Sunday, November 11, 2007
Pentecost 24C
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
THE FIRM GROUND ON WHICH WE STAND
I remember the first time
I felt the ground moving under my feet.
It was during the Spring Break Quake
of March 25, 1993.
We were living in McMinnville at the time.
It was early morning,
and I had just stepped into the bathtub
to take a shower when the quake hit.
It felt like I was surfing.
I remember how glad I was
when the quaking stopped
and the ground felt firm once more.
We were living in Tacoma
when the Ash Wednesday Quake of 2001 hit
in the Puget Sound area.
I was helping the PLU campus ministers
serve communion during their chapel service
in our Trinity Lutheran sanctuary.
We were nearly finished
when the whole sanctuary began to shake.
The floor was moving under our feet,
and I looked up and saw the main speaker
swaying from side to side.
Once again I was very glad
when the quaking finally stopped.
Other events in life can make it seem,
in a metaphorical sense,
like the ground is moving under our feet:
being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness,
losing a job you have had for a long time,
experiencing a break in a close relationship,
getting caught up in conflict
in a community of faith,
witnessing the fall of a trusted leader,
having a loved one die unexpectedly.
Unlike an earthquake it may take a long time
before it feels like the ground
is firm once more.
Apparently the Thessalonians
had experienced the sensation of
the ground moving under their feet.
No mention is made of an earthquake.
But they had endured events
that had threatened to shake their faith.
In 1 Thessalonians 1:6 Paul affirms
that despite persecution
they had received the word with joy
inspired by the Holy Spirit.
We do not know the precise nature
of their persecution.
They may have suffered persecutions
instigated by Caligula,
one of the most despotic of Roman Emperors.
In 40 CE Caligula had attempted
to have his image erected
in the Temple in Jerusalem.
This demonstrates to what lengths
he would go to impose his will
on Jews and early Christians.
Perhaps the Thessalonians had refused
to pay him the homage he demanded.
In any case their persecutions were serious enough
that there was real concern
for the survival of their community of faith.
Paul marvels at the endurance of the Thessalonians.
Somehow they have managed
to keep their feet firmly planted.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:4 he tells them that
he has boasted of them among the churches
for their steadfastness and faith
during all their persecutions
and afflictions.
In more recent times the most notorious persecutor
of Jews and a number of Christians
was Adolf Hitler.
For people of faith and honor in Nazi Germany
it felt like the ground was moving
under their feet.
In response Dietrich Bonhoeffer
took the unprecedented step
for a Lutheran pastor in
of becoming engaged in the plot
to assassinate Hitler.
His co-conspirators,
patriotic men of honor,
struggled with the meaning of their actions.
They turned to Bonhoeffer
to help them make sense
of what many if not most
of their fellow Germans
would view as treasonous actions.
At Christmastime 1942 Bonhoeffer wrote
an essay for his co-conspirators
entitled “After Ten Years.”
In this essay he asks
“whether there have ever before
in human history been people
with so little ground
under their feet—
people to whom every available alternative
seemed equally intolerable,
repugnant, and futile.” [1]
Whatever causes the ground
to move under feet,
the question people of faith need to ask
in every generation is:
What is the firm ground on which we stand?
In 1 Thessalonians 2:15
Paul emphatically affirms the firm ground
on which followers of Jesus Christ stand.
He exhorts the Thessalonians:
“So then, brothers and sisters,
stand firm and hold fast to the traditions
that you were taught by us,
either by word of mouth or by our letter.”
The traditions Paul refers to
are the oral and written traditions
concerning the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Thessalonians are to stand firm and hold fast
to the gospel traditions—
that is, the stories of and about Jesus.
In Jesus the power and presence of God
have been revealed.
On Tuesday the Old Testament Daily Text
was Isaiah 4:6,8:
“All people are grass,
their constancy is
like the flower of the field.
The grass withers,
the flower fades;
but the word of our God
stands forever.”
The New Testament Daily Text was Matthew 25:35:
“Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.”
These texts both make clear
that change is a basic reality of our lives.
At the same time these texts affirm
that in the midst of the changes of life
we can count on the word of our God.
On Tuesday I offered a prayer based on Psalm 118:1
for the meal program at the Elsie Stuhr Center:
“O God, we give thanks unto you,
for you are good;
and your steadfast love endures forever.”
The word of God on which we stand is at its core
a message of God’s steadfast love for us.
In Psalm 118:2-4 this message is repeated
over and over:
“Let
`God’s steadfast love endures forever.’
Let the house of Aaron say,
`God’s steadfast love endures forever.’
Let those who fear the Lord say,
`God’s steadfast love endures forever.’”
In Psalm 136 all 26 verses include the refrain:
“God’s steadfast love endures forever.”
Psalm 118:8-9 makes clear
that we cannot count on mortals or princes:
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.”
For Paul it is clear
that Jesus Christ embodies the good news
of God’s steadfast love for us.
Jesus is God’s word made flesh.
To believe in Jesus Christ
is to stand firm and to hold fast
to the good news
of God’s steadfast love for us.
Change will continue to be a basic reality
in our personal lives,
in our congregation,
in our communities,
in our nation,
and in our world.
Some changes will inevitably be traumatic.
It will feel like the ground
is moving under our feet.
In the midst of such changes
the firm ground on which we stand
is the Word of God,
especially as revealed in Jesus Christ.
In 2008 some of us will no doubt face
major life-changing events in our personal lives.
Major transitions loom for our congregation
as we call a second pastor
and plan to break ground
on our facility project.
Our nation will be selecting a new leader.
We continue to be at war.
Economic uncertainties hang over us.
Major lifestyle changes seem inevitable
in the not too distant future.
As we go through these transitions,
it is essential that we remain well-grounded.
As your lead pastor,
my most important God-given task in 2008
is to exhort you
to stand firm in the word of God.
Those who stand firm in God’s word
will know that they can count
on God’s steadfast love.
That love is revealed for us most fully
in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The word of God is a gift to us.
But the word does not enter
our hearts and minds by magic or osmosis.
We need to receive the gift
in the ways God has provided.
At the most basic level,
that means, first of all,
coming to worship on a regular basis
to hear the word proclaimed
and to partake of the visible word
in the bread and wine
of the Lord’s Supper.
Secondly it means to engage
in Christian education grounded in the Word.
Thirdly it means to practice
daily meditation on God’s word.
One excellent resource is the Daily Texts.
There are many other fine devotionals
that can help with daily meditation.
Fourthly it means to talk with God
on a regular basis—that is, to pray.
And fifthly, it means to share
in mutual faith conversations
with brothers and sisters in Christ.
Frankly these faith practices
are far more important than any programs
if we are to stand firm
in the word of God.
We need to be well-grounded in the word of God
if we are to fulfill the ministry and mission
to which God has called us.
Those who know
that they are loved steadfastly by God
are far more likely to endure
in the face of
life’s most difficult challenges.
When Martin Luther heard talk
about contempt for the Word of God
among peasants, noblemen,
and townspeople,
he said,
“Such contempt ought to be both
a consolation and a warning to us,
so that we give thanks to God
for the blessing
of being among those
who love his Word,
diligently hear and learn God’s Word,
and find delight in the Holy Scriptures.” [2]
When Luther was given a Bible bound in red leather,
“he made himself so familiar with it
that he knew what was on every page,
and when some passage was mentioned
he knew at once
where it was to be found …
I read the Bible diligently.
Sometimes one important occupied
all my thoughts for a whole day.” [3]
In one of Bonhoeffer’s final letters from prison
to his dear friend Eberhard Bethge,
shortly before he was hung by the Nazis,
Bonhoeffer writes:
“If we are to learn what God promises,
and what he fulfills,
we must persevere in quiet meditation
on the life, sayings, deeds,
sufferings, and death of Jesus
… In Jesus God has said Yes and Amen to it all,
and that Yes and Amen is the firm ground
on which we stand.” [4]
Therefore, even as we go through
the major transitions that lie ahead,
the ground under feet need not move.
The new church year actually begins
with the first Sunday in Advent.
Make a new church year resolution
to delve deeply into the word of God,
delighting in the good news
that we can count
on God’s love for us in Jesus.
It is the firm ground
on which followers of Jesus stand.
In Jesus’ name, AMEN.