Category Archives: Recent Sermons

June 18, 2013

“A Really Big Deal” • Sermon 06.16.2013

By Bishop Craig Schweitzer

at-the-feet-of-jesus

Luke 7:36-8:3 • June 16, 2013

Click here to watch a video recording of this sermon.

 Brothers and sisters in Christ grace and peace to you from God our Father and risen Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.

 

First of all, Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads and those who are dads to us in so many ways. You are a gift from God that we give thanks for, most especially on this day. I especially give thanks to those dads here today. That you chose to worship today instead of playing golf or going fishing.

There was a family with three small children who deeply wanted to get a puppy. The mother in the family protested strongly because she knew that she would be the one who would end up taking care of the new addition to the family. The children, and even dad, vowed that they would in fact be the ones who would take care of it and that mom had nothing to worry about.

Please mom, please, please, please, please…they pleaded. After months of pleading, mom finally gave in and the family got a dog. They named him Danny and the children actually did care for him diligently as they had promised – at first. But as time passed, mom found herself becoming more and more responsible for taking care of Danny the dog. Increasingly frustrated, she decided that the children were not living up to their promise to take care of Danny, so she began to search for a new home for him. She found one and broke the news to the family as gently as she could. To her surprise, they had almost no reaction at all.

One of them said rather matter-of-factly, “We’ll miss him.” Another added, “Yea, I guess it’ll be ok without him around.”

“I’m sure we will,” mom answered, “but he is just too much work for one person and since I’m the only one that seems to be doing all of the work, I say he has to go to a new home.”

“But,” protested another child, “if he wouldn’t eat so much and wouldn’t be so messy, could we keep him?”

An interesting defense thought mom, but she held her ground, “It’s time to take Danny to his new home.” All of a sudden, tears started streaming down and crying filled the room from all three children. “Danny? Not Danny! We can’t give up Danny!” they cried. “We thought you said Daddy!”

Anyway…Happy Father’s Day!

Words are important, aren’t they? They shape us. They form us. They lift us up. They heal us. They free us. But they also inflict pain. They divide us. They destroy relationships. They rip apart peace. They kill. And how we receive or send words is just as important.

Words that we use in email or online conversations, texting or even in worship – are a really big deal. Each week, hours are spent crafting the words that we use in worship at Good Shepherd. The words in our hymns and songs, the words in our preaching and prayers, the words that gather us together and send us out are a big deal. I’m not sure we are always aware of that. Or really even care. We come to worship and hear words of confession and forgiveness, offer words in prayer that yearn for healing and peace, sing songs with words of praise for all that God has done for us, and often fail to acknowledge any significance that they offer us in our journey together in Christ. The words in our worship life are a big deal – but so often they seem to disappear and vanish into thin air before we leave the parking lot. We don’t allow them to impact who we are as children of God or transform us in our life in Christ at all. Is it because the words aren’t the right words or is it something else …?

I think the writer of the gospel reading that is before us today, wrote it for us – for you and for me living in today’s world in 2013. The words in today’s gospel are a really big deal. They are words that offer us forgiveness and peace right alongside words that sting with accusation and judgment.

Simon, a Pharisee, invites Jesus and some other important guests to dine with him at his home. As a Pharisee, Simon is someone who prides themselves on doing things strictly according to the letter of the law. Always trying to uphold the law at all cost. One could assume that Simon would have everything perfectly in order for this little event. After all, it’s a perfect opportunity for him and his family to show off a little for these distinguished guests. But right in the middle of showing everyone just how much of a big deal he thinks he is, Simon’s spotlight is taken away by someone else. And of all people, this someone else is a woman.

And not just any woman, but a woman who is a sinner! And she draws quite a bit of attention to herself by wiping and bathing and anointing Jesus.

Simon the Pharisee doesn’t take this woman’s actions that remove him from the spotlight very well. And he assumes that Jesus is unaware of who this woman is and just how great her sin is. But come on…this is Jesus…he knows what’s going on here. And Jesus has something to say to Simon and to the woman. His words expose Simon’s thoughts and the woman’s actions.

Jesus offers a short parable exploring forgiveness and in turn nothing is hidden during this dinner party. Simon’s inhospitable actions – his failure to give Jesus a kiss or wash his feet or anoint him – reflect not only his lack of hospitality, but also his negative thoughts toward this woman whom he thinks bears greater sin than he does. In essence, Simon sees little need for forgiveness and even less interest in being grateful.

The woman, on the other hand, understands the depth of her debt and the forgiveness that Jesus offers. She departs in a state of peace that only forgiveness can create. However, the forgiveness made possible by the presence of Jesus is not exemption. The woman stands guilty as accused in the presence of Jesus. So does Simon. They both realize their sin has been placed before them. Thanks to Jesus’ words they see more of themselves than would have been possible otherwise.

It is all too easy for you and me to develop an almost superficial attitude toward sin and sinning because we know that forgiveness is possible. It is also dangerous to think that we can freely sin and just repeatedly turn forgiveness on or off whenever necessary in order to keep our conscience clear.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, to be forgiven is more than a feeling of being sorry for what you’ve done, because the forgiveness that our savior Jesus offers changes your past, your present and your future. Forgiveness from Jesus wipes away the shame of our past, pours peace into our hearts right now in the present moment and radically opens new doors of opportunity that compel us into a future filled with hope.

Twice in our gospel reading today, Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those words are a really big deal folks. Jesus knows that you think your sins aren’t as great as that woman sitting in the pew next to you or walking away from you at the grocery store. He also knows about all of the other sins that make up you – and he wants you to know that he loves you still.

May you and I also hear Jesus say to us today, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Those words are a really big deal too. Thanks be to God. Amen.

[I’m grateful to Pastor John Essick and his writing in The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2013 for much of the inspiration contained in this week’s sermon. Abingdon Press, ©2012, pg. 190-192]

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May 23, 2013

“Breathe In. Breathe Out.” – Sermon 05.19.2013

By Bishop Craig Schweitzer

John 14:8-17, 25-27 • May 19, 2013

Click here to watch a video recording of this sermon.

Brothers and sisters in Christ grace and peace to you from God our Father and risen Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.

Let’s take a minute and do a little exercise in the Holy Spirit. Let’s take a deep breath in and now let that breath out. Good.

Let’s try one more – breathe in. Breathe out. Excellent.

You know what – it’s been a tough week. Heck it may have even been a tough beginning to worship today for some of us – let’s do one more. Breathe in. And out.

Today is one of the great festival days in the Christian church. The Day of Pentecost. Although this day has its roots in ancient Jewish tradition, Christians have continued to celebrate this day, but changed its focus a bit into celebrations of the Spirit of the risen Christ coming upon the church. It is a festival day that’s held on the fiftieth day of Easter each year. And since the early days of the church, it’s been known as a sort of birthday of the church. The transformation of the church from a few select followers of a guy named Jesus into a global community of believers in the risen Christ from every nation and in every language that the world will ever know. A community of believers who have received and continue to receive the Spirit of God. So Happy Birthday church!

But – let’s not get too carried away and crazy patting ourselves on the back and passing out the birthday cake, because it seems to me that we often are still asking the same question that those who first received the breath of the Holy Spirit asked so long ago – “What does this mean?”

Every time I think of that question from the Pentecost story in the book of Acts I’m challenged to reflect on the Holy Spirit and the celebration of Pentecost and whether I still even believe that the breath of God’s spirit is still alive in the world today. And as I do that, I’m always reminded of the story of the shark and the whale swimming around in the ocean.

The shark says to his friend the whale, “You are so much older than I, and wiser too. Could you tell me where the ocean is?” The whale says, “Sure. The ocean is what you are in now.”

Of course, the shark doesn’t believe it, “Come one, whale, I thought you were my friend. Tell me where the ocean is so I can find it!” The whale gently repeats what he’s already said hundreds of times before, “The ocean is here, now; you are in it my friend.” Still frustrated and unbelieving, shark swims away searching for the ocean.

It may not be a story about a shark and a whale, but Theologian and Author Barbara Brown Taylor offers this about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. “What happens between us when we come together to worship God is that the Holy Spirit swoops in and out among us, knitting us together through the songs we sing, the prayers we pray, the breaths we breathe. It can happen with two people and it can happen with two thousand people. It can scare us or comfort us, confuse us or clarify things for us, but,” Taylor says, “as far as I can tell the Holy Spirit never bullies us. We are always free to choose whether or how we will respond.”

A few weeks ago I was invited to talk to about 50 of our 6th Grade God Rocks students about the Holy Spirit. I had 15 minutes to share everything I knew about the Holy Spirit to this incredible group of young men and women. So for 15 minutes we listened and watched and looked for a sign – any sign – that the Holy Spirit was present in the Youth Room that night. And even though we didn’t see an supernatural winds sweeping through the room knocking us off our chairs and as far as we could tell nobody instantly became proficient in a foreign language, we still believed that God was in that room and sensed that God’s spirit was with us in every breath that we took, in the eyes of every neighbor that we looked into, and in every moment of our day that had brought us together for 15 minutes in the holy place of the Good Shepherd youth room.

I believe that Pentecost and the receiving of the Holy Spirit is not only about celebrating something that happened many centuries ago. A day that pushed the church into existence with winds blowing and fire burning and instant fluency in every foreign language during an event that was a mad party on the streets of Jerusalem resembling something like what I imagine downtown Minneapolis will look like when the Vikings finally win a Super Bowl.

Pentecost is not just about a day in the ancient past of the Christian church; it’s also about celebrating what’s happening as God’s Spirit breathes through us right now. As you sit where you are in this holy place, how do you feel the Holy Spirit’s presence near you, with you, in you?

In just this past week, I’ve felt the Holy Spirit’s presence breathing through the congregation of Good Shepherd as we have walked with a fellow sister and brother in the body of Christ following their death. The hospitality and care that you and I offer as we serve one another in these times is the power of God’s spirit breathing through us that is alive in each one of you.

I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence breathing through hundreds of young people at Good Shepherd who celebrated the end of the church school, God Rocks, and confirmation program year around games, food – lots of food – movies and just being together as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. The fellowship that we shared in these yearend celebrations is the power of God’s spirit breathing through us and alive in the younger generations that are part of our congregation.

In one article I read this week the author said, “The story of Pentecost, after all, is not a story of a group of people who received something and then sat around admiring the gift. It’s a story about a mission. Luke’s account of those early disciples tells us they got busy and went right out to change the world, as they themselves had been changed by the moving Spirit. Luke’s entire story in the book of Acts is one of bold movement, beginning in that room in Jerusalem and reaching to the ends of the earth, always moving outward despite all odds, always inviting and including new people, despite opposition. [Anne Howard, The Beatitudes Society]”

A few years ago a theological journal that I read regularly asked several pastors to describe “How the Holy Spirit Moves Today…in 100 Words or Less”. Here’s what Presbyterian Pastor Byron Wade submitted to the journal.

“Many people question if the Holy Spirit is at work in the world today. Put on some different eyes and see –
The claiming of an infant in baptism
The faith of a spouse in the loss of a loved one
The building of a Habitat for Humanity home
Strangers assisting in areas of a natural disaster
The grace exhibited to one another after a difficult discussion
And the ability to awaken to see a new day …
Then you can say the Holy Spirit is at work.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let the Holy Spirit continue to work through you in the many beautiful and grace-filled ways that it already does. Breathe in. Out. Breathe in.

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