"Full to the Brim: Prodigal Grace" a sermon on Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
“Full to the Brim: Prodigal Grace”
Preached Sunday, March 27, 2022

People of Grace - what is grace?

It is easier to define Grace when it’s considered our congregation - Grace is this building. But Grace is much more than that - as we know from the children’s song - the church is not a building, the cheer is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place - the church is the people! We are a joyous and caring people. We are a Christian community. That is Grace - capital G.

But what is “grace”? This Christian term we throw around a lot. It’s harder to define. Grace is certainly central and important to our faith but it’s harder to pinpoint what it is because we can’t hold it. It’s completely intangible. And unlike other intangible forces in this world - love, hope, joy - grace gets a lot less press. It doesn’t garner the same attention. You can’t wrap it up and sell it like people try and do to love. There aren’t the same amount of songs written about it. Grace is less quantifiable.

We know what love feels like. We know what hope feels like. We know what joy feels like. But what about grace? Grace doesn’t always feel like the same thing. And yet, grace is central, key, necessary in our lives and faith.

But what really *is* grace?

Before we dig more into attempting to define grace - do any of you have a definition of Grace you want to offer up? (*answers*) 

Now, let’s start with the Methodist definition of grace - Grace, and how John Wesley defined it, is one of the hallmarks of Methodism. Our focus on grace is what makes Methodist theology unique. Not that other Christians or other denominations don’t believe in the same thing - but it’s the focus placed upon it.

In his sermon “Salvation by Faith” “John Wesley defined grace as God's ‘bounty, or favour: his free, undeserved favour, ... man having no claim to the least of his mercies. It was free grace that ‘formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul,' and stamped on that soul the image of God, and ‘put all things under his feet.' ... For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God's hand.’”

So I am not sure that definition really helps us based on it being in 18th Century speech so to summarize: Grace is God’s favor. I think of Mary, Mother of God, who was told she had found favor by God. Favor means that God looks upon us with love, that we are favored as children - a special place in God’s heart. Bounty as in a sum given or a bounty is something given generously. Indeed, Wesley says that Grace is free, given to us at our very creation, breathed into us in the from of the breath of God, a soul - a gift generously given before we could have done anything to deserve or earn it - indeed, there is nothing we can do to deserve the gift of grace - it is just given.

In Methodism we have a term for this, a term you have heard many times from me and one that I will never not bring up no matter how many times I’ve said - it’s that important: prevenient grace.* That is the grace that comes before we even know there is grace to be had - before we know there is a God who loves us unconditionally, grace is still present and at work in our lives. I think of it as the Holy Spirit constantly tapping our shoulders and whispering, “Hey! I love you!” Even if we don’t hear it.

Of course, grace doesn’t stop there. As Methodists we also talked about Justifying and Sanctifying Grace. Justifying Grace is that moment or moments - when we hear the Holy Spirit - when we KNOW there is Grace to be had - and we respond to God’s grace with a yes.

And sanctifying grace is that grace that helps us, moment by moment, day by day, to grow to better love God and love neighbor. That constant force of God in our lives that shapes us and forms us.

Of course, John Wesley isn’t the only person who has tried to define Grace.

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, defines Grace as “‘the 'x' factor.’ It knits families, friendships and countries back together after betrayal, hurt and even violence.”

“Theologian Dorothee Sölle, who grew up in Nazi Germany, called” grace “‘borrow[ing] the eyes of God.’” It can remind us of our reading from 1 Corinthians this morning: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view.” Seeing people with the eyes of God is us practicing grace.

So Grace is God’s favor.
Grace is generously given.
Grace is something we can never earn.
Grace is there before we know there is Grace to be had.
Grace is there when we come to know God.
Grace is there shaping and forming us throughout our lives.
Grace is the x-factor.
Grace, when practiced by us, is seeing people through the eyes of God.

…but we still haven’t really defined Grace! This is what we do as Christians. We talk about grace but it’s this concept that’s just kind of floating down there, that we can’t quite pin down, and we don’t even always realize that.

So another definition. The Book of Discipline, and that’s *our* book as United Methodists - it has our theology, our principles, our structure - all laid out. The Book of Discipline defines grace as: "the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit."

What I want to focus on is “the…action of God.” Once a minister I admire once defined grace as “any way that God acts in this world.”


My first thought was: doesn’t that seem so simple? Can that really be GRACE? My second thought was, woah. No wonder grace is so hard to pin down - because how is God NOT acting in this world? No wonder we have all sorts of categories of grace. No wonder we talk about it in so many different ways. And no wonder it’s hard to pin down - no wonder we all experience grace differently and at different times and grace feels different to each of us as we have varied experiences of Grace throughout our lives.

Grace IS the undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable, actions of God in this world towards us.

Now, with this definition in mind, let’s turn, briefly, to consider our Gospel lesson this morning and the idea of prodigal grace.

The parable of the prodigal son, I think more than any other Bible story, is one we cast ourselves in. When we read it we think: Who am I? Am I the Father, the son who left, the same son but when we came home, the son who stayed at home? And there is a lot to be learned about ourselves and how God shows us grace in each of these roles - but what I want to point out today is how each character experienced grace - how each character received undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace - how God acts toward each of the characters in this week’s lesson.

There is the prodigal son. Now, prodigal means wasteful. As in, he wasted his father’s money, the inheritance he was set to get when his father died. How did he waste or lose the money? I heard once that someone went and asked people in various countries how the son lost his money. In the State they said he spent his money on frivolous living, that he was irresponsible. In Ireland people said because of famine and he couldn’t work the ground and provide for himself. In South Africa, it was because no one helped him. Now, the text does say all 3 of these things - our perspectives of our world color our understanding. But regardless of how he lost the money - he asked for it before it was rightfully his. He had given up the status of his father’s son. He went home, ready to beg, ready to accept a lower status. And he received grace. From a parent who was just so glad he was home. That he showed him undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.

The other son, the son who stayed home, also receives grace from his father. He is mad at his father. Mad at his brother. He is in the middle of accusations - kind of a tantrum, honestly. Questioning his father’s decisions. And his father doesn’t shout back, doesn’t get in a fight, doesn’t stir up more animosity he says, “Hey, do you know that I love you too?” He says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” In the middle of this tirade he says - what’s mine is yours. He shows his son underserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.

And then, there is the father too. Sometimes he is depicted as God - the parent who is always waiting for us to come home. The parent who sits up for us, porch light on, waiting in the driveway - for the first glimpse of us, waiting for us to get home safe. But it’s not explicitly said that the father in this story is God the father - he could just be a father, who loves his sons. And because he loves his sons, has a heart of grace, he sees them with the eyes of God. It’s the x-factor that keeps his family together. If we are the hands and feet of Christ in this world, if we are to be God to each other, we do that by doing what the father did for his sons, he showed them undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.

Indeed, instead of calling this story the parable of the prodigal son - the wasteful son. We could call it the story of prodigal grace - for prodigal can mean not just wasteful but lavish. Because Grace is lavished over every character in this story. Grace abounds. It’s like confetti or glitter - it gets everywhere! God has no limitations on grace, no reservations, no shortages, no supply chain issues - Grace is free and God will lavish it on all of God’s children - endlessly. Because God will never stop acting in our world, God will never stop loving us, God will never stop giving us grace.

And God isn’t the only one who can give grace. Like the father in the story, we can give grace to others. We are called to love like God loves us. We are called to give grace as God gives us grace. We are called to be God to others in this world.

So, people of Grace, let us truly be people of Grace! Those who have received God’s grace - God’s undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace - and those who give that same grace to all. Amen.

"Full to the Brim: You Are Worthy" a sermon on Luke 13:1-9

Luke 13:1-9
“Full to the Brim: You Are Worthy”
Preached Sunday, March 20, 2022


Pastor, are trans people four times more likely to be victims of violent crime because they’ve brought this on themselves?
Pastor, why did that city experience another devastating flood? Did they deserve it?
But pastor, what about the people fleeing crime and war at our borders?
What about those Ukrainian children crossing borders on their own?
Why is the suicide rate so high among LGBTQ youth?
How about women who stay in abusive relationships? Or go back to their abuser?
Our homeless population is growing - it’s cause they don’t want to work, right?
What about, what about, why, how…

We often look for reasons behind the tragedies in our world, those we read in the newspaper and those we see happening in our own communities and lives.

We look for reasons that would help explain why these things happened to those people - and often we look for a reasoning that would comfort us. If we can find some blame as to why it happened to them - it can help us feel better protected.

An old preacher’s adage is to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. There are definite pros and cons to this approach - but that’s kind of what the disciples were trying to get Jesus to do in today’s Gospel lesson. They wanted his take on a current event. It’s hard for us to know what the actual event was as there doesn’t seem to be any historical evidence of it outside of this vignette from Luke. But from what we can gather some Galileans were killed, murdered, put to death by Pilate in such a way that it violated a religious ritual. As a Galilean himself, it would make sense for Jesus to have an opinion on this. Pilate was known as a ruthless ruler who would not hesitate to kill those who posed threats to his or the Roman Empire’s power - and wouldn’t be afraid to violate a religious ritual to do so. As well as a reference of a current event in Jesus’s time, it also acts as a foreshadowing:

Jesus would also be killed under Pontius Pilate’s orders - during Passover - his murdered blood mingling with the Passover sacrifices.

And so this topic of these murdered Galileans is brought up to Jesus. And he kinda comments - kind of doesn’t - he emphatically tells them that they were killed by no fault of their own - no, they were not killed because they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans - they were murdered by Pilate for the Roman Empire. He also brings up a second current event - the 18 that died in a horrible accident when the tower of Siloam fell on them - that’s another newspaper in one hand reference if the newspaper was dated around 30 AD.

But whether they died at the hands of Pilate and the Roman Empire in a profane way or a horrible accident, they were not killed because of their sin.

No, these things happened - not because they were worse sinners than all other Galilieans or the worse offenders in all of Jerusalem - they just happened. They happened because of power and control and the violence that is used by those in power to keep their control. They happened in devastating and tragic circumstances. Perhaps like the accident they happened because of mismanagement, greed, expedience over all else…

Jesus says - NO. Stop looking to blame the victims. Perhaps we today with our newspapers in one hand need to hear Jesus’s words now too. And what he says is: no. Stop casting judgment.

But Jesus doesn’t stop here - having commented on the newspaper in his one hand, Jesus pivots, to teach his listeners something. If you’re looking for a reason to blame those who have been killed or hurt to protect yourself or insulate yourselves against the violence and hardship of this world - you are already on the path to perishing.

It’s time, instead, to look at the fig tree.

The fruitless fig tree which the landowner wants the gardener to cut down - why is this tree wasting space? For three years, it hasn’t produced fruit. It’s time for it to go.

But the gardener asks for time - he asks to dig around it, to put fertilizer around it, to be patient.

Why, we might ask, would the fig tree be worth the time and resources when it’s not producing? I’m sure the gardener has a lot to take care of - in fact the fig tree is planted in a vineyard. Why would there be a fig tree in a vineyard? It projects an image of a land owner who didn’t want to waste a single space of land, to produce as much as he could, on every inch - not producing? Time to cut it down.

Does the mindset of the landowner sound familiar to you? That the worth of the fig tree - or really, the worth of anything, or anyone - comes from how much it, or they, produces. It should sound familiar if you live in this, the year of our Lord 2022. Cause that’s the whole ethos of our world - really. Especially in America with our deeply ingrained Capitalist and Protestant work-ethics mindset. It is so so deeply imbedded in us that we don’t even always realize it:


It is in the way we talk about minimum wage jobs and those who work them
It is in the way we talk about food assistance and healthcare
It is in the way we talk about those experiencing homelessness
It is in the way we talk about the work week and hours worked
It is in the way we talk about what is ours, what we’ve earned, what we deserve
It is in the way we talk to ourselves about our own well-being, our own worth -
It is in the way we talk to and about others about their own well-being and their worth


It literally undergirds everything because our modern world is built on a meritocracy - and production is deemed the thing of highest value.

And we become like those who are asking Jesus about those who died - those who work hard, who produce, they are worth our time and effort - worth the soil in the vineyard, of taking up time and space. So it means that those who have fallen on hard times, who are victims of crime and hate, of addiction, of poverty, of disaster - that, if we deserve what WE have - then perhaps they deserve what they have….Perhaps there is a reason, perhaps there is blame to be had, judgment to be cast…

Hear Jesus’s words: No. Repent.

Repent of the mindset of the landowner. Repent of the predominant mindset of our culture. Repent from the idea that only those who produce according to the standards of our world are worthy of taking up space in the vineyard.

You are worthy of taking up space, regardless of the fruit you produce.
And if you are worthy of taking up space, regardless of your productivity, so are all of God’s beloved children - all of us.
If our calamities - and the calamities of others - are not things that we can lay judgment on based on some sin, blame, reasoning.
Then the inverse is also true - our WORTH is not based on anything we do, say, produce.

Every single human being on this planet is worthy of taking up space, of tending to their roots, of caring for themselves and of being cared for - of life and not just life but abundant life - life full of love and joy and companionship and caring.

And when our lives are full of love and joy and companionship and caring - there is a good chance that fruit will be produced. Not the fruit of productivity but the fruit of more love, overflowing love, spilling out to those who may be in non-fruit bearing seasons, who need a loving gardener to come and dig around the roots with care, to fertilize with love, to tend to with patience and gentleness. To stop the finger pointing of the landowner that says to chop it down - that finger points - that furthers judgment - but the loving care of the gardener who says, “Wait! This too is also worthy. Let me show it the love it deserves simply for being.”

So if we take a look at Jesus’s teaching in the Bible and apply it to our lives and the world around us - it would mean seeing ourselves and every person as worthy of tender care, of digging around the roots, of pouring time and energy and resources and love into - of abundant life, as children of God - worthy for simply being. With Scripture in one hand and the newspaper in the other, may we be gardeners in this world, helping all see their worth and flourishing until all the words knows that you, yes, you - you and all - are worthy,

May it be so. Amen.

"Full to the Brim: Under God's Wing" a sermon on Luke 13:31-35

Luke 13:31-35
“Full to the Brim: Under God’s Wing”
Preached Sunday, March 13, 2022

God loves you unconditionally.

God - God the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit. The Divine. The Creator of the Universe. The Alpha and the Omega. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God that is wind and fire and the very air we breathe. GOD

Loves - Loves with an agape love - love that is patient, love that is kind, love that does not boast, that isn’t proud, love that doesn’t insist on its own way, that isn’t irritable or resentful, love that does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in the truth, love that believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - LOVES

YOU - Yes, YOU (Name names of people present)

Unconditionally. Cannot be earned. Cannot be bought. Cannot be worked for. AND there is nothing that can be done - to you or by you - to make that love go away - Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. UNCONDITIONALLY.

God. Loves. You. Unconditionally.

Amen.

…

And I really debated ending my sermon here today! But I could talk all day about God’s unconditional love - or at least for the 10 or so minutes of a sermon. So filled with the wonderful knowledge of God’s love, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.

In our short, 5 verse, Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus uses two animal metaphors. First, Herod as a fox. Secondly, the people of Jerusalem as a brood of chicks and Jesus as the mother hen, gathering them under her wing.

Let’s talk first about Jesus as a mother hen.

I have a video here* of a mother hen with her chicks nestled in her wings in case you aren’t used to having chicks around or haven’t seen this being played out before. There shouldn’t be any sound so I’m going to talk…You see them nestled in there, safe, secure, loved. Mother hens are fiercely protective of their chicks. They will fight off any sort of animal that they think is a threat - in preparation for this sermon I watched hens fighting off cats and goats and crows and dogs and people and hawks…all while doing their best to protect their chicks. Hens are a symbol of motherhood and a mother’s love. They sit on their eggs, turning them even up to 30 times a day - a few days before the eggs hatch the chicks inside start to peep, talking to their mother, and the mother hen talking back. The chicks go under her wings not just for protection from predators but also the elements and for warmth and comfort…

Truly, a parent’s love. And this is the love that Jesus is expressing for those in Jerusalem - the children of Jerusalem, his children - God’s children…and we are all God’s children. AND I want to point out what he says about them first: He says:

“Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to be killed. Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He is a prophet who will be killed in Jerusalem, scorned, betrayed, hurt…bleeding and dying at the hands of those in Jerusalem.

And yet! In the very same breath that he says “They will kill me” he also says “I want to gather them as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Because there is nothing, nothing, that will separate the child of God from their Divine parents’ love. Not even killing him. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.

So now let’s talk about the other animal mentioned in the Scripture today, a fox aka Herod. There are 6 Herods mentioned in the Bible and this Herod is Herod of Antipas. The son of Herod the Great - or well, the not so Great - who we know from the Christmas story and ordered the mass slaughter of children and infants under 2. Herod of Antipas followed in his father’s footsteps in being the governor of the Palestine area that he ruled under the Roman Empire. He was the one who, by request of his daughter, had John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin, beheaded. He is the one who, Jesus would appear before his crucifixion although Herod would send him back to Pilate. In calling him a fox it would be seen as an insult - he is the puppet of the Lion, of the emperor, the one with actual power. A fox is one who uses deceit to achieve his goals, not real power. But also - foxes kill hen.

I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen - although I decided against showing it here.

But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.

Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.

Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone? Perhaps many of you recently saw Jesus Christ Superstar at Playhouse Square. I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was just performed in Cleveland, it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.

There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.

With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.

As Christians the knowledge that God loves all unconditionally and that God desires to enfold all of us, 

all of THEM too, under God’s wing, well…it changes things.

Is Putin loved by God unconditionally?

The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.

Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.

So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.

The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.

We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.

Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:

“On the edge of war, one foot already in,

I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.

I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”

So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.

Amen.

"Full to the Brim: Even in the Desert" a sermon on Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13
“Full to the Brim: Even in the Desert”
Preached Sunday, March 6, 2022

Today is the first Sunday in this season that we call Lent and today we follow Jesus out into the desert. Lent is a season marked by self-reflection, fasting, and penitence as we move toward Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection. It is 40 days, not counting Sundays, symbolic of Jesus’s 40 days of being tempted in the desert. We talk about this season as a season in the wilderness of the desert as well - so I want to ask you today: what do you first think of when you think of the desert?

(Answers)

Many of us probably think of something like this.* This is an image of the Sahara Desert which is the largest desert in the world and the biggest source of sand and dust in the world. When thinking of images like this, combined with the Biblical stories of Jesus being tempted in the desert, and the Israelites wandering the deserts it is easy to think of deserts as harsh, unforgiving places…which, well, they can be.

The Gobi Desert*, pictured here, has temperatures that range from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, snow in a desert. The snow there never actually melts, it is snow in the winter and then instantly vaporizes when the temperatures start to warm.

And that’s not even the hottest desert. The hottest place on earth is Death Valley*, pictured here, a northern part of the Mojave desert in California. It has reached record temperatures of 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

Looking at these pictures we might be thinking…do we really want to follow Jesus into the desert? Do we really need to do this whole season called Lent? Haven’t we given up enough? Haven’t we already been in the desert - at least on and off if not consistently - for the last two years? Haven’t we already given up enough? I long for a fuller, richer, more alive life. I long for the Spring and blooms of Easter, the joy of resurrection - not the somber and reflective mood of Lent, not fasting, not the cross. I long for the lush vegetation and life of the rainforest, not the barren, lifeless landscape of the desert.

Except - except…deserts make up one-third of our planet and not a single one of them is lifeless. Even in the hottest place on earth, like Death Valley, a small amount of rain can awaken seeds that have been there for decades, creating beautiful desert blooms.* Yes, THAT picture is a picture of the desert. That picture is a picture of the hottest place in the world - literally with the word death in its name. But there is so much life.

In fact, deserts are not lifeless places. The desert may make it harder to survive but animals do indeed adapt and even thrive.

The desert is full of resilience. Snakes have armored skin to protect against sand storms. Insects go beneath the ground. These Red Kangaroos* in Australia take shelter under trees in the hottest part of the day. They then lick their body to allow their saliva to evaporate off of them and cool their blood. They dig in the sunbaked earth to get to cooler soil.

These Fennec Foxes* in Africa, like many wildlife in the desert, are nocturnal, coming out at the coolest parts of a day.

And even though it is not a living creature*, rock formations like these in Egypt’s White Desert tell a story of resilience against the storms of life that would try and topple us over.

So yes, the desert is a place of resilience. The desert is also a place of beauty and of color.

Take a look at these lizards*, called Flat Lizards, in South Africa where there is the highest density of lizards in the world. They are bright and vibrant.

And then there is the saguaro cactus* and its beautiful flowers, found in the desert of Arizona. The largest cactus in the world that can grow up to 40 feet tall, live 100 to 200 years, and soak up and store 200 gallons of water at a time. Its flowers* bloom at night for four weeks out of the year so bats can visit it for pollination as they traverse across the Sonoran desert. A journey that whole ecosystem depends upon.

So yes, the desert is resilient. And the desert is beautiful. And one more thing about deserts and then I’ll get back to Jesus, I swear! But the desert can also surprise you!

*Take for example the Atacama desert in Chile which is the driest desert in the world. On average, it only has one significant rainfall once a century. So how in the world can life survive and thrive here? The desert’s coast runs parallel to a cold sea that creates a dense, thick fog, that rolls over the desert. You can see the fog in the image. Within minutes the landscape and vegetation are drenched in mist, giving life to all, like this bird* pictured here.

At this point I’m sure you’re all thinking: Okay, Pastor Allison, the bird and everything is cool and all…but remind me again what this has to do with Jesus and Lent?

Okay. Hear me out on this. We must rethink how we view and think of the desert, not just as an ecosystem but in the spiritual desert of the season of Lent. And we are going to do so over the next 6 weeks with our Lenten sermon series, “Full to the Brim.” Here’s a description of it:

“The scriptures for this Lenten season…are filled with parables and promises of God’s abundant and expansive grace…These sacred texts are brimming with a gospel of grace. We’ve done nothing to deserve or earn this grace, and yet, like water, it spills over. Full to the Brim is an invitation—into a radically different Lent, into a full life. It’s an invitation to be authentically who you are, to counter scarcity and injustice at every turn, to pour out even more grace wherever it is needed.

It disrupts the scarcity mentality that capitalism, oppression, or hierarchy can plant inside of us.

When we allow ourselves to be filled to the brim with God’s lavish love, that love spills over. It reaches beyond ourselves; like water, it rushes and flows, touching everything in its path.

We [I] recognize that traditional iterations of Lent often emphasize restraint, confession, and piety. The origins of Lent were that one was to leave their old life behind to fast and prepare to be baptized into a new way of living. In essence, this was a practice of stepping away from the rat race, corrupt power, scarcity mentality, and empty rituals in order to live a more expansive and full life of faith.

And so, Full to the Brim trusts the promise of our baptisms—God has already claimed us as God’s own and nothing we can do will ever change or erase that.” (A Sanctified Art, sanctfiedart.org)

So again - what does this have to do with Jesus in the desert?

When Jesus is tempted in the desert he is offered things that would give in to the scarcity mindset and the mindsets of this world, the mindsets of domination and power. I will not turn this bread into stone - for there is enough bread for everyone - something Jesus shows in his miracle of feeding the 5,000. And no, I will not vie for the power and kingdoms of this world - for my Kingdom is not of this world and does not rely on the subjugation and violence of this world’s kingdoms. And no, I will not put the Lord my God to the test, for there is no need to test God, God’s grace is abundant, spilling over, given not earned - always there.

In the desert, Jesus shows us another way. Perhaps, symbolically, these temptations didn’t necessarily need to take place in a desert, in a dry and sandy ecosystem. But the desert has long been known as a place of journey…and a place, despite the harsh environment and sun and extreme temperatures - a place where God could be found.

You know, if I’m in a lush environment, I might not notice the life all around me. But in the desert - the resilient, beautiful, surprising desert - there, life captivates us. It’s hard to miss. Our eyes are drawn to it, our souls are called to it. The kangaroos are all the more an example for their resilience. The desert blossom is all the more beautiful for being rare. The mist covering the land is all the more wanted, all the more life inspiring. God’s presence is all the more known for the lack of distractions around us.

So as we enter our Lenten journey, and follow Jesus into the desert, let us resist the temptations of this world - temptations of scarcity, and power, and doubting God’s love. Because in the desert - God is with us. In the desert, we are resilient - we can not only survive, but thrive, for God is with us. We can not only grow in the desert, but blossom like flowers. And in the desert, we can be surprised by God’s abundant, overflowing, life-giving presence.

This is the Lent I am calling us towards today. A Lent in the desert, yes. But not a Lent devoid of life and beauty, no - a Lent where we appreciate those things all the more for being in the desert.

May God bless us on this Lenten journey.

Amen.

*All images are screenshots from the BBC show, Planet Earth, Episode 5, Deserts.

"With All That You Are" an Ash Wednesday sermon on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
“With All That You Are”
Preached Wednesday, March 2, 2022 (Ash Wednesday)

One of my mantras or rules of life that I often repeat, to myself and others, is that my worth is found first and foremost in God. The God who created me, knows me, loves me - unconditionally. Second - and this is even a very far second from number 1 - but second - my worth is found in my family, friends, and those who love me. And third - and this is waaaaay below the second one - everything else. My job, my accomplishments, the church, everything else.

Of course, maybe this is one of my mantras or rules that I repeat often to myself and others because…And I’m about to show my cards and get a little vulnerable here: caring what people think about me is something that I struggle with and I very easily slip into measuring my worth by my productivity, my resume, my accomplishments or what people think about me - the praise I did or did not receive, the criticism that’s been nagging at me…

While I strive to remind myself that my worth is in God alone - followed by my relationships with those I love and who love me - my natural default is to care too much about what people think. I work hard on keeping my focus of my inner worth on being a beloved child of God cause it’s all too easy for me to get lost in what others think of me.

And I won’t ask you to raise your hand if you’ve ever cared about what others think about you - for while it may ebb and flow throughout our lives - we’re all human, so of COURSE, at some point, you have cared too much about what others think of you.

So with that in mind - let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.

Now, isn’t it kind of…ironic? That on a day where we literally put ashes on our foreheads - something that draws people’s attention and makes us stand out - that the assigned Gospel reading, every year, is this reading from Matthew? That tells us to not practice our piety before others. To not make a big deal when we give money. To not pray in public. To not fast before others….

Except that’s not actually what the Scripture says, right? Like, I know I’ve had conversations with some of you before about, “Is it okay to say grace before eating in a public restaurant cause the Scripture says to not pray in front of others?” But that’s not actually what the Scripture says.

The Scripture says to not practice piety in public if you’re only practicing piety in public so that you’re seen practicing piety.
It says not to make a big deal when you give money cause you shouldn’t give money just because you want to be praised for it.
The Scripture says not to pray in public…if you love to be seen praying in public. If you’re praying in public just so people will look at you and say or think, “Oh, what a good person.”
The same thing with fasting in public.

It comes down to the question - do you do what you do to have a right relationship with God? Or because you care what people think and say about you?

This passage ends with the famous line:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And while we often talk about this line in stewardship and giving and material goods - I would also make an argument that it’s applicable to how we view ourselves, how we take stock of our worth.

If we place our worth, how we view ourselves, here on earth, well, it won’t end well. Moth and rust and thieves will obfuscate our worth, stealing it, hiding it, eating away at it - making it harder to see ourselves as the beloved children of God that we are. When we place our worthiness in the things of this world, too easily our hearts and lives follow, and the things of this world - what it deems as success, what it has to offer us, how it will treat us and talk about us - it will never be equal to the worth that God places on us. What God has for us is unconditional love, an unconditional love for all that we are, every part of us, God loves us. That’s our worth. And that alone. And it’s never ever too late to turn to God, with all that we are and place our worth in eternal things. As the Scripture from Joel says, “Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart…” With all your heart and all that you are…

So today, when we receive ashes - people will likely notice! Cause it’s a little strange - to get ashes on the forehead and walk around with them. But when we get ashes on our foreheads it’s a way to say, “the things of this earth, including myself, are not permanent. I remind myself that from dust I came and to dust I will return so that I will not get lost in the things of this world. Instead I will turn my mind to things eternal - like God’s eternal, undying love for me.”

This evening, I hope you will leave here not just with ashes but with this handout as a gift. Now, if you’re online, this went out as an attachment from the email with the Ash Wednesday bulletin. If you still need it you can email the office. But this is called a “Wellness Wheel” and it says it’s an assessment tool for expansive living.

So, when we care what this world thinks about us, it limits us. It places constraints on us. It keeps us from being the full and expansive person that God created us to be. Now, in Lent we often think about taking stock of our lives and giving something up so that we can focus on God more. And that’s okay if we do that. AND, I would like to invite you to take stock of your life, not just for a 40 day fast from something, but to take stock of your life so that, knowing that our worth is found fully in God, we can unabashedly and without fear, live the love-filled life that Jesus calls us to.

This wellness wheel is a tool for that. To consider all areas of your life: the emotional, spiritual, social, financial, physical, mental, environmental, and occupational areas of your life. To ask yourself: knowing that my worth is fully in God, am I living into that in *this* area of my life? What does a life where I know that God loves me, all of, unconditionally - what does that look like for me?

By recognizing our mortality today with the sign of ashes, I would pray that it would be an opportunity to focus not on the things of this earth, but to lay up our treasure, our whole selves, our worth, our wellbeing, our lives in heaven and in doing so, live more fully in this life, knowing that the only opinion that matters is God’s - and God loves us, each of us, you, me, all, unconditionally.

Amen.