"Rejoice Greatly!"

Monday, June 30, 2014            

Scripture

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! (Zechariah 9:9)

Reflection

I had to double-check the lectionary to make sure this was the correct text for our First Reading next Sunday. We are used to hearing this reading during Advent, on the third Sunday, “Rejoice” Sunday, when our acolyte lights the rose-colored candle on the otherwise blue Advent Wreath.

If you’re like me, you are singing to yourself the aria from Handel’s Messiah, which we heard Alice Pierce sing this past December on the Third Sunday in Advent.

Our prophet sings of a coming messianic king who will usher in disarmament, peace and prosperity. Therefore, God’s people shall be known as “prisoners of hope.”

We’re all “prisoners” of someone or something. Being a “prisoner of hope” sounds pretty good to me!

Prayer

Gracious God, Send us your peace and embolden and empower us towards disarmament. In the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Sermon June 22 "Hold On To Jesus"

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Lectionary 12A

June 22, 2014

Jeremiah 20:7-13

Psalm 69:7-18

Romans 6:1b-11

Matthew 10:24-39

Pastor David Tryggestad

Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church

Duluth, Minnesota

As I thought about our Gospel text for today, a song came to my mind. It’s a song that was taught to me by the youth director at another church I was serving at the time. The chorus sings:

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior

And I will hold on with all of my might.

I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting

And hold on to Jesus,

I will hold on to Jesus for life.

The songwriter is Steven Curtis Chapman. Some years after he wrote this song, his five-year-old daughter, Maria, was killed in their driveway. Chapman’s teenage son was coming home in their van and evidently the little girl was running out to greet him.

Steven Curtis Chapman knows about the “things that are fleeting . . .”

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me . . .” (Matthew 10:37).

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior

And I will hold on with all of my might.

I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting

And hold on to Jesus,

I will hold on to Jesus for life.

A 27-year-old Sudanese woman was recently sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to renounce her Christianity. Prior to her death sentence, she was also sentenced to receive a whipping of 100 lashes for adultery. Her marriage to a Christian man was considered adulterous, as the non-Christian religion of her father insists that she must marry a man of her father’s faith, even though she herself embraces Christianity.

“For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother . . . and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household” (Matthew 10:35).

Congratulations to those among us who ran one of the races during the Grandma’s Marathon weekend! Regardless of distance, each race represents hundreds of hours of training and determination. You are all to be commended. Congratulations and Thank You, too, to those who helped make the weekend a success, especially the thousands of volunteers. Duluth is at its best in showing hospitality to the runners who come from around the world.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith . . . (Hebrews 12:1-2a)

Every Grandma’s Marathon weekend I think of the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire based on the story of the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Eric Liddell of Great Britain was the favorite to win the 100 meter race. He had never lost a 100 meter race. He was also a devout Christian with aspirations of becoming a missionary in China. Liddell famously said, “God made me fast, and when I run I feel his pleasure.” When he learned that the finals for the 100 meters were scheduled for a Sunday—the Sabbath—Liddell refused to run, despite strong pressure from the Prince of Whales and the British Olympic Committee. He felt that to run the race on the Sabbath would be a violation of his Christian convictions. His refusal to run captivated international headlines.

Rather than running, Liddell delivered a sermon at the Scottish Church in Paris, in which he quoted Isaiah 40: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”   

As it turned out, a teammate who had won the gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles was also scheduled to run the 400 meter race the following Thursday. He offered his place to Liddell, who accepted. Though Liddell was a sprinter and 100 meters was his specialty, he surprised the world—and himself—by winning the gold in the 400 meter race.

Shortly before the 400 meter race began, an American handed Liddell a piece of paper on which was written a verse from Scripture: “Those who honor me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30).

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven . . .” (Matthew 10:32).

Eric Liddell went on to become a missionary in China, like his parents before him, and he married a fellow missionary. During WWII, when the Japanese waged war against China, Liddell arranged for his two daughters and his wife, pregnant with the third daughter, to leave China. Liddell stayed behind. His mission was eventually overrun by the Japanese and he was sent to an internment camp, where he continued to teach Bible classes and help with the elderly. When a prisoner exchange was arranged by Winston Churchill between England and Japan, Liddell gave up his opportunity to return to his wife and children, instead offering his place to a pregnant woman. Liddell died in the camp at age 43. He never saw his youngest daughter.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter [and we might add ‘spouse’] more than me is not worthy of me . . .” (Matthew 10:37).

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 20:39).

Our prophet Jeremiah knew the cost of holding on to his convictions even in the face of personal suffering and tragedy. At times it seems he would walk away from his convictions if only he could, but he protests that God has enticed him and has overpowered him: “O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me and you have prevailed” (Jeremiah 20:7a).

Even if he wishes to abdicate his convictions and his commitment to God, he cannot. Jeremiah protests: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9).

That burning fire of Jeremiah is the burning fire of the call and claim of God on our lives. That burning fire prioritizes and directs everything else in our lives. That burning fire brings to light all that is hidden. That burning fire is devotion to Jesus above devotion to anyone or anything else in our lives. That burning fire is what enlightened and emboldened Eric Liddell, not only as a runner but as a missionary. That burning fire is what gave the Sudanese woman sentenced to death the courage to hold to her convictions. That burning fire is what has sustained Steven Curtis Chapman to go on from the devastation of his little daughter’s tragic death to continue to write songs of love and devotion to his Lord.

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior

And I will hold on with all of my might.

I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting

And hold on to Jesus,

I will hold on to Jesus for life.

Our Song of the Day sings similar sentiments:

My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like you. . . .

Nothing compares to the promise I have in you. (“Shout to the Lord,” ELW 821)

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Commemoration Onesimos Nesib, Translator and Evangelist

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Commemoration

Onesimos Nesib, Translator, Evangelist, 1931

Reflection

Onesimos (the Greek spelling) took his name after the slave who ran away from his owner, Philemon, whom the Apostle Paul writes about in his letter to Philemon. Onesimos, born in 1855, was captured by slave traders in his homeland of Galla in western Ethiopia and taken to Eritrea, where he had the good fortune to be bought and freed by Swedish missionaries. He was nurtured in the faith by the missionary family, who shared with him their zeal for spreading the gospel. Onesimos sought to bring Christianity to his homeland, and he translated the entire Bible into Galla, returning there to preach and teach, despite cultural difficulties, including the practice that Galla men demonstrated their readiness to marry by          presenting a body part of a slain man to his bride. Onesimos fell ill on his way to preach at the present Mekane Yesus Church at Naqamte, and he died peacefully that evening. Inscribed on his tombstone are the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “O Land, O Land, hear the word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 22:29).

Prayer

Gracious God, Thank you for your servants to bring your Good News to people in ways they can understand. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor David

"Losing yourself"

Friday, June 20, 2014

Scripture

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

Reflection

It’s been a week of difficult texts! Yet they are all saying the same thing. When we “lose” ourselves to Christ, we find ourselves in him. We get our lives back so much more abundantly than we could ask for or imagine, enriched, not in self-seeking or self-serving, but in self-giving and self-emptying.

Prayer

Dearest Lord Jesus, Empower me to lose myself for your sake over and over again, that I might be found in you. In your name. Amen.

Pastor David

"Love me more . . ." or "Water is thicker than blood"

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Scripture

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me . . .” (Matthew 10:37)

Reflection

Just when we’ve “recovered” (or think we have) from the texts and reflections from Monday and Tuesday, Jesus hits us (again) with difficult words. We must love Jesus more than we love our own flesh and blood!

The old adage goes, “Blood is thicker than water.” Jesus, along with the Apostle Paul (see Wednesday) might turn that phrase upside down: “Water is thicker than blood.” Our  psalmist experienced stress in the relationships with his siblings because of devotion to God (see Tuesday); Jeremiah suffered persecution from those around him. Is it realistic for us to expect “smooth sailing” in our life of devotion to Jesus?

Prayer

Dearest Lord Jesus, Give me grace to love you more than all else. In your name I pray. Amen.

Pastor David

"Our first and most important death"

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Scripture

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5)

Reflection

We are entering into a summer in Romans. Here we have the Apostle Paul’s classic text on baptism. Paul would insist that baptism is a dramatic, life-changing—rather, life-ending and life-beginning—event. Our “old Adam” is put to death and we are raised up a child of God. In baptism, we have already died to ourselves; thus the death we ultimately experience is secondary to the death of ourselves in baptism.

These are astonishing words! I often wonder if parents know what they’re up to when they present their children for baptism. It’s hardly an event to sleep through!

Prayer

Gracious God, Thank you for claiming me as your child and for raising me up to newness of life in baptism. Renew me in the faith every day! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor David

"Eaten up by zeal"

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Scripture

Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; in your great compassion, turn to me. (Psalm 69:16)

Reflection

Our psalmist is experiencing the same kind of hostility as our prophet Jeremiah in Monday’s reflection. Listen to the complaint: Surely, for your sake I have suffered reproach, and shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my own kindred, an alien to my mother's children. Zeal for your house has eaten me up; the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me (vss.7-9).

When I see families divided because of faith commitments (of lack of them), I remember the words of our psalm and of Jeremiah. When all seems to go well with me and my relationships, I wonder if I might be “holding back” or otherwise compromising my faith commitments so as not to “stir things up” with those around me.

After Jesus “cleansed” the Temple in anger, our psalm was quoted as explanation: “Zeal for your house will consume me” (John 2:17).

Prayer

Gracious God, Consume my heart with the fire of your love, and let me never hold back from speaking of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor David

Sermon Holy Trinity Sunday: "God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity!"

THE HOLY TRINITY

Year A

June 15, 2014

Genesis 1:1—2:4a

Psalm 8

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Matthew 28:16-20

Pastor David Tryggestad

Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church

Duluth, Minnesota

I was in a conversation on Friday night with a man I had met for the first time. He had come from out of town for the wedding reception for his daughter. He started the conversation, knowing I am a pastor. “I was baptized Presbyterian, then re-baptized Catholic, and now I’m a Lutheran.” I responded, “You’re truly ecumenical.” Then I quoted one of my favorite mentors in the faith, Gerhard Frost, who wisely said, “It takes the whole Church to say the name ‘Jesus.’” I then said, “We are enriched as Christians by hearing how others experience God, as God comes to us in many and various ways.”

God is revealed in many and various ways throughout Scripture.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, when we consider God as Three Persons, as we sang in our beloved opening hymn: “God in three persons, blessed Trinity!”

God as three Persons is revealed throughout Scripture. In our First Reading, God creates the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1). The second verse reads, “. . . the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” The “wind from God” is the Spirit of God, as “wind,” “breath,” and “Spirit” are all the same word in Hebrew, as they are in New Testament Greek. Another rendition of the Hebrew reads, “. . . the Spirit brooded over” the waters. The verb indicates continuous, ongoing action: “. . . the Spirit continued—and continues—to brood over.” Those who are parents and grandparents know that we never, never, never stop brooding over our loved ones.

The writer of the Gospel of John contributes to the Holy Trinity in Creation in his Prologue to the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word—that is Christ—and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being in him and without him not one thing came into being” (John 1:1-3a).

Thus we have God in three Persons, “Blessed Trinity,” present and active in Creation.

In our Second Reading, the Apostle Paul concludes his Second Letter to the Corinthians, with these words: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Here Paul is explicit about naming the three Persons of the Trinity. In this blessing that has come to be used in our liturgy, we are reminded that our Triune God is not static, but rather active. The three words Paul uses as descriptors of God—grace, love, and communion—really only work when the nouns become verbs. Imagine beginning and ending each day with Paul’s blessing, living and acting grace, living and acting love, and living and acting communion, with God and with one another!

Moving to our Gospel for today, we hear Jesus’ last words to his disciples according to Matthew:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . .” (Matthew 28:18-19)

Here, again, we see the three Persons of the Trinity explicitly named.

What do we do with all of this? How does it matter? What difference does it make in our lives?

The Apostle Paul, perhaps the greatest theologian of all the biblical writes, sometimes comes to an end in his deep and sophisticated theological treatises and breaks into praise of God:

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! . . .

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33, 36)

 The last stanza of “Holy, Holy, Holy” sings praise of God:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

All thy works shall praise thy name

in earth and sky and sea.

The Bible insists that all of Creation praises God. The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19) and the mountains and the hills break forth into singing and the trees clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).

Have you seen some of the photos of the spectacular beauty of the universe as revealed by the Hubble space telescope? How can it be there is such glorious beauty when there is none to see it but God alone? Have you ever walked through a dense and secluded forest and seen beautiful wildflowers that no one else has seen? How can it be there is such glorious beauty when there is none to see it but God alone?

The Bible insists that all of Creation praises God.

The catechism of the Presbyterian Church, the Westminster Catechism, opens with these words: “The chief aim of humanity is to worship God and to enjoy God forever.” On this Holy Trinity Sunday, we might flesh that out: “The chief aim of humanity is to worship God the Holy Trinity and to enjoy God the Holy Trinity forever.”

How do we praise God whom we cannot see? How do we praise God when there seems to be so much evidence to the contrary? The third stanza of our hymn sings:

Holy, holy, holy!

Though the darkness hide thee,

though the eye of sinfulness

thy glory may not see . . .

Another translation sings:

though the eye made blind by sin

thy glory may not see . . .

Last week was a difficult one here at Concordia. On Wednesday morning we held a memorial service for a 57-year-old woman, a wife and mother, who died after struggling with a debilitating and degenerative illness for 13 years. The sanctuary was almost filled in the middle of the week, while most of her friends are still working.

That same evening others gathered at the grave site of a young man, 27 years old, who was shot and killed exactly one year earlier. The emotions and the tears were almost as raw as they were one year ago.

How do we praise God whom we cannot see? How do we praise God when there seems to be so much evidence to the contrary?

One of the Scripture readings that was read at that young man’s wedding and again at his funeral only three years later, and again at his grave site this past Wednesday, is 1 Corinthians 13, the so-called “Love Chapter.” In it, the Apostle Paul insists,

For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;

but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. . . .

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, then we will see face to face.

Now I know only in part; then I will know fully,

even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:9-10, 12)

Let’s go back to our First Reading, the first Creation account from Genesis: the Spirit of God is brooding over the face of the waters. The Spirit continues to brood over Creation.

The Apostle Paul says the same thing in different words:

Likewise the Spirit helps us—picks us up and carries us—in our weakness;

for we do not know how to pray as we ought,

but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

And God who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

(Romans 8:26-27).

Paul also insists, in the same chapter of Romans: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Listen to God in three Persons at work: “The Spirit helps us . . . God who searches the heart . . . no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Holy Trinity at work. The Holy Trinity as a verb, not a noun.

Let’s go back to Paul’s conclusion to his Second Letter to the Corinthians: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Our Triune God is not static, but rather active. The three words Paul uses as descriptors of God—grace, love, and communion—really only work when the nouns become verbs. Imagine beginning and ending each day with Paul’s blessing, living and acting grace, living and acting love, and living and acting communion, with God and with one another!

Thanks be to our Triune God in three Persons, “Blessed Trinity!”

Amen.