In the mid-90s, soon after switching undergrad majors from Engineering to Psychology, I found myself taking a class on generational psychology. This particular branch of social science explores how groupings of people are assigned based on their birth year and what makes each group unique. With generations come shared experiences, values, perspectives, ties that bind.

As a twenty-year-old, living at college among my generation I found the course fascinating.

These days generations are a hot topic. It’s easy to learn about which group we’re part of, and what makes them who they are.

If you’re between ages 76 and 93 you are a member of the Silent Generation. Your cohort saw the fall of Naziism, found success by following rules, and even created rock n roll.

If you’re between 57 and 75, you’re a Baby Boomer. Your generation was more affluent than your parents, you were there for the rise of hippy culture (love me some tye dye t-shirts), and you witnessed the 1960s civil rights era firsthand.

Those of us aged 41 to 56 are GenXers. Our group is best known for increasing numbers of women in the workplace, and being the first to grow up with home computers, video games, MTV, alternative rock too.

Less I exclude any, there are also Millennials (ages 25-40), Gen Z (ages 9-24), and the newest, Gen Alpha, who are newborns up to 8-year-olds.

Generations tend to include 15 to 20 years of people, with borders often defined by changes in birthrate and cultural milestones.

But on occasion social scientists also coin terms for smaller groupings called micro-generations. For example, if you were born between 1980 and 1985 congratulations, you have a very funky label; you are a Geriatric Millennial.

The label suggests you are at the older end of that particular group.

Pastor Bryan is a Geriatric Millennial. Even though he’s six years younger than me. I can’t help but joke about it. Don’t forget to take your Flintstones vitamins, Pastor, just to be safe ?

One of the downsides of generations is they can, at times, lead to unkind comparisons – like I just did with Pastor Bryan – and with it assumptions that one generation is better than the next. Sometimes these assumptions turn into sayings. Occasionally these sayings get codified into memes, a communication style brought to us courtesy of Millennials.

(thank you Millennials for that)

Many digs on other generations begin with the phrase, “when I was your age…”

Here are a few memes about that for fun:

…I had to walk to school, uphill, in the snow, both ways.

Or this one, from the movie Princess Bride, that features an older Peter Falk telling a story to a young Fred Savage…

One more. This one is from the Simpsons, and has some pandemic flair.

I suppose we all consider toilet paper these days more than we used to ?.

Previous Generations
Our text today also has the potential for some substantial generational drama.

The scene begins with Mary, who had just spoken with an angel, and learned she was miraculously with child. The angel then shared that her cousin Elizabeth, who was quite old, and had been barren, was also with child. For nothing is impossible with God, the angel proclaims.

Fresh off this exciting news Mary, who was around 13 years old, and full of vim and vigor, made haste to greet her older relative, who was nearing 90.

In today’s terms Mary would be part of Gen Z.
With Elizabeth solidly in the Silent Generation.

Generationally speaking the two were worlds away.

The distance between their towns was also not small. Mary trekked more than sixty miles to be with her cousin, likely by mule or by foot. Regardless of how she travelled getting there would have been hard.

Upon arriving at her older cousin’s house Mary greeted her enthusiastically.

Given their age difference – the two were born 75 years apart – we might expect crossing such a large divide might create some conflict.

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Perhaps Elizabeth would offer advice, unsolicited, that might raise Mary’s brow.

Perhaps Elizabeth would express jealousy at the young girl, competing for the spotlight. Elizabeth’s pregnancy after all, as an octogenarian, was a miracle too.

Or perhaps Elizabeth could have gotten sentimental about the good old days, and thrown out a few when I was your age zingers herself. Things like –

When I was your age…
– Girls were older before they had kids.
– Daughters got permission before travelling so far.
– Girls travelled with a man. It’s not safe to go alone!

The much older cousin did none of that. Instead, she did what any of us would have been grateful for in the moment.  Elizabeth offered her young relative her blessing.

She –

Blessed Mary among all women.
Blessed the fruit of Mary’s womb.
Blessed she who believed the child was the promised One.

Mary, upon receiving such a wonderful blessing, couldn’t help but to energetically burst into song.

She sang of the mighty one, who had done great things for her.
She sang of mercy for those who fear God, from generation to generation.

She sang of the –
Proud, being scattered;
Powerful, brought down;
Lowly, lifted up;
Hungry, newly filled;
Rich, sent away empty.

This is Mary’s song.
This is the Magnificat.

From generation to generation. Her song made clear the mercy of God wasn’t for just one generation or another. With this lyric Mary proclaimed salvation for all generations that were, are, and one day will be.

The order of events in Luke 1 suggests that Mary, she of Generation Alpha in our modern vernacular, needed that blessing from the Silent Generation of Elizabeth, in order for the promise of salvation to be fulfilled.

Without Elizabeth’s blessing it’s fair to wonder if the Holy Spirit would have inspired Mary to song. Perhaps the cousins would have just sat down, caught up as relatives do, and called it a day.

Instead today’s text serves as a passing of the torch. This passing made it possible for God’s promises to be fulfilled across the long arc of human history, once and for all.

Now
The past few days here at Bethesda have been busy. Friday was a funeral service for Elizabeth Sletten. Yesterday we held a memorial service for Elizabeth Schneckloth, one of Florence Bunker’s daughters. The gospel reading for this weekend’s services center on Mary’s visit with Elizabeth. Do you see the pattern?

With these services I found myself preparing three different messages, reflecting on three different Elizabeth’s. Each had lived a faithful life.  Each had cared for others in God honoring ways. Each were wives and mothers who raised children who followed in their paths.  And each, in their own way, blessed future generations by celebrating and encouraging the gifts of the young.

As our journey through Advent concludes –

Let us celebrate the generation where God has planted us. For we are called to a specific time and place and purpose marked by our Creator, from the very beginning.

Let us put aside the generational spats that separate us from each other and cause harm.

Most importantly, let us bless the generations that follow by encouraging them, supporting them, passing the torch to them to lead.

For when we do we take after Elizabeth. A woman that blessed the new life that grew in front of her.  A new life that would soon be born, and forever change the world.  Amen.

Two days ago I headed to a favorite spot downtown in the hopes of preparing this message. With coffee cup in hand I sat down, opened the laptop, created a new Word document, readied my fingers on the keyboard.
Time to get started.

But wait. Not so fast.

There was a problem.
The store’s Wifi was down.
Bah humbug!

A computer with no access to internet searches, or a thesaurus, or my favorite exegetical helps just wouldn’t do.

So I closed the laptop, stood up, walked outside. It was time to find another spot to write.
A new plan quickly formed. The library!

The library was close, I reasoned.
Internet there is always solid.

They even have a vending machine that doles out ice-cold Diet Mountain Dew.

The decision was made.

Even better the library was close enough to walk.

As I stood near the corner of Main Street and Douglas Ave I tried to recall exactly where the library was. It’s north of Main Street, right? Maybe?

But did I need to go east or west? I chose west, and started walking toward Kellogg.

A block later, feeling increasingly unsure of my route, I decided to ask Google Maps. Google, aka the company that perfected search engines and mapping, and has a net worth nearing 2 Trillion dollars, suggested I was heading the wrong way.
And that I should turn around, when possible, to achieve a better path.

So I did what any reasonable person would do with that new information.

I ignored it.

I assumed it was wrong.
I figured my phone had a bad signal.
I kept wandering west.

Eventually, after another block or two, I did turn north. And as soon as the buildings cleared from my view, far off in the distance, there was the Ames Public Library.

I could almost hear the angels singing from the heavens.

And which direction was the library, you might ask?

It was east!
I’d been wandering the wrong way the entire time.
And just hadn’t known it.

What should have been a brief two-minute, and a fairly straight path from here to here:

Ended up taking closer to ten minutes, and looked more like this:

Many are born with a sense of direction.

My wife has one.
It is wonderful.

Your pastor, unfortunately, does not ?.

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Perhaps you find yourself getting lost sometimes too. Fortunately when it comes to walking around in circles we have plenty of company. Human history is filled with examples of it. Many come right out of scripture.

When Adam and Eve first ate of the fruit and had to exit Eden, they couldn’t help but wander for a while. They made the best of a bad situation until they could once again find their way.

After escaping Egypt the Israelites miraculously found themselves on the cusp of the Promised Land. But they were filled with doubt, afraid to enter. The people then complained endlessly. The people then instead wandered in the wilderness 40 years more.

The Prodigal Son took half of Dad’s inheritance and wandered off into the world to spend it. He later coming home penniless, without friends. It took that trip for the son to realize all he needed could be found right where the journey began.

John
This wilderness wandering is also the focus of today’s text. Luke 3 begins with a very specific setting. The emperor, governor, high priest are all specifically named. By doing so the author gives us a sense of time, place, context. The details tell us where the people of Israel are, right then, right there. They make sure we know the moment is religiously significant. Politically significant. And culturally significant too.

Against this backdrop enters the wily character of John – the sackcloth wearing, burly beard sporting, honeycomb eating prophet that he is. John had heard the word of God, and been asked to carry out a very specific plan.

Baptize the people.
Call them to repent.
Forgive their sins.

So John did. And he did so not from Main Street, but the wilderness. The people came from their cities, towns and places of employment. They went out of their way to find him.

In doing so the troubled, winding paths the people had been taking were made straight. For baptism had reconciled them with their God, with their neighbor. The rough ways of their days were made smooth. They now knew a savior, who would help them along their way, would be with them soon.

Now
Sometimes it’s difficult to find the good news of scripture when the characters, location and time are so far removed from our vantage point today. To help bridge that gap I ask you to consider a slightly different version of Luke 3:1-6, the Ames, Iowa 2021 edition:

“In the first year of the first term of President Joseph Biden, when Kim Reynolds was governor of Iowa, and John Haila was mayor of Ames, and the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton was presiding bishop of the ELCA, and the Rev. Amy Current was bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod, the word of God came to us – right here – at Bethesda Lutheran.

God’s word asks us to repent, to forgive and be forgiven, to be made new. God’s word then goes out, from the mouths of all who embrace it, into our towns, schools, homes, offices, stadiums. God’s word goes over our rolling hills, across our rivers, along our winding highways. In each destination the good news of Jesus Christ was proclaimed to all.

For as it is written, God’s word cries out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make your paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
Every hill made low,
The crooked made straight,
Rough ways made smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’

Here ends this reading. With the slightly updated version perhaps we can better hear the political, religious and cultural implications the text has for us in the here and now.

Politically we watch as leaders debate gun violence, inflation, and how much we should care for the people in our land. What they do, or don’t do with these societal considerations reflects on who we, the people, truly are.

Religiously we note that, according to a recent study, for the first time in decades, white mainline Protestants outnumber white evangelicals in the U.S. That’s quite a change. The religious landscape we find ourselves in is shifting in some important, meaningful ways.

And culturally? We can’t help but keep a wary eye on our long, lingering pandemic, what with its waves, variants, hospitalizations and death tolls that continue to climb. To which we can only wonder how long, oh Lord, how long?

It is against this current political, religious and cultural backdrop where we find good news.

It is the good news of Christ that…
– Comes amid our messes, offering hope, peace, joy, love.
– Uses wilderness times to bring renewal, rebirth, clarity, purpose.
– Finds us when we are lost, and gently redirects us to a better Way.
– Offers to turn us around, when possible, to achieve a better Path.
– Promises new life. Even as we feel the pull to wander ever farther from the beliefs and behaviors that bring us closer to our God.
– Calls us to proclaim this good news to others, so that all may experience the salvation of God.

Let us pray.

Dear Lord,
Come into our world as it is, in all its beauty, all its mess. Flatten the mountains of inequality that divide us, for they are many. Make straight the crooked paths we find ourselves wandering toward. Help us smooth out the patches of roughness between us that needlessly separate your people. Amidst the wilderness we find ourselves in, embolden us proclaim to all your beloved Children that salvation is coming, and soon. And never let us forget that your salvation has been with us all the while. Amen.

A reflection on John 18:33-38a for Christ the King Sunday.

What is truth?

The question is an old one, dating back long before Pilate voiced this memorable phrase.

The notion of truth was part of ancient Hebrew culture, baked right into the ten commandments. To faithfully follow thou shalt not lie requires knowledge of whether you speak truth, or not.

Ancient Greek philosophers were fascinated with the topic. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing, said Socrates. This quote was parodied in the first Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure – upon hearing it, Ted looks over to Bill and excitedly replies, that’s us dude! The pair wasn’t known for being overly smart.

A Few Good Men
Then there’s the 1992 film A Few Good Men, where Tom Cruise tries to squeeze the truth out of Jack Nicholson in an epic conflict. In the film Cruise plays military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee; Nicholson plays Colonel Nathan Jessup.

The climax of the film features a courtroom scene where Lieutenant Kaffee attempts to get Colonel Jessup to confess to ordering a code red, which killed one of Jessup’s men. The crux of the script is this brief clip:

Kaffee: Colonel Jessup, did you order the code red?
Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled to them.
Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessup: You can’t handle the truth!

Jessup then goes on a long monologue about duty, honor, the call to protect. After additional animated questioning from Kaffee, Jessup confesses to ordering the code red. The scene ends with Jessup in handcuffs, with two innocent men cleared of wrongdoing. Truth in this story brought justice, and freedom.

John’s Truth
Truth is also a major theme in the New Testament. Particularly in the book of John. The Greek term for truth used in scripture, aletheia, means an unconcealed, absolute, revealed knowledge now made clear. It is an aha moment, an epiphany that, once discovered, can’t easily be ignored.

This unconcealed revealed truth is mentioned over two dozen times in John’s gospel, building a case for what – and who – truth is.

In chapter 1, right near the beginning, the author reminds us that the law was given through Moses. But grace and truth? That came through Jesus.

Chapter 8 finds Jesus encouraging his disciples to continue in his word. For *then* you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

Jesus gives a straight up definition in chapter 14, saying I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The last mention of truth in John’s gospel serves as a capstone course for the term, a culmination for all the author wants us to understand.

One Good Man
Similar to A Few Good Men, today’s text also features another epic courtroom scene. Today’s text is part of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. It is an important part of the Passion narrative. Modern scholars consider these six verses the second scene of a seven-part Passion drama. Centuries before Shakespeare, John also knew how to put together a memorable scene.

In scene one, Jesus is taken from Caiphas to Pilate early in the morning. Pilate then talks with the religious leaders about the charges being brought against Jesus.

Scene two of the courtroom drama begins with Pilate deciding he needs to speak with Jesus himself to learn more. Their conversation goes something like this:

Pilate: Are you the King of the Jews? (getting straight to the point.)
Jesus: Are you asking on your own, or is word getting out?
Pilate: I am not Jewish, how else would I know?
Your own people have handed you over to me.
What have you done?

(Pilate hopes for a quick confession. He was a busy man. It’d be nice to move on to the next case.)

Jesus: My kingdom is not from this world.
If it were my followers would be fighting to keep me here.
As you can see, they are not.

(Jesus looked around the empty room. Just the two of them stood there).

Pilate: So you are a king?
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For this I was born.
For this I came into the world.
To testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.
Pilate: What is truth?

Jesus was silent. The question hung in the air, left unanswered. End scene.

How this drama concludes is familiar; it is played out on Good Friday in churches annually around the globe.

Truth
The antagonist in this scene, Pilate, was arguably the most powerful, most in-control person in Jerusalem. As the local representative of the greatest world power of the era he was judge, jury, executioner. He was arbiter of what was true, what was not.

Pilate wanted the truth from Jesus, he really did. It was his job, after all, to discern it. But when shown the unconcealed Truth of Jesus he was simply blind.

Pilate stood there, eyes wide shut. He had been staring Truth in the face, completely unaware of who it was that stood before him.

Admittedly the task for Pilate to see, to really see Jesus clearly would have been difficult for him. Earthly understandings of truth typically center on being consistent with fact, to represent reality well. Truth is central to most human endeavors like philosophy, government, science.

Where would we be without a sense of what is true.

This is the lens from which Pilate viewed the case.
Perhaps for that reason we shouldn’t be too tough on the guy.

Yet truth, as a matter of faith, is more than just fact, belief or thought. Listen to my voice, Jesus beckons. Follow me, Jesus offers. For it is then, and only then, when you shall belong to the truth.

What is truth? Truth is faith in action. It is following the path of Christ. It is an unwavering commitment to conform with God’s will.

Christ the King
On this day the church celebrates the festival of Christ the King. The day is somewhat new, at least in church terms – it was instituted by Pope Pius XI between World Wars I and II. The Pope was concerned about a growing global wave of nationalism at the time. Hindsight suggests he was right.

In our modern era we face a rise in authoritarianism, government strong men, and Christian nationalism. In that way perhaps not much has changed.

Yet with this proclamation, that Christ is King, the Church makes it known that we only bow to Jesus the Christ. We declare we do not give allegiance to any other person, principality or power claiming to be sovereign. We bow only to Christ, and Christ alone.

This is our truth.

Close
Reflecting on recent news some – let us also consider what it means to live in an era where a white man can walk into a crowd with an automatic weapon, shoot three people, killing two, and face no consequence at all.

This is the news coming out of Kenosha two days ago.
This is the current truth of America.
And it is not the truth the Prince of Peace wants for us.

For we are called to more.

As we look toward the upcoming season of Advent, a time marked patiently waiting for a newborn king, let us wait well.

What is truth?

We seek answers.
We desire peace.
Christ provides the way.
Open our eyes to your path, Lord.
May we journey well.  Amen.

A message of reform based on John 8:31-36.

About 250 years ago, on a warm day in early July, 56 men gathered to review and sign a document of deep historic import: the declaration of independence. The declaration named the frustrations of a people ruled by tyranny, heavily taxed, governed unfairly. All which limited their ability to live and move and have their being. With the bold statement, signed by so many, the thirteen colonies absolved their allegiance to that which had held them down. They did so once and for all.

It’s important to note that the land the colonists resided on and claimed was not their own. That fact a stained part of our shared national history impossible to ignore. Much work is still left to right those wrongs.

Yet this notion, of freedom, that comes from the 1,320-word declaration endures. Over time it has become a central tenant of our collective consciousness, difficult backstory and all.

American freedom is celebrated with –
Beers, balloons, banners,
Streamers, speeches, songs,
Picnics, parades, parties
On lakes, lakeside and lawns.

Often with fireworks that are truly a sight to behold.

Over time these celebrations became a default definition for many of us of what it is to be free. For many, images of freedom center on the red, white, and blue.

Nothing more.
Nothing less.

Yet unlike hotdogs, cheeseburgers, and Chicago style deep dish pizza, what freedom is has roots that extend much farther back than 1776.

Two millennia ago, Jesus spoke to a crowd about a different kind of freedom. The religious folk gathered there that day were both curious and confused. Some believed in Jesus, others were filled with doubt. Among Christ’s followers some were all in. Others were at odds with him. Still others were dead set to see the man removed, from this earth, forever.

Amid this backdrop of early followers Christ began to teach what is it to be a disciple. Continue in my word, he shared with the crowd.  From that word you will know the truth. This truth will make you free.

The followers were perplexed. They shared a family tree with Abraham. They’d never been slaves to anyone, the group replied. They were sure of it.

In their minds they were already free.

Somehow important moments in the early Christ-followers collective past, and present, had been forgotten. For by then the twelve tribes had –

• Escaped from Egyptian entrapment via the Red Sea
• Been deported to Babylon for 70 years, and
• Currently lived under the reality of Roman colonization.

“Never slaves to anyone?” Jesus might have wondered. Really?

Still not recognizing important parts of their shared history, or what he meant, Christ continued to teach. Everyone who sins is a slave to that which they do.

Everyone.
A slave.
No exceptions.
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But if the Son makes you free?  Then, Christ concludes, you will be free indeed.

With that Jesus had offered an alternate definition of freedom. A definition that flies in the face of how we commonly understand it now.

In that moment Jesus had made a historic declaration to the crowd. He announced the declaration of independence from the tyranny of sin that taxes us, the tyranny of sin that governs over us, and the tyranny of sin that separates us from that which God desires. All which limits our ability to live and move and have our being in harmony with creation and our Creator.

But! Thanks be to God that Christ’s life, death, and resurrection has turned the table on that sad state of affairs upside down.

Martin Luther’s treatise The Freedom of a Christian sums Christian freedom up this way: A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is also a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

This paired paradox suggests freedom is more than just a state of being. It is also a state of doing that asks something of us. Christian freedom is an imperative to serve others. It asks us to help the –

• 25 million people globally caught up in human trafficking
• 42 million people who experience food insecurity here in the US
• 80 million globally who have been forcibly displaced from their homes

It begs us to ponder our role in unshackling that which holds others back.

Today, as we celebrate the Protestant Reformation that brought much needed religious and societal change, let us look within, and around, for that which is in need of reform.

It’s all good to celebrate the political freedom you have. It is indeed wonderful. Break out the hot dogs, and picnics and fireworks and enjoy. But even more importantly –

Let us declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ, our savior and Lord, over and above all else. Let us dwell deeply in the Word, today, tomorrow, and beyond. For it is in the dwelling of the Word where we are truly Christ’s disciples.

And then let us pick up the mantle of Christ’s call to act. To serve our neighbors locally and beyond, held back by the chains of –

• Poverty
• Violence
• Food insecurity
• Racism
• Xenophobia
• Religious persecution
…and so many more ills that inhabit our would.

Lord, let us recommit that Your will be done – not ours – re-forming life on earth to be as it is in heaven.

For no one is truly free until we all are.

Show us your will.
Show us your ways.
Amen.

Life as she knew it could not go on. At least not like this. Heidi* was painfully aware something had to change. Upon learning her husband had a secret life, a horrific drug addiction, Heidi tried to get him help. But he was too far in, with little interest in getting clean. With no end in sight, Heidi made a very tough decision. Divorce, for her, was the right way to go. This marriage would not be the happily ever after of her dreams.

Determined to make a fresh start she began to clean out their home.

It was time, in more ways than one, to let go.

She looked around the garage, at the golf clubs, fishing poles, an INXS hat, Tom Petty t-shirts. They were shared hobbies, shared concerts the couple had enjoyed from better days gone by. The were relics from a past she recognized less and less each day. They were excess baggage for a future she couldn’t quite yet see.

She kicked it all to the curb.

Standing there, alone in an empty garage, she reflected on choices made, what had been lost. Her husband’s addiction had almost bankrupt them. She now had few possessions, little money. Lonely and sad, Heidi remembers in that moment feeling God’s love wrap around her. She recalls finding comfort from above. Comfort as she stood in the midst of practically nothing.

It was then when Heidi’s healing began. It was then when she began to imagine what her brighter tomorrows might be.

Sara
Sara*, too, knew life couldn’t go on like this. The yelling, screaming, lack of trust from her husband was only getting worse. Hoping to fix the problems she sought out counseling. Eventually he agreed to try that too. Soon it became clear fixing what had been broken between them was not to be.

At rock bottom Sara considered harming herself. It just seemed too much for one person to handle. But she had a young daughter and loved her dearly. And she had her father, who took her to a crisis counselor – in the middle of harvest season, a big deal for a farmer – making sure she got help.

With counseling she realized it was time to move on. Letting go of the unhealthy relationship would save Sara and her daughter, she concluded. And save her husband too.

The first day after this realization she felt an incredible weight suddenly gone. She began to see light and color and hope once again.

As the couple separated possessions, she found herself letting go some more. Sara’s ex took the fancy Christmas decorations. Fine, she thought. She and her young daughter made their own decorations that first year. Homemade decorations she has and trims the tree with still.

She was going to be a single mom, on a grad student’s salary, yes. But she began to find happiness, confidence, joy, all of which had been absent for years. All of which money simply couldn’t buy.

Sara began to dream of where this new path would lead. She didn’t know really. Perhaps it would be to somewhere good.

Wealth
The man from Mark chapter 10 that approaches Jesus asks a question many of us grapple with: what must I do for abundant life? Christ responds with a familiar playbook: follow the commandments. You know what they are –

Don’t murder.
Don’t commit adultery.
Don’t lie or cheat or steal.

Yes, yes, yes, I’ve done all those things since my youth, the man replies. By following these ten rules perhaps he assumed abundant life could now be his. Jesus looked at the man a little closer, seeing deep into his heart, and lovingly continued. You lack one thing he told the man. Go, sell what you own, give the money to the poor. Then come, follow me. Then life will be as you desire.

Jesus knew what was holding this man back. He knew what the man needed to let go. He knew that then, and only then, could abundant life be his.

The man was shocked. For a person of means this was no easy ask. He could choose to hold onto his wealth, sure. Or he could lighten his burden. In the process he could bless countless others that needed that wealth more than he. In the process he could join the beloved community, experiencing the joy he so deeply desired.

He need do but one thing: sacrifice for the greater good.

The man grew sad. He simply could not let this one thing go. Wealth consumed him. It was him. The status it afforded mattered more to him than anything else in the world.
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The man walked away grieving, untransformed. His wealth, we learn, was his true God. There would be no happy ending for this particular story.

Heidi II
But for Heidi? Her next chapter takes quite a turn. After letting go of an unhealthy relationship and the belongings from darker days attached to it, things began to change. She reconnected with her faith, found a good church, new friends. She volunteered to help others who had also encountered hard times. Her career started to flourish. She met a new man, a good man, and the two fell in love. They married, had children. Their home became a common gathering spot for many a joyous occasion. It still is. She had surrounded herself with people she cared for, people that cared for her.

When Heidi’s son later experienced significant health challenges it was her husband, her friends, her family, her faith that carried her through. She is now part of the beloved community. Just as God intends.

Sara II
Life for Sara, after letting go of so much, also began to get better.

She finished graduate school. From this came a career she was passionate about, management opportunities, vocational success. Then a wise old neighbor invited her to church. Later that same wise old neighbor thought she really should meet this amazing guy that lived down the street. Before long Sara had fallen in love and had a reinvigorated faith that gave her strength. She then married that guy. Their family grew from three to four to five.

In the process Sara had found herself. She also found herself surrounded by friends, family and communities that care for her, just as much as she cares for them. Just as God intends.

Both Heidi and Sara are pseudonyms, their stories anonymous. Both are personal friends, both even Lutherans. Both are awfully similar to you and I.

And for both none of this personal, spiritual, and relational transformation would have been possible without first letting go of that which held them back.

Synthesis
The story of the rich man in Mark 10 is often told as a tale of who gets into the pearly gates, who doesn’t. This way of reading concludes it is tough to get into heaven if you’re wealthy. If you need some help with that particular problem, a gentle reminder: this is Fall stewardship season. Keep sending those pledge cards in.  You’re welcome ?.

But the text can also be interpreted more broadly. It can be understood as a cautionary tale of what happens when we hold on to that which causes harm, either to ourselves or others.

As Jesus explains the problem of wealth he tells the disciples how difficult it can be to enter the kingdom of God. The Greek word for kingdom, basileia, also refers to being in healthy community in the world as it exists today.

Today.

Not just some far-off hereafter.

Christ wants the best for us. Right here. Right now. We are called to be in right relationship with our Creator, and our neighbor, over and above all else. And to experience this we might need to get rid of some baggage, making room for the new.

To do that our faith asks that we take a look within, seeing ourselves as Christ does. What holds you back from abundant life? Is it –

– A toxic relationship with no hope of repair?
– Hoarding wealth, causing yourself and others harm?
– Addiction, bad habits, or a heart unwilling to forgive?

Examine yourself. Pray about it. Talk about it with trusted friends.

Then do the one thing that might be painful now, yet helps you better embrace the beloved community. Let it go.

*names have been changed.