The ELCA and its Work with Immigrants and Refugees

I've been meaning to post this newsletter article that I wrote for the congregation.  It is my summary of the ELCA's action at its 2019 Churchwide Assembly last month regarding its work with immigrants and refugees.  While some across the country have bitterly complained about this action of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, I hope that this reflection points us to the positives of our Lutheran history of radical hospitality for immigrants and refugees and starts a conversation regarding what we can do to share similar radical hospitality to immigrants and refugees that may arrive in our community in the future.

Leave a comment and let me know your reaction to this article and/or the ELCA's action at its Churchwide Assembly.

"The 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly (CWA, for short) took place last month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from August 5th – 10th.  My initial thought was that I would list some highlights from the 2019 ELCA CWA as my newsletter column for this month.  Around the country, however, one particular action has captured the vast majority of the attention of the media and the membership.  So let’s take some time to reflect on this particular action and what it means for us.  As we reflect, I will draw in several quotes from Bishop Bill Gafkjen’s public letter (released August 12, 2019) and share his understandings of the memorial.

During the CWA, the assembly received a memorial (essentially a request for action officially passed and submitted by one or more synods during their respective synod assemblies) that begins by calling on the CWA to reaffirm “the long-term and growing commitment of (the ELCA) to migrants and refuges and to the policy questions involved.”  This portion of the memorial is a recognition of the work that the ELCA (and its predecessor bodies) have been doing for many decades.  This includes the work of Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service (LIRS, for short), first established in 1939, and Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO, for short), a more-recent ministry of the ELCA begun in response to the recent increase in unaccompanied minors attempting to enter the country through various methods.

According to Bishop Gafkjen’s letter, “This resolution also ‘recognizes that the ELCA in congregations, synods and the churchwide organization are already taking the actions recommended by this memorial’ and requests ‘that appropriate staff’ from various agencies and ministries ‘review the existing strategies and practices by the five current sanctuary synods and develop a plan for additional tools that provide for education and discernment around sanctuary.’”  As the ELCA Churchwide office lives into its calling to serve and support refugees and immigrants, it will study what synods and congregations are already doing, learning best practices and what will provide the greatest benefit to the Churchwide office’s ministry partners.

Although others have suggested that all 9,000+ congregations across the ELCA are now required to carry out certain ministries and actions, this is not the case.  The memorial passed by the CWA does not require us to do anything or to stop doing anything.  “Nevertheless,” writes Bishop Gafkjen, “the call to love the neighbor is so central to our faith that each of us in our local contexts are called to figure out how God is calling us to embody this love as individuals and as communities of faith and witness. We engage this discernment in deep and honest discussion, debate, prayer, study, and discernment with our siblings across the community, the synod, and the church. We do so centered in Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the life of the world. In the end, as one bishop has put it, ‘For us, welcoming people is first and foremost a matter of faith which impacts how we live out all our vocations in God's world, including our political life.’”

So what might this look like in our community?  How are we, both as individuals and as a congregation, called to embody God’s love for our immigrant and refugee neighbors?  That is worthy of ongoing prayer, discussion, and discernment.  I pray that the Lord may open our eyes to what our neighbors in this community need from the Church and how we can meet that need."

Response to the "National Sunday Law" Mass Mailing

On Tuesday, August 13^th, the local area was blanketed with copies of “National Sunday Law,” a short book written by A. Jan Marcussen.  It is unclear who sent this mass mailing to our local area; the only clue is the postage mark, which tells us that these books were sent by a non-profit organization which received their mailing permit in Okeene, Oklahoma.  However, it is apparent that somebody thought it was important enough for all of us to read this book that they bought a large number of copies, enough to send one to every address within the target area.

So what is this book?  To be honest, I’d never heard of it before I found it within my mailbox.  But knowing that others were receiving it, I sat down to read this 70-page book (not counting all of the appendices) so that I could discuss it with anyone who might read it and ask me about it.  If you would like to skip the reading of the book and get right to the discussion, you can continue on to my thoughts below.

First, here is a summary of the book.  This book was written back in 1983 to address a perceived crisis: that several politicians were advocating for new laws that enshrined Sunday as a day of worship within individual states or within the whole nation (essentially, a national “blue law”).  The author acknowledges that this would violate the 1^st Amendment to the United States Constitution (i.e. freedom of religion), but that is not the author’s true concern.  No, the real problem is that these politicians would be enshrining the wrong day as the day of worship.  In the author’s mind, the “Sabbath” must be observed on Saturday and not on Sunday.  The author’s argument is that the Church has followed the lead of Satan and changed the day for worship to Sunday, which was the day the pagan Romans designated as the day to worship the sun god(s); this change violates the 4^th Commandment: remember the Sabbath day (i.e. the 7^th day, Saturday) and keep it holy.  By following the lead of Satan and allowing the day of worship to be corrupted, most of the Church has accepted “the mark of the beast” as described in Revelation and will be condemned by the Lord when the Lord returns to initiate the resurrection and the end of the age.  And if the United States approves these laws establishing Sunday as the day of worship, then the United States will be the second beast in Revelation 13 that takes over for the Roman Catholic Church, the first beast.  Only those who maintain the true Sabbath, Saturday, will receive the seal of the Holy Spirit and be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven on the day of judgment.

Did you follow all of that?  If you did not, that’s okay, because the author’s argument is flawed on several fronts.  Here is where I see problems with the author’s argument:

1) From what I can tell, there was not a serious effort to establish a national “blue law” or more statewide “blue laws” within individual states during the 1980s or after the 1980s.  In fact, the trend has been to eliminate the blue laws that were already on the books.  That, combined with societal trends, shows that Sunday is LESS established as a day set aside for worship today compared to the early 1980s.

2) The author treats Revelation as prophecy foretelling the future.  However, prophecy in the Bible can also be a way of “forthtelling,” or interpreting the events of the present.  While portions of Revelation are obviously looking ahead to a distant future, there is also a good amount of “forthtelling” in Revelation much in the way that political cartoons communicate certain ways of looking at current events.  Viewing Revelation as a series of “political cartoons” is a better way of understanding much of Revelation compared to viewing Revelation as a play-by-play of future events.

3) Any attempt to identify the United States as the primary intention of a symbol within “The Apocalypse of John,” more commonly known as “Revelation,” is an exercise in reading into the Bible what you want to find within the Bible, a practice known as “eisegesis.”  Eisegesis is widely considered to be a poor way of interpreting the Bible because it prioritizes supporting what you already believe to be true rather than focusing on what the Bible actually says.  Here, the author claims that the second beast of Revelation 13 is the symbol of the United States, even though the author of Revelation clearly had the Roman Empire in mind.  (It’s worth noting that describing the Americas as an unpopulated wilderness also ignores the many Native American tribes and other indigenous peoples that lived throughout North and South America at the time they were “discovered” by Europeans.)

4) The identification of the first beast of Revelation 13 as the Roman Catholic Church is an exercise in anti-Catholic bigotry.  Again, the beasts of Romans 13 have the Roman Empire in mind, not entities that would not exist for multiple centuries after the writing of Revelation.  The two beasts along with the dragon of Revelation 12 form the triumvirate (Satan, the military might of the Roman Empire, and the cultural oppression of the Roman Empire) that opposes the Triune God.

5) The “seal of God” is given to us in baptism.  It is not a designation of Saturday as the only day for worshipping the Lord.

6) The “mark of the beast” was a reference to a literal mark on the hand that many Roman communities required you to bear before you could buy and sell within the marketplace.  Many Christian communities refused to bear this mark because participating in the marketplace meant using currency that declared the Roman Emperor as Lord of all.  They viewed using this currency as an implicit agreement with the declaration, which would put them in violation of the 1^st Commandment: “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me.”

7) The author tries to have it both ways when it comes to a biblical event happening on “the first day of the week.”  In appendix 10, the author discusses Acts 20:7-8, in which Paul meets with certain disciples on the first day of the week.  Their time together includes a moment where they “break bread,” a common reference for participating in what we now know as Holy Communion.  The author points out that a Jewish day goes from sunset to sunset rather than midnight to midnight; therefore, according to the author, this group is still worshipping on Saturday.  However, Paul and the others would dispute this identification; for them, it is already Sunday.

8) Finally, all of this is based off of the author’s insistence that the Sabbath must fall on Saturday, the last day of the week.  The day of rest comes from the Genesis accounts of creation, in which the Lord creates all things over the course of six “days” before resting on the seventh “day.”  While many understand these to be 24-hour days, this is an assumption that a “day” in this “pre-history” portion of the Bible is the same as a “day” as we understand it.  Meanwhile, Jesus also told the Pharisees that “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath…” which is to say that which day we take to rest and worship is not nearly as important as that we do stop and take a day for rest and worship.  The command and invitation for Sabbath rest is meant to be a joy and blessing for us and not a hardship.  If taking Sabbath on a Saturday (or Sunday) is a hardship, we should be free to designate another day as our day of Sabbath rest rather than restricted to Saturday (or Sunday) or bust.

Based on these objections, I do not recommend that you read this book.  If you choose to read it, I hope that you read it with your eyes open to the fact that the author is trying to manipulate you into an absolute position regarding the day of worship, even to the point of threatening you with damnation if you do not comply with his reasoning.  While his interpretation of Revelation and other passages sounds informed, he is stretching the passages beyond recognition so that they fit within his narrative.  And the great crisis he wished to address has never arrived in the past 36 years and the current trend lines move in the opposite direction of what he feared would happen.  So if you choose to read this book, read it without fear of coming judgment over whether you worship the Lord on Saturday, Sunday, or another day of the week.

Did I miss anything?  Do you have other comments or questions regarding the book you received or a portion of my writings here?  Share your insights and questions in the comments below and we can discuss your concerns!

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, July 28, 2019

This week, our Gospel reading is Luke's account of Jesus teaching the disciples to pray, including the Lord's Prayer.  There is always a danger to preaching on a passage with a familiar story or text: we may be so comfortable with the story or text that we lean into what it has meant for us in the past without actually listening to it today and discerning what it might mean for us in the midst of current events and our current state of mind.  How might we avoid that when it comes to the Lord's Prayer?

One way might be the congregation's adult Sunday School class, which is working its way through the curriculum "By Heart: Conversations with Luther's Small Catechism."  This curriculum from Augsburg Fortress was released as a way of marking the 500th anniversary of the "official" beginning of the Reformation: Luther sharing his "95 Theses" with the community at Wittenberg and with other theological leaders of the Church.  We are now working our way through the chapter focusing on the Lord's Prayer (a coincidence of timing), discussing Luther's explanations of each petition within the Lord's Prayer and what these explanations still mean for us today.

As always, I write these posts as invitations to join me in studying the passages for this coming Sunday by sharing your reflections, insights, and questions in the comments section.  If you find an idea or a question coming into your mind as you read through this, please share it in the comments below so that we can talk it over!


Genesis 18:20 - 32

 20 Then the LORD said, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!  21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know."

 22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.  23 Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it?  25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"  26 And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."  27 Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.  28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."  29 Again he spoke to him, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it."  30 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."  31 He said, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it."  32 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."


- What is the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?  For many years, we have been taught that the sin of these communities was homosexuality.  But Ezekiel 16:48 – 50 suggests that there is more to the story: “48 As I live, says the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.  49 This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.  50 They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.”  (Eze 16:48-50 NRS)  The sin or “guilt” of Sodom was inhospitality, selfishness, and pride before we get to anything about “abominable things” like the attempt at sexually assaulting the two visitors in Lot’s home (Genesis 19:1 – 11).  And, in the context of Ezekiel 16, the sin of Jerusalem trusting other nations like Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon instead of the Lord’s promises is pronounced to be a greater sin than the sin of Sodom.  So what can we definitively say about why the Lord felt the need to destroy these communities?

- This is one of several stories in which we see God change course.  We also see this in the fate of Nineveh within the story of Jonah and the story of a dying king who offers a prayer of repentance and God grants the king 15 more years of life.  What other stories feature the Lord changing course?

Psalm 138

 1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;

 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.

 3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.

 4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.

 5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.

 6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.

 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.

 8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

- The psalmist praises the Lord for the Lord’s actions that have protected and justified the psalmist when enemies have confronted the psalmist.  I’m not sure how this acts as a response to the Genesis 18 passage, but it’s not my call.

Colossians 2:6 - 15 [16 - 19]

 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.  9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.  11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.  15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

[16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.  17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.  18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.]

- When we include Colossians 2:16 – 19, we see that Paul’s encouragement to trust the Lord’s promises given in baptism is a counter to the people who are trying to get these non-Jewish Christians to observe Jewish laws regarding circumcision, food restrictions, and festival occasions.  Paul’s argument is that our baptism into Christ is all that we need for salvation; we do not need to pursue salvation through circumcision, legal righteousness, or “enough” points earned through good works and worship.

- Paul argues that, because we are baptized into Christ, our new life in Christ includes a “spiritual circumcision.”  Therefore, a physical circumcision is not necessary.

- Here we see explicitly our forgiveness and redemption tied, or rather “nailed,” to Jesus’ death on the cross.  Our records of guilt are left at the cross and we are covered by Jesus’ righteousness.

Luke 11:1 - 13

 1 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."  2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

 Father, hallowed be your name.

 Your kingdom come.

 3 Give us each day our daily bread.

 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

 And do not bring us to the time of trial."

 5 And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.'  7 And he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'  8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

 9 "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?  12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?  13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

- I wonder what John taught his disciples about prayer…

- “Missing” from Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer: reference to the Father being “in heaven;” the Lord’s will being done on Earth and in heaven; deliverance from evil; any mention of kingdom, power, and glory.

- Worth noting: the word in Luke 11:4, ‘hamartia,’ is the Greek word for ‘sin.’  The Greek word for ‘trespass’ or ‘transgression’ in Colossians 2:13 is ‘paraptomata.’

- Note the example of a request fulfilled not out of friendship but out of annoyance over the persistent requests: loaves of bread needed to feed a late-arriving guest.  The metaphor is directed towards prayers offered on behalf of others, not on us carrying our wants and desires to the Lord, hoping the Lord acts like a vending machine and spits out exactly what we want.

- Very few parents give a child a “gift” that would put their child in danger.  On the other hand, very few parents give their child every single thing that they request or demand, either.  How is Jesus’ comparison to a parent giving gifts to a child a good analogy?  Where does the analogy fall apart?

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for July 14th, 2019

Greetings!  After a couple of weeks away from the blog as part of my summer vacation, I am back to write about the Revised Common Lectionary readings for Sunday, July 14th.

This week, the congregation is hosting its annual Vacation Bible School week.  Our theme for the week is the question "Who is My Neighbor?" which comes from the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10.  This story also happens to be our Gospel reading for this week.  Hmm, I wonder which of these four readings will be the focus passage for my sermon...

If you have any reflections, questions, or stories regarding the Good Samaritan passage, I'd love to hear them and discuss them with you as I prepare to preach on Sunday.  Get the conversation started in the comments below!


Deuteronomy 30:9 - 14

 9 ...the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, 10 when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

 11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away.  12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?"  13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?"  14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

- The first verse of the Deuteronomy 30 reading includes a promise of abundant prosperity in all our undertakings.  But when it comes to specifics, the verse names the “fruits” of our bodies, our animals, and our soil.  So the promise of prosperity seems to be directed towards children, animals, and crops.  This seems to place the promise of “prosperity” under the blessing given to Abraham (descendants) and the promise of daily bread/provisions (animals and crops).

- I am sure that the writer meant Deuteronomy 30:11 (“…this commandment (to follow all the Lord’s commandments and decrees written in the book of Deuteronomy) is not too hard for you…”) to be sincere.  But I hear a tone of sarcasm when I read it because we proclaim that we cannot perfectly follow the law.

Psalm 25:1 - 10

 1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

 2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.

 3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

 4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

 5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

 6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

 8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

 10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

- Psalm 25:6 (“Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting.”) could also serve as a calling and invitation to us.  Remember the Lord’s compassion and love.  This would pair with the theme for day 1 of VBS: we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Colossians 1:1 - 14

 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

 2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

 3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.  7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

 9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.  11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.  13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

- If we follow Paul’s train of thought, the community at Colossus has received the Good News well and is growing in both faith in Christ and love for the saints of the Church.  Paul prays that their knowledge of God’s desires may grow so that they may bear fruit in all that they do.  Paul also prays that they may be given (through the Holy Spirit?) enough strength and endurance to face the coming opposition/oppression.

Luke 10:25 - 37

 25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"  27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."  28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'  36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"  37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

- In another version of this story (Matthew’s version?), the questioner asserts that he “has followed all (the commandments) from (his) youth!”  Jesus then invites him to sell his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and then join Jesus’ travelling group of followers.  Here, the questioner focuses on the definition of “neighbor.”  Just how widespread are my neighbors?  How many people do I need to love like I love myself?

- In Jesus’ day, the Jews hated the Samaritans.  They have shared ancestry, but the Jews viewed the Samaritans has apostates from the truth faith.  This is tied up in the divisions between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms as seen in 1 and 2 Kings as well as 1 and 2 Chronicles.

- Who would be our version of “Samaritans?”  For VBS, we are going with Chicago Cubs fans in opposition to Cincinnati Reds fans.  Over time, the “Samaritans” have been Native Americans, people of African descent, Italians, Irish, practicing Roman Catholics, Germans, and Japanese immigrants.  Now, the “Samaritans” would probably be asylum seekers from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador as well as immigrants from Mexico and various Central American countries.

- The question shifts from “Who is my neighbor?” to “How can I be a good neighbor to others?”

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, June 23rd

We now leave the liturgical season of Easter behind and enter the long stretch known as the "season after Pentecost."  While there are a few liturgical celebrations in the Fall, the lectionary will focus on stringing stories from Luke together so that we can hear the development of the one story within Luke and in some of the New Testament epistles (fancy word for letters).

We pick up the story in the 8th chapter of Luke and begin Paul's letter to the Galatians at its midpoint in the 3rd chapter of Galatians.  There are a number of paths we can take for preaching these passages.  What do you see?  Let me know in the comments!


Isaiah 65:1 - 9

 1 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that did not call on my name.
 2 I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
 3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks;
 4 who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
 5 who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
 6 See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps
 7 their iniquities and their ancestors' iniquities together, says the LORD; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions.
 8 Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, "Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it," so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.
 9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.


- The verses are kept separated because the passage is written and presented as poetry.

- To be clear, in Isaiah 65, the Lord is talking about Israel.  The Israelites had a long history of not being totally faithful to the Lord and practicing syncretism, the worship of several different, even contrasting, gods.  Verses 3 and 4 list several practices of worshipping other gods.

- It seems that the people perceived to be the most holy among the population are the ones that are the greatest target of scorn from the Lord.  This matches what we see during Jesus’ ministry.

- In a culture that tends to throw things away when a part is broken, we hear the Lord proclaim that the Lord will not destroy the nation because there are good people within it.

Psalm 22:19 - 28

 19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!

 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!

 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

 24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.

 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

 26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!

 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

 28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

- Psalm 22 reveals that the Lord has heard the psalmist’s pleas for help.  The psalmist calls other to join him in praising the Lord for saving him.

- This portion of Psalm 22 is the portion we do not read when we strip the altar at the end of Maundy Thursday.

Galatians 3:23 - 29

 23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.  24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.  25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.  29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

- Normally, the lectionary’s second readings lead us through one of the letters in the New Testament.  Due to the timing of the Easter season, we have missed the introduction to Galatians and everything that has led us to this declaration.  If we focus on Galatians 3, we will need to recap Galatians 1 and 2.

- The term for “disciplinarian” suggests something more like a nanny than a hard-driving and strict parent/coach/teacher.

- This is a key passage in declaring that things like race, gender, and nationality will not be the primary markers of identity for the baptized.  Our primary identity is that of child of god.  Do we fully extend this to other ways that we identify ourselves and others (mainly sexuality)?

Luke 8:26 - 39

 26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.  27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.  28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me"-- 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)

 30 Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him.  31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

 32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.  33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

 34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.  35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.  36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.  37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.  38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

- Earlier passages in Luke 8 include Luke’s versions of the Parable of the Sower and Jesus and the disciples caught in a storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee on a boat.

- Jesus and the disciples have left Galilee.  They are now outside the nation of Israel and in the midst of Gentiles.

- This is another example of demons correctly identifying who Jesus is and attempting to control him through that identification.  However, Jesus reverses this attempt can casts them out of the gentleman in question.

- The gentleman who has been healed leaves with the command to tell what God has done for him.  He leaves to tell what Jesus has done for him.  Is he intentionally identifying Jesus as God, or is this Luke’s sleight of hand?

In Recognition of PRIDE 2019

Many people participate in PRIDE events during the month of June.  For those in SE Indiana who are looking for an event, know that these are the events at our nearby larger cities:

1) Indianapolis: June 8th

2) Louisville: June 15th

3) Cincinnati: June 22nd

If there are other events in communities within or closer to SE Indiana, I am not aware of them.  If you are aware of another event closer to home, feel free to use the comments to publicize these events.

In recognition of these events, I am re-publishing a column I wrote for the local paper in early March after the conclusion of the United Methodist Church's General Conference, where the majority of the gathered assembly voted to keep and reinforce bans against LGBTQ+ marriages and ordinations as well as increase the punishments levied against clergy who participate in these events.  I know that some people will read this column and criticize it for not going far enough.  I know that others will read this column and criticize it for going too far; in fact, the paper published four different responses to my column, all of which opposed what I wrote.  One responder accused me of blasphemy.  Another responder tried to define the Church as something that did not include me because of my column.

But there are LGBTQ+ people in my community who need to hear that the Church includes them.  There are LGBTQ+ people in my community who need to hear that Jesus loves them as they are right now.  And there are LGBTQ+ people in my community, as well as their family members, friends, and supporters, who long to find a place within the Church where they feel like they are welcomed, where they feel like they belong.  All of these people and more need to hear statements like this after so many messages from others who have proclaimed that God hates them and that God will not love them until they swear off their sexuality.

So, in the attempt to demonstrate that there is at least one place where LGBTQ+ people in SE Indiana can attempt to trust the Church again, I republish my column from early March:

"On Tuesday, February 26, the specially-called General Assembly of the United Methodist Church (or UMC) voted to keep and reinforce its rules banning LGBTQ+ people from being ordained as pastors and banning UMC pastors from presiding over LGBTQ+ marriages.  Some people are celebrating this decision.  Others are lamenting this decision, with some pledging to leave the denomination and others pledging to disobey the decision.  Many expect the UMC to break apart in the next couple of years.

My own denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (or ELCA), has walked this road before.  We are nearly 10 years removed from our 2009 Churchwide Assembly’s vote to keep a big tent, opening the door for LGBTQ+ ordinations and marriages while also welcoming individuals and congregations that would not agree to calling LGBTQ+ pastors or blessing LGBTQ+ marriages.  Even so, many individuals and congregations left the denomination over this decision.

From this experience, I say these things:

To my LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ: I am sorry.  I apologize for a branch of the Church once again telling you that you are welcome only to turn around and proclaim that you are not equal to straight people.  You deserve to be fully embraced by the Church.

To my UMC siblings in Christ: I continue to pray for you as you work through the fallout from this decision.  I know the pain of disagreement over this very issue both personally and professionally.  I and my ELCA colleagues will continue to walk with you as full communion partners.

To those who have UMC friends grieving this decision: give them time to process what has happened.  Offer your support, but refrain from inviting them away from their church unless they tell you they are ready to leave.  A faith home is not easily abandoned.

To my siblings in Christ who are celebrating, claiming they are 'standing for the Gospel' or 'standing for the truth' with this decision: I respectfully disagree.  The 'Gospel' is the good news of Christ Jesus: his birth, his death, his resurrection, and what he has done for us through these things.  This debate was a debate over the Law, not the Gospel.  The Law cannot save; it can only condemn us for our sins.  The faith we share depends on salvation through the Gospel, not the Law.  Will we fight to keep the Gospel that saves or the Law that condemns?

As we respond to this decision, remember to treat one another as siblings in Christ.  If we cannot do this, then we have truly lost."

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, May 26th

At this point, we are deep into the Easter season.  This is the final Sunday before The Ascension and two Sundays away from Pentecost, the final day of the Easter season.  What does Jesus have left to say or to do?  What else do we need to know?

We also hear the story of Paul's entry into Macedonia, a province of Greece, and the revelation of the New Jerusalem descending to Earth at the end of the age.

In the italicized text below, I have included my initial thoughts and reactions to these readings.  I invite you to use the comment section below to share your thoughts, reactions, and questions.


Acts 16:9 - 15

 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."  10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

 11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.  13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.  14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.  15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

- The vision Paul receives comes to him after several attempts to take his ministry into the interior of modern-day Turkey were thwarted by the Holy Spirit.

- Legend holds that Lydia became a leader in the Church at Philippi.

- This would be the beginnings of the community that received Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Psalm 67

 1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

 2 that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

 6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

 7 May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.

- “The light of God’s face (shining) upon us” is an image of the Lord’s blessing and favor.

Revelation 21:10, 22 - 22:5

 10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

 22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.  25 Its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there.  26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

- The verses we skip over give a detailed description of the city as it is established on Earth.

- At this point in the vision, there is no need to shut the gates because the Lord has destroyed the anti-Christ and all of his allies.  Anything else that exists at this time is welcome within the city walls.

- I believe that “abomination or falsehood” is not a reference to sinful acts such as adultery and lying but rather a reference to purposeful acts of worship toward things or individuals other than the Triune God.  I will double-check this later to be sure that I am reading this properly.

- The water of life, here depicted as flowing from the throne of God, can be found all around us.  We do not need “special” water from a sacred location.  The presence of the Lord within the water is what makes water the “water of life.”

- The absence of darkness is another way of stating that there is an absence of evil and other entities or forces that oppose the Triune God.  Unfortunately, this contrast of light and darkness has been used to justify racism (i.e. light = white skin, darkness = dark skin), and speaking exclusively within the light/darkness metaphor can be harmful to those who have been harmed by others using this justification.

John 14:23 - 29

 23 Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

 25 "I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.  27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.  29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. 

- How do we read, “Those who love me will keep my word…”?  Is this a command to keep all of the Law?  Is this a reference to a smaller subset of the Law?  A reference to his teachings over the previous months and years?  Or is this focused solely on these final instructions in John 13 – 17?

- “Advocate,” if I recall correctly, was a term used in the judicial system.  Formally, it was a reference to a defense attorney.  Informally, it was a reference to anyone who worked or testified in support of the defendant.

- People of “the world” usually give in ways that provide significant benefit the giver.  Jesus’ gift of ‘shalom,’ or wholeness, is for our benefit and not Jesus’ benefit.

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, May 19th

My apologies, everyone.  As we got closer to Holy Week, my schedule got more and more hectic, and I dropped my practice of sharing my first read of the revised common lectionary passages for the upcoming Sunday worship service.  I'm going to try to re-establish this practice over the next few weeks.

This week, we are re-visiting two stories we heard during Holy Week.  In one case, we are re-reading a passage from the evening of Maundy Thursday.  In another case, we are reading Peter's summary of that happened when he met Cornelius, to whom he addressed the speech we read on Easter Sunday.  We also read the image of heaven, the "New Jerusalem," being established on Earth at the end of the age.

There are many directions we can take from the starting points of these readings.  What do you see within these readings?  What seems to be the most important message?  What questions are you left with?  Which portions do you not recognize?  Let's continue the conversation in the comments below!


Acts 11:1 - 18

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God.  2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him,  3 saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"  4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me.  6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air.  7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.'  8 But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'  9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'  10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.  11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were.  12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.  13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.'  15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.  16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'  17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"  18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

- Acts 11 is Peter’s retelling of the Peter and Cornelius story (Acts 10) to a group of Jewish Christians who were upset that Peter had met with and baptized non-Jews.  Peter’s defense is simple: God told me to do it.  By the end of the story, the Jewish Christians who confronted Peter celebrate that the Lord is acting among the Gentiles.

- Who would be the “uncircumcised men” in our context?  What individuals or groups would cause shock and offense within the congregation if I met with them instead of approved individuals or groups?

- Does the quote about baptism by water and baptism by the Holy Spirit appear in Acts 10?

Psalm 148

 1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!

 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

 6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

 7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,

 8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

 9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!

 10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!

 12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!

 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.

 14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

- Did we leave anyone or anything out of Psalm 148?

Revelation 21:1 - 6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away."

 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."  6 Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

- I reference Revelation 21 quite a bit.  I love the image of the New Jerusalem coming down to Earth.  To me, this is an important image because it reverses our typical discussion of heaven.  According to this revelation, heaven is not something that we will find far from creation; heaven is something that will be brought into creation and placed among us.

- The Lord’s promises within this passage are that, at the end, the Lord will live among the Lord’s people and there will be no source of grief, sorrow, or pain within the Kingdom of Heaven.

John 13:31 - 35

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

- John 13:34 – 35 and its focus on the command “love one another” formed the central theme of the 2019 National Day of prayer.

- I just preached on this passage in April as part of our Holy Week services.  How do we hear this passage when it is not connected to our Maundy Thursday service?

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, March 31st, 2019

This Sunday will be the fourth Sunday in Lent.  Traditionally, the fourth Sunday in Lent is set aside as a morning of celebration and joy instead of Lent's usual tone of penitence, sorrow, and impending death.  On this fourth Sunday, we put away the purple paraments in favor of the rose (do not call them pink) paraments and allow the positive tone in worship to lift our spirits.

Also, I am writing this post on March 25th, the day the Church celebrates "The Annunciation."  This liturgical festival commemorates the Lord sending Gabriel to Nazareth.  In Nazareth, Gabriel appears to Mary and announces to her that she will give birth to Jesus, the Son of God.  Though this will not bear directly on our Bible passages for Sunday, it is an occasion worth marking and celebrating today.

I invite you to read these passages from Joshua, Psalms, 2 Corinthians, and Luke with me as I prepare to preach this coming Sunday.  What images and questions come to mind as you read these passages?  What do you remember from previous times you studied these passages?  What is something new that you found within the passage?

I will share my first impressions by writing in italicized text.  I invite you to share your first impressions in the comments below!


Joshua 5:9 - 12

 9 The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt." And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

 10 While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho.  11 On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.  12 The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

- The “disgrace of Egypt” likely refers to their status as slaves in Egypt after the line of Pharaohs forgot the history of Joseph and the Israelites.

- We started this season of Lent with Deuteronomy 26, which proclaimed the ritual for the people to present their first fruits of the first harvest in the Promised Land.  Joshua 5 proclaims that the people have now brought in and eaten from the first harvest, and so the manna is no longer necessary for the survival of the people.

Psalm 32

 1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

 2 Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

 3 While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.

 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

 6 Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.

 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

 8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

 9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.

 10 Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.

 11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

- Psalm 32 continues the Lenten theme of confession, repentance, and forgiveness.  Here, the psalmist proclaims that those who are forgiven are happy and speaks to his own confession and forgiveness.

2 Corinthians 5:16 - 21

 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.  17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

- On Ash Wednesday, our reading from 2 Corinthians began with 5:20b: “we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  This week, we get the verses that led into this plea from Paul and his companions.

- Those who are in Christ are new creations now; they are not waiting to become new creations.

- We are given the ministry of reconciliation and called to share the message of reconciliation.  Is this the message you usually hear from pastors and evangelists?

Luke 15:1 - 3, 11b - 32

 1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.

 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

 3 So he told them this parable:

 11 ..."There was a man who had two sons.  12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them.  13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.  14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.  15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.  17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."'  20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.  21 Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe-- the best one-- and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;  24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.  26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.  27 He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.'  28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.  29 But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.  30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'  31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found."

- In Luke 15:4 – 10, the verses that fill the gap in our reading, we find the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost sheep.

- The “share of the property that will belong to me” is slated to be the younger son’s inheritance after the father dies.  The younger son has decided that he cannot wait that long and asks for his inheritance now.

- To be stuck feeding pigs, which Jews regard as “unclean” animals, was one of the most humiliating jobs for a Jew.

- The son may not be worthy of being called the father’s son, but the father welcomes him without regard for his worthiness.  Similarly, the Lord welcomes us without regard for our worthiness.

- In his indignation, the older son overstates what he has done for the father, claiming that he (the older son) has been working “like a slave” for his father.  He also disassociates himself from his brother by referencing him as “this son of yours.”

Monday Thoughts on the Readings for Sunday, March 24th, 2019

On the Third Sunday in Lent, we see several themes.  We continue last week's "covenant" theme with a mention of the Lord's covenant with David.  We also see multiple references to confession, repentance, and forgiveness.  But the biggest claim we see within these passages addresses a common struggle among people who wrestle with their faith: are terrible events a sign of God's punishment?

In the italicized text below, you can find my reactions and first impressions to these readings from Isaiah, Psalms, 1 Corinthians, and Luke.  I invite you to share your reactions, questions, and comments below, especially those regarding how we understand the relationship between sin, tragic events (such as the current flooding in Nebraska and the mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand), and the Lord.


Isaiah 55:1 - 9

 1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
 4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
 5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
 7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

- How do we define “everyone” in Isaiah 55:1?  Does “everyone” include the nations we do not know that we shall call and receive because of the Lord our God (55:5)?

- Day laborers earned enough each day for the family to eat and not much more, if any more.  To work for another purpose would mean sacrificing meals.

- Notice that the Lord invites us to confession so that the Lord may give us mercy and forgiveness, and not just a lesser punishment.

Psalm 63:1 - 8

 1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

 5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

 6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. 

- The imagery, especially the reference to rich foods, in Psalm 63 suggests a high level of fulfillment and satisfaction if one receives the Lord’s covenant promises.

1 Corinthians 10:1 - 13

 1 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.  5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

 6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.  7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play."  8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.  9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.  10 And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  11 These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.  12 So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.  13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

- Paul claims that Christ was present in the manna in the wilderness and water from the rock in the same way as Christ is present within our spiritual food and drink.  The connection to Holy Communion is apparent; it is less clear whether the water from the rock is meant to connect to the waters of Baptism or the wine of Holy Communion.

- Paul references several moments during the Exodus where the people fail to follow the Lord’s directions and they are punished severely for it.  Why is Paul, the resident expert on the Lord’s grace, suddenly focused on the Lord’s punishment for disobedience?

- Verse 13 is likely the biblical justification for the phrase “God does not give us more than we can handle.”  That’s a misunderstanding of Paul’s claim here.  But the passage does suggest that the Lord does not intend to overwhelm us if/when the Lord challenges us.  Of course, there are many more who can challenge us, and they will not show any restraint when it comes to finding and breaking our limits.

Luke 13:1 - 9

 1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  2 He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?  3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.  4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them-- do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?  5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

 6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.  7 So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?'  8 He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.

 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

- Is the claim “you will all perish just as they did” a threat to kill us or an observation that death without connection to the Lord is true death?

- How many people need to hear that their current afflictions or the death(s) of their loved one(s) are not punishments from the Lord because of their past sin(s)?  How many people are struggling with their faith because someone they trust told them that their troubles are either punishments from God or signs that they do not have enough faith?

- A quick Google search reveals that it can take up to six years for a fig tree to mature and bear fruit.