I just want to be a sheep

This is the sermon manuscript for the sermon preached on 28/29 April, the fourth Sunday after Easter.  The Gospel text is John 10:11-18. 

I come from a long line of farmers.  Back in the 1840s my forefathers from Germany crossed the Atlantic to find a new start in Texas.  Since 1875 my family has been farming a piece of land just outside of Winedale, Texas.  This farm literally gave me life.  When I was a kid I helped to tend its gardens, I was raised on fruits from its bountiful harvest.  Fresh tomatoes like you wouldn’t believe!  I am a son of farmers.  As I continue to learn and grow in my faith, as I continue to encounter the risen Christ, my identity as a son of farmers will not change.  I will always be a son of farmers. 

I firmly believe that it is important to know where you have come from, to know your history.  These things help to form an identity.  They provide a foundation and a set of lenses for looking at and encountering the world.  Remember how that old saying goes, “if you know where you have come from, there are no limitations to where you can go.”  Knowing who we are helps to pave the way into the future.

Today we know exactly who Jesus is; he comes right out and says it, no need to beat around the bush.  “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says.  He stands in front of a gathered crowd after a brief conflict with a group of Pharisees.  Jesus has just given sight to a man born blind, an event that has caused quite a ruckus in the little town.  The Pharisees have given the man and his family a rather hard time in their quest to find out about Jesus.  Even in the face of a life-giving, healing event and the clear witness and confession of the now open eyed believer, the Pharisees just don’t get it; just who is this Jesus? 

“I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says.  Now this is one of his many “I am” statements in John’s Gospel; “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the good shepherd,” and so on.  It is in John’s Gospel that we get the clearest picture of Jesus’ self understanding.  And amidst the many metaphors that Jesus uses to describe himself, bread, light, resurrection, truth, one clear theme emerges; Jesus gives life.  He states this very clearly right before our Gospel story today, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” Jesus says in verse 10.  “I came that they may have life...”  Jesus comes to bring us abundant life.  And he grounds this idea of abundant life in image of a shepherd.  

Now shepherds are those who look after the sheep, they make sure there is water and food and shelter, they protect the sheep from danger.  But I think Jesus is talking about more than just the basics.  Jesus’ idea of giving life as the good shepherd goes way beyond providing food and water and shelter; Jesus gives us new life.  “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” Jesus tells the crowd.  The good shepherd doesn’t just meet the needs of the sheep; he goes beyond the call of duty to meet the greatest need of all, life.  When push comes to shove, the good shepherd will go all the way to the end and embrace death on behalf of the sheep.  The hired hand will run away he says, but the good shepherd will lay down his life. 

In this moment Jesus alludes to cross where he will indeed lay down his life for all people.  Jesus knows that he has comes from God and that his life leads to the cross.  That’s what we celebrate at Easter, that’s what we are still celebrating today.  Jesus as the good shepherd goes way beyond meeting our basic needs.  Jesus lays down his life for us, so that we may have new life.  Resurrected life.  Abundant life.

And so even in the midst of this great speech, Jesus points back to us.  Jesus is always working on our behalf.  Jesus is the good shepherd because he has a flock to look after.  He did not say that he came to give himself life.  No, he came so that all may have abundant life.  He does not lay down his life for himself; he lays down his like for his sheep.  Jesus’ identity is intimately connected to us.  And it’s from Jesus’ identity as a life giving, good shepherd, that we learn a great deal about ourselves.  While there is no specific call from Jesus in our Gospel story today, John is weaving cleverly into the narrative something very clear about our identity as followers of Jesus.  We are his sheep.

 Dear friends, we are part of the flock of Jesus Christ.  Our identity as the sheep of Jesus Christ can be traced to our baptism.  In baptism we are claimed by God in the name of Jesus.  He is our source of life.  When we gather at the font in our baptism, we are brought to new life and called the children of God.  Our identity in this world is forever changed.  The old bonds of sin and death are washed away.  In waters of baptism God tells us that we are enough.  In the promise of baptism God tells us that we are loved.  We are set free from all that would hold us back from following Jesus.

Because that’s what sheep do, they follow.  If the sheep knew the way they would not need a shepherd, but this is clearly not the case.  We would not be able to manage on our own; the witness of scripture is enough to tell us that when we try to make it on our own we end up getting hurt and bruised.  But God is always there, calling us back into relationship, finding new ways to love us and bring us back into the fold.  In Jesus, the good shepherd, we have a promise that we will never be on the journey alone.  Jesus will always be there to lead.  Jesus says very clearly that there is one Shepherd and one flock.  He is the shepherd.  We are the sheep.  We are called and set free to be the sheep of Jesus.  To follow where he goes and participate in his life giving love.       

Dear friends, today we are reminded of where we have come from; we are reminded of our identity.  We are the sheep of Jesus Christ, baptized into his fold forever.  There is nothing in this world that can separate us from the love of Jesus.  We will always be his sheep.  And since we know where we have come from, there is no limit on where we can go.  The path before us may be unclear, but we know that the good shepherd will always be there to guide us.

And so here on the fourth Sunday of Easter, the question for us becomes, how will we continue to be the flock of Jesus?  As the part of the witness of Jesus Christ here in Bradenton, Florida, how will we continue to shows Jesus’ life giving love to others?

 This week I spent some time looking over materials for vacation Bible school.  This community has a rich history of VBS.  In a few weeks we will once again open our doors to the community as we hold our annual vacation Bible school.  In those five days we will have the chance to shows Gods love to kids and parents alike.  Perhaps VBS is a place where you can participate in showing God’s love.  And it is one of many opportunities that we have to be a witness of Jesus’ love; to follow Jesus as one of his flock.  Every day we have the chance to follow.  Because Jesus will always be our shepherd.  And we will forever be his sheep.         

“We are witnesses”

This is the manuscript for the sermon preached on 21/22 April 2012, the third Sunday of Easter.  The Gospel test is Luke 24: 36b-48.

“They were startled and terrified, and they thought that they were seeing a ghost.”  These are the words Luke uses to describe the reaction of the disciples to seeing the risen Jesus standing in their midst.  Fear and wonder grips them, they are not sure what to think in that moment.  But let’s give them a bit of a break.  After all, it had been a long day.   

The tomb had only been open for a few hours.  It was only earlier that same morning that the women had returned from the tomb with astonishing news that the tomb was empty, Jesus had been raised.  Peter was so intrigued that he ran all the way from the house to see for himself.  He got to the tomb, saw the linen grave cloths, and walked back amazed.

            A little later that afternoon two more disciples, Cleopas and another, were on their way to the village of Emmaus when they were met by a stranger.  It’s not until dinner that evening and the breaking of the bread that their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus.  Luke tells us that in that same hour they ran all the way back to Jerusalem and share their story with the disciples. 

            And amidst the flutter of excitement and storytelling of that first Easter who should show up, but Jesus.  He speaks a greeting of “Peace be with you” and the familiar scene of Jesus showing the disciples his hands and his feet begins to play out.  Jesus assures those gathered that he is not a ghost, he shows them his hands and his feet, he invites them to touch and see, he asks for a piece of fish and eats in their presence.  But there is still doubt and disbelief. 

In the soft light of that early morning there had been doubt at the tomb.  The disciples on their way to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus in their midst.  And the disciples in that upper room were still unsure of what they were seeing.  Luke tells us that in their joy they were disbelieving, that they were still wondering what had taken place.

            Because even though Jesus shows the disciples his hands and his feet, even though he invites them to touch and see, even though he eats in their midst, the question of resurrection still looms in the shadows of the story.  Even though Jesus speaks and invites and eats, the disciples who were there to listen and respond and watch still had their doubts.  Those who were there on that first Easter still looked at the risen Jesus with wonder and fear.

            Was this the same Jesus who had called them as disciples?  Was this the same Jesus who told all of those parables?  Was this the same Jesus that fed five thousand people with a few loaves and fish?  Jesus had told them over and over that he would suffer and die and on the third day rise again, but could these things have actually taken place?  In life, Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Anointed one.  The disciples grew up with stories of the Messiah.  The whole of Israel had waited for generations for the Messiah to come.  Could Jesus really be the one?  Could Jesus really be the Messiah?

            I am sure that their fear and wonder was wrapped up in questions like these.  They had watched Jesus die on Friday.  They had seen his body placed in the tomb.  Even though Jesus said he would rise on the third day, the cold facts of life had taught the disciples that death was final.  Death only leaves a body and tears of mourning.  And yet there was Jesus, standing in their midst.        

            And Jesus, seeing their doubt, knowing that they were struggling to put together what was right in front of them, turns to something that they all knew to help them to understand.  Jesus turns to the scriptures.  Jesus turns to the stories they had grown up with; the stories that were etched in their bones.  And beginning with Moses and the Law, the prophets and the psalms, Jesus reminds his disciples that everything that had been written about him must be fulfilled.   Jesus opens their minds to understand the scriptures.

            Even in the midst of their fear and doubt, Jesus does not turn away.  He looks on with love and gives the disciples the tools to connect the dots.  He points them to a story they all knew.  Connects his ministry to what God had been doing all along.  It is in the story of scripture that Jesus grounds his resurrection.  He points back to the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms and reminds his disciples that the story of scripture had always been moving toward him.  Jesus has come to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets.  Jesus was and is and always will be the Messiah that God sent into our world so that all people would have life.  The meaning of the resurrection lies in the story of what God has been doing all along; moving people from death to life, providing people with the opportunity for a relationship that gives new life, not one that takes life away.  In the story of scripture the disciples have the good news of how God has always been and always will be deeply love with the world, so that even death is no match for that love.  It is this story that Jesus helps the disciples to understand.  He opens their minds to understand the scriptures. 

            But this story cannot stay in that room.  Even amidst the fear and doubt there is a call from Jesus.  “You are witnesses to these things,” he tells the disciples.  The word needs to get out.  The preaching of repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name must begin, and not only in Jerusalem, but it must be taken to all nations.  And from that room the word spread.  Even in their fear and doubt they carried the good news from that room on the first Easter.  From Jerusalem to Galilee.  From the disciples to the early church.  From Paul to Corinth and Galatia and Rome.  From generation to generation.  Father to son.  Mother to daughter.  From grandparents to parents to you and me.

              And so here on the third Sunday of Easter, and perhaps even in our fear and doubt, Jesus points us back to the scriptures.  Remember the story he says.  It’s my story, Jesus says, the story of new life to the whole world.  You are witnesses to these things.  Each week we gather around the scriptures.  We hear the Gospel.  We are engaged with proclamation.  Perhaps you join in a Bible study.  Perhaps you talk about this story around the dinner table.  We are reminded of the story that God has been writing since the beginning of time.  The story about the depth of God’s love for the world.  A story that is centered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And we too are invited to share this story.  Remember, we too are witnesses.  With our words and deeds, with our hands and feet, we are witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ.  From Trinity Lutheran to 26^th street.  From 59^th to Manatee.  From Sarasota to Tampa.  We are witnesses of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  The one who was raised on that first Easter.  The one who is risen in our midst today and tomorrow.  Dear friends, we are witnesses.      

             

“This love can change our world.”

This is the manuscript from the sermon preached on Maundy Thursday.  The Gospel text is John 13:1-17, 31b-35.

Jesus saw the writing on the wall.  He knew where the events of the evening were going to lead.  John has made this very clear for us.  In a few hours, Judas will walk into the darkness of the garden with a detachment of soldiers and betray Jesus into the hands of the jealous religious leaders.  In the dark hours of the night Jesus will stand trial before the whole council and in the early morning he will be taken to Pilate.  His cross was only heartbeats away.  But he still had time for one final meal with his disciples.  Jesus still had a few things to say.

            So after Judas walks out the door on his way to betray Jesus and perhaps after the plates are cleared away, Jesus stands up before his disciples and says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”   

Now for three years Jesus had been teaching and healing, rewriting the book on how we are to live.  Jesus had talked about the depth of God’s love for the world and how we can respond to that love.  Jesus had been showing his followers what it looks like to live as a child of God.  And now he is about to leave them.  Jesus knows that he is not long for the world.  The glory of God is about to be reveled through the cross.  So here in the waning hours of his life he sums his whole ministry in two short sentences.  He leaves his disciples with new commandment to follow; “love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

            Here John uses one of his favorite words for love, agape; “to take a high level of interest in the well-being of another.”  Three times in two sentences John uses this word.  Remember this word does not describe an emotion, something that we feel.  This Greek word describes a way of interacting with those we encounter in the world.  If I were to give you a picture of the human body and ask you to draw where the agape lives in each of us, it would not be in the heart, but in the hands and feet and mind.  Agape lives in the decisions that we make and the way in which we carry out those decisions.  How do we engage the people we pass on a daily basis?  How do we use what we have been blessed with to serve those around us?  These are the questions of agape.  This word agape is not found in Hallmark cards, it is found in the way we live our lives.   

            And for Jesus, agape is found on the cross.  Jesus speaks these words of agape just hours before their true meaning would be revealed to the world.  The cross is where God takes a high level of interest in the well being of the whole world.  The whole world; everyone, to include you and me.  Just hours before he is to die Jesus tells the disciples, who will end up deserting him before the evening is over, that he has taken a high level of interest in their well being.  They won’t understand this until after his resurrection, but Jesus wants to make it very clear that regardless of how the events of the evening would play out, he loves his disciples.  His love for them knows no bounds.  His love for us knows no bounds.  Through the cross Jesus demonstrated his high level of interest in our lives and became a blessing to the whole world. 

            But we are not called to just admire the depth of his love.  That’s not what tonight is about at all.  Listen again to what Jesus tells his disciples; “I give you a new commandment, that you love another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  Just as I have loved you, just as I have taken a high level of interest in your lives, you should also do the same.  But that word “should” is not really what Jesus is saying.  We translate the sentence as an imperative command, something we have to do or should do.  But you and I know it’s not that simple; you cannot force someone to love.  You cannot force someone to follow.  What Jesus is actually saying here is, “I have loved you, so that you might love one another.”  “I have loved you so that you can love one another.”  Jesus is providing us with an opportunity to respond to the love that he has shown us.  “I love you, so you have to love others” is not a relationship and it is certainly not grace.  The love of Jesus is a free gift to the whole world, a gift of new life poured out on the cross.  Jesus is inviting us into a relationship based on that love.  

              I was talking with one of my friends from seminary here recently about how internship is going for her.  She tells me that her internship site is in a diverse community and throughout the year she has been working with her congregation in the area of immigration.  She’s hosted Bible studies and talked with people about what it means to be welcoming, what it means to show hospitality to immigrants and strangers in our midst, a call that is grounded in what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

She told me about the project that she is going to start after Easter.  She is going to invite a bunch of women from different cultural backgrounds into a kitchen where they will share with one another their culture’s recipe for bread.  The women from Latin America and Mexico are going to teach about “tortillas.”  The white women of Swedish and Norwegian descent are going to teach about “lefsa.”  The women from Somalia are going to teach about “injera.”  Instead of asking the question “why can’t they be like us?” these women are going to have the opportunity to learn about one another.  Through the baking of bread they will have the chance to learn why that particular kind of bread is important to the women who bake it and why it is important for their culture.  Instead of remaining separate, they are going to take a high level of interest in one another and hopefully learn what it means to live in community with one another.  This is a living, breathing agape of God opportunity.  It’s taking a chance and opening yourself up to the life of another.  It’s taking a high level of interest in the well being of another so that the boundaries of community are extended and not closed off.      

            That’s what we have come together to remember this evening.  On the night in which he was betrayed Jesus took a loaf of bread and broke it for the world to be fed.  Tonight all over the world, faith communities will gather around tortillas and lefsa and injera and unleavened bread in remembrance of the new life we have in Jesus Christ.  This bread fills us up and reminds us that we have been set free to love.  That’s what we have come together to remember this evening.  As we gather around the table of Jesus, we are reminded of God’s endless love for us and we are empowered to share that love with the world.  Through the love of Jesus Christ we have the opportunity to take a high level of interest in those we encounter as we walk through this world.  As we gather around the table this evening I invite you to listen to the words of Jesus.  “I love you,” he says, “so that you can go out and love others.”    

“Living on the Way with Jesus”

This is the final sermon manuscript in my Lenten sermon series on what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Mark.  The Gospel text is Mark 10:46-52.

“Immediately Bartimaeus regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.”  Of all of the earth shattering sentences in Mark’s Gospel, this is the one that challenges me the most.  On the surface it seems very simple.  Upon regaining his sight Bartimaeus follows Jesus on the way.  There is no struggle from Bartimaeus.  There is no frustrating attempt by Jesus to get Bartimaeus to understand his teachings.  Bartimaeus simply follows Jesus.  It doesn’t seem all that complicated.      

But when you place this sentence in the context of the previous chapters in Mark’s Gospel, this sentence becomes heavy.  When placed against the human struggle for power and status demonstrated by the disciples over and over again, a struggle that I know to be true, I wonder if it can be as easy as Bartimaeus makes it look.  Because Bartimaeus simply follows Jesus.  And that’s what challenges me the most.  How do I follow like Bartimaeus?

            We have been talking over the last few weeks about what it means to follow Jesus “on the way,” which is a metaphor for talking about what it means to be disciple.  And for Mark this story is a clear picture of what it means to be a disciple.  This story is grounded firmly in Mark’s metaphor of “on the way.”  The story begins with Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, sitting beside the way and ends with Bartimaeus, a disciple, following Jesus “on the way.”  At some point in the story Bartimaeus shifts from someone who sits on the sidelines and remains a bystander, to someone who actively engages life as a disciple; someone who follows Jesus “on the way.” 

            And for Mark this shift happens when the sight of Bartimaeus is restored.  Now our culture has trained us to understand this statement as a miracle of physical healing.  We live in the age of science.  When we read that Bartimaeus is blind we read that he cannot see the physical world around him.  But if we only take the story at this meaning we miss the point entirely.  For Mark I do not think this story was ever about physical sight.  Though we are told that Bartimaeus is blind at the beginning of the story, his “blindness” is connected to his proximity to “the way;” Bartimaeus is blind because he sits beside the way.  The blindness of Bartimaeus is a metaphor for how he engages the world and since Bartimaeus does not engage the world as a disciple, he is blind to the way of Jesus.

But Bartimaeus is not content with his life beside “the way.”  He has heard of Jesus and knows that Jesus has more to offer than the life of a bystander.  When he hears that Jesus is coming through, Bartimaeus makes every effort to make sure that he meets Jesus.  He shouts out over and over again, fighting through the protest of the crowd.  He wants to be heard by Jesus.  And his efforts do not go unnoticed.  Jesus hears the cry of Bartimaeus and tells the crowd to call him over. 

Jesus greets Bartimaeus with a question, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Ironically, just a few verses earlier, Jesus had asked James and John this same question and they responded with a request to sit with Jesus in glory, at his right and left hand.  They asked for status and power, they still have learned nothing from Jesus; they still want to be first.  So it wouldn’t be surprising if Bartimaeus responded in the same way, with a request for status.  But no!  Bartimaeus simply asks to see again.  And here my cultured mind jumps to a request for a physical healing but Mark is trying to tell us something.  Listen again to the request of Bartimaeus; “My teacher, let me see…again.” 

He is not asking to be able to see for the first time, he is asking to be able to see again.  If he was blind since birth, Mark would have mentioned it, it is too important of a detail to forget.  No, Bartimaeus wants to see again, which gives hope to all of us who lose sight along the way.  Remember, if the blindness of Bartimaeus is a metaphor for how he engages the world, then Bartimaeus is asking for a way to engage the world differently; he is asking to engage the world as a disciple.  And this is the true request of a disciple.  Not for power or status, but how to live differently, and that’s the point for Mark.  To be a disciple is to engage the world differently.    

Jesus responds to this request very simply.  There is no magic, there is no medicine, there is no “how to” manual.  Jesus tells Bartimaeus, “Go, your faith has made you well.”  And, “Immediately Bartimaeus regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.”  It is faith that helps Bartimaeus to engage the world differently; it is faith that draws Bartimaeus to the “way of Jesus.”  Not enough faith, not the right faith, just faith.  Faith opens our lives to “the way.”

What I find most challenging about this story from Mark, what I find most challenging about learning how to follow like Bartimaeus, is learning what keeps me beside the way.  It is learning what keeps me from engaging the “way of Jesus.”  I know that I do not see the way of Jesus perfectly.  There are certain barriers that are already in place for any disciple; barriers that have to be acknowledged and engaged on a daily basis.  I am a white male and this is something that I cannot change.  And based on our culture and the social construct that has been created, I am a person of privilege based on the color of my skin and my gender.  I can only encounter the world as a privileged person. 

Just coming to terms with the idea of white privilege took some time and is for me one of the first steps to following along “the way” of Jesus.  As I gain more experience, the way I look at the world is challenged and my world view continues to evolve.  For me to follow like Bartimaeus, for me to engage life along “the way,” means that I need to ask Jesus to help me to see again and learn to engage the world as he does.  It is my hope that because I recognize my  privilege that I can confront and lay down that privilege, that I can give up my struggle for status and power, and join Jesus on the way of justice.  This is a challenge, and will be every day “on the way” with Jesus. 

 So what keeps you beside the way?  What keeps you from fully engaging life as a disciple?  These are the hard questions, but they are the important questions.  Dear friends we are called to be disciples.  We are called to challenge the social constructs and the barriers that separate our lives and neighborhoods from the kingdom of God.  And while we may not always understand what keeps us beside the way, life as a disciple means that we will encounter those things that hinder us from engaging the world on “the way” of Jesus.  Through prayer, the study of scripture and the sacraments, we are provided with the means to learn how to engage the world like Jesus, as a servant of all.  And through the power of the Holy Spirit we have the strength to ask Jesus, “help me to follow.”  May God bless us with open hearts and minds as we journey as disciples of Jesus Christ. 

“The journey of faith”

This is the fourth sermon in my Lenten Sermon series exploring what it means to be a disciple according to Mark’s Gospel. The accompanying text is Mark 10:17-22

Last week Katie and I went out on a bike ride and we passed one of those “self-storage” places. Have you seen one of these businesses? They’re a group of buildings where you can take all of your extra stuff that won’t fit in your house. Maybe you’ve seen a commercial on TV. There are businesses out there, and lots of them, who will store your stuff. It’s a hassle free way to store all of the extra stuff that gets in our way, mostly so we go out and buy more stuff, stuff to better capture who we are at the moment. I think for the most part we define ourselves by our stuff. In our minds our stuff makes us who we are.

And this is not a new issue. Even in the time of Jesus people had an issue with stuff. As he sets out on the way, we are told that Jesus is approached by a man who seems to have it all together, but as it turns out he has a problem with stuff. This man wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life and he is told by Jesus that he needs to part ways with his stuff, to sell it all, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. He leaves the scene grieving because he is a man with a great deal of stuff.

We’ve been talking about how the struggle for the life of a disciple is found in where we put out emphasis; on human things or divine things. The man from today’s story has clearly put his emphasis on human things and we see the struggle play out when Jesus calls him to sell what he owns and follow. Jesus is calling this man to deny his human things; in essence Jesus is calling this man to deny himself.

A few weeks ago we heard these words come out of Jesus’ mouth; “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Here we see these words “deny yourself” come to life for this man who has a lot of stuff. Now this man has a great deal of confidence. He approaches Jesus quite openly, he says he has kept the commandments since his youth; he grew up in the church and was raised in the faith. We are even told that Jesus looks upon this man with love. He has everything going for him, he has attained status and power in his world; he thinks he has it made.

And that’s where it all unravels for the man. The crux of the problem is that he has put his faith in his stuff and in his own abilities. This man’s identity is intimately connected to his stuff because his stuff is what he can control. In the uncertainty of life he can control his stuff. Because he has control of his stuff he thinks he has control of his life. So all he needs now is something to get him into the ever after and all will be well. He is asking Jesus for more stuff so he will have everything tied up with a neat little bow. But Jesus does not offer him more stuff. Jesus asks him to deny it all and follow. Jesus is asking him to deny his faith in himself and put his faith in Jesus. But this man cannot deny his stuff, he cannot deny himself. He walks away from Jesus broken because he cannot put his faith in someone else.

I know I have thrown the word stuff around a great deal this evening, but to name everything that goes into the category of stuff would take all night. Stuff is far more than just money. Cloths, furniture, pictures, everything that is in your living room right now; that’s the stuff I am talking about. And it holds a great deal of power over us. We identify ourselves with our stuff. To deny ourselves would be to deny our stuff. And this is where the struggle lies for us who are called to be disciples.

This call from Jesus to deny ourselves is hard. We don’t like to give up our stuff or power or control. But today Jesus is telling us that our faith in our stuff won’t cut it, that faith in ourselves won’t cut it in the kingdom of God. Our stuff can be taken away. Everything that we have gathered in this world can be taken by fire or flood or moth or rust. And at the end of the day we cannot take it with us. Jesus knows this. Jesus is telling us to let go of our struggle for human things. “Deny yourselves,” he says, “and follow me.” Jesus offers us the life of a disciple. A life lived in faith.

Because to tell you the truth dear friends, it’s not about our stuff; this story this evening is not about stuff at all. It’s about faith. Jesus is calling us to place our emphasis in the divine gift of faith. The call to deny ourselves is a call to a life of faith. At the heart of the life of a disciple is faith and faith alone. I don’t know about you, but I got tired of all the stuff this evening. It got heavy, it got in the way of what is important in our lives, and what’s important is faith.

About a month ago, almost every senior student on an ELCA seminary campus was waiting on pins and needles for a very important letter from the mother church. These letters contained a single, life-changing number. This single, life-changing number was the number of the region of the ELCA that the student was assigned to, the first piece of the puzzle of “where I am going to serve my first call.” After the years of schooling, the internship and the paperwork, the great unknown of first call is an exercise in faith. No matter how much a person tries to control the assignment process, though there is a room full of Bishops, hours of prayer, and the moving of the Holy Spirit, at the end of the day it comes down to faith. Faith to follow Jesus into the unknown. Faith to follow Jesus into the next leg of the journey.

That’s what we’re on dear friends, a journey. That’s that best way I can find to describe the life of faith, a journey. We are all at different places in life, taking different routes, encountering struggles and joys and people; all the way trusting that God is with us, shaping our lives as we walk through this world.

Our faith is a journey through the ups and downs of life, a daily struggle to give up our stuff, to relinquish control, and put our faith in Jesus. Our faith is lived out every day when we move beyond ourselves and recognize where God is already at work in our lives and in our world. Through the love of God, we can daily move beyond ourselves and into the lives of those we encounter along the way. Dear friends, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can put our faith in Jesus.