God doesn't fit in a box!

Scripture tells us a story of a Canaanite woman, a woman on the outskirts, a woman who has no chance of finishing first (Matthew 15:22). She comes to Jesus and cries, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”

And what does Jesus do? Jesus doesn’t do a thing – he says nothing at all! This is not the Jesus we know. Jesus offers healing all the time. The disciples urge Jesus to send her away, to rid them of this Canaanite woman shouting at them. She’s loud, she’s annoying – please get rid of her. And then Jesus explains to her: “Listen – it is not fair to take the good food from the Israelites and give it to the dogs – to you, a Canaanite woman.” She stands up to Jesus and says, “Remember that even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.” (vs. 27)

Jesus hears her cry and admires her faith. She is able to say to Jesus, “Even I am worthy your love.” Jesus heals her daughter.

This story is out of the norm. It can make us reread asking, “Did this woman just change Jesus mind?” “Is that REALLY possible?” I mean, throughout scripture there are numerous stories of people doubting God and saying, “Really, you are going to use me?” Moses, Jeremiah, Job, Jonah, the fisherman… but there are not as many stories of the outcast saying to Jesus, “But remember, even I am worthy your love.” This story provides a twist that can stop us in our tracks. It is a disruption that can make us think.

Disruption can be difficult for us in the church. I can’t think of the number of times I’ve heard comments on my blog description. If you haven’t noticed, I use the pronoun “her” for God. If you’ve questioned it – that’s the point. If it stopped you in your tracks and made you pause – that’s the point. Sometimes we need a little jolt out of our norms. Our God – The Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is beyond gender. God’s love is for both the Israelites and the Canaanites. God’s love seeps outside of our ideas of worthiness.

I am thankful for the Canaanite woman’s story. It can be a reminder that the moment we have God figured out and in a perfect pretty box, God rips a hole in the box and gushes out, revealing a love even more powerful than we can imagine.

el Verbo

I used to babysit an 8 year old, Miles. He was one of those kids with endless amounts of energy. I’ll never forget one day when I showed up to the house. I wasn’t halfway up the stairs to the door when I noticed Miles getting off this bike and running up the stairs ahead of me.

He turned around and with excitement and joy and yelled, “Dana, I was playing baseball in the park.”

I said well, when I talked to your mother she said you were playing soccer.
“I did that too.”

I pointed at the bike, “And now you’re bike riding what else did you do today.”

He smiled and said, “I went swimming.” All I could do was laugh.

Then he asked me to go play. I was overwhelmed by his energy and the fact that he was in action all day and could have kept going all night (and trust me he did). If I become overwhelmed with the amount of action a child has… how can I even begin to grasp the amount of action that God has in our lives.

Do we realize how active God is? John writes, “And the Word became Flesh.” The Greek, logos in English is translated as Word. The logos made Flesh. The Word made Flesh. What is interesting is that the Spanish Bible translates logos as el Verbo, which in English translates to Verb. The Verb made Flesh. The Spanish translation gives a much more active interpretation of God in our lives.

May we become more aware of how el Verbo, the Word, God is taking action in our lives. So, that God’s love may be shared, borrowed, given, and reminded of, to one another and the world!

God in the Unexpected

I remember my drive to Florida a year ago: as James and I drove through the mountains, we experienced both day and night. James pointed out that neither day nor night was more beautiful. At night, the sky was full of stars and the moon was bright. As the car climbed the mountain our imaginations were at work, thinking of the beauty surrounding us hidden by the darkness. During the day we were able to see off into the distance. We stared in awe at the rock formations and the vegetation admiring God’s creation. Both the light and the dark provided a different view of the same landscape.

I think we often like to compare things. Do you prefer night or day? Do you like the ocean or a lake? Do you prefer the mountains or flatland? Do you like pews or chairs? Do you prefer common cup or individual cup?

God is in both the night and the day. God created the ocean and the lake, the mountain and flatland. God does not prefer one over the other! God knows our praise if it’s from a pew or a chair. God's forgiveness is experienced in common cup and individual cup. Sometimes we’re so sure that God is only in the “best” things – yet God is in the most unexpected places.

God is in the Israelite slave. God is in the unnamed woman. God is in our hymns of praise. God is in Amnon who raped his sister Tamar. God is in the immigrant, widow, and orphan. God is in Judas who betrays Jesus. God is in the faith of Abraham. God is in the stranger and the alien. God is in Jonah when he is swallowed by the whale. God is in the children at Jesus feet. God is in Peter when he denies Jesus.

God does not live by the same limits we do. God’s forgiveness is much different than human forgiveness. God finds beauty in the potential of the darkness and beauty in the clearness of the light. God finds beauty in what we are scared the light will reveal, and beauty in the imagination that the darkness provides.

Human Made Labels

When I worked at an African American Church on the South Side of Chicago I was given the honor to preach a few times. I worked hard on the sermons and put a lot of thought into how to preach to those from another culture in a different context than myself.

On Saturday evening before one of my sermons – The pastor of the congregation called to inform me that one of their children had been shot in a drive by shooting that day. They were in the hospital and going to be ok – he explained that this was not the first of their children to be shot.

He knew that the congregation would be sad – devastated – and I really needed to have some good news for them that morning. Good News about liberation, redemption, and healing. The sermon I planned – had to change!

Late that night I stared at a computer screen looking for the Holy Spirit’s inspiration on how to change my sermon and all I could think was – God I don’t think I should preach. HOW can this black congregation hear good news from me on a day like today – a white-single-student-female-young preacher?

In many ways it was a very painful year. But God stretched me and I stood in the pulpit that Sunday and preached from the Gospel of John the 20th chapter. We know it as the doubting Thomas story. And I said, Jesus says BLESSED are those that have not seen and yet believe.

We have not seen an end to violence, discrimination, hunger, disease, loss, devastation, loneliness, racism, sexism, or pain – these worldly things are a reality and God comes to us in the midst of it and says, “Peace be with you.”

To my surprise after the sermon – I realized that the Good News I was worried they couldn’t hear from a white-single-student-female-young preacher that Sunday – was Good News not from me and all my labels – but from the Word of God.

Change happens.

By Johanna Johnson

By way of introduction, I am Johanna, the new intern at Christus Victor Lutheran Church, and Pastor Dana asked me to cover for her this week while she is at Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.

Churchwide Assembly – now there is something to think about. Every two years, this body of Lutherans meets and discusses the direction – theologically, biblically, socially – of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Inevitably, there will be changes. They may or may not be changes the average pew-sitter notices, but there will be changes nonetheless. I can relate. I just moved from Connecticut to Northern California to Southwestern Florida all in the course of about two months. I went from living with a roommate, to living with my family, to living by myself and far from anyone I know. I’m living somewhere where it goes from sunny and bright to rain, thunder and lightening in five minutes’ time. Change happens. Sometimes it hurts bad, like a kick in the stomach; sometimes it hurts good, like a much needed massage. Sometimes it feels glorious and refreshing; sometimes it feels disconcerting. Always, I have to believe, it is what God had in mind.

Doesn’t God say though Isaiah, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (43:19). And again, “From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known” (48:6). Change is a part of this life, a part of this faith. The Spirit is moving, and who is to say we know where she blows? I have to trust that, even if it is one of those disconcerting, badly hurting changes, God will use this. And if we listen to those new things, those new hidden things that we have not known, I have confidence that God will show us how this, too, can bring a bit closer the Kingdom of God.

Mud Puddles

Have you ever noticed that we tend to get comfortable in our faith? We know what denomination we are, where we worship, what pew we sit in, and what charities we support.

When we were baptized we were not called to be comfy – we were liberated from sin and freed to share that liberation with others. Baptism prepares us to get messy in a world that doesn’t encourage liberation - to go where we fear, fight for justice, and love the outcast. I often preach about what it means to be messy in faith – and sometimes feel the call to live it out, literally.

It was a Monday afternoon, the sun was high and I was leaving the church. It had rained quite a bit and there was a big mud puddle out front.

I couldn’t resist!

I removed my shoes and took a leap while realizing that half the neighborhood was watching some lady with a clerical collar taking a leap into a mud puddle. I braced myself for the shock of the cold water hitting my feet. I landed and well... the lesson learned that Monday was playing in mud puddles down south was different than other experiences I had. The water was at least 130 degrees, the grass was not soft on the feet, and a lizard or two came out of nowhere scaring me.

I quickly got out of the puddle wiped my feet off and got in my car. I had not played in a mud puddle in quite some time so I had forgotten the shock of the puddle. I had only remembered the fun of the puddle. We often go into situations expecting something. I jumped expecting cold and landed experiencing extreme warmth. The shock is what made me get out quickly. The shock is what made me forget the playfulness or joy of the act.

Sometimes it takes retreating to see joy when things are messy. God’s presence is very much alive daily in our life. I hope we can remember to retreat daily and be renewed through the baptismal promise. I hope we can experience it, embrace it and remember to play in the reality together.

In Holy Baptism our gracious heavenly Father liberates us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Experiencing the Holy

There seems to be a longing by humans to understand and experience the Holy. We search for the meaning of life. We long for relationship. We believe there has to be something larger than our self.

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This past week a colleague of mine who does not define their faith as Christianity worshipped with us. She is a very spiritual creature of God who is open to the many forms in which people experience the Holy. I wondered when it was time for the Eucharist if she would come forward to partake in this Christian Sacrament.

To my surprise she walked forward during communion, opened her hands, and received the body and blood of Christ. After worship I said, “I’m surprised that you came forward for communion.”

She responded, “I could feel my grandma right there with me during communion.”

Knowing that her grandma was a faithful Christian while on earth, I sat there in awe with a smile on my face. I even had a moment of wondering if she understood the Sacrament of Holy Communion better than some of the people who receive the Eucharist every week. Communion is a way to experience the Holy in both an individual and collective way. It an individual reminder of God’s grace and forgiveness as you come to the table confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness. It is a collective gathering at the table of our Lord with all the saints who have come before us and all that will come after us.

So, my friend had it right. Her grandma was feasting in the warm grace of God’s love with her as she was taking communion. Oh, yes – there is something much larger out there than our self! And every now and then we get to experience a glimpse of the Holy.