Don't You Care That We Are Perishing?

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

24 June 2018

Mark 4:35-40

On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 

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“Don’t you care that we are perishing?”

A few years ago, I was walking our dog Abby. We went down our driveway and turned onto the street, then turned a corner onto another street. That street curves around to hit the main road, and as we walked toward the main road, I saw two huge dogs running down the road. Abby, who is fourteen pounds of fierce, and who doesn’t have an unspoken thought, began to bark at them, calling their attention to us. 

As soon as they began running toward us, I scooped up Abby and in my biggest voice said, “NO” to those dogs. They didn’t listen. They jumped up on me, again and again, their powerful jaws snapping at us and their powerful legs almost knocking me over. I screamed again and again for help, and it felt like an eternity before someone heard us. “Don’t you care that we are perishing?”

Finally, a teenager across the street came running over, while the family whose driveway I was in came out of their home. The teenager created a diversion and the family let me run into their house, Abby still in my arms. We collapsed in their front hallway - exhausted, shaking, but alive.

“Don’t you care that we are perishing?” It’s a question that pierces us to our very soul, if we actually listen to it. 

The disciples in the boat with Jesus are seasoned fishermen, so that must’ve been quite a storm to frighten them. The boat is swamped, the text says, and they are in danger of sinking. And there is Jesus, curled up like a cat on a cushion, fast asleep and oblivious to the danger that the boat is now in. What a way to be awakened, by a bunch of disciples yelling, “Don’t you care that we are perishing?”

Who in your life is asking this question? Maybe a friend who is sinking under a weight of depression or other illness. Or a family member who is overwhelmed by life. Or maybe, the person asking the question is you: “Don’t you care that we are perishing?”

Who in our world is asking this question? Immigrant children wrestled from their parents’ arms, or parents whose children are taken from them as they are only trying to provide a better life for their families. They are escaping the ravages of violence in their own homelands and trying to find a better place – can you blame them? “Don’t you care that we are perishing?”

This past week, I preached a sermon in class in which I was reflecting on this humanitarian crisis and the various responses to it. One response I’ve seen is that by us caring what happens to these families who are separated from one another, it somehow limits our ability to care about others who are in need. And I said in that sermon that I’ve been left pondering the question: Is there really a limit on our capacity to care about other people? 

And yet - we are called to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves, and so I have to believe and trust that the same God who calls me to these commandments will give me the strength and grace to perform them. God – who has limitless capacity for love - calls us to love God with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our minds, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. These are the two great commandments, Jesus says, so that must mean something.

And whether it is a friend, family member, or stranger, loving every neighbor means that we do care about them, that we do care that they are perishing, and that we use care in how we think about them, how we speak about them, and how we provide help in their times of need. 

If you don’t understand how this will happen, have faith! The God of limitless love will provide the means. Are we able to allow God to open our hearts?

At the end of that day when Abby and I were attacked, I posted about the incident on Facebook, saying that the people who helped likely saved Abby’s life. Someone cared, and someone acted to save us.

In our story from Mark today, Jesus stands up and quiets the storm, and this shows us the very power of God. God doesn’t calm every storm in our lives right away, and in fact, some of them rage on for quite a while. But Jesus standing up in the face of that storm and telling it to settle down shows us that God is able to work in the world. 

Sometimes, the work of God needs our hands and our feet. Sometimes, the work of God needs our hearts to be open so that we can be about the work of caring for those who are in need. The good news of God in Jesus Christ is that God loves us. But God doesn’t only love us for our own sakes, but for the sake of the world. 

Amen.

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Abby: never with an unspoken thought.

God is Calling You

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

A Pentecost – 4 June 2017

Texts: Acts 2; Philippians 4:4-9 (Cecelia’s Confirmation verse)

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Cecelia has chosen a verse from Philippians 4 as her Confirmation verse, read a few minutes ago: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition present your requests to God." Whenever we look at a solitary Bible verse, it is helpful to look at the context of that verse. So, for some context of Philippians 4:6 –

Remember that this book was originally a letter, written by the Apostle Paul to a group of believers in Philippi. By the time Paul writes this letter, the Church in Philippi is undergoing some suffering as a community because of their belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Roman Empire is the pre-dominant ruling power, and absolute allegiance to the Roman emperor is the expectation. But, allegiance to the emperor is more than just saying a pledge – it’s a religion, so Christians in Philippi are being persecuted because they don’t worship the emperor, they worship Christ.

In addition to the suffering that the Philippians are enduring, Paul himself is writing this letter to them while in prison, so he himself is dealing with some pretty difficult circumstances when he writes to them.

So into this situation, and from his own difficult situation, Paul writes these words to the Philippians: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition present your requests to God."

It is one thing if Paul writes these words to them, and everyone is secure and happy in their faith. Having some of the background about the verse, it begins to take on a different significance. Paul writes to the Philippians from a place of endurance, knowing that they are also having to endure some things.

Last week, Cecelia came up here to work on her banner, and she brought her artwork with her. I offered to keep it in my office for safekeeping, and, Cecelia, we had no idea in that moment (when I asked you about keeping it in my office) how much of a witness that artwork would be for me over the next couple of days.

I wasn’t facing difficulties like Paul and the Philippians faced, however, I can tell you there was one point (following a challenging phone call) that I happened to look over and see this verse – and it spoke to me. It spoke directly into the situation I was facing in that moment – directly into my anxiety and stress – and it helped me focus on lifting my anxiety and stress to God in prayer. And several times over the next couple of days, I found myself pondering the words on your artwork. This message was a witness for me.

Even beyond the stresses of our day-to-day lives, we still live in anxious times. Maybe the names of countries and people in charge have changed since the First Century A.D. when Paul lived, but our world is filled with fear and stress, fear and stress that threaten our faith in a loving God.

But today is Pentecost, the day upon which we remember the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised the Spirit to his disciples – and on that first Pentecost, as they gathered, the Spirit descends upon them in a mighty way, granting them strength and power. And this Spirit is poured out on all kinds of people, just as the prophet Joel had said it would be: “…God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”

Which means, Cecelia, that God is calling you – but not only you – but you, and you, and you – God is calling all of us to proclaim God’s love and grace. All of us – young and old, and in the middle – all of us together are joined in this call of proclamation, and we are equipped by God’s Spirit for this work. It is the Spirit who empowers us, and we are not given that power only for our own sakes, but for the sake of this world that God loves. This world needs our witness to God’s love, this world needs our care in God’s name.

Today, you are affirming your baptismal faith. You were baptized – as many of us were – before you could speak for yourself, and so others took the vows for you. Today, you affirm those vows for yourself – promising a life of faith in which you live among God's faithful people, listen to the word of God and share in the Lord's supper, proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

It’s a lot.

But – I promise you this – none of us is alone. Look around you – see your family and your friends, your pastor, and your church family – we are all here to walk with you. In a few minutes, when you come up to affirm your baptismal faith, you’ll kneel for prayer, and we will gather around you, surrounding you with our prayers and our love. Then, this congregation, representing the Body of Christ everywhere, will promise to support you and pray for you as our sister in Christ.

Never forget, too, that the Spirit of God – the same Spirit poured out on those first disciples way back when – that Spirit has been poured out on you, too. That Spirit has been poured out on all of us. Through the waters of baptism, and throughout our lives until today, and into tomorrow, and the next day – that Spirit is with us.

Thanks be to God for this gift. Amen.

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Do You See It?

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

A Lent 4 – 26 March 2017

Text: John 9:1-41

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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One lesson that I have struggled with over the past several years is how much our life circumstances influence our perspective or how we see things. What do I mean by this…?

I mean that – even as adults - the circumstances into which we have been born influence our perspective, as do our circumstances growing up as children. Someone born into a poor family has a different perspective than someone born into a rich family. Someone who grew up on a farm has a different perspective than someone who grew up in a city. Our different races, cultures, religious expressions, languages, physical abilities, generations – all of these, and more, shape each of us to see the world in certain ways, and to experience the world in certain ways.

Notice, please, that I’m not placing a value judgment on any one perspective or life experience over another.

To today’s gospel story – the man born blind has had a different life than those around him. He’s been blind for all his life, so for all his life, he’s had to learn how to live in a world full of sighted people.

Not only that, but he’s had to deal with the common assumption at the time which said that he (or his parents) must’ve sinned in some way for him to be born blind. So, not only is he dealing with a physical reality – his own blindness – but he’s dealing with the people around him assuming that he’s done something wrong to bring this upon himself.

Even Jesus’ own disciples ask Jesus whose sin caused this condition. So this was common thinking at the time. And Jesus tries to change their perspective – “No, no, no. That’s not it at all. His blindness gives us the chance to see God at work, first hand! Look!”

Then Jesus smears mud on the blind man’s face, and tells him to go wash, which he does. And for the first time in his life, the man born blind can see.

Then enter into our story a group with yet another perspective: the Pharisees. Their perspective is one that focuses on the Laws of God. That’s why they’re all wound up about Jesus healing someone on the Sabbath. In their perspective, Jesus is a sinner because he has done this deed on the day which is set apart for resting.

So they question the man and then go to his parents (as if he can’t answer for himself), and the parents don’t really want to deal with their questions, so they send the Pharisees back to their son.

The Pharisees are trying to pin their idea of sin onto Jesus. And the man born blind has the perfect response: “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now…I see.”

This man who has been blind not only has his physical blindness removed, but he begins, too, to see Jesus – not only as the one who has healed him, but as the One sent by God – the One for whom they have been waiting. His experience of his physical world has been completely changed – he has a new perspective – and his experience of God has changed, too, because here is God-in-the-flesh, rubbing mud in his eyes, and taking away his blindness.

This change in perspective is what Paul is writing about in today’s epistle lesson, too. “Once you were darkness,” Paul says, “But now in the Lord you are light. [So…] Live as children of the light!” Our lives in Christ should change our whole perspective – our whole vision - so that we see our lives as God sees them.

Think about how much our perspective changes just from flipping on a light switch in a dark room. It is one thing to stumble around in the darkness, tripping over furniture or dogs or rugs on the floor. But – we have the light! Why stumble around? Just turn on the light!

Recently, I’ve had several people in my life who have lost loved ones. And in each case, yes, there has, of course, been sadness and grief. But mixed in with that grief has been the perspective that we have as Christians: that God is present, even in someone’s death – and that God gives comfort and peace to those who are still living.

It reminds me of a letter that my dad wrote to family and friends after he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Throughout the letter, he sought to explain what was happening medically, and then he ended on a note of where he was spiritually, referring to Philippians 4:7 – that, even in the midst of his illness, he had been given the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Our lives are caught up in Christ. Our lives are caught up in the love of God. Do you see it?

“Once you were darkness,” Paul says, “But now in the Lord you are light. [So…] Live as children of the light!” Our lives in Christ should change our whole perspective – our whole vision - so that we see not only our own lives, but we also see the world as God sees it.

I’ll say again – for the third time this Lent – remember: “God so loved the world…”? That is God’s vision: God’s love for the world. Do you see it?

I close today with this Celtic prayer, and I invite you again to close your eyes as I pray:

God to enfold me,

God to surround me,

God in my speaking,

God in my thinking.

God in my sleeping,

God in my waking,

God in my watching,

God in my hoping.

God in my life,

God in my lips,

God in my soul,

God in my heart.

God in my sufficing,

God in my slumber,

God in mine ever-living soul,

God in mine eternity.

Amen.

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Clothed With Christ

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

Blake Maxwell’s Confirmation – 19 June 2016

Text: Galatians 3:23-29 and John 8:31-36

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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A few years ago, I preached a sermon series in which I preached about the epistle lessons, rather than focusing on the gospel lessons. One of the biggest points that I tried to drive home was that the epistles are [letters] – and that whenever we read Paul’s letter to the Galatians, for instance (like today), we are basically reading someone else’s mail.

Have you ever read someone else’s mail, either by accident or – confession time – on purpose?

When I was a church office administrator for a large church in Austin, I was tasked with opening the mail. I would put private mail marked for employees in their boxes without opening it. Every so often, though, there would be mail for someone else that would cross my desk – like if the pastor was asking me to follow up on a letter he’d received – and I would have to read someone else’s mail.

Reading someone else’s mail, I’d get some insight – both into the letter writer and the recipient. I also might gain some insight into their relationship – was it friendly or professional? Was it an easy relationship or a strained relationship?

So, today, we’ve heard part of the epistle that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia. Even though you can’t really tell from today’s snippet, this is a difficult letter. Paul is writing to the Galatians because he’s taught them about true faith in Jesus Christ, namely that we are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Some other teachers have come after Paul, trying to sway the Galatians away from that true faith, and the influence of these new teachers is setting in.

Paul is concerned about them because the Galatians have turned following Christ into following a list of laws in order to earn God’s favor. They aren’t trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives to build their faith, but rather in their own works. Paul reminds them: “We know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” And then, right before today’s section of the letter, Paul really ramps up his anger: “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”

If Paul had been texting this, it would’ve been in all-caps.

In the reading today from the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples that if they continue in his word, they are truly his disciples. Jesus’ word is a word of love. So when Jesus tells his disciples to continue in his word, he is asking them to continue to love God and to love one another. The idea is that loving God and loving one another are parts of our every day lives. True faith in Jesus, and living as his disciples, are meant to be an every day thing.

Paul says it this way: that true faith in Jesus means that – at our baptisms - we have clothed ourselves with Christ.

And, Blake, the faith that was placed within you at your baptism has never gone away. You continue to live in that faith to this day.

One thing that I remind both confirmation students and their parents is that confirmation day is just one step of many in the journey of faith that we are all taking. If you take a look at the bottom of page 5 of your bulletin – you will see the baptismal covenant. Blake, your parents and godparents made this covenant for you when you were baptized as a baby. You are affirming this covenant for yourself today. But do not think of this covenant as simply a checklist to follow. Think of this covenant as a way of life, so that your life shows how much you love God and love your neighbor.

If you look at the covenant again – the first two lines (to live among God’s faithful people; to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper) – those are things that largely take place here or in other church-type settings.

Now look at the last few lines – (to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; to serve all people, following the example of Jesus; to strive for justice and peace throughout the earth) – these are things we do mostly outside of these walls.  These are the things you’re already doing in some ways – for example, as you serve at Briarwood these next two weeks.

I will ask you if you intend to continue in all these things, and then comes your answer: I do, and I ask God to help and guide me. So from whom do you get the strength to live as a true disciple of Jesus – to love God and love others?

It is the work of the Holy Spirit in you that helps you live out this covenant. You were given the Spirit at your baptism, and as you go forward from this day, never forget that Christ has claimed you as God’s own forever.

But also never forget that on this day – just like on the day of your baptism – those gathered around you will promise to support you and pray for you in your life in Christ. You are a part of something that is more than you, it’s more than me, it’s more than your mom or dad – you are a part of a community of faith that loves you, and continues to love you along your way.

When you come forward in a few minutes, we will surround you – quite literally – with our love and prayers. We are your brothers and sisters in Christ, and together, we are called to give thanks and praise to God and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world.

Amen.

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Where Have You Seen Jesus?

Their breakfast table?

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

C Easter 3 – 10 April 2016

Text: John 21:1-19

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is one of my favorite gospel stories: the long night of fishing, the post-resurrection cookout on the beach, and the commissioning of Peter by Jesus. We visited the site alongside the Sea of Galilee where tradition says that the cookout and commissioning took place. It was a beautiful, clear day and the water itself was also beautiful and clear. The beach is made of up pebbles – many, many pebbles – and then, not far from the water’s edge, stands the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter.

The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter

Go into the church, and you realize the building has been constructed to focus upon a large stone, now set in the floor. This is the stone, tradition says, that Jesus used as his table when he served the disciples that breakfast on the beach. There were a few places on our Holy Land trip that felt extra-holy to me, and this place was one of them: this little church, built of sturdy rock, filled with pilgrims like myself, visualizing the scene from today’s gospel lesson in our minds. It was very easy to picture Jesus, in that place.

Where have you seen Jesus?

In today’s gospel lesson, the disciples have, apparently, returned to their daily lives. Many of them are fishermen, and they have been away from fishing in order to follow Jesus. Facing an uncertain future following Jesus’ death and resurrection, they return to what they know, and they climb into their boat for some fishing one night.

And it’s a bad night of fishing. Not one fish.

They’re nearing the shore and they see Jesus on the beach, but they don’t recognize that it is Jesus right away. He calls out to them to ask them about their catch and they respond that they have nothing to show for their full night of fishing. So then, safely from the shore, Jesus calls out for them to put out their net onto the other side of the boat. They must’ve been exhausted, after a full night of fishing. But they do what Jesus says, even though they don’t know yet that it’s him. (look over right side of boat)

The net – it’s full!

And that is when they recognize Jesus, after they catch 153 fish in that net. That’s a lot of fish. It’s so many, that they can’t even haul the net onto the boat. They go from nothing…to an abundance.

Where have you seen Jesus?

There are some preachers out there who see Jesus in material abundance, and they preach that this story is proof that the gospel is really about our material abundance – just look at all those fish that the disciples catch! However, the message of this story is not about the material abundance that comes when we follow our poor Savior (who didn’t even have a roof of his own over his head). This story points us directly to the abundance of grace that falls upon us when we follow Jesus, for God’s grace comes to us in abundance.

One of the beautiful things about this story to me is that, in this case, the abundance of God comes to the disciples as they are going about their daily work. There they are, just fishing away, doing the best they can, and Jesus meets them in their daily life – meets them there, on the beach, giving them grace alongside their breakfast.

This is how grace is – it finds us. We don’t have to find the grace of God – the grace of God finds us! Certainly, grace finds us here – it finds us in the “grace-filled water of life” that Katie will have poured over her in a few minutes at her baptism. Grace finds us in our time of confession and forgiveness. Grace finds us in the Lord’s Supper. Grace finds us as we greet others with peace. Grace finds us.

But – I want you to think about outside these walls – outside this time on Sunday morning together. Where have you seen Jesus? Where has Jesus met you in your daily lives?

For we don’t live our lives in here. I don’t even live my life in here, and I work here! We live our lives in our homes and schools and workplaces, out with friends, taking care of family, managing responsibility after responsibility – those are the moments in which grace really needs to find us, right? In the moments of our daily lives.

Maybe this is why Jesus chooses this morning on the beach to commission Peter. “Feed my lambs,” Jesus says to Peter. “Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep,” Jesus says – repeating the same idea again and again for emphasis, as if to say, “This is the work to which I call you, Peter – to feed the hungry and care for my people. Go. Do it.”

For we can and do receive grace – and grace in abundance – here, in this place. But grace is not a pretty jewel that we sit here and stare at while we’re here, setting down on our chairs when we head out the door. We are washed with grace! We are fed with grace! We have the abundance of God’s grace that we carry with us, so that, in our daily lives, we can see that Jesus meets us, even when we are on our stinky fishing boat, so to speak, tired after a long night of empty fishing.

We have the grace of God in abundance. Live your life in that grace, full of that grace, and fully confident of the love that God has for you. “…[B]y grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”

Amen.

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