Pastor's Reflections & Various SermonsMonthly faith reflections and other ponderings and sermons from the pastor.
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 “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” ~ Matthew 5:43-46 Dear siblings in Christ,
This time last year, I shared a reflection on our call as Christians to speak out against the rising tide of the unpatriotic and unchristian ideology that is Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalism distorts the Gospel that Jesus came to share for all peoples of the world and it stands in opposition of our First Amendment right of freedom from and freedom of religion, as ratified by our country’s founding fathers in 1719. And today, I feel like I am at a loss of words at where we are as a society and country so clearly steeped in Christian Nationalism while seeing so many using God and Jesus’ name to condone such unspeakable violence, dehumanization, and demonization of those considered ‘outsiders’, ’illegal’, or ‘enemies’. Christian Nationalism is a toxic ideology that perverts and bastardizes the word of God and the call that we all as Christians strive to follow such as the greatest commandments of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39), but also is antithetical to all that Jesus taught and stood for when he also taught us to love our enemies, whoever our enemies may be. Christian Nationalism leads to thinking that our country and those we deem as ’acceptable’ and ’worthy’ are our first and only priority. And it leads to us looking down on almost every other nation or group of people as lesser, or to think that God is only on the side of our country and not the others, which is antithetical to the God that we confess belief in as the maker of all things and as the God who “so loved the world” who sent the Son, Jesus not to condemn the world but so that whole world might be saved (John 3:16-17). So often we hear leaders invoke God’s name to justify treating people as lesser, dehumanizing those they disagree with or find unworthy and treating them like animals, or even worse like ants that we can squash into oblivion through bombing whomever we’d like, whenever we feel like it, or through our continued support of others in their bombing and destruction of whole nations of peoples, like that of the occupied nation of Palestine which is the region that Jesus himself is from and where he lived out his ministry on earth. But here’s the thing, these kinds of behaviors is not loving God, neighbor, or enemy like Jesus commanded all his followers to do, but this kind of behavior is actually what it means to take God’s or the Lord’s name in vain. God’s name is not taken in vain by using swear words or even when we say “OMG” but it is actually taken in vain when God’s or Jesus’ name is invoked to justify such horrendous things done to creation and to our fellow children of God. It is taken in vain when we hear and allow the Prince of Peace to be turned into the spokesperson for our country’s military industrial complex by saying that God is on our side and that the bombs we drop or send to others are blessed. It sickens me to hear this kind of rhetoric because I can’t help but question, how exactly are they blessed? How and why would anything be blessed that kills so many often innocent civilians just trying to live their lives as best they can just like the rest of us. I cannot help but to see the hypocrisy of so many in positions of leadership throughout this country that are pushing to post the 10 Commandants in schools and government buildings when they tend to be the ones so blatantly ignoring them and all of Jesus’ teachings in some form or fashion by cheering on the death and destruction of so many of our neighbors throughout the world while taking God’s name in vain and treating their money and power as a more important god then the God they claim to believe and follow. Throughout Jesus’ time on earth, he stood in opposition of the forces of empire and the earthly powers that be while standing with those so often dehumanized and pushed to the margins, by feeding, healing, caring for, and acknowledging their belovedness as fellow children of God and commanded his disciples to do the same. If we say that we believe in God, Jesus, and the Spirit and strive to be Jesus followers, than we too are disciples and are included in his command to feed, heal, care for, and acknowledge all peoples humanity and belovedness as fellow children of God. In other words we are called to share and show God’s love to all people throughout the whole world, and yes, part of that is for us to feed, care for, and acknowledge all peoples humanity of those whom we encounter within our day to day lives, but it also includes demanding and praying that others, especially those in positions of power to do the same, to see and acknowledge the humanity and belovedness of every single person no matter who they are. Will you join me in this work of speaking against Christian Nationalism and speak up for our fellow children of God? God’s Peace, Pastor Tamara Siburg   June is a month that many take time to celebrate Pride and I wanted to take this time to publicly state as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), that every single person, including the LGBTQIA+ community are beloved children of God created in God’s image.
In the face of increased hate and violence against LGBTQIA+ and in the face of those who use religion to discriminate against and/or to “pray away the gay”, it is important to state that there are many Christians and Denominations/churches that are fully affirming and accepting of all LGBTQIA+ for being authentically themselves as the person God created them to be. So, this Pride I celebrate all LGBTQIA+. Christians believe in God who is the creator of all things. In The Bible we find some stories of this creation. Within the creation stories there is so much that is left out that we have come to learn about the world through scientific means. I believe God has gifted and divinely inspired our sacred scriptures, science, art, and so much more as ways for us to better understand God and God’s amazing creation, which is not just all around us but that we too are a part of that amazing creation. Often when religion is used against LGTBQIA+ individuals a creation story, like Genesis 1 is often brought up. “God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear’… God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night… And it was so… God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God, God created them; male and female God created them” (Genesis 1:9-27, NRSVUE). This story of creation is simplified to help us understand the vastness and greatness of God’s creative power. God made many separations of “this and that,” including that of when God created humans, “male and female God created them.” It can be argued that this specific example is a way in which the early writers/re-tellers of Genesis could best understand that there is more than one kind of human and help emphasize all humans are made in God’s divine image. God separates the land and sea, the day and night, and many other things out of the chaos but if we think further and bring our own experiences of God’s beautiful creation into conversation with these many types of separations, we can see that this simplified, black and white, this and that type of thinking is not the whole story of God’s creative power. Yes, we have light and dark, but we also have shadows and the beautiful plants and things that come from the shaded areas. We have night and day, but we also have dawn and dusk. We have land and sea, but we also have beaches where the two meet and we can experience the awe-inspiring beauty of sunrises and sunsets on full display in those places. And we have both male and female and everyone in-between all created in God’s own diverse and expansive image. All these in-between places like those of sunrises and sunsets give us tangible examples of how God didn’t just create in binary, “this or that” ways that are easy for us to understand but that God created beauty also in the in-betweens. We seem to collectively agree that some of God’s best works are found in the in-betweens, like sunsets on beaches. God created these times and spaces of beautiful transitions and transformations within creation and created all the in-betweens of life and called all of it good. And if God is as amazing of a creator as Christians confess, God can and does create just as beautiful humans who happen to fall in-between or beyond that of male and female. Because if both males and females are created in God’s image, then clearly God’s image is so much more diverse and expansive than anything our human brains can fully understand, and perhaps that’s where our fellow children of God who happen to be trans, nonbinary, and intersex can help us to better understand the expansiveness of God and God’s creation. God didn’t just create in binary, this or that sort of ways but also created all the in-betweens, and this June, may you join me in celebrating God’s great and diverse creation that are us, humans. Pride month is about being proud of the person whom God created each of us to be and to live in hope that one day all people will able to live openly as their true authentic selves that only they and God fully know. I, myself, know what it is like to be a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and to know the struggle to claim the truth that God created me like that. Over the years, I continue to learn how to live openly as the person whom God created me to be, that being a woman who is called by God to be an ELCA pastor who also happens to be queer. I pray one day, all may be able to live openly as the person whom God has created them to be without fearing for their safety and livelihood. And please know that if you or a loved one are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I see you and I stand with you. Happy Pride!  Gospel: Luke 24:1-121 On the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 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. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 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. Dear siblings in Christ, grace and peace to you from our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! Today, on this Easter Sunday, we hear the familiar story of Jesus’ resurrection, a version of which we hear every year. This year, we hear Luke’s version of the events of that first Easter morning. We can imagine the women making their way to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid but before they were journeying to the tomb to properly prepare Jesus’ body, they would have had to take time to prepare the spices and ointments they were bringing to the tomb which they could only do now on the third day since Jesus had died just before the Sabbath, and they weren’t permitted to do work such as preparing a body for it’s final resting place on the Sabbath. I would assume in those days when they could tell someone was nearing death, they could start making preparations even before the death occurred, but here these women, I doubt realized that before Jesus was arrested that he would be dying so soon, even though Jesus had made a habit of dropping hints that this is where he was being led to. So these faithful women who were amongst Jesus’ inner circle, had not made any preparations to have what was needed on hand to prepare his body when he had died. They had been just as shocked and grieved by his public execution of the agonizing and humiliating death on the cross by the earthly powers that be with so many complicit bystanders either saying nothing or being among the crowds to shout “Crucify him!,” when Pilate gave them the chance to choose to let Jesus go. The Woman, these woman, who have been with Jesus for a while, who have helped to support his ministry in various and numerous unnamed ways, were the ones who stayed by the foot of the cross, watching Jesus’ final moments, where as most of the other named disciples had scattered and fled for fear of what could happen to them, these woman, bravely and courageously stayed and witnessed him cry out to God one last time and saw him take his last breath, and then saw were Joseph from Arimathea, had laid his body in an unused tomb nearby. These women had witnessed all that Jesus had endured at the hands of the empire, the earthly tyrannical powers that be and how Jesus went through it all without resisting, because he knew some bigger secret that no one at that point could yet fully comprehend. That through his death on the cross, there is something new that is happening, something that God is doing for all people. But the woman did not know this yet. And so these women took the time to prepare the spices and ointments to bring to Jesus’ tomb. And we don’t know if they were preparing them in somber silence or perhaps they were finding comfort being with each other at this time while sharing memories and stories of their time with Jesus, much like how any of us do as we gather with others after a loved one's death. And perhaps as they journeyed toward the tomb they were still sharing stories, perhaps at times one of them expressing that they had forgotten one of those stories or one of his teachings that once it was brought back up then they had a chance to say “I remember that” and take solace in those memories. And it is clear that on the first Easter morning, they were not expecting what they found once they arrived at the tomb. They were not expecting to find the stone already rolled away, and the tomb empty with the only the linen clothes that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. “They were perplexed.” And then out of nowhere two dazzling angels appeared among them and the women were terrified. But then they simply ask the women, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” And then also shared a memory of something Jesus once said, that the women apparently had forgotten, this being when Jesus spoke of how he would be killed and on the third day he would rise again. And then they remembered, as if this was just another of the stories they must of shared on their way to the tomb, they just needed the angels prodding to remind them of what Jesus had said to his inner circle about the fate he was going to face. And from there, these women became the first preachers of this Easter goodnews that he has risen, that Jesus lives, that death no longer has the final say. And yet these women, the first preachers of the resurrection, when they share this good news with the disciples and the others they were not believed. The disciples doubted, writing off the women's news as an idle and outrageous story, but yet something compelled Peter to get up and go see for himself. He went to the tomb, and we don’t know if he was expecting the woman’s story to be false or if he trusted them but just wanted that little kernel of proof of the resurrection hope to hold onto, and when he saw the empty tomb for himself he was amazed and was probably left wondering, if Jesus was risen, where is he, why hasn’t he shown himself yet? And I’m not going to lie, part of me wished that the angels had reappeared to Peter to tell him off for not fully believing the women’s word from the start or to also ask him that question of “why are you looking for the living among the dead?” and to remind him of all that Jesus had once said about his resurrection. This story, the Easter story, no matter which gospel version you read, is full of doubt and faith, remembrances and questions, and in a way defiance and resistance in the face of the earthly powers and empires that be, and that is all a part of the profound joy of Easter, that even in the midst of the doubt that we all may carry from time to time, that Jesus still does what Jesus does, that he still has risen and he’s no longer among the dead, like we confess every Sunday in the Apostle’s Creed, that “he descended to the dead and on the third day he rose again,” He is again among the living. Who knows if this is living in which the angels spoke of is about the earthly realm of living or the eternal realm of living or maybe both? But it has me thinking about what else in our lives and in the world do we get stuck looking for the living amongst the dead? What else might we have to be reminded of to be aware of when something is dead and no longer serves us in life giving ways, or to be made aware when something might need a bit of this mysterious Easter transformation and renewal? This question, “why do you look for the living among the dead?” is a good reminder that often within our own lives, or in our congregational ministries, or even within our worldly governing entities, at times, probably more often then we’d like to admit, that we are doing the wrong things, that we are doing things that aren’t lifegiving, that we often get stuck perpetuating the death dealing forces of this world instead of finding and fostering the life-giving forces that are life giving for all people and not just a select few. We too often get stuck focused on the things that aren’t aligned with the Easter promise of the renewal and righting of all of creation that has begun through Jesus’ resurrection and defeat over death. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” reminds to live as the resurrection people we are called to be through our faith in Jesus, to promote not death but instead to promote life and the transformation and renewal of all of creation, to be co-creators with God in making the new creation where all can truly live, thrive, and live together with one another and all of creation as God had initially intended. And the question “why do you look for the living among the dead?” helps to remind us, just as those angels did, to focus, promote, and look for what is life giving in the face of all of the death dealing powers and empires of our current earthly realities. And this reminder helps to push us out into the world to remind others to do similarly instead of responding to our world out of fear or being locked away because of it, like the disciples seemed to be hidden away for fear of what could happen to them after Jesus had been publicly crucified. But instead this reminder that the women shared with them, though they didn’t believe it at first, is just the beginning of urging them out to start sharing this good news of Jesus’ resurrection and the truth that his divine love is stronger than death. The empire tried to remove and utterly erasure Jesus and all he stood for through the humiliation that was his crucifixion, because death on the cross was something so shameful, that when one was put to death in this way, utterly naked for all to see, just hanging there being being open to all the ridicule that those passing by would spit in their face, it was considered a shameful act to associate with and remember anyone who was killed in this way. But yet, despite this, and through the angels urging, the women defied the empire and remembered Jesus all that he said and taught and helped the others to remember as well, they helped them to look those death dealing forces of the empire in its face and boldly proclaim the risen Jesus and from there the power and humiliation of the cross began to lose its sting as Jesus’ story and teachings began to spread throughout the land. And in today’s world, it isn’t hard to look around and see so many of these death dealing forces running rampant within the current empires of our world. These death dealing forces including that of uncontrolled hatred, bigotry, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableist thinking, and violence against those considered “other” in any way, as well as state sanctioned violence like that of disappearing people without due process, or enabling wars and genocidal agendas, and just finding a way to continue to scapegoat any group that is looked down upon for whatever reason. And due to the fact that it really is not hard to look around and see examples of any of these death dealing forces in our world today, we find ourselves yearning for this Easter hope of the resurrection that we and our world too will be changed into something that is no longer among the dead but is among the living. We trust in the hope of the resurrection that through Jesus, we do not have to fear our earthly deaths, that we know his life giving act of his death and resurrection that he has opened to us a way to eternal life for all people, no if’s and’s or but’s, because through this act, God has not only forgiven all people’s sin, no matter how great or small our sin may be, and ultimately Jesus’ death and resurrection is not about the exchange of our victimhood to sin, but instead is the path to ending the innocent bloodshed by the death-dealing forces of our earthly world leading us to life-giving living for all people. This question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” can lead us to and in a way might require us to get used to change, transformation, and renewal as we start to see things in a new light, being able to recognize things for what they are, either life-giving or death-dealing, while we are reminded to remember that Jesus is no longer among the dead, for he is risen. And this risen Jesus has a way to confront the false comforts of memories used in such a way to keep us sedated or stuck in despair for what has happened in the past. For our memories of our histoires are meant to empower us as part of God’s new creation, not petrify it. For Easter is just the beginning, and God’s grace and love continue to break into our world, working to break open our hearts that have at times settled into stony resignation in the face of the death dealing forces of our world and reminds us to ask again: “why do we look for the living among the dead?” and can lead us to also ponder the following questions: What if we were able to hope again in the face of all that is wrong in the world? What does it mean for us that God’s forgiveness is real? And what does it mean to live - not shut inside the tombs of all the things we cannot change but instead to be alive in a world that can and will change? And here is the goodnews that we each can carry with us throughout the Easter season and beyond that: “For those of us who despair that death-dealing powers have the upper hand - fear not! Easter means God ultimately is and will be victorious over the powers of death. For those who despair that our guilt is too great for God to forgive - fear not! Easter means God has cleared all accounts, liberating humanity from shame, reconciling us to God and each other as God’s beloved children. For those who despair in the midst of pain and anguish - take heart! You are not alone: Jesus suffers with you in solidarity and companionship, and Easter means you will also rise with him. For those who despair over a world so filled with hate, violence, and scapegoating - be encouraged! In Christ’s passion, God has taken the place of the scapegoat in order to expose humanity’s violent ways - and Easter means God one day will overcome all violence and contempt. Indeed, Easter means that God has taken one of the worst things in the world (the Roman cross) and remade it into one of the best (the Tree of Life), a sword into a ploughshare - and if God will remake the worst things in our world, then God also will remake the whole creation in the end! Like the cross, the empty tomb is a great divine mystery, a rising sun dispelling shadows in multiple directions. It’s only a beginning, but the tide has decisively turned, the dawn [through Jesus’ resurrection] has come" (from Salt's Commentary for Easter Sunday). And the celebration that is Easter Sunday, with the fanfare of music and all the lilies is a signal not of a final victory, but a signal of a commencement, a launch, a kick off, to lead all of us as Jesus followers out into the world to stand in the face of the death dealing forces of our world and point to the life-giving force that is Jesus, remembering how the women on that first Easter morning did, while continuing to share and show his and God’s love to all people along our journey through our earthly lives. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Christ has risen indeed! Alleluia! -- Written and Preached by Pastor Tamara Siburg If you wish to listen to the sermon, the gospel reading starts at 59:38 and the sermon starts at 1:01:06.  Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” 31b “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Dear siblings in Christ, grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. On this Maundy Thursday, we hear yet again the very familiar readings that are assigned to be read every Maundy Thursday, that of the retelling of the instructions for the very first Passover meal, hearing Jesus’ words of institution that we hear every time we partake in the sacrament of Holy Communion, and Jesus sharing his last supper with his disciples while taking on the posture of a servant to wash each of their feet, and then hearing how he has given the command to love one another just as he as loved them. And this Holy Week, reading these various readings and the passion narratives where Jesus is staring his fate of death on the cross in the face, while still showing love and commanding his followers to do the same even in the face of the earthly powers that be and all of the complicit bystanders who cried for his crucifixion, that he an innocent man be put to death, this narrative, just seems to be that much more applicable this year with the current realities of our world and nation than any other time in my own life time, and it seems important to name this reality. I know that I have seen many of my clergy colleagues all across social media from all over the country share countless stories and witnesses to our Christian faith in our current world realities while using the events of that first Holy Week so long ago as a backdrop comparing recent events to that of the events of Jesus’ Passion, and to affirm and remind each other and others of our call as fellow disciples and followers of Jesus Christ to do as Jesus commanded in today's Gospel passage, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). And at this point in time, at what many may say feels like a crossroads in our world, we are left asking what does it mean to love one another? And how do we share and show this love to others? Jesus had just given his disciples an example of this love by acting like a servant and washing the feet of all of his disciples. He washed every disciples feet, from Peter, who will be one of the big leaders of the Jesus movement when it comes to the events as told in the book of Acts, where Peter was at first hesitant letting his teacher and Lord wash his feet but then asked for more of his body to be washed, and Jesus even washed Judas’ feet while knowing that he was the one who will soon lead the authorities to Jesus to be arrest and soon be put to death even after Pilate found no case against him. Jesus knew what he would soon endure, and yet he still found time to gather with his disciples, his found family, to share not just dinner together, but also to share such an intimate and in a way humiliating act of love to be like a servant washing their feet, and then commanded all to love one another as he had loved them. We know in today’s world that foot washing is not a typical thing done in our day to day lives, since those of us who are privileged enough to live in a place with showers and wear closed toed shoes, our feet don’t get near as dirty and beat up as those wearing sandals on the dusty roads of Jesus’ time. So we are again left asking, what other ways might we be able to live out this command to love one another as Jesus has loved us? And perhaps to help answer this question, we must take a look at Jesus’ life as told in the four gospels, where we can find many more examples of Jesus sharing, showing, and telling of ways in which to love others. Like how in response to the question of “who is my neighbor?” Jesus shared the story of the good Samaritan, how the one who was most despised because of where they were from is the one to lend help, care, and love to the one in need while others who would be considered amongst the in crowd looked the other way when they saw the need of another (Luke 10:25-37). In Matthew, Jesus shared within a parable that “truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:34-45) in response to the question of when have they seen him hungry and thirsty and gave him food and drink, or seen him as a stranger and welcomed him, seen him naked and clothed him, sick and cared for him, or in prison and visited him. And again, Jesus reiterates that it is how we treat the least of us, the most vulnerable of our communities, in other words, how we show are love and care for the vulnerable, the marginalized, and often the most dehumanized amongst us, that this is how we can not only love one another but love Jesus as well. There are countless number of stories throughout the four gospels of how Jesus healed, fed, and just cared for so many throughout his life on earth. Jesus healed people even on days when he was not supposed to do any work due to the laws and customs of his culture, where the leaders, the people in positions of power would get upset because how dare Jesus break cultural laws to care for and share love with others who were already so often looked down upon just because of who they were or what ailments they might have had. Jesus also fed others, he would see people who were hungry, recognized their need and instead of turning them away or turning a blind eye to their plight, he would feed them, or would even invite others to join him in sharing meals, even those who the elite would snicker and demonize for being sinners and tax collectors, Jesus still welcomed them to the table because at Jesus’ table all are welcome, no matter who they are or what they have done, just like how I'm sure many of us would have wanted to kick Judas to the curb if we knew what he would do, but yet Jesus still invited him to the table and ate with him and washed his feet out of love. Throughout his life Jesus gave us so many examples of how we too can love one another as Jesus has loved us and we mustn’t forget that among his acts of love would also include that of flipping the tables of the oppressive systems in place, like how in both Mark (11:15-18) and Matthew (21:12-13) we hear of how Jesus flipped the tables and benches of the money changers and the sellers of the sacrificial animals, who were exploiting those who came to the temple to worship God. And this can lead us to question, just how we might be able to share the love Jesus commands us to share with others, especially those who are exploited, oppressed, and/or being stripped of their human rights and dignity by working with each other to flip the tables of the oppressive systems, laws, and powers in place within our communities, nations, and the world? And of course we cannot forget the ultimate act of love that Jesu did for all of creation, including each and every one of us, that being his life giving act of dying on the cross which we will again take time to honor and remember in our Good Friday worship tomorrow. Thanks to his death on the cross and resurrection, the power of death no longer has the same sting and doesn’t have the final say, we know that we are promised to be reunited with all our loved ones once our own time on earth is done. But despite knowing this, that his death and resurrection will change everything for us in regards to our eternal fates, Jesus still commanded his disciples, which includes us today, to love one another as he has loved us in the here and now of our lives on earth. Again, we are left to ask ourselves and our communities, how will we share and show the love that Jesus commanded us to in our world today? How will we share the love of Jesus to the most vulnerable in our midst even in the face of the earthly powers that be that continue to dehumanize so many, while trying to threaten and keep us afraid to show and share the radical love of Jesus with all people, especially those who are suffering at the hands of our earthly powers? Before I end, I want to share the words of a facebook friend, David Scherer, also known as the Christian rapper Agape. Earlier this week he took some time to reflect on Holy Week and how these three Holy days are good reminders for the church every year, but perhaps just a bit more poignant this year. His reflection, “Maundy Thursday is the church’s yearly reminder that human connection in the midst of trauma and fear still have a place and that the greatest among us is the One who is a servant. Good Friday is the church’s yearly reminder that state-sanctioned violence and extrajudicial lynchings are not the will of God and that leaders who participate, leaders who equivocate, and bystanders who abdicate, are all complicit in crucifying the Holy One in our midst. Easter Sunday is the church’s yearly reminder that no matter how dire our situation looks, hope is reinventing itself and new life will stubbornly appear despite our despair. Even in the loneliest locus of human existence (the grave), we are never alone. [And] may you feel your beloved-ness amid your loneliness. May you discover new life amid dead spaces. May you be surprised by the joy and hope that abounds amid the sadness and struggle of our world.” Again, this Maundy Thursday, as we look towards the terror and death of the cross before we find the joy and hope of Easter, we are left with Jesus’ command “that you love one another, just as I have loved you… everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” And I will leave you with this question one more time, in the midst of the struggles and realities of our world, where so many are suffering loss of rights and dehumanization, how will you love in such a way that people will truly know that you are a disciple of Jesus? How are you being called to share and show the love of Christ to all people both near and far no matter who they are or where they are from? And how will you continue to love one another and others even in the face of the oppressive powers that be? Amen. -- Written and Preached by Pastor Tamara Siburg If you wish to listen to the sermon, the gospel reading starts at 14:59 and the sermon starts at 17:55. |
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