Sunday Sermons
The act of preaching is something that happens between the preacher and the gathered assembly each week, but sometimes folks find it helpful to be able to read or go back to the sermon text. So, Pastor Inga will do her best to keep this page updated with her most recent sermons. (If there's one in particular you're looking for and can't find, just ask. She probably just didn't get around to getting it posted.)
You'll notice the sermon text always begins with a list of the scriptures of the day, which are the basis for the sermon. You may find it helpful to read those passages before delving into the sermon itself.
Select Sermons for
Lectionary Year B, 2018
Sermon for the Third Sunday of Pentecost - June 10, 2018
Pastor Inga Oyan Longbrake
Gospel: Mark 3:20-35
In response to charges that he is possessed, Jesus wonders aloud how anyone who is demon-possessed can cast out demons. Those who do the will of God are possessed by the Holy Spirit, sisters and brothers of Christ.
[Jesus went home;] 20and the crowd came together again, so that [Jesus and the disciples] could not even eat. 21When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
28“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Grace, mercy, and peace from the Triune God are yours. Amen.
There is something very ironic, I think, about this whole thing – this whole Christianity thing. (Okay, there’s probably more than one thing, but here’s something that struck me as I read this week’s gospel.)
Have you ever heard someone described as a “good Christian?” Oh, she was a good Christian woman – always going to church and being kind and staying out of trouble.
Isn’t that sort of what the phrase “good Christian” suggests? Someone who is good at following the rules and who keeps their nose clean, stays out of trouble.
Maybe you even fit this description… Or if you don’t, maybe you think you’re supposed to… I think that’s a fairly common understanding of Christianity in our society, or at least it has been over the last 100 years.
And yet, we Christians follow a man who was considered a dangerous rule-breaker.
Just look at where we are today. Mark, Chapter 3. Conflict is brewing. It’s only the 3rd chapter of Mark, and already Jesus has done enough to get himself killed. He is already in all kinds of trouble.
And perhaps even worse, he’s done enough to be considered “crazy.” This guy is NUTS, people are saying, and his own family may even be thinking it. We have got to get him off the streets and out of sight or things are not going to end well… they’re saying he’s out of his mind. They’re saying he is possessed by a demon.
Which they’re saying because Jesus refuses to play by the rules of the power structure of his day, whether it’s how he observed the command to keep the Sabbath or who he considers family or who he spends his time with.
He is actually saying a big fat “NO” to the ones who were the good rule followers, the ones who kept their noses clean.
So how did we Christians of today end up thinking we were supposed to be more like them and less like Jesus – if Jesus is the one we follow?
Well. Maybe we just don’t want to be called crazy. No one one wants that. No one wants to be slapped with the label that Jesus receives here.
Because those are powerful words. “Crazy” is a way of discrediting a person, isn’t it? It’s a way of dismissing their views and actions. It can limit, if not destroy, their credibility and influence. It’s the kind of thing that you either say in jest to friend (“Don’t be crazy, we could never do that!”) or, much less kindly, about someone you really don’t like (“Don’t listen to him – he’s nuts!”).
If you’ve been on the receiving end of this before, you know the power of these words – and you may want to steer clear of them at all costs.
But I wonder if we could consider together what “crazy like Jesus” really means. Perhaps it’s worth the risk to be more like him than not.
“In Jesus’ case, it seems to be that he is healing anyone and everyone in need and casting out demons and doing all this even on the Sabbath. He is, in other words, breaking the rules to make sure everyone can experience God’s grace.
But this is crazy to those of Jesus’ day because it simply is not done this way.
Think about it: In Jesus’ act of wild abandon and extreme inclusion, to the point of defying religious norms, he is shaking up the people around him, particularly but not exclusively the religious authorities, on two fronts.
First, he’s defying norms about who’s in and who’s out. Folks possessed by a demon, those maimed or born with some physical limitation or defect – these kinds of people were often assumed to be cursed, to be not natural, or to have sinned (or to be suffering from the sins of their parents – see John 9:1-2). Yet Jesus forgives and heals all who are in need. Everyone. No exceptions. And, just in case folks weren’t sure about this before, Jesus will soon push his point unbelievably and quite literally home when he says any and all who do the will of God are his true brothers and sisters and mother, radically redefining what constitutes a family in an age when family was everything.
Second, Jesus is putting the needs of the people he encounters above the religious traditions that regulate the lives of the people. Make no mistake: these religious traditions are important, useful, and valuable, but – and as we saw last week – they are a means to an experience of God and greater abundance in life, not an end in themselves. And when we put following the rules ahead of meeting need, we’ve actually, even if accidentally, misused the very rules God gave us to help us flourish. (D.Lose, In the Meantime)
And yet Jesus is the one who gets called crazy and possessed.
But I wonder if they aren’t the ones who are possessed – possessed by what they think they have to do – and they’ve lost sight of what really matters.
So if they wanna call Jesus crazy, we then call me crazy, too. Call us crazy, too!
Because to be the church and to be people of God means to care about the needs of others – and recognizing that that is more important than the rules sometimes – especially if those rules get in the way of caring for one another, for neighbor.
Which is why around here we don’t say you have to understand Lutheranism perfectly to be a part of the community.
You don’t have to be the wisest of biblical scholars.
We don’t ask about people’s legal status as citizens when then come here to worship.
We don’t ask people to show proof of Aurora residence when they come to our food bank or for meals.
We don’t judge sexual orientation or gender identity.
We don’t have a checklist to ensure those who gather here are “good Christians.”
In fact, I’d say that as a pastor I care a whole lot more about what you hear and experience in this place than about your list of qualifications as a church member. I care that you hear, every single week, that you are forgiven all your sins – and that you are unequivocally, beloved of God, as “crazy” as that may sound. I care that you are invited into the experience of the grace of God, that you are welcomed into the ministries that help you reflect more deeply on your life, your relationships, your faith.
And the rest? The rest is just details.
Now we do make one assumption about everyone who gathers here.
We need to be open and honest about that.
We assume that every person who comes through the doors of St. Mark’s is simultaneously sinner and saint, each with the same need for the grace and love of God.
And then in the name of Jesus, we offer it to one another.
So let us remember that to be called crazy may be a great compliment if it means we are following in the way of Christ.
We will, of course, meet resistance and maybe even being told we’re out of our minds. But then we’ve got a great response: It’s not that. I’m just possessed.
Which is the other thing Jesus is accused of in the gospel. That he’s possessed. And it’s true, he is. Jesus is possessed. But it’s not a demon who’s got him.
Jesus is possessed by the Holy Spirit, who as we’ve been reminded recently, loves to interrupt the way things are “usually done.” The Spirit loves to surprise us and call us into new ways of being. And Jesus is possessed by the Holy Spirit as he lives out his holy calling that disrupts all the norms in the name of bringing more and more people into God’s holy family.
We have been given this same Spirit. So guess what? We’re possessed, too.
And thanks be to God for that.
Let us work and serve toward the day when others will say, “You all at St Mark’s are crazy with all that love you so freely hand out to anyone and everyone.”
Because then we’ll say:
Nah, we’re just possessed.
Wait til you see what we’re gonna do next.
AMEN
Pastor Inga Oyan Longbrake
Gospel: Mark 3:20-35
In response to charges that he is possessed, Jesus wonders aloud how anyone who is demon-possessed can cast out demons. Those who do the will of God are possessed by the Holy Spirit, sisters and brothers of Christ.
[Jesus went home;] 20and the crowd came together again, so that [Jesus and the disciples] could not even eat. 21When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
28“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
-----
Grace, mercy, and peace from the Triune God are yours. Amen.
There is something very ironic, I think, about this whole thing – this whole Christianity thing. (Okay, there’s probably more than one thing, but here’s something that struck me as I read this week’s gospel.)
Have you ever heard someone described as a “good Christian?” Oh, she was a good Christian woman – always going to church and being kind and staying out of trouble.
Isn’t that sort of what the phrase “good Christian” suggests? Someone who is good at following the rules and who keeps their nose clean, stays out of trouble.
Maybe you even fit this description… Or if you don’t, maybe you think you’re supposed to… I think that’s a fairly common understanding of Christianity in our society, or at least it has been over the last 100 years.
And yet, we Christians follow a man who was considered a dangerous rule-breaker.
Just look at where we are today. Mark, Chapter 3. Conflict is brewing. It’s only the 3rd chapter of Mark, and already Jesus has done enough to get himself killed. He is already in all kinds of trouble.
And perhaps even worse, he’s done enough to be considered “crazy.” This guy is NUTS, people are saying, and his own family may even be thinking it. We have got to get him off the streets and out of sight or things are not going to end well… they’re saying he’s out of his mind. They’re saying he is possessed by a demon.
Which they’re saying because Jesus refuses to play by the rules of the power structure of his day, whether it’s how he observed the command to keep the Sabbath or who he considers family or who he spends his time with.
He is actually saying a big fat “NO” to the ones who were the good rule followers, the ones who kept their noses clean.
So how did we Christians of today end up thinking we were supposed to be more like them and less like Jesus – if Jesus is the one we follow?
Well. Maybe we just don’t want to be called crazy. No one one wants that. No one wants to be slapped with the label that Jesus receives here.
Because those are powerful words. “Crazy” is a way of discrediting a person, isn’t it? It’s a way of dismissing their views and actions. It can limit, if not destroy, their credibility and influence. It’s the kind of thing that you either say in jest to friend (“Don’t be crazy, we could never do that!”) or, much less kindly, about someone you really don’t like (“Don’t listen to him – he’s nuts!”).
If you’ve been on the receiving end of this before, you know the power of these words – and you may want to steer clear of them at all costs.
But I wonder if we could consider together what “crazy like Jesus” really means. Perhaps it’s worth the risk to be more like him than not.
“In Jesus’ case, it seems to be that he is healing anyone and everyone in need and casting out demons and doing all this even on the Sabbath. He is, in other words, breaking the rules to make sure everyone can experience God’s grace.
But this is crazy to those of Jesus’ day because it simply is not done this way.
Think about it: In Jesus’ act of wild abandon and extreme inclusion, to the point of defying religious norms, he is shaking up the people around him, particularly but not exclusively the religious authorities, on two fronts.
First, he’s defying norms about who’s in and who’s out. Folks possessed by a demon, those maimed or born with some physical limitation or defect – these kinds of people were often assumed to be cursed, to be not natural, or to have sinned (or to be suffering from the sins of their parents – see John 9:1-2). Yet Jesus forgives and heals all who are in need. Everyone. No exceptions. And, just in case folks weren’t sure about this before, Jesus will soon push his point unbelievably and quite literally home when he says any and all who do the will of God are his true brothers and sisters and mother, radically redefining what constitutes a family in an age when family was everything.
Second, Jesus is putting the needs of the people he encounters above the religious traditions that regulate the lives of the people. Make no mistake: these religious traditions are important, useful, and valuable, but – and as we saw last week – they are a means to an experience of God and greater abundance in life, not an end in themselves. And when we put following the rules ahead of meeting need, we’ve actually, even if accidentally, misused the very rules God gave us to help us flourish. (D.Lose, In the Meantime)
And yet Jesus is the one who gets called crazy and possessed.
But I wonder if they aren’t the ones who are possessed – possessed by what they think they have to do – and they’ve lost sight of what really matters.
So if they wanna call Jesus crazy, we then call me crazy, too. Call us crazy, too!
Because to be the church and to be people of God means to care about the needs of others – and recognizing that that is more important than the rules sometimes – especially if those rules get in the way of caring for one another, for neighbor.
Which is why around here we don’t say you have to understand Lutheranism perfectly to be a part of the community.
You don’t have to be the wisest of biblical scholars.
We don’t ask about people’s legal status as citizens when then come here to worship.
We don’t ask people to show proof of Aurora residence when they come to our food bank or for meals.
We don’t judge sexual orientation or gender identity.
We don’t have a checklist to ensure those who gather here are “good Christians.”
In fact, I’d say that as a pastor I care a whole lot more about what you hear and experience in this place than about your list of qualifications as a church member. I care that you hear, every single week, that you are forgiven all your sins – and that you are unequivocally, beloved of God, as “crazy” as that may sound. I care that you are invited into the experience of the grace of God, that you are welcomed into the ministries that help you reflect more deeply on your life, your relationships, your faith.
And the rest? The rest is just details.
Now we do make one assumption about everyone who gathers here.
We need to be open and honest about that.
We assume that every person who comes through the doors of St. Mark’s is simultaneously sinner and saint, each with the same need for the grace and love of God.
And then in the name of Jesus, we offer it to one another.
So let us remember that to be called crazy may be a great compliment if it means we are following in the way of Christ.
We will, of course, meet resistance and maybe even being told we’re out of our minds. But then we’ve got a great response: It’s not that. I’m just possessed.
Which is the other thing Jesus is accused of in the gospel. That he’s possessed. And it’s true, he is. Jesus is possessed. But it’s not a demon who’s got him.
Jesus is possessed by the Holy Spirit, who as we’ve been reminded recently, loves to interrupt the way things are “usually done.” The Spirit loves to surprise us and call us into new ways of being. And Jesus is possessed by the Holy Spirit as he lives out his holy calling that disrupts all the norms in the name of bringing more and more people into God’s holy family.
We have been given this same Spirit. So guess what? We’re possessed, too.
And thanks be to God for that.
Let us work and serve toward the day when others will say, “You all at St Mark’s are crazy with all that love you so freely hand out to anyone and everyone.”
Because then we’ll say:
Nah, we’re just possessed.
Wait til you see what we’re gonna do next.
AMEN
