Our missionary, Rev. David Brondos, serves in Mexico. Below is the link to his monthly update about preparing seminary students to serve as pastors across Central and South America!
Spring PhLY News
Casey, the PhLY youth director, shares the following for our high school youth:
You are invited to join us Saturday, April 9 from 3-5 pm as we walk through the prayer garden at Canaan in the Desert. The desert oasis is located just south of Shea on 40th Street. This is a Lutheran Convent with roots in Germany. To see more about Canaan in the Desert please visit https://www.canaaninthedesert.com. Please RSVP to this event by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/JsU1DXYyaUwAP4CMA.
On Saturday, May 14, from 6:00 am-9:00 am we are walking with UMOM New Day Centers in the annual fundraiser to end homelessness at the Phoenix Zoo. Registration is $15 and includes a T-shirt and admission to the Phoenix Zoo for the day (a day ticket for the Zoo is normally $30, so you save $15 and you are helping a great cause.) Please sign up by joining the PhLY Ministry team by clicking this link https://fundraise.umom.org/team/417628. Once the walk is over at 9:00 am, we will be enjoying the Zoo so come prepared to walk! Things to bring: sunscreen, water bottle, snacks, and money for lunch. We will plan on being done at noon. Founded in 1964, UMOM is located in Phoenix, Arizona and is an innovative provider of shelter, housing and services for people experiencing homelessness. Every night they provide safe shelter and supportive services for nearly 700 individuals experiencing homelessness – 155 families and 130 single women. They also offer over 550 units of affordable housing across the Valley.
Upcoming dates:
Saturday, April 9, 3:00 pm-5:00 pm Canaan in the Desert
Saturday, May 14, 6:00 am-12:00 pm UMOM Walk to End Homelessness at the Phoenix Zoo.
Quarterly Pizza & Ministry Night
Tuesday, April 19 is Quarterly Pizza & Ministry Night! The Ministry Teams (Worship & Music, Property, Hospitality, Faith Formation, Outreach, Stewardship, Collaborative, and Council) will take time to reflect on our changing neighborhood and discuss plans for 2022. All members of each team are invited. Come and find out what everyone is doing, and eat pizza! Arrive by 6:00 pm for social interaction and pizza, the meeting will begin at 6:30 pm and will also be available on Zoom. Please RSVP with Jasmine (officemanager@graceinthecity.com, 602-258-3787) by April 14, whether it be in person or on Zoom, so we know how much pizza is needed.
Here’s the zoom link for those who wish to participate via zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89720341461?pwd=cWxOUFhPa252eEhWTnB0dm1yOWFMUT09
We're Training!
In the recent weeks, we’ve welcomed new staff members to Grace. In the spirit of being equipped, we will close the office on Tuesday, April 5 at 10:30 am for training. If you have any questions, please contact Jasmine (officemanager@graceinthecity.com, 602-258-3787) or Pastor Sarah (pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com, 602-318-6876.)
Holy Week Schedule
Please join in the following Holy Week festivities!
Maundy Thursday Worship at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary (April 14)
With Foot Washing, Holy Communion, & Stripping of the Altar
Good Friday Worship at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary (April 15)
Remembering Jesus’ Passion
Easter Sunday, April 17
Contemporary Worship at 8:30 am
Easter Brunch at 10:00 am in Hope Hall
Easter Egg Hunt at 10:00 am in the Courtyard
Traditional Worship at 11:00 am in the Sanctuary
Sermon for Sunday, March 20
Day of the Church Year: 3rd Sunday of Lent
Scripture Passage: Luke 13:1-9
Maybe we’ve been there. We are driving down the freeway or perhaps a county highway somewhere far from Phoenix. We are driving just a bit faster than the speed limit, within an acceptable range, we think. In our rearview mirror, we see another vehicle barreling towards us, traveling faster even than we are. Both cars are driving over the speed limit, but that guy is going way faster and should really slow down. He could hurt someone. The second vehicle passes us on the left and continues on to the horizon. A few minutes later, again in our rearview mirror, we see a vehicle, traveling fast enough to overtake us, and pretty soon, we hear the siren. The police pull us over, ask for our license and registration, ask if we know how fast we were driving. Whether or not we say it to the officer, we are probably thinking: But look how fast the other guy was going!
Is it fair that the person who passed us going 80 miles per hour in a 65 mile an hour zone didn’t get pulled over—but we did while going 75 in a 65? Maybe; we were still driving over the speed limit. On the other hand, maybe not. That both drivers were not stopped is unfair. But life isn’t fair. We cannot control what others do, cannot control systems, cannot control the laws of the universe. We cannot control disasters, and we cannot control God. Many of our life circumstances are shaped by people or forces for which we are not personally responsible—our family system into which we are simply born, the systems of our culture that privilege some and not others, geo-political events much larger than us, disasters caused by weather, misunderstandings of physics, shoddy work, or a complex combination of causes. While it may be tempting to believe that God rewards or punishes us based on the rightness or wrongness of our choices, on our sin or righteousness, today, Jesus addresses the fairness and unfairness of life not through a lens of morality but through the lens of consequence.
Jesus tells short stories of unfair, horrible, violent deaths of Galileans and a parable about a fig tree to illustrate the control we do have: the power to repent—which means turning around or changing our minds—and the power to produce good fruit, to seek justice and righteousness, to act with grace and love. In an unfair world, we do get to choose something, and that something is how we respond to what happens to us.
At first glance, these tangled verses of Luke chapter 13 seem to make no sense, so I invite you to open your Bibles to Luke 13:1-9 to follow along. Jesus uses two examples from current events of his day to make his point. First, apparently, the Roman Empire killed Jews from Galilee and then mingled their blood with the animal blood used in ritual sacrifice in the temple—which would have dishonored the temple sacrifice in a most grievous way. Second, in a different piece of news, eighteen people died when the tower of Siloam unexpectedly fell, an unforeseen error of construction or design. In both circumstances, Jesus asks a rhetorical question: Were these people who died worse sinners than anyone else? No. God wasn’t punishing them because they sinned. From what Jesus says about the circumstances, these deaths were entirely unrelated to the sin or righteousness of the victims. And even more than that, God is not the one who caused their deaths. But, Jesus says, unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did. How did they perish? What were their deaths like? Unexpectedly, suddenly, horrifically. Also: shameful with the mingling of blood and dishonorable. In other words, their deaths were unfair.
Jesus then pivots to a parable about a fruitless, defunct fig tree. When the owner of the fig tree sees his fruitless tree, he tells the gardener to cut it down. But the gardener advocates for the tree, asks for another year to fertilize it and dig around it. Perhaps the tree got stuck in a sun-less spot. Perhaps the gardener failed to sufficiently water it. Perhaps the gardener forgot to prune it. The owner agrees. With intention and planning, if the tree still does not produce fruit a year later, then, the gardener will cut it down. The death of the fig tree won’t be unexpected, sudden, or unfair. After a year of opportunity to produce fruit, whatever happens is fair, gracious even.
Though tangled with his use of mixed metaphors, Jesus offers a vision of a God who extends grace, who does not operate unexpectedly, suddenly, shamefully, or dishonorably. God provides opportunity and space for growth, for fruit to emerge.
Lent brings opportunity and space for growth, for good fruit to emerge—for Lent is a season of repentance. That’s why we traditionally choose a practice during Lent, something to give up or something to add, that helps us grow and deepen our relationship with God, and by extension, our relationships with God’s people. There is so much in this life we cannot control, so much that is unfair, but God has given us the capacity to repent and produce fruit, regardless of our circumstances.
Remember our experience on the highway? Our desire to justify driving over the speed limit, to contest a speeding ticket, simply because someone else was driving faster? Jesus’ call to repentance means the unfair circumstances that complicate our lives don’t excuse our indifference and arrogance, greed and hard-heartedness, disregard for our neighbor and the earth.
For sure, Jesus’ words today are among his hardest. Genuine repentance is hard work. Repentance not couched in defense of our behaviors. Repentance despite wrongs done to us. Yet our God-given capacity for repentance is gift. If you want to know freedom, try repentance! When defending ourselves, when trying to wiggle our way out of a ticket, when lashing out because we have endured injustice, we feel bound. Bound by our pain, our ego, our pride. By contrast, repentance leads to life, to good fruit—but is one of those things we must first try in order to appreciate.
Years ago, I was called out by a member of the Grace community. She told me something about myself that I stalwartly denied, not just once but several times, something that hurt her. One day, she held my eye and told me again. This time, instead of internally defending myself, instead of justifying my behavior to her, instead of making excuses, instead of denying what was plainly true, I said, “You’re right, and I don’t know why I do that.” It was a hard minute followed by years of freedom, friends. Today, I’m an apologist for repentance. God has given us a capacity for repentance, not because God is cruel and unjust but because God is gracious and seeks abundant life for us.
On a day of difficult scripture, I pray the gospel is heard: A way of freedom, life, and good fruit, repentance is God’s gift to us. Perhaps with trepidation or reluctance, perhaps with joy and while laughing at ourselves, we can say: Thanks be to God! Amen.
Lent 2022
Join us for a mid-week Lenten meal at 5:30 pm in Hope Hall and worship at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary each Wednesday. We gather around the theme Change & Contemplation by singing Holden Evening Prayer, practicing contemplative prayer, and exploring how our ancestors in faith navigated change.
Wilbur
Wilbur is a glass pig you’ll see in our worship spaces who gratefully accepts noisy and quiet offerings that are then shared with some organizations dear to our hearts. October through December, these offerings will go to the Lutheran Disaster Response. This ministry shares God’s hope, healing and renewal with people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, they stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. Wilbur says THANK YOU!
PhLY!
Hey PhLYers! We will be having our first PhLY Lock-In on March 26-27 at Esperanza Lutheran. Esperanza is a short drive off of the I-10 and Ray Rd. We do ask that you please RSVP for this event so Esperanza can plan the food accordingly. Register early for extra credit points!
https://forms.gle/yKJ8bTWDktm9uvuq6
(PhLY stands for Phoenix area Lutheran Youth. PhLY is a collaborative high school ministry.)
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.
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.