Sermon on Luke 24:13-34

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

A major chapter in the lives of the disciples had ended. They had learned from Jesus for three years, but he had been put to death by the authorities. Now it was all over.

The disciples were lost, uncertain of what would come next for them. They hid themselves from the authorities and waited.

Two of the disciples headed out of town. Perhaps the memories of the previous week were too strong in Jerusalem. Perhaps they were restless and could no longer sit in the upper room waiting to be caught and crucified like their teacher.

So they left. Cleopas and another disciple. Some have theorized that the other disciple was his wife, but we’ll never know.

Whoever these two disciples were, they met a stranger on the journey.

He seemed completely clueless about the biggest event in their entire lives, but he was surprisingly knowledgeable about the scriptures. They talked along the way, and for those few hours, perhaps the two disciples felt a little less scared, a little less alone. To borrow a phrase from our Methodist siblings, perhaps their hearts were “strangely warmed.”

When they finally arrived, the sun was setting, but the stranger looked like he was going to continue on. In customary hospitable fashion, they insisted he stay with them.

As they sat down to the evening meal, the stranger started a familiar ritual: “he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” It was in this moment that they realized it had been Jesus all along.

Isn’t it always Jesus all along?

So often we go about our daily lives, and it is only in hindsight that we realize:

1.    that person on the side of the road holding a cardboard sign was Jesus,

2.    that six-year-old who made an insightful comment that took us by surprise was Jesus,

3.    that friend who reached out just when we needed it most was Jesus.

Jesus is always there, especially in the places we least expect to find him.

Jesus was there for these two disciples in the midst of their grief, fear and confusion. He was there for them at the turn of a new chapter in their lives that they didn’t understand yet.

And First Lutheran, too, is at the start of a new chapter.

Pastor Greg has served this community faithfully and lovingly, and now he is being called to serve in new ways elsewhere. God is not done with him, and God is not done with First Lutheran.

But in the midst of change, it’s easy to feel scared, sad, and lonely, just like the disciples at the beginning of our story.

It’s normal to feel anxious about change—regardless of whether the change is good or bad. It’s hard to let go of what has been, because we can’t see yet what God has in store for us next.

Even though the two disciples in our story had heard the testimony of the women disciples who said that angels had told them Jesus was alive, they were still sad and afraid. They didn’t know if they could believe that Jesus was alive, and they didn’t know what was next for them.

But Jesus met them anyway.

Jesus walked with them, gave them insight, and communed with them. He walked by their side and sat at their table.

Despite what it seemed, he never left them, never abandoned them. He was with them all along, even when they didn’t realize it.

And Jesus will not leave us either.

Jesus is always present when people gather in his name.

Jesus has been preached by so many people in this place. His praises have been sung thousands upon thousands of times.

Jesus has been at this table since this congregation’s founding.

Jesus is present in every person who walks in those doors and every person who is fed by our pantry.

All of that will continue, God willing, for many, many years to come. And if and when the time comes when this place is no longer used for these purposes, God’s people will continue to meet wherever they are, praying, preaching, eating, singing, serving until the end of time and then for eternity.

And we get to be part of that. This chapter is ending and a new one will begin. You get to help discern what the Holy Spirit is up to next.

Jesus will be with you through it all. He is already here, and he journeys with us into whatever comes next.

If you are afraid, take heart.

If you are sad, lean on each other and on Jesus, who never abandons his people.

Beloved, we are all God’s Church, Christ’s Body, called to share God’s love with the world in old and new ways. Eat your fill of Jesus’ presence, and let your hearts burn within you.

First Lutheran Church

November 5, 2023 + All Saints Sunday

Matthew 5:1-12 + 1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

“Remembering The Saints”

Pastor Greg Ronning

It’s November!  Yay!  November has always been one of my favorite months.  Why?  Well, my birthday is November 18th!  Football season is in full swing.  The Holidays, the Holiday Spirit, will soon be ramping up.  And I like the weather that November brings.  Hopefully we will finally get a bit of a chill, soon it will start to look and feel like Fall, soon I will get to pull out my sweatshirts, and for me there’s just a “freshness” about November.

Some people describe November as “attic, barn and closet time.”  It’s a season for gathering things up and storing things away.It's harvest time, and farmers are reaping what they have sowed.  There’s not very much farming around here, but perhaps you remember other times and other places, where the fall harvest was a big part of your community life.

I suppose the actual farm harvest took place last month, I imagine at this point, most of our country’s barns, corn silos, and grain elevators are filled.  However, there is another kind of harvest that happens this time of year.  As another year comes to an end, we are inclined, and we are invited, to gather up the pieces of our life, gather them into our barns, and take an inventory.  Do we have enough provisions to get us through the winter?  Did we plant enough seeds, did we nurture the tender sprouts, did we grow, and did we bear fruit?  What do we have in this season of gathering.  What does the inventory of our life look like?

In particular today, on All Saints Sunday, we are called to harvest our memories.   We are called to rememberall the saints in our life.  Saints past, and saints present, the people who have made an impact on our life.   Saints who have nurtured us and challenged us.  Saints who have revealed God to us, saints who have helped us uncover our gifts, the saints who have helped us bear the fruit of the kingdom.  We are reminded that the saints of God, are not just the heroic personalities of the past, but also the ordinary among us.  The “sinner-saints” who lived out their faith as best they could, the saints who were our friends, our colleagues, our family.  On “All Saints Sunday,” we take time to remember all these saints, we take time to harvest our memories, we gather them up today knowing they will give us the strength that we need to live abundantly today and tomorrow.

Which leads me to this question, have you ever wondered how you might be remembered?  As my days among you as your pastor are coming to an end, I wonder how you might remember me.

The first church I served as pastor was Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Lafayette California.  I served there for four and half years before I took the call to be the Campus Pastor at Texas Lutheran University.  At the end of my time at Our Savior’s, the church gathered for a special event to remember and celebrate my ministry.  As part of the program, they showed a picture of me doing ministry with the youth.  The picture featured me wearing an old torn sweatshirt, my hair all messed up, playing my guitar, with a bottle of wine on the table next to me.  They had some fun with me and “that picture” before they completed the picture, reminding everyone that I was leading a communion worship service at a beach retreat.  And then they showed a video.  It took place on our church bus as we were crossing the US Mexico Border after a week-long mission trip.  At the border it was common to buy souvenirs through the window as we waited in traffic.  On that particular trip I was trying to buy a statue of the Virgin Mary.  The video captured me negotiating with a seller.  In the video clip, all you can see is me sticking my head out the window, nothing else, and I’m in the middle of intense bargaining, “How much for the virgin?”  And it gets worse, “I’ll give you five dollars for the virgin.”  You can’t always control how you will be remembered!  Memories can be tricky.How will we be remembered?

In the 2007 movie Coco, the story about a young boy who finds his calling in life by traveling to the land of the dead to remember his ancestors, a movie about the wonderful Mexican tradition of “Dia de los Muertos,” “The Day of the Dead,” we are reminded of the power of remembering and being remembered.  Father Virgil Elizondo of San Antonio when asked about “Dia de los Muertos,” replied, “We die three times, once when the body expires, again when we’re buried, and a third time when we are forgotten.  It’s the third death, of memory, that matters most.”So it is that we gather today to remember those who have gone on before us, those who now rest in the never-failing arms of God’s love and forgiveness, those whom we loved, those who loved us.  Those whom we do not want to forget.  And in those memories, we are re-membered with them in the mystery of the faith, in the timeless communion of the saints of every time and place.  And in those memories, memories reborn, memories come to life, we are inspired to live this day and the next to its fullest, to faithfully live out our calling in life.

So, who do we remember today?  How will we be remembered when people look back at these times? 

Whose memory awakens life in you?  Who might remember you and find a spark?  And then there’s the nagging question born of doubt, will I be worth remembering?

I suppose all these questions, all these “All Saints Day” questions, raise the larger question of faith, the question of ultimate concern.  They invite us to take inventory of heart, mind, and soul.  What do I want to do with my life?   How will I use my gifts and talents?  What will I leave behind?   How will people remember me?  What will last?  What will endure?  In what should I invest our life?  How do I want to be remembered?

Today's Gospel, The Beatitudes, tell us of the values of the kingdom of God.  These teachings of Jesus are hard because they collide with the world.  They seem unrealistic, unattainable, and impossible to live out.Yet, as we remember the saints, the ones who really made an impact on our life, the ones who were bright lights in the darkness, the ones who helped light the candle of faith within us, - perhaps we have seen these Beatitudes come to life.  Perhaps these words found in today’s gospel, the Beatitudes, came to life and painted the pictures of the saints that we remember today.

Pictures of humility and integrity.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Pictures of people who sought to do the right thing, the fair thing, the just thing.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Pictures of hearts that felt compassion, hearts that were giant and could hold anything,

hearts that were broken, yet in their wounded-ness knew how to heal.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”

Pictures of people who could see God in the least of these,

people who found the kingdom in serving others.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Pictures of people who knew of a peace "beyond understanding,"

a peace that would comfort and yet challenge.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

People who were filled to overflowing.

“Rejoice and be glad, ...”

These are the people, the saints, that we remember.

“... for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

And that's how I will remember you!  Now I know that you don't live up to the beatitudes everyday, -nobody does.   But deep inside that's who you are.  You are the “blessed,” you are the beloved children of God, you are the ones for whom the saints pray, you are gifted and loved, and the kingdom of God is in you.  That’s what I see, and that’s what I will remember.  You are definitely worth be remembered!

But more importantly that’s how you are remembered by God. In Christ you will never be forgotten but remembered forever, here and now, and forever in the timeless communion of the saints, especially those precious saints we remember today.  May God bless our faithful remembering.  Amen.

Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

We humans like rules.

We may say we don’t, but there’s a lot to like about rules.

It can be satisfying to make rules that others have to follow—ask any kid playing “Simon says.” It makes life easier if others play by our rules.Whether we’re deciding “no shoes in the house” because it makes cleaning the floor easier or “no phones at the dinner table” because it opens us and our families up to more conversation and connection, setting rules can make our lives easier and better.

It can also be fun to find loopholes for rules. How fun was it as a kid to annoy your sibling or a friend by getting all up in their face and saying, “I’m not touching you”? Honoring the letter but not the spirit of a rule can make us feel clever while still getting what we want.

It can even be enjoyable to break rules.For example, as author Douglas Adams wrote, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they fly by.” There’s something intoxicating about “sticking it to the man” and disregarding others’ rules.

And for those rules we do follow, or at least try to follow, they can make our world simpler to understand. They keep our world in tidy boxes. I can only go this far before breaking a rule. If someone breaks a law, then they are a criminal, unlike me. And that red light I ran? It was only orange. I definitely obey the law. And I get to keep my concept of self and my orderly understanding of the world intact.

These are the very human games the Pharisees are playing,“Let’s trap this upstart rabbi into discrediting himself so that our understanding of the world will stay intact. He’s causing too much trouble, so let’s get him to say the wrong thing or break a rule so that we can quiet all this down and get back to business as usual.”

It's so human. We want rules that keep our lives simple. We want to understand the world in broad strokes: things are either this or that, with no gray area in between. Toddlers want rules—they test boundaries to make sure they understand how far they can go. Grown-ups aren’t much different.

And God gave us rules. God gave Moses the Law. God taught God’s people how to live in community.

Jesus sums it all up in our reading today: love God and love your neighbor.

It all comes down to love.

God’s Law is summed up by love. That’s what God wrote on the hearts of our ancestors in faith in our first reading from Jeremiah. Love.

Butfar too often, too many of us humans use the letter of God’s Law as a weapon to harm our neighbor instead of using the spirit of God’s Law to love them. People use the letter of God’s Law to bludgeon our LGBTQ siblings or to justify violence. That’s not love. But it’s way easier to quote the Bible to justify our own actions than it is to live our lives dedicated to the well-being of every single one of our neighbors—our Muslim neighbors, our Jewish neighbors, our atheist neighbors, our trans neighbors, our addicted neighbors, our neighbors who seem unfriendly or even hostile toward us.

But the spirit of God’s Law is love.

We also remember today, though, that it is not God’s Law that saves us, but God’s grace, as Martin Luther reminded the Church of his day over 500 years ago.

We humans want rules—rules to enforce, bend, and even break. But God gives us grace.

That is our starting point. That is what matters more than anything else. We cry for rules, and God says, “I created you. I love you. There is nothing you can do to make me love you any more or any less. I love you for every bit of who you are, because I am who I am.”

God’s Law is love, because God is love. And it is God’s grace that sets us free to strive for love in this world. And God’s grace is what God wraps us in like a blanket when we miss the mark. And God loves us through it all.

Today marks the 35th anniversary of Pastor Greg’s ordination. Pastor Greg has spent 35-plus years preaching God’s grace and love in his words and actions. What a gift!

And we now prepare for him to follow God’s call to do ministry in new ways apart from this immediate community. It’s okay if our feelings are mixed. We can be happy for his exciting new chapter and also sad that we will be losing his gifts and vision and leadership and friendship in this place.

We can celebrate his 35 years of ordained ministry and mourn that they will continue elsewhere.

God is with us in all of it—joy and grief, love and loss.

We can give thanks that we have been collaborators with Pastor Greg in the ministry the Holy Spirit is up to here at First Lutheran and in Fullerton.

And we get to carry on the legacy of God’s love that Pastor Greg has shared with so many in this place.

We will carry that love forward into the world as we discern where God is leading this congregation in this new chapter.

Whatever God is leading us to, it will be full of God’s grace and love. Because that’s who God is and who we are created to be.