All of us are on a journey of faith in our lives. At Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan we bring people one a journey of faith each week and share that journey with the world.
Faith Lutheran Church, Okemos, MI
Today, we had a special musical performance of O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High by the Faith Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – First Sunday in Lent– February 22, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 4:1-11 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who loves us and claims us as his own. Amen. *** I grew up watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood… Looking back over my life, I'm pretty sure that's what radicalized me. In Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, you knew you belonged, and that who you were… was good… and that… the other people around you… well, they might be different from you… look different from you… but… they were good, too. In that neighborhood, there was an overwhelming sense that we belonged to each other… there was shared love and respect for other people, even when they made mistakes. In Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, each person… or character… was valued… seen… and supported. This is something that everyone of us needs, not just children… and we need this throughout our whole lives. Mr. Rogers was not just the face and creator of the children's show… he was also a Presbyterian pastor… so it's not surprising at all… that his neighborhood intentionally reflected… the beloved community that we, who are followers of Jesus, work to build. Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was a little taste of what God's vision for us might look like when we take seriously the ways of living that Jesus called us to practice. It was a little sample of living in the promised kingdom of God… for 30 minutes at a time. Those of us who were raised in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood know that a better, more beautiful, and beloved neighborhood is possible… if we choose to live that way. Growing up with a show like this… it's no wonder that I feel so strongly that compassion for others is healthy… that empathy can heal divides… and that love and support should not have conditions. It's no wonder… that I don't want to bend to the unjust power systems in this world… in this country… even though… I could work the system to bend in my favor. I could! …it is, after all, set up for me to do so… it's tempting to take advantage of that. Case in point… I am a white, cisgender, heterosexual woman, wife, and mother, from a middle-class family… and my husband does not suffer from the delusion that I am merely an accessory to his lifestyle. I have a world-class education that was mostly achieved without debt, I do not suffer from debilitating diseases like addiction or depression, and… at least at this moment, I am still able-bodied… most of the time. It is tempting… it's tempting… to sink into the power structures that privilege nearly all of my life's characteristics. But to do so… would mean to accept an unjust and unequal community… it would mean giving up on the better way that I know is possible… not just because Mr. Rogers showed me that way when I was a child… but because Jesus was super clear about it. Embracing a privilege that marginalizes others is not part of God's vision for us… for humanity… it does not ask us to become the best version of ourselves… or call us into a more beloved community. But… when power and privilege are laid out before you for the taking… it's tempting… to reach out and take it, no matter who it harms. This is, of course… what Jesus himself… faced in the wilderness immediately following his baptism… immediately after hearing the voice of God claiming him as God's beloved, in whom God was well pleased. The Spirit led him out there… into the desert… where he fasted for 40 days… facing spiritual and physical challenges… he was famished, and weak… and at his most vulnerable moment, the devil stepped in… as the devil is wont to do. We all have experience with the devil… with the voice of the accuser… whether you believe the devil to be an actual being… or the shadow side of our own human self… it doesn't matter. In whatever shape it takes on… the accuser… the devil… is the one who whispers lies in our ear… lies about ourselves and others. It's the voice of shame… the voice that isolates and diminishes… That is the voice of the accuser. God's voice is the one who declares us worthy and loved… while the voice of the accuser, on the other hand… is the one who pulls us away from God's purpose… and from God's vision for us. The voice of the accuser is the one who would have us forget our identity as beloved… as children of God… and who offers only empty promises. It's what the devil tried to offer Jesus… he tried to entice him to reject his identity and grasp at empty promises… to wield power that would serve only himself… instead of those he came to serve. Because… Jesus does have the power to do what the devil suggests… but he chooses not to use it. He chooses not to become an agent for the accuser, because he knows that he is… an agent of God. And Jesus knows… that empires are not eternal… and nations are not sovereign over God… and earthly power is not permanent. What the devil offers are false promises and lies, and what is built on false promises will fall… but what is rooted in God's love and in God's vision… will grow. Jesus, in this most vulnerable moment, holds fast to his identity… and to his purpose… and calls us to do the same, even though it's tempting to follow the lies. Our God, who was made human in Jesus… knows this temptation we face. God's unconditional love for us is grounded in a personal experience of the temptations and suffering that we experience all the time. So when we cry out… in our moments of weakness… when we face temptation… whether we falter or hold fast… we remain beloved… we are still washed with grace, redeemed, and claimed as God's own… We are always being made new and always being called into a vision for a beloved community that is bigger than our own wants and needs… a vision that includes flourishing not only for ourselves but for all our neighbors. This time in the season of Lent offers us the opportunity for our own spiritual growth… a time for reflection, repentance, and renewal… a time to practice resilience in the face of temptation… a time to remember who we are as followers of our God in Christ Jesus. This is a time to reestablish our footing… to ground ourselves in God's love and grace and mercy… and in our place of belonging in God's community… God's kingdom… God's new creation that is arriving but not yet here. It is okay… to be tested… it is okay to face temptation… to face our devils… we all do. It is part of the human experience… there's no shame in it. The devil will tell you to isolate… to pull you away from others…because when you are alone, it's easier to forget who you are, and whose you are. But when we are grounded in God's neighborhood… God's loving community… that calls us each to be our best selves… rooted in the body of Christ and committed to living in ways that reflect that love… then we know we will not have to try and overcome those lies alone. The season of Lent calls us back into God's love… back to that which sustains and supports us on our spiritual journey. This vision of beloved community that Jesus invites us into… well, it may sound like the land of make-believe from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, but truly… this beloved community… God's neighborhood… comes a little closer each time we live into God's vision for us… …each time we honor the inherent value and dignity of all our neighbors, as well as our own… and hold them, and ourselves, with the same love that God holds for us. It's not the land of make-believe… it is who we are created to be. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Heavenly Sunlight by the Faith Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – Transfiguration– February 15, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Exodus 24:12-18 Matthew 17:1-9 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who reveals to us God's glory. Amen. *** In 2012, I had the privilege of leading my congregation's youth group to the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans. The week was filled with joys and challenges, and stories that still make me laugh. But one of the most incredible, mountain-top experiences I had there… was a story of divine encounter… a story of being washed over by the Holy Spirit. It was the night of closing worship, so all of the more than 33,000 participants were gathered in the Superdome to sing and praise God, to listen to inspiring speakers, and to hear the word of God proclaimed. We worshipped each night we gathered, but this one was special… It was special because during the closing worship, we would share holy communion together… as one church… 33,000+ members… one body of Christ. I don't know if you've ever been inside the Superdome in New Orleans, but it is very steep, so there's really not a bad seat in the house, so long as you don't mind heights. My youth wanted to sit at the very top of the arena for this worship experience, so we made our way up the mountain of levels and escalators and found some seats where we could take in the entire scene below. Once we settled in, we were treated to an incredible view… a view of the church… thousands of teenagers and their adult leaders sat below, all eager to begin worship. The excitement and the buzz were intoxicating… as we watched the tiny people way down on the floor bring us together in song and worship. Now you would think that communing over 33,000 people would take all day, but… the organizers have this down to a science, and it actually runs quite smoothly and quickly. Given our location, we watched below as people moved to receive the elements, and then to be anointed… they all received a cross of oil on their foreheads to remind each and every person that they were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. I watched this all take place, and at some point, our group moved to receive the elements as well, and to be anointed with oil… and then we sat back down to wait while the rest were served. And as I sat, I recall feeling a shift in the air… almost like a fullness surrounding me… as when a heavy fog rolls in and you can sense the weight of the space around you. I recall feeling this shift in the air begin at my feet, and then start moving up my legs… I could feel the new air rising, until it suddenly washed up and over my head, and… I just wept. I felt so completely surrounded by the Spirit… so completely held… claimed… and loved… so completely assured of God's faithful presence. It was remarkable… and it is an experience that has stayed with me for all these years. I know… that it changed my relationship with God to one that was no longer distant, but now… more personal… close. We call these kinds of moments… these encounters… mountain-top moments… moments of encountering God… moments of profound closeness with our Creator and source of everlasting love. And of course, we call them mountain-top moments… because in scripture, God's people often seem to meet God on the mountain… as with Moses in our reading from Exodus… and, of course, the Transfiguration of Jesus. Encountering God's full glory is disarming… scary even… and can leave us unsure of exactly how to respond. For me… it left me weeping, which really alarmed the youth. Peter, James, and John head up the mountain with Jesus, and are witnesses to a dazzling display and blinding light… and Moses and Elijah, together with Jesus… And Peter… sweet Peter… he thinks this is great, and offers to set up tents for them… he assumes this is a moment they'll dwell in for some time. We can hardly blame him. And then the voice from God thunders out… with the words we heard at Jesus' baptism. "This is my son, the beloved… with whom I am well pleased…" …but then God adds… Listen to him. Listen. Peter… man… stop talking and take in the moment… just absorb the light of God for a second… let it change you… let it alter your understanding of who this Jesus really is. I understand Peter's desire to stay in that moment… I really do… it's normal. But we don't live on the mountain… we don't get to spend all our time in those incredible moments of clarity with God. We can, and should, bask in the glory of God's light when it is there, but we can't stay there all the time… life continues… and so… warmed from the light of those experiences, we keep moving… And yes, of course, we allow our mountain-top experiences to transform us, to shape our hearts, but then we make our way back down the mountain, to live our lives of faith in the day-to-day. I've asked Raymond to share this photo with you… Last week, I was at a preaching retreat in a little place near Phoenix, and on the property, there was this massive labyrinth. My colleagues and I joked that walking a labyrinth is to intentionally take the most inefficient path toward a destination… but I suppose that's only if you consider the center to be a destination, and not simply part of the journey. I spent some time praying my way through the labyrinth and marveling at how each turn gave me a new perspective on my surroundings… pointing me toward new plants and new views… how each path brought me toward a new understanding of the landscape. In the background, though… was this mountain, with the sun shining so incredibly brightly over it. It felt so present and so close… like I could reach out and touch it… even though it was in the distance… it was an ever-present backdrop for the whole weekend. As I worked my way around the labyrinth, I was sometimes facing away from the light of the sun and from the mountain, but then I would follow the curve of the path and turn a corner… and suddenly the sun would be shining in my face, blinding me… and I would continue walking and soaking in the warmth of the light… and the glory of the mountain, and I felt so incredibly close to God. Peter faced this bright light around Jesus, on the mountain… and he wanted to stay there. We can hardly blame him. Leading up to that moment, they had been climbing through Jesus' liberating ministry of teaching and healing… it was all so amazing… and then Jesus hits them with the shocking revelation that he must suffer and die. …and that any who want to become his followers must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow him. They must be prepared to lose their life for his sake… in order to save it. So yes… I understand why Peter wanted to stay in that glorious moment, soaking in the light and warmth… he was not ready to face the ashes and sorrow that awaited them as they turned toward Jerusalem and the cross. Are any of us ever really ready for that? And yet, they must descend… but that is the blessing of this life of faith… we get to carry God's light forward… we get to experience these moments of encounter… of revelation… these mountain-top moments… and carry them out into the world around us. Remember, you are the light of the world… and it is the light of God's glory with which you shine. This is what it means to walk with Jesus… to walk in the highs and lows and of this life of faith… we have these moments of profound encounter… like at the Superdome in New Orleans… and like this labyrinth at the foot of the mountain… these moments fill us with God's Holy Spirit and shape our lives around God's glory. They help us remember who we are and whose we are… and remind us that we are claimed and redeemed through grace and mercy… and they give us strength for the journey, when the journey takes us through ashes and sorrow. When we find ourselves walking through the shadow of death, these moments help us to keep walking… keep walking… because on the other side is resurrection and new life. And to stay on the mountain… would mean to miss out on all the ways that God continues to show up. If we only ever lived for the grand, mountain-top moments… we would miss all the ways that God reveals God's self to us in small ways… the everyday, ordinary ways. So, we must remember… that mountain-top encounters with God are amazing… awe-inspiring… but we don't need to stay on the mountain… because the promise of transfiguration is that the glory of God transforms every corner of our whole world… and us… along with it, everyday… and always. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Offertory by the Faith Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany February 1, 2026 Faith Lutheran, Okemos Micah 6:1-8, Psalm 1, I Corinthians 1:18-31, Matthew 5:1-12 Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done, On Earth as in Heaven… Our Father in heaven, in each moment, in each day we pray your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Your kingdom come, your will be done… I been thinking about our sister congregation, Immanuel Lutheran in Grand Ledge. Their pastor, Chuck Forrester, has been on leave from call for several months because of a serious medical condition. For the last five months, God provided Pastor Chrisy Bright to serve Immanuel. Chrisy, a young pastor, most recently served as an assistant to former Bishop Satterlee, and now for at least the next three months is Immanuel's contracted pastor. In this present moment this morning she is preaching the good news of God's love in Jesus Christ to the people of Immanuel. God provided both work for a gifted pastor now without a letter of call, and pastoral leadership for a congregation whose called pastor's return remains uncertain. An answer to most powerful of all prayers: Your kingdom come, your will be done… One year ago today, Pastor Megan was ordained, and the very next day, she served as our pastor. Surely, in this moment in the story of Faith Lutheran Church, God provided for us a shepherd abounding in compassion and joy in a time in our society when so much is uncertain. Both Immanuel and Faith have been blessed too with exceptionally wise lay leaders and brilliant musicians, so reassuring during this past tumultuous, fear-filled year in our country when the foundations of our democracy seem very tenuous. In ways we may not have readily recognized, our praying the Lord's prayer week after week did not go unheard. In both congregations, in this fragile time for all of us, signs of the kingdom, signs of the reign of our Father and his Son, signs of God's steadfast, faithful, loving presence… We are so blessed. [In a Zoom call on Wednesday with three other former bishops, Floyd, Marcus, and Jerry, Floyd proclaimed that, for him. these readings for today from Micah, Psalm 15, I Corinthians, and Matthew were maybe the best ones in all of our three-year cycle of biblical texts. Surely, they all are very beautiful and challenging and powerful as such a time as this.] Many of us know by heart, or have at least heard these famous words from the prophet Micah, plain-spoken words we are called to live out until we take our last earthly breath: He [God] has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? Less familiar, but no less powerful and reassuring are the words of Psalm 15, words for each of us in each moment of each day, for all of us who are daily bathed in God's forgiving love. Please read them with me in their entirety: LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle… [vs.4b: They are willing to do the right thing, to stand by their oath even to their own hurt.] And then these opening words from I Corinthians 1:18 revealing the seemingly contradictory way God has chosen to save us: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us [most of whom are probably not all that worldly wise or powerful] to us who are being saved it is the power of God. How ludicrous to worldly wisdom and worldly power and might to believe that a man accused of treason, who dies on a cross, would thereby takes away the sin of the world. But it is God's wisdom that Jesus' cruel death would be the very way God would save us from our deep brokenness and alienation from each other and from the One who so loves us, so heals us, so day by day rekindles our faith in and hope and love for our Maker and Redeemer and for our friends and enemies alike. And then, even more, the beatitudes in Matthew 5 as Jesus sat down and to his disciples long ago and to us this morning began his sermon on the mount. Hear the beatitudes, these blessings in a translation, a rendering by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, a friend of Pastor Megan's: Blessed are you who have nothing to offer, for you are offered everything. Blessed are you who are broken-hearted for the world, for God weeps with you, and will rejoice with you. Blessed are you who do not seek to dominate, for love dominates your life. Blessed are you who sacrifice for the sake of justice, for you will know victory. Blessed are you who are gentle, for God's gentleness enfolds you. Blessed are you who seek only love, for God will be everywhere for you. Blessed are you who remain peaceful in conflict, for so you reveal God. Blessed are you who are treated harshly, for God treats you to the entire realm of God. Blessed are you who are punished for your compassion, for this is the way of the cross. These beatitudes are not commands. They are not orders for how we should live our lives. Rather they are promises to us when our spirits are weak and pretty much exhausted, when we mourn the injustices and the acts of violence in words and deeds against our brothers and sisters. The beatitudes are promises that when we hunger for, yearn for, work for respectful, kind, and honest relationships in our own lives and in our communities and in our country, they are promises that already God has begun to fill our hearts with hope. We see God already exposing the abuses of power and the violation of basic human rights so contrary to the way of our gentle Lord, even now calling tens of thousands of protesters to speak up for those who are treated harshly. "Your kingdom come, your will be done." It is already coming, our Father's will already being done. So, blessed are we, members and friends of Faith, when in each moment and each day, the Holy Spirit moves us to perform simple acts of kindness, simple acts of gentleness, simple acts of mercy. Blessed are we when that same Holy Spirit enables us to see injustices to the poor and to boldly resist in words and actions those in power who would crush and destroy the lives of those the Bible calls "resident aliens." And blessed are we if we "take a hit," if we a maligned for the simple acts of compassion we are called to take for the oppressed in our midst, the acts of compassion we take for Jesus who was maligned for all of us, who will always be our Immanuel, God with us, God in the very depths of our hearts… Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven…in each of our lives, in each of our hearts, in each of our actions, in each moment of each day. Amen. JDS *or "kindom," the latter word, recently coined and offered in the Apostles' Creed as an understanding of God's kingdom as a beloved community of siblings, all of us as beloved sisters and brothers with Jesus as our Lord.
Today, we had a special musical performance of We Are A Rainbow by the Faith Chancel Choir (with the Congregation as well) at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Matthew 4:12-23; RIC Sunday; January 28, 2024 Rich Weingartner Grace to you and peace from God our parent, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Living in a world where politicians want more and more power. Minorities are treated as "others" and are not safe. Children aren't valued. The hungry are told to fend for themselves. Being judged by where you were born or grew up. Being condemned if you aren't the right religion. Dangerous to hang out with the "wrong crowd." Religious people who seek more power and control. A world where people cry "O God, How Long?!" Before we look more at that world - let's take a look at our readings for today. First, the people of Zebulun and Naphtali receive a message of promise and hope from the prophet Isiah. A promise that God will provide a glorious future. To learn more about this promise, if we read a bit further in chapter 9 of Isiah, we find a familiar text starting at verse 6: "For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." This isn't just a message of promise and hope for the people of Zebulun and Naphtali, but for us as well. Our psalm today is considered a Trust Psalm. There are different types of psalms, like songs of thanksgiving, hymns of praise, prayers for help, and trust psalms. The Lutheran Study Bible says that the "trust psalms express faith and confidence in God amid great difficulties, threats, and dangers." (Lutheran Study Bible, page 776) The psalm is a story of the psalmist expressing desires to God and knowing that God will deliver on the promises. So far we've had a message of hope and promise, and then a reminder to trust in God. I don't know about you, but these are certainly messages I need to be reminded of on a daily basis. Today's new testament reading was picked specifically to tie in with today's RIC Sunday's theme of "Celebrating Diversity as God's Children." Once a year we celebrate RIC Sunday to remind ourselves of the public promise and commitment we've made as a congregation through our public welcome statement. Just like God constantly reminds us of God's love, we need to be constantly reminded of our commitment to our LGBTQIA+ siblings, our black and brown siblings, people of every age, marital status, neurodivergent status, political leanings, and people of all abilities. It can be easy to get into a routine and forget about the work we do as a congregation of being radically welcoming and inclusive. I remember back to our Diversity Sunday service when we received official recognition as an RIC congregation. It was so wonderful to see everyone celebrating what makes them unique as a diverse child of God. To be featured as the lead story on the 6 o'clock news and, based on the comments on Facebook, see people get riled up about our radical message of inclusive love. So, in case you haven't heard it today or in a while, here is your reminder. You, yes you, are a vital part of God's diversity - you are a beloved child of God - exactly as you are. You don't need to change to receive God's love - God loves you unconditionally. Through this love you will find yourself changing in ways that bring you closer to the fullness of God's vision for us and the cosmos - the vision of radical and inclusive love. While we may feel lost in the world and not seen as important - remember that God sees us and we will see God's glory revealed. When I read today's Gospel, I started thinking about how this is the launching point of Jesus' ministry. If the Gospel was a TV show like the shows that had theme songs and images that basically set the scene for the entire series - a quick montage of how it all began, I think this would be the imagery that would be used for the TV show of Jesus. Of course, the TV show "Jesus" would be the much more successful spin off of the prior series "John: Locust Eater". There are two parts of today's Gospel that I want to focus on. The first is the phrase "fishers of people". A phrase that many of us are familiar with and have heard many times - but have you thought about what it really means? Putting a cookie at the end of a fishing line in hopes that someone will eat it and then you can reel them in? This may be an interesting way to try to bring people to the church, but probably not very effective. When Jesus called his disciples, they weren't people out fishing as a hobby and catching a few fish for themselves or their family, no, they were in the business of fishing, bringing in large quantities of fish. To do this they used nets. When they used nets, they weren't selective in what fish ended up in the net - no, it collected a wide range of fish. The Lutheran Study Bible shares this comment about this passage: "This odd metaphor plays on the notion of a net collecting different types of fish. These disciples will become founders of a church that 'catches' people of all sorts (that is, attracts people who are diverse with regard to nationality, ethnicity, and social class.)" (Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1526) Sound familiar? It should - it is very similar to our welcome statement about who we welcome, or hope to "catch" with our work as a congregation. We don't want to selectively share the message of God's love to only certain select people - no - we want to share that message with the world as we celebrate the diversity of God's children. This is where the phrase "cast a wide net" comes from - the wider your net, the more fish, or people, you can "catch" or reach to share God's message with. Speaking of sharing God's message, the next part of the Gospel I want to look at is verse 23, where it states that "Jesus went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news." The "good news" or looking at the Greek – "gospel". So often we hear "preach the Gospel" or "share the Gospel". After all we are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Evangelical meaning to share the Gospel or the good news. I don't know about you - but often when I think about sharing the gospel, I think about sharing the story OF Jesus - about his birth, death, and resurrection. However, here we have Jesus starting to proclaim the gospel, the good news. Now certainly Jesus made references to his birth, death, and eventual resurrection, but that wasn't the core of his teachings. No, Jesus mainly preached the good news of God's inclusive, radical, and counter-cultural love and belonging. That is the heart of the gospel, the message Jesus brought, not about Jesus himself. So, back to the world I described at the beginning. A world that sounds pretty bleak and depressing. A world that might be struggling and losing hope. A world with downtrodden that are struggling against the government, or as Pastor Megan referred to it last week, the empire. Is this world I describe the world of today? Is it the world at Jesus' time? Yes. And just like back then, we too continue to need the message of Good News that Jesus brings. A message that runs against the norms, a message that brings a unique perspective to the world, a message that provides a promise - a message I know I'm longing to hear and need to hear these days - yes, Jesus' message brings A New Hope. After events of the past week and yesterday, it can be hard to want to hear a message of hope. I know it isn't easy preaching about hope and good news amidst what is going on in our world, in our country, in Minneapolis and Minnesota. So be assured, that while I'm preaching on the message of hope - that doesn't mean that feelings of anger, fear, despair, and sadness aren't valid - those are valid and know that God is with you in all your feelings. Also know that the message of hope is there as well - just as the message ran counter cultural during Jesus' time - it does now as well. Back on Christ the King Sunday in November, the service spoke to me and I immediately knew I had to include part of it in my sermon today, as it summarized the message of Christ very well. This was the Sunday when we were taken on a tour of the church calendar, exploring each of the seasons of the church year. We are currently in the Time after Epiphany. Here is part of what was shared about Epiphany and the time after. In Epiphany, we look to that ancient star, and we see that the message of God's love knows no bounds: it is a message for people of every color and every tongue, every race and every nation. In the time after Epiphany, we remember that because of Jesus, the divisions that you and I create in our lives will someday be erased by God, who comes to make us all one. Love has come to let us know that there is no such thing as a people from the east or west or north or south. There are only people of God, all created by God, all loved by God, all within the realm of God's redemption through Jesus Christ. The light of the star brought the sages to Jesus, and Jesus is the light that brings God's love to all - to the poor, the lame, the sick, the hurting, the sorrowful, the outcast, those rejected by the world - even to you, in your own joy and sadness, goodness and brokenness, hope and challenges. That is Epiphany. It is the fulfillment of God's love-filled promise extended beyond all human boundaries. It is the light of God that breaks down walls and unites the human family. So, like Jesus, we are called to proclaim this Good News. Part of that Good News is that preaching the message from a pulpit isn't the only way to share the Good News. Just as Pastor Megan has shared, and based on what the Bible says, we are all called in our own diverse ways, based on our own diverse skills, to share the Good News in wide diverse ways. Simply being an RIC congregation is a way we show God's radical love - by emphatically stating that God's love belongs to all, to everyone, especially those that society wants to call "other" or "less than". You help proclaim the Gospel by simply being here - as part of a church that proudly proclaims to our queer siblings, our black and brown siblings, and anyone that society calls "others", that God loves them and they are part of the beautiful diversity of God's children. Some of the other ways we declare God's love include filling the micro pantries every day - where people have access to what they need - with no questions asked, no tests to pass - just God's love through food and personal care items. And it isn't just the people who actually put the items in the pantries, but everyone who buys or donates the items, those who package oatmeal to be ready to go out, those who coordinate it all. Everyone who works with the young men in the parish house - you are proclaiming God's good news through your actions. Donating items or money to support them, driving them to where they need to go, providing connections in the community so they can get jobs, praying for them - all are part of being a proclaimer of the good news. When society might want to call them less than or unwanted - we, at Faith, proudly say that they are welcome and are loved by God and are part of the wonderful diversity of God's children. There are so many ways we all partake in proclaiming the gospel - whether you do it through music, through education, through a hug or a meal to someone who is struggling, through just checking in with people to see if they are OK. So while often, we hear of people doing more noticeable or newsworthy things like being part of a large protest in Minneapolis, skipping school or work, or being clergy that go and take action to bring awareness and end up getting arrested for civil disobedience; we have to remember that all ways that proclaim the radical message of God's all inclusive love and redemption to all people, the message of A New Hope, are not only valid, but much needed in this world that is struggling. So while "we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed" (1 John 3:2) we strive to continue to live into the message of hope and promise. We work together, as God's wonderfully diverse children, to proclaim the message that Christ shared, until we can all revel in the fullness of God's love revealed to us. Until then, we work together, as fishers of people, to cast a very wide net to proclaim and live into God's radical message of all-inclusive love and redemption for all people. We do all this through the freedom given to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Since God has declared that we are fully loved and included and nothing we can do can separate us from the love of God, we can boldly be proclaimers of Christ. We must always remember that when the Empire gets us down, we need to cling to the message of A New Hope, and even when the Empire strikes back because of our radical message of inclusion for the entirety of the diversity of God's Children, that in the end, we can rely on The Return of the Jesus to carry us through. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of My Shepherd Will Supply My Need by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of Precious Jesus by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – Second Sunday after Epiphany– January 18, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Isaiah 49:1-7 John 1:29-42 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose light and love we follow. Amen. *** Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Look here! Here is the Lamb of God! We hear this story now… today… in the season of Epiphany because Epiphany is a time to illuminate God's revelation to us through Jesus. And God is being revealed to us… here… and now… as God was revealed to John the Baptist when he saw Jesus rise from the waters of baptism. John the Baptist, who heard the voice of God tell him to watch for the one on whom the Holy Spirit would descend as a dove… that he would be the one who baptizes with fire and the Holy Spirit… watch for this one… he is the Son of God. Behold… the Lamb of God who has come to lift away the barriers between you and God… Behold… the Lamb of God who has come to stand between you and evil… Behold… the Lamb of God who has come to liberate you from the sin of the world. Yes! Behold… Jesus has come to liberate the oppressed… to free them from the sin of the world that has held them in shackles… Behold… Jesus has come to liberate the hungry… to free them from the sin of systems that uphold inequality and imprison people in their poverty. Behold… Jesus has come to liberate those who are wounded and hurting… to free them from the violence that harms. Behold… Jesus has come to liberate us from our brokenness… to bring healing to our hearts and to our land… to rebuild the nations and bring peace. Behold! God is revealed to you… through this man, Jesus, who has come to liberate you from your sin and from the sin of the world… so come and see… follow him… and abide with him. How does it feel in your body… in your heart… to hear this call from John to behold Jesus… and to hear the call from Jesus to come and see… to follow… to abide with him? How must it have felt for those who were there… those being crushed by Empire… trapped in poverty… bound to systems of discrimination and oppression. To hear this good news as one who is being crushed… it's a lifeline… a ray of hope and a cause for rejoicing! Yes, I do want to come and see… I do want to follow… and I do want to abide with Christ! And yet, when we look out at the world today… I sometimes wonder how much has really changed. Jesus calls us to join him in the mission and ministry of liberation, but …Lord, there is still so much suffering. It's not lost on me that we hear this call to us… this call to join in the work of liberation… on the eve of Martin Luther King Day… a disciple of Jesus and a prophet who gave his life for the work of liberation. Like all prophets, Martin Luther King held up a mirror to his country… he showed us the sin of our society and challenged us to confess… to repent… to change our hearts and minds… and to rejoin Jesus in the work of liberation from the oppression of our sin. Martin Luther King held up that mirror… and he was killed for it. He was killed because facing our sin is painful… and liberating the oppressed means disrupting systems of wealth and power and privilege… it means disrupting systems of Empire. …and when you strike at the Empire, the Empire strikes back. Jesus calls us to come and see, but what we find might make us uncomfortable. And in the face of discomfort, far too many run and hide. In the face of discomfort, they turn away from the liberating message of Jesus… they focus solely on the individual salvation they hope to receive, and they challenge the prophets and preachers that hold up those mirrors. Unable to sit in the discomfort of the good news of the Gospel's liberating message for the poor and oppressed, they turn away, and they cry out that politics has no place in the pulpit! …as if it were truly possible to separate Jesus' call to welcome the stranger and love your neighbor… from the salvation that comes from abiding in and with Christ. You cannot… you cannot abide with Christ… while ignoring what he came to do, and how he calls to us to join him. Truly following and abiding with Jesus… true discipleship leads to liberation for ourselves and others… but it does not always lead to comfort and material blessings. It cannot… because truly following Jesus and abiding in him means standing with him in his mission and disrupting systems of sin. Behold! The Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world! …but my friends, Jesus didn't come to wave a magic wand. No, in fact… Jesus came preaching this good news and calling us to join him. Jesus came to invite us into God's grand mission of love… for loving others is the only path toward liberation for us all from our sin. This is the path on which we follow Jesus. Dr. King preached this for us when he said… "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate… only love can do that." To abide in Jesus… is to abide in love. Every generation has these crisis moments…moments when our sin against others… our sin against our neighbors… is illuminated to a point where it can no longer be ignored. These are moments when it becomes so blindingly clear that the harm being done to the least among us… the harm perpetuated against the very people Jesus called us to love and care for… is also causing incredible harm to our entire society. Our sin is harming everyone around… and it is this kind of sin of hatred and fear and abuse that holds us apart from God …apart from our Creator who loves us beyond measure. I do believe we are living in our crisis moment right now. Witnessing the terror and the atrocities being committed is enough to drive good people into despair. …but we must not despair. We must not despair because God is still being revealed to us through Jesus, and Jesus is still calling us to abide in his love… to disrupt systems that perpetuate sin and to show up for those in need wherever we can, and however we can. Showing up… won't look the same for everyone… and that is good and right, because God calls us all, across the full diversity of Creation… to show love in as many different ways as there are people. And Jesus does not call us for our sake alone… Jesus calls us to abide in his love for the sake of others… and ultimately for the sake of creation. If we focus only on ourselves, we miss the point. Through the prophet Isaiah, God says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." God's liberation… is like ripples of water on a pond… expanding outward beyond ourselves… reaching to the ends of the earth. And God is faithful and true and will not abandon Jesus' mission of abiding love. So behold, the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sin of the world… to lift away the barrier that keeps us apart from God, and invites us into abiding love. But also… hear this now… this is important… your salvation does not depend on you getting this right. We will all mess it up… none of us are perfect, and God knows it. However, you are already claimed, redeemed, and beloved by Christ, in all the messy ways we do life. Jesus knows you fully… knows all of your joys and sorrows… all of your virtues and your flaws… and loves you as you are… and still calls you… as you are to join him in his mission of love and liberation. However, faith and discipleship are not meant to be passive… because the joy of this life of discipleship is found in seeing how the way of Christ brings light to the world and heals others through love. The way of Christ has the power to transform the darkest corners and flood them with light and love… so we cannot keep this way of Christ to ourselves. This is the good news… it must be shared, especially… in times of such darkness. We need Christ's light for the sake of the world. We need disciples who respond to hate and fear by drawing on the strength and love of Christ, and flood the darkness with light and love. That is the only way forward for us. This is the way of Jesus. We don't join with Christ to earn our salvation or become worthy of God's love… but we answer Jesus' call to abide with him… because we are already loved. And because we are already loved, we can look upon our neighbor with love… and we can see clearly that our liberation is bound up with theirs… and only together can we work to break the chains that bind, and set the captives free. Jesus, the Lamb of God, calls us in love to come and see… come and see this work of liberation… come and see how our lives are connected to all others… come and see… and follow… and then abide with him in his love… for the sake of the whole world. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Make Me A Servant by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – Baptism of our Lord – January 11, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 3:13-17 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, the beloved, whose light and love we follow. Amen. *** I knew this boy many years ago… he was kind of a goofball, and no one took him very seriously. He struggled in school, and he blamed his low grades on not being very smart. I don't think his family, his teachers, or even he himself… expected much from his life. He was entering his teenage years when I first met him, and he was already getting into trouble… apparently, no one was surprised. His family had a lot going on… health problems, which caused money problems, and so it goes on down the line. There was a lot of instability… and I think this boy was just falling through the cracks. He was living into the story he was told about himself… that he was a screw-up and not much more… so why expect more? We have several educators in this congregation, and so I suspect that many of you are familiar with both the Pygmalion and the Golem Effects. These opposite effects describe how either positive or negative expectations and words affect our self-image… our confidence… and the standards we hold ourselves to. As much as we would like to believe we build our self-image independently, the truth is… how we see ourselves is a story that is written in collaboration with others. That's just human… And so, I think it matters greatly that Jesus begins his ministry on earth with an act of solidarity with humanity… by entering into our human need for repentance and renewal by entering into John's baptism… and that we then hear God's voice from the heavens… "This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." He is called… the beloved. That's a powerful word. Jesus came alongside us… alongside humanity… in his choice to share in our baptism. I think we all agree that, as the son of God… Word of God incarnate… he didn't need to experience a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of personal sins. And yet, Jesus insists… he must do this… this was not an action he needed for his own forgiveness, but rather, to be in solidarity with us, who do need it. And to acknowledge that our sins are not only personal, but also communal. John the Baptist was calling Israel to repentance… to repent of the sins of the community… that we are all, either directly or indirectly, complicit. Jesus entered the waters of baptism to be what he is… God with us… and to show us that, motivated by grace and mercy, God chooses us. And so, we also enter the waters of baptism to receive this beautiful gift of renewal and adoption into God's family… a gift freely given by God. This is a gift given without qualifications, conditions, or demands… It's not a reward for our actions… it is not given because we are good… but it is given only because God is good. And it is a gift given in love… because God is love. We are always on the receiving end of God's mercy and promise… and that through water and the words of God's promise… we, too, are called beloved… and we, too, are claimed as God's children. Through the water and God's holy words of our baptism, we enter into life with Christ… and in Christ… we are made new through grace. Jesus is a teacher who leads by example… Jesus shows us the way of love, humility, and solidarity… and then invites us to accompany him on that way. People become… we become… what we are called. God called us into existence with God's words… God spoke and breathed life… and so we became living, breathing humans… And now… through water… and God's word… we are washed clean, and claimed as children of the most high… and we are called… beloved. God calls you… beloved… so you are… beloved. This is an important and beautiful description of who you are… it's why I remind you every week… to become aware of God's gaze of love upon you. And yet, even as we know this word… defines us… we understand that it also invites us to live up to… and live into our belovedness. It sets love as the standard by which we live. We know that being claimed and loved by God, and holding that in the forefront of our minds… always… helps us to live, and act, and love our neighbors in a way that is befitting of one who is themselves… beloved. The words of God's promise… the words of God's love… go to work on us… these words and this promise give us the strength and courage to confess and repent of that which holds us apart from God… they help us to change our hearts and minds daily and to turn back toward Jesus… and toward love. Jesus' powerful act of solidarity with us… his choice to enter into our baptism as one of us… calls us to live as beloved members of the full body of Christ… and it means we can rise to the expectations of one who lives their life for Christ… and in Christ. To live into our belovedness means that each day, we work to live lives, not of presumption or arrogance, but of humility… and solidarity… and companionship… lives of unassuming generosity, not looking down on others, but seeing them as Jesus would see them… as siblings in Christ… who are also beloved. That boy I knew all those years ago… I was fortunate to watch him connect with an incredible mentor who refused to let the story he had heard before be the only story that boy ever heard. This mentor made certain that a better, more positive, and loving story became louder than the old one, and I saw this boy start to believe in himself. I saw him start living like one who was loved… like one who belonged, who was valuable, and who was worthy of love… and I saw how it shaped his interactions with others. I saw his kindness and humor shine through, his patience while helping others, and his compassion for those who were suffering. His life was reset and renewed… he was reminded that he was a child of God… and that he was beloved. God calls us all beloved… and so… we become beloved. It's a powerful word. My hope and prayer for you today is that you remember your baptism… as often as you can… remember the words of love and promise that God spoke to you… The promise that you are a beloved child of God. And if you aren't baptized, then know that God's invitation is always open… God's arms are always open wide, longing to receive you in love. Because our baptism… is not a transaction with God… it is an acknowledgment of what God is already doing in and through you. Remember that through the water and word of God's promise, you are part of the full body of Christ, and that you will never look upon another whom God does not love. Remember that you are so loved… and let that go to work in you this day and all days… let it be what you live into each day, for yourself and those around you. Author Maria Popova wrote, "…love… is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other's light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another." Remember that you washed clean in the waters of baptism, and that you are beloved… and that to be one who is beloved… means to reflect love into the world. So let it be that we all might shine with this love. Amen. _______________________ Maria Popova, The Marginalian, https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/01/31/james-baldwin-nothing-personal-love/
Today, we had a special musical performance of Still, Still, Still by a Handbell Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – Epiphany – January 4, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Isaiah 60:1-6 Matthew 2:1-12 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, our savior, whose light and love we follow. Amen. *** The crazy beautiful thing about light… is that it shines on all it touches, without judgment or discrimination, and it can also be reflected to shine into places that would otherwise remain in darkness. There was a movie I saw many years ago… with a scene in a dark cave. There was a hole in the cave's roof where a bit of sunlight shone through… and by adjusting a few mirrors, they were able to illuminate the whole room. I thought that was a cool effect… even though I later learned that the abundance of light they were able to produce was not entirely logically possible. It still felt pretty magical. But then, more recently, I learned about a real-life Norwegian town called Rjukan (Roo-Khan), situated in a mountain valley that runs east to west. From about September to March, the sun doesn't rise high enough over the northern mountain range to shine on the town, and so for six months, the town is in shadow. About 100 years ago, when the town was founded, they dreamt about putting large mirrors on the southern mountain peak to reflect and shine the sun's rays down into the valley and onto the town below… but they didn't have the technology to pull it off. But then… 100 years later, in 2013… they built those mirrors! They have three large mirrors that follow the sun all day, powered by… solar energy. They illuminate and warm the town square in a bright pool of light that's about 80-90% as strong as direct sunlight. There were lots of people who were skeptical about these mirrors, but they have changed the town… warming the people along with the town's square… and bringing cheer back to their community during the dark winter days. It is amazing what light can do… even when it is only a reflection of the original source of that light. And today… as we celebrate Epiphany… we celebrate the light and love of Christ! Epiphany… is a celebration of illumination. It's a celebration of a holy light that guides us… a light that puts us on the path toward knowing our Savior… and invites us into the greatest story of love… that world has ever known. And on this celebratory day, we hear again… the story of the Magi… those exotic astrologers from the east who saw the great light rising over Bethlehem, and were so moved by its appearance, they set out on a long journey to find the source. We cannot see, today, the star that they followed… but the light from that holy star is reflected forward in time for us by their courage and curiosity… these magi have sent that brilliant light forward to us so that we, too, might be guided by its light as we seek our savior. Epiphany is also a celebration of illumination through reflection… for though we are not the original source of light and love, we know that by reflecting that light into the world around us, God's holy light continues to shine and sustain the spirits of our neighbors. We know… that the light of Christ guides us in our living and our loving, and draws us close to our Creator, the source of all love. And yet… we might wonder… how do we know we are on the right path? How do we know that the light we follow is the true light of Christ… and not the false glow of a tyrant king? After all… the Magi, who were considered wise… followed the star that rose over Bethlehem, but instead of making their journey directly there, they stopped in Jerusalem… that is where they assumed the king would be found. But instead of a savior, they found a tyrannical strongman who grasped at power that was not his for the taking… they found a selfish ruler who was more concerned with surrounding himself with gold and splendor than with caring for his people's needs. These Magi… were drawn in by what felt like strength, but what they found was an insecure and irrational leader that could be won over with bribes, and whose rantings would be comical if it weren't for his tendency to indiscriminately destroy those who stood in his way… They found a man who used flimsy excuses to capture and murder innocent people and caused those under his rule to live in terror, or to have to flee for fear of persecution or worse. You know the man… I'm talking, of course… about Herod. Herod consulted the scribes and learned the place where the Messiah was to be born, and sent the Magi there, to Bethlehem… he thought they could be used in his scheme to destroy the competition… But when the Magi found the child Jesus, they were overwhelmed with joy… basking in the true light of God, they knew… they knew that the light of the star had guided them true, and they were, indeed, in the presence of the only true King… they were in the presence of a savior. And so, still guided by God's Holy Spirit, they went home… by another road. How do we know we are on the right path… and that the light we follow is the true light of Christ… and not the false glow of a tyrant? How do we know that our good intentions aren't being used by the selfish whims of those guided by evil? How do we know that the light we choose to reflect out into the world around us… is the light and love of our Savior? It's an important question to ask… as there are plenty of false lights in the world that clamor to hold our attention and our loyalty, and many that do so with alarming success. How do we know? …Well, we know the light we seek, and the light we reflect, is from Christ… when we see how much love it shines onto our neighbors. We know that the light we are following is the true light of Christ… when we observe how it shines onto those who are hurting… those who are suffering… those who have been pushed aside… When we reflect the light of Christ onto those from whom others would turn away, and we see how that light warms them… warms them like the sunlit town center in Rjukan (Roo-Khan)… and we see how it cares for their humanity and restores their dignity… When we reflect that light onto our neighbors, both the ones we like… and the ones we don't… and we watch how that light draws us together as community… and how it heals… then we know that we are reflecting the true light of Christ. The false glow of tyrants like Herod will always draw people to their corrupt light… some are drawn because they prefer the darkness to cover their sin… and some are drawn in through misunderstanding, or false promises. But we know that light is not from Christ because the reflections of it cause so much pain and heartache… and celebrate selfish ambition and greed, with no consideration for those in need, or for the connections of community. But the true and pure light of Christ… brings joy… and love… and compassion… connection… and empathy… the true light of Christ brings healing to a hurting world… and oh… how much our world is hurting… and how much pain has been caused by our societal and systemic sins. So, in this season of Epiphany… when we celebrate Christ's light and how we reflect that light as best we can into our world, let us also be as wise as the Magi in discerning between a false, dim, imitation… and the true, bright glory of our God. And know that your discernment doesn't happen alone… for joyfully bearing Christ's light is the work of community, with Jesus himself as our guide. But still, these are challenging times… so now more than ever, we turn to our Savior to guide us… Let us pray… Lord, have mercy on us… how we need your light. Even if we are mere reflections of your pure, true light… we know that your light has the power to warm us… and to draw all people to your healing arms. Heal us, Lord, and help us to lift up our eyes so we might behold your glory! Help us to lift up our eyes, so that we might see you… in our neighbor… and that our neighbor might see you… in us… and that, together, we understand that we are divinely connected to each other through your love, regardless of race, nationality, or creed. Guide us always, O Lord, to your light. Amen.
Year A – Christmas Eve – December 24, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Luke 2:1-20 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, our savior, who is born this day for us… who is God with us. Amen. *** Merry Christmas, friends… this is truly a night for wonder. Christ is born this day for you… for us! …What an incredible proclamation! Our Creator God has come to dwell with us… to share joy and laughter with us… and… to suffer and cry out in pain… with us… and for us. Through the newborn Jesus, God has revealed God-self to us … arriving in the form of pure love… for only true and perfect love is as vulnerable as a newborn child. To you… is born this day… a Savior… born into a world full of pain and sorrow… of war and greed and corruption… born into a world that is weeping… a world that is being crushed by Empire. To you… is born this day… a Savior. Amazing! It is no wonder… that Mary pondered all these things in her heart. Stories of babies always bring me around to remembering my own children when they were young… young enough for me to hold in my arms. And I think about those times when they were sick… when they were crying out in need… as parents, if we could have… we would have taken on their sickness just to ease their pain. Even when they were bigger… too big to carry… as parents, the most natural reaction to your child's sorrow is to draw close to them… wrap your arms around them… and remind them that they do not face their troubles alone. We draw close to our children when they are suffering, and we share the burden of their pain… and on this night… on Christmas night… God, our holy parent… does just that. Our God, who loves us beyond measure, cannot bear our sorrow from afar, and so our holy parent draws close… and takes on the pain and brokenness of the world… by being born among us… as a child… arriving to humble humans, surrounded by animals… and placed in a manger, for there was no bed. To you… is born this day a Savior… It's a birth story so humble and ordinary; it takes your breath away. …So ordinary… that we may overlook the incredible circumstances that brought Mary and Joseph so far from their home in Nazareth, so near to the time of her baby's arrival… It was the audacity of Empire, seeking to control the whole world… compelling all people to be registered for the purpose of exploitation… that's what brought them to that stable… to that manger, in the city of Bethlehem… the city of David. But what Empire forced for the purpose of control… God chose to use for the purpose of salvation. Control and conquest forced them into such a precarious situation… but from amid that brokenness, and from under the pressure of oppression, rises the green shoot from the stump of Jesse… …as the prophet Isaiah foretold, the savior would come from the royal line of Jesse, father of King David, whose lineage seemed to be cut off like a dead stump after the downfall of Israel… This impossible new life shines a great light in the darkness… bringing love so powerful that it can overcome cruelty… offering hope so secure that it drives out despair… and breaking the chains of oppression for the sake of justice and mercy. This is the power and promise of God, who comes to turn the world upside down, by drawing close to us… by arriving among us… God arrives, not amid wealth and power… not with military might or gold and grandeur… but in complete vulnerability, to those who are poor and lowly. Christ arrives on the margins… to those who are considered disposable… this is where our God… Word of the Father… is born. …this is where Christ is found… Christ arrives, always, where good news is most needed. It is… almost too wonderful to behold. And then, as if daring our God to be even more subversive to earthly powers… the angel of the Lord announces the arrival of our Savior… to shepherds, tending their flocks by night. It was to those who were even further in the margins of society… literally on the outskirts of the community… to them, the angel appears to proclaim the good news of great JOY… And those shepherds went to see the child, and saw that it was as the angel had told… and once they saw the promise of Love incarnate… they went on their way, glorifying and praising God… They proclaimed the good news for all to hear! TO YOU is born this day in the city of David… a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. God has heard your cry… God feels your sorrow and longs to take your pain… and so in pure Love, your holy parent has drawn close to you to bring comfort… and peace. O Holy Night! …indeed… except Christ's arrival is so much more than one holy night… it is so much more than that first, humble Christmas… all those years ago. The arrival of Jesus Christ …the incarnation of our God… is not a one-time event… it is… eternal. Christ is arriving… every day… to the poor… the needy… the lonely… Christ is born every day for those who are marginalized and oppressed… to those for whom justice has been too long delayed and denied. Our world is still broken… and so our God is still arriving… still coming among us… choosing to show up for us and walk alongside us, ever faithful to the promise of Emmanuel that began on that first Christmas… God with us. To YOU… to US… a child is born, who is Christ the Lord… ever inviting us to take notice of those in need as if they were Christ himself… to embrace empathy, and act with compassion and love for our neighbor. Because Jesus Christ is born this day! …and therefore, we are born into the holy truth that God's love and grace and mercy are so much greater and deeper than we can ever understand. To us, a child is born… humble and lowly… so that we might understand that power is made perfect in weakness, and love is the greatest force of all. Jesus Christ has brought salvation to the world, but we still live amid brokenness… we live in the truth that the healing of the world… will not be achieved in a swift, dramatic movement. And so, the coming of our Lord teaches us… that Christ is born wherever love is shown and wherever light shines… Christ is born in humble acts of kindness… and born when we choose to live with integrity and seek justice and mercy. Christ is born when we honor and value those who are in the margins, and when we seek to heal the sin that pushed them there. Christ is born when we draw from the strength of God's love, and seek to heal our world. And so to us, a child is born, who is Christ our savior… inviting us to share the good news… and to keep the wonder that is the miracle of Christmas… that Christ is born in love… this day, and every day. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of He Shall Be Called by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of Gentle Mary, Tender Mary with a solo by Jane Durga at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of Some Children See Him with a solo by Emily Brown and accompanied by Kathy Richardson at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of Waiting For Bethlehem's Light by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with a flute solo from Gwynne Kadrofske at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – Advent 4 – December 21, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 1:18-25 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, our savior, who is God with us. Amen. *** There is this beautiful portrait of the Holy Family by Matt Chinworth… it's called Newborn King. I saw it for the first time a few years ago… and it was so different and gorgeous, it took my breath away. Instead of the typical depiction of Mary and Joseph looking clean and serene, both gazing down at the child Jesus between them… this one is more real. In Chinworth's Newborn King, Mary is exhausted… and resting in the background… She is not the main subject of the image. This portrait… is of Joseph… calm and steady, gently holding the newborn Jesus… and loving him, the miracle that he is. In his face, you can see amazement and awe… …It is the look you have when you are overcome with love. Joseph's quiet devotion… and his attentiveness… is such a pure expression of love… love for a child that he had chosen to accept as his own. And yes, it was a choice… a very difficult and complicated choice… for this righteous man. If he had called attention to Mary's pregnancy, she could have been stoned to death… that is, after all, what the law prescribed. And if he dismissed her quietly, she could have been shunned and left to beg – or worse – just for her and her child to survive. And yet, even the choice to marry her is not without complication, for in doing so, his reputation could be marked by scandal. Her child would become his heir, and he would relinquish his lineage to a child who is not his blood. So, he decides the most righteous thing to do is to dismiss her quietly, but then God shows up… and turns his life upside down. The angel of the Lord appears to him and says… Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife… you have a role to play in God's plan, so have courage and trust in God's word. What is a righteous, God-fearing man to do? Given the circumstances, I think his trust and faithfulness to God are remarkable… he is the model of quiet obedience and commitment. And yet, it must have been terrifying, despite the angel's opening instruction not to be afraid. Being a new parent is scary enough… but to take on the parentage and protection of God's divine presence in human form… well, I expect that adds to the pressure. But Joseph is steady, and he obeys God's command, even though he only knows the next step… and not where it will all eventually lead. He trusts God. It's easy to trust the process when you know the end of the story… but Joseph… kind, supportive… righteous Joseph… is a model of courage and strength in the face of the unknown… in the face of the preposterous. But Joseph, this compassionate, earthly father of Jesus… only gets a few mentions in our Bible, and he never speaks a single word. He is there with Mary at the birth of Jesus, and later, under Herod's threat of violence, he takes his family, and they flee to Egypt as refugees… ever the protector. His last appearance is in the background when Jesus is 12 years old and has wandered away from his family, only to be found teaching in the temple. That's all we ever hear about Joseph… but it is enough to know his character, and to honor him for his steadfast and faithful support of his wife, Mary, silently supporting her in following God's call on her life to bear the child of God. And in that moment… in a dream… in humble obedience, he chooses to trust in God's word and call for his own life… to stay with Mary… to claim and name the child Jesus, meaning, God saves. He chooses to claim the child as his own, adopting him into his family lineage and thereby fulfilling what was foretold. The Salt Project commentary said this: "The angel calls Joseph to a love that doubles as a kind of courage. Courage to commit – though the neighbors may whisper and judge. Courage to nurture – though the child you raise is from the Holy Spirit. And courage to love – though the child you love is none other than Love personified, none other than 'The God Who Saves is With Us.' We often think of Christmas as a time to celebrate Love becoming incarnate in Jesus. But the season is also a time to celebrate how love becomes incarnate in Joseph, acting with compassion, courage, and grace. And what is the source, the wellspring of such courage, in Joseph… or in us, today? …It's none other than God's love… the love made flesh, the love that came to dwell with us, and save us… and love us back to life." This righteous man from the line of David trusted in the whispers of God's holy word and allowed those words to alter the course of his life… to take on the holy and challenging task of being a father to Jesus… a choice that continues to shape our lives today… through a love that endures forever. Joseph's trust in God inspires us to trust in God… he teaches us to listen to the whispers of Love in our lives, calling us to seek the good and to allow our lives to follow paths of righteousness… Meaning… allowing our lives to follow along paths that lead to being in "right-relationship" with God and with all of Creation, paths walked in humility and marked by God's justice and mercy… that is righteousness. And Joseph chose to adopt Jesus as his own… to embrace him as his own child, doing for the Christ child what God had first done for us, indeed, for the whole world… embracing us… and claiming us all as God's beloved children. This is the holy family to which we belong… a family bonded by God's love and trust… the kind of love that casts out hate and fear. This is the love we, who are followers of Christ, have the joy to share, even though we do so imperfectly… when we get it right, this love changes the world around us. So, hear now the angel's words for yourself… Do not be afraid, for you are children of the most holy, and the God who saves is with us, now and always. So have courage, like Joseph, to love others as Christ loves you. Amen. ____________________________ View Matt Chinworth's work, Newborn King, here: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/mattchinworth/newborn-king/ Commentary citation from the Salt Project Blog: www.saltproject.org
Today, we had a special musical performance of Carols Around (And a Round) by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year A – Advent 2 – December 7, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 3:1-12 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who invites us into repentance, so that our lives may bear good fruit. Amen. *** You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? That's such a great line… it's one of my favorite lines… you brood of vipers. John doesn't really mince words, does he? But I get where he's coming from – he's calling out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who are just showing up to cover their bases. You see, John the Baptist, who proclaimed in the wilderness that the Messiah was coming and that God's glory would be revealed… he was very much like the prophet Elijah… with his camel-hair clothing and leather belt… and his diet of locusts and honey. …a bit eccentric, if you will, but very popular! Isaiah's vision was that a voice in the wilderness would proclaim the coming Messiah, and John shows up on the scene like a new Elijah! …and the people are coming from all around to hear him preach. So, I can't blame the religious leaders for being curious… they know their scripture, so it is possible this guy might be the real deal… and if he is, they'd want to be sure they kept their place of privilege among the religious elite. And yet… John calls them out. You brood of vipers… who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Judgement is coming… you think you can avoid it by going through the motions of baptism, even though you remain unwilling to live lives that reflect God's love? To our ears… we hear the words judgment and wrath and fire… and it conjures up images of Hell… at least, Hell according to Dante's Inferno. I won't go off on this tangent now, but most of our ideas of Hell come from Dante, and not from the Bible. And yet, there are so many in our modern day who, like the Pharisees and Sadducees… they cling to ideas of wrath and judgment as some kind of cosmic punishment for not going through the motions… for not checking the boxes for all to see. …wrath and judgment that will come to others, of course… certainly not them. I'm thinking of those who claim the name Christian in one breath… and then with their next breath… turn away the stranger, the refugee, and the immigrant… how easily they forget that our Lord and Savior was himself, a stranger and a refugee, and we are commanded by God to welcome them as one of our own. And those who sing about God's love for them in one breath… and then turn around and spew hate and spread violence against those whose love they disapprove of… how easily they forget that God shows up, again and again, on the side of love. Or those who feel so satisfied in their eternal future because they have stated publicly that Jesus Christ is their personal Lord and Savior, but have never considered that becoming a follower of Jesus means actually following the actions of Jesus… namely feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and causing a right scene by turning over the tables of greed and injustice… How easily people claim a personal and individual salvation… while forgetting that Jesus came to save the entire world… forgetting that a true life of faith can only be lived in community with others, working to make sure everyone is provided for… that no one is forgotten… So yeah… John the Baptist… doesn't have much patience for hypocrisy… and truth be told… neither do I. …and I doubt you do either. But there's a lot of it in our world today. And yet… here's the thing… John is harsh… but he's still offering them… the brood of vipers… he's still offering them good news. …Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance… John says… don't rest on your heritage and your position… What God wants from you is for your life to bear good fruit. He's not turning them away… he's inviting them in… his words are harsh, but he presumes that they, and we, have the capacity to rise up and meet the challenge… to bear the good fruit that God created us to bear. It's not about going through the motions so others can see how holy you are… it's about what's in your heart. Do you truly want to be a follower of Jesus Christ? When you come to the waters of baptism, are you ready to die every day to your sin, and to rise every day, washed clean and ready to live according to God's will? When you come to the waters of baptism… are you willing to confess the times you have fallen short of God's will… to release your sins and repent… and receive God's forgiveness so that you can start again? When you come to the waters of baptism… are you willing to let your life be shaped by Christ? Jesus longs for you to say yes… yes to all of it… so that you might be part of the joy that is living in the light and love of Christ. John invites his followers to be baptized with water… just as we still do today… A tangible sign of being washed clean and renewed… paired with the eternal promise of Christ's forgiveness and faithfulness. The action of baptism is only needed once, but the remembrance of baptism is a daily practice… a daily practice of confession and repentance… a practice that re-aligns our lives back to God and Christ Jesus. Repentance means to literally change your mind… your heart… your direction. John, in the wilderness, says he baptizes with water for repentance, but the one coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit… and with fire. "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor …he will gather his wheat into the granary, and the chaff he will burn with… unquenchable fire." To quote Deb… Daaaannnng. There's that fire again… judgment and unquenchable fire… mixed with images from Dante. It's terrifying… but let me swap out those images from Dante… for something different. So, my friend Paul is retired, and his passion is working with conservation efforts and protecting the environment. One of the things he does… is he helps with controlled burns. Controlled burns are fires that are intentionally set and managed, and they actually improve ecosystem health by reducing the amount of hazardous fuels like dead and dried undergrowth, which reduces the risk of extreme fires. They also restore habitats, control invasive species, and promote native plant growth by mimicking the natural fire cycle. We think of forest and prairie fires as bad things… but they are actually necessary for clearing away the stuff that accumulates and harms the ecosystem… they are necessary for clearing away the chaff… if you will. When we hear John the Baptist preaching of the coming judgment that will separate the wheat from the chaff… and that the fate of the chaff is to burn in an unquenchable fire… We are inclined to think that the wheat are those people who are right with Jesus… and the chaff are those who aren't… those who are going to Dante's hell. Except… We might forget that wheat and chaff are all part of the same plant. (x2) The Salt Project commentary states, "What the wind and fire remove are the husks that get in the way: the anxieties, self-absorption, apathy, or greed that make us less generous, less just, or less respectful of others. There is a line between good and evil, but it doesn't run between groups; it runs through the heart of each person. What each of us requires is restoration, liberation from whatever "husks" are holding us back." So yes, indeed, through Jesus, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire… not a fire that destroys, though, but a fire that purifies… that cleanses us of our junk… a fire that restores us to good health… This is not a fire that we should fear… this fire is a gift… a gift that we receive when we open our hearts to confession and repentance for our sins. When we step into the fire of the Holy Spirit, it cleanses our hearts, washes us clean… and makes us new… it makes us capable of producing good fruit! John's invitation to fully and truly receive the gift of repentance is the key to his challenge that our lives bear good fruit. …and this invitation is open to all. And Christ longs for all people to accept. John's language and mannerisms are harsh… but his message is sound. Repent! For the kingdom of heaven has come near! Christ has come near! Repent… and allow the fire of the Spirit to cleanse your heart. Take comfort in the promise that the winnowing fork is in Christ's hand… Christ, who is full of mercy and grace… and with wind and fire, Christ will not destroy… but refine… restore… and empower you as a child of God, to bear fruit worthy of repentance. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Sing of the Lord's Goodness by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir and Bruce Williams and Megan Nyquist on Piano at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Sermon 11-16-25, Lk 21:5-19 Pastor Megan asked me to lead worship and preach this Sunday while she's attending the youth gathering, I checked my schedule and agreed. Later when I read the text I thought "ugh… I don't like this one" It's hard to preach on something I don't particularly like And maybe that's actually the key to today's Gospel message Similar to the disciples, We don't like what Jesus has to say sometimes / / / I love the Gospel of Luke and his focus on social justice And when I zoomed out of this particular passage to what's happening in Luke's narrative, it clicked for me So let's zoom out together / / / Jesus has been sitting in, teaching and preaching in, the temple since the end of chapter 19 when he entered the temple, caused a scene and said "My house shall be a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers"… This disruption inspired the leaders to continue to look for a way to kill Jesus And he remains within the temple through the rest of chapter 21 until chapter 22 when the Passover begins, starting his journey to the cross We're in the midst of Jesus' speed round to get his point across before he's gone And he's intense about it Jesus' focus in the temple is one of redirection Stones and destruction aren't unique to his warning today Back in 20:17 He said "the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone… everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces" The religious leaders' desire to kill Jesus fueled their questioning of him They kept challenging Jesus, trying to trip him up on technicalities about taxes and marriage Jesus continued to warn and redirect the people Toward issues he saw as more important Beware of the scribes who dress all fancy and look powerful Look at this poor widow giving all she has to this oppressive system But the disciples get uncomfortable and attempt a redirection of their own They say – oh, but look how pretty and incredible and awesome this temple is! Let's take a break from all of these hard conversations and admire the centerpiece of our community and place that honors the one true God Surely Jesus will agree with us on this topic! Jesus doesn't falter -- and says: well, guess what, it will be destroyed! so let's focus on something lasting / / / Jesus' message reminds me of the Buddhist teaching of impermanence, and releasing attachment The Buddhist teacher, Ajahn Chah, said: "You see this goblet? For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it. I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind knocks it over, or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, 'Of course.' When I understand that this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious. Every moment is just as it is, and nothing need be otherwise." The glass is all ready broken The temple is all ready destroyed / / / But the disciples are alarmed and want to be prepared for this horrible destruction They cling to the temple and the comfort and security it offers So they ask, how will they know it's coming?! What can they do?! And Jesus doesn't answer them directly, as he never does But he instructs them to: "Beware" "Do not be led astray" "Do not be terrified" and leaves them with "By your endurance you will gain your souls" / / / The Jesus we see in Luke is not cozy or comforting He's on a mission He's provocative in the way he is trying to make us see the ugliness of the world and human nature He's frustrating in the way he keeps pointing out the things we'd rather look away from Like the impermanence of the solid places where we rest our assurance - like these stone buildings Like the uncertainty of societal structures of power and wealth that we benefit from Like the particularities of taxes and marriage that distract us from the real focus of loving God and loving our neighbor Like the cruel and violent actions of powerful leaders masked by the fancy veneer of wealth and beauty Like the oppressive systems that benefit from the poverty of others / / / The disciples want to escape this doom and gloom Don't we? They attempt a distraction, admiring the awesomeness of this enormous and gorgeous temple that is dedicated to God At least we have this common ground, right? But Jesus won't give them a break He's on a mission – then -- and now To challenge our view of the world and guide us toward seeing clearly Whatever you see will be destroyed The glass is all ready broken / / / I wonder about the metaphorical "temples" of beauty and distraction today? What are our "temples" of escape? What are the places in which we find reassurance that will eventually crumble? What are the "temples" to which we're attached that are actually impermanent? / / / I'm sure we could compile a long list… I think of the saying "my body is my temple" How preoccupation with a body too large or too small distracts from loving that body as a gift from God And adorning that body – with clothes, jewelry, tattoos, -- can be consuming of our precious time, energy and resources I think of the ways we resist acknowledging and embracing our aging bodies / / / I think of our places… Our homes and even this sanctuary and the amount of energy we expend maintaining and improving our spaces / / / I think of the "temples" within our minds… The striving and achieving parts The protective and defensive parts That prevent us from resting and loving our whole selves And render us unable to fully love and be loved by others / / / This is hard. . . We could go on, but that's not really Jesus' point, is it? It's not Jesus' point to identify our faults and distractions No, we do that well enough ourselves The disciples did that themselves Jesus' point is to redirect us toward God and what is everlasting Jesus' point is to remind us of what we can really cling to / / / Jesus' message is "Beware" "Do not be led astray" "Do not be terrified" Jesus calls us to focus on what's real and true / / / He says these messages today in the negative sense But within these warnings I also hear: "I am the truth" "The truth will set you free" "Come, follow me" "Set down your burdens, I will give you rest" "My yoke is easy, my burden is light" These messages of Jesus' love and healing and safety are directly connected to the warnings we hear today It's all the same message / / / All that you see All that you count on All that you take comfort in Is destroyed The glass is all ready broken But what remains? When the literal and metaphorical temples crumble When the glass is broken What is left? Where is the good news? / / / It comes only from remembering the truth that we worship a crucified God who loves and knows us completely and continues to remain with us in the midst of destruction and even death. God's love is permanent God's redemption is permanent / / / We have a big task in supporting one another in remembering this And in being witnesses to this truth in this world / / / Restoration comes after destruction This is a truth we so desperately need to cling to Remembering that new life will come after death Knowing that God is bigger than all of it This promise isn't just enough It's the main thing God is always making us new! / / / By our endurance we will gain our souls. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Down To The River To Pray by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – 22nd Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 32 – November 9, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Job 19:23-27a Psalm 17:1-9 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 Luke 20:27-38 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, in whose promise of eternal life we trust. Amen. *** A mailbox… should not leak. And while this is true, it was not my first thought on a certain day, many years ago, when our mail carrier brought our outgoing mail back into the church. The mail was soaking wet… dripping water everywhere. He'd brought it back to us because he couldn't mail it in such a water-logged state. It seemed that there was a hole at the top of the mailbox, and during the long, torrential rainstorm we'd just had, the water had dripped into the box from the top, but had no way of exiting the otherwise secure box… So, when the mail carrier opened the box… the water poured out… along with our letters. Most of the mail just needed to be laid out to dry… but included in the stack was a letter that I'd written to a member whose husband had just died. It was a consoling letter… one that I had written from my heart… acknowledging her sorrow and sharing that space with her, so she wouldn't feel so alone. She was important to me, and I shared her grief. Except now… my letter was no longer a letter, but an abstract puddle of blue ink… like a watercolor painting… with only the hint that there had once been words on that page. I was upset. Understandably, I think. But then… a man who happened to observe this exchange, and my now-erased letter, started criticizing my choice of pens. Clearly, I should have used a ball-point pen because then it would only need to dry out… obviously, I hadn't thought this through when I'd written in a gel pen, or whatever it was I used. He carried on like that… on and on… and I just stared at him… because… like my now soggy letter… I had no words. Until I did… Mailboxes should not leak. …he stopped talking after that. We could have debated all day about the best pens for writing, but the pen was not the point… that thinking was too small… mailboxes should not leak. I admit, I was annoyed… but I know I have fallen into the trap of narrow thinking before. It's human. And in our gospel today, that kind of narrow thinking is what has the Sadducees stuck. Now, of course, they don't think they are stuck… they think they've landed Jesus in the perfect rhetorical trap. They are angry at Jesus, and probably a little afraid of him… I mean… he showed up at the temple and started flipping tables and driving out the merchants, causing a huge disruption… and then every day he was teaching there… and every day, they were looking for a way to kill him… but they knew they needed to be cautious because the people were so spellbound by his teaching. So, they kept trying to trap him… to trick him into saying something that would turn the people against him… and today, we heard their attempt to trap him with a debate on the resurrection. You see, the Sadducees only acknowledge the Torah as authoritative – that's the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures… Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – and they don't believe in resurrection. So, their example of the childless woman being married to each of the seven brothers, and still dying childless, for them, proves that the idea of resurrection is ridiculous… Because if resurrection were really a thing… then whose wife would she be? To which man would she belong? Which man in the afterlife gets to claim her as his property? The practice of a widow marrying the next brother was an ancient patriarchal custom known as levirate marriage. If a man died childless, his brother would marry his widow and have children with her, and the firstborn son would be counted as the dead man's child and carry on his name. It is true… that in a culture where a woman had almost no rights, this practice helped to ensure her protection and future… but it did so by effectively treating her as property, passed from brother to brother. The Sadducees think they've trapped Jesus… because, if resurrection is a thing, then which man gets to claim this woman as his property? When they all have an equal claim, whose wife will she be? Jesus shuts down their narrow thinking… she won't belong to any man… because she already belongs to God… for she is already, and always has been, claimed as a beloved child of the one who created her in love. Unlike her earthly life… her vulnerable, earthly life that is dependent on men… her resurrection does not rely on who she is to others… it's only about who she is to God. So, Jesus responds to the Sadducees using the Torah as his evidence… that Moses himself experienced evidence of the resurrection… when God said I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" …not I WAS, but I AM… "…for to God, all of them are alive." …alive in the presence of God. Resurrection is not about a continuation of earthly life… It's not just… more life in the same roles we played on earth… that is narrow thinking… it's too restrictive… and it misses the point. Resurrection is ultimately a promise… that after we die, we will rest in the presence of God. And the truth is… the finer details of our resurrection will remain a mystery until we get there… but the promise of God with us… is assured. From Job, we hear… for I know that my redeemer lives… and after I am gone, I know that I will again see God. (paraphrased) And from 2 Thessalonians, we hear that God chose you… and called to you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord. (paraphrased) God chose you… you are already God's beloved. And from our Psalm, we hear this language of being known by God… "Show me your marvelous lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand… Keep me as the apple of your eye, and hide me under the shadow of your wings…" You are fully known by God, who loves you just as you are… and God's promise to us is that we will eternally rest in that love, because… God is love. Even so… as I think about the resurrection, and about God's incredible and wondrous love… I think about the people here on Earth, in my life, whom I love. I am very fortunate to live thousands of years after the time of levirate marriage, and I am certain that my husband does not consider me his property… Without getting too mushy, we might say we belong to each other… a belonging that has grown through decades of mutual love and respect. And so, because God is love… and God is very clear throughout scriptures that God is on the side of love… then I anticipate that, of all the emotions… the love we have shared on earth will be with us in our eternal life. This is my hope… of course… and I know I share that hope with so many others. And given the larger picture of God's relationship with us, and what we know of God, I don't think we'll be disappointed. I think love will persist. But I also suspect that being in God's loving presence when all else of my earthly life has fallen away… will be even more than I can imagine with my limited, human perspective. And… I'm ok with letting that be a surprise. But truthfully, we know that God is with us now… so thinking about the resurrection, and of the promise that we will be in God's presence after we die, is still thinking too narrowly. Resurrection is something that we can only know through hope and faith in the living God… and the living God… is the one who meets us in the baptismal waters… and in the shared meal of bread and wine. The living God is the one who is faithful and true… and is continually inviting us back into a shared relationship. The living God meets us in our joy and celebrates with us… and the living God meets us in our sorrow, and ministers to us through the consolation and compassion of our community. Our living God… is not waiting until after we die to be with us! We are in God's loving presence now, just as we will rest eternally in God's loving presence in the resurrection. And yes, the promise of resurrection matters because it reveals and reminds us of our primary identity as God's beloved children… and that God will never let us go. But the afterlife is not the point… because the heart of resurrection is the same now as it is in our eternal life with God. The heart of resurrection… is God's promise to be with us always… now and forever… no matter where we are or what we are going through. For our God is not God of the dead, but of the living, and to God, we are and always will be… alive. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Praise His Holy Name by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with a solo by Bob Nelson at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Megan Floyd Year B – All Saints Sunday – November 3, 2024 Luke 6:20-31 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who calls us into holy living for the sake of the world. Amen. *** We are gathered here today on All Saints' Sunday… the day the Church sets aside to remember those we have loved and cared for, who have died during the past year. We gather to celebrate them… even though it may stir up the grief within us… we know… that our grief honors their place in the story of our lives… And we take comfort in the promise that our dear ones are resting in the embrace of our Lord. We, as a community of faith, trust in the Good News that Jesus has defeated death… so that death is no longer the end… And we trust in the Good News… that we are a forgiven people, called and claimed by God and redeemed through God's love. We trust this Good News… this promise for us as disciples… as followers of Christ… because we know that God's enduring faithfulness is forever and ever, Amen. And yet we know… that while the goodness that God offers is free to all people… we know that being a disciple… a follower of Christ… still comes with a cost. The cost of discipleship… is that it must change your life… it must change how you live… how you love… how you treat others, especially the poor and hungry. The cost of discipleship is that it transforms your whole being… when you allow your life to become one with the life of Christ… It's not a change that we make so that we can receive the promised goodness of God… those promises are already ours. It's a change that comes in response to what Jesus offers when we take seriously what he calls us to do… It's not easy… this life of discipleship… which is why we need God's grace and forgiveness every day. It's not easy… but this life of following Christ… this challenging and difficult life… this holy and beautiful life… this is the life that Jesus calls us into. Because this kind of life… this way of living… is what brings closer the kingdom of God and allows us to be co-creators with God in the ever-unfolding new creation. We hear this call today into a holy and loving, yet challenging and difficult way of life… We hear it in the blessings and woes… and in the call to love those who are against us, and to turn the other cheek. And these words from Jesus today might make us uncomfortable… and that's ok! My friends… the truth is, if the Gospel of Jesus doesn't make you uncomfortable, at least sometimes, then you aren't reading it closely enough! I know these words make me uncomfortable… but I know that they are still Good News, and so I stick with them because I trust Jesus. Presiding Bishop Curry once said that Jesus is always on the side of the poor and oppressed, and so whenever we read scripture, we should strive to hear it from their perspective… because when we do… we can't help but to hear Christ's words as Good News. And what sounds like Good News for only the poor… and only those who are persecuted… really is Good News for all people. This way of life that Jesus calls us into, for both the rich and the poor, calls us into lives of equality, dignity, and love… It disrupts the social hierarchy that those on top cling to with fervor, and it demands that they fully recognize the inherent value and worth of all human life… but again… especially the lives of those who are on the margins. This way of life calls us to overthrow systems that depend on the suffering and struggle of many to support the few… And Jesus is not preaching about theoretical concepts… he is calling us to recognize the real human lives of those around us who are hurting… and to understand that we are connected. This way of life… this life of discipleship… it calls us to be accountable for our actions… it shines a loving light onto our sin, so that we might repent, and be reconciled with those we have harmed. Listen… We know that Christ lives in us, and so when we honor the light of our God that is present in all people… then working to repair broken relationships also reconciles us back to God… and puts us back into right relationship. And I know that I want to be right with God, and I'm sure you do, too. This really is Good News for all people! Jesus calls for a reversal of the usual way of responding… and instead calls us to the more difficult path of making room for repentance, forgiveness… and reconciliation. This is most certainly… Good News! …it's so good, and so important, that it actually comes up multiple times in our lectionary. During our Bible Study this week, I thought I was having déjà vu, until I realized that I preached on this same text about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek back in Epiphany, on February 23… But for today… we are hearing this call into a loving, yet difficult way of living… under the shroud of All Saints' Day… And, given the day… these seem to be a strange selection of readings to hear as we remember our loved ones. Except that this Good News… is not only good for all people living… it is good news for those we have loved and lost. Because this difficult life that Jesus calls us into is full of grace and forgiveness, and it is marked by the ever-present opportunity to turn back… to hold each other accountable… in loving and non-violent ways, for the purpose of healing the relationship and restoring the community. …and it is marked by the continual invitation to be reconciled with God. And I believe God will succeed in God's promise to reconcile all of creation. Because God's desire for us, more than anything… is that we get this right… because love… is so very important. This life that Jesus calls us to… this holy and beautiful, challenging and difficult… life of discipleship… is so important, because it is a foretaste of the kingdom to come. And the joy that we have as disciples… is that we get to live in this glory now… and celebrate all the ways that God's love shines through us. And so, as I hear these words from Jesus today, I know that God's desire for us to be reconciled in this life is also… only a foretaste of the full reconciliation with God that will come after we die. After all… that is God's promise to us… for ourselves… and for those we love. That death no longer has the final word… that we, who set our hope on Christ, are claimed and redeemed as beloved children of God, in this life and beyond, …and that we will be raised anew with Christ on the last day. And so, the hope and celebration of All Saints' Day lie in our trust that this life Jesus calls us into… this beautiful and difficult life, grounded in God's enduring promises of renewal… …will be for the praise and glory of Christ now and always, forever and ever. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Peace Is Our Prayer by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – Reformation Sunday – October 26, 2025 John 8:31-36 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and from our Savior, Jesus Christ, who sets us free. Amen. *** “…the truth will make you free.” On the surface, this seems like a simple thing to say. It's really inspirational, yes? The truth will make you free… I've seen this verse printed on coffee mugs and tote bags, and I've heard it quoted in shows and movies. The truth will make you free… My truth is that when I hear this, I hear it stated by Marilla Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables… not the Netflix remake, but the old 1985 version with Megan Follows that I watched on repeat until the VHS tape wore out. For some reason, when she said it, it felt very important. The truth will make you free… This statement seems straightforward, and yet, for me, there are these nagging questions that follow… Like what is truth? And what… is freedom? The more I consider these questions, the more abstract the concepts become… truth and freedom. Since these are Jesus' words, we can infer he is speaking to something beyond our human, earthly experience… but that insight doesn't make it clearer. Full understanding feels just beyond my grasp… and you know, that's okay. Jesus isn't known for giving clear answers. Asking questions, yes, but not so much on giving answers. Jesus wants us to sit with his words… to roll them around in our minds. He said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jesus' words are an invitation. His words are an invitation to a group of people who are there… because they believe in him. Like us here today, they believe Jesus has something worth teaching. But rather than giving up a clear answer, Jesus calls them… like he calls us, to a journey of discovery. Belief is only the first step. There is so much more to discover. There is a destination on this journey, but this destination isn't a place… it's a person… it is the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, if you continue in my word… it's important to note here that the word translated as “continue” is the Greek word meno… it means to abide… and it shows up 41 times in the Gospel of John… that's a lot… It gets translated into many different words like continue, stay, dwell, remain… but the word is always meno… abide… and its meaning is so much deeper than any of those English words. To abide is more like… occupying the same physical space. It is to give our whole identity and person over to the identity and person of Jesus Christ… so much so… that we are entirely different from what we were before. “…if you abide in my word…” And abiding with Jesus Christ isn't necessarily the final destination either… abiding with Jesus Christ isn't the promised reward that is only available to us after we die. Jesus is calling us to abide with him now, to dwell with him today, to continue in his word from this moment on… and when we accept his invitation to abide… to dwell… to let our very self… become one with the person of Christ, THEN we will become his disciples. “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Becoming a disciple means accepting Jesus' invitation to journey toward understanding truth and freedom. Jesus' invitation is to journey toward the understanding that Jesus IS truth, the truth that makes known the eternal God… because Jesus IS the eternal God. Becoming a disciple means embracing the journey toward a truth… that sets us free… It is a truth that sets all people free, the freedom to recognize that Jesus is God, here with us, offering love, provision, and protection. This truth… and this freedom… they take a lifetime and beyond to understand because God is not restricted by our human perceptions… and our limited interpretations. And this truth that sets us free is for all people because God so loves the whole world. Jesus is truth, and this truth is freedom, but fully understanding it is just beyond our grasp, imploring us to keep learning and keep growing. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jesus is inviting us to dwell with him, to abide in his words. What Jesus calls us to is a serious commitment of continual growth and learning …of being changed by this mutually abiding relationship. Jesus calls us to allow ourselves to be formed and RE-formed by his Word… to embrace a continual state of being made new. *** Now… I want to pause here a moment… because we follow the lectionary… the three-year cycle of scripture readings… which means we have been on a steady march through the Gospel of Luke… traveling with Jesus toward Jerusalem… and the cross. Like all authors, Luke has his own literary style and his own agenda for his Gospel. For Luke, and specifically for the passages we have been dwelling in these last couple of months, it is… a travel narrative… drawing together a pluralistic community under the name of Jesus… and emphasizing that the promises of salvation and the kingdom of God are open to all peoples, but most especially… the marginalized, the poor, the disabled, women, and Gentiles… anyone whom society pushes out. Luke's gospel stresses the importance of community, and how we live together and share our resources… as part of our mission and call as disciples. Through his way of telling the story, Luke emphasizes that our God is not a conquering war hero… but a humble Savior… who turns expectations upside down… and saves people in unexpected ways… through healing, forgiveness, wholeness, and restoration. But now for Reformation Sunday, we interrupt our march through Luke… to hear from the gospel of John. For John, his primary theological claim is that Jesus IS God who offers us salvation through a relationship with him… and to prove God's faithfulness to us, Jesus goes willingly to the cross to lay down his life for us. We are continually invited into a relationship with God through Jesus… and it is through this relationship that we receive grace and salvation. And like any relationship… it requires daily nourishment… it requires investment in who we are becoming as we journey with Jesus as disciples… as we abide in his Word. I wanted to point this out for you… because for me… it actually feels a bit jarring to dig as deeply into the Luke narrative as we have been and to lean into Luke's way of understanding Christ… only to then jump into a different perspective without at least acknowledging the shift. And yet… both Gospels are true…and both offer us the Good News of Jesus Christ, our Savior who takes away the sin of the world. But when we take notice their differences in perspective… instead of blending them together into one harmonized gospel… I think it gives us a richer understanding of God, through Jesus, in whom we abide. *** And so… on this Reformation Sunday… I think it is quite perfect that we look to John, who so strongly emphasizes our relationship with Jesus… that on this day of celebrating that we are continually Re-forming… continually growing and changing because of our relationship with God through Jesus… who better to hear from… than John… John… who understands that when Jesus calls us to abide, it is an ongoing process… It's not a once-and-done salvation experience, but a lifelong relationship. And that when Jesus calls us to abide as his disciples… that we are being called into a communal relationship… we are being called into community. Something that Luke certainly supports! This journey of discipleship… of abiding in God's word… we do this together… we abide in Jesus' Word as a community of believers… supporting each other through joy and sorrow… through strong faith and doubt. We abide in Jesus' Word together… because we share the same goal of being formed and re-formed by God's Word. We abide in Jesus' Word together so that over time, our understanding of God, and of God's gifts of grace and salvation will grow… Receiving this grace brings freedom… Freedom to dedicate your life to reflecting God's love onto your neighbors rather than chasing salvation for yourself. Receiving God's grace is to know the truth that this grace is God's gift to us, given through Jesus, who invites us to spend our lives with him. Our lives here and now, in this place. Today. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” These are, indeed, important words. Believing in Jesus is only the beginning, but knowing the truth that is Jesus, who is God, and the freedom that truth brings… is a lifelong journey that will continually change us in the most beautiful ways. This is the invitation Jesus offers you… to choose this life and this journey with Christ to discover how abiding in Jesus as a lifelong disciple will reveal God's glorious truth and God's most beautiful freedom. Amen. ***
Today, we had a special musical performance of The Gift of Love by the Faith Lutheran Faith Bells Bell Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of I Lift Up Mine Eyes by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with a flute solo from Gwynne Kadrofske at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
LUKE 18:1-8 This is the holy gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord. Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and to not lose heart. He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, grant me justice for my accuser. For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice so she may not wear me out by continually coming. And the Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth? This is the gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Jesse. I am the program innovator for Living Water Ministries. I've been working year round for Living Water for three years. Actually, last week I just celebrated my three year anniversary. So I've been on staff for three years, but camp has long been a part of my life. I was a camper through my whole childhood. I worked on summer staff. And now I am so blessed to be able to be part of the work that we do all year round. Before I talk about the gospel, I want to extend my gratitude to all of you. Faith and the people here have long been a part of camp and our programs. You have kids who come to camp, volunteers who can't come to camp and work with U.S. donors. Your pastor comes to camp every year. Camp is a really big part of this faith community. I also want to share with you a little bit about Living Water. For those of you who don't know us, the first thing that we do is summer camp. That's our main thing that we do. And during our typical weeks of camp, we have campers who are grades one through 12. And we do worship in the morning and we sing songs and we create this really, really special community for kids of all these ages. We have a couple of specialized programs. We have a week of camp for adults with developmental disabilities. We have a week of camp called Bridge Builders for high schoolers. And this is anti racism and leadership training. And new this year, we are launching a new program called In God's Image, which is a week of camp for LGBTQ high school youth. And coming up next Month we have Charge. Charge is a youth gathering for middle school and high schoolers, and this is at the Great Wolf Lodge. And Charge is an event that provides a powerful faith community where students get to develop leadership skills and grow in faith, all while having fun at the water park at Great Wolf Lodge. And because the love of Christ is abundant and freely given, Living Water believes that money should never be a barrier that stops a child from having a camp experience. So during COVID camp was closed for two summers, but this gave us the ability to give camp away for free in the summer of 2022. So every kid who came to camp in 2022 did so at no cost. And so since then, we have offered a tier pricing system to keep this equity going. So when families register their camper, they have the choice of paying full price, half price, or no price, no questions asked. It's just something that they get to select when they are registering their camper. So this and all of our ministry is made possible through generous individuals and congregations sharing their gifts with campers. Every year we hold our Run the Race campaign where runners and non runners alike come together and everybody commits to raising $2,000 and running a 200 mile relay race from Traverse City to Muskegon. So last month, we held our Run the Race event, and. And we raised over $131,000, which is so cool. And all of that gets to go to making camp the best place that it can be. And so why all this matters to you, why I'm telling this to you, is because of the people sitting in the pews with you. You have kids who come to camp. You have people who volunteer. Those campers become summer staffers. And your pastor is part of camp. The people at Faith sitting with you are super involved in the work that God does at camp. And we do all this because of the gospel. We do all of this work because of Jesus. So in the parable today, Jesus asks, asks us that if the people cry out to God, will he delay long in helping them? So if we cry out, will God help us? And honestly, sometimes it seems like God's not like he is delaying, like we've been crying out for quite some time and not hearing anything back. Because how long must we cry out until we finally see justice? How long must we cry out until we see an end of genocide? How long must we cry out until our black and brown siblings stop being kidnapped and murdered? How long until our children are safe in their schools? How long? Because sometimes it feels like we can't cry Any louder and still nothing. Jesus also asks, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? And I think that the answer to that is also no. If Jesus comes to earth today, do you think he's happy with all of this? Is he impressed with our faithfulness? And I don't think so. I think that this is so far from the image of the kingdom of Earth that God has planned for us. This is so far from God's plan of perfect discipleship. And where is the faith on earth? In the first reading, Jacob wrestles with God. And this isn't a short wrestling match. Wrestling matches, we know, are about, what, two minutes? You know, it's a couple minutes and someone counts to three, and then it's over. But that's not what this was. God came to Jacob in the night, and they wrestled until daybreak. And God even says to Jacob, let me go. But Jacob says, I will not let you go until you bless me. And when the wrestling match ends, Jacob overcame and God blesses him. But Jacob doesn't walk away completely victorious. He walks away with a limp. He walks away blessed and limping. And this is what our prayer and what our faithfulness is supposed to look like. It's supposed to look like this wrestling match where we are relentlessly clinging to God and not letting go until God blesses us, holding on despite the risks, despite the injury, despite the people telling us to give up, to let go, to go home, to hold on even though we will walk away with a limp. I could tell you 100 success stories about camp, about the kids who came to camp not believing in God and then left excited about Jesus. The kids who came their whole lives and became counselors, the kids who finally found a refuge and a home at camp where they could finally be themselves. But that's not what I'm going to do. I will be happy to share these stories with you after service. I have plenty of them. But right now, I'm going to share a story with you that left me limping. Last summer, I sent a camper home. He made it about halfway through the week. But after multiple attempts at running away and getting physical with another camper and with a staff member, we made the decision that he had to go home for the safety of other campers and for his safety. But that still hurt. I felt like I had just failed this kid. I was trying to be something for him, and I fell short. And I was beating myself up, thinking, are we really creating a place for all of God's children? Are we really doing this right? And really, the answer is yes. And I had to make the hard decision to keep people safe. And I told his mom when she came to pick him up that camp isn't a no for him. This isn't a no. It's a not yet. So when he's ready to come back, we are ready for him. We will be here, because that is holding on to God and not letting go until he blesses us. And so that is why we tell every single kid that the love of God is for them. We tell every single kid that they can come just as they are. Tell every single kid that there is nothing that they could ever, ever do that would make God love them less. And that is the wrestling that we need to be doing. And I'm not letting go of that. And I will be limping, and I will be blessed.
Join us for a special service - An evening of prayer and songs for love, justice, and peace. This is a fantastic way to come together to talk to and support each other through turbulent times. An evening of prayer and songs for love, justice, and peace Acknowledgments: Copyright 2025 Augsburg Fortress. All Rights Reserved. CCLI: Streaming License #CSPL141616 Size B. CCLI Church Copyright License #720217 Size B. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS000803. Podcast/Streaming and Music printed by permission under OneLicense #A-708005. Scripture is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Shine a Little Light by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with solos from Ray Herek and Paula Pulter at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – 18th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 28 – October 12, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c Psalm 111 Luke 17:11-19 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, to whom we give thanks and praise for all our Creator has done for us. Amen. *** Some days ago, while going through the motions of the morning… I felt overcome by such a profound sense of sadness. Sadness for the world… for our country… for our siblings in Chicago who are under attack… for our transgender siblings who are being vilified… and for our children who don't know that this isn't normal. I felt sadness… mixed with pain and anger, and maybe even dipping a toe into despair. That's not an emotional place I generally go… but… it's been hard. I have shaped my life around Christ… my values… my dreams… they are shaped around how Jesus Christ calls us to be and live… how Jesus calls us to love… and what I see in this world right now… the hate and fear of immigrants… driving people to carry out violence against their neighbors… whom they are called to love… hate and fear carried out in the name of Jesus... I know… that this is not what Christ wants for us. God has shown us that we are made for community… that we need community… and we know that we are better and stronger when we… not just include, but fully embrace… the full diversity of God's people. We know we are stronger and closer to God's vision for our world when we do as Christ did… and go to our neighbors who have been pushed to the margins, and witness to their worth and value. We know we are following God's will when we go to our neighbors on the edges of our community and witness to their belovedness… when we call them our siblings, and mean it… …and when we help them find their place back in the center of our communal life together. We know this is God's will for us because Jesus demonstrated this action… over and over again… Jesus showed us how to welcome those who have been rejected… and Jesus showed us how to love. And yet… so much in our country today is pushing us all away from each other. It is costing lives… so you can understand my sadness… and my anger. So, on that morning… I was deep in my own thoughts… until at some point, I wasn't thinking so much as I was listening… and I had a moment of clarity. One of those moments where the Spirit reaches out and drapes you in peace… the kind of peace that we long for… the kind of peace that we pray for. I had a moment of clarity when I remembered… that gratitude is medicine. Gratitude is medicine… and thankfulness to Jesus Christ is resistance… and praise to our Creator for all that God continues to do for us… and through us… in these crazy times we are living in… That praise… is joy! And in that moment of gratitude and joy, blanketed by God's peace… I found myself again… I remembered who I was… and whose I was… and I felt whole again. I felt my joy return… the joy that comes from feeling true gratitude to my God! And… I wonder… I wonder if that was a little bit how Naaman felt… after being made clean and returning to Elisha to give praise to God. I wonder… if this was how the psalmist felt… the pure joy of giving praise and thanksgiving to the Lord with their whole heart… Declaring… that the works of the Lord's hands are faithfulness and justice; and that all the Lord's precepts stand forever and ever because they are done in truth… and equity. I wonder… if this was… just a little bit… how the Samaritan felt… when he turned back to give praise and thanksgiving to God, because through Jesus… he was restored. Through Jesus, he was healed of the disease that forced him to the edges… healed of the disease that prevented him from taking part in communal life. Jesus healed him of the disease that made him untouchable… Jesus healed all ten of the men… of the disease that made them untouchable. And I am sure… that the other nine who were also healed… I'm sure they were glad for their healing… I am sure they were thrilled to rejoin their community. Of course they would be… it was a miracle. But it was only… the outcast among outcasts… who turned back to offer praise and thanksgiving… it was only the foreigner… who turned back to give praise… only the Samaritan… connected his miraculous healing to God's doing, through Jesus. Only the one who would still be an outcast in that society, even when healed of this disease… only him… gave praise and thanksgiving for all to hear. Now… recall that the Samaritans and Jews shared the same ancestry, but when Assyria invaded the northern kingdom, they exiled many of the Jews. Those who remained intermarried with the Assyrians and built new lives. But when those who were exiled were allowed to return, they considered the Samaritans to be religiously and ethnically impure. They were considered permanently unclean and were rejected… banned from Jerusalem… and from worshipping at the Temple… So, the Samaritans built their own Temple on Mount Gerizim. And the larger religious question of… Where is God? …hung as a backdrop behind all their interactions. Is God only in the Temple in Jerusalem… or is God on a mountain… or is God found wherever God's people are found? So, I wonder… when it was only the Samaritan who came back to give praise and offer thanksgiving… I wonder… if it was because he was better situated to recognizing God out in the wild, than his pure-Jewish brothers. I wonder… as I consider his openness to God's presence… I wonder how the disciples felt about learning about faith in Jesus… from this foreigner… and I wonder… how do we feel about it… at this time, when foreigners are being so violently persecuted. Jesus told this Samaritan man… after he was healed of his disease… he told him his faith had made him well… his faith… his trust that God was there with him… had made him whole. His response to what God did for him… brought him back to his Creator… and it made him remember who he was… and whose he was. His response of praise and thanksgiving gave him the opportunity to dwell in the presence of God, even just for a moment… and when we dwell in the presence of God, we are slowly transformed… and re-formed by God's love. That was God's promise to that Samaritan man… God's promise through Jesus… and it's God's promise to us, as well. God's promise… that when we turn back to God with grateful hearts, we are turning back to dwell in God's presence… and be comforted by God's peace. So… we may be walking through some dark valleys these days… but God's faithful and enduring promise to us is that God is with us… And God is continuing to move and act in this world… continuing the holy work of creation… through us and through our neighbors who are fighting for justice and peace… and love. And so, our gratitude… our thankful response to God's faithfulness and God's justice… reconnects our spirit to God's Spirit… Our response of praise brings us back to the source of life… and makes us whole. Reconnecting with God through gratitude… renews us… and it strengthens us. Therefore, it is with true joy in my heart… that I give thanks and praise to my God for this life… and this calling… for my family… and for you. I give thanks and praise for your witness and your courage… for the ways that you show up for your neighbors… and the ways that you stand with those who struggle on the margins. I give thanks and praise to God for the wider community of faith to which we belong… a great cloud of witnesses, committed to shaping their lives and communities around the gospel… And I give thanks and praise to God for the transformation in my own heart that other morning, when the world just felt too heavy. God's Holy Spirit scooped me back up and set me on my feet… and turned my attention back to all the good things God was still doing through so many incredible people. So I give thanks to my Lord and my God… for meeting me in my storm… allowing me to dwell in my Creator's presence, and for making me whole again. And I give thanks to God for the invitation to all of us, to revisit the source of life, every day… to receive healing and renewal… So, what more can I say, but Hallelujah!! …and Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Gaudeamus Hodie-Let Us Rejoice Today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – 16th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 26 – September 28, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Luke 16:19-31 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who, together with Moses and the prophets, has given us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen. *** My friend Sara has a wild yard. And I do mean… wild. She moved into her quiet, suburban neighborhood some years ago, and to her neighbor's dismay… she didn't mow the lawn. It's the kind of yard you might expect to see out in the country… way out… around an abandoned house… but certainly not in her manicured neighborhood… And oh my goodness, did it cause an uproar! The neighbors couldn't understand why she kept such an untidy lawn, and they glared out their living room windows, casting judgment on her… and filed complaints with the city. She had to petition for the right to let the grass and dandelions grow… and for the leaves to fall where the wind blew… and let them stay there. She asked her neighbors… to trust the process… And she won! …well, sort of… I believe they struck a deal that if she kept the area around the front clear, she could do what she wished with the rest, which was fine… because her backyard is massive. The first year, it was just a mess… chaos everywhere! Even the grass was confused. But then… after about a year or so had gone by… after the neighbors had mostly made their peace with my friend Sara's “process…” They noticed something they hadn't seen in years… one warm summer evening… they saw… Fireflies! …Lightning Bugs! Little glowing lights, twinkling, and blinking, and flying around… and the neighbors marveled! ...One of Sara's neighbors told her that she hadn't seen fireflies since she was a child! How extraordinary and delightful! …and once they noticed the fireflies, well then… then they started noticing other little things. They noticed all the butterflies that would stop and visit Sara's wild yard. Beautiful and colorful, graceful butterflies… floating all around. They noticed that a fox had moved into the grove of trees in her backyard, and it was safe and secure enough for it to have little fox pups. And the trees! Even the trees seemed fuller… brighter… like they could finally breathe. And the grass… the grass that was so confused…well, it was no longer just plain grass… but a blanket of all different shades of green, full, tall, and strong, and filled with wildflowers. …and of course, happy, buzzy bees, gathering pollen. My friend Sara's wild yard… was no longer a yard… it was a garden, in the most natural sense of the word. It still required some tending… a bit of care here and there, but her care was directed toward increasing the garden's habitability for the diversity of plants and creatures that now lived there, including …herself. And she tends this garden because the fireflies, and the butterflies, and the bees, and the family of foxes… need this space… They are all important… all the little creatures that might go unnoticed by some and considered a nuisance by others… all connected to each other, and connected to Sara and her family… in the great web of God's Creation. Sara's garden is the resource she has available to share with her neighbors, both human and otherwise, and in doing so, she is helping to heal the small sliver of God's beautiful kingdom, right where she stands. And… her wild and full garden brings her joy! Now… you may be asking… why am I talking about natural gardens in suburban neighborhoods… after hearing a gospel text that is clearly about money? Well! I'm so glad you asked! And you're right… this text today is about money… but ultimately… ultimately, it's about relationships… and connection. Remember our text from last week about the rich man and his shrewd manager? Jesus ends that parable with the mic-drop statement… “You cannot serve both God and wealth… or rather… Mammon.” And the Pharisees are indignant… they like their wealth and comfort, and they scoff at Jesus and ridicule him for challenging them in this way. And so Jesus doubles down… and tells the Pharisees this next parable that we heard today. Today's text is part of the larger conversation that we've been in now for three weeks. And yes… Jesus is talking about money again… Jesus talks about money a lot, actually… and what our responsibility is when we have an abundance of resources. But, I feel like I hit that point really hard last week, so this week, I wanted to dig into the why… why is it so important… that we take Jesus at his word? So, this parable we have today… it's a fable, really… Jesus is not suddenly giving us a description of heaven and hell… but he is telling a cautionary tale and drawing from the imagery of Greek mythology to do so. And in this tale, the rich man was so caught up in his own perceived earthly importance… that he never really noticed poor Lazarus, who lay at his gate, covered in sores. He saw him, of course, but the shock of his need was no longer… shocking. The rich man even knew his name was Lazarus… and yet, day after day, while the rich man feasted sumptuously, poor Lazarus lay there starving. The chasm between them… the chasm that becomes a real barrier in the place of the dead… was self-imposed by the rich man during his life. And then… of course… they both die… and the rich man, in his agony, asks Abraham to send Lazarus to serve him… and to serve his brothers. Even in death, the rich man thinks he deserves something better on account of his wealth. Even in death, the rich man cannot recognize that they are both children of Abraham… they are connected… they are brothers through the great web of God's Creation. As long as the rich man is unable to see poor Lazarus as a brother, who is worthy of life and love and care, and connected to him through God… as long as the rich man is unable to see this… he will remain in the place of the dead. Jesus is, once again, flipping everything upside down. Jesus is challenging the idea that if you have money, you must be more valuable and loved by God. This terrible idea is one that is still prevalent today… the idea that those who have earthly treasure are more blessed… more favored and loved by God… …and that those who are poor must have done something to deserve their lot in life. And while it is true, that our individual choices in life do have some bearing on what we experience… This way of thinking conveniently absolves us of any responsibility toward those who have not fared as well as we have… And it is directly contrary… to what God has been trying to get us to understand since the time of Moses. We have free will, yes, but we are all… also part of larger systems beyond our individual control. Like the butterflies and bees who find their food sources and habitats either covered in chemicals or gone… or the fireflies whose eggs get swept away in the fall clean-up… some things are beyond our control. We don't know why Lazarus was forced to beg at the rich man's gate… but we know that the chasm between them was very real… as real as it is in our world today. And yet… we know… that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor and to liberate the oppressed. Over and over, Jesus preaches that his ministry was not to engage in personal relationships with individuals as their Lord and savior… but to show us that we are connected! …that our true flourishing is caught up with our neighbors! Jesus came to show us that we belong to each other, and we have a responsibility to each other… each according to what we have been given. Jesus came to show us that his ministry of breaking the chains of oppression means to break the systems that perpetuate that oppression. Jesus' ministry requires us, as followers, to engage and embrace this work that God is doing through us. We belong to each other, and Jesus desires to give us the kingdom… to show us the way to the kingdom of heaven. And God's kingdom… well, it looks like a beloved community of neighborly care and love, in both abstract and concrete ways. It comes from shared respect and dignity… it comes from equality in both word and deed. It comes from the intentionality of really seeing our neighbors who are in need, instead of passing them by and wondering why they don't just get a job. And Jesus… he was doubling down on the teachings of Moses and the prophets, because through them, God had already shown us the way to this beautiful kingdom… This beautiful kingdom of God… is at hand… heaven is being formed here! Being formed, more and more, as we conform our lives to the way of Christ! The kingdom of God… is not a reward for checking all the boxes during your life… It's not a cookie you get for being a good kid. The kingdom of God is a garden… it's a garden that needs tending… a garden that needs the space and freedom to grow and support the full diversity of life… The kingdom of God is a garden that honors all life as sacred. Friends, we are here now, in this garden… and Jesus longs for us to recognize that we have a responsibility to tend this garden, and that when we do… we will flourish together. Is it perfect? NO!… not by a long shot. But let's trust the process… let's keep showing up for our neighbors, and… let our neighbors show up for us… Let's look into the eyes of those who are passed by, those who are poor and begging… those who society would like to forget… and recognize them as our kin, and honor God's Spirit within them… Let's recognize that all people are our siblings and celebrate their value and worth… and delight in all the ways we are privileged to participate in God's great web of creation. For I know this… God has given us the instruction and the tools we need to tend this garden… to deconstruct the chasm that isolates and sterilizes our world. And I trust God's process… and I trust God's promise… that we are being called into God's life-changing and transformative ministry. I'll be honest… I don't think that we will see it fully bloom in our lifetimes, but I know… that when I live according to God's word… and I pay attention, I see fireflies dancing all around in this garden, and that gives me hope. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Blessed Assurance by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of Saved By Grace by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – 15th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 25 – September 21, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Luke 16:1-13 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who, together, offer liberation through reorientation. Amen. *** Jesus says… we cannot serve both God and wealth. …and yet, it is as true today as it was then… that both God and wealth, or Mammon, demand to be our top priority. These words from Jesus are convicting… we cannot serve both God and wealth… they are convicting… because we know in our heart… they are true. …and Jesus… well… he tends to be right. That's why we're here, yes? I actually prefer the old translation… instead of wealth, the original Greek uses the Aramaic word, Mammon. Mammon is a personification for the acquisition of wealth… something Martin Luther called in the Large Catechism, the “most common god on earth.” So, it isn't so much wealth or money alone… that demands our dedication… Jesus doesn't criticize wealthy people just for being wealthy… and money is a tool we all must use. But it's the pursuit of money for the sake of getting richer that Jesus condemns… it's the drive to store up more and more at the expense of others, the persistent need to acquire more and more that takes over our lives. To build bigger barns while others are starving… and then to rationalize our greed and overabundance… this is the Mammon that Jesus warns us against. To worship Mammon is to prioritize the accumulation of wealth… while disregarding the suffering and needs of others. Mammon demands that we look only to our own wants and desires, acquiring only for ourselves alone. Mammon is… isolating. God… on the other hand… demands that we put God above all else, and then look to our neighbor… God invites us to look through the lens of God's love… and look to the needs of our neighbor first… so that we may flourish together… through relationship and in community. We cannot serve both God and Mammon. So… to illustrate this point… Jesus offers a rather strange parable. And all the authors I've read seem to agree that this one is just weird and challenging. It helps, I think, to dig into the context… and recall the economics of Roman-occupied Galilee in the first century. Remember… that the Roman Empire exploited the people's resources and labor through crippling taxation, which was often more than the average peasant could pay. And the rich landlords and rulers were basically loan sharks who got richer by exploiting peasants… offering loans to pay their taxes, but with exorbitant interest rates, something that was in direct violation of biblical covenantal law. So, when the peasants couldn't pay back the loans, the rich would take ownership of their farm, disinheriting the peasant farmers of their family land… But they would “graciously” allow the peasants to stay on as tenant farmers… who now had to pay both taxes to the Roman government AND a high percentage of their yield to the rich new landowner. So… the rich got richer… and the poor got poorer. It was… an unjust system. Furthermore, the rich tended to live in the south, around Judea… while the peasant farmers lived in the north, around Galilee. The rich landowners wouldn't go back and forth themselves… that could be dangerous, so they utilized middle managers to collect their spoils. These managers would also add to the debt that the farmers owed, because that's how they got paid… and the more they added, the more money they made for themselves. It was the manager's prerogative to squeeze these poor farmers out of as much of their crops… as much of their wheat, wine, and olive oil as possible. The farmers were, after all, expendable… all that mattered was gaining more wealth. Mammon. And so now here we are… Jesus' teaching… his words for us today continue on from the gospel from last week. Last week's scene opened with the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, grumbling because this man, Jesus, welcomes sinners and eats with them. Jesus put people over and above social order and expectations. So, he tells the grumbling Pharisees these parables… There was a lost sheep… there was a lost coin… there was a lost son. And then comes our text for today… “There was a rich man who had a manager…” “There was a rich man… who had a manager.” Does it ring a little differently now? This manager is about to get fired for squandering his boss' property… he's in trouble for not delivering as much as the rich man thought he should have. He's about to be tossed out on his butt with nothing… so what does he do? What does he do? Once the hold of Mammon is broken… he has clarity! He realizes… that what he needs in his life are people. Mammon… the pursuit of wealth… drives people away. But for true flourishing… we need community. Money isn't the ultimate measure of things… not in God's economy! Our neighbor… our relationships and our community… this is where true riches are found. But… this guy… this middle-manager… he's still locked in an unjust system… he's still trapped by it, just as much as the poor farmers are still trapped… but he realizes… he realizes that generosity is the best investment. He uses that ill-gotten wealth, gained from exploiting others, to ease the debt burden on his neighbors, and gain social capital in the process. It's very possible that the amounts he reduced each person's debt by was the amount of his portion, and the interest that was added onto it. Because… after all, the rich man is ultimately impressed. His manager chose to forego wealth… for the riches of relationships. He used the last remaining shreds of power he had to disrupt the unjust system… and revive the community by reviving biblical, covenantal economic life. He revives the community and gives them hope… by reorienting himself back to God's command to love God above everything else… and to love our neighbor. He is liberated from Mammon… set free from the addictive nature of chasing after wealth and hoarding resources at the expense of his neighbors' well-being. And he is transformed… restored into community when he realizes that people matter so much more than money. Because in God's economy… your neighbor's needs are bound up with your own. (x 2) Our own true flourishing and riches can only be achieved by working for the well-being of others. We cannot serve both God and Mammon. And that's that. Jesus leaves some loose ends in this parable… there's no epilogue… no discourse where Jesus fully explains its meaning to his disciples, who never seem to understand anyway. We are simply left with the wondering… left with the open question of “how much more…” If even this dishonest manager can realize that relationships and people are more important than chasing after money… then… how much more… should the children of light realize that “true riches” have to do with relationships rather than wealth or possessions. How much more? You see… Jesus never says that having money is bad… or criticizes wealthy people for being wealthy. What matters for Jesus… is what you do with that wealth. What Jesus says… is that when we reorient ourselves back to God and God's commandments… when we love God above all else, and love our neighbor as ourselves… Then it changes our relationships. Our relationships with our neighbors are transformed when we realize that we are all connected… and every person is valuable to the community, and that every person is loved by God. And… reorienting ourselves back to God… changes our relationship with money. Rather than allowing money to become an idol… we understand that money is a tool, and we can use it to help others, so that together, we are blessed. Here's a beautiful example… in my old church, the men's group met monthly on a Saturday to make homemade bread and have breakfast together. …No agenda, other than spending time together and making delicious bread. Then they'd offer that fresh, homemade bread to the congregation and collect a free-will offering… and… I know they always held back a few loaves for the single mom who was getting by on pennies. Finally, they used the money they raised to fund microloans through a non-profit program called Kiva, which offers very low—or no-interest loans for entrepreneurs in underserved communities worldwide. As the loans were paid back, which they always were, the men reinvested the funds in other people, giving more and more people the boost they needed to help themselves and their communities. The more they gave away, the more they found they were richly blessed, and they always seemed to have more to give… more to invest in people. And so, out of their abundance, they also regularly gave to our youth program, and to our food ministry… and to so many other ministries. These men were quietly committed to sharing as much as they could, and they delighted in watching how their investments in people always brought returns. Blessing others and investing their money in helping to heal unjust economic systems… was a true joy for them… and their joy was our joy! And this gospel today… this challenging piece of good news… is also a source of joy. Because Jesus came to bring good news to the poor… to set the oppressed free, to restore us to each other… and to liberate us from the bondage of our sin… and Mammon… Mammon is a big one. But Jesus does not leave us to the destruction of our sin… Jesus calls us back, time and time again… back to God and to the source of our salvation. Jesus reminds us that we are commanded to serve only one God, who is above all other gods. A God who loves us and has given us the way of everlasting life… who liberates us… and points us toward the true richness found in relationships and community. So, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind… and love your neighbor as yourself. Trust in the good news of Jesus and in God's commands. Do this… and you will be richly blessed. Amen. _________________________________________________________________________ Notes: www.kiva.org Commentary on Luke 16:1-13, by Barbara Rossing, on www.WorkingPreacher.org Commentary on Luke 16:1-13, by Mary Schertz, September 2007 issue of Christian Century
Today, we had a special musical performance of Panis Angelicus with a solo by Cody Boyan at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Today, we had a special musical performance of Holy Thy Name by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Sermon 9-14-25, Ex 32:7-14, Lk 15: 1-10 The scripture for today really caused me to lean into my identity as a chaplain – and a word of warning – a chaplain will likely leave you with more questions than answers… The role of a chaplain is to ask questions that support others in remembering and reconnecting with their own coping strategies and belief systems One question that today's scripture brings up is What is the nature of God? / / / This is a question that I often explore with patients I think of the 50-year-old woman with newly diagnosed triple-negative breast cancer – a very aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancer -- who finds the courage to ask “Is God punishing me for something?” as she comes to terms with how every aspect of her life is now upended and at risk / / / What is the nature of God? This is an age-old question that humankind continues to wrestle with Not only among various religious traditions But also within Christianity Maybe especially within Christianity This disagreement is understandable – as we have two conflicting examples of God's nature in scripture today. In Exodus, the Lord says to Moses: “…Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them” (Ex. 32:10) / / / Then in Luke Jesus likens God to one who continues to seek, welcome and rejoice over humankind – especially those who have “been lost” Throughout scripture we can find examples of God's nature to justify whatever perspective we choose to hold As we can with most issues Is God slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love or punishing sinners in judgement? Perhaps the more challenging debate lies within the questions about ourselves What do we believe? How do we live out those beliefs? How do we respond when we inevitably bump up against life circumstances and people who challenge those beliefs? / / / / I utilize psychology and sociology often as a chaplain, and draw upon those studies as I reflect on theology – the study of God – today Anthropomorphism is placing human attributes on things or beings that are not human We do this with our pets all the time, imagining their mood or desires We do this with plants and trees, imagining the grass is crying out in despair after days without rain – or rejoicing after the rain finally comes It's easy with these examples to recognize how we're likely projecting ourselves onto our dog or cat or lawn But what about with God? Might we also project ourselves onto who we wish God to be? / / / / So I read and reflect upon today's scripture with the awareness that anthropomorphism and projecting are real I also reflect on them from an Internal Family Systems perspective which acknowledges that we have different, and sometimes competing parts of ourselves that influence our thoughts and behavior This acknowledges how at times there is a part of myself that wants my enemy to suffer AND a part of myself that wants to extend compassion to my enemy / / / / Going back to the reading from Exodus with this perspective I think about Moses Moses who at the beginning of his call story begged God to pick someone else – anyone else – to do this work Moses who realized the difficulty of his call and lamented the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites to God Moses who continually turned around and devoted himself to guiding and teaching these people who kept messing up and falling short of “the plan” Moses who today implored God to return to God's good nature – and changed God's mind / / / / The Israelites built the golden calf and began worshipping it instead of God This is the famous example of idolatry that Abrahamic traditions reference But, it also demonstrates humankind's greed – And desire to possess and control God / / / / If God seems to stretch us too far out of our comfort zone Let's project onto God traits that are more like us Let us make a god into one we can understand And abide And feel better about worshipping / / / / So we hear this anger from God in the book of Exodus over the people worshipping the golden calf and breaking the covenant They break their promise to worship only God They cannot keep their end of the bargain And God is angry – so angry God plans to burn wrath hot against them and consume them! But I wonder Is this God's anger Or Moses'? Moses - After years of serving in this role that he didn't really want Teaching and guiding and nurturing these people Literally participating in saving their lives While being on the receiving end of their grumbling and disobedience I wonder if Moses is angry / / / / Fast-forward about 1200 years and the religious leaders are grumbling The Pharisees are grumbling about Jesus who cannot be controlled Jesus the Christ cannot be predicted or contained Jesus' love is bigger than what the law holds as he welcomes those outsiders Jesus, one with God, is despised and rejected Jesus persists in showing compassion to sinners Those who aren't keeping the covenant promise with God / / / / Jesus gives us yet another window through which to glimpse the nature of God Through his own actions And with two parables One about a shepherd and one about a woman These are two other groups in addition to the tax collectors that the Pharisees looked down upon And here Jesus likens God to both a shepherd and a woman / / Jesus draws us a picture with his story of God who rejoices over those who return to God – and calls a huge celebration! / / / / What is the nature of God? Jesus is trying to show the Pharisees that their righteousness has become a barrier to their ability to experience God Perhaps the merit of following the law is not the most important thing Somehow keeping track of right and wrong is preventing them from sharing in God's love and celebration “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7) The wild thing is that in these parables we know that neither sheep nor coins can repent There is no criticism of the sheep who wandered off, wondering what was it thinking and how long it wasn't paying attention to where it SHOULD have been going It's laughable to blame a coin for getting lost in the couch but I suppose we'd likely blame the caretaker of that coin for being so irresponsible God is rejoicing over what the Pharisees would have called worthless sheep and coins Who cannot even repent Which begs the question -- can we repent? / / / / In spite of Moses' – or God's anger In spite of ignorance and sinning and irresponsibility God keeps the covenant God keeps God's promise God continues to show humankind mercy And Jesus is calling the Pharisees – and us - out God calls us out of the human nature of judgement and criticism And toward God's celebration / / / / What is the nature of God? Maybe deciding we know the answer to that question is like building another golden calf Maybe focusing on God's nature is yet another way to avoid confronting our own nature What parts of ourself want to burn hot against someone What parts of ourself feel justified in the good works we do What parts of ourself continue to notice the short-comings of others What parts of ourself criticize our own mistakes or times when we chose poorly What parts of ourself limit our ability to celebrate and rejoice for keeping track of all our own faults and all that's wrong in this world / / / / What is the nature of God? I do know that I want God to be slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love when I'm looking into this woman's tearful eyes listening to hear fears about not seeing her teenage daughter graduate from high school I also recognize the part of me that wants God to be a flaming hot wrath consuming the one whose actions and words seem so wrong And because of that I know that I have to let it go – and let God be God And refocus on my call and challenge as a Christian To continue to wrestle with the enormity of God's love To believe that God keeps God's promise even when I can't keep mine To give love to myself and to my neighbor in ridiculous and generous ways And in the midst of it all, celebrate and rejoice with God Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Heavenly Sunlight by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
Year C – 13th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 23 – September 7, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Luke 14:25-33 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and from Jesus, our Savior, who urges us to choose life, so that we may live. Amen. *** These are some challenging words from Jesus today. …Reminds me of the good news from a few weeks ago, when Jesus said he did not come to bring peace, but division… these words make me catch my breath. Yet they are part of the Good News and have been set before us… and so today, we will wrestle with them… together. “Whoever comes to me and does not hate their family, and yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” Is Jesus really telling us that… hate… is a mark of discipleship? Isn't God supposed to be all about love? Isn't the greatest commandment, above all the others… You shall love the Lord, your God, and then… you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. Yes! Jesus did say that! …and it wasn't new information… he was drawing from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, which his listeners would have known. And what about the fourth commandment… You shall honor your father and mother? How are we to follow God's commandment to honor our parents if Jesus states that we cannot become his disciples unless we hate them? We call the gospels Good News… but Good News… isn't always easy to hear. And yet… it is still good. It is good because it comes from God, who is, indeed, all about love. But it requires us to make choices… choices between life and death… blessings and curses. Choose to fear and love the Lord, your God, above all else. The one who created you, who loved you into existence, desires for you to put God and God's commandments before everything else. Following God has always been about loving God above all else… because we are so loved. And we know… we know… that following God's will for us… that following God's commandments does, in fact, lead to a full life blessed with love and abundance… …it leads to communities that care for the needs of others, where all people are valued and supported, and where everyone has enough. Even though God desires for us to choose this life and these blessings… it still comes with a cost. See, the common thread between our texts today is God's desire for us to first recognize all that God offers us… all that God has laid out for us to consider… and then to make the choice, the only choice… that leads to a flourishing life. …not just for us alone, for we are not meant to be alone… but a flourishing life as communities that have chosen to love God above all else. Choose life… so that you may live… but count the costs of this life of discipleship so you don't make this choice blindly… and you will know …that what God offers is good. We know all about making choices… and we know all about making sacrifices for those choices. There are the little choices we make every day, like choosing a healthy lunch over fast food, because we know that while that burger and fries might taste great in the moment… if that was all we ate, every day… we wouldn't feel so great. And generally what you choose to eat for lunch doesn't become your whole identity… it doesn't demand that you put everything and everyone else as secondary. That would be crazy. But there are choices we make… sacrifices we make… that require this of us… like for example… the choice to play youth travel sports. Working in youth ministry, I regularly lamented the rise in popularity of youth travel sports. Maybe some of you have had your kids involved in travel teams, I don't know… And if you did and loved them, you might get angry with me about this… But here's my perspective from the ministry side of things. Whenever one of my church youth joined a travel team, it was pretty much the death blow to whatever life of faith they and their family had been developing until that point. Participation in travel teams demanded that everything else be sacrificed. First, the family had to invest thousands of dollars every year for their child to be on the team, which wasn't even a guarantee they'd play. And, it was a travel team, so every weekend, the family would be traveling for games… and over the years, it seemed that weekends alone weren't enough, so they started planning for other games during the week. These teams insisted that for the athlete to be successful, every available moment needed to be devoted to the travel team. The team was the highest priority, and if you challenged that, you couldn't be on the team. And so, these kids sacrificed a lot. They sacrificed any opportunity to be involved in anything else with their school or friends. They sacrificed their grades as they struggled to balance school and their commitments to the team. And they sacrificed their faith, and any relationships their family had been nurturing at their church… all of this was sacrificed on the altar of youth travel sports. And for what? …for the hope that someday they might play professionally? I suppose… it occasionally happens, but not usually. Everything in their world became focused on themselves and the game… Their parents supported it, or often even pushed their kid to do it, because they thought they were giving them the best chance to get ahead in this life… in this culture. And… it always broke my heart. Always. Because, in my observations… once a family chose to sacrifice everything for youth travel sports… sacrifice everything for their child's individual teenage success, it was almost impossible to bring them back around to the importance of their faith community. There would be no more opportunities to show them the incredible transformation in ourselves and in the people around us when we choose, not to live just for ourselves, but to live for God and others. There would be no more opportunities to show them how much loving others, as God loves us, is actually one of the most beautiful blessings of all. And no more opportunities to walk with them on their faith journey, when the doubt creeps in, or they get angry with God about something that happened… To be able to offer the kind of reassurance that can only come from the people in your faith community who are with you on that journey, and can speak into your experience. Now please understand… I know that youth travel sports are not really the problem… and I'm sure not all of them are as intense as the ones I encountered. They are a product of our culture that tells us every day that if you aren't focused on your own personal gain and success, then you've already lost. But that's actually contrary to God's desire for us…we weren't created to be alone… we weren't created to toil away as individuals. We were created to succeed and flourish as a people when we love and honor God first, and love and honor our neighbors… when we follow God's commandments. By prioritizing God and the collective needs of the community over our own, we discover what God knew to be true all along… we discover that our hearts and lives are transformed, and we are abundantly blessed. This life of discipleship… this life of following Jesus… leads to an abundant life… but it comes with a cost. We must be willing to put God first in our lives… before all else… and to trust that God is faithful and true in God's promise… that what God has set before us is life and prosperity… and death and adversity. And God wants us to choose life, and that life is good. So the mark of discipleship is not hatred for your family… no… the mark of discipleship is love for God above everything else. And when you love God above all else, it becomes your identity… and it becomes the lens through which you look at everything and everyone around you… so you see the world as God sees it. You see the world through God's lens of perfect love. It's a breathtaking view… a costly view, and the choice is yours to make… and the Good News is… God is going to keep putting this choice in front of you. God is going to keep putting this choice in front of you, no matter how far you have wandered, and no matter how much you have decided that the life of discipleship is too hard. The Good News is… God isn't going to give up on you… because God loves you, and really wants you to choose life. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Precious Jesus with a solo from Deb Borton at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – 12th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 22 – August 31, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Proverbs 25:6-7a Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Luke 14:1, 7-14 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and from Jesus, our Savior, who invites us to share in the gift of a meal, for which we can never repay. Amen. *** It is remarkable to me how often the Holy Spirit swirls around us with opportunities to practice the radical love that Jesus invites us into… And there are a couple of exciting ones that I'll tell you about in a bit…. These opportunities were awesome when I first heard about them, but even more so after thinking about how they fit with our scripture today. The Spirit is feisty like that… I love it… but before I tell you about them… we need to talk about Jesus… and his lesson on table manners. Drawing from the old wisdom found in Proverbs, Jesus tells these Pharisees and leaders not to claim the most prestigious spot at the table, where you might have to lower yourself if someone higher in the social hierarchy arrives. But instead… choose the lowest spot, so that you might be honored when asked to move higher. “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled… and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” What Jesus leaves hanging in the air… is that if they intentionally choose the lowest spot… so that the host will honor them… choosing to humble themselves so that they may be exalted among others… then they have missed the point. …they have missed the point. The game of honor and shame… of social hierarchy and status… of being humbled or exalted before others… is not how the kingdom of God works. Jesus tells us to forego the shuffling around for status altogether and instead, invite those who cannot return the favor… to give to those who cannot give anything in return. Do not invite the elite of society to your dinner party. Instead, invite those whom our society pushes to the edges… the ones whom society would like to forget exist. Jesus' word for us today… is to step away from the cultural expectation of social climbing and quid pro quo… to stop jockeying for status and prestige… Share a meal with those with whom no one else would dare share a meal … those who have no food to offer you in return. This is what Jesus himself did… time and time again… revealing to us the values of God's kingdom. When you look upon those who have nothing to offer you… and recognize that in the eyes of God, you are equal… and you are both loved beyond measure… That is where God's blessing is revealed… that is how we glimpse the face of God in our neighbor. Not by lording our status or privilege over them… but by recognizing that we are siblings through Christ. And just as I am reminded today of the radical hospitality that Jesus calls us to extend… I also remember that we are the ones who have nothing to offer… and yet, Jesus invites us to such a meal… We are the ones… whom Jesus has invited to come and share the meal of bread and wine… a meal that comes with the promised presence of our God, and the full and great cloud of witnesses from all time. We are the ones whom Jesus has invited to receive this incredible gift… for which we cannot ever repay, and for which we are only worthy to receive because Jesus has declared us to be worthy. We dine on such a meal almost every time we gather for worship… …and so, our Savior, Jesus Christ, is calling us to do for others, as he did for us… as Jesus continues to do for us. Jesus is inviting us to live in a completely different world within our culture… inviting us to embrace the values and ideals of God's kingdom… inviting us to claim the blessing that is found by extending grace and hospitality to those whom others would just as soon forget. And to not only see ourselves as equal to them under God's eyes… But to connect with them in such a way that their suffering becomes our suffering, their hunger becomes our hunger… their pain becomes our pain… so that together, we might break the causes of oppression, poverty, and harm. Because when our neighbor is suffering… it's personal. It was counter-cultural then, and it is counter-cultural now… Jesus has been inviting us into something new, and something better… this whole time. Our text from Hebrews tells us to remember those in prison as if you were in prison… remember those being tortured as if you were being tortured. That's a level of connection that most of us would rather avoid… Yet, we are urged not to keep those in need at arm's length. They are our siblings in Christ, and God loves them as much as God loves us. This idea… completely topples the social hierarchy… and shreds the practice of jostling for the seat at the table that will earn you the most prestige. Invite those who cannot invite you in return… give to those who cannot repay your kindness. This kind of generosity… is the true source of God's blessing. Still, I confess… that it's easy to say… harder to do. However… we know that God's Holy Spirit is with us on our faith journey, and this week was no exception. So, this is what I wanted to share with you… These opportunities seem Spirit-inspired. The first is something that our pantry team has been working on… they have been blessed with an abundance… and have been looking for ways to bless others beyond the visitors to our pantries… with that abundance. After much due diligence, they have connected with a group called Homeless Angels in Lansing. Every Sunday night, all year long, they serve a dinner in a park in Lansing where anyone can come and eat. The meals are sponsored by various organizations, and volunteers help serve the food. Along with the meal, they often have donated hygiene products and bags with non-perishable foods that folks can take with them. This is where our pantry team comes in. Out of their abundance, they will provide food items for our high schoolers to pack into easy-to-carry bags on September 21st, which is our first high school youth group night. Then, on Sunday, Sept. 28th, Gretchen and I will deliver the bags and stay to help serve the meal. We want to start building a relationship with this group and the neighbors they serve. …and by the way, this is an open invitation. If you'd like to join us, please do! Our hope is that our new High School Youth Group will be able to come and serve with this group at some point in the future. The other opportunity came from a conversation I had with Randy… he and Jamie volunteer at the Mission in Lansing on the fourth Thursday of every month. I know some of you have joined them from time to time… but Randy was telling me that they have moved into their new location… and now have the capacity to serve 300 at mealtimes. …and together, we lamented that there was a need to serve 300 at mealtimes. But the increased capacity means an increase in the need for volunteers to help serve those meals. And so here again… is another opportunity to serve and share a meal with those who cannot repay… These are both opportunities to share life with those whom Jesus would have given preference to… to share in their humanity. Jesus consistently gravitated toward those who were on the edges… toward those who are so pushed down that they couldn't see the light. Jesus meets them in that space… and loves them… reminds them that they are beloved children of God… reminds them that they bear the image of God and they are worthy of God's love. Jesus meets them… just as Jesus meets all of us wherever we are… and loves us… and calls us all to share God's love… to share God's invitation. And…. to give preference to those who cannot return the favor. For in doing so… in letting our guard down and allowing ourselves to share in the full humanity of our neighbor, whom God loves… Jesus knows that we will be blessed. Not because we have a higher place than them or a better seat at the table… or because we can congratulate ourselves on being so generous… that's missing the point. We are blessed because when we look into their eyes, we glimpse the face of God. And the best news… The Holy Spirit will not stop showing up with opportunities for us to join in the work of bringing close God's Kingdom. It's an open invitation… so come to the party. Amen.
Today, we had a special musical performance of Kum Ba Ya by the Treble Maker Singers at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
Year C – 11th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 21 – August 24, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Isaiah 58:9b-14 Luke 13:10-17 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, who commands us to honor a liberating Sabbath. Amen. *** One of my colleagues shared a frustrating story this week… she has two small children who sit on the floor near the front of their sanctuary, and they quietly color while she leads worship. They aren't making any noise or hurting anyone. And the kids are actually paying attention… just like someone who knits a scarf during a meeting… they're just not paying attention in the same way that some of the adults think is appropriate. So those adults are giving her a hard time about it… and they've even suggested that maybe she should tell her kids to go color in the narthex or the nursery. These adults would rather there be no kids in worship… than to tolerate what they consider to be… the disrespectful behavior of coloring while hearing about God. …it's almost as if the leaders from the synagogue where Jesus was teaching are now members of my colleague's church… and they still don't get it. Now… I don't mean to throw shade over her people… because none of us are without fault. That's why we all need God's grace and mercy. But what I hear in these texts today… from both Isaiah and the gospel, and from my colleague about her experience this past week… is that God's people have been struggling to follow God's commandments… for thousands of years. It's not a new problem… but that's not an excuse… because we are only hurting ourselves. How often have we given preference to rituals and traditions over radical hospitality and true welcome? How often have we opted for the appearance of righteousness instead of doing the work of true reflection, repentance, and change? …or opted for the appearance of clean and orderly city streets, sweeping away the problem… instead of addressing the system that created the problem? How often do we smooth over a wound or treat only the symptoms… instead of addressing the root cause of the illness? It's not a new problem… this failure to follow God's commandments… but we're only hurting ourselves because, as Isaiah tells us, our joy and delight in the Lord… our joy and delight in this life… is connected to following these commandments… and to truly follow… we need each other. And we know this… we know this deep in our core… that this is true. God knows who we are… and knows what we need for a full and flourishing life. It's already been given to us. But we're stubborn. I want to give you some context for our text from Isaiah… it takes place after those who had been exiled to Babylon were allowed to return home and begin rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. …so roughly 500 BCE If we had begun reading Isaiah 58 at verse 1, we would have heard that the people are frustrated because they have been fasting and crying out to God, but they feel God is ignoring them… Isaiah tells them that God is not ignoring them, but has, in fact, been paying very close attention… and is… not pleased. You see, they fast… while also committing injustice and abusing their workers, committing violence and causing harm to the poor and the oppressed. They give the appearance of humble worship on the sabbath… while looking only to their own interests. God… is not pleased… and declares… this is NOT the kind of fast I want! This is NOT how you honor the Sabbath! So… starting at Isaiah 58:6 [NET version], God declares… 6 This is the kind of fast I want: I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and then to break every burdensome yoke. 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide homes for the homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe them! 8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise, your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord's splendor will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and the Lord will reply, ‘Here I am.' That… that is the kind of fast our Lord desires… that is how we honor the Sabbath… not only today, but on all days… Not by worshiping our rituals and traditions… or by declaring that our sanctuaries are no place for creativity and color… We honor the Sabbath by doing our best to love others as God loves them… by loving them and working for their liberation in precisely the way that God and Jesus and the Spirit have been telling us since the time of Moses. We don't honor the sabbath by rounding up the homeless and shipping them out to another place… we honor the sabbath by feeding and housing them… and freeing them from the burdensome yoke of poverty and oppression. That is Sabbath liberation! We don't honor the Sabbath by locking away everyone who breaks the law, no matter how minor the infraction. We honor the Sabbath by addressing the systems that drive someone to be desperate enough to commit crimes. That is Sabbath liberation! In Deuteronomy, we hear that we are to keep and honor the Sabbath… to keep it holy… for you once were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord God freed you. The Sabbath is made for liberation… from toil, from bondage, from hunger… not only for us… but for all. But how easily we forget… in our gospel, Jesus freed that poor woman from her infirmity that kept her bent over for 18 long years. Jesus freed her from the infirmity that Satan used to keep her bound up and isolated from her community… alone and ashamed. And the religious leaders have the audacity to be indignant… they don't get it… They cannot honor Sabbath liberation for themselves… while this woman, their neighbor, is still suffering under bondage. Our liberation… our true Sabbath liberation… is communal. And once we understand this… once we understand that, as Dr. Lilla Watson once said, “…your liberation is bound up with mine.” …only then does our true light shine… When we understand that our true Sabbath liberation is bound up with the liberation of the whole community… then … the Lord will guide us continually… Then… the Lord will provide for us even in parched places, and make our bones strong, and like a spring of water that never fails… When we understand that our true Sabbath liberation is communal… then we become repairers of broken walls… and restorers of livable streets. When we understand that our true Sabbath liberation is communal… Then our senses are awakened, and we recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in and through all the ways that neighbors are working together to put the needs of the full community ahead of their own selfish desires. Communities will be rebuilt, and areas that have been impoverished and deserted will flourish. Neighbors will know and care for each other for generations. Many in our culture today would call this some kind of woke, socialist agenda… but this way of living is much bigger than that… this way of living was God's design for us from the beginning. When we do this… when we decide to trust the Lord, our God and really lean into what God desires for us… Then… our Sabbath liberation becomes a delight… and a joy. This is how God asks us to honor the Sabbath… by breaking the chains of oppression… and by not tolerating injustice. The results are the reward. But hear this, friends… the work of breaking the bonds of sin and injustice to bring about full and true Sabbath liberation… is ongoing work. God knows this… and we know it, too. And so, you must also observe Sabbath rest… a holy pause… a time to stop and reflect on all God has done, and dwell in the JOY of the Lord! You do not honor God by making your productivity an idol… or by forgetting that this work against injustice can only be accomplished together. You do not honor God by trying to do it all by yourself. The Lord, your God, commands you to take a holy pause… and notice that you, and those around you, are part of a community. So, as you rest from your labors, encourage others to rest, too. Make it possible for them to do so. Worship the Lord, your God, and give thanks for all God has done for you. And if it would help you to feel more relaxed and connected… you are more than welcome to sit up front here and color. Amen. _______________________________________________________________________ Dr. Lilla Watson (b. 1940) is a Murri (Indigenous Australian) artist, activist, and educator from Queensland, Australia. Her full quote is, “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
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