Bishop Craig Schweitzer

Luke 3:1-6 • December 6, 2015

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

There are four words that mark our journey together this year in Advent as part of the worship series “The Geography of Waiting.” This week the word is courage. I think that’s a good word for the season of Advent – courage. After all – it takes courage to keep up with everything happening during this month of preparation. It takes courage for many of us to simply make it through this month because of past pain or loneliness or longing for Christmas to be the way it used to be.

Advent is a season of the church that takes us on a journey. A journey that begins with preparing our hearts and minds for the coming of the Christ-child. And this time, this year, finally…Jesus will have a proper place to be born. Peaceful. Gentle. Bethlehem. It takes courage to make this journey to Bethlehem each year. Believe it or not, the Bethlehem the writers of the four gospels talk about doesn’t really look very much like our Christmas TV specials and greeting cards.

There are two times early in the gospel of Saint Luke that we hear the names of some of the most powerful people of the 1st Century. One theologian sees these names as being important to Luke’s proclamation of the good news of Jesus like this. They write, “Christ stands within human history, fulfilling in unexpected ways the religious expectations of God’s people. Also today, the body of Christ lives in the real world and shows to “all flesh” God’s salvation. We are to reorder the world and build a royal triumphal highway for the coming of the Lord, in the present and the future.”

As we hear the names of these powerful 1st century figures, we are invited to hear them with 21st century ears. Because the name that gives us courage as we live out our faith today is not Pontius Pilate or Emperor Tiberius or even Herod. It’s easy to actually miss the one that shows us courage in the chaos of this list or the chaos of our lives today.

John, son of Zechariah gives us courage. This ordinary, simple man of courage, is not satisfied with the way things are. John’s proclamation and witness in the wilderness are preparing us for the coming of one who will turn the world upside down. And as we make these preparations, John pleads with the world of the 1st century, and with us in the 21st century as well. He pleads with us to examine our own lives and the world around us. In this examination – we are called to repentance. It takes courage to repent. A kind of courage that doesn’t come from being politically powerful or popular or rich or arrogant or self-centered.

Hopefully by now in your faith journey, you are aware that there are four gospels in the Bible. And without trying to be overly simplistic, a gospel, more or less, is the story of the good news of Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the World. So…isn’t it interesting that the birth story of Jesus is not part of all four gospels. But the story of John the Baptist and his proclamation of preparing the way and repentance is part of all four gospels. I don’t think this is accidental on the part of the gospel writers. I think it shines light on the fact that God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people like John, son of Zechariah. And God is still doing extraordinary things in the world today though people like you and me. John’s proclamation and witness ring just as true today as they did 2,000 years ago. John’s proclamation that those who claim to follow Jesus are supposed to tell others about this Jesus. And, John’s witness that repentance is kind of a big deal for our life together in faith.

Rolf Jacobson, one of Luther Seminary’s fine Old Testament Professors, wrote a great little book a few years ago called Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms. In this book, Jacobson defines repentance as, “The change in a person’s behavior that follows recognition of having sinned and immediately precedes further sinning.”

“In proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” Pastor Denise Anderson states, “John makes no distinctions between any of us. All flesh shall see the salvation of the living God. All are in the same boat. All are called to this baptism, to this repentance. We are no better than our enemies, no worse than our detractors. And that’s good news.” (T. Denise Anderson, The Christian Century, November 25, 2015, p. 21)

I heard a wonderful commentary on National Public Radio a day or two ago. The commentary was about the power of prayer and how important this is to so many of us. This is even true in times of tragedy and trauma for those who claim to not believe in God. The commentator was challenging us as listeners that simply offering to pray for someone or something with no intent of actually doing something or being open to being changed by the prayer kind of defeats the point of prayer all together. He concluded his commentary by saying that, “maybe the merit of prayer is what you do after you say amen.”

I’d like to believe that the merit of repentance, for all of us who have come to follow Jesus after John the Baptist, is what happens after we repent. Especially in light of the unmerited and unconditional grace and forgiveness that we receive from our Savior Jesus.

You see, repentance is not simply a warm fuzzy feeling that comes over you after you finally say you’re sorry to someone you’ve wronged. Confession and repentance, for stewards of God and disciples of Jesus, is not just the removal of consequences like guilt or punishment. Confession and repentance is necessary for the complete, complete, transformation of the sinner. In the wake of our repentance, we are different people than we were before. Martin Luther said that “the entire life of the believer should be one of repentance.” Did you hear that? The entire life of the believer should be one of repentance!

Now the last time I looked, my schedule is not packed with people coming to repent or seeking forgiveness for their sin. As I’ve prayed about and reflected on the story of John the Baptist this week – a story that we hear every year in the second week of Advent – I don’t know…maybe my schedule should be a little busier with brothers and sisters seeking repentance. Maybe.

I will close very simply today, with a poem. This is from one of my favorite poets, Anne Weems, in her collection Kneeling in Bethlehem. It’s called “The Coming of God”

“Our God is the One who comes to us in a burning bush,
in an angel’s song, in a newborn child.
Our God is the One who cannot be found locked in the church, not even in the sanctuary.
Our God will be where God will be with no constraints, no predictability.
Our God lives where our God lives, and destruction has no power and even death cannot stop the living.
Our God will be born where God will be born, but there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready God will come even to a godforsaken place like a stable in Bethlehem.
Watch…for you know not when God comes.
Watch, that you might be found whenever, wherever God comes.”

Have courage brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re on our way to Bethlehem. A journey of preparing the way for the coming of the Lord and of repentance. Bethlehem is a whole lot closer that you and I realize. And the good news of Jesus Christ is that, once we’ve been to Bethlehem, we will never be the same again. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 • Matthew 6:19-24 • November 15, 2015

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Brothers and sisters in Christ – stewards of God, disciples of Jesus – grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

How are you doing so far? We are in week four of our fall stewardship worship series Empowered by Grace! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the essays and bible studies that you’ve been taking home. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to view a few of the online bible study videos. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the Mission Moments about stewardship that your brothers and sisters in Christ have shared. Hopefully you’ve been able to hold your congregation in prayer as we’ve embarked on this journey of stewardship. Hopefully.

This is actually the first time in about five years that we have taken a journey through stewardship in such a direct way. So it continues to be my hope and prayer that through things like the Empowered by Grace! worship series, you and I will grow in relationship with God and each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I’ve always found it interesting when someone approaches me and says something like, “You know what pastor, that worship service was horrible. I didn’t get anything from it.” Or someone will say to me, “That was the worst bible study I’ve ever been too. I didn’t get anything out of that. What a complete waste of my time.”

I find these statements interesting and try to offer a response when I can because I think they reflect a serious spiritual issue in our lives. Sometimes I’ll offer, “I’m sorry that you don’t feel like you got anything from worship today. But I’m more concerned if you didn’t give anything during worship? After all, worship, for followers of Jesus, isn’t about getting something, it’s about us giving back to God for all that God gives to us.” Or I might say, “I’m sorry that you feel you didn’t get anything out of that bible study, but I hope you were able to give something during it – especially to the others who were there with you that may have been blessed by your thoughts.”

Brothers and sisters, you and I are recipients of God’s grace. Everything that we have ever been, are today, or ever will be is a gift from God. And everything that we have ever had, or have today, or ever will have is God’s…first. That is why we gather together in community to worship. That is why we are on a lifelong journey of learning and discovery as we listen together for God to speak to us through holy scripture.
Life in Christ is not about our selfish ambitions of getting. Life in Christ is about the selfless ambition of giving.

Do you know that Jesus spoke more often money about than any other topic? More often than prayer. More often than witnessing. Even more often than faith. Jesus spoke clearly and directly about money. And going beyond even Jesus’ teaching, the entire bible is filled with stories and teachings on the topic of money.

I think the reason why so much of scripture, and such a major focus of Jesus’ teaching, addresses the issue of money is because of this. Money and the ways in which we use money can have one of two outcomes – good or evil.

Let’s face it, money is one of the most powerful weapons that the devil uses to separate us from each other and from God. Throughout the history of creation money is used to destroy homes, consume businesses, overturn countries, divide churches, and darken the lives of people we claim to love.

So the challenge that I believe is before us today as we explore the theme Empowered by Grace to Give! is this. How is the way you and I handle the money God entrusts to us reflecting the abundant grace that God gives to us through a savior named Jesus? Is the use of our money tearing people and places apart? Dividing and conquering no matter the cost or the destruction to others. Or…is the use of our money building people and places up? Restoring wholeness and shining light where neither existed before.

As we think about how we are being empowered by God’s grace to give, what might that look like? Have our giving patterns and habits changed since we were teenagers? Or do our giving patterns and habits still reflect the image of a little child holding on tightly to a toy and yelling “mine!”

The statistics on giving in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and at Good Shepherd are quite striking. Across the ELCA, congregational members give an average of about 2% of their income to God’s work through the church. Based upon the median household income in Burleigh county and the number of members currently on the membership list at Good Shepherd, we don’t even come close to a 2% average. This is a deep spiritual issue in congregations like Good Shepherd. It remains a focus of much of my prayer life and study. And I’m not just concerned that we believe giving less than 1% to God’s life-changing work through the church we love is ok. I’m much more concerned with what we are doing with the other 90 or 95 or 99% of the income that God is entrusting to our care.

In verse 10 of our Old Testament reading today, we heard “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This is also vanity.”

The great theologian, and one of the leaders of the sixteenth century reformation, Martin Luther wrote a wonderful reflection about this section of King Solomon’s book Ecclesiastes . Nearly 500 years ago Luther wrote, “Solomon does not condemn riches, nor does he forbid that we acquire riches or food or drink. But he calls these things gifts of God in order to teach us to put down our anxieties; then we shall wait for all of these things from God by faith and when God wills shall surrender them with patience…Therefore riches are not to be rejected. Nor are they granted to us by God for the purpose of rejecting them or abstaining from them, but rather so that we use them and distribute them to the poor…Solomon intends to forbid vain anxieties, so that we may happily enjoy the things that are present and not care at all about the things that are in the future, lest we permit the present moment, our moment, to slip away.” [Luther’s Works 15:93]

Hopefully by now you’ve noticed the images that have been playing on the screens during worship. Brothers and sisters, these images are just a few hundred examples of the ways our financial giving is being used by God through Good Shepherd each and every day. It’s our moment.

If we give $1 of our money or an hour of our time in service we are not only blessed, we are also a blessing to those who we are sitting beside right now and millions of others around the world, including our brothers and sisters in Paris this weekend through Lutheran World Relief and Lutheran Disaster Response. Our giving through the church has that significant of an impact.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to look at the two giving charts that are part of the bible study packet you’ve been receiving as you leave worship, I encourage you to do so this week. Look at where your household rests in the Annual Congregational Giving of Good Shepherd. I invite you to prayerfully consider how God may be calling you in your future annual giving to support God’s ministry and mission through this congregation.
And also, take some time to look at the Empowered by Grace! First fruits Percentage Giving chart. Where does your household fall on this chart today? I invite you to prayerfully consider how God may be calling you to increase your weekly giving by 1 or 2% in the next year.

The images on the screen behind me, and the stories of the brothers and sisters in Christ who are part of those images, are possible because you and I are willing to support them with our prayer, our time, and our money. And whether you believe it or not, the ability to pray, the experience of time, and the freedom of the use of money are all gracious gifts from God. Because you know what, it all belongs to God.

As we gather for worship next week, the final week of our fall stewardship worship series, you and I will be invited to make a commitment to support God’s work taking place through Good Shepherd. To support this work with our prayer, our time, and our money. I look forward to how God will call us to respond. Because brother and sisters in Christ, you and I are empowered by God’s grace to give.

Please join me in prayer.
Good and gracious God, we give thanks for your generosity toward us, all that we have is yours. All that we ever will be is yours. You call us to live generously from all that we are given. Grant us loving and thankful hearts. May we continue to grow each day in what it means to be empowered by grace to give faithfully and generously. In Jesus’ name we pray. And all God’s children say, Amen.