Monthly Archives: October 2026

Preaching, Sermons

No Tricks. No Treats. Just Grace.

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 18, 2026

[sermon begins after two Bible readings; there’s a third reading at the end of the sermon]

Matthew 22:15-22 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” 21 They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

[sermon begins]

I’ll confess that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. The ghoulish stuff creeps me out. The gory stuff makes me queasy. And the demonic stuff disturbs me. I close my eyes during trailers for horror movies because those images do NOT belong in my head. I’m a Halloween scaredy cat but I love kids. Kids too small to walk house to house are pulled in wagons by their caring adults, still working on their “Rs,” shouting, “Twick or Tweet.” Kids still in elementary school whose parents are hollering manner suggestions from the sidewalk while their kid screams “Trick or Trick,” too strung out on sugar to remember to say, “Thank you.” And kids in their teens who may or may not wear costumes and cart around their candy stockpile in a pillowcase with a barely audible, “Trick or Treat.” I’m the goofy adult at the door just happy to see them, telling them they look great or to have fun or to be safe. We may spend the rest of the year telling kids not to take candy from strangers but the weirdness of the trick-or-treat tradition is irrelevant in the face of that cuteness, excitement, and treats. Tricks are another thing altogether. The 1920s were the worst for tricks when pranks set cities on edge.[1] No one likes to be tricked. Tricksters have a grand time but being the tricked-ones is no fun.

Tricks were on the minds of the Pharisees, their disciples, and the Herodians, as they treated themselves to a fool-proof test that would cut Jesus down to size. But tricksters were no match for the table-turning Jesus. He turned the tables on them as easily as he overturned the tables of the temple’s moneychangers in the last chapter.[2] Ordinarily, the Pharisees would have had nothing to do with the Herodians who seem to be pro-Roman by virtue of their name.[3] But it was time for this troublemaking Jesus to go, so the rivals joined forces against him.[4]

First, they treated him to flattery, praising his sincerity and his impartiality. Then came the trick – “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” If Jesus answered, yes, he would have angered the people; if Jesus said no, he would have angered Rome. Jesus found a third answer, give to God what is God’s and give to the emperor what is the emperors. That test seems straightforward.

Here’s an interesting question. Why did the Pharisees’ disciples have that coin inside the temple? On it was etched the head of Emperor Tiberius, son of Caesar Augustus. As Caesar, Augustus was considered divine, so Tiberius was at least the son of a God. Tiberius’ head on that coin would have been blasphemous in the temple because it was the image of an idol, a false god.[5] In verse 20, “head” is literally translated “icon” in the Greek. As an icon of a god, that coin was an idol forbidden in the temple and should have been exchanged for a shekel outside the temple door to put in the offering. Jesus had a trick up his own sleeve when he asked them to show him “the coin used for the tax.”

Watching Jesus escape a trick is a real treat especially when it leaves us with tricky questions to play with. Jesus asks about Tiberius’ image in a conversation about loyalty. His question makes me wonder about how we’re bombarded with people and politics that demand something of us, our time and attention for sure as we get swept up in the current election cycle. These verses in Matthew are not your typical inspiring verses about money. But they do help us think about what Jesus was up against and what we are too. It’s okay to take a hard path through scripture and let it challenge our assumptions and ask us tough questions. We can also bring other scripture into the conversation, too.

Earlier in Matthew, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus preached to his disciples, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[6] In that story and in our story today, Jesus pushes his listeners into deeper connection with God, working out for ourselves how we are to live and follow in the way of Jesus.[7] Isn’t that one of the appealing features of faith? That we get to wonder, decide, fail, and try again in the way of Jesus? We engage our conscience and our hearts without tricks to confuse us or treats to persuade us. While Jesus’ way isn’t always clear, it is the way of God who is good. God who loves us first without demanding a performance of our own goodness or tricking us into loving God back.

I think about this kind of stuff a lot when it comes to stewardship and giving money to the church—well before I became a pastor and now that I am one. Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard from a few Augustana people about our faith and financial gifts working together in ministry. We each give what we’re able to give. Some of us can give a little and some of us can give a lot. If you’ve never given regularly, consider starting to give a few dollars a week; and if you’ve been giving regularly to increase your giving by a percentage that’s meaningful to you.

All of us giving something meaningful, however your household defines what meaningful looks like, works together to make ministry thrive for our congregation. Thriving includes caring for each other, our ministry partners in the community, and our staff. Thriving includes our building and grounds through which we welcome people and offer hospitality. We’re not perfect. Nothing human is ever perfect. Ministry is messy simply because there are people involved and people are messy. But Jesus was always on the side of the people and calls us to the same. Our answer to Jesus’ call is a mixed bag but we keep giving financially and doing ministry together because our hearts follow our treasure. Jesus knows us and the human condition all too well.

I’ll close today with these opening words that we heard today from Paul’s beautiful pastoral letter to the church at Thessalonica. Scholars think that this was his earliest letter to the churches and may be the oldest writing in the New Testament—as few as 10 years after Jesus’ died.[8] Paul remembered the Thessalonians before God and then he celebrated their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.[9] He also greeted them with a word of grace.

Out of our own need for grace, we become messengers of grace in a weary world. Not grace as illusory hope or perverse optimism in the face of hard things. But a grace that turns away from the sin that hurts ourselves and each other here and around the world. A grace that deepens our love for each other during suffering. And a grace that shines light into the darkness of despair. We lean into the living grace first given to us by God, for each other and for the sake of the world. Thanks be to God and amen.

______________________________________________

[1] Emily Martin, “The history of trick-or-treating, and how it became a Halloween tradition.” National Geographic, October 23, 2022. The history of trick-or-treating, and how it became a Halloween tradition (nationalgeographic.com)

[2] Matthew 21:12

[3] Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Sermon Brainwave podcase for Bible readings on October 22, 2023. www.workingpreacher.org/podcasts

[4] Ibid.

[5] Skinner, ibid.

[6] Matthew 6:21

[7] Yung Suk Kim, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Virginia Union University. Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22 for October 22, 2023. Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[8] Lutheran Study Bible, 1 Thessalonians – Background File, (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2009), 1942.

[9] 1 Thessalonians 1:2

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1 Peter 4:8-11 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Preaching, Sermons

Grace in the Darkness [OR Candle Lighting for Mental Illness]

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 11, 2026

[sermon begins after two Bible stories; the Philippians reading is at the end of the sermon]

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.

Matthew 22:1-14 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

[sermon begins]

Prayer is pretty normal for a pastor, but I’ve been praying with people more than ever in the past several months. At the end of meetings. At the end of phone calls. Or when people stop by my office for a variety of reasons. I ask, “May I pray for us?” I give them the chance to pray, too. Sometimes they do but usually they say it’s okay if I just pray. All of this to say that I increasingly feel my own need for prayer, and I think others may be feeling it, too. It’s a weird world these days. It’s also a joyous world. The weird can easily eclipse the joyous, especially when we’re inundated with difficult news. But there IS grace is the darkness for which we can rejoice.

Jesus’ parable of the Wedding Banquet is definitely the weird eclipsing the joyous. And, hang with me here, it’s also a word of grace worthy of our praise. Jesus’ parable can be summarized this way…

The kingdom of heaven is like the guy who saw the king’s petty and rageful true self and wouldn’t put on the king’s robe, which led to the king throwing that guy into the outer darkness. [Read that twice for good measure.]

This summary of Jesus’ parable makes perfect sense. Why on earth would you want to party with a king who lacks self-control and rages against his people when his ego is bruised? He invited party guests who didn’t want to come, so much so that they killed the king’s messengers. The king’s rage turned on them and he torched their cities. This is not a king of grace, mercy, or kindness. This king lets you know how much you’ve disappointed him by killing you and burning your house down. I wouldn’t want to wear that king’s robe either. At least, I’d like to think I would have the courage not to put on the robe.

Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian church, I often heard Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet interpreted as if the rageful king was God and the last people invited who wore the king’s robes were the baptized and the poor robe-less guy was thrown into the outer darkness to suffer for all of eternity for not putting on the dang robe. We need to be really careful with Jesus’ parables, especially these last three from the past three Sundays. Jesus told these three parables after he entered Jerusalem nearing his execution on a cross.

Time was of the essence, and he was being challenged by religious leaders who wanted him dead. Parables don’t lend themselves to easy interpretations and, as listeners, we often want to align ourselves with the characters that we think are the winners. Who doesn’t want to win when it comes to God choosing you or not choosing you – especially if outer darkness has anything to do it.

Let’s break down the story unfolding around this parable. Jesus entered Jerusalem where he made angry religious leaders even more angry. The religious leaders arrested Jesus, took him outside the city limits to be crucified, stretched out on a cross until he was dead. It’s more than possible that the guy who gets thrown into the outer darkness was a story that Jesus was telling about himself. His message of absurd hope, extravagant grace, and expansive love was just too much for the powers that be. He would not wear the robe of power as it had been worn.

The parable of the wedding feast echoes the crucifixion, both ending with one person sent to the outer darkness. The king, the one in power, threw a fit when his party went awry. The king does NOT align with the God who Jesus reveals. God IS revealed at the end of the gospel of Matthew with a crucified king. “Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”[1] There was no Holy War outside the city walls to save Jesus from death. Instead, “darkness came over the whole land.”[2] Where was the outer darkness? Everywhere.

As Christians, there are ways we say that God is revealed to us. First and foremost, “through Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”[3] We’ll also argue that God is visible through creation – the world and the wider universe is a signature of the creator. But that first one, through Christ crucified, is important because we argue that God absorbs human violence, putting an end to violence as a solution to what ails humanity and offering grace and compassion as a counterpoint to it. Compassion means “to suffer together.”[4] We are often moved by compassion, wanting to do something to alleviate the suffering. We fail not because of lack of desire but because the problems are enormous, and the darkness is deep.

The news of the world is too much for most of us and especially for those of us who struggle with mental illness. News can serve as a tipping point into deep darkness especially when our compassionate urge to help is thwarted by large-scale events. We’re not wired to manage the sensory overload from next door and around the world constantly pumped through our phones, computers, and TVs. Reminding each other to unplug from time-to-time. To recharge with quieter experiences and messages of grace is critically important.

Today is one such message of grace. During the song after the sermon, we’ll light candles as we shine light into the darkness of mental illness. We’ll pray for those of us who struggle with mental illness and those people we love who struggle with mental illness. While faith can be a comfort, faith doesn’t prevent suffering. Our E4 Mental Health Ministry helps us learn to be a church that meets the suffering of mental illness with compassion and grace.

After our son was born, we joined a Lutheran church where Quinn was baptized. Our daughter joined him in the world two years later. Postpartum depression hit hard. I hadn’t yet addressed my experience of having and leaving a mentally ill father in my own childhood and there I was with two little ones of my own while the hormone storm wreaked havoc on my mental health. Part of what saved me was the local church.

I’d been away from church for a decade, leaving behind the scary, unforgiving Jesus of my upbringing. Hearing about grace for the first time blew my mind. The shock of it is likely hard to imagine for those of you who marinated in grace your whole life long.

Grace as the unconditional love of God through Jesus saved me in those early mothering years. Simultaneous to my postpartum mental struggle were the repeated reminders in worship about how unconditionally loved I was even in my darkest and most unlovable moments. Ultimately, being saved by grace gave me the courage to face the demons of early childhood trauma and extend grace to myself, sometimes the hardest thing to do. Being saved by grace also helped me extend grace to my long-deceased first dad who never recovered from his mental illness, dying at the age of 50.

My story of grace fuels my call as a pastor caring for folks already in the church AND caring for those who aren’t yet hearing it and need this good news through the welcoming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is for you here today and for newcomers yet to come. May they too be invited, welcomed, and nurtured by the Living Grace that sustains us.

Jesus knows the suffering in the outer darkness which means that Jesus has compassion for our own deep darkness and gives us a future with hope. Lutheran Christianity describes this as the Theology of the Cross. The Theology of the Cross means that there is nowhere that God is more available, more present, more loving than in our suffering, in our experience of darkness. Our ancient Jewish cousins in the faith knew this too in Psalm 23. We sang together, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me.”

The valley of the shadow of death is more directly translated as deep darkness. God has always been in the darkness with God’s people. Jesus Christ expanded God’s promise of presence, of grace and compassion, to include the world that God loves. Christ’s compassion and grace know no bounds which means that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts AND your minds in Christ Jesus.” Thanks be to God, and amen.

_______________________________________________

[1] Matthew 27:37

[2] Matthew 27:45

[3] 1 Corinthians 2:2

[4] Greater Good Magazine: Science Based Insights for a Meaningful Life. Compassion Definition | What Is Compassion (berkeley.edu)

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Philippians 4:1-9 My brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you.