WE OUGHT TO DANCE WITH RAPTURE

The following sermon is from the wedding of Gabrielle Lynn McNally and Samuel Edmond White, which took place on Mount Hosmer in Lansing, Iowa on July 31, 2010.

They meet for the first time. He looks into her eyes. She takes his hand. They waltz across the stage, floating gracefully as the music soars. And they live happily ever after.

Sounds like a fairy tale or an internet forward, huh? No no, it is the real life story of Gabby and Sam. And I’m here with you and with the two of them on this, their wedding day because I engineered the whole thing by begging Gabby to audition for the Allamakee Players’ production of “Meet Me in Saint Louis” four years ago. I’d like to take credit for fixing her up with this amazing groom she’s got here but frankly, I was just trying to make sure we’d have a strong female lead. Little did I know she would meet the love of her life and they would dance off into the sunset together.

Gabby’s been dancing for a long time. When I first met her, I was choreographing a summer production of Grease and she was a dancing cast member. I later interviewed her for an art project I was doing to reveal the inner lives of teenage girls. When Gabby and I spoke, it was clear to me that she’d found a wisdom, a confidence beyond her young age. She said: “I found authenticity, but I don’t think that some people are that open to the idea, or just, you know, they’re trying so hard to fit in.” Gabby summoned the courage (and I think it had a lot to do with her parents’ unswerving love and support) to be herself. She emphatically said to me: “I’d like to think that I’m passionate too, like God is, just about my life and about the way I feel.” Yes, this young girl was already dancing to the beat of her own drummer.

And who waltzes into the life of this fiesty, amazing girl but a dashing, dancing young man named Sam? You guessed it, they were cast opposite one another in the Allamakee Players’ production so they were forced to spend the summer singing and dancing together. And it was at these rehearsals that Gabby began to noticed how wonderful Sam is. The first thing he got points for was getting along with her mom. He knew how to get to her heart. She found in Sam a kindred spirit who not only shares her interests in the arts, but is also a person of kindness generosity. And on top of that he’s a fellow rock concert devotee and has a great sense of humor!

They fast became friends. Then a romance blossomed. Then, four years later he popped the question. She said yes yes, she said yes before he could even finish asking. They both feel blessed to have the gift of one another. It’s the kind of love story everyone dreams of.

And all of this brings you, Gabby and Sam, to this sacred moment. The dance you began on that stage all those years ago is about to take a turn, a whirl if you will, into a deeper, more profound dance—a dance that you intend will last you the rest of your lives.

D.H. Lawrence wrote: “We ought to dance with rapture that we might be alive...and part of the living, incarnate cosmos.” That is your challenge, I believe, as you make your matrimoials vows to one another and move on from here. How can you dance in a way that makes you fully alive, fully a part of the living, incarnate cosmos—and do it in a unified way, as a married couple who can dance together without stepping on each other’s toes?

Well, that’s your job. But as a spiritual leader and a friend who's been asked to speak at your wedding, I’d like to offer 3 words of wisdom to you this evening that I hope you’ll bear in mind as you do the dance of life together.

My first piece of advise is: dance with passion. I know you are passionate people but you must stay passionate and direct that passion towards one another. According to a recent poll in the UK, the average romance now lasts two years, six months and 25 days. You’re already past that and you're still in love so that’s good. Gabby, you say “Sam’s my everything.” And Sam, you say “Gabby’s my everything.” Well, guess what? You’ve got to keep it that way if you want to dance with passion.

In the Bible, there is a whole book of romantic love poems called the Song of Solomon. In chapter 8, it says: “Love is as strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. ” Powerful words for a powerful emotion.

Gabby and Sam, it is your responsibility to keep your love alive, so that it will burn as strong as death. This connection that you have of mind, body, and spirit can and must grow. If you make this a priority, you’ll find that your hearts will continue to thrill with one another. And this will make your dance more passionate.

The second word of wisdom I have is: dance with positivity. Many couples get into trouble after a while, when the blinders come off their eyes and they see the truth about each other. All of their differences that they used to find so charming and cute become downright annoying. The reality is, there are endless things to dislike about each other. How easy it would be to fall into the trap of taking each other for granted and not seeing the incredible miracle that the other is.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he addressed this human tendency. He was writing to the whole community but I think his words are equally applicable in the case of marriage. He offers these profound words: Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

We all have behavioral habits. The things we do are based on the patterns we’ve set up for ourselves. What Paul is urging here and what I’m urging is well, is that you start your marriage off on the right foot. And that means you dance positively. You intentionally think about the things that are good in each other. Just as there are plenty of things to be upset about with one another, there are plenty of things that are true, pleasing and excellent. So just think about those things. It really is that simple.

I’m sure you’re already doing this, but you must make it a relational habit, a way of life, if you intend to keep regarding one another with gratitude. Research shows that people who keep a gratitude journal, who each night before going to sleep write at least five things for which they are grateful, big things or little things, are happier, more optimistic, more successful, more likely to achieve their goals, physically healthier; it actually strengthens their immune system, and makes them more generous and benevolent toward others. This is an exercise that takes about three minutes a day with life-changing benefits. Gabby and Sam, I suggest you keep a gratitude journal about one another. Write down 5 things you appreciate about your spouse each day. In this way, you’ll be following the scriptural exhortation to think about those things which are worthy of praise. You’ll be enhancing your lives as you learn to dance with greater and greater positivity.

My final bit of wisdom is dance with purpose. I know that you are spiritual people. This is important. You must continue to tap into your spiritual roots. This is the place from which you draw your strength, grounding, and life purpose. If you are both doing this, it will bring you closer.

Psalm 87:7 puts it this way: Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.” Sam and Gabby, you are young and optimistic but the truth is, there will be hard times ahead. You will experience negative emotions, hurts, disappointments and faillures even within this relationship. The hard knocks of life will come. But you, the singers and dancers, can cling to your Creator. You can hold fast to God, the wellspring of spiritual power.

In 1 John, Chapter 4 it says:

"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love....Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us."

This scripure tells us that your love for one another comes from God and it is through your love, that God lives in you. This means that your marriage has a spiritual foundation. God will be at work perfecting your love as the glowing depth, beauty and joy of your love increases over the years. This is the purpose of which I speak.

Gabby and Sam, we share your excitement. We want the very best for you and your marriage. We hope that your unified dance will be a constant source of blessing and that you’ll remember to dance with passion, to dance with positivity and to dance with purpose, that you may be alive and part of the incarnate cosmos.

Let us pray: O God of Love, pour down your grace upon Gabby & Sam that they may fulfill the vows they will make this day and reflect your steadfast love in their life-long faithfulness to each other. As members with them in the family of God, use us to support their life together; and from your great store of strength give them power and patience, affection and understanding, courage, and love toward you, toward each other, and toward the world, that they may continue to dance together in true and constant love. Amen.

LAUGHING IN HEAVEN

The following is a sermon I preached for the funeral of my great uncle, Donald Dodge in Colesburg, Iowa. Click here for his obituary.

Psalm 68:3-7

But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds—his name is the Lord— be exultant before him.

Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land.

O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,

the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

John 14:15-21, 27

”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

IN THE NAME OF OUR SAVIOR WHO HAS DEFEATED DEATH, DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF DONALD DODGE.

When I was a very little girl, I remember being at a family gathering playing in the basement with my cousins. I ran upstairs for something and at the top of the steps, I was met by my great Uncle Donald who looked at me and casually said: “Okay, Laura, I paid your daddy the dime for you so you’re going home with me.” Being too young to know it was once of his many jokes, I whirled around and ran back down the stairs as fast as my little legs would take me. He laughed and laughed at me and never did let me live that one down.

That’s one of my first memories of Uncle Donald. And I smile at each and every memory of him, as I know you do too. It was great to hear stories from his great grandaughter, Lucie. Donald was so eager to offer a joke, a witicism, a laugh or just that big delightful grin of his.

In Proverbs, we read: “a cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22) All of Donald’s friends, children, grand children, and great grandchildren were given a dose of good medicine whenever they encountered him. He was ever sharing his cheerful heart and cheering us all along the way. When you were in his presence, you were lifted.

Donald was certainly a person who lived out the joy of the Lord. He really walked the walk because he knew his Savior. In the Psalm we just heard, it says: "let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy." This does speak of Donald, doesn’t it? He was ever jubilant with joy. From this joyfulness, he was so caring, serving and all-around wonderful.

But when a person of jubilant joy departs, we feel a profound loss. Not that we thought we’d have him forever—we nearly did—but somehow the end still feels too soon. We need God’s help.

And for you Karen and Cindy, this is especially hard. You’ve lost your last remaining parent. It may feel—even at your age—that you’ve been orphaned. How do you go on without your parents? Jesus’ disciples felt this way too when he announced that he would be going to be with the Father. And so he assured them that he would not leave them. That’s what we heard in the Gospel reading this morning: I will not leave you orphaned. No, he promised that he would come to them and make his home with them and give them peace, even in the midst of distress. This reading closes with one of the most beautiful passages in the bible. Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

This beautiful peace beyond what the world can give is what our beloved Donald has now entered into. He is surrounded in glorious light, joy and peace. And Jesus promises us that same peace here as we continue our journey on earth. It is the peace of God that passes all understanding. Because we’ve been given the gift of this peace, we musn’t be afraid. Our hearts need not be troubled. We have God’s peace.

Therefore, our mourning, though deep, is only temporary. The Psalmist declares to the Lord, “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy!” This is good news to all of us who mourn. The God we love will transform our mourning so much so that not only will we be okay, we’ll be dancing! Because we know that death is but a gateway to eternal life, because we know we will one day be reunited with Donald and all those we love who have gone before, because Jesus Christ has died for us, we can rejoice. Even now. Even as we mourn. Yes, we can and should faithfully rejoice. I know Donald would want it that way.

I’m a Lutheran minister so I have to sneak in a quote from Martin Luther and here it is. He wrote: “If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.” I know Donald agreed with that sentiment. Yes, should rejoice even in our sorrow because we know our sackcloth will eventually come off and we’ll be clothed with joy, but Donald has already been clothed with joy. Completely. He is so full of the joy of the Lord right now that he must be laughing. I can only imagine how full his belly laugh is right now. I can only imagine how happy he was to take his beloved wife, Lucille, back into his arms and laugh together with her again. I can only imagine how they’ve both been lifted up on eagle’s wings, how they shine like the sun in God’s eternal kingdom. Oh, if we just picture them in our minds’ eye for a moment, we cannot help but smile.

This is why we may have tears today but it is really a day of celebration. We celebrate the happy, loving life of Donald Dodge. We celebrate the multitude of things that he meant to us. We celebrate how he enriched and changed our lives with the cheerfulness medicine he dished out daily. We celebrate the fact that his ours and we are his and so we’ll always have him in our hearts. And most of all, we celebrate the God who created Donald, saved him and gave him joy—joy that never never ends.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

COME, JOIN THE DANCE

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday—the only day of the church year dedicated to a theological teaching not associated with the life of Jesus. Furthermore, it contains the word “trinity,” which is not a biblical word but a theological concept developed about 300 years after Jesus’ death. A strange church day, to be sure.

But I’m totally into it. I know I’m an exception to the norm as I was brought up wholly immersed in the life of the church. I distinctly remember riding my tricycle around the garage on days it was too cold to trike outside. And as I made my circles, I would recite the Apostle’s Creed. Round and round I would go until I was both an excellent triker and an excellent mini theologian. I was able to wrap my mind around the doctrine of the Trinity even before I graduated to two wheels. Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a church nerd.

Yes, we celebrate the triune nature of God today. For those of you who might not be full-blown church nerds, what does this mean?

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the chosen people understood that God one God and was the only God. This was quite different from their cultural context where people carved lots of “gods” out of stone or cast them in metal and told stories of how these gods fought with each other endlessly—always staking out their supernatural turf. No, when the father of the faith, Abraham set forth from Ur to follow God’s command to go to the land of Caanan, he knew that there was just one God—and an all-powerful God that must be obeyed even if it was inconvenient. Moses knew this one God too, and saw God’s power unleashed in Egypt as God freed the enslaved and lead them forth to the Promised Land. The prophets continued to speak out about this one God who was holy and above all knowing.

Then, Jesus came into the picture and the new religious movement of Christians began to speak not only of God, but of the Son of God and of the Holy Spirit that was still moving among them. Yet, they declared that all these were still one God. No wonder people got confused and frustrated by this new understanding. It IS difficult to understand God.

Saint Augustine often puzzled about the whole idea of describing God as a Trinity. He described an incident in which he was walking along the beach and observed a young boy with a bucket, running back and forth to pour water into a little hole. Augustine asked, "What are you doing?" The boy replied, "I'm trying to put the ocean into this hole." It suddenly occurred to Augustine that just as this boy was pursuing the ridiculous goal of putting the whole ocean into the hole, he was pursuing an equally ridiculous goal: trying to put an infinite God into his finite mind. We, with our very limited brains (in comparison to God’s wisdom), have come up with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity—the belief that God is expressed in three parts as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But we must recognize, as Augustine did, that we could never fully understand God—we could never fully capture God’s entire essence with a doctrine.

Yet we do have this doctrine and it can give us a peephole into the divine. What is this triune God like? Well, the Athanasian Creed puts it this way: “In this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal; and so we must worship the trinity in unity and the one God in three persons.” Jesus explained it similarly when he said: "Do you not know that the Father is in me and I in the Father?" And of the Spirit, Jesus said: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” These three, equal persons of God work together in community as one, unified God. Some theologians insist that what is most important about belief in a triune God is not that we see God in three ways, but that we understand God as dynamic community. God, you see, is a like a committee...that actually works.

What is unique about Trinitarian theology, is that it explains that there is an inner relational energy within the three forms of God. John of Damascus, an eighth-century theologian, described the Trinity with the Greek word "perichoresis." This word comes from the same root as the word "choreography." It suggests that there is a movement, a graceful dance within the internal life of God. It is a dance of inclusion, equality and most of all, love.

God, the great "I AM," whom we can never fully understand gives us a major clue to help us understand. We see that God is not alone, God is—at the very core—relationship. This is completely different from those Greek gods of old who were constantly fighting with one another. Not so for our God. In the Trinity we find a beautiful and caring relationship. God is united and loving and dancing together seamlessly.

Amazing! And yet what is even more amazing is that we have been invited into the dance too. God could have danced in peace apart from our world and all its selfish ambition. Instead, God chooses to redeem us and to be together with God and one another in the dance of life.

We all know the pain of not being invited, not being included. We humans do this to each other all the time, and it hurts. God does just the opposite: God invites all to the table. No one is an outsider in God’s eyes. Everyone is beloved and vitally important. Remember that when Jesus was baptized, the father God said to him: "You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased." Well, when we are baptized, God says the same thing to us: "You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased."
We are invited into the Trinity of God in our baptism. We become part of the dance—adopted by God the father, redeemed by God the Son and sealed with God the Holy Spirit. What have we to fear, then? If God has brought us into the harmonious community, then we can live in unspeakable joy. We are beloved, each called by name, each more important than we ever thought we could be. This is a dance we can dig.

Now you can see that the doctrine of the Trinity is not just a fancy theory—it is the reality in which we live each day of our lives. We are part of the community and we are free to dance with God. How, then, should we dance?

In a very popular passage from 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul explained that we need to respond to this amazing love by being loving ourselves. Love, he said, is not a gushy feeling but an action. Love is patient. It is kind. It is not jealous or self-serving. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs. Love is the more excellent way. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. It never ends.

That’s the kind of dance we need. As I visit with people both inside and outside the congregation, I am chronically aware of this need. So many people feel hurt, lonely, isolated, rejected. There is pain that burns secretly within. It is like baggage too heavy to carry. They don’t know where to go or what to do to turn that around. They do not see themselves as beloved. They do not realize that they could be dancing with God.

We, who have been claimed as God’s beloved have an obligation to these people. We are to be the hands and feet of this triune God and make sure they understand that they are beloved. They are precious and God is pleased with them. They are invited into the dance where there is healing and joy. What more can we be doing to make sure that invitation is conveyed?

There is one God, who is relationship, who is dancing with equity and love. Can’t you see why I get excited about Holy Trinity Sunday? Whether you are a church nerd or not, you can see that it is worth celebrating! We are called to live and move and have our being in the Trinity’s love. This is the more excellent way. May we open our eyes to see our community as God does and say to them: Come, join the dance. Amen.


And now, may the peace which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© 2010 Laura E. Gentry

FUNERAL SERMON FOR DONNA THRAN

READ THE OBITUARY HERE

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Romans 8:31-35, 37-39

What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, of famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, no things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 14:15-21, 27

”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

The prophet Nehemiah spoke God’s word to the people in exile who were grieving. He said: "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

Today, as we grieve the loss of Donna,—who was so much to those of us gathered here: wife, mother, sister, aunt, and friend—we feel immense sadness. Grief weighs heavy upon us. And yet God says to us today: do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Yes, joy. Even now as our hearts are breaking. Joy is to be our strength.

Though Donna outlived her initial prognosis by a long shot, it still seems way too soon for her journey of life to be at an end. But the end has come and now we have gathered to celebrate her life and entrust her to God. We may not feel like celebrating because of our grief, but celebrate, we must, because Donna lived a life worth celebrating. She was, indeed, the prime example of strength coming from the joy of the Lord.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.

You probably learned that little song in Sunday school. It certainly reminds us of Donna, doesn’t it? There are many things that we can say about who Donna was and in particular, who she was to us but I think in just about everyone’s description, the word joy is in there.

Donna was baptized as a child. God claimed her in those waters and planted that joy, joy, joy, joy down in her heart to stay. And yes, that faith and that joy grew as Donna did. Throughout her life, she believed God’s promise of salvation to her through Jesus Christ. She was actively involved in her church. She served faithfully and always with good cheer because of her great love for Jesus.

I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.

Then, in the prime of her retirement years, she was given a cancer diagnosis. She had to endure a grueling schedule of chemotherapy, which exhausted her. But you sure would not have known that Donna was ill if she hadn’t told you. Even as she was going through all of those treatments, she was strong and remarkably joyful. As we heard in the scripture lesson from Isaiah, God gives power and strength to those who wait upon the Lord. “They shall mount up with wings like eagles,” it says, “they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Like the eagles that soared outside her windows, God lifted Donna up on eagle’s wings and gave her such strength we knew it was from above.

She continued to shine her bright light into our lives. She went right on serving others in so many ways, including being our church treasurer right up to the beginning of March. Donna kept sending out cards of encouragement as our church’s encouragement team leader. She continued to come to laughter club and share that marvelous, contagious laugh of hers. And she remained the rock of her family.

In Romans, Paul asks: What shall separate us from the love of God? “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, of famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? No,” he says, “No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Certainly that’s what Donna was, even in the midst of her illness. She was so in tune with the love of God that she was not deterred by anything. She was a conqueror. No, she was more than a conqueror. She knew the peace of God that passes all understanding and it was her strength.

But what now? What are we to do now that she has passed from this life and into the next, more glorious one? Now she is in the place where there is no pain, no sickness, no death, no sorrow—where God will wipe away all tears. By faith, we have confidence that Donna’s suffering is all over and her joy is expanding, but what about our joy? In our grief, we feel lost and alone without her here. We miss her so much. We wonder if our joy will ever really return.

Jesus disciples felt this kind of uncertainty when he told them about his impending death. They were scared, but he assured them with these comforting words: ”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” Jesus promises you and me as well that we will not be orphaned. No matter how great our loss, we are not alone. Jesus is coming to us and he is bringing the gift of his peace. He says to us: “ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Yes, my friends. We can have the peace that passes understanding even now, just as Donna had it all the days of her life.

I’ve got the peace the passes understanding down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got the peace the passes understanding down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.

So we have the gift of God’s peace to see us through this present darkness. Jesus has promised it to each one of us.

But we have more than that! We have the promise that everyone who believes in Jesus will not die, but will live eternally. This is God’s grace to us. Donna, as I’ve said, was a child of God, loved by Jesus, filled with the strength of joy, lifted upon on eagle’s wings, more than a conqueror and filled with peace. And the good news is that we can be too! All of these things are gifts from God. They are gifts to all those who are willing to receive them.

And this means that we can have the assurance that we will see Donna again. She’s been spirited away from her beloved Mississippi River but the bible promises that in heaven we’ll gather at another, presumably more beautiful river (though it’s hard for us to imagine anything more beautiful). This river is the river that flows from the throne of God and I presume the bird watching there is mighty good. That’s where we will stand one day. And that’s where we’ll have a powerful reunion with Donna and all of the saints who have gone before. We’ll sing and dance and laugh without end.

Last All Saint’s Day, I tried to make the point that we are all saints by virtue of our baptism. God gifts us with saint status because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. It is not about our own works, but about the work of Christ. And so I made a painting of an old, stylized saint with a bright, glowing halo and the face was a cut-out. I proceeded to make everyone stick their face through the hole so that they could see themselves and one another as saints.

Now Donna was a saint—I don’t need to convince you of this because you already know it. But have you seen her as a saint? Well, I made this print-out of her saint portrait to show you so that when you see her at the river that flows from the throne of God, you’ll be able to recognize her!

She will be standing there in all God’s glory with her arms open to welcome you. And that, my friends, is good news.

This is why we may have tears today but it is really a day of celebration. We celebrate the happy, loving life of Donna Thran. We celebrate the multitude of things that she meant to us. We celebrate how she enriched and changed our lives. And most of all, we celebrate the God who created her and gave her joy.

So to close my sermon, I would like to invite you to sing the first verse of “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy” with me. Let’s clap and sing and show all our enthusiasm. This one is for Saint Donna.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

© 2010 Laura Gentry

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

A Sermon for Maundy Thursday

by Pastor Laura Gentry

John 13:1-35

Growing up, my mother made a funny ritual of celebrating “Garbage Day,” which for our household was on Wednesdays. Presumably trying to get us to do the same thing, she would skip into each room to fetch the garbage singing a silly made-up song about “Here comes the Garbage Lady,”which I later developed into a full-fledged song (with Tom’s help) and it ended up on my children’s album. Because of this Garbage Day routine, we used to talk about how Holy Week had so many holidays we couldn’t even grasp it. I mean, wow, you’ve got Garbage Day followed by Maundy Thursday, followed by Good Friday, followed by Easter Vigil, followed by Easter. Whew! Do you see what I mean? This is a big-time week!

And this year, I have been musing about how we have a double holiday on Maundy Thursday. For, as you know, it is also April Fool’s Day, which you may have guessed was also a major holiday in my family. But as I began working on tonight’s sermon, I kept finding conflict with the fact that we’ve got a serious liturgical day in Maundy Thursday but yet it shares a date with the whimsical day of April Fools. Is there any meaning I can derive out of this? This is the questions preachers love to ask.

And so I probed and I pried into the story of Jesus’ last supper once again, this year with an eye for how it might tie in with foolishness. To begin with, it’s not hard to see how outsiders can view this story as a foolish and strange one.

When the early Christians met to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, they were called cannibals. What are you doing eating the “body and blood” of your Lord? That’s too weird. You can see how those outside of Christendom would find it horrifying.

It’s so normal to us. We’ve grown accustomed to this meal of his body and blood, which we understand to be a spiritual reality that inhabits ordinary bread and wine. We know we’re not cannibals. We don’t see the weirdness in it at all.

But that’s not all that seems foolish to the outsiders. Not only is this meal about the body and blood of their leader, it is rooted in all sorts of awful things: denial, betrayal, the suicide of a disciple, a Messiah’s arrest and subsequent death, and perhaps strangest of all: dirty feet. Oh the story has grown tame to us, but these things seem like a foolish way for the God of the Universe to save us.

In the Gospel lesson we’ve just heard, Jesus who been given all things from God into his hands, uses those hands to do the unthinkable: to wash the disciples feet. Yes, the disciples are shocked when Jesus strips off his robe and kneels down to wash each one’s feet. It is hard for us to understand just how outrageous this was. Not only were feet literally unclean—what with all the dirt and donkey droppings they’d have to endure in the course of a day—feet were also symbolically unclean according to their religious traditions. Of course feet needed to be washed, but religious people didn’t wash their own. They had slaves to do that for them, and not just any slave, but the lowest slave in the household. It was an embarrassing chore that nobody but nobody would have volunteered to do. So when Jesus decides to take on the task of foot washing, it causes an uproar. Foolish? You bet!

Why would he do such a thing? Is it April Fool’s Day? Is he joking around? No, Jesus is using his last night to provide a riveting example for us all.

“I give you a new commandment,” He says, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Aha! What looks like pure foolishness turns out to be a profound lesson. He wants to make it absolutely clear that we are to be like him in his humility and his service. We may not do literal acts of foot-washing today, but we have ample opportunity to get our hands dirty doing acts of service. That’s the impact Jesus wants his action to have.

Not only is Jesus’ foot-washing stunt an example of humility and love for us, but it foreshadows his ultimate act of love: his self-sacrificial death on the cross. Indeed, Jesus stooped quite far down to join us in our human walk. And he made this choice for himself. He could have turned back at any moment, but he pushed forward to the cross because of his great love for each one of us.

Last year, my husband and I started a photographic project in which we create Biblical scenes in a modern context. We found a guy in McGregor who looks like all the European paintings of Jesus. He’s got the long, brown hair and beard and he’s about the right age to play the part. So we cast him as our Jesus. Sure enough, you put him in a robe and he’s easily identified as “Jesus.” In fact, it’s made for a lot of jokes. For example, one day we were walking up and down the street taking pictures of him wearing a robe. Some friends from out of town drove by. They were, in fact, looking for us. So when they saw us, one of them shouted, “Look! It’s the Gentrys! And they’re with Jesus!”

When they later told us this, we responded: “Why of course. You were looking for two ministers. Where else would you expect to find us except with Jesus?”

One of William’s members gave this Jesus model his used computer. Now he’s bragging that he’s gotten brownie points with God because of it. He proudly proclaims: “I gave my computer to Jesus!”

Well, one Sunday a few weeks ago, William and I decided we were going to stage the “Arrest of Jesus” scene. We had lined up our Judas model and our Roman soldier model (who is a woman because we are being modern). But ironically, when we went looking for the Jesus model, we found out he had actually been arrested—for real—the night before. It was on some old outstanding warrant he’d failed to deal with and now he was incarcerated at the Clayton County Jail. Now that’s relating to your part a bit too much, don’t you think?

So we decided to go and visit him. We joked about the story from Matthew 25 about the Sheep and the Goats in which Jesus says: “I was in prison and you came and visited me.” We thought we were definitely doing this by visiting “Jesus” in jail. But all the joking faded away when we stood behind the glass in the visiting room and looked at our friend who was sitting there in orange stripes talking about the pain of his present circumstance. Even seeing a fake Jesus in jail was uncomfortable and hard to take.

What was it like for the disciples to see their Lord arrested, tortured and put on the cross? We can only imagine how heart-wrenching it must have been for them. Seeing our friend behind bars gave us just a taste of this.

As we walk with Jesus through the events of Holy Week, we mustn’t let the story wash over us without impact. These are incredible events when you realize that the main character of the story is no ordinary guy—he is the very Son of God. And here he is, stooping to love and to wash feet and then to go all the way to the cross. It is, indeed, foolishness.

But how wonderful this foolishness is! How amazing that the Word became incarnate, and lived among us “full of grace and truth.” And this Word poured out his love on all of his disciples—including a denier like Peter and a betrayer like Judas. So yes, I think it really worked out this year that Maundy Thursday falls on April Fool’s Day. Oh glory, how foolish and wonderful it is that Jesus continues to pour out God’s incredible love on fools like you and me. Amen

© 2010 Laura Gentry

REDOING OUR RELIGIOUS RESUMES

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Pastor Laura Gentry

Phillipians 3: 4b-14

Help! Our church is in trouble! That's what was written to Saint Paul by the leaders of the new Christian church in Philippi. And in we've heard some of Paul's response in our second lesson this morning. Things had been going well at this church. Their membership has been growing steadily, both men and women are involved in leadership, and even their stewardship is going well. The church has plenty of money. But all is not well. Believe it or not, this congregation has issues. Inside the congregation, there is petty fighting, jealousy, gossip and cliques forming. Outside the congregation, Jewish neighbors are looking down on this church, believing themselves superior because they continue to follow all the Jewish laws and rituals, whereas these Gentile converts do not. So everyone is upset.

Good old Paul to the rescue! He was kind of the "Dear Abby" of the ancient Christian world. If you needed sound advice, you'd write to him. So that's why the church in Philippi has solicited his help. He writes back to them with loads of advice. He looks at their issues and narrows it down to the central problem, which in his estimation is pride. They are getting all puffed up about themselves and therefore missing the point of Christ's message.

Paul uses himself as an object lesson to help them understand why religious pride is worthless. He recites his religious resume, yes all of of his pedigree. He was born a Jew and his family followed all the rules and had him circumcised on the 8th day, just as the law prescribes. Not only that, he is an elite purebred Hebrew. Not only that, his family comes from the Tribe of Benjamin! He’s virtually religious royalty. That ought to impress. But that’s just the start. He’s got the right education and model behavior as well. He recalls how zealous he was, how righteous and blameless under the law. In fact, all these things had Paul pretty puffed up.

But as we know, Paul had a dramatic religious experience in which he encountered Jesus Christ and all of that changed. His confidence in himself, his fabulous religious resume and pedigree now became unimportant. In fact, he says that he counts it all a loss because of Christ. He regards his accomplishments as nothing more than rubbish, compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ. It is just not important in comparison to what Christ has done for us on the cross. It is trash now. What matters is his new life, his resurrected life, in Jesus.

And this relationship turns Paul completely around. In fact, he even gets a new name (remember, his former name was Saul). This radical encounter with the living Christ turns him from persecutor of Christians into a Christian—and not just a run-of-the-mill Christian, he becomes the first and perhaps boldest Christian missionary. Now, because Christ has taken hold of him, he has all new priorities.

Bulking up your religious resume has no benefit, he tells the Christians at Phillipi. Getting puffed up and thinking you are somehow better than this person or that only leads to conflict.

Now you and I could get pretty puffed up about our religious resumes, couldn’t we? There are all kinds of things we could say. For example: (puffs up a ballon larger after each statement)

• All my ancestors were Christians
• I’ve been a Christian all my life
• I was baptized as a baby
• I was the head of my confirmation class
• I raised my children as Christians
• They were all at the too of their confirmation classes too
• I have the books of the Bible memorized
• I have perfect attendance at church
• I lead Bible study for circle (and make great cookies to go serve the ladies as well)
• I serve on the church council
• I am Christian through and through
• Even my pets are Christian
• And most of all: I am a good person

Ah yes, you can think quite highly of yourselves with your puffed-up-ness. That's for sure. But you know what Paul would say about all those "brownie points" you thought you earned, that you’ve been getting puffed up about? It’s rubbish. (Let’s balloon go so it flies around the church)

These things are not what’s important. These things will never win our salvation. But if we can’t cling to our puffed-up-ness, what can we cling to? (Picks up a small cross) The cross. As the old hymn says, “I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown.”

What is most important is knowing Christ. Paul puts it in this way: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings.”

During Holy Week, which begins next Sunday we will be focusing on Jesus’ passion and death, and that is a necessary part of our journey to Easter. But even in the heart of Lent, we must not lose sight of the fact that we are Easter people. It has been said, truly, that you can’t have Easter without Good Friday. But Good Friday wouldn’t be “good” if it weren’t for Easter. If Jesus had simply suffered and died, and that was the end of the story, why would we want to share in his suffering? In fact, if we were putting our trust in a Christ who was not raised from the dead, we would be, as Paul tells us in another passage, “of all people most to be pitied.”

But just what does Paul mean to “share in his sufferings?” What does this mean for us? Suffering is not something we like to sign up for. Perhaps this Lent we have been practicing some kind of “fasting”: in the kinds or quantities of food we eat, or in our enjoyment of some other pleasures. Or perhaps we have chosen instead to take on some spiritual discipline for this holy season—like more time for prayer. This is a very small way to share in Christ’s suffering, to become like him in his death. Perhaps we need simply to “die” a little more to ourselves—to focus on others and not just on our own concerns and the concerns of those near and dear to us. Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of his brothers and sisters we do to, or for, him. How might we enter into the suffering of those brothers and sisters—the sick, the poor, the homeless or hungry, those who are alone, who are oppressed? It’s not too late to make that a part of our Lenten practice. In fact, we can and should do it anytime, no matter what the season.

Our reading concludes with one more passionate remark from Paul. He writes: “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I press on! What lies behind is unimportant. We can’t impress God with our fabulous religious resumes. They are trash. What we need is Christ’s resume. We need the one who paid the price for our sins to earn God’s favor for us. We have a friend in Jesus who has redeemed us, and who is calling us, who is calling us to enter into his suffering, death and resurrection. That is the ultimate prize! And it is ours for the taking. So we must press on!

Eugene Peterson has written a paraphrased bible, called The Message. In it, he paraphrases this verse by saying: “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”

No my friends, we’re not turning back. We know Christ and in our heart of hearts we want to know him more. We want to love him. We want to be entirely his own. We want to cling to the cross, not our own merit. We've got to redo our religious resumes and take off everything but the cross of Christ. That alone will get us to the prize of the heavenly call of God. Let us press on to follow this call wherever it lead us!

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.