Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 6, 2018
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day.

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus. Amen.

So, you know that saying, “There are two gifts we should give our children, one is roots, the other is wings.” Such a beautiful saying – it is, of course, much, much easier said than done.

Whatever your experience in your own family, the good news is that God, the ultimate parent, provides us all with roots and wings. We hear about them in our scripture readings today.

We hear about what roots and grounds us – the love of God. We are called to abide in that love, to sink down into it and let it nurture us so that we will bear the fruit of love. We are to be rooted in God’s commandments, which shape and form us to be people who love.

We also hear about what gives us wings, what propels us out of the nest, helps us to take risks and enter the unknown – that is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit often appears as a dove, so there are even some actual wings involved. But much more importantly, the Spirit empowers us to face change and uncertainty.

We need both of these things in order to be loving, faithful people in this tumultuous, challenging time.

It’s easy to get cozy and lazy as we abide in God’s love when really it should propel us outward. We need the spirit to push us out of our comfort zones.

That’s what happens for the Apostle Peter in our first reading today. The Spirit pushes him out into relationship with people he thought were wrong and unclean. We heard just a bit of the story today, but it is such an important story that I want to tell you more of it.

So, Peter is a faithful Jew, rooted in the commandments and in Jesus’ love. He’s bearing fruit – preaching about Jesus’ resurrection to other Jews.

But then Peter has a strange vision when he’s praying. He sees a sheet coming down from the heavens filled with all the animals that good Jews are commanded not even to touch, much less eat. A voice tells him to kill and eat these animals. He protests; he’s never eaten anything profane or unclean! The voice says, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happens three times.

Right then, some men show up looking for Peter. They’ve been sent by a Roman soldier named Cornelius.

Cornelius is a person of faith and prayer, but he’s a Gentile, not Jewish. Cornelius has also had a vision in which he’s been told to send for the Apostle Peter.

The Spirit leads Peter to go with these men.

When Peter arrives, he tells Cornelius and other Gentiles gathered, “You know it’s against Jewish law for me to be at your house or even associate with you, but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.” Then Cornelius tells Peter about his vision. Peter is convinced it’s the real deal, from God. So, Peter starts preaching to share about this God who gave Cornelius visions. 

But, before Peter can finish his sermon, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon everyone gathered – even the Gentiles. Cornelius and the other Gentiles experience joy, connection to God, and the life-giving power of the Spirit.

Peter, wisely, stops preaching and starts baptizing. The Gentiles invite Peter to stay for many days. That is huge – there were major barriers between Jews and Gentiles, centuries of division and hostility. Yet, the Spirit goes ahead of Peter and pushes Peter into a relationship that helps him to learn and grow. He finds that his understanding of what God is doing in the world is too narrow. His heart and mind are opened.

When Peter later explains this to other Jews, it’s clear that his roots – in prayer, in Jesus’ teachings, the love of God – make it possible for him to follow the Spirit into all of this.

If we are to be loving and faithful in tumultuous and uncertain times, we need to learn from Peter’s experience. We need to be grounded in those same ways as individuals and as a congregation. We also need to pay attention to where the Spirit is leading us.

Here at Good Shepherd, as we ground ourselves in love and scripture, we continue to be drawn into relationship with our refugee and immigrant neighbors, especially as division and hostility against them is flamed. Scripture is so clear that God’s vision of a just society includes welcoming and advocating for strangers, refugees and immigrants. The Postville Summons event this Friday is another opportunity to do this work.

The Spirit has also led this congregation to be public and explicit about God’s welcome of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. This congregation has been so richly blessed by articulating that welcome. We are nurtured and led by people of deep faith who are viewed as unclean in other Christian settings. But God has shown us to call no one profane or unclean. We must not harm God’s children this way and the church needs the gifts of these beloved people. Let’s be even more public about our welcome this Saturday at the Pride Parade.

Here, the Spirit leads each of as individuals beyond partisan divisions into relationships with people who disagree with us. Those relationships happen here at Good Shepherd. As we love and learn from others here who see things differently, we are more able to do that in the larger world.

The Spirit also leads us back to be more rooted and grounded in prayer so that we can be as open as Peter. Sunday Worship, the upcoming Service of Prayers for Healing, the Spiritual Gifts Workshop, and Faith5 Potlucks that we’ll have this summer are some of the ways we can do this.

As we head into God’s future for us here at Good Shepherd, where else will we be led? We need to be grounded in God’s love for all people and open to the Spirit’s guiding. We need both roots and wings. Thanks be to God that we have been given them.

Let’s take a moment for silent prayer.

Fifth Sunday of Easter – Confirmation Sunday
April 29, 2018
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day.

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus.

We heard in our second reading today: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” So, love is good; we should love. But what does it mean to love others? How do we actually live out love?

Five Good Shepherd youth and I talked about that a lot when we participated in an Urban Immersion Service Retreat last weekend in Minneapolis. Our three confirmands, Mara, Kristi and Nathan, took part, along with Ava Holland and Erik Johnson. We spent a day serving in a shelter for families who don’t have homes. We had learning sessions about poverty and racism in the US. One session was a poverty simulation. This involved imagining that we were the parents of a family of five liv- ing in poverty. We had to figure out how to house, feed, clothe and care for three children with very limited resources. Throughout the service and learning times, we talked a lot about the difference between charity and justice and the need to work for both if we are to love others as God calls us to love.

In our last learning session, we heard a story that’s often told in trainings about poverty – a story that helped us to think about these issues. The youth and I thought it would be good to share this story with all of you as well. Once upon a time there was a small village on the edge of a river. The people there were good and life in the village was good. One day a villager noticed a baby floating down the river. The villager quickly swam out to save the baby from drowning. The next day this same villager noticed two babies in the river. He called for help and both babies were rescued from the swift waters. The following day four babies were seen caught in the turbulent current. And then eight, then more, and still more!

The villagers organized themselves quickly, setting up watchtowers and training teams of swimmers who could resist the swift waters and rescue babies. Rescue squads were soon working 24 hours a day, snatching many children each day. While not all could be rescued, the villagers felt they were doing well to rescue as many as they could. Indeed, the village elders blessed them for their good work. And life in the village continued on that basis.

One day, someone raised the question: “But where are all these babies coming from? Let’s organize a team to head upstream to find out why all these babies are ending up in the river in the first place!” The community elders countered: “If we go upstream who will operate the rescue operations? We need every concerned person here!” “But don’t you see,” cried the one lone voice, “if we find out what’s happening upstream, perhaps we can keep the babies out of the river!” “It’s too risky,” said the village elders. And so, the numbers of babies found floating in the river increase daily. Those saved increase, but those who drown increase even more. In this story, the work of the villagers is a charity response. It’s an important and loving response – when people are suffering we need to help. As one Good Shepherd youth said, “It was good to be at that shelter because people matter and I want them to know that they matter, that they belong.” Throughout scripture, God calls us to care for others when they are in need.

The question that lone voice raised is a justice response focused on addressing the aspects of society that allow harm to happen in the first place. Throughout scripture, God also calls us to work for justice. Justice is how love is made known on a large scale so that all people and all creation have what is needed for life to flourish.

This story is really powerful and led us to great conversations about what love looks like. It requires both charity and justice.

But there are limitations to this story as well. The way it’s told, the people in the river are hopeless victims, babies. Unfortunately, that’s often how we treat adults and children impacted by poverty, violence and hardship – as if they are hopeless infants. We ignore the gifts, resources, wisdom and strength they have. This story also asks us to imagine ourselves as rescuers, and as the only ones who can change things upstream. Acting as if others are helpless and incapable, as if we are their saviors, is not at all loving or truthful.

Jesus offers us a different image for how we can live out love in the world – the image of a vine and branches.

We are all branches on a vine – branches that are interwoven with one another and dependent on the vine. We all need care and nurture, even as we all need to bear the fruit that is love. None of us branches can survive on our own, much less help others or show love on our own. We need to be connected to the source of life and growth and love – the vine. We need to be pruned and cleansed because there are so many things that prevent us from bearing love – our fears, prejudices, insecurities and egos.

Jesus assures us that he is our vine, our source, that as we remain in Jesus we will be pruned and nurtured and tended so that we can both receive and give love. This is the promise for you confirmands, today; it is the promise for all of us. You are never alone, you are branches on Jesus’ vine.

You are connected to the vine that cannot be stopped from loving you and all people.

Jesus the vine will hold you throughout your life, in every situation you face. Sometimes you’ll find yourself standing secure on the side of the river, able to extend a hand to someone who is drown- ing. Sometimes you’ll be the lone voice asking hard questions. Still other times, you’ll be in the river, barely keeping afloat. In all of this, and in all else, you are not alone. Jesus the vine has a hold of you and will not let you go. Because you are held now and always, you can love others as you are loved.

Let’s take a moment for silent prayer.