“We multiply fullness” (Mark 9:38-40)

Mark 9:38-40

Pastor Tom Johnson, September 27, 2015

Today in our Gospel reading, an outsider shows up. He comes alongside desperate people to help them confront their demons. He speaks of Jesus. He works under the authority of this Rabbi from Nazareth. But the disciples do not recognize him. The disciples do what is natural to anyone whose turf is tread upon; they try to stop the intruder. The person is unknown. The outcome is unknown. It is risky to allow outsiders to continue to do ministry in the name of Jesus when we do not have the assurance that the person even knows Jesus.

When I was ordained in the Presbyterian church, we held the service in the Episcopal church because we did not have a building. We were a church-plant or a mission church without a space of our own to worship in. At the point of laying on of hands, the pastor who led the service of my ordination invited all the ordained clergy forward to join the solemn ceremony. He did not say "all ordained Presbyterians just those who were ordained. The Rector of the Episcopal church, being ordained clergy came forward. Each pastor gave their blessing and a word of encouragement. The Episcopal priest, not hearing what he was waiting to hear proceeded to call on the Holy Spirit and invoke Apostolic Succession on me. That is to say, he later told me, he was waiting for someone to certify my ordination with the assurance that I was in direct line with the Apostles and part of a two-thousand year chain of pastors whose branches go back to the Apostle Peter and Jesus himself. The Episcopal priest was looking out for this closet Lutheran being ordained in the Presbyterian church! I’d like to think this was God’s sense of humor filtering through my own story. But that is essentially what the disciples want—to be assured that whoever does ministry in Jesus’ name be part of their chain.

We should remember that all four Gospels were written years after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Mark includes this story in his account clearly for a young church that might find themselves in a similar situation. What do you do when people start treading on your turf? What do you do when someone is not part of our succession? How do you know that a person is not leading others astray? How can we allow a questionable source with even more questionable results? What do we do with the many pastors, priests, and clergy just blocks away from this building—those confronting demons in peoples’ lives in Jesus’ name but not the name of Luther? They may be doing so in unfamiliar languages and music. What do we do when they speak about Jesus but don’t sound like us? It is clear they aren’t following us through our trustworthy Confessions and tradition. We do have a treasure in our clear doctrine of Grace. We are spiritual descendants of a 16^th century German monk who had the courage to speak truth in defiance of religious authority who was abusing its power. They asked that he would stop preaching in Jesus' name. It's ironic that we now ask, "Who does this Pope fellow think he is to come to New York City and Washington and bring our congressmen and women to tears?"

Jesus says, “Do not stop him; no one will do good in my name and later speak evil in my name. Whoever is not against us is for us.” In other words, if others are not clearly opposing the Gospel, don’t oppose them. Assume you are on the same team. Quit thinking so small about what God is doing. If you try to silence God’s people, even the stones will cry out. Broaden your vision of the Kingdom. Look for God’s activity in unexpected places. The fullness of God and his Kingdom will not be exclusively channeled through us. There will be unforeseen and unanticipated people doing good things in the name of Jesus for God’s greater kingdom. It is clear that no human being can cause the Kingdom of God to grow in our world. Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” But I think it is just as clear that we can be an obstacle to Kingdom growth.

We cannot stop the reign of God from impacting the lives around us. But we can exclude ourselves from participating in what God is doing. Or to put it another way, God will do what he will do in spite of us or through us. God helping, healing, and assuring the world through us—sounds like a much better plan. You’ll remember that John the Baptist heard the complaint of his disciples and how Jesus’ disciples started to baptize. John wasn’t offended. Referring to Jesus, he said, “He must increase, I must decrease.” And Moses himself said, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them.” In other words, sometimes we need to catch up with just how full to overflowing the fullness of God is in the world. God calls us to be pleasantly surprised by his activity through unlikely sources. Maybe we could show a bit of self-deprecating humor and say, “I am one of those unlikely sources.”

Cure Your children’s warring madness; Bend our pride to Your control;
Shame our wanton, selfish gladness, Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage Lest we miss Your kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Your Kingdom’s goal. (from the hymn "God of Grace and God of Glory")

Visiting Pastor Clausing on our mission as Christ's Church (Rev. 7:9-17)

Revelation 7:9-17

 


Rev. Jonathan and Anita Clausing serve the Lord as career missionaries through The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in Eastern Africa, based in Kenya. As the coordinator of this area’s Mission Training Center (MTC) programs, Jonathan supports existing MTC programs by teaching lay leaders, evangelists and trainers and providing oversight and encouragement to local coordinators. He also cultivates new requests for MTCs into functioning projects and maintains, develops and provides translation supervision for the MTC curriculum.

“God wakens us to fullness” (Isaiah 50:4-9a)

Isaiah 50:4-9

 

Pastor Tom Johnson, September 13, 2015

Isaiah gives a beautiful picture of how God led him to greater spiritual awareness and a more meaningful journey of faith. God is at work, Isaiah tells us, in such a profound way that he reaches deep into our subconscious.“Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” Morning by morning—day after day God speaks gently to Isaiah, “Isaiah, wake up. It’s time to open your ears. It’s time to open all your senses to the reality of a new day. This is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.”

Leave the false dreams and nightmares behind. Let go of the deadening of your senses that calls you back to slumber. Don’t let the gravity of sleep pull you back deep under cover. God has taken the initiative. He draws you into the promise of a new day. He rouses us out of spiritual unconsciousness. He opens our senses to take in the fullness of life. He opens our receptors and minds to wisdom. He gives us a wider, deeper, and higher worldview. We are wakened to the fullness of who God is, his creation, and our re-creation.

Sometimes that gentle rousing comes through difficulty, trials, and suffering as we see in our Scripture this morning. Isaiah says he gave his back to those who struck him, his cheeks to those who pulled violently on his beard, and his face to those who insulted him and spit upon him. It is morning by morning on those difficult days that God keeps pursuing Isaiah’s ear. By his Spirit and his Word, God wakes Isaiah up to his goodness. “I will not leave you as an orphan to wake up on your own and find yourself abandoned. I will come to you (Jn 14:18),” God says, “and bring you into my fullness.” We may be beaten up by the world. We may be in the midst in a battle. It may be a battle with illness or the abuse of others. We may held captive by our sin, addiction, apathy, or laziness; this is a kind of evil sleep and drowsiness.

But God is there morning by morning to awaken our spiritual ears to him. It reminds me when Elijah hears God’s voice: “God says, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence”—a still small voice—a whisper” (1 Kings 19:11,12). It is another reminder that even in the midst of destructive wind, earthquakes, and fire, God’s voice still speaks and can still be heard. Isaiah goes out into the world wide awake and more aware of the fullness of God’s acceptance and presence.

Last week, a beautiful picture of a sailboat on Lake Michigan appeared on my Facebook feed. The deep blue water and skies and the white clouds and sails awakened my eyes to the beauty of the lake that is always nearby. The photo was taken by First Saint Paul’s own Jen Masengarb. And this is what she wrote, “This. This is what cancer teaches you, my friends… When your 4pm meeting on Navy Pier ends early, and you have an hour to spare, and a tall ship with beautiful white sails is waiting on the dock, and it’s 92F and sunny…you hop on and head out to the lake.”

“Morning by morning he wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” Day by day God molds and shapes us by his Spirit and his Word. And when we are awakened to his fullness, we step out boldly into life with a quiet confidence.  “The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;” Isaiah says, “…I know that I shall not be put to shame. [God] who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?”

“Morning by morning he wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.”

And  what was Isaiah taught? What did he learn? That he could hold his head up high. That greater is he who is within us than he who is in the world (1 Jn 4:4). He learned the power of standing up together—that a cord of three strands is not easily broken (Eccl 4:12). He learned that we have an advocate with the Father and that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8). He learned that the enemy may accuse and condemn us. The evil foe wants us to carry the heavy burden of guilt and shame. But God is the one who justifies. And he has declared us “forgiven” and “a new creation” because of the death and resurrection of his Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

God wakes us up to journey forward ever more mindful—sober and awakened to the fullness of God’s creation around us that we experience with our senses and also to his Word and Spirit that we hear with the ears of faith. Wake up. It’s time to get up. The fullness of a new day is upon you. God awakens us and is ready to quietly lead us forward in his confidence and strength. “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24).

"Faith Works" (James 2:14-17)

James 2:14-17

Pastor Tom Johnson, September 6, 2015

James cries foul. He identifies a phony faith. James is a straight shooter. He calls them as he sees them. And he has little tolerance for someone who says they believe but have nothing to show for it. He gives us a good scolding and rebuke with a rhetorical question: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” What use is a profession with no work ethic? What worth is a religion that does not make you a more caring and empathetic person? What a waste of breath to speak golden words but do nothing with your hands and feet! “Can faith save you?” The question is better translated, “Can that faith save you?” as many English translations render it. “Can such a fruitless faith liberate you to do the works of God?” No, of course not. Empty faith is empty of works.

Just in case you miss his point, he gives a very concrete example: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,  and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” Saying you have faith and no works to demonstrate your faith is as ridiculous as saying, “Go in peace anxious one! Bundle up my naked friend! Bon appetite my starving comrade!” They are faith-filled words but faithless because they are not followed up by action. They are words that are completely useless to anyone. People don't care what you know; they want to know that you care.  “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

In other words, genuine faith works. Authentic faith produces good results. The pitfall that James wants us to avoid is what we have already confessed in our worship service: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In other words, this Scripture wants us to not be self-deceived—to be duped by our own phony religiosity—to find false security in our own well-spoken words but have no action to back them up. Several years ago, guest Pastor Allan Buss reminded us that “We are saved by grace through faith alone that it is a faith is not alone.” In other words, genuine faith does not exist in isolation. Faith manifests itself through faithful deeds.

Let’s be clear. James does not expect perfect faith here. He wants us to have authentic faith. He does not say that we generate our own faith. Faith is a gift. Faith is born into our lives through Baptism. Faith is part of the package that God gives with forgiveness and the assurance of eternal life. We may feel stronger in faith one day over another—even one minute over another. Faith is nurtured by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, our fellowship, and prayer.

Faith can be small like a mustard seed but will grow into a tree. Authentic faith is just that—like a healthy tree. Healthy trees sprout leaves, flowers, and fruit. As Jesus himself says, “every good tree bears good fruit” (Matt 7:17). Faith works. “What God has begun in us he will bring to completion.” Faith is our trusting in God to transform our lives through forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. Faith is the belief that God renews our lives where we grow in our love for him and one another. Faith leads us on a path to not only speak but also do acts of mercy, love, and grace. Faith creates empathy and compassion for others. Knowing that we have been so unconditionally and freely loved and accepted leads us to extend that same love and acceptance to others.

The world today—perhaps more than ever—has no patience for empty and phony religiosity. People want to experience authentic faith. We want to be part of something that genuinely makes a difference in peoples’ lives. As we gather here this Sunday morning, tens of thousands of refugees are leaving Syria and making a long journey into Europe. Not all nations and people are welcoming them. But many are. Mayors of cities have promised food and housing. The Pope is urging his church to show mercy and offer shelter—even two families at the Vatican itself. Our partner church in Germany called SELK has offered a home to Christian and Muslim refugees; and in return, many Muslims have made their home in the Christian faith. One congregation in Berlin has grown from 150 to 600 many of whom were baptized in that same congregation. Hospitality works. Because what we see is faith at work. Faith works. Our community meals ministry here at First Saint Paul’s, where we provide a hot meal every Saturday, does not earn us God’s love and grace. We feed the hungry out of God’s love and grace.

God says to us, “Go in peace—go out into the world with the assurance and message of peace. Be warm—be clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ which covers all your sin. Be filled—take, eat the body given and the blood shed for you.” God believes in us that we can experience this life-transformation. “Go in peace, be warm, be filled.” Our faith compels us. We get to extend that same love and mercy to others. We have the privilege of being both beneficiaries and conduits of the love of God.