Shocker! We're not at church and the Shockers won!

Sermon 20130324

I want to talk about two processions today – and I’m not talking about the KU Jayhawks and the Wichita Shockers paths to victory – I’m talking about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the procession to the cross.

The Jesus scholars Borg and Crossan give us a riveting image with which to begin: there were the two processions that Passover week.

First set the context – what people did in Jerusalem to mark the Passover.

In the narrative of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God inflicted ten plagues upon the Egyptians before Pharaoh would release his Hebrew slaves, with the tenth plague being the killing of all of the firstborn, from the Pharaoh's son to the firstborn of the dungeon captive, to the firstborn of cattle. The Hebrews were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord passed over these homes, hence the term "passover".^[2] When Pharaoh freed the Hebrews, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread to rise. In commemoration, for the duration of Passover, no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason it is called "The Festival of the Unleavened Bread".^[3] Matza (unleavened bread) is the primary symbol of the holiday. This bread that is flat and unrisen is called matzo.

Together with Shavuot ("Pentecost") and Sukkot ("Tabernacles"), Passover is one of the three pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim) during which the entire Jewish populace historically made a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.

From the west came Pilate draped in the gaudy glory of imperial power: horses, chariots, and gleaming armor. He moved in with the Roman army at the beginning of Passover week to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Insurrection was in the air with the memory of God’s deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

From the east came another procession, a commoner’s procession: Jesus in ordinary robe riding on a young donkey. The careful preparations suggest that Jesus has planned a highly ritualized symbolic prophetic act.

Luke has in mind the prophecy of Zechariah 9, the coming of a new kind of king, a king of peace who will dismantle the weaponry of war.

Fred Danker offers another perspective – that God comes as a suffering servant in Jesus thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. God comes in mercy to save his people. This God who comes in the flesh, first born in a manger, then reading from the scriptures in the temple, then baptized, calling disciples, healing, and allowing the blind to see and the deaf to hear, and finally dying for the people. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem begins a new reality.

As Jesus enters, a “whole multitude of the disciples,” throng around, spread their cloaks on the road – in essence creating a red carpet with their coats patch by patch

, and lift loud their praise: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Then a couplet of praise is added: “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven.”

This is more than a song of heavenly rest and hope in the world to come.

It is about the “kingdom of the heavens,” as Matthew called it,

which has drawn near in Jesus to challenge and change the kingdoms of this world.

This “multitude” echoes the song of the “multitude of the heavenly host” in Luke’s birth narrative: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace” (2:13-14).

What kind of king? So we have a clash of kingdoms: Caesar or Christ. Caesar’s kingdom is based on domination and ruthless power, the kind of kingship Jesus refused when tempted in the wilderness.

The kingdom of God Jesus preached is based on justice, mercy, and the love of God (Luke 11:42 and Matt. 23:23)

So we have our choice: Pax Christi or Pax Romana.

Our challenge is to show how the gospel of the kingdom has political implications but transcends our everyday political loyalties.

The wild joy of the disciples heightens the drama and conflict enters with the rebuke of the Pharisees. The throng of disciples cannot contain themselves. We might think of David stripped to his loincloth dancing before the ark of the Lord as it was brought to Jerusalem.

A group of Pharisees say to Jesus, “Order your disciples to stop.”

Are they embarrassed by the wild, ecstatic praise?

Are they trying to warn Jesus of the danger of such a demonstration?

Earlier in Luke, some Pharisees warn Jesus about Herod’s murderous intent: “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you” (13:13). Were they afraid that the Roman authorities would smell insurrection and come with terrible vengeance against the nation? Probably. Were they worried about their own hide? Probably.

Jesus’ answer: the stones will cry out! Luke’s gospel alone records these thrilling, faith-filled words: “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” Here is faith in the sure triumph of God. There are several layers of meaning available in this phrase.

First, here is a truth too good to have its mouth shut. It may be temporarily silenced, but not for long.

Second, if disciples fall away by cowardice or complacence, God will raise up more! As John the Baptist said in his message by the Jordan: “God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Luke 3:8).

Third, here is an echo of the prophetic warning of Habakuk 2:9-11. Injustice will not long prevail. The very stones of the house built on corruption “will cry out from the wall.” This meaning points to what will happen next in Luke. So we turn to verses 41-46.

The lament over Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple. Since the lectionary will skip to the passion reading, the preacher may well close by including Jesus’ prophetic lament and the symbolic prophetic action in the temple. This is where Jesus has been aiming.

His own offering of himself,

even to death on the cross,

must not be disassociated

from his prophetic challenge

to the ruling elite of his nation

who were betraying Torah

and God’s people.

God’s saving work on the cross and Jesus’ saving work that led to the cross need not be pitted against one another. So here we have the vivid scene of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, who would not recognize “the things that make for peace.”

We have his warning of destruction to come: not one stone left upon another.

Then we have Jesus driving the money changers from the temple and saying, “It is written, ‘my house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Jesus quotation from Jeremiah makes clear his challenge to the nation’s leadership:

a call for righteousness and justice.

This is the role of faithful, religious people in any time and any place. Don’t let Glenn Beck fool you into thinking that if your church says, “social justice,” you should run the other way. Churches should be concerned with social justice and engaged in a call for righteousness and justice. Churches should care about the plight of the poor. The leadership of nations are accountable to God. (but back to the gospel)

Join Immanuel for the rest of the week when we remember moment by moment the night of Jesus’ betrayal, the pouring out of his body and blood for our sin, and the commandment – mandatum – love one another. When we remember his crucifixion and death for the sake of the world. When we remember and are spell bound by the miracle of the empty tomb.

There are two processions, the imperial one watching to make sure things don’t get out of hand, and then the simple one, that ushers in a new way, a new truth, and a new life.

And we are spell bound. This is the one in whom we hope. Every day, as Jesus taught in the temple, religious leaders kept trying to find a way to kill him, but the people who heard him were “spellbound.”

They recognized in Jesus that he was the suffering servant that Isaiah had been talking about all along.

The crowds that sang and waved palms and laid their garments were still with him, still part of the kingdom movement Jesus brought. Even us.

(source H. Stephen Shoemaker, Feasting on the Word.)

Mission September 2012

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and Peace to your from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Immanuel makes the world a more caring place by helping people connect to God and each other. Over time the mission reflects the cultural influences of its time, because what’s going on in peoples’ lives affects how people connect to God and to one another. The need for spiritual connection is universal, and as true today as it was in the garden of Eden and will be well into the future, and reaches across the faith traditions and customs of any culture.

Immanuel is a mission post in a changing world. A mission post is by definition an organization of missionaries. Each of us is a missionary, called by God, marked with the cross of Christ forever, gathered in worship, and sent in love to serve. At Immanuel, missionaries are loved and connected, fed and nourished, equipped and sent to serve. We share a common mission to love God and our neighbors as ourselves.

Immanuel makes the world a more caring place by helping missionaries connect to God and one another. We’re best known for traditional worship and social ministry, but what we’re really about is the new commandment to love God and our neighbors as ourselves, this is our mission. Through Sundays and every day of the week, in joy and in sorrow, ILC is here to minister to your needs and to equip you to be a missionary in your daily life. It’s a mission we share with the body of Christ in the world. Immanuel reaches people in our neighborhood, in our city, in the suburbs, across Missouri and Kansas, throughout the United States, and around the world.

Over time Immanuel’s mission reflects the cultural influences of its time, because what’s going on in people’s lives affects how people connect to God and one another. We stay close to people’s needs to understand what’s in their hearts, and we have the enduring Word of God and missionaries (staff and volunteers), to bring people together in worship, education, and service. Immanuel has proclaimed the good news of Jesus since our beginning in 1898, through the first half of the 20^th century, through the baby boom, the eighties and nineties and now into the early part of the 21^st century. Congregational ministry provides a refuge in changing cultural times reflecting what’s central in our faith lives: prayer, worship, studying scripture, serving, giving, inviting and encouraging others.

The need for spiritual connection is universal – as true today as it was in the garden of Eden and will be well into the future, and reaches across the faith traditions and customs of any culture. From Immanuel’s beginning, we’ve stayed close to people’s lives, used God’s gifts of time, talent, and treasure to love God and serve neighbors, focused on authenticity and remained true to our faith values. When you need a way to celebrate, mourn, pray, worship, or serve, Immanuel, your mission post, will be there to help, whether it’s a worship service, a small group, a trained lay minister, your pastor, or a way we can only imagine today. The ways we engage and communicate as a community change with the times, but Immanuel’s need for God endures and God is with us always continually calling us into mission.

Thomas Tidings 2012

Thomas Tidings 2012 (Our Annual Family Christmas / Epiphany Letter)

Well, it’s now or never. The final days of the Christmas season are upon us. We’re gearing up for the Epiphany celebration at Immanuel on Sunday. Here’s a short note to update you on our family for the year:

Our houses:

Kansas – repaired siding and the homeowners’ association painted the exterior for us. They do it every seven years. We’ve gone from a lemon chiffon color to a butter crème.

Wisconsin –Our last renter recently moved out, and we anticipate having new renters in before the end of January. In the meantime, we’ve replaced carpeting, some paint, the bathroom floor, and the kitchen faucet. Seems like everything but the kitchen sink. We never expected to be long term absentee landlords, but fortunately, we have a good friend up there who does what we need to manage.

The kids:

Solveig – is a precocious first grader who is social and enjoys art, music, gym, recess, fashion, American girl dolls, soccer, softball, ballet, and now jazz combo classes. She's also a cookie selling Daisy. She recently went sledding with a friend and took a header into the snow. She’s very articulate and says amusing things like, “Mom, don’t have too much coffee.” “How much is too much?” “A gallon.” I can say, that I don’t drink that much!

Peder – is a fourth grader who enjoys friends, soccer, dodge ball, baseball, science experiments, computer games, and Skylander giants. He also takes piano because he’d like to start band in 5^th grade. He finished his years in scouting this Spring. He also participates in Mathletics and Lego Robotics. He reports that his arm muscles are sore after that long day of sledding.

Us:  We both turned 40 this year and we spent a few days together in Scotsdale, AZ while Vance attended a conference.

Vance – continues to work out regularly, got glasses for everyday wear (far-sighted), is looking more and more distinguished as his beard and crown take on a salt and pepper appearance. He enjoys the opportunities his job provides. He added to his responsibilities this year as he became the Director for the Master of Arts Program at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in addition to his responsibilities as the Director of the Library. He got furnishings for the library this year, and he gets to travel to Myanmar in March for 12 days to visit their sister seminary there.

Me – I still enjoy yoga, picked up reading glasses, and enjoy highlighting my hair so I don’t know if I’m graying or not. I too enjoy the opportunities my job provides. I continued to travel in Missouri and across the nation for congregation based organizing around economic issues. At Immanuel, I have an intern for the second year in a row from LSTC. Her name is Emily (like my sister) which makes conversations at home confusing at times. I don’t know what 2013 has in store for me, but I’m beginning to plan for a 2014 sabbatical.

Wishing you a blessed new year! 

Love, Jen, Vance, Peder and Solveig

Health and Economic Security

As pastors, we believe the ongoing fiscal showdown in Washington over taxes, the safety net and the deficit is not simply a matter of dollars and sense -- it is a question of right and wrong. The outcome of this debate has profound moral consequences for our nation, and potentially harsh human consequences for American families.

The way some politicians talk about these negotiations, you would never know that the health and economic security of real flesh-and-blood people hang in the balance. Instead of making apocalyptic claims that we are about to become another Greece, perhaps they should take a look around America. Across the country, many poor families work fulltime but still strain to make ends meet. Food stamps, unemployment insurance and the Earned Income Tax Credits kept 14 million of these Americans out of poverty. Millions of children, including hundreds of thousands in Missouri, would go to bed hungry without these programs and would have no access to healthcare without Medicaid. Seniors on fixed incomes depend on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for their very survival. We see this reality face to face in our neighborhoods and congregations. These are the people our leaders must represent and defend, not the special interests whose well-heeled lobbyists are roaming the halls of Congress.

Scripture is clear that nations – not just individuals -- will be judged by how we treat the least among us. In order to pass this test, we must raise enough revenues to fund a safety net that reduces poverty, prevents hunger and cares for the sick. At a time of staggering economic inequality, robust corporate profits, large deficits and historically low taxes on rich people, our leaders need to summon the courage to make powerful special interests pay their fair share. That starts with ending the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans and closing loopholes for big, profitable corporations. Our current revenue levels are inadequate and will lead either to cuts that make people suffer or unsustainable deficits. Politicians who oppose tax increases on the richest among us but consider taking food assistance and healthcare away from poor families and seniors a necessary sacrifice have lost their moral compass.

The way the fiscal cliff debate is playing out in Washington clarifies the values at stake. Clergy leaders of the PICO National Network, of which we are members, have met with Senators, organized call-in days from our congregations to Capitol Hill offices, and sent letters calling on lawmakers to protect low-income families, end the Bush tax cuts on the top two percent, and not cut benefits to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Meanwhile corporate CEOs have intensely lobbied both parties to enact a "pro-growth" plan that cuts taxes for powerful corporations while undermining needed benefits for seniors and working families. And all the while, many politicians stick to the inaccurate refrain that we only have a spending problem.

Any fiscal cliff deal that undermines the health or economic security of American families and fails to require rich and powerful special interests to pay their fair share is immoral. Our elected representatives have a grave responsibility to uphold our values of fairness, justice and shared sacrifice.

Rev. Rayfield Burns is Assistant to the Pastor of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. Jennifer J. Thomas is Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church. Both are members of Communities Creating Opportunity and Missouri Faith Voices. 

Take My Life and Let It Be

So, I've been pushed off the high dive in the deep end. I've talked about starting a blog for a while now, because I enjoy reading the musings of others in their personal blogs. Now, it's pure competition and ego that drive me to write today. Translate -- my intern blogs, one of my best friends blogs, my first college room mate blogs. Why not?

I've entitled my blog, and this first entry, "Take My Life and Let It Be," because Jesus has been stalking me through five different worship services in five different communities with this hymn from Evangelical Lutheran Worship #685. Here's what I said in a sermon about this phenomena:

Sermon 20121111

Grace and peace…

·  Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

·  Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

·  Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.

·  Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

·  Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

·  Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/445#ixzz2BvCozW6p

What is God up to?

Jesus is calling us to whole life stewardship.

Funny story – several times in the last few weeksincluding face book on Thursday, my own protests, ok, I surrender, Jesus has been dogging me.

Jesus is watching, judging, commenting…

This widow, puts her heart in the treasury of the temple, when she gives everything she has.

The scribes give out of their abundance, is their heart in it?

Thesis: How would we contribute to the treasury if Jesus were watching us? If he were actually, physically here?

Let’s say, Jesus is watching – to me, that isn’t a scary phenomena, but a welcome presence in our lives. Jesus is watching our conduct, not only on Sunday mornings when we’re placing our offerings in the plate, but how we’re conducting our entire life’s stewardship – how we spend our time and our possessions, and how we utilize ourselves and our neighbors.

He’s looking out for the widows and all who offer thanks and praise. He’s judging how we’re stewards of one another.

He sees us when were sleeping, he knows when were awake – kids are more conscientious at this time of the year, because they’re wanting Santa to deliver their entire wish list –

Different proposition – Jesus isn’t only watching you, he is with you, guiding you and urging you to keep the needs of others in mind as you make decisions of how to spend your time, your money, and your service.

Like in school for example – a lot of stuff happens in school – I remember middle school like it was yesterday – not an easy time in life – lots of small groups, some days I was part of one or another, but even then once part of a group, members didn’t always exercise kindness – stewardship of others – kindness, compassion, standing up for those who are exploited – never forget the multiple times I watched a class mate get shoved under a bench or put in a garbage can by bullies in the hallway, and regret and repent now, that I didn’t stand up for him. How we treat other people matters. This is what Jesus is saying as he gives the commandments. This is what he’s saying as he watches the generosity of the rich and the poor .He knows that the poor are exploited by those in power.