First Lutheran Church

October 9, 2022 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon Part One“Gathering”

Pastor Greg Ronning

The appointed gospel for this Sunday is the story of Jesus and the healing of the Ten Lepers.  This morning you will hear that story and the sermon - in four parts.  I will be using the ancient liturgical pattern of worship,(the one we practice here at First Lutheran),“Gathering, The Word, The Meal, and Sending,” as a way of helping us better understand and “enter into” this gospel story. Our pattern of worship is very intentional, each Sunday it takes us on a journey; it takes us from places of isolation, broken-ness, and emptiness into the abundance of life found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This morning it will takes us on that journey in with and through the story of Jesus and the Ten Lepers.

The story, found in the Gospel of Luke, begins this way … “On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.”

“Gathering.” Our worship service begins with a “gathering up of people,” an invitation rooted in the grace of God, God’s love poured out in the waters of baptism.  “Here in this place,” “all peoples together,” we gather with Christ.

The geography of Jesus is very important, the geography of today’s Gospel is very important.  This morning we find Jesus traveling somewhere along the border between Samaria and Galilee.  Jesus is wandering through some kind of “no man’s land,” an uncomfortable place between two peoples who don’t care for each other(the Jews and the Samaritans), a place populated by lepers, the unclean and untouchable people of his day, a place that most people probably avoided. 

Yet that tends to be the pattern of Jesus, it’s not unusual to find Jesus in this kind of place.  In story after story Jesus goes to borders, physical and social borders, and crosses over them, traverses back and forth, challenging their existence and redefining their nature, while proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

As we gather together this morning for worship, we are reminded that Jesus often gathered people up on the margins of life, at crossroads, in broken and conflicted places.  Perhaps you crossed some kind of border to be here this morning? A physical border, a social border, an emotional border? I imagine someone is not with us this morning because something kept them from crossing some kind of border? Many of us gather very aware of our own personal borders, our own boundaries, our own broken places. 

This morning we are reminded that Christ is found “between” Samaria and Galilee, between here and there, at the edges of life, at the edges of your life, and my life, on the border; the geography of Jesus is important.  We begin this morning by crossing over borders, despite borders, gathering together, “somewhere between Samaria and Galilee” at the invitation of Christ.

Sermon Part Two

“The Word”

The story of the Ten Lepers continues … “As Jesus entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. (Luke 17:12-14)

“The Word.” This is the point in the liturgy where we unpack the scriptures in search of a Living Word that can enter (find its way) into our life.  Just as Jesus enters into the village and transforms the life’s of the Lepers, Jesus enters into our life as we gather around the Word.  And in anticipation, we open up our hearts and minds that we too might receive a Living Word that will transform our life.

Often when I meditate on the scriptures, one thought, word, phrase, or idea, will come to me and invite me deeper into the story.  This week I found myself thinking about the geography, “the region between Samaria and Galilee,” and the many borders (physical, social, and personal) that existed in that place.This has become the Word I want to share with you this morning.

So, what comes to your mind when you think of borders, when you “unpack” the idea of “borders,” “the region between Samaria and Galilee?”  The first thought that comes to my mind is the border with Mexico and all the ways we struggle with issues of immigration.  I also picture the border wall between Israel and Palestine and the way it was built cutting people off from land, family, resources, and opportunity.  Fresh from my trip to Germany this Summer, I can picture the images of the Berlin Wall with its watchtowers and snipers.  And from that same trip in which I crossed “friendly” borders I remember very stern people, checking and inspecting my papers and my possessions.  When I think of borders, the first things that come to mind are not positive things, instead I imagine negative things, I feel stressed, and I become anxious and fearful. 

And what about the other kinds borders in our lives, the borders made up of things other than brick, steel, and barbed wire. 

I am reminded of the barriers that our ever-present cell phones create.  Glued to the screen we have become detached from each other; sharing meals, spaces, and moments without making eye contact and conversing.  We walk along with our ear buds blasting our music into our brains oblivious to all that is going on around us.  Head down, head long, looking at our phones.

And let’s not forget the red and blue boundaries of politics, very real boundaries that are creating very real problems for us, especially for those in great need, those who live “in between,” those stuck in “no man’s land.”  Borders that seem to make it impossible to find a way to serve each other and the common good.

And then there’s the personal borders with which we all struggle.  The areas in our life that we are afraid to explore, places where the pain is just too much, places where we become addicted, places that tear us apart from the inside out.

Borders, a Word that we all can relate to, we all have “border stories.”

Sermon Part Three

“The Meal”

A recap of the story up to this point …. “On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. (Luke 17:11-14)

Unfortunately, we have been taught and conditioned to always fear borders - physical borders, social borders, and our own personal borders.  Doubt and fear keep us from exploring the edges of society, the places where people are struggling. Doubt and fear keep us from understanding our so called “enemies” on the other side.  And doubt and fear keep us from exploring our personal rough and damaged edges.  Sadly, doubt and fear, our doubt and fear, the other’s doubt and fear, my doubt and fear, your doubt and fear, society’s doubt and fear, all the fear - keeps all of creation cut off from wholeness and healing.

In this week’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that he is very present on these borders, in that “no man’s land” reaching out and healing “lepers,” in those places that we are often too frightened to explore.  Jesus invites to step away from the doubt and the fear that defines borders as dangerous places, and to instead let God’s love transform these borders into places of grace and love and peace where healing can happen, healing for the nations and healing for each of us as individuals.

Our worship service continues with “the meal,” a time when we remember what God did for us in Christ Jesus, a time in which we are gathered up “as grains of wheat” to become “one bread,” a time when Christ is present to hold us and heal us, a time when we are nourished and inspired in life, a time when Christ “crosses” over the border to be with us, a time when we are invited to cross over a border and be Christ with each other. As we gather for Holy Communion, we are reminded that we become a Holy Community.  When Jesus invites us to “do this in remembrance of me,” we are invited, challenged, to “re-member” the body of Christ, put it back together in all its wonderful diversity embracing the kingdom of God. 

Yes, it’s hard to approach borders, borders between nations, borders between peoples, and our own personal borders.  So let us be reminded once again that Christ is present in these places, present to heal and restore, present in love, present with grace, present to set us free and to make all things new.   At this time you are invited to rise up, come forward, cross over, and share in the sacrament of Holy Community, the gift of God for the people of God.

Sermon Part Four “Sending” 

The story of the Ten Lepers concludes … “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17:15-19)

Our story ends with transformation, with healing, and for at least one person, a moment of thanksgiving, a moment of bearing witness to the love of God.  So, what has happened to you during the past 40 minutes or so, how has the story of your life been impacted? 

Did the Word find you somewhere in the midst of one of your “border places?”  Did it encourage you and strengthen you in a way that might allow you to explore those parts of your life that might be broken or damaged.  Did a word of grace and love break through giving you hope and inspiring your faith?

Or perhaps you felt a call to go to one of those places in our world where barriers, where walls, where borders divide people, hurt people, even destroy people.  Maybe you, and your gifts and talents and passion are needed to wander in those places proclaiming the gospel, and even begin tearing those walls down.

And as we gathered to share in the meal that is Christ present, “crossed” over and poured out for us, did you experience the love and grace of God?  Did you find yourself in the Holy Community, in the place where God is present “for you” in bread and wine?  Were you made aware of someone who is missing from the Holy Community, someone that needs to be reached out to and invited inside.

I hope and trust that God has spoken to you this morning, in with and through; Word and Sacrament, the Word made alive, The body of Christ re-membered, a story about the lepers who lived “somewhere between” Samaria and Galilee, a story about Christ powerfully present at the edges of your life; And that the work of transformation, the work of all things becoming new, has begun or continues in your life.

In today’s Gospel only one Leper, the Samaritan, returns and gives thanks.  Our worship concludes, following his faithful example, with a song of thanksgiving and a “Sending” out into the world, our faith filled response to the call of God, to share the story of the Gospel, present at the border, a story that breaks down walls and sets people free.

“Praise to you, O God of Mercy” 

Praise to You, O God of mercy, Thanks be to You forever!

Raising high the weak and lowly: Thanks be to You forever!

Amen.

Sermon on Luke 17:5-10

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Focus :Just as this passage gives us a distasteful image of Jesus without the loving context of the Gospel of Luke, the world around us can give us harmful images of God that do not align with the loving God that we find in the themes of the Bible.

Function: This sermon will challenge hearers to examine the images of God they hold onto.

Today’s Gospel reading makes me sick to my stomach.

At face value, it sounds like:

1.    Jesus scolds his disciples for what seems like an earnest and understandable request.

They’re not asking for glory or riches or even for comfort.

They’re asking for faith,

perhaps hoping it’ll make it easier to follow Jesus’ prior instruction about forgiving people who have sinned against you seven times in a single day.

Who wouldn’t want divine help fulfilling that daunting task?

2.    Then, Jesus uses a troubling slavery metaphor for the relationship between God and humanity.

It’s impossible as a 21st century American to read this passage apart from the history of chattel slavery in the United States,

which hadn’t happened yet when Jesus spoke these words.

And still, slavery of any kind is dehumanizing and an insult to the image of God in every person,

so it’s alarming to hear Jesus talk of forcing an enslaved person to serve dinner after a long day in the field and not even thanking them.

Please and thank you are so ingrained in many people’s upbringing that I hear people thanking Siri, Alexa, and other electronic devices.

Surely Jesus isn’t making light of a posture of gratitude.

3.    And then the real punch in the gut comes when Jesus says,

“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

What happened to being beloved children of God?

What happened to being made in God’s image?

What happened to our loving God and compassionate Jesus?

At face value, this is a horrifying passage that portrays God as an entitled, ungrateful, dehumanizing enslaver.

So, as responsible readers of the Bible who have critical thinking skills and good questions, we can ask ourselves, “What else is going on here? What is the larger picture?”

First, let’s remind ourselves of the overall image of God we see in scripture. The Bible contains dozens of writings compiled over thousands of years, so we get a wide range of images of God (including some troubling ones), but we can find some overarching themes:

1.    From the very first page, the Beginning, we see a God who delights in creating and calls creation good.

2.    If we turn more pages, we see God’s faithfulness to God’s people throughout the Hebrew Bible—forgiving over and over again, calling them into relationship with God.

3.    As we flip through, we’ll find some parts of God’s law and messages from the prophets that are pretty strange to our modern understanding, but we also see God calling people into new ways of being in the world: forgiving debts, taking care of the vulnerable, tending to the land, setting aside time to rest and get to know God better.

So those are some themes in the whole Bible. Let’s narrow down our search and flip to the Gospel of Luke. We find some themes here, too:

1.    In the prophecies around Jesus’ birth, we see that God fulfills God’s promises.

2.    If we turn a couple more pages to chapter 4, we hear Jesus’ mission statement that sounds a lot like the new ways of being in the world God lays out in the Hebrew Bible.

3.    On pretty much any page in Luke we can find healing stories—Jesus cares for those who are suffering and marginalized and restores them to their community.

4.    We also find Jesus teaching a lot about money and power and the dangers of both. He invites us to realign with the upside-down order of the Reign of God.

5.    And between the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, written by the same person, we see God’s work in the world spread beyond a single group of people into an invitation for all into the banquet of the Reign of God.

Now that we’ve reoriented ourselves to what God is like in the whole Bible and specifically in the Gospel of Luke, let’s get even narrower by looking again at today’s reading.

Our reading comes at the end of a series of those parables about the danger of wealth and power. Jesus calls us instead to compassion, mercy, and relationship.

Right before our reading, Jesus warns against being the reason someone sins. Focusing on

1.    Jesus’ admonishment not to cause one of these “little ones” to sin

2.    and looking again at the themes in Luke of mercy for vulnerable people:

Jesus is not saying “don’t wear a halter top because the men around you might sin”

but instead “don’t cause your neighbor to steal because they were hungry and you didn’t share.”

Then, Jesus tells his disciples that if someone sins against them seven times in a single day and asks forgiveness seven times, they must forgive them.

This is a lot to take in. It’s no wonder the disciples ask for some help: “Increase our faith”!

Hidden somewhere in Jesus’ harsh words and troubling metaphor is the message that the disciples are asking for the wrong thing.

It takes only the tiniest speck of faith to participate in the upside-down Reign of God and do things the world doesn’t expect.

And faith isn’t something you store up or hoard—it’s something that you show through your actions. You also don’t show off your faith or expect a parade—it’s simply something that happens when you embrace the new lifestyle of the Reign of God.

Far from the image of God as an entitled, ungrateful, dehumanizing enslaver, in this passage we can see our loving, creative God as inviting us into a new way of living that lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good things.

As we see in this passage, we can find some pretty troubling images of God when we don’t look at the overarching themes of the Bible and the context of the passages we’re reading.

Reading verses out of context is called “proof-texting,” and it can be used to justify a lot of horrifying things, like slavery and genocide.

A couple examples:

If we only read about God’s judgment and apocalyptic passages, we can find a fire and brimstone God who will punish anyone who doesn’t comply.

But that completely ignores God’s grace, forgiveness, and love. God loved the world God created so much that God became human in Jesus to restore our relationship with God. God knows we mess up all the time and loves us anyway.

Or, if we pick and choose verses about God’s blessings, we can construct a prosperity gospel God who wants us to “name it and claim it”—“it” being a mansion or helicopter or a billion dollars. Of course, a handsome donation helps your chances of your wishes being fulfilled.

And yes, God wants good things for you, but that probably doesn’t mean a private jet. Instead it means the loving relationships that form when you show compassion and generosity to your neighbors, when you join in the lifestyle of the upside-down Reign of God.

We don’t have to stick to extreme examples either to find unhelpful images of God. None of us has a perfectly accurate image of God, so our images of God always deserve to be examined. They grow and change as we do. Our understandings of God don’t always serve us well, so comparing them to the themes we see in the Bible and the truths we see about the world in our daily lives can help us know God better.

For example, I grew up in a loving environment with supportive adults and a faithful church community. But as a child I still absorbed an image of God as a benevolent but distant King who wanted us to be humble servants.

It took time for my image of God to be more personal and loving and less distant and severe. My image of God wasn’t serving me well. But as I grew God showed me the more personal and attentive aspects of Godself. And my image of God will continue to grow and change for the rest of my life. Hopefully yours will too.

It’s important to pay attention to our conceptions of God and whether they’re helping us grow closer to God and better love our neighbors or whether they are making us fearful or judgmental.

Reading passages of the Bible without considering the context and the themes of the Bible as a whole can lead us to some trouble images of God, like an entitled, ungrateful, dehumanizing enslaver, instead of a loving God inviting us into a new, creative, abundant way of life.

When you come across difficult passages and troubling stories in the Bible, consider that an opportunity to take a long view of God’s story and wrestle with your image of God.

God is bigger than we can imagine

and more compassionate than we can ever know.

With critical thinking,

good questions,

and a curious mind,

let’s get to know God better.

A Chasm Between Us

Pr. Jasmine Waring

September 25, 2022

This past Thursday marked the beginning of the Fall season, which means Christmas is right around the corner! I know it’s too hot outside to think of Christmas, but when I was reading today’s assigned Gospel this week, I kept on being reminded of Ebenezer Scrooge from The Muppet Christmas Carol (the only correct interpretation of this novel). The theme of Rich Men and lovers of money (like Scrooge) are prevalent in the Gospels. There is the parable of the rich fool, who hoards his wealth by creating even bigger barns to store it all, only to die the next day without being able to use it. There is the Rich Young Ruler, who asked how to enter the Kingdom of God, to which Jesus replied, “Sell all of your possessions, give them to the poor, and follow me.” Last week we read about a shrewd manager who redistributed his master’s wealth, which got some of the money-loving audience members upset with Jesus. The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is not different, however, it is unique from the other stories because it is told in the form of an apocalyptic parable, much like A Christmas Carol. Apocalyptic literature, as we know, is not predicting the end of the world. Quite the contrary, it is the disruption of a new beginning. It means to unveil or reveal something. Like peeling back the rug we’ve swept stuff under. Apocalyptic stories are intended to be dramatic, shocking, and exaggerated. They are cautionary tales that show us where we need to change. Interpreting these stories can be confusing, even for biblical scholars. I find it helpful to ask questions and follow my curiosity. Not to find the right answer, but to use it as a mirror to help me see what I need to change. I hope these questions can help you when you encounter a text in your own devotional time (which I’m sure you spend hours at the crack of dawn doing every day). The first question is, who is this God we are a witness to? Next, what is the Kingdom of God like? Finally, what is the Gospel? Who is this God we are a witness to in our text today? Because this story is so dramatic and exaggerated, it is obvious this God is unmistakably and clearly has a preferential bias towards the poor and marginalized. God knows his name, and sees his suffering. In a world where riches were (and still are) perceived to be a sign of God’s blessing, God carried Lazarus away by angels when he died. Probably because he died alone in the streets without a proper funeral, unlike the Rich Man. Lazarus is comforted in the bosom of Abraham, the patriarch of the faith. We also witness a just God, who protects Lazarus from being exploited when the Rich Man was trying to order Lazarus around, even in the afterlife. We are a witness to a good God, even if this story makes us uncomfortable. What is the Kingdom of God like in this story? The Kingdom of God is a world within-a-world where we can experience the reality God intends for us. We experience liberation and abundance in this reality, and we also experience the upside-down and backwards economy of God. Instead of thinking of this parable as a before and after story, or cause and effect relationship between this life and the afterlife, what if these two realities ran parallel to each other simultaneously. In this life, Lazarus experienced unimaginable suffering. At the same time, in the Kingdom of God, he is being elevated and comforted in the bosom of Abraham. In this life, the Rich man lived a lavished lifestyle. At the same time, in the Kingdom of God, he is begging for help. This is what Jesus was talking about in his sermon on the plain when he said, “Blessed are the poor, for they will receive the Kingdom of God.” This is what mother Mary proclaimed in the Magnificat when she said, “He fills the hungry and send to full away empty.” In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the three ghosts of Christmas. They reveal to him how his greed and withholding attitude bankrupt his soul and affected all of his relationships. It is not until he wakes up Christmas morning, and realized he still had time to make things right with the people in his world. In this moment of grace, he is able to give generously and find joy again. When we are in the midst of suffering, we can tap into the comfort and grace of God through prayer, worship, the sacraments, and in beloved community. When we hoard our wealth and willfully neglect our responsibility to love our neighbor, we are also harming ourselves. When we believe that we are separate, and not interdependent with each other, God, and the Earth, we begin to suffer. Separation ultimately leads to suffering. We create a chasm between us and the people we love, with God, with our coworkers and with strangers. If we do not make a change that chasm will become fixed at the end of your life, and you will not be able to reconcile with the people you affected. This is why Jesus prayed earnestly that we would be one, as he and the Creator are one. What then, is the good news? Just like when Scrooge woke up and realized he had more time, so do we! The Gospel of this text is we still have time to make things right! The truth is, most of us live somewhere in the middle of the Rich Man and Lazarus. We are neither living in poverty nor living in luxury. Sometimes we are begging at the door for bread and healing, other times we are living lavishly, and we forget to be generous with our abundance. What we really ought to pay attention to are the siblings of the Rich Man in this story. The Rich Man begs Abraham and Lazarus to warn his siblings about this chasm, and how he had failed to love his neighbor so that they may be saved. Jacob Marley is not coming to warn you this time! Even if he did, Abraham said that we wouldn’t believe him. Abraham says that his siblings have all that they need to avoid his fate. They have the Law and the prophets to guide them. Not only do we also have the Law and the prophets in Scripture, but we also have Jesus Christ, the embodiment of the Law and prophets. Who is the Word and wisdom of God wrapped in flesh. We have the grace of Christ that empowers us to do good works, recognizing that we are all one in Christ. That whatever is done to the least of these, you have done to Christ who lives in you. So instead of hoarding our wealth, property, knowledge, and presence in people’s lives, we begin to give them generously and invest in Kingdom treasures that Paul names for Timothy: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. This is what it means to be rich in the Kingdom of God. Who is this God we are a witness to? What is the Kingdom of God like? What is the Gospel? May the God we are a witness to comfort, correct, and carry you when you need it. May you become aware of the chasms you create, and may you have the grace of Christ to close the gap. May you be rich in righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. And May we be one, as Christ, the Creator, and the Holy Spirit are one. Amen.