Luke 11:1-13

1 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of the disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say: 

 Father, Mother, Parent, hallowed be your name.

  Let your dominion come.

  3 Give us each day our daily bread.

  4 And forgive us our sins,

   for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

  And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

 5 And Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to that friend at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set out.’ 7 And your friend answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though the friend will not get up and provide anything because of the friendship, at least because of the neighbor’s persistence the friend will get up and provide whatever is needed.

 9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will God, the heavenly Parent, give the Holy Spirit to those who ask!”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Holy One,

Teach us to pray.

Give us words when we feel lacking.

Give us energy to serve and devote to others.

Give us melodies to sing our prayers to you.

May our very lives be prayer and praise.

Amen.

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I’ve long been jealous of folks who can just rattle off eloquent and thoughtful prayers at the drop of a hat. That’s not me.

One Thanksgiving a few years ago, we were celebrating with Tiffany’s family and I got asked to pray before the meal, because when you’re in seminary, and later when you’re a pastor, you generally get asked to pray at things…unless we’re with Tiffany’s grandmother, who was a Pentecostal pastor way back when…when Gigi’s around, Gigi prays… Anyway, I have a bad habit of fidgeting and shuffling my feet when I get nervous, so I started in on this prayer, thanking God for the abundance of blessing of family and food and gathering together, and I took a step backward right into the dogs’ water bowl…which really threw me off and so then I just kind of had to wrap it up at that point.

These days I tend to plot out a prayer in my head if I think there’s a chance I’ll get asked to pray at something. Just in case. It really helps the nerves.

I also take note of any rogue water bowls in the immediate area.

I have a theory that most folks’ aversion to prayer isn’t so much about praying as it is about public speaking, but there’s also a little bit of crossover with public speaking about something as close to us and personal as our faith. There’s a sense of anxiety and nerves and not wanting to “mess it up” when we think about praying with or in front of others. We may feel like we want a little bit of training first, or some pointers. Like the disciples, we ask God, “Teach us to pray.”

What an honest urging…”Teach us to pray…”

When I was doing my chaplaincy internship, one of my learning goals was to learn how to pray better. I wanted to have something meaningful and comforting to say to folks and patients in their hospital rooms and at these most important times in their lives.

Lord, teach us to pray.

Last week, we talked about the need for balance between the hustle and bustle and doing of Martha and the attentive listening of Mary…and how part of that attentive listening is done through prayer and conversation with God. And so if we’re going to pray, how, then, should we pray?

Jesus lays out the very familiar Lord’s Prayer…not the one we’re most used to that comes to us from the gospel of Matthew, but a fairly similar one here in the gospel of Luke.

First of all, Jesus says, begin by blessing God. “Heavenly Parent, bless you, holy is your name.”

The prayer begins by defining the relationship between God and the one praying, the relationship of a parent to a child. It’s a relationship of respect, but one that also names a kind of dependency. We are dependent on God for the things that we need. We need God to provide for us. It’s a vulnerable posture, especially for those of us who are used to acting and believing that we do everything ourselves, bootstraps and all.

“Your kingdom come.”

We ask that God’s kingdom, the reign and the dominion of God, the fullness of God’s vision for our world…would be made manifest in our present time and place. A recognition that the fullness of God’s vision has yet to be realized among us, so we entreat God to make it so, and to make us agents in bringing that about. It kind of flies in the face of this idea that the kingdom of God is some far-off reality only to be wished for and only to be glimpsed and realized when we die. Asking the reign of God to be made known in our present is an affirmation of what Jesus will say in Luke chapter 17, “The kingdom of God is within you.” It’s among you. It’s here, and now, and is a promised future that is ready to be lived into in this present time and place. It’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible and I never get to preach on it because it never comes up in the lectionary…”The kingdom of God is within you.” A powerful statement that I think shifts our focus from some far-off, imagined, hoped-for time and redirects our attention and focus to the here and now and those in need in our midst.

Sometimes prayer looks like action, doing what we can with what we have to make God’s dream a reality here, by serving those most in need. It’s what we did this week with Family Promise and what we talked about just a bit ago with our New Hope 101 session about how so much of the ethos and DNA of New Hope is a focus on Service and Mission, and particularly serving the most vulnerable of our neighbors. We talked about how our hope is that every single person at New Hope finds at least one internal ministry and one external ministry to give your time and energy to. Sometimes prayer is action through service.

“Give us each day that which is needful for life.”

Martin Luther, in the Small Catechism, says that daily bread is everything we need to live—food, housing, shelter, family, relationships—everything that is necessary for a full and abundant life. Again, naming that we are reliant on God for the things we need. A recognition that everything we do have comes to us from God. God is the one who provides.

Then Jesus launches into this story about a persistent neighbor and uses it to illustrate those who are persistent in prayer. And while I would certainly advocate for our need to pray more and pray persistently, I do think we misunderstand or mischaracterize the imperatives to “ask, seek, and knock.”

A neighbor shows up to your door in the middle of the night, asking for a few loaves of bread to feed their guest who has just arrived. Church, I don’t like getting out of bed to take my toddler back to his room, much less to answer the door for someone who needs to borrow bread. Come back tomorrow. I’m already in bed. The kitchen’s closed. I really identify with the posture of the neighbor behind locked doors.

And isn’t that where a lot of us might prefer to stay anyway, right? I’m in bed, my children are with me, we’re asleep, don’t bother us, we’re safe here… There’s so much that’s so scary in the world right now…behind locked doors, with my family, safe…truthfully, that’s where I’d prefer to be. Sometimes prayer is a deep sigh at all the scary things in the world, because sometimes all we can do is sigh and trust that God knows what we mean. Especially in a world where it seems as if we are so good at giving our children evil gifts rather than good gifts, as Jesus talks about later in today’s reading. We who are evil might know how to give our kids good gifts, but these days, we certainly do seem to be handing out snakes and scorpions to our young ones, rather than fish and eggs. Bulletproof backpacks, active shooter drills, a world where civil liberties seem to be regressing…these don’t feel like good gifts… No, I think I’d like to stay here behind my locked doors with my family. At least here I feel like we’re safe.

Can you relate?

“But then, because of the neighbor’s persistence, their neighbor will relent and give them what they need.”

God is persistent in loving you, church, and in lavishing you extravagantly with good things. How much more are we called to persistent in love and generosity and abundantly lavishing good things on our neighbors, on our young people, and on those who haven’t been given a fair shake in this world?

I think we tend to interpret Jesus’ imperatives to “ask, seek, and knock” as an indication that if we just pray more, if we just ask God more persistently for what we want, then God will relent and give us what we’re asking for. But friends, that reduces God to a vending machine…doling out the things you ask for if you just put in enough quarters or ask nicely enough. And church, we know that’s not how these things work. You’ve prayed for things often enough that haven’t come to be, that you know that’s not how prayer works. Church, it’s not how God works…

Countless theologians from Kierkegaard to Luther to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Reverend William Barber III to even Pope Francis have all said some version of this about prayer—prayer is not a way to bend God’s will to conform to your own…rather, prayer reorients us and opens us up to having our will shaped and molded to conform to God’s.

Notice the shape and direction of the Lord’s Prayer, and particularly note the reason for the neighbor’s persistence. The neighbor is asking on behalf of a guest who has visited them, they are asking so that they may show the hospitality required of them to their guest. The Lord’s Prayer asks God to forgive us, as we have forgiven those indebted to us. In both cases, the direction is outward. Prayer beseeches and asks God on behalf of others, prayer is focused and located outside of ourselves. Not what I want…but what you want, God…make me to be that which my neighbor needs, use me to care for my neighbor, to provide what they need, to lavish them with good things as you have have given those things to me.

In that way, prayer’s really quite simple, church.

God, thank you.

Help me to be for others what they need.

Use me to help make our world just a bit more reflective of your dream and vision for us.

And if all that still feels like too much, the Psalmist today reminds us that our worship and praise is prayer, too. Let the liturgy today be your prayer. Let this community’s prayers be your prayer. Let these hymns be your prayer. Our Sending Hymn today is an exceptional prayer based off a prayer of St. Patrick. “God, be the love between us. Christ, surround me.” Let this singing be your prayer.

There are so many ways to pray.

Try it, church.

I can tell you prayer is one of those things that really does get easier with practice.

Luke 18:38-42

38 Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

God of our moving and our being,

There are seasons of our lives when

We are called to more active doing and and busy-ness.

And there are seasons of our lives when

You call us to slow down, listen, and reflect.

Help us to discern these seasons in our lives.

Give us wisdom and boldness to join you

In the movement in which you are already active in our world.

Amen.

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Summer’s a good time for vacation.

I’m not exactly sure why or how we’ve collectively arrived at this conclusion, but it does seem as if we’ve all just kind of decided that summer is when we’ll take the majority of our vacations. Although if I knew who to write my letter to, I’d petition for vacation season to be shifted to my personal favorite season of autumn, but I’m not sure it’d get much traction with the school administrators or even here around the church with our own program year calendars. Oh well…

Many of you have taken vacations recently. Some of you, newly retired, with all your new-found freedom, “Every season is vacation season!” Good for you.

You know I just recently took my own time away, and this was really the first time that I took some time off in this way before, with such a big chunk all at once. And honestly, I’m not sure I’ll go back to 5- and 7-day stretches ever again. Because I found that it usually takes me about 3-4 days to really unplug my brain and get into time-off mode. And so if I’m only taking a week at a time, I’ve got to start ramping up just as soon as I’ve ramped down. But this time was different. This time, I was really able to refresh and rejuvenate, and it was really good. So thank you, church, again, for the time.

But the flipside and tradeoff of this is that it’s taken me a little bit longer than usual to get back into the flow of things. I’ve been back for like, 2 weeks now, and I’m really only just now starting to get my feet back under me.

Good and needful refreshment……little bit longer to ramp back up…

In so many ways my body was…(is…?)…still inhabiting the restful rejuvenation of Mary, and my brain was…(is…?)…racing trying to pull and force my body to get back to the doing and the work of Martha.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve kind of methodically been making our way through chapters 9 and 10 of Luke. Next week, we’ll just briefly touch chapter 11 and then begin making our way through chapter 12 the week after. But what’s important to remember and recognize is, recall a few weeks ago when Jesus said “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of humanity has no place to lay his head.” And remember just before that how the reading began “When the time drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”  Jesus is on a collision course with the cross. Nothing can deter or detract from this mission. Not an unwelcoming Samaritan village, not burying dead family members or long goodbyes, not people and towns who will not receive the message of the disciples, not upstanding religious folk who fail to see their neighbor in need right in front of their face…not even the generous hospitality of one of Jesus’ closest companions, Martha, can be allowed to push Jesus off-course. In corporate jargon, they call this scope-creep or mission-creep.

Nothing can be allowed to deter or detract from the mission. Jesus is on his way, and the cross and the crucifixion is the only thing that matters.

Many things might be good and necessary in this moment, only one thing is needful, only one thing is essential.

The essential thing is Jesus’ journey to the cross.

The essential thing is for Jesus to teach, and for the disciples to learn and soak up as much of this Jesus knowledge as they can while Jesus is on this mission.

“You are worried and distracted by many things.” Well, geez Jesus…rude…just tag me in your social media post next time… Church, these are Jesus’ words to Martha, but how many of us are worried and distracted by many things? In a world of the constant and endless news cycle, over the past 2 years when many of us occupied our quarantine time with doomscrolling, we are inundated with the next breaking story, the next mass hysteria, the next tragic injustice, the latest loss of civil liberties, the latest officer-involved shooting, the most recent war halfway around the world…to say nothing of the very real cares and concerns of your own household, your partner, your spouse, your kids and grandkids…there is no shortage of things that demand our attention.

Jesus says, “Just for a moment…sit…and be still…and listen.”

Set down your phone. Turn off the notifications. Shut your computer. Put your day planner away.

Just sit. And be. And listen. And soak in. And learn.

When we are attentive to what Jesus is saying, we just might hear the most important words Jesus will ever tell us, which is that you, dear child, are loved beyond measure. You are precious, you are worthy, you are valuable, you are valued, you are extraordinary, and you are enough.

And you are called to share that beautiful and wonderful message with a world that is desperate to hear just a bit of good news. You are called to share that beautiful and wonderful word of love with your neighbor who is certainly longing deep within their heart of hearts to hear just that about themselves.

Which isn’t to say there isn’t work to be done, or that there won’t be work to be done. Lord, we know that’s true. But it does mean that we shouldn’t endeavor to take on the work without first pausing and listening and reflecting on just what God and Jesus and the Spirit might be calling us to.

I’m so excited for this current season at New Hope. As we continue to make our way out of the worst parts of this pandemic, I feel like we really have an opportunity to lay everything out on the table, listen intently for God and the Spirit, discern together, and to respond faithfully to what we’re hearing. Our Capital Campaign has been on a tear recently. The interior of our Community Center is effectively finished. We’ve got a new gym floor, updated rooms and classrooms, new doors, new paint…and starting this week, we’ll be hosting the Family Promise families in there for dinner. I really encourage you to stop by and spend some time with these extraordinary families this week if you can. Let them know this church prays for them and is deeply invested in their success in the Family Promise program to move them from housing insecurity to more stable footing.

Just today we started a series of conversations with new members and visitors and long-time members, and we’ll be welcoming new members in a couple of months, which is something we haven’t really done since the start of the pandemic.

In just a short couple of months we’ll start a new program year and everything that comes along with that. New Faith Formation classes, getting back into Christian education and Sunday School, small groups and bible studies kicking back up… We’ve got new bible studies starting, a new book study especially for parents coming up in August, some fellowship opportunities, ways for you to reconnect with this community of faith and with one another…which is something I think we’re all recognizing is super-important in our lives right now. Also coming up soon, I’m so so so excited that we’re going to be starting an intentional conversation about Welcoming, Hospitality, and Inclusion.

And y’all…can I just say…have you seen the Nursery yet?

Holy cow…there’s so much room for activities! Seriously, if you haven’t already, please go check it out. And Pastor Janelle… Y’all…Pastor Janelle… Not only did she cover for me while I was away…not only did she take on the sprucing up of the Prayer Garden and getting new benches and new flowers and plants out there…not only is she doing all the regular ministry things as our Pastor of Faith Formation…she’s also getting our Faith Formation classrooms set up in the Community Center, as well as the supply closet (which is a monstrous undertaking)…but she’s also taking the lead on this Nursery project and trying to get our brand new Nursery outfitted with all the things it needs to be a wonderful ministry here. Will you just join me in thanking her for her incredible dedication and so much hard work…? Y’all…seriously…

And…we are trying to get some more things for our new Nursery, so check out our Amazon wish list in our Anchor newsletter, and if you can’t get one of the big ticket items, will you make an extra monetary gift with your offering and just designate it to the Nursery project and we’ll make sure it gets to where it needs to go. We could really really use your help.

Church, I’m so excited for this next season of life and ministry here at New Hope. You are not going to want to miss what’s coming up.

It feels like a big season of doing, but I think there’s just as much intentionality and thoughtful reflection infused throughout. We are listening in this moment. And praying. And having conversation.

Many things might be necessary in this moment—many things feel and are important—and…the first needful and essential thing is to first listen to Jesus. To pray, to invite the Holy Spirit, and then to listen, and to pay attention.

It’s an exciting season, church.

I invite you to rest and renew and listen and pray with us.

And I invite you join in the doing and the work where your gifts can be best used.

It takes all of us…Marthas and Marys alike.

Thank God it takes all of us.

Luke 10:25-37

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “what must I do to possess an abundant life?” 26 Jesus said to the lawyer, “What is written in Torah? What do you read there?”

27 The lawyer answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And Jesus said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this, and you will have life.”

 29 But wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when the priest saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw the man, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near the man; and when the Samaritan saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to the man and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then the Samaritan put the man on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 The lawyer said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

God who is our salvation,

We call out to you in our distress and you find us.

You seek us out and pull us out of our despair and hurt.

Make us bold and courageous to extend those same hands

Of compassion and care to those who are in need.

Help us to be neighbors, and make us mindful

Of the help and saving being offered to us from others.

Amen.

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It’s been way too hot recently to do much of this, but up until a few weeks ago, one of our favorite things to do in the afternoon was to go to the park. We still like to go to the park, we just have to get it out of the way early in the day. And recently, Oliver’s been wondering aloud a new question, “Dad, these are our neighbors? This is our neighborhood?”

“Yep, this is our neighborhood and these are our neighbors.”

Last month when we were at my parents house for a few days, we were walking to the park by their house, and then came not a question but an exclamation, “Wow! Grammie and Gramps have lots of neighbors!”

“Yep. Grammie and Gramps have lots of neighbors.”

Who’s your neighbor, church?

Do you have lots of neighbors? Or just a few neighbors?

I’ve recently started trying to get to know our neighbors better. Now, I’m an extrovert, so in some ways, the conversations come pretty naturally for me. But with all the craziness in our world right now, I’m kind of doubling-down on this idea that one of the ways to overcome the division and hatred and violence in our world is to just get to know our neighbors more. And I figured I should just, like, practice what I preach.

Having good relationships with your neighbors can go a long way, too, especially in times of distress or need. Maybe you’ll recall a few years ago during Hurricane Harvey, I bet you were checking in on your neighbors, making sure they had what they needed. Maybe they did the same for you. Or during the February freeze last year.

Having and being a good neighbor is invaluable.

So do you have lots of neighbors, church? Or just a few?

A different question—who’s not your neighbor?

A lawyer gets up to test Jesus—more like a scholar in Jewish law, in Torah, less of a lawyer in the legal sense that we think about—this person knows their Scripture, and the lawyer isn’t really asking for clarification, this is an adversarial encounter. The Torah scholar wants to know who Jesus is, where Jesus stands…”Which school do you belong to? How do you, Jesus, interpret Torah?”

“Rabbi, what must I do to obtain a full life?” So notice, this is not a question about a life that never ends, the idea of a never ending life is not a Jewish idea…it’s not really a Christian idea either, at least in the biblical sense, but that’s for another time…this is about a quality of life, a fullness of life now, in the present. “How can I enjoy a richness and a fullness of life now?”

“Well, what’s written in Torah? How do you read what’s written there?” Jesus replies.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” The first part from Deuteronomy, the second part from Leviticus.

“Great,” says Jesus, “go and do that.”

“Yes, but who is my neighbor?” comes the reply. I told you…this is adversarial.

So Jesus answers these antagonistic questions with a story. Classic Jesus…

Jesus tells a story about a person, likely Hebrew, traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, who is attacked and left for dead. And all the people who you would think would stop and help pass on by. The nice, upstanding religious folks keep to themselves and pretend not to notice their neighbor in need. But the Samaritan is the one who stops to render aid. And not only does the Samaritan stop and literally and figuratively stop the bleeding, but the Samaritan takes care of this person’s immediate needs, loads them up on the Samaritan’s own transportation, takes them to the next town and shells out 2 denarii, enough to prepay this person’s lodging for 2 months, and also prepays their medical bills. This is absurdly extravagant generosity.

But most striking, and certainly most controversial, wasn’t the generosity of the Samaritan…it was the fact that in Jesus’ story, it was the Samaritan who did these things. For those who remember such things, or those playing along at home, recall from the gospel of John, that Jewish people do not share things in common with Samaritans. In fact, they were enemies. More like mortal enemies. Hebrew people and Samaritans hated each other. They were culturally, ethnically, racially, religiously, socially…every possible dividing line you could think of, they were on opposite sides of that spectrum. Hebrew people and Samaritans hated each other. And so the fact that it was the Samaritan who stopped and who did these things, the fact that it was the Samaritan who was the hero in Jesus’ story is shocking and scandalous of the highest order. Those who were hearing this story were incensed that it was their enemy who was the hero of Jesus’ story.

Who’s not your neighbor, church?

Like so many of Jesus’ teachings, this one, too, is scandalous. It’s the Hebrew, the Jewish person, who is attacked and robbed and left for dead. It’s the good upstanding religious folks who pass by their sibling in need. It’s the enemy of one who was attacked that stops to give aid. And similar to so many of Jesus’ teachings, the Samaritans are the oppressed group in this power dynamic. Jesus is always lifting up the sacred worth of oppressed peoples. Samaritans were impoverished compared the wealthy city folks in Jerusalem. Samaritans had been oppressed for many years, by the Hebrews and by Rome. The hero in Jesus’ story is the unlikely one, the oppressed one, the one from the margins.

So often, church, we’ve heard this story of the compassionate Samaritan and imagined ourselves as the one who stops to help. Monica Perin forwarded an article to me last week from a couple of years ago that said that the Christian church in the United States suffers from a bad case of “Disney princess theology.” We have a bad habit of placing ourselves in the place of the oppressed groups. We love to imagine that we’re the ones swooping in to help. We’re the saviors. We’re always the heroes and sheroes and they-roes in the stories. “Well, that’s what good Christians do, they stop to help out.” Yes, truly, but in Jesus’ story that’s not how it went. Church, in the power dynamic, we western Christians who live in the United States are the powerful ones. We’re the ones with the wealth and power worth being robbed of. We’re the ones in the ditch, figuratively and literally. We’re the ones in need of saving. Like, most of all, from ourselves. At best, we’re the upstanding religious folks passing by on the other side.

Can you see, church…within someone you despise…the capacity to save your life?

Can you see your enemy as having the capability and capacity of saving you?

Would you let your enemy save you?

Interestingly, in Hebrew the words for “neighbor” and “enemy” aren’t that different. Leviticus 19:18 is where we first see written that ubiquitous teaching, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Every major world religion has a version of this teaching in their sacred texts, by the way. Amy Jill-Levine, professor at Vanderbilt Divinity, notes that the Hebrew word translated as “neighbor” in Leviticus 19:18 is re’a (“one who dwells nearby”). And it uses the same consonants as the Hebrew word for “enemy”—ish’ra. And in the original texts, as some of you know, the vowels are not present. So is the command to love your neighbor as yourself? Or is it to love your enemy as yourself?

Who’s not your neighbor, church?

In other words, as Amy Jill-Levine says, “When Jesus asks the lawyer, ‘What do you read there (in Torah)?’ Jesus is asking, ‘Are you able to see, in Torah’s words, the command to love both neighbor and those you would see as enemies?”

Can you imagine your enemy, someone you despise, as possessing the capability and the capacity of saving you? Maybe not your enemy, but what about that person that you really just can’t stand? What about the person who just does something to you that you can’t explain, but they make you feel like a not great version of yourself? Can you imagine them as being the one to save you?

It’s a difficult teaching, and a convicting one. Certainly for me.

I don’t know if I want to be able to see my enemy or the person who annoys me or someone who I really dislike as the source of my saving. A lot of times I prefer having someone or something I dislike or despise, because at least then, I have someone else outside myself to blame when things don’t go the way i want. We love a good bad guy. Because then we have someone we can project all kinds of wrongs upon.

But do you have the capacity to love that person? Can you imagine that person saving you?

Psalm 116 this morning reminds us that our saving comes from outside ourselves.

We do not save ourselves. Contrary to everything you’ve ever been taught.

We are a people in need of saving. And dear church, you do not…and you can not…save yourself.

It is God who saves.

The one who has inclined her ear to your cries for help. The one who is life. The one who loves deeply. The one who is faithful. The one who delivers you from death.

And so very often our saving comes from God through the gracious, loving, compassion, and kindness of our neighbors. Those you know well. And those you don’t know well yet. Those you might even consider to be enemies.

Keep your eyes open, church.

You never know when someone might be saving you.

Even someone you least expect.

And keep your eyes open for opportunities to offer that same kindness and compassion to someone else.

We could all use some more neighbors.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

1 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. 2 Jesus said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers for the harvesting. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 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. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The reign of God has come near.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the reign of God has come near.’ 16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

 17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the evil spirits submit to us!”

18 Jesus said to them, “I watched the Accuser fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 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. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

God of peace,

In the midst of a world that feels like a lot recently,

You call us and send us out into the harvest.

Give us courage as we go,

And a willingness and boldness to share our story.

A story of wonderful love, incredible grace, and fervent hope.

A story about you.

Amen.

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Whenever we leave for any kind of trip, whether a long extended vacation like I just got back from or even just a weekend away, I always go through the same ritual. I’m usually the last one out the door because I’m always late; and our cat, Piper is usually in her tower by the fireplace watching everyone rush out the door and looking at us with judging eyes, as cats do; and I always walk by her scratch her head and say, “No parties. Or at least if you do, just clean up after yourself.”

And it always works. We always come home to a house just as we left it, maybe a hairball or two or a pile of vomit, just to let us know who’s actually the boss. But in 11 years, I haven’t had to clean up a single red solo cup or a game of kitty beer pong left set up on the kitchen counter.

Things tend to be just as we left them.

I am very glad to say that things are mostly just as left them here, too, church. Truly, such is the mark of an incredibly capable and gifted Staff. And my thanks to Pastor Janelle for covering for me, to Danny, Jessica, Jeffery last week and Hsiao-Lan this week, Wanda, and Aimee, as well as our Council and everyone who helps out with worship and everything else. Thank you for the time away, it was very refreshing for me, and I am truly able to rest because I know New Hope rests in such lovingly capable hands that are not my own. So thank you, and I am grateful.

But not only are things mostly just as I left them, things are actually much much better since I’ve been away. The Community Center is almost all the way done, we have new locks on all our doors, a brand new Conference Room in the Community Center, brand new doors on the Community Center and the Sanctuary…y’all have been busy!

It all looks really really good.

Things are much better here at New Hope than when I left.

Things in our country and elsewhere…? Ehhh…… Debatable… Maybe we’ll work on that next time.

It’s been a wild few weeks…amen, church?

Lots of folks are scared. Lots of folks are despairing. Some folks are rejoicing. Some of us don’t really know what to think. Some of us are feeling a whole lot of different things.

And it’s all ok. And it’s all holy.

But if you’re feeling overwhelmed. If you’re feeling sad or hopeless or despairing…particularly if you’re feeling sad or hopeless or despairing…I want you to pay close attention real quick. Because one of the real gifts, I think, of our Lutheran understanding is that we view the Gospel—God’s good news of restoration and wholeness and liberation—as Lutherans, we say that, yes, that good news is for all people, but it is especially for those moments in our lives when we are sad or hopeless or despairing. A Lutheran understanding of the Gospel doesn’t shy away from the hurt and the pain in our world. Quite the opposite, Lutherans acknowledge that hurt and pain and say that God is most especially made known in those moments. Lutherans say those are pretty well universally felt, right? We all have times and seasons in our life where hurt and pain and discomfort and dis-ease and anger and hopelessness are very present and very real. This is simply part of what it means to be human in a very broken world.

But God has something to say in those moments.

God is not indifferent to the suffering of God’s people.

What I’m saying is that a very Lutheran understanding of the Gospel says that God’s good news of liberation and restoration and wholeness is most powerfully felt and experienced when we are feeling at our least, when we are feeling hopeless, when we are feeling hurt and broken and shattered.

That’s a real gift, I think.

So if that’s you today, I want you to hear me for the next couple of minutes.

Psalm 146

1 Hallelujah! Praise the Ageless One, O my soul! 

2 I will praise the Ever-living God all my life; 

I will sing praises to my God throughout my living 

3 Put not your trust in the great, nor in any child of earth, 

for there is no help in them. 

4 When they breathe their last, they return to earth, 

And in that day their thoughts perish. 

5 Happy are these for whom the God of Rebekah’s line is their help, 

Whose hope is in the Creator of All, their God. 

6 Maker of heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;  

Keeping faith forever. 

7 Bringer of justice to the oppressed, 

Bringer of bread to the hungry;  

The Compassionate God sets the prisoners free. 

8 The All-Seeing God opens the eyes of the blind, 

The Just God lifts up those who are bowed down; 

The Righteous God loves the righteous. 

9 The Mother of All cares for the stranger,

Orphan and widow she bears up,

But the way of the wicked she confounds. 

10 The Majestic One shall reign forever, 

Your God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Hallelujah!

Don’t put your trust in people who claim to be great. There is no help for you in them. When they breathe their last, they return to the dust, just like everyone else, and their thoughts and their wickedness and their evil and their attempts to exert power and control all die with them. Happy are those who trust in God, the God of Rebekah, the Creator, the One who laid the foundations of the earth, the One who brings justice to the oppressed and food to those who hunger, who liberates those in captivity, who heals the sick, lifts up the lowly, cares for the immigrant, upholds the vulnerable and marginalized. She disrupts the ways of the evil and wicked ones. She shall reign forever and ever.

Amen. And Alleluia.

I’m so thrilled to be using these Psalms for the Summer, these translations from the Reverend Doctor Wil Gafney out of Brite Divinity in Fort Worth. I’m so grateful to Pastor Janelle for suggesting this and for putting these together. And I’m going to try and preach from the Psalms these next few weeks and see how it goes. It’s a bit of a new challenge for me, but one that I kind of also love because I think we have an opportunity to hear some new words in new ways, words we might not have heard before or might not have paid much attention to.

These are part of our story, too.

I’m going to steal a line from our Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, she preached at our Synod Assembly about 6 weeks ago, she said, “We have a better story.”

The world tells us one thing, the world and the powers that be, very often leave us feeling sad or hopeless or despairing, the world often tells us a story of hurt and pain and divisiveness and wickedness and evil…we have a better story.

Not that those things aren’t true, at some level…but we have a better story.

And friends, it is a story that the world needs to hear. There are those who aren’t here this morning who need to hear. There are those you know in your life and in your circles who need to hear. There are those who aren’t here yet…who need to hear.

And friends, you are the ones to tell them. You are the ones sent out. You are the seventy. You are the ones entrusted and called and equipped and sent out to tell this story.

It’s interesting that on a weekend when we remember and celebrate the independence of this country, that we hear a gospel story about co-dependence, about being sent out together, about having to rely on one another and to rely on the hospitality of others. Over and over and over again, the Christian narrative is one of reliance and dependence on God, and interdependence on your neighbor and on the stranger. There is no independence in the life of a Christian. Your life is not your own. Your life is claimed by God for God’s purposes, for the sake and for the well-being of your neighbor, the stranger, the outcast, the immigrant, the vulnerable, the have-nots, and those that the world sees as less than…the hurting, the despairing, and the broken.

These are the ones who need to hear this story, and this is the story that you are called to share, dear siblings.

And the thing I probably take the most comfort in in all of this is that these 70 didn’t have special training. They got a pep talk from Jesus, but they didn’t have a crash course in Evangelism 101 from Jesus. Jesus called them together, said, “Don’t take anything with you,” and sent them out. That’s it. No special training required. Go out and share your story. All they had was a call, instructions to share peace and show and receive hospitality, and to announce the imminence of the reign of God. That’s it.

No special training required, church. I promise you.

You already have everything you need.

Only a willingness to share your story.

To share where God has moved powerfully in your life.

A word about a time when you were hurting or despairing or broken, and someone showed you kindness.

A word about when you felt seen and found by God.

About when God didn’t leave you just like God found you.

A word about when you felt loved back to life by God.

What a story worth sharing.

Luke 24:44-53

44 [Jesus said,] “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.” 45 Then Jesus opened the disciples’ minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And see, I am sending upon you the Spirit, that God promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

 50 Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into the heavens. 52 And the disciples worshiped Jesus, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Holy and mighty God,

Sometimes our sighs are too deep for words.

Thank you for your Spirit,

Who intercedes on our behalf,

When we are unable to even muster a prayer.

Hold us tightly, God.

Amen.

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*sigh*……

I’m so tired, church… So tired…

Aren’t you? In the words of Viola Davis, playing Aibileen Clark in Kathryn Stockett and Tate Taylor’s seminal film The Help, “Ain’t you tired…?”

Yes… Bone tired… Down to my soul tired… Worn, weary, crushed…tired…

Aren’t you…?

The last time I brought out these candles was 4 years ago, May 20, 2018, Pentecost Sunday that year, after a 17-year-old brought a shotgun to Santa Fe High School and murdered 8 classmates and 2 teachers. And now, just over 4 years later, here we are again, with countless murders, mass shootings and otherwise, in between. Just 2 years after the murder of George Floyd. The massacre in Uvalde happening just 10 days since a horrific racially-motivated, white supremacist rampage in Buffalo took the lives of 10 others. But did you know, church, that in those intervening 10 days, in the 10 days in between Buffalo and Uvalde that 15 other mass shootings occurred in this country, according to gunviolencearchive.org…? 15…!

Ain’t you tired…?

Hell yes, I am! I ran out of candles! I ran out of places to put them! That’s obscene!

The prayers that we used at the beginning of worship come from a Prayer of Lament for Gun Violence from our newest worship resource from our denomination, the ELCA, called All Creation Sings. Hear that again…there’s a litany of prayers, in a denominational resource, the largest Lutheran denomination and one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, there’s a litany of prayers for victims of gun violence! Please let that sink in! That is obscene!

How are we ok with this?

Every single time we want to say, “This is just not who we are.” when I am very sorry to tell you, church, it very clearly is. It is exactly who we are. It may not be who we want to be, or who we hope to be, but I’m devastated to tell you that it is exactly who we are.

We have accepted it.

Because if it wasn’t who we are, if we hadn’t accepted this, we would do something to change it.

But we don’t. So we offer “thoughts and prayers” and we ask questions to the wind and to no one in particular like “How could this happen again?” and in less than a week something new will overtake our news feeds and we’ll move on just like we have for over 20 years since Columbine High School.

But there are those who can’t move on. There are those who are too close to these endless tragedies that can’t simply move past it. We must be aware that every single one of these instances leaves a devastating wake of communities, neighborhoods, schools, families, and people.

Every single one of these massacres leaves a wake of destruction.

I ran out of candles to tell you about Ms. Katherine Massey, 72, who was a civil rights activist who called for stricter gun laws in Buffalo.

I ran out of candles to tell you about Andre Mackniel, 53, who was at the grocery store picking up a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son…who wouldn’t make it home for his son’s birthday party.

I ran out of candles to tell you about Ms. Ruth Whitfield, 86, who lived in Buffalo for more than 50 years and loved to sing in her church’s choir.

To tell you about Roberta Drury, 32, who was a caretaker for her brother and was buying groceries for them.

About Eva Mireles, 44, who taught in Uvalde schools for 17 years and used her body to try and protect her students.

About Irma Garcia, 46, who taught at Robb Elementary for 23 years, co-taught with Ms. Eva for 5 years, and whose husband of 24 years, Joe, died of a severe heart attack just 2 days later. They had 4 children.

Xavier Lopez, 10, who had just found out he made the honor roll.

Amerie Jo Garcia, 10, who just celebrated her birthday and gotten a phone she wanted, and tried to use that phone to call for help.

Lexi Rubio, 10, who made the All-A Honor Roll and received a good citizen award.

Tess Marie Mata, 10, who had been saving her money for Disney World and who loved doing TikTok dances.

Babies… Educators… Mamas… Daddies… Grandparents… Hermanos… Hermanas… Primos y primas…

Ain’t you tired, church…?

Of course you are. We all are.

It’s not part of the lectionary readings for today, but they are some of the most potent words in Scripture, from the prophet Amos, chapter 5: “Thus says the Lord, I hate—I despise—your festivals. Your worship is worthless. Even though you bring me offerings, I reject them. I refuse to listen to your songs and music. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

God desires oceans of justice and raging rivers of righteousness. And the best we can do is offer thoughts and prayers?!

We can and should be sad. We can and should lament. Sorrow is holy.

But we must not remain in despair. We cannot stay in our sorrow. Because if we remain in that despairing place, we are incapacitated to do the work to which we are called. Pray and then act. This is the work to which you are called: the holy work of healing, of binding up the wounds of the broken, of repairing that which has been torn, and delivering love and mercy to those most in need of it. God desires justice. God desires righteousness. God desires so much more than thoughts and prayers.

The Sunday of the Feast of the Ascension is the time in the church that we commemorate Jesus leaving the disciples. The day always happens 40 days after Easter. And for those who are paying attention, 40 is an important number, biblically speaking. 40 days of rain and flood. 40 days in the desert being tempted by the Accuser. 40 years journeying in the desert, traveling from slavery toward freedom. 40 is a good, long time. 40 is the amount of time it takes, biblically, to arrive at the moment you throw your hands up and cry, “Enough!” 40 is the time it takes to be done.

Ain’t you tired, church…? Haven’t you had enough? Of course you are. Of course you have.

In some ways, Jesus has had enough, too. He’s spent time with the disciples, he’s taught them things again that he’d already taught them. He’s been with them, but now it is time for Jesus to go. Because if Jesus doesn’t go the book of Acts doesn’t happen. Acts is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, written by the same person or group of people, and there’s a reason it is called the Acts of the Apostles. This is the disciples getting on with the work—with the acts—of being the church. And if Jesus doesn’t go, they, and we, might be tempted to cling tightly to what we know, stay where we think it’s safe, and not get on with the work and the acts of being the church.

Jesus is tired… But if Jesus doesn’t go, the church doesn’t spread. If Jesus doesn’t go, the work of the church can’t begin.

“You Galileans, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”

Church, why do we stand looking up toward heaven? What exactly are we waiting around for? Are we waiting for someone else? Waiting for Jesus to come back triumphantly in the same way in which he was taken?

Church, I have good news and bad news… The bad news is that Jesus isn’t coming back in the same way in which he ascended. The bad news is that no one else is coming to bail us out of this mess. The bad news…is that you are the ones God has called in this time and in this place to do the work of mending this horribly broken world. The good news…is that you are the ones that God has called in this time and in this place to do the work of mending this horribly broken world.

And the good news…is that you do not do this work on your own.

God has given you the Holy Spirit. You have been clothed with power. And God has given you one another. You do not do this work on your own. But you are called to do this work.

There is no one else. You are the ones.

Why do you stand looking up toward heaven? Look out. Look at your neighbor. Look at the kids across the street. Look at the people in your cul-de-sac. Look at the people in line at the grocery store with you. Look at the babies out at the restaurant with you. These are who you are called to, church.

Justice. Righteousness.

Our legislators will not save us. The people that we elected to represent us and make and pass laws to protect us and our babies have abdicated their responsibility. This is on us.

I’m so so sorry to tell you that help is not coming. But we do have what we need for this fight.

We do have the good news of God’s vision for the world, God’s hopes and dreams of a restored and whole and well earth. You have been given the Holy Spirit. You have been clothed with power.

And we have each other.

Of course you’re tired. I am, too.

Rest when you need to rest.

But do not stay at rest.

This fight is a holy and righteous one and the forces that would seek to deny life to God’s people can not stand against you when we stand shoulder to shoulder.

You have been blessed. You have been called.

You have been strengthened and nourished.

You have been blessed.

You have been anointed for this fight.

And you will prevail.

You will be victorious.

We must win. We must.

And we will.

We will because our kids are begging us to.

We will because our babies demand that we do.

We will because this is the promise of the resurrection. That death does not win. Death does not get the last word. God has promised life and life abundant, and you are the vessels and the messengers through which God is working and redeeming the world.

This is the work of the church.

Rejoice, people of God.

This is the work to which God has called you.

This is the work for which you have been clothed with power and blessed and anointed

Go and do likewise.

If you’re wondering where to start, if you look at all that’s happening and think, “There’s just no way I can effect any meaningful change.” I invite you to start with a prayer. Pray and beseech God that God would break open your heart and cause your heart to break for that which breaks God’s heart. Pray that God would give you the same eyes of love, tenderness, and compassion with which God looks upon the world. And then I invite you to start. Start somewhere. Start small. But start.

As a bit of Rabbinical wisdom goes, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work. But neither are you free to abandon it.” Or a Mother Teresa reminds us, “Not everyone can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

Start. Somewhere.

If you can find one hour a week in your schedule, I’d love to introduce you to some of our friends at Armstrong. Reading buddies, mentors, teachers’ aides… Young people having positive influences in their lives is the single biggest influencing factor in them being successful in their education and not growing up resorting to violence to solve their problems. That’s not made up, that’s research-backed.

Look, this is convicting for me, too. I haven’t made the time this year to volunteer. Will you join me? Will you commit with me to signing up to volunteer just one hour a week next year as a Reading Buddy or a Mentor at Armstrong? And will you hold me accountable?

We can effect change in our world, church.

We can and we will because we must.

Be of good courage, people of God. Do not be frozen in place by this enormous task.

Pray, and then act.

The crucified, risen, and ascended Christ has empowered, blessed, and anointed you for this work, and joins you in this fight.

Death does not get the last word, praise God.

Take heart. Hold fast to faith.

This is the hope to which you have been called.

God’s resurrection promise for a weary and downtrodden world.

Alleluia.

Amen.