e-vo for week of Mark 11

Dearest e-votees-

This week's epistle lesson is a Lutheran cornerstone (particularly Ephesians 2:8-9). May God help us order our days and our ways on such a strong foundation.

Peace,
Karl

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1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 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 2:1-10, NRSV
God calls life out of death. That is the good news. It is the good news of the first Easter. It is the good news in our baptisms. It is the good news that continues to this day.

Soren Kierkegaard wrote that the greatest love is to reverence the dead because they can't do anything in return. God demonstrates the greatest love by coming into a sinful and death-filled world bringing forgiveness and life. God showed us great love by calling us back to life from death.

Jesus says that there is no greater love than one that lays down that one's life for the sake of another. Jesus lived and died that great love for us and for many. God, as Jesus, demonstrates the greatest love by willingly going to the cross on our behalf. He was lifted up that all who might gaze on him would be saved (see Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-21). God showed us great love by laying down his live and being lifted up on the cross.

God chose to save us when we were dead. That is grace. That grace becomes active through our faith. We are not able to have faith without God, as the Holy Spirit, working belief in us. We are saved by God's doing which becomes active by belief which is God's doing to live and serve with good works God has prepared for us.

God has brought us from death into a holy life. All we can do is learn to skip the "Look at me! Look at me!" of our old Adam and old Eve--and become more like John the Baptist saying "Look at God! Look at God!"

God, you have blessed us. Let us live in response with a life that brings glory to you. Amen.

e-vo for week of March 4

Dearest e-votees-

This week's assigned OT text is the 10 Commandments. May we be blessed as we ponder those instructions from God.

Peace,
Karl

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1 Then God spoke all these words:

2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.

4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 You shall not murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Exodus 20:1-17, NRSV
I was recently at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Beaverton for a meeting. As I was walking around the narthex I encountered a beautiful art installation. It was a representation of the 10 Commandments by Ernst Schwidder. If you would like to see a picture, send me an e-mail and I'll sent you a .JPG. You can best reach me at pastor@christthegoodshep.org.

The installation was a corner mounted wooden carving. One panel had "Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" around the top of the panel. Inside the panel was "I II III IV". The second panel had "Love your neighbor as yourself" around the top of the panel with "V VI VII VIII IX X" inside the panel. The wood is a deep, rich brown. The carving is done such that all of the wood is taken away so the words and the Roman numerals jut out. This is typical of the carvings of Ernst Schwidder.

Each panel was one of the tablets of the law. The first four Commandments pertain to our relationship with God (or maybe three depending on how you parse them out). That is why the "Love the Lord..." is carved on the top. The next six (or maybe seven commandments depending on how you parse them out) pertain to our relationships with others. That is why the "Love your neighbor..." is carved on the top. Jesus said that if we do these things that we will fulfill the Law and the Prophets.

The truth is we can't live out those Commandments. As we ponder and meditate on them more deeply we become more and more mired. Jesus amplified "You shall not murder" to "You shall not get angry with another". Jesus amplified "You shall not commit adultery" to "You shall not lust after another". We can't meet the incredible standard for holiness that God commands and that Jesus exemplifies. Thanks be to God that Jesus could. Jesus lived the life we cannot. Jesus took the punishment for transgression of the Law upon himself even though he did not deserve that punishment.

What is left for us to do except accept God's salvation by grace through faith (in what Jesus has done) which leaves us no room for boasting. Having been saved God can help us do better at loving God and loving neighbor. When our time to leave this earth comes all we can say is that we deserve no praise for we have only done what we ought to have been doing the whole time.

The best way that we can give thanks and live graciously toward God is to make room for others who have struggled with us. May we always point to the one who has freed us from the impossibility of salvation through law-abiding living--Jesus.

God, thank you for Jesus doing what we cannot. Now that we have been freed help us do what we cannot even imagine all to the glory of God. Amen.

e-vo for week of February 25

Dearest e-votees-

As we draw deeper into Lent our gospel text for this Sunday has Jesus telling his disciples about the trajectory he is on--suffering, rejection, death (in short, the cross). He also reveals that he will not remain dead. Peter pushes back. Jesus pushes back harder. Where are we when it comes to our plans versus God's plans when push comes to shove?

Peace,
Karl

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31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:31-38, NRSV
There are the things of God--the divine. There are the things of people--the human. There are times when those may be in synch. There are times when they seem diametrically opposed. How is that we are to discern which is which?

Peter will have none of this talk from Jesus about suffering, rejection and death. Perhaps Peter didn't sign up to be on the losing side. Perhaps Peter is afraid that what happens to Jesus might befall his followers as well (which, in fact, it did--church tradition holds that 11 of the 12 apostles died premature and violent deaths). Perhaps Peter's understanding of the Messiah was not robust enough to make room for redemption through the cross and the empty tomb. Whatever Peter's qualms with Jesus' revelation were they prompted him to pull Jesus aside and attempt a redirect.

Jesus rebuked Peter's rebuke (threebuked?). Jesus tells Peter that his mind is not on the divine realms but the human realms. Jesus pointedly says that his followers must take up their crosses and follow after him. In losing our lives life is found. In denying ourselves to follow after Christ our truest self comes to the fore--we enter into what we were created to be. I am reminded of the oft-quoted line from the journal of Jim Elliot (a modern day martyr): "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." (check out source of quote). The call on us is to forsake the things that distract us from God. In the losing is the finding. In the forgoing is the blessing. In the death is the life. These are truths that run contrary to our human ways.

How do we let the divine enter into our thoughts and ways? Perhaps through prayer. Perhaps through scripture. Perhaps through community that challenges and abrades us from time to time. Perhaps in lingering in that quote from Jim Elliot. Perhaps in the cross. Which is why we sojourn that way in this season of Lent.

God, make our ways more like your own. Give us courage to embrace what you reveal and to seek you more than any other charm or shadowy counterfeit. Amen.

e-vo for week of February 11

Dearest e-votees-

We are to the other bookend of Epiphany--Transfiguration Sunday. The voice that speaks on the mountaintop to James, John, Peter, Moses, Elijah and Jesus echoes the words spoken at Jesus' baptism. Epiphany begins and ends with the spoken revelation of God's beloved Son Jesus.

Peace,
Karl

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2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Mark 2:2-9, NRSV
This account exemplifies a private revelation about God to the inner, inner circle. The four fishing partners less Andrew are brought up onto the mountain. They see Jesus take on an other worldly glow. They see Jesus talking to the exemplar of the Law (Moses) and the exemplar of the Prophets (Elijah). They find themselves awestruck as well as terrified. They are enveloped in a cloud and hear the voice from Jesus' baptism again. That was apparently the pinnacle moment as everything returns to normal just after that statement.

Jesus orders the three to tell no one about what they had seen until Jesus had risen from the dead. Apparently someone eventually told Mark. Presumably the story started circulating from these three after Jesus had risen from the dead.

This story is one part other-worldly bizarre, one part symbolic fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets and one part matching literary bookend to the baptism (which we conveniently use in the lectionary as our bookends to the season of Epiphany).

What purpose does this serve? Is it to bolster the nascent faith of the fishermen three? Is it to bolster Jesus' resolve as he enters more fully into his ministry? (Luke's account has Jesus discussing with the other luminaries his upcoming departure in Jerusalem aka the cross) Is it for our sake to help us deepen our faith and make connections between Jesus and the Old Testament? It is hard to know for sure.

One thing is sure, however. The voice that iterates and reiterates "This is my beloved son" would speak to us too. We have been adopted through baptism into renewed relationship and rebirth in Jesus. In faith we hear "This is my beloved daughter" or "This is my beloved son" as God continues to speak. Through the Son of Man rising from the dead we are transferred into the family of God. We need not be terrified of God's presence. We are joined into that presence through Jesus. Thanks be to God.

God, continue to reveal yourself in our lives. Bolster our faith, speak of your love to us and use us to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen that others might come to faith too. Amen.

e-vo for week of February 4

Dearest e-votees-

Preach the gospel, use words if necessary.
~ St. Francis of Assisi

They are necessary, tell them about Jesus.
~ James Burtness of Luther Seminary

How do we carry ourselves in the world, in word and in deed, so that others can hear of the good news of Jesus Christ? What things might we do in order to help us be more effective in preaching Christ? What things might we not do in order to help us be more effective? How might we change and adapt to be better bearers of the gospel? What must never change or be forsaken in our attempts to have the gospel heard through our lives?

This week's epistle lesson helps us understand Paul's thinking on these important questions.

Peace,
Karl

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16 If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

1 Corinthians 9:16-23, NRSV
If we truly understand how we have been freed and forgiven on the cross then we would hopefully wish to spread that freedom and forgiveness to others as well. If we have been invited to the great banquet feast then hopefully we would bring a guest or two with us to the banquet which has no end and which we could never begin to deserve. If the gospel is good news for us only we haven't really been fully transformed yet. God's grace is too big to keep to ourselves.

So what are we willing to be or become in order to bear that good news to the world? Paul says that he has become all things to all people so that some might be saved. He ticks off a selection of ways that he has carried himself in the world to bring the good news to a variety of people. What circles do you inhabit? What subsets of humanity do you call your own? How can God use you in those circles to bear the light of Christ? What new circles may God be leading you into? Is there anywhere you would not go for Christ? Where would you not go? Why not? (just something to think and pray about)

What traits and self-understandings are integral to who you are? What aspects do you understand to be yours and given to you by God? While Paul speaks as if he was a social chameleon for the sake of the gospel there was a core to him that was not shaken. What are your core values? What are your core beliefs? When all the dross is burned away what of you is left in the smelting chamber--shiny and pure that bears the likeness of God? What might be your uncompromisable essence?

The thing is that the world has a remarkably good sense for detecting inauthenticity. When we carry ourselves as we truly are not the world knows. When we try to obscure what is truly bedrock in our lives the world knows. I am a little troubled by churches that strip their denominational titles away from their church identity. Perhaps it is wise as it removes stumbling blocks for entry into the community--if so, there had better be some clear presentation of beliefs through worship and teaching. Hidden agendas don't play well in the world. People aren't fond of bait and switch.

Bottom line, we should be unapologetically the sort of people and Christians that God has led us to be. Rather than apologizing (saying we're sorry) we should be making apology (giving defense of) our hope in the gospel. We do it for the sake of the gospel. We do it for the sake of the world for whom God so loved and gave up Jesus to the cross. We do it for the sake of those in the world who need that love as desperately as we do.

God, help us preach the gospel in season and out of season, in word and in deeds, among familiar circles and when surrounded by unusual circumstances and people. Help us learn how to adapt with wisdom, compassion and grace when necessary to forward the gospel. Help us cultivate resolve and courage to stand firm where compromise is not an option. Amen.

e-vo for week of January 28

Dearest e-votees-

This week’s epistle text is one about taking care to exercise the freedoms we have in Christ in such a way that they don’t pose a problem for other believers.

This is a message that starkly contrasts the me-ism of our consumeristic, turned-in-toward-self (aka sinful) culture.

May God help us get to the meat of this matter.

Peace,
Karl

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1 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.

4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11 So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12 But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13, NRSV
So the circumstance in the church at Corinth is that a question has come to the fore. If a believer is knows that a piece of meat has been used in a sacrificial rite involving idols is it permissible to eat it or is it irrevocably tainted?

Paul answers this on two levels.

Level one: KNOWLEDGE: Idols are nothing of consequence. Therefore food offered to nothing of consequence is not altered (but it was perhaps “altared”) substantially. Therefore if one is inclined to eat such food that is permissible. Food neither draws us closer nor pushes us further from God. Jesus said as much as well when he said that it is what comes out of a person that makes that one unclean, not what goes into the mouth (see Matthew 15:11 and/or Mark 7:15). If we are mature and grown up in our faith we KNOW such things and we can eat with liberty.

Level two: COMPASSIONATE LOVE: Not everyone understands fully the freedom we have in Christ. Not everyone KNOWS that idols are powerless and able to be discounted. If one were to exercise liberty recklessly it could be harmful to another with a smaller understanding. It is loving to forgo that which is permissible for the sake of one who might stumble and fall away.

That is to say COMPASSIONATE LOVE should trump KNOWLEDGE.

The question that might be ours is “What are the idol meats of today?” What are things that some can partake of with great liberty and an untroubled conscience that would snare others watching such freedom at play? Are we the ones with KNOWLEDGE who need to grow in COMPASSIONATE LOVE? Are we the ones stumbling around with a weaker KNOWLEDGE? I suspect we are both at times. May God give us grace and wisdom as we seek to grow in KNOWLEDGE and more importantly in COMPASSIONATE LOVE.

God, help us walk with you with integrity when nobody is looking. Help us be mindful of what we might do to others who are looking as we walk with you. Help us grow in every way that you desire. Help us welcome and love all especially those we might suspect are not as far along in their growth. Thank you for loving us first and relentlessly. Grow us to be more like you in that regard toward others. Amen.

e-vo for week of January 21

Dearest e-votees-

Our appointed gospel reading comes from the third chapter of Jonah

It recounts God's message to Nineveh through Jonah, the response from the people and animals of Nineveh and God's response.

Peace,
Karl

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The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

[6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”]

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Jonah 3:1-5 [6-9] 10, NRSV
When I was in seminary we were often reminded that the "ideal" Lutheran sermon had three points and was sure to communicate both Law and Gospel. This message of Jonah's didn't pass that litmus test. It was a 1-point, 100% Law message: In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed. There is no explanation or justification for this imminent demise (perhaps none was necessary for the hearers). There was no whimsical or insightful homiletic illustration (such as Nathan's story of the rich man taking the poor man's sheep when confronting David about adultery with Bathsheba). There was no proclamation of grace or hope or redemption. There was merely the coldly-stated matter of fact statement of a woeful end. I suppose it is most akin to the doctor saying "Your days are short. You best get your affairs in order."

But the people of Nineveh did more than divvy out their estates and write parting missives to their families spread far and wide. They proclaimed a fast. Everyone put on the clothes of mourning (sackcloth). They put on an attitude of at least desperation if not outright contrition. Everyone throughout the power structure.

The lectionary left verses 6-9 on the cutting room floor. I don't begin to understand this. This is not a lengthy reading and the epistle reading for this same Sunday is only 3 verses. I do not believe brevity was the goal. Perhaps it was distasteful to emphasize the king and his nobles declaring the fast. I don't know. I do find it powerful that not only the people but all of the animals (herd and flock) participated in the repentant act in ashes and sackcloth. No food or drink was to be theirs. All, people and animals, were to cry mightily to God.

What is most puzzling about leaving verse 9 outside of the assigned reading is we miss the intent of the fast. Perhaps God might relent if we do such a thing was the thinking. And God did. God changed God's mind. God turned in the other direction. God repented. God defied God's own words through the prophet Jonah. In Deuteronomy 18:20 that exposed Jonah to death since he spoke words on behalf of God that did not come to pass (there's some law for you). You can read on in Jonah if you are so inclined to see how Jonah responded to God's merciful turn of events.

Perhaps this text sets us well for Lent. Soon (February 18) we will corporately and individually repent and receive the mark of the ashes (the fiery remains of palms from triumphal entries past). We will commemorate for 40 days (not counting Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter our brokenness and our need for God's mercy and grace. We know we have it in Jesus already but it helps us enter more fully into the good news of the empty tomb and our restoration when we have intentionally sought after God's mercy. We are the Ninevites and the dour Jonahs. Their stories are ours.

We don't know if our days are short or long. We really don't. So maybe we best get our affairs in order. What that means, primarily, to the Christian is that we draw near to God and lean hard on God's mercy--always making room for others who want to join the fast.

God, have mercy on us. Help us constantly cry out to you knowing that you are so much more willing to forgive than we are to cry out. Amen.