Who are you?

This week was one of those weeks... so all I have is a modified outline for you, but you'll get the idea! Thanks for reading!

Luke 8:26-39
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

What is your name? Who are you?

That’s the question Jesus asks of the man he encounters.

The man is not just possessed, he’s occupied by hundreds of demons.

So Jesus heals the man; calls out the demons.

Sends them into the pigs, who then jump into the abyss.

In case you’re wondering, No big deal to the Jews of that day, being unclean animals.

                     

But there’s heartbreak here.

Jesus asks his name; his identity is gone.

          Not John or Mark or Bob. Just “Legion.”

He’s defined by those things that bind him, constrain him, hold him back, keep him living in darkness.

Even more heartbreak: we’re not that much different.

We define ourselves by our deficiencies and our setbacks.

Not always, but enough to rob us of the abundant life that God wants for us.

It seems every time we want to take a risk, be vulnerable

          We’re reminded of every failure and disappointment.

                   We have allowed those things to possess us.

                             But that’s not our true identity.

                                      We too are legion.

Our culture seeks to create in us a real sense of lack.                                    

          TV commercials goal: create insecurity.

                   Focus on looks or status, possessions and relationships.

                             Not enough, but buy our product and you’ll have it!

                                      And we comply.

Walk around your home and notice how many things you bought and don’t need.

                   We believed the promise the product made.

                             For that to happen, we had to buy in to our being insufficient.

                                      We too are legion.

When we lose our identity,

          When we feel trapped by our past hurts

                   When we are occupied by the culturally induced sense of lack

          We’re then called back to be with our brothers and sisters who are the church

                   To have those demons cast out

                             To have identity restored.

                                      Reminded of how much God loves us.

This is the only thing Jesus does in the Gerasene land.

          Healed one possessed man. And left again.

                   Jesus crossed into Gentile territory, across boundaries, to heal one.

                             Transformed Legion into human again.                                                                     A long journey to help one person!

                                      Crossed into dangerous land to save one soul

Jesus comes to give back our identity as well.

          Announced to us at baptism,

washed by the water, marked with the cross of Christ,              

sealed by the Holy Spirit forever.

          Crossed into danger to save your soul… and yours… and mine.

Jesus comes to tell us that no matter how many ads we see telling us the contrary,

we are not insufficient or undeserving of love.

It seems the whole point of Jesus’ ministry and mission is to tell us –

or, rather, show us –

just how much God loves us.

Invitation: Come to the font, receive a reminder of God’s love for you.               

One true Identity. Child of God.

          Never forget who you are.

It's not business; it's only personal!

I took a week off from "regular" preaching last week to bless the pets and then jump in the pond (sure, you can email me and ask!). We're back at the church this week for worship and wonder!

4th Sunday after Pentecost

I Kings 21:1-21a

Acts 7:36-8:3

It’s not personal; it’s strictly business.

Michael Corleone didn’t take it personally when killing Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo.

Did anyone ask Sollozzo? Or his family?

In today’s reading, Ahab wanted to expand his holdings. It wasn’t enough that he had placed his palace on a very large plot of land in Jezreel, one of the most fertile valleys in the Middle East. He wanted more, and thought that the world would simply give it to him.

Land was simply a birthright, only changing hand among family members. There was no real estate market—you’re family’s land was your family’s land. No questions asked.

So just Ahab asking was somewhat offensive. But Ahab was the king and thought that everyone would bow to his every whim, because when Naboth tells him, “no,” he goes off and has the king of all temper tantrums. He is so distraught he can’t function, can’t even get out of bed.

And then we learn who really wears the pants in the family—the ruler behind the throne: Jezebel. It’s not a far stretch to imagine Jezebel as the Michael Corleone of Elijah’s time.

Determined to get what Ahab desperately wanted, she sets up Naboth, promising favor to others if they’ll do her bidding. A series of lies are told and Naboth is found guilty, none too surprising for Ahab (and therefore Jezebel) controls the courts. And so as Naboth is stoned, Jezebel makes sure to send representatives making sure the property is hers, I mean HIS!

And what a plan, a set up! One can only imagine how proud the Godfather would have been with such a sneaky, deceitful, cunning story.

Be careful not to get caught up in the fact that Jezebel is a woman. Because at least for this story, the actions are despicable whether a male or female had planned the atrocities.

After all, for Jezebel it’s not personal, it’s strictly business.

Did anyone ask Naboth? Or his family?

This may not be a culture changing story for us, but it’s the very story the people of Palestine cling to when Israel takes away some land to complete their conquest today. I know we don’t want to take sides, and many good things have come out of our close relationship to Israel.

And besides, it’s not personal, it’s strictly business!

Tell that to the Palestinian family who just lost their land so the Israelis can build a settlement. 

Even in today’s gospel, the Pharisee, the religious insider is incensed when Jesus dare let a sinful woman do so much as humbly anoint Jesus’ feet, drying them with her own hair. How dare he not send her away!

All of the people who are shunned and put aside in our stories today are the poorest, least influential, powerless ones. They are the outsiders, the alien, the maligned and despised.

Might makes right! Doesn’t it?

But then Jesus comes along and says to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Her faith saved her—not her might, not her power, not her beauty, not her strength.

Jezebel would be a hero today, we’d lift her up as an example of the American dream, making gains for herself at any cost. Always reaching for the next acquisition for her empire. Squashing the little guy in the pursuit of wealth, fame, and fortune.

It’s a far cry from an earlier day. Perhaps we would be better to keep in mind the words of Emma Lazarus etched at the base of the Statue of Liberty:

“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-[tossed] to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Our own ancestors were among those huddled masses, coming here with nothing but the clothes on their back by the boatloads in search of something better. Of course there were thieves and criminals among those numbers, but the majority just wanted something a little better.

God’s reminds the chosen people in Exodus 23 that they too were once aliens; foreigners in a strange land.

In Leviticus 19:33 we hear the law: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself.”

I’m not going to tell you that there are easy answers to some of the immigration questions of today. What I am telling you is that love MUST be part of the equation.

Because who is our neighbor? Our neighbor isn’t just the one who thinks like us, talks like us, and believes like us. Our neighbor is also the alcoholic with no hope, the crack head in the continuing downward spiral, the non-traditional family doing their best to be loving and responsible, the illegal alien who just wants to be able to feed his family, the abuser who continues the lessons she learned from her parents, the abused whose silent cries we don’t hear. 

                    

We may just walk on by, turn a blind eye, let someone else take care of it. But really, we’d go to those neighbors if we had more time, knew the right words to say, had the proper training. When we ignore them it’s not personal, it’s only business. There are so many other things to do. Maybe someday we will help.

But for God, it’s not business, it’s strictly personal.

It’s always personal for God. Good thing too, because maybe in a quest for quantity over quality, God might have skipped over you. But God doesn’t do that, instead he gives us the power to become the children of God. What is this power? It’s not the ability to dominate. It’s not ignoring the needs of others to simply reward ourselves with more and more. It’s the ability God gives us to love one another and care for one another.

God’s power isn’t to be collected, making sure we have more. God’s power is ours to give away—to lift others needs above our own. God gives us the ultimate example of this power. He shared his only Son with us, even letting him die for us on the cross. Power, given away to us that we might live forever.

And if so, are we ready to put ourselves on the line, step out of our comfort zones, sacrifice a little pride or probably more accurately get beyond our stubbornness? These are the things we must do to properly share resurrection power.

Because someone, somewhere, either directly or indirectly, shared the power with you. It’s important to remember those who shared God’s love with us, awkwardly telling us the best and most important story of their life. It’s important to think of the model given by that parent or neighbor or friend who was alongside you as you were washed in the waters of baptism, teaching you the story of a brother named Jesus who loved you so much that he died for you. A brother who cares for you so deeply that one day he will return to claim you. Because only when we recognize that Jesus shared the power of the cross with us are we then ready to share it with others.

Remember, for God, it’s not business, it’s strictly personal.

So now we too have the ability to open eyes and hearts to the loving God who so lovingly created us and continues to care for us. You know the last chapter of Matthew, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” And for the amazing opportunity we have to share God’s love, how else can we respond except to go in peace and serve the Lord?

THANKS BE TO GOD!                                             

Lessons from Great Stories of Faith

1 Kings 18:20-39
Luke 7:1-10

Two great stories of faith today.

And I absolutely love the first one. King Ahab has been doing everything possible to eliminate any mention of the God of Israel. He’s driven God’s prophets underground if not outright killed them. All except one: Elijah. Ahab sees Elijah as a rather strong threat. After all Elijah boldly predicted a drought (which came true), Elijah produced the never-ending jars of oil and meal, Elijah brought the widow’s son back to life. And now Elijah is challenging Ahab, going directly to him to look him in the eye. Elijah even challenges the king and his false gods to a duel with the one true God, even asking for a crowd to assemble to watch the precedings.

If nothing else, Elijah is bold. He’s got guts. And for whatever reason Ahab, instead of killing him on the spot, complies with Elijah’s wishes. Game on!

He lets the prophets of Baal try their very best to get their gods to send fire. And do they try, even to placing themselves on the altar as what I suppose to be some sort of kindling.

And so Elijah mocks them and their gods. You can hear the “nyah, nyah” coming out and imagine him doing some sort of over the top victory dance. But he doesn’t stop there.

And then he really eggs them on, digging trenches and pouring water over the wood time and time again. Yes, Elijah is certainly bold. And the fire comes and burns the wood, and the animal, and the stones, and the water. Try that at home!

It’s quite the story. It’s the story of one so strong in faith that he couldn’t help but celebrate the victory even before it happened.

Or maybe you’re more like the centurion, so humble as to know that he is not worthy of Jesus’ love and care. And all this not for his own need, but for the need of a beloved slave. A man had great earthly power but understood he was no match for the power of God. A leader humbling himself, knowing that he couldn’t come to Jesus on his own terms. As Jesus said, “not even in Israel have I found such faith.

And yet both Elijah and the centurion show great strength, both fearing God in their own way. There is certainly something for us in these examples for living today.

Because what if we did tackle the false idols in the world today with the ferocity of Elijah? What  we challenged the status quo of collecting wealth? What if we stopped pushing others down to advance our own cause and instead sought to bring others to the way, the truth, and the life? Are we bold enough to turn away from those idols that we crave. After all there’s a reason TMZ and the like are so popular: people want to feel superior, people love getting caught up in paying close attention to things that really don’t matter to keep from having to look at what’s really going on.

How popular would I be, would this church be, if we promised the world those things that many prosperity preachers feed to their followers. How awesome would it be if I could stand here (as others have in their ministry) and tell you that if you give $1000 dollars today you will get $10,000 in return? Yes that sounds great. Until it doesn’t happen. And let’s be honest, if it did come true the Securities and Exchange Commission would have more than a few questions for me!

But there are things we can promise. We know that faith in God will bring us to eternal life. No, it won’t bring us riches; at least not the kind people hope for. But those riches come at a steep price. Because if that $1000 actually becomes $10,000 you’ll next be looking for $100,000, then $1,000,000. The trouble with earthly prosperity is that the need for more never ends. 

In our gospel story we see the reward of real faith. And mind you, the centurion in the story is not hurting for earthly things. In fact the centurion is doing pretty well and even acknowledges that fact: “I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” But he also knows that there is so much more than this. And he recognizes, even though he is wealthy and powerful, that he is not worthy of facing Jesus on his own terms. But he also knows Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

And Jesus is amazed. The centurion is the epitome of faith. And faith has made him, and the slave, well.

So indeed today, we see a contrast in styles. We have “in your face” Elijah and we have the humble centurion. But the one thing they have in common is amazing faith. Both know that the Lord God can and will protect them and the people they love. Both know that God will not let them down. What if we had that confidence? What if we could be so sure that God will do exactly as God promised? What if we were proudly bold to proclaim God as Lord and yet be so humble as to lower ourselves from our earthly heights to kneel at the feet of God?

What if that’s exactly what Jesus did when he came to earth? He turned the tables of the treasury in the temple, he performed miracles in plain sight of many, yet in humility allowed himself to be hung on a cross to die for us. 

What then if we took seriously Jesus’ commandment to love one another seriously? Seriously enough to be so bold as to proclaim God’s mighty power even when outnumbered 450:1. Seriously enough to ask for God’s mercy for a friend, knowing that only through the suffering and death of Christ are we worthy to even approach God. 

And even if we aren’t as bold as Elijah God’s work still needs to be done. And in thanksgiving for the gift of eternal life, equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be God’s hands even in quiet, small, and humble ways. And God’s work is active all around us, in the good deeds and shared love and miracles both large and small happening all around us. 

Keep your eyes open and you will see God’s work. You’ll see a community of faith banding together to make sure hungry children are fed. You’ll see teachers bringing the word of God to bright-eyed children clinging to every word of the story. You’ll see a neighbor offering the use of his mower when yours seems beyond hope. You’ll see the joy in someone’s face when you tell them to enjoy vacation and promise to make certain they don’t work. 

The list goes on and on. Keep your eyes open.