Sermon on John 11:1-45

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Lazarus was dead.

He was not asleep. Jesus did not arrive in time to heal him.

Jesus had healed so many—where was he when his close friend was dying?

Lazarus’s sisters and other family and friends had gathered to mourn and support each other in their grief.

They were all probably thinking what Martha and then Mary said.

“Lord, if you had been here, Lazarus would not have died.”

And now, look: he’s crying! Maybe even Jesus is despairing.

Even Jesus was confronting the reality of death.

And yes, Jesus wept with his dear friends over Lazarus’s death. Jesus knows what it’s like to grieve. Jesus knows the bitter touch of death.

He wept even though he knew that death was no match for God.

Jesus met his friends in their grief, even as he trusted in the God who breathed life into the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision.

Jesus knew he had the power to heal—he had, indeed, healed many. But he trusted God enough to wait when he was told to wait, instead of rushing to Lazarus’s side. It must have been terrible staying put, waiting helplessly as he knew the life drained from Lazarus’s body.

Once the time came, he risked his very life to go out to a place where people had nearly killed him. His disciple Thomas was keenly aware of this risk and resolved to die with him (so much for Doubting Thomas).

Martha and Mary’s words must have pierced his soul— “if you had been here…if only…”

And so he wept on his way to the tomb.

But the story was not over yet.

Lazarus, even in death, heard the voice of his shepherd and came to him.

God breathed into his dead bones, and he lived!

Jesus, the resurrection and the life, overcame death in a final, miraculous sign that pointed toward his own death and resurrection and the final defeat of the power of death.

God brings to life what seems dead, whether dry bones or Lazarus’s body.

And still, while the power of death has been defeated, we still feel its impact in the here and now.

Our bodies still die.

Disasters and wars still devastate our lives.

We still need organizations like Crittenton Services, because there are children who experience unimaginable pain and trauma in their young lives.

We still need groups like our Synod’s antiracism roundtable that will meet this afternoon, because white supremacy is alive and well.

We need activists and artists and community organizers because trans people are being legislated against simply for expressing who they are.

The world is not as it should be.

And still, amidst grief and death, God is still at work.

God is still breathing life into situations that make it seem like death has the last word.

There are organizations like Crittenton and LSS and Lutheran Disaster Response and so many others that are filled with people trying to ease the suffering in the world.

There are activists and artists and educators and others who are striving for equity and justice for all people of all races and ethnicities and genders and sexualities and abilities.

And for every individual who has dedicated their life to a cause like this, there are hundreds and thousands of people who are learning and growing and taking small, brave steps toward making earth a little more as it is in heaven.

There are people coming alongside their neighbors in pain, just as Mary and Martha’s community did for them.

There are people like Thomas, who was willing to put his body on the line for what he believed in.

There are people like you who, whether through your donations or physical presence or prayers, will allow the kids at Crittenton to just be kids today—playing and eating doughnuts and laughing.

By God’s power, in big and small ways, this is how we declare that death doesn’t win.

Jesus’ command to Lazarus’s friends and family was: “unbind him and let him go.”

God has overcome death, even though sometimes it’s hard to recognize that amid the suffering in the world. But our actions together, big and small, guided by the Holy Spirit, unbind the worldand declare that death has no power here.

Let our lives together unbind the world and follow where God’s life-giving breath leads us.

Sermon on John 9:1-41

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Our Gospel story gets into some tricky territory.

First of all, as often happens in the Gospel of John, this story makes it sound like Jewish people are the bad guys. Of our four Gospels, this one was written last, at a time when the emerging community of Jesus followers was trying to distinguish itself from the Jewish tradition it came from.

So, the Gospel of John portrays “the Jews” as a monolithic group who just don’t get it and is separate from the “correct,” “in-group” of the Jesus followers. When you add two millennia of anti-Semitism and Christian supremacy, the us/them language of the Gospel of John becomes harmful to our Jewish siblings.

So, whenever you read “the Jews” in the Gospel of John, it’s helpful to look at who is actually being talked about. Often, it’s the religious authorities who were trying to protect their tradition in occupied territory. They were skeptical of this radical rabbi, Jesus, who might get them in trouble with the Roman Empire.

Most importantly, when Jesus says things that sound harsh toward Jewish people, it’s crucial to remember that Jesus was Jewish. When he says harsh things, it’s more like one of us holding accountable our siblings at another Christian church in our neighborhood. For Jesus, there was no us/them divide. For Jesus, there pretty much never is.

Another tricky thing about this story is the healing itself. As all too often happens, there is a lot of talking about, rather than to, a disabled person, or in this case, a formerly disabled person.

And his disability is spiritualized: blindness is made into a metaphor for lack of insight and understanding. This is unfair to people in the visually impaired community. One’s ability to see has nothing to do with one’s cognitive, intuitive, or spiritual capacities.

I can’t help but feel like the one who should be central to this story is being used as a plot device: because of his disability, healing, and place in society.

Jesus doesn’t even ask him if he wants sight.

Then, his neighbors don’t recognize him and are so suspicious that they go to the religious authorities.

The religious authorities interrogate him and his parents and then him again.

Then, he’s kicked out of his community.

His interaction with Jesus had life-altering consequences far beyond being able to see.

Often in biblical healing stories, the healed person is restored to their community. “Healing” can be distinguished from “curing,” because the experience encompasses more than the literal curing of a disease or change of ability. Healing can involve restoration of spiritual, emotional, and/or social health. But in this story, the person who had been blind is rejected from his community. In some ways, it seems like he’s worse off than before his encounter with Jesus.

His curing has not really brought about healing.

And yet, when he is at his lowest point after having been interrogated, investigated, and rejected, Jesus hears about it and seeks him out.

Jesus finds him.

Then, they have a powerful conversation, in which the person who had been blind declares his belief in Jesus. He trusts in Jesus, despite his treatment by his community.

Instead of a healing story, we can also read this as a call story.

This person had a transformational encounter with Jesus: Jesus mixed his own spit with earth—not unlike God creating humanity out of the dust of the earth in the beginning—and Jesus touched him with that creative mud.

Then, Jesus told him to go wash—a sort of baptism—in a pool named “Sent.”

Another encounter with Jesus shows the person’s insight and growing trust in Jesus.

God’s creative power mixed with cleansing baptismal waters and a growing spiritual understanding: Jesus is calling a new disciple here.

This new disciple is misunderstood and then shunned by his community, but Jesus is calling him to a new community in the Reign of God.

The new disciple’s belief is more than mental agreement with a set of statements about who Jesus is. He’s trusting Jesus to bring him into a new community and new way of life. Belief in the Bible is never just intellectual. A call story is about changing someone’s life.

Jesus in this call story is found in the margins, commissioning and equipping disciples among those who are overlooked and excluded.

Lest we look down our noses at the religious leaders in this story who just don’t seem to get it and exclude the person who had been blind, there are still so many people who are ignored and pushed to the margins today.

Since we’ve already touched on disabilities, let’s explore that further.

So much in our society is set up in a way that excludes, marginalizes, and disadvantages people with disabilities.

Some things have shifted to make spaces and opportunities more accessible. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 made it illegal to discriminate based on disability and enacted a lot of accommodations for employment, public facilities, housing, etc. There’s still, of course, a lot of room for improvement, but it was an important step.

And in Jesus’ example of inclusion and empowering the marginalized, one might expect that churches would have celebrated such an achievement for civil rights.

Alas, that was not the case.

The Collaborative on Faith and Disability described it this way:

“In the passing of the ADA, the religious communities of the USA essentially asked to be excused from the table. For a number of reasons, the act exempted faith communities from parts of the ADA even though it does impact new construction and some congregational programs. Whatever the rationale, and in spite of great progress in inclusive faith communities since 1990, that action confirmed the feelings of many people with disabilities that the religious community was not an ally.”[1]

While I understand that there are beautiful, historic church buildings like this one that would have been very difficult and expensive to make fully accessible, I wish we could say that Christians were at the forefront of striving for equity instead of putting our buildings and bank accounts before people.

There is much, much more to explore and wrestle with when it comes to ableism and inclusion. This needs to be an ongoing discussion, and I personally have a lot of privilege in this area, so I ask that you keep me accountable to continue learning and striving for justice.

In our Gospel story, Jesus was found making disciples at the margins. Jesus is very often found at the margins of society—wherever people are ignored, excluded, and disadvantaged.

He seeks out, includes, and celebrates people who have been pushed aside by society.

If we want to follow Jesus, we need to go where he goes and do the things he does.

If we’re looking for Jesus, we’ll find him in the margins.

We’ll find him standing outside the door that is too narrow for his wheelchair.

We’ll find him at the bottom of the stairs his legs are too shaky to climb.

We’ll find him at home watching church on YouTube, because his immune system makes it too risky to be around so many people.

The Reign of God is abundant and inclusive, and it starts at the margins.

When we put people first instead of buildings and bank accounts,

When we answer Jesus’ call that causes us to get kicked out of our communities,

When we seek the true healing of our spirits and relationships and social systems so that everyone is valued and celebrated as they are,

We’ll find Jesus there.

That is the healing we need.

[1]https://politicaltheology.com/excused-from-the-table-churches-and-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-lorraine-cuddeback/

First Lutheran Church

March 12, 2023 + The Third Sunday in Lent A

Exodus 17:1-7From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 4:1-4, 17.But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say,‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.“Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand. … And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”

Sermon

“What’s in Your Hand?”

Pastor Greg Ronning

Last Sunday I talked about new beginnings, - the new beginnings of faith.  In last week’s appointed First Lesson we heard the story of the call of Abraham and Sarah, the call to pack up all their belongings and travel into the land of Canaan, where they will be sojourners, strangers in a strange land, dependent on the hospitality of others; until some far away day in the future when their descendants would become a great nation, a nation that will be a blessing to all the world, a nation that would reveal the kingdom of God unto all the world.  This call was characterized by the 19th century theologian Soren Kierkegaard, "Abraham takes one thing with him and leaves one thing behind.  He leaves behind his earthly understanding and takes with him faith.  Otherwise, his journey would have seemed and been totally unreasonable."We were reminded that the new beginnings of faith demand that we leave behind “earthly understandings,” for they are born not of this world, but of water and spirit, in faith; born of faith alone. We are called to leave everything else behind.The new beginnings of faith are not rooted in the things of this world, in financial resources, conventional power, or temporal safety and security.  The new beginnings of God begin with that proverbial “leap of faith.”

This week’s appointed First Lesson from Exodus tells the story of how Moses is able to provide water for the Israelites as they cross the desert in search of the promised land by striking a rock at Horeb with his staff.  Moses travels to the rock with the elders, strikes the rock with his staff, and water comes out of the rock.  This water provides them with the water they need in the desert, but more importantly reminds the people that God is still present among them as they make their journey across the desert to the land of promise. 

As I read this week’s lesson, I found myself thinking primarily about the “staff” of Moses.  It plays a prominent role in almost all of the stories of “The Exodus,” God’s deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage of slavery under the Egyptians.  The Jewish theologian IsmarSchorsch writes, “In the saga of Israel’s liberation from Egypt, the staff of Moses is more than a prop. Though inanimate, it is nothing short of a lead character, an effective change-agent in the face of determined resistance.” 

The staff becomes a snake on more than one occasion, bearing witness to the authenticity of the call of Moses before the Jewish Elders; and when Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh for the first time, Aaron tosses the staff on the ground where it becomes a serpent that devours the serpents conjured up by the Egyptian magicians.  The staff is the instrument that brings about the first three plagues; changing the water of the Nile into blood, infesting the land with frogs, and then rats.  Later it is used to bring about the plagues of hail and locust.  It is widely supposed that when Moses raised his hands to part the Red Sea, his ever-present staff was in his hand.  In today’s lesson Moses strikes a rock with the staff and the rock produces water.  And later when the warriors of Amalek attack the Israelites, Moses stands up at the top of a hill, and as long ashe lifts up his staff in the air, their attackers are defeated.

But this morning I want to focus in on the staff of Moses and the role it played in his new beginning with God, his great calling in life, to lead the Israelites from the bondage of slavery into the freedom of the promised land.  So it is, we shift back, and continue to look at the new beginnings of faith.

The call of Moses is found in the third and fourth chapters of Exodus.  Moses at the time is a shepherd tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro.  He is with the sheep far into the wilderness at Sinai, the mountain of God.  As he walks along, he come across a “burning bush.”  When Moses stops to check it out, God calls out to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses!  Moses!”  God then proceeds to tell Moses, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land.”  And then comes the part that surprises Moses, “Now go, for I am sending ‘you’ to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

Moses vigorously objects. “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”Moses is not looking for a new beginning, and certainly not this one.  He has already fled Egypt for his life once, why would he want to go back again.  And even if he did, he was not the right person for the job.  He continues to protest; I wouldn’t know what to say, I’m not a good public speaker, I don’t know even know how to describe who you are, I don’t even know your name, I don’t have an army, I don’t have any power, I don’t have the necessary skills.  And what if they don’t believe me, what if they think I am making up this whole burning bush thing? 

At this point, after all the excuses, God asks Moses a simple question, “What is in your hand?”  Moses replies, “A shepherd’s staff.”God then tells Moses, “Throw it down on the ground.” Moses obeys, and as the staff hits the ground it becomes a snake.  Moses jumps back in fear.  God then directs him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” “So Moses (I imagine reluctantly) reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.”God once again calls Moses to got to Pharoah, and finally concludes, “And take your shepherd’s staff with you …”

When God calls us, invites us, exhorts us to a new beginning in faith; when God summons us to undertake a greater participation in the work of the coming of the Kingdom of God; notice what God asks us, and what does not ask us to do.  God does not ask us to become something we are not, God does not demand that we learn a new skill, God does not demand that we ignore all our life experience, God simply asks us, “What is in your hand.” 

Pastor Roger Tabler comments on The Call of Moses, “Notice that God starts right where Moses was: God didn’t ask Moses to read a book (though books can certainly be helpful), God didn’t ask Moses to take a class in freeing slaves (though classes can certainly be helpful). God didn’t ask Moses to wait a few years when Moses would be ready. No. When God has you cornered, be prepared for [God] to ask you “What’s in your hand?” It’s not a matter of what’s going to be in your hand; it’s not a matter of when better days are ahead. How often do we think “I will give you more, when I get more.” But that’s not how God works—[God] asks you to use the resources that you have right now, …”

Moses held in his hand the essential tool of his trade.  It was a staff, a rod, a shepherd’s crook.  Shepherds used the crooked end to pull sheep back when they strayed from the heard, and they used the blunt end to prod and guide the sheep as necessary.  It could also be used to fight off wild animals.  It was an instrument that was very comfortable in the hand of the shepherd, perhaps worn with their grip, something they would never leave behind, something that was not only representative of them, - but a very part of them.

God’s new beginning in Moses, just as God’s new beginning with Abraham and Sarah, demanded that he leave behind his “earthly understandings,” and his comfort zone, but not the tools of his trade, his staff, his gifts, his talents, his resources.  God will make use of those things in the new vocation.

Thus, the question for all of us this morning, the primary question we must consider as we ponder God’s calling, our vocation in the kingdom of God, the adventure that is our new beginning of faith, is simply this, “What is in your hand?” 

As we answer this question we are encouraged not to get caught up in the “magic” of Moses’s staff.  IsmarSchorsch reminds us, “According to the narrative, the staff is nothing more than an ordinary shepherd’s staff. … It could not have been more nondescript and unexceptional. But, that is precisely the point: the staff harbored no inherent potency. At work was solely God’s will which chose to transform a crude artifact into an instrument of titanic power.”   Keeping in mind that you don’t have to do magic like Moses, what is that skill set that you have created, what is the natural gift with which you have been blessed, what is that passion that wakes your hands into action, what is that thing that is uniquely you?  I love Fredrick Buechner’s classic definition of vocation, our calling in life.  He describes it this way, “[Vocation] is the place where your deep gladness and world’s deep hunger meet.”  What is the “deep gladness” you hold in your hands, that you live out with your hands?  And where can it be used to make a difference in the world!  Once again, the question posed by God this morning to each of you is simply, “What is in your hand?”

Now, notice the pattern in God’s call to Moses.  It’s important!  God first asks, “What is in your hand?”  Then God tells him, “Throw it down!”  And then God invites Moses to pick it back up again and go tell Pharoah.  Once we identify that “thing” that we hold in our hand, that thing that might be a physical thing, or could be a metaphorical thing.  Once we identify it, that precious “thing” in our life, we are asked to let it go.  Moses is asked to throw down his staff, to let go of his all-important staff.  In that moment, he does not know that God is going to ask him to pick it up again.  I imagine he might be wondering if God is now going to send him out into the worldwithout it.  And besides all that, the staff surrendered now appears as a dangerous snake on the ground.

Yet perhaps it is in this surrendering of his staff, that his staff is transformed into a “sacrament” for his new calling, a sign of, and the presence, of God.  This morning as we consider the precious“things” we hold in our hands, let us also be willing to surrender them for the sake of the gospel, to let them be used in a new way, allowing them to be the instruments of God in the coming of God.  We are reminded that it is in letting go - that we truly receive.

Once again as we consider God’s invitation to a “new beginning” in our life, as we consider “a leap of faith,” as our Lenten Journey invites us to contemplate what it means to repent, to change direction, to turn around, do more with less, to be born again; let us remember the saints that have gone before us, the descent of God in Christ Jesus, and those things that we hold in our hands that might become the very instrument that might hold the presence of God for those who need it the most.  We are reminded by St. Paul in Second Corinthians, “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2nd Corinthians 4:7)

And finally, a concluding word from the Psalmist, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” (Psalm 23:4-5)

May the faith that resides in your heart - rise up, giving you the courage to fully embrace the new beginning God has waiting for you.  Listen even now God is calling you,“What’s in your hand?”Amen.