Text Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 66:1-9; Galatians 6:1-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Theme What Have You Got?

Subject Bear one another’s burdens; final admonitions

Occasion Lectionary 14 - July 8, 2007 – Zion – Iowa City (First Sunday at Zion)

Grace to you and peace from our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christians have gathered in this fellowship for nearly 150 years

My great, great grandmother, Augusta Pries, was buried in northeast Iowa in 1860

That was the year German settlers tried for the third time to establish a Lutheran congregation in Iowa City

As Patti Mott reports in her history of Zion,

“The third time was the charm”

So here we are

So much has changed since then

Vegetable cellars and salt meats have given way to supermarkets

Carefully written, lengthy letters are more likely extended phone calls

You know how it is – we could sit for hours naming the changes

The vitality of life is enriched by change

Our awareness of who we are and where we are has expanded

In the 60s someone coined the phrase “spaceship earth”

Now we talk about the “global community”

Change is better received as a gift than a threat

Our gathering for worship is always a celebration

Amid all the change is the mystery and majesty of God

Constant amid change

Leading us into and through change

The Word of God has not change

God’s revelation expands our awareness of God’s presence

Always ahead of us: giving and preserving life

The saving gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified and arisen, has not changed

Always our sure and certain hope

The mission of the Christian Church has not changed

Always bringing the saving gospel in ways that invite and encourage

The Lutheran witness has not changed

Always announcing grace and freedom

- - - - - - -

There will come a day when I am more aware of

who the people of Zion are – your names and places

where you live your faith in Christ

how you live your faith

As hungry as I am to know

you and your stories

your ministries and your mission

I know you are wondering about me – Who is Pastor Pries?

A verse from our second reading, appointed for today, is central for me and I trust for you

May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14a)

- - - - - - -

Back in May I was at the check-stand at the Hy-Vee in Pella

Al Hibbard, a math professor at Central College and a charismatic Christian with whom I had read many Greek texts, spotted me from an aisle

“Hey, did I hear right? Do you have new calling?”

You heard right

(Pella is different – everyone stopped to listen)

You excited

Yup

You anxious?

Yup

Good! What have you got?

Christ crucified

That’s a good start

If we would have had more time,

I know where our conversation would have gone

He would invite me to Pentecost

I would invite him to the empty tomb

He would invite me to manifestations of the Holy Spirit

I would invite him to the way of the cross

In the midst of these conversations would be our smiles and agreement

What have you got?

I’ve got it all – You’ve got it all

· Christ crucified and risen: worshiping, praying and studying – Amen? (people say Amen)

· Manifestations of the Holy Spirit: inviting and encouraging – Amen? (people say Amen)

· Living on the way of the cross: serving and giving – Amen? (people say Amen)

This is great church-talk

Within these walls

in the fellowship of believers

We can be enthusiastic about what we have by faith

· The sure and certain hope

· The empowered and confident

· Eager to reach and teach

A lot like Jesus with the 70 disciples as reported in today’s gospel reading

He had a pre-game talk and then

sent them out to do what he was doing:

being with people and healing the sick

They came back to the locker room and reported

They were thrilled

They had done what he told them

They even had power over demons

If Jesus had asked them,

What have you got?

The 70 would have said,

“we’ve got it all”

And they could have explained:

· welcomed by people (shelter, food and drink)

· empowered to heal

· authority over evil

But there’s a gloss to the report

Jesus knew it wouldn’t be a cake-walk

whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you (Lk 10:10a)

I’ll long remember an insight offered by Grace Keller during my second interview here “Zion reflects the culture of Iowa City”

I heard this as truth:

diverse, multicultural, welcoming, reconciling in Christ

I remember wondering, maybe even saying, “Could it be the other way?”

Could Iowa City reflect the culture of Zion Lutheran Church?

Yes, yes – diverse, multicultural, welcoming, reconciling in Christ

And while we become this,

also living and doing what we’ve got

· The sure and certain hope

· Empowered and confident

· Reaching and teaching

Long ago while I was teaching an evangelism course

One of the students wondered,

“Have the people we call on lived in gross and thick darkness until we arrived at their door? God made them; surely God has not abandoned them until we get to them.”

The mission Christian congregations hold in common

is to witness (to tell) the revelation we have received

The story of ancient scholar helps us understand

This old fellow fell among thieves, was beaten and left for dead

Aspiring physicians found him in the ditch and took him to their laboratory

Presuming him to be dead, one said in Latin,

“Let’s dissect this worthless beggar to see what we can learn.”

At that the ancient one sat up and said in Latin,

“Call no one worthless for whom Christ has died” Amen? (people say Amen)

Can we imagine anyone for whom Christ has not been crucified and risen?

I think not

Our mission is to share this good news in ways that it can be received

I’ve read the history and newsletters of Zion

I know you’ve been telling the gospel and doing the gospel

My privilege with Pastor Jan is to join you

Anne LaMotte in her little book Traveling Mercies reminds us more than once

“God loves us too much to leave us the way we were when God found us”

Beyond the theological tangles of this poster-wisdom,

is the truth that we are living in God’s transforming love

What have we got?

Beyond our homes, families, salaries and investments for this life

We have Christ crucified and his resurrection for eternal life

We have the empowering force of the Holy Spirit to sustain us in this life

We have the mission of the Gospel to invite others to share our bounty

We’ve got it all!

Thanks be to God