1030am Sunday 6-21, 20

Thank you to all of those who recorded themselves and shared the gift and the privilege of reading God's word.

It is important that we continue in this time, especially to Anchor ourselves two words that are more lasting than the day today news coverage we get it is a crazy time but there are some things that still stand even in times such as this and God's word is one of them that if you haven't already done, so I encourage you to find time space to read your Bible Set set set aside 20 minutes 30 minutes a day or weekly or however you want to do that out of you have time and read if you have questions, I'd be happy to take him to those again. You can email me at Pastor Peter and Saint Stephen. Org every Wednesday night kind of Shameless plug here from 5:30 to 6:30. I do a virtual bible study on Facebook live. You are welcome to join me there. I do take comments and questions. I had a really Lively discussion last Wednesday, so you are welcome to join me Facebook Live 5 3 p.m. To about 6:30 or so. I have to go a little longer but it depends you welcome to drop in for all of it a portion of it. And of course you can also watch it after it's been like feeding live streamed. It lives on her Facebook page for you're welcome to go back and watch those videos and the time every Wednesday 5:30. I hope to see you there. But now we're going to delve into the scripture for today's worship which comes from us in the gospel of Matthew beginning at the temperature after this picks up right where we left off last week. So literally where we left off last week with that verse this picks up right the next part of our lectionary for the year that we are in for this season of the church. beginning at Matthew 10 verse 24 Jesus says Spotify plus not above the teacher nor slave above the master. Is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and a slave like the master? If they have called The Master of the House Beelzebub. How much more will the Moline those of his household? So have no fear of them for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret. That will not be made known. What I say to you in the dark, I tell in the light and what you hear whispered Proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear Those Who Kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and Body in hell are not Two Sparrows sold for a penny yet. Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father and even the hairs on your head are all counted. So do not be afraid you are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone there for her knowledge is me before others. I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my Father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword for I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and ones foes will be members of One's Own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Those who find their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. This is the gospel of Our Lord. Please be seated.

I invite you to pray with me.

Chase be broken lives be healed In This Moment Christ be revealed in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I'm in.

well

This is a terrible gospel. Text your father's day. Yeah, this was that this is the text. So in the Lutheran Church, we follow was called the revised common lectionary and it follows a three-year pattern for every three years that resets and every single day in the church is life including Sunday house that has an ascribed form of text and we have Gospel reading a new testament reading a Psalm Old Testament reading there's about four readings assigned every week. And in the Lutheran Church, we do this because it provides us with a unified message across the entire church and Ferb many other churches including the Episcopal Anglican churches who also follow the revised common lectionary. What are the benefits of it? Is it provides a It prevents pastors from avoiding the uncomfortable text and it forces us to really engage with the whole of and totality of scriptures message. Now, if you are in a church that has a lectionary such as a revised there's other options, but if you have one in your in one that has a revised common lectionary flow in three years, you will pretty much hear about all of the Bible every single tax about 90% of the Bible will be read through the entire three year time span. So it's it really is a wonderful way to ensure that we are getting the the full scope and message of scripture and not what called proof texting or selecting a text that are convenient or you know are funner or whatever that might be avoiding. The ones that are uncomfortable like this one and I I don't know if the plan was to align this scripture for Father's day. But here we are. Yeah, let's let's get everyone. Let's have a great family day. And you know father's if you love your children more than me, you're not worthy of me. Okay? Well, that's actually not a bad thing and we're going to talk about that in the moment the way I like to describe this text my own kind of how I want to build us up is I take this as Jesus coming to his disciples with their kind of a PostScript of a PS, your disciples crops about to hit the fan hugs and kisses love Jesus things are going to get bad in Jesus is making his claim very clear, right? He talks about how if the master or the term that he uses is the teacher or Master is you know cues to basically buildable is is a biblical term for devil. Right? So he's saying that if the teacher or the master that the one in charge is accused of being evil, how much worse will it be for the pupil or the students or in this case? The disciples to follow and hold on and bear the Yoke, the teaching the life and ended the relationship of their teacher because we're not above the teacher right? We're not we're not insulated from what happens to our teacher and in the case of the teacher that we have is questions is Jesus and we know what happens in that story. Right right, he comes and he declares Justice and freedom and peace and in a release to the captain and the end of Oppression and the very thing that he's fighting against kills him, right? We're not we're not separate from that. We are insulated or protected from that fate. Obviously. This isn't first-century Rome and we're not going to be crucified in the physical form, but that doesn't mean that the spiritual sense of crucifixion doesn't happen. The relational dynamics of crucifixion doesn't happen. Right? We all have been there when we've been a bit trade abandoned mocked attacked. I mean just look at your social media I want to talk this text in a couple ways. First. I want to talk about this idea of we'll just go see sequentially hear this idea of the sparrow, which is commonly referenced in and pretty, there's a whole song You Know called, you know, God's Eye Is on the Sparrow and the second portion this kind of you know, I have not come to bring peace but a sword a red talk about that just briefly. So before I get too far, I want to go to the sparrow section that begins at verse 29, so we're going to skip over 229 Matthew 10:29 just as a refresher. It reads this are not Two Sparrows sold for a penny yet. Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father and even

yeah, so that's it. I was going to be. But I don't need to so the the image there is that's pretty common is this idea that The Sparrows light lives and dies by the father's hands like the father beat the interpretation. There's pretty common that got that the god creates and causes life and death to happen that everything happens for a reason and that if a sparrow dies it is God's doing and then the logic there extends to if something bad happens to you it is also God's doing and that scripture. I have a hard time with that and I'm sure you probably do as well. So that it cuz the implication there is that God causes suffering God is the the architect of our experience in our suffering in our deaths and I don't know that that's really helpful in the ministry world that I live in. Experiences is not been that has not helped the healing or wholeness bringing two people in times of trouble. But but another way to interpret that text is not that God causes the suffering but that God is aware of the suffering that God sees the sparrow and the sparrow which has I mean miniscule. It is a blip on the radar of the world. Right? It's it's hardly anything and what God and Jesus telling his disciples is God sees the challenges in the suffering is provided for that. Right? He's provided green provided that other birds is provided water has provided for them and he sees their challenges. So how much more visible are you two got right you who are a child of God who bear the image that we hear about in The Book of Genesis. The God made us in His image, right? The sparrow doesn't retain. God's image at least not in the way that we do. They are still beloved by God. Otherwise, why would Moses be instructed not Moses?

Noah why would Noah be instructed to save all of these animals because God loves all of the animals but they have a different level of a different image within them that that we retain that they do not sin. So if God sees the the suffering in the challenges of the sparrow how much more will God see the suffering challenges of you and that really for me always has been accompanying image in that God never is unaware or uninterested in my challenges or your challenges or the challenges that we face that guy's daughter who is omnipresent always around omnipotent? He sees and he is aware of all of those challenges and he is beside us when we go to those things. And so that's the first thing because oftentimes that scripture is used unfortunately by some as a way of I think they be unintentionally communicating that God is basically a chaos Springer someone who causes death to just come and you know, everything happens for a reason, I guess. Just need another Angel are those are not helpful and so a better way to interpret and understand that scripture would be to say that God is aware of that suffering and walks alongside us because he is within us and we bare His Image. I want to jump ahead and spend most of our time though in this second section here this idea of Jesus talking about the conflict happening within the home and then by extension society as a whole And then so Jesus talks about this image of father versus son mother versus daughter daughter-in-law has his mother-in-law and then he is not come to bring peace but a sword and this conflict that is happening both in the home and in society.

One of the most evident places where this conflict is occurring is on social media. I don't think anybody should be shocked by that. You know, I hope you have your pulse right now thinking about what social media no, yes, because it creates social media creates his platform for connection. It also creates a spot form of anonymity and kind of a a digital safety net. So you feel more emboldened to just be pretty vicious because the consequences for the most part really aren't there but also

Facebook Twitter Snapchat social media in general kind of create this this kind of narrative where were able to kind of unfriend people who we don't like or who just become intolerant for us. Now that that can be problematic but I think also there is an element within us that were called to relationships in the social world media World our are challenging to say the least and if we aren't cautious they will overtake us they will take over our lives. And so this image of this conflict is happening within the home and Society is is one of the focal point seems to be on social media and we see it playing in a way that is toxic and destructive in our world.

in society, however, in the the Flesh and Blood part of the world that Angela part of the world that we can touch and we can see and interact with we are called to be loving and to be kind but sometimes the world tries to draw so away from that identity and what Jesus telling his disciples and U&I today is that

we get these words, right?

If there is a choice between family. And the status quo and homeostasis. and on the other side Justice and love choose Justice and love And that's what Jesus said can I tells his disciples and you and I right he's not saying hey, you know, I'm coming here to bring about this Kingdom, but I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. Hey, I'm coming about to bring about this Kingdom. But you know, we don't want to go too fast. We don't want to be too bold. We don't want to be too aggressive in the proclamation of the Kingdom. We don't want it. We don't have ruffled feathers.

That's not what Jesus saying. Jesus comes today and his scripture his text makes that abundantly clear that he's here to bring about the kingdom and with that Justice and mercy and a piece that really is piece a piece that's not just a name but inexperience and in order to do that, there are going to be people who resist there any people who view the kingdom who view the Justice who who view the equality that Jesus offers as a threat to them, right? And we seen that happened on the news. He seen that happen in social media that we seen it happen in all those places the idea that that are we have to let go of our privileged that we have to let go of the things that make us comfortable. You know that not everybody is going to like or accept that and would Jesus makes clear today is that There's going to be times when you have to choose between family and normalcy and what you've always known. And Justice and sometimes those two things are aligned and when those times are happening and you can work for justice and be a part of your family or your church or your community and that's what you guys are about. That's wonderful, but they're going to be other times when we you have to be a prophet. And when you have to be the one standing in the wilderness like John the Baptist declaring the way of the Lord and everyone looking at you in scoring you and unfriending you on Facebook and Twitter because you're getting you know, you're causing issue. You're causing us trouble. You know, you don't like John the Baptist if he's out there baptizing is just a the prophet imagery and the Pharisees come in to see to see the baptisms happening in and John the Baptist turn to them and he like you brood of vipers like that's unfriend. Like I'm not friends with John anymore, but John understands as all the prophets do and as Jesus did and as you and I do as modern day prophets and disciples, we all understand that there are things that are right and things that are wrong and we don't get to choose what those things are. We're course entitled to our opinions. We are not entitled to facts of our own choosing to make it more convenient or to offend ourselves less. There are times when we must make stands and we must make claims and we must stand as Martin Luther did all those centuries ago where he stood before the pope at and the Catholic Church the dominant religion in society Arbiter of power of the time and said that this is not right and here I stand I can do no other. We too today must do the same. There are times when we must stand and there were times when we must yield and there are times when we must understand the relationship is the Primacy over the cause, but sometimes sometimes the cause for justice the cause for the kingdom the call to end depression the call to to bring people to a place of understanding and hope is bigger than our call and our desire are our individual sense of self to be liked or to your just keep things as they are because as they are people dying and Jesus knew that in the first century with Rome and we know that in the 21st century with the world that we live in a bit in the United States or around the world. And so I didn't sense of that. Just give us an image of this a little over a year ago Stephen embarked on a journey to become a reconciling in Christ congregation under the leadership of Kim health and some of her other friends and members of the congregation and we embarked on this conversation on this journey together in conversation questions Town Halls all these extra things and we eventually adopted the reconciling in Christ title and what that basically meant was that we as a congregation committed and there's a whole statement on this. I'm not going to read it that you can find it on our website. We as a carry gation commit to ensuring that everyone is not only we say is welcome but is wanted that who you are is Holy and good and we love you and we want you here. We want you in the story. We want you at the table that there is not any part of this congregation from you know visitor to council president. That is not open to people who are black who are gay who are straight who are you know transgender who are Latin X who are all of the different identities that we have in the world because we understand the humanities complex, but God is complex enough to weather and bring all of them to the table and we embarked on that journey and we were proud of that Journey. There are people who are not a part of that journey and did not like that journey and we're not about to be a part of a church that was about that and we lost people we had people leave the church because we lived in to Armada that we had four years of all means all and we simply said either means all means all or it doesn't and we decided it did. But not everyone could tolerate that. And so we lost people.

And I was okay with that. A sad it's disappointing. I wish they would stay but Jesus makes it clear through the scriptures the the the full testimony the whole message of the Gospel of the Old and New Testaments makes it clear that there is a right and a wrong that there is a way of living out Justice and peace, but that Justice that that that are a desire for for family and friends and peace cannot come at the expense of others Humanity of other people's identity of their of their being in the eyes of God that we either our church that lives out the gospel in radical ways, or we are not and it is sad that we had that happen. But you know something about there's to wherever you are, you know, you had instances in your life where you stood on a principal and as a result you were abandoned or alienated or left behind or attacked physically verbally virtually. We know that these things happen. Jesus makes it very clear that there is a standard. And that standard isn't like you have to be in this type of person, you know, you have to be and how to behave this type of way. But there is a standard that we are called to love our neighbor as yourself that were called the love God and lean into that identity. And sometimes when we do that and week-old others to account for that. That will cause friction and fracture. Jesus does not come to bring about this kind of Kumbaya. You know, let's all hold hands, but he does come to bring a king of justice and he invites everyone from the Pharisees of the first-century to you and I today into that relationship and into that Kingdom. The question that we have to ask is are we willing to let go of who we think we are and who we think we should be her we've been told that we should be And listen to what Christ calls us to? At the very end of the scripture today. Jesus says that those who find their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. their life their priorities their dreams their standards their perception of black lives matter their perception of what it means to be a good quote and quote Christian their ideas of what it means to be fully human bear.

I'm going to stop there. I want to see far. Maybe I do I don't know.

If you want to find the Life of Christ. Sometimes that means you need to die. Sometimes that means that your perspectives needs to die. I say this is one who has had to die to myself more times than I can count. I have completely morphed and changed in the past 10 years of my journey through Seminary and into being a pastor who I was then is no longer who I am now, and thank God for that. There is no mint and there's Challenge and there's pain in that process not metamorphosis in that new person, but Jesus makes it very clear that if you want to find the Life of Christ. The life that truly is life and sometimes to find life. You have to go through physical death. You have to pick up that cross. To be worthy of that title of disciple of Jesus Christ. The one who does not pick up the cross and follow me is not worthy of Me. Jesus isn't here to make us comfortable. He's here to make the powerful uncomfortable. He's here to make those with privilege and power and profit each year to make us uncomfortable.

That's just how it is.

And it's unfortunate that there are some who are willing to not give up just a little bit of comfort for the sake of the Kingdom. I pray that we is the church st. Stephen ELCA the church as a whole The Universal Church Church Catholic that we we don't Outsource or identity any longer. Are being wanting to be like our desire for you don't Mass crowd so that we can get as many people together as possible as a dad is somehow progress. What is progress for the church is not which progress for the world was progress for the church is where we are fighting. Fighting seeking to bring Justice tall to bring a hope to all. I pray that you'll be a part of that journey. I pray that we will continue to lean into this challenging time. With pandemics social unrest brutalities protesters going nuts. This is not a time to be burning each other down. This is a time to be teaching and learning its Pursuit on all of us. If you want to find the Life of Christ, that means you must lose part of who you are. The only question is, are you willing to do that? Let's pray gracious God. Thank you. We're bringing sword. Not to kill and maim and Slaughter and mad grabs and and and and rushes to power but a sword that purges a sword that like a scalpel cuts out the cancer within us. God I pray that you would help us as a congregation myself as Pastor are scented. Our church has a hole and the entire chart around the world that you would help us to to Place Primacy not on being nice. Not on kind of maintaining the status quo but on bringing about your kingdom and God help us to be okay with the ramifications of that. Tammy pray for courage and strength we pray for Unity where we can We pray that you will help to protect police officers protect our president, but we also pray God that you would help teach and guide them. And all those who makes her that we pray for our country and those suffering from covid-19.

We ask God for you to be with us and to help us ask the hard questions and to reach the faithful answers in your name we pray.