Being transformed by the renewing of our minds

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

Lectionary 21, Year A – 24 August 2014 (Back to School Blessing)

Text: Romans 12:1-8 and Matthew 16:13-20

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.

In spite of the fact that the outdoor temperatures continue to top the 100-degree mark, for many of us, this week (or maybe sometime this month), the summer is now over. Those of us who have lived in Texas for any length of time are, of course, used to this tension between entering the “Fall” semester at school (or watching others do so), while at the same time running our air conditioning at full blast. We are surrounded by Back-to-School messages in stores and in commercials.

So, in light of getting ready for another academic year, it felt very appropriate to discover what the New Testament reading from Romans today has to say: “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice,” writes Paul, “holy and acceptable to God.” And it sounds sort of foreign to us, like something leftover from an ancient society: a sacrifice?

It is foreign to us, and we should remember that Paul is writing to a much different audience than us. His audience would’ve been very accustomed to sacrificial language from the standpoint of bringing animals or crops as sacrifices as part of their worship of whatever gods they worshipped. So, for us, the question becomes: what does this “living sacrifice” look like, here, in 2014?

If we return to our text for a moment, we see that Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world – in others words, we should be different, somehow. I don’t know about you, but I don’t necessarily find that direction very easy to follow. There are things about this world that I conform to on a regular basis – I drive a car, for instance, and Steve and I have bought a home. We live in a neighborhood where our house conforms just fine, and I like having steak every so often, and pizza and frozen yogurt.

But I don’t think that steak and pizza and frozen yogurt are what Paul has in mind here because if we keep going in our text, we see that Paul is concerned with our minds being renewed so that we can pay attention to what God’s will is – God’s good and perfect will – and that is where we return to the idea of offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

Some of us may have a negative connotation to the word “sacrifice” – that sacrificing something means that we are automatically giving it up. Sometimes, that is true. But to sacrifice ourselves to God has a more positive connotation. Offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God means that we are so dedicated to God and so devoted to living out God’s will that we give ourselves fully to God in everything we do - each day, every day. At our jobs, at our schools, in our homes – everywhere – we live the faith that God has given to us.

It is not always easy. We are surrounded by bad news on every side – in newspapers, on televisions, even on the screens of our smart phones. We all have bad days from time to time. It can be very easy to conform to the world’s anxiety, hatred, or prejudice.

And so what a blessing it is that God has made us for each other – to be “members one of another,” as Paul writes in verse 5. We each have gifts that we bring to the table – those gifts are part of that living sacrifice, too – so that we care for others as God has given us the ability to do so: with grace, with diligence, with compassion – showing others who Jesus is.

I don’t know about you, but – even as a pastor – I don’t have too many people asking me who Jesus is. But even as that may be true, that doesn’t mean that I can’t show people who I believe Jesus to be: loving, compassionate, forgiving.

For I do believe Jesus to be loving – even in the face of so much fear in the world. I believe Jesus to be compassionate – even in the face of so much hatred in the world. I believe Jesus to be forgiving – even in the face of so much prejudice and violence in the world. I trust in the great love of God, not because I see it in the world (although sometimes, I might), but because God has promised his love to us - over and over again.

Each time we into another new season of life – whether that is now, with a new school year, or another time, I pray we will present ourselves to God with openness to his will. I pray we will use our gifts fully, wherever we may find ourselves. I pray all of this in the name of Jesus, who loves us and gave himself for us.

Amen.

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Visiting some whom I've never met

I'm on a pilgrimage of sorts.

I'm traveling to see friends in Iowa this week, and while planning my trip, I happened to notice that Wichita, Kansas is about halfway up. I've always heard my maternal grandmother talk about Wichita, without giving it much thought. I began digging through some of our family history, though, and realized how steeped my own family is in this area of Kansas.

One relative I never met but with whom I've always felt a connection is my great-grandmother, Sarah. She died in the 1950's and is buried next to her husband in Hutchinson, Kansas. I've heard so much about her throughout my life, both from my mom and my grandmother. I now have a couple of her books - treasures made all the more precious by her handwritten notes found inside.

Imagine my excitement, then, to discover that I could easily stop in Wichita on my way to Iowa, and fit in some time to go see the graves of my great-grandparents - make a pilgrimage to honor them and their memories.

After I arrived at my hotel today, exhausted from driving, I hunkered down with pages of family history compiled by other relatives. I discovered two other cemeteries to visit in the area, each of which has a set of my great-great-grandparents (Sarah's parents and her husband's parents).

Finding this information was unexpected - and exciting - and it threw a kink into the works, because now I feel an obligation to see all of these folks. Kind of like when you drive through someplace and feel obligated to meet your long-lost whomever for lunch? Yeah...that's how I feel.

Except these aren't long-lost whomevers - they are my forebears. These are the ones who - quite literally - gave me life. Down through the centuries, from the British Isles and Germany, came these pioneers who settled in Kansas to make lives for themselves. In doing so, they passed on the blessing of life to my grandmother, to my mother, to me.

Tomorrow, I'm stopping to see the graves of one set of great-great-grandparents - more people I never knew, but who are a part of me somehow. I'm excited, but if I'm honest, I'm also a bit nervous. These are some of the ones who made me who I am, through vast generational influences. And while I won't be meeting them face-to-face, I'll be as close to meeting them as I ever have been. (What would my Lutheran-turned-Baptist great-great-grandfather say about his great-great-granddaughter, the Lutheran pastor, I wonder?)

Tomorrow, I'll visit the graves of some whom I never met. And like Jacob, I'll leave a stone there, to honor them and their lives. I'll leave a stone to remember the hopes which led them here - the hopes they have passed on to me, too, somehow.

Looking Back; Looking Forward

Come, Holy Spirit!

Reformation and Confirmation Sunday – October 27, 2013

Texts: Ephesians 2:8 (Ryan) and Romans 8:38-39 (Laci)

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Grace and peace be with you, from God our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today we have this combined remembering of our history as Lutherans in Reformation Sunday, and celebrating as two of our young people, Ryan and Laci, affirm their baptismal faith. And so it is a day upon which we spend time looking backward at our history, but also looking forward with great hope.

Reformation Day actually falls on October 31^st – aka Halloween – aka the day before All Saints’ Day. It was on this day in 1517 that a monk named Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses to a university church door in Germany. This was common practice of the day – the church door was sort of like a community bulletin board.

Much like some of us might go online nowadays to ask a question about faith or health or dogs or to ask what’s the best way to hard boil an egg, Luther had these things he wanted to discuss and question about the Church’s practices and the pope and how God fit into it all. So he wrote these things down as 95 Theses – or points of debate - and posted them to the community bulletin board, then sending copies to other leaders in the Church.

His concerns created a firestorm almost immediately. The new technology of the day helped with this – things could be printed and copied faster than ever before because of the invention of the printing press. So his theses went viral – spreading throughout the Church and academia.

Now, Luther had a lot to say – I don’t have time to repeat it all this morning. But the root of his basic concerns was that the Church of his day focused heavily on what we were doing to keep God happy. The concept of a gracious and loving God wasn’t preached, wasn’t really talked about much like we might talk about it now. And because most people in Luther’s day were illiterate, they relied heavily on what the Church told them to believe about God.

Most of them couldn’t sit down and read the Bible for themselves – because of their own illiteracy, but also because the Bible wasn’t available in languages spoken by the people. And so, one of the greatest gifts that Luther gave was to translate the Scriptures into German – a language people could understand – and also to encourage education so that people could learn to read.

So, what happened? Well, from the work of this one man and many others, the Church began reforming. Word began to get out that God is gracious, that God is loving. And people who lived in fear and captivity began to hear marvelous words of grace like this: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”[1] – which is also Ryan’s Confirmation verse today.

Imagine living your whole life in fear and in captivity to the idea that I must do all these things in order to make God happy and to avoid the tortures of hell – only to hear these beautiful words from Ephesians read and preached: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”

It was life-changing. It was world-changing.

It also wasn’t easy. This change uprooted long-standing structures and there was theological disagreement and the ending of relationships and even war – it was a deeply difficult process to endure. But they did endure, and what became known as the Lutheran faith began to take root in Europe, and then to flourish. And time went on, and as Europeans began to come to the Americas, the Lutheran faith traveled with them.

And so it was the Luther’s basic teachings about God’s love and grace began to take root and flourish here in America – eventually coming to Texas and to Grand Prairie and to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, and those of us sitting in this room (as well as countless others).

And this grace-filled and hopeful faith is the faith into which you were baptized, Ryan and Laci, and it is the faith in which you have been raised. And so now, with all this history behind us, we say that we are looking forward because today is a step in your journeys of faith - journeys that will continue on, because to be confirmed is really more about you affirming something – saying “YES!” to something that has already been given to you at your baptisms: faith in Jesus Christ and the gift of God’s Holy Spirit.

But something else has been given to you, as well: a covenant, between you and God, and one the things you’ll agree to today is to continue living in this covenant:

to live among God's faithful people,

      to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper,

      to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,

      to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,

      and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

And so that is why we say that today, we look to our past, but we very much look forward, too, because these are things you will continue to do as you continue to grow as the people God has made you to be.

Here’s something else for you: look around you, at these people who surround you. Today, we all make a promise to you, too, to support you and pray for you.

Now, I’ve got a question for you – you’re getting confirmed today – so does that mean that from here on out, everything’s going to be easy as pie and you’ll never face any challenges again, ever?

And that's where your confirmation verse comes in, Laci – “For I am convinced,” Paul writes, “That neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[2]

One of the things Ryan and Laci did to prepare for this day was to come up with some goals for themselves. When the time came for them to show me their goals and for us to discuss them, I was so pleased that, among their goals, for each of them, was a sense of serving others – a sense of living out that very same love of God.

And so, Ryan and Laci, if you hear nothing else that I say today, hear this: You do not move forward alone – ever. You have all of us, today, and in the future, and there will be others – who will love you and support you and pray for you. But more than all of that, you have the love of God, which endures forever.

Amen.

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[1] Ephesians 2:8

[2] Romans 8:38-39

Rooted and Built Up and Established in Him

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

C Lectionary 17 – July 28, 2013

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Amen.

The other day, I was driving here from home, and I stopped at a light along 360. As I waited for the light to turn green, a young man rode up to the intersection on his bicycle. He punched the crosswalk button and, rather than waiting, assumed it was safe for him to cross in front of our line of traffic. He started to ride in front of us, but then changed his mind, quickly, as the light changed, and our line of traffic began to move forward. He pulled back quickly and got out of the way.

Lately, I’ve taken to walking in the evenings, criss-crossing my neighborhood and some of the other streets of Mansfield. Whenever I walk this one particular route, I have to pay attention to the traffic at one of the busier intersections in town. I, too, punch the crosswalk button, but I watch and wait, to make sure I’m crossing with traffic and not against it.

It takes patience. When moving around our cities and towns – whether we are walking or jogging, riding a bicycle, or driving or riding in a car, it takes patience to get around. To be safe, we must watch - and sometimes, we must wait.

This attitude of watchfulness and waiting is what we find in Scripture time and again, and we find it in today’s lesson from Colossians, too. It’s not obvious – unlike those other parts of Scripture, today’s lesson doesn’t overtly say anything about watching and waiting. But if we read closely, the message of being watchful and waiting patiently is there.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving,” the letter reads in verses 6 and 7. “Continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith...”

So let’s take that apart a little…

First – “Continue to live your lives in him…” This sounds like something that takes some time, doesn’t it? If we continue to live our lives in God, we’re not talking about a one-day thing, or a two-day thing, or something we can do over a weeklong event. Continuing to live our lives in Christ is just that – living our lives in Christ – all of our lives: each day, every day, for all of our lives.

Second – “Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith…” What we have here are two images: one from agriculture (rooted) and one from construction (built up and established). I was watching one of those home improvement shows the other night and they were tackling the landscaping at a home that had been abandoned for years. Out by the lake beside the house was a huge tree that needed to come down. The contractors chopped the branches off, and then they dismantled the trunk well enough – but then, they got to the root ball. This root ball was huge – it was almost as big as the piece of equipment they ended up using to haul it out of the ground. That tree was rooted and established. And I would imagine it took some time to get that way.

If we think about the example from construction – being built up and established - I want you to think about the biggest building you’ve ever been in. Maybe it’s a skyscraper or a cathedral or an office building – whatever it is, think about the strength of that building – how it is grounded – how it is built up and established.

These images were given to the Colossians to remind them of the foundation of their faith – that, whatever is going on around them - if people are urging them to worship angels or condemning them for not doing enough to prove how religious they really are – whatever is going on around them – they can count on this: because of their baptisms, they have died with Christ, and they have risen with Christ. They are rooted and built up and established in Christ because of the greatest power that there is: the very power of God.

These images are good for us to reflect upon, too. Whatever is going on around us – if people are urging us to be unfaithful somehow or to do more to prove how religious we are – whatever is going on around us – we can count on this: because of our baptisms, we have died with Christ, and we have risen with Christ. We are rooted and built up and established in him because of the greatest power that there is: the very power of God.

But here’s the tricky part: it takes patience. And it takes patience because it takes time.

We live in the Age of the Quick Fix: Five Tips for Selling Your Home Fast! Just follow these three steps, and you’ll have a closer relationship with God…or your spouse…or your friends.

But the heart of this passage today proposes something the opposite of the Quick Fix. These images of trees and roots and firmly established buildings seem to suggest that moving through life takes great patience, especially when we are living our lives in Christ. It takes watching and waiting because it can take time to see where the hand of God might be working.

We talked about this some yesterday at our women’s retreat: that we don’t always see how God is working, but if we are patient, eventually, we can see God’s purpose. Sometimes it takes days, but more often, it can take weeks or months or even years for us to be able to look back and say, “Aha! Now I get it. Now I see, O God, your hand at work, in ways big and small. I see how you cared for me. I see how you helped me to be rooted in you, built up and established in your great love.”

Let us now read our psalm for today together…

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;

for you have exalted your name and your word

above everything.

On the day I called, you answered me,

you increased my strength of soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth.

They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;

but the haughty he perceives from far away.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

you stretch out your hand,

and your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands.

May we be patient, trusting in the grace of God that holds us, knowing that God will make good his purpose for us, and believing that his steadfast love endures forever.

Amen.

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