Body of Christ: Resurrection Now and Forever

Pastor Leta Arndt Behrens

Sermon Scripture: 

LUKE 6:27-38

[Jesus said:] ²⁷“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.
³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Body of Christ: Resurrection Hope

Pastor Michael Stadtmueller

Sermon Scripture: LUKE 6:17-26

¹⁷[Jesus] came down with [the twelve] and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.¹⁸They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
²⁰Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
²⁴“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
²⁵“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

Body of Christ: Community in Communion

Zac Alwais (Lutheran Campus Ministry)

Sermon Readings: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11

¹Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, ²through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
³For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Sermon Readings: LUKE 5:1-11

¹Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Body of Christ: United in Love

Pastor Leta Arndt Behrens

Sermon Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, John 4:21-30

Sermon Text:

I gave the rainbow pin to my children when they were about in 6th and 3rd grade. I wanted them to know that even a small action of wearing a pin could make a difference not only to someone else, but to us too as we are reminded of our call to love.  It was the year that Pastor Michael and I wrote our coming out letter stating that we are in support of the welcome and the rights of all persons and in particular those who are LGBTQ. It was the year the some of the council wore the rainbow pins every week and we handed them out like candy to anyone who wanted one. It was a way in which we were being active in education, in opening up the conversation with one another, and in taking action, even in a small way, taking action that was tied to the love that we are given through God and called to live into by God in big broad ways and in ways that are in particular at times.

That in particular was and still is important just like the other in particulars that need to be stated in our world today. Yes, God’s grace is for all AND God’s grace is for those who in particular need to be enfolded in that message and whom we in particular need to remember that our love needs to be a love of action not only words. My children put the pins on their backpacks and wore them at times. They were asked the very particular question–what does that pin mean? Their answer, one that we talked about at home, was to say this pin means that God loves all people and our church especially wants people who are treated unfairly to know that is not true about God. Also sometimes we would just say cause God loves everybody, because really that’s easier to say.

Which is how this letter, this part specifically in chapter 13 that Paul has written to the Corinthians can seem, quite easy to say. It’s pretty. It has a lulling quality to it that makes us think of the sweet lullabies we heard as a child or the ones we sing at night to our own small ones. It is one of the most often quoted scripture passages and it is certainly one of the easiest to put out there as a Christian. This may be why it is a very popular wedding scripture– who had this at their wedding (raise hands, say I certainly did). I have even read this text at weddings I have lead for those who were in a multi faith blending of families. It is that good–something we can all get on board with no matter how complicated or diverse our relationships may be. We can feel this love, hope for this love, and desire for this love to be a part of who we are in so many aspects of life.

And yet… let’s remember what has lead up to this chapter… Paul is writing to a group of people who are arguing. They are fighting over who has the best gifts and how to use those gifts and who should get to be leader and who gets to put their stuff where and who gets the best seat and who in particular is worthy to be upheld as prominent in this system of early Christianity. These words were not written to a couple nor were they were written in particular about marriage or familial relationships. Paul was writing to them as a community, as a group of people who didn’t always like each other and who probably didn’t always see the need to be open or broaden their outlook. Paul even knowing this community and their troubles was still full of hope for them and in God. Paul ends chapter 12, where he has described to us the body of Christ, that all the gifts are needed in this body, with these words that lead us into chapter 13: But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Paul was full of hope precisely because he knew of love. This more excellent way is a way that takes all those gifts in particular and declares that none have any meaning without the basis of love. Love is not a gift that is only for some, in fact love is not so much a gift for one to possess but a truth of being and living in particular as a part of the story of God. This love is not romantic, it’s not lulling, it’s not a nice way to describe us, it is not one of the virtues in a list, Love is the condition for all the rest to exist. Love is not our lullaby, it is our call to action, our marching orders as a community. Love is the very particular thing God comes to give, to show, and to send through us to the world.

There actually is no easy way out. Jesus in the gospel today speaks a word of truth, a truth that says he has come to fulfill the word and promises of God for all–but in particular for those who have been outcast, those who have not been included, those who are on the margins. This declaration of God’s truth makes the people want to throw him off the cliff. This declaration of who God is and how we are called in particular to the hurting, the outcast, the marginalized is not easy to hear or do or see but it is the love that Paul speaks of–love in action.

It can be easy to say the words God loves all and it can be very difficult to live them out. It can make people want to leave a community or argue or throw us off a cliff. And yet striving for this call of love in our lives is the struggle that the Holy Spirit was sent to walk with us in. It is the more excellent way that Paul talks about, a way that leads us to know one another and to know one another in particular in love. It is important that we name the particulars of love in our world; that we love lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, black, latino, homeless, unemployed, sick, mentally ill, abused, addicted, workaholics, unemployed, runaways and brokenhearted. It is important that we name all the outcast as loved because then we as a community see the in particulars of who we all are and whose we all are and in that identity we can love in action. ACtion of writing letters to our congress, action of feeding those who are hungry, the action of sheltering the homeless, the action of printing a welcome statement in our bulletin every week, the action of handing someone a warm cup of coffee, the action of listening to where the spirit tugs at our hearts and moves us closer to God.

I gave my children the pin and the children here today as well because i also have hope. Hope that they and we will continue to grow in this love that we are called to and that we will see rainbows and colors and diversity as a gift where we can use our voices to speak up and our lives to show this love.

Paul’s words bring us around to the core of the love of God. He writes: For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Paul knew this hope and wrote in faith that with this promise and this love from God, all things are possible. We have been given this word of hope and knowledge of faith as well. Faith and hope and love all abide in you and the greatest of these is a love that does not leave.

This is grace. God knows you fully. Every part. Not just the dim reflection that others see or that you see yourself, but the full being of who you are and God’s response to knowing you this well in particular is ….love. The source of the love is God’s own heart. God’s own spirit. God’s own gift. And so when we fail to love. When we don’t see or we turn away or we just can’t seem to know in particular how to use our gifts or live into love in action. The source of the promises remains. God’s love will not fail. God’s love will endure all things, believe all things, hope all things. God’s love will be there for the community and for each one in particular. God’s love will not end.

Body of Christ: One Body in Christ

Pastor Michael Stadtmueller

Sermon Scripture: LUKE 4:14-21

¹⁴Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Body of Christ: Uniquely Gifted for the Common Good

Robin Ferree

Sermon Scripture: JOHN 2:1-11

¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.