John 17:20-26

By my count, there are at least 6 “so thats” in this brief portion of Jesus’ final prayer on behalf of his disciples and the world.  This frequent use of this connecting phrase, “so that”, demonstrates how purposeful Jesus’ prayer is.  Jesus wants results, and results that are transformative and meaningful.  There is nothing superficial or trite about this prayer of Jesus.  Most importantly, Jesus wants his life to count for something, especially if his life is going to be taken from him in the next 24 hours.  This factor begs the question of all of us.  What would be your final prayer if you knew that you had 24 hours in which to live and that this final 24 hours of your life could be pretty painful and horrendous?

For Jesus, his prayer indicates that he wants everyone to be one—a desire that he states not only once, but 3 times in this portion of his prayer.  Anytime that something is repeated like this in the Bible, we know that it is important.  According to this repetition in Jesus’ prayer, it is important for Jesus that not only will his immediate disciples be united as one, but also that all who come to put their trust in God through the word that his disciples are going to proclaim will be united as one people in the faith that they share.   For Jesus, this oneness or unity is one of the highest priorities of our discipleship that is meant to inspire and motivate other people to believe in God and follow in the way of Jesus.

However, Jesus can pray for the oneness of all of his followers all that he wants, but the outcome that Jesus desires for all of us not only is dependent upon the Holy Spirit who calls and gathers us together as one people, but also is dependent upon us to do whatever is necessary to be united with all of our sisters and brothers in the faith.  Just to make sure that we get all of the help that we need to be united as one people, Jesus also introduced to his disciples at this Passover meal a special way that they would be made one in Jesus.  Jesus took a loaf of bread and gave it to his disciples, piece-by-piece, to remind them that they all would be a part of his one body.  Then he took a cup of wine and told his disciples to drink from it, one-by-one, to signify that they all would be united by his own blood that he was about to shed.

Yes, Jesus was willing to give his own life and shed his own blood so that all of his followers would be united as one people on the face of this earth and model for the rest of the world how our trust in Jesus would keep us united, despite all of our diversity and all of our differences.  Unfortunately, our testimony and witness to our oneness in Jesus has not always been exemplary throughout the history of the Church.  That statement is supposed to be our cue to review our history, and name all of the times and all of the ways that we as sisters and brothers in Christ have opposed one another, fought against one another, and even killed one another instead of loving one another and forgiving one another as Jesus instructed his disciples to do on this fateful night.

Perhaps we can forgive ourselves for our oppressive, corrupt, and violent history as the Church, but the world cannot and will not.  The world takes one look at our divisive and hostile history and tells us, “We don’t want anything to do with your institution if that’s the kind of God that you believe in and the kind of Christ that you choose to follow.  To watch you oppose one another and even go to war against one another in the name of the same God or in the name of the same Jesus Christ is enough to make us not want to believe in your God or in your Jesus.”  I certainly have heard people use this rationale to decline my invitation for them to come to church with me.  Have you?

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be completely one so that the world may know and believe that God has sent Jesus into this world in order to reveal to the world the way of God’s salvation.  Oh, we may be able to talk a good talk or put up a good front about our unity in Christ, but the world can see right through our hypocrisy at times.  For example, within our own Lutheran family, we are so strongly divided over our practice of open and closed communion.  Although we are making great strides in coming to an understanding about our theological and ecclesiastical differences among our Protestant denominations and even with our Catholic sisters and brothers, the disagreements that we have in this regard still prevent some of us from sharing Holy Communion together or being in full altar and pulpit fellowship.  In addition to those whom we consider to be mainline Christians, we haven’t even scratched the surface about how to relate more openly and graciously with those whom we view to be non-denominational or fundamentalists or the Religious Right.

I would go out on a limb at this point, and suggest that our two major political parties in this country are influenced strongly by the religious beliefs of people who are members of conservative or progressive Christian churches.  The stalemate that exists in Washington DC as well as in Olympia is evidence of how even the religious members of Congress and of our state legislature cannot see eye-to-eye or be of one mind and heart in serving the common good of all people.  At this point, allegiances to particular ideologies or loyalties to a particular party tend to take precedence over Jesus’ desire for unity among his disciples.  Similarly, when two or more nations that have strong Christian roots go to war against one another, national allegiances often take precedence over the decision of Jesus’ disciples to follow him and give witness to the unity that they share in Jesus Christ.

Now, I would be the first one to say that our unity in Jesus Christ does not require that we all have to be in total agreement with one another.  If that was the case, then we would have little room for the diversity and inclusivity in the Church that we desire to model for the world so that the world may know the inclusive love of God and believe in the One whom God has sent into this world to give witness to this inclusive love.  Nowhere in Jesus’ prayer is he asking God to make his disciples be all alike, think all alike, or act all alike.  What he desires is that with all of their differences in terms of personalities, opinions, and convictions, his disciples will be completely one just as Jesus has given witness to the oneness that he has with God.

This point was driven home for me a few years ago on Mother’s Day.  Cindy and I had invited my family to our house for the afternoon, but to my surprise, my parents showed up here for church that morning.  As some of you already know, my parents belong to the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church which permits only those who belong to the Wisconsin Synod or hold to their doctrines and theological positions to share in Holy Communion.  The reverse also holds in that they do not allow their members to take communion at any other churches, especially those churches that do not hold to the same doctrine and teachings as the Wisconsin Synod.  As a result of this position, my parents and I have not communed together for over 3 decades.  You can imagine the sorrow that I had carried for all these years over this divisive position.

Well, on this particular Sunday, I had prepared a sermon similar to the one that I am preaching today, and in that sermon, I made some remark about the bread and the wine uniting us with all of our sisters and brothers throughout the Church, whether they be members at University Temple United Methodist Church or at a church somewhere in Africa.  When it came time for communion, as usual, my parents remained in their pew and did not come up to the table to receive the bread and the wine.  In that moment, as I observed them sitting there all alone in the pew, because everyone else around them was at the table, my own words that I had preached that morning came back to bite me, and I realized that if, in fact, I believe that the bread and the wine are what unites us, then when my parents commune at their church and I take communion at my church, we are united in Jesus Christ.  With that realization, suddenly all of the grief that I had been carrying for so many years was gone, and from that moment on, I could love my parents in a way that I hadn’t been able to love them for too many years.

If we truly believe that we are united and made one through this bread and the fruit of the vine that we share, whether we are in the same room together or on opposite sides of the world, then we no longer ought to be afraid of one another, hate one another, oppress one another, or be willing to kill one another.  Obviously, there are no guarantees that just because we all eat and drink of the same body and blood of Jesus Christ, we won’t despise one another or refrain from killing one another, just as there are no guarantees that Jesus’ prayer for our oneness and unity automatically will bring about his desired results.  The results of Jesus’ prayer are dependent upon how we choose to respond to his desire that we love one another just as he has loved all of us with a love that includes the acceptance of who we are and the forgiveness of what we have done wrong in disregarding his prayer and not being willing to love one another despite our differences, our disagreements, and our divisions.  On this Mother’s Day, as we celebrate this love and forgiveness of God as revealed in Jesus, may the peace of God that goes beyond all of our human understanding, keep our hearts and our minds ever faithful unto Jesus Christ, whose love for all of us has made us one.  Amen.

Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35

Today, we hear how Peter told the circumcised believers at Jerusalem, “The Spirit told me to go with them and not make a distinction between them and us.”  As you listen to this statement by Peter, who comes to your mind when you hear his reference to “them?”  Who are those people in your lives today that would be comparable to the Gentiles in Peter’s day—the “them” to whom he refers?  Are “them” the fundamentalists, that other political party, those vagrants, the people who live on the other side of the tracks, the Iranians or North Koreans, that foreigner, those migrants, the management, those union members, those Jews or Muslims, or those women? We all have those people in our lives whom we consciously or not consider to be “them,” or “those people.”

In Peter’s day, one of the “them” were the Gentiles—people who were not circumcised as the Jews were required to be.  To the Jews, the Gentiles included everyone who wasn’t a Jew.  The Jews didn’t necessarily view the Gentiles as adversaries as much as they were perceived to be idolatrous and immoral people who would be categorized as heathens.  Therefore, to consider that those Gentiles might become members of the household of faith that was predominantly made up of Jewish people was an abominable idea, to say the least.  That’s why Peter was getting so much push back from the Jewish disciples of Jesus.

We don’t need to spend a whole lot of time this morning talking about or analyzing this relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles.  What we do need to concentrate on is the way that Peter, and eventually the Apostle Paul, recognized and promoted how Jesus makes no distinction between Jews and Gentiles when it comes to inviting and welcoming anyone into his community of Faith known as the realm of God.  When Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment to love one another, he wasn’t limiting this commandment to the Jewish people who were the dominant disciples at this time.  He was referring to anyone and everyone who eventually would decide to be one of his followers.  Besides, what better way for someone outside the community of Jesus’ disciples to decide to follow Jesus than by observing how the Jewish and Gentile disciples of Jesus would have love for one another.

Of course, the way that Jesus’ disciples are able to have love for one another no matter how different they may be is grounded in the love that Jesus has for them.  Let’s face it, Jesus had quite a mix of people that he had called and gathered to be among his first disciples and that he had loved and would eventually forgive.  There were the 4 fishermen, a tax collector, a Zealot who despised tax collectors, a thief of a treasurer, a pragmatic doubter, and several others about whom we have very little information in the Bible.  Then there were all of the women who were named as followers of Jesus and who came from various backgrounds—no matter whether real or legend.  To mention so many women by name was an indication that from the very outset, Jesus had included women as equal members of the community of faith that he had called and gathered to follow him and be his witnesses in Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and throughout the world.

Jesus loved each and every one of these disciples. He knew it and they knew it!  He accepted them as they were without judgment.  Only once that we know of when he lost his cool did Jesus tell Peter, “Get behind me, Satan”—not exactly a nice thing to say to one of your followers.  However, Peter didn’t seem to mind because here he is today reaching out to the Gentiles, accepting them as they are, and welcoming them into this same community of faith that Jesus had begun some four years previously.  Peter knew how much his life had been changed by the love of Jesus, and here he was convincing all of the other followers of Jesus to be able to acknowledge how Gentiles also could come to put their trust in Jesus and change their lives so that they would become faithful followers of Jesus.

“As I have loved you,” Jesus had told his disciples, “you also should love one another.”  There is a “should” in this statement that indicates to these disciples that Jesus considers this exhortation more than just an invitation.  Jesus is giving his disciples a commandment that he expects them to follower and put into practice.  They are to have love for one another without exception.  Simon the Zealot needs to learn how to love Matthew, the tax collector for the Romans.  The introverted disciples, about whom we know so little, are to love boisterous and domineering Peter.  The humble disciples are to love James and John and their mother who had ambitions about being Jesus’ chosen leaders among all of the disciples.  At one point, we are told that Judas was taking money out of the disciples’ treasury for his own use, and all of the disciples were supposed to continue to love him.  Even with this knowledge, Jesus did not take away Judas’ responsibility, nor did he boot him out of this privileged community of intimate followers of Jesus.  Even to the very end, Jesus treated Judas with love and respect by calling him friend and telling him to do what he must do.

Now that Jesus had been put to death, had been raised by God from the dead, had forgiven all of his disciples for abandoning him in his greatest hour of need, and had departed from this earth, the disciples have been left on their own to continue loving one another and everyone else for that matter with the love with which Jesus had loved them.  Actually, they were not on their own in this regard, because Jesus had given them his Spirit which he had received from God to give them the power to love one another as he had loved them.  Jesus knew the vulnerability of his own disciples.  He knew their limitations of being able to love one another as completely as he had loved them.  So, Jesus breathed on his disciples his Spirit so that they could love one another and even the Gentiles with the same complete love with which he had loved and forgiven them.  This same love and forgiveness would be the inspiration and motivation for these Gentiles to want to repent and be transformed in their lives so that they also would choose to obey Jesus’ command to love even those whom they previously had chosen to dislike, despise, envy, resent, hate, fear, judge, condemn, or desire to kill. 

So, who is it in your life that you tend to dislike, despise, envy, resent, hate, fear, judge, condemn, or want to kill?  These people are the “thems’ in your life that Jesus has commanded us all to love and accept into the community of faith that Jesus called the realm of God, just as Jesus already has done.  With this love, those people become our sisters and brothers who are one with us in Jesus Christ and who are called and gathered by God’s Spirit to join the communion of saints and sinners who continue to be challenged by this tension between the divine choice to love and the human tendency to fear, hate, despise, and all the rest of the human emotions that sabotage our desire to love one another just as Jesus has loved all of us.

Psalm 8

Today is not the day to rant and rave about all that we are doing or not doing that contributes to the destruction of this planet Earth.  Today is the day to join with the psalmist and give praise to God for how magnificent this creation is.  With the sun setting over the Olympic Mountains on a clear day, consider how the Earth is rotating on its axis while you stand there and absorb the awesome beauty of this moment.  As the moon comes into view, take note of how the tides come and go based upon the position and pull of this lunar feature.  Gaze upon the heavens at night, look at all of the stars—when you can see them—and marvel at their brilliance.  We can explain all of these things scientifically, but as a matter of faith, we also can acknowledge that God has had a finger in the process and join with the psalmist in exclaiming, “How majestic is your name in all the Earth.”

The psalmist also takes a very anthropocentric point of view in stating that God has made us human beings a little lower than God and has given us dominion over all of the creatures of this planet.  This perspective is consistent with how the priests described the role and responsibility of the first human beings whom God created and told to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over every living thing on the face of the Earth.  Since too many people throughout the centuries have interpreted this word “dominion” to mean domination and exploitation, today we prefer to counter this interpretation by stating that dominion actually has much more to do with the care of this planet Earth than ruling over it.  Personally, I happen to like the word “dominion,” because dominion has everything to do with responsibility and accountability—two words that are so important today for how we understand our relationship with God’s creation.

To be a little lower than God is a huge responsibility—one that we ought not take too lightly.  Of course, mention of our responsibility assumes that we have been created with the capability to be responsive to God’s creative love in a constructive and meaningful way.  According to the priests who wrote this first narrative in the Bible, the sixth day of creation was not the end of the story.  The way that the first human beings were to have dominion over the face of the Earth was by doing exactly what God did on the next day in this story—taking a rest on the seventh day which in the Judaic tradition meant keeping the Sabbath day holy.

How do we hallow this day that God has given us to keep holy?  The standard answer to this question is that we take time to rest from our labor exactly as God did on the seventh day.  Such rest is good for the human spirit and for the human soul.  However, making sure that we all have time to rest on the Sabbath day is but the beginning of how we honor this day.  To keep the Sabbath day holy also involves doing the justice and making the peace that is necessary to benefit our society as a whole, and even the entire world.  Jesus made this point every time that he healed someone or fed someone who was hungry on the Sabbath day.

Besides resting from our regular labor on the Sabbath day, this day also has been set aside in order to make things just and righteous in our lives and in the world, and to concentrate on the things that make for peace in our homes, in our communities, and throughout our nation.  If we are to exercise our dominion over everything on the face of the Earth such that God’s shalom would be the end result, then the seventh day or the Sabbath day would be the day to make a concerted effort toward this end.  In so doing, we would model for the rest of the world how dominion over every living thing has to do with the sustenance of every living thing, the equitable distribution of the Earth’s resources, the cessation of all forms of violence, the freedom of every human being, the cancellation of debts, and the common good of all living creatures, including us human beings.

We human beings were never meant to be the center of the universe, even though we often behave in this manner.  More accurately, we male human beings were never meant to be the only ones to determine how the world was supposed to operate, even though historically we think that we are God’s gift to humankind.  Unless God is at the center of our lives and unless we keep God at the forefront of all of our relationships and all of our decisions and actions, we can expect that we will begin to act like God and travel down a road of self-destruction that will only end in the suffering and death of every living creature on the face of the Earth.

For this reason, we join with the psalmist today and acknowledge how God is the majestic Sovereign who reigns within every creature and every feature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea.  In this God we have our very being, and we take delight and confidence in knowing that God’s Spirit is with us to the end of the age.  Likewise, we are filled with anticipation and hope because every time that we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, the will of God is made known to us through the revelation of Jesus whom we profess to be our messiah, our Christ.  Even more so, every time that we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we are united with all of our sisters and brothers in heaven and on earth and under the earth so that together we will be united in our vision and mission to exercise our dominion over God’s creation according to the testimony and witness of Jesus, our Christ.

This past week, I had the opportunity for a day and a half to sit with fifty of our sisters and brothers from around the country at Seattle University in what was called a Christian Peace Circle.  We were called and gathered together to engage in a conversation about how the disciples of Jesus Christ might be able to revive the peace movement within the church.  At the beginning of this particular conversation, we were reminded of 6 tenets of faith about which most of our denominations agree. They are:

• War is contrary to the will of God
• There are many forms of violence in which Christians must not participate
• Non-violent resistance is central to the Christian understanding of peace
• Peace is inseparable from justice
• Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel message
• Unity of the church is key to effective peacemaking

Although none of these tenets of faith talks specifically about God’s creation or about our role and responsibility in having dominion over every living creature on the face of the Earth, all six of these tenets, if followed, would result in the care of God’s creation the likes of which we haven’t seen or experienced for centuries.  Since violence is one of the most domineering expressions of humankind, our use of force or violence in order to get our way or possess what we desire is definitely inconsistent with our having dominion over every living creature on the face of the Earth.

On this Earth Sunday, if we are going to recognize and proclaim how majestic the name of God is in all the Earth, then all of our decisions and actions ought to be consistent with our praise.  Therefore, today, as we give praise to God for how magnificent this creation is, let us also take time to rest from our regular labor, to do the justice that God requires of us, to pursue the things that make for peace in this world, and to refrain from all manner of force or violence in our dominion over every living creature on the face of the Earth.  Praise be to God, our sovereign Creator, now and forever.  Amen.

May 16 – Grief & Loss Group, 10:00 a.m., chapel
May 18 – Youth, Car Parking & Window Washing,
May 25 – Youth, Lord of the Rings Bible Study, 5:00 p.m. at Oakley home

June 2 – UDEP Potluck, 12:00 p.m., Christ Episcopal Church
June 9 – Youth Adult Lunch on the Ave, 12:00 p.m.
June 20 – Grief & Loss Group, 10:00 AM, chapel
June 23 – ULC Picnic, 12:00 p.m., Ravenna Park
June 30 – Pride Parade, 12:00 p.m., downtown Seattle

Acts 5:27-32; John 20:19-31

How do we explain the 2 very different images of Jesus’ disciples that are presented in our lessons for today?  In the Gospel of John, the disciples are terrified for their lives because they think that the religious leaders are going to come after them in order to arrest them and perhaps put them to death just as they had killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree.  According to the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus’ disciples are being made to stand before the council of the high priest and are being reprimanded by the high priest for continuing to teach in Jesus’ name after he had ordered them to stop doing so.  However, Peter is brazen enough to tell the high priest, “We must obey God rather than any human authority,” and then goes on to remind the high priest and his council that they are the ones who were responsible for killing Jesus by hanging him on a tree.

What happened to these disciples that enabled them to let go of their fear of death and be willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of this Jesus?  I can identify at least 3 things that happened to them that led to this transformation in their lives.  First of all, they witnessed and experienced Jesus after he had been raised by God from the dead.  In fact, the author of John’s gospel goes into great detail about how Jesus in bodily form appeared to his disciples.  Thomas could actually touch and feel Jesus.  All of the disciples could see where Jesus’ body had been pierced by the Roman soldiers.  Most of all, they believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead because they could actually see Jesus and hear him speak.  We can read all kinds of theology and meaning into the resurrection of Jesus, but just the fact of encountering Jesus after they had watched him die on the cross and be buried in a borrowed tomb was enough to inspire and motivate these disciples to tell everyone about all that Jesus had taught and did to make this world a better place in which to live.

Secondly, the transformation that took place in the lives of these disciples was enabled by the Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed on them.  Whereas the more familiar and popular story about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is recorded in the Book of Acts after Jesus had departed from this earth, the author of the Gospel of John has the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit directly from Jesus only hours after he had been raised by God from the dead.  In the end, it really doesn’t matter when they received this Holy Spirit. The fact that they were filled with the same Spirit that Jesus had received when he was baptized by John in the River Jordan would be enough to change anyone’s life, because with the reception of this Holy Spirit came the power to say and do things that they would normally never say or do—like telling the high priest that they preferred to obey God rather than any human authority.

Jesus had taught his disciples so much about what would happen to them once they received this Holy Spirit—how they would be filled with peace, how they would be guided in the way of truth, how they would know what to say to the principalities and powers of this world, how they would be able to love those whom they normally would hate or fear, how they would advocate for those who were impoverished and marginalized in this world as Jesus did, and how they would be able to forgive others just as Jesus had forgiven his adversaries while dying on the cross.

Too often in the tradition of the church, we only are taught about how the Holy Spirit gives us the faith to believe in God and gathers us together as the communion of saints to worship and give praise to God.  We don’t emphasize enough how the Holy Spirit also gives us the faith, courage, confidence, boldness, and power to take on the principalities and powers in this world in order to do God’s justice and make peace more of a reality in this world—a reality that does away with the oppression, corruption, and violence that is so prominent in the world and a reality that overcomes the pride, fear, greed, hatred, and hostility that is so dominant within our own human psyche.

This Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed on his disciples gave them the faith and courage along with the power to move mountains into the depths of the sea as Jesus once told his disciples they would be able to do.  This Holy Spirit would transform their lives from being fearful and doubtful human beings to being bold and courageous people who had no fear of death because they had seen how Jesus had conquered death and had come back to life in and through them to carry on with his mission of proclaiming the good news of God’s realm and doing everything in their power to make this reign of God’s justice and peace a reality in this world.

The third aspect of this encounter with Jesus that helped to transform the lives of these disciples was the way that Jesus greeted them.  Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  We can only imagine how this greeting struck at the heart and soul of these disciples.  They had betrayed Jesus, denied him, and abandoned him in his greatest hour of need.  Yes, Peter had drawn his sword to try to defend Jesus from being arrested, but Jesus had made it clear to Peter in that moment that he would not have his disciples fight and kill others in order to save his life or theirs.  No cause in this world was worth taking another person’s life.

Jesus made this point once again with his disciples when he greeted them and said, “Peace be with you,” which in this context were Jesus’ words of forgiveness.  All of the guilt that the disciples were carrying for the way that they had forsaken Jesus was taken away in this moment.  All of the doubts that they had about Jesus being their messiah disappeared in this moment.  All of the fears that they had for their own lives no longer had any power over them.  Jesus truly loved them and in this moment was forgiving them for all that they had done to reject Jesus as their Leader and Savior.  With this simple statement, “Peace be with you,” Jesus liberated his disciples from all that had happened in the past and transformed their lives such that they would now be free to say and do whatever was necessary to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

Obviously, we are like Jesus’ disciples and are afraid for our lives, yet desiring all the more to be able to tell our governing authorities that we must obey God rather than any human authority, especially when what human authorities expect of us is sometimes contrary to what we know God desires of us.  Come April 15, I assume that we all will be paying all of our federal income tax that continues to finance wars that we may oppose and certainly are contrary to Jesus’ testimony and witness throughout his life as well as the way in which he died.  Many law-abiding followers of Jesus continue to oppose state taxes while health and human services are being decimated by the cuts that have gone on for the past 5 years.  For example, I recently learned from my sister and brother-in-law that places like Western State Hospital have no more money to treat people, but only to contain them.

This afternoon, the Nyer Urness House in Ballard which is partially funded by our state’s Housing Trust Fund will be dedicated.  Tomorrow, our state legislators will be deciding whether or not to put any money into the Housing Trust Fund for the next biennium.  The latest word that I received on Friday was that the $175 million intended for the Housing Trust Fund is in jeopardy.  Today, we all have the opportunity to tell our legislators that this money is necessary for people like the women of Elizabeth Gregory Home.  If you are at all doubtful about what to say when you contact your legislators today, remember that Jesus has made a promise to you that when you come before your governing authorities, the Holy Spirit will give you the words to speak just as the Spirit gave words to Jesus’ disciples to speak when they stood before the high priest and his council.

 Probably one of the most important messages that we have received as a result of Jesus’ resurrection is that through his Spirit, Jesus will always be with us to the end of the age.  When we were baptized, we were greeted with Jesus’ forgiving words, “Peace be with you,” and we received the Spirit of Jesus so that we might have the faith, courage, confidence, boldness, and power to obey God rather than any human authority that would have us do anything contrary to God’s will.  When we come to this table today, we are greeted with Jesus’ forgiving words, “Peace be with you,” and are filled with Jesus’ Spirit once again so that we might have the faith, courage, confidence, boldness, and power to obey God rather than any human authority that would have us do anything contrary to God’s will.

Don’t get me wrong!  The people who serve on the Seattle City Council, on the County Council, in Olympia, or in Washington DC are all in the same boat as we are.  Every day they have to choose between obeying God or other human authorities—authorities like public action committees, corporate entities, lobbying groups, and we, the people.  So much that goes on in our government today boils down to we, the people, and whether we will allow our pride, our fear, our greed, our envy, and our lust for power and security to rule our lives, or whether we will allow our love, our compassion, our forgiveness, our commitment to justice, and our longing for peace be the inspiration that we will choose to obey, and then convey to our governing authorities. As each of us ponders this decision, may the peace of God which Jesus offers to us this day, keep our hearts and our minds ever faithful and obedient unto Jesus, our Leader and Savior.  Amen.

May 19, 2013

Pentecost Sunday -
Contemporary Liturgy

•   9:30 AM Worship
• 10:30 AM Fellowship
• 11:00 AM Adult Forum
• 11:00 AM Sunday School
• 11:00 AM Young Adult Bible Study
• 11:00 AM Quilters

  Scripture Readings:

• Acts 2:1-21
• Romans 8:14-17
• JOhn 14:8-27

May Special Offering:

SHARE/WHEEL

Luke 24:1-12; Acts 10:34-43; Isaiah 65:17-25

For many people in our society, the resurrection of Jesus is nothing but an idle tale.  In fact, some of us in this room might even consider that the resurrection of Jesus is nothing but an idle tale.  I get it! The whole idea of God bringing Jesus back to life and literally raising him from the dead is so extraordinary that anyone would have a hard time believing that this miraculous story could be true.  My purpose this morning is not to prove or disprove the resurrection of Jesus, but rather to accept this testimony and witness of Jesus’ disciples as their reality and concentrate on what Jesus’ resurrection might mean for you and for me and for the rest of our society in this post modern era of the 21^st century based upon our readings for today.

People today too easily can disregard and even reject the resurrection of Jesus if we only talk about the resurrection as some empirical act of God that has to be proven true or false before they have an opportunity to hear about all of the implications and ramifications of this miraculous moment in the life of this faith community.  As Peter points out in his discourse today, God allowed Jesus to appear only to those who were chosen by God to be witnesses of Jesus after he rose from the dead.  However, for Peter, the main point of his being a witness to this resurrected Jesus was not the reality of Jesus’ appearance after he had been put to death on the cross, but rather was the opportunity that he now had to testify about Jesus as the one who was ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead, and that according to all the prophets, Jesus’ judgment would consist of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ name without any partiality from God.

Obviously, for the author of this Gospel of Luke, who also wrote this book of the Acts of the Apostles, the universal forgiveness of sins for which Jesus prayed on the cross was considered to be the central message of peace that was to be preached by his followers to all the world.  Luke is the only gospel writer of the four gospels in the Bible who recorded Jesus’ prayer on the cross when Jesus said, “God, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  According to biblical scholars, this prayer probably was attributed to Jesus after his resurrection in order to emphasize how important this gift of forgiveness had become as the main gospel message that was revealed in both Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection.

I think that the question that we ought to be asking ourselves today in this 21^st century is what is so important about Jesus’ prayer of forgiveness on the cross that his disciples would now risk their own lives as witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection and be willing to be put to death themselves as the result of their testimony to this gift of God that could make all things new and bring peace on earth as the angels had informed the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.  According to Peter, it wasn’t only a few prophets who had testified to the importance of this gift of forgiveness.  He states that all the prophets testified that the messiah who would come would offer this forgiveness of sins to all people without partiality and that those who put their trust in this messiah would be assured that their sins would be forgiven by God.

Our reading from the prophet Isaiah for today is a good case in point.  Isaiah, who is speaking on behalf of God Yahweh, declares, “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.  But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.”  Although the word “forgiveness” is not used in this statement, this declaration by Isaiah describes how God is going to forgive and forget all that the people of Jerusalem had done wrong under the monarchy to displease God and bring about their own destruction.

Two benchmarks of their wrongdoing are described in this particular passage—the first one being the significant amount of infant mortality and premature death that happened among the people of Jerusalem as a result of the political corruption and economic disparity that had existed throughout Judah, and the second one being the institution of forced slavery that had existed throughout their land as more and more people became indebted to the wealthy landowners and had to spend the rest of their lives, along with their families, working off their debt.

 According to the prophet Isaiah, God basically is forgiving and forgetting all about this infant mortality and slavery, and is starting over with the people of Judah to set up a new political system and a new economic structure such that all of the citizens of Judah would live together in peace and no one would hurt or destroy one another throughout their land.  This new heavens and new earth that God was about to create is all about resurrection—bringing back to life what was once dead due to the oppression, corruption, and violence that was pervasive throughout their land.  No more shall there be in Judah an infant that lives but a few days or an old person who does not live out a lifetime due to the political corruption, economic disparity, and inadequate healthcare that exists in their land.  No more shall people be forced to build houses for others to inhabit or plant vineyards for others to eat and benefit, or profit.  Everyone throughout Judah will have their own home and have enough food to eat and be satisfied.

 Throughout Scripture, resurrection is all about a new creation, new life, new ways of being in relationship with one another, new opportunities, and fresh starts—all of which are grounded in the gift of God’s forgiveness for what has been wrong in the past and God’s revelation of what is possible in the future by living every moment in the present as God’s beloved children who are committed and dedicated to the justice and righteousness of God for the sake of peace in this world.  All of the prophets attest to this forgiveness by God in one way or another, and point to the day when a messiah would come to reveal how this act of forgiveness could create a whole new way for people to be in relationship with one another and be the foundation for a beloved community in which no one would dominate, oppress, enslave, or violate anyone else.

 The resurrection of Jesus ushers in this possibility of a new creation.  If you don’t believe me, at least allow yourself the possibility of considering what this new creation might entail before you reject the resurrection of Jesus as just another idle tale.  Jesus was put to death on the cross because he was such a threat to the principalities and powers of his day.  Why was he such a threat?  The answer to this question is pretty straightforward.  Jesus proclaimed the good news about the reign of a loving God who accepted, affirmed, and included everyone in this beloved community.  In order for this community to come into being, Jesus called everyone to repent from their evil ways, including those in positions of authority and power.  Jesus made no bones about the fact that he had come to set people free from their poverty, their oppression, their captivity, their indebtedness, and their slavery.  Jesus violated some of the most sacred laws of the land in order to demonstrate that the Sabbath was meant to be a holy day when God’s justice and peace would be the priority and everyone could count on having enough food to eat and receiving the healthcare that they needed.

 All of this good news came into focus when Jesus entered Jerusalem, chased the money changers out of the temple, told the religious leaders that they were hypocrites, thieves and murderers, and wept over Jerusalem because the people did not know what needed to be done in order to make peace in this world.  However, Jesus knew how to make peace in this world, not by taking up a sword and killing his adversaries, but rather by forgiving them and creating for them a whole new possibility of knowing how to make peace in this world by forgiving others just as they had been forgiven by Jesus.

 In raising Jesus from the dead, God affirmed everything that Jesus had done in his attempt to create new heavens and a new earth in which babies would no longer be born for calamity, children would be treated with respect, women would be recognized by men as equal partners, men would not be forced into slavery, and the elderly would be honored by everyone in society.  In raising Jesus from the dead, God declared that what Jesus had only begun to create would have to be carried out by his disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had breathed on his disciples before he departed from this earth.  In raising Jesus from the dead, God answered Jesus’ prayer by allowing Jesus to return and demonstrate to his disciples that he held nothing against them and that they had been forgiven for betraying him, denying him, abandoning him, and even rejecting him.

We all will receive this same gift of forgiveness today as we gather around this table and share in this holy meal that we know as Holy Communion.  Today throughout the world, millions of people are sharing in this holy feast and are being told that through this gift of forgiveness, they are a new creation as the presence of Jesus’ Spirit is renewed in their lives and they are given a new lease on life to follow in the way of Jesus and do everything possible to make peace a reality in this world.  However, in order to bring this global message home and make it personal for each and every one of us, I would conclude this morning by asking you this question.  As you leave this sanctuary today after receiving this gracious gift of forgiveness, what new creation and new beginning will you be and become such that you will be willing to give witness to the resurrected Jesus and be living proof that his death was not in vain and that his resurrection was for real and was much more than an idle tale?  Christ is risen!  (He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!) Amen.

Luke 19:28-40; Philippians 2:5-11; Isaiah 50:4-9a

What would ever stop you from talking about Jesus, or even mentioning his name?  I know that we don’t talk much about Jesus on a daily basis, but being prohibited from doing so is quite another matter.  In our gospel lesson for today, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were very concerned about the way that Jesus’ disciples were making such a big deal about his entry into Jerusalem.  “Teacher,” they demanded, “order your disciples to stop.”  These religious leaders didn’t even have the respect or the courtesy to ask Jesus if he would silence his disciples.  No!  They demanded Jesus to order his disciples to stop proclaiming that Jesus was a king.  It doesn’t take much imagination to hear in their demand all of the anxiety and fear that they must have been feeling about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem under the auspices of being a king of the Judeans.

Hearing their demand, Jesus doesn’t even blink an eye!  He responds to these religious leaders by telling them that if his disciples were silent, the stones would shout out his praise.  Nothing was going to stop Jesus from fulfilling his mission of revealing God’s love for all people and teaching the people God’s way of justice and righteousness such that God’s peace would spread throughout the entire world and save humankind from destroying itself as well as all of God’s creation.

Some people would say that Jesus was just being a stubborn rebel who wanted to make a name for himself.  Those who had decided to follow Jesus knew differently, especially after God had raised Jesus from the dead.  They came to understand that Jesus simply was acting out of faithful obedience to the God in whom he put his deepest trust.  That’s why in one of their earliest hymns, these disciples of Jesus described how Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto God, even to the point of accepting death on a cross in order to reveal God’s love and reconciliation for all people.  Even the reality of being tortured and put to death did not stop Jesus from teaching everyone who would bear witness to his crucifixion about God’s way of making peace in this world.

Other people would say that Jesus was just a crazy fool for not putting up a better fight to save himself from his execution on the cross.  No one in their right mind would enter Jerusalem in the way that Jesus did and live long to tell the story.  However, Jesus wasn’t pursuing his mission for the glory of it, and he certainly wasn’t going to accomplish anything by taking up a sword and killing others in order to prove his point.  Besides, who would have listened to Jesus had he been just another proud person who was willing to fight and kill others for whatever cause he had chosen to pursue?  Had Jesus died fighting in this way, who would have listened to and heard his words of forgiveness as he took his final breath?  Jesus’ manner in which he humbly died on the cross became the defining moment of his testimony and witness to the way that God’s love and God’s peace could save the world from all of the death and destruction that the principalities and powers of this world would continue to bring upon our world to this very day.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I cannot stop talking about Jesus this morning because Jesus is what this week is all about—how he cleansed the temple of the animal sellers and money changers, how he questioned the authority of the religious leaders and denounced the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy, how he predicted the destruction of the temple, how he taught every day in the temple until he shared his final Passover meal with his disciples before he would be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Even at this point, the testimony about Jesus does not stop.  According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was put on trial in front of the chief priests and scribes as well as before Pilate and Herod.  When Pilate announced that he was going to flog Jesus and release him, the crowd shouted for Jesus’ crucifixion to which Pilate conceded and sent Jesus outside the city to be crucified.

Given all that Jesus experienced in the final 24 hours of his life, you would think that the words of Isaiah, the prophet, were written specifically about Jesus—how God gave Jesus the tongue of a teacher, how Jesus gave his back to those who struck him and did not hide his face from people who were spitting on him and mocking him, and how Jesus did not back down, but stood his ground with those who attempted to disgrace him and put him to shame by executing him on a cross as a common criminal.  Even without the resurrection, the way that Jesus actively resisted every temptation to fight against his adversaries or to flee from their hold on him was enough to draw attention to the power of Jesus’ love for all humanity, including his enemies who couldn’t wait to get rid of him so that they could get on with their lives without this itinerant teacher threatening their position and power in this world.

For this same reason, we continue to acknowledge and talk about Jesus to this very day, not as a stubborn rebel or as a crazy fool, but rather as a humble and faithful servant who dedicated his life to proclaiming and revealing the realm of God in which everyone was welcomed, loved, accepted, affirmed, forgiven, liberated, and saved—everyone, including you and me.  No amount of threats or torture was going to stop Jesus from fulfilling his mission of revealing how God’s justice and peace was going to save humankind from dominating one another, oppressing one another, and killing one another in this life.

 In the same way, no amount of embarrassment or ridicule ought to stop us from talking about Jesus and telling everyone how he came to reveal God’s plan for the salvation of the whole world.  We are to have in us the same mind and heart that was in Christ Jesus and be ready to tell others about Jesus’ love for humankind in the way that he chose to sacrifice his life as a model for how we all could make peace in this world.  If we are serious about our mission statement to follow the example of Jesus, then this week is an opportune time to concentrate on what we might say and do to challenge the principalities and powers of this world with a word for those who are weary, a critique of those who are powerful, a defense of those who are impoverished, and a word of forgiveness for all who have done Jesus wrong, not only by their participation in crucifying Jesus, but also by their silence in abandoning him.

We are the stones who have the opportunity to shout out this week about all that Jesus accomplished in his brief ministry as a faithful and obedient servant to a God in whom he put his complete trust.  We are the disciples of Jesus who are called and chosen this week to tell others about all that Jesus said and did to reveal God’s love for all people and to establish God’s justice and righteousness for the salvation of this world.  We are the witnesses to all that Jesus has accomplished in establishing God’s beloved community in which no one will lord themselves over another, all will be fed and satisfied, those who are sick will receive proper healing, and the gift of love and reconciliation will be the foundation for all of our relationships.  As we rise to this challenge, may the peace of God that goes beyond all of our human understanding, keep our hearts and our minds ever faithful and obedient unto Jesus, our Christ.  Amen.

John 12:1-8; Philippians 3:4b-14

Do you know the difference between a prescriptive statement and a descriptive statement?  A prescriptive statement tells us the way things are supposed to be for all time, whereas a descriptive statement informs us about the way things are.  For example, is the statement, “In most cultures, women are dominated by men,” prescriptive or descriptive?  If this statement is prescriptive, then that’s the way men are supposed to treat women.  However, if this statement is descriptive, then it simply reflects the reality of what is without suggesting that it always has to be this way.  In fact, descriptive statements often are made in order to identify and expose a reality that many people would hope could change.  Whereas some men would love it if they were told that they were supposed to dominate women, we know that the domination of women by men is not the way that this relationship has to be or ought to be, especially not in the realm of God that Jesus came to reveal.

This same distinction between a prescriptive statement and a descriptive statement holds true for Jesus’ remark about the poor always being with us.  I cannot tell you how many times that I have heard a person respond to my suggestion about eliminating poverty in this world with the retort, “But we always will have the poor with us” as if we are supposed to accept the reality that this condition is always meant to be.  In fact, some people would like to believe that the world is always supposed to have some segment of the population that is poor so that they don’t have to bother themselves with the challenge or the mission in this life of attempting to eradicate poverty.

This comment by Jesus at the home of Lazarus prior to his arrest at Jerusalem is a descriptive statement about the reality of the way things are in this world and not a prescriptive statement about the way things are supposed to be.  Anyone who tries to turn this remark by Jesus into a prescriptive statement makes a big mistake in thinking that Jesus would ever want us to accept or even perpetuate poverty in this world as something that might be ordained by God in order to keep things balanced in this world between those who are rich and those who are poor.  To assume that we should always have the poor with us is such an erroneous way to get ourselves off the hook of having to do anything to address the gross disparity between the rich and the poor, especially in our own country.

Besides, too often people quote this statement, “You always have the poor with you,” out of context.  They forget to add the other half of this statement by Jesus when he says, “But you do not always have me.”  If we accept the fact that we always will have the poor with us as something prescriptive of the way things are meant to be, then we also must accept the fact that Jesus will never be with us because that is the way that Jesus wants things to be.  However, we know differently.  We know that Jesus is only talking about his physical being in this statement, because he also made a promise to us before he departed from this Earth that he always would be with us to the end of the age.

There is a distinct difference between Jesus’ physical being and his spiritual being.  Like all human beings, Jesus died and was buried.  However, God raised Jesus from the dead such that Jesus’ Spirit would live on in the hearts and minds of his followers for all eternity.  The Apostle Paul, being one who had experienced this Spirit of Jesus on the road to Damascus, longs to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, because Paul knows and believes that as soon as he is raised by God to a new life, he also will have the power to accomplish all that Jesus set out to do in this life before his life was cut short so abruptly by the principalities and powers of this world.

As we are reminded throughout all four gospels, the principalities and powers of this world were not happy with Jesus because he proclaimed the good news about God’s realm on earth such that those who were living in poverty would live in poverty no more.  Jesus constantly and consistently called upon those who were wealthy to share their wealth with those who were impoverished.  However, this call for charity also was accompanied by Jesus’ exhortations to keep the Sabbath Day holy and to remember all of the sabbatical laws that were a part of his peoples’ heritage in order to make sure that no one in their society would have to live in poverty.  This call for justice and righteousness was as much a part of Jesus’ vision and mission as any charitable suggestions he might have made for those who were wealthy to share their wealth with those living in poverty.

Jesus could not accept the reality that anyone within his realm of influence would have to live in poverty.  For Jesus, the solution was pretty clear.  Heal people and give them back their health so that they would have the capability to take care of themselves and make a contribution to the rest of society.  When a person became so indebted that the person had no food to eat or no place to live, cancel the debt.  People who were forced into slavery as the result of their indebtedness were to be allowed their freedom.  People who had foreclosed on their property due to their poverty were to be given back their property at some appropriate time in the future.  One way to alleviate this poverty would be to eliminate the inequitable taxation on those who were poor and prescribe for those who were wealthy to sell their possessions and distribute the proceeds among those who were poor.  Should I go on?

If there is any lesson to be learned from this statement by Jesus that the poor are always with us, the lesson is that as long as we have people living in poverty within our society, the realm of God that Jesus came to reveal is but a distant dream.  The challenge for all of us, especially for those of us who have been called to follow Jesus, is to figure out how to make Jesus’ dream a reality on earth as it already is envisioned to be in heaven.  As long as the poor are with us, we are reminded of our fallibility as a human race, especially in our own country where we supposedly are the government of the people, by the people, and for the people—not just for some people, but for all people.

Jesus came for all people—the rich and the poor alike.  He came for tax collectors and guerrilla fighters.  He came for women as well as men.  He came for wealthy landowners as well as their slaves.  He came for a woman with a chronic hemorrhage and for the daughter of a prominent religious leader.  Jesus came for thieves like Judas and Nicodemus as well as rich young lawyers who had come by wealth honestly.  No one was outside of the realm that Jesus came to proclaim and establish.

However, as much as Jesus’ realm was meant for all people, he made it very clear that certain behaviors and conditions were unacceptable in his domain.  Poverty was one of those unacceptable conditions as well as the inequitable distribution of the basic necessities of life.  Jesus critiqued those who voiced pious platitudes about justice and then turned right around to foreclose on the houses of widows and kill those who were a threat to their base of power.  Jesus had no heart for those who used their authority and power to lord themselves over others.  To treat others as outcasts was prohibitive in Jesus’ realm.  Although Jesus was compassionate toward soldiers, he espoused a world where no one would fight and use force or violence to get their way, no matter how justified one might be.  Within Jesus’ realm, children could not be treated as dispensable property, anymore than women could be used as slaves.  By healing so many people and casting out so many demons, Jesus demonstrated that adequate healthcare was meant for everyone and for all who were mentally ill.  I could go on and on, but the point is that from Jesus’ perspective, everyone was welcome into his realm, but certain behaviors and conditions were not acceptable throughout his domain.

Given that Jesus came for all people, the thought that we would not always have Jesus with us would be appalling, unless, of course, we felt as if Jesus was a threat to our own position, status, or security in this world.  Then we might want to do exactly what some people did in Jesus’ day, and find a way to get rid of him.  However, what we have learned from those who were transformed by the presence of Jesus in their lives is that even though Jesus was executed on a cross, God raised Jesus from the dead by having Jesus breathe his Spirit into all those who were called and chosen by God to follow him, even unto death, as Paul so aptly describes his desire in his letter to the Philippians.

Today, we can follow Jesus unto death by doing everything in our power to make sure that poverty is no longer with us.  However, none of us could ever accomplish this goal on our own.  Just as it takes a village to raise a child, so also it takes a community to overcome poverty.  We are part of such a community because we have received the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus who has breathed into us the Spirit of life and freedom to do exactly what Jesus has done.  The Apostle Paul understood that because Christ Jesus had made him his own, everything that he owned in this world was worth nothing in comparison to the presence of Jesus in his life.

Isn’t that the whole point of this gospel story?  For Mary, Jesus was worth every denarii that she spent on this precious oil in order to honor Jesus before his death.  Jesus had taught Mary so much about the meaning of life and community, about love and justice, and about her own freedom as a woman in this world.  Mary had learned from Jesus that no man in this world had a right to dominate her or any woman in society.  Jesus understood what Mary was doing by anointing his feet, even though it was an extravagant gesture on her part to let Jesus know how grateful she was for her freedom.

We have a similar lesson to learn from Jesus today.  If we have Jesus in our life, then we will not be able to tolerate the poverty that exists in this world anymore than we are able to tolerate the way that women are dominated by men in this world.  Therefore, we will not rest until everyone is set free from their bondage and slavery to the principalities and powers of this world.  Such is the calling that we have received from God in Christ Jesus—one that we have a choice to make as our own by the grace of God and by the power of Jesus’ Spirit who is always with us.  As we consider this choice, may the peace of God that goes beyond all of our human understanding, keep our hearts and our minds ever faithful unto Jesus, our Christ.  Amen.

Paul Eldred, Preacher

Luke 15:1-3,11b-32

Grace and peace to you from God our Parent and the Lord Jesus Christ, who welcomes us back when we stray, comforts us when we hurt, and picks us up when we fall.

The son has returned and the feast has ended. What happens now?  Does everyone live happily ever after?  Does the prodigal son live his life without ever sinning again?  Maybe.  But I’m going to guess probably not.  The Father absolved his son of his transgressions, but that doesn’t mean that the son is suddenly perfect and sinless; he is going to sin again.  Even the older brother, who stayed in the father’s house the whole time, isn’t exactly being Christ-like in his jealousy of his brother’s feast.  This isn’t to say that he’s not a good man or isn’t a good brother – he’s human.

Just this morning, we all confessed our sins before God and each other, and were told that our sins were forgiven, which they were.  Great, so we’re done, right?  No.  I, for one, shudder to think how many times I will sin just in the time it will take me to drive home after church today, though the number of sins may directly correlate with the amount of traffic on I-5. 

But that’s ok! The fact is: humans sin.  As the Apostle Paul says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  We always have and always will.  What’s important is that God loves us and forgives us.  Ultimately, it didn’t matter what the lost son did on his journey and how he wasted his inheritance; when he came home, he was instantly forgiven.  The elder brother, who we assume is living a good and honest life at his father’s house, sins in the parable, but the father comes out to plead with him.  “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’”  This is why Luther says that a Christian is “simultaneously [a] saint and sinner,” no matter how much we mess up, God forgives us.  We are loved by God and nothing we can do can stop that, even though we continue to sin.  We usually want to do God’s will, but so often fall short.  And yet, every time we come back to God, God always runs toward us; welcoming us back and tells us that we are God’s beloved children and are forgiven. 

I think one of my favorite illustrations of today’s Gospel reading comes from one of my favorite books, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.  Hugo’s novel is set in early 19^th Century France and explores many topics ranging from love, duty, class oppression, and more about the Parisian sewer system than you would ever want to know.  But one of the most central themes is about grace and reconciliation.  The main character, Jean Valjean, is sent to prison for 19 years as a result of stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.  When he is paroled, he is a calloused and angry man unable to find work because he was a criminal.  He is wandering hungry and homeless when a bishop takes Valjean into his home and gives him food and a place to sleep.  That night, Valjean steals the bishop’s silverware and flees, but is soon brought back by the police.  Even as Valjean is facing the prospect of going back to prison for many more years, the bishop insists that the silver was a gift and even gives him precious silver candlesticks as well before he sends the police away.

The bishop then says that, with the silver, he has bought Valjean’s soul for God, that his sins are forgiven, and he should now live a Godly life.  Much like the son in the parable, Valjean is overwhelmed by this unexpected generosity.  He was expecting to go back to prison, but was given a chance at a new life. 

Many of you may know that story from the musical or the recent movie, which are based on the book, but what happens next isn’t in the musical.  The very day that Valjean is absolved of his sins, he leaves town and steals a coin from a child on the road.  Hugo implies that this sin was inadvertent, that it was a holdover from Valjean’s old, evil ways, but Valjean is horrified when he realizes what he has done and goes back to the bishop for another absolution.  After that, he lives a good and generous life.

So Valjean is absolved of his sins and given a new life, and what’s the first thing he does?  He sins again.  And yet, he is forgiven again.  Even though the rest of his life is filled with generous deeds and good intentions, he continues to sin, but is still continuously forgiven.  Throughout his life, Valjean keeps the candlesticks the bishop gave him as a constant reminder of the grace given him and the new life he now can live.

While Valjean commits himself to a new life full of good works and generous deeds, he doesn’t do good to gain salvation, but rather as a byproduct of the grace that was bestowed upon him by ­God through the bishop.  He feels liberated and wants to spread his good fortune to others.  In many ways, this is a very Lutheran way of looking at the idea of good works.  We desire to help others because of the grace that has been given to us.  Even though we have been freed from our bondage to sin and are saved through God’s grace, that doesn’t mean we should just live a life of sin knowing we will still be saved.  We know, as Valjean knew, that our works cannot gain or lose us salvation.  Rather, we believe that we are called to help those around us by works of kindness and love as an expression of our faith and extension of God’s love.  Luther said, “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works. Bad works do not make a bad man, but a bad man does bad works.”  Our works do not define us, but are expressions of our faith.  It is through our faith that we are compelled to do good for our neighbors.

While Jesus didn’t expand upon what the son did after the feast, I think he lived his life liberated, much like Jean Valjean, doing good works for those around him and knowing that even if he should stumble and sin, his Father would be there to forgive and renew him.

Later in this service, we are going to have a feast not unlike the one from the parable.  A feast where all are welcome and God’s love is shared.  A feast that foreshadows the one we will share with the saints at the end of our days. We will remember when Jesus died for us on a cross to forgive us of all of our iniquities and allow us to live a new life in him.  Every time we come to the table, broken as we are, God still runs to us and embraces us, dresses us in the best robes, and exclaims that ‘let us rejoice! For my child who was lost is now found!’ 

Amen.