Monthly Archives: August 2020

Sermons

The Next Right Thing [OR Pharaoh’s Fury, Meddling Midwives, and Moses’ Birth] Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Matthew 16:13-20

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on August 23, 2020

[sermon begins after two Bible readings; hang in there with the Exodus reading – it’s worth the story]

Exodus 1:8-2:10  Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

2:1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Matthew 16:13-20 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

[sermon begins]

Why doesn’t Pharaoh know the history of Joseph? You know, Joseph, his father’s favorite son and the recipient of that fancy coat; Joseph, the Israelite who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers; Joseph, who ended up second in command to the Pharaoh back in his day and ended up saving the Egyptians and others in the region from starvation. Why doesn’t the Pharaoh of this new time in Egyptian history remember Joseph? Someone, or many someones, stopped telling Joseph’s story and a key piece of the history between the Egyptians and the Israelites was lost. Their relationship that once centered on shared interest in mutual survival became one of fear. Our Bible reading from Exodus begins describing a king who “arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” This new king, the new Pharaoh, devised a plot to set taskmasters over the Israelites to “oppress them with forced labor.” Only it didn’t work. The Israelites grew in number. So Pharaoh concocted an even more diabolical plan. He ordered the Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah to kill the boy babies when they were born.

Pharaoh didn’t know who he was dealing with in those midwives. Shiphrah and Puah were God-fearing women. The two of them concocted their own plan to let the baby boys live. The most powerful person in the land was undermined by two of the least powerful. I wonder if they found courage in each other to continue letting the babies live. Imagine being called before Pharaoh to answer for the living, breathing Israelite babies. Their response to him is a much needed moment of comic relief and a good reminder to laugh in heavy times. The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives come to them.” Such a clever team, those two midwives. And “God dealt well with [them]” for their efforts. Notice that God’s action was in the least powerful people in the story.

The story goes on to describe Moses’ birth, his mother placing him in a basket in the river, his sister watching over him, and the Pharaoh’s daughter saving him through adoption. Each woman had a significant role in making sure Moses lived. Each woman found themselves doing the next right thing which was against the wishes of their king. Here’s where interpretation gets risky. There’s this term that been coined called “Disney Princess theology.” It describes reading scripture and placing ourselves in the hero or princess role rather than in the villain or clown roles. I don’t know about you but I want to think of myself as one of those scrappy midwives doing anything I could to save those babies. But it’s important to pause before we start down that road of Disney Princess and wonder about what lives in each one of us that is more like Pharaoh and the Egyptians. That there are times when we are more the people who are worried about our own children before we worry about anyone else’s children. More like the people who are in power than the powerless aided by God. More like the people who may not like the Pharaoh’s plan of oppression and forced labor but what can we really do about it anyway.

It’s easy to feel powerless to make change so we ignore what may need changing. Let’s take the mostly hidden, contemporary example of prisons. We may drive by them as there are a few in Metro Denver. Many are tucked away in rural towns of Colorado. The prison population in the United States in 1985 was 40,000, by 1997 it was 500,000, and is now approximately 2.2 million. Our country has 4% of the world population and 25% of the world’s prisoners. The prison rate has grown faster that the country’s population. There were laws passed in the 1980s, especially related to drug use, that swelled the prison population. Laws that our legislators enacted on our behalf. And don’t get me started on the racial inequalities related to incarceration where black and brown folks are imprisoned well beyond their percent of the population. And don’t get me started on money made by corporations on prison labor, laboring people who receive little by way of compensation or benefits.

We’re in a country that has this prison system and we’re in a faith tradition in which Jesus says to release the captives and let the oppressed go free.[1] How we reconcile those competing realities is on us. Laws that our legislators enact are on us. Incarceration is one example of how easy it is to ignore the power we have and don’t use on behalf of people who are considered throw-aways by society. This is what I mean by taking the example of Pharaoh and the Egyptian people and wondering about parallels in our 21st century way of living.

We are not left only in the Pharaoh’s side of the story though. We also have the examples of those wonderful women who are doing the next right thing within their power to thwart the power of Pharaoh. The midwives deliver the babies anyway. The Levite mother saved her baby by hiding him in a basket on the river. His sister followed him, watched Pharaoh’s daughter find him, and concocted a plan for him to be nursed by his birth mother. Pharaoh’s daughter went against Pharaoh’s power to keep Moses alive and ultimately raise him as her own. Each woman did the next right thing in her power and the Israelite baby survived his childhood to deliver his people from slavery into freedom.

These five women are great examples of being faithful in the moment, of doing the next right thing. This powerful story in our faith history can call us into what it means to be faithful in the moment as we try to do the next right thing. Our view of the next right thing as faithful people has a lot to do with who we think Jesus is. That’s why the question Jesus asks his disciples in Matthew is a good one for us to answer as well. First, he asks about the latest gossip when he asks, “Who do people say that I am?” There’s a smattering of answers – John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.  Then Jesus asks, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Peter gets an A+ answer for once when he replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter was with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry. He had time with Jesus and his teaching. He was also going to deny his relationship with Jesus as things heated up around Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity over time was as imperfect as Peter. It’s important to remember his imperfection because not getting things right doesn’t change Jesus’ identity. Not getting things right keeps us humble as we wrestle with how we describe Jesus and, frankly, may offer comic relief and laughter along the way of faith.

The scripture ultimately turns Jesus’ question towards each one of us. Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” It’s an important question. It’s also important to remember that our trust in Jesus, our faith in him, rests on who Jesus actually is and not what we say about him. Even though Jesus is still Jesus despite our imperfect confessions about him, who we think Jesus is, means something about our next faithful step as individual people of faith and as a congregation who cares for our neighbors as we care for ourselves. We know and confess our faith congregationally that Jesus frees us from sin and death into new life through no doing of our own but simply by the grace of God. In that freedom given by Jesus, we are liberated from our perceived powerlessness into the power of God. This freedom is for God’s sake, for our own sake, and for the sake of the world. And, like the midwives, the mother, the sister, and the daughter, we’re empowered by God to do the next right thing and trust that something wonderful is being born. For this and for all that God is doing, we can say thanks be to God and amen.

And now receive this blessing…

Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

You are held by God in the name of the Father, ☩ and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

 

 

[1] Luke 4:16-21

Sermons

Follow the Breadcrumbs [OR Prophetic Witness and Celebrating Queer Inclusion] Isaiah 56:1-8 and Matthew 15:10-28

Pastor Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on August 16, 2020

[sermon begins after two Bible readings]

Isaiah 56:1-8 Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. 2Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil. 3Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” 4For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— 7these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 8Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

Matthew 15:10-28  Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: 11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” 12Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” 15But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

21Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

[sermon begins]

Jesus and a shouting Canaanite woman. What’s the picture in your head? Who is she? What color are her eyes, her hair, her skin? Is she rich or poor? We know that she’s a mother because her daughter is tormented. Jesus comes to town and she shows up shouting. I love this image in part because she has everything to gain and nothing to lose by shouting her broken heart at Jesus. His guys want Jesus to send her away for all the noise she’s making. Jesus doesn’t send her away though. He talks to her. He blows up the conversation by calling her a dog. Some theologians think he’s giving voice to what the disciples are thinking and trying to teach them a lesson because he is somehow in the know about what the Canaanite woman is going to do. After all, he IS the teaching Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. And here he seems to be teaching his disciples what not to do. Could he have known that she was in on the lesson with him? Was it because she called him “Son of David?” She knew the lingo, maybe she knew the rest of his genealogy too. It’s possible she had heard about the Canaanites in Jesus’ family tree listed in Matthew’s opening chapter to the gospel – Rahab the courageous prostitute, Tamar the righteous trickster, and Ruth the loyal daughter-in-law and great-grandmother to King David.[1] [2] Or perhaps Jesus had a physical feature that identified the Canaanite blood that also flowed in his veins through his family tree. Maybe she took one look at him and immediately knew they shared Canaanite blood.[3]

We’ll never know whether she knew but it’s possible that that she did and it’s possible that Jesus knew about the non-Jew, Canaanite women in his genealogy. Jewish heredity follows the mother because mothers are obvious, pregnant links. It’s likely no mistake that it’s this point in Matthew’s Gospel at which Jesus’ ministry expands to include non-Jews. Up to now, he’s instructed his disciples to stay within certain Jewish boundaries. Now they’re in Tyre and Sidon getting shouted at and possibly feeling a little defeated after all they’ve been through. First John the Baptist was killed, then they fed over 5,000 men, women, and children who were also on the move after John’s death, then they spent a terrifying night on a boat at sea in a storm before debarking in Gennesaret, until their trek to Tyre and Sidon where they’re shouted at in welcome. Let’s follow the breadcrumbs through that maze, shall we?

Jesus first follows the breadcrumbs when he said to the crowd and his disciples, “…it is not what goes into his mouth that defiles a person.” Just before he said this, the religious leaders who followed Jesus from Jerusalem accused the disciples of being unclean because they didn’t observe the ritual of handwashing before they ate. It makes me wonder if the religious leaders were spying from behind trees, watching the disciples feed the over 5,000 hungry people in our Bible story two weeks ago who probably didn’t wash their hands either.[4] Perhaps they were hoping to reduce the power of the feeding miracle on a religious technicality. (A little like reversing a flashy touchdown with an offsides penalty.) But the religious leaders’ stale plan couldn’t have worked. Leftover food collected after that meal for thousands filled twelve baskets with the broken pieces. Crumbs, sifting through the baskets, were left as evidence all over the field where the thousands ate. There’s no way the religious leaders could sweep those crumbs under the rug. That’s a significant breadcrumb trail to follow.

Teeny tiny breadcrumbs were probably still embedded in the disciples’ clothes while they were shouted at by the Canaanite woman who was empowered by her broken heart. When she knelt before Jesus, she said, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (What is up with calling this woman a dog?!) Jesus’ comment vexes the faithful in every age. Jews didn’t historically keep or love dogs the way that their Greek and Roman counterparts did.[5] In antiquity, dogs were found in the households of all classes of people and were a symbol of loyalty in art and literature.[6]  Jesus’ dog accusation was flipped by the Canaanite woman who likely had a love of dogs much like dog lovers in our 21st century households.[7] Dogs in her town were fed under the table as beloved family members – crumbs falling over the table’s edge and lapped up by adored canine companions. Whatever this odd exchange between Jesus and the woman actually means, Jesus ends up rewarding the persistent loyalty of the woman by celebrating her faith and fulfilling her wish. His ministry expanded to include a non-Jew, a Canaanite sibling by blood, under the watchful gaze of his disciples. Before we get self-righteous about how Christianity is uniquely inclusive, let’s turn to our Isaiah reading.

Isaiah 56 begins what’s known as 3rd Isaiah because of the time period in which it’s thought to have been written. In our reading, the prophet welcomes two groups of people into the congregation – foreigners and eunuchs.[8]  These two groups of people had been excluded based on the law in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible in the Old Testament. Foreigners and eunuchs had been kept out of the Jewish faith community by law. Foreigners is an understandable concept to us. Eunuchs maybe not so much. Eunuchs in the Bible are commonly understood to mean those who were intentionally castrated to become guards and protectors of women and wealth. However, this is a narrow definition that keeps preaching safely contained. In the ancient world, eunuchs were broadly understood as men who didn’t respond to women in a traditional, heterosexual way.[9] 21st century language now describes eunuchs as queer and part of the spectrum of LGBTQIA+.[10] The prophet witness of Isaiah welcomes the foreigner and the queer into the “reign of Shalom.”[11] He writes:

“1aThus says the Lord: 3Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree…” 5I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”[12]

Before any of us cast this passage off as an unusual wrinkle in the Old Testament, we could turn to the New Testament book of Acts when Philip, led by an angel, baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch who “had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home…reading the prophet Isaiah,” the 53rd chapter.[13] After his baptism, now adopted as a child of God, the eunuch “went on his way rejoicing.” And we celebrate this good news with him and all our queer siblings in Christ.

Anyone’s mind blown yet? Can you feel grace tumbling down like breadcrumbs over the edge of a table? God’s grace cannot be contained by the religious leaders in Matthew’s Gospel who want to trap Jesus in an argument about ritual defilement. Instead, Jesus flips the conversation from ritual to right hearts. Much like the Canaanite woman turns the table on Jesus with her broken-hearted demand for the crumbs fed to the dogs and is praised by Jesus for her faith. These Bible readings are a breadcrumb trail that guide us into the ever-expanding ministries of the prophet Isaiah and the Lord Jesus. Ministries that include the diversity of human siblings in skin along with our Savior who slipped on Jewish and Canaanite skin to show us the right-hearted direction. Ministries fueled by an extravagant, perplexing grace that cannot be contained by religious leaders, bread baskets, or tables.  For this, and for all that God is doing, we can say thanks be to God and amen.

Song after the Sermon:

Healer of Our Ever Ill (ELW 612)

(Refrain)Healer of our every ill,
Light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear,
and hope beyond our sorrow.

  1. You who know our fears and sadness,
    grace us with your peace and gladness.
    Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts (Refrain)
  2. In the pain and joy beholding
    how your grace is still unfolding,
    give us all your vision, God of love (Refrain)
  3. Give us strength to love each other,
    every sister, every brother.
    Spirit of all kindness, be our guide (Refrain)
  4. You who know each thought and feeling,
    teach us all your way of healing.
    Spirit of compassion, fill each heart. (Refrain)[14]

_____________________________________________________________

[1] Matthew 1:3-6 Jesus’ genealogy [Tamar: Genesis 38; Rahab: Book of Joshua, Chapter 2; Ruth: Book of Ruth]

[2] Mitzi J. Smith, Professor of New Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary. Commentary on Matthew 15:10-28. Sermon Brainwave Podcast posted August 20, 2017. https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4542

[3] Pastor Barbara Berry Bailey, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Denver, CO. Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA, Metro East Preacher’s Text Study on August 11, 2020.

[4] Matthew 14:13-21

[5] Francis D. Lazenby. Greek and Roman Household Pets. The Classic Journal: Vol.44, No. 4 (Jan. 1949), 245-252 and Vol 44., No. 5 (Feb. 1949), 290-307. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/CJ/44/4/Household_Pets*.html

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid., Smith.

[8] Rolf Jacobson, Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Sermon Brainwave 738: Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost – August 19, 2020.   https://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=1288

[9] Pastor Reagan Humber, House for All Sinners and Saints, Denver, CO. Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA, Metro East Preacher’s Text Study on August 11, 2020.

[10] LGBTQIA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexed, Asexual, Ally, and (+) other

[11] Ibid., Jacobson.

[12] Isaiah 56:1a, 3, and 5

[13] Acts 8:26-40; in verse 32 we learn that the eunuch is studying Isaiah 53:7-8.

[14] Sing along with music and lyrics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdItMxllvN4

Sermons

Sitting In The Grass [OR Small, Simple Things and Grace Beyond Our Imagination]

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on August 2, 2020

Below is the sermon that I preached in our outdoor worship today. Pastor Ron Glusenkamp preached in our online worship that can be found here: https://www.augustanadenver.org/worship/   Pastor Ron is not only the husband of Augustana’s Faith Community Nurse Sue Ann, he is the churchwide national Director of the Campaign that includes projects for ELCA World Hunger.

[sermon begins after the Bible story]

Matthew 14:13-21 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

[sermon begins]

This week, I heard a news report about the Lipstick Index, a term coined to describe how people buy small, simple things to treat themselves during tough times.[1] Well, masks have smeared lipstick sales but nail polish sales are looking shiny. When I heard this news gem, I wondered more about how people treat themselves to small and simple things during difficult times. And then I wondered about how we treat ourselves to small, simple spiritual things. And then I wondered how often we feel the need to muster up spiritual treats from inside of ourselves as if our spiritual well-being depends solely on ourselves. I especially wonder about self-spiritual-mustering during tough times. It’s handy that our Bible reading from Matthew’s Gospel has something to say about this very thing.

Jesus feeds the 5,000 in the story immediately following the gruesome beheading of John the Baptist at King Herod’s dinner party. After he gets the news of John’s death, Jesus gets in a boat to find some deserted quiet. His pursuit of quiet is foiled by the crowds who follow him on foot around the water’s edge. When he goes ashore and sees the people, he’s filled with compassion. The Greek work for “compassion” here means that he felt for them deep in his belly. Seeing the need in the crowd was gut-wrenching for Jesus. In their desperation, they had followed him to a deserted place. Perhaps they too were grieving and even afraid after John’s murder. At the very least, it was a tumultuous time for Jesus followers.

As 21st century Jesus followers, we are learning a thing or two about our own tumultuous times. We feel our own grief and fear. And we see desperation in our own homes, down the street, and around the world. In particular though, the pandemic destabilizes fragile social structures that leave some people especially vulnerable. Hungry communities in certain parts of the world are being pushed into famine.[2] It’s tempting to look away because the despair is heart breaking and our emotional resources feel maxed. But we can also pause and see the people as people and allow their desperation to stir our gut-wrenching compassion. This congregation has a long history of mutual ministry with ELCA World Hunger both domestically and internationally. They know what to do when it comes to feeding people as emergency response and when it comes to helping communities plan into their own self-sustaining future. We are not powerless in the face of hungry people. Even a small gift of money adds up to big possibilities in combination with gifts from other people. Join me in giving today to ELCA World Hunger at augustanadenver.org and clicking “Donate Online” [or clicking the link below if you’re reading this sermon].[3] 100% of our gifts go to hungry communities because congregations around the country pay the administrative costs. We can be instrumental in people eating dinner today.

Even closer to home, the conversation has just started to try and figure out if our annual rice and bean breakdown for Metro Caring’s food pantry will work this year.[4] It may be here in the Fellowship Hall although it would like different. Or it could be at Metro Caring’s new warehouse set up for that purpose. Stay tuned for updates as we cruise toward the second Sunday in September when we would typically celebrate “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday by separating large bags of rice and beans into household sized portions for their pantry shelves. We are not powerless in the face of hungry people. Remember that we can donate food to Metro Caring and be instrumental in people eating dinner today.[5]

One step closer to home is Augustana’s Soup Shelf, an honor system food shelf on the covered porch of our Sanctuary. Donating only canned food only food protected from nature’s critters. The motto “Leave what you can; take what you need” allows for the possibility that someone may be picking up food for themselves or for several neighbors at once. We are not powerless in the face of hungry people. Remember that we can leave canned food on the porch of the Sanctuary and be instrumental in people eating dinner today.

Speaking of people eating dinner, just before Jesus prepares dinner for thousands of his followers, he asks them to sit down on the grass. Actually, he “orders” them to sit down in the grass. This is not a happy go lucky moment for the people or for Jesus. John’s execution by the king is a public act of political theater that traumatized the people. Now they sit together in the grass for what amounts to a funeral reception. There are fish and bread and grass and each other. Instead of treating themselves, the people are treated to a moment of refreshment from Jesus. In the midst of the impossibilities, there is a moment of peace.

Here we sit outside…in the grass. We’re masked and distanced while shaded by a canopy. Nowhere near 5,000, we’re limited in numbers with registration requested. We press pause on the seeming impossibilities of our time to simply be together and to receive. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who needs the reminder that we don’t muster up all that we need spiritually from inside of ourselves. It’s easy to either get caught up in the myth of the rugged individual or to curl up in despair when left to our own devices. For now, we gather when we can, in the ways we can – whether worshiping online or outside sitting in the grass. Here outside today, our communion is cradled in small condiment cups. In a few minutes, when we very briefly remove our masks, we’ll commune together at the same time before putting our masks back on. We commune in as simple way as possible. We commune in “one kind” with a wafer of bread only, pondering the mystery that in this small, simple wafer we receive the fullness of Christ’s grace, forgiveness, strength, and peace.

I hope that is what our time together here is, right now. A moment of peace when we’re reminded that Jesus turns to the desperate crowd and has compassion for them. Just as Jesus turns to us in these times of impossibility and has compassion for us – for our humanity, for our noise, and for the mess we find ourselves in. Jesus reminds us to sit, to pause, to eat, and to remember how important it is to receive. For today, there is a Sabbath invitation to stop or reduce our “doom scrolling” through the social medias or “news binging” shows on our favorite channel, as if the next bit of information is going to save us, and to surrender to Jesus’ compassion.

Surrendering to Jesus’ compassion understands that Jesus knows the trauma of losing close friends in the midst of political chaos. He knows the instinct to find quiet in a deserted place when bad things happen. He is the Word made flesh who experienced pain, surrender, hope, and joy. Following Jesus means we can surrender to his compassion for us when we don’t know where we’re headed next. Our surrender is sometimes marked by small, simple things like setting a table at home for online communion or holding ready a wafer in a condiment cup as we sit in the grass together. Hope for today is kindled and fueled as we receive grace beyond our imagination in a small, simple thing like the grace and peace of Christ in a communion wafer from the One who is, who was, and who is to come.[6] Amen.

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[1] Ailsa Chang and Ari Shapiro. “Pandemic Puts An End To The ‘Lipstick Index,’” National Public Radio: July 27, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/27/895867487/pandemic-puts-an-end-to-the-lipstick-index

[2] Lori Hinnant and Sam Mednick. “Coronavirus-Linked Hunger Tied To 10,000 Child Deaths Each Month,” HuffPost Online: July 27, 2020. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-hunger-child-deaths_n_5f1f7e9ac5b638cfec48e471

[3] https://www.augustanadenver.org/giving/

Start by clicking the “Donate Online” option and make sure to designate your gift for “ELCA World Hunger.” 100% of donations to ELCA World Hunger go directly to hungry people. Administrative costs are covered by donations from ELCA congregations around the country including Augustana.

[4] Learn more about Metro Caring’s ministry and/or give food or money here: https://www.metrocaring.org/

[5] Turn into Augustana’s parking lot from the west-most Alameda entrance and follow the signs to the Sanctuary porch. Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 East Alameda Avenue, Denver, CO, 80246.

[6] Revelation 1:8.