Sunday, January 25, 2026

Knit Together

Going through some old boxes, I found a piece of paper, written by my grandmother in 1977, with instructions for knitting mittens for my cousin Mike on the front and a copy of my cousin Melanie’s hand, age 5, on the back. It made me smile. My grandmother made lots of mittens. I still have a pair. She also valiantly tried to teach me how to knit and crochet - but after I managed a single chain – I got distracted. It takes attention and patience when you are learning anything new. Somehow, I got lost in the midst of her knit one, pearl two instructions. Somehow, it still seems a little bit like magic to me. And this is why I’ve always been a bit in awe of people who can knit or crochet without even looking at what they are doing they join two or more things together to create something beautiful.

In our lesson Paul is trying to knit a whole congregation together. Apparently, one of the problems of the church at Corinth is that they were divided in their allegiances. He has received word from “Chloe’s people” that some are claiming to belong to Paul, who was their founding pastor, others claim Apollo, their next pastor who was known as a skilled preacher and teacher and others say they belong to “Cephas” – which is the Greek name for the disciple Peter. And still others, say that “we” follow Jesus. That sounds like the winning argument, right? Unless what they are saying is: if you disagree with us, “you” clearly don’t.  These loyalty claims were tearing the congregation apart.

As Paul writes, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose.” 

Having the same mind and purpose doesn’t mean that all Christians have to be cookie cutter copies of one another. Later in the letter, Paul writes about the beautiful and varied gifts that each of the members of the body of Christ contributes. We can’t all be the organist or the preacher or the prayer shawl knitters, but together, we each bring our gifts to strengthen and uplift the whole body of Christ. These different gifts and talents and ideas and insights are brought humbly forward and then the Holy Spirit knits us together to create a congregation that is “of the same mind and same purpose.”

And so what is our mind and purpose? It is not money or status or power – all things that the culture then and now value. For, as Paul reminds the Corinthians and us, the message of the cross sounds foolish to those whose purpose is “winning” as in: “the one who gets the most stuff wins”. If we believe that, then why would we follow someone who was vulnerable instead of powerful, who died a shameful death on a cross instead of ruling from a glittery palace, who defied boundaries and fed the hungry and ate with both the rich and the poor. But this is not what we believe. As Paul writes, “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

For like Peter and Andrew, James and John, Paul and the Corinthians, and all of the saints who have gone before us, we are all called to follow Jesus. And if we all belong to Christ, then, we must belong to one another, for Jesus knits us together.

Although it was hard for the Corinthians to have this conflict, I am kind of glad that they did, because it caused Paul to write this Holy Spirit inspired letter. This letter has not only guided the Christians at Corinth, but has reminded Christians throughout the years of what is central to our call as we ask:  Why are we here? What is our mission? What is our purpose?

Yesterday we celebrated the life of Betty Schmidt. I enjoyed hearing her daughters reminisce about huge choir singing the Hallelujah chorus every Easter and nearly blowing the roof off the sanctuary; the large confirmation classes and the fun that they had had. It is good to celebrate our history and give thanks for the memoires.

“Positivity” is one of my strengths; I love looking at the glass as “at least” half full rather than ½ empty. However, there are times over the past few years when I would come into the sanctuary and find it less full than I had hoped. And, after leading the funeral of a dearly beloved congregational leader – which is my honor to do – I would also grieve. I would grieve, first because I loved and will miss the one who died. But I also grieve the loss to the congregation of a once vibrant member.

There is some sadness that comes remembering the huge VBS and the crowds and choirs of the past because that is not what we have today. And we are not alone. Mainline churches like ours have been declining in attendance over the last 20-30 years.

This is true for other Wildfire churches too. The Wildfire Pastors met – I think it was back in 2024 -- and talked and shared honestly about our congregations. At that meeting, I was surprised to find out that we are the smallest congregation. But our expenses fit our size better than others. As we shared, we discovered, not surprisingly, that each congregation had challenges and blessings. We prayed together but nothing else happened…

 Except that I began praying about our future – the future of Faith-Lilac Way and asked God what would become of us. And, it turned out, that I wasn’t the only one praying.  

 Last year, after a Synod event, Pastor Ali asked if our congregation would be open to exploring coming together with Cross of Glory and First Lutheran to create a new church.

My mouth fell open and my heart skipped a beat. The idea had never occurred to me. I had been praying about the future of this church and I’ll admit, the future in 5, 10,20 years did not look great. But after Pastor Ali raised this as a possibility, suddenly, my heart felt lighter. Instead of waiting for something to happen TO us, we could be a part creating a new ministry together.  

Our mission to proclaim and share the Good News of Jesus has not changed – and neither has the mission of First Lutheran and Cross of Glory.  For like Peter and Andrew, James and John, Paul and the Corinthians, and all of the saints who have gone before us, we are all called to follow Jesus.

And so now, the question is not just what might God have in store for Faith-Lilac Way, but how might Jesus knit together the people of Faith-Lilac Way and Cross of Glory and First Lutheran to give us more capacity to proclaim Christ Crucified and share the Good News of Jesus with others? This is what we are exploring together. And this is why I am excited about the possibility. 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ here on the corner of 42nd and Welcome. I know that change is hard. But change is happening every day. And so, I invite you to join me in praying for this congregation and for First Lutheran and Cross of Glory, that we may listen to God’s call and follow Jesus – wherever He may lead us.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Vicar Karla Leitzman

        I really like wine. I may not be incredibly knowledgeable about wine, and truthfully a glass of the very expensive stuff is probably going to be lost on me, but I like wine.

  Champagne can technically only be called champagne if it comes from the Champagne region of France. Most sparkling wines are a type of prosecco, or if it’s from Spain, a variety called Cava. Every time I try true, real champagne, which can be incredibly pricey, I appreciate it, sure, but inevitably I am going to prefer the $12 bottle of sparkling cava that I’ve been buying for years at Total Wine.

         Even though all of that is true, I still just really enjoy learning about wine and trying new ones. I like listening to experts talk about what excites them about the varietals they make. I like learning about how different years mean different things for making wines. Upon reflection, I think it is because I like really learning and I like being surprised.

         The summer before last, I learned about the wine region of Mexico in Baja California which is known as Valle de Guadalupe. I’d never heard of the area, but funnily enough, it was through some of the pastors that I work with in San Diego for my work with Global Refuge that I learned about the area. Because Valle de Guadalupe is only about a two hour drive from San Diego and the border, it is a pretty easy weekend getaway for them, kind of like how Duluth is for us here. It turns out that this very arid, dry region produces about 90% of all of the wine that comes from Mexico. And it turns out that while it may not have the same reputation or longevity as regions of France and Italy or Napa here in the US, Mexico makes some truly excellent wine.

         Upon learning about Valle de Guadelupe,  I earnestly began my lobbying project to my now husband, Felipe, to have us make a visit. He was, shall we say, skeptical to put it mildly. He spent a lot of time looking at google images and doing research and basically saying, “you seriously want to drag me to the desert?” Because it is a desert.

        Finally he agreed. We made a plan so that on one of my work trips to San Diego, he flew in and met me at the end of my appointments, we picked up the rental car and started our little road trip south. And, as we made this drive, I started to watch some of the skepticism on his face slip away. The hotel that we found to stay was gorgeous and as we visited lots of vineyards over the next few days and truly never had a bad wine, you could watch him be more and more willing to acquiesce that I was correct. It also doesn’t hurt that the man loves a good bargain, and for the high quality of the food and wine and accommodation, it really was a fantastic value.

        On our last day, he was already planning our next visit. Come and see that I, Karla, was right.

I know it seems like a silly comparison, but when looking at today’s gospel lesson, I did find myself making that trivial comparison to me being eager to let Felipe see that I knew what I was talking about, not because I had been there before, but because I was very ready and willing to trust these San Diego pastors. I just knew that it was going to be good. John the Baptist just knew that all that was to come from Jesus was going to be good.

        Last week, we celebrated the Baptism of our Lord. In commemorating that day, we all re affirmed and still reaffirm our baptismal identity. We continually come and see all that our identity in Jesus means. We are loved and given grace abundant without needing to produce any good deeds that, in our human understanding, would “earn” us salvation. That grace is given to us lovingly and it is then up to us to use that freedom to serve others.

        John is the testifier of Jesus’ coming and of Jesus’ identity. He is the one to share who Jesus is and who sends him. In a lot of our mainline Christian traditions, we admittedly don’t always know what to do with this idea of testifying. Many of us might assume that testifying to Jesus’ identity means shouting it from the rooftops, using our words to raise the volume. But it is also through our actions that we testify to who Jesus came to be and who Jesus continues to come to be.

        We can and should talk about Jesus, yes, absolutely. And, we must also use our actions to live out those words.

        We live them out by moving through the world with kindness, by testifying with our compassion and care for all of God’s beloved children, particularly those who are harmed by the powers of the world.

        Let us this week testify with our words and with what we do that backs up those words. May we testify to God’s love, compassion, and mercy.

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Who are you?” This is the question that Rafiki asks Simba in the movie, The Lion King.” It is an underlying theme throughout the movie, butt is only after his late father Mufsafa speaks to him from the sky, saying,  “Remember who you are. . . . You are my son and the one true king” that Simba is able to claim his identity, come to terms with his past and take up his responsibilities to restore the Pride Lands.1

I had never thought before about how the Lion king stole the voice from the sky line from the Gospels. But, interestingly enough it is this question of identity – of remembering who you are and who you are called to be – that is important not only for Simba in this Disney movie, but is an important question for us as we remember who we are and how we are called to act and to relate with our community. 

If we were to ask “Who are you Jesus?” The season of Epiphany is the time in the church in which “Jesus Christ is made known” through the Gospel stories we read. Last week the magi followed the star to see the new king of Israel.  This week – time flies in our Gospel stories – Jesus is a grown man. We hear the story of Jesus coming to John to be baptized with the baptism of repentance. But John wants to trade places. Somehow he knows that Jesus does not need to repent. But Jesus, embracing his humanity, insists that he be washed with the same water and in the same way as other people are washed.

The answer to the question “Who are you Jesus?” Is made even more clear in today’s Gospel. When Jesus comes up out of the water, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove sits on him and a voice from heaven proclaims, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

“Who is Jesus?” Already this Epiphany we have learned: Jesus is a king, God’s son, the Beloved. But that is not all. We also hear, as Isaiah prophesied, that God’s chosen one, Jesus, came to bring justice – but not with power and might, not with armies brandishing swords or drones or crushing the earth with tanks or filling it with landmines. Instead, he came as a vulnerable baby, a rabbi, preacher and teacher who, through his life, death and resurrection, began transforming the world. 

Peter, in the book of Acts discovers that one of the transformations that occurred is that God expanded who qualifies as beloved, saying, “God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him.”  For Peter and all faithful people of his day, this was a shocking expansion of God’s covenant beyond the tribe of Israel. And yet, because of that expansion, people like you and me can also be called “Beloved.”

For Beloved is the name that you were called when you were baptized, adopted into God’s family and made a child of God, a sibling of Jesus Christ. In baptism, you were claimed by God. As we proclaim: “YOU BELONG to CHRIST in whom you have been baptized.”

 You are BELOVED. Beloved Sue, Beloved Mary, Beloved Dave, “Beloved YOU.” So, to answer the question: “Who are you?”  Please repeat after me and say, I AM Beloved.

You are beloved. You belong to Christ. And that is not empty identity. Instead, as God’s beloved, as people who belong to Christ, we are called to be LIKE Christ in bringing Justice to our world – not with violence and hate. But instead, we are called to proclaim God’s expansive love and to bring about God’s justice and righteousness in the way of Jesus.

And this is why I believe we need to stand up for our brothers and sisters in Christ and to ask our government to treat all people – regardless of the color of their skin, their heritage or their citizen status – with respect and care. The gang-like actions of the ICE officers wearing masks and terrorizing people is not bringing justice. Instead, it foments terror, fear and a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness.  It causes our schools to close because children – and teachers -- don’t feel safe. This is not what I and I dare say we want as citizens and it is definitely not what we want as Christians for our community or our world.

God did not make us to be a people of fear, hopelessness and helplessness. God has made us to be a people of love, kindness, generosity and care. Despite the challenges of these days, I believe that Jesus is still at work through the Holy Spirit and through each of us. And as such it is our job to proclaim and to help to create a different way, a way that treats all people as beloved, with kindness, love and care rather than as “alien” or “other.” For this is the way Jesus would have us be. This is what it means to live into the baptismal promise of walking in God’s way – and not our way. 

But living into that promise can be a challenge especially as the world gets more and more divided. A prime example is the comments on Facebook. I’ve noticed that posts are increasingly mean-spirited, demeaning and divisive.  Some of the comments are made by AI robots – intent on tearing down the “other side” – and so you can’t trust what you read on Facebook or any social media. But the sad thing is -  some one set them up to respond in this nasty way. And it is not just on social media. I see this in other media and in the way some of our elected leaders speak. The guard rails of civility have been cracked.

The challenge is even greater when the division and the conflict becomes local, as it did on Wednesday, when, in Minneapolis on a typical street full of ice and snow, Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer. That much is agreed upon. But before the day was out, there were conflicting statements from ICE and from eye witnesses. 

When tragic events like this happen, it is really critical for us as Christians to remember who we are and whose we are. Let me say that again. It is really important, critical for us as Christians to remember who we are and whose we are. Let me remind you: you, each of you, is God’s beloved and we all belong to Christ.  And because of this, I believe our first response is prayer and lament and prayer.  We lament the treatment of God’s people. We pray for those who are being treated as “less than” who they are - God’s beloved. We then pray for direction.

I’ll admit that I was shook by this event. And so, after prayer and lament, my prayerful response was to show up at a clergy gathering at the site. 

When I got there, I was surprised at how much it looked like my old neighborhood. Although this street was cleared out to make room for all of the people who gathered to protest, the neighboring streets were full of cars and hard to get through – just like my old streets. This was an ordinary neighborhood – now traumatized.

Another surprise is that a Somali woman came over to me and greeted me and the other pastors, thanked us for being there and then offered us pastries filled with a meat mixture – they’re called sambuusas. She had an entire tray of them to share and they were delicious.

I was also surprised by clergy who showed up. I knew some – there were lots of ELCA pastors there but there were also many pastors that I did not know including pastors from the Methodist, Missionary Baptist and United Church of Christ. There were Catholic and Episcopal priests and other ministers. There were also rabbis and imams and Buddhists there. I was struck because, often we focus on the differences between clergy. But here, together, we mourned the taking of a life and proclaimed a vision of love and not hate, hope and not fear, and unity and not division.

This is the people we are called to be. A woman who I did not know and who did not look like me, and probably does not worship like I do, nevertheless welcomed and fed me. Preachers from various traditions proclaimed God’s word and led us in prayer- together. Pastor Martha from Our Saviors Lutheran, a church just a few blooks from where we stood, led us in a profession of faith from our baptism ritual. She asked, Do you renounce the power of evil, sin and all that goes against God?   And we shouted, “I renounce them.” At times like this. We need to remember who we are and whose we are. And, brothers and sisters in Christ, I ask you: “Do you renounce the power of evil” if so don’t mumble – but shout out, I renounce them!

Again, I ask, Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? if so shout out, I renounce them!

Do you renounce the power of sin; Again, shout out: “I renounce them.”

Beloved children of God, let us renounce the sin of separating people into us and them. Whether that be “other” because of the color of your skin, or where you were born or how much money you make or who you voted for, or any other reason, including who you work for. For behind their masks, ICE agents are people too. We will be praying for them to have compassion and act with gentle justice and not with violence and force. We all, without exception, need repent of the evil that is present in our world and of which we take a part. We all, without exception, need to hear the story of God’s forgiveness, love and grace. And we all, without exception, need to care for one another, including the one we too often call “other.” Instead, let us call one another, by the name that God calls you. You are: “Beloved.” Amen.

1The Lion king

Sunday, January 4, 2026

“God’s time is always near.  He set the North Star in the heavens;  He gave me the strength in my limbs;  He meant I should be free.”

Harriet Tubman was born a slave but after suffering from a head injury as a teenager, God gave her an Epiphany, an “aha” that changed her life. God had not made her for slavery. God meant for her to be free. And so, she followed the North Star to freedom. But that was not all that God had called her to do. God had called her to free his people – and so, risking her own life and freedom, she went back into the states of slavery 19 times to lead 300 other people to freedom, telling them to follow the North star. 1

 It was a different star, a new star in the heavens that the magi followed.

Matthew tells us that they came from the East. They were astronomers – they studied the stars – and they were astrologers – they not only paid attention to the position of stars and planets, but when they saw this new star, they believed it was the indication of a new king. But they didn’t just write it down as something interesting in their books. Instead, were compelled by this vision– to go and see – and to give oblations – gifts and honor – to this new king. It was an “ah a” moment – an “epiphany. “

Matthew is the only Gospel writer who includes this story.  Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience, and so it makes sense that he begins his Gospel with a long series of “begats” – identifying the history and lineage of Jesus as part of Abraham and King David’s family. But this story is different. It isn’t the leaders of each of the tribes of Israel who come to visit and honor the new King of Israel. Instead, the visitors are Magi from the East. We don’t know much about the  Magi– tradition says that they were kings. They may have been Zoroastrian priests.  But clearly, they were outsiders from another religion, another culture, another place. 

As I said, Matthew doesn’t give us details of how or why they travelled to see the new King. Maybe they followed the star, like the slaves in the south who followed the North Star to freedom. Or maybe they took a citing of the star and plotted their course to the nearest city, Jerusalem, which is just five miles away from the town of Bethlehem. They got close – but I’ve often wondered why they stopped to ask directions?  It could be that they ran into some cloudy nights and couldn’t see the star. Or maybe they assumed EVERYONE was paying attention to the star that they noticed and that everyone would be celebrating the birth of a new king. Or maybe they made an assumption that the new king would be in the palace. And that Herod would know where to find the new King of Israel who had been born. 

Making assumptions is a dangerous thing to do – especially with a paranoid or brutal King. Herod was both. Scholars tell us that Herod “had one of his wives and several of his sons murdered because he thought they were plotting against him.” He spared no one. Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor under whom Herod ruled, is rumored to have said that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son. As the would-be Jewish king, Herod could not eat pork, so his pigs were safer than his sons.”2

 Herod was a tyrant. And the priests and scribes who he called upon for information were complicit in his crimes. As long as they were loyal, they were treated royally. And so, even though they knew that Herod was jealous, ruthless and a murderer, they told him that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Their loyalty to him later cost the baby boys in Bethlehem their lives. 

 Granted, Herod was skilled at deceit. He met “secretly” with the magi. In what looks like an attempted quid pro quo, Herod tells them that the child was to be born in Bethlehem and then asked them to come back and tell him where to find the baby so that he too could worship him.

 But God is still guiding the magi.  The star reappears, much to their delight, and they are amazed and overjoyed when it stops over a house in Bethlehem. When they see Mary and the Christ child, they kneel in worship and adoration, offering the kingly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Their mission is accomplished. The prophecy from Isaiah is fulfilled, “Nations shall come to your light.” All people will be blessed by Jesus, our Savior.

 But God is not done. God gives the magi another epiphany, another “aha,” warning them in a dream, not to return to Herod. And so, “they left for their own country by another road.” It’s a simple little sentence. But, realizing that Herod lied to them and his intentions are not honorable, the magi don’t return to Herod with information about the new King. They action is the equivalent of civil disobedience.  If Herod had caught them, they would have been killed. But they listened to their dreams and God guided them to “another road.”

 In the Scripture we see that God speaks and guides us by many ways. God guided the magi to the Christ Child by a star. God guided Paul by a revelation on Damascus road. Instead of persecuting Christians, Paul was transformed into the mouthpiece of God, sharing the Good News with all people, including gentiles, the outsiders of the day.

 As we look back in history, we see God continuing to welcome in the “outsiders.” God guided Harriet Tubman and her fellow former slaves  to freedom by following the North Star. Harriet always gave thanks to God for her freedom and for all the work she was able to do. Reflecting back, she is remembered as saying,  “If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more.”3

 God is still not done giving us little and big epiphanies, “aha” moments in which we see God at work in our lives and seeking to guide us. We need to ask ourselves:  Where is God leading us?

Are we open to God’s guidance? Will we listen? Will we follow? 

Following the way of Jesus is not always easy or predictable. It is sometimes costly. But we are called, by Christ, to follow where He leads and to listen to the Holy Spirit to open us up to go where God calls.

Let us close with a prayer poem by  Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes:

“God, lead me. Your love is my morning star— awaken me;
my north star— lead me from what enslaves me.
I navigate by the star of your love. I set myself for the long journey.

Give me courage to be led, wisdom to let you lead me,
to follow and not stray, not turn back,
not go my own way…

May I see your star in my sky
and set my face toward it always.
Set my compass, God, and keep me from straying…
I give myself to follow.
Love, lead me. 3

Amen.

1http://www.harriet-tubman.org Harriet Tubman to Ednah Dow Cheney, New York City, circa 1859.

2 Elisabeth Johnson, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/epiphany-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-21-12-11

3 http://www.harriet-tubman.org
4Steve Garnaas-Holmes Unfolding Light www.unfoldinglight.net

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Local Twin Cities pastor and writer, Meta Herrick Carlson writes in her holiday book “Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season:

 “If God wished to be born

Into perfection and peace,

We’d still be waiting on a savior of the world.

 God knows families are messy,

That our generations are full of characters,

Our stories told slant with time.

 And so the Word of God

Is tangled up with DNA

Of those familiar and forgotten,

Heroes and villains and ordinary folks.

 Heartache and faithful promises

Tales of courage and cowardice

Woven through a patriarchy

Interrupted by four women

 Trusted by God to break the rules

When rules were wrong

To act for liberation and love

That made a way for even more.

 If I am being honest, the season of Advent is how I make sense of who God is. And, this writing from Pastor Meta encapsulates what I love most about the season of Advent.

 God is subversive and chooses people the world does not choose.

 That Jesus comes to a broken world, again and again. That the world we are navigating maybe, just maybe isn’t so different from that world where Mary heard these words so many years ago.

 That during Advent, we get to joyfully celebrate that nothing is impossible through God. That when rules are wrong, they must be broken for the good of the marginalized among us because Jesus’ birth broke all of the so-called rules and assumptions of the time.

 That Advent is a reminder that we are beautifully imperfect and loved by God all the same. That God believes in us and did not wait for us or for the world to without flaws or pain or strife to come to us.

 Join me in fast forwarding just a little bit to the image we will soon see of the celebration of Jesus’ birth. So often the image of Christ’s birth that we are presented with is the sweet, docile white baby Jesus, in a clean, glowing manger, with his humble parents and a menagerie of animals surrounding him. I invite you to let that image go. To imagine instead what it would have been: a barn, maybe a cave, and probably a cold barn or cave at that. I may not have been a farm kid but enough of my friends were and from the several times I was tasked to assist them with after school chores, I feel pretty confident in assuming that it would have smelled….not good.

 Mary and Joseph would have been utterly exhausted and frightened after making this long journey from Galilee to Bethlehem. And then when they got there, they were turned away again and again, only for Mary to give birth in the midst of all of this exhaustion and fear. And very shortly after, they would be forced from their homeland of Palestine to Egypt, seeking refuge from a brutal king who wished them harm. This may have all been thousands of years ago, but each Advent we remember just how present this all is. That the world the angel is coming to Mary to share this great news is not so unlike ours today.

 Those thousands of years ago, God decided to enter the world through a poor, young, peasant woman, in the far removed, middle of nowhere hamlet of Galilee. God entered the world amidst the mess, the tumult, the fear. And today, God enters the world amidst those same circumstances. While we are traversing frightening terrain, unable to see through much of this murkiness, we are reminded that the liminal and the darkness is holy and that God has been here before and God is still here.

 Wil Gafney is one of my favorite Hebrew scholars and recently shared on social media, “‪I have come to appreciate Advent so much more without the light/dark binary. Rather, I see darkness as the generative space in which light is conceived and from which it is born. Both holy, both life-giving.

  But before any of that could happen, Mary had to contend with an angel talking to her. I am admittedly kind of picky about Christmas music. Maybe I’ve spent too many holiday seasons working retail, and while it is not at all my intention to wreck a favorite Christmas song if this is one of your top picks this time of year, but I admit that Mary Did You Know has always made me stop and wonder. Because, there was so much that Mary knew.

 She would have known a lot of things. Mary would have known how babies were made which the author of Luke reminds us of as she wonders how she could come to bear a child. She undoubtedly would have known young girls her age to die in childbirth or lose their babies. And, she would have known all too well what it was like to live in a small, removed part of the world, occupied by the brutal rule of the Roman State, with ever increasing taxes and land acquisitions. She would have seen rich Romans not paying their fair share of taxes while her loved ones were squeezed tighter and tighter financially.

 She would have known what this pregnancy would do to her social standing. That while her cousin, Elizabeth’s pregnancy was also unexpected in her advanced age, at least there was biblical president for that. A young, poor, woman in occupied Palestine? Well, that would have been a new one.

 She would have known so many things. And through all of that knowing, she was still brave enough, with more faith and hope than I can imagine, to say yes.

 Mexico City is one of my most favorite cities in the world. Very high on my list during my last visit was making a visit to the Mexico City basilica to see the depiction of the Virgin of Guadeloupe.

The legend goes like this:

 In 1531, Mary appeared to a young, indigenous peasant named Juan Diego. She told him, in his native dialect, that she wanted her church to be built on the spot she appeared to him. So, Juan Diego, went to the Spanish Fransiscans to share the news of his vision. They essentially laughed him out of the room. Why would Mary, long venerated by Christians, appear to this peasant and not to them?

 So, Juan Diego returned to the spot he initially saw her and shared their rejection. She told him to go back and try again. He came and went several times, and on the final time, December 12th, 1531, she told him to bring red roses to the friars, wrapped in his tunic. It was December, and there were no roses growing, but all of a sudden, they appeared. Juan Diego wrapped these flowers in his tunic, and when he opened his tunic to the Franciscans, his tunic held a depiction of Mary. And here’s the thing. She was not shown as a meek, white young girl. She was depicted as an indigenous Aztec.

 The 1530s were not only the height of the Protestant Reformation happening in Europe, but they were also a time of heightened imperialism in central and South America. Important to note is that right around this time, the Spanish Franciscans destroyed the ancient Aztec city in the center of Mexico City and used the stones to build their cathedral.

And yet, Mary showed up to an Aztec peasant, mirroring the angel coming to her, a pushed aside Palestinian peasant all those years before. Throughout these past nearly five hundred years, so much study has been done on her image that is depicted on the tunic which is on display in the basilica. There have been countless analyses done of the materials and many attempts to recreate it using materials that would have been available at the time, and materials that even weren’t available then, and no one can figure it out. It is not a painting and it is not a weaving. It is simply there.

 More than twenty million people visit this site each year. Tourists come to visit and Catholics from central and south America and beyond make pilgrimages to stand under the tunic and to offer prayers to her.

And while all of this is awe inspiring, the thing that really got me when I was there was seeing all of the migrants who make pilgrimages to her to ask for her intercession as they begin and continue their perilous journeys north. These displaced and weary people go and pray to another who knew all too well what it felt like to be weary and displaced.

 In these waiting and expectant days of Advent, I invite all of us to think about all the places in our broken world God is entering again and again. All of the places the world expects God to be while ignoring the marginalized, gritty places God has showed up time and time again.

 May we look to Mary to mirror the immense faith and hope she had to say yes. The hope and faith necessary to sing boldly O Come O Come Emmanuel .

 In closing, I share a favorite Advent prayer from the Reverend Michael T. Ray.

 Jesus, the impoverished refugee, you showed up in the mess, and the crap and the stench. You told us to look for you in prison, on the streets, among the thirsty and hungry, naked and alone, those who are sick. And yet sometimes, we do all we can to avoid every one of those places and people. Convict and compel us to stop trying to get you to show up where we want to go, and instead start showing up where you told us you would always be. Amen.

 Vicar Karla Leitzman

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Reflections

HOPE

What is hope? Emily Dicken writes:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all.

Hope is not something that you can teach or legislate or demand.

Instead, hope is as light as a feather – and yet as enduring as an earworm

that will not stop.

This poem about “hope” was one of my mother’s favorites – especially

after she was diagnosed with cancer. In those sometimes trying and

painful days, it would have been easy to despair, to focus on loss and to

give up hope, but instead, she chose hope – not hope that she would be

cured, but rather hope in God’s future.

Like the people of God throughout the generations, we can trust in God’s

promise and dared to hope and trust that God’s will, God’s way, God’s

future would prevail. And, that it will be better than we could ever

imagine. This is Hope. Amen.

Peace

What is Peace? The Hebrew word is “shalom.” Shalom is not just the

opposite of war and discord. Shalom is also the peace that brings

wholeness and healing to all people. 1 And so, when you greet someone

with peace, you are wishing them the wholeness of Christ Jesus. For, as

we read in Colossians, when God reconciles everything on heaven and

earth through Christ, God made and makes everything whole – in God’s

way, in God’s time, and with God’s love – already and not yet.

Sisters and brothers in Christ: May the peace, the shalom of the creator

God be with you; May the peace, the shalom of the living God fill you;

and may the peace of the everlasting God overflow from you. Shalom.

Peace be with you. Amen.

JOY!

What is Joy? It began with a little hiccup…and of course it was at an

inappropriate time. Embarrassed and self-conscious, the little girl

giggled.. just a little giggle… but then her best friend also giggled. Their

mothers tried to shush them… but they couldn’t stop. Instead, their

giggles were so infectious that soon smiles appeared on the lips of their

neighbors and as the giggling continued, some of the bodies of the

people near by started to shake, others were putting hands over their

mouths… and then… laughter erupted with a loud guffaw and soon

contagious, joyous laughter filled the room. It was totally

“inappropriate” for the time – and definitely heaven sent.

Joy is contagious, spontaneous and hopefully irresistible. JOY is also

our best response to the awesome work of God. Our hymns say it best:

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king; let ev’ry

heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing.” Despite the

challenges of our world and of our life, as we sing praises to God, may

the Holy Spirit fill our lungs and our spirits with endless joy – and a few

giggles too. Amen.

Love

What is love? This is a question poets and lovers have tried to answer

throughout the generations. But, regardless of what words are used to

describe it, the best way to know what love is, is to experience it. For

love is the essence of who God is – God is love – and, we know love

because we have received love. God first loved us, showing that love

through the birth of God’s son at Christmas.

As 19 th century poet Christina Georgina Rosetti wrote, “Love came

down at Christmas. Love all lovely, Love divine; Love was born at

Christmas; star and angels gave the sign…Love incarnate, Love

divine… love be yours and love be mine.” As we anticipate the

Christmas season, may you receive God’s gift of love with open hands,

open heart, and open lives and reflect that love to one another. Amen.

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Happy New Year!

Now, don’t worry, you haven’t somehow missed the entirety of the holiday season and it is now January, but, today, with our first Sunday in Advent, we begin a brand new church year, a new liturgical year.

Beginning today, and in this next year, our preaching focus will be on the gospel of Matthew. Each gospel has its own beauty and its own unique role to play in showing us the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, who is Jesus in Matthew where we start the year today? Matthew’s Jesus is a teacher, a leader, an evangelist, the fulfillment of God’s promise, and a steadfast reminder of what is to yet to come. Matthew’s Jesus is a descendant of the line of King David, an authoritative figure, the Messiah, the one whose coming will absolutely change everything.

I would be remiss to not note that these specific verses have been some of the biblical passages most often used in a lot of apocalyptic bible narratives. These verses have historically been used as a means for control to warn people of the coming end times or the rapture, and what will happen if the Messiah comes and you have not repented or if you are not “ready.” A lot of people carry a lot of baggage surrounding these texts in particular, and I don’t want to skate over that.

One of my favorite parts of my theological education has been diving into the study and research of the ways that these passages were and are actually intended to convey hope, joy, and a hopeful re orientation to our calling to create God’s kingdom. And that is a kingdom that is filled with goodness, justice, kindness, and deep, abiding love. It is the coming of something new, something kinder and softer, more loving and more joyful.

In his book, Voices of Advent, Luther Seminary professor Matt Skinner writes on this very passage from Matthew, “It’s an outlook full of presumptions that one particular slice of the Christian church has everything right about God and everyone else in the world deserves to be punished. Maybe most concerning, it’s a view that seems eager to ascribe unusual cruelty to God. It certainly imports all kinds of assumptions into this passage, turning it into a prediction of divine terror instead of a reassurance of God’s intention to redeem and heal the world. It’s a perspective that distorts the Bible. Worse, it distorts the love of God.”

So, why are these verses, that so often get used to preach about the so called end times what is chosen for today as we celebrate this new year and new season?

The book of Matthew, focusing on Jesus as Messiah, as the fulfillment of God’s loving and faithful promise, of Jesus as a teacher and authority figure is a directive for us to ready ourselves, to prepare for what is to come and to do the work for what is to come. It is a profound examination  of the ways that we all go about our days, our business as usual, and then are met with the awesome, unfathomable awareness that God is showing up. God is coming and we must be ready.

So, what does it mean to be ready? And specifically, what does it mean to be ready for Christmas, for the coming of Christ? If I were to ask you right now, “well, are you ready for Christmas” what are the first things that come to your mind?

If we were so lucky as to be able to celebrate it-  Thanksgiving is over. The dishes washed and put away.  The football game watched as you slipped in and out of that turkey coma. The turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing leftovers in tupperware in the fridge or maybe already made into soup.

The emails alerting us to constant sales, the reminders to buy, buy, buy and then buy some more are in full swing.

Maybe you are like so many this holiday season who are looking down at holiday lists of people to purchase gifts for while also looking at your banking app on your phone wondering how you’re going to make it all work and stretch far enough this year, wondering how you might possibly be able to feel ready amidst such challenging circumstances.

Perhaps you are looking around your house, wondering where you are going to get the energy to make your home feel ready. When you’re going to find the time or motivation to be ready to dig the tree and decorations out of that back closet.

Maybe you are already feeling behind on your holiday baking or wondering how you are going to manage existing or growing tensions with family members this season. Maybe you are anticipating the first holiday season with a prominent empty chair at your table and you are wondering how you might ever feel ready for that painful first. Maybe the Christmas season is always a challenging time of year for you and you are wondering how you are once again going to ready yourself  to just get through these coming weeks.

So often, when we talk about “being ready for Christmas” we feel the pressure that comes with the season to get the perfect presents for our loved ones, to make the best recipes, to check all the things off of our lists, to be cheerful and merry even if that’s not at all how we feel.

There really is so much that we can associate with being “ready” for the Christmas season.

And, that is precisely why it is so important that we, as a church, go through this liturgical season of Advent together. This is my favorite of the liturgical seasons. Advent is, frankly, how I make sense of who God because this is a season where we collectively practice readying our hearts for the coming of Jesus, of God coming to Earth enfleshed as a tiny baby, born to a poor, Palestinian young woman in a backwoods, unheard of hamlet of the vast Roman Empire. God could have chosen any time, any place to come to the world. And yet, God chose a time of tumult and oppression and angst and violence to come to the world in human form. And that remains true today.

When we sing the Advent hymn, Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel during this Advent season, do you know what Emanuel means? It means God with Us. And it is my favorite way that we as people of faith use to describe God. Emmanuel. We pray and we long for God to come to a world that is so desperately in need of  a savior and a champion to the marginalized. Our cries of Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel come and uplift the lowly, come and right the wrongs and the pain of the world.

When we sing that hymn we both pray for Christ to come, and we re commit ourselves to looking for Christ’s existing presence in the world, that God, is indeed, with us. And that as followers of Christ, we are directed to go to the places that Christ goes. Because God creates us in God’s image, we are called to love and serve those who God loves and comes to serve.

This is a season where we, together, remember that not only is God with the outcasts, but that God comes to the world as an outcast. Emmanuel. God is with us. Not only does Christ come to be with refugees, but Christ comes as a refugee. A baby born to a poor young couple who are forced to flee, without papers, to a new country for fear for their lives. It is only one more chapter to come in the book of Matthew where Jesus offers the prophetic words: “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’

Hopefully you have heard about Faith Lilac Way’s participation in the Path to Palm Sunday which is the convergence of thousands and thousands of people of faith around those very directives of Jesus-  to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and welcome the stranger. Because we see far too many policies and actions happening in this country that are so cruelly doing exactly the opposite of those directives. And because we are followers of Christ, we know that we can’t stand by. We know that we have to speak out, to act. We know that we have to go where Christ goes. We are, after all, an Advent people. A people who are ready to pray and ready to act.

One of my favorite Advent books is called, “Keep Watch With Me: An Advent Reader for Peacemakers.” Published in 2019, this is a collection of devotions leading up to Christmas which are written by pastors and chaplains from around the world. Honestly I should get a kick back from how many of these books I have purchased as gifts for people and for all the times I have recommended it to people to buy themselves.

In the very first devotion for December 1st, Reconciliation and Justice facilitator Michael T Ray writes the following:

“When I worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, one of our primary responsibilities was being present for confrontations between Israeli solders and Palestinian civilians. We needed to film and document all acts of aggression, hoping the scrutiny of international eyes might deter violence.

We needed to keep watch.

For those of us in the United States, the last few  years have particularly highlighted the deep divisions scarring our country. Many of us yearn for a better world, and we wonder how long we can wait.

Advent is all about waiting

It is about patience, expectation, and longing. We wait in hope for the arrival of something better than what we have now. This is a joyful hope.

But Advent is about ache too, because longing and waiting are also painful experiences. For our exiled friends in prison longing for freedom, for our oppressed brothers and sisters waiting for justice, for our loved ones on the streets dreaming of a warm home, waiting is agony.

Both Advent and peacemaking are experiences of hope, and hope is the stuff of survival. It’s little wonder people who live in the places of suffering are often filled with great hope and joy. As one Palestinian friend said to me, “What choice do we have but to hope? The alternative is death.”

We hope that something more beautiful is coming because we must, because the alternative is unbearable. The work of hope is a muscular work, filled with sorrow, faith, perseverance, and resilience.

In my study, teaching, and practice of peace building, I’ve learned that the work of peace is the work of preparation. We wait, yes, but we have much to do while we wait. My best friend, Jeannie Alexander, is waiting for her beloved to be freed from the cage of prison. Year after year, she waits. But part of her waiting is working to make better laws so he can return home sooner. The waiting of Advent, like the waiting of peacemaking, is an active waiting. As the African proverb says, “When you pray, move your feet.:

We watch, we wait, we work. Part of the truth of our world is that it is broken and breaking more every day. But that is only part of the truth. Our world is also a place of beauty, love, and unfathomable generosity. There is kindness, there is laughter, there is healing.

I want to be part of the movement toward kindness, one where we might begin speaking to and about one another with something like love. I do believe that a kinder world is on the way. I believe that because I must, and I will watch for it, with eyes open and feet moving.

Will you keep watch with me?

Let us pray,” Jesus of the vigil, you told us to keep watch, to stay alert for what is coming. Bless us with the strength to watch, to wait, and to work this Advent season, so that your kingdom which is here and is still to come may be realized in its fullness. Because if we do not keep watch, we may miss it.

Amen.

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Our lessons for today are about being in community together.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes a number of “I AM” statements such as I am the Light of the World. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Bread of Life. Each of the I AM statements gives us a little window into who Jesus is.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus not only gives us a peak into who he is, but also into who he is calling us to be. Jesus says, “I am the vine and YOU are the branches.” Jesus talks about his connection to God the creator and desires us to be as deeply connected to him, like branches are to the vine and he is to God the Father.

 This past summer, I planted some morning glory seeds by a trellis. I wasn’t sure they would grow. They had been sitting dormant in my basement for a year or two, but I decided to plant them anyway. And three of them grew! I went away for a few weeks and when I came back, I expected the trellis to be full. But it had nothing on it. The branches hadn’t found the trellis. Instead, they wound themselves around other plants. So, I untangled them from the other plants and re-routed them up the trellis so they could have more light. They loved better access to the sun and began to grow even faster.  I was so excited for them to blossom. But the next day, I noticed that the branch in the middle was starting to droop. Curious, I brought my watering can over to the plant, thinking that it might just need a little water. But then I discovered – some little animal – most likely rabbits - had eaten the bottom of that branch, disconnecting it from the rest of the vine. And you know what happened then, when the branches weren’t connected – they died.

 Jesus illustrates the importance of staying connected to him through this metaphor: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” And, not only do the branches need the vine for nourishment, the vine also needs the branches in order to blossom and grow.

Jesus has this kind of relationship with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is so interconnected that you can’t tell where one stops and the other starts. And this is the kind of interconnectedness that Jesus desires with you. But here our English translation of the Gospel is not clear. Jesus says he desires to have this interconnectedness with YOU. And when he says this, Jesus is not speaking to just one person – to Peter or John or Mary, instead Jesus is speaking to YOU ALL. In English the way we normally speak it, we don’t have a clear “you all.” But the southerners do.  Jesus is speaking to You’all. -- not just to individuals or just to those in his presence then, but to all of you here at Faith Lilac Way and at Cross of Glory, and at First Lutheran and across the country, North and South, East and West, and in other places =  in Mexico, down to South America and across the ocean to Africa, Asia, Europe, from the biggest cities to the smallest farm.  TO All of You’ALL,  Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you all; abide in my love..”

 Abide in my love. I love that image – but what does it mean in our daily life. Jesus tells us. He says, “If you’all keep my commandments, you’all will abide in my love.”  Throughout the Gospels: Jesus tells us quite clearly that although there are over 600 commandments written in the Hebrew scriptures, Jesus all of these commandments are contained in just two: Love God and Love others (all the others) as yourself AND as  Jesus loves you. 

 Two commandments, three action:– love God; love yourself; love the one you call other. This is easy to say. But these commandments are not always easy to do. And this is why Jesus says, abide in me. Abide means to live, to dwell, to remain in Christ. Because we do not have to do this by our own strength. Abiding in Christ Jesus means: Living into community with Jesus and with one another.

 In our lesson from Acts, the early church gathered together in community, generously supporting and caring for one another. They  provide a great example for us. And so, throughout the years, Christian churches and communities have found ways to reach out to support each other – and the neighbor, the one who is in need. Our goal, like that of the early church, is that no one will be in need but that all will have enough. We don’t always get it right. We are, after all, both Saints AND sinners. But we have a Jesus who not only gives second chances but 77x7 chances… and then starts over again. With overwhelming Grace, Jesus calls us to abide in him and to follow his commandments. This means we are invited to continue to listen to God’s call to be in community with one another – with YOU ALL – whether here in this place, friends gathered online, the churches down the street, the neighbors near and far – no one is called “those people.” All are called children of God, siblings of Christ.

 As some of you remember, almost twenty years ago, there was an affordable housing shortage in our neighborhood, especially for Seniors. Also at that same time, Hennepin County was expanding the road in front of our church and in the process, bought some of the church land and the lots of the neighboring houses. Change was happening. But instead of mourning the loss of these neighboring buildings and land, through prayer and discernment, we as a church, led by Pastor Bob, envisioned collaborating with other partners to do something new – to build affordable housing for seniors in that space.  The result is RobbinsWay.

 I almost take it for granted now, but paving the way for this project wasn’t simple. We were going to lose some of our parking. Some people didn’t like it because they didn’t qualify, others quietly wondered what “those neighbors” would be like.  But, in addition to all of the prayer and hard work by Pastor Bob and the leadership team, the Holy Spirit was also at work in a sweet older woman named Shirley Dahlen.

 Some of you may remember Shirley. She was a charter member of the church. She loved to tell me stories about how the church began in the basement of the Masonic Temple in downtown Robbinsdale. It served as a meeting hall on Saturday night and so she had to come to church early Sunday morning to pick up the cigarettes and the beer cans so that they could have church. Then, after worship, she would take home the offering and put it in her freezer. Then, and she would always smile when she said this, on Monday morning, she would go to the bank and deposit the “cold hard cash.”  

 Shirley lived just down the street in a little house her father built. She never married and so the church family became her family. She volunteered for everything, including rocking the babies. She was beloved. And she was growing older.

 When Robbins Way became a possibility, Shirley became excited. Pointing to the empty lot next door, she told everyone at church, “I want to live there in the third story, in that apartment looking down at the church. Don’t you think that would be a good idea?” And no one could say no to her. Who wouldn’t want the little old lady who brought cookies to church as their neighbor?  Sometimes the Holy Spirit works through sweet little old ladies.

 Shirley got her dream. RobbinsWay was built and Shirley got the third story apartment overlooking the church. She was overjoyed. And, then, she brought her new neighbors with her to Bible study. Although Shirley has since died, the Bible study – and other ministries -- continue. Just this past week, one of the newer residents came to Bible study and shared some of her challenges and the joy she felt in being able to be in community together.    

 Sisters and brothers, siblings in Christ, we have come to another time of change. I don’t need to name all of the changes going on in our world, our country, our communities, our churches. You know them. But regardless of the changes around us, Jesus’ call to abide in him and to follow his commands remains the same - even when it means that God may be calling us into a new creation, into doing things differently, into serving God in some new ministry that we have not yet discerned. And so, brothers and sisters, siblings in Christ, let us pray for the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and to work in and through us so that, like Shirley and her neighbor, we all may be filled with the joy of Jesus. Amen.

Sunday, November 2, 2025 All Saints Day

Where are you’all? Jesus is with You’all

Where are you in this story? It’s a question that theologian Mark Allen Powell used to ask. Where are you in this story?

But before you answer that, I’d like to give you a little more context to the story. This year we have been working our way through the Gospel of Luke but today, for All Saints Day, we go back to chapter 6.  Jesus is in the beginning of his ministry. He has been baptized, and preached at his hometown to his neighbors’ delight, and then was almost thrown over the cliff by those same people. Since that time, Jesus has been busy preaching, teaching, healing and calling his disciples. He’s been doing what he told the townspeople he would do: bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to captives, heal the blind, let the oppressed go free and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.

And then, he climbs a mountain and spends the night in prayer. We don’t know what happened in that prayer, but the next morning, Jesus is energized. He gathers the apostles and disciples and goes down the mountain to preach the Sermon on the Plains.

This sermon is similar to the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus, preaching from the mountain, pronounces spiritual blessings on the poor, the meek, and those who are “least likely to receive the “most likely to succeed” award. I love those blessings - but Luke tells the story a little differently. In Luke, Jesus goes down the mountain – and before he even begins to preach – he is met by a great crowd of people from all over the known world.

On this All Saints Day, as we remember those who have died over the past year, we give thanks for them. And, we give thanks that they are with Jesus now. For as Lutherans, we don’t set apart certain “super Christians” as saints. Rather, we are ALL Saints by virtue of our baptism. Jesus claimed us as brothers and sisters, siblings and fellow heirs to the kingdom of God. And yet, we still sin, we still fall short of acting, and thinking and living as the saints that Jesus has called us to be. We are all sinners who need Jesus as our Lord and savior. This is why we proclaim that we are simultaneously Saints and Sinners.

The other thing that we claim is that when we come to the table – the Lord’s table – we are joined by Jesus and ALL the Saints – living and dead – from all over the world whether from Minnesota, Texas, Washington, China, Russia, the Ukraine, Gaza or Israel. Jesus comes down to be “God WITH Us.”

On that morning, when Jesus comes DOWN the mountain, he finds a huge crowd of people waiting for him. They came because they had heard about a mighty preacher who could heal their diseases. And so of course they came. I understand that completely - when my mother was ill and the doctors in the hospital that she was at would not even give her a diagnosis, my sister and I did not stop until we found a doctor who would care for her.  And I know many of you have done the same thing – when a loved one is ill and there is someone who might be able to help, you want to do whatever it takes to find healing.  And so, since word had gotten out that Jesus was a healer, there were people from Judea and Jerusalem and Tyre and Sidon – which is to say – from everywhere.

Jesus saw the people … and he healed them all. ALL of them regardless of who they are, where they were from, or why they were hurting. Jesus heals their wounds, their diseases and their hearts and spirits. And then… he preaches, addressing the real-life challenges of the people who are standing before him. Using words that are reminiscent of the language of reversal that his mother Mary proclaims in the Magnificat, Jesus proclaims a reversal of fortunes from their status NOW to the future, a future with hope and blessings.

I like to imagine Jesus preaching with a southern drawl because he addresses all of us, saying,

·         “you’all” –who are poor NOW -  will receive the kingdom of God.

·         You’all who hunger NOW, you’all  will be filled.

·         You’all who mourn NOW, you’all will laugh.

·         You’all who are being marginalized NOW – you all will have cause to “Rejoice … and leap for joy.  

Jesus is proclaiming the coming of the kingdom of God. But he is not just talking to the people on the plains that day. Jesus is talking to You’all too. For we can all find ourselves in this group of people. You may at times have been hungry, or marginalized. But we all have mourned. And so, especially on days like today when we remember those people we have loved and who have died, we hear Jesus proclaiming a blessing to us.

We can also – yikes - find ourselves in the group of people to whom Jesus pronounces “woes.” But the good news is that the “woes” aren’t a word of condemnation. Instead, they are a wake-up call. As Eugene Peterson, in the Message Bible, translates this passage:  

·         “it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made. What you have is all you’ll ever get.

·         And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself.

Your self will not satisfy you for long.

·         And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games.
There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it.

·          “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—Your task is to be true, not popular.”

 These are important words for us in the United States to hear, we who have grown up hearing that we can “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” and that our only responsibility is to take care of “our own.” But Jesus reminds the crowd, of which we’re all are a part, that if one person is hungry, you’all, we’all cannot ignore the need. If one hurts then we are all called to respond.  Because Jesus has made the table bigger. “Our own” is not just those who are related to us, come from the same place, speak the same language, think the same way. “Our own” are God’s people  everywhere.

For Jesus reminds us that when he talks about “God’s people” – he is not talking about just the people of Faith-Lilac Way, this community, the  Lutheran church, the United States, those who look like us, or talk like us or think like us, but instead, ALL the saints – living and dead – all over the world.

The ”woes,” Jesus’ warnings, are countercultural. And, Jesus has more to say. Perhaps he knows just how challenging it is for us because Jesus says, “to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 2bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you…..Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

This is the hardest thing that Jesus calls us to do. And yet, just because it is hard, and we will fail sometimes, Jesus still calls us to do it.

 And, there are some surprising blessings in doing so. Martin Luther King Jr. found this out. He was thrown into jail and beaten more than once for preaching and protesting for those who were considered “the least of these.” Reflecting on his experiences Martin Luther King Jr. said, " As my sufferings mounted, I soon realized that there were two ways that I could respond to my situation: either to react with bitterness or to transform the suffering into a creative force." He chose to be a creative force in the world.

 Friends in Christ, in this time in our world, in which people are increasingly divided, and isolated from one another, it would be good for us to remember Jesus’ call to love our enemies and to pray for

those who cause us or others to suffer. For we are a part of the community in Christ and Jesus calls us to transform the world with love and not with hatred, with compassion and not with disdain, with Jesus’ way and not “our way.” For Jesus is with us – All of Us Saints & Sinners--  and for Jesus’ sake, we give thanks. Amen.

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church + All Saints Day + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane

Sunday, October 26, 2025

Vicar Karla Leitzman

Today is a really big day for our church. It’s Reformation Sunday- the day where we commemorate the start of the protestant reformation and the church that we are now, as we have been becoming for the past five centuries and as we continue in all of our becoming and reforming. Back in the fall of 2017, I remember thinking about all of the pomp and circumstance of the 500th anniversary of the reformation and it was truthfully the first time I had given it much thought. Through attending some of the big services and events surrounding that anniversary, I realized that we were not there to celebrate one big event that happened five hundred years ago; we were gathered to acknowledge that the reformation is continual.

          As a recap for some of you or to share with others of you for the first time, the reason we note October 31st as Reformation Day is because it is the day where in 1517, German monk, Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Thesis to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. Luther observed the growing corruption of the church, and these 95 ideas were things that he was advocating the church should change in order to be more rightly aligned with God’s directives. The church as a system had eclipsed God in many ways.

          It is impossible to overstate just how much authority the church had during the Middle Ages. Since the fourth century, pretty much all Christians in Europe were Roman Catholic, and the Roman Catholic church owned one third of all of the land on the continent. Martin Luther was a monk who was really captivated by the idea of sin and namely his own nature of sinfulness. So, the church sent him to Wittenburg to teach because they figured he would be good at teaching the New Testament. So because of this, he spent a massive amount of time studying the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and the redemption that is offered through Christ. And it is this extensive study which led him to his charge for reform.

          The church had a pretty well established system for dealing with sin. If you committed a sin, you could pay what was called an indulgence which was basically a donation to the church which came with the guarantee that your sin was forgiven. The price of one of these indulgences was roughly half of the annual income for the average German person at the time. In short, the church was making bank while the poor and the marginalized remained poor and marginalized and Luther thought this was wrong.

          Through his extensive study of the bible and through his own faith and introspection, Luther discerned that no human, no clergy person, no priest, had the authority to forgive someone’s sin much less guarantee that forgiveness through the exchange of money. Only God can forgive sins. And the redemption comes from Jesus as the manifestation of God’s promise, as the indwelling of God’s word and of God’s love.

          It is not the doing of good works that “buys” our forgiveness. It is not by completing a set of subscribed good deeds that we can celebrate salvation. It is through faith and through God’s boundless grace that we are forgiven. Because Luther started preaching this and teaching this, because Luther wrote down his 95 ideas which were criticisms of the way the church was arbitrarily handing out supposed salvation, the match that would become the Protestant reformation was lit, beginning on October 31st, 1517 in Wittenberg Germany with Luther nailing these theses to the door.

          It is incredibly important to note that we say this is the start of the protestant reformation. It wasn’t a one time act where Luther nailed these thoughts and boom, we now have Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. It was just that. A Start. A start of something that in all honesty has never had a defined ending. The reformation has been constant. This start and its subsequent continued reforming has been anything but simple or straightforward.

Like many millennial women, I too, had a fascination with Tudor England and subsequently with the six wives of Henry XIII of England. England became protestant because King Henry wanted to divorce his wife but because of its Catholicism, he couldn’t. So, he broke away from the church, sparking the spread of Protestantism throughout Europe. And the Church of England and the state churches of many European countries remain protestant today in spite of many bloody and brutal attempts throughout the last five centuries to reinstate a catholic monarchies to various thrones.

          I promise I have a point in this mini history lesson. See, the protestant reformation is actually a pretty perfect metaphor for all that we experience and navigate in our modern church. It can be temping for us to long for a time when we perceived things to be simpler, easier. To long for a time when the church felt less precarious amidst an incredibly shaky and unstable world. To return to a time of less change. But the truth is, there has always been change and tension. That is constant. We have been trying to figure this all out for the last five hundred and eight years, and guess what, we’re still figuring it out. The constant is God’s love and that God is present in all of the change and tumultuousness.

          You have heard me preach from this pulpit that when we really boil being Lutheran down to a central idea, it is this: that Christ has completed the good works. We do not have to check the boxes of good deeds because God took care of that for is through Christ’s death, resurrection and our subsequent redemption. Therefore, we do not need to spend our lives trying to earn or achieve salvation. We are given that through grace and through faith. And because we have been freed from that endless rat race of chasing salvation, that we are thus freed to love and to serve our neighbor. Basically, that’s it, folks. That’s what it means to be Lutheran.

          As Americans in particular, we are fed a lot of ideas as to what freedom is or isn’t. And we find that it is largely a focus on freedom from and in a very individualistic sense. The freedom is mine and mine alone and no one can tell me what to do because that infringes on my freedom. But what if we approached it from the vantage point of it being a freedom to and not from? In Christ we are given the freedom to live abundantly, to love and serve our neighbors, freedom to explore new ideas, to create community together even when it feels shaky or confusing. Freedom to celebrate God’s presence in our lives and in our communities.

          It is not an accident that our stewardship season coincides with this season of Reformation. It is profound that we celebrate that we are part of a church community which has freedom to. Freedom to care for one another, to truly engage with one another and be there for each other. Freedom to have fellowship together and share together in both life’s joys and grief. Freedom to be responsive to the needs of our community, both the community that is immediately geographically close to us and to our national and global community. We give and share because we get to, not because we have to. We are not asked to pay a punitive amount of money in order to guarantee our salvation like so many earlier Christians were. We are invited to share what is significant to us not because we have to check boxes of good deeds to earn salvation but because we celebrate that we can do so much together.

          Our changing, our reforming continues. It wasn’t a one and done event with Martin Luther’s nail and hammer. That was merely the beginning. And we are the ones charged with continuing that reforming, not knowing precisely where we will end up, but celebrating that God is with us all the same.

Sunday, October 19, 2025

Gifts, Gratitude and Giving

  “Every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift.”1

 This beautiful statement came from a young woman named Jessica Redfield who had escaped, unharmed, a shooting in a mall in Toronto.

 This experience led her to see that the things in her life that she most cherished – love, time, life - were all gifts.  Sadly, she did not have much time to enjoy these gifts. She moved to Colorado where she was killed in a mass shooting.

The gift of life is precious. And we don’t know how long we will have to enjoy the gifts God gives to us. It is a sober and yet always timely reminder – that the gift of life is precious. In our busy lives it is so easy to forget, so easy to take these gifts for granted – the ordinary but extraordinary gifts of the sun coming each morning, the gift of a smile, a hug, the gift of love and laughter, the gift of life. All of these are gifts from God. Let us remember to give God thanks.

The man in our Gospel story is a man who was reminded – by an extraordinary experience – to notice the gifts that he received. His response was to turn back, praising God in a loud voice and then, when he prostrates himself – which means he falls on his face, an act of worship and complete submission--and he thanks Jesus.

Jesus asks, “Where are the other nine?”

It’s an interesting question since I assume that they were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do – go show yourselves to the priests.  The priests were not only worship and Bible study leaders and teachers, they were, in effect, the guardians of the health of the community.  Those who had leprosy or any other communicable disease were sent out of the city and left to beg by the side of the road. They were isolated – much as so many people were during the pandemic. And yet, they couldn’t even stay in their homes. The only way they could return to community was by a confirmation of their health by the priests.  So, of course, the healed lepers were all eager to go to the priests. Imagine – being able to be reunited with family after being ousted from the community and living outside the walls of the city, not able to work, to see family and without much hope of ever coming back.  So, it’s not hard to guess where the other nine are.  They are just doing what they were told to do.

But what made the one healed leper turn around? The ten lepers all asked Jesus for mercy. They were all healed. But notice what is different. One man saw: that is, his eyes were opened not only to see his healing, but he let it sink in so that he saw that it wasn’t just a magical healing but his healing showed that God is at work in the world and in his life. He sees, he believes and then he acts – loudly proclaiming God’s praise as he returns to worship Jesus. 

Jesus notes that this man is a Samaritan, who in the eyes of the Jewish followers of Jesus who would be the least likely to offer a good example. And yet, the Samaritan, the man who was also called “foreigner” or “alien” or “not one of us” is the one who sees and changes his direction – despite his own yearning to be declared clean by the priests. But the Samaritan sees God doing something even bigger and better than healing his skin and so he cannot contain himself in shouting praises to God and in honoring and thanking Jesus.

Jesus says to this Samaritan, “Your faith has made you well.” This seems odd since he and the other nine were healed of their skin disease already. But as David Lose says in his commentary, the word that is translated here as “made well” can also be translated as “saved,” or “healed” or even, as in the King James version, “made whole.”2   The Samaritan man was not only healed of his skin disease, but he is made whole.  And then Jesus sends him back out into the world.

The healed Samaritan man, no longer an ostracized leper, but now made whole, provides a great model of discipleship. Like the Samaritan man, we too have reason to give thanks. We too have been given gifts by God. And we too can respond with thanks, praise and action.

And this, is another way for us to understand stewardship. Last week I shared Bishop Chilstrom’s no-nonsense approach to stewardship. Our church needs money in order to pay the bills and in order to do the mission and ministry that we are called to do. It’s still true.  And, as I have found, there is great joy in investing this ministry that we share.  

As I often say at the time of offering, we are taking this time to worship God with our offering. For giving your offering is a time and a way of worship. Whether you give online or use billpay or drop your offering in the plate on Sunday morning, gathered together, this is your gift to God to do God’s ministry and work here in this place and in our neighborhood and to make a difference in our world. Giving back to God our time and our talents and our money and resources are all a part of our faithful response to God’s gifts to us.

Today’s Gospel reminds us to: Open our eyes to see God’s work in our lives. Open our eyes to see the gifts God has given to you and to me. God is so generous to us.

The question for you and me is this: Can we be generous too? God is so generous to us. Can we, like the Samaritan former leper - respond to God’s gifts by generously and joyfully giving our gifts of praise, thanks, worship, and adoration to God?  Can we offer our gifts of time, skills, and money – because it takes money to do the mission - with the same joyful spirit?

I think we can. And so, instead of getting caught up in comparing ourselves to someone else – as one mentor of mine said, quite plainly, “Let’s get over that nonsense” -- let us be like the Samaritan who was healed. He doesn’t worry about the other nine who were healed instead, he simply turns back, praises God and thanks Jesus. Jesus’ gift to him is that he is made whole. His healing is more than skin-deep.

And so, brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, let us open our eyes to see how God is at work in us and in our time. Let us open our eyes see the gifts God has given us, remembering that: Every second of every day is a gift -- from the ordinary but extra-ordinary gifts of creation to the ordinary yet extraordinary gifts of time, love, and life.  And because we see these gifts, let us respond both with our offerings of praise, thanks, and worship and our offerings of money, time and talents as we join God in ministry and mission in our church, our community and our world. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane + October 19, 2025

[1] From MPR Newscut blog by Bob Collins

2 https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19 David Lose Oct 10 2010

Sunday, October 12, 2025

“Does the church always have to talk about money? Why does the pastor preach so much about money?”  Herbert Chilstrom, the first Bishop of the ELCA, opens a devotional with these questions. He responds by saying, “I think we’ve been too apologetic about the money issue…. We need money to operate our churches. It takes money to pay staff salaries and utility bills and purchase …supplies” 1 to do our ministry work in our local church and our partner churches and ministries nationally and internationally.

Then Chilstrom asks another question, “But isn’t there a better way to do it than to keep haranguing people to give more money?”

Bishop Chilstrom’s questions were good for me to ponder. Because I’ll admit, many pastors, including myself, don’t like to preach about money either. But I hope that I don’t come off as “haranguing” you to give more money! To be honest, I don’t like asking for money either. And yet, as Chilstrom said, “We need money to operate our churches. It takes money to pay staff salaries and utility bills and purchase supplies” for the mission that we do. This is the economy in which we live.

In his devotion, Chilstrom responds to his question about isn’t there a better way to do it by saying, “Well, I have news for you. No, there is no other way. In fact, it’s always been that way. If we read the New Testament carefully, we soon learn that Jesus talked about money more than anything else. The same is true with Paul. He pleads unapologetically with the churches to be generous. To the believers in Corinth, for example he writes that they should never give grudgingly, but out of a generous heart.”2

Paul does ask the churches to be generous with their money – and to support not only their own congregation but also other churches, especially the church in Jerusalem, which was financially strapped and other congregations that were being persecuted. And yet, I don’t think he was “haranguing them.” But he wasn’t bashful about encouraging them either. He pointed out a poor little church in Macedonia that gave sacrificially and joyfully to encourage the Christians in Corinth to give a bountiful gift of money – and to give it joyfully. 

Herb Chilstrom is also correct in saying that Jesus talked about money, wealth and financial resources– a lot.  Jesus tells stories to teach people to put God first. And so when a rich young man asks him, what can he do to inherit eternal life? He eagerly tells Jesus that he’s followed all the commandments. Maybe he was just looking for a “well done young man.” But instead, Jesus invites him to “Go, sell everything you have, give it to the poor and come and follow me.” The young man goes away very sad because he cannot part with his money to follow Jesus. 

Jesus doesn’t call everyone to sell everything they have to follow him. But he does teach us all to put our relationship with God and our love of God above our relationship with ANYTHING else, including money. As Jesus said in today’s Gospel, “No servant can serve two masters, for a servant will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Luke 16:13   In other words, don’t make an idol out money – regardless of how much or little you have.

Why Does Jesus talk about money?   Money is a part of our daily life. And so, Jesus is concerned about the relationship of people to money and how that affects their relationship with God and with their neighbor. For then – and now – the gifts and resources and money that each person has been entrusted with is not the same. And Jesus reminds us that,  “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” (Luke 12:48)  Jesus wants us to use the gifts, skills, talents, money and other resources that we have been entrusted with to care and build up – not only ourselves but also our neighbors near and far.

Paul encourages Timothy in the same way, saying, Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

So what does this have to do with us here at Faith-Lilac Way?  It’s stewardship season and yes, we are talking about sharing our time – our talents and our money. And right now, I am talking about the money that we need to do ministry here at Faith-Lilac Way. I sincerely hope that you do not feel harangued. And, I believe that I can trust you with the truth. I am happy to say that if we give generously this last quarter, we will be close to our budget for the end of the year. This doesn’t include the extra maintenance of the stucco work for the chimney, which comes out of our savings and memorials but it does include all of the “ordinary expenses” of doing ministry here in this place. And so I want to thank you for your financial gifts and for investing in the life of this congregation.

One of the joys of serving for a long time in one place is that I get to see the fruits of your investments in this church. This past week I was surprised by receiving a package from Karin, the daughter of Diane Carlson, one of our members who has since past away. Years ago, we baptized Karin’s twin boys. I’m sometimes asked by people, “Where are the babies that you baptize? Why aren’t they in our church, filling up the pews?”   And while we would love to have all of the children that we baptize stay at Faith-Lilac Way, we trust in the Holy Spirit to do God’s work in their lives – if not here, then in somewhere else.  

I’m happy to say that this is what happened: the package contained an invitation to write a letter to each of her boys, telling them about the significance of their baptism here and the faith of their grandmother. They will receive these letters on their Confirmation Day from another ELCA Lutheran church, Word of Life in Rogers, MN. The seed of faith was planted at Faith-Lilac Way. It has been growing in Rogers.  

Another of those investments is in the 16 interns that we have helped to raise up to be pastors. Adam Morton, one of those former Vicars, now Pastors, is now serving as a professor in England, another, Pastor Kristin Dybdal is serving as a hospice chaplain, and the others are serving as pastors in Minnesota and three are serving in Nebraska.

Thank you for your gifts that have supported our ministry in building up the future church.  But guess what. We are not done. Now we have to look to the future as you make your estimate of giving for the upcoming year. The Stewardship committee chose the word “Significance” for this year. We recognize that a gift of “significance” will look different to different people. Remember the widow that Jesus noticed quietly putting two coins into the treasury of the church. It was 100% of what she had. Jesus said that was a greater gift than the bags of money that the rich man gave in a loud and showy way. It looked to outsiders as a lot, but it was a mere token of all that he owned.

We don’t know what became of that widow – I heard one theory that she became a ward of the temple and then lived there. We don’t have any apartments in the building so I’m not suggesting that you give 100% of everything that you have.  But I, together with the stewardship committee, are asking you to reflect on the significant gifts that God has entrusted to you, time and talent but also money and resources, and inviting you to respond by investing in your congregation gifts of time, talent and yes, money too.

I invite you to ponder what a financial gift of “significance” may mean to you as we sing this prayer in our hymn of the day:  In gratitude and humble trust we bring our best today to serve your cause and share your love with all along life's way. In gratitude and humility, we bring our best. That’s a gift of great significance. Thanks be to God. Amen.

1 &2 Let’s Talk About Money by former Bishop Rev.Dr Herb Chilstrom in the devotional book,”All Things New”