Baptized we Love: “A Way of Seeing”
Sermon Series #1: June 11, 2023
Matthew 9: 18-26
Pastor Deb

I’ll never forget the day I had cataract surgery on my right eye. Up until that day, I was unable to see far away without correction, and astigmatism added to my eyesight issues along with increasing cataracts. Some of you may know how that is. Over time, we get used to our status quo and assume that’s just how it is…until…we hear our eye Dr. say…”I can fix that! I can help you see more clearly.” And so..we begin to imagine what that “seeing” might look and feel like. Yet, we can’t know until the lens and laser surgery is complete. After the surgery and the effects of the eye drops cleared, I remember looking outside in the distance and being absolutely amazed at the depth of color; the detail of leaves; hills, the lake and sky. I wanted to look and look and look, and just take it all in, because it was such a gift, in that moment. I say “moment” because like most things in our world, once we get used to the change, it becomes status quo again, doesn’t it?

This morning, I want to begin the first sermon in a series that explores our life together as Lutheran Christians. I will be using this little booklet done by Pastor Daniel Erlander written while Pastor Dan was on a year long sabbatical to Holden Village. And… in the weeks to come, each family will get a copy of this booklet and be invited into conversation about it.

Pastor Dan reminds us that North American Lutherans were once held together by a common heritage…Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Germans who immigrated to America, and brought with them the reformation movement that proclaimed all are saved by faith, rather than legalism and good works. Perhaps we don’t realize just how much our faith heritage is influenced by what took place over 500 years ago when Martin Luther stood up for the gospel of grace.

Yet, like all things, influenced by the changes of culture around us, even our Christian identity can slip into a status quo. Pastor Dan realized that as the cultural cement that held us together in the past was no longer holding, our children who grew up in our Lutheran congregations were leaving the Lutheran Church, and sometimes, faith of any brand. Those of us left behind were asking, “Now what do we do?” Well…there are two options, he said. 1. We could play down our Lutheranism and adopt ways that seem to be succeeding in the current American religious scene, or 2. We could renew our understanding of the beautiful diversity and freedoms of faith in our Living and Risen Christ by bringing fresh eyes to the ways of seeing, hearing, teaching and living out our faith as Christians who claim a Lutheran identity. This book was written to embrace that second option.

So, I want to begin by asking a simple question: “How DO we find God?” CAN we find God on our own? I love the little story about the young child who is diligently drawing a picture. When asked what the picture is about, she says, “I’m drawing a picture of God!” “Hmmmm,” says her mother. “ I don’t think I know what God looks like.” “You will when I’m done!” says the little girl with great confidence. BUT…the truth is, we can KNOW God, but we cannot FIND God through our own reason and strength. Martin Luther said it this way in the third article of the third creed: I cannot by my own reason and strength come to Christ, yet the Holy Spirit calls me through the gospel, enlightens me with His gifts, and keeps me in the true faith.

And think about it. In history, anytime people have tried to make an image of God they end up worshiping an idol. The Egyptians found God in huge pyramids; the Israelites in a golden calf; the Romans in Caesar; throughout history God was found in crusades; powerful papacies; and more recently in money; influence; enlightened experiences, the list could go on and on. How Do we find God? CAN we find God on our own? No…. we cannot.

I want you to take your eyes right now and look HERE…. (Point to the cross) What do you see?

A CROSS…a beautifully crafted cross…,but a cross. The central VISUAL symbol in almost every Lutheran church is the cross, a cruel instrument of torture and death which the Roman empire reserved for rebellious slaves, violent criminals and threatening political subversives. The symbol…The empty cross…is central to us because we confess: “It is here, on the cross, that God meets us! It is here that God makes Himself seen and known.”

But…how, you might ask? Some of the greatest theologians have pondered this question and they have come up with an explanation of THE HIDDENNESS OF GOD. God in the person of Jesus Christ is HIDDEN in weakness; FOUND in vulnerability; REVEALED in suffering; forsaken….dying. Into our human abyss of despair, and in the deepest of darkness, God comes. In the painful reality of our mortality, our ultimate loneliness and weakness, God ENCOUNTERS us. All our human attempts to find God are exposed as illusions! WE DO NOT FIND GOD….GOD FINDS US!

We have the cross as the central image before our eyes because the CROSS is God’s EMBRACE! The Cross is God’s VICTORY! And we celebrate that God doesn’t despise human flesh…human sin…human folly….but was willing to DWELL in flesh among us! And in THIS way, God allows God’s self to be KNOWN… and a relationship of eternal love to become the fruit of our very lives on this earth.

There is a wonderful story by my favorite story teller, Max Lucado, that illustrates this well. It’s called, “Seeing What Eye’s Can’t” Listen to Max’s words:

“I stand six steps from the bed’s edge. My arms extended, hands open. On the bed Sara - all four years of her - crouches, poised like a playful kitten. She’s going to jump. But she is not ready. I’m too close. “Back more daddy!” she demands. I dramatically comply, confessing my admiration for her courage. After two giant steps I stop. “More?” I ask. “Yes!” squeals Sara, jumping on the bed. With each step she laughs and claps and motions for more. When I am on the other side of the canyon, when I’m beyond the reach of mortal man, when I am but a tiny figure on the horizon, she stops me. “There, stop there, daddy!” “Are you sure?” “I’m sure!” she shouts. I extend my arms. Once again she crouches, then springs. Supergirl without a cape, skydiver without a chute. Only her heart flies higher than her body. In that airborn instant her only hope is her father. If he proves weak, she’ll fall. If he proves cruel, she’ll crash. If he proves forgetful, she will tumble onto the hard floor. But such fear she does not know, for her FATHER, she does. Four years under the same roof have convinced her he is reliable….. And so, she flies. She soars…And he catches her and the two rejoice at the wedding of her trust and his faithfulness.” (When God Whispers Your Name. Max Lucado, pg 97-98.)

His faithfulness. Did you know that in our Lutheran Christian faith, there are two ways that we can SEE God’s faithfulness? They are called Sacraments because in very ordinary, earthly ways, God MEETS us just where we are…and, Like Sara…we leap into His arms.

The ruler of the Universe hides in the common everyday reality of human life in the stuff of this earth. God lives in Creation…God lives in ALL…and because of this…WE SEE THE FACE OF JESUS; THE ETERNAL LOVE OF GOD; AND THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT in ALL! No one is excluded…because our God comes to FIND each and every one of us! The first is through Water…and the second is through bread and wine.

Through water, God touches a weak and vulnerable crown of the creation and says YES! Jump! I am here….I love you FOREVER…and ever. You are MINE! And in faith, we as a Lutheran community gather around a fount of water and open our arms to be “caught.”

Never again does our status before God depend on how we feel; having the right experience; being free of doubts or accomplishing some kind of holiness…NO…we are simply God’s child, free to fly into the arms of our Savior who promises WE ARE HIS, and nothing can ever separate us from His eternal love and salvation for us. In the waters of Baptism our death is swallowed up in the death and resurrection of Christ…and though we will have a death like his, we shall also have a resurrected life like his. We now live in a NEW reality…a new existence that can never be taken away.

But that isn’t all. We, as children of God, are invited to a table of grace. A place where we are a FAMILY that shares and remembers WHO we are; WHOSE we are; and WHY we are.

Bread is broken; Wine is poured as we come to share in this family meal and here once again the word of Jesus: “This is my body…This is my blood…eat, drink in remembrance of me, and Lo…I am with you.” As we step forward to receive the bread and the wine, we literally embrace the truth that WE DON’T HAVE TO GO OUT AND FIND GOD, OR PLEASE GOD OR PROVE SOMETHING BEFORE GOD.” Instead, in the name of Jesus Christ, past, present and future… we believe, and in believing…we SEE! If God is in this MEAL…hidden in the ordinary of human food and drink…then God is in all of life, and His life and love is for ALL of life.

So…How do we Find God? WE DON’T….God finds us. And allows us to SEE with new eyes. Our lives on this earth are a journey of repentance…allowing the Spirit to surgically remove the cataracts of human fear, sin and pride… and rejoicing that in the cross…in the water…in the bread and wine…and in the acts of grace for ALL….GOD HAS FOUND AND SAVED US! Amen.

*Note: We will share these books in conversation and discussion at our next Casual Sunday, July 2nd. If you are unable to be there on that day, I will also offer a Wed. night discussion opportunity on Wednesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the conclusion of the four part sermon series. Also, if you are gone during any of these Sunday’s, you can watch or read my sermons on our website. And at ANY point, if anyone wants to sit down with me after a service, or on a Tuesday and go through the booklet together, I am very happy to do that as well.