at the National Lutheran Home on Easter. Below is my sermon. I will tell you that I did add to my sermon as I was preaching. You just had to be there.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia.

A Sunday School teacher asked her class on the Sunday before Easter if they knew what happened on Easter and why it was so important. One little girl spoke up saying: "Easter is when the whole family gets together, and you eat turkey and sing about the pilgrims and all that." "No, that's not it," said the teacher.

"I know what Easter is," a second student responded. "Easter is when you get a tree and decorate it and give gifts to everybody and sing lots of songs." "Nope, that's not it either," replied the teacher.

Finally a third student spoke up, "Easter is when Jesus was killed, and put in a tomb and left for three days." "Ah, thank goodness somebody knows" the teacher thought to herself.

But then the student went on: "Then everybody gathers at the tomb and waits to see if Jesus comes out, and if he sees his shadow he has to go back inside and we have six more weeks of winter."

After 46 days of wondering and waiting, we see the culmination of despair disappear by those three simple words disappear: Christ is Risen. Death did not win, Satan lost, and Jesus’ stands as a revelation of God’s coming Kingdom (and that is a crazy revelation) but why did this all have to take place?

I mean, think about it. Why did Jesus have to die? What does it mean that Jesus is the revelation of God’s coming Kingdom? Jesus--crucified, tortured, kill and risen--is the revelation of God’s coming kingdom? Could there have been a better way to do it?

When we think of God, we think of power, prestige, king of all kings, lord of all lords, knower of everything, maker of heaven and earth. But these past few days have not shown our traditional view of God. We have not see Jesus perched high his throne with a spear in one hand, a shield in the next, defeating Pilate and Herod, and becoming the ruler of the whole world. But that is not the case, Jesus was not that glorious hero but rather broken, scorned and killed. Pilate and Herod gained their power by defeating their enemies, Jesus received his power by wearing a crown of thorns and stretching out his arms to die.

But that isn’t the end of the story. Good Friday is good because not only what happened that day but what comes next. The disciples have just spent three long years walking with Jesus and heard Jesus say God’s kingdom is coming. But their kingdom and their king died or so they thought. There is a theme throughout the entire New Testament: God takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. God took a Cross and crown Jesus King on it; God took the grave and burst the bonds of death; God takes you and me and promises not to abandon us to the grave. "If we don't know WHAT is beyond the grave we do know WHO is beyond the grave.”

Today, this day, in the very words of this Holy and Blessed Gospel, we heard Death will never, never win because of this Resurrection. In Jesus’ resurrection, we find life, salvation, and a crucified, tortured, and risen Christ. But yet for so many of us, myself included, we still want to know how it all seemed to happen.

We live in an age when we want to explain everything but this cannot be explain with science but only with our faith. We do not know how or why all of this had to take place but do know that in the end, Christ is not dead in a tomb. Every other prophet lies dead in their graves but Jesus lives and we are all witnesses to this very fact. Jesus was not forsaken, denied, finished but rather is the beginning and risen--here with us.

Lent is time went we wondered and looked for what this all means. We wondered if our love was a hopeless march or if our alleluias were cold and broken. But today, today my brothers and sisters, our songs do not read, “Christ died” but “Christ our Lord is risen today!” We are not in despair, we are not forsaken, we are not abandoned at the foot of the cross but we live because Christ lives in us. We have been clothed in Christ through our baptism and we shall be reunited in a resurrection that we celebrate today. As that beautiful Easter Carol says:
“Christ is risen! Hence forth never death or hell shall us enthrall. We are Christ’s in him forever we have triumphed over all. All the doubting and dejection of our trembling hearts have ceased’ hail the day of resurrection! Let us rise and keep the feast. Christ is risen! Alleluia! Risen our victorious head! Sing his praises! Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead!
That is our victory march--Today, Christ lives. Today Jesus is no longer ordinary but extraordinary. Today, HE LIVES! Amen.

Differences between a Theology of Glory and a Theology of the Cross

2010-03-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Gerhard Forde, author of On Being a Theologian of the Cross, begins his book by saying “the cross is in the first instance God’s attack on human sin.”1 Lutheran piety has always been rooted in the power of the cross. It was this theology that separated Martin Luther from the other reformers and the Roman Catholic Church. For Martin Luther, there were only two ways of view God: either through a theology of the cross or through a theology of glory. It is necessary that the distinctions between these two theologies be studied more deeply so that the differences may be brought out.

Before one can note the differences between the two theologies one must first identify the key factors in each of the theologies beginning with the key distinctions in a theology of glory. In Martin Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation, the document that defined Martin Luther’s theology of the cross, Luther does not make any mention between a theology of the cross and a theology of glory till later on in his disputation. In theses 19-24, particularly in theses 19-21, Luther begins to define the two different theologies and outright names the two theologies in Thesis 21. What is interesting to note is that Luther did not believe a theologian of glory deserved even the title of “theologian.” They miss the mark by only concentrating on a particular part of the story--i.e. solely concentrating on the resurrection. They are driven by earthly ideas of success rather than looking to God for the true answer of success--the way of the cross.

There are four distinguishing characters in a theology of glory. A theology of glory concentrates heavily on the works of human rather than on the works of God. They do not to take into account sin’s existence in the world and that “human beings are intrinsically and radically sinful, incapable of doing good or truly knowing God.”2 They believe that God needs to be sought out in mystical experiences, speculation, or merit. One must encounter God rather than let God encounter us. Moreover, one of the best distinguishing factor that sets a part theologian of glory is described in thesis 21 of Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation: “A theology of glory calls evil good and good evil.” Forde uses the example of suffering to best describe Luther’s point here. In the understanding of this particular theology “suffering is called evil and works good.”3 One should work to avoid suffering because it is seen as a weakness. It is seen as if we have failed and are, therefore, suffering the consequences of our work rather than the notion that bad things can just happen for no particular reason.

The theology of the cross has a completely different idea of God’s work in the world. The theology of the cross begins with the notion that humanity is sinful and is “incapable of doing good or truly knowing God.”4 Frederick Niedner, author of the article Precious, Inevitable Scandal, points out that in every single gospel, all roads lead to the cross: Mark’s gospel begins with the phrase “the beginning of the good news” with Mark describing a “rapid descent into tragedy” leaving readers with an ending that shows the disciples running away in fear rather than spreading the news of Jesus’ resurrection; Matthew’s gospel “finds a way to show how Jesus’ death worked forgiveness;” John’s gospel “from the moment John the Baptist identifies Jesus as ‘the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world...Jesus maintains tight control over everything and everyone involved in his dying;’” In Luke’s gospel “Jesus proceeds very purposefully...refusing to be dissuaded from setting his face toward Jerusalem” and teaches a “‘daily cross-bearing’ to a disciple who walks in his footsteps.”5 A theology of the cross takes into account that even though all of our actions may have good intentions, the resulting consequences of our actions are never positive.

It is through divine action, God’s direct action in humanity, that good does exist in the world and not by any kind of human interaction. The scandal of the cross, though evil in appearance, gives us the ability to know God. God can only been seen and sought through the Cross of Christ. Thesis 20 of the Heidelberg Disputation says that a theologian of the cross “comprehends the visible and manifest things of God through suffering and the cross.”6 The good works that a theology of glory promote are the same works that put Jesus on the cross. Jesus’ death was not because he committed a crime, but because he promoted such ideals such as caring for the poor, economic and social sustainability for all, and the pouring out of one soul so that all might know and experience God in a new way separate from the law.

To interpret Forde here, the ideals and norms that Jesus promoted in his teachings (and through his actions) were made known to us only through his suffering on the cross. Thusly, a theologian of the cross is someone “whose eyes have been turned away from the quest for glory by the cross, who have eyes only for what is visible, what is actually there to be seen of God, the suffering and despised crucified Jesus.”7 Namely, those who seek Christ in the Cross and not solely in his resurrection.

One final distinction here is that a “theology of the cross calls the thing what it actually is.”8 As mentioned above, Forde uses the example of suffering to explain this thesis of Luther. Forde argues that when one views suffering through the lenses of a theology of the cross, suffering is no longer seen as a failing of our work but rather “suffering is from God and it is good.”9 Further, we suffer because we are no longer in control and are “rendered totally passive by the divine operation through the cross and resurrection of Jesus.”10 When suffering is viewed in this matter, one can no longer call it evil but rather divine action. John Hoffmeyer, author of the article Torture and Theology of the Cross, makes the point that unlike the typical human response of desiring revenge “the resurrection of the crucified Jesus is God’s full identification with the victim who says no to continuing the cycle of victimization.”11 Jesus commits no acts of revenge but rather bears the marks of his torture for all to see. It was in bearing these marks and showing his disciples that they, particularly Thomas, are able to proclaim Jesus as Lord and God. Essentially, the act of victimization stops with Jesus because the cross bears the ultimate victim known to us as as the crucified Christ. It does not make sense in our human perspective to think that God is the reason for our suffering, but that is the scandal of the cross. In this scandal and suffering “God made use of our terrible practice of sacrificial victimization ‘so that victims of such acts would never be invisible--they look too much like Jesus.’”12 It is in this suffering that we are able to turn “away from ourselves, forsaking our own good works and spiritual experiences and [cling] to Christ’s blood and righteousness.”13 Suffering is no longer something to avoid, but is crucial for understanding God as not just resurrected, but rather crucified and resurrected.

This idea of understanding God deserves attention here. It is through the theology of the cross that we are able to have a clear sense of understanding God’s role in our world and in our lives. Understanding God through the cross does not simply mean to be plainly inform. Rather, Forde argues that it is more of like God attacking and afflicting us.14 As mentioned above, Forde believes in the divine passive model. We do not obtain knowledge of God but “knowledge of God comes when God happens to us, when God does [God’s self] to us.”15 It is by the cross that God does all these things.

There are notable distinctions that should be made between the two theologies. The first being to works of humanity and the works of God. For a theology of the cross, everything always begins and ends with God and the cross. Therefore, our action have no direct meaning in our existence, but God’s actions do. Secondly, as previously mentioned, Forde argues for a divine passive model where anything good in the world comes from God alone. This leads to the next distinction of sin’s true reality in the world. It is because we are sinful, no good can come from us. Our own works are not needed because God is in control. For example, if the world depended on humanity, Forde would argue, the world would have fallen a part a long time ago. It is because of God working through us, that good can and is obtained. Now how we know what is good comes from the cross and knowledge of God passed down to us by God. Thirdly, keeping the model of a divine passive, the cross seeks us out rather than we seeking out the cross.

The final notable distinction, and the main emphasis of this paper, involves thesis 21 of the Heidelberg Disputation:
“A theology of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theology of the cross calls the thing what it actually is.”16
It is here that Luther makes draws a clear line between the two theologies. A theology of glory takes joy in only living out the resurrection and leaping over the events that lead up to the resurrection. However, when one takes into the account the notion that the cross, once seen as evil, is now the key to knowing God, our entire system of norms is thrown out the window. A theology of the cross does not find glory in the cross, but rather finds the salvation of the world hanging there for all to see. Because of this fact, the cross is not the end but the beginning. It is here that “only through suffering and the cross that sinners see and come to know God.”17 The suffering experienced on the cross is good and shows us all the true reality that God wants. The scandal is no longer a scandal but a way of life.

The underlining distinction, then, is that throughout everything the cross needs to remain at the center. It is through the cross that we come to know God as the crucified God. We are not Easter Christians. If we solely concentrate on the resurrection we forget why Jesus was resurrected. To understand why the resurrection happened, we must always look at Jesus’ death first. It is here that “a new life can begin, and with it a new sense of self-worth can blossom.” Out of God’s love, God creates “anew out of nothing”18 and with that we can proclaimed with the entire church “Amen. Come Lord Jesus.”

_____________________
1 Forde, Gerhard O., and Martin Luther. On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, 1518 (Theology) (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997), 1.

2 H, John. "Glory vs. the Cross." Confessing Evangelical, 14 June 2004, available from www.confessingevangelical.com /?p=1086; internet; accessed 12 March 2010.

3 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 83.

4 H, John, “Glory vs. the Cross,” www.confessingevangelical.com /?p=1086.

5 Niedner, Frederick A. "Precious, inevitable scandal: theology of the cross in Mark." Currents in Theology and Mission 32, no. 6 (December 1, 2005): 417-419.

6 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 77.

7 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 79.

8 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 81.

9 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 86.

10 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 87.

11 Hoffmeyer, John F. "Torture and theology of the cross." Dialog 47, no. 3 (September 1, 2008): 244.

12 Hoffmeyer, “Torture and Theology of the cross, 246.

13 H, John, “Glory vs. the Cross,” www.confessingevangelical.com /?p=1086.

14 Phrase is taken from Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 90.

15 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 90.

16 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 81.

17 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 86.

18 Forde and Luther, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 19.

Palm Sunday Sermon from Preaching Luke

2010-03-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Who is this King of Glory, O blessed Prince of Peace
Revealing things of Heaven and all its mysteries
Our spirits ever longing for His grace in which to stand
Who's this King of glory, Son of God and son of man

Who is this King of Glory? Palm Sunday is interesting day in the church year. I have always been fascinated with this triumphant entry into Jerusalem and then quickly hearing our King of Glory laid in the tomb. Now the story itself did not happen as quick for the disciples but I am sure that it was one of the fastest and slowest week of their lives. In the span of five days, they saw their beloved teacher and friend captured, convicted, tortured, and killed with two other insurrectionist. In this time, Jesus said and did many things that left questions for them, and for us, of who is this man?

And the week started just as our service started today with a triumphant procession into Jerusalem. We heard in the processional gospel was the recalling of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of the colt while people chanted “Blessed is He who comes in the name of Lord.” They held palm branches in their hands and laid there coats and palms onto the path. Today we had our own procession, lead by our cross, as we marched our way into the sanctuary sing:

All glory, laud, and honor, to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.
You are the King of Israel, and David's royal Son,
now in the Lord’s Name cometh, our King and Blessed One.

But the singing quickly fades. The music ends and the true identity of Christ begins to be unveiled. What is going to be unveiled is essentially “who Jesus really is” and “what his teachings, ministry, and work mean for you and me.” The cross that Jesus bore holds the answers to our questions. It was Gerhard Forde, a famous Lutheran Theologian from Luther Seminary, that said the ideals and norms that Jesus promoted in his teachings (and through his actions) were made known to us only through his suffering on the cross. A theologian of the cross, the entire Christian church (you and I), is someone “whose eyes have been turned away from the quest for glory by the cross, who have eyes only for what is visible, what is actually there to be seen of God, the suffering and despised crucified Jesus.”

That image of a suffering and despised crucified Jesus is not something that sits well for us. We think of a power savior, a power God, THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE, to be strong and mighty and not suffering, despised and dead on a cross. It is not a comfortable image we have of anyone in power. We do not want our president or any elected official humiliated while in office. Power holds beauty but this is not a pretty picture here. For Jesus, his authority, his title as King did not come till he was nailed to the cross. I recently read an article written by John Hoffmeyer on the torture and theology of the Cross. In the beginning part of his article, he describes an experience while working El Salvador that led to a new way of viewing the meaning of the cross:

"I notice in the back of the chapel...hung fourteen very large drawings. They were outline sketches, black on a white background. Each depicts a victim of torture or execution (or both). My initial reaction was mixed. I appreciated the value of drawing public attention to the grave abuse of human rights that had gone on for years in El Salvador...Yet I also felt at first that such gruesome scenes were in dubious taste in a church. They were true, but they were shocking, even offensive. I turned back for another look at the front of the church. There over the altar stood the cross. Suddenly the obvious broke through and redefined the setting around me. Jesus bore gruesome wounds just like the figures in the drawings across the back of the chapel. The cross was an instrument of torture. Like the persons represented in the drawings that had shocked me, I realized then that Jesus was tortured." (silence)

It is in knowing the cross that we know Jesus--Crucified and torture. All of Jesus’ teachings and actions come into focus on the cross. Before this event, passages like “‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” and “take and eat,” take and drink” mean nothing to the disciples or to us till we are met at the cross event.

On that cross held the salvation of the world and a sign that read, “(ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων οὗτος) The King of the Jews. To claim political authority such as King, in the Roman Society led to a very dismal future. In the eyes of the Roman Government, to be crucified meant you were a insurrectionist, a terrorist, a revolutionist. This is what got Jesus killed--he was a threat to sovereignty of the empire. However, both Pilate and Herod both found Jesus not guilty of this claim. Back in verses 3-4 and verse 11. Pilate and Herod did not see him as a King but rather a man who stole the show away from the Jewish Leadership. It is strange then that this placard would stand above Jesus identifying his “crime” (a tradition at the time so that people walking by would see the crime that man or woman committed and deter them from committing the same crime). One commentary writes, “The inscription is thus, from the Roman perspective, false, yet it constitutes for Luke and his audience an ironic affirmation of truth of Jesus’s regal identity.”

That is the scandal of the cross. It is no surprise to me how the cross is used here to identity Jesus. Every single gospel points us to this image of Jesus--Torture and Crucified--King of us all. Today and this week we will live out the retelling of this story. We will stand from a distant just as the followers of Jesus stood from a distance wondering what is next, what is to come of all these actions:

Beneath the cross of Jesus I long to take my stand;
the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,
a home within a within a wilderness, a rest upon the way,
my sinful self my only shame, my glory all, the cross.

Beneath the cross looking up Jesus is where we will see our glory, our faith, our savior hanging there for us all. This is our king and this is where he is crowned. Even the centurion, a gentile (a non-believer) realizes Jesus’ identity at the end of the story. As one commentator writes it is not clear whether or not this centurion had access to who Jesus was is but nevertheless, “in his response to Jesus’ death, recognizes the salvific hand of God at work in Jesus.” The scandal of the cross is that we have a God so loving and brilliant to spare Jesus for the world--Our King. Pilate and Herod played the game and won their power but Jesus hung on a cross to receive his:

This is our King of Glory, Salvation of the World.
Bruised and Bloody Body, stretched out for all to see.
This is our King of Glory, the scandal of his death.
Found Glory on the Cross, and grants us liberty.

This week, we will relive this story: through the washing of our feet, the celebration of the Eucharist, the stripping of the altar, and finally in the last words of Jesus. Today is the just the beginning as we walk the way of the Cross--the way we know Jesus as King. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon from the First Wednesday in Lent

2010-03-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

I preached this sermon at my former parish in Randallstown, MD. It was a pleasure returning back "home" and see family. Enjoy reading it. I consider this one of my most controversial sermons that I have ever preached emphasizing that it is okay to be angry at God but know God is always with us.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

I’ve had it. You have despised me for the last time. I worked day in and day out taking care of everything you provided me with. I made sure my children, who you just took away from me, had everything they could possibly need in life. All my servants and workers were fed and well taken care of. I AM RIGHTEOUS. RIGHTEOUS I SAY!!!! Why have you abandoned me?

Well that is what I would have said if I was in Job’s position. Everything Job had is gone and now he is left with only his wife, who also lost everything she had, and the clothes on his back. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is gone--Social Status and possessions. My question is why doesn’t Job turn his back on God? Why didn’t Job get angry at God? One idea is that Job felt he was being tested or punished. As one author wrote, “In the Old Testament and in subsequent Jewish tradition, fidelity to God was proven in the midst of testing--whether by the direct action of God, through difficult circumstances, or by the direct activity of the devil.” At first, Job’s reaction is that he has offended God. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21 NRS)

This will be the last time we will read in this book where Job has something nice to say about God. Throughout the book, Job’s anger grows while holds to the idea that he is righteous before God--that he has done nothing wrong to deserve this punishment. His friends will come to his aid but they will only hinder Job in his grieving and defense before God. We, the readers, know that Job is righteous in God’s eyes. It says it in the text. God says, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil." (Job 1:8 NRS) God does not see Job as a bad guy, as a man who deserves the wrath of God, of the YHWH, of the GREAT I AM. Job is just the unfortunate pawn in a great game of chess between God and the Ha-Satan, the adversary, the prosecutor. God has made a bet with the devil. Now will God win?

Job’s anger towards God will grow throughout the book and Job will even get to the point where he denies that God is even with him. Job 23: 2-9 says “Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.” Job feels abandoned. Job cannot turn to his friends or his possessions. He has nobody and not even God can fill that void for him.

This past summer I spent 13 weeks at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center doing CPE. I was assigned to Medical Intensive Care Unit along with the other heart floors in the hospital. On top of that, I had my normal duties in the trauma bay. Every single day I was confronted with families and my own self asking essentially the same question that Job is asking God, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” “Why did my son have to die?” “Why me?” “Why Alex? He was such a great brother.” I can remember many sleepless nights staying up with families who were in the same situation Job was in. Sometimes we need to ask why. Sometimes we need to demand, yell, scream at God and ask “Why me?” But after that, we need to remember its not “why do bad things happen to good people?” but rather “When bad things happen to good people...” This world can be a wonderful place and at other times can be a horrible and hurtful place. I can remember one trauma case where a 21 year old male decided to ride down a hill on his skateboard drunk with no helmet. I remember sitting in the room with the young man’s mother and sister when the doctor came in and told her the prognosis was not good. His mother broke down in tears and his sister nearly passed out. The whole time they kept saying “He is a good kid but just made a bad decision.” A few days later, his mother had to make the decision of whether or not to pull him off life support. His friends, only being in their 20’s, had to say goodbye to their friend. Grief like this should never happen to anyone. It was a heartbreaking case that I hope nobody has to ever face. A mother deciding the fate of her child, a sister having to say goodbye to her older brother, a father wishing he could have done something different. I learn this summer that bad things will always happen to good people. There is a great quote from the show M*A*S*H, "Look, all I know is what they taught me at command school. There are certain rules about a war and rule number one is young men die. And rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one." In the end, it is not so much as we need to know why bad things happen but rather we need to “when whatever happens to you, I will be there.”

Job lost everything and still gives God praise. But what if he didn’t? What if he would have said “You are a horrible, horrible God who cruses the righteous and rewards the wicked?” What would have happened? Yes God would have lost his bet with Satan but what would have happened to Job? Would God punish Job? What else could God do to Job? Job lost everything. Throughout the Hebrew bible, God tells us that God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. We do not need to always sing praise to God. I cannot tell you how many times I sat in the trauma bay and watched as patients and family members would defend God. God does not need to be defended and God can take your anger. But what we must always remember is God is not the one doing the actions. God allows Ha-Satan to destroy Job self but never participates in the actual event. Ha-Satan still had the option to say no and walk away.

Tragedies will always happen to us. We will always have to make the hard decisions that we never thought we would have to make. But the key into making those decisions is knowing that God is always with us. When bad things happen, God will be there. That is what we need to say. That is what we need to think. Jesus even warns us of this. Jesus calls us to be on guard because even the evil of this world will take his life. Satan entered the heart of Judas to hand over Jesus to be crucified. But even in tragedies, good can come about. The tragedy of Jesus’ death on a cross lead to the victory over sin and death. The tragedies in our life can certainly have a good ending as long as we know we are not alone. We are not alone because God is always with us. There is no logic in tragedy or death but there is logic in the cross. By the cross, all things are possible because on that old rugged cross hung the salvation of the world. And the man who hung on that old rugged cross remains for us always as the CRUCIFIED and risen Lord. That is our faith and that is our prayer this evening. Dear Lord, please Abide with Us in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent

2010-02-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

Luke 4:1-13

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I will admit it. I am a addict. No I am not addicted to drugs, alcohol, or anything else like that. But I am addicted to sin. Everyday I wake up, intending on not committing a single sin, not breaking the law of God, but somehow temptation wins and I sin. Every single day, whether I outright sin or whether I do not even realize it, I sin and this causes my addiction to increase. Just like everyone sitting in this beautiful sanctuary, I am addicted to sin. I might get to lead worship, wear these beautiful vestments, and administer the sacraments in which Jesus reveals himself to us but I am no better than any of you sitting in this congregation. We are all addicted to sin.

But is it our fault? We are tempted every day by the grand illusions of this world: the almighty dollar calling us to spend, spend, spend and demanding that we solely concentrate our time on obtaining more and more of it, others live in fear that their problems with controlled substances such as cocaine, heroin, nicotine, and alcohol will finally catch up with them causing them to commit irrational behaviors and actions, and for others the desire for power rules there lives with the desire to only obtain more power causing them to trampling over anyone or anything in their path. The list could go on and on. Temptation to sin and turn our back on God and God’s will is everywhere. Even Jesus was not immune to devastating and life altering temptation that sin has brought into our world.

But what do those temptations means for us today? Jesus was tempted with food, power and prestige, and finally the temptation to control the power of God--to ultimately control God’s will. But what we need to look at today is, “Why did Jesus do it?” and “How did Jesus do it?” We will come to the second question in a bit. Why did Jesus need to be tempted? Jesus is holy and righteous as he is. God claimed Jesus at his birth, at his baptism, and as we will find, even at his death. Why did Jesus need to be tempted (and, I might add, suffer) for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness?

Would you believe, to fulfill a commitment between him and God? In these three temptations: food, power, and the possibility to become more powerful than God, Jesus shows his alignment with God and not with the devil. As one author wrote, “ In the Old Testament and in subsequent Jewish tradition, fidelity to God was proven in the midst of testing--whether by the direct action of God, through difficult circumstances, or by the direct activity of the devil...[In this text], the devil seeks specifically to controvert Jesus’ role as the Son of God by disallowing the constraints of that relationship [and] ...by rejecting [the relationship] outright.” The fate of not only the world but the fate of God’s will for God’s people rides on Jesus’ ability to say NO to the devil, to reject Satan’s Will and to stay in alliance with God.

Going even deeper, Luke’s mentioning of the number 40 and the location of where the temptation took place (the wilderness) ties in the connection between the Old Testament and the fulfillment of God’s will for us. Think about it, The Israelites wondered in the desert for 40 years because they gave into the temptation of a gold idol. They were not able to resist the temptation put in front of them, but Jesus did. Even the texts Jesus cites against the devil are from Deuteronomy. This temptation that Jesus felt and overcame did for us what humanity could never accomplish in the sight of God. The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness and even then, they could not be seen as righteous in the eyes of God. But in Jesus, righteousness can be and has been obtain by a man of flesh and bone, who was born of a virgin, and has proven to us and God that he is the Son of God.

But how did he do it? We have a pretty good idea why he did all of this but how did he not succumb to temptation? To answer this, we need to look at that very first line of the text. “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luk 4:1 NET). Did you catch it? “Full of the Holy Spirit” and “led into the wilderness by the Spirit.” Jesus is led into the wilderness not on his own accord or Will but by the Holy Spirit. Luke is an author who uses the passive voice when when talking about Jesus’s actions. In the passive voice, someone else is doing the action. For example, lip singing to a song or cruise control on a car. But when Luke uses the passive voice, he is using a divine passive voice showing readers that Jesus is not working alone but rather is an agent of God.

This is not the first time nor will it be the last time that the Holy Spirit will enter the scene in Luke’s gospel. There are twelve times in Luke’s gospel where Luke mentions the Holy Spirit and in each time, the Holy Spirit is the one doing the action or event.

What does that means for us? Does that mean that with the Holy Spirit we can do anything? Well in a way, yes but we will always fail to overcome temptation. We are sinful creatures. Remember, we are all addicted to sin. We all desire the things of this world that we cannot have--wealth that we could never earn; power and prestige of unlimited rule; and the ability to control God/the ability to know just as God knows. This is all sin and is revealed to us by God’s law. What do we do? Even filled with the Holy Spirit, we fail and sin. We are condemned. There is nothing more we can do. What now?

When we ask these questions, we must always, always remember their is Jesus. There is always Jesus who will save us. You see, Christ did not just stay in the water at his Baptism, Christ did not just stay up on that mountain with the great prophets of the past. No my friends, Christ left the water filled with the Holy Spirit, Christ left that mountain fully transfigured so that he could enter the wilderness, enter our lives, and reveal God’s glory to the wilderness. There is a wonderful line in song that says, "Our love is not a victory march. It is a cold and broken hallelujah." The idea that a God, our God, would leave their throne, their power, their ability to control everything in the universe to enter our lives, our wilderness, is completely shameful image for us to imagine. But that is the Gospel. Jesus enters into our wilderness to turn our love into a victory march--to turn our hallelujahs into a warm and complete song. This Lent, I encourage you all to reflect on who you and even on all the temptations you cannot turn away from, but always remember that Jesus is the one who sets us free from our captivity to sin and temptations. What we could never accomplish has been accomplished and has been fulfilled today by the one filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus. Only God could overcome the temptations of this world and the devil. God is the only one who can save us. Let this be our prayer always that Jesus remain with us even when the temptations seem to great, when the devil rears his ugly face, when the wall around us come crashing down in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My reflection after the 2010 State of the Union

2010-01-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

First, let me say I was proud to have President Barack Obama give that speech last night. He was passionate and direct with congress--something I feel they need right now more than ever. What horrified me was the lack of response the conservatives showed when the President talked about helping the poor and middle class. There was no clapping or cheering from the right side of the chamber. Why?

I was watching First Contact last week with a few friends. In this Star Trek movie, the Enterprise is pulled back to the 21st century. They enter a time in earth history when the world has just been ravaged by a Nuclear war. Millions have been killed but hope is on the horizon. Scientist have developed the warp drive engine and are about to launch it which will in turn will propel earth into a new era filled with no poverty, war, and little crime. As Captain Picard explains to woman from the 21st century, this new era, this new earth, is no longer concerned with the betterment of one’s bank account but with the betterment of humanity. The economics of the 24th century, Picard’s time, no longer uses monetary assets but rather uses the needs of humanity, the needs of all people, to drive science, industry, and legislation.

Gene Roddenbury’s idea of a need-driven economy rather than a money driven economy is not far off from the economic ideas that Jesus, Paul, and many other theologians and saints have preached. The needs of the neighbor far outweigh the needs of the individual. That is the gospel. If Christ was concerned with himself, why did he die for us? Why are we left with stories such as the Good Samaritan or a Friend at Midnight? If all God wants us to be concerned is ourself, why did God create other individuals?

It makes me sick that a country, like Haiti, some hundred miles off our coast, could be so ravaged by a earth quake. This should not happened. America, the entire world for that matter, should have given them the technology to improve their infrastructure. I know a earth quake of that magnitude would have rocked even a major city such as LA, but maybe we could have prevented some of the deaths if only we would have shared our resources. Why must we always be concerned with making a buck? When are we going to realize that human life, a priceless gift and a blessing, is far more important than making a buck? When are we going to realize that we are no different from the people of Haiti? We are all just one disaster away from losing it all. We are no different from the people of Haiti or anyone other country from around the world. I don’t care who you are, nobody can faithfully say that if a major disaster occured, whether it be natural, health, or familial, we would be able to recover immediately or even within 6 months. How many of you could survive one or two years without a paycheck? Anyone?

What we must remember is the commonality that connects us all together is that we are people. The American PEOPLE, Haitian PEOPLE, Turkish PEOPLE. We all share that common trait that we are people. We all breath and have heart beat. We all want to live and have a chance at living better. We all desire and deserve life rather than death and when we desire death, we hopefully have those who desire life close as a reminder to why life is always more desirable than death.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We all have the right to life. The emphasis here is on life. We all have the right to life. A long life. A life where we pursue liberty over tyranny and happiness over deceit. These rights are not just for Americans but to everyone. All men and women, of any race or nationality, has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is time that we wake up and realize this world is not very large and we are all one PEOPLE. This is not something we obtain overnight. It first must start with us looking to our neighbor and fighting for them. We must stand up and demand that everyone be taken care of and pass this same dream onto the world. Our goals must be that of the world and the goals of the world must ours as well. We must share our technology and our wealth in hopes that one day no child and no adult will ever have to choose medication over food, food over shelter, life over death. But for this dream to become a reality, we first must start with looking to where we draw the line for the outcasts. Remember, Christ is always on the other side of the line. Christ is always with the outcasts.

19th Sunday after Pentecost

2009-10-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

In today's sermon, I decided to preach on the Semi-continuous lectionary, Job 23:1-9 16-17, and the gospel. I suggest you read Job and the gospel first and then read my sermon. They did record me preach but they have not emailed me it yet. I will post it as soon as possible.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Picture if you will a man of huge social status. Rich beyond all imagination. Has the perfect family and a beautiful wife--well at least I think she is beautiful (the text never talks about what she looks like). He has servants and maids--the latest technology-- and one day everything, EVERYTHING is gone. In the matter of a few moments, this man’s livelihood, his family, and many of his maids and servants are all gone. Now the man I am talking about here is the biblical character known as Job. Job has lost everything and his health is failing. Job is emotionally and physically drained by this chapter. He has sought comfort in three of his friends but has only found shame and frustration in their advice. Job is at his wits ends and he cannot figure out what he did to deserve this “punishment.” We, the reader, know why all these tragedies have happened. It wasn’t because Job sinned, or because one of his children have sinned, but it was the Satan, or in hebrew it is ha-satan, that instigated the initial “attack.” You could argue that God gave permission to Satan that it is God who is doing the actions against Job but in the end it was Satan that had the opportunity to decided whether or not to commit the actions which destroyed Job’s world and cause Job’s illness. But Job knows none of this. Job only knows that he has lost his world and he is deathly sick. Job feels abandoned, he feels hurts, and he wants to know why.

Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.

When I listen to these words of Job, I can understand why Job was not always well liked by Jewish Rabbis of the early 1st century. That last line just sends shrivels down my spine. God is not there. “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. Job looks around and he can no longer see God. God is absent to Job. This is not the message that we necessarily want preached in churches or synagogues. However, I do not think this is the message that Job is conveying in his speech. As one commentator wrote, “Chapter 23 frames this complaint with two statements that insist faith must sometimes be construed as moral rebellion, not silent compliance.” Meaning, it is okay to ask why.

This past summer I spent 13 weeks at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center doing CPE. I was assigned to Medical Intensive Care Unit and the other heart floors in the hospital along with the normal duties chaplains had in the trauma bay. Every single day I was confronted with families and my own self asking essentially the same question that Job is asking God, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” “Why did my son have to die?” “Why me?” “Why Alex? He was such a great brother.” I can remember many sleepless nights staying up with families who were in the same situation Job was in. Sometimes we need to ask why. Sometimes we need to demand, yell, scream at God and ask “Why me?” But after that, we need to remember its not “why do bad things happen to good people?” but rather “When bad things happen to good people...” This world can be a wonderful place and at other times can be a horrible and hurtful place. I can remember one trauma case where a 21 year old male decided to ride down a hill on his skateboard drunk with no helmet. He was a good kid but just made a bad decision. His mother had to make the decision whether or not to pull him off life support. It was a heartbreaking case that I hope nobody has to ever face. A mother deciding the fate of her child, a sister having to say good bye to her older brother, a father wishing he could have done something different. Bad things will always happen to good people. In the end, it is not so much as we need to know why bad things happen but rather we need to “when whatever happens to you, I will be there.”

This is precisely the promise Jesus has made with us. I believe Jesus’ teaching in the last part of our gospel reminds us of this promise. This world may take everything we have: wife, husband, child, house, etc. but it Jesus who promises to stay with us and remain with us. Sometimes this means our life will not be easy. It was not easy for that family to watch their son die. It was certainly not easy for the disciples either. All but one died at the hands of the Roman government. Torture, beheading, crucifixion were all in their future. Peter and Andrew left their father at the dock to follow Jesus. We believe Peter might have even have had a family with a wife and children that he left behind to follow Jesus. These men and women left everything behind--essentially lost everything--to follow a man they have never met or known and with only the promise that better things will follow. Sometimes we must lose it all to strike it big in the end.

Job had it all and when he lost it all he felt it was punishment. Little did he realize that it was God working through Job’s disaster, Job’s attack. God was never far Job. It was Job that could not see God. Job thought God was in all of his possessions but rather God was with him personally just as God is with us today. We are no better in the sight of God if we drive fastest car, wear the Armoni suites or if we come wearing jeans and a t-shirt. We are the same in God’s eyes. Robert Jenson, a former professor from LTSG, has a wonderful quote in his commentary on Mark. "Whenever you want to draw lines in order to mark who is outside the kingdom and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line! Jesus is always with the outsiders!" Being a follower of Jesus Christ puts us with all the followers, the saints present and the saints who now celebrate with God, and it makes no difference who we are or where we come from--we are outsiders because we follow Jesus. It is simply our faith that grants us this eternal life, this eternal promise with God. My friends, do be like Job and ask the questions--get angry at God (I promise you God can take it) but know that in the end, God has and always will be with you. This is our theology, This is our faith, This is the promise God grants us in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon from September 7, 2009

2009-09-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Here is good one about tolerance: A man who was walking across a bridge and came upon another man standing right on the edge, about to plunge to his death. The first man shouted "Stop! Are you a Christian?" "Yes, as a matter of fact I am." "Well so am I. Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "I'm Protestant," "Well so am I. Are you Episcopal or Lutheran?" "I'm Lutheran." "Wow... I am too. Are you ELCA Lutheran or Missouri Synod Lutheran? "I'm ELCA Lutheran," "Me too, that's amazing! Were you LCA or ALC?" "I'm LCA." "I can't believe it, so am I." But tell me are you a German Lutheran, or a Swedish Lutheran?" He answered, "Swedish Lutheran" To which the first man said, "Die you heretic," and he pushed him off the bridge.

Sounds crazy right? But how many times do we divide ourselves by churches or religious groups? I can think of hundreds of times I have been at church when someone has come up with a new idea and the first words out of someone’s mouth is “But we have never done it this way before.” Why are we not willing to take a chance? Why can we not trust in God when we are presented with a new and exciting avenue of ministry that differs from the status quo.

Every single church and every single Christian is guilty of this. I cannot tell you how many times I flinch in chapel at seminary when someone changes the order of morning prayer. My friends tell me I’m part of the rubrics police--i.e. I get annoyed when pastors and leaders do not follow the red italic text in the hymnal. We so easily forget texts like this one today--“Whoever is not against us is for us.”

This one particular line appears four times in the Synoptic Gospels--twice in Luke and once in Matthew and Mark. It is a line that, I believed, had great importance in the early church and among the Gospel writers. Think of the implications this line had on the early church--on the disciples hearing these words first hand. They thought they were doing the right thing by telling Jesus about this healer--TEACHER THIS GUY IS NOT PLAYING NICE WITH US! They are thinking they need to defend Jesus and the ministry he is establishing among the people. Think about the implications this man could have had on Jesus if he screwed up? But Jesus stops them and so eloquently turns their mistake into a teachable moment; “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

Robert Jenson, a famous theologian, has a wonderful quote his commentary on Mark, "Whenever you want to draw lines in order to mark who is outside the kingdom and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line! Jesus is always with the outsiders!" What criteria should we use to determine if someone is "of Christ" or not? Where does active church membership fall within requirements for being "of Christ"? Most importantly, where is Jesus in all of this?

As a good Lutheran Seminarian, I would answer this last question by saying “Jesus is present in the hearing/the speaking of the word and in the Holy Eucharist.” But digging even deeper, I believe Mark is making the argument that Jesus is our midst just by saying his name. In verse 37 from last weeks lesson, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name”, in today’s reading, verse 38 “someone casting out demons in your name,” verse 39 “no one who does a deed of power in my name” and verse 41 “whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ. “ Bearing the name of Christ and acting in Christ's name indicates a belonging to Christ and perhaps even, being Christ's presence for the world . By claiming the Name of Jesus, God grants us the presence of Jesus in our lives no matter who we are.

Donald B. Kraybill, a professor in the field of sociology and religion says, "The genius of the gospel is its seed of self-criticism or self-reformation. Each generation of Christians, like the Pharisees, is tempted to make sacred its programs and freeze its routines. Jesus showed us that humanly created structures aren't sacred. There are no sacred places, organizations, times, objects, doctrines or social positions, except in the sense that all good things are finally sacred." We must remember that God is in charge and through God, all things are made Holy and Sacred. When it comes down to it, our hymnal will not save us, our Book of Concord will not save us, our church, our pews, our ideas will not save us but it is simply the cross that will save us. No matter what we do on earth, the cross is what saves us. So in the Name of Jesus, go and proclaim this message of God’s love for us and remember that whoever is not against us is for us. Amen.

A call for Church Unity Four weeks ago and now Lutheran CORE wants to seperate.

2009-09-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 10, 2009

Lutheran CORE Plans Next Steps, Intends to be 'Free-Standing' Synod

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Saying the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America(ELCA) has "fallen into heresy," because of actions taken at last month's churchwide assembly, the chair of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform)said the organization intends to be a "free-standing synod" which will carry out ministries apart from the ELCA.

In addition CORE is expected to consider initiating conversations with member Lutheran congregations and reform movements in the United States and Canada toward a possible reconfiguration "of North American Lutheranism," said the Rev. Paull E. Spring, State College, Pa., LutheranCORE chair. Spring is a former bishop of the ELCA Northwestern
Pennsylvania Synod.

Those and other ideas will be discussed when Lutheran CORE holds a convocation Sept. 25-26 at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church, Fishers, Ind. Nearly 700 people have registered as of Sept. 8, said the Rev. Mark Chavez, Landisville, Pa., CORE director and vice president, WordAlone Network, New Brighton, Minn. WordAlone is a member of Lutheran CORE. Lutheran CORE is a coalition of pastors, lay people, congregations and reform groups in the ELCA. CORE expressed distress and sadness over the assembly's decisions on human sexuality. The assembly adopted by a two-thirds vote an ELCA social statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," which CORE said changed ELCA teaching and policy on same-gender relationships. Voting members also directed that changes be made to ELCA ministry policies to make it possible for people in committed, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers. CORE opposed that change, citing biblical teaching on marriage and homosexuality.

Following the assembly's decisions on sexuality, CORE announced it was ending its relationship as an independent Lutheran organization "officially recognized" by the ELCA. The organization is also encouraging ELCA members and congregations to send finances directly to ministries they support versus giving to the ELCA.

More than 1,000 people have contacted Lutheran CORE since the assembly, most expressing sadness and asking questions, Spring said. However, CORE is "encouraging people to remain in the ELCA -- for now," Spring said in a telephone interview with the ELCA News Service. "I myself intend to remain on the ELCA clergy roster and remain a member of an ELCA congregation," he said, adding that he and others may not participate much in the ELCA beyond the congregation. Despite his own "disappointment and shock" over the assembly's actions, Spring said he hopes Lutheran CORE can "be a visionary, future-oriented group."

"We have no desire to look back at what happened in Minneapolis. We need to look to the future with confidence, amid much uncertainty," Spring said.

CORE's 2009 convocation is expected to adopt a proposed constitution, authorize proposals for developing fiscal plans and authorize its steering committee to initiate conversations with "congregations and reform movements" within Lutheran CORE, Lutheran Congregations for Mission in Christ, and other compatible organizations, Spring wrote in a Sept. 4 e-mail to CORE supporters. There's also much planning to do over the course of the next year, he said. Convocation speakers include the Rev. Kenneth H. Sauer, Columbus, Ohio, former bishop of the ELCA Southern Ohio Synod and former chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops; Ryan Schwarz, Washington, D.C., a CORE steering committee member and runner-up in the election for ELCA vice president at the 2009 assembly; plus Spring and Chavez. "We will try to be churchly," Spring said of the upcoming CORE convocation. "We are trying to be responsible. There's a lot at stake
here, including the future of Lutheranism in the United States."

---
Editors: Pastor Spring's first name is correctly spelled as "Paull."

Okay so I am not sure what happened. In this article the leader of LutheranCore, Rev. Paul Spring, said that he would remain apart of the ELCA and stay on the rooster. But when I get to the end article I am left scratching my head trying to figure out what happened.

The church needs to be unified. I do not think Lutheran CORE would disagree with me on this point. The church just made a huge decision and needs to heal. It was a decision that has taken years to decide and will most likely take many years to heal from. My question is why would Lutheran CORE, an organization that claims that their "intention is to remain within our church and to work with congregations, individuals, and other reform-minded groups for the reform of our own church" would end its relationship as an independent Lutheran organization "officially recognized" by the ELCA and encourage ELCA members and congregations to send finances directly to ministries they support versus giving to the ELCA? Where the hell is the church unity in this?

Whether you agree or disagree with the decisions the church made, we MUST (and I stress the word MUST) stay united. We should not go and run away from this. God gave us grace and we must show this grace. We have always been able to agree to disagree and live in communion and fellowship with one another. This is no different. Yes this decision did question theology and personal piety of many Lutherans but the church has been doing this for 2000 years. I seem to remember the debate in Acts about whether or not to minister to Gentiles and not just to the Jews. It was not a decision that many were happy about but the church unified and did what had to be done.

Remember there is always grace. We all sin and fall short of the Glory of God. The church and people that make up the church are no different. I am not calling the decisions of the ELCA right or wrong but they are still the decisions we must all live with. I am not to happy about what the church decided but I have accepted it. If I had my way, it would have been a 2/3 vote for the recommendations. I feel that if the church is going to make a monumental change like it did back in August then it should of had monumental support for the changes. But the vote is done and there is nothing we can do to change the vote. We are only left to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments just as we have done for 2000 years. So instead of run away as Lutherans have classically done before, we should unite and be the church in the world. That is what we need most right now.

A continuing debate...

2009-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness (Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence--Paragraph 2).

I posted these few sentences of this amazing document to give all of you, my devout readers, my perspective on the Health Care Reform vote. I have been trying to keep up on the debate but seminary has begun and I have very little time to watch the news. If I say anything that is wrong please comment and me know.

With Ted Kennedy's death still in our thoughts and minds, we are approaching a very important vote in our nation's government. I would argue this bill is as important as the civil rights bill and the emancipation of slaves. Ted Kennedy fought for many years for the national health insurance plan and died fighting for the bill. I am sure many on the other side of this bill are hoping that the bill would die with him. But those fighting, well at least for me, will never stop fighting because of that first line in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."
This concept of unalienable rights has developed and evolved since this document was wrote. Many of those who signed this document owned slaves and would never have thought that slaves had rights. But America evolved and realized that slaves are people and these people do have rights. Granted, America is still dealing with problems of racism and discrimination but America has made many great strides in establishing laws that try to create equality for all.

This same argument could also be given to the woman's movement in the United States (and in many different institutions). This document was wrote by men and uses masculine pronouns but, like the civil rights movement, America's ideals and norms changed and the rights of women were created. Essentially, that first line should now read, "...all men and women, black and white, Asian, Mexican, European, etc, are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..." While America has made goals to ensure the equality for all, there is still much work to be done.

So we all have certain unalienable rights--"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." When I hear those words I think about Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. The basic essence of this theory (please correct me if I am wrong because I was a sociology major in undergrad and we didn't really like the entirety of this theory) is that if you provide the basics needs for life, people will be happy and productive. You can look this theory up on google.
I do believe that the writers of this document put life first to emphasize life. We all have the right to live--the right to live a life devout to your country and your God (whoever that may be), and to live searching and pursuing happiness. How is Health Insurance not apart of that?

I still cannot fathom how some individuals (and no this is not a party issue anymore because there are many democrats that I will not support if they are against this bill) can say Health Insurance is not a right the government should provide. The government is called by our founding fathers to secure these rights for us. If the government does not do this, the people must stand up against the government. The United States has the ability to provide the best damn health care to all people. How can we deny this medical care to people just because they cannot afford it. This vote should not be a political move but rather a move to ensure those unalienable rights--to open the door to individuals, myself included, who cannot afford health insurance. America has always been about giving rights to individuals. How is this any different?

While some have made the argument that since Health Care is not in the Constitution the government should not get involved. I would ask you read my entry from July 8th. The government role is to ensure the well-being of all of it's citizens. Left to our own devices, we would hurt our neighbor. This is why we have laws and police to enforce those laws. The government ensures us our safety. So if the government ensures us our safety it makes logical sense for the government to ensure the health of it's citizens. For example, the government banned the use of trans-fats in food to help improve the diet of it's citizens. Another example would be minimum wage. The government tells employers they must pay a wage (I am not going to call it a livable because it is far below the standard of living in many parts of the U.S.) that can provide the bare necessities.

Okay enough of a rant. I could write a dissertation on this subject. Please comment and let me know what you think.

Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost

2009-09-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

My sermon from August 30th. You can watch me this time too!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

In the Lutheran Church there is dyad, this concept, of Law and Gospel. For Luther, the idea that we must work to earn our salvation was inherently wrong but Luther never said we should abolish the law. The Law is our moral guide, our moral code. I would add that the Law is what reminds us of our own humanity.

But the word LAW usually send shrivels up the spins of Lutherans because we are afraid to say “you must do this” or “you must do that.” It is one of the reasons why Martin Luther wanted to remove the books of James and John, traditionally known as the Catholic Letters/Epistles, from our canon—from the bible. Luther never like the theology of the book of James— “Faith without works is dead”—because of the negative interpretations that the church once had for this line. James wrote that line more likely out of necessity because the early church was taking Paul’s words to literally and practicing a Theology of cheap grace—you don’t have to anything like go to church or volunteer to help the less fortunate because we are going to heaven.

So now how does the Lutheran Church view this idea of Law and Gospel? I am going to try my best to explain without breaking a few heresies along the way. The first use of the law is the Civic law—do not kill people, do not steal, ect. The second use of the law is the knowledge of sin—we know we have sinned because we are told this is wrong. The Third use of the law is a guide to Christian living—we should do this because this is what God wants us to do.

Now the Gospel fits into this scheme in a very different way. We have this law that guides us tells us we should live this way but then we have the Gospel that says it is okay if we can’t live up the standards set before us. Martin Luther never believed that we could ever maintain perfection—other reforms did such as John Wesley. Luther would have said that the law was very good and necessary but not a tool of bondage. We are not bounded to the law. It creates a protection to us so that we cannot be accused of not living a good moral life but it would also guide us so we can live this good and moral life.

So knowing all of this about Law and Gospel, our readings from Deuteronomy and Mark should make a bit more sense. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites believed the law was a divine gift that provided guidelines for living out the covenant. The law is very important to the Israelites and to this day stays important to the Jewish faith. But like any good thing, overuse of the law had become a problem. The law became oppressive and discriminated against the less fortunate of society. What was once seen as free had become a prison filled with guards and wardens who did not believe in grace.

I love Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. He is able to quote scripture so eloquently:
Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
'This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.'
8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."
Lets focus on that last line—“ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” God’s command is law and the Pharisees are sticking with the law right? Jesus is not questioning their ability to hold to the law—personally I think it’s good to wash your hands before you eat and make sure the food is clean—but to deny an individual rights at the table because they do not have the ability to wash their hands or hold to the law is a bit much. Jesus is protesting against the human customs being given the weight of divine law, while the essence of God's law is ignored. God’s law was to ensure the wellbeing of ALL of God’s people and not just the few who stuck with the law.

So here we are left with this concept of Law and Gospel. The law is our guide and the Gospel—not just the New Testament but the entire bible; Hebrew Scripture and the Christian Canon—the Gospel frees us when we cannot hold to the law. Just as our Lord said, “15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Our sin is made evident in what we do and what we say. We are the essence of sin but thankful there is a God who redeems us and loves us even when we cannot live up to God’s standards. So go and do what Luther said, “Sin and Sin Boldly.” Do whatever is necessary to live out your baptismal calling. We are all still called today to do the work of the church. We might not be able to build bridges or knock on doors but we can all still love one another because it is by God’s grace, God’s wonderful and mysterious grace, that we find God’s salvation. May God grant us this grace this day in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost

2009-08-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

So I am a nerd and video taped myself preaching since I never really preach what I write. Let me know what you think.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Accustomed as we are to hearing the words, "This is my body" in the consecration of the sacrament and "The body of Christ" as we receive the host, do we still draw back in surprise at hearing our Lord say "flesh"? Accustomed as we are to hearing the words "The blood of Christ" when we take the chalice, do we still find a murmur rising in our minds as we hear this text: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you"?

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Pardon me but does this not sound at all a tad STRANGE?” Jesus tells us we must eat his flesh? Now I am no expert on Hebraic laws but aren’t there a few laws that prohibit eating human flesh? No wonder in the next verse that the Jewish authorities question what Jesus is saying. The NRSV, our edition, is a bit tame saying “they disputed among themselves” but in actuality the Greek word shows a great conflict. They are probably stunned that a man of Jesus’ educational background that surely he would know that his statement goes against Hebraic Law. So they question him and they ask, “How can this man, How can you Jesus, a man born of a human mother, brought up in Hebraic Law, give us his flesh to eat, HUMAN FLESH?” I can understand their question because everything they have come to know as true has just been questioned.

How can one eat Human Flesh? It is a question that I and many theologians and Christians have asked themselves for centuries. In hundreds of cultures the idea of cannibalism is seen as taboo and even banned in many cultures. But yet Jesus tells us “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”

So we have still have this problem of breaking Hebraic law of eating human flesh. How do we get around this? The answer is simple. With God all things are possible. God often takes what is sinful and evil and turns it into something good. For example the execution on the cross; the image of eating flesh and drinking blood; and even us as sinful and evil human beings who have been turned into saintly children of God and a means for spreading the gospel message to the world. With God all things are possible and in God all things are made clean and God.

Okay so we have Jesus’ command and we know that we must do this but how? How are we to eat of Jesus’ flesh and blood if Jesus is not here physically with us? That is where our Eucharistic, our Communion theology, comes into play. The meal that we share is a very mysterious meal. I have always enjoyed the line that my dad begins the worship service with; “As we prepare to celebrate God’s Mysteries this day…” We celebrate God’s mysteries when: we confess our sins and then hear God’s forgiveness for our sins, when we hear God’s word and respond to God’s word with the sermon and when we celebrate communion and have Jesus come to us in the form of bread of wine.

We do not know how, when, or why Jesus comes to us in communion we just have our faith and we cling to that faith that he does come to us in this meal. The Eucharist is life-giving because it is Jesus who gives it, and it is life-giving because it is Jesus himself who is given. Jesus took something that was at one time seen as evil and unclean and turned into something beautiful, amazing and mysterious. We must trust this mysterious wisdom of God.

There is a good story of man questioning God’s wisdom. A man asked God, "What does a billion dollars mean to you who are all powerful?"

"Hardly a penny." God said.

Then the man asked God , "And what are a thousand centuries to you?" God answered "Hardly a second!!"

Thinking he had God backed into a corner, the man then said, "Then if that's the case, O, Lord give me a penny!!"

"Sure," God replied. "In just a minute."

Wisdom isn't outsmarting God, wisdom is living in and with God. Wisdom is being in Christ and surrounded by Christ. Wisdom is eating and drinking from the feast which God has prepared for us.

When we receive communion, it is Jesus himself that abides in us and we in him. We receive life because we receive Jesus. Jesus grants us eternal life but we must receive and feast on his Body and Blood. So now let us feast on the Crucified and Risen the Lord, the one who grants us eternal life, the one that died for sins. Amen.

Week 9--The continued reflection of, "Why Bad things happen to Good People?"

2009-08-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

I suggest viewing the video first and then reading the blog.

Two very dear friends of mine inspired this entry. Julie’s comment on one of my recent postings kept me reflecting this concept of Theodicy (why do bad things happen to good people?). So this week I continued my reflection, as I always do, surrounding this question. On Friday I believe God spoke to me through the mouth of Diane. She described a case she had earlier that day of man who was trying to break up a fight, was accidentally shot and died leaving behind a wife and one year old child. Unfortunately this is all too common of a thing for chaplains and medical staff who work in a Trauma center to deal with. But eventually these cases do begin to wear and cause individuals, myself included, to ask this age old question once again.

Julie made a very good point when she mentioned the title of the book, “When bad things happen to good people.” The emphasis is on the word when in this title. Bad things do happen and there is not much we can do to stop it. The clip from M*A*S*H* paints all to clear a picture of this. Tommy Gillis, an old friend of Hawkeye's, is writing a book about the war, and pays him a visit. Later, Tommy is brought into the camp, seriously wounded, and Hawkeye can't save him. Hawkeye breaks down and cries causing Henry to leave the operating room as well. Henry says a very famous line at that moment: “Look, all I know is what they taught me at command school. There are certain rules about a war and rule number one is young men die. And rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one.” I don’t claim to be a doctor nor am I claiming that we are in the midst a war at our hospital but we do see violence every single day. People die every single day because of drugs, race, and petty violence. We are not living in the midst of a war like the Korean War but rather in the midst of stupidity. It is because of this stupidity, this childlike behavior that causes adults to believe the only way to solve a problem is to fight, kills innocent people everyday and causes individuals to ask this same old question. It enforces the two rules that Henry Blake states to continue and causes many to lose hope in humanity.

This past week I also had a case where a young man, only 22 years old, was brought in the Trauma bay after sustaining a major blow to the head from a skateboarding accident. I sat in the room and listened as the neurosurgeon told the patient’s mother and sister that there is not much to do; the surgery that needed to be preformed would be radical and mostly likely not work. I watched as his mother and sister cried and begged God to heal the young man. Two days later the patient died and now his family was left with the question, “where are you God?” and “Why didn’t you heal my son, my brother?”

“Look, all I know is what they taught me at command school. There are certain rules about a war and rule number one is young men die. And rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one.” There is nothing we can do to change the actions that occur. Good people do die but there are still many good people left in this world to make a difference, the take a stance, and make a difference. It is never fair for a parent to bury their child. There is no logic in that but there is logic in the cross. There is a God who loves and who promises us comfort and forgiveness free of charge. Thank God for grace and thank God for the ability to wake up every morning and breath.

Journal Entry for Week 8

2009-07-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have just realized that I have gone most of the summer without really reflecting on my hospitalization some three years ago. I have been telling myself that it is because of my internship here at Reading Hospital but I have to wonder about that reasoning. I have said on many different occasions that one cannot dwell in the past; it will only cause that person to second guess their decisions and ultimately question their current life situation. But I have never looked with regret on my hospital experience. At times I have asked God, “Why me?” but I have never thought that it was some kind of punishment: I survived something that would have killed many people; I have a strong relationship between my family and friends; and I have a strong relationship with God. I don’t necessarily think that my faith has changed all that much—there was a point when I question my belief in the existence in God—but I have built a relationship with God where I am no longer see God high above me but rather with me.

What happened to me three years ago did change me and it pains me to think that I no longer heavily reflect on this experience. I am a new person, a new man, and it is all because I spent 26 days in the intensive care unit at the University of Maryland. While my hope is not to forget there is a hope that I am able to live with the idea that I have stared death in the face, was able walk away, and now only look back when I am in need of support or guidance.

Journal Entry for Week 7

2009-07-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

Why do bad things happen to good people? I mean seriously, why is this the case? Why do I, and others alike, feel that bad people should only have bad things happen to them? It has been a question brought up numerous times in group and numerous times for myself. I feel like the good are always punished and the bad walk away unharmed. Is this right to feel this way? Who am I to judge? So many questions to ask but a whole lifetime to seek out the answers...

Sermon from the 7th Sunday after Pentecost

2009-07-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

My sermon from on Sunday. Let me know what you think...

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Emma Lazarus was a famous American Poet. One particular poem brought her great fame. I can almost guarantee that everyone in this room has heard this particular poem. It has been cited in movies, books, tv shows, and on one particular monument:
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed,
sunset hates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch,
whose flame Is the imprisoned lighting,
and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon hand glows world-wide welcome;
her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
This particular monument and poem has come to mean a great deal to many Americans. Some see it as a symbol of Freedom; Lady Liberty standing tall holding the flame of Justice and lighting America’s way as our country strives to grant freedom to all. For others, and maybe for some in this room, the statue of Liberty was the first thing they saw as their boat traveled from eastern hemisphere. Some came in search of starting over; for a chance to give their children the opportunity they did not have. For those that fled Europe to escape the Nazi regime they saw the Statue of Liberty as a second chance at life just as Christians see the Cross as our second chance at life.

Our world has come very far from the days of World War I and II; since the days of Ellis Island where immigrants were treated as second-rate people. The need for conquering land and individuals has been taken over by the need to take care of one another and the planet that we live on. Human and civil rights have become more important to us but this does not mean suffering is no longer with us. There are people who are still oppressed: Racism still goes on in our country, the oppression of women is still all to well apparent but we have made many great strides to end these oppression. But oppression is not the only kind of suffering left in this world. Sickness, loss of personal independence, and pain on a number of different level are all apart of suffering. These moments of suffering and pain can all cause us to ask the question, “Where is God?” or “Why is this happening to me?” Sometimes we question it about ourselves and other times we question it for someone else.

I can remember one particular patient and his family I had a few weeks ago where I asked these two questions “Where is God?” or “Why is this happening to him?” It was my first on call shift and it was a very busy night filled with Traumas, emergencies in the ED, and end of life decisions. This particular patient came into the emergency room while I was tending to a Trauma. The Trauma surgeon pointed him out to me as they wheeled him past the Trauma room. The paramedics were doing CPR on him. With every passing minute the man’s condition got worst and worst and I had to make the dreaded phone call at one in the morning; “Sir you need to come to the emergency room right away, your loved one is very sick.” I was afraid that this man would die alone because his brother lived very far away. None of us were really sure if this man had any real significant family other than his brother. We knew he was divorced and only listed his brother as an emergency contact. A few hours pass and the receptionist finally paged me and told me that the patient’s brother had arrived. It is about 2 in the morning at this point. I go and find a doctor who can give this man more that just the basic information that I had. The cardiologist came in and told the brother that the patient has had a massive heart attack; the only reason he is still alive is because of the dozen of drugs forcing his heart to beat. They were not sure if he would survive the night let alone be able to recover from the lack of oxygen to the brain. When I left the brother upstairs I prayed in the elevator telling God that it is not fair that this man should die alone and that his brother have nobody else to morn with. I asked the question, “Where are you God? This man needs you right now.” A little bit later I was called back to the room. The patient took a turn for the worst and the nurse said the brother just needed someone to sit with. We both sat quietly in the room as the nurses did their job. I prayed my prayer once again to myself. We watched as his lungs were no longer working and the ventilator had to literally force the air into his body. It was very violent to watch this. I was about to lose hope but then out of nowhere the nurse comes in and asks me to go downstairs and meet the man’s sister and his husband. And when I returned later that afternoon I say 10 more family members in the waiting room.

The patient still died but his family was there to hold his hand. They were there to tell him that they loved him. They were there to comfort each other. The same suffering, pain and loss that we see every day whether it be on the news or in the hospital rooms is the same suffering, pain and loss that was around Jesus some 2000 years ago. Not only was the pain of an illness horrible but there was also the social outcast that the person felt as well. But Jesus does something different as we hear in our Gospel lesson today:
“When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.”
Jesus went and found the sick—the outcasts. Jesus touched the unclean and by undoing this he became unclean. But that didn’t matter and Jesus shows us that today for we are all outcast because of our sin. But Jesus come and touches us—freeing us from our bondage; our captivity to sin. What Jesus taught was that the sick, the unclean, the outcast of our society (whoever that may be) do matter. We are all created in the image of God and therefore we are all entitled the same. No illness, no disease, nothing will separate us from that love. God meets us half way and when we can’t walk, God meets us all the way. God comes into our towns and cities; into our homes and workplaces and touches us and promises to stay with us. So now the next time we hear Emma Lazarus’ famous poem, let it remind us that God is also saying those words to us;
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Week 6 Journal Entry for CPE--Fair Warning: It's a bit of a rant again

2009-07-13T16:40:00.001-07:00

As I finish up week six enter and enter into week seven of CPE, I have been pondering the meaning of forgiveness and salvation. I know how we merit (or shall I say receive) salvation and I understand forgiveness as professed through the Confessions of the Lutheran Church but what I do not understand is why others do understand this. I have had on numerous occasions patients and family members say, “One must earn salvation” or “one must earn God’s forgiveness” but in reality scripture says the opposite. Now one could argue the Epistle writer, James’s, idea that “Faith without works is dead”. However, I would argue that our faith causes us to do good works and these works are not a prerequisite for our Salvation. We are simply justified by God’s grace through our Faith and by nothing else. But yet so many people, whether they are; Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Non-denominational, you name it, believe one must do good things in order to earn God’s love. It annoys me and upsets me that our society teaches that we have to do work in order to receive something in return. If we work hard and receive nothing in return we are either not working hard enough or we are lazy and do not deserve help. What the hell? Where is the love in that? Where is the humanity in that? Are we all not human? Have we lost the ability to see one another’s pain and exhaustion? Why can we not take care each other and expect nothing in return? The early church did it and, according to Acts, everyone was happy. Today this philosophy is seen as taboo. President Obama received the most flack on his campaign because he wanted America to develop more social concerns; he want to create programs where the needs of humanity were met before the needs of profit and production—the opposite of capitalism.

Sorry for the rant but it needed to be said. I just want to know why it is so hard for us to accept God’s forgiveness and salvation. It is clear in the scriptures how this is done but yet we refuse to go back to the scriptures to find it. We all have the power to forgive and we need not do anything to receive our salvation. The real question is how do I get this message across the patients I see everyday? To quote a famous commercial, “The world may never know.”

Another "What the Hell?" moment

2009-07-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

So it's 12:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. My stupid on-call shift is throwing off my sleep pattern. Anyways, I was just watching that Hannity guy on Fox News (why I don't know...it just pisses me off). I am utterly, utterly disgusted with him right now. He was talking about Health Care and how he feels Health Care should not be taken over by the Federal government because whenever the government takes over an industry, that industry suffers; the government always makes a situation worst. Now I am not quoting him but rather summarizing. I do welcome other translations but please do defend your translation. Now I tend to disagree with Hannity on his view of a National Health Insurance for two reasons: I have a pre-existing condition and trying to find affordable health insurance is near impossible; I have worked in hospitals for a number of years now and how the insurance industry has hurt hospitals, patients, doctors, ect. Health Insurance companies are raking in millions of dollars in profit while millions of Americans cannot even afford basic health care coverage. Even the basic health coverage can throw an individual into bankruptcy if something were to happen to them. Is this right Mr. Hannity? Do the needs of others not matter? I'm sorry Mr. Hannity but not all of us have a wonderful job where we get paid to talk about our own personal political beliefs. We do not make the large salary or have the excellent health coverage that you have from Fox News. Rather, the majority of Americans are suffering at the hands of greedy health insurance companies who pry on the fears of Americans and charge outlandish premiums and cover the smallest amount possible. Doctors, very good doctors, are being forced out of business because insurance companies refuse to pay for anything. Is this right Mr. Hannity? Is it right that a skilled surgeon, a surgeon who one day may very well be your last hope for a saving a loved one, be forced to find a new profession because he/she cannot make a livable wage? Is this right? Your twisted view of America may have at one time may have worked but it is not going to work any longer. We need to take care of one another and worry less about ourselves. Individuality is important but the love for one’s neighbor is equally if not more important. I will conclude this entry with a thought for everyone to think about. 150 years ago, the Federal Government interfered with the private sector and made slavery illegal. The government did this to ensure the protection of ALL individuals. Are you, Mr. Hannity, saying that the Federal Government should not have interfered with the private sector and not have ended slavery?

“Love one another as I have loved you…”

An untimely Death...Journal Entry for Week 5

2009-07-05T21:34:00.001-07:00

Last Monday was my first on-call shift. It was a very busy night filled with Traumas, emergencies in the ED, and end of life decisions. One patient and his family have stayed with me since last Monday. He came into the emergency room while I was tending to a Trauma. The Trauma surgeon pointed him out to me as they wheeled him past the Trauma room. The paramedics were doing CPR on him. I finished up in the trauma room, checked in on my families in the waiting room and then went over to see how he was doing. The nurses were rushing around and numerous specialists were coming in and out of the room. I stayed back and watched from a distance. With every passing minute the man’s condition got worst and worst. I had to leave for a bit to check in on my families in the waiting room. I had a lot of patients that night who were critical and needed attention. A few minutes later I got a page from the operator saying that his brother is on line one. So I walked over to the phone and told him that he needs to come to the emergency room as soon as possible. He wants to know more information but I am not allowed to give out any details. The brother had a long drive ahead of him and it was already close to midnight. I continued to check in with nurse for the next couple of hours and even talk to the last person who saw the patient alive and walking around. We were all under the impression that this man did not have much family and that his brother was the only relative alive. He was not old by any stretch of the imagination. He was only 59 years old and his brother coming in was in his early 50’s. A few hours pass and the receptionist paged me. She told me that the brother has arrived. It is about 2 in the morning and I am running on pure adrenalin at this point. I go and find a doctor who can give this man more that just the basic information that I had. The cardiologist came in and told the brother that the patient has had a massive heart attack; the only reason he is still alive is because of the dozen of drugs forcing his heart to beat. They were not sure if he would survive the night let alone be able to recover from the lack of oxygen to the brain. I took the brother upstairs and notified the nurse that he was in the waiting room. There was nothing more that I could do at this point so I decided I should try to get some shuteye. I finally find my way up to the on-call room and fall asleep at 4 am. At 5 am the pager went off. It is the MICU calling to tell me that the patient has taken a turn for the worst and that I needed to come up. I walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water in my face to wake up. I put my tie back on and headed over to MICU. When I walked in the room, still half asleep, there are about five or six nurses crowding around the patient pushing different meds and writing down readings from the monitor. The brother was sitting on the window bench. I sat down next to him and watched the nurses do their job. We were both quite. I did not know what to say and this man is watching his brother die before his eyes. I was still under the impression that he has no other family coming in. We both watched as the nurses cared for the dying man. We began to converse about end of life care when the nurse came over and asked me to go downstairs and meet the patient’s sister who is arriving shortly. I was so relieved to know that the patient and the brother have more family coming in. I walked downstairs and meet the sister and her husband. I bring them upstairs and they saw their family member for the first time on a ventilator. His lungs were no longer working and the ventilator had to literally force the air into his body. It was very violent to watch this. I got paged that a new trauma is coming in and I had to excuse myself but I promised to return later in the morning. I go back up around 9 am to check in the family and learn that he has a total of 8 brothers and sisters who had all arrived. The patient eventually did die later that day surrounded by his family. When he first arrived I feared that he would die alone but instead died with his family holding his hand. God answered my prayer…

Now I’ve been on a number of decedent care calls and have sat with a few families while their loved one was dying. None of them affected me like this one did. I believe it was because of the brother connection. The younger brother watched as his older brother lied in a hospital bed with no positive outlook. We are all going to die eventually but I feel we forget about how our death will affect others. This patient never went a doctor and did not take very good care of his body. He died way to young. Now his family is mourning his loss. While I do believe God is in the midst of their mourning the family still has to deal with a major loss. I am not saying that the patient killed himself but I wonder if he would have been more vigilant about his health if he would still be here today. Deaths do have away of bringing a family together but so do cookouts and other celebrations. Our actions impact not just us also the people around us. Nobody in that family thought that they were going to loose a brother and a friend last Monday but now they are forced to plan a funeral service and handle any and all of the patient’s financial and personal obligations. This case brought up a lot of issues for me but it did force me to call my brother later that day just to say hello. Maybe there is some good that came out of this case…

Faith of an Infant

2009-07-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

The Lutheran church along with the Roman Catholic and many other mainline Christian denominations have the policy that the sacraments are for the living and not for the dead. The dead are in God’s hands and God’s grace will abound. While I do believe and hold this policy I would still baptize a stillborn infant because the sacrament would be for the parents who are living. But to get more specific, what is the faith of a infant? I hold the idea that we do no know what the faith of infant. Jesus says in Luke 18, “‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’” The word child is a strange word in Greek. There is τεκνα which like saying “child of God” or “child of Bob and Mary Beth Day.“ παιδι͗α is the greek word for an actual child or infant. Therefore, the last line of that verse could very well read, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little infant will never enter it.’” The faith of an infant, the faith of child is there and we therefore should not judge their faith just as we desire others not to judge our faith. There is beauty to the mystery of faith. It creates a relationship with God and reminds us all that we are created in the image of God.

The other night I watched an episode of Star Trek: Voyager where Nelix was killed in a freak accident. He was on an away mission when he was killed and was brought back to the ship. Seven of Nine heard that Nelix was killed and used some of her nano-probes to bring him back to life some 18 hours after he was killed. When Nelix awoke, he was shocked to find that he saw nothing in death. He saw nothing that his culture told him that he would see. Nelix was having a hard time dealing this but eventually finds that the reason he is so upset that he did not remember seeing anything was more because he was afraid of death. Not remembering did not necessarily mean nothing happened but rather it was the fear of not knowing what did happen and what will happen. Essentially Nelix lost his faith but it was Naomi, a small child born on Voyager, that kept the faith of Nelix going. The episode ended with Nelix unsure of his faith but Naomi still believed in what Nelix told her.

When our adult faith is challenged, it challenges our ability to believe in what we thought was true. But a child’s faith is nearly bullet proof. A child has a unique walk with God even before they were born. God knows a child before they were even a glimour in their parent’s eyes. Their faith is fresh while an adult’s faith is more mature and easily challenged. I believe this is why Jesus said “... whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child/infant will never enter it.’” While I do not believe I will be able to explain this idea in one small journal entry but I hope I, and others, will continue to explore.

Some ramblings...

2009-06-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have been exploring the idea of relationships in CPE this past week. This is what I have come to understand about relationships. The relationships we create, whether they are boyfriend/girlfriend, parent/child, or a friendship, pose greatest threat to our inner most self while at the same time pose the greatest benefit and need for our overall self. Where would we be if it was not for the relationships that we have formed and sometimes broken up? Our relationships, and lack there of, define us as people. Our relationship to God and Jesus define us as Christians; our relationship to our employers define us as workers in a particular trade: pastors, electricians, doctors, nurses, ect. It is these relationships that help create our identity as individuals in this world. I hope to explore this a bit more in later blog entries.

In response to my blog entry from the other day about the struggle I am having over life and death issues and I want to continue my thought. It is amazing to me that we can question our faith so easily when countless men and women have been and still are willing to give their lives for what they believed in. My future roommate, Robbie, commented a few weeks ago on his own blog that he feels that nobody is willing to stand up for what is right anymore. We allow governments and individuals to oppress people based on the race, age, and gender. Martin Luther said, "You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say." Simillary, Martin Luther King Jr. also can be quoted by having said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere" How can we sit by and let our morals that define us as humankind, whether they are religious based or secular based, be compromised? Why do we so easily conform when our values, norms, and beliefs are compromised? Why do so easily not believe and trust in the values of our faith when one event, whether major or minor, happens to us?

Christians are amazing creatures. We are all taught the Easter story at a young age (or sometimes at a older age). It is something that many of us know by heart. But yet, every year, Christians around the world read the passion story; we hear how Jesus is handed over to the Jewish and Roman authorities, how he is tortured, how he is hung on the cross. We hear the last seven words that Jesus said before his death and then we hear how he was raised from the dead. We need this yearly reminder because without it, our faith would lost and we would forget the great love that Christ had for us. Every year we sing, "Christ is Risen, Alleluia" to remind us that Christ is raised from the dead. Sometimes we must remind ourselves of the promises Jesus gave us. For me, I need to be reminded daily and every time I walk into a patient's room of the Gospel and the promises proclaimed in the Gospel just as Christians, myself included, need to be reminded every year that Christ is Risen and has broken the bonds of death.

CPE Journal Entry for Week 3

2009-06-23T09:08:00.001-07:00

I remember an episode of Star Trek Voyager where Harry Kim is sucked into sub-space and then spit out on different planet. This planet believed in a spiritual after-life but Harry knew that their bodies were just sent to an astroid when they died. The people did not know this. For many of the people on this planet, Harry Kim’s explanation created doubt in their heart. Harry even began to wonder about his own mentality. But at the end of the episode when he is talking to Captain Janeway, she told him that they notice some sort of brain activity would leave the astroids every time a body was transfered there. Was that their “Spirit” or was that just a computer glitch? The episode never went into anymore detail but it did create a even greater wonder in the afterlife for Harry Kim and the Voyager crew. After completing three weeks of CPE, I am beginning to reflect on my own personal mortality just as Voyager’s crew did in this episode. I attended a funeral on Sunday and every time I attend a funeral I ask myself, “Is this the end?” “Am I going to just die one day and rot away in a wooden box?” I know this is not the case and my faith has taught me differently but my initial reaction every time I first walk into a funeral home is the same. I wonder if this is the end or is there more too it. Now when I receive a decedent care call I still have the same wonders and doubts in my heart. I still go up and minister to the people in the room and tell that by their faith God will prevail, but I personally still have doubts in my own heart. These doubts do end whenever I hear the promises that Jesus made for us in the Gospel but I have to hear them in order to believe in them. I guess seeing and hearing is believing. Death is a funny thing. For one person it is an end and for another it is just the beginning. I feel like I am stuck in the middle most days.

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

2009-06-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

A gift for my dad on Father's day...A day off from preaching...Enjoy.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Today we honor the men in our lives who have been a calming and loving presence for us. We remember and honor our Fathers this day for all the hard work they have done for us. Some of us are fathers themselves, I am not one of them. We all can owe a great deal of gratitude to fathers for raising us to be successful men and women. They were the ones who loved us, yelled at us at times, and shown us value of doing the right thing. So today we thank them for what they have done for us and we honor and remember them not only today but everyday just as we honor our mothers and women in our lives. But we must not forget our Heavenly Father, our Great and Holy God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. Our God is the greatest parent we will ever know; possessing the power to be a healer, a comforter, that calming presence, whatever we need. We know that God is with us on every possible journey we face.

And today I want to focus on the journey of our life. I believe our lives can be summed up in the age old question of “Why did the chicken cross the road?” We are always determined to get from one point in our lives to the other. From Birth to death, 1st month of pregnancy to the time of birth, from the initial diagnosis of stage one of cancer to the point where their is nothing more the doctors can do. We are very much concerned with how to get from point A to point B but we never look at the in between; the how we go to point B.

It is the getting from Point A to Point B that the Gospel writer, Mark, is trying to get us to focus on. There is African Folk Story that goes something like this: There is a African Folk story. A young boy wanted to get his teacher something special. So he walked to the ocean, which was a great distance away and grabbed a handful of sand and then walked back. This took the young boy days to complete the journey. When he returned and gave his teacher the sand, she was very moved by the boys actions but said to the boy “you walked so far to give me this.” The boy responded, the journey is apart of the gift.

Our Gospel story starts our with Jesus telling his disciples that they are going to go to the other side of the sea of Galilee. This was probably a very common trip for the disciples to take. Many of them being skilled fishermen made the journey all the more easier. Maybe this is why Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat. They leave the shore, the crowds that have faithfully followed them are left behind and they start their journey for the next shore, unknown of what awaited them. Now that in itself all we really need to know right? Jesus is leaving one shore to go to another shore on a boat. Jesus is going from Point A to Point B. But the writer does not really care about the Point A to Point B part. Mark doesn’t even really tell us where Point B is. Rather Mark wants us to look at the actual journey; the trip; the boat ride.

Now boats are a funny thing. I have had my fair share of boat trips. I can remember my family’s trip to Maine. While we were in Maine we decided to take a boat out on a whale watching trip. So we go out and the seas were rough that day. My brother is at the bow or front of the boat video taping the boat going up and down. I am in the stern or back of the boat puking my brains out. Then the captain decides to turn the boat around. I was expecting a nice slow turn but the captain turn the wheel hard left. Needless to say, I was done with boats for awhile. Then I met my friend Mike who had a boat. He never really named it but I named it the USS What ever you do, don’t forget your life jackets. I remember one particular time when we were working on this boat and decided to take the boat out for a test ride. We get the boat out and then all of a sudden the engine starts sputtering. We turn to look back and smoke is pouring from the engine. We were about ready to abandon ship because we have spilled way to much gas on the back carpet. What took 10 minutes to go out took 45 minutes to return back to shore. Who would of thought a few barnacles on the propeller could make the engine go haywire? Needless to say, boats=hold on for dear life.

And what happens to the disciples? Their somewhat normal trip from one shore of Galilee to the other shore turned into a Holy Crap!?!? This storm rolls and causes the experienced fishermen to panic. They begin to fear for their lives. They know this storm is bad and that their small little boat is no match for the wind and the rain. The disciples are freaking out but Jesus, their great teacher, the guy who has done some pretty amazing miracles, you know this really cool guy, is asleep in the back of the boat. They wake Jesus and say “Do you not care/ not concern/ not worried that we are all about to die?” Their journey was being turn upside down and they feel like Jesus doesn’t even care enough to help them with the boat. But Jesus stands and says something so profound, so amazing, so brilliant. Jesus doesn’t help with trying to get the water out of the boat. He doesn’t jump into the water leaving his friends. He just says, “Peace! Be still!” The waters calm and the winds cease. The storm was over. Jesus had calmed the storm of their journey but more important, Jesus had calm the worries of his disciples. Jesus was that calming presence for the disciples as Jesus is the calming presence in our lives.

How many times have we been in a situation where we thought a simple journey was awaiting us but this journey turns into something far more difficult. A simple doctors visit turns into terminal cancer. A simple run to the store turns into a life and death trauma situation. A simple baseball game results in a head injury and a family having to decide when it is time to end treatment. These “simple journeys” turn into highly chaotic and confusing moments in our lives. They demand us to act sanely in the mist of insanity. But throughout these chaotic journeys Jesus is the calming and soothing presence for us. Jesus says “peace, be still” in the trauma bay, at the kitchen table where bad news is share, in the hospital room. Jesus is the calming presence for us just as he was the calm presence for his disciples some 2000 years ago. Know this presence, feel this presence, believe in this presence. For it is by God’s free grace that we hear those three little words, “Peace, Be Still.” In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

2009-06-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

After completing my first week of CPE at Reading Hospital I now know why Luther saw the world as "hell." Between the trauma calls and deaths on the floors my days have been kept very busy. I met some very warm and loving patients and families and very cold and harsh patients; patients with very stable minds to patients who are on the brink of a mental break down. The world that I see at Reading Hospital is a very hurt world. When I walk through the hospital I think about Martin Luther. I think about what was going through his mind when he turned his house into a hospital for people who were suffering from the Black Plague. I think about all the hurting and all the suffering that Luther saw. No wonder he thought earth was hell. But I think Luther was wrong in not seeing the good. Luther missed all the care he provided to those dying and sometimes people just want to be heard and remembered. Just something to think about...

2009-05-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

I am down to just a few days left at home before starting my CPE at Reading Hospital. The anticipation is killing me. I am jealous of those who have already begun working at their respective sites. I really have no motivation to do anything around the house. I have finished everything on my list except the deck. It is raining right now so that is my excuse.

It has been very lonely at home these past few weeks. I miss the community at LTSG. I never would imagine I miss the closeness of the community but I do. It was nice to just walk down the hall and say hi to someone.

I have cleaned out my room at home. It is sad to see it so bare. It is still hard to believe that I won't really be living here much anymore. It is no fun getting old. To many memories to give up...

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Easter

2009-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I should tell you that my sermon is on the Road to Emmaus. Textweek.com gave me the wrong text but it all worked. I just took out some of the specifics and only preached on the broad areas of the text.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

So how do we see Jesus? How do know God’s Spirit? Why didn’t Jesus’ own disciples not even recognize him? What does Jesus look like? These are all real but difficult questions to answer. We are constantly worrying and wondering am I going to recognize Jesus? It has become such an issue that we even had an entire class session in my systematic class where we discussed this very issue of what we thought Jesus might look like. Keith Hayward, a AME pastor and student at LTSG, said something very profound. “I don’t know what Jesus looks like, but I do want to recognize him when he comes back.” I think one of the strangest mysteries we have in our faith is that we really do not know what Jesus looks like and when we hear stories like this, we continue to worry and ask the question “Am I going to recognize Jesus when he comes to me?”
There are many different theories out to why the disciples did not recognize Jesus at first. Some believe Jesus was in his divine/resurrected being. Frankly I do not buy into this. Some believe that the stress Jesus was put through on the cross and the days before distorted his appearance but after he was raised he was healed of this stress. Again a little hard for be to believe. Some believe that God held their eyes close from recognizing Jesus, like the text says, but the text really doesn’t say that God kept their eyes closed. We just assume that God is the one who is doing the action.

So I want to claim that this text is more than just a post-resurrected experience by Jesus. Rather this text should make us ask question, “Who do you say that Jesus is?” and not “what does Jesus look like?”.

I can remember leading a small group of 9th and 10th graders at our Synod’s high school youth gathering a few years ago. We were talking about who they thought Jesus was. I was the lucky guy who got the most hormonal 9th and 10th graders at the event. They were having a hard time concentrating on this passage and I was getting frustrated. I finally screamed at the top of my lungs, mainly because none of them would stop talking, and said “WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” One of the students replied, “You are Matt Day, the loud mouth Jesus freak.”

As much as I wanted to slap that kid, what he said was True, Jesus is represented by us. Now I wouldn’t claim that I’m a loud mouth Jesus freak in sense that I am a tele-evangelist but I would claim to be passionate my faith and passionate our Church’s mission in the world.

I believe that Worship is a wonderful way that we can reflect Jesus to others. If you haven’t notice, this text is where we got the order for our Liturgy. First we hear the word and Jesus preaches on the word and what everything had meant, then Jesus breaks the bread and he is revealed to the disciples. Word and Sacrament.

But this text goes far deeper than just our worship. This text reminds us that we see Jesus sometimes in very unique ways. Jesus decides when he will be revealed to others and how he is revealed can change constantly.

Throughout the ages, artists have tried to describe what Jesus looks like. From the traditional Jesus holding the baby sheep to a more modern day scientific picture of what Jesus looks like. None of these pictures are wrong. They all hold a particular meaning for certain individuals and all speak to how we have come know who Jesus is. But we must remember that we have no real description of what Jesus looks like. We see in this text that not even the disciples recognize Jesus at first. I believe the reason behind this is that Jesus needs no description.

While it is fascinating to see how the portrayals of Jesus have changed and stayed the same, we must remember that simple fact that we really do not know what Jesus looked like. We have ideas and such but no hard description. I have come to believe that the Gospel writers intended that we shouldn’t so much be looking for a particular man that fits the description of Jesus but rather we concentrate on the work, the teachings, and life Jesus and just let Jesus worry about doing the revealing.

Jesus appears to us when we need Jesus and that isn’t just when we are sad or upset but it is a 24/7 thing. Sometimes that might be in the way of another individual, a school, a government, a church, a pastor, a TV, a guitar, a song, even sometimes in a TV show. We are all apart of the Body of Christ. Jesus finds us when we are lost. Just like the wonderful song says, “I once was lost but now I am found” so does Jesus seek us out. We need no description of Jesus because Jesus is inside each of us, inside you and me. Jesus has the power to reveal himself in many different ways. We will see Jesus revealed today when we celebrate this wonderful meal but Jesus will continued to be revealed when we leave this place. So go from this place, and know the answer to the question “Who is Jesus?” Amen.

Maundy Thursday Sermon

2009-04-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Throughout college I worked at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Towson, MD in the Patient Transport department. My sole job description was to take patients from one place to another. But since it was a hospital they were always understaffed on all units. Many times I had to help out nurses and nurse aides with minor procedures (i.e. holding the tube or helping patients get dressed…the jobs get a lot worst and I will spare you the details). So many of these patients, before they got sick or became weak due to an illness or old age, were independent people and I know from experience that to go from 100% independent to 100% dependent is an emotional and hurtful experience. It was humbling for me to see patients cry, yell, and sometimes just pray when they could not even do a simple task like putting on socks or tying their shoes.

And when I think back on my three years of service to Saint Joe’s, I think about this text in John. I think about Jesus washing the feet of disciples every time I think about a patient. I believe this passage in John is not so much about the actions that Jesus is doing but rather what these actions meant. What did it mean to the disciples to see Jesus, on his hands and knees washing their feet? What would you have said? Would you have been like Peter and told Jesus not to wash his feet or would you have said nothing but quietly thought about what it all meant.
Then Jesus comes back to the table and asks a “Do you know what I have done to you?”
The disciples must have been scratching their heads. All the events leading up to this night had to confuse them. Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem by people waving and laying palm branches at his path. They are shouting:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
People are treating him like a king and then Jesus takes on the role of a servant, a slave, and washes their feet. They had to have been confused. But Jesus explains his actions:
You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.
I could never begin to imagine the social implications this statement had. In this society, there were distinctions between the classes and you would dare not go down that social ladder because it was so hard to go up that ladder but Jesus is telling them to abolish these levels and look at people’s character and not at what the society says they are but who these individuals say they are.

How humbling these few sentences make us feel. At Saint Joe’s I always thought I would never be the one laying in that hospital bed but I eventually did end up in that bed. There was a point in my life that I could not put on my own socks, stand on my own, handwrite a note, or do anything else that could make me feel like a human; like me. We never think that anything so debilitating can happen to us. We never think bad things will happen to us but they always do. They might not be as serious as congestive heart failure but there are other incidents in our lives that can throw us back in our seats and make us wonder about our own humility, our own humbleness. Jesus was glorified in his humbleness towards his disciples and I am sure God will show God’s self through our humbleness in our lives because our love for one another.

In Greek, “Love” is a strange word. We just have one word to describe all the different kinds of love but the Greek language has more ways of describing love. The love Jesus is using here is called agapeo, which is love Christians share between one another. The love of assistance, the love of patience, the love we share with each and every one in this room. This love penetrates all races, nationalities, genders, congregations and denominations. This love is powerful. It is so powerful that it forces us to look at who are and how our actions affect others.

Every time we hear the story Jesus’ death we remember that love, that agapeo love, he had for us. That agepeo love he had for you and for me. This love moves us in ways we do not expect. It causes us to act with compassion on all we see. And sometimes we forget to show that love or face other obstacles in our way, such as sin, that make showing that love impossible but we must never forget share our agapeo love with one another. We must remind ourselves of that crucifixion. We must remind ourselves not just yearly of Jesus’ passion but almost daily. Remind ourselves that Jesus was crucified and died for you and me and Christ promises that he will always be with us. For our Lord was Crucified and remains for us a Crucified Lord.

My friends, the greatest act humility our world has ever seen was when a God came into our world as a poor child, grew into adult, preached, taught, and healed the outcasts of our world, washed his disciples’ feet, was betrayed and handed over to corrupt leadership of the Jewish and Roman Government, stretched out his arms, was a nailed to a cross, died for our sins, and remained the crucified Saviour bearing our sins, grieves, worries, and fears, everyday. What a beautiful Saviour. What a wonderful God. May these nails, this foot washing, and this holy sacrament of communion remind us of the one who suffered and died for our sake. Amen.

An appology and some Theology

2009-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I feel I should explain my last entry. I think I might have confused and scared some of you. On a side note, I think I tripled my readership with my last entry. I went from one reader to three. I wrote that entry out of angry and some of what I wrote may have come across as cruel. I did not intend for that particular entry to be cruel but as place to vent and to show the power of the cross. Lately, modern day theology has been focusing on a "Theology of Glory" rather than on the "Theology of the Cross." People like Joel Olstien preach a message that if we think and do good things, good things will happen to us. That is a "Theology of Glory." "Theology of Glory" preaches that God is high above and we must work up to God. God is just watching us as we go about our lives and punishing those that do wrong. This is very much not based on scripture but rather on an idea of God promoted by individuals who prey on hurting people in need of help.

The idea that one can pull one's self up by their own boots strap is possible (not very likely) but one must first be wearing boots to pull one's self up. So many of us have lost everything, including our boots, and turn to these tele-evangelists who preach the same thing that the rest of the world tells them; "If you work hard, things will get better."

Most of the time things do not get better but they get worst and then people lose hope in God. They blame God for everything and despise God. That idea spreads and soon we live in a world full of failed hope and batter dreams with people asking the question, "Where is God?"

Sometimes we are so foolish that we do not even know that God is with us. We forget that Jesus (and hell this is straight out of the bible) promised "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age." We keep looking for God, or at least we are told to look for God, but God has already found us. I was heart broken when my relationship ended and I still am but I know I have God with me. Shit happens but God is the one who always cleans up the mess.

Still doubting? Okay, I'll close with a story that recently happened close by. A small child was playing with his mom one evening. She had just opened the window so that her children could look outside. She turned around for two seconds only to hear her one son exclaim, "Max is outside." It seems her little boy had just pushed the screen out of the window and fell three stories. The mom ran down to find her little boy sitting in the grass without a scratch on him. The only injury he sustain was a fractured wrist. And where was God? How else could you explain how this child survived? Why do some die and others live? Let's just be glad God is the one making the decision on that but we can have confidence that God is with all of his children because Jesus promised "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age." Preach, live, and teach that God is with us. Preach, live, and teach the Cross.

An Update...

2009-03-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Yet again I am at a point in my life when I wonder why I just didn't become a monk. My heart is broken into many little pieces and all I want to do hide away. But I can't. I can't for two reasons. One, I live right across the hallway from her. Do you have any idea how hard it is not to go into her room and kiss her good morning or kiss her good night? Or to tell her you love her? Do you? I was happy and content before I met her. I really was. I was fine with being the single pastor and I did not want a relationship. She told me to open my heart. She was the one that pushed me to tell my parents. She was the one that want a relationship. I was just in shock that somebody could actually like me for more than just a expendable friend. But in reality, I was just as expendable as boyfriend as a simple friend. She says she needs to find herself, find out what she wants even though a few months ago I was what she wanted. I promised to give her my heart but my heart was not big enough. And so now I sit in my room, all alone, with nobody around to talk too, not even a simple old friend.

Two, who could I talk too? I have never been in a community so close and so tight and felt so alone and so distant. I feel isolated from any kind of church life. My church in Baltimore is an hour away and my teaching parish is not the place where I can comfortably tell members my personal problems. I wonder where God is and why did this happen? Lutheran theology is very comforting and beautiful but it can offer little comfort when all you have is that to turn too. We sometimes forget that the cross is full of splinters and nails. It is hard to cling to the cross after one has been battered and bruised.

And yet, when I finish this entry and post it, I will close my computer, get back out of my chair and continue on with my life because nothing is worth ending your life. Nothing. Believe it or not, I will wake up tomorrow and smile because I know that bloody and ragged Cross is there along with a man who made it possible for me to smile in the morning. That my friends is the beauty of the Cross. That my friends is the Theology of the Cross. Amen

Baptism of our Lord

2009-01-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A little boy was upset with his parents' financial situation, so he decided to write God a letter.

Dear God,
My mommy and daddy need $500 for bills and I don't know who else to ask. Could You please help?
Johnny

The letter was received by the local post office and put in the 'dead' letters pile. The clerk, being curious of the letter addressed to God, opened to see what it said. As you can imagine, he was touched by the letter and decided to help. He asked all his fellow workers to 'chip-in' a few dollars to help a family in need. When all the money was collected, it came to $300. The clerk sent a money order in an official Post Office envelope with the return address simply, God.
Several weeks later the same clerk found another letter addressed to God in the same writing.

The letter said,
Dear God,
Thank you for the $300, but next time don't use the Post Office, they have a $200 service charge.
Johnny

Lucky for us, Baptism is a free gift from God and does not involve the post office. Baptism for us is very different from the baptism that Jesus experienced. Mark’s version of the baptism of Jesus is very urgent feeling. It fits in with Mark’s theme of urgency through out the Gospel. Mark wants to move readers through his Gospel to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus appears in the wilderness, the River Jordan where John was baptizing, Jesus and the people around him experience this amazing revelation. It says “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” The word “torn apart” in Greek only appears twice in the Gospel; here in this story and at the Crucifixion of Jesus. This is a major event in Mark’s Gospel. Using this form of the word, it shows that God is with the people, his people.

And then this voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” You are MY Son. This phrase echoes the Father/Son relationship found in the Old Testament. One example is found in Genesis involving Abraham and his son Isaac. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” The author of Psalm 2 is another example. “I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” This small phrase emphasis a major point of Jesus’ relationship to the Father and Father’s relationship to Jesus: God and Messianc King, God and Servant of the Lord.

I know what some of are you are thinking. This is all well and good but why did Jesus need to be baptized? Jesus was sinless and he didn’t need a baptism for the forgiveness of sin. Why was he baptized? To answer this question we need to know that to be Baptized means to die. I know is hard to grasp this understand that to be baptized means to die especially when we baptize little babies but it more of a rebirth that we all experience when we are baptized. That is why we say we are reborn when we are baptized. For Jesus, his acceptance of his baptism meant two things: One, he was accepting the death on the Cross—a death he freely accepted—and Two, he was accepting his own humanity—he was accepting that he was just like you and me.

Our Baptism is much different from the one Jesus experienced. Jesus was sinless but we are not. We are all born with this original sin—the sin that separated Adam and Eve from God. It is by our baptism that we find forgiveness of this sin and in this Baptism God claims us as his own. Yes we will still sin but we will always find forgiveness in the loving arms of Christ because of our Baptism. Jesus is our mediator and when we sin it is Jesus proclaiming that “I died for that man” or “I died for that woman.” Christ still promises that he will bear our sins all because of our baptism. Our baptism is not done by us but it something that is done by God.

So today, as many of you have noticed, we have placed the baptismal font down in the center of the church. There has been a huge revival in the Lutheran Church over the years dealing with the Remembrance of our Baptism. Martin Luther wrote that “every time you wash your face, remember your baptism.” I feel that over the years, the act of baptism has been down played when in reality it is a life changing, life altering experienced that we go through. It is when we were claimed by God as one of his own and there was a promised made that God would never leave us when we needed him.

So today, as you leave, I encourage you all to remember your baptism by dipping your hand into the water, making a sign of the cross, or even just saying a prayer while touching the font thanking God for the Gift of baptism. Remember your baptism every time you go fishing or hunting, go for a walk, take a shower, wash your hands. For it was by your baptism God has said in the words of Isaiah , “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon them; they will bring forth justice to the nations.” In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Sermons, Sermons, Sermons....

2009-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Here is my sermon from Sunday, January 4th. I preached at the National Lutheran Home in Rockville, MD. I thought you all might enjoy reading it.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I think it is fitting that we are reading John 1 a few days after we rang in 2009. 2008 has been full of many ups and down. The economy ceiling has caved in causing millions of Americans to loose their jobs, their housing, and their very welling being. At the beginning of 2008, as we do every January, we dream, wish, and hope that this New Year, this new beginning, will bring about great and new things that will make our lives easier but all to often things do not change right away and sometimes will get worst before they get better.

Think about it, how many of us have made a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight, to spend less money, to spend more time with family and by the end of the year have forgotten the resolution or broken the resolution only after a few weeks. I believe as soon as we see what we have to give up for our resolution, we are scared and go back to our old, bad habits.

This year many of us have made promises. In this past election, all of our politicians who ran for office promised to deliver a better life, a better country, a better world. Sometimes this better life has taken years to come into affect. 50 years ago, nobody would have thought that our country would have elected a minority or a woman to the office of President. But as we have seen, this is no longer a dream but reality. Barack Obama has become the first African American President. In the beginning of the election, nobody thought that a black man or a woman would be the top two choices for the democratic party nomination or a woman be chosen as the vice president candidate for the republican party but it happened and we as a country should be proud.

I recently heard a statistic that Americans spend 450 billion dollars every year on Christmas. This includes not only gifts but the trees, lights, wrapping paper, anything involving the holiday. 450 billion dollars is a lot of money. We all claim it is a necessity for getting us into the holiday spirit and I have to agree with this ideology to a point. I love the symbolism involved in the Christmas Tree or ripping through wrapping paper to get to a new gadget. But I also learned that it would only cost 10 billion dollars to supply clean drinking water to people in third world countries. For many living in these countries, they spend half of the day walking to the nearest water source only to have to walk back to their village. Their life is consumed with walking to get a necessity of life. Children have to participate in retrieving water and cannot attend school. What if these children were to get an education? What if one of these children would be the one would find the cure for cancer or aids? What if this one of these children would be the next Einstein or Martin Luther King? What if? For just 10 billion dollars, who knows what the world could be like.

There are all kinds of statistics like this one. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson point out once in a lecture that more people die every year from hunger related illnesses than from terrorism but yet never hear about this. Every day, 16,000 children die of hunger-related diseases. That’s one child every 5.4 seconds and this does not include adults. Terrorism is by no means a good thing but world hunger is also a great concern that we all need to remember not only in our prayers but in our actions.

Who knows what will happen in 2009. There are many uncertainties but we as Christians know that God is with us in our beginnings and in our endings. Through life and death, God is with us. It was God who promised his people that he was “going to bring [the Israelites] from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here… I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel. Life can be scary at times. So many Americans are living in fear that their jobs will be cut and all they have worked for will be lost. Hospitals and Nursing homes just like this one have patients and residents who are close to death. But we know that even in the midst of our greatest fears and worries Christ, the Word that became flesh is among us. John 1 proclaims that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and lived among us.”

We will find a way to work through the challenges that our nation, our world, and each of us face. We will prevail but we need to trust and act on God’s word. Jesus promises to always be with us in our beginnings and when we end our life on earth and move onto our eternal life in heaven. We have seen God’s glory. God glory has been revealed through Jesus will continue to reveal his glory through his church and people carrying out the Gospel. God’s word is powerful and changes lives. I cannot stress it enough that through our beginnings and our ends, Jesus will always be with us. That is our faith and that will carry us through even our worst times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

What the hell...

2008-09-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Over the past few hours, I have been watching CNN as they covered the voting of the Bail Out Bill. The bill failed by just a few votes. According to Yahoo News, "Several Republican aides said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had torpedoed any spirit of bipartisanship that surrounded the bill with her scathing speech near the close of the debate that blamed Bush's policies for the economic turmoil."

Oh my God! Bush's policies have ruined the economy. We are in a war that is costing us 10 billion dollars a month. Bush created loop holes allowing companies to take tax breaks and send US jobs over seas. Bush did nothing, more importantly Republicans did nothing to stop the out of control banking industry from lending bad loans. We are so in debt as a nation that nobody trusts our dollar or our economy. Democrats just took control over congress this past year. Republicans however were in power much longer than the Democates and therefore the Republicans have ruined the economy. Republicans voted for the war, voted for the extreme spending, voted and allowed the out of control tax loop holes. Republicans have lost their power and now they are going to find any opportunity to now hurt those who took away their power.

Frankly, anyone who voted no this bill did it for two reasons: 1.) They did it out political move in an effort to hold their seat. 2.) They are greedy and just want to make sure they are making a buck and that their business buddies are able to make a buck. Either way, the people that lose are the American people. President Bush when he leaves office will go back to his ranch and live high on the hog. Members of congress will have their nice homes that they can go home to. Many Americans though are losing their homes, jobs, and their way of life. God be with our nation.

Something to think about...

2008-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Is it okay to go through life expecting and anticipating that everything we have plan, everything that we work so hard for would just fall apart? Is it healthy to keep our expectations low and expect everyone to stab us in the back? Should we trust nobody and confide nothing to our friends, family members, or coworkers in fear that they will use this information to hurt us?

I ask these questions as I sit in a workshop dealing with appropriate sexual relationships. I wonder what happened in our society where we no longer have a sense of appropriate boundaries. Talking to two fellow students they said, if they were walking back alone at night to their dorm and was approached by unknown male, their immediate reaction is that this man will hurt them. Now I understand that we should be on guard but why is that our first reaction? You could apply this same question to seeing a black male walking down the street. Many of our reaction is that he is going to hurt us when 99% percent of the time the man is just walking to the store. Why are we always on the guard? Why do we feel that there is always someone out there that wants to hurt us?

I feel that our society, our cultural, is calling us to be on guard. Ever since 9/11, we fear that someone is going to attack us again. Which is probably true since we attack back. What if we just talked instead of fight? What if we had an open mind, while still being on guard, but not expecting everyone is out to get us. Open mindedness is key in the world right now. We are all not criminals. We are confused and scared.

2008-09-03T05:38:00.001-07:00

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Henry Lyte wrote this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis. He finished the song on the Sunday he was delivering his farewell sermon to his church. He was going to travel to Italy to receive treatment for his illness. He did not make it to Italy and died three weeks after he left his church. Here is an excerpt from his farewell sermon:

“O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.”

The song is a song of hope. It’s a prayer for God to stay with us in our worst times, in the times when we lose our jobs, when we lose our faith, when we lay at death’s door. The song took on a new meaning for me when I was sick; to the point of death. I particularly love the last the verse of the song. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes of death to shine me through the gloom of death dark light and point me to the heavenly skies above. Death is not escapable and neither is the work of Christians. While we all die we still all have a life to live and to live that life fully to the Gospel of Christ.

“Behold the life giving cross on which hung the Salvation of the world. Oh Come let us Worship him.”

2008-08-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Reading through google news I found an interesting article about a man who was released from a 30 year prison sentence after being found guilty of raping three teenage girls. Being a sociology major, I have had many discussions about the topic of sex crimes and whether or not a sexual offender will remain a danger to society. Frankly, I believe sex crimes to be like alcoholism. Prison will not fix the problem but rather strict psychological and socioliogical counsoling is needed inorder to help these offenders. I believe this with any crime though.
Prisons do not solve the problem of social deviance. If prisons did work, we would not have criminal offenders.

Getting back on subject, I think it is wrong, if not criminal, that these people would continue to persecute this man after he has served a 30 year sentence. Granted what he did was horrible but he did serve his time. I would be more worried about a murderer living next to me than a sexual offender but I do not have kids. I have mixed feelings about the sex offender registry. It is good in the fact that we know who is living in the neighborhood but it is also hiding our privacy; privacy being a right that many Americans cherish and enjoy. I am one that enjoys my privacy.

What this man did was wrong but his neighbors are probably even more wrong. God promises to forgive us as long as we ask and seek his forgiveness. 30 years in prison is a very long time and I could not imagine spending that long in prison. He has served his time. His neighbors however took it upon themselves to block his driveway when he came home. Police had to hold them back as they crowded the driveway preventing his car from pulling in. According to the AP, "George Feigley's release comes amid heightened concern that police lack authority to monitor his activities now that he is free.

A woman who lives next door to Feigley's home, where his wife has continued to live, has been circulating a petition to keep Feigley from returning to his old neighborhood.

When Feigley arrived at his three-story Harrisburg home as a passenger in a car shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday, about 15 people blocked the driveway, shouted and held up signs that said, among other things, "Don't let him hurt again." Two police officers helped clear a path for the car to get in the driveway."

What intrigues me more is that "State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola has said he plans to introduce legislation that would allow authorities to keep potentially dangerous sex offenders in prison after they have finished serving their sentences." In other words, they would never be released from prison and would never learn how to properly act in society. I thought we were working on improving society. Fear is not a deterioration. Scaring people into going to prison does not work but rather working with individuals to help them avoid prison and social deviance. I like to hear everyone's thought on this. Please comment. I believe this should be a debate not among a small group of legislators or sociologist but among everyone.

One final thing before I close. Last week I had a discussion with my father about the incident that occurred two years ago with me. He said if I had died, he would probably have left the church. I cannot stop thinking about that. People die everyday and he has spent time with many people who were dying. Death is never fair but it is apart of our life. I cannot imagine my dad being anything else than a pastor. He is somebody I look up to and only dream that one day I would be as good as a pastor as he is. He is more than a pastor but rather a theologian. To think that if I would have died my dad would of given up on God hurts me more than anything else in the world. What this world needs is not a great and glorious king but rather a man who can hold us in our darkest hour and let us know that we are loved by God. I do wonder about death more now than ever. If I would have died two years ago, how would my family have acted? What would they had done? What would they have thought about God? God is fair but life is not. We all will die but for the time being we are all living. Live for the moment but know that one day life will end on earth and begin in heaven. Death is always painful and is never welcome but it is going to happen. I hope that I will continue to live a long, long life but if God calls me home early, I hope that nobody loses faith. God is God. He works in mysterious ways and he will continue to work in all of us; whether we believe or we do not believe.

Blessings!

2008-08-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

I started watching Star Trek back in high school mainly because Jerri Ryan was wearing spandex but now that I am a college graduate I appreciate the show for more than just a women wearing spandex. Star Trek gives me hope that mankind will perceiver and overcome the problems of today and thrive in the future; where wars are no longer used to settle differences and the scarcity of oil is replaced with a new fuel source.

We all need to find something that gives us hope. Star Trek only fills part of that void. It is my faith that fills the rest. However, I could really use a little bit more of Star Trek and faith as I leave for seminary and decide the course of my life. It's been a rough week...

Stuff in the News--July 31, 2008

2008-07-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Now that my summer internship is done and over with, I think I will continue to use this blog for advocacy. What can I say, I am a sociologist.

BBC news is reporting that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be cutting 22,000 state jobs and 200,000 will be receiving pay cuts. When I say pay cuts I mean everyone receiving a salary cute will be paid minimum wage. California's state financial controller, John Chiang, a Democrat, said he is refusing to pay employees the new salary saying it could cause legal actions. The Governor said he is willing to sue the Controller’s office in order for the pay cuts to go into effect. And the Republicans say we are not in a recession. Banks are failing, State Governments are cutting jobs and salaries, the stock market is loosing more shares every day; screw a recession, I say we are on the brink of a depression.

Exxon-mobile, the country’s leader in oil production, made a record nearly 12 billion dollar profit. Profit people!!!!!!! While Americans are having to make the decision or whether or not to eat or drive to work, Exxon is taking in record profits. We do not need to drill in the Golf, we need to drill these energy companies. We need to take the hell out of them and give back all the money they have stolen from Americans and give it back. Since July 11th, gas prices have fallen roughly 20 dollars a barrel. It is a roughly 14% drop in price. However pump prices have only come down about about 3%. If pump prices were to reflect the drop in oil, we should be paying roughly 3.53 a gallon, a 42 cent difference. I know Lutherans believe in Justification by faith, but I hope to God these oil executives burn in hell.

A prayer for our country...Oh God, help us. Amen.

Final Paper

2008-07-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

With my internship behind me, I had finished my final paper of my internship. I thought you all may want to read my paper. I know its long but I am a graduate of sociology and I like to write. Enjoy.

Coming into this program, all I could think about was what was I getting myself into. I nearly had a nervous breakdown when I turned into the retreat center and I found myself driving through a farm to get to the retreat center. This was the first time in a long time that I had no control over what was going to happen. I had no idea what I was going to be doing, who I was going to be living with, and I had no idea what possessed me to apply to servant summer. I never imagined that I be chosen for the program and I really just wanted to say I tried to do something new but it was not God’s will. Apparently it was God’s will that I be accepted into the program and I would have to surrender my life over to individuals who I have never met. Part of being a seminarian is being able to trust that God is in control and this was my first experience with put my full faith into God’s hand. I was very surprised that at the end of my eight weeks that I would really miss going into the office, sitting in the Atlanta traffic, and staying with Les and his son Mark.

I learned many things from working with LSG but more importantly what LSG has taught me was that this world is not always fair and not one person can change it. It takes a special group of people working very hard to make a difference and LSG does just that. I came into this summer with the idea and hope of changing the world but what I learned was that to make a difference, we all need to work together. The following are just some of the things that I realized from working with LSG.

What is “Good” and what is “Bad?”

One day during the usual lunch discussion a lady made a comment about a recent article in the paper about a Georgia Tech student who died from Heroin overdose. She thought it was wrong that the paper published that he was a good kid because good kids do not do drugs. Now I thought she was wrong but I had only been at this office for a little over a week so I kept my mouth shut. Elizabeth turned to me and said I’m too quiet and to chime in. I told her I did not think there was any good left in the world and I really believe that to be true when we think just because somebody uses drugs automatically makes them a bad person. We live in a time period where we can do almost anything. We can transplant organs from human to another (from one species to another even) and yet we use violence to settle difference, we lock up society’s worst offenders and do nothing to try to change their behaviors. Studies have shown that if communities and governments invest in community development programs, crime will fall while good behaviors, social advancement, and overall a better environment for people will increase. We rather invest in weapons that kill and destroy and less in trying to make lasting changes in the lives of people, in the lives of our neighbors.

“Those arms were meant for you.”

I was at Target one night buying a card for my dad for Father’s day and I decided to check out the DVD department. They had a DVD titled the “Ultimate Gift.” I had seen the beginning once before and had always wanted to see the ending. One scene has been on my mind. Jason, who was searching for his gift left by his grandfather (which is really a life lesson) and Emily (a young girl who is dying from leukemia) are sitting in the chapel of the hospital. Emily is crying because she knows she is very sick and Jason said “I don’t know a lot about Religion or Jesus” and pointing to the statue of Jesus he said “but I know those arms were meant for holding you.” I’ve been going back and forth with living down here and always thinking about the loneliness of not knowing anyone down here when I am missing the big picture and the job God is calling me to do. The loneliness that these kids who are living in foster care is unimaginable. I know what it feels to be loved because I have been loved and I miss having love ones around me because I know what it means to have love ones around me. These kids do not. Many of them have not seen their families in years and have parents that want nothing to do with them. They have been placed in foster home after foster home and never really feel a sense of love and family. I know what I miss but these kids never have felt it.

Standing up for what is right is more important than anything else.

Everything we do in life reflects how individuals and society views us. Martin Luther put it right when he said "You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say." To not stand up in any job for what is right is the same as committing the wrong. I enjoy working for a church agency because I am working to better society. I know its a little "clichesish" but I'm going to say it anyway; "Our kids are our future." Working in adoption these past eight weeks, I have seen and heard stories of how children were pulled from homes because they were abused physically and mentally. I have heard stories of 13 and 14 year olds who have gave up their newborns because they cannot provide adequate parenting to the child. This could all be very different if we, as a country, all work harder in educating and providing better programs to children and adults alike. If we did this adoption or foster care would be a thing of the past. We would not spend billions of dollars a year in court cost, child care cost for foster kids, or anything involving adoption if we would as a society, if we as a Christian Church, invest in programs that better individuals rather than investing in bombs and bullets that kill and destroy families. I would love to see the day when Adoption and Foster Care are things of the past. I want to see the day when we all turn to our neighbors, our enemies, the bad guys and say "lets work this out over coffee."

The great wonder and mystery of Faith and Grace.

The single most important church doctrine in the Lutheran Church is Justification by Faith through Grace. I had to memorize that title in confirmation as many Lutherans had to. But what exactly is faith and what exactly is grace? How can I have faith? Well it's by God's grace. Well what is God's grace? It comes from your faith. Faith comes from God's grace but one must have faith to receive grace. Now you know why I do not understand Faith and Grace. The beauty of theology is that its okay to admit that we don't know. Science demands hard facts to back up findings and the truth but theology and religion facts and proof solely rest with God. To say we don't know shows the world the great awe and power of God. God is God. If we could understand God we would not need God.

There is the passage from Matthew where Jesus proclaims that if we only have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. I have never been able to say to a mountain move and that mountain actually moved but I do believe those mountains Jesus is referring to is not the physical mountains in the land but the mountains we create in our society and in our lives. While I enjoy working in social justice and social change agencies, these same agencies are faced with life altering decisions to make everyday. I have come to realize that this world really does need God to make the hard decisions for us. Good people lose their jobs because of corporate take overs, young men and women die everyday because of drug related crimes, parents have to bury their children because of cancer or other incurable diseases are just some of the problems we deal with every single day. Why one child lives while another dies is a mystery but its a mystery that we do not have to know about or will ever have to make those choices. God makes the hard choices and God also comforts us.

Doing what God is calling us to do is different from what society is calling us to do.

One night I was watching TV and came across a show called Hopkins. It profiles doctors at John Hopkin's Hospital in Baltimore (Of course I could not turn down an opportunity to watch a TV show involving Baltimore). One of the doctors who was being profiled was going through a rough patch in his marriage. He was having to work 80 hours a week for his residency while his wife mostly took care of their three children. She asked him to move out while they sort everything out. He said "a good doctor will always put his patients first." By this very definition his family would have to come second. This man, who is a very good doctor, was willing to risk losing his family and the love of his life so that he may save the life of a patient. I do not know if I should give him a metal or slap him. The road that Jesus is calling us to walk on is not well paved but it is full of pot holes and individuals who are set on robbing us. God has called him into medicine to save lives and he needs to do just that but God also gave him the responsibility of being a father to his kids and a husband to his wife.

Disability vs. Ability

Extreme Makeover recently featured the Hughes family and rebuilt their house to accommodate the needs of their son Patrick Henry Hughes. Patrick Henry was born with no eyes and a number of birth defects have left him with the inability to stretch his limbs out 180 degrees. Patrick Henry is bound to his wheelchair and relies on his parents for assistance. The house he was living in was not handicapped accessible. He had to, at times, craw on the floor while he dragged his wheelchair up different ramps throughout the house. The situation that he was living in was not livable but he really was not complaining. While he wanted a new house he was very happy with the hand God had dealt him. He told Tye Pennington that he does not see his blindness as a disability but rather an ability. People that can see judge on the outside before they judge on the inside. While Patrick’s eyes may not work, his mind does and he is a highly gifted musician. He plays pieces simply by ear and is even in the University of Louisville’s marching band. His father pushes him in formation while Patrick Henry plays the trumpet. Along with the trumpet, Patrick Henry is a brilliant pianist and vocalist. He has inspired the entire city of Louisville, Kentucky with his music and his outlook on life. What I could not get over was how happy Patrick Henry was even before Extreme Makeover came into his life. He was very content with living in his parent’s house and living the life God gave him to the fullest. Many of the children that LSG helps place have developmental and physical disabilities and many of the caseworkers and myself really wonder if these kids will ever be able to live a normal life. Patrick Henry has against all odds become a successful musician who is in college working very hard to make a difference in the world and if he can then I believe anyone can.

This experience at Lutheran Services of Georgia has impacted my faith in many ways. Faith is a very strange entity. Our faith is never the same from day to day and to have good faith also means to have bad faith. Having faith is probably best described by George Ritzer who is a sociologist from the University of Maryland and is an expert in the theory on McDonaldization. Ritzer describes McDonalization as “irrational rationality” which means its crazy to believe in something that seems so wrong but at the same time is a great benefit to us. McDonaldization is simply taking a very complex and expensive process and determining the fastest and cheapest way to complete the process. While McDonalization saves us money it also cost countless individuals their jobs and their individuality. Ritzer uses “irrational rationality” as a negative term but we as Christians can use this as a positive term apply this to our faith as “irrational rationality” because even though it may seem crazy to believe in a God that we cannot physically see we still believe. Part of my internship was spent learning about how the system of adoption works. I would go to a number of staffing meetings with different LSG caseworkers. I heard countless stories of Meth-addicted mothers and fathers who would leave their young children alone with strangers as they go and try to find their next hit. I heard stories of children hiding with their parents as they ran from the police. Not only are their minds forever distorted about right and wrong, but these children who are so young are having to function as adults. These children are having to supply their everyday needs that should be supplied by their parents. They are having to be parents for their younger siblings because their parents are in a back room shooting up. It is impossible to sit there and listen about these children and wonder where God is in the midst of these children. But at the same time while I wondered where God is, God is right there in midst of all the heartache and confusion these children were facing. While I heard so many stories of the horrors many of these children faced at the same time I heard of foster parents who would take these children in and for the first time in these young children’s lives would feel love. I heard of adoptive parents who already had two children and want to adopt because they want to make a difference in these children’s lives. While what these parents are doing may seem irrational, it is also the rational thing to do. We all as a society, as Christians, have so much to give and sometimes some of us have an extra bed, extra room in our hearts for another child who needs to feel love. Just as adoption is “irrational rationality” so to is our faith. It is crazy to believe but at the same time is is crazy not to believe in a God that loves us so much.

Extreme Makeover showed its 100th episode about halfway through my internship this summer. One of the builders was giving a motivational talk and said, "We are not heros but we are angels." We do not always have to be heros to make a difference. We cannot save the world and the world does not need to be saved. The world has a Saviour and has been saved through the blood of Christ. Rather this world needs angels, those bearing the Word of God and Christ himself, in order that others may see and know God. The work of the church is not just a one ministry organization accomplished by ordained pastors. On the contrary, the church is full of of ministries and missions all determined on bringing the world the Light of Christ. If I was to find out tomorrow that seminary was no longer an option, I would not be upset because I know that I would continue to serve God through living out the Gospel through my day to day interactions with others. That is the only thing God is calling us to do; live out the Gospel everyday, to sin boldly but have a even stronger faith in Christ, and to know that God will never abandon us in anything we do.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

2008-07-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

With just one day remaining at my internship I thought I would talk today about the last biblical quote I briefly talked about yesterday.

Micah 6: 3-8

‘O my people, what have I done to you?
   In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
   and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
   Aaron, and Miriam.
O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
   what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
   that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.’

‘With what shall I come before the Lord,
   and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
   with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

I find it a little odd that God is questioning the people of Israel, his chosen people. God saved them from the wrath of Egypt and lead them to the promise land. He saved them countless tyrants and yet his people still question him. They have no patience. I could sit here all day and criticize the Israelites but I would be just criticizing myself and every other Christian in the world.

My dad told a story in a sermon one time about the invention of the ejection seat in fighter jets. During the training of the seats, pilots were launched into the air while strapped to the seat and then they would have to let go so the parachute could open and they would fall safely back to earth. However many pilots were injured during the testing because they could not let go of the seat, the one thing that was solid and what they thought would be their safety neat. How many of us have a seat, have a comfort that we cannot let go even it means being injured or even killed? How many of us live in fear that if we do let go, will our parachute, our faith save us? If you do not raise your hand you are only kidding yourself. Even myself have doubts about my faith. Did Jesus really die on the cross? Did Jesus even exist? Is everything I believe in a lie, a story that somebody made up so that they could take my money? There are so many questions that I have with no real answer to them and I am sure many Christians have the same questions. All we have to hold onto is our faith and for some reason, our faith is not enough sometimes.

It is human nature to question what we cannot see, when sometimes what we cannot see is right in front of us. Ever walk into a wall? I do it at least once a day and not on purpose. Just because we cannot see something does not mean it does not exist. In my final paper about Servant Summer, I talked about a term “Irrational Rationality.” It literally means what it reads; it is crazy but at the same time the best thing we can do. Sociologists usually use the term as a negative term. George Ritzer used the term when talking about his theory of McDonalization. We as Christians can use the term as a positive term. Believing in Jesus is crazy. It is insane and down right foolish. People discriminate against other Christians and lump Christians together as egotistical and downright wrong for putting their faith in a God that cannot be seen or heard. But believing in God and believing that Jesus died and saved us from our sins is the rational, the only truth to believe in. In the end, the world will beat us down, criticize us for our belief, and kill us but it is our faith that will save us. Believing is not an easy thing to do and will be at times almost impossible but in the end we will receive our reward. 80 years of believing, a lifetime of faith, will gain us a seat in heaven.

Meanwhile God calls us only to do a few things. He knows we can never be perfect. Nothing we do will ever will win favor with God. No gifts, no possessions, no actions will ever get God to like us. Jesus took care of that for us. All God wants us to do is live out his gospel, to give justice to those need it, to love mercy and show God’s mercy and not hide it, and live a humble life. The best part of my job this summer was seeing the Hand of God working through our organization: Giving parents who are not able to conceive a child to adopt, refugees who come to America with nothing are given new lives and chance to start over, and those who are affected by the massive flooding are able to rebuild with volunteers from LSG.

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

2008-07-22T10:55:00.001-07:00

I was going though my computer this morning searching for a funny story. I usually will save them on my computer so I can read them at my leisure. Instead of finding something funny I found a very short reflection that I wrote down almost two years ago, right after I was discharged from the hospital. I had received over 200 cards and letters from people while I was sick in the hospital. One of the cards was from a church member of my former parish. She enclosed a little note about a women who was working in Lutheran Mission in Liberia in 1954. She was 22 at the time and she became very ill—to the point of death. At 22 she thought she was going to change the world (I know how she feels). She shares two valuable pieces of information that I thought I share with you. Be patient with the Lord and in the words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, “His power is made perfect in weakness.”

In a society that is constantly moving, patience is not something that is desired anymore. Deadlines are set in stone and missing deadlines can cost us our jobs and future. Our lives are controlled by deadlines and swaying from these deadlines is a death sentence. We even set deadlines for God and if he does not respond to our prayers by such and such time, we assume he does not exist or does not care about us. It does not matter how much we bitch and complain that God does not care about us because he did not act when first asked. God is God and he works on his own schedule. To tell you the truth, I think God hates working under pressure and our silly deadlines.

God does not ask much out of us. In the words of the Prophet Micah, God calls us to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." God will fill in the rest. What God will give us may not always be roses but he is always with us.

Monday, July 21, 2008

2008-07-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

“Amazing Grace, How Sweet the sound, that saved a wrench like me. I once was lost but now I am found. Was blind but now I see.”

Again I cannot take credit for coming up with these lyrics. John Newton is the author and his story is fascinating. He was the captain of a slave ship and had an epiphany while out on the open sea. The ship was caught in a severe storm and he prayed that God would save them. The storm eventually subsided and the crew was spared. Newton began reading the bible and eventually converted over to Christianity. It was after his conversion that he wrote the words “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound...” He was later ordained as an Anglican Priest and was very famous in England. He later joined forces with William Wilberforce who lead the cause to abolish slavery in the British Empire. If you have not seen the movie Amazing Grace I suggest renting it. The movie is much more detailed.

These past seven weeks have been rough. I have spent a lot of time planning and not really seeing any results. Our first event at Emmanuel was a major let down and I was really wondering why God sent me here. I did not want to spend the entire summer working and seeing no results. Yesterday I saw the Amazing Grace of God. We went to Apostles in the morning and had a great response from the congregation. I really did like this congregation and the praise band was phenomenal. I mean wow. The last song they did was He Reigns. This song is incredibly hard to sing and play and to hear it done well is very rare. The bass player blew me away. He played the bass line perfectly and sang this song with all his heart. Later that evening we had an adoption orientation at Trinity Lutheran where we had 10 participants. I only had four rsvp and the pastor did not think anyone would come. I was shocked when all these people came. Amazing Grace...Amazing Grace.

God’s Amazing Grace is beyond all human understanding. His grace can change even the hardest of hearts and it is by his Grace alone that we receive his love. His grace was revealed to Newton and as soon as Newton saw his grace, he began to make a change. Granted it took Newton years to get out of the Slave Trade after his conversion but how many of us find it easy to leave the security of our sins. Think about it, the slave trade was all Newton knew. It was his source of income and it was how he was seen by the world and the society that he lived in. Jesus does not call the best of the best but he calls you and me. He calls the ordinary out of darkness to be his own. Sometimes we like the darkness because the darkness is all we know. Once we get over our fear, we see the light and God’s Amazing Grace that saved a wrench like me.

Firday, July 18, 2008

2008-07-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Oh today has been one nutty day. I wake up nice and early. I leave on time for the first time in eight weeks only to find my back rear tire flat. So I change the tire and take my car over to Firestone. 320 dollars later I have two new back tires and lifetime alignment on the car. I have spent over 900 dollars on my car this summer. Fleecing of America...ha....Fleecing of my credit card...now that is serious.

So I have the house pretty much to myself this weekend. Les has gone up to South Carolina and left Mark and I to fend for ourselves. It is actually not that bad. Mark does his own thing and I just watch tv. It is a very nice relationship. I hope to go to this train museum tomorrow. I think they have a deal where if you pay a little more, you can ride up in the Engine. My fantasy has come true. Now I just need to have a girl in it and I am set.

To close I like to leave with a verse from Matthew.“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” Amen.

Wednesday, July 16th

2008-07-16T11:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was one crazy day. Between everything that was going on yesterday morning, I thought my day could not get much worst. I was wrong only this time it was not my life that would be thrown into chaos but perfect stranger that I met on the highway yesterday. While I was driving home I got stuck in traffic. I was talking to my brother when all of a sudden in my rear-view mirror I see a blue truck swerve and plow into a number of cars. I pull off the road onto the shoulder and start running down shoulder to help. It was pure insanity yesterday. One women was knock unconscious while her car was stuck in gear. Her car ended up slamming into another car while a man climbed into the mangel car to shut it off. What a way to spend the two year anniversary of being admitted into the hospital. Instead of needing care, I was giving care. The experience made me miss working at the hospital and running to different emergencies; being in the midst of an emergency and seeing how everyone works together to pull through the emergency.

Today has been nice and quiet at the office. Nobody is here and if it was not for the fact that I have a meeting at 3 pm, I would not be sitting here writing this entry. But I’m here doing odd jobs for different people while I listen to some music. I think I could get use to this lifestyle. I got an email yesterday about Summer Greek. I am going to die. Seriously, die. I have taken some pretty hard classes in my lifetime but I think Greek is going to top them all. I was shocked though when I called the book store at LTSG and they were cheaper than the internet. I’m so use to Towson gouging prices that I am not use to a school that actually cares about their students. What a nice change. Ok that is all I have to report on today. Much better day today.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

2008-07-15T11:35:00.001-07:00

Today marks the two year anniversary from when I was admitted into the hospital. I have been dreading this day for a long time because it reminds me of how my life could have turned out so differently. I look back and wonder if I would have went to a different hospital or addressed my pain sooner, where I would be today?

I think we could all look back over the past two years and wonder what we could have done differently. If we would have acted differently two years ago where could we, ourselves, be? Where could our country be? Where could our world be. The actions and decisions we make today will continue to affect our future. In reading the news for today, I wondered where we could be as a country today if we would have made different decisions.

GM Spending Cuts to Add $15 Billion to Cash by 2009. According to Bloomberg, “General Motors will suspended its stock dividend, cut salaried payroll by 20 percent and proposed selling assets to raise at least $15 billion in the next 18 months, eliminate the 25-cent quarterly dividend to save $800 million are part of $10 billion in operating expense cuts. The company will raise $4 billion to $7 billion through asset sales and new bank loans.” If GM would have focused on building a better car, would they be in the same situation they are in today? If the unions would have been less greedy with salaries and benefits, would the company be where it’s at today?

Another headline that caught my eye and gave me the feeling of deja vu was the “FDIC chair: Deposits in nation's banks are safe.” Sheila Bair, FDIC chairwoman, said in an interview that "The banking system as a whole is absolutely safe.’” You can ask the same questions about these lending agencies and those individuals who took out the adjustable rate mortgages and bought homes that they could not afford. What caused the Great Depression was the banking industry going under. The FDIC was created in order that the banking industry would become safe and trusting. I hope that the FDIC though is prepared to cover so many losses if banks do go under.

Finally some justice in the world. CNN reports in a article titled “Darfur genocide charges” that the the Sudanese president will face charges for the genocide attempt in the Darfur region of Africa. It seems though the world learned from the last great genocide of Germany that action needs to be taken immediately before the extreme consequences of Genocide is felt throughout the whole world.

If we would have acted different two, four, even ten years ago with policy and laws, where would be? I do not know but I pray we did make the right decisions.

So I still have an unanswered question from Sunday’s entry. I guess I should answer it since I promised I would...

I became a Star Trek: Voyager fan back in high school. I had a crush on Jerri Ryan as did many kids my age. Now that it is off the air, I try to catch the reruns on TV after I get off work everyday. Now with a college education and a different look at the world, I appreciate the show more than just having a beautiful actress walking around in spandex. The show really deals with the problems of today and shows how we can solve these problems through diplomacy and acts of peace. It deals with the issues and gives the world hope that we will one day find a way to work together as a common group of people. Last night, they showed the episode where Nelix was killed in a freak accident. He was on an away mission and was brought back to the ship. Seven of Nine heard that Nelix was killed and used some of her nano-probes to bring him back to life some 18 hours after he was killed. When Nelix awoke, he was shocked to find that he saw nothing in death. Nothing that his culture told him that he would see. Nelix was having a hard time dealing this but eventually finds that the reason he is so upset that he did not remember seeing anything was more because he was afraid of death. Not remembering did not necessarily mean nothing happened but rather it was the fear of not knowing what did happen and what will happen.

As I watched the show, all I kept thinking was I know how Nelix feels. Not seeing a light that so many people claim to have seen was hard for me to deal with. I really questioned my faith and my belief in a God. I believe in a God that is so loving and so just but the life that I once had ended and I was given this new life. I never asked for any of this to happen to me and I was very happy and content with the life that I was living. Why God chose me is something I prayed and asked God everyday. I felt cheated on the fact that I didn’t get to see a light or any sign that there was a heaven. I wanted to see something to confirm my faith and I never did or I thought I never did. Just like Nelix, I realized the I had a fear in death and a fear of not knowing what happens to us when we die. But what I realized was that I didn’t need to see a light. I was missing the entire miracle that God gave me. Sure I didn’t see a light but I was healed. I was brought back to life against all odds. I was saved and nobody knows why or how. The doctors did nothing but just gave me support. While I still at times question what I believe I always find strength through my questions.

So if I could go back in time and change what happened I would not. Bad things do happen to good people and what we need to do is learn from these problems and mistakes and make the necessary changes in our lives. Problems will always arise but it is how we work through these problems that show our strength. I have had the opportunity to address churches, a synod assembly, a local school, and hundred if not thousands of people about what happened to me and what I learned. The experiences after and during my hospital stay will forever live with me. Some of the memories are bad but so many are good. I will never forget the day that the doctor came into my room and said “you are going home.” It is a feeling that is very rare and will only happen a few times. Some how I know that what happened to me was for a reason. I do not know what that reason is but it did happen for a reason. Today may be bad day and a bad day to remember but in 26 days on August 10th, I will remember the day I was discharged from the hospital and I will remember the best day of my life.

Monday, July 14th, 2008

2008-07-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

So I am officially sick. I got some kind of cold and it is annoying as hell. I can breath then I can't breath. My throat hurts then it does not. I wish my body would make up its mind. I am really beginning to think that this cold is mostly mental because of this two year anniversary. Yeah I said it, I am going crazy. Deal with it. My blog, my thoughts.

Today has been fairly busy. I was working on getting a couple of emails and constructing my final evaluations with the churches. Before I knew it, it was 12:30 and my department was going out to lunch to celebrate Joanne's Birthday. The restaurant was at claimed to have Maryland style Crab Cakes. They did not look like Maryland Style Crab Cakes and they had this sauce on top of them. I am very happy I did not get that or I would have been very upset. You do not mess with Maryland Crab Cake. That should be some kind of federal law punishable by a slap. Food though was very good.

Well only about two weeks left in Atlanta. I think when I get back all I want to do is eat a real crab cake. I'm a very simple boy to please.

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

2008-07-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

This morning instead of going to my typical church I went to Emmanuel Lutheran Church representing LSG. Emmanuel Lutheran is a small African-American Church that has so much potential for growing. It reminded me a lot of my former church in Baltimore. I miss those dynamics that Emmanuel had and the small feel of the church. People came up to me and I knew that these people were happy to see me and happy that I was worshiping with them. Going to a large church does have it benefits but it does not have that close feeling that I grew up with. I feel the event at Emmanuel was very successful and I do believe that we were successful able to get the word out about adoption.

Coming home I got stuck in a very heavy down pour. It rained hard from the time I left Emmanuel till about an hour after I got home. This was some serious rain people. The roads were so filled with water that my car was struggling to stay above 40 miles an hour. It took me an hour to get home which was double the amount of time it would normally take. But with rain comes flowers. Atlanta needs the rain and I’m sure these storm have helped with their drought situation.

The rest of my day consisted of playing with the trains and watching television. I love being lazy on Sundays. Les likes to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition and I usually join him since I have nothing else to do on a Sunday night. I typically avoid watching the show because it makes me cry. Tonight was no different and the individual who impacted me the most tonight was the young man who had inspired the team to come out and build his family a new house, Patrick Henry Hughes. Patrick was born with no eyes and a number of birth defects have left him with the inability to stretch his limbs out 180 degrees. Patrick is bound to his wheelchair and relies on his parents for assistance. The house he was living in was not handicapped accessible. He had to at times craw on the floor while he dragged his wheelchair up different ramps throughout the house. The situation that he was living in was not livable but he really was not complaining. While he wanted a new house he was very happy with the hand God had dealt him. He told Tye Pennington that he does not see his blindness as a disability but rather an ability. People that can see judge on the outside before they judge on the inside. While Patrick’s eyes may not work, his mind does and he is a highly gifted musician. He plays pieces simply by ear and is even in the University of Louisville’s marching band. His father pushes him in formation while Patrick plays the trumpet. Along with the trumpet, Patrick is a brilliant pianist and vocalist. He has inspired the entire city of Louisville, Kentucky with his music and his outlook on life. It made me question how I view the world. While I will continue to advocate to for social change and social equality, but what if I or even each of us had to live with blinders on and all we saw the world was as black and white. Not even black and white but grayscale. Colors did not matter and we judge solely on our actions and the content of our minds. I think I rather live in a world like that but unfortunately tomorrow when I wake up and go into work and back into society, those blinders will be removed from me and everyone else. What divides us as a group of people will continue to divide us and Patrick’s words will fade back into the distance. Still knowing all of this, Patrick still inspires me.

I have been having a rough time emotionally as the two year anniversary approaches for my life altering hospital stay. I cannot stop thinking about where I was two years ago and just thinking that this pain was nothing and would go away in a few days. Little did I know but that pain I was having was more serious and very deadly. I look back and wonder how different my life would be if I would never have gotten sick. I would be on CPE right now and preparing to enter my second year in seminary. I would have graduated on time and probably would not be writing this blog because I would not have to write a blog for CPE. I remember the pain of having IV’s stuck in me every single day. I remember the pain of seeing friends faces as they walked in my room to say hi but also to say goodbye. I remember the look in my mom’s eyes as she held my hand when the pain was so bad. I remember seeing my dad crying because I was in this hospital bed and not standing next to him telling him everything would be ok. I remember my brother walking up to Lexington Market to buy me a small stereo so I could listen to music in order that I would not be in so much pain. So many of these images torture me and haunt me everyday. But unlike Patrick, unless you know me and know everything that happened to me you would just think of me as an average guy. Patrick lives with his wounds visibility everyday and people judge him because of those wounds before they get to know him. I am able to hide.

So the question still remains. If I was able to go back and change history and never get sick would I do it? Well I will tell you...in just a few days. Thank you Patrick for inspiring us to look beyond the outer and look at the inner. I hope in my lifetime and your lifetime as well that we will one day all see the world as you do.

Friday, July 11th

2008-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

I was very shocked to find out that a friend of mine from middle school (whom I have not talked to since the end of eighth grade) was arrested for killing a man with a shot gun during a robbery. My friend was the robber and not the victim. I just cannot stop thinking about where I would be today if I would have stayed friends with Anthony and went to the same high school as him. Essentially, Anthony’s life is over now. He will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. What a waste.

On July 15th, 2006 my life was forever changed. I spent 26 days in the hospital on the edge of death. I cannot stop thinking about what ifs in my head. What if I would have ignored the pain and never went to the hospital? I could have died at home or I could of have been physically disabled for the rest of my life. What if I would have been in an area without the sophisticated technology that the University of Maryland had? The life that I have now could be very different. I very well could have died.

I know God has a plan for me and for some reason he has chosen me. I almost feel selfish that my life has turned out significantly better than others. I just cannot stop thinking that if I would have made some different choices in my life that I could be in that jail cell with Anthony.

Four more days till the two year mark…

Wednesday, July 9th

2008-07-09T12:46:00.001-07:00

If this internship has taught me anything it’s that this world is cruel place. On Monday I went with Noreen to a meeting where a prospective adoptive family was being told of two children whom were up for adoption. The two kids have been in and out of Foster Care for the past four years. The boy had been in five different homes and the little girl had been in four different homes. They were finally placed together in a foster home with a wonderful lady who has really helped the two children. The foster mom would be perfect to adopt the children but she is in her early 70’s. I was sitting there as the caseworker was listing all the emotional and physical problems these two children have. The meeting was two hours long and we did not take a break the entire time while they listed all the problems. These two kids had a lot of issues. The two children were born into a family where the parents were addicted to drugs. The young boy does not know how to be a child because he was the caregiver for his siblings. He saw his mother and father at their worst when they were using drugs. All I could think the entire I was sitting there was what the hell?

I typically avoid watching and reading the news simply because I am tired of hearing about bad things. I see enough death and pain in my job everyday that I do not need to hear anymore when I go home. It’s one of the reasons why I like comedy shows and movies. There is enough in this world to make us think. When I want to be entertained I want to laugh and feel good.

This morning, however, I actually did read the news using Google. (I like Google because it shows a variety of news stories from different papers from all over the world. There is no bias in Google News.) I came across three stories that really made me say “What the Hell?” They should really have a section on Google for stories that fit the “What the Hell?” category.

The first article is VOAnews.com and it was talking about the recent G8 summit in Japan. The G8 is a very powerful organization that can get things done but yet it seems like the leaders of the G8 would rather take their time improving the world.

President Bush was quoted saying,"By protecting our environment, and resisting protectionism, and fighting disease, and promoting development, and improving the daily lives of millions around the world, we've served both our interests as Americans and we serve the interests of the world." To bad President Bush has not done any of this in his eight years as president. His environmental policies have done nothing to improve our environment and if anything has made it worst. Bush though is not the only problem when it comes to environmental issues. The article states that “only three of the emerging economies, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia, explicitly committed to the 50 percent reduction plan. That leaves out two of the world's fastest growing carbon emitters, India and China.”When India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was asked why he would not commit to a reduction plan he said “ensuring food security, public health and management of scarce water resources are his first priority.” It was very shocking to me that “more than a half-billion Indians live in extreme poverty, on less than a dollar a day.” China’s reasons were the same as India. China does not want “to steps that would jeopardize economic growth and risk political instability.” So here is a thought and I know its crazy but why do we not help India and China provide food, public health, and water sources. We do that and maybe then India and China can start to change their environmental ways. Our leaders are more concerned with Terrorism than they are with helping the sick, the outcasts, and those who really need our help. As I have said before, hunger related kill more than terrorist do.

President Bush has resisted protectionism but has resisted it so much that many US based companies are closing their doors and shipping jobs overseas where they can pay workers a small percentage of what they were paying Americans. The profit margins increase for these companies while many Americans have to look for new job opportunities. This is a scary time for many Americans who lose their jobs to outsourcing because there are no jobs out there. You can blame this problem on capitalism and the principles capitalism bring to our economy but President Bush and Congress, they have an equal partnership in this, have done nothing to stop the outsourcing of jobs to other countries. President Bush has done nothing to stop the fight of disease, promoted development, or really improved the lives of anyone. Instead he veto a bill that would give healthcare to children whose parents do not have healthcare, he instituted no child left behind and have hurt schools that need the funds to make a difference, and led America into a war that was uncalled for and down right wrong. We do not have enough money to fund a National Health Insurance program but we do have enough money to launch a military strike on a Nation that was never a threat to America.

With the No Child Left Behind act, schools that perform better in testing get more money while schools that perform lower get less money. Shouldn’t this be the other way around? What happens to kids that just do badly on tests? I am one of those students and I have always been one of those students who just freak out with anything involving a test.

Many environmentalist criticized the G8 saying they did not take enough action against making a change in environmental policies. One leader claimed that their actions at the summit open the door for talking about these environmental problems in the future but many environmentalists claim that if more action does not occur sooner rather than later, the problems we create today will be almost impossible to fix tomorrow. What the hell?

Moving on…

There has been a lot of talk about the recent Iranian Missile test yesterday. Many world leaders are afraid that they were building Nuclear Weapons with the Uranium they have been mining. The Iranian government claims that their nuclear program is for civilian power and not for military but the recent missile test concerns world leaders. According to the news organization Reuters, John McCain is calling for the U.S. to “establish a missile defense shield in Europe to counter Iranian ambitions after that country test-fired nine missiles.” McCain claims that these tests "demonstrate the need for effective missile defense now and in the future, and this includes missile defense in Europe as is planned with the Czech Republic and Poland."

Now I am not a very smart man but whatever happened to talking and using diplomacy instead of using war and threats. I do not know what Iran is really doing with their nuclear program but instead of putting up a very expensive and a very non-diplomatic missile defense shield, why don’t we just talk to them? This was Barack Obama idea and McCain criticized Obama saying that "Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy.” Two problems with that statement: What allies and somebody really needs to ask the question do we really want a World War III? Have we not advanced at all as a society and as a world that we have to resolve our differences using violence? Russia is threatening to launch a military campaign against us if we go through with this missile defense shield. This whole situation just sounds like the making of World War and I do not want to be apart of another war. I am sick of war and I am sick of hearing everyday about our soldiers being killed in Iraq. War needs to stop and diplomacy needs to start.

Finally a story hits me very hard. For the past two years, I have had to deal with numerous heart problems with my most recent problem involving high cholesterol and high triglycerides. It’s been something that I have been dealing with for awhile and it is something that I will continue to have to deal with for the rest of my life. Part of my problem is genetics but another part, the larger part, is my lifestyle. It is no secret that I do not exercise as much as I should and I do not eat all the rights foods. If I would make these changes (and trust me I’m trying) my cholesterol problems would not be as big of an issue. So you can imagine my shock when I read an article where the American Academy of Pediatrics is now encouraging doctors to give statins to kids who are overweight and have high cholesterol. I do believe that genetics do play a major part in some kids having high cholesterol but for many kids this is not the issue. We took out gym and physical activity in schools. Fast food restaurants advertise to our children and have even taken over school cafeterias selling their food everyday at lunch time to our nation’s children. Children today rather play video games then to go outside and play a game of tag or ride a bike. What the hell?

I understand where the doctors are coming from. High cholesterol does lead to severe heart problems in the future (Need proof? Look at me.) but the cure to the problem is not a pill but rather physical activity and life style changes. I would give anything to get off my heart medications but I know I will never be able to because my body is dependent on the drugs. While these medications keep me alive, they at times can make me dizzy and have created a hard stigma for me live with. I am 23 and on heart medication and at times is very overwhelming stigma to live with. I have a fear of forgetting my pills and having something happen to me. I think before we go through with this plan, we need to look at the overall picture and look at where the problems are starting and then make a change at the beginning rather than at the point of no return.

Now you know why I avoid the news.

Tuesday, July 8th

2008-07-08T09:40:00.001-07:00

My computer, whom I have named Earl, is sick. His motherboard (in a mac it is called something else but it is the same thing) has gone up and they don’t know why. The apple guy said it was probably a power surge or just bad luck. I’m thinking it was the bad luck. So I will not get my computer back till this weekend and I am going through withdrawal. That computer goes everywhere with me. I am really hoping that they don’t lose any of my files. I couldn’t afford the 150 dollars to back everything up. All in all yesterday sucked!

I had this really great blog entry that I was going to post yesterday but it was saved on my computer before I could post it. You all will just have to wait till I get my computer back to read it.

With the rising fuel costs affecting every single American with decreased spending and traveling, many businesses themselves have to make cuts. Driving in today to work, I heard AirTran would be cutting 180 pilots and 300 flight attendants jobs. This comes after all of the AirTran employees had to take a company wide pay cute. It makes me sick to think that we have built our economy on oil. Without oil, our economy shuts down and we all suffer.

Some of the highest paid CEO in this country work for companies that supply us with our energy needs. People have to decide whether they provide food for their family or heat their house and put gas in their car so that they are able to go to work. According the Associated Press in 2007, Bob Simpson who is the CEO XTO Energy Inc. brought home $56.6 million and Ray Irani of the Occidental Petroleum Corp brought home $34.2 million. Simpson was ranked the fourth highest paid CEO and Irani was ranked number ten. While some Americans put themselves in debt and go without heat in the winter, these CEO’s sleep warmly in their homes. There is no reason that anyone needs to make 56.6 million dollars. Maybe I have been corrupted by my sociological education or even my Christian nature but it does not seem fair that some live high on the hog while others live in poverty.

I have lost all faith in the American Dream. I do not think it is possible that someone who is at the bottom of our society is able to work themselves up the ladder and become successful. To get any where in this society, one needs a good college education. College tuition though is rising faster than the rate of inflation. If it was not for my parents, I would not have been able to go to college. It wasn’t easy for my parents to put both me and my brother through college and for some it’s not even possible. We are not making it easy to get a college education and if anything we are making it harder. Robert Messenger, a sociologist, has written many articles involving college athletes. To summarize his points, he states that all college students are being pulled in so many areas that it’s making college harder and harder for students. Students are now expected to work in college, they are expected to participate in activities outside of the classroom, and still complete all there assignments on time. How do we expect people to get an education when we are making it more and more difficult to get through college?

I am writing this entry with no idea how to fix the rising energy costs for our country. I don’t think there is one single person or entity to blame for the rising fuel cost. I believe it is a whole host of contributors to the problem. Our economy is the worst it has been in years and the decreasing value of the dollar is hurting us. I also believe that SUV’s with poor fuel efficiency have also led to the increased in fuel costs. Even with the poor economy and vehicles with a low mpg, Energy giants are most likely the major causers of this problem. Exxon-Mobile in 2007 made a record 11.7 billion in quarterly profits, according to CNN. Profit is defined as gross income minus, and I stress the word minus, expenses. 11.7 billion is excessive and downright wrong. OPEC may be raising their prices but oil companies are also making sure that they bring home a large profit.

I really hope November gets here fast. We need a change in leadership. Canada here I come…

Thursday, July 3rd

2008-07-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

“Let us be guided then by a sense of Justice. Let us build a system of just laws and and demand adherence to those laws. Let us create a city of equal opportunity for all, with all sharing in both the responsibilities and benefits. Let us create a city where neither the choice of religion nor the accident of color is an obstacle to opportunity and advancement nor a substitute for effort and ability.” Moon Landrieu Mayoral Inaugural Address. May 4, 1970

I found that quote on my latest trip to New Orleans. It was a plaque located right along the Mississippi River. We had actually come upon it accidentally and I'm glad we did find it or I would not have anything to talk about today. Inaugural Addresses seem to always stay with us. They are burned into the structure of society and become the foundation of social change and social movement. FDR's famous line "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" lead to the New Deal plans and FDR bringing the country out of the Great Depression. Or John F. Kennedy's famous line "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." This famous line probably cost JFK his life because change comes at a price and some do not like to the pay the price of change. Even if it means a better tomorrow.

None the less, what our leaders say and what they do reflect our country's ideas to the rest of the world. Their words and actions also give confirmation to the ones they serve that they are doing the right thing although doing the right things is not always the correct thing to do. Adolf Hitler preached a message of hatred and discrimination based on nothing more than religion and lifestyle choices. His words lead the confirmation of the German's long standing anti-Semitism towards the Jewish people and gave the people permission to persecute them. His words and his actions were wrong and lead the deaths of innocent people.

However Martin Luther King's words lead to a social revolution of change. Where Hitler's social revolution lead to the murders of thousands and a lifetime of shame for his country, Kings social revolution lead to the freedom and civil rights to all individuals and not just to those with white skin. While I believe we have a long way to go before racism is a thing of the past, we have come a very long way from the days of separate bathrooms, separate water fountains, and separate restaurants for African Americans. Racism still goes on but not at the scale that we once saw.

So did Moon Landrieu's dream of a socially equal New Orleans come true? Did Landrieu administration "build a system of just laws and and demand adherence to those laws?" Did he and the people of New Orleans "create a city of equal opportunity for all, with all sharing in both the responsibilities and benefits?" What about creating "a city where neither the choice of religion nor the accident of color is an obstacle to opportunity and advancement nor a substitute for effort and ability?" To be able to answer these questions, we must look at ourselves and ask these questions of ourselves first. Societal change does not occur till after the people change their actions. Societal change does not occur till we gather together and commit to new ideas and a new process for society.

Happy Fourth of July! May we celebrate where our country has come from and where we are going!

Wednesday, July 2nd

2008-07-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ok nothing is really going on today. It has actually been very quiet. I just want to share a good joke...

There was a German man, a polish man, and a Irish man working high up on building. They were all sitting on a beam eating lunch one day. The German said "I'm sick of eating bratwurst for lunch. If my wife makes me bratwurst one more time, I'm going to jump off this building." The Irish man said the same thing. "If my wife makes me sour beef and dumplings one more time I'm going to jump." The polish man also agreed with the two men. "If I have polish sausage one more time I will jump."

The next afternoon all three men are sitting on the same beam high above the streets. The German man says "bratwurst again" and he jumps. The Irish man says "sour beef again" and he jumps. The polish man says the same thing and he jumps.

At the funeral for the three men, their wives were all talking. The German wife and Irish wife were crying and said "if only I had known he didn't want the same lunch over and over I would have made him something different." The polish lady says "I don't know what my husband's problem was. He made his own lunch."

Sometimes it pays to speak up for change and sometimes its better not to go along with the status quo.

Tuesday, July 1

2008-07-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

"What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on the bus? Trying to make his way home..."

Ok so I can't take credit for coming up with that line. The song titled "one of us" and its writer, Joan Osborne received national attention in 1996 when the song reach the top of music charts and even earned a Grammy. According to Wikipedia, the song "deals with various aspects of belief in God by asking questions and inviting the listener to consider how they might relate to God."

I was very surprised and even shocked when I did a bible study on Revelation back at the end of April. My first question to the group what they thought the second coming of Christ would be like. Everyone was very quiet and I got the typical loud trumpets scenario but then two of the students said "I don't believe in the second coming." I was not expecting an answer like that. Their answers made sense in a way that they don't want to see the world end. The two students were very grounded in science and the whole idea of Jesus coming back to this world and everyone living under his rule could not work for them. It was just scientifically unreal to them. Needless to say, I had no idea how to respond to them. For me, Christ coming back has always been a great dream for me. Some days its the only hope that I have to hold on to.

Still I see my student's idea as a very valid point and I want to expand on their thought just for a moment. God was one of us. He was Jesus. Jesus experienced everything that we experience: loss of a love one, heartbreaks, hatred, persecution, etc. Jesus did promise to come back but did he really ever leave us? In Matthew, Jesus tells a parable and says "if you do it to the least of these, you have done it to me." Every time I come into work, I drive by numerous homeless individuals and I do nothing to help them. I use the excuse that I don't have enough money or enough time to make a difference in their lives. There are so many in this world that just need someone to love them. Could they be Jesus? Jesus may not be here in the flesh with his mighty sword ruling the world but he is still among us. Jesus is the single mother with two kids who are on welfare and has nobody to take care of her children. Jesus is the war veteran who has never been able to reenter society after the war. Jesus is in all of us and is with all of us. I really believe that last line of the Great Commission where Jesus promises to never leave us and that he is always with us. So until that last day, I will continue to wonder if God was one us? Just a stranger on a bus?

Monday, June 30th

2008-06-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

So far my Monday has been going good. After last week's craziness of scholarship problems, I feel much more at ease with everything. I'm just hoping that my letters of recommendation get in to the scholarship committee. One can only hope.

My weekend was very quiet. Saturday was church. Sunday I went fishing and then helped Les with his trains. We have a very different way of wiring. I'm very much a perfectionist with soldering and I want the soldering joints to look a certain way. Les just wants to put sod on the wire to hold them together. It works sometimes but it usually isn't very permeant. Other than that, we work very well together. Les also likes working slow. I like working slow but I wouldn't be able to sleep if something wasn't finished. A true train lover though always enjoys working on his or her train set; Trying new things and are constantly moving things around. I really do not know what I'm going to do when I go back home and have no train garden to play with. Only four years of school and I'll be able to set my train garden back up.

Friday, June 27th

2008-06-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

I started writing this entry at 2 pm this afternoon and never finished it. I didn't really like what I had written down anyway. A fresh slate is always good...

So last night I was watching TV and came across a show called Hopkins. It profiles doctors at John Hopkin's Hospital in Baltimore (Of course I could not turn down an opportunity to watch a tv show involving Baltimore). One of the doctors who was being profiled was going through a rough patch in his marriage. He was having to work 80 hours a week for his residency while his wife mostly took care of their three children. She asked him to move out while they sort everything out. He said "a good doctor will always put his patients first." By this very definition his family would have to come second. This man, who is a very good doctor, was willing to risk losing his family and the love of his life so that he may save the life of a patient. I don't know if I should give him a metal or slap him.

This lifestyle is the same lifestyle Christ is calling his followers to lead. The message that Jesus was teaching was not well taken at the time. The message that Jesus was preaching was to ignore what separated us as a people and work together to provide the needs of everyone around us. This is what Jesus says in the 10th Chapter of Matthew.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

The road that Jesus is calling us to walk on is not well paved but it is full of pot holes and individuals who are set on robbing us. I can remember telling my family that I wanted to be a pastor. Everyone was telling me I was foolish and I should not follow my calling. I lost many of my friends from high school because I was no longer the Matt Day they were friends with. I was now Pastor Day. The road of following Christ is not easy but we are still called to follow Jesus. Even through all the hard roads that I faced, I kept pursuing what I felt was my calling. My family eventually came around and I learned who my true friends were. Throughout this whole time of discernment I do not doubt for a minute that God was not with me.

So I don't know how I feel about this doctor who is putting his patients before his family. God has called him into medicine to save lives and he needs to do just that but God also gave him the responsibility of being a father to his kids and a husband to his wife. The debate goes on...

Thursday, June 26

2008-06-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today has been a rough day. Nothing bad has happened at work but rather my frustration comes from some scholarship money that I was promised and now is not available at the moment. If this turns out to be the case, I am screwed. I was depending on this money to live off of for the next two semesters. I spent the past 4 hours running around trying to get references together in order to mail in this other scholarship that I was planning on applying for. Needless to say I am frustrated and very annoyed. I also didn't get to go on my walk today because it was too hot and I was not in the mood to get all hot and sweaty. Now I am going to have to force myself to go for a walk tonight once I get home. I know there is a mall close by that I may go and walk around. At least they have A/C. Needless to say it was for the most part a bad day. I did get to talk to my pastor from back home and a high school teacher who I was very close with throughout high school.

Wednesday, June 25

2008-06-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

So you may be wondering where I come up with all of these entries. I have a 30 minute commute and I usually go for a walk during lunchtime and I usually do a lot of thinking during those time periods. I'm not crazy and I have a paper that proves it.

Today has been a very quiet day. I took advantage of the break in work and did some discerning and praying today. Did you know that on this date in 1530, Philipp Melanchthon, the main author of the Confessions, and the Princes of Germany presented the Augsburg Confession to the Emperor and to the world. This document showed the rest of the world that the church could be and was wrong. The Augsburg Confession defined the beliefs of Christian Reformers. It represented and still represents what we as Lutherans believe to be true. It is the bases of our Faith and in a way, its a gift from God. Many reformers tired and failed but Luther succeeded. The church that Luther loved turned its back on him and he still succeeded because he knew he what he was doing was right. When Luther stood before all the Princes and the Emperor and said he would not recant, "Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me." Luther stood up for what was wrong and demanded change and change did happen. Luther would have been killed if it wasn't for the fact that the people around him believed in the same message that Luther was preaching. They saw the same vision that Luther saw for the church; a church that taught a message of Salvation through their faith and nothing else.