A few months ago, I joined our local Rotary chapter as their Spiritual Representative. Rotary is a 100 year old organization helping professional and business leaders serve their wider community. It's a worldwide organization I knew of (and even received a college scholarship from) but one that was a bit of a mystery to me. Prior to my joining, I couldn't tell you what Rotary did or why they existed. I didn't know their history or who was attracted to the organization. I knew they existed because their meeting times were posted on signs marking the boundaries of towns. I knew they had a physical presence but I was unaware of what went on in their meeting spaces. It wasn't until I was invited to participate in the group that I saw their commitment to service and the different projects they support. I'm still learning more about the organization, but I'm looking forward to bringing my Lutheran Christian perspective into a group looking for new ways to nurture our wider community.

At one of their recent meetings, one of the main topics was how to grow the Rotary group. They're looking to increase membership, and I was surprised with how similar that conversation was to every conversation about membership held in a faith community. People shared their own experiences of the group and how it changed their lives. People also were hopeful the group would grow larger because they wanted others to have the same experiences as them. They also were honest that, a few decades ago, the group was larger, younger and full of a different kind of vitality. But they were also honest that the group wasn't always welcoming to others. And folks lamented how hard it is for people to commit to things in our modern context.

Many times when conversations like this are held, a lot of energy is spent on wish-casting. We wish things were different, but we're not sure how to make it so. We feel as if we don't have the tools, insights or even the permission to make this wish come true. We hope other people with more suitable gifts can do what is needed to make our wish a reality. Our wish is a good wish because we want others to have the same experiences we had. If we felt loved, valued and included, we want others to have the same experience. It isn't wrong to make wishes, yet we often don't realize that we already have the gifts needed to invite others into the place that has given us so much grace. What we need is help seeing how that grace has manifested in our lives and how we can, just as we are, invite others to see that same grace also.

That's one of the reasons why our ongoing sermon-series on cultivating our creative spirit will continue in July. Unlike other organizations, we want to invite others into a deeper relationship with the God who created them, lived and died for them, and will sustain them through all the joys and struggles of life. We can do that by nurturing our ability to see Jesus at work in our lives. Instead of inviting people into church, we can invite them to know Jesus who loves them right now. After we practice seeing Jesus all around us, we'll move into a short series on joy and happiness (and how they're not the same thing). My hope is once we near the start of our programming year we'll move into a series on vocations: what they are, how many we have and how faith is meant for our everyday life. We can, together, learn to see Jesus a little more clearly and in our own particular ways invite others to see Jesus too.

I will seeya in the many different ways we are the church!
Pastor Marc

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I’ve noticed that, for me, creativity is becoming harder and harder. When I play pretend with my kids, my storyline suggestion suspiciously sound like old sci-fi TV shows they haven’t seen yet. When I doodle while listening to a webinar, I no longer draw dragons and interesting patterns. I find myself just tracing the same old circle over and over again. And, when I look for sermon illustrations, I often wonder if the pile of mulch in my driveway would get repetitive if I used it every week. I know I need to refresh my creative juices, but it’s hard to take time to do that. But I wonder if there’s a way we can do that together because I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs to refresh their creativity. Rev. Kirk Byron Jones, pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, recently reminded me that our very first picture of God is filled with creativity: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We meet God while God is busy creating a brand new thing. And God doesn’t stop there. God continues to create, making new things and making people brand new. In baptism, we are given new life – created in a brand new way for this world God loves. This new purpose allows us to participate in God’s creative work in the world. As Rev. Jones writes, “We are all expressions of a Spirit of creativity in whom freedom and joy have their playful way. Creativity is not just what God does. Creativity is who God is. Therefore, the power to create is in us all. Each of us is not just a precious creation of God; we are powerful creators with God. We have holy authorization to use our sacred power to create in every area of our lives: sculpting new ideas, framing new attitudes, and building new relationships.” In other words, we get to be as creative as God because we are part of the body of Christ.

So starting this June, we’re going to get creative. Each week, we’ll spend time in worship nourishing our creative juices. As we move into a new stage of this pandemic, we have an opportunity to let the Spirit’s creativity shape us into the community God wants us to be. And when we trust in God’s creative act, we can trust that we are part of that new creation too.

Seeya in church – either online, over the phone or in-person.
Pastor Marc

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Every week, the Lutheran clergy of Northern New Jersey gather for Bible study, and attending those sessions is my priority. My faith is fed by listening to God’s story as shared in scripture and by listening to the stories of what God’s people are doing all over New Jersey. A few years ago, a retired pastor who attended these sessions shared a story that I’ve chewed on over the last few days. He was a new pastor thinking about implementing some changes in the worship life of his community. He was worried it might upset a few people, and he didn’t want worship to be a source of conflict in the church. While expressing his concerns to the church council, the president at the time gave him some advice. The changes, they said, should be spread over a year so that not everything happened at once. But that council also knew something about human nature. They also assured the pastor that after that year, the changes would be so engrained in the community that it would feel like they’ve always worshiped in this new way.

Now, for over a year, we’ve worshiped online, outdoors and over the phone. We’ve changed how we’ve gathered—shifting our in-person community towards one that was connected through technology. Our worshiping community has changed and includes new people who have never set foot in our sanctuary. We’re not the same local version of the body of Christ that we were on March 8, 2020. Yet, our identity in Jesus continues to be rooted in the grace, hope and love God gives us everyday. It’s been 14 months since a worship service was held in our sanctuary. We’ve gotten above and beyond the one-year boundary that makes a church say “we’ve always done things this way.” I’m looking forward to seeing how this last year changes, enhances and makes our life more faithful as a worshiping community. And we’ll see those changes lived out this month as we return to indoor worship.

On May 23rd, the Rite of Confirmation will be celebrated in our sanctuary. K.E., E.T., their families and guests will be present. Due to the number of guests we expect at that worship, only invited people connected to these two confirmands will be at worship. An online/conference call worship will be available to the wider community.

On May 30th, 10:00 am worship will be held in the sanctuary. We ask that you be masked, practice social distancing and avoid congregating in the lobby (narthex). Pre-registration is not required, but we invite you to contact the church office (201-391-4224 or clc4u2@verizon.net) to let us know if you will be there. It will take some time to get used to worshiping indoors, but I’m excited we get to do this together. Our transition into the sanctuary space will be more than a return to how things were. It will, instead, be the entering into a new future that is big enough to contain what we experienced over these last 14 months. We are here because Christ never left us, and we will continue to go wherever he takes us.

See you in church!
Pastor Marc

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Thanksgiving this year will be different. A few months ago, I was looking forward to the virus staying at the low simmer it was during early August so that I could visit (outdoors) with family and friends. But the situation has changed. During the weekend of November 14 and 15, New Jersey reported the highest number of positive cases for COVID-19 so far. Instead of gathering around a friend’s table, my Thanksgiving will be a much smaller affair. One of the things I’ll miss is all the culinary dishes served at these kinds of gatherings. Each guest was asked to bring something festive, fun and super tasty to serve to everyone else. I love discovering new flavors and dishes by sampling other people’s cultures and traditions. My table this year will look like it usually does – some turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce from a can. But I wonder, if this year were different, what dish would my family bring to Thanksgiving? What would we want to share with others?

It’s in that spirit of Thanksgiving and the sharing of food that leads me to offer to you remarks I spoke at a “Unity in the Valley” event in March 2019. In the days before the event, anti-Semitic graffiti was found in several high schools. Leaders from various faith communities, towns and schools met at Pascack Valley High School to affirm our identity as a diverse community and to support one another. The evening was full of wonderful music, inspiring speeches and words that challenged us to listen to the better angels of our nature. I did my best to honor the interfaith nature of the event while staying true to our faith in Jesus Christ. And at the end is an exercise that you may include in your Thanksgiving meals this year. As you Facetime with family and friends, dial up a long distant friend on the phone, or setup super large calls, I invite you to keep sharing and keep connecting. Even though this Thanksgiving isn’t the holiday we hoped it would be, we are connected to each other through a divine love that will never end. The Jesus who has sustained the church through these last 2000 years is with you, even now. I am always thankful for you and the ways you share God’s love with everyone. And I pray that you will have a safe and healthy holiday during a very strange time.

God bless you,

Pastor Marc

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Every month I end my note in the Messenger with the same four words: see you in church. But that phrase sounds a bit different today. The last time I wrote those words, we were gearing up for the season of Lent, Easter, and whatever shenanigans spring break would bring. I wasn't planning for March 8th to be the last time we gathered for worship in the sanctuary. Since then, our outward expression as the church has also changed. We shifted our worship to being an online only experience before returning to in-person outdoor worship in mid July. We had to cancel some of the ways we serve the wider community, rescheduling our Genesis Garden and Trash and Treasure Sale for next year. Confirmation, baptisms, and even memorial services were rescheduled and moved to different settings. And, I have continued to see the amazing ways you've served each other during this difficult time. Instead of seeing you in church, I've seen you be the church even while the sanctuary doors have been closed.

The church has always been more than just the building. You, as living followers of Jesus Christ, are what CLC is all about. Thank you for being the church, no matter what. This edition of the Messenger is a little smaller than usual. Our hope is to provide a snapshot of where we are as a congregation. In this issue you'll find an update from our Finance Committee (spoiler alert: your generosity has been faithfully awesome), our Education team, and a word from the Choir. We also have a few online surveys for you to fill out as we make plans for the fall. For the most up-to-date information about the happenings at CLC, make sure to follow our Facebook Page (facebook.com/clc4u), Instagram (instagram.com/clc4u), and sign-up for our weekly e-newsletter (www.clc4u.com/SignUp) or you may call the church office, 201-391-4224, if internet capability is not available.

One question I've been receiving lately is about when we will return to worshipping in the building. We are entering the fall season, and the weather will be an issue while worshipping outdoors. The Church Council and staff have been in constant conversation about this since the pandemic began. Keeping each other safe and faithfully following Jesus are not mutually exclusive. One of the beautiful things about CLC is how intergenerational our community is. Our worship attendees range from being only a few months old to their mid-90s. We will continue to use the best guidance available, from the CDC and othersources, to keep each other safe. This involves making sure we have the right procedures in place that work for our specific congregation. We are not a faith community that wasn't impacted by the coronavirus, and the risks are very real to us. One of our current benchmarks is to see how our local schools handle in-person gatherings. The church council will discuss this topic at our next council meeting in late September and will keep you informed every step of the way. We will return to in-person worship in the sanctuary, but there's no current timetable in place.

Many of my colleagues, as well as myself, have found comfort during this time in the writings of Martin Luther. In 1527, the plague was going from town to town, and he was asked if one might flee from a deadly plague. The central question in Luther's writing was about our calling in the midst of a crisis. As beloved children of God, claimed by Jesus who lived and died for us, we respond to a crisis by asking: what is in the best interest of our neighbor? Through grace, we become the entire focus of God. And since God has focused on us, we are called to be like God and focus on others. We do this by using the tools of our faith: prayer, Bible reading, gathering over the phone or online and through service. In other words, we model what Luther wrote almost 500 years ago when he wrote:
 

Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others.

If you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns—please know that I'm available. You can reach me at any time via phone - 201-391-4424 or via email at pastormarc@clc4u.com. And I know that I will see you in church because I keep seeing you be the church every day.

Pastor Marc

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When [Jesus and his disciples] had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
 “Tell the daughter of Zion,
 Look, your king is coming to you,
  humble, and mounted on a donkey,
   and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 
 “Hosanna to the Son of David!
  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
 Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

Matthew 21:1-11

Pastor Marc's sermon on Palm Sunday (April 5, 2020) on Matthew 21:1-11. Listen to the recording here or read my manuscript below. 

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I don’t usually include props in my sermon but since you’re zoomed in right now, I figured today could be a little different. Before I sat here, I stopped by our church’s utility closet to pick something up. A utility closet is where we store stuff that we use at the church to make sure it stays clean and safe. And our closet is, thanks to the Property Committee, really well organized. It’s full of extension cords, paint rollers, screwdrivers, screws, paper towels, and this - toilet paper. Now toilet paper has been in the news recently because everyone seems to be buying it and no store seems to have it. A few nights ago, someone posted in one of my town’s many facebook groups that the local grocery store had just put out a pallet full of toilet paper. People, of course, were excited and they quickly shared their excitement by leaving comments on the post. Some people thanked the person who shared and then headed to the store. Others made jokes and posted funny pictures. Still more left comments lamenting our current situation. And then there additional people wondering why so many people were hoarding toilet paper that they didn’t need. Those last comments are one of the stories we’ve been telling ourselves constantly over this last month. When we go to the store and see barren shelves, we wonder what it is that other people are doing and why there’s nothing there for us. Toilet paper has, in many ways, become a symbol of the moment we’re living in right now. There are pizza shops where, when you order a pizza, they give you a roll of toilet paper. And there are jokes all over the internet where toilet paper has become like another form of currency. Every time a roll of TP shows up in a store or online, it’s not long before the story about other people hoarding supplies pops up. But - I’m not sure if the story about TP is really the story we’re telling. Because the shortage we see at stores is because our wider story has changed. We’re now spending most of our time at home and we no longer need our offices or schools to be stocked full of paper products. The companies that kept those places full of what they needed were not designed to cater to the ways we live at home. Rarely, if ever, is a roll of toilet paper in someone’s home the size of a hubcap. Yet that’s the standard size we see in offices, buildings, and at school. The paper companies that serve business and schools usually do not serve the consumers at home. So when we made the choice to stay at home because we wanted to keep other people safe, what changed was our entire story. The system we use to keep our stores stocked with all kinds of paper products was not designed for the story we’re currently living in. 

One of the things that struck me about today’s story from the gospel according to Matthew is the very last question that we hear. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the entire city wondered out loud: “who is this?” This moment is unique to Matthew and it hints at his vision of this moment being sort of this large and over-the-top kind of moment. The passage began with Jesus doing a slightly excessive thing, and asking for 2 animals to be brought to him rather than just one. And then, as he rode the donkey into the city, a large crowd led the way. People climbed trees to break off branches so they could wave them in the air. And still more took off their cloaks and jackets, throwing them onto the dirt road, so that no dust could be kicked up and obscure this over-the-top sort of moment. The crowds that surrounded Jesus kept shouting the words “Hosanna” and named Jesus as the son of David - and the one who comes in the name of the Lord. In Matthew’s version of this story, Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem is anything but quiet. The crowd is large and the shouts even larger. News about his arrival quickly floods the city and overwhelms whatever else was going on. No longer was the city of Jerusalem preoccupied by its everyday story. Jesus’ arrival changed that. Instead, the city seethed in confession by the arrival of this person and this movement that came from somewhere else. And Matthew lets the entire city speak out loud - as it wonders just who this Jesus is. 

That question - who is Jesus - has been our question this entire season of Lent. Each week, we’ve spent time during the sermon thinking about that moment when Jesus felt very real to us. Using that moment as the source of our faith story, we’ve been working on how to share that story with others. And we did that by finishing a series of sentences. We started by setting the stage for our story with the sentence: “Once upon a time there was…” We then kept our story going by describing a part of what our normal life was life by finishing the sentence “And every day…” But then Jesus showed up - and we noticed it right away or only saw it later, when we looked back at our life and realized that Jesus had been a part of it for a very long time. So we then added to our faith story by finishing the sentence “Until one day…” “And because of that…” our life shifted and changed. Last week, we described how that change sort of climaxed in our lives by finishing the sentence “Until finally…” Yet we know that the climax of the story isn’t the end of it. Rather, it’s the start of a new moment in our lives when the story that we tell becomes fully part of who we are. This pandemic that we’re living through wasn’t one that any of us planned for. We didn’t want it to come. We didn’t want it to impact Bergen County, our friends, our neighbors, and even ourselves as much as it has. We, together, have no idea when it will end. And we’re not sure when we’ll be able to go to the store again and be greeted by a mountain of toilet paper that we can freely buy. There’s a lot to our current story that we don’t know. But - there’s something we can add to that story by focusing on the question the city shouted out in today’s reading from the gospel according to Matthew. When the city asked the question, they actually received an answer. And though the answer stated in the Bible is important - what I’m more struck by is who it is that does the answering. It’s not just the disciples who answer who Jesus is. Nor is it only specific people - those who knew him his entire life, or those he healed, or those he fed with a few loaves of bread and fishes. Rather, it’s the crowd - the entire crowd - that gets to answer. That crowd wasn’t made up of only one kind of person. It was diverse - filled with people of all sorts of backgrounds and all sorts of experiences. Each one of them, if you asked them who Jesus was, would have given different answers based on their personal experiences of Jesus Christ. Yet, together, their stories pointed to a wider story - that Jesus was someone who made a difference in their lives. The Jesus who came to us in our baptism, in our faith, and in that moment that we’re trying to share right now - is still here. He’s still with you. And he’s still an active part of your life as you learn to live into this new story of pandemic, barren shelves, and looking for rolls of toilet paper. So as we finish this Lenten series on telling our story - I invite you to reflect on what your life was like after Jesus was real to you. What new story did you find yourself living out? And then finish this sentence: “And ever since then…” 

Amen. 
 

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The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Pastor Marc's sermon on the Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 29, 2020) on Ezekiel 37:1-14. Listen to the recording here or read my manuscript below. 

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One of the things I’m not doing much of - right now - is driving. My car, on most days, just sits in the driveway. I occasionally turn it on to go to the grocery store or to church. And on sunny days, I move it to the street so that my kids have more space to play with chalk. Since I’m trying to love my neighbors as best as I can, I’m spending most of my time with my feet on the ground rather than on the gas pedal. Now I know not all of us can stay at home like I can. Some of you are doing amazing work as nurses, doctors, and first responders - and others are keeping us fed by staffing grocery stores and making sure all our online shopping orders arrive at our doors. Your lives are really busy and stressful right now - and I pray you can find moments to rest - because you are truly making a difference in the world and I’m so grateful for everything that you do. I, on the other hand, get to stay at home. Yet that doesn’t feel like the privilege it actually is. Because as my car sits in the driveway with its wheels going nowhere - the rest of the world seems to spin much faster than it should. Even in those moments when we find ourselves feeling really bored, the anxiety that’s in our part of the world is very heavy. More and more of our friends and neighbors have officially been diagnosed with the coronavirus. And many of us are worried about our finances because we either lost our job, had to lay off workers, and we have no idea what the stock market is going to do next. No longer are the news reports that made us anxious last week only about other people. Those reports are now about us too. I don’t drive right now because I know I shouldn’t be going anywhere. But I also don’t even feel like getting into the car because there are these other forces around us that seem to be driving the next part of our story. 
 
Today’s reading from the book of Ezekiel was originally spoken to a community full of anxiety and fear because they were living far from home. Ezekiel was a prophet who was maybe 30 years old when the armies of the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem, forcing the people who lived there to leave and rebuild their lives hundreds of miles away along the banks of the Euphrates river in modern day Iraq. Ezekiel, who had begun his ministry pointing out the many ways the people of Jerusalem failed to love God and their neighbors, was now living in a land not of his choosing. He and the rest of the Jewish community were in a new place where their old way of life no longer worked. They needed to build new shelters, new routines, and change their expectations of what daily life could be like since they were now living in a future that they didn’t expect. For some, this new adventure was difficult but not impossible - because they had wealth and other privileges that helped them maintain, to some degree, the lifestyle they were used to. But for others, this new reality undercut their sense of security, purpose, and hope. As we hear in today’s passage, the community cried out saying, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” For these survivors of war, violence, and forced migration - these dried bones were both metaphorical and very real. They thought they knew how their world worked. They thought they knew God. But then something came - an external force - that shook the very foundations of what they knew and it left them feeling vulnerable, scared, and afraid. 
 
And it’s at that moment when God gave Ezekiel a vision rooted in the very words the community was already saying. God placed Ezekiel in a valley full of dry bones. Those bones represented everything the community was feeling and experiencing. All their fear; all their worry; and all their not knowing about what would come next - everything that was draining their life - was there, in that valley. And once Ezekiel acknowledged all that was lifeless around him, God gave him new words to speak. These words were not words that Ezekiel came up with. Rather - God gave him an external word - one that broke through all the things that were taking their life away. Yet this word did not undo what the community and Ezekiel were experiencing. Things weren’t going to go back to the way things were because life doesn’t work that way. The lives we live are real - and we are shaped by every experience that we have including those moments that leave us feeling undone. Yet God’s promise to you is that your undoing will not be what defines you. Instead, God gives to us a new word - rooted in our baptism and in our faith and renewed daily by God’s grace. And it’s this external gift from God that will be what ultimately shapes us and forms us to live that new life that, in God’s eyes, truly defines us. 
 
So on this fifth Sunday of Lent, your bones might feel pretty dry. You might be worn out, empty, and just plain tired - tired of being anxious, tired of being at home, tired of not living the life you wanted, and tired of having something else shape the life that you live. All those feelings are normal; all those feelings are valid. Yet I hope that in your dry bone moments when your patience is thin, and you are feeling overwhelmed by the noise of a busy house or by the oppressing silence of being alone - in those moments, I invite you to lean into what God has already given you. This Lent, we’ve been spending time remembering and learning how to share that moment when Jesus was real to us. That is a holy gift meant to sustain you during your dry bone days. So let’s continue to add to the story we’re going to share - a story that began with “Once upon a time there was…” “And every day…” you lived your life a certain way. “Until one day…” Jesus was there. “And because of that…” the life you lived was now shifted in subtle and not so subtle ways. Yet you noticed that as you lived, something new was animating your life. At first, you weren’t sure if anything really changed but then you realized this new thing mattered because your dry bones were no longer the only thing that defined you. Instead, you discovered how Jesus enters into our world; into our anxiety; and into our suffering. Because God knows that we need an external word to cut through the troubles of today and to remind us that it’s God’s love that is driving us and our world. So I invite you to remember your story; remember your baptism; remember your faith - and trust that it’s hope, not anxiety; peace, not unknowing; and love, not fear, that holds your life. Let’s now add to the faith story we’re learning to share. And as you pay attention to the breath of God that still gives you life - finish this sentence: “Until finally…” 
 
Amen. 

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As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “[Neither this man nor his parents sinned. In order that God’s works might be revealed in him, ] we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
 
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
 
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” The [Jewish leaders] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the [Jewish leaders]; for [they]had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
 
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.
 
Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

John 9:1-42

Pastor Marc's sermon on the Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 22, 2020) on John 9:1-42. Listen to the recording here or read my manuscript below. 

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So right now, the most spoken word in my house is “what?” Now I don’t live in a large home. It’s a one story ranch, all on the same level, and the walls and doors are not very thick. Nothing in my house is soundproof. Which, on most days, is fine. But when everyone is home - including two adults who are working, two kids in school, and a 14 month old who loves yelling at people as they walk by on the street - we’re constantly saying “what?” to each other. The combined noise of conference calls, computers,  online meetings, and educational games on the iPad means we’re always looking for different ways to cut through the noise and get each other’s attention. 
 
Now I know for some of you, this is what your new normal looks like. But even though the state of New Jersey is now under lockdown, some of us are still going to work or are living isolated from our family, friends, and neighbors. You might not be living in a loud house right now - but there could be a different kind of noise clouding and interfering with your world. Every day, we learn about the many additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus that are in our neighborhoods. And many of us can’t visit family or live the way we want to. Each one of us is trying to adjust to this new reality that is overwhelming. And since we don’t know when this virus will dissipate, our new habit of gathering together online feels like it might last forever. Learning how to cut through the noise of news, fears, and anxiety is really hard. And you might find yourself constantly saying “what?” as you try to figure out how to live your life in a new, safe, and sometimes loud kind of way. 
 
Our story today from the gospel according to John is full of people asking “what?” And they do this even though it might seem as if they’re really asking why. When the disciples first noticed the person born blind, they began with a “why” but they assumed they already knew the answer to their question. They wanted Jesus to certify that they knew how God and the world already operated. This type of reasoning is why, I think, the religious leaders threw a fit because Jesus healed on the wrong day. They, like the disciples, were focused on the what. And what they saw was Jesus doing work. He spat on the ground, made mud, and asked the person born blind to do work too. Now on any other day of the week, that might have been fine. But Jesus chose to do this work on the sabbath, on the one day of the week when all of creation was invited by God to rest. Jesus interfered with that rest by asking the person born blind to get up, go, and wash. The what of the healing - the process of how it was done - became what the religious leaders focused on. The parents, likewise, were also focused on the what. When confronted about the identity of their son, they focused on that question rather than asking why he was healed in the first place. And when we step back and look at what the man born blind’s life was like before Jesus saw him, he see that he was beggar. We shouldn’t assume that he was, in some ways, ill or that his blindness caused him to be less of a person. Rather, he lived the way he could live and in the ancient world, that meant he had to beg. No one asked why he begged; they just assumed that begging was the only thing a person born blind could do. When we listen to the questions being asked by all the different kinds of people in this passage, everyone is focused on the what - hoping that their answer to that question could somehow cut through the noise of what Jesus was doing. Their assumptions and expectations of how God operated in the world were challenged by this Jesus who happened to see a person born blind. Jesus, I think, wasn’t interested in “the what.” Instead, he was focused on “the who.” And when he saw that the person born blind wanted to see - which we notice by the fact that he chose to go to the pool and wash - Jesus responded with a loving act that did not care about their what. Jesus, in this moment, just loved. And when the people around him failed to understand what Jesus was doing, he returned to the person who once was blind - and connected them to a community where they would be allowed to become exactly who God was calling them to be. 
 
So I want you to think about your personal faith story. When was Jesus real to you? Now over the last few weeks, we’ve been using that moment in our life as the source for the story we’re going to tell. And we’re using a storytelling method from Pixar to teach us how to share that story with others. We set the stage for our story by finishing this sentence: “Once upon a time there was…” And since Jesus showed up in our lives as they already were, we add to our faith story by finishing this sentence: “And every day . . .” Yet when Jesus showed up, your everyday changed. So we add to our faith story by being specific and finishing this sentence: “Until one day…”  Now, it’s possible that this moment didn’t, at first, cause us to see the world in a new way. We, like the person born blind, might have tried many different things to figure out what this Jesus thing meant. And that part of our story might have been hard, filled with anxious times and unexpected challenges. Or we might have needed to live a lot of life before we looked back and noticed how Jesus was always with us. God’s promise of presence, love, and hope belongs to you even in those moments when your what, your who, and your why are all mixed up. Because your faith and your baptism are the sign that Jesus will never give up on you. Jesus, even now, has already found you. And he promised that he will keep returning to you - leading you into a new reality where you are defined not by what you have done or what you think happened in your life. But instead by the fact that, even now, Jesus is already part of your story. So as you think about the next part of your faith story, I want you to finish and repeat/reuse the following sentence as many times as you need: “And because of that…” 
 
Amen.  

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[Jesus] came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
 
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

John 4:5-42

Pastor Marc's sermon on the Third Sunday in Lent (March 15, 2020) on John 4:5-42. Listen to the recording here or read my manuscript below. 

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So what struck me about this reading today - was how the Samaritan Woman and Jesus both made choices in this passage. When she came to the well, she didn’t expect to meet anyone there. But she finds Jesus - who is sitting there and, in my head, I imagine he’s basically in her way. She needs to go near him to get to that well. And so she does - and that’s when he spoke to her. His words “give me a drink” are not the earth shattering faith-based words we might Jesus to say. But they do stop her in her tracks. Because she knows that what Jesus was doing was really odd - because he shouldn’t be talking to her in the first place. She’s a woman. She’s a Samaritan. And he’s a Jewish teacher. There’s a huge gender and religious barrier between the two that should cause both of them to keep their distance. The Samaritan and the Jewish community had different thoughts about who God is and where God is to be worshipped. Those differences had separated, over the centuries, separated these two communities. Jesus, in that moment, shouldn’t be talking to her. But he did. And that left her with a choice. She should have, according to their cultural expectations, just fill her bucket and gone home. She should have walked away. Yet she didn’t. She talked back. Because, by meeting him, her everyday suddenly changed. 
 
But this connection wasn’t the only choice these two made. We also get a fun back and forth where Jesus and the Samaritan woman take a risk to reveal a bit of their story to one another. She revealed, even though she didn’t have to, a little bit about who she was. Yet she didn’t reveal her whole story - just a bit - just enough to make you wonder why she’s revealing her marital status to a strange man she just met at a well. She, in that moment, showed who she was - a person with a story worth telling but one she would tell on her own terms. And so Jesus, in his own way, did the same. He says, in this passage, something he hadn’t said before. He said, “I am he” - the Messiah. But the words he spoke were even bigger than that. He said “I am” - words that matched the ones God used when God revealed Gods-self to Moses way back in the book of Exodus. Moses asked for God’s name and God said “I Am.” Jesus chooses to reveal his identity to someone he shouldn’t be talking to. And she, at the same time, revealed who she was too. There is, in their relationship, a mutual revealing - a mutual sharing - of who they are. And in that sharing, she was invited into a new life - a new reality - where God revealed all the different kinds of stories from all the different kinds of people who belonged to God. 
 
This Lent, we’re working on telling our faith story and we’re using the Pixar model of storytelling to do it. A few weeks ago, I invited you to think about a moment when Jesus was real to you. Savor that moment and then try to put that into words. First, set the stage for the story by finishing this sentence: “Once upon a time there was…” And once the story is set, spend time describing what made that day like every other day by finishing this sentence: “And every day . . .” Yet when Jesus showed up - when Jesus made himself known to you in a real, tangible, ordinary, and  extraordinary kind of way - your everyday changed. Maybe not at first. Maybe not in a thunder and lightning kind of way. But your everyday changed because the promises made to you in your baptism and faith - of God’s presence, love, and hope - were no longer just words. They were made visible in your life - and revealed that those promises were already part of your story. Because once upon a time there was a Samaritan woman. And everyday she went to the well for water at noon. But one day, she revealed to someone she wasn’t supposed to a bit of her story. Your story, like the Samaritan’s woman, is worth telling. Your experience of Jesus is part of who you are. And so I invite you, in the middle of this weird time when we might struggle to feel as if Jesus is really here - lean into the promises that are already part of who you are. Then add to your Jesus story by finishing this sentence - But one day . . . 
 
Amen. 

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Last week I introduced our topic for Lent which is all about how to tell your faith story. I want you to think about a moment in your life when Jesus was real to you. Try to remember everything that happened before that moment and everything that happened after. And see if you can recall where you were, who you were with, what you were going through, and even what smells your nose picked up. Sharing this story isn't easy. But I know you can learn how to share that story with others. Part of our calling as followers of Jesus is to tell others why we have faith in him. And being a faith-based storyteller is a skill we can learn at any age.

During this season, we're using Pixar's method of storytelling as a way to frame the story we want to tell. Our first lesson involved setting everything up. Once you have your personal faith experience in mind, I asked you last week to finish this sentence: Once upon a time there was . . . You might have finished that story by describing a family member, an event, or just a word about yourself. You want to use enough words to let someone imagine that moment in their minds. But, you don't want to use too many words or else you'll overwhelm your audience. You only need one or two sentences to set your story up. For example, it could be as simple as: "Once upon a time there was a young man living in New York City who was couch surfing between apartments." I hope you saved what you wrote last week because we're going to add to it now.

Now that the scene is set, what was a regular part of that moment? Were you going to work, commuting school, walking in a hallway, or hiking in the woods? What happened in that moment that started you on your road to experiencing Jesus face to face? Once you have that in mind, finish this sentence: "And then . . ."

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