A sermon for August 25, 2024, 14th Sunday after Pentecost, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY .
Video: To watch the sermon at the 10:30am service, click here (video starts with the Gospel reading).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Each of us comes to our faith with certain expectations and hopes. Some of us look to our faith to bring us comfort or stability. Some seek challenge, uncertainty, and risk. Some want to be fed and nourished. And some of us look with hope and expectation for ways to put our faith into action.
But what if you expected your faith to only comfort you and not to challenge you? Only to provide stability and not uncertainty? Only to challenge and not comfort? Only to feel like you are being fed and not putting faith into action?
The thing with faith is this … when we are truly open in our faith to what God is doing, where God is leading, and we are truly open to following, we will experience the breadth of faith that challenges, comforts, feeds, and moves us to action. When we are truly open in our faith, we will find that our faith continually grows and becomes more a part of who we are … part of how we think … part of how we interact with people around us.
In the scripture readings for today’s service, we hear a lot about choice. Sometimes Lutherans have difficulty with the idea of choice in matters of faith because we want to make very good and darn sure that salvation is the work of the grace of Jesus and not something we do to earn or even contribute to our salvation.
If you and I had been there at the synagogue in Capernaum watching Jesus teaching (John 6:56-69), we might have cautioned him that “this might not be the best place to tell all of these people about eating your flesh and drinking your blood. It might upset people and they could leave.”
In that moment, people had a choice about what to do next. The Bible tells us that many people did, in fact, have a hard time with that part of Jesus’ teaching. They were offended. Many disciples – more than just one or two – voted with their feet by walking away. Then Jesus asked the 12 disciples directly if they, too, wanted to go. And Peter said these words: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” What a statement of faith!
Then we hear from Joshua who was about to lead the people into the Promised Land. The Israelites were intrigued by the gods of the people around them so they wandered away from worshiping God. Joshua confronted the people with strong words that some might have not liked or taken offense to: “Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you WILL serve, whether the gods your ancestors served … OR the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living” (Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18).
Joshua presented them with a choose this day moment.
We know that our lives are filled with choices, including in matters of faith. As in Joshua’s day, we are called to choose who or what we will serve – choose how we will respond to the many choices we face each and every day – and live into those choices.
I once met a man whose story showed me the importance of the choices we make. We met at a Lutheran event involving multiple congregations. The group was divided into pairs, and he and I were prayer partners for this session.
Not long into the conversation, his eyes reddened and his lip quivered. He told me that, in 2012, one of his two daughters was murdered by her husband. He told me stories about his smart and beautiful daughter. I listened in stunned silence to his story and how after her death they were able to push forward domestic abuse legislation.
As we continued our conversation, he shared that after the murder he had been watching about 5 hours of news every day. This was between the morning and evening programming. His wife said he had changed … he was now angry and cynical. He realized that we actually do become what we consume. He had a choose this day moment. He chose not to watch near as much of the “news.” Instead, he devoted that time to Prayer and studying the Bible. Because we are what we consume, he began to change because of that choice. He began consuming less of what made him angry and cynical, and was now consuming more of what was life-giving, hope-filled, the bread of life … Jesus.
As the session continued, this heart-broken man and I talked about several things ranging from light-hearted to heavy. I could see as something caught him. He looked away to collect himself, then he told me that, in 2015, his second daughter died. And … he and his wife were about a year into their process of divorce.
He said he felt that he had nothing left. He was desperate … and he was driven to his knees. In the midst of those overwhelming, crippling losses, he didn’t spout meaningless platitudes – just the clear, solid words of hope and life from his savior. Despite the hardships he had endured, this man chose who he was going to serve. This man chose to consume the bread of life.
For him and for us, choosing this day whom you will serve and consuming the bread of life is not just a one-day action or decision. If you are familiar with the 12-step process, you know that sobriety is lived one day at a time. We all face daily decisions. You and I have choose this day moments each and every day.
So, my dear sisters and brothers, today offers us all a choose this day moment. Chose this day whom you will serve, then consume the bread of life as we grow and become more like the bread of life that we consume.
God bless you both in your openness to the choices before you, and in your living those choices.
In the name of Jesus. Amen!
Epicurious Lutheran 