A blessed Holy Trinity Sunday to you, from God our loving parent, Jesus Christ our Brother, and the Holy Spirit who binds the world together in love!
Holy Trinity Sunday is one of those weeks in the church year where the theme of the day is difficult to follow. The message is all about some doctrinal statement of the nature of God. Everything is a bit cerebral and lofty, with no simple or concrete idea to comprehend. You may have heard many sermons and children’s sermons trying to give some example of how something can be both 3 and 1, or 1 and 3—every example falling short to explain the mystery. No, the triune nature of God is not something that can be explained, but only believed by faith. It is truly beyond us. But one does not need to explain HOW God is Trinity to experience the good news in a Trinity kind of way. Here’s what I’m thinking on that today: God is, as we know God to be, absolutely relational. With us, within God’s very self, and with all creation. God is always in motion, always in relationship with us, never distant or absent. And that is a wonderful thought. Before anything, we can say, God exists in beautiful diversity and relationship as “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” When the story of the world began, our God of relationship sung a song of creation—a song which created and invited more voices to join: yours and mine, and creation itself! The beginning pages of the Bible tell us that God spoke a Word and everything came into being. I like to think of it, rather, as singing. The Bible tells us, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Spirit, or Breath of God, hovered over the face of the deep. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together working so intimately that they are one, so relationally that they are three. God sung, and with the breath of God, that Word rang out into the universe and everything came into being! The Singing God—Voice, Breath, and Word—shared God’s self in a way that the universe began ringing, and in joy joined, itself, in the song. All the world was created in love and in joyful song; and humans arose as chief co-harmonizers with God, tending and keeping the creation that was so lovingly sung into existence. But, as anyone who’s ever sung in a choir or hummed along to the radio knows, sometimes humans can get a little out of tune. The harmonious garden, paradise of creation, was tainted with the harsh dissonance of a self-centered human song. But God does not give up on our pitchy existence. The “face of Trinity” as one hymn puts it, the Word made flesh, vibrated into our plane of existence. He lovingly came to drag our wayward harmonies back into consonance with God’s magnificent song. Jesus was a force of love, inclusion, justice, and reconciliation. But humanity’s dissonance with the creator clashed with Jesus’ song and sent his melody to the cross and tomb. God’s song cannot be stopped. With a breath and a song the Word sang again, springing from the grave and beginning another melody among us, one that cannot, will not, be overtaken by the wayward song of a fallen humanity. The Breath of God blew fierce and powerfully on the followers of Jesus at Pentecost. Suddenly those present joined the song in full harmony, singing of God’s deeds of Power in language every nation under heaven could hear and understand, as their own. That song continues today, as we are called to sing the song of justice, love, and power in Christ. Our world longs for the melody of Jesus to bring it back in harmony with God and among itself. Where outcast voices, oppressed people, long to brought back into the song, God is working in us to Let [those] voices rise and interweave, by love and hope set free, to shape in song this joy, this life: begun by Trinity. That’s where we stand today, amid the story, the song, of God’s love. Universe sang into being, Jesus leading the melody that connects everything—the earth, God, us—back together as notes of beautiful, God-breathed song. The Holy Spirit gives us breath, as she did the apostles at that Pentecost, to sing that reconciling melody, that melody of Jesus that saves, redeems, gives infinite value and worth to you, to your neighbor. We sing that song, not just in church—but with our very lives: everywhere we breath, we are singers, co-harmonizers, of that melody Jesus put in our soul, the song the Holy Spirit breathes out of us, the music of God that is life, and love, and eternal. That’s how I think of the Holy Trinity today. A dance, a song, a ceaseless love that binds us, creation, and God together in eternal and creative life. It finally happened. Their waiting was over. It came, it’s here, it’s time, it happened.
The disciples were ready for Jesus to bring in the promised kingdom of God on earth. They had followed him for years, watched and listened while he taught, prayed and fasted while he healed the sick, forgave the sinner, brought together rich and poor, outcast and social elite. They got ready for the final showdown when tensions were high and Jesus was headed to Jerusalem for Passover—ready for the day of the Lord to come, ready to bring home the kingdom of God. But you know what happened. Holy week. The triumphal entry was followed by: the last supper, the arrest, the trial, flogging, and crucifixion. The revolution wasn’t won through domination. And the disciples hid. Until they heard the Easter message, “Jesus is alive!” Jesus’ didn’t dominate the romans, but instead won dominion over death! Good news for all the people that unto you is risen this day is a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign for you, you will find no body wrapped in cloth and lying in a tomb. Jesus is risen! So Jesus comes to his disciples and continues to teach them, opening their minds to the scriptures, and staying with them for 40 days. After 40 more days with him the disciples ask again, (Acts 1:6) they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Not quite a “no”, but definitely not the “yes” they were waiting for Jesus answers with a “wait here” and then leaves—gets taken up to heaven. Jesus was taken up to heaven, and the disciples were to wait until power from heaven was poured upon them—and, now finally, here it is! The sound of a violent rush of wind, tongues of fire, God’s deeds of power proclaimed in multiple languages and every nation under heaven hearing it in their own native tongue! Last week, I talked about us feeling like we were in that waiting period the disciples were in. Jesus was taken into heaven and the disciples waiting for the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, while we were waiting for some sign and signal to energize and reinvigorate us, tell us to march forward again after this trying year. That would be a fun sermon to preach, “here’s the sign”. But the story here isn’t telling us what to look for in the future so we know when to “start church” or something like that again… It’s reminding us how and where God is actively working in world, which is itself an amazing promise and call forward. Can I give a quick Bible history lesson? Where is God’s presence? The temple was always understood as the place where God’s presence touched the earth—where the kingdom of heaven touched our world. There was a specific symbol that portrayed this presence, and in the temple it was confined in the holy of holies, which no human was to step foot in except the high priest only once each year. In the holy of Holies was kept the ark of the covenant, God’s footstool. Now look, the ark, when Moses was carrying it around in the wilderness led the people with the presence of God. And they could all see it because it was: a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of Fire by night. Fire, in the holy of holies, is the display of God’s presence. It’s in the temple. Where the disciples are gathered on Pentecost. But then what happens? This sign of God’s presence, a pillar of fire in the temple, on this particular Pentecost was visible again. But instead of bursting out of the holy of holies, it dispersed and showed itself on Jesus’ protégés. They received the Holy Spirit and the power and presence of God. God’s presence moved from locked up in the church building, to being in every home and neighborhood of God’s people. Now, we don’t much get the tongues of fire, multilingual abilities, and violent rush of wind anymore…but that same Spirit and promise is just as present, just as alive, on you today. You who’ve been baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus had it proclaimed at your baptism that you received the holy spirit. Just like the apostles received with those tongues of fire, you received in the water and word of promise at your baptism. We celebrated and gave thanks for that gift at the beginning of today’s service. With that promise, Now you, you hold the presence of Christ in your neighborhood. Jesus is “working from home” in you (To use a corny and probably already outdated phrase). You are Christ’s presence to your neighbor. And at the same time, Your neighbor is Christ’s presence to you. It’s not just individual, but all of us that God works through in making Jesus’ kingdom a reality here. We together—this congregation, the churches in this community, globally—we are Christ’s church. And God is working through all the parts and configurations of the body of Christ. All for the sake of the world, to build Jesus’ kingdom of love and life up in the world. Our hymns today express two ways the spirit works on us. Gently and comforting, “We are people created, chosen by God, then we’re washed ever gently in mercy and love” … and through that we, “we join the song” “one in Jesus, one in water, baptized and set free.” The other calls on God who is: Tempest, whirlwind, blazing, burning, earthquake, thunder, and passion! And it calls on God to “drive us from out from sheltered comfort…sweep us into costly service” “purge all that blocks your purpose and let your flaming spirit surge in your church.” A gentle comforter; and a burning, driving, force of impassioned witness to the gospel. The Holy Spirit shows up in both of these things. We are still just beginning our story together. And it is exciting anticipate seeing how the Spirit will act on us. Throughout the book of Acts, as the church is getting started, we see instances of both these dynamics of the spirit—the calm wind and water, as well as the raging fire and violent wind. I anticipate times of both for ourselves, our life of faith together. One thing I expect, calm or raging, is that the call of the Spirit will afford us many opportunities for creativity and experimentation. The whole church is being set to make its wonderful, gospel filled tradition sing out loud and strong in a growing world. And we are right there part of that. God is at work in you, in us. And that work will calm, stir, nudge, and set us on fire. All to proclaim Jesus, to live into his kingdom, and realize his presence in us and in our neighbors. May Almighty God breathe life into our bones, and send the Spirit to bring truth to the world. God send us the Spirit, transform us by her truth, and give us language to proclaim the gospel. With God’s Spirit ahead of us, and Christ in our hearts, we will, indeed, boldly “reach out to share Christ with all.” Grace and Peace to you on this 7th Sunday of Easter from the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus Christ!
Jesus’ disciples are told to “wait here,” wait for the Holy Spirit. Wait for the next phase of resurrection life, wait for the new age of the church to begin, wait for the next big thing Jesus is about to do. I think that we are right there with them in a lot of ways. Now, next week is Pentecost, and I think it’s helpful to keep the whole story in perspective as we approach the end of the Easter season and look toward the summer, and the next church season after Pentecost. Especially since this is where we all left off when the pandemic started, just getting ready to mark the end of Lent, and Jesus’ journey to the cross. In many ways we are still stuck right there after more than a year. Let’s Remember what had just happened in this story: Jesus and his followers came into Jerusalem just before the biggest festival of the year—the week-long celebration of Passover. At his entrance, Jesus was greeted by all those others who were gathering from all around for the same festival. He rode in on a donkey, like a king from the Scripture. The people laid branches and cloaks down on the road as he approached. The shouted blessings to him “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They shouted for salvation “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” By the end of the week, in the middle of the night, when Jesus took his disciples to the garden to pray, Jesus was captured. Arrested by the high priest’s armed police, after Judas’ signal, Jesus was given a one sided trial by the cover of night. In the mess of the armed guard coming to arrest him, Jesus’ followers fled and scattered. Scared, isolated, the disciples hid, knowing that a real threat loomed outside. On Friday Jesus was crucified, by evening he was buried, sealed in a tomb. Then Sunday. The first day of the week. The women are the ones to discover that the Lord has risen. The men are reluctant to believe what the women say. So, Jesus, himself, shows up! The disciples are still in hiding. And Jesus shows up. They don’t even recognize him at first, but he helps them realize that it is, in fact and in flesh, himself. That is the season we are in, the season of Easter. Jesus stays with them until just about the next festival, Shavuot, Pentecost. Our story today picks up there, at about 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection and one week before that festival. Now, they are told, to wait. Jesus blesses them and is taken up into heaven! And they are told…to stay and wait. In a lot of ways, I’m feeling that same sense of waiting. There is a lot of excitement, for me and I hope for you, too, at being freshly called here to Halfway Creek as your pastor. There is so much to dream about doing, so many relationships to start building, people to meet. And I’ve been hearing this sense of “we’ve finally got a pastor, let’s get going!” On top of that there is this sense of wanting the pandemic to be over. We’ve had what seems like several decades now, though it’s only been a bit more than a year, of dealing with sickness and loss of friends, loved ones, or friends of friends. We’ve been in this difficult time, a period that has fused into the back of our minds the question of safety for ourselves and our loved ones, in a way far more real than usual (and) on a universal scale. To suppress that trauma, or hide from it, it’s tempting to reject the whole thing and convince ourselves that everything is normal. We long for normalcy. To go to the store again with confidence (though having them put the groceries right in my car is a commodity I think I’d be happy to keep), to eat at restaurants, and yes: to worship in our treasured buildings of prayer, with singing and fellowship, and oh so very much coffee (at least for me). And yet we are still waiting. Waiting for vaccines to roll out to the youngest populations. Waiting for the masses to take advantage of them. Waiting for warmer weather when it’s easier to gather out-of-doors. Waiting for fear and threat to subside before we can enter the next…phase of ministry, and life, together. Waiting for house closings and school years ending and moving (thank you for that, by-the-way). And as eager as we are to start ministry, my first objective as pastor is going to be to listen, preach the gospel to you, and get to know you—for quite some time—before we get too carried away on moving forward. The disciples, as Jesus ascends into heaven… they are waiting. Waiting for something to happen. They are waiting, as Jesus said, for what they expect Jesus to do next: to do what the Messiah is supposed to do when he comes back: begin the revolution, restore the kingdom to God’s people, make everything right in the world. We’re all waiting for something similar. We ourselves have been locked up, waiting for dangers to subside. Waiting to get back to normal, or even better. And just like the disciples, Jesus has been walking with us, still teaching us, yet has kept us contained to our own corners for the time being. Beloveds, even while waiting, God is with us and working on us, preparing us for the next thing. During this time, God’s been teaching us the important things we need to remember for when we do enter fully into next phase of church: ONE, to remember that the church, locked sanctuary doors or not, has never been closed. The fire of the holy spirit is out among you--in the neighborhoods, residing on those witnesses of Jesus, on YOU, out there in all the world. Second, Jesus ascended into heaven (and next week as we read of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit), means that he has entrusted US, now, with his message. “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” You are the witnesses to Jesus’ presence: in the places you live, and work, and play; Wherever we meet, whether physically, or virtually: You are Jesus’ presence in those places. We will continue to be that presence, not neglecting the new avenues of communication, new ways of being together, that we’ve learned this past year. In some ways, the doors of the church have, actually, been opened wider by being closed. As we wait: for the next exciting phase of being church together, for new life from the ashes of the pandemic, Keep our focus on Jesus’ promise of new and abundant life. Know that there is time and adaptation yet to happen. Know even more that the love of God will see us through and will do amazing things even in the waiting. Throughout the book of Acts, if you read it through and I highly recommend it—it’s a great read—you will see some themes and messages being carried through and repeated articulated, some that were also present in Luke’s gospel.
The one that we read about today is the one that is probably most prominent, it begins right away at in the story at Pentecost (which is in a couple weeks, and we will look at more closely then), it is the one I think we celebrate the most for ourselves, but it is also the one that is hardest to live into and accept for others. The love of God gives a sacredness, a worth to our lives. In Jesus you are clean, you are holy, you are enough. Your life is sacred. And your worth is determined by your existence, not your existence dependent upon your worth. That is Jesus’ message for you. A wholly precious message. And that is Jesus’ message for all. In Acts, the story goes like this... Peter is hard at work spreading the Good News of Jesus and his Kingdom come to earth. He is preaching, and performing miracles—he even raises the dead (which was a hazard of preaching too late in the evening and one of his listeners falling asleep in an open window well). Peter, and all the apostles, until about our story today, has done this in exclusively Jewish crowds. But something happens one day that will start to change that. The Holy Spirit starts working outside the approved circle. One day, this Italian centurion named Cornelius, over in Caesarea, has a Spirit inspired dream to call for Peter, whom he does not know yet. In his dream he’s told that his prayers and alms are well received, and that he should go find this guy named Simon, who happens to be saying at the home of another guy named Simon, by the seaside in Joppa. Well, he does. He sends some slaves and a soldier of his to find Simon, staying with Simon who is a tanner, in the city of Joppa in a house by the sea. (Wouldn’t an address be nice?) So while the Holy Spirit is working on this God-fearing Gentile, as his cohort approaches, Peter is on a rooftop praying. He’s also been fasting. And he is REALLY hungry. But lunch wasn’t ready yet, so while he was waiting he was praying. And then he fell into a trance. And he has this crazy vision of all these animals on a sheet—birds and reptiles, four legged animals—which he’s told to go butcher and eat. And his response is something like, “no thanks God, I don’t have a taste for iguana!” He says, no, I know those are unclean (not supposed to be eaten by Jews) and I’ve never been one to break the dietary laws. But in his vision God answers him “don’t call unclean what I have made clean.” This whole thing happens three times. Now, Peter is super puzzled by this but here’s what’s happening: God is at work in new places, naming new people clean, and expanding Jesus’ kingdom in places and ways (in people) that Jesus’ followers haven’t even gotten to yet. At this point, the followers of Jesus are still not really associating with non-Jewish people. Most of them are still keeping all the dietary laws, they don’t go over to the gentile’s houses to eat, because of that. They don’t share a table, they keep their distance. St. Paul is going to really change all that in the next couple of chapters, but here we see the God pushing Peter to start that expansion. So the story finishes with Peter going to see Cornelius and the Holy Spirit confirming her presence on Cornelius and his gentile comrades. And they are baptized into the body of Christ. I like reading the book of Acts right now because it challenges me to see church in a different light. In Acts, the Holy Spirit is on the loose in the world and it’s kinda like the church is just trying to keep up. We see that The Holy Spirit makes clean whatever, or whomever, she chooses. In this story, God is working outside of the normal, established, expected bounds, to bring God’s kingdom about. That is exactly how God continues to work today. Our baptisms are the action of God making you clean, adopting you into Jesus’ mission and his body in the world. Jesus lived the life that brought new life and expansive love everywhere he went, in the name of God’s love for the world. When Jesus healed, forgave, pardoned sinners, he declared them as they already were in God’s eyes: clean, holy, enough. The gospel, the good news, that Jesus’ brought was an inclusive and all-encompassing love. That love included equity and justice for the world. But when that kind of love challenged status quo, when it not only liberated the downtrodden from their burdens, but also started to unburden the powerful of their might, it led to Jesus’ death on a cross. It was Jesus’ love for the world—the whole world, that led him to ceaselessly bring the Good News in the face of opposition and violence. It is God’s love for you and for the world that kept that death from being the end. Christ is Risen, and his kingdom remains. Christ is Risen, and his body, his church, continues his message of love. Our baptisms mark us as furtherers of Jesus’ kingdom and mission. Jesus’ love gives a sacredness, a worth to our lives. In Jesus you are clean, you are holy, you are enough. Your life is sacred. And your worth is determined by your existence, not your existence dependent upon your worth. Sometimes that’s the most powerful thing a person can hear. “I see you. You matter.” Interact moment: leave a comment “You are here, you matter to God”, or if you need to hear that for yourself today, “I am here, I matter to God”. Our baptism into the body of Christ, into his mission and kingdom, charges and empowers us to reach out to share that message with all. In all we do, in each little action and in the bigger systems we create, can we live into and create that kingdom and world. That message is Good News. It is good news to us who need to hear of our worth. And it is Good News to us who need to set aside our own inflated sense of worth in order to create more equity or justice for someone else. As I said earlier, the particular articulation of the gospel today is one it is the one I think we celebrate the most for ourselves, but it is also the one that is hardest to live into and accept for others. We somehow think that love and value are things that have finite supply. Somehow if someone receives a fresh supply of value, we lose some of ours. This is most certainly not true. God’s love comes in absolute unfathomable abundance. And the Holy Spirit is at work all around us, in this expanding little corner of the world, working in people’s lives, helping us create a world where Jesus’ kingdom of love rules. Where every child is valued and given what they need to succeed. Where every adult is honored for who they are, not what they can contribute. Where systems are just and peace prevails. God is out there creating that world in people. Sometimes through the church, sometimes outside of it. Where do we see that action of the Holy Spirit taking place? Where can we find ways of echoing that message? Where can we join and participate, as witnesses or as speakers of, pointers-to, the Holy Spirit’s work at-large? These questions are ones we will keep asking ourselves as church, and as individuals. In our Gospel, Jesus tells us of the kind of love he anticipates for people who are his followers. He commands his followers to love one another. That’s a love that is for you, and others who look and act, and gather and love, like you. And it is a love that is for those who think, act, love, worship, vote, and look differently from you. Peter accepted the value of Cornelius and his people—people even the law said to avoid—and looked at them as fellow siblings and partners in Christ. Hear that message for you today: God’s love is for you. You are valued, loved, and worth so much. You matter. Now, tell that message to your neighbor. To all, but more powerfully and specifically the one who needs to hear it, right now today. Jesus’ love is for you, and you are accepted as you are, even among us. Amen? Go tell ‘em! Christ be with you! Grace and Peace to you on this FIFTH Sunday of Easter from the RISEN Lord, Jesus Christ!
I am thrilled to be with you today, preaching my first sermon to you, worshiping with you in this venue that’s become, I hope, after so long of being here, a real and sacred space. Since I haven’t been here long, or at all until this point, I should introduce myself again—I’m pastor Chris Sesvold. I am honored and excited to join you as pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church You have this beautifully articulated mission: “Reaching out to share Christ with all,” For a church in a town growing as fast as this one, how could you get a more perfect statement of purpose in God’s mission? When I think about what draws people in, what draw people together or to a place, I cannot help but think that God’s Spirit is mightily at work in the lives of all those people. It is part of the fun for me of being a pastor, but I think also our evolving call as church in the 21st century, to track down that spirit moving in the world and ask, “how can I be part of what God is doing around me?” Some of my favorite things in school were science and music. Do you know what those things have in common? There is a lot of experimentation and practice. You try something, see what happens, try it again a little different, learn from your mistakes, then try something again and fail about a thousand times before you’ve finally figured out something new and valuable, or you’ve decided just how the piece of music should sound, for that single moment in time you play it anyway. Following Jesus, being the church, is like that, too. In the Easter season we like to talk about new, resurrection life. There is always something new happening—new life that God is making happen in the lives of people everywhere. New life that comes from, of all places, death. Change and death, and darkness and failure, are all too real pieces of this world. Jesus’ story is no different. In fact, he was always bringing new life to the places where he was. But in the end, even that new life got people upset and got Jesus executed. The good news that Jesus brought was radial. Radical enough to get the leaders upset. And those leaders plotted and convinced people that this message of Christ was a problem—it was catching on—and that it needed to be stopped. Getting rid of Jesus was the way to do it. And so they did. They got they plotted their way forward, and under cover of night, with temple police, a powerful jury, and the empire on their side, they ended it. Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified—the leader of this radial movement of inclusive love and new life, was put to death. The established powers could go back to the fine upstanding religious people they were—where everyone knows their place, knows who is in /out right/wrong, and all could focus on their spiritual lives without these radical, political Jesus people about. It was new life, changes for the better, that led to Jesus’ death at the hands of those in power. And it was God’s amazing love for the world that brought out of that death, unending and complete new life for us, through Jesus’ resurrection. If this past year of pandemic has showed us anything it is that the traditions we hold dear and the evolving ways of being in the world do joyfully and meaningfully combine as we look to a new age of what it means to be Christ’s Body, the church, for the sake of the world, to abide in his love and become bearers of the fruit of his kingdom. Our church has a treasure of beautiful and wonderful tradition. Just like if you study science or music, all the wonderful knowledge and creativity that has come before is the foundation of the next performance, the next hypothesis, the next composition, the next fruit of following Jesus. In your ministry site profile for Halfway Creek, you said it so well. Let me paraphrase some key phrases for you. Our Mission “Reaching Out to Share Christ with All,” is well known and well lived. We are an innovative, multi-generational, mission-focused community of believers. We balance honoring historical tradition with trying things outside of the box to further our mission. …we are not a stereotypical “little country church.” We are praying for…collaboration, energy, and creativity. Abiding in Jesus can look many ways. But I think you hit the nail on the head that a blend of tradition and holy experimentation is the kind of new life that Jesus, the vine, is pouring into these branches today. Your perseverance and adaptation in a time of great change—this pandemic—has shown the fruit of abiding in Christ. And you’ve done well. I’m sure I can rightly say that creativity, holding on to what’s most important, abiding in Jesus, is what you’ve been focused on now—intensely—for a whole year. We can certainly say that this year has had Jesus’ pruning and cleansing in copious amounts. So look for the new life. Look for the fruit. From death, God brings life. From darkness, light. I’m so excited to start this journey of abiding in Christ with you: looking for new fruit, new life, finding where God is working hard in Holmen and joining in that mission. I look forward to many opportunities for creativity and experimentation with you as the church seeks to make its wonderful, gospel filled tradition sing out loud and strong in a growing world. With God’s Spirit ahead of us, and Christ in our hearts, we will, indeed, boldly “reach out to share Christ with all.” May you continue to abide in Christ, allow his words to abide in you, and glorify the father as you bear much fruit. Christ is Risen! Alleluia! |
AuthorRev. Chris Sesvold is currently the pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Holmen, WI. Archives
October 2021
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