Bishop Craig Schweitzer

Mark 7:24-37 • September 6, 2015

Click here to view a video recording of this sermon.

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

Believe it or not, Labor Day is not a High Holy Festival Day in the global Christian church. It’s not something that is celebrated throughout the world. And after all, what we do every day for our work or with our friends and family has nothing to do with what we do when we are inside of a church building, right? Many of you might even be familiar with the ancient saying “what happens in church, stays in church.”

But just as Jesus always does, Jesus shows up and shows us something completely different. In my own journey as a steward of God and a disciple of Jesus, I believe more and more deeply every day that what you and I do in our daily life can never be separated from who we are as children of God – especially if we are actually living out our lives as people who claim to be followers of the risen savior Jesus.

So, the first question that I’ve wondered this week is…what do you do? Are you a teacher? Or a father? Or a lawyer? Or a friend? Or a banker? Or a retired office manager? Or a student? Or a fast-food cook?

And the second question I’ve wondered this week is…why do you do what you do? Do you work 60 hours a week at your job so you can live in a big house, drive a fancy car, own vacation property – things that help you remember just how great you are? In other words, is the intention of your labor ONLY about serving yourself – my needs, my wants, my desires?

If we look to Jesus, which is something that we probably should do once in a while, the way we answer questions like that shift dramatically when Jesus is part of the answer. You see, when Jesus is part of the things that we do, we will see these things not just as something that we are forced to do in order to make our rent or mortgage payment. And when Jesus is part of the why we do the things that we do, we will see that why we do the things we do is because we are called by God to do them. Many theologians call this vocation.

You and I are called by God into vocation. Vocation lived out daily as teachers, students, mothers, retirees. And there is not one of us sitting in this room today who is called by God into only one vocation. All of us live out multiple vocations each and every day.

Brothers and sisters, first of all, if we believe that we are called by God into vocations, then at the very core of our life together in Christ – we cannot live one way during the week and another way when we step into a church building.

And secondly, if we take seriously the example that Jesus places before us today – our vocations are never focused on our own selfish interests. Our vocations always call us to serve. And serving is not always going to mean what we think it means. We will be called upon to serve people who may not be sitting next to us in the pew. And, are you ready for this…you and I may even be called upon to serve someone who is different than us. Jesus demonstrates this in our gospel reading by healing a Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. A gentile woman. An outsider. Someone who is different in every way, shape, and form from Jesus’ inner circle of followers.

It is such a tremendous blessing that Good Shepherd was invited to join thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ this weekend with the Order for Confession & Forgiveness that began our worship today. We began with the words “Gracious God, we thank you for making one human family of all the peoples of the earth and for creating all the wonderful diversity of cultures.” In all of the vocations that you and I are called to serve, isn’t it amazing that we get to serve God’s creation in all of its beauty and diversity?

I don’t know if you were paying attention yet in worship, but I hope you enjoyed the cell phone video that was played as we gathered. I know the video quality is bad, but that’s not what’s important or what I hoped you’d pay attention to – the song that was being sung and the woman singing it is what I was hoping you’d notice.

It was a hymn made famous by Mahalia Jackson and sung here by Mary Harris Gurley at a worship service I participated in in July at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Gurley, is now well into her 90’s. She is a lifelong member of Ebenezer. She witnessed the birth of the civil rights movement unfold right outside her front porch. She was invited by Coretta Scott King to sing at the funeral worship of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because she was one of the favorite singers of the King family.

The words Ms. Gurley sang were, “If I can help somebody as I travel along. If I can help somebody in word or a song. If I can bring a little beauty to a world gone wrong. If I can spread the Lord’s message as the master calls, then my living shall not be in vain.”

On July 21, 2015, my sister in Christ Mary Harris Gurley reminded me of the importance of vocation in our life together in Christ. A reminder that vocation is never a call to serve only me. And in the seventh chapter of the gospel of Mark, I believe that Jesus is once again reminding us what all our vocations are about, to serve.

The 7th chapter of the gospel of Saint Mark is a turning point so to speak in Jesus’ ministry and mission. Not just a turning point toward the cross, but a turning point in why and even who Jesus came to save. In Mark 7, we see clearly that God did not send Jesus only to save an inner circle of disciples or rich people in the temple. We see clearly that God did not send Jesus to serve God’s self, but to serve all of God’s children. Yes, Jesus came for the disciples and for the children of Israel. But Jesus also came for a Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. And for you. And for me.

I was so thankful that Pastor Pam took us back to the waters of baptism last week at the end of her sermon. I’m thankful for that reminder, because it is there that we are renewed each day in the vocations that God’s call us to serve. As one theologian offered this week, “The waters of baptism wash away all distinctions. Like streams breaking forth in the desert, these waters surprise us with mercy in unexpected places. These waters open our eyes, unstop our ears, and loose our tongues to see, hear, and speak God’s partiality for the poor, the weak, and the outcast. Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, the Spirit fills us with faith – a faith active in showing mercy that knows no limits.”

I don’t know, maybe we should start seeing Labor Day more like a high holy day of the Christian church after-all. You and I have been called into vocations that are active and alive in the world today. Vocations from God that have no limits to the ways in which we can give and grow and serve. Brothers and sisters in Christ, may you be blessed as you live out the vocations that God is calling you to live out each day of this week and may others be blessed by your service. Thanks be to God. Amen.

John 6:35-51

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

It is so good to be back with you. As I have returned from sabbatical this week and worked my way through a mountain of mail and more than 3,500 emails, I have been reminded over and over again what a tremendous blessing it is to be called to serve alongside each other through this place we call Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Thank you for the gift of sabbatical that you offer to the pastors who serve this congregation and thank you for being you – children of God who are not afraid to step outside of the box once in a while in order to fulfill our mission together to “share the Shepherd’s love with all of God’s children.”

Earlier this year, as I was preparing to begin my first sabbatical experience I asked for wisdom from several clergy colleagues, mentors, and former professors who have had sabbatical experiences before I began my own sabbatical journey. Without question their common response to a sabbatical was, “you need to be open to the rhythm of the new schedule.” I didn’t really know that meant initially. After visiting 17 states and logging more than 9,000 miles in my Subaru, I think I’m beginning to understand what my colleagues and mentors meant when they said I needed to be open to the rhythm of a new schedule. And I think that this idea speaks to all aspects of our life together in Christ – not just during the days of sabbatical.

Maybe you’ve noticed this. Maybe you haven’t been to worship enough this summer to notice. Our worship has settled into the rhythm of the schedule that Jesus offers us in the 6^th chapter of John over the past several weeks.

Jesus says “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” I will be so bold to say that you and I who are followers of the risen savior Jesus the Christ claim to believe that statement. We believe that God sent Jesus to live among us. Very simply put, God came to us. God with us. The rhythm of the relationship we have with God is God making the move, not us. As stewards of God, disciples of Jesus – we do not go to God. God comes to us – always has and always will. How does the movement of God fit into the rhythm of our schedule? When you and I first wake up to begin a new day, what impact does our belief that God comes down have as we enter each new day?

Before I really thought about or tried to live by being open to the rhythm of the new schedule that God coming to us in Jesus brings, I have to admit it – most of the time I acted and sounded a lot more like the community in our gospel reading today. They complained. Complained. Am I open to the rhythm of Jesus in my life – the new schedule that begins and ends with God coming for me in Jesus. Or – am I just complaining.

So I want to share this with you today. One of the most significant transformations that I experienced during this three month sabbatical as steward of God, a disciple of Jesus, who also happens to be blessed to be one of your pastors is this – complaining has gotten me and will continue to get me nowhere. I don’t know, maybe that speaks to you today too?

You see, the good news of Jesus, the good news of being open to the rhythm of a new schedule, is not about complaining until we get our way or have God contained in the boxes we think God should exist. The good news of Jesus, is that the savior of the world, the living bread that came down from heaven, came for you. And for me.

I was at a worship conference with Bishop Craig Satterlee a few weeks ago in Atlanta. In one workshop, he shared a story about an experience he had during the ELCA’s National Youth Gathering in Detroit this summer. Bishop Satterlee and another ELCA bishop were assigned to stand at a large baptismal font in the Cobo Center and offer a baptismal remembrance ritual to youth that walked by the font.

As I share this story with you, it’s important to paint a little picture of this setting, because Cobo Center was far from intimate and quiet. It  is a huge convention center in downtown Detroit and one of the central locations for more than 30,000 high school students attending the gathering. It’s also important to remind you that these 30,000 young people are Lutheran youth. Doing something like voluntarily coming up to a large baptismal font with a couple odd looking men, we call them bishops, in order to participate in a ritual is not nearly as exciting as riding the zip-line that was nearby.

Needless to say, business was slow for the bishops at the baptismal font. So they decided to take a different strategy. They literally started yelling – “You, come over here!” to people who walked by the font and even grabbing onto the t-shirts of kids and adult leaders and dragging them to the font. At the font they placed a little water on their fore-heads and said something like, “Beloved child of God, remember that in your baptism you have been marked with the cross of Christ and sealed with the Holy Spirit forever.”

That’s pretty cool, right. And it would be a great story of witnessing the living bread that came down from heaven if we stopped right there. But that’s not the end of the story. While the bishops were calling kids to come to the font and offering them a blessing, others in the Cobo Center were watching – namely several of the Cobo Center employees who were working in security and maintenance. At the end of the day, several of these employees walked up to the bishops, took off their hats, and asked if what they were doing at the font with the youth and adult leaders was only for those who were participating in the youth gathering or if they could be part of it too. Yes, was Bishop Satterlee’s reply – this is for you too. And so, as tears rolled down faces, water was poured, and blessings were shared.

In a commentary on today’s gospel reading, this same bishop offers us these thoughts. Bishop Satterlee wrote, “The risk of setting out on the journey, which is trusting and following Jesus, is that, even when we think we have a map or a plan, we do not really know where we are going or where we will end up.

The good news is that Jesus, rather than our knowledge and understanding, is the source of our calling and the source of our strength. What makes it good news is that, in those moments when we understandably have enough of this life that we cannot trust Jesus, Jesus has not had enough of us. So, rather than turning to our knowledge, perhaps we can turn to Jesus, recognizing that we cannot have enough of him.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is the living bread come down from heaven for you. For me. Jesus is the life-giving rhythm of each new day.

May you be blessed as you open yourself to the rhythm of the new schedule that is our life together in Christ. And may you be a blessing as you share that good news with everyone God places in your life this week. Thanks be to God. Amen.