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Ash Wednesday

Sermon given on Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2009, at Wooddale Lutheran Church by Pastor Tim Rauk. Texts are Joel 2:12-19, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:2, and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.

As different as people are, one from another, there are a few universal images that express ideas and experiences common to all people. For example, Water, as a universal symbol of cleansing and birth is one. And Ashes: a symbol of human mortality is another. There is something universal and timeless in using ashes as a sign of deep sadness, usually over the mortality of a loved one, where in some cultures, a mourner would literally cover him/herself with ashes. Ashes after all, are all that remains, after every trace of life has been oxidized out of organic living material. And so ashes have become a universal symbol of mortality. Which is probably why more people come to Easter worship than to Ash Wednesday.

But, none the less, tonight, as Christians have done for 2000 years, we take ashes and trace the sign of the cross onto the head of every baptized believer: a reminder of Baptism, but also another a reminder is spoken as the cross is traced on your forehead: From dust you were made and to dust you will return.

That’s not something I really want to be reminded of. "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The words said at the cemetery, at the final committal at the grace site. The body returns to the ground from which it was made... and again become the lifeless dirt: earth, ashes and dust. I can’t deny it. But I don’t really want to think about it.

And we as a society have learned all kinds of ways not to face with reality of our mortality. We like to pretend that death isn't really real. One way of denying it, is to ignore it: Gear everything towards eternal youthfulness; looking young, acting young, thinking young. I got a call the other day, from one of those phone survey groups, asking about radio listening. “Are you between the ages of 18 and 54.” “No, I’m not.” “Oh … Well … anyone there who is?” (Nancy wasn’t home.) “No!” “Oh. Sorry to bother you. And they hung up.” I’m too old. They don’t want to know what radio I listen to. So much of what we see as beautiful in our society revolves around the notion that youth is wonderful, and aging is bad, and death is doesn’t exist.

There is a second way that our society denies death: and that is to make death fiction. There is a genre of films where the whole plot is about death and the plot, in all these films is the same. Here's the story line. A group of young people, are stalked by some kind of horrendous monster/killer who systematically hunts down these innocent people and one by one, kills them. I don’t know how these stories end. Friday the 13th: a killer wearing a hockey goal’s mask (another series? Or maybe they’re the same. I don’t know.) There are others as well. Death is seen as horrible, graphic and gruesome. But it’s fiction. The stories are so ridiculous that it makes death unreal, and … well … fiction. Not at all like anything we know of as being real. Not at all like any death I’ve ever been present for. So here we have one of the few things that we know all of us will experience, yet we avoid its reality.

However, the journey we embark on tonight, on Ash Wednesday, through Lent, into Holy Week, and culminating on Easter, is NOT fiction. It is a journey that addresses the reality of death in a truthful, direct, honest, and dare I suggest it … in a positive way. The lessons for this evening give us a kind of “Mapquest” series of directions to begin us on our journey; a journey that offer to reveal to us the greatest mystery of our faith: the mystery of the defeat of death, the mystery of the Resurrection. It's not a simple mystery to understand, but at it’s core is the heart of the meaning to life itself. So we begin.


Direction #1: from the First Reading, from Joel 2.
“Even now, says the Lord, re-turn; turn again to me with all your heart. Let your broken heart show your sorrow. Come to the Lord your God! For God is kind and full of mercy; patient and keeping his promises, always ready to forgive and not punish.

So, gather the people together; prepare them for a sacred meeting: bring the old; gather the children and the babies too. Enter the Temple, and pray: "God, have mercy on your people as they turn to you."

That's the first step in the journey: Turn to the Lord? ReTurn to the Lord? Repenting! That's what repentance means, “turning to God.” Turning our whole heart to the Lord?

The second step in the journey begins as a promise from God that Paul talks about in the second lesson -- from 2 Corinthians; a promise that has important implication for how we are to live.

We beseech you on behalf of Christ. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! Christ shared our sin in order that we might be reconciled to God.

That's the promise, that no matter how far we stray from God's plan, God is always reaching out to be reconciled with us. Direction #2 - Reconciliation: It's a word that describes not only the need we have in our relationship to God, but also what is needed over and over again in all our human relationships. Reconciliation – which means: to forgive, to heal, to pardon, to absolve, to make whole. All ongoing relationships require that all those things happen over and over and over and over again & again & again & again. Reconciliation is a constantly needed.

1) Repentance begins the journey.
2) Reconciliation is the result of repentance.

And finally, the Gospel. Direction #3. The Gospel directs us on a journey of discipline. Repentance, à Reconciliation, à Discipline or Discipleship.

That's what following Christ means: becoming a disciple. And a disciple is “one is disciplined.” As disciples of Jesus, we accept a certain discipline for living a faithful life. Want examples? From the Gospel of Matthew. “Give to the needy, do it in private -- not as a show. When you pray, do not do it as a show, to impress other people; but do it in private, and God will hear you, and reward you.” Even fasting, which isn't a discipline Lutherans talk about much, is good when it is done to allow us to think more about our relationship with God.

And this lesson ends with these important words.

Do not lay up for yourself riches on earth, that moth and rust can destroy and robbers can break in and steal. Rather store up riches in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are.

Ash Wednesday reminds us, that anything that death can destroy, anything that death will separate us from, is subservient to our relationship to God. And when any of those thing displace God, then --- plain and simply, we've got our priorities mixed up. And so, Lent begins. May it be for you, a time of repentance, a time of reconciliation, and a time of renewed discipline and discipleship as we turn our priorities once again to God, and discover anew, the powerful Easter truth, that "NOTHING ... not even death itself can separate us from the Love of God that comes to us in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Transforming Life

Sermon given on Transfiguration Sunday, February 22, 2009, at Wooddale Lutheran Church by Pastor Tim Rauk. Text is Mark 9:2-9.

Jesus taught in parables. He used images and experiences that were easily understood by the people he was teaching because he talked about things they had all experienced. Jesus ate with common everyday folk like you and me. He cared for and healed people that others had give up on. Jesus didn’t hold himself to be above anyone. He loved and cared for everyone. And even when people rejected him and ultimately put killed him, Jesus forgave. This accessibility of God to all people is at the heart of the Gospel Jesus proclaimed. No matter what your day to day life is like, Jesus meets you there.

However, the Gospel story for today, may likely seem a bit removed from most people’s day to day experience. The story entitled “The Transfiguration of our Lord”, is a story of a religious vision, a story about a powerful religious renewal, a dramatic spiritual experience.

Peter, James and John take a long hike with Jesus up a mountain specifically because they were in search of renewal. They were going up there to pray. Now, they could have certainly stayed where they were to pray, down by the Sea of Galilee. They would have been just as heard by God down there as they would be on top of a mountain. But sometimes it helps to have a change in scenery, not because God can hear us better there, but because maybe we can listen better to what God is saying.

So Jesus took Peter, James, and John up this mountain to pray. Jesus probably needed to get away and he probably knew that they needed to get away as well? Jesus, the man, was, after all, subject to the same exhaustion and stresses as you and I are. We know there were times when Jesus went off by himself to pray, and often he found a secluded out-of-the-way place just to get some peace and quiet. So they climbed this mountain and while they were on this mountain, while they were praying, suddenly some unexpected things began to happen. Jesus whole appearance changed. His clothes looked to be a bright, supernatural white, and then two men appeared with Jesus: Elijah, and Moses.

Peter got all flustered. “Rabbi ... Master ... Teacher” he said to Jesus. “This is really great. It’s very good to be here. Maybe we should make a shelter for each of you.” And then a cloud rolled over them and out of the cloud came a voice saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved; listen to him.” And just as suddenly as this experience began, it was over.

What we have here is a powerful religious experience. This story is often discussed as being about something that happened to Jesus, but this story is really about what happened to Peter James and John. Suddenly, they saw Jesus in a whole new light. When we focus on what happens to Jesus in the story, we discover one level of meaning to the story. But the story truly comes alive when we read it as being about what we see when we look on Jesus. What happened to Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration is that they gained clarity in their confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the very Son of God, and they should listen to him differently than they had.

What does it mean, to “Listen to Jesus”? Well, if Jesus was just about teaching, telling parables, preaching sermons, “listening to him” would mean trying to find application for his teaching in our lives. Nothing wrong with that. That’s what the disciples had been doing to this point.

But now, “listening to Jesus” is going to mean a whole lot more. Now, “listening to Jesus” means that they are going to be asked to take a journey that invites their complete and total commitment – commitment to live lives of service and sacrifice.

And that’s precise what the placement of Transfiguration event and Lent, in the church year teaches us. For just as LENT begins after Transfiguration Sunday, so, after the Transfiguration event, Jesus’ ministry turns its sights on Jerusalem and his journey to the cross.

My friends, there is a dramatic consequence to seeing Jesus as Peter James and John saw him. This story is about a lot more than just a dramatic, mountain-top experience. A Transfiguration encounter with Jesus is a challenging, life-changing invitation to “Listen to God” differently. Peter, James and John thought they were just going on a retreat to the mountains, escape hustle and bustle of their busy world, and do what they had done often with Jesus: To PRAY! to talk to God. But, they got far more than they bargained for. And I think what they got in wrapped up in the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus.

Now the meaning of Moses and Elijah at this event has bee discussed and analyzed by people of faith since it happened. There are lots of interpretations, but most of them boil down to this: Moses and Elijah were the two giants of their faith: which was Judaism. Moses received the 10 Commandments and helped the people interpret them. Elijah was the greatest of the prophets. And now Jesus is up there with them. I think that’s an accurate interpretation.

But I’d like to suggest something a bit more personal about the meaning of Elijah and Moses. Peter, James, and John were devout men of God, which meant, that they were devout Jews. Their faith was the most important thing in the world to them. They were not educated men so they could not have positions of leadership in the Temple. But they had left their jobs, left their businesses, left everything they owned to follow Jesus because they saw in Jesus a fulfillment to their faith, not a replacement to their faith. And I believe, that Moses and Elijah in this story represents that which was most important to Peter, James, and John. And you see, Moses and Elijah represented for them the meaning and purpose they found in life. And this Transfiguration event was a powerful religious experience for them BECAUSE it touched that which was most important to them.

And you see my friends, that’s what true religious experiences do: they touch our lives in the most important and intimate places. A powerful religious experience is what happens when we allow Jesus to touch, to change, to transfigure that which is most important to us. You see, it’s easy to keep Jesus in the periphery of life; someone to think about in church; someone to turn to when I’m in trouble or stressed. There are so many things out there that seem to crowd Jesus out.

But my friends, when we allow Jesus into those areas that are of primary importance to us, that is when we have what we call a true transfiguring event. If your work is the most important thing in the world to you and you let Jesus in, you will be changed. It’s going to change the way you look at your work. Your work will be transformed. If your family is the most important thing in your life, and you let Jesus in, it’s going to change the way you look at your family. Your family will be transformed. If money is the most important priority in your life and you let Jesus in, it’s going to change the way you look at your money. If having fun, leisure time, recreation is what you live for, and you let Jesus in, it’s going to change the way you look at what fun means. Letting Jesus in transfigures, transforms, changes lives. That’s what “Transfiguration means.

So let Jesus into your life; into the most important parts of your life. That’s what Peter, James and John did and it completely changed them. And if that’s what we do, our lives will never be the same. For Jesus is: God’s son; God’s beloved. LISTEN TO HIM. Let him change your life.

Funeral Sermon for Sarah Tilman

Funeral sermon for Sarah Tilman, February 16, 2009, at Wooddale Lutheran Church by Pastor Tim Rauk.

First of all, (and I know I speak for everyone here) words cannot express how deeply grieved we are for your loss: Dave, Cathie, Lisa, Adam & Aimee, Margie, Per & George, and Andrew. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to go. We have a picture in our minds of how life is supposed to play out: that death has a place, but it’s much, much later. One generation is supposed to pass on before the following generation. Even then, it’s hard, but we understand it. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. None of us wants to be here.

But there is a very compelling reason why we must be here. The reason we all must be here today; the reason some traveled from Washington DC and other traveled from across the country is because we love life. We love the gift of life. We love how Sarah enriched that gift; how Sarah was that gift; how she embraced and loved her life. And because we love life, and we loved Sarah, this is where we need to be. You’ve heard the stories. You knew Sarah. You know how much she LOVED life.

And you see, because we love life, we all do what we can to make sense out of this amazing journey. We do our best to try to figure it out. It’s certainly is hard to make sense out of the feelings of loss we are experiencing today. This is as bad as it gets, but every life is filled with uncertainties. But we love life, and we want to figure it out. Life is: living one day after another, trying to figure it all out as best we can; trying to put it all together in a way that makes sense.

Sarah’s love for life, led her to study the field of biology. For some of you, your love for life has led you into the business world. For others, your love for life has led you into various healing and medical disciplines. Some of you went into teaching, others become craftsperson, some study Law, or many fields of science, or philosophy, and others show your love for life by creating a home that offers others a nurturing place to grows. For me, my love for life led me to religion, with a shot of music on the side for fun.

So, put all these interests together, and it makes for an amazingly interesting world as all of us – all people who love life, – are drawn to explore in depth, one of the many different disciplines of life that seek to offer insight into this amazing journey we’re on together called life. Put it all together, and it can all seem a bit chaotic. But in the midst of this cacophony of these many, delightful languages, there is but one language that cuts through all the confusion; one language that is understood by all.

The Biblical writer Paul had it right. He said, (and I paraphrase a bit) “If I speak the language of the most intelligent of people, or if I even know the language of the heavens, but do not have love, it is nothing more than deafening, clanging noise. If I understand all of life’s mysteries and if I discover all the knowledge of the world, but do not have love, I know nothing. If I give away everything I have in a grand philanthropic gesture, but do not have love, it means nothing.”

And you see, that is what we rejoice in today: that a young woman who had only 27 short years, lived her life with amazing wisdom, discovering something that many people don’t discover if they live to be 100. Sarah learned the power of embracing people; of loving people; of caring for every person she was with.

It started with her immediate family. She knew how unconditionally loved she was at home, and that equipped her to reach out and touch so many others. I count it a privilege to have observed the environment of love and compassion that was the heart of Sarah’s family as she grew up. That unconditional love she felt from her parents and her siblings was the foundation and the strength for Sarah as she grew up. And you see, if you apply the language of love to whatever discipline you feel called to, it transforms what you are doing into something that is indeed eternal.

Biology, without love, is simply procreation, and interesting mechanisms of ever changing life. But add love to that, and you have the gift of the family and friends, that truly transcends anything you can study and analyze.

Economics, without love, leads us to greed and devastation. But add to that, love, and you find the fortunate of this world caring that there are people who aren’t as lucky and doing something to help them. Sarah did an amazing job of embracing, caring for, loving the people for whom life was an economic struggle. The language of love.

Government, without love, leads to dominating power, winners and losers. But add love, and you find people seeking to serve the common good, even if it means giving up something that they want.

Sarah’s love for life led her to embrace and develop a mastery for the language of biology. And Sarah’s love of teaching required that she learn another special languages: the language of her students, who didn’t know the discoveries that awaited them if they would learn the language of biology as well. But most importantly, behind her mastery of the language of biology, behind her mastery of the language of teaching, Sarah made it crystal clear, that she truly cared about her students. She brought, into what she did, a deep love for people. She could tease you, she could argue with you, she could wear you down with her passion for what she thought was right, but you always knew that she cared about you.

I have walked this journey, as the Psalmist says it, “Into the valley of the shadow of death” with many people, many families who have felt the devastation of losing a loved one to death. And what I find amazing, is that even though every person is different, unique, even though the histories are completely different, one from another, that when someone they’ve loved dies, everyone is drawn to talk about precisely the same thing. The specific discipline, job, hobby, pursuit that made them so unique no longer seems important. And what they are drawn to, is what I have been hearing from countless people about Sarah: Yes, she was a gifted biologist. Yes, she was a gifted teacher. Yes, she was a standout in many of the things she did. But what people are going to remember, what people talk about, what makes people smile, and cry, is in remembering her language of love.

Whatever she did, she did it with principled compassion. She just had a magic touch with people. She drew people to her. She cared about people, and they cared back. And if her role was to teach, she kept her standards high, and she could get students to respond, because they knew she wasn’t just doing a job – she was loving them.

The fact of the matter is that, when compared to the fullness of time, none of us is on this earth for much longer than the blink of an eye. But Sarah had it right: take each and every person you come in contact with in your life, and look at them, and in them you see something that transcends everything else. Love them, and care about them, laugh with them, and connect with them. And in doing that, you are as close as you can get to discovering that which is truly transcendent. It is in our loving one another, that we just might be touching that which is eternal.

A Christian in Training

Sermon given on the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 15, 2009, at Wooddale Lutheran Church by Pastor Tim Rauk. Text is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

If you’ve been listening to Gospel readings from Mark this Epiphany season, you’ve no doubt noticed all the references the to healing miracles of Jesus. Healing is viewed very differently today from what it was in Jesus’ day, but it remains no less an important part of how our society spends its time and energy. We, both physically and spiritually stand in need of God’s healing grace each and every day.

But this morning I’m going to turn our attention to the second lesson from 1 Corinthians, and the message Paul has for us there. It’s a sports analogy, just as we are a society that spends a tremendous amount of time, energy and money on health and healing, we are also a society that loves our sports. If you have cable TV, you can tune into some kind of sports event 24 hours a day.

We have huge sports arenas in St. Paul, and in Minneapolis, hockey and basketball arenas at the University of Minnesota, a new baseball stadium for the Twins is being built, as well as a football stadium for the University. There’s the Metrodome, and then think of all the college, community, and school space dedicated to sports spectating. You don’t just build gymnasiums for sports competition. You built them with place for people to sit and watch. We do love our sports. And how many of you watched the Superbowl last Sunday? We LOVE our sports.

Now, it wasn’t too terribly many years ago that sports were considered an extra curricular activity. – something that you DO – in your spare time. People had their regular jobs and then the best of the players would play for the local town teams in their spare time. Today, we have a small, but wealthy elite professional sports class; people who make their living playing sports very well, so that the rest of us can watch them. So, there has been a gradual transition from sports being something you DO in your spare time, to today, where sports, for many of us is something you WATCH in your spare time.

And how interesting it is to listen to the commentary that goes with sporting events. Take the Superbowl as an example. There are millions of people watching on TV. And up in a press booth you have the announcers and commentators, critiquing the game, analyzing every move, evaluating how the players are doing, reviewing every play over and over and over again. And you definitely get the feeling that if the announcers were out on the field, or calling the plays … they would do things differently – and better –, and could change the course of the game.

I had an opportunity to go to one of the Vikings games this season, and listening to the fans around me was more interesting than the game itself. They were experts, suggesting what players should have done that was different than what they did,
second guessing the coaches, criticizing the ability of the players, and countless times suggesting that if they were the referees, the game would be much more fairly called.

And the fact of the matter is, that they were all pretenders. They, and I were pretenders; sitting on the sidelines thinking to ourselves, “If I were out there, I would have run around that tackler. I would have caught that pass.” And reality is, that the reason I’m the stands and they’re playing the game is that I am simply incapable of doing what needs to be done to truly compete.

Paul, in today’s second lesson is telling us that our faith is like competing in a sporting event. For Paul, the parallel is with running. With running, 1) there are those who truly train to race; 2) there are those who go out jogging once in a while; and 3) then there are those who are strictly spectators, cheering from the sidelines, wondering to themselves, “Why doesn’t my team just run faster than that other team. I’m sure they could do it if they just tried a little harder.”

When you’re actually out there running the race, doing the competing, you don’t get the job done, unless you’re prepared; unless you’ve put in the discipline and training to run the race. Paul encourages us to look at our faith in the same way. “Run in such a way as to win the race.”

And how is that done. He goes on. “25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; Paul writes. They do it to receive a perishable wreath. We too must exercise self-control in all things as we strive for the imperishable gift of God’s Kingdom.

And you see, to do this, we need to be in training. Again from Paul, “26 I do not run aimlessly, I do not flail about wasting my time; 27 but I exercise my faith and keep it disciplined, so that I might bring a strong true witness to others.” As Paul ended his life, he wrote in second Timothy, using the same theme. “7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give me.”

So, how can we be in shape spiritually? In sports, one’s ability to compete is largely in the training. And training, is in the DOING, not in the spectating, not in the watching from the sidelines. And what is training?

Training is doing, over and over again, those things that we will be called on to do in competition. And because we’ve done them over and over again, we will be prepared when called on to do them in the game. Those of you who are musicians: How many times do you “practice” a piece of music so that you can do it once in front of other people” Over and over again we play, or sing, the same line – over and over and over again, so that when we come to actually DOING it in performance, we are prepared.

So, what are the spiritual exercises that make for a strong spiritual life? How do you exercise the spirit? The answer is not a surprise. Spiritual exercise consists of regularly DOING: worship – prayer – meditation – service – generosity – sharing. None of these are surprises to anyone; just like, if you want to be prepared to run a race, you need to – well … run – to be in shape. And so, daily prayer, regular volunteer service to others, weekly worship, generous sharing are all important if we are to truly be contributing members of the team of the Kingdom of God rather than just spectators watching from the sideline.

I have on occasion met people who, upon facing a struggle in their life, a trial or difficulty, are so angry with God for what they’re having to go through, that they have abandoned their faith. And almost always, they are spiritually, out of shape. They hadn’t been exercising their faith. They hadn’t been praying regularly, or worshipping regularly, and then, when the competition of life gets tough, they wonder why God seems so far away. They feel abandoned by God.

But the fact of the matter is that it’s not God who has failed them. They are just not in shape spiritually, and in the heat of the competition of life, they just weren’t ready.

If you’re a runner, you will probably reach your peak in your 20s, and from there you start to loose it, no matter how hard you train. What I have seen, in the witness of so many people in this congregation, is that our faith, grows and become stronger throughout our lifetime on this earth. And you see, in none of this is our salvation dependant on us doing something to earn or deserve it. That is always a gift of grace, won for us by Jesus. But, none the less, we are called to be disciples: accepting the discipline of being spiritually, in shape, so that, again from Paul: “We might run that race in such a way as to win. Exercising self-control in all things to receive an imperishable prize.”

And we will be able to say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. The prize that Jesus won for me is mine.”

Christian Freedom - Christian Calling

Sermon given on the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, on February 1, 2009, at Wooddale Lutheran Church by Pastor Tim Rauk. Text is 1 Corinthians 8:1-13.

100 years ago, a 3rd grade education was considered plenty for all practical purposes, but that’s certainly not true today. Today a high school education is considered just the starting point. And part of the reason is, that as a society, we have come to believe that all problems can be solved through education and the dispensing of knowledge. If you have a problem … it can be solved by gaining knowledge.

If people smoke, give them knowledge: put a message on the cigarette packages and they’ll stop. Teach drug awareness in school; give our youth knowledge about the dangers of drug and alcohol use, and they’ll use that knowledge to make wise choices. Teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease? Give people knowledge, and the problem will be solved. No matter what the difficulty, the dilemma, the predicament; knowledge will bring you a solution.

Today’s Second Reading addresses one of society’s great and pervasive problems, and in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul addresses the problem head-on. “Now concerning food sacrificed to idols.” I’ll just bet you got up this morning and thought to yourself, “You know, I’m really concerned about food sacrificed to idols. I wish someone would do something about that.” Have you noticed all the news coverage on this issue lately? You can’t be too careful when you visit the grocery story. There’s all kinds of food that they’ve snuck in that’s been sacrificed to idols.

Well, we’re in luck. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, Greece about just that subject and together we’ll explore how we can address this important national crisis as a congregation. But Paul takes a rather different approach to addressing this problem than what we’re accustomed to. In fact, not only does he not see knowledge as the solution, he sees “knowledge” as part of the problem.

Paul, writing to the church in Corinth said, “we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ We all have informed opinions on most subjects. The church in Corinth was probably one of the most highly educated Christian churches around, but it was being torn apart. Why?

Well, Paul could see that knowledge, by itself, was actually causing division within the church, based on arguments about their opinions. As important as knowledge it; as helpful as education can be, it has it’s limitations, and by itself, it can even be a harmful thing. “We know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ That’s all well and good, Paul is saying.

And then Paul clearly outlines the problem and offers the solution, in one short succinct sentence. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Simply having knowledge, without love, makes you think you’re better than other people. Knowledge by itself, without love, simply inflates the ego. It is easy to make pronouncements about other’s problems based on personal opinion; it’s far more challenging and far more powerful, to bring LOVE and COMPASSION into the problem solving. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Just several chapters later in 1 Corinthians 13 we find the famous “Love chapter” from Paul speaks even more directly about this overriding solution. You all know it well, I’m sure, where Paul writes: “If I am able speak in many human tongues and even in the tongues of angels, but do not have love, I am simply a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and have all knowledge.” All knowledge! If I know EVERYTHING, but do not have love, ––– it’s nothing.

And so my friends, as Christians, this is our challenge. Whatever the problem we are asked to address, whether it be a very personal one-on-one problem, or a societal problem, how can we bring to the problem, a love that builds up all those caught in the difficulty?

In Paul’s day, there was a problem in the church in Corinth with the issues of “food sacrificed to idols.” It was believed by some that the “food sacrificed to an idol” carried certain powers associated with that idol. Some people in Corinth, who had been raised believing in those idols, but had heard the Good News of Christ as an invitation to break away from the negative influences of idol worship, still were deeply affected and troubled by the heritage; the traditions associated with eating the meat sacrificed to these idols. And others in Corinth believed – rightly we would say – that all food is a gift from God, the idol has no power over a believer, so I can eat anything I wish. And they flaunted this freedom in front of these new Christians. It was a difficult thing for them to see this meat being eaten by fellow Christians when for so many years they had associated negative practices and powers to the eating of such meat.

So Paul tells them “Yes, your knowledge is right. The meat offered to idols has no power over you, but ‘take care that this liberty of yours does not become a stumbling block’ to new believers trying to break away from their old past. Your knowledge, correct as it may be, is only puffing up your ego, and tearing down those who don’t understand this freedom you are claiming. Love, on the other hand will cause you to set aside your personal freedom your personal knowledge, and will find a way of supporting and building up those who are new in the faith.”

And you see, this is what we as Christians are called to bring into any and every discussion in our church, and in our society. Is my action building up others in love, or am I simply trying to inflate my own ego? It’s a very difficult concept to think that there are times when following correct knowledge might actually lead to un-Christ-like behavior.

Society generally seeks solutions to problems by simply seeking knowledge; as Christians, we ask “How can I bring a love that builds up?” into the discussion. “How can I bring the merciful love of God; a love that seeks to build up every person involved?”

When the issue is teenage drug use, it’s easy to wave a finger of judgment. It’s easy to criticize the teen pregnancy as foolish, leading to a lifetime of poverty. When the issue is poverty, it’s easy to analyze the mistakes of others, and suggest what they could have, should have done differently and how they deserve what they’ve got, all based on correct knowledge. Correct knowledge can be just one more way of reminding people what screw ups they are, and all it does is help to sink them ever deeper into hopelessness.

It’s a lot more challenging to discover a way to guide and builds up in love; a love that will help lift them out of their problem. Paul’s solution is really quite dramatic, and while we have never had to struggle with the issue of “meat offered to idols” Paul’s advise concerning that problem is as useful and powerful today as it was the day he wrote it. Paul invites us, 21st Century Americans, raised in the most knowledgeable and free country in history, to put something else ahead of our freedom and our knowledge: a love that builds up. A love that edifies our neighbor.

My knowledge, my freedom allows me to do many things. I will set both aside if it means being able to build someone up in love. Seldom are the worst ills and struggles of society a matter of too little knowledge. They are almost always the result of too little love.

What's Your Advice?

Sermon given on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, January 25, 2009, at Wooddale Lutheran Church by Pastor Tim Rauk. Text is 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.

Do you enjoy reading advice columns? Have you ever written to an advice columnist? People read advice columns I suppose, out of curiosity, curiosity about other people’s problems, and also curious to see if the advice given would be the same as they would give. But people write to an advice columnist because they ostensibly are looking for a new and different perspective to bring to their problem. I think most people know what they think. They just hope that the “expert” will agree with them. And if they do, they feel better about their own position, and if they don’t, they really have little intention of changing their position. But many are indeed looking for a new and different way of looking at a problem.

Well, today’s second lesson is a very short excerpt from the first Christian advice columnist. The advice columnist, is the Apostle Paul and Paul is responding to a letter sent to him from the Christian community in the town of Corinth, Greece. The church is Corinth had a wide variety of problems, so they sent Paul a letter asking for his advice on several different subjects.

They asked: “Dear Paul, Is it OK to eat meat bought from meat markets that use animals who have sacrificed to idols?” And, “Dear Paul, How can you recognize gifts that are truly from God?” And, “Dear Paul, How should we raise money in the church?”

So how good an advice columnist was Paul? Now, Paul was a gifted writer. Paul was an inspired theologian. Paul was a powerful leader and preacher and Paul was without a doubt, a faithful committed Christian evangelist, but an advice columnist, I think we’d have to say that Paul’s record there is a bit mixed. Certainly, much of his advice is quite good. His letters became Christian scripture after all. However, there are times when his advice is questionable. There were times where he was just too close to the situation to really give objective advice.
He took the problems people in the church were having too personally. Paul could start talking about one subject, and then would wander off on tangents and end up talking about something completely different from the original question.

And there are times when Paul simply would give, what we would have to call, bad advice. Take today’s second lesson as an example, from the seventh chapter of First Corinthians. Here’s the question Paul was asked to reflect on: “Dear Paul, What advice would do give to Christians in our church here in Corinth concerning marriage?”

Now, we know Paul wasn’t married. He may have been married at one time and his wife may have died, but at the time he was writing we know he wasn’t married. We also know how passionate Paul was about his calling to be a missionary disciple for Christ; a calling which would not be very conducive to family life. He was traveling all the time. We also know that Paul thought that Christ was going to return very soon certainly in his lifetime. So, put all this together, and Paul’s advice to the people of Corinth concerning marriage:

“You would do well to be like me.” Paul said, “Don’t get married.” If you are married, go ahead and stay married, and if you absolutely feel compelled to get married, I suppose it’s OK. But you would be better off living as though you are not married. In other words, don’t have any children, because Christ is returning so soon that this will only be a distraction for you.

Now for someone who was just like Paul, this may be good advice. For Paul, the best way for him to passionately live his Christian life was as an unmarried person; and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. However, Paul failed to recognize that for other people, the best way to passionately live the Christian life is to marry and raise a family, and serve Christ in that way. His opinions are understandable, given his notion that he expected the second coming to happen any day, but it was not good advice. I’m not being critical of Paul. He certainly was more right about things than I am. But on this particular subject, Paul would be the first to agree that he missed on this one. In fact, the Bible warns us not to worry or speculate about God’s timetable for the world. But Paul didn’t have the Gospel’s written down as we have them. And in this particular case Paul‘s advice was not good.

But, here’s the amazing thing about Paul and his advice to the Corinthians. Even though Paul had that part of it wrong, he was still able to do, what a good advice columnist does: offer a new perspective that helps us discover wisdom in the midst of life’s problems. And that profound wisdom is what we have in today’s Second Reading. Let me read it for you again.

My friends, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have spouses live as though they have none,

That’s the narrow question. But then, Paul expands the vision of the question, to have it deal with all of life, not just marriage. So, what is Paul saying here that makes this worthy of being called “Word of God”?

Let those who have spouses, live as though they have none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealing with it. For the form of this world is passing away.

For the form of this world is passing away.

So, what is the truth here that Paul is trying to tell us?

“Don’t get too attached to the things of this world, for they will all passing away. If you think you’ll find your ultimate meaning and hope in life, in the things of the world,” Paul is saying, “you will be disappointed.”

So, given this advice, how would Paul respond to questions about the problems our society is facing today? So many people are living in fear, with questions about their jobs, and the economy, and the political uncertainty of the world. So can we take Paul’s advice and apply it to the questions that people continue to ask and seek advice on today?

Dear Paul,
I’m so afraid I’m going to loose my job. What should I do?
signed Apprehensive

What would Paul say? Maybe --
Dear Apprehensive,
Our jobs are always temporary. This world is continually passing away and changing. So seek first to use your gifts for the good of your family and your neighbor. In doing that, you are serving God, and God will open to you a new opportunity.

Dear Paul,
My life is going so well right now. I don’t want it to change. How can I keep things the way they are? signed, Content but Concerned

Dear Content,
You can’t. Things will always change. The form of this world is passing away. Set your sights on a relationship with God that will never end. Thank God for your good fortune, and if it changes, thank God for that too. For God will never abandon you.

Dear Paul,
How can I be sure that I will remain independent and secure for my whole life?
signed, Anxious

Dear Anxious,
You aren’t ... and you won’t. The form of this world is passing away. You can never be sure of anything you plan for this life. The new car you saved for and bought 20 years ago is now in a junk yard someplace. I want you to be free from anxiety, and that means letting go of those things you cannot control.

Dear Paul,
I am dying of cancer. I am scared, and I don’t know what to do. What would you suggest?
signed, Afraid.

I think Paul would say,
Dear Afraid,
I’m sorry for what you are going through. What you are going through is what is happening to us all. It may not be cancer, but something will cause the form of this world is passing away for us all. Life is a precious gift, but when it passes away, God will embrace us in the comfort of a promise that is eternal.

Paul was a man of great insight and wisdom. But he was, after all, human. He had no crystal ball. His genius was that he understood the benefit of placing his trust first and foremost in Christ, and then allowed everything else to fall in place. And that my friends, is the best advice he could give any of us.