Happy Syllabus Day and welcome to all our new students. This is the largest incoming class in nine years. That is great news.

Chapel this Weekend

Saturday: Super Simple Saturday Service of welcome, scripture, and prayer. This is basically the Dean of the Chapel’s opportunity to introduce and remind everyone about Luther’s desire to feed and care for the whole person–mind, spirit, and body–while you are a student. You will get a chance to meet some of our spiritual directors during and after the service. Don’t forget that you have up to $400/year to invest in spiritual direction.

Sunday: there is no chapel on campus. We encourage you to attend worship at a local congregation.

Monday: We will end RFS 1 with a service of Holy Communion. Pastor Danielle Dockman (PhD Student) is presiding. Pastor Stanley Ayashim, Residential Life Program Coordinator, is preaching on Luke 15:1-10.

Abiding in ABIDE this Fall

I am very excited to announce that we will spend six weeks this fall soaking in our ABIDE framework and the communal spiritual practices from which it flows. Please join us in person if you are local. Each service will be livestreamed for those who cannot drive in.

Wednesday, September 17

• Theme: Introducing ABIDE
• Practice: Abiding in Christ
• Preacher: Rev. Dr. Steve Thomason

Wednesday, September 24

• Theme: Accountability
• Practice: Confession
• Preacher: Dr. Jennifer Pietz

Wednesday, October 1

• Theme: Belonging
• Practice: Baptism
• Preacher: Dr. Matt Skinner

Wednesday, October 8

• Theme: Inclusion
• Practice: Communion
• Preacher: Dr. Lois Malcolm

Wednesday, October 15

• Theme: Diversity
• Practice: Vocation
• Leader: Dr. Kristofer Phan-Coffman

Wednesday, October 22

• Theme: Equity
• Practice: Justice
• Preacher: Rev. Dr. Cody Sanders

This week marks the transition from Summer to Fall. Many of you just completed your summer courses last Friday. Now, you have one week to catch a breath, perhaps, and then we launch into the Fall term next Monday.

Allow me to take this moment to breathe deeply with you and reflect on two important lessons I learned over the summer.

Lesson One: Life is precious, short, and fragile, so cherish each moment.

I was reminded of this lesson in two ways this summer. On the macro level we were all reminded of it as we share in the collective trauma of the shooting at Annunciation last week. We grieve with all the families of those children in Minneapolis as we also continue to watch the terror of children in Gaza and around the world who suffer at the hands of violent adults.

I was also reminded of this lesson on a personal level with the death of my 9-year old great nephew. It was an unexpected and shocking death. We are never prepared for that kind of news.

Hug the children in your life today. Cherish each moment of this gift called life.

Lesson Two: Leadership is Facilitation

Another lesson I learned came from our experiment with the Super Simple Summer Service of Sacrament that we held each Wednesday in July and August. The original plan for the summer was to have no chapel or communal practice of any kind. The Chapel Staff and I needed a break. The more I thought about that plan the less I liked it. We needed something.

Honestly, the alternative plan was originally born out of self-preservation. I thought, “How can I offer communion each week, but not have to be caught up in the weekly grind of worship planning?”

I wanted it to be easy. The Latin word is facilis.

So, I thought, we have a Cranberry Hymnal (The ELW) that has everything already printed. The purest form of Lutheran Worship is: Gather, Word, Sacrament, Send.

Each Wednesday we gathered in the Chapel at 11:00am. We shared in Confession and Forgiveness (p. 94), read the Psalm (in a lectio divina style) and the Gospel from the Revised Common Lectionary, prayed through the categories prescribed in the ELW (I simply named the category and invited people to pray out loud or silently), gathered around the table for bread and wine, and then I sent them with a simple blessing. No music. No sermon.

It was simple. It was quiet. It was short (25 min), but also spacious.

It was facilis.

And, for me at least, it was very meaningful.

It wasn’t about the leader. It wasn’t about creative planning. It wasn’t about amazing music. It wasn’t about pomp or show.

It was the people of God gathered around the Word of God and the Sacrament of Communion.

This experience led me to reflect on power and the role of the leader in Christian community. Having a title/position in an institution automatically gives a person positional power. This is a neutral fact. The power exists. The challenge for every leader is how we use the power given to us.

By the grace of God, and my desire for a facil summer, I learned an experiential lesson about power. The power that I have from the position of Dean of Chapel allowed me to name the time and decide on the structure. That is an important aspect of power. Someone one has to be able to make decisions. Then my job as the leader was to get out of the way. My job was to simply open up the space, submit to the liturgical structure, and trust that the Holy Spirit will move and engage with each person in the way they need to be engaged.

My job was to make that process easy for everyone. To make it facilis. To facilitate.

Thanks be to God for lessons learned this summer.

Blessings on your inbetween week.

The message of the readings this week can be tricky to communicate. The context of the audience is very important.

Jesus is speaking to the leaders of the people in Luke 14:1-14. He is speaking to people who already have positional power and influence in their contexts and are abusing their positions.

Jesus, and the prophets, say to the powerful and corrupt: Don’t lead with pride. Don’t be consumed with position and power. You have been given this power to make sure that those who have no power are protected and nurtured.

Psalm 112 describes the humble leader: “It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice…They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.”

When we lead with pride, or seek the best seats at the banquet, or mistreat the poor and voiceless, we are like those whom Jeremiah describes, “they have forsaken me (The LORD),
the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).”

Caution: Sometimes powerful people can use these words to keep the already powerless silent. Know your audience and remember that in the parable Jesus reminds the religious leaders that God wants everyone at the table.

May we be leaders who humbly receive the gift of God’s living water and freely overflow it to everyone around us.

Jesus heals a woman in the Gospel reading this week (Luke 13:10-17). He was teaching in the synagogue on a Sabbath. That’s what good religious leaders do, right? Then this crippled woman “appears” while he was talking.

Stop and evaluate the situation. Be honest. If you were in the middle of your sermon during a well-planned worship service, knowing that people are expecting to get out on time to get their kids and make it home by game time, and a person in need interrupted the service, what would you do?

Jesus stopped. He noticed her. He set her free from the spirit that had bound her up for eighteen years.

“That’s wonderful!” you might think.

The leader of the synagogue didn’t think so. He was indignant and said to her, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, not on the Sabbath.”

Wow!

I am continually amazed at how good we are at turning God’s Good News upside down. Religious leaders, like me, like to run a tight ship, keep things in proper order, and maintain a sense of control over their world.

Jesus loves messing with our tidy little worlds, doesn’t he?

The text that most impacted me this week is the second option of the first reading: Isaiah 58:9b-14. It is helpful to go back a few verses, beginning in verse 6, to get the full impact. Isaiah is critiquing the upside-downness of the religious leaders of his day. They were trying to win God’s favor and deliverance (or control God) through temple rituals, but they were completely missing the point.

Notice what Gods wants for the people and from the religious leaders:

• to loose the bonds of injustice,
• to let the oppressed go free,
• to share bread with the hungry,
• to bring the homeless poor into your house,
• to clothe the naked,
• to not ignore anyone
• to STOP pointing the finger and speaking evil of others.

This is our checklist.

Oh, that we may be a people, a nation, religious leaders who care more about healing on the Sabbath than “keeping the Sabbath.”

What is the portrait of Jesus that you carry with you? If you have a moment, stop right now and either draw a quick image, or jot down a few words that would describe what Jesus is like for you in your imagination.

I wonder if it matches the guy who spoke the words from the Gospel reading this week in Luke 12:49-56, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled…do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”

Whoa! What just happened?

Isn’t this the same Gospel in which the angels appeared to the shepherds and said, “Peace on earth?”

I did a search through the Gospel of Luke for the word peace. It appears 13 times and is evenly spread through the story. It first appears in Zechariah’s song (Luke 1:79) as he draws inspiration from the prophets and says of Jesus, “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Then the declaration of the angels to the shepherds, “and on earth peace among those whom he favors (Luke 2:14).” He tells those he heals to “go in peace (Luke 7:50; 8:48).” He sends his disciples out to the villages to find a person who returns the peace to them and to stay with them (Luke 10:5-6).

Up to this point, it seems that Jesus’ ministry is about peace.

Then today happens. Luke 12:51.

We must remember that the texts we have been reading for the last few weeks occur while Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem. Each step he takes brings him closer to the stark reality that he will be executed as a rebel. He is offering peace to Jerusalem if they would only abandon their hatred and fear of the Romans and walk in the way of peace. Yet, he knows they will not. He knows that some will listen to him and some will reject him. Families will be divided over how they interpret his teaching.

Peace seems ever elusive.

Then, at the end of his journey to Jerusalem, in Luke 19:42, Jesus stops and weeps for Jerusalem, saying, “if you had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” And he goes on to describe the horrible destruction of Jerusalem that would be the consequence of their hatred and violence.

So, yes, Jesus is the “Prince of Peace,” and his message and method will never be one of violence. The irony of today’s text is that Jesus’ message of non-violence will incite division amongst families. Not everyone is ready for peace. Some people feel that the only response to injustice is to fight back with violence.

Our hope lies in the last declaration of peace in Luke 24:36. The resurrected Jesus says to his disciples, “Peace be with you.”

Oh God, give us the wisdom to follow the way of Jesus in our world today. May we be people who seek justice, righteousness, and peace in a world that seems fixated on violence.

Faith is the theme that runs through the texts today. What does faith mean to you?

Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The first reading reminds us that Abraham’s faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).” Jesus warns his disciples to watch and be ready because “the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour (Luke 12:40).” He urges them to not put their faith in money and power, but to give to the poor and make purses of an “unfailing treasure in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:33-34).”

The word faith in these texts is translating the Greek word pistis. It is sometimes translated believe, or trust.

My word for this year is TRUST. To trust something is to have more than an intellectual agreement with something’s truthfulness. TRUST is a whole-bodied activity.

I know this is an ongoing conversation, especially within Lutheran circles. Is it our faith in Christ that saves us, or is it Christ’s faith that saves us?

I’ll let you sort that out (I think it is …YES!) read more here.

I often use the story of Charles Blondin, the tightrope walker, as a way to understand trust. He was able to walk a wheel barrel on a tight rope across the Niagara falls. When he asked the crowd if they believed he could do it, they all raised their hands to say, “Yes.” When he asked for a volunteer to get in the wheel barrel and ride with him, all hands were down.

To trust something is to put your whole self into it and know they will get you to the other side. In what do we trust?

Quite honestly, I don’t trust the government. I don’t trust the uber wealthy plutocracy that controls our world. I don’t trust the mob mentality that swarms the streets and floods social media. I don’t trust the inflammatory rhetoric that screams from both sides of the aisle.

Most days, I don’t trust myself because I know my weaknesses.

This year, I pray that God will help me TRUST in the deep, mysterious, infinite love of God made known to us through Jesus the Christ, made possible to flow through us in the power of the Holy Spirit so that it might overflow from us for the sake of ALL FLESH.

No one is excluded from this love.

Oh Lord, help me…help us…trust, to have faith. Enjoy this video where I draw Trust.

Do you ever look around and think, what is the point of all this? It seems like rich, greedy, power-hungry people keep winning while the poor, marginalized people continue to suffer. Well-meaning people keep yelling at each other and the world becomes more deeply divided.

What’s the point?!?

You are not alone.

This is the refrain of the texts in the Revised Common Lectionary this week. It is centered on Jesus’ parable of the rich fool. A rich man allowed his wealth to inflate his ego to the point that he tore down his storehouses and built bigger ones. Instead of thinking, “You know, I have plenty, I should share my resources with those who are struggling,” he thought, “I deserve this wealth. It’s ALL MINE! Too bad losers!”

Then he died the next day.

The writer of Ecclesiastes has a word for this, hebel. It is a Hebrew word that means vapor, breath, vanity. The wise, and seemingly cynical, “teacher” of Ecclesiastes observes the inequities of life, the strivings after success, money, power, pleasure, and concludes that everything done “under the sun” is hebel. The selected Psalms echo these feelings.

The problem we face in the 21st century Western culture is that our modern, scientific mindset has told us that the only thing that actually exists is “under the sun” or the material world. There is no such thing as the spiritual, the ultimate, or the transcendent. Ultimately there is no meaning other than the meaning we make up for ourselves.

People want the spiritual (without the religion), but we struggle to find a framework in which to experience it. This can lead many to despair. “What’s the point?!?”

The teachings of Jesus offer us an alternative model. The RCL texts will allow the preacher the chance to speak of the Kin-dom of God that Jesus calls us to cherish. It is a not an other-worldly, escape-hatch spirituality that discards this material world. It is a life that sees the beauty and value of all things and seeks to treat everything with God’s Love.

For this week, the texts offer us a contrast of priorities. On the one hand, there is the self-centered pursuit of money and power, which will always lead to violence and death. On the other hand there is the beautiful portrait of new life in Christ that is painted in Colossians 3. I would suggest extending the reading to verse 17, so that we can contrast the destructive patterns of the world with the life-giving patterns of Jesus in which we are called to “above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14).”

An Invitation to Communion

We are gathering each Wednesday at 11:00am in the Chapel of the Incarnation for a Super Simple Summer Service of Sacrament! 🙂 It is a lovely time of reading scripture, prayer, and gathering around the table. Then, you are invited to bring your bag lunch and eat together, either on the patio or in the dining room, depending on the weather.

Happy Summer, Luther Community!

A Reflection on the Lectionary

The Gospel reading this week takes us to Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:1-13. I call it “the other Lord’s Prayer” because the one that is recited in worship services is from Matthew’s Gospel. If you are interested in comparing the two prayers, check out The Art Pastor’s Guide to the Lord’s Prayer.

Luke’s version of how Jesus teaches his disciples to pray has some significant differences from Matthew’s and, in combination with the other readings in the lectionary this week, are important for us today.

First, Luke places this story during the travel narrative when Jesus is heading to Jerusalem to die. He is teaching his disciples that they must also take up their crosses if they want to follow him. The Way of Jesus is treacherous. The 1st readings tell the story of war and violence and how the prophets of God had to speak truth to currupt power systems and ask for God’s mercy.

Second, Luke attaches a parable to the prayer to emphasize how willing God is to give gifts to God’s children. God is not a distant tyrant, waiting to be appeased. God is a loving parent, wanting what is best for God’s children. Ask, seek, knock, God is there for you.

Third, the gift God wants to give is the Holy Spirit. This is an important point. The Lord’s Prayer is not a magic token in the Divine vending machine to get whatever you want out of life. God gives us what we need, and what we need is to be filled with God’s Spirit so that we can endure and discern what truth, love, peace, and justice look like in our context.

An Invitation to Communion

We are gathering each Wednesday at 11:00am in the Chapel of the Incarnation for a Super Simple Summer Service of Sacrament! 🙂 It is a lovely time of reading scripture, prayer, and gathering around the table. Then, you are invited to bring your bag lunch and eat together, either on the patio or in the dining room, depending on the weather.

Have a great week everyone!

Martha, Mary, and a World of Distractions

We live in a world full of distractions. They ping us on our smart phones and lure us to doom scroll through the overwhelming news of all that is going wrong in the world. And then, when we feel overwhelmed, we medicate with cat videos or the eye candy of your choice.

I’m as guilty as anyone of falling prey to these distractions, I must confess.

The Gospel reading this week takes us to the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42. Luke places this story as part of Jesus’ journey from the mount of Transfiguration to his climactic week in Jerusalem. Each scene in these travel narratives is part of Luke’s presentation of what it means to participate in the Kin-dom of God that Jesus proclaimed.

God’s voice said from the cloud on the mount of Transfiguration, “This is my beloved, listen to him!” Martha was too distracted by her household responsibilities to sit. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and focused.

What distracts you today? What steps might you take to slow down, sit down, and listen to the voice of God?

Peace on your journey, friend.

A Midweek Focus

For those on campus this week…Join us for a simple summer service of Holy Communion on Wednesday at 11:00am. We will simply read scripture, pray, and gather around the the table.

Then…bring your bag lunch and we can eat together!

This could be a great opportunity to come together as a community, push aside the distractions, and focus on our relationships with God and each other.

Hope to see you there!

Greetings Beloved Luther Seminary Community!

I have been traveling for the past two weeks and have not been able to post anything on this blog. Now I am back and ready to settle into a summer rhythm for July and August. For those of you in summer classes, many blessings on your study. For those who are able to take a summer vacation, may you find the restoration you need for your mind, spirit, body, and relationships.

A Simple Wednesday Service of Holy Communion

Each Wednesday at 11:00am I plan to host a very simple gathering for Holy Communion in the Chapel of the Incarnation. There is no Chapel staff this summer, so the service will not have music, preaching, or livestream services. It will simply be scripture reading, prayer, and Holy Communion. Short and sweet for the summer season.

So, if you are on campus on Wednesdays in July and August, I hope to see you there.

Migrant God Book Read

I strongly encourage you to participate in the ABIDE Summer book read. This is a great way to build community.