Sermon for Pentecost 12

The Audio can be found at: http://soundcloud.com/tigerowl/pentecost12-2013

The text follows:

I’m sure that 12 months ago, as it became clear that your pastor was retiring, no one said to you, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”  If it had been said, I’m willing to bet that you would not have been able to see into the future to see what life would be like today.  Oh there are some things that you would expect to happen.  We would still have an 8:15 service and a 10:30 service.  We would still have children’s church, we would still have the church picnic, and there would still be the ESL classes, the after-school program, the summer day camp, the visitations to the sick and the shut-ins.  The food bank would still be available for emergencies and on Fridays.  You just didn’t know who would be the pastor.

No one expected then that the furnace would slowly die during the middle of winter.  I found out this week that it was installed in 1988.  Twenty-five years of intense use by a seven day a week operation.  No one would have expected the kitchen stove to be replaced, even though there were those who knew that we had to plan for its replacement.  So there was a fund created to do some remodeling in the kitchen.  There is no doubt that we have been challenged.  But challenge does not necessarily lead to fear.

A long time ago, I came to the realization that I really didn’t control much.  The one item over which I had major control was my time.  I would waste my time, I could give it away [that is be a volunteer], I could sell it [ that is an interpretation of getting a job and being paid], but whatever you do with the one commodity over which you have control Time can be a statement of what is important to you.  Just a couple of weeks ago we heard the story of the Good Samaritan.  This gracious person took not only the time to care for a wounded person, but he shared his resources [the money she/he earned to support the injured during his recuperation.

 God has shown the way to be a giver.  Sometimes we take it for granted, but while the words may come easily out of our mouths, we have to remember the God did send his Son into the world to give new meaning to the phrase God is with us.  Even in our lessons for today we hear of the way that God continues to give “for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  We in turn are asked to be givers in the context of today’s lesson in the next verse,   “Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Specifically, there seems to be a call to give to the poor.  Collectively we do that.  I loaded 9 boxes of food and supplies this past Thursday that were taken to the local food bank.  We have volunteers who serve those who come desiring food and supplies for their current needs. Then the following day the line started at the drive way and wound all the way back to the beginning of the steps to our main door for those seeking help from Philabundance.  I suppose I should have not been surprised to get a call asking for food and financial support.  The call got a little strange, when I asked where the caller lived.  After a couple of minutes of continuous description of his immediate need.  He said that he was in the panhandle that includes Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.  I shared with him the fact that there had to be someone closer to him than Upper Darby, PA. 

I know that our reputation goes far and wide, but we do try to concentrate our activity within walking or driving distance of the church.  But that does not mean that we will not receive challenges that seem beyond our means.  All the questions that have been asked of you over the last few weeks are an attempt to gather some impressions of what you believe we can handle, what we need to handle and most especially, what might we be open to do in the future that stretches us again, for our time and our talent and our resources.  I believe that our purses are made well, we know that God says that they should not wear out.

For much of the time in the seeking of a new pastor is looking at ourselves.  For the congregation, we the people are the center of the ministry.  The pastor will be a central part of the leadership, but it is the people of God who are the power behind the ministry.  Each week we prepare ourselves for a visit, but it is not often that we consciously think about Jesus coming to each of us in the meal we share at the table.  Each Sunday Jesus is present with us in the word and the sacrament.  As a friend of my says, coming to the table  “means receiving his coming to us”.

Whomever the congregation finds as a new pastor will be joining a congregation that is already involved in both finding themselves and connecting with God and Jesus, through prayer, worship, and the sacraments of the church.  Giving of yourselves in those environments, leads to giving of yourselves in the new challenges that will face the congregation as we move into the future, as God’s outpost on Walnut Street.  To God be the Glory in All we do….  AMEN.

Thanks to Brian Stoffregen for assistance.

Rangel gets racial: Tea party a bunch of 'white crackers' - Washington Times

 Why this Saturday?  It started out so well. When a seemingly mature young white male rides down the 6700 Block of Germantown Avenue in his grey pickup truck with his window down and shouting quotes from Riley Cooper, why do I a mature adult older black male feel an urge to quote Rachel Jeantel as she describes Trayvon Martin’s unflattering description of the man who was following him.  Or maybe I just want to quote Rep. Charles Rangel.

W


Rangel gets racial: Tea party a bunch of 'white crackers' - Washington Times

Easter 3 2013 Sermon

To hear the Sermon (https://soundcloud.com/tigerowl/easter3)       There is one joke that I did not use last week.  It has to do directly with the gospel lesson for today, which is probably why I stuck it in the not to use yet file.  I have never figured out why it was appropriate for the disciples to return to their previous occupations.    We have gone through the empty tomb.  We have seen the witness of the women who went to do the final burial process.  We have heard about the two people on the road to Emmaus, who shared their knowledge of the crucifixion.  In seeing Jesus, they didn’t walk back to Jerusalem, they ran.  We have seen Jesus meet with the disciples in a locked room.  We have heard of him appearing again to Thomas to give him a personal experience with the holes in the hands and in the side of Jesus.
Somehow after all this secondary training  of what it means to be a disciple many readers of scripture, preachers in churches and members in the pews cannot figure out why the disciples are not out sharing the Gospel.  Instead, they went fishing…  Now here is where the joke diverges from the Biblical story…
It seems that Peter really wasn’t naked.  He did have on a fishing smock.  It sort of like a Scotsman in a kilt, there was limited or no underwear underneath the smock.  When he spotted Jesus on the shore he was a bit embarrassed that he didn’t have on appropriate clothing, so he dove into the water to cover up his lack of clothing.  That’s when Jesus said, you don’t have to swim into me, I’ll come out to you and he began one of his usual strolls out the boat walking on the water.   Suddenly Jesus begins to sink, and Peter the strong swimmer strokes over to Jesus and hauls him to shore and drags him up on the beach.    As they both catch their breath, Peter says to Jesus, “You must have forgotten that you now have holes in your feet.”
Even without the joke, one still wonders about fishing for fish rather than fishing for people.  It may be easy to explain and say that they did go back to the one thing that they knew well, fishing.  Yet to haul in a catch of 153 fish, this is not something that one fisherman can do alone.  This kind of activity takes team work.  The disciples have been functioning as a team.  In many ways the breakfast feast of fish was a team meal, where they recognized that they would need each other to fulfill the work ahead of them and near the end of the meal, Jesus addresses the disciples one more time. But this time he is quite specific in what their assignments are to be.
"Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" Jesus said to Peter, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you," was his response.  Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."  Now the rest of the disciples who were fishing were still gathered around that breakfast fire.  They heard the exchange and the expectation to continue the ministry.  The Jesus asks a second time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."  This team of disciples has already been charged with going into all the world to share the Good News of Jesus as the Messiah.   Yet once more, Jesus asks Simon Peter on behalf of all of the disciples, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Every time I walk through the front door of this church, I think of the request of Jesus to the disciples.  The feeding of the sheep was not limited to the Middle East.  The feeding of the sheep was not limited to Europe.  The feeding of the sheep includes the African continent of the North, the Central portion and the Southern portion of the African continent.  Feeding the sheep moved to the East and to North America.  Feeding the sheep has covered Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. 
When we look around this congregation, we are the fruits of the team work that began with those disciples who knew what team work was from their work, not only on the fishing boats, but in the walking, talking, and healing that occurred in their journeys with Jesus.  Even today, when we teach new member classes, it is a team from this congregation that introduces the ministries of this congregation to every person who seeks to walk in the path that Jesus has laid out in front of us.  It is not just the pastor but there is a significant number of other disciples who are ready to walk together to feed God’s lambs.
This year the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a church body.  From its very beginning it has said that the desire of the church as a body is to reflect the entire population of this country.  That is why there is an African Descent Lutheran Association.  There are other Associations to which members of this congregation might find support, they include the Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage, the Latino Lutheran Association, the American Indian and Alaska Native Lutheran Association, the Association of Asian and Pacific Islander-ELCA, and the European American Lutheran Association.  Within this congregation, we could be extremely well represented in nearly all the associations.
Maybe that is why we have continuously called this place Christ Lutheran Community Church, for we continue to reflect the community gathered around this building.  We reflect the ministries that serve the surrounding community; we still seem to be answering the command of Jesus to Feed his sheep, feed His lambs, and to tend his Sheep.  May that continue to be the mission of all who gather here with God’s Blessing.  AMEN.

Palm Sunday Sermon 2013

The recorded sermon goes beyond the text posted below so you may want to listen while reading… Black Preacher's Prerogative  (https://soundcloud.com/tigerowl/palm-sunday-13)

Luke 19:28-40
19:28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
19:29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,
19:30 saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
19:31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'"
19:32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.
19:33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
19:34 They said, "The Lord needs it."
19:35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
19:36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
19:37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,
19:38 saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"
19:39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop."
19:40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

My last full time parish was in St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands.  I was surprised to learn early in my first year that we had a parade on Psalm Sunday.  Since the congregation and the church building were a part of the National Park District in St. Croix, we had to obtain permission to bless the psalms in Fort Christavaern, the first home of the church in 1734, and then process to the Steeple Building the first church building for Lord God of Sabaoth.  We then processed to the current church building that dated from the late 1600’s as a reformed church.

When you block off the streets and need a police escort then certainly you do get noticed.  I would suppose that was the atmosphere recorded in the middle of our Gospel lesson for today.  If we tried to replicate the action described in the Gospel lesson, who would come?  Who would notice if we had a parade today?  Even if we just went around the block, would anyone care?

And as soon as the parade was over, who would remember?

Our Biblical passages today suggest that there was not a great deal of planning involved in this event.  When you have to borrow a burrow, and explain to the owner, while you are untying it, that you need it for your lord Jesus, you might say that they didn’t do a whole lot of preplanning.  The triumphal entry into Jerusalem had less planning than this congregation puts into the Chicken Festival.  We move ever so quickly from the obtaining the burro for Jesus to ride upon, to the community celebration of welcoming the newest prophet into the community.  We speedily move to the celebration of the Passover by Jesus and his followers

It is quite ironic to note that this is “Palm” Sunday. In the tropics of the Virgin Islands, we had Coconut palms, royal palms, fan palms, and date palms.  Yet there are no “branches of palms” mentioned in Luke’s account of the parade in Jerusalem.  There are no “leaves from the field” as in Mark (11:8). There are no “branches from the trees” as in Matthew (21:8). There are no leaves or branches of any type mentioned in Luke.  Only John talks about “palms.”

When Jesus enters Jerusalem only Luke tells us:
 

(1) ...the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen (v. 37). (2) Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out” (vv. 39-40).

In Luke, the entrance of Jesus causes a division among the crowd which is not found in the other gospels.  It seems that some were not pleased with the parade in their neighborhood.  Could this be a sign for some of the events of the coming week of the Passion of Jesus? 

Related to this emphasis, the disciples in Luke do not shout “hosanna”—an Aramaic phrase meaning, “Save us, I pray.” What is anticipated at the coming of the king is “peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”  An emphasis for Luke is that salvation consists partly in living at peace with God and with each other—Jews and Gentiles, male and female, rich and poor, slaves and free.

At the same time, he is aware that Jesus’ peace causes divisions: “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” (12:51).  There is a parallel text in Matthew which proclaims that Jesus did not come to bring peace, “but a sword” (Mt 10:34).

For all of Lent I have been noting that Jesus is on a dedicated march to Jerusalem.  He is not be be deterred or detoured. His journey is now almost complete.  As Jesus comes near and sees the city, he weeps over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.... you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God” (19:42, 44b).

When Jesus enters Jerusalem, his disciples pray for peace in heaven (and, presumably on earth, which will bring glory in the highest), but his visitation causes a division.

Today, in the second service we emphasize the peace that comes to those who exercise their faith.  Today we baptize three young people into the family of God.  Specifically their become members of the faith, the discipleship who are  a part of the family of God at Christ Lutheran Community Church.  Join us in being faithful as we pray not only for these new members of our congregation, but let us pray for ourselves as we continue our own journeys as disciples of Christ at Christ.  AMEN.

 
Thanks again to Brian Stoffregen.

SIXTH WEDNESDAY IN LENT 2013

Dear Friends,

This is the final Wednesday in Lent 2013.  My daily devotions begin each day with the Moravian Daily Texts.  This habit started while on sabbatical in 2008, as the chapel service at the seminary in Pietermaritzburg South Africa started each day with7:30 am chapel.  Daily the leaders would refer to the Moravian texts which were a part of the annual directory for all clergy and church leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.  Returning to the United States the habit kept me in spiritual solidarity with those I had taught and worked with for six months.  As a part of God’s worldwide family, I remain in solidarity.  Perhaps you might want to join me.  If you would like to subscribe you might want to go to this web site.  (http://www.moravian.org/component/dailytext/?view=email)

Moravian Daily Texts

Wednesday, March 20 – Psalm 37:27-33
Nehemiah 12:1-43; Romans 6:17-7:6

When they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the spiritists," should not a people consult their God? Isaiah 8:19 (NASB)

When God had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Christ. Colossians 2:15 (NASB)

Thank you, gracious God, for all you have done for us. You have given us life, your love, and Jesus, your Son. May everything that we do and say this day be a pleasing gift to you, in grateful response. Amen.

Thanks for the opportunity to share with you this Lent.             Rich Stewart

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2013

To hear the sermon see (https://soundcloud.com/tigerowl/lent5clc) 

This is the second time in two weeks that I’ve had to preach on foot washing.  Last Saturday, I preached at the Ordination of Rev. Barbara Alice Hayden.  Barbara was a Student seeking ordination through the Alternate Route to Ordination Track.  I was both the Program Director and her Advisor.  Unlike some students who take 3-4 years or more to complete the alternate route program, she completed it in less than three years.  It must be said she had a couple of advantages.  Her employment was at the church she was serving; unlike some others who were working full time jobs and serving a congregation in their “spare” time, and taking courses to fulfill the requirements of the church. 

Her lesson was from the next chapter in John and it is the foot washing that we will encounter on Maundy Thursday.

John 13: 3-15, 20          

³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.

How many of you have had your feet washed?  It’s really a silly question, as most of us wash our feet every time we take a bath or a shower.  But how often have we had someone else wash our feet?  There have been a couple of occasions where I have both had my feet washing on Maundy Thursday and a time or two when I have done the foot washing.  It is a humbling feeling to be in either position.  When it’s done as a part of the worship service there are both the moments of seriousness and sometime hilarity.  It is humbling to take someone’s foot in your hand and pour water on it and then to take a towel and dry the foot and the toes and there is an intimacy of drying between the toes.  There are times too, when one laughs when someone comes with stockings that cannot easily be removed and then there is a much more gentle approach to the washing that the foot and its covering.

But there are also times of true care, which is the art of playing the host in a Middle Eastern home when a guest arrives.  We no longer wear sandals or go bare foot in our daily lives.  Then foot washing was a way of greeting a visitor and encouraging them to take part in your home’s hospitality.  We now offer people access to the restroom.to take care of their needs alone.  Yet I am a part of a cadre of people who must see a doctor on occasion with my diabetes.  My podiatrist has the honor of treating and inspecting my feet in a way that reminds me of the images I have of how Jesus was treated as he made his way toward Jerusalem.  My doctor is taking care of me to prevent death.  Mary in many ways is preparing Jesus for his death.

Feet are terribly important.  Even now with cars and public transportation, our feet still are the first thing that hits the floor in the morning.  On Sundays our feet guide us into this sanctuary.  In the time when we baptize we say in many ways that we choose to walk in the path of Christ or that we will teach our children to walk in the path of Christ.  In attending a baptism for a friend who was Greek Orthodox, the child in a baptismal gown was even immersed in a deep baptismal font feet first, up to and over his head. 

For last week’s sermon for ordination I called the time of her education, a time when we washed her feet with the hospitality of education about the faith.  Now that may sound like a big leap, but in many ways, we are all learning what it means to be a child of God.  For in this Lenten season we have asked you to pray on Wednesday as a part of the Lenten discipline.  We have offered the church on Fridays or any other day to be a place where you could come to walk the Stations of the Cross.  This time with God is facilitated by our feet, for they bring us to this place.  It is a time and place for us to be in spiritual contact with God who has saved us, the God who loves us and the God who protects us.  We too could use a little foot washing in this place of hospitality. 

We, that is members of the congregation, will be offered some lessons of faith.  We will be a part of an expanding process of choosing a new pastoral leader in this parish.  There are some tasks that could use some additional support.  You may be asked to learn a new skill, or take on a new responsibility, where there may be a need for training.  That may be the time when you are called upon to have your feet washed in learning about these new endeavors.

In learning something new, we too have to be willing to dip our toes into the water of new learning.  We may need to see if this water of new learning is warm to our touch or maybe it doesn’t soot our need, our skills or our desires.  But that does not mean that you are to be ignored.  You may have to volunteer to be a part of a new endeavor or an old project.

I would like to say that you can come on in the water is fine.  But I know better.  We too may wonder about the cost.  There are never any guarantees, but like Mary, she was willing to give the task at hand the best she had to offer, and even that was criticized.  Mary brought her best to the foot washing.  We are asked to bring our best to the table, for God has given us his best to be our servant and our guide.  As we get ready to enter into Holy Week, let us take stock once more about where our feet are going.  Let us guide our steps in the way that Christ would have us walk.  Let us be willing to lighten the load of others who are working with us in the church.  And Lord, prepare us to come together to be able to wash the feet of one another, in humbleness and with grace.

AMEN.