First Congregational Church
July 17, 2022
6th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 10:38-42
“Freedom for Rather than Freedom From”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

There is a man selling plane rides in his single prop show plane for $10 a person at the state fair. Sven looks to Martha and says, "Martha, I think I really should try that." Martha replies, "I know you want to Sven, but we have a lot of bills, and you know the money is tight, and $10 is $10." So Sven goes without.

Over the next few years they return, and it’s the same thing, Sven wants to ride, but Martha says no money. Finally, when Sven and Martha are both about 70 years old, Sven looks at Martha, and says, "Martha, I'm 70 now, and I don't know if I'll ever get the chance again, so I just have to have a ride in that there airplane." Martha replies in the same old fashion, and Sven just slumps down.

The pilot is standing near by and overhears the conversation. He pipes up, "Excuse me, folks, I couldn't help but hear your situation, and I have a deal for you. I'll take both of you up together, and if you can both make the entire trip without saying a word, or even making the slightest sound, I'll give you the ride for free. But if either of you makes a sound, it's $10 each."

Martha and Sven look at each other and agree to take the ride. The pilot takes them up, and starts to do loop de loops, twists, dives, climbs, and spins. No sound. The pilot lands the plane, looks back at Sven, and says, "Sir, I have to hand it to ya, you didn't make even the slightest sound and that was my best stuff." Sven looks back at the pilot and says, "Well, I was gonna say something when Martha fell out, but $10 is $10…"

John 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Thank you, Sonia. I don’t know about anyone else, but in regard to this relatively famous passage, I have questions. Why didn’t Jesus urge Mary to help Martha to get the necessary work done quickly, and then they both could sit down at Jesus’ feet? Everyone had to eat, regardless. Wishful thinking has Jesus telling everyone - men included - to help with supper after his teaching is done. Isn’t it interesting that this story seems to pit two sisters against each other while Jesus was mainly about bringing everyone into the circle?

Isn’t it intriguing that this is about the sisters of Lazarus, but he doesn’t even get a nod? And isn’t it interesting that this story messes with the “Protestant” work ethic that has been revered by so many? It certainly messes with gender-specific roles for women and men - Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet being a role traditionally held by males. And yet, some feminists are also disturbed at this passage because Martha is rebuked for her sharp tongue while Mary is praised for kneeling down at a man’s feet and keeping her mouth shut. It’s almost as if there’s no “win” to embracing this scene.

As mentioned last week, scriptures are intended to draw us in, even to the point of making us so uncomfortable, that we can’t help but discuss the issue with someone else. I don’t recall who said it, but someone in my research suggested that if you are not disturbed by this event, you’re probably not paying attention. Jesus wanted to get people to look at life differently, and sometimes, the only way to get out of old ways of thinking to begin new perspectives of the kingdom was/is to shock them.

Being such cultured 21st-century people of faith, we may miss the fact that this is a story - from the Bible - about two women - with names - who aren’t merely in the background, but front and center. Even after repeated readings of the passage, we might miss that mention of the house being Martha’s house - not a man’s house, but her house. The mention of her name and that house also indicates that she was the head of her household - without any apologies or explanations. In many respects, Martha is a gracious host to an important guest in her home, breaking the rules and the mold with a well-intentioned if not well-appointed table. Not what first century people would expect at all.

In her own quiet way, Mary displays her rule-breaking by sitting at Jesus’ feet - a place where women were absolutely not allowed to be. But she does it anyway. In different ways, the sisters are cultural rebels - Martha running her own home and Mary taking the disciple’s seat.

There’s one word that has been the steering wheel of this scenario for a long time - the word “but.” But Martha. You can almost hear the tsking. To compound that practice, Jesus scolds Martha with a back-handed compliment to Mary - she who has chosen what is better. All that said, there are two thoughts about this passage that may not get much press, but I do think they are important pieces for our spiritual lives.

The first thought is that we need to take a step back to remember the passage that comes right before this - the one about the Good Samaritan. When the writer of Luke was putting all the pieces together, deciding which story goes where, what passage follows the other, that person was deliberate in pasting the Samaritan story before the Mary and Martha story.

The Good Samaritan story is one of need, ignored by the religious leaders caught up in holy concerns - legitimately or illegitimately. The wounded man needed help because the leaders’ thoughts weren’t enough. So the Good Samaritan goes into Martha mode and actually does something.

It’s obvious that Martha is trying to “do” something, but so is Mary - by sitting and listening to what Jesus has to say. And being hospitable isn’t only about food and beverage, but also about attention and listening.

So rather than taking sides with one or the other sister, we do better by remembering that there is a balance to be found between the sisters, despite how any of us are wired.

We need time to reflect, to sit at Christ’s feet, to contemplate the Holy because sometimes the contemplative practice modeled by Mary leads to action and gives clarity to what we are called to do next. Perhaps in contemplation, Martha would be able to recognize that the issue wasn’t so much with her sister, but with her own feelings. The more precise point is not what has to be done, but what her “doing” is doing to her, and how it’s discombobulating her.  

Jesus’ criticism isn’t about Martha, but her distractedness. The Greek translation of that word, distracted, suggests being jerked around or pulled in different directions, and who among us hasn’t felt that way from time to time? When the dust settles, and we’ve had a bit of rest for reflection, we can see that all the directions or pulling weren’t so much the issue as the inability to better focus on what needs to be done first, then second and so on.

We can easily get lost in the debate of whether service or study is better, but really, we need both. We need to pay bills, run errands, and buy and sort groceries, check through the fishing lures. When those needs get pushed together and cause us to feel stretched out of shape, that’s when we start to feel out of control. The balance is not Freedom from distractions, but finding the freedom for service and contemplation. William Willimon put it so well. “There’s no Sunday morning worship without Wednesday night choir practice.”

The second thought about this passage is a little different, and comes from a delightful pastor, Rev. Bri Desotell, who has a blog called “Grace with a Side of Ducks.” Her point is that this isn’t a story about whose way is better – but about who is welcome, in the household of God, and who is welcome at the table of Christ. Rev. Karoline Lewis asked the point as a question. “What if this story has nothing to do with who is better and everything to do with who matters?”

In full human nature, it is easy to tear someone down, criticize each other, and undermine one another in attempt to feel better about ourselves. Which circles back to the contemplation idea, of examining motivations for our behaviors.

But if we take another track, noticing that Jesus didn’t shoo either woman away, we get that even though families can be hard, even though the family of God can be hard, Jesus welcomes everyone to the table and that everyone has a role to play, even if those roles need to be played at different times.

To be sure, it’s a big, messy, beautiful table of Christ. And we will, by definition of human nature, sometimes forget the table and check worthiness cards at the doors - subjectively speaking. At times we forget about loving one another with the same generous and gracious spirit of our rabbi, who refuses to send anyone away.

And thank heavens for forgiveness and mercy and second chances - at least with God. With people, we’re not always so successful. But with God, there is always hospitality and compassion.

In a time when it seems there is so much division, when people who are afraid of losing their power - use their power to make us fear one another, we all need reminding that we all are welcome as we gather. Should the time be as carefree as when we were children, we need reminding that what seems to divide us is not reality, because we are all made in Christ’s image, so no one is more welcome than another.

When we are hearing so many differing messages from so many sources, we need this gathering that joins with all the other gatherings around the world, to know that we have a place, not because of what we look like or what we’ve done or where we’ve been, but because of God’s grace. We don’t have freedom from one thing for another, but freedom for balance in serving God’s people out of the overflowing gratitude to be included at such a precious and prestigious table. Which is a perfect table at which to pray.

Holy God, Three in One, we are grateful that our world needs Marys and Marthas and Bobs and Barneys and all those you created from the twinkle in your eye. When we forget such essential truth, forgive us and inspire us to rise above our failings. Thank you for giving us purpose - to offer hospitality and compassion, to work with dedication and persistence and to return to the well of grace, to drink deeply from the teachings and example of our Lord and our Savior – and then to return to the world, to offer hospitality and compassion all over again as all your people say, Amen.

First Congregational Church
July 10, 2022
5th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 10:25-37
“Why Is It Always So Difficult?”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

There is a man selling plane rides in his single prop show plane for $10 a person at the state fair. Sven looks to Martha and says, "Martha, I think I really should try that." Martha replies, "I know you want to Sven, but we have a lot of bills, and you know the money is tight, and $10 is $10." So Sven goes without.

Over the next few years they return, and it’s the same thing, Sven wants to ride, but Martha says no money. Finally, when Sven and Martha are both about 70 years old, Sven looks at Martha, and says, "Martha, I'm 70 now, and I don't know if I'll ever get the chance again, so I just have to have a ride in that there airplane." Martha replies in the same old fashion, and Sven just slumps down.

The pilot is standing near by and overhears the conversation. He pipes up, "Excuse me, folks, I couldn't help but hear your situation, and I have a deal for you. I'll take both of you up together, and if you can both make the entire trip without saying a word, or even making the slightest sound, I'll give you the ride for free. But if either of you makes a sound, it's $10 each."

Martha and Sven look at each other and agree to take the ride. The pilot takes them up, and starts to do loop de loops, twists, dives, climbs, and spins. No sound. The pilot lands the plane, looks back at Sven, and says, "Sir, I have to hand it to ya, you didn't make even the slightest sound and that was my best stuff." Sven looks back at the pilot and says, "Well, I was gonna say something when Martha fell out, but $10 is $10…"

John 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Thank you, Sonia. I don’t know about anyone else, but in regard to this relatively famous passage, I have questions. Why didn’t Jesus urge Mary to help Martha to get the necessary work done quickly, and then they both could sit down at Jesus’ feet? Everyone had to eat, regardless. Wishful thinking has Jesus telling everyone - men included - to help with supper after his teaching is done. Isn’t it interesting that this story seems to pit two sisters against each other while Jesus was mainly about bringing everyone into the circle?

Isn’t it intriguing that this is about the sisters of Lazarus, but he doesn’t even get a nod? And isn’t it interesting that this story messes with the “Protestant” work ethic that has been revered by so many? It certainly messes with gender-specific roles for women and men - Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet being a role traditionally held by males. And yet, some feminists are also disturbed at this passage because Martha is rebuked for her sharp tongue while Mary is praised for kneeling down at a man’s feet and keeping her mouth shut. It’s almost as if there’s no “win” to embracing this scene.

As mentioned last week, scriptures are intended to draw us in, even to the point of making us so uncomfortable, that we can’t help but discuss the issue with someone else. I don’t recall who said it, but someone in my research suggested that if you are not disturbed by this event, you’re probably not paying attention. Jesus wanted to get people to look at life differently, and sometimes, the only way to get out of old ways of thinking to begin new perspectives of the kingdom was/is to shock them.

Being such cultured 21st-century people of faith, we may miss the fact that this is a story - from the Bible - about two women - with names - who aren’t merely in the background, but front and center. Even after repeated readings of the passage, we might miss that mention of the house being Martha’s house - not a man’s house, but her house. The mention of her name and that house also indicates that she was the head of her household - without any apologies or explanations. In many respects, Martha is a gracious host to an important guest in her home, breaking the rules and the mold with a well-intentioned if not well-appointed table. Not what first century people would expect at all.

In her own quiet way, Mary displays her rule-breaking by sitting at Jesus’ feet - a place where women were absolutely not allowed to be. But she does it anyway. In different ways, the sisters are cultural rebels - Martha running her own home and Mary taking the disciple’s seat.

There’s one word that has been the steering wheel of this scenario for a long time - the word “but.” But Martha. You can almost hear the tsking. To compound that practice, Jesus scolds Martha with a back-handed compliment to Mary - she who has chosen what is better. All that said, there are two thoughts about this passage that may not get much press, but I do think they are important pieces for our spiritual lives.

The first thought is that we need to take a step back to remember the passage that comes right before this - the one about the Good Samaritan. When the writer of Luke was putting all the pieces together, deciding which story goes where, what passage follows the other, that person was deliberate in pasting the Samaritan story before the Mary and Martha story.

The Good Samaritan story is one of need, ignored by the religious leaders caught up in holy concerns - legitimately or illegitimately. The wounded man needed help because the leaders’ thoughts weren’t enough. So the Good Samaritan goes into Martha mode and actually does something.

It’s obvious that Martha is trying to “do” something, but so is Mary - by sitting and listening to what Jesus has to say. And being hospitable isn’t only about food and beverage, but also about attention and listening.

So rather than taking sides with one or the other sister, we do better by remembering that there is a balance to be found between the sisters, despite how any of us are wired.

We need time to reflect, to sit at Christ’s feet, to contemplate the Holy because sometimes the contemplative practice modeled by Mary leads to action and gives clarity to what we are called to do next. Perhaps in contemplation, Martha would be able to recognize that the issue wasn’t so much with her sister, but with her own feelings. The more precise point is not what has to be done, but what her “doing” is doing to her, and how it’s discombobulating her.  

Jesus’ criticism isn’t about Martha, but her distractedness. The Greek translation of that word, distracted, suggests being jerked around or pulled in different directions, and who among us hasn’t felt that way from time to time? When the dust settles, and we’ve had a bit of rest for reflection, we can see that all the directions or pulling weren’t so much the issue as the inability to better focus on what needs to be done first, then second and so on.

We can easily get lost in the debate of whether service or study is better, but really, we need both. We need to pay bills, run errands, and buy and sort groceries, check through the fishing lures. When those needs get pushed together and cause us to feel stretched out of shape, that’s when we start to feel out of control. The balance is not Freedom from distractions, but finding the freedom for service and contemplation. William Willimon put it so well. “There’s no Sunday morning worship without Wednesday night choir practice.”

The second thought about this passage is a little different, and comes from a delightful pastor, Rev. Bri Desotell, who has a blog called “Grace with a Side of Ducks.” Her point is that this isn’t a story about whose way is better – but about who is welcome, in the household of God, and who is welcome at the table of Christ. Rev. Karoline Lewis asked the point as a question. “What if this story has nothing to do with who is better and everything to do with who matters?”

In full human nature, it is easy to tear someone down, criticize each other, and undermine one another in attempt to feel better about ourselves. Which circles back to the contemplation idea, of examining motivations for our behaviors.

But if we take another track, noticing that Jesus didn’t shoo either woman away, we get that even though families can be hard, even though the family of God can be hard, Jesus welcomes everyone to the table and that everyone has a role to play, even if those roles need to be played at different times.

To be sure, it’s a big, messy, beautiful table of Christ. And we will, by definition of human nature, sometimes forget the table and check worthiness cards at the doors - subjectively speaking. At times we forget about loving one another with the same generous and gracious spirit of our rabbi, who refuses to send anyone away.

And thank heavens for forgiveness and mercy and second chances - at least with God. With people, we’re not always so successful. But with God, there is always hospitality and compassion.

In a time when it seems there is so much division, when people who are afraid of losing their power - use their power to make us fear one another, we all need reminding that we all are welcome as we gather. Should the time be as carefree as when we were children, we need reminding that what seems to divide us is not reality, because we are all made in Christ’s image, so no one is more welcome than another.

When we are hearing so many differing messages from so many sources, we need this gathering that joins with all the other gatherings around the world, to know that we have a place, not because of what we look like or what we’ve done or where we’ve been, but because of God’s grace. We don’t have freedom from one thing for another, but freedom for balance in serving God’s people out of the overflowing gratitude to be included at such a precious and prestigious table. Which is a perfect table at which to pray.

Holy God, Three in One, we are grateful that our world needs Marys and Marthas and Bobs and Barneys and all those you created from the twinkle in your eye. When we forget such essential truth, forgive us and inspire us to rise above our failings. Thank you for giving us purpose - to offer hospitality and compassion, to work with dedication and persistence and to return to the well of grace, to drink deeply from the teachings and example of our Lord and our Savior – and then to return to the world, to offer hospitality and compassion all over again as all your people say, Amen.

First Congregational Church
July 3, 2022
4th Sunday after Pentecost
Galatians 6:1-10
“Reading Our Own Mail”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching


One morning a little girl sat at a kitchen table to eat breakfast with her mother and father. As she listened to the prayer her father prayed before the meal, she was especially intrigued that he thanked God for God's presence everywhere.


After the father finished his prayer the little girl asked him, "Father, is it really true that God is everywhere?” "Yes," said her father. "Is God in this house?" she asked. "Yes," her father said. "Is God in this kitchen?” "Yes," her father said. "Is God on this table?" she asked. "Yes," her father said. The little girl hesitated and then asked, "Is God in this cup?” Her father said, “Yes." Upon hearing this the little girl quickly covered the cup with her hand and exclaimed, "I've got Him!”


This morning’s scripture passage is not necessarily one that would be at the top of the list for an Independence Day weekend Sunday sermon. And it’s definitely not one that is easily captured in a cup or any other vessel. It absolutely has good stuff for us, particularly at this moment in our history and world. But just a bit before we get to it.


It's from the last chapter of a letter Paul wrote to the people in Galatia. The overall theme is the importance of getting the basic gospel straight. Scholars have suggested that Galatia is either a significant area of modern Turkey, or a region defined by an ethnic group of Celtic people in the same area. 


In the effort to spread the Good News of God’s love, some Christians in Galatia were getting a little too zealous in making their identity known as followers of Christ. The zealous ones were going back to the Mosaic Law of the first five books of the Old Testament. The black and white infractions and punishments were appealing in determining who was “in” and who was “out” of the Jesus club. Paul’s letter was to get them to see the grace that is also to be indicative of Christ-followers. 


Galatians 6:1-10
1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are nothing, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves, without comparing themselves to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 
6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with their instructor. 
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A person reaps what they sow. 8 The one who sows to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. 


Thank you, Alicia. The sermon title today comes from something that one of my seminary professors said once. Can’t tell you who or what class it was, but it made a lot of sense then, and still does - 26 years later. He said, when it comes to reading the Bible, make sure you are reading your own mail.


It doesn’t happen as much as it did for a while, but every so often, a piece of mail finds its way into my box, and living in a world, in my head, where most things are good and right, it doesn’t dawn on me that it might be someone else’s mail. It is especially embarrassing when you open the mail and wonder how on earth you got on that mail list. And then you see the label and wonder how on earth I could make such a mistake. I’ve described this event, because I’m so very sure it has never happened to anyone else, so now we’re on the same playing field. 


In regard to this passage and this theme, the point is better made when we have a couple of other passages, one also written by the great Paul, but to different groups of people. They all deal with the idea of discipline, but the situations are so different. 


In the book of Matthew, there is a piece of chapter 18 that has Jesus describing the procedure to correct “sin.”  “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.” In this instance, Jesus stresses the process of rebuke without any specific problem in mind. I might also suggest that while this may be a Biblical approach, it ought to be accompanied by a great deal of tact and prayer beforehand.


In 1 Corinthians, Paul describes a very specific situation in chapter 5, where a man was known to be living with his father’s wife, at which even unbelievers were shocked. The Corinthian Christians were proud of their tolerance of “love,” so Paul’s admonishments were to bring them back into the balance of being ethical and responsible followers of Christ. 


In today’s passage, just the opposite is the case. Rather than overlooking serious sin, the Galatian Christians emphasized harsh and judgmental legalism, mainly as it pertained to the topic of circumcision. If you said you were a Christian, that is how you lived up to the claim. The remedy for the Corinthians was to exercise judgment; the Galatians needed to extend mercy. 


If you need mail that addresses the irresponsible, willy-nilly way you live as a follower of Christ, she said tongue-in-cheek - then maybe spending some time in 1 Corinthians is the mail catalog for you. If you need mail that addresses the guilt-ladened perfectionistic way you try to live out your following of Christ, Galatians is going to be a far more helpful mail catalog for you. To read the wrong mail is not only harmful but de-legitimizes your walk as a Christ-follower.  


Kathleen Peterson of ministry matters.com gives us a picture of the need for correct mail. She was visiting a family that had a little boy, and while there, accidentally knocked a candy off an Advent chain of candies. The young boy was apparently Gestapo-like in his mission to loudly announce Ms. Peterson’s awful offense to everyone. The child was so heavily "under the gun" himself, that his need for the relief of redirecting blame onto others was overwhelming.


Ms. Peterson went on to point out that “This kind of distraction - looking away from looking at one's "own work" - just postpones the day of reckoning with one's own guilt and need for freedom from it. "You who have received the Spirit" (v. 1) don't have to go around with all kinds of opinions and assumptions that you know are right. You can be wrong sometimes and that's all right, because all your transgressions, past, present, and future, have been accounted for. So you don't need scapegoats to accuse and attack and you can deal gently with those who may need some brightening of their ways to gradually sink in.


Now I’m not necessarily all excited about getting into anyone’s face about how they behave - or don’t. I was raised to be Minnesota-Nice. I’m not even so sure that that sort of making a person’s so-called sin plain for all to see is even all that helpful in this day and age - and I’m not talking about serious crimes. 


Our country has spent unimaginable amounts of money trying to prove that someone is guilty of particular sin infractions that were unnecessary wastes of time and energy in cases in which the allegations were false. And the real sorrow - at least to this heart - is that without God’s Holy Spirit, I don’t know if we will ever rise above such greed and apathy.


I’m not really sure why, but I’ve long been fascinated by yokes - be they straight sticks or fashioned instruments constructed with comfort in mind. They don’t have to be perfectly matched or leveled to work, but close enough. And they certainly give and take in their balance while getting bigger work done. Which is also the picture when we put together the “carrying of each other's burdens” with “testing our own actions.”


The yoke image is so right for being patient with one another and with ourselves. The yoke of gentleness that carries those in trouble is the same that carries attention to self-awareness. Encouragement balances out contentment.


I know I’ve used the illustration before, but not in this way - I don’t think. In Poland, their famous concert pianist and prime minister, Ignacy Paderewski was backstage, waiting for a concert to begin. A mother, wanting to encourage her young son in the piano, got tickets to the performance. Mother and son found their seats near the front and admired the imposing Steinway waiting onstage. As the mother got to talking with a friend, the boy wandered off. At eight o'clock the lights dimmed, the spotlight came on, and the audience looked up to see the little boy perched on the piano bench, plunking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”


Gasping, the mother got up to get her son. But the master had already walked onstage and went quickly to the piano. "Don't quit. Keep playing," he said leaning over the boy. With his left hand Paderewski began filling in the bass part. Then he reached around the other side with his right, to add the top part, encircling the child. Together the younger child and the older master held the audience enthralled.


It’s not a perfect yoke picture, but there is something yoke-like between child and adult, accomplished professional and beginner, playing in the middle and playing on the ends. And then we extrapolate the image even further, to us - and God - balancing out the melodies of restoration and wholeness with humility and self-awareness. 


This is not, upfront, a message that is particularly patriotic or celebratory, except that the freedoms we are privileged to hold make our jobs of restoration of souls so much easier. Being able to join with the Holy Spirit to honestly and transparently determine the mail we need is not universally or freely embraced as some of our brothers and sisters struggle under the thumb of legalism and cruelty. 


Wesley White, of Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Dialogue wrote, “Work for the good of all. Why? Because the cosmic payoff is worth it - a new creation. Enough said.” And so we can pray.


Holy Spirit of whispers and breezes, we thank you for your gentle messages of encouragement and persuasion. And we are grateful for the louder messages of warning and attention. And we appreciate your Spirit of new creations, morning after morning. For those times when we willfully close our ears and hearts to your needs of us, we ask for your grace and forgiveness. As we reflect on our place in this world this week, help us to do so in honesty and humility, that our gratitude may be all the greater. And all your people say, Amen. 

First Congregational Church
June 26, 2022
3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 7:36-8:3
“Distracted Discipleship”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching



So it’s after the resurrection and boy is Jesus in the mood for some partying. He gets the disciples together and heads for the club! They hit the dance floor, but something is wrong - Jesus just can’t seem to get in the groove with the music. He tries and tries, but finally yells out. . . Help! I’ve risen and I can’t get down! (Help! I’ve fallen and can’t get up!)


This morning I welcome you to the church season of Ordinary Time. We mark it here with the front cover of the bulletin, as the designated Sunday after Pentecost. In today’s case, it’s the second Sunday. We also mark it with the color of the paraments - the altar cloth and sometimes the pulpit banner - when they match. It’s the longest of church seasons, being nearly six months, so the designation of “ordinary” is quite appropriate.


Lectionary-wise, we are in year C of AB and C, which means that we will spend the next months - until the first Sunday in Advent - in the book of Luke. In terms of chronology, Luke 9 contains the sending out the 12 disciples for missionary work, feeding 5,000+ people with five loaves and two fish, Peter declaring Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus predicting his death, and then his transfiguration on Mount Tabor.


If you look at the inside of your announcement sheet, I’ve included a little map, and Mount Tabor is south of the Galilee name rectangle, to the left - or west - of the river that runs through the map - the Jordan River.


From Mount Tabor, I ask you to keep going south, into the region of Samaria, to find Mount Gerizim, and then on down from that, to Jerusalem - the underlined city, also to the west, but of the Dead Sea. Mount Gerizim was the holy place of the Samaritan people as Jerusalem was to the Jewish people - and even though both groups worshiped God, they would get to more than fisticuffs over their opinions. This morning’s passage begins somewhere around Mount Tabor, which is roughly 65 miles by car southwest or 22 hours by foot to the area of Samaria. At the usual walking speed of 2.5 to 4 miles a day, it was not an overnight journey. I point this out, because that sort of travel was likely to make one tired, and everyone has had experience with tired, hangry travel that distances you from your best self.


The other contextual element is the reminder that the brothers, James and John, were nicknamed “Sons of Thunder,” which spoke to their character as nicknames are sometimes want to do.


Luke 9:51-62
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them ?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them,
56 and they went to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”


Thank you, Phil. In my meanderings for today’s message, I came across a Rev. Stacy Sauls, bishop in the Episcopalian church, doing a good share of his ministry to the Appalachian poor. Fr. Sauls was reminiscing about his grandfather plowing, which got me thinking about my dad. Don’t tell him, but I’ve been recording Dad when he starts telling stories from his past, because, 1 - I’ll never remember them all - and 2 - there is great sermon material in some of his stories!


Rev. Sauls talked about how his grandfather once chewed him out for talking while he was plowing, distracting his grandfather and potentially causing a crooked row. Dad didn’t talk about crooked rows, but he talked about being eight or nine years old and plowing behind two horses. And he remembers that on clear nights, they might be in the field until 11:30 or midnight, and then walk the 25 minutes across the 40 acres that separated Grandpa’s far-field from the homestead parcel.


Apparently, there was great joy when Grandpa got a second tractor, allowing for work to be accomplished faster, eliminating the potential of running into the fence and having to tell Grandpa about it. It was probably the early version of distracted driving - driving a team of horses….


Fr. Sauls also thought that this passage was more about Jesus being cranky - interpreting the replies to offers of discipleship as being snarky. After all, regardless of ethnicity, denying hospitality to a traveler back then was widely considered a deep, disrespectful insult. That sort of hospitality is an interesting thought, thinking about all the travelers that will be coming to Benzie County in the next couple of months.


Maybe he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but in Luke’s gospel, it wasn’t all that long since Jesus’ mountain top experience of divine affirmation, and if anything, I think that an argument of Jesus being a little softer might be made.


Regardless of his mood, I had to smile at Steven Garnaas Holmes take on the Thunder boys. He paraphrased it to sound like a couple of mobsters, “Boss, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”


Actually, Rev. Holmes’ point was in a piece he sent out earlier in the week. He wrote, “Don't you just want to slap James and John for being such idiots? In fact, why stop there? Why not command fire to come down and consume them?


Funny how (a) we want to destroy people who disagree with us, (b) we imagine we can do so, even if just by insulting them, and (c) we assume Jesus likes that. Wrong all three times.


(When fire actually does come down from heaven, as at Pentecost, it doesn't destroy people; it destroys our divisions, connects us, and helps us communicate when previously we hadn't.)


So when people won't listen to us or even won't accept us, what do we do? Instead of calling down fire, call up the fruits the Spirit has given you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,  faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Rev. Holmes ended his offering with “Practice this among your enemies and see how you are blessed.”


I don’t know that so many of us have out-and-out enemies, least-wise not those that spur us into keeping a loaded rifle by the back door. But most of us have people that wouldn’t agree with us if we dared speak aloud to particular topics.


It was interesting that a lot of the research I came across this week seemed to focus on the idea of obedience to being disciples of Christ - no matter what the cost or requirement. But that direction didn’t sit all that well in my heart. And I’m mighty glad to have been able to have the time to rumble around with the research this week, because when I came across Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt’s point, this passage finally made sense, at least to my brain.


Don’t get me wrong, we probably all have a little something we could work on when it comes to being a better disciple after Christ. But I also think we need to look at this passage within our own context, of this day and age, and the message it has for us contemporary disciples.


Rev. Hunt’s contention with this passage is that we have to make choices, sometimes between really good and honorable options. Specifically, she was talking about a decision she had to make over conducting a friend’s funeral or attending her Methodist Annual Conference, at which a big topic was to be entertained.


It wasn’t that she was choosing between a meeting or funeral and going on a shopping trip to the Mall of America. Both events were valid and needful, and she ended up choosing the friend’s funeral - not so much because it was all about her friend, but her choice, and I quote, “is all the more important in a culture which habitually and perpetually tends to deny and even run from death and grief and loss.”


She went on, “To me, these do not seem to be occasions when the 'dead are burying the dead,' but when those living in faith and hope are doing so. This way of thinking is so much a part of me that I find myself concluding that it surely could be dangerous, or at least profoundly irresponsible, to receive these words of Jesus as some kind of black and white expectation of you and I who follow him.” Yay, Rev. Hunt!


Rev. Dr. John Claypool is an Episcopalian priest who served several churches in the southeast, and he tells the story of a thunderstorm that swept through the farm where his forebears had lived for six generations in southern Kentucky. In the orchard, the wind blew over an old pear tree that had been there as long as anybody could remember. Claypool's grandfather was saddened to lose the tree on which he had climbed as a boy and whose fruit he had eaten all his life.


A neighbor came by and said, "Doc, I'm really sorry to see your pear tree blown down."
"I'm sorry too," said his grandfather. "It was a real part of my past. "What are you going to do?" the neighbor asked. His grandfather paused for a moment and then said, "I'm going to pick the fruit and burn what's left."


"That is the wise way to deal with many things in our past," says John Claypool. "We need to learn their lessons, enjoy their pleasures, and then go on with the present and the future.” "No one who puts a hand to the plow while looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”


Sometimes we get distracted, sometimes we need to live through our discipleship commitments and our integrity in attending to responsibilities. Other times, we need to follow the Spirit’s call. If it were a simple matter of throwing everything down to follow Christ, it doesn’t seem very responsible to abandon all that is present in our lives that reflect God and our discipleship of considerate discernment of priorities. I don’t think distracted discipleship would make it on a new set of commandments, because most of the time, it’s simply that we are human, and sometimes tired and hangry and really just want to put our head down for a while.


Being human was how we are created, and it makes no sense that God would chastise us for being distracted, being responsible, or being honorable. It makes more sense that we open our arms as often as we can, to the travelers that need a little respite, whether they are strangers, family or friends. And God knows, too, there are some personalities that don’t do well together, so we don’t always need to force such issues of hospitality. Sometimes, keeping the hand to the plow is allowing others to come into our realm of influence, that we might become better disciples for their inclusion in our lives. And so we pray.


Holy, Welcoming Spirit, we are aware of the idea of ‘to whom much has been given, much is required.’ We are also aware that you call us in so many different ways, to serve as agents of your love. Today we are reminded again that we also need balance in our lives, that allows us to embrace all that you have, for us and all your people. When we fall short, forgive us. When we need both hands on the plow, make it evident to us. When we need to rest, give us the peace to do so without guilt or embarrassment. And when we are distracted, Great Creator, help us to enjoy the view. And all your people say, Amen.