Category: Faith

The Gospel Reading is Luke 2:1-20.

In my kitchen is my family’s Advent calendar. The calendar is large, made of felt, and has dates embossed on little pockets. Inside each pocket is a Christmas character. We have magi, camels, angels, and even a Christmas goose. On the Nativity scene above the pockets, there is a piece of Velcro for each character to be stuck to. Every morning, I pick up my two year old or four year old (or both) and we empty a pocket, adding that character to the Nativity. Sometimes the Christmas goose ends up in the manger or the camel ends up in the sky. Other times I let my two kids change the entire scene. Once they’re distracted by something else, I stick everything into a more traditional setup. My daily countdown to Christmas involves letting a little chaos happen before sorting everything out.

This year we also counted down to Christmas is a different way. Kids in our Sunday School invited the entire congregation to create a Reverse Advent Calendar. Each family picked an organization to support (a food pantry, homeless services organization, etc.) and each day we placed an item in a box to support that organization. My family spent the month filling a cardboard box with diapers, baby food, and pacifiers. We wanted to help a family with a newborn baby. When a character left their pocket in the Advent calendar, a new item for a baby was given to help someone in need.

We spend months counting down to Christmas but I wonder if we should be counting down at all. Maybe we should be counting “up” to Christmas. We can’t countdown to something that has already happened and Jesus was born 2000 years ago. But we can look forward to what Christmas means for us today. God chose to live a human life. Jesus needed to experience everything we experience. In Jesus, we see how God loves the world. Through his life, we see what God’s love does for the poor, marginalized, and everyone in need. And in his death and resurrection, we watch as God refuses to let our brokenness be our final word. Darkness, despair, frayed relationships, sorrow, and pain will not be what we to offer the world. By coming down to us, God gave to us the faith, love, and support we need to live lives that reflect God’s love full into the world. When our countdown to Christmas runs out, that doesn’t mean Christmas is over. Christmas is already here. Christmas is all year long. Our calling is to love like it’s Christmas every day.

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 12/24/2016.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 1:18-25.

Today’s reading from the gospel of Matthew is almost a mini-Christmas. We’re hearing the story of Jesus’ birth one week early and we’re focusing on Matthew’s telling of the story. And this telling is very short. Jesus’ birth is only one verse long. The bulk of the the story is tied to a guy named Joseph.

So who is Joseph? It’s a bit complicated. We hear he’s a carpenter and…that’s about it. The details about Joseph’s life are lacking. Today’s story shares that Joseph was not involved with Jesus’ conception which means Jesus is not Joseph’s biological father. Using our modern day language and context, we could call Joseph Jesus’ stepfather. Joseph, like Mary, will take care of Jesus and his siblings. Our community is full of stepfathers, step siblings, stepmothers, and more. Our families are incredibly diverse in structure and makeup. Joseph, like all parents, is encouraged to be a parent even if the children they are raising are not their biological children. A parent does more than just share DNA with their child. A parent takes the time, energy, resources, and makes appropriate sacrifices so the child can thrive.

This description of parent fits who Joseph is. He raises Jesus. But we need to be careful with our stepfather language because, in Jesus’ time, there were no step-parents. There were only parents. Our language can add helpful additions to explain the complicated relationships that exist in families. But, in the ancient world, those additions rarely existed. Instead, a child with parents who claim him as their own did not depend on biology to set who belongs to what family. Once a child was claimed by a parent, that child had a parent and a family. God the Father is Jesus’ Father but Joseph, in the eyes of the ancient world, is also Jesus’ father too.

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 12/18/2016.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 11:2-11.

Wait a minute. Why does John ask Jesus if Jesus is the “one?” Shouldn’t John know by now?

Last week, our gospel reading introduced John the Baptist to us. John the Baptist is a prophet preaching in the wilderness. John gains followers and his message puts him in conflict with the local authorities. John is arrested and thrown in prison. While in prison, John receives word that Jesus is preaching and teaching throughout Israel. John, who heard a voice from heaven declare “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17), sends his followers to question Jesus. As we heard last week, John has high expectations for what the Messiah will do. Even though John heard the voice announcing Jesus, John still wonders who Jesus is. John’s questions, in the words of Bonnie L. Pattison (Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew Volume 1, pg. 288), asked for some “clarification” for his faith.

Doubt can be unsettling. When we look at the people around us and hear the stories about Jesus’ followers in the Bible, we assume we do not measure up. We see the people around us as the true believers while we are lacking. We might have questions. We might long to experience God. We might, after a tough experience or a profound loss, wonder if this faith thing is for us. Something might happen that knocks our faith ajar or challenges our basic assumptions about God and ourselves. The very fact that we are asking questions can make us wonder if we really believe or not.

But I want to invite you to welcome the questions. Even John the Baptist, who was at Jesus’ baptism, wasn’t always sure. Even John had questions. Questions are not a sign that we do not have faith. Questions are a sign that we have it. In our questions, we are opening ourselves to a conversation with God about who we are and who God is. Jesus didn’t run away from questions. He answered them. And Jesus will answer your questions too.

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 12/11/2016.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 3:1-12.

On the 2nd week of Advent, we always meet John. In our three year lectionary cycle, the cycle of lessons we read in worship, John the Baptist appears here every year. He’s a character who appears in all four gospels and lives like a frontiersman. He’s in the wilderness, in an untamed and chaotic place, and baptizing those who come to him. As Christians, we see John the Baptist as Elijah. He is the great prophet of old who prepares the way for the Lord. During Advent, we are called to prepare. And part of that preparation is listening to John’s words and figuring out who he is speaking too.

In today’s reading from Matthew, John the Baptist launches into a fiery sermon. He accosts the Pharisees and Sadducees who are members of two different denominations within Judaism. He calls them a brood of vipers and questions their commitment to the message he is sharing. John’s language is full of fire and brimstone. He describes trees being cut down and thrown into pits of fire. Jesus is described as someone who will divide people and toss some of them into unquenchable fire. This is not our usual festive, peace-filled, or serene image we expect during this season. We might be decorating our homes to look like Hallmark Cards but John’s words paint a different picture.

So who is John speaking to? At first glance, he’s speaking to Pharisees and Sadducees. The last time I checked, we are not Pharisees, nor are we Sadducees. We could assume John isn’t speaking to us. But I challenge us to listen to his words. These are words for us. The Pharisees and Sadducees are the insiders. They are the ones who know their scriptures, study, pray, and worship. They know God and dwell with God everyday. John the Baptist is speaking a word to those who are the insiders, those who know their faith and know God. John challenges them. He wants to know if they are seeing what God is doing in the world. He challenges them to look around and see Jesus. That’s our challenge, too.

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 12/04/2016.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 24:36-44.

Happy New Year! Today is the start of a new church year. For the next 12 months, most of the readings from the gospels will come from Matthew. The Gospel According to Matthew was probably written in the mid-80s somewhere in Syria or Galilee. The author used the gospel according to Mark along with other stories they knew or read about. 50 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the early Christian community was struggling to integrate their Jewish tradition, identity, and heritage with their multiracial and multiethnic reality. The Holy Spirit was calling different kinds of people from different kinds of places to be a Christian community. With the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70, the early community was trying to discover who they were.

Part of this conversation revolved around the idea of judgment. Matthew is full of judgment. Every few chapters, we hear a person, community, or group being by Jesus, God, and other people. The amount of judgment in Matthew can leave a bad taste in our mouth. If we’re sharing this story with our children, we shouldn’t run away from judgment. Even our preschoolers know what judgment feels like. When we are judged by someone else, it is normal to be defensive. It is normal to be angry or depressed when we experience someone judging us. And it’s also normal to judge others, from the car they drive to the way they dress. One of the lesson we try to teach is not to judge but we all know what judgment feels like.

Could there a joy in judgment? That question is central to Matthew’s experience of Jesus. For Matthew, Jesus is God’s judgment on the world. Jesus shows God’s power breaking into our world, casting out demons, healing the sick, forgiving sins, and bringing the poor good news. God’s love is judgment. But instead of asking us to be defensive, God’s judgment offers us an opportunity for new life. If we have a roof over our head and know where our next meal will come from, Jesus’ judgment might worry us. But for the person without a home and how is hungry, Jesus’ judgment offers an opportunity for food and life. Jesus’ judgment offers an opportunity for joy. One goal this church year is to see the joy in God’s judgment and live that joy in all that we say and do.

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 11/27/2016.