Tag Archives: abundance

Jesus Sees First [OR Mary Magdalene is Always Worth Celebrating] John 20:1-2, 11-18 and John 6:1-21

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on July 28, 2024

[sermon begins after two Bible readings]

John 20:1-2, 11-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 6:1-21 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

[sermon begins]

What’s it like to find yourself in a conversation about a topic you were sure about only to discover that you were wrong or didn’t have all the facts? Or a discussion in which someone challenges your idea with a better idea? Letting go of what we think we know is rarely easy. But the church, as in the church catholic (with a little c), starting with the earliest disciples, is one long example of letting go of what we think we know. The disciples with Jesus the day that he fed the 5,000 were sure that they knew the situation and that they couldn’t solve it. There was no way that thousands of people could be fed with the food available in that boy’s lunch box. They just couldn’t see how it could be done. But Jesus being who Jesus was, was the first to see it all. He could see the hungry people. He could see the confused disciples who needed instruction. He could see the boy’s lunch of fish and loaves. Jesus could see the abundance when his people only saw scarcity. He could see it all and he could see it first. Jesus included his confused disciples in the action. Some of us have trouble hosting 5 people for dinner. 5,000 people is hard to imagine. No wonder the crowd tried to make Jesus their king. Someone that capable of feeding them must belong on the throne. But Jesus’ coronation was of a different sort – a coronation with a crown of thorns at his crucifixion.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, there was one person mentioned in all four Gospel stories.[1] Mary Magdalene was there, named individually in the Bible stories alongside several other women. While Judas betrayed and Peter denied Jesus, the image of a resolute Mary Magdalene is compelling.[2] She was a Jesus follower, a disciple with unwavering presence at the worst of times. Jesus, their rabbi and friend was not completely abandoned at the cross. Mary Magdalene was there. The four gospels also include her in each of the resurrection stories – sometimes solo and sometimes with other women. In our First Reading this morning from John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene was in the garden by herself wondering where Jesus was. She asked the gardener where he was. But Jesus being who Jesus was, was the first to see it all. He could see Mary. He could see her confusion. He could see her devotion. He could see her discipleship. He could see it all and he saw her first. He called her by name to do what he knew she could do. Jesus sent her tell his brothers about what was happening. Jesus could see it first, before Mary could even identify him in the garden.

The church over the years couldn’t see her the way that Jesus did. He was the one who healed her from seven demons.[3] She followed him through his ministry, death, and resurrection. Mary Magdalene’s story was one that the church couldn’t see. They bundled the stories in which her full name appeared with other stories of other Marys and sometimes added non-Mary stories about unnamed women, too. Folklore and fiction writers also combine to romanticize her when scripture doesn’t say anything in that regard. Recent scholarship in the past half-century has teased apart this amalgamated Mary. Mary Magdalene is celebrated every year on July 22 as the apostle to the apostles, a messenger sent by the risen Christ to proclaim his good news. It’s hard to pass up a chance to talk about her, a powerful preacher who speaks to us today from foot of the cross, from the garden of the empty tomb, and from her own healed experience.

When Jesus sees first what the church cannot see for ourselves, it takes faith to imagine that things look different through his imagination. Figuring out what’s on Jesus’ mind as our minds open to change takes all of us as the church. I mean all of us across God’s whole church, the church catholic. The church catholic, the wide tent of Christianity, is a tangle of dogma, emotions, faith, hope, love, and all the rest. The church is complicated because people are complicated. We want to see what we want to see in scripture and in our lives, and ignore the rest. But Jesus doesn’t leave us there. Jesus sees us first.

Last week, Augustana’s staff had a half-day retreat complete with an organizational consultant. Because of everyone’s summer travel, there was only one day this summer that we could get together with at least those of us who work together in the building during the week. That day was July 23, the day after Mary Magdalene’s feast day. With recent staff changes and additions, including my new call with Augustana, it made sense to take some time together this summer and regroup. Some of our time was food and fellowship. Sue Ann and Ron Glusenkamp hosted us at their home. Ron baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Each of us brought something for the potluck lunch. Some of the retreat included typical retreaty exercises. Some of it was comfortable and some of it was uncomfortable but much of it taught us things about ourselves and each other as a staff team trying to steward our gifts, skills, and relationships for the good of Augustana. And by “the good of Augustana,” I mean for the good of the gospel. It takes time to see what Jesus sees first. It takes cooperative thinking and listening to make sure that each voice is heard. It takes ideas and opinions stretching and evolving with new information about each other. It takes trust and faith in Jesus who calls the church toward reckless grace and radical welcome.

It’s inspiring that Bible stories open us to the possibility of seeing something different than we expect to see. Or maybe it’s scary. Or maybe it’s both inspiring and scary to try to see as Jesus sees. Mary Magdalene had her eyes opened through hearing her name spoken by Jesus. He sent her on a new task. Her role as a quiet, resolute presence during his life and death was shifted by the resurrected Jesus who called her to announce his resurrection to his brothers. Feeding the 5,000 people with Jesus, his disciples and the boy had their imagination expanded towards God’s abundance revealed by the work they did together that day.

It takes time and togetherness as the Augustana congregation to even begin to see what Jesus might see first. As we say at the end of each worship service this summer, “Go in peace. You are the body of Christ.” This means that we, the church, are the risen body of Christ in the world. That’s empowering and terrifying. Pure grace and a daunting responsibility. Our individuality weaves together as Jesus calls each of our names as he called to Mary Magdalene. Called to proclaim a risen Christ who combines our experiences and faith to build the church for the sake of the world. A risen Christ who we see in each other, hear from each other, and wonder about together. We live in a world that makes almost everything a transaction. But grace cannot be bought. It’s unconditional. Love holds self, love holds us, to a higher standard and extends to others through the faith that Jesus first bestows in love. Given the magnitude of the love, receive this blessing given to us in the letter to the Ephesians:

“I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” Amen.

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[1] Matthew 27:55-56, Mark 15:40, Luke 23:49, and John 19:25

[2] Cynthia Bourgeault, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity. (Massachusetts: Shambhala, 2010), 16.

[3] Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9

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Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen

“You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Barn [OR What If Political Conventions Began With Confession]  Luke 12:12-21 [22-31] and Colossians 3:1-11

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on July 31, 2016

[sermon begins after 2 Bible readings]

Luke 12:12-21 [22-31]  Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ 14But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ 16Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 18Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’  22 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!25And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?*26If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;* yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, strive for his* kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Colossians 3:1-11   So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your* life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.*7These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.* 8But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive* language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11In that renewal*there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

[sermon begins]

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve watched bits and pieces of two political parties’ national conventions.  All the way around, it’s a big dose of presidential candidates, the people who support them, and their view of the world and America’s place in it.  One of the things I’ve been wondering is what the conventions would look like if they followed the traditional Lutheran worship liturgy.  “Liturgy” means the work of the people and there are a lot of people working pretty hard at those conventions.  At the very least, they’re already standing and sitting at intervals.  It’s a place to start.

Following the liturgy idea, what would it look like for political conventions to open with a confession?   Imagine people saying together:

“…we have sinned by our fault, by our own fault, by our own grievous fault, in thought word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone…”

The thing is, we know because we confess week-after-week, that this is only part of the confession and forgiveness liturgy.  But imagine the conventions opening with that kind of confession – starting the conversation from the point of being convicted.  I know, I get it.  Confession and media hype don’t go hand-in-hand.  But there is something appealing about the idea.

Jesus is talking to thousands of people in the Bible story today.  Thousands of people.  Just a few verses before these thousands converge on him, he quietly teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer.  Pastor Ann preached these verses last Sunday and talked about our God who listens when we pray.  I had a conversation with someone during the week about the comfort we experience in the liturgy and the Lord’s Prayer.  Sometimes this comfort is disrupted by a powerful conviction.  The conviction of being on the wrong road with some part of life.  A conviction that comes through the liturgy’s familiar words of scripture, prayer, and hymns.  Convicted.

Pastor Tim Keller says, “If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.”[1]  I like Pastor Keller’s thought about God disagreeing with us. This disagreement is softer language for being convicted.  But who is right if God disagrees with us?  I’m going to guess God.

The Bible story in Luke is convicting.  A man from the crowd yells out to Jesus. The man wants his help to settle an inheritance dispute with his brother.  Jesus side-steps his question and speaks to the crowd:

Listen to verse 15: “And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’”[2]

Jesus warns them against all kinds of greed.  You name it and you can be greedy for it – money, power, things, time, information, degrees, etc.  There’s all kinds of greed but Jesus takes a moment to name one in particular – the abundance of possessions – and tells a story about a man and his crops.  The man’s land produced abundantly.  He looks at the crops and starts talking to himself.  Something along the lines of “self, you’re gonna need a bigger barn.”[3]  Once this is settled, he updates his soul on the latest goings on.  “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for you for many years; relax, eat, drink, and be merry.”[4]

Apparently God has had enough of listening to the man speak only to himself, a first-person universe that includes only the man.[5]  In just three verses, he uses the personal pronoun “I” six times and the personal possessive “my” four times. Then, God calls him a “fool.”

A little background to this parable about the man and his barn in the 12th chapter of Luke.  In the middle of the 10th chapter, Jesus and a lawyer get clear about the priority of loving God and loving neighbor as yourself with the parable of the Good Samaritan.[6]  At the beginning of Luke’s 11th chapter, the Lord’s Prayer is taught by Jesus to his disciples, including praying regularly for God’s kingdom come and our daily bread.[7]  Now, in chapter 12, Luke tells the Parable of the Barn Man.  A couple things to note here.  Wealth and saving for the future do not seem to be the issue.  What does seem to be an issue is the Rich Fool’s first-person universe and the perversion of wealth and savings into greed.

Over the last few decades, wealth around the world has shifted to an ever shrinking percentage of people worldwide.[8]  Think “Roaring ‘20s.”  I’ve wondered about this shift of wealth and track its impact on the most vulnerable people in the world.  I’ve also wondered how the most vulnerable will react as it becomes more and more difficult to feed and raise their families.  I’ve wondered about civil unrest and the price that is paid in blood by the most vulnerable.  You don’t have to think very far back into history to see this at work.[9]  Although, for now, it seems that the presidential primaries have become a way to voice discontent.

Closer to home in the City of Denver, gentrification is out-pricing many urban families who move beyond the city limits along with the next rent increase. Many have lived in Denver for generations.  While a few schools are bursting at the seams, Denver Public Schools is anticipating a decreased enrollment, in part, because of this gentrification.[10]   It’s close to home for us as a congregation and community with some of us facing this very real possibility in our own families.

Human greed functions in every kind of economic system.  Capitalism is no different in that regard to socialism or communism.  There is also no pure form of economic system.[11]  For example, America’s capitalism includes taxation that pays for roads, emergency services, schools, and Social Security. Regardless, as the primary economic system, capitalism can cloak greed in a respectability that makes it difficult to begin a conversation about it.

Conversation partners are sadly lacking in today’s parable.  The man talks only to himself as he plans and builds.  This is where the church has something to offer.  Jesus says to be on guard against all kinds of greed and then tells this parable.  We are conscripted as conversation partners through the gospel.

As conversation partners through the gospel, we begin at the end – FREE.  Made free by Christ, hidden IN Christ as the Colossians reading reminds us.[12]  Already belonging to God beyond those pesky categories of Greek or Jew, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free;[13] and well beyond Independent, Libertarian, Democrat, Republican, and Green.  This freedom in Christ means that fingers don’t point outward first – finding a soul on which to throw the greedy label.  We point those fingers at ourselves.

Pointing our fingers at ourselves, we have a chance of seeing where we store up treasures for ourselves but are not rich toward God.[14]  Where we love possessions and money more than we love God and our neighbor.  Let’s start there this week with that level of honesty.  That greed no longer bankrupt our relationships with God and neighbor; that the gifts of mercy and generosity take hold through our baptisms.[15]  Trusting God’s final word of mercy through the death of Jesus, we find ourselves and our neighbors valued by God beyond anything any of us may possess.

By the power of the Holy Spirit through your baptism, may you be clothed with the new self, “which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.”[16]

May God’s abundant grace free you from that which binds you. In the name of Christ (+), amen.

 

[1] Tim Keller (b. 1950 – present). https://twitter.com/timkellernyc/status/510458013606739968

[2] Luke12:15

[3] A nod to Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb’s screenplay for the movie Jaws (Universal: 1975).

[4] Luke 12:19

[5] Matt Skinner used this phrase in Sermon Brainwave podcast for Luke 12:13-21 on WorkingPreacher.org for July 31, 2016.  http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=784

[6] Luke 10:25-37 – Parable of the Good Samaritan

[7] Luke 11:1-4 – The Lord’s Prayer

[8] CHAD STONEDANILO TRISIARLOC SHERMAN, AND EMILY HORTON. “A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends of Income Inequality.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, July 29, 2016.  http://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality

[9] For example, The French Revolution

[10] Melanie Asmar. “Enrollment Drop Will Leave 100s of Teachers Jobless.” The Colorado Independent: March 16, 2016.  http://www.coloradoindependent.com/158050/enrollment-drop-will-leave-100s-of-denver-teachers-jobless

[11] American Government: 13b. “Comparing Economic Systems.” http://www.ushistory.org/gov/13b.asp

[12] Colossians 3:3

[13] Colossians 3:11

[14] Luke 12:21

[15] Romans 12:8

[16] Colossians 3:10