These reflections are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page, if on a computer, or near the bottom of the page, if viewing on a mobile device. Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of these reflections. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. You are invited to use the message below for personal devotion as well as prompts for sermon writing. 

April 5- Palm Sunday

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Preaching to a camera or a livestream is no easy task, so before we dive into the text, let me say a few things from a preaching perspective.

First, give yourself lots of grace. These are weird times, and no one can plan for this.

Second, do the best you can with what you have. Whether you’re in full vestments in an empty sanctuary, a talking head in your living room, or even just a voice on an audio recording uploaded to a church website, don’t fret too much about what everyone else is doing. You do the best you can.

Finally, as we’re heading headlong into Holy Week, these are rough waters. Holy Week is an embodied week for the church and really is experienced in and through our bodies and other bodies. Figuring out a way to do some of what this week embodies when we’re all finally able to get back together may be important for you, and for your community.

Ok, on to the text we go.

If you decide to preach from Isaiah for Palm Sunday, you will find an abundance of themes that intersect both with the holy day and our current situation.

The prophet begins with, “The Lord God has given me…” which can be a good segue if you’re doing a livestream with audience participation, into a naming of gifts that people can lift up in these days. Invite the congregation to follow Isaiah’s lead and name gifts God has given. They can list them in the chat thread during a livestream or write them down on a piece of paper if following along with a recording.

Isaiah then continues to note that God cajoles the people to wake every morning and to “listen as those who are taught.” How can we be attentive, even in these strange days, to what the Divine is saying to and through us? And, in light of this festival day, how can we be attentive to what Jesus is saying, both in his words and in his actions, as he rides into Jerusalem atop a donkey? What is God in Jesus saying about humility here? What is God in Jesus saying about the journey? How are we, in these days, able to figuratively, and perhaps literally, take off our coat and cut our palm branches and spread them on the ground, making the path easier for others?

One of the points about social distancing is that it makes the road of life safer for the most vulnerable populations in these pandemic days. By pausing our routines, sacrificing school or finances, and fasting from social interaction, we are helping to “flatten the curve” so that the most vulnerable among us may be safer. How does this exemplify serving and honoring Jesus by serving and honoring our neighbors?

Finally, the prophet ends with a reminder that it is the Lord God who helps them and entreats us to remember that, though we may be going without for a little while, we are not going alone.  God continues to walk in the midst of us, to guide us, to help us…and so we are not without help and aid.

As Joseph Sittler notes in Gravity and Grace, the “authority of the Scripture has to depend on the text’s internal congruity with the human pathos” (p. 47).  In other words: it must speak to this time, now.  And I dare say that, although this is Palm Sunday, this is for many people the “Third Sunday after Social Distancing”…and maybe the fourth, depending on where you are located.

Preach accordingly.

Matthew 21:1-11

Here’s the decision on every Palm/Passion Sunday, whether you are physically in the parish or virtual: which Gospel to preach on?

Let me make a recommendation.

If you decide to do the Passion Story, which is wonderful, go ahead and recruit some readers ahead of time, and split it into parts to read.  This works especially well if you’re able to record it in the sanctuary as a group of 4 (keeping an appropriate distance, of course), or could work equally well if you’re doing a video conference, with four different persons taking the roles. You could also record it ahead of time and edit the clips together or consider asking your youth to make a video representation of the story by filming clips from their homes. There are many good ways to split up this long part of Matthew’s Gospel.  Choose a way that makes sense, and go with it, and that should serve as the “sermon” for the Sunday.

If you’re choosing not to go that route and want to preach on the “Entry into Jerusalem” text offered from Matthew 21, there is also plenty to go on for a homily.

One of the considerations here is figuring out how many of your parishioners will be around to view/hear the Good Friday narrative.  If many will tune in, go with the Palm Sunday “Entry into Jerusalem.”  If not, go with the Passion.

The following will assume you chose the Matthew 21 text.

The question, to begin with is: “What is God saying to your people, with this Palm Sunday text, now?”

An entry might be to acknowledge that, without palms and a procession, it doesn’t feel a whole lot like Palm Sunday, right?

Except we have many processions going on at the moment.

Many of our parishioners have just processed to the ballot box, or have been told that their ballot procession will be delayed until this pandemic is in the past.

Many of our parishioners have processed to the grocery store to stock up on staples, and what is a parade when you’re mandated to stay six feet apart?!  It’s no parade at all…

There are many processions to lift up, even in these times, as our communities are in the diaspora.

And that might be a great place to start, by the way, noting that we are in the parade, the march of the faithful, even in the diaspora.

Ancient Judaism made such a claim when Babylon shipped them off to parts near and far. Our Christian heritage is not one that is unaccustomed to having the procession of the faithful in spirit rather than body, and we can note that honestly on this day.

We wave our palm branches in a long procession of the faithful, both present and long departed, believing that the thing that connects us is not proximity, but rather the God who knows no such thing as “social distancing.”

In Jesus, God is extremely close, even acutely close.

And we have the duty, on this Palm Sunday, to walk ahead of the Christ processing into our reality, exclaiming, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”  Because even as we are a part, we are brought together in our praise for the God seen in Jesus.

And take the moment to expand upon this reality, because every Sunday the church gathers not just with those who are within the walls, but also those who are across the continents, in the fields, in the valleys, in those places we never think of on a pedestrian Sunday morning. ELCA World Hunger continually invites us to consider our neighbor far away and unseen, and on this Sunday when even our closest neighbors are far away and unseen, we are once again invited to consider the distant neighbor, reminding us that this, and every Sunday, we are in the long procession of the faithful.

God always connects us.  Always.  Not just when we are practicing conscious social distancing, but also in those times when we don’t even perceive that we are distant from one another. Hosanna, indeed!

Children’s Message

Online children’s messages can’t reliably lean on congregational participation, especially if the kids aren’t old enough to type in a chat box, or if you’re incapable of hearing them.  I’m going to assume that you’re recording this for them to experience online.

Have an ELW nearby to teach a processional song and have a branch or a limb from a tree (it doesn’t need to be a palm tree) to wave. You could even cut one out of construction paper.

Hi everyone!

I know we’re not in person together for this, but you have people in your homes that can help you with what I’m going to ask you to do.

Today is Palm Sunday, and it’s a day for parades. So, what I want you to do is ask your parent, grandparent, or whoever is with you, to cut off a branch or a limb from a bush or a tree to wave around.  And (if you made one from construction paper) you could even create one like this!

Show a sample branch and include simple instructions on how to create it.

Now, today is a day for a parade, like I said, so I want you to walk either in your home, or if you want, up and down you drive-way or even street, waving your branch up and down.  And I want you to sing this song with me!

For this portion, you can choose a song to sing from the ELW that has a short, simple refrain.  The chorus from the traditional Palm Sunday processional “All Glory Laud and Honor” (ELW 344) is easy enough to sing.  You can even sing the verses, and encourage them to join you on the refrain.

Another option could be to make up your own refrain or take one from another Augsburg resource that incorporates “Hosanna! In the Highest!”

And you all: don’t be afraid to get silly! It’s a parade, after all, where we celebrate Jesus and his work in our lives.

If we can’t be near one another, let’s all have a parade at the same time!  Send me videos of your parades, singing this song, and waving your branches!

Post the videos, with permission, to your social media sites.

Sylvia Alloway, Granada Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

Is the Coronavirus really a threat to ordinary Americans? Do we actually need to take the inconvenient prevention measures many health and government officials suggest (staying at home, cancelling group events, keeping a distance between yourself and others, etc.)?  Why or why not?

But Seriously…

In January of this year an unusual disease suddenly began infecting people in China. Medical researchers discovered that it was caused by a new viral strain, which they called the Coronavirus. At first, the sickness seemed limited to China. Why worry, thought the rest of the world.  And then it began to spread across nations alarmingly fast. The Big Question:  How serious is the threat?  On the face of it, some say, “not very.” Compared with the entire world population, relatively few get sick and even fewer  die. Young people rarely contract it.  Why the big fuss? There is all manner of advice and information available. Whom do we believe? 

Some people from Italy, where the outbreak has led to a nationwide quarantine, decided to tell others how serious the virus really is. In a video, ten ordinary Italians of all ages tell the world what they would have said about the illness ten days ago, had they known what reality would bring. Here are some quotes:

“A whole nation stuck at home. Didn’t see that coming, huh?”

 “We’ve seen some worrisome videos… of people not taking this thing seriously.”

“Just being able to breathe air in your own house is something you should already be grateful for.”

“So maybe re-think your Saturday night plans.”

Watch the video here: (Contains strong language)

So, the threat is real. Seriously.

Discussion Questions

• Did any one of the comments made in the video stand out to you? Which one and why?
• Since young people seldom catch this disease, why should they follow guidelines for slowing its spread?
• The world is worried. God tells us that we needn’t worry, because God is in charge. With this in mind, how can Christians deal spiritually and emotionally with this crisis?

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Romans 8:6-11

John 11:1-45

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

A dear friend is very sick, and his relatives reach out to you. Please, come! What will you do? Most likely, you’ll drop everything and rush to be with your friends. So, Jesus’ reaction to the news about Lazarus is puzzling. We are told that he loved this family. Then why did he stay where he was for two more days, instead of hurrying to heal his friend, as he had done for perfect strangers? Was it because Bethany, where Lazarus and his sisters lived, was only a few miles from Jerusalem, where the authorities were waiting to kill him? Did he somehow know that Lazarus would get better? (When he says that Lazarus is only asleep, his disciples assume that’s what he means.) Jesus tells us the answer from the very first. He waits for God’s timing, because God will be glorified by this illness and death. Wait, what? 

Three times God’s timing is questioned. Each sister laments that Jesus did not come soon enough to heal their brother. The mourners who have come to comfort the family wonder why the person who healed a blind man (see John 9:1-34) did not come in time to save a loved one. 

Martha is grieving, but she is not faithless. She believes that there will be a final resurrection and more importantly that Jesus is the Son of God. We hear the Lord’s famous declaration “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”

What an impossibly wonderful statement! When Lazarus is raised, God will be glorified. Eventually he will die again. And yet he lives! God is glorified in death, in life, and finally in the greatest resurrection ever. Jesus will raise all believers together when he returns.

Jesus calls Lazarus back and God is glorified. Many of the mourners who witness this astounding miracle believe in Jesus, the resurrection and the life himself.

Pandemic illness is terrible, ugly, and frightening. Ignoring it will not make it go away. We can’t help but ask, “What is God doing?” Like Mary and Martha, we think our timing is better than God’s and suffering can’t possibly be turned to good. Like the disciples and the sisters, we must wait with Jesus. And if we do, we will see him glorified, and we will never really die.

Discussion Questions

• In Italy, where everyone must stay isolated from others, the residents of an apartment building all came out on their balconies and began to make music together. What do you think motivated them to do this? In what way can affliction either turn people against each other or bring them together?
• If someone you know decided that they would not take any of the precautions which the medical establishment suggests, how would you convince them otherwise? Build an argument based on facts.

Activity Suggestions

• Play the story game. Start with a single sentence, for example, “Garth’s grandfather was sick.” Each person in the class adds a sentence. The point of the story is to show how God brings glory out of suffering.
• Using video equipment or a phone, take the argument from the discussion question and turn it into a recorded public service announcement. Encourage students to act out a scene, rather than simply standing and talking. 

Closing Prayer

All loving, whose care for us is unfailing, use us to show others how you can bring good from evil and joy from suffering.  May our faith in the coming resurrection give us the compassion and courage we need to bring Christ’s love to the world. Be with those who are sick, isolated, or fearful. Strengthen them with your love.  Amen

 

By Ruth Ivory-Moore, ELCA Program Director for Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility

“Psalm 104 celebrates the way in which water pours… This flowing water serves, in the psalm, as a sign of God’s overflowing blessings on creation, pouring down from God to the earth and giving life to creatures,” writes Benjamin M. Stewart in A Watered Garden: Christian Worship and Earth’s Ecology (p. 28).

Raising awareness of the impact of climate change on the water supply is the goal this year of World Water Day, observed March 22. The United Nations’ secretary general writes: “Climate Change exacerbates the lack of availability of water. Today, some 2.2 billion people lack safe drinking water and 4.2 billion people live without access to adequate sanitation. Unless we act with urgency, the impacts of climate change are projected to exacerbate these figures.” Climate change is changing our landscape, and water is showing us its power seen by devastating effects of floods and coastline erosion.

Water is powerful, and it is our lifeline. World Water Day can also remind us of its magnificence. These photos* tell of that magnificence.

 

Water holds a sacred place in our relationship with God.

 

All of creation…

 

…depends on water for survival.

 

Water plays a crucial role in almost every aspect of the global and domestic economy. Farms use a large amount of water. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, agriculture is a major user of ground and surface water in the U.S., accounting for approximately 80% of the nation’s consumptive water use and over 90% in many western states.

 

Water presents a place of solace as it acts as a natural mirror to surrounding landscape.

 

God’s gift of water makes available incredible sustainability powers** to all creation.

 

We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and by your Word you created the world, calling forth life in which you took delight. – Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 230

 

---

*PHOTO CREDIT: Chuck Moore (Random Snap Photography)

**Find more in the ELCA Advocacy resource “Caring for God’s creation: Stewarding the gift of water“

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• See the ELCA Public Health page for congregational resources.

Sermón

Francisco Javier Goitía Padilla

Capilla IELA – 19 de Febrero de 2020

Mateo 5:21-37

Gracia y paz del Uno y Trino Dios

por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.

 

Esta es la segunda ocasión que vivo en Chicago.

Del 2001 al 2005 viví en Hyde Park.

 

Ahora vivo en West Dundee,

y viajo todos los días al trabajo aquí en el Centro Luterano.

 

Una diferencia entre Chicago y Puerto Rico

es la manera en que damos direcciones.

 

Chicago es una ciudad cuadriculada.

Las calles son líneas rectas y perpendiculares.

Aquí, cuando usted pregunta,

¿cómo llego al Parque Milenial?,

la gente contesta de la siguiente manera:

Vaya hacia el Norte por tres cuadras,

luego al Este por cuatro cuadras,

y encontrará el parque paralelo a la Avenida Michigan.

 

En Puerto Rico no damos direcciones así.

 

Si uste pregunta en Puerto Rico, ¿dónde está el parque de béisbol?

Las personas le contestan más o menos así:

Siga derecho por un buen rato, hasta que encuentre un palo[1] de mangó.

Cuando llegue al palo de mango, vire a la izquierda.

Siga drecho hasta que encuentre tres muertos[2].

Después del tercer muerto va a ver una casa amarilla a su izquierda.

Vire a la izquierda y pregúntele a alguien en la esquina.

Allí le ayudarán.

 

La manera en que damos direcciones es importante.

Ellas nos ayudan, o no, a llegar a un lugar seguro.

 

El texto de Mateo esta mañana nos provee direcciones.

Pueden ser direcciones cuadradas y perpendiculares,

o más aventureras, las cuales nos llevan a un nuevo lugar

mientras nos deleitamos con un rico olor a mangó.

 

Creo que esta es gran dificultad que enfrentamos hoy.

Cómo obtenemos direcciones. Cómo intepretamos.

Este texto de Mateo. La Iglesia. El país dónde vivimos.

 

Necesitamos discernir una hermenéutica que produzca vida,

Y que esta vida sea una abundante.

 

El marco hermenéutico general de hoy son las bienaventuranzas.

Bienaventuradas las personas…pobres, humildes, compasivas.

 

Este marco hermenéutico general nos dice

que Jesús aquí nos está sofocándonos con un literalismo rígido

• con líneas rectas y perpendiculares    –

sino retándonos con una ética intensificada.

 

Con una etica liberadora.

 

El texto de Mateo nos presenta cuatro situaciones

dirigidas a las personas que tienen poder,

para protegenr a quiénes no lo tienen.

 

Para que las personas bienaventuradas

sean dignificadas y protegidas.

Aquellas que lloran. Las pacificadoras.

Las perseguidas por causa de la justicia.

 

El texto comienza hablando de hermanos y hermanas.

Se dirige a la familia, a la comunidad, a la iglesia.

 

Nos matar es dignificar.

No matar es no destruir, no promover la violencia,

no abusar ni despreciar a nadie.

 

Martín Lutero explica el quinto mandamiento

de esta manera en el Catecismo Mayor:

Primeramente que no se hará mal a nadie, en primer término, ni con la mano,

ni con la acción. Después, que no se use la lengua para causar daño al prójimo, hablando o dando consejos malignos. Además, no se emplearán ni se consentirán medios o maneras de ninguna clase que pudieran ofender a alguien. Y, finalmente, que el corazón no sea enemigo de nadie ni desee el mal por ira o por odio, de tal modo que el cuerpo y el alma sean inocentes con respecto a cualquiera y especialmente con respecto a quien te desea o haga el mal.

 

Nuestras palabras y acciones deben invitar a la familia, a la comunidad

y todas las personas a la mesa del Señor.

 

Quiénes tienen poder, quienes pueden,

llegan a la mesa pensando solo en ellos mismos.

Quiénes piensan que pueden vivir sin comunidad,

quiénes creen que con sus recursos pueden vivir sin los demás,

deben pensar y actuar de otra manera.

 

Debemos añadir, no excluir, gente a la mesa.

 

El texto continúa, ahora dirigiéndose a la situación de las mujeres.

Atiende asuntos de objetivación.

Denuncia abusos y privilegios.

 

El poder en nuestra sociedad,

y en la sociedad de los tiempos bíblicos,

está en manos de los hombres.

Po la ley. Por la cultura. Por la fuerza.

 

Quiénes desean, quiénes lujurian, aquí, son los hombres.

Hombres con poder. Hombres que pueden.

Hombres que se salen con la suya.

 

Porque sí.

 

Jesús lo sabe, e intensifica su ética.

 

Si tu ojo derecho mira con deseos inapropiados y hace que abuses a una mujer,

Sácatelo y bótalo.

 

Si usas tu mano para sobar sin permiso una mujer

Como si fuera una libra de pan,

Córtatela y bótala.

 

Si extendemos esta hermenéutica en su dirección liberadora,

Podemos decir que las mujeres no son objeto de la lujuria ni del deseo de nadie.

 

Podemos decir, hoy, que las mujeres son libres.

Libres para hacer. Para vestir. Para decidir.

 

Ellas no necesitan protección ni permiso. Necesitan poder.

Necesitan afirmar lo que YA consiguieron.

Más parece que, en estos días que vivimos,

aún necesitan que defendamos lo que ellas han logrado

y por lo que tanto han luchado.

 

Como Jesús,

que las protegé en su comentario acerca del divorcio.

 

De la misma forma que los hombres usaban, y usan, la ley,

para controlar y objetivizar a la mujer,

así mismo usaban, y usan, su poder para casarse y divorciarse.

 

En este texto de Mateo,

Jesús amarra a los hombres al matrimonio, para defender las mujeres.

 

Las proteje de la pobreza y la marginalización.

Las cuida para que no queden indefensas ni lugar social.

Expuestas a la burla y el chisme.

 

Porque el divorcio, para las mujeres,

significaba marcarlas y olvidarlas socialmente.

 

Porteger y cuidar, como Jesús lo hace en este texto,

Significa hoy paga igual por igual trabajo.

Significa las mismas oportunidades por las mismas competencias.

 

Proteger y cuidar, como Jesús lo hace en este texto,

significa, hoy, defender y luchar por los derechos y dignidad

de todo ser humano que es usado y esquineado por el patriarcado.

 

Significa abrazar a quiénes sienten que tienen que ser invisibles para sobrevivir.

 

Como ven, dar direcciones es complicado.

Es un asunto de poder y control.

 

Dar direcciones es ayudar a decidir hacia dónde y cómo dirigir a las personas,

si de norte a sur transitando popr calles rectas y perpendiculares,

o si llegamos al parque de beísbol sobellevando muertos en la carretera.

 

El texto de hoy termina con Jesús hablándonos acerca de juramentos.

Del poder de la palabra empeñada.

Se trata de contratos. De acuerdos laborales y sociales.

 

Jesús nos dice que nuestro ‘sí’ sea ‘sí’, y que nuestro ‘no’ sea ‘no’.

 

Quiénes podían cambiar su ‘sí’ a ‘no’ y su ‘no’ a ‘sí’,

quiénes podían manipular sus juramentos,

eran, y son, los dueños de los contratos.

 

Esos que nos hacen firmar sin leer.

Que nos hacen firmar porque no tenemos alternativa.

Esos que manosean el sistema.

Jesús nivela la mesa.

No se puede cambiar. El ‘sí’ es ‘sí’ y el ‘no’ es ‘no’.

Aún para quienes están acostumbrados a cambiar su palabra para beneficiarse.

Aún para quienes tienen padrinos que los bautizan[3].

 

Jesús nos exhorta a que nuestras acciones confirmen nuestras palabras.

Jesús nos llama a que nuestro lenguaje sea inclusivo.

 

No nos escondamos en nuestras palabras ni en vana propaganda.

 

No usemos nuestras influencias para sacar ventaja de la gente,

O para beneficiarnos, o benenficiar a un amigo o familiar, a cualquier costo.

 

Que nuestro ‘sí’ sea ‘sí’, y nuestro ‘no’, ‘no’.

 

Que nuestras relaciones y la manera en que somos sociedad

Se fundamente en la verdad.

En lo que realmente es.

 

No decidamos leyes laborales, mores sociales, o nuestro futuro común,

A partir de la manipulación, o santificación, de data nebulosa.

 

Que nuestras relaciones se fundamenten en la honestidad y el carácter.

En integridad y esperanza.

 

Martin Luther King. Hijo, lo dijo de esta manera:

El ser humano debe desarrolla un método para lidiar

Con los conflictos que rechase la venganza, la violencia y el desquite.

El fundamente de un étodo así es el amor.[4]

 

Y dijo más:

He decidido aferrarme al amor.

El odio es un peso muy grande para cargar.[5]

Hermanos y hermanas,

nuestra vocación hermenéutica hoy

es la manera en que damos direcciones.

 

No es un asunto de literalismos rígidos.

Se trata de desafiar con esperanzada a partir de una ética intensificada.

 

Esta hermenéutica liberadora,

está ética intensificada, es la cruz, en medio nuestro,

proveyendo lugar seguro para quiénes no tienen poder.

Un lugar seguro para quiénes les quitan lo poco que tienen.

 

Es la oportunidad de aventurarnos a viajar a nuevos lugares

difrutando el olor de los mangoes a la orilla del camino.

 

Las bienaventuranzas lo dicen bien:

Bienaventurados sois cuando por mi causa os vituperen y os persigan,

y digan toda clase de mal contra vosotros, mintiendo.

Gozaos y alegraos, porque vuestro galardón es grande en los cielos;

porque así persiguieron a los profetas que fueron antes de vosotros.

 

Amén.

 

Información biográfica:

Francisco Javier Goitía Padilla es pastor ordenado del Sínodo del Caribe de la IELA. Ha trabajado como pastor en Puerto Rico y Chicago. Actualmente trabaja como Director de Formación Teológica para Seminarios y Escuelas de la IELA Trabajó como profesor de homilética y teología sistemática en el Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico del 2005 al 2017.

 

 

[1]               Árbol.

[2]               Regulador de velocidad. Tiene diferentes nombres en diferentes países: guardias tumbados, rompemuelles, lomo de burro, policia acostado, topes, etc. En inglés es speed bump.

[3]               Este es un refrán popular. Ver https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=58681&Lng=0.

[4]            Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. Traducción mía.

[5]            I have decided to stick with love.Hate is too great a burden to bear. Traducción mía.

 

Full Sermon

By: Francisco Javier Goitía Padilla

ELCA Chapel – February 19, 2020

Matthew 5:21-37

 

Grace to you from the One and Triune God,

Forever and ever. Amen.

 

This is my second time in Chicago.

I lived in Hyde Park from 2001-2005.

 

Now I live in West Dundee

And commute to the Lutheran Center.

 

One of the many things different here than in Puerto Rico

Is the way people give directions.

 

Chicago is a square, filled with straight lines.

So when you ask, where is Millennium Park?,

People say:

Go North three blocks,

then East four blocks,

And you will find it right parallel to Michigan Avenue.

 

You do not give directions like that in Puerto Rico.

 

 

If you ask, where is the baseball park?

They will lead you more or less this way:

Go straight for a while ‘till you get to the mango tree.

 

When you get to the mango tree, then turn left.

Keep straight and you will find three speed bumps.

After the third speed bump,

you will find a yellow house at your right.

Turn left and ask a guy at the corner bar.

He will help you there. —

The way we give directions is important.

They will help us, or not, to find a safe place.

 

Today we have some directions in Matthew’s text.

We either get them straight to form a square,

Or smell the mango tree on an adventure to new places.

 

This is the conundrum today, I think.

How to get directions. How to interpret.

In this text. In church. In this country.

 

We need to discern which hermeneutics is life-giving.

 

The larger interpretive framework today is the beatitudes.

Blessed are you…the poor, the meek, the merciful.

 

This larger hermeneutical framework tells us

That Jesus is not suffocating us with a rigid literalism,

With squares and straight lines,

But challenging us with an intensified ethics.

 

With a liberating ethics.

 

Today’s text presents us four situations addressed to people that can,

To protect those who can’t.

 

For the blessed ones to be dignified.

Those who mourn. The peacemakers.

Those persecuted because of righteousness.

 

The text begins with brothers and sisters.

With family, community and church.

 

Not to murder is to dignify.

Not to murder is not destroy, not to do violence, not to abuse or dismiss anyone.

 

 

Explaining the fifth commandment in the Large Catechism,

Luther said:

We should not harm anyone, either by hand or deed.

We should not use our tongue to advocate or advise harming anyone.

We should harbor not hostility nor malice against anyone.

 

We must invite family, community and friends to the table.

We need to invite them with our words and deeds.

 

Those who can, come to the table

Without thinking in anyone but themselves.

Those who think they can live without others,

Need to think and act otherwise.

 

We should add, not divide. —

 

The text continues with women.

It deals with objectivization.

It denounces abuse and entitlement.

 

Power is on the side of men.

By force, by law and by culture.

 

The ones who lust, here, are men.

Powerful men. Because they can.

And get away with it.

 

Jesus knows, and intensifies his ethics.

If your right eye causes you to abuse women,

Tear it out and throw it away.

 

If your hand causes you to use women as a commodity,

Cut it off and throw it away.

 

 

 

 

If we extend this hermeneutics in its liberating direction,

We can say women are not objects of desire nor lust.

 

We can say, today, that women are free.

Free to do. Free to dress. Free to decide.

 

They should not need protection.

Yet it is apparent that even today in the 21^st century they still do.

 

As Jesus protected them in his comment about divorce. —

 

As men used the law to control and objectify women,

They also used their power to marry and get divorced.

Jesus bound men to the law to protect women.

To protect women from poverty and marginalization.

 

To protect, today, is equal pay for equal job.

Equal opportunities for equal competencies.

 

To protect, today,

May be to safeguard the rights and dignity

Of every human being

Who is used and ostracized by patriarchy.

 

Who feels the need to become invisible to survive. –

 

You see, to give directions is tricky.

It is a matter of power and control.

 

We decide how and where to lead.

If to the north or south through a straight line,

Or to the baseball park surpassing speed bumps. –

 

Jesus’ last advice today is about oaths.

To speak about oaths is to speak about contracts.

It is to speak about labor and societal agreements.

 

Let our word be “Yes, yes” or “No, no”.

 

The ones who can change their “yes to no” and their “no to yes”

Were the ones who owned the contracts.

The ones who can manipulate the system.

 

Jesus leveled the field.

 

Let’s commit our words to our actions.

Our language to inclusion.

Let’s not hide in small print or in propaganda.

 

Let’s not use our influences to take advantage of people,

Or to benefit our clan at all cost.

Let our word be “Yes, yes” or “No, no”.

 

Let our relationships be sustained by the truth. By what it is.

 

Let not decide our labor relationships, our societal mores,

Or our communal future,

Based on manipulation or the sanctification of alternative facts.

 

Let our relationships be grounded in honesty and character.

In integrity and hope.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. said it this way:

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method

which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation.

The foundation of such a method is love.

 

And he said more:

I have decided to stick with love.

Hate is too great a burden to bear. –

 

Brothers and sisters,

Our hermeneutical vocation today,

It is the way we give directions.

 

It is not a matter of rigid literalisms,

But of hopeful challenge of an intensified ethics.

 

It is the cross, in the midst of all,

Providing a safe place for those who can’t.

 

It is to venture to new places

Smelling the mango trees at the side of the road.

 

The Beatitudes say it well:

Blessed are you when people insult you, 

persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,

for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Amen.

 

Biographical data:

Francisco Javier Goitía Padilla is an ordained minister of the ELCA rostered in the Caribbean Synod and has worked as pastor in Puerto Rico and Chicago. Currently he is the Director for Theological Formation for Seminaries and Schools of the ELCA. He worked as professor of systematic theology and homiletics at the Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2017.

 

The Word

“All shall be well

And all shall be well

And all manner of thing

Shall be well.”

• Julian of Norwich | 1342-1416

“I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ 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.”

• Romans 8: 38-39

My friend Julian

I’ve loved Julian (which may not be hear real name!) of Norwich for the past few years. This is probably in part because when I came across her work at 23, I was tired of learning exclusively about male theologians from any time before the last 100 years. It is probably also in part because she introduced me to Christian mysticism. This seemed like the most magical of the Christian traditions and so appealed to my Harry-Potter-loving heart.

Regardless, her words sang to me.

At the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston in 2018, I told the story of being immunosuppressed and going to Rwanda. What I didn’t say was that in Rwanda, when I was 23, I got typhoid fever. About six months after that, I got malaria.

I thought I was going to die.

Laying in hospital beds across the world for two weeks, Julian’s words wrapped me up.

They laid on my heart, not a trite dismissal of my suffering, but a defiant hope in the face of a situation that was MARKEDLY unwell.

“All shall be well

And all shall be well

And all manner of thing shall be well”

Turns out, I didn’t know her that well.

The REAL Julian of Norwich

In a place of deep anxiety and fear this week, I came across these words again and learned more about Julian’s history.

I didn’t know that when she was a child, her town was overcome by the Black Death, killing about a third of its inhabitants from 1348-1350. I didn’t know she lived through two wars.

I didn’t know that when she was 30 she was so ill she thought she was going to die.

This has been strangely comforting to me in the past few days.

Not the fact that she was sick or survived a pandemic or war, I am not comforted by unnecessary suffering.

I am comforted by the fact that, while it may feel like it sometimes, Julian of Norwich and other Christian Mystics did not live in a world outside time. Julian lived in times of fear and doubt and STILL. Still, her songs persist. Just like so many faithful Christian women before and after her.

Being Kept

Our songs persist, too, loved ones.

Already we have joined together online. We have sung together, prayed together, encouraged each other.

And we have been scared together.

We live in the suffering and struggle of our own time.

But our sister, Julian, has a fierce song of hope in Christ for us, still.

She saw visions of Jesus and wrote:

“If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.”

Friends, we MUST do the best we can to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe. This is holy work.

But we know that as humans living in the world, we cannot always be kept safe.

We may feel anxiety.

We may not feel well.

Y’all, we may not BE well now.

We don’t have to pretend we are!

But in our falling an in our rising, we are kept in love.

Across the street and across the world, you are kept in love.

And nothing, NOTHING, can separate you from that. 

So now I pray that we be generous and patient and just and kind, that we breathe deeply the peace of God (she wrote to herself), and that we remember the promise in Christ we have hoped in for centuries, a promise that stands even and maybe especially when we don’t feel it:

“All shall be well.

And all shall be well.

And all manner of thing shall be well.”

Discussion Questions:

1. What things in your life have brought you peace? What songs or poems or art pieces? What spiritual passages?
2. Who are people you look up to spiritually?
3. Where can you offer yourself grace this week?
4. Where have you experienced hope this week? Where have you experienced God this week?

Savanna Sullivan (she/her/hers) serves as the Program Director for ELCA Young Adult Ministries at the ELCA Churchwide Office in Chicago, IL. She was a main stage speaker at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston, TX and gives presentations about Young Adult culture and empowerment in the church to ELCA and ecumenical groups around the country . She is passionate about helping young people connect to their own spirituality and pushing the church to equip, amplify, and respect the voices of young leaders. She loves banana pudding, the Clemson tigers, and memorizing poems.

 

 

These reflections are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page if on a computer or near the bottom of the page if viewing from a phone. Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of these reflections. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. You are invited to use the message below for personal devotion as well as prompts for sermon writing. 

March 29- Fifth Sunday in Lent

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson’s famous words are appropriate for a sermon that hangs off the Hebrew Scripture assigned to the day:

Tell the truth, but tell it slant

Success in circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm delight

The truth’s superb surprise

A lightening to the children eased

With explanation kind

The truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind

“Tell the truth, but tell it slant…” is Dickinson’s prescription for a humanity that truly has trouble bearing too much reality, at least all at once.

And, Beloved, let’s be honest: there is tons of heavy truth in these days. Truth about this pandemic, truth about the health of our loved ones, concerning truth about the health of our congregations…too much truth.

I don’t suggest you tell it slant. I don’t suggest you bludgeon people, either.

All this heavy truth is perhaps why we have historically destroyed those who tell too much truth.  In

ancient days they called them “prophets,” though you might not associate prophecy with truth-telling. So much of what passes for “prophecy” these days has to do with predicting the future, but that’s not actually what a prophet does, nor is it indicative of who a prophet is, at least in the Bible.

Prophets are truth-tellers.

Ezekiel was already a priest, but just being a priest doesn’t make you a prophet. Priests perform ritual acts, but prophets perform acts of truth-telling, often to powers that don’t want to hear it. Sometimes priests and prophets are one and the same…but it takes intention and risk.

And the book of Ezekiel is one of powerful truth-telling, using allegory to speak to Israel in a time of great confusion.

Because as he’s standing over this valley of dry bones God tells him to proclaim more truth: to the bones, and to the wind, forging an alliance between the human and the elemental to show forth God’s work in the world.

Is this not what we essentially do as pastors in the Rite of Baptism? Do we not prophesy to the human (the baptismal candidate) and the elemental (the water) at the urging of God to cause new life to enter into not only the human but the world writ large?

This text is a baptismal text. It’s a text about new life.

And what truths need to be told in these days of confusion? Perhaps there is a call to be honest and careful about human touch with Covid-19 spreading like wildfire.  And, along with that call, perhaps the prophet in the digital pulpit would do well to remind people that this is not a “foreign” virus, as viruses don’t have nationalities, and we must resist language that pits humanity against each other, especially in times of crisis.

New life will come for the world, but we are called practice caution in these days. That’s some tough truth, especially for those who already don’t get their touch-needs met enough: the lonely, the aged, the stigmatized, and the unwell.

So maybe some truth-telling today might name that, in this time of social distancing, we must find safe ways to reach out to those who already feel distant. That’s some deep truth.

Deep truth-telling can change things, by God.

It’s even been known to make things that were once dead alive again.

Perhaps that’s why it gets another hearing at the Easter Vigil every year.

Prophets don’t tell the future, they tell the truth. In this Lenten season, what is the truth your assembly needs to hear, by God? And what is the truth they need to say to this world too often dominated by dry bones and hot air?

John 11:1-45

This reading is plagued by a lack of brevity, which only works against the preacher if you’re not imaginative with how you proclaim it. I suggest, if possible in this new reality, you split up the text between several voices. I know in our digital reality this would require some planning and coordination, but it is worth it.

And once the text falls on their ears, you then have the ability nimbly navigate this longer reading in a way that lands with more than sentimental impact. Sentimentality is one of the dangers of this text, I think. And in the world of proclamation, sentimentality is akin to pity: it deflects true emotion by keeping distance.

Because the truth of the Lazarus story is that Lazarus is dead. Very dead.

We know this because the writer goes to great lengths to note that Lazarus has been in the grave for four days. In ancient Jewish lore, the spirit of the deceased hovered around the tomb for no more than three days (which, it is worth noting, John makes sure that Jesus actually does physical things post-resurrection, to show he’s not just a spirit appearing to people). The Gospel notes that Lazarus was there for four days, many hours past the time when he might have just been mistaken for dead, or that his spirit would appear.

Lazarus is dead. And in these days of rising death-tolls, this can be difficult to claim and name. But it also might be necessary to investigate.

What are the dead places in our lives? Our feelings of safety and normalcy? Our healthcare system? Our trust in our government?

Or, perhaps in these intensive quarters, we’re realizing our relationships are dead or dying? Our jobs?

What used to have life, but is long past that now? These questions bounce around the text this Sunday morning.

A different sermon might find another avenue, though, through the way that both indignation and hope hold hands in the person of Martha. Mary, rightfully, seems full of grief and regret. But Martha holds out the candle of hope in the shadow of the valley of death, noting that Jesus can ask anything of God and God will provide.

The imagery of holding both indignation and hope simultaneously strikes me as timely in these days, even as the Earth warms, our politics continue to be divisive, wars continue, and mass shootings become far too regular.

Perhaps you and your online-assembly will resonate with that theme as well. How do we hold indignation in one hand and hope in the other, well? It’s worth asking and pondering together as a church.

Or perhaps your assembly needs to ask openly what is binding them and keeping them buried in these days.  Is it a budget that can’t be met?  Is it division in the pews?  Or perhaps they’re tied to a past that is long dead or an uncertain future.  Or maybe all of this and more.

Lazarus is unbound in today’s Gospel, and if you read just a bit more in the scriptures, you’ll find that in the next scene he’s serving Jesus. Not only are his bindings keeping him buried, but they’re keeping him from serving.

Maybe yours are, too.

There is so much to pull from this Gospel lesson. Pick an avenue and follow it down that holy path.

Children’s Message

This might be a good time to allay fears around COVID-19, and explore how God calls us to gather together safely. You’re probably giving this online, and wanting to strike a balance between providing perspective while not alarming them.  Be cheery, but honest.

Have a box of tissues with you to lift up.

Alright, everyone, I brought something with me and I bet you know what it is.

Hold up the box of tissues

Right!  Tissues. When do we use these? Give space to pretend for an answer. The children watching will understand this pause. It is part of many shows they already watch. 

Right. When we have a runny nose, or we sneeze, or cough…when we’re sick.

Where is the best place to cough and sneeze if we don’t have a tissue though?

Give space to pretend for someone to answer.

Right! Doctors say that we should cough or sneeze into our elbows demonstrate so that we get good coverage over our mouth and nose with our arm.

We know that there is a virus going around. They probably have you washing your hands at home a lot right?  Yeah, they want to make sure we’re all healthy and don’t spread it around.

God wants us all to be safe. So, many of us are staying at home. And in this time when we’re being careful not to spread things around, we still want to be safe, right? Because we don’t want people who are sick to get sicker or people who may be very old or very young to get sick, right?

So, for a little while, I want to show you how to say “Peace be with you” in sign language. It’s something that we can do when we share the peace with one another, so we don’t actually have to touch hands while doing it. And I want you to send me videos of you doing it! Ready?

The sign for “peace” is made by putting your hands together and turning them over, then moving them apart in an inverted V.  “With” is simply bringing two closed fists together.  “You” is made by a simple point or gesture toward someone.  You can find visual directions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAv06flgEU

Practice this a few times with the youth, and then show them “Also with you!” which is just a simple point back at the person who offered you peace.

We want everyone to be healthy and safe. So, we can do this peace sign instead of actually shaking hands.  Or, if you’d rather, you can bump elbows demonstrate or bow demonstrate or even just hold up your fingers in a V demonstrate.

In this church, even when we can’t be physically together, we care about people who need caring for, and in this time it’s those who may get sick because we’re having too much contact. So, let’s practice safe ways of communicating!

Right now, let’s practice. Send me a short video of you giving the peace to someone using sign language, or bumping elbows, or bowing, or whatever way I just showed you. God wants us to be in community safely, so let’s do this for a little while!

Post the videos with permission. For other resources, you can check out the ELCA recommendations here: https://www.elca.org/publichealth

In Fall 2020, the newest resource in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship resource family will be made available. All Creation Sings, a liturgy and song supplement, will include liturgies, prayers, and approximately two hundred hymns and songs.

Conversation, consultation, and dedicated research led to the development of this resource. In the nearly fifteen years since the publication of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW), a rich abundance of new texts have been written and new tunes composed. While ELW continues to be a principal resource for this church, many of the hymns and songs in All Creation Sings reflect newer expressions that have emerged in the years since ELW was prepared. Hand in hand with ELW, All Creation Sings will offer diverse assembly song that enriches our worship by:

• providing additional options for singing throughout the liturgical year
• offering variety in style and format, including a number of short songs for contemplative prayer, gathering, and sending
• addressing topics and timely concerns including creation care, lament in times of crisis, healing/wholeness, and justice/peace
• bringing forward a number of hymns and songs from collections such as This Far by Faith, Libro de Liturgia y Cántico, Singing in Community, Singing Our Prayer, and others

About the title

The title, All Creation Sings, evokes a theme that permeates the scriptures, especially in the psalms but beginning even with Genesis 1, where the Word that brings creation into being has often been interpreted as a sung “Let there be . . . ”. Psalm 96 is an example in which the sky, the earth, the sea, the field, and the forest are invited into sung rejoicing at God’s coming. The vision at the close of the scriptures, in Revelation 5:13, articulates this theme with cosmic breadth: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in awareness and alarm concerning the impact of human activity over the past two hundred years on this planet’s ability to sustain the fragile balance necessary for the life God planted here, including human life. All Creation Sings will provide new resources that remind us of our integral part within the whole of creation, inspire our wonder at the gifts of creation, and help us voice our thanks for these gifts, joining the rest of creation’s song even as the cosmos joins ours.

Yet the song of creation and our song with it, especially in this time, goes beyond rejoicing and thanksgiving. Romans 8:22-23 suggests another kind of song: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, . . . groan inwardly while we wait for . . . redemption.” The song of all creation, and thus our song too, includes words and melodies of lament, of indignation, of pleading, and ultimately of hope in God’s presence and mercy.

The hymns and songs included in All Creation Sings will help our assemblies give praise and express lament, as well as being a resource for our sung prayer and proclamation across the whole course of the church’s year and around the word and sacraments. Look to the ELCA Worship Blog and ELCA Worship on Facebook for more about the contents of this supplemental resource in the coming months.

Bob Chell, Sioux Falls, SD

Warm-up Question

Who are blind to the obvious today? Politically? Spiritually? 

So Obvious?

We often see what we expect to see and miss other things because we are not looking for them.  A famous experiment illustrates this.  A group of people is passing balls around.  Observers are asked to count the number of passes made.  During the time the group is passing the balls around, a person in a gorilla suit walks into the group, struts around, then moves away.  About half the observers say they did not see a gorilla.  If observers are told about the gorilla and the experiment is repeated, most see the gorilla–but miss other things which are obvious if you are looking for them.  You can see an illustration of this experiment here.  Watch the video if you have internet access.

Discussion Questions

• Does this video shake your certainty of who is blind to the obvious today? If not, why not? If so, how so?
• Can we ever be certain of anything?
• How do faith and certainty differ?

Fourth Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This long story in John is a favorite of mine, not only for its content but for the way it is constructed. At the beginning the man born blind is blind, meek and frightened while the religious leaders are bold and confident, but as the story progresses, ever so subtly, the roles are reversed. This is most clear when the once meek man mocks those questioning him, asking, “Do you also want to become his disciples?” Those in charge are now on the defensive and, unable to defend their view, they dismiss the man born blind in anger.

Today both those on the political left and right, like those in this gospel lesson, are certain their views are correct. Committed Christians on both sides base their convictions on their faith. What does the Bible have to say about this?

For those with eyes to see and ears to hear the message of this story is clear, “I may be wrong.”  Those aren’t easy words for those of us who care about our faith, our country and our world. Are we supposed to shrug our shoulders and turn away from serious issues in our world and in our life?

I don’t think so. However, I do think that we should enter conversations with the awareness that we may be mistaken. Lest you think I am taking one story and overstating its message, take the Bible as a whole. You will find that those who are most certain, who are positive about what is right and how God would have them do things are usually wrong. They stone the prophets, they oppose Jesus; they judge, rather than love, their neighbor.

Christians have been on opposite sides of political and religious issues from the beginning. A large part of the book of Acts is a church fight about who can join and what the requirements are to be a Christian. In the 1800s Christians argued about whether slavery was a part of God’s plan with those supporting slavery quoting verses like Ephesians 6:5 (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ…”) or Colossians 3:22 (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.”). Those opposing slavery pointed to Galatians 3:28 (“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”).

Today all Christians believe slavery is not a part of God’s plan or God’s will for humankind. However, what’s obvious to us was not so obvious to Christians of the 1800s. 

More recently Christians have argued about the role of women in the church, sexual orientation, and sexual identity, often going to the Bible, not to discern where God might be leading us, but to support their convictions.

We do need to engage, debate, and even argue about the issues facing our church and our world. We need to do that by recognizing what is not obvious, that, as the Bible says, we are one in Christ.   “So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another (Romans 12:5).”  For a longer riff on this,  read 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 where the apostle Paul goes on and on, like a bulldog, making the point that we are united in Christ. Like a Dad berating squabbling children, Paul drives the point home wanting us to know this is bedrock, non-negotiable.

Whatever your opinions and convictions, be mindful that it was those filled with doubt and questions who ultimately heard and followed God’s call: Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Esther, the list goes on and on.  

Discussion Questions

• What is the “hot” issue in our world, in our country, in our community, our church, our school, our home?
• If picking a side and standing our ground isn’t the Christian way to approach controversy, how are we to approach it?

Activity Suggestions

• Find someone in your group or class whose views differ from yours and argue with them—but switch sides, with you defending their view, and they yours.
• Sometimes outside pressure has enabled the church or our country to see our unity. Persecution united early Christians while Americans were galvanized by WW II. What are the forces pushing us to unity today?

Closing Prayer

Loving God, open our hearts and minds to hear your word and your will for our lives and for our world. We care deeply and feel powerless surrounded by those who have no doubts. Give us faith to trust you are with us as we work to do your will in our lives and in our world.  Amen.