Incarnate Word Table Talk

Sermon by Pastor Doug December 11, 2011

2011-12-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

Letter from John the Baptist to the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word
December 11, 2011

Dear people of the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word,
(By the way, though I’m not sure what “Lutheran” means, I appreciate the rest of your name “Incarnate Word”. The only way it could be better is if you would call yourself, “The Lutheran Church of the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father”. A bit long and complex you say? Well, since when has God ever done anything simple?)

I would deliver this message to you myself, as one sent from God, but am fearful that my appearance among you would distract you from my message. I guess one’s appearance is always the first to go when you spend as much time in the wilderness as I have. You try wearing a garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle around your waist while sticking to a strict diet of locusts and wild honey. Let me know how that works out for you….

I don’t mean to make this letter about me. After all, I am simply a man sent from God to be a pointer: One who stands before you and points you in the direction of God.
But before I go on about my “appointed” mission, let me begin by confessing to you who I am not.
I am not the Messiah. Never have been: Never will be. I know, I know. You have been waiting your whole lives for the Messiah: The One who will make all things right. The One who will make sense of all the bad. Who will turn pain and brokenness around; and who will ultimately defeat death once and for all. Believe me, I wait for that promised Messiah right along with you.
My world, like I imagine yours, is one of tremendous hardship and injustice. There are those who have too much and those who have nothing. Even among the religious, there are those who try to live in God’s covenant of Shalom, justice and peace, while other good “religious” folk would rather worship the emperor, seeking his graven image on coins, blindly supporting his expanding empire all the while claiming God’s Blessings on Caesar. And so I, along with you, wait for the Messiah, the anointed one, to make all things right by turning the tables right side up.
If by chance you have trouble remembering this distinction between me and the Messiah, remember,
I am APPOINTED. He is ANNOINTED.

Not only am I not the Messiah, but I am not the prophet Elijah. To be sure, I wish I were half the prophet he was. The way he took on those false prophets of Baal (450 of them ) who were dedicated to Queen Jezebel and all of her injustices and defeated them brilliantly through a chili cook-off on Mt. Carmel is stuff of legend. I can only imagine what it must have been like that day to hear all the Israelites shouting at the top of their lungs, “The Lord He is God!! The Lord He is God!!”
To be sure, I am not any of those great prophets of old.
I am not the city boy, Isaiah, whose very name means, “Salvation of God”…
Nor am I that guy from the suburbs, Jeremiah, who became one of God’s prophets as a teenager…
And Amos? Who can match his harsh words denouncing Israel as well as her neighbors for reliance upon military might, for grave injustice in social dealings and shallow meaningless piety?
Nor am I the prophet Micah who understood catchy phrases that stick in peoples’ minds: Have you ever heard the phrase, “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God?” If so, you’ve heard of Micah.
No, to be sure I am not any of these. I am no celebrity and I am certainly no one’s hero. I am simply a voice. A voice who bears witness to the greater one. In fact, the Greek word used to describe my witness, by the gospel writer of John, is “Martyria” from which your English word, “martyr” derives. Kind of a reminder that this “witnessing” thing isn’t always easy and may in fact be dangerous.
The wilderness is a big place, and I am but one voice in that wilderness. You might wonder why I have spent so much time there: In such a dangerous, harsh and lonely place. Why lift my voice there? Well, if you look back in history, one cannot help but see that some of God’s best work has been done in the wilderness. Whether it was my ancient ancestors, Abraham and Sarah being led through the wilderness to be a blessing to all nations, or the Israelites finding refuge there from a murderous pharaoh in Egypt and subsequently receiving the gift of God’s Torah on Mount Sinai, God has always done big things in the wilderness.
And so here I am in the wilderness: The place where God himself is found, bearing witness to something far greater than me. Bearing witness, pointing to the fact that…
There is a new day coming, when the dawn from on high will break upon us with light and healing…
a new day coming when swords will be beaten to ploughshares…
a new day coming when the way of the Lord will be made straight….
a new day coming when those who mourn will be comforted…
a new day coming when the Sun of righteousness shall rise with beams of healing in his wings….

This new day of which I speak are not simply ancient words affixed to equally ancient paper. What I point to today is the God of the Great Cosmos coming down to earth at this particular wilderness in this particular time. And make no mistake about it, you and I know all too well what it is to live in the lonely and dangerous wilderness. But take heart, because what I proclaim to you today is that God has a special place in his heart for those who dwell in the wilderness: For those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
And from that special place comes the promise of One who is to come:
The One who will bring good news to the oppressed…
Bind up the brokenhearted…
Proclaim liberty to the captives…
And proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

I am not the Christ. I am but one voice in this wilderness.
You are not the Christ. But do you have a voice? Do you have ears, arms and legs that can point to and be a sign of the coming of Christ? I honestly and earnestly hope so.
Without such signs, those who need most to receive his healing will not know Jesus even if he is standing in their midst.

The Visitor

2011-10-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

"I came to your town, and because I was not born in your fair city
I was not included.

I came to your town laying claim to citizenship from what you call a 'foreign' country,
so I was not included.

I came to your town, and because I had friends of ill repute
I was not included.

I came to your town, and because I had no material possessions
I was not included.

I came to your town, and because I spoke with a different accent
I was not included.

I came to your town, and because I spoke the truth
I was not included.

I came to your town and lived and worked in the poor section
and thus was not included.

I came to your town and you did not know me.
I am the Messiah"

~Al Staggs, A Pilgrim in Rome

Pastor Doug's Healing Service Sermon Oct. 16, 2011

2011-10-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 35:5-8; Luke 4:14-21

When you walked into this beautiful worship space this morning, what did you see?

I’m not talking about the dust and sawhorses just beyond the double glass doors in the former Library Narthex, or the railings painted with red primer in the southeast stairwell.

In this sacred space, what did you see?

Regardless of your entry way this morning, it would be hard to miss the four kneeling stations adorning the side aisles.

And if you have been here before and you have seen these “stations” then you know what happens....

You know that after you have heard God’s Word...
responded to it with prayer
and song...
and then tasted that Word made flesh, broken open for you in the meal of Communion...

you will be invited to kneel and receive another great gift: The gift of healing prayer and the laying on of hands...

And if you have not been here to experience this event, then I invite you to do so.

I invite you to bring your life - with all of its complications and burdens...
with all of its struggles and hardships...
with all of its pain and brokenness...

and to lay it all down on God as one of his children prays for your healing.

But before all of this happens, let me share right now what this healing liturgy is not:

It is not ‘hocus pocus’
If you bring a wheelchair, cane or walker up front with you this morning, plan on returning to your seat with it.

There will be no slapping your forehead...
no pushing you over into the arms of a “handler”...

There will be no junk piles of crutches, wheelchairs and walkers at the conclusion of our service today.

Sorry, it just won’t happen.

Not only is this healing liturgy not hocus pocus, but it is not a Divine Insurance Policy against heartache, sickness and especially death.

Even Lazarus, it is safe to assume, when he came out from the tomb at Jesus’ command died at some later time.

Nor is this healing liturgy a Get Out of Jail Free card when it comes to suffering and persecution.

Just ask the Apostle Paul what life was like for him in prison as he lived his life “in Christ”, suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

Though our healing liturgy today is clearly personal, it is not private.

Just take a look at the Litany of Healing which follows in just a few moments.

You will notice that not only do our prayers give voice to our own need for healing...
but we pray for all who suffer...
we pray for all who lead us in our world today...
we pray for the homeless...
and we even pray for our enemies...

Finally, this liturgy for healing is not a cure.

As much as I earnestly crave a magic wand that will, with the flick of a wrist, instantly take away all sickness and death...

I know that when push comes to shove, I along with you, can only sit by the bedside...

Surrounding you, or the one you love with prayer and God’s presence...

Surrounding you, or the one you love with the assurance that

beyond the sting of Good Friday, Easter Sunday is coming!

When you walked into this beautiful worship space this morning, what did you see?

Let me tell you what I see...

Not only do I see a majestic worship space adorned with four kneeling stations, but I see a pulpit and a choir loft from which the Good News of Jesus Christ is proclaimed...

I see a baptismal font in which God’s Word is mixed with and splashed around in the earthly element of water promising forgiveness and eternal life...

I see an altar table placed at the foot of a Cross where God’s Word of life is not only heard but tasted like manna in the wilderness....

Let me tell you what else I see as I look out over you this morning.

In this morning’s healing service of Word and Sacrament, I see you, people of God...

some of you coming with hearts full of thankfulness for a good diagnosis or the touch of your child’s hand in yours....
and still I see others of you whose feet are burning on the hot wilderness sands of stressful jobs, broken relationships, loss of vocation, sickness and death.

But that’s not all I see...

Here in this place we call “sacred” and in this time we call “holy”...

I see waters breaking forth in the wilderness...

I see streams in the desert...

I see burning sands becoming a refreshing pool..
and thirsty ground springs of water.

And all because the One who claims in this morning’s gospel reading to be the fulfillment of this vision, is also the One who experienced the burning sands and the thirsty ground of a wilderness Cross himself, ultimately defeating the wilderness on Easter Sunday.

His wilderness and ours...

No, we will not walk out of here this morning cured. But we will walk out of here, healed.

Healed by the Word made flesh...

Healed by the One who took on the vulnerability of our flesh and blood...

Healed by the One whose love knows no boundaries and whose life has no end.

Healed to be healers...

Healed to love God and all that God loves.

That’s what I see when I come here each and every Sunday morning looking out over these pews...

looking out over you...

you who are wounded...yet still feeding those who hunger.

you who are broken...yet still giving refuge to the least of these

you who are loved...reaching out to the unloveable.

You who are healed...healing in the wilderness.

I cannot think of a better place to be than right here...right now. In God’s Presence and in yours.

Pr. Doug's Sermon on 9/11 Anniversary

2011-10-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

It was a brilliant morning on the East Coast.
Boston, New York and Washington were stirring to life under cloudless and deep blue skies.
The day ahead was full of promise – or at least of routine and certainty.

And then within a matter of minutes, that pristine beauty was shattered… Shattered by airplanes used as human missiles…
And with it, assumptions about a way of life were shattered.
Assumptions about an island called North America – free from the deadly reach of terrorist destruction. – SHATTERED.
Assumptions about a dangerous world only existing in other corners of the globe. - SHATTERED.
Assumptions that THEY could never get us…. SHATTERED.

Four commercial airplanes later and over 3,000 dead…America and the world simply stopped… At this very hour, 10 years ago today, our collective heart stopped beating for a moment…
We were shocked at the severity and the magnitude of such carnage and devastation.
We were shocked at the site of massive destruction that looked more like a bombed out German city of World War II than a bustling metropolis of the 21st Century.
We were shocked at the reality of our vulnerability.

There we sat for days, transfixed by endless video loops of the attack… stunned and afraid: Just waiting for the other shoe to drop...
For some other attack to occur.

But slowly we began to emerge from our bunkers of fear trying to make sense of all that had happened. And for a time, an entire nation of brokenhearted people came together with a mixture of fear, rage, sadness and confusion in this season of crisis and public mourning.

Over time however, as seasons do, this season changed. The red and yellow leaves of lament devolved into a stark season of vengeance.
Manhunts began…
Public leaders climbed into their bully pulpits taunting terrorists to attack us again with words like, “bring it on”…
And if your ethnicity just happened to resemble that of those who attacked us on 9/11, you quickly got a taste of what life was like for an entire segment of our population in the days before civil rights laws were enacted.
Over time, even some churches took their cue from this season of vengeance by publically condemning those of other religions: Especially those of the Muslim faith.
If you were a pastor of another Lutheran denomination, you were not allowed to participate in ecumenical and interfaith prayer services…
And some crusading churches even threatened to burn Korans.

Sadly, since 9/11, many have found it impossible to see God’s presence in their Muslim neighbors. Communities have fought the building of mosques and many Muslims still experience prejudice and threats.

Pillars of fire that began consuming the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon 10 years ago today, still consume us:
The longest war in U.S. History still rages because of these pillars…
Citizens are still encouraged to look upon other citizens with paranoid suspicion and to report them to authorities.

One of the most disturbing dimensions of the events of 9/11 was the fact that the terrorists who attacked that day were doing so in the name of God.
Sadly, killing for God’s sake has been one of the ugliest legacies of the human story. If you don’t share my faith, you don’t share my humanity. You are a lesser human of a lesser god.

So where do God’s people turn in the midst of the flames?
Where do followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace go from here?
As followers of the God who calls for swords to be beaten into plowshares and forgiveness of enemies to be offered freely, what words do we speak to a world hell-bent on living under the pillar of fire called “vengeance?”

Maybe, just maybe, there is a different pillar of fire that offers us hope.
A pillar of fire and cloud… not so unlike that found in this morning’s story from Exodus.
In Exodus, the pillar of fire and cloud separated enemies. There is something powerful in that. It came between and touched the army of Egypt and the army of Israel…and one did not come near the other all night we are told.
For there in that pillar and in that cloud God was working out something new…
Readying his people for a new journey – a journey marked not by fear and vengeance, but of trust and covenantal blessing.
A journey undertaken by those who had been wounded and terrorized and yet were led to a place where they could be a blessing to others…
“Wounded Healers” as Henri Nouen would put it.

“Wounded Healers” led by God to be a blessing:

You know something pretty amazing happens when fire is mixed with water…. Especially the waters of Baptism.
When fire mixes with Baptismal Water…
A cloud of grace is formed.

And from that cloud of grace, new eyes emerge.
New Eyes that see in that mysterious pillar of fire and cloud, an unpredictable God who will not be manipulated into adopting our biases and our agendas…
New Eyes that see in that mysterious pillar of fire and cloud, God’s Divine finger print leading us into lives (as wounded as we may be) of serving our neighbor…
New Eyes that see how that mysterious pillar of fire and cloud not only separates enemies, but ultimately connects them by freeing us from the shackles of paranoid suspicions and fearful bigotry…
New Eyes: Christ’s Eyes…
That see God at work in every faith and people.
There is an old Hasidic tale told by an ancient rabbi that goes something like this:

The angels were rejoicing over the deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea. They were playing their harps and singing and dancing when one of them said, “wait…Look, the Creator of the Universe is sitting there weeping!” They approached God and asked, “Why are you weeping when Israel has been delivered by your mighty hand?”
“I am weeping” said the Maker of the Universe, “for the dead Egyptians washed up on the shore- somebody’s sons, somebody’s husbands, somebody’s fathers”.

A long time ago, Jesus was asked by Peter about the mathematics of forgiveness. “How many times must I forgive when someone does me wrong?” I can just imagine the look on Peter’s face when Jesus responded: “Everytime – without limit – That’s how many times you forgive”.

These last 10 years have revealed to us that our grief is far from over and may never be. – but even in the midst of grief, there is room for healing and yes, even room for equation-defying forgiveness. For we are followers of a God who not only hears our cries, but whose son, The Prince of Peace, has worn our flesh, experienced our suffering and put a stopper in death itself.

Listen to what is said at various remembrances today and you may very well hear the drumbeats of vengeance. For it is so easy to let our anger and our grief get the better of us. An eye for an eye makes a lot of sense to the world around us.

But deep down inside: You and I know that that is not the answer. You and I know that Jesus has shown us still a more excellent way!

You and I know in our heart of hearts that now more than ever, the world needs peacemakers – and who better to be peacemakers than those who follow in the footsteps of the One they call, “The Prince of Peace?”

Pr. Doug's Sermon: October 2, 2011

2011-10-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

Matthew 21:33-46

Can you picture Jesus preaching this parable? Can you imagine him speaking to a crowd of listeners in the temple court?

There on the edge of the crowd stand the high priests and the learned teachers: The religious leaders of Israel. And here sits Jesus – telling them a story: A story about themselves. Just a moment ago we heard how that story went:

We heard how a wealthy landowner sent agents to collect his share of the profits only to have them beaten up and sent away by the workers: Those entrusted with the vineyard’s care.

Finally the “naive” landowner sends his own son, and they kill him. “What will the lord of the vineyard do with his wicked workers?” Jesus asks. And with that the sermon is over….

You can imagine how that story went over with the religious establishment of Israel. No one likes to be labeled a “murderer”, especially religious leaders in a religious building.

The sermon was over and Jesus’ congregation began to organize a lynch mob…apparently the parable got to them.

Well, if we’re honest we’ll have to admit the parable gets to us too. We understand the story. We should, for though it is a story of Israel, it is nonetheless our story as well, and the story of the whole human race.

We have always rejected the prophets. Trace your way back through history from Oscar Romero and Martin Luther King Jr to Thomas More and Joan of Arc, back all the way to John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Amos and Elijah. We have a long record of rejecting the prophets of God.

Some we’ve killed…
Some we’ve stoned…
And some we have merely treated with silent reproach.

For generations we have tried to stop the prophets from speaking. Time and time again God has sent prophets to us and we have chased them away or we have simply walked away ourselves choosing not to be in the company of such radicals.

When you think about it, no one loves a prophet…

Prophets spot the gap between what we believe and how we behave and drive the Word of God right in between.

Prophets measure the distance between what we do and what God demands.

God wills peace on earth, then “why” says the prophet do you make or accept war in God’s vineyard?

God has given a commandment that “you shall not kill”, then “why” says the prophet do you stand idly by while your neighbor goes hungry in God’s abundant vineyard?

God says “Love your neighbor”, then “why” says the prophet have congregations of every age circled the wagons when times were tough instead of arising as the servant church God has called them to be?

God says, “Go and be a blessing to the nations”, then “why” says the prophet do you seek the blessing for yourself over and against being the blessing?

In short, we are the ones who reject God’s living Word…
We are the tenants in the vineyard who deserve eviction.

And yet I believe that this story is less about the wicked tenants and more about the absurdly patient landowner. Whereas Isaiah’s “beloved” planter uprooted his vineyard in anger when it produced “wild grapes”, the owner in Jesus’ parable does just the opposite.

He sends agent after agent who are beaten, humiliated and in some cases, even killed. Finally, as if watching a scary movie where we know something terrible awaits the protagonist just around the corner, we see the owner send his son, who himself is also murdered.

Normally an owner would move quickly with overwhelming force to claim what is rightfully his…
So what’s wrong with this owner?
How many beatings and deaths will he put up with?

The owner from Isaiah 5, the first reading this morning, knows what to do: Uproot and completely destroy: Leave no one standing.

Surely this story from Jesus’ lips to our ears is completely absurd. And yet if it is absurd, it is only absurd as a testimony to God’s astounding mercy. Like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the owner here is patient with a love that will not let us go…

By our logic…
The story should have ended with a massacre. Even Martin Luther, in a rather bleak mood, once responded, “If I were as our Lord God and … people were as disobedient as they now be, I would knock the world in pieces”.

By our logic…
The workers should have been slaughtered and the vineyard turned over to new sharecroppers.

By our logic…
This parable should end violently: an Eye for an eye…a tooth for a tooth… death for death.

But Jesus will not be roped in to that kind of logic…

Knowing full well that he too will endure a grievous act of violence on a vineyard cross…thus putting an end once and for all to violence and death…

Jesus goes on to talk about a stone – a rejected stone - a rejected stone that will become the chief cornerstone. The stone upon which God’s Kingdom will be built...

God’s Kingdom…

Where a lion and lamb lie down together…

Where swords are beaten into ploughshares…

Where all share everything in common and no-one goes without…

Where the naked are clothed and the hungry are fed…

Where one’s is judged by one’s character rather than the color of one’s skin, the money in one’s bank account or the orientation of one’s life.

Murderous vineyard workers and building blocks – perhaps the strangest mixed metaphor in all of Scripture… and yet here it is placed before us.

A mixed metaphor that confronts and challenges everything we take for granted about our world and about our God…

A mixed metaphor that convicts and comforts…

A mixed metaphor that acknowledges humanity’s immense capacity for evil and God’s immense capacity to create a servant church from the dust of humanity’s sin…

A servant church led by such people as

St. Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Breslau, Germany

St. Martin Luther King Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama

St. Oscar Romero of San Salvador

St. –fill in your name-- Go ahead fill in your name. God already has…

Pr. Doug's Sermon: October 9, 2011

2011-10-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Matthew 22:1-14

Here we go again….

For yet another week, we get to hear Jesus tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like… in rather harsh terms…

Recall last week, he described it as a vineyard…

A vineyard?
Now that’s an image I like.
I can relate very well to grapes and soil and sun and rain and of course the product of all that stuff. Honestly, I have never met a grape I don’t like.

In fact, when I think of grapes and vineyards, I picture crisp autumn days around any one of our beautiful Finger Lakes, filled with vineyard and winery tours with family and friends.

So the Kingdom of God is like a vineyard? That’s great, until Jesus says a little more…

The Kingdom is like a vineyard….with evil workers on the verge of expulsion.
Well that is certainly a comforting image…

A vineyard with evil workers……

How about them apples?

“The Kingdom of God” says Jesus, “is like a royal wedding banquet”.

A royal wedding? Now that’s something that sounds appealing….

I can relate to that…..in as much as I have seen a couple of them on television over the past few years.

I mean who can forget the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton? The hats alone were enough to warrant worldwide television coverage.
From Princess Beatrice’s giant sculpted bow, to Victoria Beckham’s spiky alien antenna, royal fashion was quite the topic of conversation.

So just when you thought it was safe to venture into the waters of royal wedding fashion, along comes Jesus with his own fashion statement…

As he tells a parable about a king who invited guests to a royal wedding only to find one of the guests disrespectfully attired; not wearing a wedding robe.

After offering a harsh fashion critique, the king has this guest bound and thrown out into the darkness where there is endless weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Followed by the harshest of words that conclude our gospel reading for the day: “For many are called, but few are chosen”.

The gospel of the Lord…Praise to you O Christ.

Praise to you O Christ? Really? We really concluded the Gospel reading with these words? “Many are called, but few are chosen?”

How does he do that? How is it that Jesus can take a perfectly normal, everyday and quite enjoyable image and ruin it with a parable?

Of course, I guess that’s what parables do don’t they? They take something that we know a lot about and they ruin it for us by casting it in a different light.

A light that displaces all of our assumptions…

A light that re-arranges our spiritual furniture…

A light that tells one story on the surface, but on a deeper level points to something else and challenges us to discover THAT something else.

And Jesus is no stranger to the parable….

In the 4 gospels alone, Jesus uses parables to get his point across 26 times. Add the non-canonical gospel of Thomas and you’ve got 29.

I mean if you think about it, the use of parable is brilliant.

For like a Trojan Horse of old, through the use of familiar images, the parable gets past our defenses and once there, unleashes its gospel truth: it’s Kingdom of God perspective: messing up everything for us: especially messing up the concept of “life on our terms”.

So little wonder that when we hear Jesus talking about “many” being called, but only a “few” being chosen, we begin to squirm in our Lutheran “justification by grace through faith” shoes.

I don’t know about you. But I like the concept of “justification by faith”.

I like knowing that in the Cross of Christ, God has done it all for me…

And as a result, I like thinking that nothing is required of me….

I like thinking that God loves me so much that not only did He send his son to die for me, but also that he accepts and affirms everything about me.

He affirms me when I come to church…

He affirms me when I decide to skip church this week

He affirms me when I tithe my life…

And he affirms me when I keep it all to myself.

I call this living life on my terms:

The Lutheran pastor and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, called this “cheap grace”.

Not only living life on my terms…

But living like the rest of the world…modeling my life on the world’s standards and not aspiring to live a different life under the cross of grace.

Not aspiring to live a different life under the cross of grace.

Living life under one’s own terms…

Maybe in Jesus’ royal wedding parable this morning, that was the problem with the guest who showed up without a wedding garment.

Maybe instead of coming to a wedding to become intimately connected to the king: To God, this wedding guest came looking simply for his own dietary nourishment…just came to fill his belly.

Looking only to his own needs and desires while wearing blinders to the realities around him.

But whatever the motivations of this guest, it is clear that something is expected of him…

That there is a garment he is expected to wear which differs from the one he normally wears…

A garment that is different from the ones worn by the rest of the world.

You see, I do not believe that Jesus tells this parable in order to figure out who is “in” and who is “out” of God’s Kingdom… some may translate it that way: but they would be wrong.

I believe this parable is all about how life is lived as a resident of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And how, as residents of that Kingdom, we are called to a different way of life.

A different way of life where in following Christ, we bear His Image.

Just imagine for a moment, what bearing the image of Christ could look like:

Healing…

Teaching…

Feeding…

Each of these: An image of Christ.

Being poured out….

Breaking down barriers…

Loving the unlovable…

Each of these: An image of Christ.

So here we are: Gathered before this banquet table today, not with fancy hats and classic couture worthy of a Buckingham Palace wedding, but clothed simply (through the waters of our Baptism) with a different wedding garment:
the joy and wonder of Christ…

about to share in a glorious feast...

a feast in which our King, Christ our Lord not only invites us, but dwells richly with us.

a feast in which we are fed with nothing short of God’s very own life…

a feast from which we rise, transformed, bearing the image of the crucified and risen Christ…

a feast in which we are fed and from which we feed.

But you know, after all is said and done, I still squirm and become uneasy when I hear Jesus talking in parables about God’s Kingdom:

Especially when he puts “wedding garments” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in the same sentence.

There is still a part of me that wants to say, “Jesus is just using harsh terms to get my attention”.

There is still a part of me that wants to lay down a Jesus disclaimer that somehow Jesus doesn’t really require every fiber of my being.

More times than not, I still want life on my terms: Not God’s.

More times than not, I want to be fed more than I want to feed.

More times than not, if I am really honest with myself, I want the image of Doug a whole lot more than the image of God.

For in God’s image, are certain expectations…

In God’s image, I have no choice but to feed, clothe and break down barriers…

In God’s image, I have no choice but to oppose systems that oppress and neglect the most vulnerable.

In God’s image, I have no choice but to be Christ to my neighbor…
Yes, every neighbor, even the ones who I would rather call “enemy”.

In God’s image, there is but one wedding garment to wear…

And that is the garment emerging from the waters of my baptism…

The garment that transforms and compels me to love God with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself.

Loving God….Loving neighbor.

These are the threads which when woven together comprise the wedding garment we wear this day to this feast.

No crazy hats…no glistening tiaras. No horse drawn carriages. Just love.

Whose fault is it?

2011-03-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

The following meditation is written by Anna Carter Florence.

Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
Why does it always come back to this question?—"Whose fault is it?"

You’re doing dishes in the kitchen when a baseball flies through the window with a crash. Picking your way through the broken glass, you peer through the hole in the window and see two boys, frozen in horror. One holds a baseball bat; the other wears a glove. They are both speechless for exactly five seconds, and then each begins to shout, pointing at the other:
"I told you not to hit it toward the house!"
"What?! You’re the one who made me stand in this spot!"
"But I didn’t hit the ball, stupid!"
"You pitched it! And it was your idea to play in the first place!"
As their voices rise in decibels and the shouting match turns ugly, you realize they are waiting for you to decide: Whose fault is it, that the baseball went through the window?

The couple sits down in the doctor’s office, waiting for her report. They have been trying for two years to get pregnant, with no success; now, they want to know why. Last week they came in for the battery of tests that will begin to give them some answers, but as the doctor sees the tension in their faces, how they are unable to look at one another or hold hands, she knows how the couple is framing their questions:
Is she the one—is it her inability to conceive?
Is he the one—is his sperm count too low?
Is it her organs that are malfunctioning?
Is it his stress that is interfering?
The doctor opens the folder in front of her and takes a deep breath. The question hangs heavy in the air: Whose fault is it, that we cannot have a baby?

It’s your twenty-fifth high school reunion, and you can’t wait to catch up with your old friends. It’s been years since you were all together. Everyone is there—everyone except Joe and Beth. "Aren’t they coming?" you ask, and your friends shake their heads, sadly. "I guess you haven’t heard," says one; "Joe and Beth are getting a divorce." You sit in stunned silence. "No!" you say, numbly; "not Joe and Beth!"
Was it an affair?
Was it a midlife crisis?
Did he hit her?
Did she drink?
"What happened?" you whisper, not even sure you want to know the truth. And there is that question again: Whose fault is it, that this marriage didn’t last?

Maybe it’s human instinct, to find fault. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism, to keep the great void at bay. If we know whose fault it is, at least we have a way to understand what has happened. At least we have a way to explain our part in it. Even better, we may find a way to excuse our part in it—which is to say, to put the responsibility squarely on another’s shoulders. If our only job is to find out whose fault it is, we can be assured of some retributive satisfaction: someone will pay for what goes wrong.
Do you see this, where you are? When the basement floods, when the church budget comes up short, when the sermon falls flat, why are we so quick to ask, "How could this have happened?" And when we determine whose fault it was, why does the fault-finding so quickly turn to blame?

I’m not sure the disciples are looking to lay blame in this scene, by the way. They aren’t out for blood and retribution; they’re just curious. They really want to know: Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? It’s a fair question for disciples to ask of their teacher, given the theological equations of the day (blindness = sickness = sin = human fault). It’s a fair question for Jesus’ disciples to ask, given the fact that Jesus keeps turning the theological tables. I think the disciples really are open to the possibility that there might be a new and different answer, here. They really want Jesus to teach them. So who sinned, Jesus?—this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Jesus’ answer stumps everyone, and it stumps me. No one sinned. He was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.

No blame. No fault. Just an opportunity for God to be seen and known.
I’m going to skip the predestination question, here; it’s a fair one, but unanswerable, in my view, since this story then continues with a miraculous healing, and none of us are really in a position to step into Jesus’ shoes, in that department. What amazes me is how Jesus changes the subject. Who sinned, this man or his parents? No one sinned. No one is the cause of this. No one is the subject, here—except God, and what God might do in this situation.
For me, this changes everything. Whose fault is it, that the baseball went through the window? No one’s fault. No one is the subject, here—except God, and what God might do in this situation. So look around, boys. What do you think God is doing, here? How can we help?Whose fault is it, that this couple cannot conceive a child? No one’s fault. No one is the subject, here—except God, and what God might do now. So look around. What do you think God is doing, here? How can we be a part of it? Whose fault is it, that this marriage ended? No one’s fault. No one is the subject here—except God, and what God might do here. So look around. What do you think God is doing, here? How can we enter in?
It’s a good instinct, changing the subject.

Let God be God.
Let we who are blind be healed.

Anna Carter Florence

Reflection on Lent

2011-03-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

The following is a reflection on Lent by The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor. This reflection challenges each of us to ask the question: "Who am I in the story of Jesus' passion?"

Jesus was not brought down by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God’s will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff’s office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar.

This is a story that can happen anywhere at anytime, and we are as likely to be the perpetrators as the victims. I doubt that many of us will end up playing Annas, Caiaphas or Pilate, however. They may have been the ones who gave Jesus the death sentence, but a large part of him had already died before they ever got to him--the part Judas killed off, then Peter, then all those who fled. Those are the roles with our names on them--not the enemies but the friends.

Whenever someone famous gets in trouble, that is one of the first things the press focuses on. What do his friends do? Do they support him or do they tell reporters that, unfortunately, they had seen trouble coming for some time? One of the worst things a friend can say is what Peter said. We weren’t friends, exactly. Acquaintances might be a better word. Actually, we just worked together. For the same company, I mean. Not together, just near each other. My desk was near his. I really don’t know him at all.

No one knows what Judas said. In John’s Gospel he does not say a word, but where he stands says it all. After he has led some 200 Roman soldiers and the temple police to the secret garden where Jesus is praying, Judas stands with the militia. Even when Jesus comes forward to identify himself, Judas does not budge. He is on the side with the weapons and the handcuffs, and he intends to stay there.

Or maybe it was not his own safety that motivated him. Maybe he just fell out of love with Jesus. That happens sometimes. One day you think someone is wonderful and the next day he says or does something that makes you think twice. He reminds you of the difference between the two of you and you start hating him for that--for the difference--enough to begin thinking of some way to hurt him back.

I remember being at a retreat once where the leader asked us to think of someone who represented Christ in our lives. When it came tie to share our answers, one woman stood up and said, “I had to think hard about that one. I kept thinking, Who is it that told me the truth about myself so clearly that I wanted to kill him for it?” According to John, Jesus died because he told the truth to everyone he met. He was the truth, a perfect mirror in which people saw themselves in God’s own light.

What happened then goes on happening now. In the presence of his integrity, our own pretense is exposed. In the presence of his constancy, our cowardice is brought to light.

Barbara Brown Taylor, “Truth to Tell,” from “The Perfect Mirror,” copyright 1998 Christian Century Foundation., 89-92.

This I Believe

2010-11-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

The following reflection is from The Rev. William H. Willimon, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University.

"In the early church, just before the holy meal that we know as the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, people brought forth food, mainly bread and wine, for a meal. They brought the everyday labors of their hands, what they had at home, and they put it up on the Lord's table in the great offertory procession. You can see these ordinary people, coming forward at the invitation of their pastor, putting what they had on the table. In offering their food, in giving the stuff of their daily life back to God, for the use by God's people, they were participating in oblation. This giving , this oblation, is one of the great movements of our faith. We are not created simply to be receivers, takers, but are also created to be givers.

"You and I live with the deep ambiguity in regard to material stuff of life. Some of us are paying too high a price for our accumulation of things. Some of us are neglecting our health, neglecting our families and friends, because we are working ourselves to death. We are spending too much time at the office, giving too much to our labor, thinking that we are going to get a worthwhile return. What are we to do about this over-striving, and over-work, and over-accumulation?

"The church says that we can put it all on the altar. We can take this deeply ambiguous money - the root of so much evil, and the source of much good - and put it on the altar. In so doing, our daily work is redeemed. What we are doing, in offering, is transformed from the mere making of a living, to the living of a life. Whatever we do for a living, we now do to the glory of God and for the giving to others. We can put it on the altar.

"Watch us, during the offering, and you will see us at our best. We take the stuff of our daily lives, and we give it back to God, for God's work. This is us at our very best."

LGBT Message

2010-10-29T06:46:00.001-07:00

My name is Mark Hanson, and I am presiding bishop of the largest Lutheran church in
North America -- the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

I am a father of six and a grandfather of four.

I’ve listened with pain and shock to reports of young people taking their lives because
they’ve been bullied and tormented for being different, for being gay or perceived to be
gay, for being the people God created them to be.

I can only imagine what it’s like to be bullied for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender.

But I do know how bullying can destroy someone.

One day, I came home and found our daughter curled up in the fetal position on the floor
weeping uncontrollably. She was struggling to know who she was as a bi-racial young
woman.

She felt bruised by words people had spoken about her, words that ate away at her sense
of identity and self-worth. I sat down by her on the floor holding her in my arms.

Words have the power to harm and the power to heal.

Sometimes the words of my Christian brothers and sisters have hurt you. And I also know
that our silence causes you pain.

Today, I want to speak honestly with you and offer you the hope I have in Christ:
You are a beloved child of God. Your life carries the dignity and the beauty of God’s
creation. God has called you by name and claimed you forever. There’s a place for you in
this world and in this church.

As a Christian I trust that God is working in this world for justice and peace through you
and through me.

It gets better.

“For I’m convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, 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.”

May it be so. Amen.

"The Long View" by Archbishop Oscar Romero

2010-10-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Pastor Doug's Sermon 10/10/10

2010-10-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

Luke 17:11-19
October 10, 2010

Did you hear the one about the 10 HIV infected men and
a crazy man of God,
getting together in the middle of Joseph Avenue?
Oh it was quite a scene I would imagine…..
Not quite sure how the HIV came about in the 10 men.
Probably not in a way that the staid and steady church going crowds would approve.
And as for that crazy man of God?
Well, your guess is as good as mine as to how he found himself in such an unsafe and quite frankly, a rather invisible neighborhood – at least invisible to the ones who count for something in this world.
And speaking of invisible neighborhoods, why would anyone who doesn’t live on or near Joseph Avenue, find him or herself in such a dangerous place – a no man’s land – an urban desert of fear and neglect if you will….
Surely there are safer and more profitable places to go if one is looking for more people in the pews and more dollars in the offering plate on a Sabbath morning.
Certainly there are more important things for this “holy man of God” to be doing than hanging out on the wrong side of the Inner Loop with people who clearly have gotten themselves into a bad situation…
I bet that’s what the religious crowds in the temple pews were saying about Jesus when they first heard Luke’s story of
10 Lepers and
A crazy man of God…
Meeting in the middle of nowhere.
And why not? For those who see religion more as “sales” than “service” it doesn’t make sense for Jesus to be wasting his time in that part of town.
Certainly the magnificence of Pilate’s Mediterranean coastal oasis at Caesarea Maritima would have more lucrative crowds for your mission. Folks from all over the civilized world come and go through that splendid city. Pilate even has a pretty decent Oceanside swimming pool for himself there. And let’s not forget the sales potential in the roman hippodrome. Captive crowd in a stadium – Can’t go wrong there….
And what about the literal glow and splendor of that great city on a hill: Jerusalem: The religious and cultural epicenter of the universe? Boy, if you wish to bankroll your religion,
those are the places to go…
those are the people that statistically speaking are going to bring success to your ministry.
And yet something tells me that though Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, it is not to rub shoulders with the rich and pure…
Nor is it to build up the balance in his Galilean bank account – if he ever had such a thing.
No, as much as I might not approve of the places Jesus goes and the company he keeps, Luke tells me that in Jerusalem there is no glow.
In Jerusalem, there is no crowd waiting to put their tithes in the Jesus Ministries Bank Account.
Instead there is a cross.
A cross of shame..
A cross of weakness…
A cross of death….
Oh yeah, Luke warned me about that right from the beginning when on Mary’s lips came the confession that in Christ, God has
Brought down the powerful from their thrones..
And lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things…
And sent the rich away empty.
Lifting up the lowly…
Filling the hungry…
Now I get it! Now I know why Jesus is in the place he is
and with the people he is with. Now it makes sense.
And lest we think that Jesus is just a really compassionate social worker, Luke reminds us again and again, that the One who lifts up the lowly, will himself be lowly on a Cross.
That the One who fills the hungry, will himself hunger and thirst upon the hardwood of a cross ~ the cruelest instrument of execution known to humanity.
So who better to not only walk with the lowly, but to heal the lowly, than Jesus – The One who being born in lowliness, becomes the lowest of the lowly by pouring himself out on a Cross?
Kind of changes the Leper story this morning doesn’t it? Kind of makes it a little less tame…Makes it a little more dangerous… A little more scandalous…A little less Norman Rockwell at Thanksgiving.
Scandalous….
Not only because the tables are turned on the power structures which sustain us day by day… (You know the mighty being cast out and the lowly being lifted up)
But scandalous because the appropriate response to God’s gift of healing comes not from one of the temple priests or parish pastors, who should know how to respond to God, but from an outsider…
Someone from an unacceptable faith tradition…
Someone to whom I have given the label, “Enemy”.
“Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him”.
When one of the ten returns to Jesus after being healed, Luke tells us he does more than just say “thank you”.
First he turns…
Next he praises (The Greek word there is Doxa from which we get the word, “doxology” which literally means, “gives glory to God”)…
Following this, he worships (literally “falls on his face”)…
and then finally he gives thanks (the Greek word there being Eucharisteo – from which we get the word, Eucharist.)
Turning…
Praising…
Falling on your face…
And giving thanks…
According to Luke, that is how the faithful respond to God.
Turning…
Praising..
Worshiping..
Giving Thanks…
The Shepherds do it at the news of Jesus birth…
The Centurion does it at Jesus’ crucifixion…
The Disciples do it when they witness Jesus’ ascension…
And now we are told that this dermatalogically-challenged one…
This unclean Samaritan outsider knows where his healing has come from and does something about it:
He returns and gives praise.
We can learn a lot from a leper. We can learn a lot from those who reside on the outside…
Outside of our piety…
Outside of our comfort zones…
Outside of our assumptions of how God works and how God could not possibly work.
What would it look like for us, as individuals and as a congregation, if we actually did learn something from this leprous Samaritan…
And we actually returned and gave praise to God for the gift of Jesus?
Maybe our eyes would be opened to see that what we do here on a Sunday morning in worship is not an optional event where I come a few times a year and learn how to be a good person but instead we see worship for what it is: An event where we return over and over again praising God, falling on our faces and giving thanks that we too are recipients of healing, wholeness and eternal life. And all the while measuring the worship’s value not by “Timex time” but by “God’s Kairos Time”.
What would it look like if we returned and gave praise to God for the gift of Jesus?
Maybe life on the edge wouldn’t be so scary…
Maybe our eyes would see beyond the pews of today to the see the pews of tomorrow steeped in meaningful outreach helped in part by our own generosity today…
What would it look like if we returned and gave praise to God for the gift of Jesus?
Maybe, just maybe we would be a church whose bottom line value is determined not by the size of our savings but by the size of our serving.
So let me ask this question one more time.
Did you hear the one about the 10 HIV infected men and
a crazy man of God,
getting together in the middle of Joseph Avenue?
What about the 10 lepers and
A crazy man of God,
Getting together on the road to Jerusalem?
What about the saints and sinners of a local Lutheran church and
A crazy man of God,
Getting together in the middle of the city…?

NALC Is Wrong...

2010-10-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

On page 8 of the latest Lutheran Magazine, is an article describing the formation of the North American Lutheran Church back in late August. In this article leaders of the newly formed NALC are quoted as saying they will "uphold confessional principles". Boy I don't know about you, but I sure can rest easier at night knowing that some group of Lutherans are upholding confessional principles because obviously the rest of us 4.5 million ELCA folk are not. Give me a break!

The last time I checked my Lutheran label and the one here at Incarnate Word, we still confessed belief in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth. We still confessed belief in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, who suffered death and was buried and on the third day rose again from the dead, who will come to judge the living and the dead. Oh yeah and the last time I checked under the Lutheran "hood" here at Incarnate Word, we still confessed belief in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. And we even say the word "amen" after that.

Oh yeah and as far as the Sacraments go, we still acknowledge the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life through the real presence of Christ as Luther put it, "in, with, through and under the elements..." Hey NALC folks: What confessional principles are we not upholding?

Since that pathetic argument doesn't hold up, our NALC friends tell us that we do not hold Scripture as authoritative. Wrong again my friends. Not only do we hold Scripture as authoritative, but also as normative.

Check out our Evangelical Lutheran Worship book beginning on page 1154 where it describes our understanding of Scripture and Worship. There you will find 69 separate parts of Scripture listed which are the basis for what we do each and every week around the altar of God's love. Do I have to list them all for our NALC detractors? Well okay...

Joel 2:15-17; Matthew 18:20; Acts 2:1-13; Matthew 28:19; Psalm 103:2-3; Psalm 136:1; 1 John 1:8-9; John 8:34; Matthew 22:37-39; Psalm 119:47; Psalm 25:4; John 20:22-23; Ephesians 2:4-5, 3:16-17; Jeremiah 17;13; Deuteronomy 32:18; Psalm 27:1.

Had enough yet? No?

Psalm 149:1-4; Luke 17:13; Luke 2:14; Philippians 2:11; Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 5:12-13; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Luke 1:28; Isaiah 55:10-11; John 1:1-5, 14; Colossians 3:16; Jeremiah 2:4; 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Revelation 19:5-6; John 6:68; Psalm 119:41,42; Numbers 14:18; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; Luke 23:46; Matthew 5:23-24; John 20:19; Romans 16:16; Acts 2:42; Isaiah 58:6-7; Matthew 25:35; Lamentations 3:41; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Matthew 6:9-13; John 1:29; Luke 24:30-31; Luke 2:28-32; Matthew 28:19; John 20:21; John 13:1-15; Numbers 6:23-26; Romans 15:5,13; Luke 7:50; Romans 12:11; Galatians 2:10; Matthew 10:7; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 3:23; Galatians 3:27; Isaiah 11:2; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 8:12; Matthew 5:16.

What parts of these Scripture verses aren't authoratative? Let's call the North American Lutheran Church for what it is. An anti-gay, single issue church which falsely accuses the ELCA of heresy because we choose to model Christ's radical inclusivity to all. If that is why you must leave the ELCA, then fine, I'll even hold the door open for you. But don't proclaim to the national media and anyone else who will listen to your rants that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is neither scriptural nor confessional.

Perhaps other leaders in our beloved ELCA are content to let the North American Lutheran Church define us as unfaithful. I'm not. So while our departing NALC friends are crying in their milk about our unfaithfulness, the men, women and children here at Incarnate Word will continue to do what we do so well: Gathering around God's Word and Sacrament; clothing the naked and feeding the hungry: All in the name of Christ.

By the way at the bottom of page 8 (directly underneath the NALC article) is a picture of our ELCA reaching out to the 20 million people affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan. Does that sound unfaithful to you?

Your Faithful Partner in Christ,
Pastor Doug

Muslim, Jewish, Christian Prayer for Peace

2010-09-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

In these anxious times where walls of suspicion are erected more easily than razed, I offer you the following prayer for peace I found outside our sanctuary today:

O God, you are the source of life and peace. Praised by your name forever. We know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace. Hear our prayer in this time of war.

Your power changes hearts. Muslims, Christians and Jews remember, and profoundly affirm, that they are followers of the one God, children of Abraham, brothers and sisters; enemies begin to speak to one another; those who are estranged join hands in friendship; nations seek the way of peace together.

Strengthen our resolve to give witness to these truths by the way we live.

Give to us:
Understanding that puts an end to strife;
Mercy that quenches hatred, and
Forgiveness that overcomes vengeance.

Empower all people to live in your law of love.
Amen.

NLM Congregational Letter

2010-09-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

It is with a great deal of sadness that we share with you the news that on Sunday, August 29, 2010, the Nile Lutheran Mission voted unanimously to leave our denomination, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Though financially the NLM was almost out of money, we are told the ELCA’s vote on human sexuality in August 2009, was the cause.

As you may have already heard, the Nile Lutheran Mission is no longer utilizing our facilities here at Incarnate Word. Unfortunately, there has been misinformation and outright lies circulating among some Lutherans in our area claiming that NLM was asked to leave Incarnate Word over its theological disagreements with the ELCA and that the ELCA is requiring NLM to repay over $200,000 in grant monies. Neither has been the case. Back in March of this year, denominational leaders in Chicago and Syracuse agreed to forgive the debt of any and all grant monies should NLM decide to leave the ELCA.

Let us be clear on the other lie: The termination of our building-use agreement with the Nile Lutheran Mission had nothing to do with any theological disagreements. Rather, our decision to go our separate ways came from growing concerns over increased abuse and neglect of our facilities on Sunday afternoons. Moreover, in their vote to leave the ELCA, it has come to light that Pastor Jordan and the Nile Lutheran Mission no longer have ELCA sponsored insurance coverage which stands in direct contradiction to our congregational policy of requiring certificates of insurance from all outside groups which use our building.

In no way do we want for any of these events to diminish the partnership we have enjoyed with Jordan and the NLM for the past sixteen years. Over those many years, there have been joys and tears, celebrations and disappointments, but through it all, both faith communities have proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we have learned from one another as well. The NLM has learned from us what it is to be a stable church and we have learned from them how to trust in times of scarcity and know joy in the midst of adversity. Over the past decade and-a-half, blessings between our congregations have flowed in abundance both here and in Africa. Here in the city, African refugees have been re-settled and in Gambela, Ethiopia, thanks to total funding from our congregation, drinking water now brings the hope of new life to 20,000 people, all because God placed us together in ministry. And for that, how can we not say, “thanks be to God”?

Doubtless this parting of the ways will feel like a death to some. And it is a death. For any dreams we may have had of further integrating our faith communities in ministry have come to an end. But as people of faith who live our lives under the cross of Jesus Christ, we also know something of resurrection. As the bonds of death could not keep Jesus in the grave, so too will the bonds of this death not stop our communities from proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. And though we do so in separate venues, we do so together as brothers and sisters in the one body of Christ.

These are painful times for many people, especially Jordan and his community of faith. What is needed now more than ever is prayer and love. Let us continue to be the people of grace that God has called us to be as we do all we can to ensure that this time of transition goes as smoothly as possible not only for us but for our beloved sisters and brothers of the Nile Lutheran Mission.

Peace in Christ,
Pastors Doug and Joanne

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Proper 9 Sunday, July 4, 2010

2010-06-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Isaiah 66:10–14

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her —
that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.
For thus says the LORD:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,
and dandled on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants,
and his indignation is against his enemies.

Galatians 6: [1–6] 7–16

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor's work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.
Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.
See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised — only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule — peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Luke 10:1–11, 16–20

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.
The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Reflection

"The precise style of the mission of the seventy-two is probably not the same as mission in most of our twenty-first-century congregations. Generally most congregations do not send out itinerant preachers/healers in pairs who go from town to town, staying in one particular house for a short period of time before moving to another town. Nevertheless, this text does provide some important mission insights for us today. First, this text reminds us that it is the Lord's mission first, last, and always. Because we are called by the Lord to participate in his mission, a key question we should be asking is not really, "What is our mission?" but, "What is the Lord's mission, and how is the Lord empowering and sending us to participate in that larger mission?" Second, this is a mission call for faithfulness that does not necessarily guarantee success. What we see here and throughout Luke—Acts is that God's mission in Jesus Christ brings forth both positive and negative responses. We should not judge the importance and value of our mission endeavors on quantifiable rates of success/failure but on faithfulness to Jesus and his saving mission. Third, this is a mission of dependence not of independence. It is the Lord's mission, and he (not we) remains in charge. We do not always know where that will take us. We go not by ourselves but in community (here exemplified in the two by two of v. 2). We do not always provide for ourselves but are somewhat dependent on the kindness of strangers who turn out to be children of peace (vv. 5-6). The goal of mission is not the elevation of power or status of those sent by Jesus but the joy that comes in participating in Jesus' mission of life now and life eternal both for us and for those who receive the fruits of our mission labors" (Dr. Richard P. Carlson, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg).

Bulletin Announcements for July 4, 2010

This year's Summer Sunday Book Series continues today at 10:45 for both Incarnate Word and 3rd Presbyterian members in the Auditorium by the stage area.

This Week: The church office is closed tomorrow (July 5th); Friday –
Wellness Center at 10 a.m.

The Prayer Chain is available to pray for those who need and want it. Call
Helen Coleman (544-4450) with your request.

The youth of Incarnate Word will be leaving next week on their mission trip to Luther Place in Washington, D.C. – You are invited to be a part of their trip by donating granola bars, bars of soap, and
especially men’s white socks to hand out to the homeless in Washington, D.C. Look for specially marked boxes at the entrances and in the auditorium. If you would like to donate money, please make checks out to Incarnate Word and
put ‘LYO Homeless Donations’ on the memo line. We will be collecting these items through next Sunday, July 11th. Thanks for your support!

Please donate your old eyeglasses and empty pill bottles – Joanne Peterson
can use them in the Dominican Republic Health Care Project. We plan to give them to her when she's here in July. Any donation is greatly appreciated.

You are invited to be a part of Incarnate Word’s summer musical, Joseph and
the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Both kids and adults of all ages are invited to perform, help with scenery and costumes. We will rehearse throughout the summer following worship on Sundays, and will present the
musical on September 12, Rally Day. Please see Michael Unger or Pastor Joanne if you would like to be a part of this exciting project (there is no rehearsal today).

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Proper 8 - 5th Sunday after Pentecost

2010-06-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Readings

1 Kings 19:15–16, 19–21

Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." Then Elijah said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?" He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Galatians 5:1, 13–25

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Luke 9:51–62

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they ented a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Reflection

"Following Jesus is not a part-time job. It is not something we fit into our crammed schedules. It is not one obligation among several others in our hurried, multitasking lives. Following Jesus involves a radical reorientation and redirecting of ourselves, our obligations, and our loyalties. Following Jesus is not the key to having it all but involves leaving it all behind. Following Jesus is not even the top priority in our lives but is a way of living and relating to others that permeates every aspect of our lives including vocation, family, finances, and relaxation. Jesus' journey to Jerusalem in obedience to God's salvific goals patterns the way for those who follow him, those who remove themselves from the center of their existence and pick up their cross on a daily basis. Whether the analogy is plowing or perhaps driving a car on a busy interstate highway, the point is the same. One cannot move forward by setting one's focus backwards. Following Jesus means looking forward. And what do we see in such a forward-looking vision? We see Jesus who is leading the way to his own death; Jesus who is drawing us out of ourselves and even beyond ourselves to ventures we cannot fully plan or always anticipate. In this text James and John thought that loyal following meant destroying those who did not respond positively to Jesus and his mission. Jesus, however, operates with the big picture of God's salvific plan for all humanity so that raining fire on the Samaritans would only have burned up a future field for the mission of the gospel. Thus following Jesus does not mean that we can always calculate where we are going on the expedition of faith or even when we are going to get there. Rather, it entails trusting that Jesus is leading to places, people, and ways that God's grace, gifts, and salvation will blossom through our journey of discipleship" (Dr. Richard P. Carlson, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg).

Announcements from Bulletin of June 27, 2010

This year's Summer Sunday Book Series begins today at 10:45 for both Incarnate Word and 3rd Presbyterian members in the Auditorium by the stage area. Today's book will be The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle, led by John Wilkinson.

The Bereavement Group will meet at 11 am in the Conference Room with Pastor Doug.

Outdoor Worship - Please join us next Sunday, July 4th, for an outdoor service of Holy Communion at 8:15 am. You are invited to bring blankets or lawn chairs and gather on the lawn. In the event of bad weather, we will worship in the Sanctuary.

As the LYO continues to prepare for its mission trip to Luther Place in Washington, D.C., you are invited to donate granola bars, toiletry items and new packages of white sox which the youth will hand out to those in need. Look for specially marked boxes at the sanctuary entrances and in the auditorium. If you would like to donate money, please make checks payable to "Incarnate Word" and put "LYO Homeless Donations" on the memo line. We will be collecting these items through Sunday, July 11 at which time we will ask God's blessings upon our youth and those who will be recipients of your generosity.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be coming to Incarnate Word! Both kids and adults of all ages are invited to perform, help with scenery or costumes. We will rehearse throughout the summer months following worship on Sundays and will present the musical as part of the worship service on Sunday, September 12th (Rally Day). Please see Michael Unger or Pastor Joanne if you would like to be part of this exciting project.

Why go to church?

2010-06-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. John 13:34

John tells us about Jesus preparing his disciples to carry on their work after he returns to the Father. Jesus tells them that it is his commandment that they love one another–Jesus knows that they will need the support and love of each other in order to spread the Gospel and face the trials that the world has in store. Jesus' commandment to love one another–to be there for each other and hold each other up–is his message to us also.

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.

After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination.

As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and "dead as a doornail." Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.

Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host Said, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

Pastor Doug

Second Sunday after Pentecost, 2010

2010-05-31T17:14:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day

O God, the strength of those who hope in you: Be present and hear our prayers and, because in the weakness of our mortal nature we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, so that in keeping your commandments we may please you in will and deed; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Readings

1 Kings 17:17–24

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again." The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

Galatians 1:11–24

For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God because of me.

Luke 7:11–17

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has looked favorably on his people!" This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Reflection

How do you respond when you meet misfortune? In a number of places the gospel records that Jesus was "moved to the depths of his heart." Our English word "compassion" is a weak translation of the Hebrew word for "sympathy". Why was Jesus so moved on this occasion? Jesus not only grieved the untimely death of a youth, but he showed the depth of his concern for a woman who lost not only a husband, but an only child as well. The scriptures make clear that God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone (see Ezekiel 33:11); he desires life, not death. Jesus not only had compassion, he also had power -- the ability to restore life and make whole again. Jesus, however, incurred grave risk by approaching the bier, since contact with a dead body made one ritually impure. His touch not only restored life but brought freedom and wholeness to soul as well as body. This miracle took place near the spot where the prophet Elisha raised another mother's son (see 2 Kings 4:18-37). Jesus claimed as his own one whom death had seized as its prey. By his word of power he restored life for a child marked for death. Jesus is Lord not only of the living but of the dead as well. Jesus triumphed over the grave and he promises that because he lives, we also shall live in him (John 14:19). Do you trust in the Lord's power to give life and hope in the face of misfortune and despair?

"Lord, your presence brings life and restores us to wholeness of mind, body, and spirit. Speak your word to me and give me renewed hope, strength and courage to follow you in all things and to eagerly serve others with a glad and generous heart."

Calendar of Events

Tuesday, June 1

7:00 p.m. Music Series Board Meeting

Wednesday, June 2

12:00 p.m. Appeal Advisory Team
7:30 p.m. IW/3rd Pres joint Evensong Choir rehearsal

Thursday, June 3

6:30 p.m. Crossways Bible Study

Friday, June 4

10:00 a.m. Wellness Center for older adults

Saturday, June 5

11:30 a.m. 3rd Pres. Dining Room Ministry

Sunday, June 6

8:15 a.m. LYO Pancake Breakfast - freewill offering to benefit youth mission trip to Washington
9:30 a.m. Service of Word and Sacrament
Incarnate Word Appeal Sunday Celebration

11:15 a.m. 3rd Presbyterian worship
3:30 p.m. Nile Lutheran worship at 3rd Presbyterian chapel
4:00 p.m. Incarnate Word/3rd Presbyterian Evensong Service at Incarnate Word
6:00 p.m. Upstate New York Synod Assembly at Rochester Convention Center through 6/8/10

Pastor Doug's reflections on ordination of gays and lesbians

2010-05-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

One of my dearest friends from my college days was a religion and philosophy professor of mine, Dr. Robert Benne. Dr. Benne not only introduced me to the Lutheran Church but helped me to see and appreciate a church which embodies the acceptance and love of a God who became flesh and dwelled among us. So imagine my hurt when I read the following excerpt from an article he wrote concerning last summer's vote by our Churchwide Assembly to allow for gays and lesbians in committed relationships to be ordained.

"The decision to allow the blessing and ordination of gays and lesbians in partnered relationships was the flash point for those who had observed these deep-running liberationalist trends operating in the church for many years. That flash point, however, illuminated the deeper problem of authority in the church. Scripture and its Lutheran confessional interpretation seemed to have been cast aside for the voting process of a Churchwide Assembly that was shaped more by contemporary experience, highly-organized interest groups, and the scarcely veiled agenda of ELCA headquarters".

According to Robert Benne, if you are in support of last summer's vote, you are neither Biblical nor confessional. Instead your faith is reduced to the whims of contemporary culture, politically-minded interest groups and hidden agendas of the Holy Mother Church in Chicago.

With all due respect Dr. Benne, you are wrong. You, my friend, are making assertions based not on fact, but on your own intolerance of those who would challenge the system with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. A system, which in my lifetime did not allow for blacks or women to be ordained. And all the while claiming Scripture and tradition in its corner.

A long time ago, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a congregation in Rome that was caught up in the question of who is in and who is out. Who is righteous and who is not. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul lays out a laundry list of who is on the "outs" with God. I can just picture some self-righteous pillars of that Roman congregation exclaiming with glee, "You see, I told you those people were out!"

And who's on the list? Folks who covet and are envious. Those who like to fight. Those who murder. Those who lie. Those who rebel against parents (I like that one). Those who are crafty. The foolish. Those who are boastful. Those who gossip. (Darn, why did Paul have to include the fun one?). The heartless, the ruthless and the faithless and even those who "applaud others who practice them". Oh and that part about men committing shameless acts with other men? I cannot help but believe that Paul is condemning the practice of sexual orgies that were extremely prevalent in the Greco-Roman world of his day. For those orgies, much like pornography of today, exploited and dehumanized and promoted worshipping the creature instead of the Creator.

But Paul doesn't stop here. For on the heels of the "sin" list comes Romans chapter 2 verse 1: "Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things." Paul is not saying "anything goes". Rather he is telling the Roman church, stop trying to be God. All of us are on the list. Deal with it. But that's okay for God has taken care of things. If you are on the list in chapter 1, which all of us are, then chapter 3 of Romans applies to you:

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith." And by the way, in the original Greek that final word "faith" may indeed be translated as God's faith. Come on Paul, can't I take credit for anything?

Oh and about that part where you suggest that those who favor last summer's vote are not in keeping with the Lutheran Confessions. I know folks who are passionately in favor of that vote who still confess that redemption comes through the atoning death of Christ on the cross; it is God who calls, gathers and enlightens; Christ is truly present in the Sacraments of Holy Baptiism and Holy Communion and that we are justified by grace through faith.

So Dr. Benne, the next time you make such unwarranted statements about those who stand on the opposite side of the aisle from you, please try to acknowledge that life in Christ is not black and white. That life is lived in the tension of paradox. That all of us are both saint and sinner. And that in Christ there is no longer Greek or Jew; slave or free; male and female.

So maybe it is possible to be faithful to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions while at the same time advocating for radical inclusion, which the last time I checked was pretty important to Jesus.

Festival of the Holy Trinity, 2010

2010-05-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day

God of heaven and earth, before the foundation of the universe and the beginning of time you are the triune God: Author of creation, eternal Word of salvation, life-giving Spirit of wisdom. Guide us to all truth by your Spirit, that we may proclaim all that Christ has revealed and rejoice in the glory he shares with us. Glory and praise to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Readings

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
"To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all that live.
The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth —
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world's first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

John 16:12-15

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Reflections on The Holy Trinity

"The Creation" (from God's Trombones, 1927)
And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I'm lonely -
I'll make me a world.

And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said: That's good!

Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,
And God rolled the light around in his hands
Until he made the sun;
And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said: That's good!

Then God himself stepped down -
And the sun was on his right hand,
And the moon was on his left;
The stars were clustered about his head,
And the earth was under his feet.
And God walked, and where he trod
His footsteps hollowed the valleys out
And bulged the mountains up.

Then he stopped and looked and saw
That the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world
And he spat out the seven seas -
He batted his eyes, and the lightnings flashed -
He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled -
And the waters above the earth came down,
The cooling waters came down.

Then the green grass sprouted,
And the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
And the oak spread out his arms,
The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
And the rivers ran down to the sea;
And God smiled again,
And the rainbow appeared,
And curled itself around his shoulder.

Then God raised his arm and he waved his hand
Over the sea and over the land,
And he said: Bring forth! Bring forth!
And quicker than God could drop his hand,
Fishes and fowls
And beasts and birds
Swam the rivers and the seas,
Roamed the forests and the woods,
And split the air with their wings.
And God said: That's good!

Then God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that he had made.
He looked at his sun,
And he looked at his moon,
And he looked at his little stars;
He looked on his world
With all its living things,
And God said: I'm lonely still.

Then God sat down -
On the side of a hill where he could think;
By a deep, wide river he sat down;
With his head in his hands,
God thought and thought,
Till he thought: I'll make me a man!

Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in his own image;

Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen.

From The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume Two, Second Edition, 1053-1055.

The Ragman by Walter Wangerin

I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life, my street sense, my sly tongue had ever prepared me for. Hush, child. Hush, now, and I will tell it to you.

Even before the dawn one Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our City. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new, and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice: "Rags!" Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music.

"Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!"

"Now, this is a wonder," I thought to myself, for the man stood six-feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city? I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn't disappointed.

Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking. The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys, and Pampers.

"Give me your rag," he said so gently, "and I'll give you another."

He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver.

Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then HE began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear.

"This IS a wonder," I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away from mystery.

"Rags! Rags! New rags for old!"

In a little while, when the sky showed grey behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek. Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity, and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart.

"Give me your rag," he said, tracing his own line on her cheek, "and I'll give you mine."

The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with the bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood - his own!

"Rags! Rags! I take old rags!" cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman.

The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry.

"Are you going to work?" he asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head.

The Ragman pressed him: "Do you have a job?"

"Are you crazy?" sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket - flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm.

"So," said the Ragman. "Give me your jacket, and I'll give you mine."

Such quiet authority in his voice!

The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman - and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman's arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs; but the Ragman had only one.

"Go to work," he said.

After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, and old man, hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes.

And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider's legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.

I wept to see the change in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so.

The little old Ragman - he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labor he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket. And he died.

Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope - because I had come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep.

I did not know - how could I know? - that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.

But then, on Sunday morning, I was wakened by a violence. Light - pure, hard, demanding light - slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all.

There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, besides that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness.

Well, then I lowered my head and trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: "Dress me."

He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ!

The Holy Spirit by Barbara Brown Taylor

Those first followers of Jesus, you may remember, were gathered together in a room in Jerusalem, quite uncertain about their next steps. In the aftermath of the events of Good Friday and Easter, still seeking to make sense of Jesus’ resurrection, the early disciples heard the risen Jesus urging them to wait in Jerusalem. Wait for God’s promise. Wait until the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And according to the book of Acts, they had indeed been waiting—for some 50 days. But one gets the sense that they little grasp what they are waiting for. What might this promise mean, the disciples wonder. And just how long will we have to wait? Some, no doubt, were becoming impatient; others struggled to move beyond their grief and loss; still others were nearly ready to dismiss experiences with Jesus as nothing more than an idle dream. No one among that small group, it seems clear, was anticipating a new kind of conspiracy. No one expected God’s Holy Spirit to so empower the disciples that they would become God’s partners in living and proclaiming a new reality—life in the unfolding kingdom of God. No one seemed to be anticipating a time when the very Spirit of God would conspire with them, breathing into them new life, new courage, new insight, new power, new hope, new peace, new purpose, new direction for their lives.

This week at Incarnate Word

Thursday, May 27

6:30 pm Crossways Bible Study

Saturday, May 29

11:00 am 3rd Pres. Dining Room Ministry

Sunday, May 30 Festival of the Holy Trinity

9:30 am Service of Word and Sacrament - Leslie Apetz leads service
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran Mission worship service

Week of May 23,2010

2010-05-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day

God our creator, the resurrection of your Son offers life to all the peoples of earth. By you Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love, empowering our lives for service and our tongues for praise, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings for the Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
Peter Addresses the Crowd. But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 8:14-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba!* Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness* with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

John 14:8-17 [25-27]

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

[”I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.]

Reflection

"Ministry,and mission beyond ministry, is to manage that inescapable ambivalence that is the human predicament in faithful, generative ways--management not as manipulation toward preferred ends, but management for truth-telling, waiting, and receiving newness. The work is the slow, steady work of ministry among liberals and conservatives so that we, personally and communally, are in the process of renouncing old scripts of death and entering new scripts of life. The hall mark of the church is not certitude; it is openness to the spirit. In the book of Acts, after the apostles preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with all the certitude they could muster, there was still a waiting and a big leap beyond themselves. Moving beyond ourselves is only made possible by the spirit...The cruciality of this ministry is not that the church may prosper. It is that the world may live (and not die) and rejoice (and not cower)" (Walter Brueggemann, Mandate to Difference p.203).

This week at Incarnate Word
Thursday, May 20

6:00 pm SPIRIT Banquet - food by Dinosaur Barbeque
6:30 pm Crossways Bible study - Romans & Philippians
6:30 pm Youth Choir

Friday, May 21
10:00 am Wellness Center for older adults

Saturday, May 22

11:30 am Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry

Sunday, May 23

9:30 am Worship "Confirmation Sunday"
10:45 am Sunday School picnic
11:00 am Adult Forum - Dominican Healthcare by BJ Gottorff
11:15 am Third Presbyterian worship
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran worship
7:00 pm Service of Choral Vespers for Pentecost

Week of May 9, 2010

2010-05-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day for Sunday, May 16, 2010

Almighty God, your only Son was taken into the heavens and in your presence intercedes for us. Receive us and our prayers for all the world, and in the end bring everything into your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Sovereign and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings for Sunday, May 16, 2010 (Ascension of our Lord)

Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Ephesians 1:15-23

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Luke 24:44-53

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Reflection on the Ascension of Jesus

"It turns out that the one who has ascended into power is not transcendent in remoteness, is not splendid in indifference, but is deeply in touch with the reality of the earth where money and power and social leverage and differentiation of gender, race, and class leave some dangerously exposed. This father-God to whom we pray “our father” rides the clouds not as a joy-rider, but rather to be in a position to see and to know and to care and to intervene and to feed and to heal and to forgive and to reconcile and to liberate. It turns out that ascension, whereby God is celebrated in power, is a claim that the earth is ordered differently because of the one who governs it (Walter Brueggemann, Mandate to Difference)

Calendar of Events at Incarnate Word

Wednesday, May 12
7:30 pm Adult Choir

Thursday, May 13
6:00 pm SPIRIT Dinner
6:30 pm Youth Choir
Crossways Bible Study

Friday, May 14
10:00 am Wellness Center for older adults

Saturday, May 15
2:00 -5:00 pm LYO Bike ride along Erie Canal and picnic at Pastors' home

Sunday, May 16
9:30 am Service of Word and Sacrament
10:45-11:30 Sunday School
11:00-12:00 Adult Forum
11:00-11:30 Bereavement Support with Pastor Doug in Conference Room

Week of May 2, 2010

2010-05-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day for May 9, 2010

Bountiful God, you gather your people into your realm, and you promise us food from your tree of life. Nourish us with your word, that empowered by your Spirit we may love one another and the world you have made, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings for Sunday, May 9, 2010

Acts 16:9–15
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5

And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

John 5:1–9

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids — blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.

Reflection

The day the earth was kicked out of its long-associated position at the center of the universe is referred to as the Copernican Revolution. Nicolaus Copernicus was the first astronomer to scientifically demonstrate that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around. In our reading from Revelation we are told of another revolution. This time the sun is replaced by the Son of God. Jesus, the Son, may light our paths, but too often we would rather remain safely at the center while Jesus revolves around us. Could it be that we need another Copernican Revolution in our lives of faith?

This week at Incarnate Word

Wednesday, May 5
7:30 pm Adult Choir

Thursday, May 6
6:00 pm SPIRIT
6:30 pm Youth Choir
6:30 pm Crossways Bible Study

Friday, May 7
10:00 am Wellness Center for Senior Adults
11:00 am Third Presbyterian Memorial Service in Sanctuary

Saturday, May 8
11:00 am Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry

Sunday, May 9
9:30 am Service of Word and Sacrament
10:45 am Sunday Church School
11:00 am Adult Forum led by David Gross
11:30 am Youth meeting concerning LYO Mission Trip to Washington in July
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran Mission worship

Week of April 25th

2010-04-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day
O God of peace, you brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep. By the blood of your eternal covenant, make us complete in everything good that we may do your will, and work among us all that is well-pleasing in your sight, though Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings

Acts 9:36-43

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

Revelation 7:9-17

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

John 10:22-30

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

Reflection

Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he was also a good sheep. He was the Good Shepherd because he knew what it was to be a sheep, what a sheep does, what a sheep needs, what a sheep fears, what a sheep wants. He is able to speak both sides of the psalm, he is the subject of all of the verbs in the psalm. Jesus is the shepherd who is out in front, leading the way and Jesus is the sheep, in the middle of things with us.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The one sent by God to tend to and reclaim the flock.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he knows his sheep and his sheep know him. Jesus’ sheep know him because they hear his voice.

Barbara Brown Taylor, one of America’s top preachers, puts it this way: “Some days we are as firm in our faith as apostles and some days we are like lost sheep, which means that we belong to the flock not because we are certain of God but because God is certain of us, and no one is able to snatch us out of God’s hands.

This Week's Schedule

Friday, April 23 - Wellness Center 10:00 am
Saturday, April 24 - Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry, IW Auditorium
Sunday, April 25
9:30 am Holy Communion
10:45 am Sunday School intergenerational scavanger hunt
11:00 am Congregational Meeting for roof and drainage repair authorization
11:30 am "The Lost Gospels" by the Rev. Dr. Ted Weeden

God's "Yes"

2010-04-16T13:55:00.001-07:00

You are the God who is simple, direct, clear with us and for us.
You have committed yourself to us.
You have said yes to us in creation,
yes to us in our birth,
yes to us in our baptism,
yes to us in our awakening this day.

But we are of another kind,
more accustomed to “perhaps, maybe, we’ll see,’
left in wonderment and ambiguity.

We live our lives not back to your yes,
but out of our endless “perhaps.”

So we pray for your mercy this day that we may live yes back to you,
yes with our time,
yes with our money,
yes with our sexuality,
yes with our strength and with our weakness,
yes to our neighbor,
yes and no long “perhaps.”

In the name of your enfleshed yes to us,
even Jesus who is our yes into your future. Amen.

From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, Walter Brueggemann

Week of April 18th

2010-04-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day
Eternal and all-merciful God, with all the angels and all the saints we laud your majesty and might. By the resurrection of your Son, show yourself to us and inspire us to follow Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Readings

Acts 9:1-6

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Revelation 5:11-14

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 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!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

John 21:1-19

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Reflection

"Humans do not live for themselves alone in these mortal bodies to work for their bodies alone, but they live also for all of humanity on earth; rather, they live only for others and not for themselves. They cannot ever in this life be idle and without works toward their neighbors.

People, however, need none of these things for their righteousness and salvation. Therefore they should be guided in all their works by this thought and comtemplate this one thing alone, that they may serve and benefit others in all that they do, considering nothing except the need and the advantage of their neighbors.

This is what makes caring for the body a Christian work, that through its health and comfort we may be able to work, to acquire, and lay by funds with which to aid those who are in need, that in this way the strong member may serve the weaker, and we may be children of God, each caring for and working for the other, bearing one another's burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ. This is a truly Christian life. Here faith is truly active through love" ~ Martin Luther LW 31, 364-65.

Looking Ahead

Thursday, April 15 6 pm SPIRIT
6:30 pm New Members' Class
6:30 pm Youth Choir

Friday, April 16 10:00 am Wellness Center
Sunday, April 18 9:30 am Service of Holy Communion
Building Our Future Capital Campaign Kick-off
10:45 am Sunday School
11:00 am Adult Forum - Rev. Dr. Ted Weeden "Lost Gospels"
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran Service

Week of April 11th

2010-04-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day

O God of life, you reach out to us amid our fears with the wounded hands of your risen Son. By your Spirit's breath revive our faith in your mercy, and strengthen us to be the body of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings for Sunday, April 11, 2010

Acts 5:27-32

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Revelation 1:4-8

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Reflection

"Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not “How can we hide our wounds?” so we don’t have to be embarrassed, but “How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?” When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.

Jesus is God’s wounded healer: through his wounds we are healed. Jesus’ suffering and death brought joy and life. His humiliation brought glory; his rejection brought a community of love. As followers of Jesus we can also allow our wounds to bring healing to others." ~ Henri Nouen, The Wounded Healer

This week's calendar:

Wednesday, April 7 - 7:30 pm Senior Choir
Thursday, April 8 - 6:00 pm SPIRIT
Friday, April 9 - 10:00 am Wellness Center for Adults
Saturday, April 10 - 9:00 am Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry in Auditorium/Kitchen
Sunday, April 11 - 9:30 am Service of Holy Communion
11:00 am Gathering Space Presentation in Auditorium
11:00 am Adult Forum, Rev. Dr. Ted Weeden
7:00 pm Vespers/Second Sunday Music Series

An Easter Evening Reflection...

2010-04-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Words exclaimed in our worship this morning. But these words of Easter Resurrection hold true long after the pews of our sanctuary have emptied and we have returned to our daily lives of hopes and dreams; heart aches and disappointments. For the risen Christ not only appears to unsuspecting disciples in front of an empty tomb, but he also walks with the brokenhearted on a dusty road to Emmaus at the end of that first Easter day.

As the pastor/poet Barbara Brown Taylor puts it, “He comes to the disappointed, the doubtful, the disconsolate. He comes to those who don’t know their Bibles, who don’t recognize him even when they are walking beside him. He comes to those who have given up and are headed home, which makes this whole story about the blessedness of being broken.”

It shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus would meet his friends on the road to Emmaus, the road of broken dreams. That’s what he did throughout his life: meeting broken people and helping them to put the pieces back together again. That’s what he always did, and if this story is to be believed, that’s what he still does.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Doug

Pastor Doug's Good Friday Reflection

2010-04-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

"Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing". These are the words pleading from Jesus' lips once his hands and feet have been nailed to the Cross in that place called "The Skull". His concern is not for himself, but for those who are killing him. "Please, God. They don't know what they're doing". Who are they? Roman soldiers for sure. Luke tells us that some religious officials are there "scoffing" at him. But there are others as well. The crowds. Unlike the soldiers who are gambling for his clothing, as ragged as they are, or the religious officials who are tempting God to save him, "if he is the Messiah, the chosen one of God", the people are standing at the foot of the cross in stunned silence. People so caught between their love of God and their fear of Rome that they don't know what to do. His friends. Where are his friends? Luke tells us they are all standing at a distance watching. Just watching. Standing far enough away from their teacher to be safe, who is after all, beyond help.

So who is responsible for Jesus' death? Judas? The religious officials? Pilate? Herod? The Roman Soldiers? His disciples? In the original Greek language, Luke puts their actions in the passive voice. The Divine passive voice. Meaning: God is the prime actor in the story. In other words, God's plan is in action. Not theirs. Not ours.

Tragically the Christian Church has not spent much time pondering these questions. From the very beginning, the answer has been easy: The Jews. The Jews betrayed, condemned and handed him over to be killed. These are the people in need of God's forgiveness, or so at least the legend goes. But because of this legend, the Jewish people have had their history marred by Good Friday. Today, Good Friday, has long been a frightening day for many of the Jewish faith and for good reason. If you read Jewish history, the litany of violence is astounding.

1096 - The First Crusade is launched with the slaughter of Jews in the Rhineland
1190 - Jews are massacred in England
1233 - In Inquisition offers Jews a choice: Become Christian or die
1290 - Jews are expelled from England
1348 - Jews are burned in Switzerland for "causing" the Black Death
1394 - Jews are expelled from France
1492 - Jews are expelled from Spain
1648 - Jewish ghetto is created in Venice
1881 - Attacks on Jews become an institution in Russia
1938 - Krystallnacht is launched in Nazi Germany
1939-1945 - 6 million Jews die in Europe, including 1.5 million children

Any way you do the math, Jesus' death has been avenged millions of times over by Christians who have twisted the gospel of loving your enemies and doing good to those who persecute you into a 2000 year long nightmare of racism and revenge. Ironically many of those on the losing end of Christian persecution have turned to the Bible: Psalm 22 in particular: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

Tragically, we have crucified Jesus over and over again, or at least stood far away from his Cross at a safe distance. "Father forgive them". Who was Jesus pleading for? Us. But he has given us the benefit of the doubt by assuming that we have no idea what we are doing.

How often have we killed Jesus in our attempts to defend him? Just look at history for that answer. If God answered Jesus' prayer on the Cross, which we can assume he did, then that is the end of it. No more blaming, scapegoating or getting even. Jesus died to put an end to that. He volunteered to be the last victim, so that his followers would never make victims out of anyone again. He even gave us a prayer to pray if we should ever find our own hands nailed down: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing".

Peace in Christ,
Pastor Doug

Incarnate Word Table Talk: Week of March 28, 2010

2010-03-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Prayer of the Day, Festival of the Resurrection, April 4

God of mercy, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ, and help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Easter us
You God who terrified the waters,
who crashed your thunder,
who shook the earth, and
scared the wits out of chaos.
You God who with strong arm saved your people
by miracle and wonder and majestic act.
You are the same God to whom we turn,
we turn in our days of trouble,
and in our weary nights;
we look for steadfast love and are dismayed,
we wait for your promises, but wait in fatigue,
we ponder your forgetfulness and lack of compassion,
and we grow silent.
Our lives, addressed to you,
have this bitter-sweet taste of
loud-clashing miracles and weak-kneed doubt.
So we come in our bewilderment and wonderment,
deeply trusting, almost afraid to trust much,
passionately insisting, too timid to insist much,
fervently hoping, exhausted for hoping too much.
Look upon us in our deep need,
mark the wounds of our brothers and sisters just here,
notice the turmoil in our lives, and the lives of our families,
credit the incongruity of the rich and the poor in our very city,
and the staggering injustices abroad in our land,
tend to the rage out of control, rage justified by displacement,
rage gone crazy by absence, silence, and deprivation,
measure the suffering,
count the sufferers,
number the wounds.
You tamer of chaos and mender of all tears in the canvas of creation,
we ponder your suffering,
your crown of thorns,
your garment taken in lottery,
your mocked life,
and now we throw upon your suffering humiliation,
the suffering of the world.
You defeater of death, whose power could not hold you,
come in your Easter,
come in your sweeping victory,
come in your glorious new life.
Easter us,
salve wounds,
break injustice,
bring peace,
guarantee neighbor,
Easter us in joy and strength.
Be our God, be your true self, lord of life,
massively turn our life toward your life
and away from our anti-neighbor, anti-self deathliness.
Hear our thankful, grateful, unashamed Hallelujah!
Amen.

Walter Brueggemann, March 29, 1994

Holy Week Schedule

Thursday, April 1
12:15 and 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday Worship (7:30 with 3rd Presbyterian at Incarnate Word)
Friday, April 2
12:15 Good Friday service at 3rd Presbyterian Chapel
7:30 pm Tenebrae service of shadows at Incarnate Word
Saturday, April 3
2:00 pm Easter Egg Hunt
8:00 pm The Great Vigil of Easter

Sunday, April 4 Festival of the Resurrection
9:30 am Festival Eucharist

Pastor Doug's Holy Week Reflections

2010-03-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

“To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ”
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The days are getting warmer. Bulbs that were planted last fall are beginning to push their way through the once frozen soil. The hours of daylight are lengthening. Deciduous branches which once mirrored death are giving signs of new life with slight hints of hazy green beginning to emerge. The journey toward new life has begun.

The journey toward new life has begun as well for followers of the One who became flesh and dwelled among us. Our new life is not born in the bright light of a warming spring day, but in the darkness of a cold grave, ushered in by the hard wood of a Cross on Golgotha. We now enter into the darkest, yet holiest week of the year for the Church. A week that begins with shouts of hosannas and a triumphal entry and ends in screams of "crucify" and "My God, why has thou forsaken me?"

By all appearances, "darkness" and "holiness" should contradict each other. And yet it is precisely because God's son was not born into the bright lights of dazzling and powerful empire, but rather came into the world through an un-wed teenager in the cold darkness of a Bethlehem cave, that the Holy One, Jesus, dwells in the darkness with us.

In just a few hours, Harry Morrow, one of our cherished members of Incarnate Word, is going to be given his inheritance with all the saints in light as his body closes down and he is gathered into the arms of Christ to stand in the presence of God forever. And all of this made by possible by the Cross of Christ. As sad as I am at his approaching death, I am profoundly comforted by the truth of the impending Holy Week journey that reminds me of God dwelling most brightly and powerfully in the darkness and weakness of a Holy Week Cross.

I, along with you, will shed tears at Harry's passing, but I also know that at the end of our Holy Week journey, you and I will stand at the foot of the cross where heaven and earth touch in powerful love. And in that place, I will be assured of two things: Harry is going to be okay. And so too shall I.

Peace in the Cross of Christ,
Pastor Doug

Holy Week Schedule:

Sunday, March 28 9:30 am Passion/Palm Sunday - All congregation communion
Thursday, April 1 @ 12:15 Maundy Thursday service
Thursday, April 1 @ 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday service with Third Presbyterian Church
Friday, April 2 @ 12:15 pm Good Friday service at Third Presbyterian chapel
Friday, April 2 @ 7:30 pm Tenebrae service of shadows at Incarnate Word
Saturday, April 3 @ 8:00 pm The Great Vigil of Easter w/Holy Communion
Sunday, April 4 @ 9;30 am Festival of Easter

Incarnate Word Table Talk: Week of March 22, 2010

2010-03-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Prayer for week of March 28
O God of mercy and might, in the mystery of the passion of your Son you offer your infinite life to the world. Gather us around the cross of Christ, and preserve us until the resurrection, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Thoughts:
In the space of a week, we move from the excessiveness of Mary’s response to God’s amazing grace to the emptiness of death on a hill outside Jerusalem. This past Sunday, we heard the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair. What a strange ritual this is! Those gathered around the table could not understand it. But Jesus knew. And Mary knew. They knew that Mary was anointing Jesus for his burial.

The liturgical movement of these 2 Sundays is dramatic, flowing from love poured out on Jesus by his friends, to love shouted in the streets of Jerusalem welcoming Jesus, to love poured out as Jesus pours out his life on the cross. So much seems to happen in just a short time.

May we, the church, live out this story in the coming days. May we journey with Jesus to the places he goes because there we will see the love God pours out for us, the love that washes over us as grace, forgiveness, mercy, and new life. And may we proclaim this story with lives that reflect this grace, mercy and love in all that we do and with everyone we meet.

Upcoming Readings:

Luke 19:28-40 (procession with palms)

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he 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? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 23:1-49

Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.” When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10he chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.
Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. I will therefore have him flogged and release him.” Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Upcoming Events:
Tues. March 23 7:00 pm Executive Team
Wed. March 24 7:30 pm Senior Choir
Thurs. March 25 6:00 pm SPIRIT
6:30 pm Crossways Bible Study
Fri. March 26 10:00 am Wellness Center
7:30 pm Harmonium Recital by Winfried Dahlke, featuring the Eastman School of Music Mustel Concert Harmonium. Concert is free and open to the public.
Sat. March 27 10:00 am Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry

Sunday, March 28 Palm/Passion Sunday

9:30 am All Congregation Communion
10:45 am Sunday School
11:00 am Renovation Discussion of Education Space
No Adult Forum this week or on Easter Sunday
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran Service
6:00 pm Confirmation Seder Meal
Youth are to come dressed in your “Sunday best”

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

If you are scheduled in any of the following Sunday morning leadership ministries, please be aware of our new sign-in book found outside Pastor Doug’s office:

Communion Preparers
Worship Assistants
Bread Bakers
Hosts
Ushers
Church Office
Coffee Fellowship

The purpose of the sign-in book is to allow fellow volunteers and the pastors to know if all positions are fully covered on any given Sunday. Also, in the book are copies of schedules and rosters of each of these Sunday morning ministries. Hopefully this will make finding substitutes easier as well. If you cannot make the day you are scheduled, please find your own substitute and let the church office know as soon as possible so that our bulletins can more accurately reflect those who are serving.

2010-03-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

Incarnate Word - March 21, 2010

Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by a new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Thoughts:
"Israel’s reflection on that forty years of landlessness leads to a remarkable affirmation. Wilderness should have been a place of death, but life is given. Wilderness should have been a place of weariness, sickness, poverty, and disease, but Israel is sustained and kept well. Israel has no tattered clothes, no sore feet. It is subjected to the worst thinkable conditions and is kept well. The place of all lacks, because Yahweh is present, is where nothing is lacking...There in Yahweh’s presence, life-giving resources are adequate, not too much, but not too little. Israel knows life as unmerited gift and so it can say, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd, I will not lack’ (Psalm 23). Yahweh has acted in landlessness to provide there for his people, just enough for life" (The Land, Walter Brueggemann p.44).

Upcoming Readings:

Isaiah 43:16-21
Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
　
Philippians 3:4b-14
　
Even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
　
John 12:1-8
　
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

Upcoming Events:

Tues. March 16 7:00 pm Book Club
Wed. March 17 7:30 pm Senior Choir
Thurs. March 18 6:00 pm SPIRIT
Fri. March 19 10:00 am Wellness Center
Sat. March 20 10:00 am Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry
Sunday, March 21 5th Sunday in Lent (Scroll Deadline)
8:15 am LYO Pancake Breakfast - free will donation
9:30 am Holy Communion
Commitment Sunday - 10:45 am Sunday School
11:00 am Adult Forum - Luke Bible Study

11:00 am Renovation Discussion - Choir space
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran Service