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April 8, 2025 · 6:56 pm

Living beyond our blindness (Sermon)

“Christ healing the blind,” by Thobias Minzi, Tanzania (2010)

This morning as we come within a day’s walk from Jesus’ goal, the cross, we hear the third of three predictions within Luke’s account of Jesus’ death and resurrection. These predictions have been gifted to his disciples to help them prepare themselves for what must come – a future they have been resisting. “Everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished,” Jesus taught, to include his suffering and death. The cross cannot be avoided.

So, who’s responsible for Jesus’ suffering and death? These three prophecies give us a clue. In the first prophesy (Luke 9:21-22), Jesus accuses the elders and chief priests and scribes of what will come. During the second (Luke 9:44), Jesus says he will be handed over the hands of men – all humankind is hinted at here, including the Passover mob in Jerusalem. They will soon shout for another’s release rather than for the release of our beloved Jesus. In the third prediction (from today’s sermon text), we hear that he will be handed over to the Gentiles, nonbelievers, the Romans, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. The religious authorities against Jesus, the Romans and powers of this world, and we ourselves share responsibility for Jesus’ death. For through our sinfulness and participation in the fallen nature of this world, we all share guilt in his condemnation. Not one of us is free of this sin. For even as he “died for us,” Jesus died for our sins.

You might also notice that Luke’s account leading to Christ’s cross is not a straight-line journey geographically. Jesus has wondered a bit to attend to his ministry and await the right time. Yet it remains a journey of destiny…a fulfillment and offering of all that Jesus is and has for the sake of others. And as he speaks of his death, this love for the world, Jesus often teaches that disciples (including us) have our own crosses to bear as we might be ridiculed, attacked, or even killed for our faith – our trust in Jesus. Yet, our cross is also found in the sacrificial love we are to offer each day to others including our enemies – such things as patience, charity and care, as well as forgiveness. In doing so, we are to die to ourselves. We lay aside our will and our good in order to fulfill God’s will and the good of others. (Whether they deserve it or not is not the issue at all, for we don’t deserve our Christ’s love or salvation either – not one of us.)

Surprisingly, his disciples still don’t get it. They are blind. In fact, Luke says so in three ways. (There’s that number three again, a symbol of divine fullness and completion in Jewish numerology.) The three phrases describing the disciples blindness drive Luke’s point home for us as if they are three nails being pounded into Jesus’ two hands and feet: “They understood nothing…it was hidden from them…they did not grasp what was said to them.” These three descriptions of Jesus’ followers are somewhat ironic, for you might recall Jesus’ visit to a synagogue where he first preached. It was among his earliest words spoken as reported by Luke.

Remember? Jesus took a scroll and read from Isaiah (Isa. 61): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Along with other promises of the prophets, this passage revealed the essence of Jesus and his purpose among us. Jesus has come to save and to heal…to seek out the lost, forgotten and suffering…for those that are blind. As we prepare for Jesus’ Palm Sunday entrance to Jerusalem, today’s stories where he heals the literally and figuratively blind serve almost like a bookend to his reading from Isaiah as he began his public mission.

This time, Jesus will embody Isaiah’s promises. Just outside of Jericho, an unnamed blind man demands healing. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Son of David was a traditional, prophetic title anticipated for the Messiah. And Jesus hearing the beggar stops…and Jesus heals. Yet, it is almost a non-miracle miracle. There’s no grand pronouncement or discourse. There’s no mumbo jumbo like a magician or any concrete action on Jesus’ part. No one is touched. No, he simply declares, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” The man saw Jesus for who he was with the Spirit’s help, with the gift of faith…of trust in Jesus. Then, that’s when healing happened. A new life for this culturally and religiously marginalized man began.

And as Jesus finally enters Jericho, we meet the beloved Zacchaeus made popular in the children’s song. And if you have been to VBS, you likely recall that he’s a rich but wee little man. Certainly, he was short, but he was also little esteemed by his neighbors because of the way he lived. He was short in stature and status – a traitor working for Rome, a cheat as tax collectors of this days often were, and despised and hated as a sinner. Yet, Zacchaeus had come to a point of spiritual poverty too. As a chief tax collector, a Jew turned chief oppressor to his people…a neighbor who stole from and cheated others…a person who lived for himself first… he died a bit more each day inside from his sin. Zacchaeus was blind in a different way than the first man, yet blind, nonetheless. And hearing of Jesus, he appears at some level to understand who Jesus was. He felt a need for Jesus and healing, and the Spirit drew him toward Jesus.

And so, hoping against hope, Zacchaeus climbs a tree to just catch a glimpse of Jesus…Perhaps, he’s much like the woman who weeks ago we heard desired to just touch the hem of Jesus’ garments and be healed. Jesus saw Zacchaeus in his hunger and hope, way up, hidden in the tree, and before Zacheus even had the chance to ask for it, Jesus declared Zacchaeus’ healed. “I must stay at your house today.” That’s joyfully what Jesus said. It is what Jesus does. It is who he is. He welcomes people into relationships with him and forgives them. As the Pharisees and others so often grumble and accuse, Jesus enjoys being the guest of sinners. Jesus is not ashamed to be seen with them, for he has come to find, and to heal, and to save them…to save us.

This encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus reminds me of a scene reported by Matthew 8 where a centurion says, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof (to be my guest), but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Now in this story, another similar non-miracle miracle has happened with Zaccheus…no pretense…no show…just blindly trusting in who Jesus is with his heart. Through that gift of trust, Jesus heals Zacchaeus’ spiritual blindness. Knowing his hunger Knowing his need. He is not worthy to receive Jesus under his roof or in his heart, yet Jesus doesn’t stand for that. He comes to him anyway.

In response, Zacchaeus is so emotionally and spiritually touched, he says that he will make amends for what he has done beyond that called for by the laws of Moses. He’s going to be more generous than necessary. And yet note that he is forgiven before he ever, ever, ever makes a commitment to any penance. He’s making amends…his desire to love others and make things right…it is a response to his being loved first. (Just as in 1 John 4:19, we, are to love because God in Jesus loved us first.)

Jesus affirms Zacchaeus and his own purpose by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because [Zacchaeus] too is a son of Abraham.” Abandoned by the Jewish community…left outside the family of Abraham as far as they are concerned, Zacchaeus seems like a hopeless case. Yet Jesus has fulfilled God the Father’s promise to Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 17) that his children would be heirs to God’s love forever. Never forgotten. Never alone. Never abandoned. This is just as Jesus will remember and fulfill his promises to us who believe…who trust him.  

Yes, whatever our blindness…whatever our own poverty and need…Jesus knows it before we even ask. (We cannot hide our sin from Jesus. We cannot hide our needs. He knows!) In the blindness of the disciples…in the blindness of the beggar or Zacchaeus…in the blindness of our own sin…Jesus’ journey was and remains about his seeking out and saving the lost. Healing the blind was one of the great Messianic miracles forecasted, predicted, promised in Isaiah. And, it proves the final miracles that Jesus will perform before he enters Jerusalem for the last time.

The beggar and Zacchaeus had no right to expect anything, and yet Jesus knew of their need and responded in love. He reflected the great and profound Jewish virtue of hesed.  It is a hard to define word as it incorporates an ongoing love, mercy, grace and kindness…the love of God. It is a quality that moves someone to act for the sake of the other…not expecting anything in return…not considering what is in it for them. It is a love reflecting how God loves His people genuinely, immutably, loyally, generously. It is what Jesus shows in his life. It is who Jesus is. It is the love that we are called to share in his name in our families, other relationships, and as we participate in the political and unfair and “real” world that’s around us. We are to seek to love for Love’s sake…God’s sake….For, God is only love (1 John 4:8).

 Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. We are invited to walk with Jesus in remembrance as he travels within the city of Jerusalem and accepts his cross. It is a time within our liturgical year which challenges us to understand Jesus better…to look beyond our own sin and suffering to try to grasp onto his own purpose….his passion for us and our world…his grace. It is another opportunity to invite Jesus under our roof and into our hearts again, so that by his word we may be healed. Then, we are to go into the world to love, serve, care and reconcile in thanksgiving for this gift.

“Come down,” Jesus tells each of us, “Follow me. I have a surprise for you. Salvation has come to your house. I want to dine with you, because I love you. Will you let me in?….Will you trust me that I won’t lie to you?” Through trusting in and sharing that perfect hesed which is Jesus…a new journey may begin for us where we seek to follow his example…But following Christ’s own example, he asks us to also to look beyond our household, and our congregations, and our human borders – interpersonal, cultural, racial, geographical, political, whatever borders you want to define! “Go beyond them,” he says, “I want to call all people to myself” (John 12:32). We are not to be like the grumbling scribes and pharisees judging people as fallen too far. We are to look for the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, and the lost that are all around us…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (echoing Jesus’ own words). We are to do so in his holy name as a joyful penance, as amends…not to gain anything, but as a thank you. For we are why he died…and it is through his death and rising, he has gifted us eternal life with him. Amen.

If you would like to hear my sermon or watch our service, the video can be found below. The Gospel text and sermon begins at about the 18:22 minute mark. The preaching text is Luke 18:31—19:10.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue) translation.

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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March 25, 2025 · 6:09 pm

Happy National Peacock Day, Sinner!

Icon of St. Dismas – Note the Peacock.

Happy National Peacock Day! Oh, you did not know that National Peacock Day was a thing? Well, it is. While a quick Google search indicates that there is no official, widely recognized “National Peacock Day” designated by any government or organization, Upper Iowa University (UIU) uses March 25th as a day to celebrate its mascot, the Peacock, as part of their UIU Giving Days. You will find that zoos and arboretums have also signed onto the practice. So, it seems that this national day is just coincidentally placed on a day when Christians might want to celebrate the symbolism of this beautiful bird too. You see, today is when the Church marks both the Annunciation of Mary and the unnamed thief of Luke’s Gospel forgiven on the cross beside Jesus (Luke 23:39-43). The celebrations are set on the liturgical calendar as the day that Jesus came into the world within Mary’s womb and also the day that he died.

How and why is this? Jesus came into the world to suffer, die, and rise for our sins. He called for people to repent and hear the Good News throughout his ministry. So theologically, it appears quite beautiful to keep this connection – Jesus came into Mary’s womb to save sinners and bring abundant, eternal life through the cross. Yet really, it likely has much more to do with how the early Church understood salvation history and the world itself.

Looking at existing Jewish beliefs about the date for creation being on March 25, perhaps that itself being influenced by the timing of the spring equinox, Christians of the Middle Ages for unclear reasons came to agree that March 25 was the date on which creation began. It was also to become the date on which Christ was crucified. Among those earlier movers and shakers influencing this discernment process, you will find Tertullian, a 2nd-century theologian who suggested that Jesus’ death on the 24th of the Hebrew month Nisan (the day of the crucifixion in the Gospel of John) corresponded to March 25th in the Roman calendar, and Augustine of Hippo in his treatise “On the Trinity.” It seems a popular day, for ancient martyrologies also assigned the fall of Lucifer, the passing of Israel through the Red Sea, and the binding of Isaac to March 25.

If Jesus entered Mary’s womb on March 25, it made sense that Christmas be set on the liturgical calendar nine months later, December 25. (This is the real reason Christmas is remembered on that date, not simply to usurp pagan holidays.) Thus, the doctrines of creation, incarnation, and redemption were brought together as one through this liturgical remembrance, although the Bible never gives us a firm date for any of these events. In fact, scholars even debate over the year of Christ’s birth. The Bible is quiet on specifics. Yet with this important connection being made by the Church, March 25 was subsequently observed as New Year’s Day in much of Christian Europe. The Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII only made January 1 the universally recognized New Year’s Day in 1582. The United Kingdom, along with its colonies, was the last hold out to switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar In 1752. (They likely resisted looking like Papists, but economics and other influences convinced them to finally change.)

So why peacocks? Where do they come into our tale? They were commonly used in the Greco-Roman world for decoration. Peacocks symbolized royalty, beauty, and immortality. People of that time associated “the eyes” on a tail of the peacock with the goddess Hera (Juno). She had a hundred-eyed giant for a guardian, Argus or Argos Panoptes. Eventually slayed by Hermes on Zeus’s orders, his eyes were said to have then been incorporated into the peacock’s tail by Hera in his honor.

Now, flash forward to early Christendom. Augustine of Hippo referred to a meal shared in his famous work, The City of God, where peacock, a delicacy of the time, was served. He reports that after taking a large slice of its breast,  he “ordered it to be kept, and when it had been kept as many days as make any other flesh stinking, it was produced and set before me, and emitted no offensive smell. And after it had been laid by for thirty days and more, it was still in the same state; and a year after, the same still, except that it was a little more shriveled, and drier. (Book XXI, ch. 4).[i] This further supported the already existent cultural belief that the peacock was incorruptible and a sign of eternity.

Over time, peacocks became a common symbol for Christians. Peacocks with a floral motif alluded to the bounty of God’s creation in icons about creation. It also could signify immortality and Christian resurrection. The peacock portrayed drinking from a vase came to symbolize drinking the waters of eternal life – a baptismal motif. With those symbolic connections, you find peacocks in many icons about paradise and eternal life, as well as on ancient baptismal fonts, liturgical furnishings and architecture, and even tombs.

As the Penitent Thief is recorded in Luke pleading, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” Jesus answers, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” This theologically and symbolically forges links between creation’s Paradise, the promise of eternal life in Paradise through the gift of our faith and baptism (available only because of Jesus’ death and resurrection), and the restoration of our fallen world with Jesus’s Second Coming.

The man who died beside Jesus found Paradise through trusting in Jesus, fully human and fully divine, dying unjustly for us all. Thus, he is often depicted with a peacock in his iconography. The guilty one who turns toward Jesus in hope is not named in scripture, and people from the Greek and context interpret him as a rebel, thief, and ultimately repentant sinner – none of these roles being mutually exclusive. Yet if you see a man with a peacock in icons, it’s likely there to help identify Adam or the one who was forgiven from the cross.

Over time, the man was given names by the Church. He’s called Dismas (this may have been adapted from a Greek word meaning “dying”) in the West. He’s called Demas (meaning “popular” or “the people,” stemming from the Greek word “demos”) in Coptic Orthodoxy. In an apocryphal gospel from Syria, he is called Titus (meaning “title of honor” or “honorable”). In Russian Orthodoxy, he became known as Rakh. The name origin is unclear, but one scholar theorizes that the Russian title may have come from a garbled reading of an inscription possibly due to damage of the title of a particular icon type of the Penitent Thief that is called “The Wise/Prudent Thief in Paradise,” written in Cyrillic.[ii]

Perhaps it is best we do not know his name. Much as the peacock symbolizes our eternal destiny through Christ, he can become a symbol for us all. For we, too, can prove to be malefactors, thieves, and rebels in our own way through our sin, yet Jesus will always remember us when we turn to him in trust. The signs, portents, and his own promises points us toward celebrating eternally in Paradise with Jesus – saved sinners, repenting on our way, looking with our own eyes only toward Jesus for our salvation.   


Peacock Sarcophagus, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna.
Peacocks look toward a Chi Rho, a symbol for Jesus.
c. 7th Century (Source in references.)

References:

Orthodox Monastery of St. Macarius the Great of Egypt (Saint Macarius OCA). (2024). Wadi El Natrun, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. “Icon of St. Dismas.” Downloaded at https://www.etsy.com/listing/1594726259/handmade-mounted-icon-the-right-hand

Sharon Mollerus, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. “Peacock Sarcophagus, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna (6094775009).jpg as downloaded at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peacock_Sarcophagus,_Basilica_of_San_Vitale,_Ravenna_%286094775009%29.jpg.

Robel, S., Peyton, R., Kramer, M., and Jackson, B. Christian Symbols in Art Blog, as downloaded at https://christiansymbolsinart.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/peacock/.

Smith, R. (July 2018). “The Peacock as an Early Christian Symbol of Eternal Life.” Russel’s Inspiration Daybook Blog as downloaded at https://inspirationdaybook.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/the-peacock-as-an-early-christian-symbol-of-eternal-life.

Tribe, S. “The Use of the Peacock in Christian Art.” Liturgical Arts Journal. Downloaded at https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2023/11/the-use-of-peacock-in-christian-art.html.

Wikipedia. “Argus Panoptes.” As downloaded at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_Panoptes.

Wikipedia. “Penitent Thief.” As downloaded at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitent_thief#cite_note-13.

[i] Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, as quoted in Tribe, S. “The Use of the Peacock in Christian Art.” Liturgical Arts Journal. Downloaded at https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2023/11/the-use-of-peacock-in-christian-art.html

[ii] David. (January 14, 2021). “A Seldom Seen Scroll.” Icons and Their Interpretation Blog. Downloaded at https://russianicons.wordpress.com/tag/rakh/

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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March 10, 2025 · 2:15 pm

My “Pilgrimage of Trust” continues

Image: The Paris European Meeting (1994), (c) Taizé.

Thirty years ago (as of December 26, 2024 through January 1, 2025), I served at and attended my first European Meeting in Paris as “a permanent” (long-term volunteer) with the Brothers of Taizé. “100,000 Youths Invade Paris for Prayer” was the New York Times headline. “Spurred by an ideal that helped undermine communism in Eastern Europe, more than 100,000 young people have poured into Paris for a five-day prayer marathon.”

A number of volunteers had been working all year long helping to prepare the site (Porte de Versailles) and coordinating with local congregations and families to help receive the many young adult pilgrims. At these meetings, visitors live with local families or congregations to help deepen the relationships built and foster greater reconciliation and unity among the people of varied nations and denominations represented. The opening of the Iron Curtain after communism facilitated many coming from the East for the first time.

Just a couple of weeks before the meeting, a few thousand people still needed housing. I was invited to be with Brother Roger and the younger brothers for a song practice in their home when he spoke of the news. He shrugged his shoulders at this challenge and said in French, “God will provide.” It was among many of the lessons learned while I lived with them; challenging me to radically trust God. And of course, God did provide. As some friends from that time reminded when previously reminiscing, the provision was through the willing hearts and sweat of many – people risking the opening of their homes, and many volunteers and locals churches working long and hard to identify and prepare a welcome of young adults from across Europe primarily, but also the world. Hospitality remains a too often overlooked but important, ancient mark of the Church, but it can prove more difficult when at such a large scale.

At the event, I was assigned to work under Br. Ulrich (originally from Germany) distributing food. I helped oversee three of the large feeding stations which served lunch and dinner to these multitudes – more than 25k people at each area for each meal. (I was told that approximately 110,000 in total attended the event.) It was up early before dawn and in bed after midnight each day. My teams and I were outside in the elements for most of the day. I felt a bit like I was back in the Army, especially as among the food items many NATO surplus meals were served. Each food item had its place in multiple serving lines – bread, fruit, cheese, main course. As stockpiles grew smaller, they were replaced quickly. I became expert at driving a forklift. It wasn’t the Feeding of the 5,000, but it was miraculous in its own way. People cooperated well despite the use of varied languages. Volunteers and those served were for the most part patient and joyful.

The positive spirit of the event spread throughout our work, but it proved fatiguing nonetheless. With multiple languages and abilities, it could indeed be challenging. So, I along with other volunteers there from Taize’ tried to keep the pilgrims assigned to help us in brighter spirits. I taught many the poem Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear. Or as it rained, I shared the song, “It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring,” along with other silly things – new to them, often as I said, people who knew little or no English. As young adults, many were keen to have fun but also learn or improve their English. Humor helped pass the time, and just as I survived many an Army field exercise with laughter, humor played well at the European Meeting too. I learned about 26 ways to say the word “cheese” as we served meals that week. Taizé is famous for its musical chants, and this ode to cheese almost became a chant on its own repeating the list in a sing-song voice: “cheese, fromage, formagio, queijo, queso, ost, ser, syr…”

True, I did get to see Paris a bit during the wonderful season of Christmas to include walking up the Eiffel Tower or visiting Notre Dame and the Champs de Lycee, but this trip was primarily about service. Yet, there was much joy and many new friendships made too. I became friends with a young woman from Germany who hated her “old fashioned” name, Cordelia. She liked American names, she said. So, I dubbed her Joe. I recall my friend, Petr, who spoke long and lovingly on a metro ride about the superior virtues of Czech chocolate, “the best chocolate in the world,” after tasting some French chocolate. Walking down the street one night with new friends from Lithuania and Poland, the Lithuanian man had to translate my English to the Polish woman in English because she could not understand my accent. She said it sounded like “waw waw waw.” I sounded a bit like Charlie Brown’s teacher if I comprehended correctly, but I understood them both! And what a splendid Feierabend, a phrase a German volunteer taught me for “quitting time,” as we watched New Year’s Eve fireworks explode over the Eiffel Tower from our warehouse rooftop as we closed up services. There are so many memories of wonderful people and conversations.

Unfortunately, the realities of the world were seen too. I noted a greatly increased police presence as the program neared completion. I learned later that a terrorist threat had come in, but – praise the Lord – nothing occurred and everyone had a safe time. If you know the more recent history of France, you know there have been significant, successful attacks since then. I’ve been told that since my time there, there’s a constant police presence on the hill of Taizé now because of increased threats. That saddens me even as I understand the need.

My week in Paris fell only a few weeks after my arrival in France, and it helped shape all that came after. It was a transformative experience for many including me. The managers of Porte de Versailles remarked with great amazement at how little trouble there had been, how friendly people were, and that the facilities and property were left cleaner than before we came. (Pilgrims had helped throughout including the cleanup.) Before the age of email, people left for home with new friends’ addresses and hope for the future. I learned more of what the Church could be, even amidst disagreements, and how peace could be made manifest most simply and beautifully between individuals.

Like most, I definitely left with deeper faith than I had come with, and I still ponder the miracles that are the European Meetings hosted by Taizé. This Paris encounter was the 17th annual meeting for young people organized by the community and was also at that time the biggest. As reported in the earlier cited article, “Organizers turned four austere halls at a Paris exhibition center into copies of the main church at Taizé, with saffron- colored drapes and icons glittering in the light of hundreds of candles.” Yet what makes the meeting is the people and the Holy Spirit, not the spaces.

Each year, the formal meeting is held in a different European city from December 28 through January 1. It’s not usually as big, but I suspect each one is profound in its own way. I’ve only been to one other meeting (Barcelona, 2000), but amidst the divisions of today’s world, I recognize the meetings’ sacredness. It’s import and the import of any efforts like it should not be underestimated. These meetings have the power to change your view of the world and your place in it.

As reported by the BBC, Brother Roger, the community’s founder, shared in Lisbon (2004) with the young people present, “If we are at present undertaking a pilgrimage of trust on earth with young people from every continent, it is because we are aware of how urgent peace is. We can contribute to peace to the extent that we try to respond to the following question by the life we live: Can I become a bearer of trust where I live? Am I ready to understand others better and better?”

As some governments expect war in the Pacific or a more expansive war in Europe within five years, such efforts nurturing trust in God and others, reconciliation, and peace remain beyond urgent. Perhaps beyond the importance of any treaty, I learned that peace must start with each one of us, today. We must seek to be reconciled with God and one another. For, Christ becomes more visibly present when we do. His joy and hope are experienced as real.

Yes, the importance of such a pilgrimage never ends. It continues through one’s life.

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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March 7, 2025 · 10:01 pm

Re-clothed in Joy

On March 7, 1992, I cried out to God through the simplest of heartfelt prayers. “God help me! I cannot take this anymore! Just show me the way out of this!” This lament wrapped in tears was uttered during a time of extreme desperation and loss while I walked my dog, Falstaff, late on a quiet, lonely night. It would be answered almost immediately in the most profound, miraculous way. I discovered an unexpected, long ignored door open wider than it ever had before.

As I shouted to heaven, I came to think of past joys that I had experienced through youth groups, college ministry, and faith-filled friendships. These relationships had planted seeds of faith, hope and love, when sometimes as a youth from a troubled home, I could feel unloved and unforgiveable. That’s pretty common thinking when you grow up in an alcoholic family, but for me, it was a realization still hidden amidst family secrets and a lack of understanding. It was all I knew, and I could not see more.

As a young adult facing new wounds as a police officer and after unhealthy relationships and choices, I had become cut off from the Church, and I had lost touch with many who loved me. Yet, as these former faces and spaces came to mind, I felt a strong urge to call someone from that past time. It was a risk. Would the reject me? Laugh at me? Think I was stupid? Yet, it seemed also something I could not resist any longer.

The first person I spoke to diagnosed my problems quickly and gently. I had meant to call a dear, old friend, but his wife answered. As I told her my story, she spoke of things hidden in my heart that I had not yet shared with anyone. Yet, she knew! Unbeknownst to me, she had experience working with people from alcoholic and codependent families, and through that conversation, she lovingly pointed me back to Jesus, his promises for me, and the Church. I got off the phone with a sense of hope I don’t think I ever experienced before.

No, it was not that I didn’t know God before that moment. I can see how my earlier baptism and faith (if immature faith) made a difference. I recognize in hindsight how God often saved me from myself and the snares of this world while planting seeds all along the way. I remain thankful for the many people who tried to love me on my way. Yet, for me, I chalk this up to a similar experience to that described by Jonathan Daniels in his own life. My faith was synthesized. I encountered and understood everything in a new way.

It was most certainly a conversion of sorts, or a radical deepening of relationship, as my heart tore open and God’s Spirit filled my emptiness. The Spirit’s light scattered my darkness, and a deep joy began. I had much still to learn, but I was on my way again – really Christ’s way. Despite the suffering and grief that I would still have to work through, and their were things that I would need to let go of, although it was only a beginning, I knew everything had changed. I had changed. I sensed that I was free.

As I dug into scripture, Gospel truths invited me to trust Christ in a new way and see promises fulfilled springing forth like the lilies of the field all around me. I began to understand that all things – my losses and sin included – would be used for my good (Romans 8). Although I had guilt, I no longer needed to be ashamed. I was forgiven, and I could do better in the future by God’s help. As Christ’s peace grew within me, people even began to see my life and daily attitude change. I became committed to never turning back. More importantly, I came to understand that Jesus would never let me go.

This experience – starting particularly that night in March – has taught me to trust God as I never had before, a trust that I am still learning about today. As humans, we can never know enough or trust enough. Doubts and struggles can remain…do remain to tempt us. Taking advantage of the disciplines of Lent (happening at the time), I was helped into this new start and ongoing sanctification of my life. The gifts of being Church with others has helped me stay on the path since then. So as I think of that time throughout the year, but especially on this date and during Lent, I give great thanks.

Perhaps someday, I will share more details about the experience. I have with some, but for now, I most often use the Psalmist’s words from Psalm 30, my annual “scripture of the day.” I had been ill, lost and blinded in the darkness of my own sin and the powers of this world – dead in a sense. I just had not recognized it. Once I more clearly saw the light, even as I might falter or stumble at times, I have not wanted to go back. I won’t go back. I trust the Lord will help me on my way, and the gift of his joy still growing in me will never die.

Psalm 30 follows (NRSVue translation):

1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Amen.

Taizé chant, English translation: Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let not my doubts nor my darkness speak to me. Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let my heart always welcome your love. (Inspired by the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo.)

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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February 26, 2025 · 2:55 am

Sunrise, Sunset

Photo by the author, July 16, 2022.

I recently read an article about the benefit of watching sunrises and sunsets. Based on research, people across the world find such solar events to be “the most beautiful and awe-inspiring weather.” It has long been argued that being out in nature can help one’s mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Time outdoors can help lower blood pressure for example.

Yet, it appears gazing at sunrises and sunsets can bring extra benefit. (Even looking at pictures of sunrises and sunsets on screensavers or paintings can have an impact apparently.) The lead author of the study, Alex Smalley, said, “We have, as Western populations, become very disconnected from the natural world. When you see something vast and overwhelming or something that produces this feeling of awe, your own problems can feel diminished and so you don’t worry so much about them.”

This should really be no surprise. John Calvin argued that looking at sunrises and the marvels of creation can become the start of a human’s search for or belief in the existence of a divine being. Martin Luther seems to have agreed. He reportedly said, “God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” Recognizing that there is a beauty and purpose bigger than ourselves can lead to awe and ultimately a sense of joy and peace,

Perhaps that’s why St. Paul commended people to focus on the good rather than the bad. He wrote, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Readings such as Psalm 8 even use nature to argue for our significance thanks be to God’s love for us, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”

We aren’t just talking about positive thinking here. In looking at the cosmos around us, listening to the laughter of children, resting in the quiet, or even sharing laughter among friends, we can sense a connectedness to something bigger than ourselves. A spark of joy and meaning can come.

So, put down the phone. Set aside rushing to the next program or event. Be still, look around, and take note of the beauty that is always in your midst. Hear it from the word of God found in scripture or the birds singing to God’s glory above you. Feel the beauty under your toes and smell it in the forests or by the sea. Then, let your awe rise with your prayers of thanksgiving. For our God created this all out of love for you and for all.  

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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February 13, 2025 · 5:14 pm

New Apostolic Reformation?

Image from Logos Books

The below essay was edited and updated on May 5, 2026 for corrections and hopefully clarity. People might also like to see or listen to my interview about the New Apostolic Reformation on the Secrets & Spies podcast. I have shared links to it with accompanying comments through my post, “Of Secrets, Spies & NAR” (April 10, 2026). “In this world, not of it” (April 13, 2026) and Reading the Bible is not the same as understanding it: Approaching “America Reads the Bible” with discernment (April 18, 2026) might also be of interest.

I know a bit about the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Sure, I’ve seen articles, and some sermons plus speeches on video. Yet I first started studying this theology as I went through training regarding nationalist hate groups or Central and South American dictatorships in the 1980s/90s as a police officer and military intelligence analyst.

Why? The teachings have roots in the 1940s and have been “repackaged” over the years. Not all those espousing such beliefs are inherently dangerous,  although many Christians consider their theology heretical. Yet, this family of theological ideas has been often used and manipulated to help hold up dictatorships in Central America; rationalizing abuses and violence. Closer to home, White Nationalists and groups against the US government also often incorporated beliefs from this theology into their religious practices back then and still do. The theology seemed to support their worldview establishing a “Christian” nation in expectation of and preparation for Jesus’ return.

You see, even in a purest form, many adherents favor Christian dominion over society in a belief this will help prepare for an End Time army. This kind of thinking is easily adapted to extremism. People can use it to oppress others. Thus, my classes and research back in the day wasn’t to suppress religion, but it was to help understand and help combat people who wanted to overthrow the government, kill law enforcement, disregard laws, and oppress minorities or other faith traditions using violence.

Not everyone with an End Time (eschatological) theological focus or a belief in contemporary prophecy is criminal or dangerous, but sadly, some are. Partly, this is because NAR theology and teachings often rely heavily on personal revelation and prophesy which historically has led many astray when left untested or improperly interpreted. Also, wanting a theocracy in a democratic republic espousing freedom of religion is…problematic. What will qualify one as the right kind of Christian? How will those who don’t believe be dealt with?

Further, there exists a stated goal of reinstating the Temple in Jerusalem (a Third Temple) to help precipitate or be a sign of Jesus’ return. What is not often recognized, this Zionism often masks a teaching among some adherents that once the Temple is restored, non-converting Jews can be eliminated. Thus, this is a popular belief among some related White Nationalist hate groups.

Adherents are also commonly known for imprecatory prayer; asking God to smite those they feel are against them. They see demons at work and controlling people, places and organizations. With such a worldview, they tend to desire the dismantling of secular government. That’s antithetical to a Constitutional system espousing freedom of religion – the freedom to believe as you want even as one might not have religious faith at all. As a Lutheran Christian, I believe the Gospel rightly preached (with words as necessary as St. Francis once remarked) is strong enough to attract people without force or intimidation. It’s important to note once again that the eschatology they hold dear is not held by the majority of Christians in the world.

Also note that NAR followers reject rapture theology, but these two teachings often conflated by the greater public. Rapture theology stems from biblical interpretation by members of the Plymouth Brethren which broke away from Anglicanism in the 1820’s. You can trace contemporary rapture theology to the 1830’s within this movement. It derived from both supposedly prophetic vision and biblical interpretation. A leader, John Nelson Darby, had his ideas popularized in the United States during the 20th Century through the Scofield Reference Bible. Through its extensive commentary, many fundamentalist began to hold strongly to the notion of dispensationalism. This also began an extensive speculation about the Book of Revelation and eschatology in general. Not all of this speculation has been good, as we have seen with a number of groups trying to discern and manipulate the timing of Jesus’ Second Coming. It has spread even more thanks to popular books and movies echoing these themes.

In contrast, NAR advocates for a dominion theology. This mostly comes out of a Pentecostal or charismatic tradition where people expect for a literal kingdom to be set up in the world before Jesus returns. Where most Christians in the world reject the rapture theology, they also reject this newer construct. Along with rejecting the rapture, most, more traditional Christians dating back to the earliest Church argue that Revelation and other teachings are symbolic. God’s kingdom is “here but not yet.” Jesus currently reigns from heaven, and Satan has already lost his fight. Yet we still experience the fallen realities of sin and death, Jesus has conquered them, and we share in his victory even now, so we work and we wait for Jesus to return and establish fully his Kingdom in a new heaven and earth. Where this amillennial argument focuses us toward helping those suffering now by cooperating with the ongoing inrushing of the kingdom, dominionism began to grow to prominence in the 1970s and looks toward the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the future as the preeminent goal. Humans basically facilitate and institute the Kingdom. To do this, they want control of all aspects of society. Adherents want an overt Christian nationalism and international control. They will restore God’s Kingdom through spiritual warfare and practical means before Jesus returns reigning for one thousand years. Their views of politics and faith leave little room for others who disagree.

Many in the United States have come to see the rapture or dominion theology as THE eschatological teachings of the Church due to their many cultural influences. It has seeped into the theology of many unaware when forebears might actually have considered it anathema. This is particularly true in the South or anywhere charismatic faith traditions are common. Yet the Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church, Lutherans (both confessional and non-confessional), Anglican tradition, Methodism, and more (the majority of Christians in the world) consider it a terrible misunderstanding of scripture and Apostolic teaching. You are hard pressed to find it in early Church teachings, and even in scripture, the verses used in support often are out of context or linked with a great bit of mental gymnastics. Even Evangelicals, charismatic churches, and Anabaptists often interpret and apply the relevant scriptures quite differently then NAR.

The New Apostolic Reformation comes out of questionable biblical interpretation and often personal visions. The ministries associated often have a tendency toward personality cult surrounding the favored “prophets” and “Apostles” of their sect. It too often becomes problematic if not dangerous when applied in the real world. Unfortunately, there are parallel theologies, such as Roman Catholic integralism. None of it represents the best that the United States has to offer, and it leans heretical in my view. That said, people in the United States are free to be theologically wrong, but it doesn’t mean they have to be accepted in leadership positions. So, if the President is surrounding himself with folks adhering to this theological worldview held by friends of the NAR, and he is, to include his new faith office leader, I want to learn more. You might like to as well.

If you wish to learn more, I highly recommend this book: A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement.

I encourage you to read up on the movement, talk to other Christians as well as others, and take a look at scripture also in dialogue with others, to help you discern about this movement for yourself. I fear a number of adherents will likely have a profound negative impact on the President’s own view of things and ultimately our national policy. It has been historically used by bad actors for their personal agendas or benefit, and that should give one pause. Upon reflection, it will be good to have our educated, thoughtful voices and votes heard.

According to Matthew D. Taylor, Senior Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, the circles identify people he knows to be identified as NAR or NAR-affiliated people in this White House photo. He suggests there might be more that he cannot clearly see in the back due to crowding.
I believe the picture is from Inauguration Day.

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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February 1, 2025 · 1:07 am

Love transcends boundaries

JD VANCE: There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that… (January 29,, 2025 in a Fox News interview)

There has been a lot of angry posts created since the Vice President shared the above during an interview on Fox News. If only loving was so organized and clear cut! Sadly, love in a fallen world never is. Loving others is most often difficult, confusing, and often messy. It is easy to love too much as well as not love enough. We find that God is love, but we are not God. All of us fail at loving all the time – sometimes out of selfishness; sometimes out of ignorance.

Yes, things are not as clear and linear as the Vice President suggests. True, I’ve seen some Evangelicals and Roman Catholics write about circles of love reflecting varied intimacy or immediacy – spouse, family, community, nation, world. And certainly, the original Protestant Reformers tried to reaffirm marriage and family as not just a necessary passion but a sacred calling equal to others (particularly celibate vocations) glorifying God. Indeed, Jesus called his disciples a family. It was a fictive family, but with more import eternally. When Jesus spoke about loving one another (John 13:34), it was a command specifically for and amidst disciples. They were to love one another as his body. Yet, this was not selfish. He also called them to go throughout all the earth making disciples of all peoples (Matthew 28:19) – to invite them to be part of the body. Our Christian ethic of love might allow for intimacy, but it is never meant to be exclusive. Instead, it is expansive and generous.

A walk through scripture helps us see that our Christian ethics are as complicated as our lives. Take for example, Matthew 10:37. In it, we hear Jesus tell us to not put father or mother (really anyone) before him. For his mission, people are sometimes called to leave family behind. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life,” says Jesus (Matt 19:29). His first Apostles and disciples did this. But we also learn in 1 Timothy 5:8, that we might have another slightly different call as the Church develops. We are told that we are to provide and care for family. “And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Then, you have Matthew 22:36-40 where we are told to love God but also love our neighbor as ourselves. In Deuteronomy, this twin command was the heart of all the laws that followed, and Jesus agreed. This command pushes us outside the tribal or genetic bonds of family. So when asked who is our neighbor, Jesus uses the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37 to teach us that love and compassion is for anyone in need, even our enemies.

Here’s another tension. When Jesus came into the world, the Kingdom of God was at hand. He was racing to his cross and resurrection. Time was short. So, in Matthew 8:21-22, Jesus tells someone who wants to follow him in mission that his call is more important and immediate than burying the dead – in this case, the man’s father. Yet then in Mark 5:19, Jesus rejects someone’s hope to go with him.  “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” The person is sent home to do the will of God amidst family and folk! For him at that time, that was the better way to love.

My friends, I think it is a mistake to force things into an either/or dichotomy. Perhaps like St. Paul at his conversion, it is better to ask, “Jesus what would you have me do?” (Acts 9:6). Sometimes we are called to sacrifice all. Sometimes not. Sometimes we need to care for family, community, or nation as part of our primary vocation. Others might have vocations that are outward facing such as missionaries. Such people might be called to go beyond generosity to family or kinship groups to love the stranger. Dependent upon our call from God, we might need to leave family and property behind, or offer our lives as martyrs, or yes, even as a Protestant, live a single life to fulfill God’s call for us. Or, we might need to be a sign of God’s love in a family or community. Still, those at home might be asked to support missions and outreach to others. Vocations vary as much as situations, but we share all one mission to the world.

Yes, the Vice President’s interpretation is too limited and rigid, but so can be the interpretation of those who argue for more generous giving. We have to watch out for enabling behaviors. At times, we must discern who needs our help most like a medical professional in a triage unit. Our context, abilities, resources, and most importantly our call from God can impact what we should do.

Take for a recent popular example, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He believed after World War I that Christians were called to pacifism. Still, in the face of Nazi evil, he decided a greater evil than committing violence was to do nothing to save Jews from genocide. Nation did not come first. Ideology or theology was not preeminent. Love – even if imperfect human love – did. He erred on the side of mercy.

Yet again, no matter who we are or what our vocation is, there is no denying that Jesus calls us toward one another in the Church, love of family, and even love of “other” to include our enemy. We are not called to tribalism, selfishness, or fear. Sometimes this means sacrifice. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come to die.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost of Discipleship. This can mean a person/family/nation might need to sacrifice if not suffer in order to love others as God calls. For is not that the way Jesus loved us – dying on a cross?

Maybe this is partly why St. Augustine defined virtue as “rightly ordered love” in his work City of God. Augustine believed that a just and holy life requires loving things in the right order. God is first. Then others. Some suggest loving family before others (as you are called as parent or child) might mean caring for “self” first. For example, a pastor might take a leave of call to care for a dying parent or child. Or maybe leave must be taken to fight cancer. There can be valid reasons to prioritize your love for the one’s entrusted to your care by God; not out of selfishness but need.

Similarly, Thomas Aquinas argued for an order of love. Aquinas argues, “One’s obligation to love a person is proportionate to the gravity of the sin one commits in acting against this love.” In his argument, we’re to love with greater devotion those who have been entrusted to our care. Fulfilling our vocation was a key understanding for him.

Yet, I am arguing that the Christian ethic of love is not one size fits all. Your call and the circumstances matter. Therefore, Augustine prays, “Love ever burning, never quenched! O Charity, my God, set me on fire with your love! You command me to be continent. Give me the grace to do as you command, and command me to do what you will!” (Confessions, X.29). Augustine wrote that the earnest student “exercises himself” to find in Scripture that: 1) God is to be loved for his own sake, 2) our neighbor is to be loved for God’s sake, and 3) that God is to be loved above all.

The kicker (very difficult and somewhat surprising) which must be reiterated comes from Matthew 5:43-48, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We are called to love others who don’t necessarily deserve our love from a human, utilitarian perspective. Certainly, again, this does not mean we become enablers of addiction or other bad behaviors. Sometimes the consequences can be loving as we protect someone from harming themselves or others more. Yet, the command to love our enemy challenges us to consider how we respond to all those whom prove difficult to love.

Then, of course, Christian counselors often remind us that self-care is not always selfish. Even Jesus took care of his needs for solitude, prayer, or fellowship at times. Yet, when the time was right, he offered himself completely up for our sake. Similarly, self-care is sometimes necessary, not a sin, for us. Remember, the maxim is to love others AS yourself, not better than yourself. This reminds me of Carl Jung: “But what if I should discover that the least among them all, the poorest of all beggars, the most impudent of all offenders, yea the very fiend himself – that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of my own kindness, that I myself am the enemy who must be loved – what then?” If we are caring for ourselves so that we can fulfill our call from God better and value the gift we have been given (our body for example), that is not selfish. As humans, especially as caregivers, self-care is critical.

Sometimes to love others better, you need to love yourself – loving oneself in an unselfish way, recognizing your human needs or limitations – so that you can glorify the Lord all the more in how you love others. At other times, love calls us to die to self. There can be a lot of in between, shadowy times. (God often is found speaking from a cloud, right?) It is hard to see what to do. In welcoming the refugee, facing criminal justice issues, caring for the sick and elderly, we can’t just say “me first” or “America first.” It is not that easy. We are going to have to wrestle over our actions and intentionally discern. The utilitarian answer will not always be the best. We have to open our hearts to God and others, then ask the Spirit to guide us. For without God’s help, without continually questioning and testing our motives and actions, we will surely love less than we ought or are able. Common sense can lead us into sin.  

Love is complicated. Let’s strive to love generously and well by God’s help. And if we aren’t sure? Perhaps it is best to err on the side of mercy, for God is merciful toward us. Our God who is love is the God of all people, calling all people, and those outside the Church and our kinship groups are entrusted to our care. As God’s love reaches out, we are invited to be the divine’s hands, feet, and voice. For Christ followers, God’s love is meant to transcend the social and political boundaries of this world.

One day when Jesus returns, we will be one. That’s been God’s will all along.

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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November 20, 2024 · 9:00 pm

Serenity Now

Image: Personal Growth Concepts Blog

Who knew the well-known and respected Serenity Prayer could cause something other than peace – doubts, anxiousness, and many more questions? After sharing it on our Facebook page post-election, I have had many great and fruitful discussions about the theology behind it. On its face it sounds crazy to accept the world as it is. Yet, that is not really all that it says.

As I wrote someone recently, the Serenity Prayer was written as the US was battered by the Great Depression and the Nazis took over in Germany. Things looked grim. It began as an observation by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1932 as Roosevelt was elected: “The victorious man in the day of crisis is the man who has the serenity to accept what he cannot help and the courage to change what he must.”

The prayer challenges us to discern our unique individual call, as well as a call in community. We are to take stock of what we really can influence in the world, act accordingly in faith, and with any things that prove out of our hands, we are asked to trust that they remain in God’s. Many studies have shown that “letting go” can help us physically, emotionally, and mentally function better. Based on the teachings of Jesus, I always say that it benefits us spiritually too. Consider John 14:1 for one example: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”

Lutherans also believe in a Theology of the Cross – the cross is seen as the best source of knowledge concerning who God is and how God saves. It also encourages us to take up our cross and follow Jesus. As the Lutheran theologian, pastor, and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” None of our recent posts are about “just getting along” or stopping our work for a more just world. We know the world is a mess. Loving others is difficult. In the face of reality, these prayers and teachings challenge us to trust and love God at all times, and love one another, even our enemies.

How we respond to perceived injustices might change when we trust God is always at work for our welfare. This theological lens invites us to find Christ’s peace and hold on to it, even if facing the worst evil. Our suffering and sacrifice can become sacred, not by our own power, but because of God’s promise that all things work for the good of those who love God (Romans 8).  God will be with us in our suffering, but God also somehow will use it to bless us and the world. We are asked by Jesus not to lose hope when it seems like the world is ending. He taught that these things must happen (Matthew 24:6) before his Kingdom, a new heaven and earth, fully comes.

We can look toward our theological forbearers. They sometimes died for their faith. Some still do. In the US, there has been worst times of trouble – the Civil War being arguably the worst and most costly. (It took Spotsylvania County one hundred years to return to its pre-war census.) Working within the ebb and flow of history, we are called to pray and act, but always trust. God wills more for us. As Lutheran theologian Ernst Troeltsch writes, “God, therefore is always living, always creating. He is truly manifested not in being but in becoming; not in nature, but in history” [Troeltsh, E. (1991) The Christian Faith, p.120. Minneapolis: Fortress Press]. God is at work in and through us as we live in a Fallen World. God may seem like a hidden God, as Luther often called God, but God is awake and at work. It is not all up to us. God’s will will be done.

These beliefs, this kind of trust, often helps us extend our focus to see more possibilities of what we can do in hard or conflicted times – acting in love rather than just fear or anger. Acting in love does not mean there are never any consequences. For the sake of the weak, the vulnerable, really all our neighbors, sometimes some are called to respond more directly and forcefully than others. Yet as a former soldier and police officer, now a police chaplain, I see that violence is never a good thing – never without cost – even when violence becomes necessary. (Luther in discussing his Two Kingdoms theology or in his essay “Whether Soldiers Too, Can Be Saved?” speaks of these kinds of things.) We each have parts to play in making a more just world, but we each must discern how Christ is calling us with the gifts we have been given.

Still in Christ’s teachings, the call to be open to reconciliation, to even nurture it, is ever present. For me, my understanding of this broadened when I came to know and eventually live with Brother Roger of Taizé in France. Under the Vichy government, he helped Jews escape. He ultimately narrowly escaped the Gestapo’s arrest; going to Switzerland until the war was over. After the war, he came back. He cared for German soldiers (former POWs) as they made their way home. In the region, he was among some of the most anti-church people in France. Some Communists slaughtered a pig on the church steps in the nearby village each Good Friday to show their disdain for Jesus and his Church. Yet, he with other friends helped form a coop for the community anyway, and they cared for the sick and hungry. His authenticity, patience and love changed hearts and minds over time with God’s help. And I believe his witness eventually changed my way of seeing and being as well.

When we as Christians say, “all is well,” or “love your enemy,” we are ultimately affirming that Jesus is Lord. He lives, and that matters. In fact, it changes everything, so it must change how we respond to the world. Jesus promises that his Kingdom will come, but he is here with us now. It has broken into our world, but it is not in its fullness yet. We are already victorious even when we might suffer (1 Corinthians 15:57). This truth can free and empower us to respond to our Fallen world and our neighbors in surprising ways.

For, God is not done with us or the world yet. Yes, the poor will always be with us (Mark 14:7, John 12:8, Matthew 26:11), but we seek to feed and house them as Jesus also taught us. As we face those in opposition to us, we seek to bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistrust us (Luke 6:27-36). In the face of worldly reality, we seek to live in abundant, generous, and merciful faith, hope, and love. All is well, but all is not perfect…yet. As the body of Christ, we have work to do, but we trust most importantly that God is at work, too. We need not be afraid.

Parts of this reflection originally were published in the November 18, 2024 weekly newsletter, the Hub, of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA as well as sections in a Facebook post that I shared. 

© 2024 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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November 21, 2023 · 9:13 pm

Seeing things as they are (Sermon)

Photo by Boudewijn Boer on Unsplash

This sermon on  Isaiah 5:1-7; 11:1-5 and Mark 12:1-3 was preached at Christ Lutheran Church (Fredericksburg, VA) on the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, November 19, 2023. You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

In my work as a volunteer police chaplain or in pastoral counseling, I can run into people with a vision problem. No, they don’t need an eye doctor. Their way of looking at life can be out of focus. The person might suffer from bent thinking where it is like looking at your submerged legs as you stand in the water above. Your legs are the same as they have always been, but you perceive them as losing definition and perhaps they seem disjointed or cut off from the rest of your body. Unfortunately, as humans, as we experience traumas (big or small), or as we seek to control things that aren’t controllable, or as we try to cope with stress or loss in unhealthy ways, our vision of reality tends to be negatively impacted. We don’t see our life, our options, or who we are accurately. Our focus on what’s bad or hard begins to overshadow the goodness of life…and my friends, believe it or not, there is always goodness to be seen…even as we face death. I have seen this as a hospice chaplain.

To be frank, I find these symptoms of an imperfect humanity in a difficult world to be like those of us with post-traumatic stress symptoms. (Sure, maybe the symptoms might not be as severe for everyone, but they are often similar.) Over time, we can wrongly personalize things saying things like, “the world is against me,” “nobody likes me,” or we might believe that “I am the unluckiest person in the world.” Along with negative self-talk, maybe we imagine slight or expect betrayal when there is none. Or, we might simply take on blame when something bad happens to us or those we love even when there is no blame. Things can go wrong even when we do everything perfectly because life isn’t fair. Even Jesus, perfect and without sin, died on a cross. That was pretty unfair to be sure.

Conversely, we might hear a criticism of someone or some group we are associated with, and we allow ourselves to become deeply wounded by something we have no connection to. Those times are examples of personalizing things, but we can also catastrophize things: “If I fail this test, my life will be ruined.,” “If (insert a name) breaks up with me, I have no future.” We begin to see our world simplistically and dualistically. (And by that, I mean we tend to see events as all good or all bad – nothing falls in between.) Life just is not that way.

If this sounds familiar to you, I am not surprised. As humans, we all can feel this way at times. The darkness of this world can whisper in our ears, and we might listen too long. The problems become more significant and life threatening (to one’s own quality of life or concretely a danger to one’s life or others) when we get stuck in this pattern of thinking. We stop seeing the big picture – that life is long. Our life course can change at any time. It is only a bad day, not a bad life. More than that, perhaps more harmful, we forget that we have a God behind us that is bigger than any problems we face, even death. And that God, our God, has promised to love us and care for us always, because we are God’s people. Remember, Jesus actually calls us his family.

When we look at prophetic texts forecasting doom, it is dangerous to view them in isolation. Martin Luther argued (and those who join me for Bible study on Monday nights hear this over and over again), we need scripture to interpret scripture. What we are reading is not meant to be heard in isolation, for it is just part of a much larger, all-encompassing story which isn’t just in the past. This story, God’s love for us, embraces us in the present…even on the worst of days. “God is with us,” Immanuel. We learn this with Jesus…but God was always with those and for those God so lovingly created and called. Most assuredly, you have likely heard someone at some time use such passages to try to scare people straight…you toe the line or suffer in hell eternally, as you deserve….Yet as true as hell and consequences might prove, those kind of threats never worked for me. I just lost hope. It is only God’s love and grace that ultimately turns most lives around.

As we look at Isaiah’s prophecy today, we need to read it with the proper lens and context. Just as we heard the prophet Hosea call the Northern Kingdom of Israel to account, Isaiah’s task was to seek the repentance of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Yet, the prophet Isaiah begins with a somewhat strange literary motif of his day. His warning is hidden within the guise of an ancient Hebrew love poem.

Long ago, the vineyard was a symbol of a nurturing, sweet, growing love. And so, we hear of God being like a planter. God expected a great deal from the love he planted in the lives of this chosen people. God’s time had been invested selecting the richest soil, digging, pruning, and watering throughout their history and present. To protect them, there would be a watchtower, and hedges and walls (perhaps these represent his power, angels, laws, and of course grace). The ancient vineyard required hard, intentional work for the grapes to flourish (much as with any healthy relationship). Symbolically, the poem represented God’s work and God’s blessing benefitting God’s people…those God loved.

Yet, surrounded by international and natural threats, the people were afraid. They forgot God’s promises. They did not trust them. And so, the people reached out to false gods to help them feel in control and safe – sometimes idol worship and superstition, but also sinful actions and distractions can become idols too. Yes, there was evil in the world striking out at them through the Assyrian and later Babylonian Empires…but they themselves had also torn down the fences and stomped on the grace of God with the daily choices they made. A people who should have born good fruit began to bear rottenness, selfishness, and other sins. Jesus would echo Isaiah in John 15 with his own parable of the vineyard saying, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” As with the vineyard prophesy in Mark, Jesus would recall how the people had a tendency to reject the fruit of love from God – not only prophets, but also himself.

Sadly through Isaiah, we learn that Judah has failed to abide in God’s love…failed to love God and neighbor. That’s their primary sin. And so Isaiah’s song or parable of the vineyard will go on to enumerate their sins and consequences to leave no doubt; much like a prosecutor before the judge who is God: Covetousness and greediness of worldly wealth and land where the poor were ignored shall be punished with famine (v. 8-10); rioting, drunkenness, and lives of excess (v. 11, v. 12, v. 22, v. 23) shall be punished with captivity and all the miseries that attend it (v. 13-17); presumption in sin, and defying the justice of God (v. 18, v. 19); confounding the distinctions between virtue and vice, and so undermining the principles of their faith (v. 20); Self-conceit and lack of reliance upon God (v. 21); perverting justice, for which with the other instances of reigning wickedness among them, for these sins a great and general desolation is threatened, which would lay all waste (v. 24-25). This would come to be through a foreign invasion (v. 26-30), referring to the havoc which would come by Assyria’s army and the later Babylonian Empire.[i]

Despite God’s intention of blessing and life, their choices were leading to death. Isaiah warns that Sheol, the place of the dead, shall open its mouth wide and swallow them all. Their own bad choices and lack of vision would see to that. Is it any wonder that the people felt afraid as their world was falling apart…as if they had been abandoned by God? This is so human! Yet, God still longed for them…hoped for them. “Turn to God and live!” prophets would cry out. Still, they tended to blame the messengers or others…anyone but themselves. And so, the Assyrians would come…and then the Babylonians…and finally about six decades of exile and suffering would come as well. In this prophecy of doom and through the shortsightedness of the people, sure, we can see and understand parallels within our own lives. Our similar actions might result in similar consequences, but let’s cast a wider glance. 

As Isaiah shares about the consequences of sin or a fickle faith with his people, he also points the people’s vision toward God. If God didn’t love them, would God have sent prophets to call them back into relationship? And so, he shares his call story in the next chapter. Then, he encourages the King and the people. He proclaims, “the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.” Although Christians see Jesus in this ongoing promise, Isaiah pointed to the birth of a son to inherit the throne as a sign and promise for a future filled with hope in his time. And even as lack of faith will lead to periods of loss and suffering, as all bad choices do at some level, Isaiah urges them not to give up hope. Justice will surely come because God’s love is already at work in their midst. And because God is just, those leaders and powerful who take advantage of or abuse others, and even arrogant Assyria, will all eventually face the consequences of their behaviors and haughtiness, too.

Yet those who remain faithful, who are imperfect but strive for justice and peace, who seek to love God and neighbor, all will be well. All is well, for God always loves them. Even today as we face our problems and pain, Paul, too, assures us that we are already victorious. Why? It is not because of anything we do or don’t do. It is because God has chosen to love us, and Jesus came – not for himself – but for us and our benefit…to do what we cannot…save us.

As we wrestle with harsh realities all around us, God is with us…God promises to be with us! Bad times will pass. Death has lost its sting. Sins can be forgiven, and lives restored. And so today, we jumped a bit forward a bit and also heard from Isaiah as recorded in chapter 11. Professor Michael Chan of Luther Seminary points out, “The concrete expression of this new future is a ruler on whom the spirit will rest (verse 2). Promise comes to Israel in the form of a person—a human king who embodies the best of Israel’s traditions: He is wise and understanding (verse 2), powerful in war (verses 2, 4), able to judge for the benefit of the poor (verses 3-4), and obedient to God (verses 2, 5).”[ii] God will elect leaders to lead them toward a more peaceable kingdom. More than that, beyond Isaiah’s own hope perhaps, Christ will come. Later Christians, struggling as Jewish believers before them had, will see Jesus’ work hidden within these same passages.

Pastor Chan goes on, “At the end of the day, Isaiah 11:1-9 does allow us to celebrate Jesus’ ministry in the past and especially in the present, but the text also urges us to the place of intercession, where we long for creation’s promised destiny, as a place where peace, justice, and grace have the final word.”[iii]

You see, the promised new heaven and new earth with Jesus’ return is still yet to come. Sin and death though defeated are in their death throes around us. Life can still hurt. People can still fail us…We can fail ourselves. Crosses might yet need to be carried. Still, never fear. Although sometimes hidden or hard to see clearly, God is here. You are loved. And nothing, not even death, will have the final say. For through our faith and baptism, don’t you see, we are part of God’s story. Despite how things might look at times, God loves us and has promised to never let us go. Even now, God is doing a new thing. God is leading us home. Amen.

[i] Matthew Henry Commentary as found at Biblestudytools.com http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/isaiah/5.html

[ii] Chan, M.J. (November 19, 2023). Working Preacher. Commentary on Isaiah 5:1-7; 11:1-5 as downloaded athttps://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/isaiahs-vineyard-song-2/commentary-on-isaiah-51-7-111-5-3.

[iii] Ibid.

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November 1, 2023 · 3:46 pm

Learning about love

Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash

You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. (1John 3:16)

During a recent children’s message, I introduced the children present to my stuffed animal friend, Tommy Tatanka. (Tatanka means buffalo in the Lakota language, and that’s what Tommy is.) I bought Tommy when visiting the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown, ND, because I thought seeing it would help me remember my Lakota children and youth at St. Joseph’s Indian School. The motto for the school is: “We serve and teach. We receive and learn.” This reminds us that our relationships are meant to be reciprocal, and I received and learned much from the Native students and their families. I mentioned during the children’s message as we explored the story of the creation of the first family in Genesis 2 that the Lakota had a saying used often in prayer, sacred story, and at other times: Mitakuye Oyasin (“We are all related”). They seek to remember that the human family remains in relationship with one another and all of creation much as many Psalms and other biblical citations suggest.  

In Lakota Christian communities, you might often see this concept represented concretely. Amidst traditional Christian symbols of the cross, candles (representing the light of Christ), Christograms (such as the ancient Alpha and Omega symbol for Jesus ), a butterfly (a more modern symbol of resurrection and new life), or perhaps an ichthys fish symbol (reportedly used by ancient Christians to help people recognize churches and other believers during a time when they faced persecution in the Roman Empire), among all these things and more, you might find Native religious symbology as well. For example, one might see a buffalo skull. Why a buffalo skull? In past times, the buffalo was hunted for food, but every part of the buffalo would be used by the tribe for clothing, shelter, or tools. Nothing would be wasted. The Lakota still believe that because of the American buffalo’s great importance to the people, a buffalo skull should rightly be present at sacred Lakota rituals. The skull represents a powerful animal that gives completely of itself for others. The buffalo is a symbol of self-sacrifice, and for Lakota Christians, the skull often helps remind them of Jesus’ own sacrifice for our sake.

Yet, the buffalo proved an important role model to our students as well. In the fierce winter storms, the buffalo always faces the wind. It survives by addressing things head on. This becomes inspirational for the students as they face new challenges or experiences, or as they deal with losses or trauma. For Christian Lakota, it can remind them to pick up their cross as Jesus did in the service of others.

As I write this, St. Joseph’s Indian School is about to have their annual student pow wow. It serves as a reunion of sorts, but it also becomes a time for families of the community and from across the US to gather. The children and youth dance and sing remembering their relatives of the past proudly even as they sing with hope for the future. In loving one another, we find hope. I discovered that we can even meet Jesus.

Happy Native American Heritage Month to one and all!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.

Adapted from an article originally published in the October 2023 newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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