The Kingdom of Hope

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B Christ the King 2015

November 22, 2015

Isaiah 11:1-3

Matthew 25:34-40

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. [Glory to you O Lord]

34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

The Gospel of the Lord [Praise to you O Christ].

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Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”

With these words, Isaiah is prophesying to the broken kingdom of Israel that is seeking hope. We, following in the footsteps of the sacred story, continue to be a broken people seeking hope. 

Isaiah speaks to a people who have been cut down to a stump – who’s earthly kingdom that had started so hopefully with David, has been chopped down at the root.  At this point in the sacred story, David’s people have been spread across the world because their home is no longer safe for them.  We know their sense of lostness and loneliness and homelessness; the same as we feel when our sense of safety is suddenly questioned, like those in France are feeling now. 

Having heard the stories, we can remember what it was like to be homeless, like Abraham and Sarah awaiting the promise, like Jacob seeking forgiveness from his brother, like Ruth and Naomi seeking shelter, like the people without homes today, whether they are refugees from Syria or the people of Cathedral in the Night in Northhampton where the youth and families went to worship and eat last Sunday evening.

We, as broken people in a broken world, are gifted with the promise of a branch growing out of the root.  We bear the promise of the king who reigns today, and who is coming in Advent, the new shoot named Jesus.  This new king for God’s new kingdom.  After the kingdoms of Israel have divided and fallen, we are given a new kingdom of hope.  Hope that God’s promises will be fulfilled, hope that in this kingdom citizens might take each other in, even us, who are lost, lonely and homeless.  HOPE in a kingdom that is DIFFERENT from the brokenness around us… this is a kingdom of WHOLENESS!  A kingdom where love sits on the throne.

Today, as we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, we consider what it means to be a part of God’s kingdom.  Isaiah helps us to remember that God’s design for a kingdom was never the earthly tyrant on the throne, even though that’s what humans usually deliver.  God’s design is a persistent hope.  A persistent love in the face of fear.  A persistent bravery. 

And that gift, the gift of that love-filled, hopeful, brave kingdom, is for us.  We, Bethlehem, who already live in that gift of hope through the waters of baptism and the sustenance of the holy meal. Each time we open our empty hands to receive communion, we have already accepted the invitation to live in God’s kingdom! 

And this gift of hope in love is for us and, through us, for the world.  We, citizens of this kingdom, Bethlehem, exist for the world.  God’s persistent movement to give each and every person hope by showing them love through the hands and feet of their neighbors.

So, I have asked our leaders to help me talk about this kingdom we are a part of today. And what the kingdom looks like, specifically in this place and when we are gathered and sent.  The council has been doing some thinking about this congregation, how and why it is that we gather together, and what is our value in this place. 

We know that we, Bethlehem, have been brought into existence because God wanted it to be so.  We heard that over and over again in the memories at our 30^th anniversary a couple of weeks ago.  We know that it is only by God’s power that we are here. 

So then, Why has God placed us here?  What does God have for us to do in this kingdom of persistent hope?  What witness or ministry does God intend to have happen in this very place?

Why does Bethlehem’s existence…why does Bethlehem’s ministry matter?

Bethlehem's ministry matters for one simple reason; to share the word of God's Grace.  In our congregation, we all hear God's word every Sunday and in the community we help others hear and see the word. We do this by inviting people into our church family and actively working in the community through different mission projects, Bethlehem's closet being the best example. – Thad Darger, President

Bethlehem's existence invites, embraces and perpetuates the word and love of God through Jesus Christ. We continually learn and we do our best to carry out his goodwill in our daily lives. – Pete Maertens, Secretary

Referring directly to our gospel for today Matt Maselli, Property Chairperson said, “We exist to care for the least of us, and need to look into our hearts to know if we are truly doing what we can.” – Matt Maselli, Property Chairperson

Bethlehem's existence matters because it is a place that continually teaches me how to live with compassion. Its presence is a gentle reminder to look beyond myself so that I do not look beyond my neighbor. When I see someone struggling to open a door, or a cashier asks if I'd like to donate to a community service initiative, or it looks like someone could use a kind word or two, it is Bethlehem at work when I extend my hand or voice. – Johanna Webb, Vice President

Bethlehem provides a gathering place where ALL are included.  'Seasoned' citizens share the pews with infants; teens and toddlers commune together; young families share fellowship with grandparents.  First time visitors are welcomed as though they were charter members.  This inclusiveness, this sense of welcome [and] belonging is indeed a rare thing.  It doesn't happen everywhere; Bethlehem is a SPECIAL place! – Tom Houston, Worship Chairperson & Youth Minister

Bethlehem is a place, and a congregation, unique in some aspects.  The community brought together here shares a spirit and heritage of faith that could not be exactly duplicated anywhere else as it began not that long ago as a mission church.  It is evidence of God working here to bring together this varied group of Christians, united in their faith and desire to be "the hands of Christ" in this community.  This country, and the world for that matter, need more, not fewer, voices of faith speaking loudly about how to live together as children of God. – Ann Carlson, Stewardship Chairperson

Bethlehem matters because God says it matters.  Where two or more of you are gathered... It matters because we are human and broken and we need a community that celebrates with us, centers us and heals us and grieves with us. It matters because we have already mattered and those folks we matter to are still here. And we matter for all those who have yet to know us and how we can shine God's light in their direction. – Karen Bodamer, Mission Chairperson

I would say [Bethlehem] matters for the same reason anything matters; because it makes a difference in someone's life. It is a presence for our members and matters to us. It provides food and clothing through just a couple of our ministries and that matters to the community, especially the recipients. It matters because without it there would be a void in the lives of all these people that it currently serves. – Christine Jensen, Faith Formation Chairperson

There are places in our world where people are being taught to harm others.  Look at Paris last weekend.  God needs our help in this world to teach love and to pray for our enemies so that they might know God's love.  These so-called enemies do not know our God of love and forgiveness. Bethlehem is a place to share God's love, His truth, His light so we can go out in the world and be His Light to all who we meet.  In our global world where people do not know our God, it is our job to share Him.—Melany Gronski, Past President

Why do we exist?  We exist for all these things – summed up in a phrase, God’s kingdom.  Beyond our congregation and here for each other.  And notice, I said Congregation.  We congregate here because it is in our gathering that the kingdom exists!  It is in our congregating that each of us participate, we see God’s love working in our neighbors and we love our neighbors; we see God’s love working to save us because of what these very people around us are being!  Your presence here, your investment of time, your investment of your whole self, matters – because you are Bethlehem Lutheran church.  You, People of God, are the church.  We are all ministers of Jesus Christ in this place.  Working together as people of hope. 

We will be talking about money at the end of worship today, so I would be remiss not to make this connection clear.  Our money is a significant tool to use for the kingdom.   Money is your “minted self” – it is your concerns and values – the way you make more of those good things happen[i].  Just think what God can do with it!  So now that you are in God’s kingdom, God has every intention of using your whole self, including your money to create persistent hope in the world. 

This is our ministry!  As people named House of Bread, that we might feed, shelter and clothe those in need of hope as our gospel says today.  We show up here, and in our every day lives to live differently than the world around us.  We show up to live not in the American kingdom or the Western kingdom or even the global kingdom – all these are cut to the root, despairing and grasping in their fear, grabbing for control, searching desperately for some measure of comfort. 

We show up to live as brave citizens of God’s kingdom of hope.  God’s shoot of hope, growing out of a stump of despair.  Hope because the Word of God has illumined our way.  Hope that sees all people and perspectives.  Hope that serves our communities with delight and Hope that opens the eyes of faith at every age.   Hope shining through the trees.

Bethlehem, this is God’s loving, hopeful kingdom. Shine God’s love.  Risk for hope.  Be brave.  Because you know it and I know it, the only way we live in God’s kingdom of wholeness is to live knowing/ that on Easter morning… love wins.  

Amen.

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[i] Ray Kask (Assoc. to the Bishop)

God's Broken Heart

B Pentecost25 2015

November 15, 2015

Hosea 11:1-9

(Mark 10:13-14)

Reader: Narrator 1, Narrator 2

Narrator 1: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols.

Narrator 2: Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.

Narrator 1: They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. The sword rages in their cities, it consumes their oracle-priests, and devours because of their schemes. My people are bent on turning away from me. To the Baals they call, but he does not raise them up at all.

Narrator 2: How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

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The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. [Glory to you O Lord]

¹³People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”

The Gospel of the Lord [Praise to you O Christ].

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[Carter, 1 year old, stayed up front with his mom and dad, as our visual.]  

When Israel was a child,

I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

²The more I called them, the more they went from me;

they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols.

³Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms;

 but they did not know that I healed them.

 ⁴I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.

I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.

How old were you when you realized what your parents had done for you?  When did you realize that these people actually taught you to walk, to eat and made sure you survived childhood?

If you became a parent yourself, then, maybe you understood something about their tired eyes in the morning, or their flaring anger when one of you hurt your brother or sister.

All parents are doing the best with what they have, and though we wish it were not true, sometimes what we have as parents is not enough to change the course our child has chosen. 

Even with the most loving of parents…Sometimes children grow into the hard way of doing things… some of our children rebel … some of our children are crippled by a mental illness for a while…   or struggle with addiction.  I have known many parents, who, with deep, deep love for their children had to make the decision not to rescue them anymore.  To leave that child in the jail cell, or to not let them back in the house, to let alone their child’s choice of relationships, no matter how destructive… Parents that have had their hearts broken so completely, they reach a point of letting go.

Have you had your heart broken like that, to the point you had to let go?

Hosea’s oracle here is the story of a loving parent, doing all they can to set their beloved child up for success – for the real success of true joy and a life of wholeness.  And at every turn, that child seems bound and determined to choose hurt, humiliation and blame. 

God’s children have separated themselves, they hold grudges against one another, they turn away from the family values that have held them together. They offer up sacrifices to false gods… which wouldn’t seem so harmful, seeing as they are, indeed, FALSE gods.   But those gods demand our blood to pour, like the false prophets of Baal last week… self-inflicting injuries… gods demanding captivity instead of freedom, even human sacrifice.  They really are not so far off from the gods we turn to today… the idols of image that starve us, the worshipping of personal security that leave us stingy, the god of opiods that drain our life and community, the god of guilt that chains us to unhealthy relationships. 

And so the loving mother – God says to those she once nursed, “How can this be?” The loving father – God says to those he helped to take their first steps, “This is not who you are!” 

The emotion may be angry, but the root is love.

Think about the last time you were bothered enough to be angry.  Was it because you cared enough… because you loved enough to want something to be different?

This kind of love exists from parent to child and child to parent; from God to Israel… and from God to us…God looks at God’s children, remembers the time we learned to walk, remembers the child who nursed at God’s bosom, remembers the time God lifted us up to rub noses…

That’s where we enter the story today. The God who loves us so deeply that God’s heart is breaking over the violence we do to each other, the sacrifice we have made of our neighbors, the pain we have continued to bring into the world, and the pain of others that we ignore.  We are all in this human family together.  Today God is angry along with us over Paris and Beirut and Ramallah and Bahgdad.  God has fierce anger over these injustices. But God promises in Hosea, just like in Genesis where the Rainbow came after the flood, that God’s way is not one of destruction. God’s way is one of life.  We may use the name Allah or YHWY, either way, God’s call to faithfulness is about devotion to a way of life of service in love, and that is the opposite of terror.  

The book of Hosea is really a very sad story.  Hosea is God’s faithful prophet in the midst of a very unfaithful people – the northern kingdom, he calls them “Ephraim” for short – Ephraim, the biggest tribe in the north.  Hosea tells us today that even though God has every covenantal right to kick us out of the family, even though we humans have broken every promise and continue to choose death and destruction over the far more powerful love and life, even though God’s heart is breaking over us… God doesn’t let go. 

Even though there comes a time when we must let go of destructive relationships…

God does not.  God holds onto us, whether we are the bullied or the bully, the abused, or even the abuser, the brokenhearted, the addicted, the sober, the clean.  God holds onto those who have broken our hearts, and holds onto us, NO MATTER WHAT. 

Calling us sons and daughters at the font, Teaching us the way to walk with Jesus, Lifting us up to God’s own face, Feeding us with God’s very self, and Binding up the broken pieces of our hearts with love… God will not let us go. 

Amen. 

Brave Saints

B All Saints 2015

November 1, 2015

1 Kings 12:1-17

Readers: Narrator, One, Two, Congregation

Narrator: In the days of King Rehoboam:

Congregation: All kings eventually go to sleep with their ancestors.

Narrator: As it had been with Saul, the first king over Israel, so it was with David, the shepherd-king.

One: David’s son Solomon came to reign. For the building of the temple, he levied taxes and forced their labor. For building his own house, he levied taxes and forced their labor.

Two: Four hundred and eighty years after the Israelites had been led out of slavery in Egypt, their laborers and craftsmen were conscripted for monumental construction projects.

Narrator: As the years passed, Solomon fell away from the ways of the Lord, and there was trouble in the land; rebellion and division.

Congregation: But all kings eventually go to sleep with their ancestors.

Narrator: As it had been with Saul, it was with David. As it had been with David, so it was with Solomon.

One: Word went out that Solomon was dead, and those who had rebelled against his rule made their way home. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, went to Shechem, where the nation had come to make him king.

Two: Led by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had ten of the twelve tribes of Israel in the palm of his hand, all the assembly came and said to Rehoboam, the not-yet-king,

Congregation: During your father’s time, he weighed us down with heavy workloads and we suffered because of him. We have come here to ask you to lighten the load your father laid upon us. If you do so, we will be your willing servants.

One: He said to them, “I need time to think this over. Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.

Two: Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

One: They answered him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”

Narrator: And the pleas of the people rang heavy in his ears.

Congregation: We have come here to ask you to lighten the load your father laid upon us. If you do so, we will be your willing servants.

Two: Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the younger men who had grown up with him, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

One: They answered him, “If you will exercise your authority and punish them with whips and even scorpions, then they must be your servants forever.”

Narrator: And so Rehoboam met with the assembly on the third day.

Two: And King Rehoboam punished the people, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”

Narrator: So the king did not listen to the people.

Congregation: But all kings eventually go to sleep with their ancestors.

One: Those assembled feared for their lives.

Two: They fled with their tents, while Rehoboam ruled with a heavy hand all who remained in the towns.

Narrator: And so the kingdom was divided.

Congregation: But all kings eventually go to sleep with their ancestors.

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Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let me tell you a story of God and God’s people… starting from when they entered the promised land.  You will remember they had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years after God had freed them from Egypt. After Moses died they entered the promised land, and for the generations who lived then, every move they made was with God’s promises at the center of their lives.  And God himself moved with them.  They made a tabernacle, a tent, where God’s word was kept in the ark of the covenant, that treasure box we talked about in the children’s sermon last week.  And in this tent, God promised to sit, like a king on a throne, and priests and judges would take the place of Moses, communicating on God’s behalf directly to the people.

But the people didn’t like this much.  Who knows if it was simply wanting to be like their neighbors or more nefarious desires to be free of God’s way of life… but the people demanded a king.  God as their king was not enough for them.  They wanted a human, earthly, kingdom.  And so God, being the generous, loving God who does not force people to love him back… gave them a king. 

They thought only a human king they could see could be their protector from outside enemies.  They forgot that God had done that for generations.  They thought they needed a king to be brave.  They forgot that God had given them fantastically brave military leaders in the judges and before that, the bravery to escape Egypt!  So even though they had lived for generations growing and thriving as a people - loving God and loving neighbor … it wasn’t enough. 

They imagined a human king who would treat them justly, who would be the brave and kind hero you might see in an idealistic Hollywood movie: Superman – just the right humility of Clark Kent, nonchalant bravery, superhuman powers, an inclination to save their Metropolis, and a good dose of handsomeness.  …David was that superhero king!  David was a brave warrior for them, against human enemies and against other gods.  David too had his kryptonite, he was only a man after all.  But the secret of David’s superhuman might, was not a result of his own power… the only superpower at work/ was God’s.

It was God that made David brave.  David put the Word of God at the center of the people’s lives; that treasure box, called the ark, where God’s word was kept.  David retrieved the ark that contained the commandments of God and brought it back from the outskirts of Israel’s land. David brought the Word of God back, literally, to the center of their lives – to Jerusalem, the neutral capital city like Washington DC – where the people re-membered their worship and their lives in God.  Just like Abraham and Sarah, and like the people freed from Egypt, God renewed the covenant with them.  Even when his own people/ betrayed his rule over their lives /by insisting on a king…

But then things went sour.

Solomon, David’s son, was quite a successful king to start off with.  He is the one, you may have heard, who asked God above all for wisdom. And Solomon built the temple.  He was off to a good start in God’s eyes.  Yet, as Solomon’s kingship went on, things did not go as God would have hoped.  Solomon intermarried with many different nations, building alliances that may have kept Israel from war, but which threatened their safety in God. Solomon built not just a temple to the LORD, /but to every /one/ of the gods of his wives.  The One God, the Lord alone, the God who loved them and whom they loved solely, was no longer at the center of the life of Israel.

And… Solomon fell prey to the lavish kingly lifestyle… he became what all earthly powers threaten to become – an exploiter.  To the people who had once been slaves in Eqypt, the people whom God had freed from such a harsh life, to those same people, Solomon (their king!) made them slaves again.  He made them slaves for his own building projects: for the temple itself and for his own home. His grand castle for his many wives and their children.  Solomon, and the people, forgot God and forgot God’s ways of freedom and love.  And so this dream of a kingdom where the brave king would keep them safe was no longer the reality when Solomon died.

And so, as the people get ready to crown a new king, Rahaboam, they ask this life-changing question.  They want to know how is it that this king will treat them?  Will he be a king of David, and a king of God’s Word, or will he be a king like Solomon became, that treats them harshly for his own royal benefit.  And we heard Rahaboam’s answer.  And the people wept over David and it became both bitter and a comforting promise that All kings eventually go to sleep with their ancestors.

Rahaboam ruled as he promised; and God, the loving God who wanted none of this, keeps his promise to David to allow his line to continue in the kingship.  But, just like any nation ruled by fear, Israel splits.  The kingdom divides and Rahaboam rules only a small part, but a part that includes Jerusalem.  Jeraboam, rules the rest of the 12 tribes of Israel. 

God’s beloved nation becomes damaged by its kings.  God’s beloved people are ruled by the tyranny God never wanted for them.  It’s the old, old, story, of God letting us have our way, even when our way is not the best that God has to offer. But God, persistently, sleeplessly, finds a way to save us from ourselves.

Generations later, after the kingdom is conquered and dissolves.  After God’s people have been scattered by tyrants and allowed to return by kinder oppressors… God puts a new king on the throne. A throne with no official political power, but with the power of remembering – remembering us, remembering the promises, remembering love for God and neighbor.

God comes to sit on that cross-shaped throne himself, and to reign from there eternally.  Christ shows up as the brave king.  The king that is brave enough to live for others, the king that is brave enough to die… for the ones he loves.  God reigns to give us a new kingdom where we are all beloved and brave.

This kingdom we are now is a completely unique kingdom!  We who are grafted in to the nation of Israel, we are brought into God’s kingdom, not by a citizenship test, but a declaration of faith, of trust in the one God who has made us brave in the midst of a fearful world.  

Brave to do hard things like living in community with people who are flawed, and like giving myself away.  Brave things like reaching out to those who hurt us and brave things like asking for forgiveness.  That is the kind of bravery this new ruler gives us. 

This kind of bravery is all it takes to be God’s saints.  So we remember our ancestors today, those who were braver than these pitiful, tyrant kings – those brave saints of God – the ones who showed us what the bravery of faith looks like.  Who trusted in God, above any human authority.  Who may or may not have had superhuman powers, but who loved God and us with superhuman might.  The ones who are completely safe now, resting in God’s arms until we are reunited on the last day. 

Today we will remember all those saints with these strips of cloth.  And when we dedicate our woven cross that is in the narthex at the end of worship, we will have woven in all of their names.  We will hold, for a time, their brave witness of love to us.  Their witness of God’s kingdom here on earth and forever in heaven.  During the sacred space time, come up and write the name of a saint in your life, living or dead.  Come up and light a candle for all those you remember today.  Then go to the cross in the narthex and weave it in so that by the end of worship, when we dedicate that cross as a work of God among us, it will also show our remembering the brave saints of God. 

All kings eventually go to sleep with their ancestors.  But God does not.  God gives us the divine and perfect kingdom.  The kingdom where the yoke of love is light for all, where all have enough and all are beloved.  Praise be to God, we get to live in that kingdom now!  Trusting in God, which gives us a bravery beyond ourselves, to live in love for all our neighbors, near and far. Amen.