Rev. Dr. Rolf Svanoe

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church    Decorah, Iowa

Acts 2:1-21 

Last week we began our travel series through the book of Acts with the story of Jesus’ Ascension. The disciples were looking up into heaven and wondering what was going to happen next. Jesus had promised them the Holy Spirit and told them that the Spirit would give them power to witness to the new things God was doing. One thing was for sure. The disciples were not in charge. All they could do was wait. 

The formal title to the book of Acts is, “The Acts of the Apostles.” That title gives the impression the Apostles were in charge, that they had a plan, laid out some strategic goals and pursued those goals until their mission was accomplished. But that is not at all what happened. The book should really be called, “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit was in charge. The Spirit gave power and direction, and throughout the book of Acts the followers of Jesus were often struggling to catch up to the Spirit. That’s what happened in the Pentecost story as the Spirit overwhelmed the followers of Jesus, and they began to speak in other languages.

Have you ever tried to learn a new language? It’s not easy. Right now, I’m trying to learn some Norwegian before our trip to Norway in July. It can be exhausting trying to learn and speak a different language. It made me wish for one of those gadgets they have on Star Trek, a badge you wear on your shirt that functions as a Universal Translator. Now, today we have Google Translate on our smartphones, or a translate button on our Facebook wall. These are all ways to help foster connection and understanding between people.

In our Pentecost story, the Spirit functions as a Universal Translator. People from all over the Roman Empire heard the disciples in their own native languages. It was an amazing miracle that left many confused and bewildered. “What does this mean?” they asked. Do you remember the story of the Tower of Babel from the book of Genesis? That story is meant to explain the origin of different languages. When people can’t understand each other, distrust and conflict can quickly develop, which can lead nations to go to war. Jump now to the book of Acts and the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is given to help eliminate the barriers of language that divide us and bring people together. 

But there is another miracle in the story of Pentecost. Peter was struggling to make sense of what was happening, and he found inspiration in the Old Testament prophet Joel. “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” God is not stingy. God doesn’t have favorites. God is generous and pours out the Spirit on everyone. The Spirit creates a new community where everyone is included, young and old, rich and poor, both men and women. God blows past all our human categories of who is in and who is out, who is loved and who is rejected, who is deserving and who is not. Everyone is given the Spirit. The Spirit is poured out on us so that we would know the love of God that brings us all together. The Spirit points us to Christ and the good news that on the cross we are forgiven and made new. This is the work of the Spirit bringing us together across oceans and cultures, across races and gender and age, and making us one. That’s what the church is called to be, a community where the things that divide us are overcome, and all are welcomed and valued. 

Good Shepherd’s Racial Justice Statement points us in that direction. In a day when too many Christians buy into the heresy of White Christian Nationalism, the church needs to speak a loud and clear, “No!” This is not why God gave us the Holy Spirit. God wants us to see the world the way God sees it. God so loved the world – all of it. God wants us to develop a global perspective that sees everyone living on this planet as someone created in God’s image and loved by God. And one of the best ways for the church to develop that perspective is to travel. The Spirit led the early church to travel, and it changed the church and the world. 

Last week I mentioned Rick Steves, the popular travel show host on PBS. I quoted from a show he produced during the pandemic called “Why We Travel.” Here is some of what he said. “Whether religious or not, travelers can learn from the holy books of the great monotheistic faiths, each the story of refugees and nomads, of pilgrims and travelers. In the [Hebrew Bible], the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness. In the [New Testament], Jesus’ disciples left home and set out to share the Good News. In the Koran, Mohammed said, ‘Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled.’ These holy scriptures are the stories of travelers … People traveled to find something bigger. Pilgrims trek today, some to get close to God, others to better understand themselves … Why do I see humanity as one? Because I’ve traveled. Why am I curious? Because I’ve traveled. In spite of my privilege, why do I care? Be- cause I’ve traveled. Why am I grateful and why do I want to contribute? Because I’ve traveled … By traveling thoughtfully, we connect … Travelers connect with different cultures, different people … Travel forces us to bend and to flex, it makes us more tolerant and inspires us to celebrate diversity.” For Rick, travel is much more than entertainment. When done thoughtfully, travel can be a spiritual act that can connect us to God and to others in deeper ways. 

It is not surprising that the Holy Spirit led the early church to travel. The book of Acts is full of travel stories with Paul’s three missionary journeys. The early church traveled not only to different places on the map, but also to different places culturally and spiritually. Travel opened them up to new experiences and new understandings of who God was and how God was working in the world, breaking down barriers that separate people from each other. As we continue our journey through the book of Acts, we are going to see that happen again and again.  

All kinds of barriers exist in this world, most of them of our human making. God continues to give us the Spirit to help break down those barriers and come together in mutual under- standing and love. What barriers is the Spirit encouraging you to break down this week?

Christy Vrtis

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church  Decorah, Iowa

Growing up, my family traveled—a lot. Most school vacations, we would pack our old Subaru hatchback to overflowing and hit the road, exploring National Parks, Mountain Resorts, Canadian water parks, and the very tip of the Florida Keys. Every trip was about the same: see as much as possible—mostly through the car window—as quickly, and cheaply, as we could. Take one day for an “experience” like skiing in the Rockies, or hiking in the Grand Canyon, and then back in the car. Travel, as a kid, was about seeing things that I’d read about or heard about or seen in movies—and reading as many books in the car as I possibly could!

When I went to college, travel was on the top of my agenda, but a different kind of travel. At that point, I craved the romance of travel: the allure of discovering tiny, beautiful corn- ers of the world and meeting fascinating people who were “different” from me, and may- be falling in love with a dreamy Italian man! 

At the end of my Sophomore year of college, I went on Concordia Moorhead’s version of J-term. For the month of May, I travelled in Europe and the UK with 10 of my fellow theatre majors and two professors. We immersed ourselves in theatre and explored the culture and history of each new place. This trip was life-changing. Not only did I experi- ence watching and absorbing more than thirty theatrical productions in five different countries and in several different languages, I also experienced the most profound spiri- tual moments of my life.

On a train from Venice to Paris, a man jumped from the platform and by the time the train stopped, his body lay under my sleeping car. We were not allowed to leave our seats while emergency personnel provided care and, hours later, extracted the man’s body. I sat in my window seat trying desperately to avoid looking at the feet directly below me for hours. I have never prayed more in my life. I was overwhelmed with grief and disbelief and fear and sadness for the man—his life, the loss of his life—and hoped that God was with him and with his loved ones, and that maybe, now, the man’s spirit was at peace.

And then we got to Paris and went to Notre Dame. The moment I walked into the im- mense, cold, dark cathedral I was overcome with the presence of God and the vast depth of human experience reverberating within those stone walls. The suffering and joy and tears spilt in that place over time mixed with my own, and I stood in awe and wonder and comfort in that space for hours.

I’ve experienced something similar in each spiritual location I’ve visited throughout the world, regardless of the type of faith the place or space represents. For me, It is a pro- found connection to the presence of God in my life, but also the connection to humanity, to real people like me trying to live their lives as best they can, with their joys and sor- rows, triumphs and loss. 

Travel, for me, comes down to a few key things: exploration, connection, reflection, and, ultimately, seeing the world—and the people and things that inhabit the world—from a new perspective. And the understanding, confirmed and re-confirmed in each place, that there is something bigger that connects us all, whether we call it God or Allah or the “uni- verse”.

In the first year common course at Luther College, where I teach, I often include the works of the Sufi poet Rumi in my sections. Rumi writes about longing for connection to each other and to the “origin,” of trying, always trying, to get back to the sacred or the divine, to get back to God. And the ability of travel, both physical and spiritual, to bring power and love into your life. 

One of the poems that I teach is called “The Guest House.” Rumi writes:

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness, 

Some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor. 

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

Who violently sweep your house

Empty of its furniture,

Still, treat each guest honorably;

He may be clearing you out

For some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

Meet them at the door laughing,

And invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

Because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

I feel this longing and desire for connection that Rumi writes about–acutely and often. I call it getting ‘itchy feet, and every time I do, I know it is time to get back on the road.

Rev. Dr. Rolf Svanoe – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church  – Decorah, Iowa

Acts 1 

  I love the Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places You’ll Go. It’s often shared with graduates this time of year as they begin a new chapter of their lives. “You’re off to great places. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way.” Great places can include college or a new career. It might include marriage and a new home. It could also mean that you are ready to travel and explore the world. Oh, the places you’ll go!

Do you love to travel? I was bitten by the travel bug when I was in college. It was all Doc’s fault! That’s what we students affectionately called our college music professor. Doc had just returned from a sabbatical year in Germany and was eager to share that international experience with the Brass Choir, a music group he directed. So, in June of 1977, we spent three won- derful weeks traveling around East and West Germany (it was still divided then) and England. That first experience of travel opened my eyes to a whole new world. I had never traveled to a foreign country before, never been to a place where they spoke a foreign language, never ventured far outside my comfort zone. Believe me, crossing into East Germany at Checkpoint Charlie was way outside my comfort zone. But it was precisely there in East Germany that we had some of our most meaningful experiences. We had several encounters on that trip where we got to know local people and experience their hospitality. That human-to-human contact made a huge impression on me as I compared my experience in Germany to my life back home. Travel opened up new learning for me, new insights into other cultures, and new insights into myself. 

During the recent pandemic, the travel industry was particularly hard hit. One of the popular travel shows on Public Television is Rick Steves’ Europe. When travel was shut down and people were stuck at home, Rick produced a show called Why We Travel.

“I’ve been reflecting on why I love to travel. Traveling is leaving home, leaving the familiar behind. Why do we do this? Well, to experience new things, to simply have fun, to be amazed, to learn, to become students of the world. And for some, like pilgrims, to search for meaning … Travel is more than a holiday. It gives us new experiences, acts as our greatest teacher, makes our life more meaningful and connects us with a global family. We can’t all travel physically, but anyone can live with a traveler’s mindset. It’s a choice. Travel makes us more comfortable with the world, our hearts bigger and our lives richer. And it makes us happier. And that is why we travel.”

Rick is a Lutheran who often talks of travel as a political and spiritual act that can significantly connect us to God, to others and to God’s beautiful creation.

Travel is something Jesus mentioned to his disciples before he left them. He gave them travel instructions. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, ends of the earth – this verse provides a sort of roadmap for the book of Acts as the growing church spread from Jerusalem throughout the Roman Empire. The book describes the missionary travels of Paul, journeys that profoundly shaped him and in fact, changed the whole church. 

The book of Acts is often called the Acts of the Apostles. Most scholars today think that it should really be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the major actor in the story, and the apostles are the ones who respond to what the Spirit is doing. The Spirit gives the power to witness. The Spirit overcomes barriers of language. The Spirit convicts and changes hearts and creates a radical new community. The Spirit heals the broken. The Spirit pushes the church to cross all kinds of cultural barriers of nationality, language, age, race, gender and economic status. The Spirit acted in new ways that the church often struggled to keep up with. 

The Spirit is still doing the same today. Throughout this sermon series on the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit will be our tour guide leading us to all kinds of new places. Oh, the places you will go when the Holy Spirit is leading. But fair warning: When the Holy Spirit is leading, there may be places you are led outside your comfort zone, places that make you rethink your understanding of the world and your place in it, and places that make you rethink your under- standing of God. That’s exactly what happened in the book of Acts.

Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth.” The question is not  whether we will be wit- nesses. We are witnesses by virtue of our baptism. The question is what kind of witness will we be? The fruit of the Spirit is love, and when we act in loving service to our neighbor we are wit- nesses to the Good News of the love of God in Christ. When Jesus ascended, the two men in white robes announced to the disciples that Christ would come again. Christ indeed comes again every time we love and serve our neighbor. Christ descends with healing and forgiveness. Christ gives us the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might witness to the Good News of God’s love.

Let me give you an example of that – another travel story. In the Fall of 2011, I led a tour to Israel. It was one of those trips that can change your life. For years I had read and studied the Bible. Now I had the privilege to visit those places I had read about. When I returned home, those places appeared again in my mind every time I read the Bible. Travel changed me and how I read Scripture. 

Toward the end of our tour, we spent a few days in Jerusalem. We visited several holy sites including the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, the place some claim Jesus ascended into heaven. Israel was packed with tourists, and we stood in line for an hour waiting to get into the building to see a slab of rock containing Jesus’ last footprint. As we stared at the rock, I could tell that many of us were skeptics. Was it really a footprint we saw? Was this really the place of Jesus’ ascension? Or was it just a place based on old traditions that was used today to lure pilgrims to spend their tourist dollars? I must confess, we left that place being unimpressed. We had come to Israel hoping to experience God and deepen our faith. But for many of us, God wasn’t there in that rock.

While we were on the Mount of Olives, I had made arrangements for our group to visit the Augusta Victoria Hospital, a program of the Lutheran World Federation. The complex was  finish- ed in 1914 by the German Empress Augusta Victoria as a retreat for the Germans visiting the Holy Land. The hospital began after the 1948 war to provide medical care for Palestinian refugees. The Lutheran World Federation representative there at the time was a Seminary classmate of mine who gave us a tour of the facility and talked about its mission. He also gave us insight into what life was like for the Palestinians because of the separation wall. For many in our group, this was the most meaningful experience of the whole trip. We weren’t just visiting ancient places; we were seeing the church involved in the current struggle for healing and justice.

The Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives is surrounded by 800 olive trees. Every October to November volunteers harvest the olives, which are then processed into olive oil. Proceeds from the sale of the olive oil help to cover the hospital operating costs and provide medical care for those who cannot afford to pay. I had told our group about the harvest, and they were eager to help. Instead of traditional tourist activities we spent our free afternoon in Jerusalem climbing ancient olive trees and raking the olives off the branches to the waiting tarps below. From the treetops you could pause and look out across the Kidron Valley to Old Jerusalem and the Dome on the Rock, a most impressive view. One of our best climbers was an 80-year-old man who said he felt like a kid again! Oh, the places you will go to share the love of Christ! That day our group estimates it harvested 300 pounds of olives. Dirty and sweaty after our work, we paused for a group picture at a place called Ascension Rock. Locals claim that this is the true place where Jesus ascended into heaven. No one knows for sure. But what our group experienced that day on the Mount of Olives was not Jesus’ Ascension, but Jesus coming again to be with us in those olive branches. We had stopped being tourists and had become witnesses to the love of God in Christ. In that act of service, we encountered the risen Christ. We were dirty and tired and we were filled with the Holy Spirit. We experienced the promise, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”

Have you ever noticed that it feels good to give? In the act of serving others, God comes down and we receive a blessing. Perhaps some of you are Thrivent members. If you’ve ever applied for Thrivent grants to support a service project, you also receive a T Shirt to wear that says on it, “Live Generously.” Living generously is a lifestyle choice we make to give and serve others. But it is in that very act of giving that Christ comes again and we receive a blessing. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses…” We witness through our loving words and actions. 

“Oh, the places you will go!” Those words written by Dr. Seuss are even more true when you are led by the Spirit. Throughout this summer series on the book of Acts we are going to go to some strange places. Some might push us outside our comfort zone. One thing for sure, traveling with the Spirit will change your life forever. 

Celebrating our olive harvest at the Augusta Victoria Hospital Ascension Rock

Rev. Svanoe high up in an olive tree.

Rev. Dr. Rolf Svanoe – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church    Decorah, Iowa

Revelation 22

One of the many things I love about Decorah is the way it preserves and celebrates its heritage.  Vesterheim Museum and the annual Nordic Fest are two ways we remember that past. Many  people today have an intense interest in the past. How many of you have had your DNA tested?  There is a curiosity to know where we come from and what our DNA might tell us about who  we are. Of course, we aren’t just the product of our DNA. We are also a product of our environment and how our parents raised us. We know that the past influences us, but today our text wants us to look at ourselves through a different lens, not through the past, but through the future. It isn’t just the past that influences us. The future influences us as well, or it should. And as people of faith, we believe that Christ will come again to establish a reign of  justice and peace. That belief shapes us today: our words, our actions, our values and ethics.  

I learned an interesting word ― prolepsis. Prolepsis is “the assumption of a future act as if  presently existing.” So, let me give you a few examples of prolepsis. Prolepsis is knowing that  your baby is going to arrive in just a few months. That knowledge of the future influences your  present. Prolepsis is also knowing that you aren’t going to live forever. Someday you will die  and with that knowledge, you write your will and get your affairs in order. Maybe you downsize  and start to get rid of things. That, too, is what prolepsis is – the future shaping our present.  

I have one last example of prolepsis. Have you ever seen the movie Back to the Future? Who  doesn’t love Michael J. Fox and that cool souped-up DeLorean? And the whole premise of the  movie is that someone from the future goes back thirty years into the past and then has to find  a way back to the future. He knows what is going to happen in the future and is able to reassure  others with that knowledge, and to encourage them not to give up hope. You see, that’s what  prolepsis is – knowing the future and letting that shape how we live our lives in the present. 

Prolepsis is how the Bible ends with the book of Revelation. The prophet John gives us a vision  of the future. He was writing at a time of great stress to give a word of hope and encouragement to Christians living then. Don’t give up. Don’t despair. Don’t become jaded and cynical and think that things will never change, never get better. Don’t let your past determine your present. Instead let the future shape your present. No matter how bad things get, Christ is coming again to establish a reign of justice and righteousness and peace. 

In the last two chapters of Revelation, John gives us a foretaste of what is coming. What will the  future reign of Christ look like? He wants that vision to change the way we view our world and  our place in it today. John takes us on a tour of the New Jerusalem. The first thing we notice on  this tour is the pearly gates. We have a lot of fun with those pearly gates jokes. But the jokes  often get it wrong. In the jokes, the gates are closed and we have to pass some test in order to  get in. But the prophet John shows us something else. God’s coming kingdom has twelve gates.  Now, gates were important in ancient times for keeping bad things out and protecting the  people of the city. The gates of the New Jerusalem are made of pearls, and they are never shut. The pearly gates aren’t there to keep people out, but to let people in. As we enter through the gates, we find we are not alone. People from every nation enter. This is not a place for the privileged few, like in ancient Roman society. Rich and poor alike enter to bring God their glory. They are not defeated subjects forced to pay taxes and tribute, but grateful servants come to worship God.

The second thing we notice on our tour is that God’s kingdom is a city. The Bible begins in a  garden, with Adam and Eve. It ends with a city. That tells us that our relationship with God,  though personal, is never private. We are part of a community from every tribe and people,  from every language and nation. And there is something else interesting about this city. This  city has some unusual dimensions. John describes it shaped like a cube, roughly 1,500 miles  wide and deep and high. Again, this is hard to imagine, but there is a deeper meaning here.  

John was steeped in the Old Testament where the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple was a perfect cube. It was the place where God’s glory lived and where only the high priest could  enter once a year. So, in describing heaven as a perfect cube, John is implying that God lives  here. God’s glory fills it. 

As we continue to tour the city, we walk about without a care or worry. If you’ve ever worried  how safe it is to walk outside at night, this is one city you will never have to fear. There is no  night, no darkness for bad things to hide in. The light of God’s glory fills the city. What John  wants to tell us is that heaven will be a place of safety. 

As we tour the city, we notice gold and precious gems everywhere. The street we are walking  on “is pure gold, transparent as glass.” This city is a place of abundance instead of the scarcity  of the Roman Empire. Rome provided plenty of benefits for the rich, while the poor struggled  for life’s essentials. In heaven’s economy, gold is so plentiful they pave the streets with it.  

Everyone shares in the abundance. 

Going further in the city, we see a garden; and in the midst of the garden flows the river of life.  In ancient times, water was an essential part of a city’s security and defense. You can’t endure a  long siege without water. Cities would build long tunnel systems just to be able to access water  without going outside the walls. But in the New Jerusalem, a river flows through the city. Water is abundant and available to all. It is the water of life. Twice in the book of Revelation, we are  told to drink the water of life as a gift. We don’t need money to buy it. God gives it freely to all.  This water quenches the thirst in our bodies and quenches the thirst of our souls. 

On either side of the river we see the tree of life. John tells us something interesting about this  tree. It bears fruit each month. Again, it is an image of abundance. There is a harvest to be had  all year round and no time when there is scarcity. For us today, Autumn is harvest time when  we reap the fruits of our gardens and fields. In ancient times, people had to preserve food to  eat the rest of the year. People who lived through the Great Depression knew scarcity. They  canned fruit and produce from the garden just to make sure there would be plenty throughout  the year. That’s what you did to survive. But John wants us to know that in this place, the tree  of life produces fruit each month, food plentiful throughout the year. And the leaves of this tree  have medicinal properties. They are for the healing of the nations. We are invited to sit in the  shade of this tree and place its leaves in every wound we have, physical, emotional and  spirit- ual. I think that all of us bear wounds and scars of one kind or another. Where are we to  find healing from life’s hurts and sorrows? The leaves have the power to heal our deepest  broken- ness. God’s kingdom is not built on violence and coercion, but on healing and  restoration. Now we come to the highlight of our tour. There in the center of the city is the throne of God. You don’t need an appointment to see God. Everyone has access to God all the time for God’s glory fills the city. I love the verse that says, “The throne of God and of the lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3-4). In the Old Testament, to see God’s face was to die. But not in the New  Jerusalem.  

As we approach the throne, God’s glory gets brighter and brighter. We might start to get a bit  scared or nervous. What will it be like to see the almighty and holy God? But there is something  compelling about the throne. The light draws us into God’s presence. God’s glory is reassuring  as we realize that God’s holiness blazes with love. As we draw closer, we see the face of Jesus.  His eyes look into our eyes. They know everything about us, all the brokenness of our past. His  eyes are filled with compassion. He’s not interested in punishing us. He is interested in healing  our wounds. There at the throne we all look God full in the face, and instead of dying from terror, we find healing. In the gaze from God’s eyes, we leave behind our guilt and shame, and in- stead experience God’s freedom, joy, and peace. 

Our brief tour of the New Jerusalem has ended. We get just a small taste. There is so much more  to see and experience. It is a most beautiful place. Would you like to come again? Would you  like to live in this city? I would. That is exactly what John wants to happen in us. John called on  Christians in the first century to resist the Roman empire’s vision of the future. That vision was inherently violent and unjust. But John needed an alternative to call people to. The New Jerusalem is a vision of the future that God will provide. It’s not just pie in the sky, but a vision for this world. That vision is still calling us today, calling us from the future to make our world a  better place, more like the place where Christ reigns. 

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he told them to pray that God’s will “be done, on earth  as it is in heaven.” If we want to know what kind of world God wants us to make, we need only  look at this vision of the New Jerusalem to learn the values at the heart of God. There are no  categories of rich or poor in God’s kingdom. One race is not better than another. No country is  more privileged or exceptional than another. Men and women are treated the same. There is  plenty for everyone. No one goes hungry. All have what they need. We all are beloved and all  stand on level ground at the foot of the cross. We are all sinners who have been given extravagant grace. 

The book of Revelation ends with Jesus saying that he is coming again soon. This is the future  that is calling to us now, informing our lives and our values, shaping how we see the world and  each other. This is a vision of hope for our world. May we have the same response as those first  Christians who prayed, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!”