St. Paul Lutheran Church
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TRAPPED NO MORE IN THE CORNER OF DEATH
1 Kings 17: 17-24; Luke 7: 11-17
By Pastor Mark E. Becker
Saint Paul Lutheran Church
Stillwater, Minnesota
June 6, 2010
Going south on Interstate 35, there is a sign that reads “Hope – next exit”. It always makes me feel like I want to get off right there. Actually the gospel message for today more likely would say “Hope – next entrance” for the Gospel of Jesus Christ gets us back on the road of life with a new HOPE, and a new way to look at life in which death does not have the final word.
A few years ago there was a rather strange little note in Newsweek magazine. It seems that there was a letter written from the Department of Social Services in Greenville County, South Carolina. The letter read: “Your food stamps will be stopped because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may re-apply if there is a change in your circumstances.” Now I don’t know much about the Greenville County Social Services - but I bet they really don’t expect a change of circumstances. DEAD IS DEAD – isn’t it?
And yet, today’s scripture readings are sign’s for us – as people of faith – that DEAD IS NOT DEAD - that God does not leave people trapped in the corner of death. In today’s readings we see the power of death shattering the lives of two widows. They have lost their only sons, to the power of death, and they are left hopeless, crushed, walled in by the power that, without God, is devastating.
Anyone who has lost a child knows how devastating this can be. Death always hurts, but when the loved one is young and especially when the loved one is a child, it is tragic and feels unfair.
Grief seems magnified as into the grave go hopes and dreams and a certain innocence.
A stubborn ache seems to persist when we think about what might have been and about the longing for the beloved child. I think there are a lot of people in this world who have this ache, and I know that some of you have felt it. Whether having suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth, whether having had trouble conceiving or bearing children, or whether having had a child die from a disease or an accident, there are some (if not many) who carry the burden of heartache from the loss of a child. In that grief you can feel trapped in death’s corner.
Therefore the lessons for today tell us that God knows this kind of pain, and we learn that in the cross of Jesus. God in Jesus has compassion for all who feel it. Jesus had compassion on the woman whose son had died. He went to her where she was, trapped in death’s corner, and He brought life and hope when she could not even ask for it herself. This, in itself, speaks of God’s initiative, which is part of the character of the grace of God. Here was a desolate woman in despair, a woman now very much alone - even as she was surrounded by a large crowd of townspeople.
In fact, in a patriarchal society, where women were dependent upon their fathers or their husbands, or even their sons, this meant more than emotional grief. The loss of a son was devastating, with emotional, social and economic consequence for a woman who was a widow.
Grief was magnified by the real threat of destitution. A widow would be alone in a world that would now give her little opportunity. She would be unconnected, with no emotional support and with no financial means because she had no son, and no husband.
The widow of Nain, it seems, was very trapped by death – as it was all she could feel and see at this point. But Luke wants us to see that Jesus is the power that brings life to people who are trapped in the corner of death. Today’s Gospel is powerful for today’s world.
Luke is very clear that he wants to show us that Jesus has the power of God over death, as did Elijah from the Old Testament reading. It is interesting to see how very similar, in fact, these two scripture readings for today are. You see, Luke is wanting his readers – who knew the story of Elijah – to perk up their ears and say, “Aha, Look! We know God acted in Elijah - So look, God’s life-giving power is in Jesus too.”
Notice the similarities of the stories: Not only are both women widows, but it is their only son who has died. The phrase “He gave him to his mother” is the same in both lessons, and the response to the miracle is also almost identical, showing that the power of God (as they understood it) is also at work in Jesus. Luke wants the reader to see that the power that is in Jesus is GOD’S power for life – especially when we feel backed into the corner of death.
This same message comes to you and me today, and it is my calling from God to help you to see that the Gospel of Luke witnesses to the presence of God in Jesus - for you.
The message to you is this: The compassion and the action of God in Jesus breaks through the powers of death to set you free just as it did the women in both stories.
Luke wants us to hear this, because – YOU AND I – can often feel trapped in the corner of death and that can be very uncomfortable and troubling in many ways. Author Albert Camus describes an invention of the Middle-ages called the Little Ease. There the guilty one was “forgotten for life”. In fact, every moment in that contraption reminded the condemned man that he was guilty. It was built so that it was not tall enough “to stand up ,nor was it wide enough to lie down”. Camus said, “One had to take on an awkward manner and live on the diagonal; sleep was a collapse and waking a squatting.... Every day the unchanging restriction that stiffened his body” told the condemned man “that he was guilty and that innocence consists in stretching joyously”. (Quoted in Creative Brooding by Robert Raines, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 1974, page 51
Can you imagine life lived in the “Little Ease”? In some ways, maybe you can. Maybe you know what it means to take on the “awkward manner of guilt and live on the diagonal.”
How many lives are, in fact, twisted because of the power of guilt that surround us in so many ways. Guilt is one of the powers of death at work every day. It is often true that some of us (all of the time) and many of us (much of the time) and all of us (some of the time) live hunched over and twisted, distorted and disfigured by our own guilt, twisted this way or that, unable to stand tall and free, unable to face God – or even see God – because of the guilt that we know is there. It bends us down in regret. Oh, sometimes we excuse it away by saying “Well, nobody’s perfect.” Sometimes we think “but at least I try” or “at least I go to church” or “at least I’m better than some people.” But still we feel trapped, trapped in the corner of death, with no way out, and with the wall of guilt always imposing and distorting our lives.
Sometimes then, guilt is magnified into shame from some experience that may or may not have been your fault. Shame is often the ceiling of the “little ease”, that can press on you from the past that keeps you from lifting up you head with joy and freedom in the present.
Guilt says: “I’ve done a bad thing, but shame says: “I am a bad thing” as both guilt and shame press you uncomfortably into the corner of death.
Guilt and shame then can lead to fear, fear of what people will say, or fear of the future, or fear of facing God which is another wall in this “little ease”. We then actually become afraid to stand tall because our past isn’t pure and our future seems unclear, and the fear of being unworthy give death power to close in on us and cut us off from God and others.
Trapped by the walls of death, we all can feel the despair of feeling alone and destitute, -even in a crowd - as did the widows in today’s reading.
Today Jesus comes to you and me in this Gospel of Luke to break into that corner of death so that we might have life in all of its abundance. Look, says Luke….there is a God who frees you from this power of death. Look, you are not trapped, just as this woman, the widow of Nain, was not trapped, when Jesus came into her life. Therefore stand tall and breathe deeply of the grace and forgiveness that Jesus brings you. Breathe deeply of the freedom from guilt and shame and fear. Breathe deeply of grace, because God has come to you in Jesus.
God does not abandon you in death’s corner – that is what the cross of Jesus is all about, and that is the mission of the Church to proclaim.
Now – along with the writer of the Gospel of Luke – I simply ask you to believe this good news and trust it by depending upon it for your life today. This kind of faith in God who is in Jesus will set you free from the powers of death, even as death seems to be having its way in this broken world. In Jesus there is always hope and new life in this very day.
Once Harry Houdini, the great escape artist, had trouble with one of his tricks. As part of his act he was tied up with ropes and chains and handcuffs and put in a jail cell. When the jailor closed the door and walked away, Houdini was supposed to escape. He quickly freed himself from the ropes, chains and handcuffs, and then began working on the cell lock. But the lock wouldn’t budge, and he couldn’t open it. Finally, frustrated and exhausted, he leaned against the door - and it swung open as he nearly feel into the corridor. The jailor had not turned the key to lock the door.
Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “I am the door,” the doorway that is open to life and freedom, , the doorway through the walls that would confine you in the corner of death.
What I am saying to you today, what the gospel of Luke is saying to you, is that you simply need to lean on that door. Lean on Jesus and his power for life, and life will open for you so that you can stretch and stand tall in the freedom of forgiveness.
JUST IMAGINE what life would be like each day if guilt and shame and fear could no longer have power over you. IMAGINE what life would be like if death and its powers no longer backed you into a corner.
Trust God in Jesus so that you can be free from those powers. No longer do you have to live on the diagonal; no longer do you have to live as one who is disfigured and twisted and misshapen by the confining walls of guilt and shame and fear. Simply trust that you – in fact – are now free from death’s power - because Jesus brings you that Good News today.
And I simply bring you that which I believe to be absolutely TRUE. AMEN
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD
By Pastor Mark E. Becker
Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Stillwater, Minnesota
Holy Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2010
On this Holy Trinity Sunday, the only Sunday in the Church year when we focus on a teaching of the Church rather than a teaching of Jesus, the only Sunday when we remind ourselves of the three personal ways that God has been revealed to us, we use this text from John 16, verse 13:
“WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL THE TRUTH….”
Does my sermon title sound a little….presumptuous to you this morning? Well, I meant it to be.
Now, it might sound rather appealing to some to finally hear ALL you need to know about God.
It might, in fact, be what some who are preaching today, try to say on this Holy Trinity Sunday.
Honestly, the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity can sometimes actually sound presumptuous.
HERE is all you need to know: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ALL you need to know about God.
Well, in keeping with the triune theme, I do have three main points today, and my first point is this: Let the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity speak to you about God to help you understand how God relates to you. BUT DON’T USE THIS DOCTRINE TO LIMIT WHAT YOU CAN KNOW ABOUT GOD. Understand that the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, that God is ONE God, known in three
personal ways, is meant to bear truth, but is not meant to be ALL the truth, or the final truth about God. It is NOT ALL THERE IS TO KNOW.
You see, God is so much bigger, so much greater than the human mind can fathom.
God truly is AWESOME, and when I use that word, I mean God is beyond human understanding.
God is more than can be defined by the verbal symbols of human language, symbols that do lead us to refer to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But we need to remember that there is much more. The knowledge of God that is given to us in the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a gift to us, a gift of love, a gift meant to reveal the personal nature of God, a gift that is meant to nurture the relationship that God wants to establish with us. It is a gift with much to offer, but once it is opened, this gift is meant to remain open and to be used to lead us into an even deeper knowledge of God. The Gospel today tells us that Jesus’ promise to us is that “the Spirit will lead us into all the truth.”
With this verse from John’s Gospel, we know that we cannot just wrap God up into a neat package, call it the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and say: “THERE, THAT IS ALL WE NEED TO KNOW.” I’m reminded of the story of a man who wanted to send his widowed mother a special gift, a gift that would somehow help her with her feelings of loneliness, a gift that would give her some companionship. So, the man went into a pet store and looked around. The salesperson met him and thought he had just the right gift for her – a talking bird. The bird, he said, would be a very good companion and it would be good for her faith because it could say the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, and John 3: 16. Now you have to admit – this was a special bird…and it had a special price….It would cost him $3000. The man flinched, but he decided “if it would help his mother, he would get it.” He asked the pet store to deliver the bird.
Later in the week he called and asked how she liked the bird. “Oh”, she said, “it was delicious.”
To say that the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD is like silencing the bird by eating it. It is missing the message. It is like swallowing the Doctrine whole without listening to what it really is saying about the ways that God can relate and communicate with you.
Now it is true that, by swallowing the doctrine whole, there is still some nourishment. But the gift of the Holy Trinity is not meant to be a closed book, or a wrapped package, or a fast-food answer to the meaning or mystery of God. Rather, the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is really only THE BEGINNING of the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, a beginning that will find fulfillment in heaven where we will know God as fully as God now knows us. (as 1 Corinthians 13 teaches). So my first point: Let the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity speak to you about the mysterious nature of God – but don’t use it to limit the awesome nature of God that is far more than Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
My second point is this: Though this doctrine shouldn’t limit our understanding of God, GOD STILL HAS SHOWN HIMSELF IN THESE THREE PERSONAL WAYS. The Holy Trinity IS about the persistence of God’s self-revelation. God has revealed… God has shown the Divine personhood to us, and that is really amazing. Please hear this clearly: our Biblical faith leads us to believe that what we know about God is from God – it is Divine Revelation and not human perception.
Yet, because of the inadequacy of human language and understanding, we have to remember that God HAS A COMMUNICATION PROBLEM. Consider how we all have slightly different mental pictures when we speak the word “GOD”? Did you ever think of how words and meanings and perceptions differ from person to person? Often I think that - Well, I know who God is – this is my picture, my image –and when you speak of God, that must be what you picture also. But words and symbols and language are not always that clear, and common meanings aren’t always shared. When I say the word, “Father” for example, I think of one who is kind and gentle. Yet I know that there are some of you who hear the word “Father” and you think of one who is frightening – or angry – or mean – or absent. So, can you see God’s communication problem?
The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity really is about God revealing the very mystery of God.
It is about God sharing Himself and showing Himself to us in the best ways that He can, given our broken, imprecise human language. But words don’t always capture the nature of God and sometimes words even confuse the truth about God Himself. For example, I feel discomfort even as I say “Himself” because I know that God is not a male. God is neither male nor female. And yet, how DO we communicate the very PERSONAL nature of God -without such a pronoun?
The word “God’s self” seems really inadequate to me and doesn’t communicate that personal nature of God quite as well. And it might be good to say “Herself” sometimes, but many would really not hear me well if I did that too often. So, you see, God struggles with an imperfect language to help us to know HIM (or HER if you prefer). God struggles, and really, we struggle (in the poverty of our language) to understand that God loves us deeply and personally –like a wonderful, loving parent. God does have a communication problem – as do we. But it is not a problem that will stop God from trying. In fact the Bible is full of God’s effort to get through to us. When you want to communicate – you find a way!
Denny Dey told me a wonderful story that he gave me permission to use. When he and his wife, Nancy, were traveling in China in 1985, they were on a crowded bus with standing room only. In the midst of this bus packed with people, all of whom were Chinese except for Nancy and Denny, there was an elderly gentleman near them who (seeing them) began to hum “God Bless America.” Can you hear what this gentle soul was trying to do? I think it is really poignant and touching, as there was a heartfelt communication between them.
Though neither spoke the other’s language, the older man had found a way to let them know that he was befriending them – in a way they could understand. This is exactly what God has done in the Bible, leading us to know and understand enough about God that we might have a relationship with Him (or Her if you prefer) Therefore, my SECOND POINT is this: Though the doctrine of the Holy Trinity shouldn’t limit our understanding of God, God still has revealed God’s nature and relationship to us IN THESE THREE PERSONAL WAYS.
My third and final point is this: (And here is where voice inflection IS really important.)
All you NEED to know about God BEGINS with Jesus Christ.
God’s struggle to be known and to communicate went beyond nouns and verbs and adjectives and adverbs when the WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US. In every other religion in this world, we see some ability to perceive the divine reality. That I think says something about the meaning of being created in God’s image. To be created in God’s image is to be made in such a way that we can relate spiritually with a sense of the One who is greater than we, a higher power (if you will).
Every culture that ever existed has had some form of religion. However, in every religion that isn’t Christianity, the Word remained word. It stayed on page in the form of nouns and verbs and adjectives and adverbs. In many religions in the world, the Word took the shape of law and demand, by which people judge others and condemn. In many religions the Word of God is only heard as a moral demand or as wrath visited upon those who veer from the narrow path
In all other religions, God has remained aloof and distant. But in Christ, God has come near. God has come down to earth (literally) as the Word became Flesh and spoke with a presence that is beyond nouns and verbs. Therefore, all you really NEED to know about God – begins with Jesus Christ.
Please know that I am not trying to diminish the place of other religions. I believe that God has been revealed in other religions. But Jesus Christ is the culmination and the greatest revelation of all that has been previously revealed. Therefore, when we talk about the Holy Trinity in the Lutheran Church, we start not with the Father, but with the Son. We start with the greatest revelation of God that the world has known. I think of a little video I once saw. A boy has an ant farm and watches the ants everyday. But of course the ants know nothing of the boy’s presence. He want to let them know he is there, and he is frustrated by their inability to detect him. In fact, the ants, the insects, are as incapable of understanding the reality of the boy as we are incapable of understanding the reality of God. So – the story goes – the boy, in order to be known by his ants, decides to become one with them. He becomes an ant. He enters the ant farm and the society of the ants. But he is rather disruptive to the powers that be in the ant farm, and in fact, the ants-in-charge become rather upset with him and kill him, especially when he has the audacity to say that there is a boy out there who is really the one in charge of it all. Having died in the society of ants, the boy re-emerges as the boy. But the ant farm is never the same as (into the future), ant tells ant that there is a boy our there who is really in charge and caring for them? Can you see the connection?
As the boy became an ant in the metaphor, God has become one of us. God found a way to communicate in spite of the difficulty. God found a way by becoming a human being who would share and experience with us all that it means to be human so that we could experience one day the fulfillment of all that it means to be holy. Jesus really is ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD.
Consider how -when we look to Jesus to truly see God, He shows us a personal, compassionate, merciful, involved, father-like and mother-like God, a God who knows what it means to get hurt and angry and lonely and sorrowful. In Jesus we see one who is passionately dedicated and in love with people like you and me. Therefore, since Jesus is all you need to know about God, if you want to know God, look to Jesus. Look to his willingness to suffer for us, and you will know God. Look to his witness to forgiveness and to his concern for “the least of these” and to his sense of justice for the lowly – look to Jesus and his ways, and you will know God.
Look to his witness to the way to pray in the Lord’s Prayer and you will know God. Look to his ways to live in the beatitudes and in the fruits of the spirit – the ways of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and generosity, and you will know God. Look to Jesus and you will know God and the ways of God for you.
The Holy Trinity wasn’t a doctrine that was meant to die on the page. But it is a place to start to get to know God in a personal way. As mysterious as God is, as mysterious as this doctrine can seem, it is a place to start. But whatever you do, start with Jesus who really is All YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD
AMEN
THE FRAGRANCE OF HOPE
John 12: 1-8
by Pastor Mark E. Becker
Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Stillwater, Minnesota
March 21, 2010
From verse 3 of John 12, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
I want you to think today about the meaning of fragrance that filled the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Just days before, the text makes a point of saying that Lazarus had been dead for four days and so “there was a stench,” it reads. (The King James says “he stinketh”.)
Now, with Lazarus raised from the dead by Jesus, the Gospel of John (speaking again of aroma) says, Now, “the house was filled with the fragrance of (sister Mary’s) perfume.”
There is meaning in that. My bet is that this it isn’t just coincidental. The text moves from the STENCH OF DEATH TO THE FRAGRANCE OF HOPE. And the Gospel of John wants also to move you - FROM THE STENCH OF DEATH TO THE FRAGRANCE OF HOPE IN the love of Jesus Christ.
Fragrance is often rich with meaning, isn’t it? You can walk into a room – a schoolroom (say) or a drug store from your youth – and a whole flood of memories and feelings will transport you back to another day. When I was a child in Charles City, Iowa, there was a little drug store on Main Street named Legal Drug – (interesting name, I know, but it was really named after John Legal). As a kid, I would occasionally visit this old store filled with all kinds of smells. From the candy counter where I would buy rock candy or hoar hound drops – to the apothecary counter in the back of the store with its medicinal smells, this was an INTRIGUING PLACE. Now, what is really amazing to me is that this whole store – with all of its equipment – with every counter, with the wooden floor and the displays and the old-fashioned ceiling fans –this whole store has been taken apart and reassembled in the county museum, exactly as I remember it from my childhood. Several years ago, I went into the museum – into the Legal Drug display – and I tell you - I could have been blindfolded and I would have known exactly where I was. One deep breath, and I had the urge for some rock candy – and some hoar hound drops . THERE IS POWER IN AROMA.
Realtors will tell you to bake bread just before you show your house. Why? Because is smells like home. It touches the heart and speaks of the feelings of loving and being loved.
It is a fragrance of hope.
You start a bag of popcorn popping in the microwave, and it is one of the easiest ways to gather kids. You bake some brownies or chocolate chip cookies – and pretty soon there are hopeful eyes peering around the corner, anxious to sample the goods. It is a fragrance of hope.
THERE IS POWER IN AROMA. Fragrance sends a message, and the message can either be bad news or good news. As when Lazarus died, the message can be one of death: a rotting mouse in the wall, or the packaging around the chicken – two days in the garbage – or the smell of sauerkraut or lutefisk on the day after – and the smell can be bad news. In the market places of life, millions of dollars are made by products designed to COVER bad news.
From underarm deodorant, to odor eaters for shoes, to mouthwash, to breath mints, to bathroom deodorizers, to scented candles, or car fresheners, or perfumed cleaning supplies, there are tons of products marketed each day to cover or camouflage the very real and present bad news smells. But, the bad news of this world cannot just be covered. It must be cleaned up. Something must be done to allow the good news to overtake the bad.
Just as a stale, locked-up room is bad news – the fresh spring air from an open window can be good news to replace the bad; Just as a dirty diaper is bad news – the smell of baby powder (and even Desitin) is good news that replaces the bad; just as the smell of a doctors office or dentist’s office can feel like bad news or potential bad news, the smell of your own home – or your own room as you return home– can mean very good news. THERE IS POWER IN AROMA.
The fragrance of Mary’s perfume filled the house. And do you know what it said? Her brother Lazarus had just been raised form the dead, and here was the One before her now who had destroyed the power of death’s stench. That’s what it says in this Gospel. Now her whole world was different. The stench of death was replaced with the fragrance of hope, and it is Jesus who does this.
Consider what the perfume meant as Mary applied it to Jesus feet. It was expensive perfume – roughly equivalent to a year’s salary for Mary. To Judas, it meant a reason to complain because he could not or would not let himself see the possibility of hope, - and there are people just like that in today’s world. Maybe you know someone like that. But to Mary this was a way to express the hope she felt in her heart and she could do no other.
But there is more. Usually a traveler, a visitor was given a bowl and allowed to wash his own feet. If another were to wash the feet of a visitor, that one would have been a servant, and so Mary is putting herself in the role of one who wants to serve the Lord with all she has.
Notice that the fragrance of her expensive perfume says that, for her, Jesus is one who is worthy of her unbridled gratitude. He is the one to whom she willingly gives herself with joy, because in Him, she finds the hope of life itself. This, I think, is why John tells us this story. She is letting everyone know that Jesus changed her world with life and love, and she wants to share that love not only with him, but with all who enter the room and smell the fragrance, which now includes you and me.
Here we have a great example of the true meaning of EVANGELISM, that is, of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. If you know that Jesus loves you – if your know and believe that you are forgiven and made new every morning – if you know that the world is different – fundamentally different – MORE PEACEFUL, MORE HOPEFUL - if you know that Jesus brings a second chance (and more) to you and to EVERY human being – if you know that Jesus brings meaning to a mundane world and a future that goes beyond death – THEN YOU WANT TO SHARE IT – and that is what evangelism is really all about. Evangelism is the JOY OF BRINGING THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST INTO A WORLD THAT “STINKETH”.
One of my absolute favorite Bible verses about evangelism is the second reading for today – from 2 Corinthians 2: 14-15: (Listen) “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.” “For we are the AROMA of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Isn’t that wonderful?! A verse later it says that we are not to be like peddlers of God’s Word. In other words, when it comes to sharing the faith in Jesus Christ, we aren’t salespeople. I always cringe a little when someone says, O - you preachers are just sales people and your product is Jesus. We aren’t salespeople for Jesus. None of us is. We are rather like an AROMA for Christ, as Paul says, a fragrance, a breath of fresh air in a world that stinketh. That I like! That is something more subtle and respectful than trying to be someone who thinks you have to change everyone you meet with words that coerce. Rather we are to be grace-filled people who give off the fragrance of the Hope that Jesus brings.
To be that fragrance of hope is depicted in this story called “The Last Day of School”
by Roy Exum. (Story reprinted with some revision from the Chattanooga.com, posted December 17, 2008)
Jean Thompson stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the very first day of school in the fall and told her students a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her pupils and said that she loved them all the same, that she would treat them all alike. And that was impossible because there in front of her, slumped in his seat in the third row, was a boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn’t play well with the other children, that his clothes were unkempt, and that he constantly needed a bath.
And Teddy WAS unpleasant. It got to the point during the first few months that she would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then marking the F at the top of the paper – biggest of all.
Because Teddy was a sullen little boy no one else seemed too like him either. But at the school where Mrs. Thomson taught, she was required to review each child’s records at some point during the year, and she had put Teddy’s off until last. When she opened his file, she was in for a surprise. His first-grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright, inquisitive child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners…he is a joy to be around.” His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.” His third grade teacher wrote, “Teddy continues to work hard but his mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.” Teddy’s fourth-grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and sometimes he sleeps in class. He is tardy and could become a real problem.” By now Mrs. Thompson realized what had been happening with Teddy, but it was such a busy time of year with so many things happening before the Christmas holiday that she really didn’t have much time to focus on Teddy again until the day before the school break began. Her students brought her presents, all wrapped in beautiful bright paper, all that is except for Teddy’s. His was poorly wrapped in the paper from a brown paper grocery bag.
Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some stones missing, and a half-filled bottle of perfume. She stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume behind the other wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed behind that afternoon, just long enough to say: “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to.”
After all the children left, Jean Thompson sat down and, as the fragrance brought to mind a vulnerable little boy who was sharing the long-lost hope for the love of his mother, she began to cry. On that day, she made a resolution to pay better attention to the lives of the children she taught, and especially…Teddy. As she worked with him, (though she didn’t always feel like it) his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded.
On days when there was supposed to be an important test, Mrs. Thompson would remember to wear that perfume. By the end of the year he had become the “pet” of the teacher who had once vowed to love all of her children exactly the same.
One year later, Mrs. Thompson found a note under her door, a note from Teddy, telling her that of all the teachers he’d had in elementary school, she was his favorite. Six years went by and she got another note. He then wrote that he had finished high school and was third in his class, and she was still his favorite teacher. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, and would now graduate from college with highest honors. Then four more years passes and yet another letter came.
This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go further.
The letter explained that she was still his favorite teacher and he signed it Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story doesn’t end there, however, as there was yet another letter. Teddy said he had met this girl and was to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering…if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the pew usually reserved for the mother of the groom. The author finished the story. “I bet on that special day, Jean Thompson smelled just like…she smelled many years before, on that last day of school, before the Christmas holiday began.
THERE IS POWER IN FRAGRANCE when we somehow dare to become the fragrance of hope…the fragrance of Jesus Christ for the sake of another. Jesus does transport us from the STENCH of DEATH to the FRAGRANCE OF HOPE, and it is our joy and delight to MAKE THAT FRAGRANCE FILL THE ROOM - AND OUR WORLD. AMEN
IS YOUR FOUNDATION IN LIFE SHAKING….OR SECURE?
Acts 16: 16 – 34
By Pastor Mark E. Becker
Saint Paul Lutheran Church
Stillwater, Minnesota
May 16, 2010
The story of Paul and Silas in jail has been a favorite of mine since childhood.
I remember the dramatization that I had on a little 45 rpm record. I would play it again and again. The climax of the whole story comes in the middle – in verse 26 – when it says “suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.”
Let’s do a little Bible study together on this.
Now to a young kid growing up in small Iowa town, this story was very exciting.
I’m serious. When I was a young child, our family didn’t have a TV set – and when we finally got one it’s use was very limited. I was forbidden, for example, from watching the Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock and Ed Sullivan when Elvis or the Beatles appeared –
and so the dramatization of this story of Paul and Silas on that record was really quite exciting. But, you know what, I treasure that, for listening to a story and using the imagination to picture the scene in your mind’s eye is always more powerful than when the story is visually portrayed. It was wonderful to hear on that record the power of the earthquake, when all of the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened, The sound effects were effective.
I could picture the scene in my mind’s eye, and I was transported to a world that deserved my attention. There in that story is where I found freedom in an unlikely place.
I think, in fact, that this is one of the things that actually began to turn me on to the freeing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the ways in which the Gospel shakes the foundations of this BROKEN WORLD.
A Gospel that shakes the foundations is worth another look, and when we look again at this marvelous, rich, multi-dimensional story, we see the foundations shaking at every point.
First – there is this slave girl. She has a demon – an evil spirit. (verse 16) What that amounts to,
I don’t really know. Maybe its mental illness, maybe a spirit of compulsivity (which truly can be enslaving), or maybe it’s something we just don’t understand.
However, we do know this: she was being used as a fortune-teller (with a spirit of divination) and she made a lot of money for her owners. She was an oddity, but maybe (in a strange sort of way) she found comfort in her station in life. In this position, she knew her value and her self-worth, which was affirmed by her side-show appeal.
Yet, something struck a chord that day, as Paul and Silas walked by. Something drew her out and away from her service as a slave. Something in her – call it a demon perhaps – perhaps the spirit of divination -could not resist the power in the gospel as she saw and heard these men. Over and over – perhaps compulsively for many days (verse 18) she said – “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” These men are slaves of the Most High God……..These men are slaves of the Most High God.” Call it a demon……….perhaps it was……..a demon with insight.
Now, even things that are true can be annoying when said in such a way that the truth is distorted or when the way of saying it – lacks congruity.
A television preacher, for example, yelling about the love of God probably isn’t communicating love by the way he preaches. Or a radio preacher or fundamentalist friend who tells you how bad and sinful the world is can really sound like he or she doesn’t care about the world at all. Sometimes I get the feeling like I just want to tell them to be quiet – put a lid on it – zip it up.
And that is just what Paul did. It says in verse 18, “Paul was very much annoyed.” I get a kick out of that for some reason._ It actually says, “Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her……….. And it came out…”
Right there, you see, - the foundations shook for that slave girl. Things changed. The foundations of her life and all that she was about – all that tormented her and made her as she was – let go of its power over her, and life was never the same from that point on. Whether she knew it then -or not, whether she realized it completely - or not, there was a New Freedom for her that came through the power of Jesus. Her foundations were shaken by the Gospel, and it was a good thing. Think of how that works in our world today.
For example, when you try to shake the foundation of someone addicted to drugs or alcohol or gambling, it is not a comfortable time for them nor for you. But there is freedom that can come when those foundations shake, even if the person does not feel very secure with the idea.
He or she might fuss and stew and deny they have a problem. They might even get angry and yell and reject you because it is a frightening thing to emerge out of that slavery.
It feels like very insecure and unfamiliar ground.
Or try shaking the foundation of someone cheating on a spouse. You might want to remind them of their vows or of the harm they are doing to their marriage or to their children.
But, you can imagine what you’d hear. “Mind your own business. Get lost, it’s a different world, you prude. Go away.” They resist with indignation because they are comfortable in their slavery to infatuation.
Similarly – can’t you imagine how the first reaction of this slave girl might have been fear for now she would have to figure out who she was - apart from her security as a slave.
Even more-so, the foundations of the girl’s owners were shaken. They were furious.
Paul and Silas had taken away their hope of making money on this girl. So they seized them and they had them beaten and thrown in prison.
Now, notice that even the crowd somehow had their foundation shaken by this
because it says (in verse 22) that they too joined in attacking Paul and Silas.
Here’s a sobering thought.
Are we ever like the crowd? Are we ever afraid of the shaking of the foundations of our world, a world that tends to favor the powerful, the movers and shakers who use people to make money. Maybe the crowd rather enjoyed this fortune teller and the success of her masters.…..and maybe we rather like it – when American business uses 3rd world workers to import cheap clothing – made by women and children working for next to nothing.
In the bigger picture of things, might it be a good thing to shake some of the unjust foundations of this world? I confess though that I’m more comfortable when Wall Street is doing well and when my pension funds are secure. But might it be possible that God can be at work, even as foundations shake and the scales of justice find a new balance? Sometimes, though, it gets you in trouble when you ask the wrong questions (like maybe now).
It certainly got Paul and Silas in trouble! In verses 22-24, they were beaten and thrown in jail, and their feet were held in stocks. But notice – their spirits were not in chains. Their spirits were free. Paul, whose foundation was shaken to the core on the road to Emmaus – was now singing hymns with his buddy, Silas (verse 25), and they were praying and secure in the Lord.
This is a good witness for us whenever our foundations are all shaking, for whatever reason. The only foundation that cannot get shaken (you see) is the solid rock of Jesus Christ – and that is the foundation that will endure forever.
There are many foundations shaking today, aren’t there? Life somehow feels less secure.
It seems that every week, there is something. Terrorism or its threat (the latest of which was ineffective in Times Square) is still unnerving; the BP oil environmental catastrophe is unsettling; the volcanic ash that threatens airways and therefore the economy; the world-wide economic crisis beginning with Greece and the euro; our own Wall Street instability with a 1000 point dip and hesitant recoveries; war in Iraq and Afghanistan and tense relations with Iran; riots in Bangkok; and the list goes on and on as we feel the foundations of our world shake.
The witness of Paul and Silas is important for us here, and is a good of an example of a non-anxious response . Even in the deepest, darkest cell in jail, wounded by flogging and fastened in stocks, Paul and Silas are praying and singing and standing on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
In my reflection on this witness, I thought of that little girl I mentioned in the children’s message, singing “Jesus Loves Me” to get herself through the darkness of her fear in the MRI.
And I thought of Kathryn Koob, one of the Americans held hostage in 1979, who is a Lutheran and a graduate of my college, Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa.
I have a clear memory of Kathryn’s witness as the Iranians allowed some of the hostages to bring a video message at Christmas time. It had been a very difficult time of endurance for the American people and for the hostages. However, Kathryn used the opportunity to show the world her foundation that could not be shaken, as she sang –for the world to hear – the third verse of “Away in The Manger” In her captivity, there was a freedom of spirit, and the next Sunday in church we all stood and sang that verse and felt unity with her in the freedom and power of the Gospel. She stood on the solid rock.
I think also of Ben Larson, the young Wartburg Seminary student who died in the recent earthquake in Haiti. His wife and cousin survived and the last thing they heard from Ben was that he was singing hymns trapped beneath tons of concrete at the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys.
As he died, Ben was singing “God’s peace to us, we pray,” and with that, he was on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ as other foundations crumbled about him, taking the breath of life from him.
Each story speaks of the solid ROCK of faith in Jesus Christ even though all else seems insecure.
Such was the witness of Paul and Silas. As they sang hymns, the text (in verse 26) says, “there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken…and this is the good part. “And immediately,” it says, “all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains unfastened.” FREEDOM EVERYONE! FREEDOM !! The Gospel of Jesus Christ means Freedom,
even as the foundations of this vulnerable and temporary world shake, and Paul and Silas were so secure in their freedom that they didn’t even try to run away.
Notice now, the jailor (in verse 27)– who was likely a Roman soldier –heard the commotion – saw the doors wide open – and assumed the prisoners were all gone. To him, whose job was to imprison and maintain the social order, this was not good news. In the Roman army, this was a failure of duty and was reason enough to commit the final desperate act of suicide.
But Paul and Silas - from their freedom of the Gospel to the slavery of his spirit, call out,
“Look, its OK” they say. “We’re still here.” Yes – life is not what it used to be. Yes – the old system is crumbling. Yes – the security found in that system crumbles with it.
But that means hope - and not despair .
In an imperfect world, change is not to be feared! About a month ago, Judy and I saw the remains of the Berlin Wall, and on the portion that remains (called the East Side Gallery) there was written this phrase: “He who wants the world to remain as it is, doesn’t want it to remain at all.” As I wrote in my Parish Visitor article, both with the world and with the church, change is often the way life is. Some things might need to crumble before God creates a new thing. Change and foundations that crumble do not need to bring fear.
Hear this O People of God – if you have found security in the ways of the world that too often seem to crumble….then hear the Gospel that is the only foundation upon which there is ultimate security. Hear the Gospel and with the jailor (in verse 30 ) ask: Now “what must I do to be saved?” That really is the big question – the one that we finally get around to in life. “What must I do to be saved?!!
But then hear Paul’s words: I simply say them to you again today (from verse 31):
”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” That’s what you can do.
Believe and trust in Jesus and you will be saved by the love of God that endures forever. AMEN
