Bethlehem Lutheran Church Podcast Bethlehem Lutheran Church

“Where are you from?” Pastor Chad was asked this many times while accompanying the Sr High Service Learning Trip to the Boston area recently; it seems his Midwestern accent was a giveaway he wasn’t from “The Home of Dunkin’.” Pastor Chad encourages us to look deeper into the question “Where are you from?” beyond where you live or where you were born to what makes you who you are as a person. Our focus text this week, tries to answer this question for Jesus through a genealogy. This long list of hard to pronounce names is meant to show how God’s story of salvation has unfolded across the generations including some unlikely characters: women, foreigners, and those with a scandalous backstory. Where are we from? We are from a faith tradition that expresses the love, mercy, grace, and compassion of a God who is with those outside the circles of power & influence.

“Stop your crying and suck it up!” and similar phrases are tossed about when someone is deemed to be “too emotional” or expressing their emotions at an inappropriate moment. You are in good company if you’ve heard this before, in our Focus Text people tell Jesus his crying over the death of Lazarus is inappropriate. Wouldn’t it have been better if he healed Lazarus like the blind man and others he encountered? Jesus grieving the death of a friend, shows how God understands our tears when we come to the ‘sad parts’ of a familiar story. God is walking with us through the high and lows of life and everything in between.

How has our understanding of healing changed since biblical times? In our focus text this week Jesus heals a boy with what we would call Epilepsy. In the time of Jesus, the boy’s seizures were thought to be caused by a demon twisting his body. Today we know that seizures are caused by electrical misfires in our brain and nervous system. While Jesus is not walking the earth offering healing with a touch, God has gifted some of us with the knowledge and skills to be professional healers. And we are all able to offer our neighbors a bit of healing when we take the time to be compassionate like Jesus.

Where does your anger lead you? Does it lead to you trying to shape reality by proclaiming what SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be happening. In our focus text this week the people of Nazareth insist that Jesus SHOULD NOT say God’s favor is for all people especially the outsiders and even their enemies! Instead of using anger to exclude others we feel SHOULD NOT be included, Jesus uses anger to expand who SHOULD receive healing and hope from God’s love, mercy, and grace.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the worth of someone who is lashing out against us. It is hard to remember that we can sometimes lash out the same way, especially when we are tired, or hurt, or fearful, or hungry or feeling like we’ve lost control. In our focus text for this week the religious leaders don’t think a man was worthy of the healing he got because he broke their rules and carried his mat away on the Sabbath. He argues was only following Jesus command: “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” This made the leaders even more angry because Jesus was telling people to disobey their rules. Feeling their control slipping away they lashed out at Jesus, to the point of calling for his execution. Jesus died on the cross for not only the ones he healed but even the ones who were calling for his death! And that is the Good News, even when we are hurt so badly that we are lashing out at others, even when we are mad at God for offering healing to those who have hurt us, even when we hurt so badly we don’t feel we deserve God’s healing, God is there offering us all the love & healing none of us deserve!

Language changes over time, and that leads to new slang with each new generation. This creates a gap in understanding between generations that is not unlike the gap between the disciples and the visitors from many countries they met on Pentecost. How could they share the Good News of Jesus when they didn’t understand the language of those they encountered? On Pentecost it was the work of the Holy Spirit that enabled everyone to hear the message in their native language. But what about today, how do we share the Good News, when generation gaps, cultural differences, or even actual languages separate us from others? Pastor Stephanie reminds us that it is a gift to be able to learn how another communicates even if we have to take classes or ask for a translator. “Actions speak louder than words” is especially true when there’s a barrier to communication: serving our neighbors, sharing a meal, or even just taking time to play can help build bridges to better understanding each other.