Horseshoeing Elephants [OR Creed, Confession and the Limit of Words] John 1:1-16; Genesis 1:1-5, 26-2:4a; and Psalm 104:1-4, 19-28

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on June 18, 2017

[sermon begins after two Bible readings; Psalm 104 is at the end of the sermon]

John 1:1-16   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,* and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.* He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own,* and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,* full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Genesis 1:1-5, 26-2:4a In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

[sermon begins]

We’re standing near a blacksmith. It’s a historical farm. There’s a fire so hot that you wonder how anyone could work nearby as your body tries to cool itself, sweat beading on upper lip and forehead, trickling down necks. Hammers and pliers of varied shapes and sizes are at the ready, hanging in reach. An anvil is on the ground, a heavy block of iron ready to take the heat and hammering. The smith’s shirt sleeves are rolled up as tongs grab something small and u-shaped out of the fire. The hammer comes down over-and-over on heated iron and anvil announcing the blacksmith’s new creation, ringing out like a church bell for anyone to hear.  The act is repeated again and again.  Heating and hammering and ringing.  Until, finally, there’s a set of four u-shaped horseshoes, five inches by five inches, strong enough to carry the weight of 1,000 or more pounds of horse. Can you picture it? My guess is that the pictures in our minds cover a vast range of differences. Some picturing ancient metal works and some more clean-lined and concrete.  But most of us imagining horseshoes being shaped in some fashion.

This imagining is possible because of our shared language.  Whether you’re native to English or learned it alongside your primary language, you can glean something from the words being used because we have English in common.  If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I love words.  Big ones, small ones, picking the right word to describe something probably couldn’t be more fun for me.  That is until the limitations of language make themselves known.  And we hit the ceiling of understanding due to those limitations.  Some words just aren’t capable of what we’re asking from them. It’s like taking one of those horseshoes made for a 1,000 pound horse with hooves and thinking it’ll do for a 10,000 pound elephant with feet because it’s a four-legged animal who walks long distances.  The verb “believe” is one such word.

Believing carries some modern baggage in the English language.  Belief gets tangled up in truth claims and absolutes in a way that faith does not.  “To believe” is often used as the verb correlate for the noun “faith” because faith doesn’t have a verb form.[1]  Using the verb “believe” to describe the action of faith is like thinking that horseshoe will work for the elephant. You’ll hear sermons that use the verb “to trust” to help us understand faith claims.  The meaning of “trust” edges us closer to the meaning of “faith” by way of verb usage.  However, it’s still lacking.  I wish there was a verb “to faith.”  Especially as it relates to the Apostle’s Creed.

Today we begin a four-week series on the Apostle’s Creed.  Many of our creeds like the Nicene or Athanasian Creeds were negotiated by committee. Part faith, part politics, these creeds identify specific theological priorities of their times. The Apostle’s Creed is harder to pin down. It has a more organic history. Various forms popped up in the writings of the early church fathers until settling into its current Trinitarian form in the early 8th century.[2]  It reads like a Biblical highlight reel that we say with people of faith across time, place, and language.  It seems to say, “These are the main things, remember them.”  The Apostle’s Creed also says, “I believe…”

This tension between belief and faith is formative as we confess the Creed together.  Belief think the right thing.  Faith surrenders to what cannot be fully known.  Belief makes us the subject and God the object.  Faith makes God the subject and us the object.[3]  Belief makes a claim about God.  Faith makes a claim on us.  All of this is why I wish for a verb that means “to faith.”  It means something different to my modern mind to say, “I faith in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” Alas, the verb form of faith is not available to us.  So we use the word like the horseshoe that is meant for the 1,000 pound horse on the 10,000 pound elephant. Perhaps that formative tension between belief and faith might yet create something.  And what better place is there to start than in the beginning.

Hear these words, this confession of faith by the writer of Genesis:

“In the beginning when God created – the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God – swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”[4]

And this confession from the gospel of John:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all the people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”[5]

We confess similarly during worship in a lot fewer words:

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

As Pastor Ann preached last week on Holy Trinity Sunday, this is a God who creates and sticks around.  As she pointed out, God does more than sticking around to sit back and see how things turn out.  God is involved.  God is present.  God is with us.  John’s confession continues, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth…from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”[6]

Father imagery is tricky.  We know this on Father’s Day. We know this because we have fathers who are simply human. Some of us are those fathers. So we know the gifts and limitations of earthy fathers. Sometimes we celebrate them. Sometimes we heal from them. Sometimes we grieve them.  Sometimes we do all of it at once and more.  So when we confess God as Father, these human realities can be confusing as we confess the Apostle’s Creed.  Genesis and the gospel of John re-focus us to God the Father Almighty whose creating power becomes power surrendered, emptied, and sacrificed for this world that God so loves. The breadth of divine power is poured out in the depth of divine love.[7]  God’s almighty self and God’s fatherly sacrifice is confessed in one breath: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

As we confess, faith reveals that God creates us, sacrifices for us, and claims us as children of God.  Thanks be to God. Amen.

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[1] Jaroslav Pelikan. Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003), 43.

[2] Elliot Ritzema and John D. Barry. Lexham Bible Dictionary. https://blog.faithlife.com/blog/2015/04/the-apostles-creed-its-history-and-origins/

[3] “A subject is a being who has a unique consciousness and/or unique personal experiences, or an entity that has a relationship with another entity that exists outside of itself (called an “object“). A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject_(philosophy)

[4] Genesis 1:1-4

[5] John 1:1, 3-5

[6] John 1:14 and 16

[7] Dr. Craig Koester said this repeatedly to during in his class on The Gospel of John, Fall 2010.  Luther Seminary.

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Psalm 104:1-4, 19-28

1Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,

2wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

3you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,

4you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.

20You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

21The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.

22When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.

23People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.

24O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

25Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.

26There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

27These all look to you to give them their food in due season;

28when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

I Can See No Way Out But Through** [OR Leviathan’s Lesson on Playfulness] John 14:15-17, 25-27, Acts 2:1-21, and Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

**Robert Frost’s poem “A Servant to Servants” (1915)

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church June 4, 2017 – Pentecost Sunday

[sermon begins after three Bible readings – hang in there]

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. 26 There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. 27 These all look to you to give them their food in due season; 28 when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground. 31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— 32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
35b Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!

John 14:15-17, 25-27 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 “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. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

[sermon begins]

In the Bible reading today, Peter’s preaching is nothing short of extraordinary, not because of what he says but because he’s preaching at all. Let’s talk about Peter for a minute.  His story is ripe for a made-for-T.V. movie.  Or maybe even a Hollywood blockbuster if the casting and writing goes well.  A man of simple means, a fisherman, Peter is called into service by the itinerant preacher Jesus who used to be a carpenter.[1]  Traveling around Judea together with a few more men and women added to the mix, they preached as they healed, gathered and fed.  It doesn’t last. It ends in a mess of scattered betrayal, denial, and death on a cross.  Peter is a complicated person.  Many of us take great comfort from the way he blurts out wild ideas or tries to boss Jesus around.[2]  Some of us even take comfort from the way Peter denies knowing Jesus during his trial.[3]  Regardless, Peter is preaching on the rush of the Spirit at Pentecost. His preaching is immediately complicated by people’s perception of what’s happening and how people make sense of it.  Some people think he and his other preaching friends are drunk.  But, no, simply human.

It’s an interesting time to be a human in the world.  It’s also an interesting time to be a preacher. Many of my longer-tenured colleagues of various denominations talk and write regularly about this unprecedented moment in time.  There simply is no sweet spot between Jesus’ emphases of loving God, self, neighbor, and enemy and the current political rhetoric.  To ignore world and national events puts preaching in an artificial bubble that “separation of church and state” never intended. To incorporate said events into a sermon leads to contradictory feedback that it either didn’t go far enough or it went too far into political conversation.  It’s even become so tricky that to simply preach Biblical language is interpreted politically by listeners; think “welcoming the stranger” and current immigration issues.[4]

What is a preacher to do?  Keep preaching.  The prophet Isaiah writes that the word of the Lord goes out and accomplishes its purpose while the Lord’s thoughts are not our thoughts nor the Lord’s ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8-11).  I take comfort in the human limitation implied by Isaiah and God’s word succeeding despite a preacher’s well-intentioned bumbling.  As Robert Frost wrote in his poem, A Servant to Servants, “I can see no way out but through.”[5]

What’s a congregation to do?  Keep being the church lit up and winded by the Holy Spirit.  Baptize. Commune. Preach.  Pray.  Visit the sick and home-centered. Remind each other of God’s promises. And live the gospel freedom to sin boldly on behalf of God and neighbor.  Sinning boldly is not a free-for-all but rather a “freedom for” which unleashes Christians to work on behalf of our neighbors knowing that we will bumble through the work.  Web-search “Freedom of a Christian pdf” or visit Augustana’s library to read Luther’s no-nonsense take on this one.[6] In it, Luther lays down two propositions:

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.

A Christian is perfectly dutiful servant to all, subject to all.

Frost’s servant poem applies again, “I can see no way out but through.”

What’s Augustana to do specifically?  For today, there’s a couple things on my mind.  Welcoming new members is one of them. People and families for whom a variety of reasons accompanies the call of the Spirit to connect through this congregation.  The other thing on my mind today? Keep moving for hunger. Our congregation has a long history of supporting ELCA World Hunger accompanies people from poverty to self-sufficiency in the U.S. and around the world – from health clinics to microloans, water wells to animal husbandry, community meals to advocacy. ELCA World Hunger is something that has made sense over time to a lot of people in this congregation.

The 500 year anniversary of the Reformation ramps up our partnership as the Rocky Mountain Synod’s (ELCA) Hunger Network is challenging congregations to commemorate the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation with “500 Years On The Move For Hunger” that each congregation is able to construct from their particular gifts and personalities.  Augustana’s goal is to increase movement and raise a congregational total of $15,170 for ELCA World Hunger over 150 days – June 4 – October 29, Pentecost to Reformation Sunday.  Individuals or Teams are encouraged to “Move” physically by walking, biking, running, etc., or to “Move” spiritually by spending time volunteering for hunger organizations, praying for others, meditating, etc. (15 minutes = 1 mile). Participating individuals or teams will keep track of their “miles” and either give or raise money, based on their miles, toward ELCA World Hunger.

Naturally, with a serious issue such as hunger, we get so serious, so quickly. Or maybe it’s just me. But in serious times it’s easy to forget to laugh, to enjoy the gift of life, “to sport” in creation like the Leviathan in the psalm.[7]  “500 Years On The Move for Hunger” is a fun way to celebrate life while working towards life for all.  “I can see no way out but through.”

Most importantly, what’s Jesus to do?  Here’s the amazing thing. Jesus keeps doing what Jesus does – forgiving, strengthening, inspiring, leading, connecting, healing and loving.  Towards the end of the gospel of John, the risen Christ has a come-to-Jesus meeting with Simon Peter who had denied him three times during the crucifixion trial, the same Peter preaching at Pentecost.[8]  Jesus asks Peter three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”[9]  …“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  …“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Each time, Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus responds, “Feed my sheep.”[10]  First and foremost, Peter experiences grace from Jesus after the pain and disappointment of his denials. Only then does Jesus put him to work.

In today’s gospel of John reading, Jesus is still alive, before the crucifixion.  He promises the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to his disciples BEFORE Peter’s bumbling denials and the other disciples’ abandonment during the crucifixion. His promise to them isn’t connected to points for good behavior.  First and foremost, they receive grace through a promise from Jesus. …“I can see no way out but through.”…Jesus doesn’t play the game of retributive justice. He isn’t out for revenge. His disciples receive grace through a promise. They receive the Holy Spirit as promised and so do we. Jesus’ promise to the disciples is also his promise to us:

“…the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”[11]

Amen.

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[1] Luke 5:1-11 The story of Jesus calling Peter, James, and John to follow him.

[2] Matthew 16:21-23 (Get behind me satan), Luke 9:28-36 (Transfiguration)

[3] John 18:15-27

[4] Matthew 25:43-45, Hebrews 13:2, Exodus 22:21, etc.

[5] Robert Frost.  “A Servant to Servants” in the Complete Poems of Robert Frost. (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1949), 83.

[6] Martin Luther. Freedom of a Christian (1520) in Luther’s Works 31.: Eds. Harold J. Grimm and Helmutt T. Lehmann; online at http://www.spucc.org/sites/default/files/Luther%20Freedom.pdf

[7] Psalm 104:24-26 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. 26There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it

[8] John 18:15-18, 25-27 – The story of Peter’s denials.

[9] John 21:15-21

[10] John 21:17

[11] John 14:26-27