Month: September 2015

Compare and Contrast: a sermon on Jesus, Ridiculous arguments, and fantasy football.

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Mark 9:30-37

My sermon from the 20 Sunday After Pentecost (September 20, 2015) on Mark 9:30-37.

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A Reflection on Jeremiah 11

Today’s first reading is Jeremiah 11:18-20.

These three verses from Jeremiah need a little context.

Jeremiah is a prophet operating around Jerusalem right before (and during) Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians. He’s watched as Babylon gets involved in Jerusalem’s affairs. An empire with an army much larger (and better equipped) than what Jerusalem has, fear is tearing Jerusalem apart. Jeremiah is watching his society unravel before his eyes. He is given a job by God to spread a message about Babylon’s advance and pleading with the people to turn to God and not try to defeat Babylon militarily. But no one truly listens. Jeremiah is arrested, tried, and almost killed. He’s in prison when Jerusalem is captured by Babylon and eventually dies (we believe) in Egypt as a refugee.

These verses from chapter 11 are the first of Jeremiah’s nine laments. God tells Jeremiah that others want to kill him. This makes Jeremiah sad and angry. He’s upset that others aren’t listening to him but he’s also upset that God sent him on this mission. Jeremiah doesn’t want to share this negative message with his neighbors. He doesn’t want to be the one living this kind of life. But God chose Jeremiah to speak the truth during a chaotic time so Jeremiah presses on. And he trusts that, in the end, God will set the world right.

The verses end with Jeremiah asking God to destroy and punish his enemies. His sadness is matched by his anger towards those around him and God. Like many of us, Jeremiah can’t fully separate sadness and anger. They’re always together, with his sadness making him want to lash out at others. Faced by the impending war with Babylon, Jeremiah responds to his enemies in kind. He struggles, like all of us when we are in a crisis, to imagine a world bigger than what he is experiencing. Surrounded by violence, he imagines God’s promise in the language of violence. His language isn’t a model for us but his trust is. He trusts that God will make all things right but he struggles to imagine just how God’s hope, mercy, and love will look like when Jeremiah is caught up in the chaos around him.

Turning Points: a sermon on Jesus, Rome, Peter, and place.

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:27-38

My sermon from the 19th Sunday After Pentecost (September 13, 2015) on Mark 8:27-38.

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A Reflection on Isaiah 50: God’s Work, Our Hands.

The First Reading is Isaiah 50:4-9.

“The Lord God has given me…the Lord God has opened…the Lord God helps…the Lord God who helps…” These phrases in our first reading today is the key to this text. The writer is announcing that God has acted, giving them gifts and help. Whatever work the speaker is doing is because God is acting through them.

Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, writes that these verses seem out of place. They don’t fit with the words that come before. “It is as though these verses provide a reflective interlude conceding the urgent, context vocation of the servant of [God], who is to bring Israel home from exile.” This interlude is rooted in the “utter reliability of [God.]” The speaker in the text is called the servant and they are struggling. The servant is facing trials and fights while living out their faith. There are times the servant wants to be silent, to hide, and pretend to not be a disciple of God. But, even during those times, God is enough. God will prevail. In the end, God’s kingdom will come. The servant proclaims they will not give up their relationship with God because God is always reliable.

So who is this servant? As Christians, we see our Lord Jesus Christ in these words. We see in his story God’s reliability. This interlude is God’s interlude into our world as Jesus who came to teach, heal, love, and overcome death on the Cross. This interlude is Jesus saying God is enough.

This interlude in Isaiah can also represent our ned for interludes in our lives. Many times, during our own struggles, we need to breathe. We need to take a moment to step away, to reflect, and to remember who we are. We are disciples of Jesus, even when we fail to love others like we should. We are children of God, even when we fail to recognize God around us. We are loved, even when we don’t feel loved.

God’s love comes from God’s claim on us, a claim that we don’t earn on our own. Just as God risked living a human life, God takes a risk on each of us by claiming us as God’s. God’s claim on us is utterly reliable. God has gripped us tight. So, since we are loved, how do we share God’s reliable love to our neighbors, friends, family, and even to ourselves?

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 9/13/2015.

Goodbye Summer

Today is Labor Day. Summer is suppose to be over. However, I will live in denial about that reality for a little bit and spend some time posting pictures from my recent trip to Ocean City, NJ. Beach, I will miss thee.

K and G, ocean buds.
K and G. August 26, 2015. 8th street beach.

Miss ya Twinkie

Two weeks ago, as we were getting ready to take our annual vacation to Ocean City, we had to put our beloved Twinkie down. For two nights, she was coughing and hacking. By the evening of the second day, she stopped picking up the food that our almost-one year old tossed on the floor. We took her to the emergency vet early in the morning, leaving her in a oxygen cage, waiting to hear what our options were. The morning turned into lunch. Lunch turned into the afternoon. Then, finally, the vet informed us that Twinkie was suffering from heart failure. She might, with an extensive drug cocktail, live for a handful of pain-filled months. We decided it was time to say goodbye and we put her down. Twinkie, our amazing Chihuahua, was almost 12 years old.

Someone's scared during this thunderstorm. #chihuahua #dog

A photo posted by Marc A. Stutzel (@stynxno) on

Will walk dogs.

A photo posted by Marc A. Stutzel (@stynxno) on

I first met Twinkie when K and I went on our first date. K invited me over for dinner at her place before we went out. So after taking two trains and wandering through a part of Queens I didn’t know, I found myself playing with this little dog while K finished cooking potatoes au gratin. I’m a cat person. I never spent time with dogs. But this little tan furball kept bringing me a purple toy to toss across the apartment. So I kept throwing it and she kept bringing it back. I don’t know why she wanted to keep playing with me but she did. And that’s how it was for these last 9 years. The house is now quiet without her barking at random things, the clip-clip-clip of her feet on the hardwood floor, and George misses grabbing at her and she never snapped back. She was a good, feisty, and lovable gal. Take care Twinkie. We’ll see you on the other side.