e-vo for week of November 7

Dearest e-votees-

I have been struck recently by the great excess of wealth that some in our culture have. Donald Trump offered $5 million to the charity of President Obama’s choice if Mr. Obama would produce copies of his birth certificate, passport and associated records. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, in response offered $1 million to the charity of Donald Trump’s choice if Mr. Trump would shave his head. It seems that some people have way too much in the way of disposable income.

So many of us have so very much more than we need. We may seem strapped with the current economy but the truth is we still manage to get by with a roof over our heads, food on the table and some money on the side for discretionary spending. We have so much more than the vast majority of the residents of this world.

It is stunning, humbling and instructive to draw near to a woman in scripture who has so very little but is willing to give it freely to God. What do you suppose motivates her to be so generous and reckless with that which God has given her?

Peace,
Karl

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38 As [Jesus] taught, he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." 41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

Mark 12:38-44, NRSV

Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Cuban’s offers were for the sake of appearances. They are akin to those who say long prayers that others might notice. They are akin to folks who make generous donations with the hope of having their name and their generosity well regarded. They are, at the very least, misguided.

What motivates us to give to God? That is really the crux of the matter. Are we giving to curry favor with God? – won’t happen. There is nothing we can do, financially or otherwise, that can make God love us more. Are we giving to curry favor with those who count and watch and compare? – might happen but it is neither good nor healthy. Our gifts – be they prayer or currency or anything else – are really meant to be between us and God. If we give for the sake of the reward of being well-regarded or outgiving others or somehow meriting God’s best attentions we will be sorely disappointed.

It may be the case that we are called on to pray before others. It may be the case that others ask us about our stewardship practices. It may be that others inquire about the things that are between us and God. It can be good and fruitful to engage others and share we just need to be diligent in keeping our motivations in check. Sometimes we learn best how to pray by being around others familiar with the ways of prayer. Sometimes we learn best about how to give by being around those who live in ways that demonstrate sacrificial giving. Imagine if Jesus and the disciples hadn’t been watching the woman giving everything she had into the treasury. God may want to use us as examples in the lives of others.

Things aren’t always as they appear. Those who seem to be contributing and participating in the most cursory fashions may be the most faithful givers of all. Our job isn’t to worry about if others are watching us or not. Our task is to contribute and participate as fully as possible in the work that God has put before us and our community. As we focus in that direction we need not fret about the greater condemnation.


God, help us not be motivated by appearances but rather by your deep, abiding, saving love for us. Stir us to bless others for your name’s sake with our gifts and offerings. Help us never turn our focus from you and the work that you have put before us. Amen.

e-vo for week of All Saints Day

Dearest e-votees-

Blessings to you on this All Saints Day.

[was sent out/posted 11-1-2012]
You have been set aside by God for God’s purposes. You are a saint.

You are not working on your own. God has set aside a great cloud of witnesses for God’s purposes. You are seeded into that great cloud of witnesses.

There are promises attached to you that are coming true and that will come true. God has set you and all of the saints that have preceded us and will come after us aside to bear fruit and to be resurrected.

In this interim time be free and be about God’s purposes.

Peace,
Karl

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32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:32-44, NRSV

God enters into our pain-stained world. God comes close. Jesus came to Martha (before this lesson) and Jesus comes to Mary above. Both offer the same response-“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (Martha in verse 21; Mary in verse 32). It is a statement of faith laced in an accusation. Where were you Jesus? Don’t you care? How could you let this happen?

Jesus draws near the tomb. Martha warns Jesus about the stench of death. Jesus does what he does—he gives life. Lazarus is restored to life. He is made free. He is sent out to be about God’s purposes.

The truth of the matter is that we are like Lazarus. We have been made free and unbound. We are let go and let loose to do God’s work. As the gospel continues to plots against Jesus expand to include Lazarus too (see 12:10). Jesus’ work of giving life threatens many. In the end they dispatch Jesus to put down this perceived nonsense. But the wisdom of the cross trumps the vain plots of humanity. Jesus comes back to life. Not like Lazarus who died again. Jesus comes back to life and will not die again.

We are all like Lazarus. We have been set free and let loose but mortality is still part of our journey. We will die. Perhaps in response to what Jesus has done for us and through us. Perhaps in a heroic moment. Perhaps hurting and alone. Perhaps in a lingering and painful way. We don’t know how many days we have and what those last moments will be like.

We do know that God, Jesus, has set us aside. That God, Jesus, has made promises about eternal life that began with him and end with all whom God chooses. We have been elected. We have been made saints. We have been made part of that great cloud of witnesses. Romans 14:8 reminds us that whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord’s.


God, send us into our pain-stained world. Help us draw close to others. Help us speak life in the face of death and healing in the face of contagions that plague us. Help us never forget your calling and your example. And, at the last, deliver us into your presence as your promises assure. Amen.

e-vo for week of October 24

Dearest e-votees-

Please pardon the break in devotional continuity. Last week was a little crazy what with ending a call, getting ready to start a new call and moving all of the truckworthy items into storage or my soon-to-be new home. I am now getting settled into my new office and will be preaching regularly from the lectionary—woo hoo!!!

Peace,
Karl

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31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:31-36, NRSV

One of the powers of music is in its ability to come flooding back into one’s mind with tune, lyrics and associated memories with the smallest of provocations. Whenever I hear the words of Jesus in this Sunday’s appointed gospel text I am drawn to the song by Stephen Curtis Chapman: Free. And obviously whenever I hear the song I am drawn back to this gospel text.

http://stevencurtischapman.com/node/301
(lyrics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFufs17Us28
(live concert song clip, Detroit, 9-19-10)

Jesus came into the world to rescue us. Jesus came to speak a word into our lives. Jesus came to be the Word in our world and in our lives. He invites us to follow after him as disciples. As we grow into the words and ways of Jesus we are made free.

Our human reaction is so often one of disdain: I’m not a prisoner! I’m not a slave! I don’t need your stinking freedom.

Jesus speaks truth saying that everyone who commits a sin (that would be everyone) is a slave to sin (or “in bondage to sin” as we used to so regularly confess). And we cannot free ourselves. So Jesus comes into our world and into our lives bearing freedom. Jesus makes us free indeed.

It may be the case that we still must dwell in prisons of our own making or our own deserving. The prisoner in the song doesn’t walk out with Stephen Curtis Chapman. Some of our tragic choices and irrevocable failures will have some sway on us until we die. Jesus’ gift of freedom is not some sort of magical “Get out of jail free” card that wipes away all pain, suffering and consequence. But our hearts and lives are shaped so that we can sing of freedom while we wait for Jesus’ promises to bring their full and glorious consequence.

At the tail end of the video Stephen Curtis Chapman asks if there is anyone who can say that Jesus has set them free. Can you say that? I can. I hope and pray you can too—all to God’s glory.


God, as we gather for worship this Sunday for Reformation Sunday help us rest in the glorious freedom that you have won for us. Re-form our hearts, minds and souls that we might truly live into the freedom only you can give us. And give us songs to sing that all who might need to hear (that would be everyone) would. Amen.

e-vo for week of October 10

Dear e-votees-

I’ve always been struck by churches with names like “First Lutheran Church” or “Third Baptist Church” .  Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things when in the pecking order the church got established?  It seems to me like the better measures of a church would be:  Are the people growing in their faith?  Is the gospel preached well and in a compelling fashion to those who hear?  Are lives within and without the congregation being positively affected?  Are disciples being challenged and shaped?  Are the lonely and grieving and cutoff being brought into community?

For years I have been tempted to start a mission plant congregation somewhere and call it Last Lutheran church.  It would provoke conversation.  It would be easy to find as there are probably much fewer “Last Lutheran”s as compared to “First Lutheran”s.  More importantly it would in a playful way keep our eyes fixed on the assigned gospel text for this weekend:  Mark 10:17-31.


A word to RLC members who have been receiving e-vos:  As I complete this call at Resurrection on October 14 I will be culling RLC members from the distribution list.  This is the last Wednesday that I will be sending an e-vo to you.   It is important to make the cleanest and healthiest break possible when a pastor leaves so that all can move on to the next season to which God is leading them.  It has been a joy to serve as one of your pastors.  Godspeed as you press into the next steps of your long, storied and faithful journey.

Peace,

Karl

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17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Mark 10:17-31, NRSV

We fall prey to the desire to justify ourselves and our ways.  The man in our gospel runs up and asks what is required of him to enter eternal life.  Jesus reminds him of the need to live by the commandments.  It is interesting to note that Jesus only makes mention of commandments from the second table of the law—the commandments that pertain to relationships between people.  The man asserts that he has kept all of these commandments since his youth.  Jesus looks at him, loves him and challenges him—one more thing is required:  sell your possessions and give the money to the poor.  This was enough to turn back the zeal of the wealthy man.

Jesus then says to those who might hear how hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.  This ought to catch our ears.  From what I know of who reads these e-vos we are a pretty wealthy lot.  We have possessions and comforts that were unimaginable to many just  a few decades ago.   Many of us carry around devices of remarkable ability and convenience with us throughout the day.  While much of the world subsists on $1-$2 / day some of us spend large multiples of that on our existence, our comfort and our entertainment.  Jesus could easily look at us, love us and give us the same challenge—to sell all we have and give it away to free us up to follow after Jesus.

Or perhaps Jesus would call something else out of our lives.  I don’t believe the point was that Jesus doesn’t want anyone to have anything ever.  The point was that for this person there was a stumbling block found in his wealth and possessions.  What is our wealth?  What is our possessions?  What is our stumbling block?  What is the one thing in our lives that Jesus might ask for that would cause us to shrink back saying “No, Jesus, anything but that.  I couldn’t possibly give that up—not even for you.”  The thing is that Jesus wants our whole hearts.  Anything that gets between us and Jesus is fair game to be called out.

Rather than falling prey we should fall and pray—“Jesus, what do you want from me?  Please help me give that to you.”

The truth is that even when you do give up all to follow after Jesus there are still challenges and struggles and persecutions.  Jesus calls us to take up a cross.  That can be a lonely, hard and painful place sometimes.

What we know is that what the world puts as first and foremost importance—wealth, popularity, influence, appearance, fame, respect, power, safety, comfort, etc., etc.—can be diametrically opposed to the things of the kingdom of God.  In truth we can often find Jesus more clearly in the things the world puts as last and leastmost importance—poor, disenfranchised, cutoff, imprisoned, hungry, maimed, weak, hurting, etc., etc.

We don’t earn salvation.  We don’t earn eternal life.  As Jesus said, “For mortals it is impossible,…”  We cannot do what is required.  But Jesus did what we could not—“for God all things are possible.”  Jesus took up the cross, Jesus looked down at all of creation (including us) and loved all of creation (including us) and said with his very life “I love you.”  This is the deep and abiding truth of John 3:16.  We have been granted eternal life.  It is our joy and privilege to take up our cross and follow after Jesus not even caring where we are in the world—first, last or anywhere in between.



God, we have been blessed with so much.  Help us loosen our grip so that you can use those things, which are yours anyway, in whatever way you should choose.  God we cower behind things afraid of the truth that you want our whole selves—take whatever you want, it is yours anyway.  We shy away from the call to take up our cross.  Give us strength and courage to love like you did no matter the cost.  Amen.

e-vo for week of October 3

Dear e-votees-

Life is meant to be lived in community. God desires us to live into rich and healthy and fulfilling relationships. The assigned texts for this Sunday of the revised common lectionary have themes of relationship between people and relationship between people and God. In all these things we do no better than to look to Jesus for examples of how to do this well.

A word to RLC members who have been receiving e-vos: As I complete this call at Resurrection on October 14 I will be culling RLC members from the distribution list. October 10 will be the last Wednesday that I will be sending an e-vo to you. It is important to make the cleanest and healthiest break possible when a pastor leaves so that all can move on to the next season to which God is leading them. It has been a joy to serve as one of your pastors. Godspeed as you press into the next steps of your long, storied and faithful journey.

Peace,
Karl

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18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken." 24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Genesis 2:18-24, NRSV

It is not good for us to be alone.

Yet, we live in a culture that glorifies the strong, silent, self-sufficient types: think Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino or many of his roles in westerns, think most of the incarnations of James Bond, think Mad Max or Dirty Harry or most of John Wayne’s characters. The model is held up that we should be able to do it all by ourselves, without help, without partners, without support, without desiring things to be different. So many of us shun help. We distrust motives of those getting too close. We work like it all depends on us and drive up stress and heart attacks and depression and loneliness. We have bought into the lie.

And the Lord God looks at us and again says “It is not good for humanity to be alone”. Jesus came to make community with the lonely, the broken, the outcast, the self-righteous, the wealthy, the maimed, the seemingly in perfect health and everyone else—the world in all its forms and characters. He came to bring help and to be a partner. He came to give company and solace and support and encouragement. He came to show us the need for the cross and then to take his place on the cross in our stead. Jesus became bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh. So we are called to leave the broken ways in which the world tries to raise us and to become one with Jesus. That was his lingering prayer for us all in John 17.

There are all sorts of images of brides, bridegrooms, weddings and feasts in the Bible that show us some of the aspects of God’s coming and already kingdom. Mostly, I think, we can take comfort that God seeks the church like husbands and wives seek each other—in supportive love, in healing steadfastness and in ever-increasing joy. To be sure human marriages often miss the mark of the hopeful vows but when we get close there is a holy glimpse of what God is creating in us and for us unto eternity. Thanks be to God.


God, forgive our lonely and solitary ways. We choose safe over good (in the words of Mr. Beaver); we choose stubborn over humble; we choose stoic over sometimes ham-handed loving overtures. Break our stony hearts that we might love one another. Break our stony hearts that we might love you. Bring Jesus’ lingering prayer to bear in our broken ways. Amen.

e-vo for week of September 26

Dear e-votees-

This week’s appointed epistle text has much to say about prayer and healing. It seems fitting that we linger with that text. And particularly ponder when prayers seems unanswered and suffering seems beyond what a loving and reasonable God should allow.

A word to RLC members who have been receiving e-vos: As I complete this call at Resurrection on October 14 I will be culling RLC members from the distribution list. October 10 will be the last Wednesday that I will be sending an e-vo to you. It is important to make the cleanest and healthiest break possible when a pastor leaves so that all can move on to the next season to which God is leading them. It has been a joy to serve as one of your pastors. Godspeed as you press into the next steps of your long, storied and faithful journey.

Peace,
Karl

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13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:13-20, NRSV

Prayer is real and powerful and efficacious. It is a practice of people who long to follow after God and know God’s heart. It is something Jesus did and taught us to do. It is something that is front and center in a text like this one from James.

Some things to glean from this passage:
• When we suffer prayer is where we should go
• When we are hurting we should call faithful people to gather around for prayer
• Prayer and confession bring about healing
• There is a connection between belief and prayer
• When people who are wandering are welcomed and restored it brings healing and restoration to all

Sometimes when we are hurting and sick and cut off we flee from God. Sometimes we wonder (as did Job’s friends) what was done to cause the affliction. Sometimes we are so ashamed of where we are or of what we have done that we don’t call people at all let alone faithful people to come and pray. Sometimes we pray without confessing. Sometimes we confess without praying. Either way the entire experience is diminished and less likely to bring about wholeness and healing. Sometimes we pay too much attention to our level of belief or lack of belief and not enough attention on the one to whom we are praying. Sometimes we savor judging and excluding those who most need to be welcomed and restored. Sometimes we know that pain of isolation and disdain firsthand.

Prayer is not a cosmic gumball machine where we work the knobs and levers and get what we want, when we want. Lingering in unanswered prayer is also a practice of people who long to follow after God and know God’s heart. It is something Jesus did and shows us how to do. It is something that is alive and kicking in the background of a text like this one from James.

Some questions to ask of a passage such as this:
• Where can we find help as we linger in exquisite pain or in suffering that doesn’t just waft away through prayer? (see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, see Job in his anguish, see King David as his newborn son by Bathsheba lingers and dies, see “Choosing to See”—a book by Mary Beth Chapman about her struggle to walk through the tragic accident that changed her family’s trajectory forever, see many who have lost faith trying to come to terms with suffering in the world, see the mirror on one of your not-so-good days)
• Where can we find safe communities to be real and to be sustained in prayer? How can we craft those safe places for others?
• How can we linger in prayer and petition? How can we linger in confession and absolution? How can we weave these practices together more intimately?
• What is the connection between doubt and prayer?
• How can we, as people of faith, dismantle walls and barriers and practices that repel those most in need of inclusion?

God, bring us back from our wandering—save us from death. Craft loving, prayerful, welcoming, wrestling, faithful, inclusive, open-to-doubting, repentant communities in and around us all. Stir up your truth among us and give us the courage to press into it boldly. Amen.

e-vo for week of September 19

Dearest e-votees-

This coming Friday (September 21) is the day set aside in the church year to commemorate St. Matthew—the gospel writer and disciple. For this week’s devotional moment we’ll lean on the epistle lesson assigned for this day of the church year.

Peace,
Karl

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4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Ephesians 2:4-10, NRSV

“But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us.”

We have been saved. God loved us through death. God loved us even when we were dead. God loved us even though it brought about Jesus’ death. We have been saved. We have been saved by the abundance of God’s mercy. We have been saved by grace—pure gift from God. We can’t do anything to earn God’s love. We can’t do enough wrong to forever spurn God’s love. God loves us. In response, and only in response, can we live into the good works God has prepared for us.

The word for love is agape (uh-gah-pay). It is a love that reflects the qualities of the lover and not so much those of the beloved. God loves because it is in God’s nature to love. We are bestowed with an undeserved love—one which cannot be deterred. God loves us through death. Our mortal and terminal ways cannot kill God’s love. We have been saved. Done, finished, fait accompli—thanks be to God.

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which God loves us…

We are loved. God loves us to life. Even though we were once dead, unclean, unsavory, etc., etc., God loves us. We are being loved into our salvations. We are growing daily into a fuller measure of experiencing God’s mercies. We are loved each and every day—pure gift from God. We can’t do anything with God’s persistent love except receive it—and share it. And that, God’s beloved, are the good works that God has prepared for us.


God, you love us through death. You love us to life. Help us love a world that needs a resurrection sort of love. Amen.