Tag Archives: community

March 25, 2013 · 3:40 pm

“Today, you will be with me”

St. Dismas

St. Dismas

For those that have looked at my Heroes and Sheroes page, you might recognize that today is a special day for me. March 25th is the traditional commemoration date of Saint Dismas on a number of Christian liturgical calendars, and I bear his name.

Widely known as the “Good Thief” or the “Penitent Thief”, Dismas was crucified beside Jesus. The name Dismas was later adapted from a Greek word meaning “sunset” or “death.” His real name is unknown. Most likely, he was not a thief, but instead, some kind of rebel or raider deserving the death penalty under Roman law.

Dismas’ lesser feast day or commemoration derived from a tradition believing that March 25th was the actual calendar date of Christ’s crucifixion, although the Passover and Easter celebrations move due to their following a lunar calendar. The Feast of the Annunciation is the primary, modern celebration on our Lutheran calendars today (except when March 25th falls during Holy Week), but I still stop to remember St. Dismas annually on this day.

Although Dismas was never officially canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, he is declared so in scripture by Jesus himself. We hear in Luke that Dismas defended Jesus from the abuse of the other condemned man, commonly named Gestas (but also unknown). Hearing Jesus preach, teach and pray from the cross, Dismas began to look to Jesus with trust. He asked, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus declared, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (See Luke 23:39-43)

Years ago in a home with many challenges, I came to see the world in black and white terms. I secretly believed myself unlovable and defective even at a young age. As I write elsewhere, I am sure I heard the story of Dismas often in church growing up, but it first really impacted me while watching The Greatest Story Ever Told on television with my father in about eighth grade. At that time, I had been going through confirmation classes at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church. Prior to confirmation (viewd as a sacrament in the Roman Catholic faith tradition), we were asked to think of a confirmation name, one to symbolize our coming to adulthood in faith and hopefully be a saint who inspired us.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, St. Dismas is the patron saint of condemned prisoners, reformed thieves, undertakers, funeral directors, penitent sinners, and prisoners. Indeed, some Lutheran and other prison ministries are named after him. When confirmed in the Catholic tradition, I decided to take his name. This seems ironic perhaps for one who would become a police officer, yet I always remembered how my heart was deeply touched by his story. In the depths of my being, I hoped I could be so loved.

Later as a young adult, I left active life in the church. I believed in God at some level, but I made bad choices at times, experienced losses that often come with life, and experienced much too much evil as a police officer. In short, I gave up on God. I became empty and cynical. I came to feel that not even Christ’s cross was enough to save me. I had much to repent over, for I was very wrong.

Yet when my life seemed darkest after another profound loss, two dear Christian friends from my past redirected my gaze toward the cross and its certain grace. On March 7, 1992, I had what I call my “re-conversion experience” – for I understand now that since my baptism and before, God has always been active in my life. My faith was small and deformed, but it made a difference in my life. God loved me before I ever realized it, even on Christ’s cross long ago. I truly experienced amazing grace, and my life changed.

Through this renewed experience with grace, I came to understand and more importantly finally trust that I was indeed loved and forgiven. I began to dig into scripture as never before. I hungered for the Word of life, and I found it alive in and through Christ’s church. With the church, I sought to share the grace I knew to be true with others in both word and deed. My police work became a sacred vocation. Later, God would invite me to take his love on the road through mission. Overtime, I discovered a home in the Lutheran family of faith. Still a sinner, I trust that I am also a saint. Christ declares this through his death and resurrection for our sake, and I do trust him for he never lies. His sacrifice atoned for our sin – past, present and future. His death remains enough to save us all.

Each year since my “re-conversion” and return to the church, I think of Dismas and rejoice. I celebrate the opportunities found in Lent and Christ’s forgiveness. I trust that with others who believe (and even those who don’t yet) I was, am and will be remembered. Dismas’ story is our own.

Yes, Jesus remembered us all as he died on that cross. He died, so that we could truly live…starting today.

Psalm 32 – The Joy of Forgiveness
1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Selah

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah

6 Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
7 You are a hiding-place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Prayer:

Gracious Lord, even as you died on your cross, you looked upon Dismas and saw our human need, shared suffering, and sin. You looked upon him with love before his repentence. His simple trust in you opened a way of communion with your heart’s mercy and forgiveness even as the centurion’s spear sought to tear your heart asunder. Your death and resurrection saves me. His trust in you inspires me. Bless your entire church; that together we remember your cross with confidence, persevere in faith through times of trial, and experience the resurrection of our lives today. Empower us to remember and serve the outcast, sinner, and all who suffer; sharing your grace, mercy and love, as you have so abundantly shared it with us. Amen.[i]

[i] This prayer is inspired by a Roman Catholic prayer.

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

© 2013 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 8, 2013 · 8:30 pm

In those desert times

The Judean desert from Jerusalem the Movie (expected in 2013)

The Judean desert from Jerusalem the Movie (expected in 2013)

“From early Biblical times to the Middle Ages to the Present, the rugged, isolated beauty of the Judean Desert (Midbar Yehuda) has long attracted those seeking refuge, solitude or spiritual inspiration. According to the Bible, the prophet, Elijah, King David, John the Baptist, and Jesus all spent time here. Herod the Great built two fortresses here, Herodium and Massada, and during the Byzantine period (6th century A.D.), magnificent monasteries were built into its cliffs and rock crevices. Bordered by the Judean Mountains to the West and the Dead Sea to the East, the Desert’s 1,500 km landscape features canyons up to 500 meters deep and cliffs up to 300 meters high. Arid hills and valleys are contrasted with ancient springs that create oases such as Nahal Arugot, Nahal Prat, and Nahal David. It’s no wonder that this breathtaking, harsh and often surprising place has held the attention of so many for so long.” – as posted by Jerusalem the Movie on Facebook, March 8, 2013

Coming across the above picture of the Judean desert got me thinking…

As we walk these forty days of Lent, we remember the forty years that the Jewish people wandered in the desert due to their wandering hearts, as well as Jesus’ own forty days there fasting. As the note with this striking picture attests, the desert has often been a fruitful place for the people of God. Sadly, we need not travel far to find desert times in our lives. This can be so even when we practice “proper disciplines” and actively seek out God. Even in France, Br. Roger often compared the beautiful community, ministry and village of Taize’ to a desert, for no matter where we are, we can feel at times parched and long for the water of God.

I entered such a time once again this past week. Already tired from a new ailment recently diagnosed, I had two members of my congregation die within two days. During that same time, my mother called in tears to let me know my aunt had died. My mother’s melancholy increased as she came to realize she is the last of her generation in our family. My own grief grew as I realized that I couldn’t respond to New England to support her and my cousins due to my illness. Just when I thought I had had enough, I heard more tragic news – a member of my former police department had been shot during a traffic stop.

I remember well how such incidents tear at the heart of the entire police community. In fact while already grieving the present, I found myself thrust back in time to attend to other wounds now reopened. My soul cried out for my friends and the entire agency. I wondered, “Is it someone I knew?” I grieved anew the losses I remembered while serving with the Alexandria Police Department and elsewehere. I felt sad. I felt physically sick. I felt terribly and utterly alone in those moments.

Throughout the day, I prayed. I watched and wandered through my day. Yet, God seemed far away. Words of friends and family didn’t (couldn’t?) fully console me, and I longed for my hidden God. Yet all the while, many long past experiences reminded me of God’s faithfulness. Amidst the darkness, I clung to the light and love experienced in those times and the written promise of the steadfast love of God in scripture like a life preserver.

As the Bible assures us and Martin Luther reminded us, don’t trust our eyes, reason, or feelings. Trust Jesus. Hold onto him trusting that he will prove true to his promise that he holds on to us, guides us, and love us – always. As one of my favorite fictional crime fighters, Cadfael (a medieval monk and Sherlock Holmes rolled into one), was prone to say, “Sleep well, for God is awake.” Yes, even when we haven’t the strength to raise our heads, God looks kindly upon us. Life may still prove hard at times, but God’s love proves everlasting.

Since that day, I have been thinking a lot about my wandering, human heart. I am grateful that the officer shot is recovering. I am grateful for the spouse, family, friends, and congregation that joined me in prayer and waiting. I am thankful for the God who once again reminded me during a time of desert that our wanderings will come to an end, and healing will be ours.

Yet, another officer has been shot in Virginia and died; this time a Virginia State Trooper. Others in my congregation have faced new losses, and because I love them, I suffer with them. Still I hold on and wait, for to whom else can I go? Why should I hide? Instead, I’ll seek to serve, and worship, and love while I wander, for I’m called to live. I will find life within Christ’s community the church. I’ll seek to share hope and life outside of it. This desert time will end, for Jesus has already spoken the words of eternal life. Amidst the savage beauty of our desert wilderness, I trust we’ll discover the wonderous truth that Jesus never lies.

Through Isaiah, we hear God promise that our desert time can only lead to new life. Let’s, together, seek to remember these words as we walk on:

“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the Lord will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know, may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.” (from Isaiah 41)

Indeed, and the Holy One has created us as well. His hands will never let us go.

This is a trying time for all those in Virginia’s law enforcement community. Please keep all of them and their families in your prayers. If you would like to learn how you can better support law enforcement in your community during times of death and beyond, consider visiting and supporting:
Concerns of Police Survivors
National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund
International Conference of Police Chaplains
or, contact your local police agency to volunteer.

If you would like to help the Laboy family, you can drop off a donation at the Alexandria Police Department, 3600 Wheeler Avenue  Alexandria, VA 22304 or send a donation to:
Alexandria Police Association
c/o Peter Laboy
P.O. Box 1228
Alexandria, VA 22313

The Alexandria Police Association has also established a PayPal account for those who wish to give by debit or credit card.

If you wish to make a monetary donation to honor the memory of Trooper Walker, the Walker Family is asking you to make them to the Virginia State Police Association Emergency Relief Fund.

Thanks to Jerusalem the Movie for allowing me to use their photo. They remain in sole control of its use. The movie is due for worldwide release in 2013. Visit their website, follow them on Twitter or Facebook, and be sure to see it when released!

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

© 2013 The Rev. Louis Florio. All contents not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

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February 20, 2013 · 3:32 pm

Love & Resurrection

I lost fear in the black belt when I began to know in my bones and sinews that I had been truly baptized into the Lord’s death and Resurrection, that in the only sense that really matters I am already dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God. – Jonathan Daniels

Jonathan Daniels was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. He went on to become an Episcopal seminarian at the Harvard Divinity School, and from there, became a martyr in the deep south on August 20, 1965.

Jonathan Daniels was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. He went on to become an Episcopal seminarian at the Harvard Divinity School, and from there, became a martyr in the deep south on August 20, 1965. To learn more, click this image.

Jonathan Daniels was a white seminarian who felt called to help Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with civil rights work in the Deep South. Shortly before his martyrdom, he penned the words above. In his work, he had stared down violent threats and intimidation. His freedom in Christ helped him love with great abandon. Indeed, he loved unto death.

On Friday, August 20, 1965, he was heading to a general store in Hayneville, Alabama to get drinks with three friends. A local man, Tom Coleman, met them as they approached. He threatened them and leveled his gun at seventeen-year-old Ruby Sales who was African American. Daniels pushed Sales down to the ground and caught the full blast of the discharge. He died a martyr living out Jesus’ teaching, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Martin Luther King, Jr. said Jonathan Daniel’s martyrdom was “one of the most heroic deeds of which I have heard in my entire ministry and career for civil rights.”

We might never be called to martyrdom, but we are called to love with abandon like Jonathan Daniels and so many of our Christian brothers and sisters before us. Ordinary people in so many ways, many of the greatest saints were quite fallible. Yet, they experienced the love of Christ in a way that changed them. They came to understand resurrection was not just an event only involving Christ in the distant past or one far in the future at the end of time. We can live a resurrected life starting now when we trust Jesus with our lives. It is that trust that frees us from sin, death, and the Devil. It frees us to love in miraculous ways, whether the world recognizes it or not.

I pray that as we approach another Easter, we don’t seek Christ in any old, dusty tomb. Let us seek him in our hearts and the relationships God leads us into. Find him in his holy word, studying it alone or with others. Encounter a foretaste of the feast to come in corporate worship at church or in the home. Serve the Risen Christ in the one’s he has entrusted to your care, perhaps even those whom you resent or whom are your enemies.

Yes, Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed! It is amidst our ordinary life and among our average neighbors that we will find him and begin to experience the new life he promises. He has gone ahead of us, waiting for us in our future. Do not be afraid. Rejoice, for “there you will see him,” much as the disciples were told in Matthew 28:7.

Christ’s peace to you, and happy Easter!

Pastor Lou

The above pastoral letter was originally published in Messiah Lutheran Church and School’s newsletter, The Messenger (March 2013 edition). To view the entire issue of The Messenger or to see the full calendar of events, visit: http://www.mlcas.org

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

© 2013 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 16, 2013 · 5:55 pm

Is Lent biblical?

Palm Sunrise at Viera Wetlands (Some rights reserved by photographer, Used by permission)

Palm Sunrise at Viera Wetlands,
by Matthew Paulson
(Some rights reserved by photographer, Used by permission)

The following sermon was preached during our Ash Wednesday service at Messiah Lutheran Church and School on February 13, 2013.

Texts:
Joel 2:1-17;
2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10;
Matthew 6:1-21

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Every year as we approach Lent, I am surprised at how many comments I hear or read about indicating that “Lent is not biblical.” When I come across such comments, I bristle a bit. I feel disappointment and frustration, and yes, sometimes even some anger when the person is particularly snarky about it. Of course, it isn’t biblical! No one is claiming that the season of Lent is biblical. It is no more biblical than Christians arbitrarily deciding upon December 25th as a good day to remember Jesus’ birth is biblical – not in the strictest sense anyway.

Yet, I fear these folks are missing the forest for the trees. They are sadly missing an opportunity to be blessed. There is no specific call for Lent in the Bible (no one is arguing that), and still, isn’t it remarkable that the earliest Christians found designating such a season spiritually helpful? During these forty days (not counting Sundays which are remembered as days of Resurrection), special disciplines are encouraged as they serve to nurture faith in the individual even as they might serve to witness to our faith and grow Christ’s Church. This season…a season designated by the community of faith for the good of all and to honor God…was found to be a meaningful, beautiful time of preparation for Easter. So, it became a yearly practice and was given a suitable name. The season became known as Lent, an old English word meaning spring.

Yes as with spring, we may witness new growth and new life during Lent. This is what we hope for during these forty days, but we may prevail upon its disciplines at any time of year. Such disciplines don’t lead to a reward for our goodness. They aren’t something we do to become holy, for we cannot become holy by our own power. Instead, such practices become our opportunity to “live in Christ” – to live out our faith concretely nurturing our love for God and others and thereby offering us a chance dwell in God’s grace and love for us. It is for that reason that we find such disciplines commended in the Law and the Prophets, and even by Jesus himself.

The Psalms[1] are filled with such spring-like imagery as are the prophetic texts[2], and some of Jesus’ own parables[3]. Our life with God is always filled with bounty and blessing, often symbolized by natural things: the streams that refresh us; or the trees that serve as protection or a home for God’s beloved creatures. For the many disciplines of Lent – reflection upon one’s life and repentance, fasting, prayer, and most certainly almsgiving and acts of mercy – they can become like the tall cedars of our faith providing us a safe dwelling place in this world of trouble…a place of comfort and shade, strength and renewal. Amidst their many branches, God embraces us. God can even transform us. This Lenten invitation to take actions rooted in our faith in Christ serves only as a reminder of what Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.”[4] It leads us toward a deepening unity with Jesus, both his life and in his church.

Indeed as someone said recently, “Ashes don’t say we’re holy. They say we’re sinners.” They are to reflect the ongoing prayers of our hearts, “I’ll try to be better. I’ll do what Lent asks: more prayer, more sacrifice, more almsgiving.”[5] Western Christians whether Roman Catholic or Protestant desire to remember their total reliance upon God’s grace. “Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return,” we are told. This life is fleeting, sometimes dangerous, and we at our best are only sinner-saints.[6] We need the grace of Jesus Christ to help us make it through. The church as a community, as the body of Christ, commends these practices to us. Through them, we may be built up by God and encouraged to build up one another.

Using varied words throughout Christ’s diverse and universal Church, we hear as much during community worship on Ash Wednesday. For example, the Episcopal Book of Common prayer (not too unlike our Lutheran commendation to a holy Lent heard earlier tonight) rightly proclaims, “The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.”[7]

So, we begin this season of Lent with ashes – a broken, struggling people – but also gathered together as one holy people of God. Our sin is systemic, shared and individual, but we are also chosen and loved. God plans for our redemption. In a time of trial for the nation of Israel, Joel commended these same types of behaviors.[8] By their apathetic faith, unholy alliances with powers of this world, and acts of selfishness and sin, the people of God were at risk in those days. They were weakened as a nation by such behaviors, and a terrible plague of locusts put them further at risk – at risk of invasion, starvation, and suffering. Joel hoped that by immediate repentance the advancing threat would be turned aside by God.

Well, hear the Good News! Thanks be to Jesus Christ, we need not just hope. Salvation is ours. Forgiveness is possible, and it isn’t too late. No matter who we are, what we have done or failed to do, the grace of Jesus Christ invites us into his loving arms. These are days not of gloom and doom but of growing light. They are days to be celebrated. Through Christ’s cross, the sin of all who trust in him has been redeemed. His cross previously an instrument of torture and death became for us a forgiving place of shade where we can invite our friends and neighbors to also find rest. Through our baptism, we are clothed in Christ, the finest of garments, given new life and a new family of God. This is much as Zachariah and other prophets have promised throughout the ages.[9] It is a new day, a final age where Jesus is coming back to complete his work, and we are invited. In our hearing, all God’s promises have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.[10]

As unworthy as we all might be, we are still loved by Jesus! And since we are so loved – loved unto his own death, Jesus invites us to gather, remember, and experience new life: remember our need for God; remember our failings and all the ways we turn away from God; and not least of all, remember all the grace-filled ways Jesus reaches out to us, drawing us back.[11] We have this shared forty-day journey to re-experience Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches.[12] In this season, we will bear fruit by intentionally striving to remain in the vine which is Jesus. We admit openly that without Jesus we can produce no fruit, and so we turn to him all the more and hold on in faith. We will seek intentionally to better love God and our neighbor. We desire that this dedication and fruitfulness will not fade after forty days but instead last a lifetime. It will be Jesus who will use this time to prune us and bring new life. His light will overcome our darkness, and it will shine more and more brightly.

This is our Lent, our springtime given us as a gift in the present even as we await the eternal Easter of our future. Lent is more than a season of time. It is a call to a way of life, Christ’s way. It goes well beyond the Bible even as it is rooted in it, because together on this journey, we have the opportunity to personally encounter anew the living Word of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

[1] i.e. Psalm 104

[5] Sr. Mary Ann Walsh (February 12, 2012). Ashes for the unabashedly Catholic. WashingtonPost.com

[6] Martin Luther suggested believers are “simultaneously sinner and saint.” To learn more about this, read this short article: Saints and Sinners: Sin & Forgiveness from 2003.

[8] Joel 2: 1-17. This text speaks of a plague of locusts using quite powerful imagery as if it was an army of God.

[11] Lutheran Church of the Master , ELCA (Troy, MI) , Lenten reflection for Ash Wednesday. 2013.

[12] John 15

The above pastoral letter was originally published in Messiah Lutheran Church and School’s newsletter, The Messenger (June 2013 edition). To view the entire issue of The Messenger or to see the full calendar of events, visit: http://www.mlcas.org

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

© 2013 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, 2013 · 8:00 pm

Surprise! It’s time to celebrate Lent.

“From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.”
– St. Teresa of Ávila

Much too often, I come across people dreading Lent. Perhaps these folks might not like to remember that we are all sinners. Perhaps they feel threatened by the scriptural reminders of condemnation and death found in the texts so often used at our worship. They might be filled with dread as they overly focus on sacrifices and rituals. In doing so, we risk minimizing the power of Christ’s cross and resurrection; forgetting God’s grace reaching out to each of us. We tend to forget to live out and share our faith in daily life, and thus fail to fully experience the joy that it can bring to us and others today (not just in heaven). Lent in its Old English root means “spring,” and today, I have trouble viewing Lent as anything but a beautiful experience of growth and new life.

As I have shared with others, I become remarkably joyful during Lent. Even as I might confess my sins anew with ashes on my head, I can’t keep from smiling. You see, Lent was coincidentally the time of my rapproachement to the Church after many years away. Much like the prodigal son, I had spent my early adult years squandering the grace offered to me in my baptism. A difficult family life and things I saw as a police officer had hardened my heart against God and others. Eventually, I had come up empty. (No surprise there, I suppose.)

It was at this time of crisis – as Lent began in 1992 – faith-filled friends reminded me of the reality of God’s grace. With their loving witness, invitation and guidance, I discovered the compassion that God had for me all along. Much like Zaccheus in his tree, I became excited to hear Christ’s invitation to join with him in celebration within his Church. God was love indeed, and God could even love me! (This was indeed a great surprise to me at the time, for I had suspected wrongfully that my sins were too great even for Christ’s cross.)

Lent that year became a gift for me to be excitedly opened and treasured; a period of renewal and celebration. It was a joyful time of being embraced by Christ and by his Church. It proved to be my “re-conversion” experience, where I discovered the beauty of our baptismal promises and shared faith. It wasn’t a perfect time, and I still struggle with sin, but Jesus used this time of shared disciplines, fellowship, and service to restore me to wholeness. By Easter, I understood more about the Resurrection than I ever dreamed possible. I had begun to experience its reality in my own life. Thus affirmed, I trust I have much more to learn and experience in the years ahead.

Despite our sin and unworthiness, I don’t believe sour-faces or dread are necessarily very appropriate as we go about our Lent. Instead, I echo Paul proclaiming, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” For with Jesus, all things are possible – even our new life in him. I pray this Lent prove a time of “re-conversion” for us all and a very real celebration. I am sure God’s grace will surprise us once again. [1]

For even more Joy this Lent…
Lent Madness 2012

As I reentered the Church, I found listening to other people’s stories helped me on my own walk with Jesus. Both historic persons – biblical personas such as the Prodigal Son, or real people such as Zaccheus and later saints – as well as people around me became a testimony about the grace God offers us through a beautifully diverse “great cloud of witnesses.”[2] These people of faith speak to me, not of perfection, but of God’s grace at work in our everyday lives. They remain concrete signs of God’s love active in the world as we ourselves strive to love God and neighbor.

Even as Lent is meant to be a time of self-examination and repentance, it is also certainly a time of joy. Fun need not be outlawed. Therefore, I am very grateful to the two Episcopal priests who created the interactive fun known as Lent Madness, and I happily recommend it to you as part of your own Lenten devotions.

Lent Madness is basically 32 saints (those primarily included in liturgical commemorations by the Church) matched up in a tournament-like single elimination bracket. By participating in Lent Madness, you will likely learn and laugh, because the bloggers responsible also seek to reveal the sometime laughable nature of Christ’s saints – a nature we all share.

So, I strongly urge you join other saints of our time at the website daily. We’ll read about some very special, faithful people and have the chance to vote for our favorites. Jesus offers salvation to us all, but your vote helps determine who “wins” the Golden Halo.

Watch this helpful video to learn more:

Voting 101 : A How-to Guide for the Lent Madness Voter from Forward Movement on Vimeo.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this article are from the Today’s New International Version translation.

© 2011 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

[1] The above portion of this post was written for use in the Lenten reflections to be shared by FaithInRichmond.org during Lent 2013. It was published under the title, Surprised by God’s Love.

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February 4, 2013 · 11:02 pm

God goes to the Super Bowl: Lutheran theology & commercials collide

I know it might seem strange to post about Super Bowl commercials on what is usually a blog dealing with spiritual issues, but I saw three advertisements which had a distinct spiritual and community dynamic. These stood out for their positive messages and in two cases, explicit reference to spiritual life. Others are here as they raise interesting theological points for discussion. We often say that “God is everywhere,” so why shouldn’t theology and advertisement meet?

Surely, as many scholarly books attest, I understand that consumerism can negatively impact and shape our spiritual views. Spirituality and community life can become just another marketing ploy. The “perfect life” can prove a hollow idol created by advertising executives and leading us away from God and our neighbor. These are true risks in our world.

In addition, some churches have adapted a sales approach to mission and ministry; striving to entertain an audience while seeking to outdo the competitor congregations through fresh, sometimes extreme marketing. This sometimes creates a church which one observant friend described as “theologically a mile wide but only an inch deep.” Such faith communities tend not to be rooted in the past nor truly engaging the inner lives of participants in the present. They can become not much different than the local car lot offering a special drawing or showplace just trying to fill seats and maximize the take.

Still, I found these entries in the Super Bowl race for attention unique and worthy of mention. Perhaps they might seem hokey to some. Maybe the companies have some alternative, darker reasons behind the pitch. Conceivable, I can be making too much out of nothing. Yet when so many companies go for tasteless shock and awe, it was refreshing to watch these.

My Top 3 Super Bowl Ads for 2013:

1st Place – Ram: The Farmer

I appreciated that the video presentation seamlessly echoed the great Paul Harvey’s wonderful reflections on the often forgotten or underappreciated farmer. Having lived for a time in the mid-west, I remember well the hardworking individuals staying out all night in sub-zero weather to care for a calf. I saw them tend to their families, their fields, their animals, and their business with passion, dedication and love. I admired the magnificent images; many of them like artwork and showing the many facets of the people we call farmers. Subtly placed within the images are diverse people praying, hoping, and loving while trying to make a living. At the same time, they have the ability to make the world a better place. Indeed, the farmer shares a vocation in the purest sense. Their work is a call from God. Let’s pray that they succeed in nobley living up to that call.

2nd Place – The Jeep: Whole Again

In our small church community, we have had a number of people who have served in the military to include wartime. Some have suffered from post-traumatic stress decades after their experience, while others are younger and dealing with fresher but what will likely be long-lasting wounds. Fortunately, not all suffer in this way. Yet no matter their status, we have a very affirming community for our military veterans. Several military installations are nearby, and a number of our people in our community work in support of the military which defends us.

We read news items of deaths. We hear of injuries and disability. Instead of statistics, we see our family members, friends, comrades, and neighbors. We know families split apart for far too long of a time (and any length of time is too long, even if necessary). Through these shared experiences, we sense the validity of Martin Luther’s reflections on the military being a vocation, a sacred calling:

…In the same way, when I think of a soldier fulfilling his office by punishing the wicked, killing the wicked, and creating so much misery, it seems an un-Christian work completely contrary to Christian love. But when I think of how it protects the good and keeps and preserves wife and child, house and farm, property, and honor and peace, then I see how precious and godly this work is; and I observe that it amputates a leg or a hand, so that the whole body may not perish… (excerpted from Martin Luther’s Whether Soldiers Too Can Be Saved)

With the historic love affair between jeeps and the military, along with this tasteful presentation (even explicitly yet subtley mentioning prayer no less), their advertisement doesn’t come across as jingoistic to me. It speaks of yearning, servant leadership, and love. We are not whole until there is peace and our military can be with us once again. The wounds of wars and a fallen world run deep, but there is hope. We can remain in a loving communion as we wait upon the Lord to restore peace and wholeness to our lives and our world.

3rd Place – Budweiser : The Clydesdales – Brotherhood

This ad could have perhaps made Francis of Assissi feel verklempt. Although fictional, the love that can be shared between man and animal reminds me of the “pets” in my own life who teach me about laughter and love every day. These relationships are spiritual in nature. Genesis may indicate God shares his dominion over the world and all that’s in it with us, but we are not to be abusive lords. We are to be loving stewards, caring for creation and the lives within it. This tender commercial has touched the hearts of many. If only more people would look deeper to see how all creation points us toward the majestic love of our God.

Lastly, some may questions the use of a beer commercial on this blog, but recall that Martin Luther and his wife, Katie, made their own beer and even sold it to support their Reformation work. For the theological merits of making or imbibing alcohol, that must wait for another time.

Runner-Up:

Samsung Mobile USA: The Next Big Thing

Although snarky, this runner-up is mentioned not only for its humor, but how it reflects our all too common tendency to be “bent inward upon ourselves” (as Martin Luther used to say). Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd play themselves, called in to promote the next big thing from Samsung. They both assume they are being recruited as “the next big thing,” rising stars in a media culture. This flash point to humor reminds us of our shared Achilles heel, our hubris. It was, is and remains the source of our common Fall.

Questionable Mention:

Tide: No stain is sacred

Certainly, I could have picked many of the hyper-sexual, juvenile, or abusive ads seeking to attract attention through shock. Instead, I will only mention this Tide commercial. I get the humor in it, but it also gave me reason to pause. Many people fall in the trap of a simple, superstitious faith where they see images and find meaning in questionable things – an image of Jesus on toast or a taco for example. Yet, there are other images such as Our Lady of Guadalupe that are much harder to explain away.

Lutherans (and Protestants in general) become cautious when discussing the mixing of spirit and matter, the gift of something spiritual – grace – by means of physical things. We do so because human nature often leads us toward excess. We have a tendency to create idols and pay for relics. We begin to worship things of humanity or earth rather than God. Lutherans do believe God can use the physical bound to the Word through faith as a means of grace (as in our two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper), but we would reject the superstitious sightings of grace so often merged with transitory things.

Martin Luther often used humor himself to attack this tendency in the church of his time (a church made of very fallible people just like today). Yet while on one hand I see the humor of this modern ad, I fear it might make people laugh at faith as a whole in some manner. I don’t personally like to mock my neighbors who might find spiritual meaning in such things, even if I don’t. I never hesitate to speak openly of my concerns about such behaviors, but hopefully, we can do so out of love for our neighbor and show them respect.

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

© 2013 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 2, 2013 · 12:29 am

Jesus, Families…and Ground Hogs?

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Andrei RublevForty days after Christmas on February 2nd, Christians recall the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. In a number of Christian denominations the season of Epiphany comes to an end.  According to scripture, Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth and to perform the redemption of the firstborn in obedience to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12-15).

 

As Mary and Joseph were poor, Mary was relieved of offering a lamb and a dove for her offering. Instead, she was to “take two turtle-doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt-offering and the other for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean” (Leviticus 12:8).

Around the globe, Christians will likely remember these early events as reported in Luke 2: 22-40. In fact, it is one of the most ancient feasts of the Christian church. With the traditional end of Epiphany, many remove any remaining Christmas greenery from their homes. If you are visiting the Taize’ Community in France, you will likely see a cage with two doves or pigeons in their Church of Reconcilliation. After the service, the birds are released. As the story reflects the light of Christ breaking into the world, it remains a common practice at many services throughout the world to bless candles for use during the year. To this day, some countries share special meals during family celebrations (i.e. crepes in France, or tamales in Mexico).

Pennsylvania Dutch folklore attached an ancient, pagan European practice of weather prognostication to this day. If the groundhog sees its shadow, superstition indicates winter weather will continue for six more weeks. (In ancient Europe, one might have heard of a badger or sacred bear serving this purpose.) Yet, such beliefs weren’t only held in Germanic nations. In England, one old English poem exclaims:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

No matter the weather, I hope you and your family will develop your own ways of recalling the Presentation of Jesus. It reminds us of the Holy Family’s piety, and our family’s call as well. It displays a family united by love, as our own should be. The feast most importantly can remind us of how that young male child redeemed on that day came to redeem us through his cross and resurrection. We really should celebrate!

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

© 2013 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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December 25, 2012 · 3:26 pm

Sent into the World

The following are the three meditations I shared during our Family Christmas Eve Service at Messiah Lutheran Church and School in 2012. Our theme was “Sent into the World.” We remembered both how Jesus was sent into our world to save us as a newborn babe and how we are sent as his church out into the world. Thus, the service included many hymns and carols from all over the world. The three below were part of the meditation portion of the program, but it was a night filled with music and fun.

The Gift of Jesus

Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7

Prop: small Christmas tree ornament of the globe

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2).

Consider the world [holding up ornament]….Ok, it’s a bit larger than this ornament, but it’s a relatively small place in the vast, extensive darkness of space. Proportionally, this ornament in comparison to your own size is much, much larger – infinitesimally so – than what we would find with a God’s eye view of our planet. Our world is only a small rock in a vast galaxy that itself is only one of millions of galaxies. Our universe was created from a black void – both the Bible and science think so – and this poor little sphere spends much of its time suspended amidst that darkness; hidden by larger heavenly bodies, and threatened by them as well. Yes, our fallen world is filled with threats and horrors and many terrible unknowns, and it always has been. Yet, light breaks in to give warmth, nurture life, and bring joy. Amidst a cosmic battle, God doesn’t leave us unloved or alone in the dark. Instead, he chose to dwell among us…even became one of us on this tiny, out of the way planet we call home.

Long ago, the great prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th Century BC. It was a time of much darkness. Certainly, they didn’t have our modern conveniences or scientific knowledge, but they shared in our troubled humanity. Throughout Isaiah’s life, the nation of Israel faced wars and rumors of war. At least three times, the existence of Israel was at risk of obliteration and exile. It was a time of early death due to violence, famine and disease. There was seemingly too little joy and never enough peace. Yet, a son was born to a young maiden, wife of the king, and the prophet saw in this somewhat ordinary experience the promise that lay within. God would be faithful no matter how dark the days got. God’s plan to rescue his Holy people would never go unfulfilled. Later Christians would understand this same passage to testify to the coming of Jesus Christ.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen too much darkness. Many are still homeless in the northeast after Hurricane Sandy. Diplomats in Benghazi were horrifically killed. In Connecticut, we hear the cries of  modern “Rachels” weeping as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. (See Jeremiah 31:15-17 and Matthew 2) They cry over too many innocents and our own innocence lost in the safety of their small town school. Closer to home and only in these past few weeks, members of our community have suffered new joblessness, accidents and serious illness, and our beloved Assistant to the Bishop, Pastor Chip Gunsten, died unexpectedly. More tears. More death. Darkness. We might be tempted to echo the writer of Lamentations wondering, “Why God would allow such things? Why would he punish us so?” as we groan anew:

5 [God] has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.  (See Lamentations 3)

Yet in these times of trouble, hear the promises that come to us through Isaiah. Much like that time long ago, there is a sign to remember and hope to be found amidst our darkness. When the time was right, a virgin did conceive, and a very different child was born…one like no one before or since…perhaps beyond Isaiah’s own understanding. He would be a miracle of light, giving hope, joy and love to all the nations. This king would not be a king in our political sense. Instead, he would suffer under the political forces of our world as we might. He would live amongst the ill and dying. His life would be continually threatened from the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem until his own death on a cross. God had come, not to punish us, but to share our lot and change it; to end suffering and bring everlasting peace. All authority rested on Jesus’ shoulders, and yet out of love, he took upon those same shoulders the weight of sin, death and the Devil to defeat them all and save us.

Like that original Christmas night long ago, Jesus comes to our tiny planet to touch our tiny lives and hearts today. He wishes to be God with Us, Emmanuel, and so none of the political chaos, evil or darkness is powerful enough to stop him. Although it might be hard for us to recognize him with our human senses at times, our faith hears his voice and trusts he is near. Together as church, we gather as one, holding on in the darkness and never alone. God does not will such suffering. God is only love. Jesus remains our proof, and the fullness of God’s Kingdom will banish our darkness forever when the time is right.

Until then, we testify to the light and hold on to one another – teaching, serving, worshipping, loving God and neighbor. For, “What has come into being in [that baby] was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (See John 1).”

Although we remain in this land of darkness, the light shines on us and through us still, and our Lord Jesus promises that it always will. No matter what worries us or threatens us…no matter the darkness we sense around us or in us, rejoice! Rejoice with the choirs of angels and all God’s saints for the promise of Christmas has come to us, and we will never again be separated from his love. Amen.

Carol, “Angels We have Heard on High,” Red, 289 

 

The Gift of Grace

Reading: Titus 2:11-14

Prop: Wrapped package or gift bag – empty inside

One of my favorite traditions each Christmas Eve is to gather with my extended family and friends, share a special meal and open gifts. It is such a great joy to see the look of expectation through the eyes of my young nieces and nephews gathered together. Unfortunately sometimes…and I’m afraid it was the same when I was young too…the package comes all wrapped and beautifully bowed…it gets opened frantically, quickly…only to have the child move on just as rapidly to the next gift. The gift delights for a moment, but then the child moves on perhaps as if that beautiful gift box or bag was filled with nothing. [Emptying and examining package]

We, the children of God, spend much of our lives in a similar fashion. We chase after the next bobble or possession, seek positions of power that don’t last, and spend too much time in activities that can’t love us – costly time away from our family and friends. I often hear when someone has a near death experience or approaches the end of their life, “I wish things were different. I have wasted my life.” Yes, as children, we can easily lose our way.

Yet through Christ, a different gift lies before us; one that is eternal and can fill all our life’s empty places. We sense that something is missing, and that perhaps, we could do better. We somehow in our hearts expect more from this life. And so, Jesus calls us buy name, offering us the ultimate gift of his love and friendship.

The theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer compared us to miners trapped underground. We might feel that we are without hope – waiting for death – until suddenly a voice is heard, calling from seemingly nowhere, yet calling in our darkness. “Where are you? Help is coming!” The helpless miner stands up, mustering strength to cry out in return, “Here I am! Come through to me and rescue me!” Faced with the inability to save himself, the miner admits his neediness, “I cannot come through. I cannot help myself. But I wait. I wait and will hold on until you come. Only come quickly.” The miner sees nothing, nothing at all to give him hope. He only hears the promise of the savior, “I am coming for you!” Blow after blow, the sound comes nearer. There is a last crashing, seemingly thunderous blow of the hammer…light breaks in…at first just a hope or glimmer of light…but yes, more…certainly more! One strike and he will be free. New life will be his.[i]

This story is a metaphor for the giftedness of our present life. Jesus has come to save us, he is with us, and he will come again. That saving work began in a small stable. It continued on a cross. It proceeded from a tomb. Yet this is only the first breaking in of his light and love. His saving work continues to dawn in our daily lives today. He calls us to wait…listen for his voice, hold on for his help, and live in his hope. Look up, raise your heads, and expect salvation…a salvation that not even the power of death can keep from us.

In return, we are only asked in the present age to seek lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior,* Jesus Christ (see Titus 2:11-14). He will do all the heavy work, so that through faith, we receive a gift beyond price – a saving grace, a living grace…a grace that must be shared with others, so that we may one day taste our freedom fully together. With such a life reborn of faith, we’ll sense the light of Christ is near us even amidst our darkness. Amen.

Carol, “I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve,” Red, 271

The Gift of Church

Reading: Luke 2:1-20

“Props”: the people of God!

 

In these modern times, skeptics demand proof. “Prove that the reason for the season is Jesus! Prove to me that God is love!” What signs can we give them?

Long ago, some less modern skeptics gathered in a field. They were of lowly status, shepherds of sheep. They were known for dirty bodies and dirty lives filled with drinking, lies, and even theft. They were a hard people shaped by the hardness of life, and they expected little.

“Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” (see Luke 2)

The long expected sign for the King of Kings, the Messiah, our Savior…the one who would change all the world…was a baby! It was a poor infant from a poor family in poor circumstances. A child swaddled in simple, torn strips of cloth. That was the great sign of God’s love. God had come to share in the hardness of life and free us from it.

That child would grow to be a boy wise beyond his years. Then, he would become a man who preached and taught not as the scribes and priests did but as one with the authority of God. This great rabbi would travel the land by foot. He would walk far and wide reaching out not only to the expected Chosen Ones of God, but all people: the lepers, the wounded, and the greatest of sinners. Even on his cross, that man would share comforting words of God from scripture, pray for his persecutors, offer forgiveness to someone crucified beside him, care for his mother, and give up his own life so that others might live. Jesus’ life and being was and remains that greatest of signs of God’s love for us.

And so here we are, gathered as millions and millions of Christians have done over the millennia and do so tonight. We would not be here if Jesus hadn’t been born as one of us and risen from the dead…if people like us hadn’t been touched by the light of his life and past that light on to us through the ages (as we will symbolically do with candlelight later this evening). The incarnate Christ is who we worship…the ever so real and yet divine Jesus…and he is present in our world through the incarnate church, the embodiment of his teachings, life and love.

We can be a hard people with a hard life, and yet the angels speak to us…call us to become Christ’s messengers. “Do not be afraid! To you is born a Savior”…for you a Savior. He is a gift come to you, so that you with others might share one communal, eternal, joyful life with him. Through faith, we are to be his body, a sign of good news and great joy for all people.

As his body, we are asked to share in his life, suffering, death, and resurrection out of love. It is his Spirit that washes over us in our baptism, and his flesh and blood that touches our own in our sacred meal. Just as Jesus’ life is the final answer to sin, death and the Devil, he has spoken us into being for this time and this place with all its unique challenges. Look to your right and left…see yourself in a mirror. We are the church! We are to be Christ in the world!

We are called to be Christ’s church together, a gift to the world as Jesus was God’s loving gift to us. As the Spirit was a gift to the first disciples that same Holy Spirit seeks to empower us now. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:16-20)…be zealous in good deeds (Titus 2:14)…walk in his light (Isaiah 9:2)…For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son into our world to rescue us and dwell in our hearts (John 3:16-17). Out of that same love, God sends us back out into that hard, dark world – strengthened and never alone – to share his light not just on this holy night, but always.

May we like those shepherds, praise God and share with one and all what we have seen and heard. Amen.

Carol, “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” Red, 276

 

[i] Paraphrase of a portion of a sermon by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as translated in Robertson, E. (trans. And ed.) (2005) Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christmas Sermons. “How a prisoner awaits for his release.” December 3, 1933. pp. 88-90.

 

 

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

© 2012 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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December 17, 2012 · 7:22 pm

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

The following is a short sermon I preached to my congregation at Messiah Lutheran Church and School, on the Third Sunday of Advent, often called Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. Although our preschool students and elementary-agers were present to perform a joyous Christmas musical, the death and sadness of the last week, especially in Newtown, CT, could not be ignored.

As our last hymn [O come, O come, Emmanuel] reminds us[i], the Advent season is a time of waiting and expectation. The song is much like many others among our Advent hymns and even some of our more traditional Christmas carols. Many project a sense of sadness and longing. They can prove almost melancholy. Our hymn writers and liturgists – just like us – know the imperfections and pain of this world, and so we look toward Christ to deliver us. Our music, images, and prayers can reflect that sense of loss, waiting and hope. Being a Christian, I heard someone once say, is like being a person separated from their greatest love; something is missing, and not quite right. We hunger and thirst for that love to be one with us again, so that our lives can feel whole.

This week, we have been unhappily reminded of that truth. We lost our assistant to the bishop, Pastor “Chip” Gunsten, a dear friend of mine and many here at Messiah as well as throughout our synod, who died suddenly while undergoing treatment for cancer. We are not the only ones mourning, for our Catholic brothers and sisters lost their former beloved bishop, Walter Sullivan on the same day. He was someone I knew well, and he proved influential to my own discernment of service within the church. Our Presbyterian friends in Virginia lost one of their own leaders as well, Cynthia Bolboch, Moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on December 12th.  Having many Presbyterian friends after attending a Presbyterian seminary, I shared in their own grief and sadness. As the week closed, I was tired and worn down from dealing with death and the many emotions that always accompany it. Then, we received the horrific, numbing news of Newtown, CT. People thousands of miles away shared in that community’s dread and grief and fearfully held their own loved ones closer.

How can we make sense of such things? I’m not sure that we can. Oh, as a Christian, I trust that God can use them – turn them on their head and make all things work for our good. I know blessings and signs of love can be found even amidst tragedy – perhaps especially at times of tragedy – through the heroes and servants shining in those times of darkness, or through the love that is shared with us to help us make it through. Yet, maybe we are never supposed to make sense of these things at all. It isn’t within our capabilities to make sense of the nonsensicle. The issues can be too involved for us to handle or beyond us. Maybe they just can’t ever make sense, because they are counter to what God wants for us. God’s will is to save us for a future full of hope, not to condemn us to an eternity of woe[ii]. God’s plan from the time of Adam and Eve was to redeem and save us out of love.[iii]

These sufferings are symptoms of that earlier wound. They are parts of our life as a fallen, imperfect people in a fallen, imperfect world. People sin. People suffer. People die. Uncontrollable evil and sadness do exist. Perhaps instead of looking back for answers as to why things happened, we should look forward. Our time is better spent in the face of such evil asking, “What would you have us do, Lord?”

Certainly, God never abandons us to this sorrow. God has a purpose and a plan which includes us. Jesus was sent into our world as a little child to share our life and lot; even our suffering unto death. God doesn’t rejoice at our destruction, but rather wants us to live abundantly through his only son.[iv] Jesus would become God’s final word on evil, sin and death. They have been defeated through his cross and resurrection, and we are saved here and now. Yet, sin and death are enjoying their final death throws at our expense. Jesus declares we are free from their power; saved even as we and creation might groan at times.[v]

In this present age, Jesus promises to come again to complete the work which he started and banish sin and death forever. There will be a new heaven and earth where suffering will be no more.[vi] In the meantime amidst our lingering troubles, he asks us to look up and be ready, not as a sullen or defeated people, but as his beloved people. Be ready, he says, so that our hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, so that the day doesn’t catch us unexpectedly, like a trap.[vii]

No, we who are saved have a purposeful, divine work to do. We are left here – called to this time and this place – as his messengers speaking his words of love, healing and forgiveness; words so sorely needed in this wounded, combative world. Like the law and the prophets before him including John the Baptizer [viii], Jesus taught us what we need to do – love God with all we are and our neighbors as ourselves.[ix]

Today both despite our suffering and because of it, we are to speak these words and embody them. God uses us with all our weakness and imperfection to give them form and substance, flesh and bone, to make them real. We are echoes of Jesus crossing all the earth shouting, “Do not be afraid! Jesus has come! He is risen and will come again!” We are called to lovingly and boldly put these words into actions together as church…Christ’s church…his body…his hands reaching out and touching broken lives through our own.[x]

Today, we have also heard words that Paul spoke to Christians in Philippi when they were persecuted, broken and felt alone. These same words were shared with us yesterday at Pastor Gunsten’s funeral. Perhaps it is providential that the lectionary had them as one of our assigned texts considering recent events:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4: 4-7)

Rightly, Jesus is called Emmanuel, God with Us. We need not get stuck in our fear, hurt or anger. Look up! Raise your head! Do not be afraid! These are the words Jesus speaks to us in the face of our most unimaginable threats or losses. When the world and its realities rage, when struck by great sorrow, or when we cannot find reconciliation with others we so deeply long for, Jesus speaks to us as he did similarly to that storm long ago, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”[xi]

This world can be a frightful, sad and lonely place, but we need not grieve as people without faith.[xii] We need not live as a people without love.[xiii] Despite any of our doubts, Christ’s peace and love are with us always[xiv], and we have a shared ministry to do in his holy name.[xv] His light is in our midst and shining through our hearts, and the darkness shall not overcome it.[xvi] Remember always that we are baptized – claimed and called, to be Christ and to serve Christ in the world.[xvii] We must never try to hide ourselves from the pain of this life and thus not truly live.[xviii]

We are Christ’s church, together with Jesus and thus never alone. He has come for us and will come again. Our longing will be vindicated. This truth is rightly celebrated at every moment and forever, but especially during Advent. We celebrate it this morning through our young people attending Messiah Lutheran School who have come to proclaim the story of Christ’s birth with us anew today.[xix] Amen.

Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent – December 16, 2012
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18

[i] “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel. (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Hymn 257, verse 1)

[xiv] In Mother Teresa and Brother Roger’s book called Seeking the Heart of God (1993), Brother Roger writes: “Four hundred years after Christ, a believer names Augustine lived in North Africa. He had experienced misfortunes, the death of his loved one. One day he was able to say to Christ: ‘Light of my heart, do not let me darkness speak to me.’ In his trials, St. Augustine realized that the presence of the Risen Christ had never left him; it was the light in the midst of his darkness.”

[xvii] At times of fear or doubt, Martin Luther is said to have reminded himself, “I am baptized”; a reminder that he was Christ’s called, claimed and sent child. His writings also indicate that we act as Jesus in the world, but also encounter Jesus in the least of these, those suffering and alone. Through their lives Jesus cries out to us for compassion.

[xix] Isaiah 11:6

The Funeral of the Rev. Paul "Chip" Gunsten by The Rev. David Delaney, Ph.D

The Funeral of the Rev. Paul “Chip” Gunsten by The Rev. David Delaney, Ph.D

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

© 2012 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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December 14, 2012 · 10:52 am

St. Lucy – Innocent on all counts of burglary, witchcraft, & pagan roots

Lucy Before the Judge, by Lorenzo Lotto, 1523-32

Throughout Scandinavia and especially Sweden, the feast of St. Lucy on December 13th holds a special place on the liturgical calendar. Associated today with the lights and laughter of Christmas, the roots of this holy day are much darker.

Before science proved otherwise, December 13th was commonly considered the darkest point of the year. In nations where darkness reigns at wintertime due to their extreme northern location, a celebration developed to mark the transition from darkness to light. The pre-Christian season of Yule honored the winter solstice and the return of the sun through feasting, gift giving, and other gatherings. Such activities would hopefully keep one safe from the evil forces that lurked as an ever present danger.

One such danger was Lussi, a female demon who was thought to actively roam on December 13th. She would ride through the air with her followers, the Lussiferda. It would be dangerous to walk alone in the darkness. People feared falling asleep and becoming her victim. In some traditions, she might even come down the chimney to snatch away misbehaving children. Throwing all night parties seemed to remedy her threat.

Much later and far away in Italy, Lucy (sharing the Latin root for light, lux) was born in 283 CE. In Italian, she is known as Santa Lucia. Details of her life are sketchy and often tinged with myth, but she seems to have been a devoted Christian woman known for her generosity and faithfulness. The core of the story indicates she was pledged to a pagan for marriage. Lucy’s heart was elsewhere. She wanted to devote her life to Jesus Christ. Instead of using her dowry for marriage, she gave it to the poor. One story accounts that she wore a wreath with candles atop it to keep her hands free in order to deliver more assistance to her fellow Christians in the catacombs. Word came to her betrothed that she had found a more suitable bridegroom. In anger, he turned Lucy over to the local Roman authority, the magistrate Paschasius.

Here the stories vary, but what seems certain is that Lucy refused to marry her intended husband or reject Christ even under torture. She was perhaps blinded, thus hagiographic images of Lucy often show her eyes on a plate of some kind. Yet, this part of the story didn’t appear until the 15th Century in any known writings. However she met her end, it is uniformly reported she did so with faith in Christ even unto death in 304 CE. She is remembered as a martyr, thus her feast day’s liturgical color is red.

Lucy’s legacy is not that of Lussi, yet in the northern European lands, there stories somewhat merged. The light of Christ which shined so brightly through this young virgin’s life now became associated with the winter solstice. She doesn’t break into the home through the chimney. No one hides in fear. Instead a young girl is often selected to represent her and bear gifts (usually foods such as Lussekatt – a “St. Lucia Bun” – made with saffron) to her family, singing songs and wearing a wreath with lit candles around it. The song lyrics vary, but they have the Italian tune Santa Lucia. Today, many cities in Northern Europe have public processions to remember Lucy.

This is the English translation to one version called “Night Walks with a Heavy Step”[i]:

Night walks with a heavy step
Round yard and hearth,
As the sun departs from earth,
Shadows are brooding.

There in our dark house,
Walking with lit candles,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

Night walks grand, yet silent,
Now hear its gentle wings,
In every room so hushed,
Whispering like wings.

Look, at our threshold stands,
White-clad with light in her hair,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

Darkness shall take flight soon,
From earth’s valleys.
So she speaks a Wonderful Word to us:
A new day will rise again From the rosy sky…
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

So whether in Italian (Santa Lucia), Swedish (Sankta Lucia), or English (Saint Lucy), this woman shouldn’t be confused with the burglarizing evil spirit or witch of old legends. Lucy is her own woman, not just a remake from paganism. She deserves to be remembered for her Christian witness through her ordinary life. She can serve as an inspiration for us to let the light of Christ shine through us. She is just one of a great cloud of witnesses God has used to break into the darkness of our world.

Like Lucy, we are children of that same light. We are innocent of all charges against us, real or imagined, through faith in the Son of God who came as a child in Bethlehem long ago. All powers of evil, sin and death raged against him then, but “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). We are asked to serve as his living symbols, an assurance that he once came that Christmas long ago, but also proof that he is risen. We remain signs pointing to the truth that he will come again. We do this through boldly loving in his name, even unto death, for we know we shall share in his final victory. “Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling” (1 John 2:10). In Christ, we shall find forgiveness, new life, and a love we never dared hope for.

When Jesus finally does come at the end of the age, a new everlasting day shall rise. Darkness will forever take flight. “And there will be no more night; [those who trusted in him] need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). With Lucy and all the communion of saints, we await and announce his coming.

Let us pray:
Lord God, Saint Lucy did not hide her light under a bushel, but let your light shine for the whole world, for all the centuries, to see. We may not suffer torture the way she did, but we are still called to let the light of our faith illumine our daily lives and the lives of others. Help us to have the courage to bring our faith into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversations, and every corner of this day. Amen[i]

Merry Christmas! Buon Natele! God Jul!

Pastor Lou

[i] Variation of a Roman Catholic prayer and one seen in a devotion by Bishop Kanouse of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, ELCA)

[i] Translation from http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/santa-lucia-day-song-and-saying-why-its-a-festival-of-light/

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

© 2012 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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