Sermon for Sunday, March 13

Day of the Church Year: 2nd Sunday in Lent

Scripture Passage: Luke 13:31-35

Jesus is busy.  By the time the thirteenth chapter of Luke rolls around, Jesus has healed people and cast out demons, fed people and attended dinner parties, forgiven sin and taught parable after parable to the crowds.  Jesus has called disciples and visited Mary and Martha, spent time in prayer and sent out seventy followers to cure the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God come near.  And that’s only by chapter 13; more is still to come.  But at this juncture, when the Pharisees warn Jesus that he should flee for King Herod wishes to kill him, instead of shying away from further ministry, Jesus says: Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. In other words, Jesus says: Nothing is going to stop me from doing what I’m called to do, not even the threat of death. 

It’s obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: we’re not Jesus.  When we encounter threats to our lives, that tends to stop us in our tracks.  We get scared.  We reconsider.  When we encounter speedbumps as we live out what we believe God is calling us to do, we slow down.  We wonder if we heard God correctly.  We might even abandon a plan.  When we encounter difficulty in this life, whether broken relationships, addiction, or illness, we might consider giving up.  We might succumb to despair.  At the very least, we will take a moment and breathe and get a hug.  But the good news is that death and evil, sin and injustice don’t stop Jesus in his tracks.  When told Herod wishes to kill him, Jesus continues to do ministry.  Chapter 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 and 18 are packed full of parables.  In chapter 19, Jesus meets Zacchaeus, forgives his sin, and goes to his house that day.  And later in chapter 19, Jesus enters Jerusalem, the city that kills its prophets.  Even in Jerusalem, Jesus continues to teach and cleanses the temple of moneychangers, creating a scene, and sits across from the temple and predicts its destruction.  Nothing will stop Jesus from doing what he came to do: to cast out demons, to heal, to proclaim the kingdom of God come near. 

Our world right now is full of change and destruction, challenge and despair, personally, communally, globally.  We might be faint of heart, but our God is not.  When Jesus hears threats of his own death, he continues right on, and when our world is full to the brim of war and natural disaster, ecological crisis and hunger, when our lives are visited by grief and disease, economic challenge and spiritual emptiness, the God we know in Jesus is not overcome.  God continues to work among us, to establish bonds of love, to untangle conflict, to bring about just peace, to gather us in community for the sake of the world God loves.    

This week, the hymn “Lord of the Dance” inspired me; it is written as if sung by Jesus.  I invite you to listen along as I sing the verses and to then join me on the chorus once you hear it a time or two.     

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
I came down from Heaven and I danced on Earth At Bethlehem I had my birth.

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

I danced for the scribe and the pharisee
They would not dance, they wouldn't follow me
So I danced for the fishermen James and John
They come with me and the Dance went on:

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

I danced on the Sabbath and cured the lame
The holy people, they said it was a shame!
They whipped and stripped and then hung me high
Left me there on a cross to die!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance and I still go on!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

They cut me down but I leap up high
I am the Life that will never never die!
I live in you if you live in Me
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!

Dance then, wherever you may be
For I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

Even on a Friday when the sky turned black, even with the devil on his back, even buried, Jesus cries: I am the Dance and I still go on!  In today’s gospel, Jesus says he will continue to cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and then finish his work on the third day, on the day of Easter, on the day of risen life.  For Jesus is the life that will never never die.  And friends in Christ, Jesus says: I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

The Dance that still goes on, even on Good Friday, that’s the Dance Jesus leads us in, the Dance of love and hope, the Dance of justice-seeking and peace-keeping.  When we encounter the difficulties of this life, the real, gritty, I-don’t-know-what-I’m-going-to-do difficulties, we are not left to our own devices on the dance floor.  Jesus is not overcome but continues to dance and leads us, wherever we may be.  For he is the Dance, and he still goes on!  Thanks be to God!  Amen. 

Spring Prayer Retreat

Join us for our spring prayer retreat where we’ll gather around the theme Life Together with a theme verse of Psalm 133:1: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” Our spring retreat will be held April 29 through May 1 at Camp Emmanuel Pines in Prescott. There will be fellowship, bible study with the help of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book Life Together, prayer, an old-fashioned hymn sing, and s'mores around the campfire. To reserve your space or for more information contact Pastor Sarah (pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com) or Carol Staffieri (cstaffieri@centurylink.net).

Pray for Ukraine

The inter-religious collaboration, of which the Grand Canyon Synod is a part, Arizona Faith Network is holding the situation in Ukraine in their prayers and invites everyone to join in a virtual Global Prayer Gathering every Friday, 8:15-8:45 am. See below for the zoom information.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86947725568?pwd=UlBBL0FpSGFGREJUdEhZNHh1YTFvdz09
Meeting ID: 869 4772 5568
Passcode: 197313

GLOW!!

Please join us on March 9 and each following week at 5:30 pm for the re-birth of Grace Lutheran on Wednesdays! If you are willing, we will need volunteers for set-up, cooking, and cleanup. Please contact Allison Overly-Stokes (aro.stokes@cox.net) or Pastor Sarah (pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com) or sign up on the sheet in the back of the church.

Film Festival & Art Show

Saturday, April 9 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm - Franciscan Renewal Center, 5802 East Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale Piper Hall

All are welcome to the film festival and art show at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale on Saturday, April 9, 11:00 am-4:00 pm! The purpose of the art show is to encourage and celebrate Earth’s beauty, and eco-spiritual films will be shown throughout the day. Cost of the event is $45; go here to register: https://tinyurl.com/4cp9smnc. For more information, go to frc.retreatportal.com.

For more information or to submit an art piece, contact Barbara McGuire clarice007777@gmail.com. Entry deadline is Thursday, March 31, 2022. Presented by the Casa - Care For Creation Ministry.

Volunteer Needed!

Do you have a heart for helping others? Do you feel a calling to assist our community? If you answered YES to these questions, consider a position as an Outreach Volunteer on Mondays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Duties would include preparing coffee and preparing sack lunches. Extra helping hands are needed ASAP. Contact Jasmine in the church office for more information (602-258-3787, officemanager@graceinthecity.com).

Sermon for Sunday, February 27

Day of the Church Year: Transfiguration of Christ C

Scripture Passage: Luke 9:28-43a

On the mountaintop with Peter, James, and John, Jesus is transfigured before them.  Prophets Moses and Elijah, long dead, appear with him.  Peter, James, and John stand in God’s glory, desire to set up camp on the mountaintop, and are enveloped by the cloud from which God speaks, saying: This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!  While Jesus’ transfiguration is long on mystery and short on clarity, it seems to confirm Jesus is God’s Son, Jesus is a prophet in the line of Moses and Elijah, and the shining light of transfiguration is God’s glory, God’s greatness revealed. 

And then, they come down the mountain.  They come down to reality, the gritty, messy world of first century Israel.  They come down and meet a crowd, and from the crowd, a man cries out to Jesus.  The man’s son convulses and shrieks, and the disciples cannot cast out what the man assumes is an unclean spirit.  Jesus calls for the boy, rebukes the spirit, heals him, and returns the boy to his father.  And, as the gospel writer Luke tells us: all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Mystical spiritual experiences can lull us into a type of spirituality limited to the mountaintop, to the quiet retreat, to the extraordinary.  Those mystical spiritual experiences are wonderful, and I’ve had plenty of them: prayer retreats and mission trips, Cursillo and Tirosh weekends, Holden Village trips and seminary-required retreats, working at Lutheran Bible Camps and attending Lutheran Campformation.  Profound spiritual experiences that have shaped my life.  Experiences that reveal the glory, the greatness of God.  Times of insight, connection, and joy.

As meaningful as those times have been—and they really have been, God’s glory is not revealed just in those extraordinary experiences but in the everyday, the mundane, even the messy.  When Jesus, Peter, James, and John come down the mountain, amidst the chaos of a crowd, a boy is healed, a father relieved and grateful, a family’s reputation restored, community connections healed.  For in first century Israel, an unclean spirit is a mark of shame and results in disconnection.  Healing, then, is the glory and greatness of God revealed.  But how easily we read past this story, just one healing story among so many in the gospels, just one mundane example of God’s greatness.  We usually literally read past this story for the verses that contain this story are “optional” according to the Revised Common Lectionary for this day in the church year.  At least to my knowledge, today is the first time in 11 years we have read this story in worship. 

This week, I spoke with someone who told me about a profound spiritual experience they had, a 10 day silent meditation retreat in a quiet, beautiful spot in northern California.  A decade ago, this retreat provided clarity of purpose, strategies for daily living, and meaning for this person’s life, clearly a mountaintop experience.  Though not Christian, this person articulated something akin to glory—the glory of the universe—revealed through their many hours of silent meditation.  Fascinated by their story, I asked at its conclusion: So, do you practice meditation now?  Surely, I thought, after such a powerful experience at this retreat, this person would have begun a daily meditation practice that continues to keep them grounded.  But, no.  No, they don’t.  Even though the meditation was so helpful to you? I clarified.  No.  

The person whose life was changed by the 10 day silent meditation retreat is like all the rest of us and, indeed, like Peter, James, and John.  When we bump against the glory and greatness of God revealed in mystical, transfiguring ways, we are grateful.  We don’t want to leave.  But when we return to the world we’ve always known, the world of demands and expectations, the world of bills and taxes, the world of news and rush hour traffic, we do not expect to see God’s glory and greatness revealed.  And cultivating an openness to God’s glory and greatness revealed in the mundane is a tough sell.

So, I want to tell you: God is at work everywhere, every day, in every realm of this life.  We don’t need to go to the mountaintop to see God’s glory and greatness revealed.  All those meaningful spiritual experiences I’ve had, yes, they were wonderful.  But you know where I see God at work in the chaos of daily life?  At GLOW, Grace Lutheran On Wednesdays, which is coming back March 9!  Join us for, probably, a soup supper at 5:30 out in the breezeway followed by mid-week Lenten worship.  If you’d like to help make GLOW happen, please talk with me.  At GLOW, we connect over a meal and then open our hearts to one another in civil dialogue or Bible study, in story circles or, in this case, mid-week Lenten worship.

I see God’s glory and greatness revealed...At Grace council meetings!  I’m with Renee on this one.  (For those who may not know her, Renee has served on the council for several years.)  Council meetings are a spiritual experience, where we discern how God is calling us at Grace Lutheran Church.

I see God’s glory and greatness revealed...While listening to you!  When I sit in your living room or you sit at the table in my office and talk about ife, about what you see God doing, about your questions and struggles and joys, I feel deeply honored to receive your story.  God’s greatness is evident in your trust, your faith, your sharing.

I see God’s glory and greatness revealed...In the beauty of creation!  There is something about the light here in Phoenix that I love, especially in the morning and evening.  The light astonishes and delights me in a way I can fully describe, a tip-off that God is showing off.  Or as Alice Walker puts on the lips of her character Shug in the novel The Color Purple, “More than anything, God loves admiration.  [God’s] not vain, just wanting to share a good thing.  I think it pisses God off it you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” 

And that’s the trouble, I think, with God’s glory, God’s greatness.  Our heads might be in the clouds, on the mountaintop, looking for God to come and be with us there, speak to us, show Godself to us.  All the while, God reveals God’s greatness in so many different ways right in front of us.  In the color purple, in the monthly meeting, in the weekly meal and worship. 

The hymn Be Thou My Vision comes to us from 10th century Ireland and reads: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart.  Naught be all else to me save that thou art.  Thou my best thought by day and by night.  Waking or sleeping thy presence my light.

Be Thou My Vision is a prayer that God would so invade our eyes and the eyes of our hearts that we might see with clarity what God does, who God is, God’s greatness revealed in the everyday.  When we get to the mountaintop and see God’s glory revealed, we can with ancestors of faith shout out: glory, hallelujah!  But in the meantime, when we walk by the color purple in a field somewhere, be thou our vision, O Lord of our hearts.  Your presence is our light.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

March Community Building Goal

There is so much change in our world, in our culture, and, specifically, in our neighborhood right now.  During March, we will be in conversation about how we see the change in our neighborhood, culture, and world through the lens of our second guiding principle: Pray, seek, and follow God’s will. 

PhLY Summer Mission Trip

Phoenix Lutheran Youth High School Ministry, better known as PhLY, is excited to announce our summer mission trip to San Diego the week of July 16-22. You can read more about this mission by copying and pasting this link.
https://groupmissiontrips.com/trip-types/community-service/san-diego-california

San Diego Belmont Park, Whale Watching Tour, Group Mission, Beach Play
Saturday, July 16- Friday July 22
Saturday leave Phoenix go to Bellmont Park
Sunday Whale Watching tour, Arrive at Group
Mon-Fri Group Mission Work
Tues San Diego Beach play
Friday San Diego beach play, Coronado Island or Pirate Tour, return to Phoenix mid evening.
Budget Approximately $540

If you are unable to attend due to previous summer plans we completely understand and wish you safe travels and blessings on making new memories.
If you feel you are unable to attend because of finances please talk with your pastor about possible scholarships.
I am looking forward to spending an entire week with the PhLY community making memories, growing closer as a community, and deepening our relationship with God through conversation, service, and fun.

https://forms.gle/HAknGpM8HJRh6zdv8

Sermon for Sunday, February 20

Day of the Church Year: 7th Sunday after Epiphany

Scripture Passage: Luke 6:27-38

Mahatma Gandhi led the Indian independence movement in the first half of the 20th century, a non-violent movement that inspired the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King to lead, alongside many others, a non-violent civil rights movement here in the US.  Mired in cultures where to stand up for justice routinely included violence, both Gandhi and King turned to the teaching of Jesus, this teaching of Jesus.  Gathered with a crowd on a plain, Jesus teaches love for enemies, good for those who hate us, blessing for those who curse us, prayer for those who abuse us.  Sure, Jesus says, even sinners do good to those who do good to them.  Sure, Jesus admits, even sinners love those who love them.  But those who follow me will love even those who hate them. 

Maybe this feels like wishful thinking, an unreasonable command from Jesus, perhaps even a bit naive.  Clouded by the distance of two thousand years and a different culture, we may not realize that Jesus preaches and teaches, heals and forgives sin within throwing distance of Roman soldiers.  Israel is occupied in the first century.  When Jesus teaches the disciples and all who gather on the plain that day, when he implores them to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them, he is not speaking hypothetically.  He knows who hates him. 

And we, the people of goodwill in this room and those joining by Facebook live, we have probably endured our own measure of discrimination or persecution, misunderstanding or judgment.  We have probably encountered people who don’t listen, who make snap judgments, who struggle to forgive when we make mistakes.  We have maybe bumped up against an unjust system—and people working within that system—that make life harder for us.  These circumstances are terribly unfair and not at all okay and evidence of the deep work our culture at large needs to do to create more just systems and a more loving world.  AND, Jesus teaches us today, the ways we have been treated do not determine how we treat others.

At this point, I invited people to put their faith in motion by considering their physical boundaries, things like how much space we need between us and another person, whether or not we are comfortable shaking hands or hugging people during a pandemic, and similar physical boundaries. Considering our physical boundaries first helps us think about emotional boundaries in a similar way. Emotional boundaries are not about the other person but instead about what we need to keep ourselves safe and healthy, not a judgment of anyone else’s behavior. Good emotional boundaries also help us love people regardless of how they treat us.

When we keep our physical boundaries, when someone moves too close, we just move back.  When someone offers their hand for a handshake and we don’t want to shake it, we simply say so.

Our emotional boundaries are usually less clear.  Instead of keeping our emotional boundaries intact, others’ words and actions can eat at us, can erode our loving intentions.  If our intention is to love, we love people regardless of what they say or do.  But it’s tricky because keeping emotional boundaries often feels harsh to the other person or difficult for us because we are not defending ourselves.

An example of when a boundary kept might feel harsh to another person: If there is someone in our lives who is using a substance, for instance, and we have asked them to not spend time with us when they are using that substance, keeping an emotional boundary involves leaving the space or inviting that person to leave the space if the person shows up using the substance.  Keeping the boundary does not diminish our care for the person. 

Another example: A teenager yells at their parent: I hate you!  Perhaps the parent has set rules the teenager doesn’t like.  Perhaps the teenager is just having a bad day.  The parent still makes sure the kid is clothed, fed, gets to school, gets to do the things that bring them life to the best of the parent’s ability.  The parent is practicing emotional boundaries, still loving their child despite their child’s alleged hatred. 

An example most clearly related to today’s gospel: Someone accuses me of something that, from my perspective, I did not do.  When the person accuses me of x, maybe they are yelling and clearly very upset.  From my perspective, the person is misunderstanding an action I took or creating a narrative about my reason for a particular action that they have not discussed with me—so they don’t actually know my reason.  This could be a friend who feels slighted by something I said—but does not tell me they feel hurt and why they feel hurt.  This could be someone here at Grace who has a concern, does not discuss their concern with me, and instead makes assumptions and then lashes out.  Instead of yelling, instead of defending myself, I ask the person: What’s going on?  How are you doing? 

When faced by our so-called enemies, by those who persecute or abuse or do us harm, are we hurt?  Angry?  Feel guilty?  Sad?  Absolutely.  None of us seek such persecution or abuse, and probably all of us know that feeling rising up in us to defend ourselves.  No matter how wildly inaccurate someone’s accusations may be, no matter how clearly manipulative their words may be, we probably all know the feeling of wanting to shout: Na-ah!  That’s not true!  We have probably all wanted to punch somebody at sometime.  But to do so means that the other person has a hold on us, that we have let them destroy our boundaries. 

Jesus teaches us today: love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you.  Jesus continues with profound instruction, the details of which we do not have time to explore today, but in verse 35, he shares the reason, the reason for these extraordinary commands.

“For God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”  God is kind to us.  When we are the person crossing God’s boundary.  When we are the child who says to God: I hate you!  When we are the Jesus-follower who doesn’t understand why God did what God did and assumes the worst.  When we are the neighbor who fails to respect others’ boundaries.  Then, God is kind to us.  We may be ungrateful; we may be wicked.  But God is good, and God is loving.  And nothing we say or do will ever change God’s love for us.  So, Jesus commands us, his followers, to love others the way God loves us, and even to the ungrateful and the wicked, God is kind.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Contemplative Corner

During our mid-week Lenten services this year, we will gather around the theme Change & Contemplation. In order to dive more deeply into a simple contemplative practice, you are invited to join Pastor Sarah for Contemplative Corner on Facebook Live on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at noon for a very brief time of scripture reading and contemplative prayer. Contemplative Corner will begin Thursday, March 3 and conclude Maundy Thursday, April 14. Join via the Grace Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GraceInTheCity: Grace Lutheran Church.

Theology Pub: Sunday, March 6

In a time when nothing seems to make sense, all are invited to a monthly ecumenical gathering to connect and share a beverage over meaningful topics.  The topic for March 6 will be Free Will, and we will explore the limits and possibilities of our capacity as humans in a broken world.  Theology Pub is back the first Sunday evening of each month, 6:00-7:30 pm, at Arizona Wilderness DTPHX, 201 E Roosevelt.  We will gather on the patio of Wilderness, and participants are welcome to eat and drink if they would like but are not pressured to do so.  Please join us March 6 at 6 pm!

Serving Breakfast on March 6

Grace members will serve the Sunday morning breakfast of biscuits and gravy on Sunday, March 6! Please arrive in the church kitchen between 6:15 and 6:30 am to help. Thank you to all who use their hands and hearts to serve our community!

Lent 2022

Join us for a mid-week Lenten meal at 5:30 pm in the courtyard and worship at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary each Wednesday beginning March 9.  We will gather around the theme Change & Contemplation by singing Holden Evening Prayer, practicing contemplative prayer, and exploring how our ancestors in faith navigated change.

Ash Wednesday

Please join us for Ash Wednesday worship on Wednesday, March 2 at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary along with Kaleo. For those who cannot join us, Pastor Sarah will be offering Ashes To Go at Van Buren and Central, 11:00 am–1:00 pm.

Sermon for Sunday, February 13

Day of the Church Year: 6th Sunday after Epiphany

Scripture Passage: Luke 6:17-26

Our Jesus story today comes from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, but at the very end of the gospel of Luke, on Easter Sunday, the day Jesus rises from the dead, the women who had all along accompanied Jesus in his ministry travel to his tomb. When they are told by two men in dazzling clothes that Jesus is risen, the women run to tell the disciples. All but Peter believe theirs is an “idle tale.” The disciples have spent at least a year with Jesus, traveling with him as he healed people, listening to his teaching and preaching, getting the inside scoop on his miracles and parables, and even they don’t get it in the end. Their confusion is understandable. For, as one theologian asks, if the dead can’t even stay dead, what is there to count on?

And so, today, when Jesus preaches his first sermon in the gospel of Luke, the sermon on the plain, to the crowd gathered, including the disciples, no wonder it doesn’t make sense. Particularly in the gospel of Luke, Jesus preaches an upsidedown kingdom and an upsidedown vision of human community. In a kingdom where the dead don’t stay dead, people living in poverty, people who hunger, and people who weep know the blessing of God. In a kingdom where the dead don’t stay dead, people who are rich, full, and laughing are told to “pay attention,” which is a more accurate translation of “woe to you” in the original Greek. At first glance, we too may believe Jesus’ upsidedown vision is an idle tale, one less believable even than a God who becomes flesh, lives among us, is crucified, and raised from the dead.

I can believe Jesus is raised from the dead but not his blessings and woes!

We assume Jesus is just playin’. He can’t really be serious.

If we have been hungry, we know the pain.

If we have been or are currently poor, we know it’s a struggle.

If we have mourned or are currently mourning, we know it’s hard to get out of bed.

How is it that the kingdom of God belongs to us who are hungry and poor and mourning?

Conversely, if we are full, we are satisfied.

If we are rich, we have few material worries.

If we are laughing, we are at ease.

Why is it that Jesus calls us who are rich, full, and laughing to pay attention?

Isn’t the Sermon on the Plain an idle tale?

I thought so. I sometimes still wonder. Suffering is not romantic. It’s not pretty or glossy. Poverty, hunger, and grief are raw, real, and gritty.

When I was 22, I worked for a year at a shelter on the west side of Chicago. Going to work each day was like looking at the world upsidedown. A couple times a week, I would lead a morning devotional time called Morning Prayer. Most days, I would open up the prayer time, and people would pray aloud for those who were still on the street, for other folks at the shelter, for the world at large. Almost every person’s prayer would begin with words of gratitude for the day, for God having woken them up, for strength in their arms and legs. One day, I had the great idea of encouraging people to pray for themselves. After all, every resident of the shelter had no permanent housing and was healing from an injury or illness. Nearly every person had yet to find a job and was healing from active addiction. Many people were struggling with mental health concerns on top of everything else. Of course, everyone would want to pray for themselves; they were in such great need, I thought. But when I invited the group to pray for themselves that day, a silence descended on the room. Finally, one woman spoke up, and she said, “Miss Sarah, I feel like God has already answered all my prayers.”

I suspect the awareness of her need opened her up to the blessing of God. I suspect all of us more easily grasp the gifts of God in our lives when we do not take them granted. But when we are rich, full, and laughing, we are at risk of missing what God is doing in us and in the world, so “pay attention,” Jesus says.

This past week, I attended the downtown poetry slam at the Latino Cultural Center. A small crowd of us gathered to give our complete attention to the 20 and 30-something year old poets who stood at a microphone and shared their original work. In a complete reversal of our culture, not a cell phone could be seen among the audience, so focused was our attention on the pouring out of emotion and experience by the brave poets. The poems they shared told stories of addiction, abuse, body-shaming, racism, unrequited love. Each poet spoke of times of need, desperate need, words that drove to the heart of despair and isolation and brokenness. Yet, strangely, every poem revealed resilience and hope and even joy too. Well-turned phrases of deepest truth elicited supportive snaps, and as each poet left the stage, we burst into applause. In between sets, we flocked to the poets to bask in their light and courage and hope. As brilliant poet Adrienne Rich entitled one poem, these poets were “diving into the wreck” of their lives and paying greatest attention to the blessings in the midst of despair.

In a right-side-up world, we see those who are rich, full, and laughing as blessed, and that’s true, they, we are. We’re blessed by God. God loves us. God is at work in our lives. But we who are poor, hungry, and weeping are blessed too. God loves us too. God is at work in our lives too. And we know it. When we are poor, hungry, and weeping, we know it. We know God is at work. And so blessed are us who are poor and hungry and weeping for ours is the kingdom of God. Amen.

Campformation 2022

Campformation Registration Opens February 14!  Youth are encouraged to register for Lutheran Campformation beginning February 14 at Campformation 2022 - LUTHERAN CAMPFORMATION.  (That’s www.lutherancampformation.com.)  We’ll gather at Camp Pinerock in Prescott July 3-8, 2022.  Youth currently in 6th grade through 8th grade register as campers; youth currently in 9th grade register as GAP campers.  The mission of Lutheran Campformation is to provide Christian faith formation for youth entering grades 6-12 in an outdoor setting.

2022 Congregation Council

GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH

Say Hello to the 2022 GLC Council

Exec Committee: Pastor Sarah, President Sheila Petry, Vice President Fran Fry, Treasurer Renee Waterstradt, Secretary Andrea Sigala

Council Liaisons are members of the council who relate to a particular ministry team, to ensure items that need to go to the council from the ministry teams are heard.

Worship: Fran Fry, Andrea Sigala

Outreach: Renee Waterstradt

Faith Formation: Allison Overly-Stokes

Stewardship: Donna Martin

Hospitality: Joey Lay

Property: Ken Ehlen, Marty Dusenberry

Internship Committee: Donna Martin

We are engaged and ready to represent Grace Lutheran on all fronts with the guidance of the Lord. Feel free to contact us with questions,  comments, ideas for a Ministry, offer your service or just to say HI.

Yours in Christ,

Sheila Petry

GLC 2022 Council President

Sermon for Sunday, January 30

Day of the Church Year: 4th Sunday after Epiphany

Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

After twelve chapters of instruction by the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth, after twelve chapters of helping them untangle the knots in their community, after assuring them the Holy Spirit empowers them with gifts meant to be used for the common good, Paul concludes the chapter with these words: And I will show you a still more excellent way. 

Chapter 13 then opens: If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

More than wisdom or knowledge, more than generosity or faithfulness, love is the still more excellent way, the essence of the Christian life, the commandment to end all commandments.  For Paul echos Jesus who taught that the first commandment was to love God and the second to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul invites the Corinthians to love with patience and kindness, without jealousy or arrogance, to love in action.    

Just a couple months ago, long-time Grace member Alice Schilling died.  I had the honor of being her pastor for 11 years, and every Sunday, she would greet me at the end of worship with a smile and a hug and an assurance that she was doing great.  I assume she didn’t always agree with me, but I always knew I was loved by Alice.  I remember once when I went to cheer on her grandson Sammy at a basketball game, and after the game, the kids on his team gathered around Alice as she congratulated them and hugged them.  I later learned she was like a grandmother to all those kids, sewing names on jerseys, showing up at all their games.  At Alice’s celebration of life, as Sara and Leiana and other grandchildren stepped up to the lectern, one after another, they assured us who were gathered that, indeed, they were the favorite grandchild.  For though she didn’t always like what they chose to do, Alice supported them in their endeavors, showed up for their games and concerts, listened to them, received them into her arms at difficult times with no questions asked.  Alice loved in such a way that everyone thought they were her favorite.

Who has loved you?  Perhaps a parent or grandparent, a friend or co-worker, a neighbor or church member, a teacher or coach.  Please turn to someone sitting near you, share the name of one person who loves you, and one way they show you they love you.

People took time to share about someone who loves them and one way that person shows them they love them.

As we consider Paul’s words today, the still more excellent way of love, the admonition to love, do not be weighed down by the command to love.  Do not be burdened.  Instead, remember those who have loved you despite all your shenanigans and all your imperfections, those who have rejoiced with you at times of triumph and sat with you as you cried.  Remember those who have given of themselves that you might have life and have it abundantly.  It’s not just our family members and our friends.  It’s our teachers and coaches, health care professionals and scientists.  It’s our public servants: police officers and military personnel, elected officials and all who make the lights go on and the water pour out of the tap.  It’s those who volunteer across our culture to show compassion in countless ways.  It’s the artists and poets and musicians who create beauty to inspire us and the farmers and gardeners—and those who drive the trucks and stock the grocery store shelves—who nurture life so that we may eat.  It’s the church community that shows up for us and prays for us and has nurtured us such that we can hear the word of God today.  We look divided right now in our world; we really do.  But thanks be to God love is an action, not just a feeling.  And by the looks of it, love actually is all around.  And we, despite ourselves, love one another too.

When we remember the love all around us, we want to join that still more excellent way.  We want to be bowled over by the Holy Spirit that leads us into love, that nudges us to love, that compels us to love.  We want to be part of what God is doing all over the world, in every home, in every city, in every nation.  God’s agape love, the love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, God’s agape love is all around this world, sprouting forth among us despite our jealous, boastful, arrogant selves.  What at first appears to be an impossible dream, the agape love of 1 Corinthians 13, turns out to be all around.  We who struggle to love realize that we participate in God’s loving work every day, with every way that we contribute to the common good, both paid and unpaid, with every word of encouragement, with every prayer, by even showing up this morning to help nurture the faith of someone else by our presence. 

Without love, we are nothing.  But friends, we are loved, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we do love.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Serving Breakfast on February 6

Grace members will serve the Sunday morning breakfast of biscuits and gravy on Sunday, February 6! Please arrive in the church kitchen between 6:15 and 6:30 am to help. Thank you to all who use their hands and hearts to serve our community!