May 5, 2013

“Between The Trees”

The Rev. Maren Sonstegard-Spray

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city.

On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

I was procrastinating writing this sermon, trying to find the words to start it, so I scanned the news online.

The great theologian Karl Barth is said to have said that we should hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, and use the Bible to interpret the news.  Well Barth didn’t have a yahoo news feed, but he probably would have said that would have worked too.

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April 14, 2013

“Worthy is the Lamb”

The Rev. Maren Sonstegard-Spray

Revelation 5:11-14

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 singing with full voice,

 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

 13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

 “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might

forever and ever!”

 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

I told the crowd last week that I don’t like the book of Revelation and I struggle with it.  The Greek word that the book takes its title from, apocalypse, means unvealing or uncovering or revealing but I find this book shrouded in mystery.   And I am not alone.  Martin Luther wrote, “My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For me this is reason enough not to think highly of it: Christ is neither taught nor known in it.”

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March 10, 2013

“The Scandal of God’s Grace”

The Rev. Maren Sonstegard-Spray

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32         

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable:

11 Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.

12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.

14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!

18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’

20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.

27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.

29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.

30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’

31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

This story is so familiar that sometimes it is hard to really hear it fresh.  It is one of the most beloved story in all the Bible.  Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Dickens called it the greatest story in the Bible.  Perhaps that is because we relate to particular characters: the parent because we know what it is like to have our children do hurtful things, the older brother because we can be a little self-righteous now and then, the younger brother because we have lost our way.

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March 3, 2013

“Change of Hearts and Minds”

The Rev. Maren Sonstegard-Spray

Luke 13:1-9

13 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?

3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.

4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?

5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.

7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’

8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.

9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Let me say right off the bat that this is a difficult passage (Dan says he thinks this is one of the most difficult in the New Testament).  Jesus seems to be giving with one hand and taking with the other.    Terrible things have happened – we can relate to that – all we have to do is turn on the news.  Jesus tells the people who bring him this news that this was not God’s punishment – those who died were not more sinful than other people and therefore more deserving of a violent and sudden death.  But there’s a disconcerting “but” that follows, “But unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

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