Our presiding bishop, Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, has partnered with Episcopal and Anglican presiding bishops in the US and Canada to produce a weekly devotional for the month of September entitled Seasons of Creation. The devotional can be downloaded here. Written by wise and thoughtful spiritual leaders, the devotional explores our call to care for all that God has made. Enjoy!
Missionary Musings
For the past several years, Grace has prayerfully and financially supported the missionaries of the ELCA stationed in the Lutheran Church in Senegal which is a country in west Africa. Currently, our missionary is the Rev. Kristin Engstrom who serves as the country coordinator for the Young Adult in Global Mission (YAGM) program in Senegal. Check out a conversation between Rev. Engstrom, Pastor Sarah, and Vicar Beth—recorded at the end of July on Grace’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHNQAY-Iz4
Enjoy these Missionary Musings!
The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It with Renee
Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! We continue a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace is sharing a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.
Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy!
Sermon from Sunday, August 16
Scripture Passage: Matthew 15:21-28
"It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." That’s what Jesus says to the woman pleading for Jesus’ mercy on her daughter who is tormented by a demon. Not one of Jesus’ disciples or any Jewish onlooker is surprised by Jesus’ words for she is a Canaanite woman. Jewish-Gentile relations in the first century Mediterranean world do not allow Jesus, a Jewish man, to speak to a Gentile, especially a woman. When Jesus says, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,” he equates Jews to God’s beloved children and Gentiles to dogs, not lovable pets of the home as they are now but wild dogs, animals who get in the way. When the unnamed woman first calls out to Jesus, he ignores her entirely. Again, Jesus’ disciples are not surprised by Jesus’ silence for any conversation would violate social boundaries, but the disciples are annoyed by her persistent call for mercy. When finally Jesus addresses her, he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Right and good, Jesus, the disciples likely think. She is not an Israelite; she is not a sheep of this shepherd Jesus.
What do we do with Jesus’ harsh words? Three times, he insults her, belittles her, demeans her. This is not the Jesus we know and love. Even though she respects him. Even though she calls him “Lord, Son of David.” Even though she implies he has the power to rid her daughter of a demon, implies he can exert power over natural elements. Even though, at the end of this story, Jesus recognizes her faith, a declaration that he makes only twice in the gospel of Matthew, the other time when the centurion, also a Gentile, asks for the healing of his servant.
What do we do with Jesus’ harsh words and even harsher silence? Of course, biblical commentators aplenty provide solutions, suggest Jesus is vocalizing the prejudices of those like him to call our their sin, suggest the point is that Jesus finally heals the Canaanite woman’s daughter and ignore the rest, suggest that Jesus is illustrating his own point from the previous teaching about what comes out of a person’s mouth defiling them. We seem eager to rescue Jesus from his historical context. I wonder, truly, if the Canaanite woman helps Jesus understand his own ministry with greater clarity. Seven chapters earlier, he responds to the Gentile centurion’s request for healing, but perhaps a Gentile woman is just one step too far. Perhaps she helps him see the limits of his own ministry—and then helps him overcome them. While I would grieve the limits of Jesus’ own understanding, I would rejoice that Jesus, once called out, recognizes his limits and chooses to grow in openness, love, grace.
This bodes well for us, followers of the one who could grow in his own divine capacity. If Jesus, Lord, Son of David, can err and then grow and change, so can we.
But first, we name our errors, what we’d like to do over without trying to explain it away, like the commentators aplenty would like to do.
In 2001, I served for a year in Lutheran Volunteer Corps and worked at a shelter for people experiencing homelessness and illness on the west side of Chicago. Entering Interfaith House was like entering a different world, one where my experience of life, instead of normative, was the exception. Me, a little white girl from small town Minnesota who had just graduated from an expensive liberal arts college. Most of my co-workers, black folks from the south and west sides of Chicago who joked that they were nearly homeless, the shelter paid so poorly. One day, I ended up in the office of the program director. I was there because I had been accused of being racist, wanted to report the ugly words of my co-workers, and be assured that I was just fine. The program director asked me, “Do you think you’re racist?” I told her no, but I had that uncomfortable feeling that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, the feeling that seemed to indicate I was wrong.
We all have things we’d like to do over. For me, at that moment with the program director in 2001, I wanted to take back the racist things I said and still to this day, I wish I could see and understand more fully my white privilege.
This morning, our errors, our areas of growth, personally or systemically may feel overwhelming, but the good news demonstrated by Jesus is a capacity to grow, to grow in openness, love, and grace. We are not forever stuck in the place where we currently stand. We get to have do-overs. We get to change our minds. We get to let go of old, unhealthy patterns. We get to believe new things about ourselves, our neighbors, and the world. We get to wash our face each morning and remember our baptism, remember that we are God’s beloved. And even if we would rather stubbornly hang onto the things that trip us up and make our lives harder, if we won’t allow ourselves to be helped or listened to, the really good news is that God in Christ meets us with dignity, compassion, and grace. For Jesus grows through his encounter with the Canaanite woman. She helps him understand the height and width and depth of his mission that included not just people like him, Jewish people, but Gentiles as well, women bold enough to cry out for mercy on behalf of their daughters. And it’s not that he deigns to heal her daughter, not that he shows her pity. He not only preserves her dignity and shows her grace, in the end, Jesus praises her faith.
Jesus met a woman who needed him, and he met her where she was. They both walked away changed. Thanks be to God! Amen.
The City of Phoenix Needs Your Feedback on Strategic Plan for Homelessness
The City of Phoenix is seeking feedback on the proposed Homelessness Strategies Plan that will focus on service priorities and strategies for individuals experiencing homelessness.
With your feedback, they will be able to reduce the impact the changes will make on the surrounding communities and neighborhoods.
Please visit the website to learn more, register for an upcoming virtual meeting or to respond to the survey regarding this topic: Phoenix.gov/HomelessHelp.
Diakonia Class Information
The Grand Canyon Synod Diakonia program is a means to prepare lay leaders in changing times to support the mission of the church with wisdom and understanding in accordance with our Lutheran understanding of who God is and how God works. Diakonia is also a Faith Formation program designed to help lay people in congregations develop and grow their individual faith. The program also helps student to discern what God is calling them to do personally as members of the body of Christ. Like many educational institutions, we are planning on a lot of remote learning this school year, which also means remote information sessions.
There are three different Zoom information night sessions scheduled that anyone can attend. This is a great opportunity to receive more information about the Diakonia program and ask questions. They are:
Monday, August 17 at 6:00 pm
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83812651427?pwd=d2RvN0JzVXVXazFnR0psRFIvYlNrUT0
Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86877805856?pwd=WUpJMEZqTDNMcnkxYncrbnp2WDJqZz09
Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30 pm
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85988092111?pwd=bVNWTmVQdDM5UklNUzNZQnJBUUNKQT09
CALL Registration
CALL (Confirmation Among Local Lutherans) is a joint confirmation experience for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students with a community of ELCA Phoenix churches! This fall, CALL will be conducted online on Sundays from 2:00 until 2:30 pm. It is going to be a fun year as we explore our favorite stories about Jesus!
Parent and Student Informational Meeting is on Sunday, August 30 at 2:00 pm. Register online here.
Please check on the CALL website (www.phoenixconfirmation.weebly.com) as we get closer to the date for log in information.
Phoenix Fusion Presents: Conversation on Racism
Come join fellow Phoenix Fusion friends as we gather together via Zoom on Monday, August 17 @ 6:30 pm to discuss the movie: “The Hate U Give” (PG-13) based on Angie Thomas’ novel. The movie follows Starr Carter, a 16 year old girl who lives in the fictional, black neighborhood of Garden Heights, but attends a predominantly white private school and the fallout that ensues after she witnesses a police shooting. You are encouraged to watch the movie (which is on most digital platforms now) prior to attending the Discussion Group. Pastor Brent Maxwell from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church will be leading the discussion that will touch on difficult but relevant issues facing our communities right now. Below is the zoom link.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsd-6vqz8sE9U2cCKnDidn_y9LMtx2QrDy
In September, we look forward to a two-night book discussion on “So you Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo. The event will be facilitated by Pastor Kari Williamson of St. Andrews and take place on September 21 and 28.
If you would like to be a part of the team working to bring these events to Phoenix Fusion, please send an email to phoenixfusionelca@gmail.com.
The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It with Dana
Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! We continue a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace is sharing a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.
Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy!
Sermon for Sunday, August 9
Scripture Passage: Matthew 14:22-33
Storms on the Sea of Galilee are common, and Jesus’ disciples are fishermen. Like other ancient people living in the Mediterranean, they likely do not know how to swim, but they still get in boats every working day of their lives. These details have always eluded me for I imagined the scene of this Jesus story: the disciples’ eyes wild and full of terror, small boat on raging sea, rain and wind, thunder and lightning. No wonder they’re afraid. Actually, the gospel writer Matthew tells us, though the wind had pushed their boat far from shore in the evening, the disciples are only terrified come morning when they see Jesus walking on the water toward them. Because they think he’s a ghost. And instead of Jesus commanding Peter to, for heaven’s sake, get out of the boat with faith and courage, Peter is the one who feels the need to vet Jesus, saying, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus humors him, invites Peter to “come.” When Peter does get out of the boat and walk toward Jesus, Jesus confirms his identity by catching Peter as he sinks and calming the wind. For Peter and the rest of the disciples, this episode in their life with Jesus confirms who he is: the Son of God for he commands the natural forces of wind and waves. But for me, this story is not about the wind and the waves, and I don’t think it’s even about Jesus and Peter walking on the water. What captures my imagination this morning is why Jesus walks out to meet them in the first place.
Perhaps you remember last week, earlier in the fourteenth chapter of Matthew when Jesus, just having heard about the death of his cousin John the Baptist, gets in a boat and tries to steal away for a moment of peace and quiet. Try as he might, he cannot. The crowds follow him. Jesus arrives on the shore, and he is immediately pressed into service healing the crowds and then feeding them with five loaves and two fish. Then, moving onto the next Jesus story in chapter 14, today’s story, Jesus puts the disciples in the boat this time and heads to the mountain to pray. Finally, he gets an evening to himself. When morning comes, he walks out to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Why? As a life-long Jesus follower and Bible-reader, I had not considered before this week why Jesus calls, why Jesus hangs out with, why Jesus prioritizes time with his disciples. They keep getting things wrong. They are selfish and short-sided and seeking their own glory. As far as I can tell from reading the gospels, they aren’t even very helpful to Jesus. He is periodically forced to clean up the mess they make of things. Why does he put up with them? Jesus walks out on the water to join his disciples in the boat because he is invested in his community, in the relationships he has with his friends, his co-conspirators, his partners in ministry. This should be no surprise because, when the angel Gabriel arrives at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel to announce the impending birth of Jesus to Joseph, Gabriel calls Jesus “Emmanuel” which means God-with-us. Jesus is God-with-us, and Jesus shows up in community, with his disciples, with his friends.
We might be so familiar with the disciples nearly always accompanying Jesus that we might not understand what radical theological revelation is embedded in this: that God deems us worthy of God’s presence. When we are selfish and short-sided and seeking our own glory. When we aren’t very helpful. When we make a mess of things. When we, like Peter, challenge God: Is it really you? If it is, do this amazing thing and prove it. God is with us, seeks relationship with us, claims us as one of God’s own, even recruits us and equips us for ministry in God’s name.
I struggle in this moment, and I struggled while writing this sermon to share the gospel any more plainly, more eloquently, or more descriptively than this: that God wants to be with us—as we are.
I recall Jean Vanier who spent his life in intentional community, community that included people with developmental disabilities. The global network of homes he founded, called l’Arche, invites people with developmental disabilities and people without developmental disabilities to live together. A devout Roman Catholic, Vanier developed community with an ethic of love that he beautifully describes in one of his books which I have recommended so many times in sermons, you may be tired of hearing about it. The book is Becoming Human, and in it, he shares aspects of love. I was not surprised to see communicating with others and forgiving others listed among his 7 aspects of love. But he also names celebrating others as one of the aspects of love. Vanier writes: “To love people is to celebrate them…so many people with disabilities are seen by their parents and families only as a tragedy. They are surrounded by sad faces, sometimes full of pity, sometimes tears. But every child, every person needs to know that they are a source of joy.” When we question our worth, our value, our contributions to God’s world, we may need to hear how God celebrates us, that God finds us not only worthy of God’s presence but a source of joy. Jesus walked out on the water to join the disciples not necessarily because they were in trouble on a stormy sea but because they were a source of joy to him, his community, his friends.
We are a source of joy for God and not just us but all of God’s people. We may see tragedy in the human family, and we may be moved to pity. We may see others as less capable of friendship or having less to contribute to God’s world. We may see the mistakes and the messes, the unhelpfulness and the selfishness. We may question our own or others’ worth, but today, Jesus walks on water to be with his friends. And we know that’s not the only thing Jesus does just because he loves them. They and we are a source of joy for God. Thanks be to God! Amen.
The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It
Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! This week, we begin a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace will share a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.
Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy!
A Call for Musicians
Singers and instrumentalists are encouraged to share their musical gifts in worship. We are able to have 1-2 people sharing at the same time. If you play an instrument or sing and are interested in sharing your gifts, we can discuss ways to safely do this. For all musicians, please contact Brandon Burns, our organist and choir director (blburns3@asu.edu), to choose music selections and worship dates.
Advocacy 101
Through Phoenix Fusion, Pastor Sarah is offering a class entitled Advocacy 101 on Thursdays, August 6, 13, 20, & 27 at 6:30-7:30 pm.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85034006732?pwd=SVBqVGRCUHVaMGxkaWxjdlpOR2gyUT09
What is advocacy, and how might we advocate for just systems that incarnate God’s love for the whole world? While the first session will introduce the theological reasons for engaging in advocacy, the remaining three sessions will be practical in nature so that participants can apply what they learn to actions they can take the very next day, if desired.
Session 1: What is “advocacy,” and how does scripture and our tradition call us to advocate on behalf of our neighbor?
Session 2: How do bills become laws, and how can we participate in the process?
Session 3: What are best practices for communicating with lawmakers?
Session 4: What is LAMA (Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Arizona), and how can we participate in it?
Free Medical Televisit
In an effort to lessen the strain on hospital emergency departments, especially for non-emergency needs, and connect members of our community with quality healthcare, free medical televisits are available each week, Tuesday-Thursday at 4:30 and 4:45 pm. If you have a healthcare need but limited access to it, please contact Adrienne in the church office or Pastor Sarah to schedule an appointment. A sanitized space for the appointment—with a computer—is available at Grace.
Safe Volunteer Opportunities
Organizations around the valley are offering socially distanced and even home-based volunteer opportunities. Click on the links below to find ways you can contribute meaningfully to the larger community right now!
HandsOn: https://www.handsonphoenix.org/calendar
United Way (VSUW): https://vsuw.org/get-involved/volunteer
Grace Church Office: We are looking for someone to help with a very detailed data entry project that can be completed in the church office alone once instruction is received. To learn more, talk with Adrienne by emailing or calling (602-258-3787, officemanager@graceinthecity.com).
Grace Food Angel Ministry: Each Saturday, we deliver boxes of groceries to Grace members, friends, and neighbors, including refugee families resettled by Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest. If you are interested in helping deliver 2-3 boxes on Saturday afternoons, please let Pastor Sarah know (pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com). You can volunteer once, once in a while, or every week—whatever works for your schedule.
Drive-Through & Walk-Up Holy Communion
On Sundays, 9:00 am – 10:00 am, beginning August 9, Pastor Sarah will be administering Holy Communion in the west parking lot. This will be a trial to see how it works and to make adjustments as necessary.
Here’s how the drive-through/walk-up communion will work:
1) Pastor Sarah will be standing under a canopy next to a movable altar in the handicap spaces near the church office gate.
2) Driving your vehicle, please enter the west parking lot from the Moreland entrance and park in the parking spaces designated with bright orange cones and numbered. Park in the lowest numbered spot. They will be appropriately distanced.
3) If there is no one else in the parking lot waiting for Holy Communion, get out of your car and meet Pastor Sarah at the other side of the altar. If there is someone already receiving communion, please wait to approach the altar space until you are invited. We see you!
4) If walking is difficult, please park in the adjacent handicap spaces, and Pastor Sarah will come to you.
5) Those walking up to the altar space without a car, please wait on the sidewalk until you are invited to forward to the altar space.
Suggested Bible Readings for August
August 2 (Pentecost 9)
First Reading: Romans 8:12-25
Psalm: Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
August 9 (Pentecost 10)
First Reading: Romans 10:5-15
Psalm: Psalm 85:8-13
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
August 16 (Pentecost 11)
First Reading: Romans 8:12-25
Psalm: Psalm 67
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
August 23 (Pentecost 12)
First Reading: Isaiah 51:1-6
Psalm: Psalm 138
Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20
August 30 (Pentecost 13)
First Reading: Jeremiah 15:15-21
Psalm: Psalm 26:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28
August Celebrations
During the month of August, we celebrate with members & friends of Grace.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Clark O.
Danae S.
Mia R.
John C.
John E.
Peter B.
Morgan W.
Steve T.
Ames T.
Thomas W.
Hope B.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Mr. & Mrs. Kinnerup
Mr. & Mrs. Rodin
Mr. & Mrs. Mariscal
Mr. & Mrs. Sigala
Vicar's Vantage Point: Farewell, People of Grace!
Sermon for July 26
Scripture Passage: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Today, Jesus teaches the disciples about the kingdom of heaven in parable. And perhaps our first question is: Where is the kingdom in this mess?
What a good question. Supposedly, in this kingdom, God reigns. Jesus is Lord. The church is not a democracy but a monarchy, the kingdom, where the one ruler is Christ. While I personally struggle with the language of kingdom and Lord to describe God’s realm and Christ’s sovereignty, because of the patriarchal world from which scripture comes, describing power and authority in masculine terms is not surprising. If I can set that aside, I begin to see the good news of God’s realm and Christ’s sovereignty. A realm where the grace of God pervades all creation, a sovereignty where power looks like love. But, here and now, in a time and place where and when I need not describe the chaos and division and suffering of our world, where is that grace and love? Where is God’s realm evident, and how is Christ sovereign?
Jesus’ parables make clear that the realm of God and the power of Christ do not look anything like US democracy—or any other temporal form of government. The realm of God and the power of Christ do not include military prowess or violence of any kind. The realm of God and the power of Christ do not even include middle managers, those who might distribute God’s grace and Christ’s love to others as if God needed to appoint gatekeepers for the kingdom. God’s realm and Christ’s sovereignty challenge our notions of authority and power for Jesus’ parables today teach us:
God plants the kingdom in the smallest of seeds that the kingdom might nurture the life of the world. For Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.”
God kneads the kingdom into the world as if bread dough that the kingdom might feed the world. For Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
God hides the kingdom in a field to be discovered by a stranger. For Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.”
God’s kingdom is worth more than any pearl. For Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.”
God indiscriminately throws the kingdom into the sea of humanity. For Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind.”
God’s realm and Christ’s power do not live in palaces, courts, and capitols but in kitchens and fields, gardens and fishing boats. God is sneaky in the very best way, entering the small and the daily and the mundane.
Yes, we are called to do big things as people of God, to exercise wisdom with the social power we possess, to vote, to voice our opinions in the public square for the sake of the world God loves. Yes, we are called to the vocations of citizen, advocate, and some of us even: leader. But the realm of God neither starts nor ends in these places.
We see the kingdom most vividly in the life of Jesus who did not take the world by storm. The very opposite, rather. He didn’t hang out with King Herod or the emperor. He didn’t ingratiate himself with the Jewish leaders of the synagogue so that he could lead them out of corruption from the inside. He took up with fishermen, tax collectors, women of questionable reputation. He sat at their tables and touched their wounds and fed them in the wilderness.
The first sermon Jesus preaches in the gospel of Matthew is: The kingdom of heaven has come near! And he preaches it in the backwaters of Galilee.
We may think that Christianity needs to take the world by storm, that churches should be the center of our public life, that our shared social norms and practices should be Christian in nature. I agree that putting love and justice—as I believe Jesus, the prophets, and the law do—at the center of our public life could only be a good thing. But God’s realm shows up in the small, the daily, and the mundane, in kitchens and fields, gardens and fishing boats.
Where is the kingdom of heaven in this mess? In this mess of pandemic, violence, racism, and division? In kitchens and fields, in gardens and fishing boats. In hospitals where exhausted nurses and doctors give of themselves for the sake of others. In labs where frantic scientists put in overtime developing a vaccine and treatments for Covid-19. In zoom meetings where people discuss white privilege and in living rooms where they read books to educate themselves about racism. In the back alley of Grace Lutheran Church where people drive up to receive boxes of food to deliver and at the back door where ministry partners drop off water and sack lunches. In conversations where people listen to those with whom they disagree, in families where forgiveness is practiced, when people in power apologize for their mistakes and seek solutions. In God’s realm, the kingdom takes root in the small and the daily and the mundane, and Christ’s sovereign power looks like love. Lest we think these small, daily, mundane manifestations of the kingdom make no difference, consider that you sit listening to these words and fashion your whole life around following Jesus because 2000 years ago an illiterate Galilean peasant preached and healed, fed and befriended, loved and died and was raised.
Right now, the world feels like a mess, and heaven help us, it’s always been that way. But no suffering, no violence, no division, no illness will root out the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is Lord, and the kingdom comes, not with might but with love. Look and see. The kingdom of heaven has come near! Thanks be to God. Amen.