Money is one of those things people generally don’t like to talk about.  Actually, let me clarify that a bit because people love to talk about money.  People don’t like to talk about the money they earn.

Throw in faith with money and you have a recipe for a quiet room.

This coming Sunday, the lectionary has Jesus talking about money.  Luke quotes Jesus as saying:

“Blessed are you who are poor…”  (Luke 6:20).

“But woe to you who are rich…” (Luke 6:24).

Doesn’t sound very American does it?  Our definitions of success might come in conflict with Jesus’ definition.

That might be because of a difference in understanding about money and people.

Too often in our society, we judge the value of a person based on money.  We want to know what they do for a living – an end run to get to an understanding of how much money they make often.  We want to know what they are producing.  We want to know what kind of stuff they have bought with their money.  We end up equating material wealth with value.

Yet Jesus rejects this.  How else can we possibly understand Jesus saying “Woe to you who are rich…”  For Jesus, money isn’t the measure of worth and value for a person.  Their value is inherent in who the are – beloved Children of God.  Our worth and value doesn’t come from what we do or how much we make.  It comes from the relationship God has with us.

Money is a tool to be used, not an ID to define us.

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’

(Exodus 32:1-4, NRSV)

“Build the Calf! Build the Calf!” the crowd chanted.  The noise became an uproar.

“Build the Calf! Build the Calf!” the crowd demanded.

Everyone had wrapped themselves up in the building of an idol.  One that they told themselves offered salvation and freedom.  The golden calf offered the people salvation – it set them free from Egypt.  The golden calf would protect the people from the Egyptians.

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

(Exodus 32:5-6, NRSV)

The golden calf offered pleasure and safety.  The golden calf had a prosperity gospel message that promised riches to those who worshiped it.  The golden calf sold the idea that worshipers would eat, drink, and be merry.

“Build the calf! Build the calf!”

And it was a lie.  Every last bit of it.  Every idol we create tells us the same lies and comes up empty.

What are our personal golden calves?  What are the things that make promises to us that are really empty?  What are the things that tell us that we will be prosperous, happy, free, having fun?

What are the things that we willingly chant “Build the calf! Build the calf!”?

What are our national golden calves?  What at the things that make promises to us that are really empty?  What are the things that tell us that we will be safe, secure, prosperous, and free?

What are the things that we willingly chant “Build the calf!  Build the calf!”?

What are our religious golden calves?  What are the things that ask us to treat them like a god to worship?  What offers us false salvation?  What demands so very little from us and yet offers us everything we desire?  (Not what we need).

What are the things that we willingly chant “Build the calf! Build the calf!”?

“Leadership is disappointing your own people at a rate they can absorb.”  (Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky)

I heard this definition last week.  It immediately made sense to me.  There’s no sugar-coating leadership.  Often leadership, especially in a church setting, is messy.

Here’s a paragraph on the topic that cuts to the core of leadership:

When you stand before people and tell them that in order to accomplish a mission, they have to change, adapt, give up something for the greater good, work with those whom they don’t like or compromise on something that they care about they get mad.  They get really mad.  And mostly, they get mad at you.

(Source)

I think about all the things that Jesus said in the Gospels.  Often we like to focus on the nice things that Jesus says and skip the uncomfortable parts.  But those uncomfortable parts are important. It is in those uncomfortable statements of Jesus that we are called to change, to be different, to be more fully who God intended us to be.

And often people don’t want to hear that.  It’s much easier to put up a facade – a facade that tells everyone that I’m ok, I’m doing well, I have my act together.  Except I don’t.  And neither do you.  We are all broken and sinful.  In the Lutheran liturgy we start the service with a confession and forgiveness.  We confess that we are captive to sin and can not free ourselves.  This is powerful.  And it’s often the part people want to speed through.

Acknowledging before a whole bunch of people who you are broken and captive is not fun.  It’s uncomfortable.  We don’t want to admit that we are broken and enslaved.  We don’t want to admit that the facade that we created is false.  We don’t want to admit that our Facebook profile is just the highlight of a good moment in life – but it’s not our life 24/7.  We have to keep up with the Jones’ after all and their facade too.

Leadership is disappointing your own people at a rate at which they can absorb.  Leadership is being vulnerable to share how broken you are.  Leadership is sharing truth about ourselves and our world.  Leadership is saying stuff that people do not want to hear about.  Leadership is exposing injustice for what it is.

Leadership is also about empowering others, especially when you’d rather do something yourself.  Leadership is about moving the spotlight off of yourself to others so that whatever you are leading can thrive.  Leadership is about getting out-of-the-way.  Leadership is about more people engaging in the life and work of the church.  Leadership is about discipleship.

And none of that is easy.  But it is worth it.

Last week was a great week.  I was at a retreat and a church training.  Getting away is necessary from time to time.  It’s like a reset button, or unplugging for a time.  A reset pulls us away from the routines we construct.  It pulls us away from the habits we have developed.  It pulls us away from the information we are exposed to every day.  It gives us a chance to take a breath, to reconsider, and to rest.

The training I attended was great.  Not because of the information I learned – that was good too.  It was great because of the people who attended.  It was great to see the excitement.  It was great to see the realizations.  It was great to be surrounded by people who are on fire and ready to go.  It was great to be around people who are just as broken as me.

In our current days, getting away is essential.  I know my limitations.  I can’t go week after week in a healthy manner without an opportunity to get away from the constant distractions, the constant emotional roller coaster.  I need to get away from the latest thing done or said that will set off high emotions until the next thing.  I can’t keep up with it, nor do I want to.  I’m tired of the constant drama.  I’m tired of so much.

And getting away is a breath of fresh air.  An opportunity to breath.  An opportunity to see the world freshly.  To put down the things that distract and cause distraction.  To get to work on the things I am called to.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be away last week.  It was a blessing.

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

(Exodus 32:1-6, NRSV)

The story of the golden calf is a familiar one for many people.  Often, our response is something along the lines of: “How silly,” or “they made the false god, knew it was fake, and yet still worshiped it.” Our reaction to the story is often one of mockery at a people for doing something so obviously fake.

Yet, are we any different?  The people of Israel had literally just been set free from Egypt and started on their journey the Promised Land.  They stopped at the holy mountain so Moses could have a conference with God.  And when Moses didn’t come down the mountain right away, the people changed course and invented a god to worship.

What are our golden calves?  What are the golden calves that we create for our own lives?  Do we dare name them?  What might they look like?

How about our national or political golden calves?  What the things that we, as a nation, are willingly melting down our gold (wealth), making an idol, and worshiping?

A god is something that we worship.  It is something that we put our hope in.  It is something that offers us salvation.  The people of Israel created a calf – made from their wealth, and told themselves that this god was the god that brought them out of slavery and gave them salvation.

There are many things in our world that offers us salvation.  These false gods tell us that if you build or create them, they will be the ones that offer you security and safety, power and might, wealth and health, happiness and fulfillment.  The false gods proclaim these messages to us individually and as a nation.  And they are just as empty as the golden calf and what it promised.

And as a result, the people suffered – their wealth was sacrificed for this false god.  Their food was used for this false god.  Their people were literally killed because of this false god.  False gods – golden calves – lead to death and destruction.  What else should we expect from something based on a lie?

What are you golden calves?  What are our nation’s golden calves?

Actions stem from theology and belief systems.  Your actions are the outgrowth of what you believe about something.  Another way of talking about belief is the attitude.  An attitude can be defined as a state of mind.

Here’s one way to think about the relationship between beliefs/theology/attitude and actions.

A – B – C

Our attitudes drive our behavior which give us certain consequences.

Why is this important?  Because so often what people observe about others is inconsistent.  An example of this is that awhile back someone told me that they didn’t like my theology, but they liked the ministry I was doing with the homeless.  The problem with that is the inconsistency.  My theology drives my actions when it comes to the ministry I do.  My theology tells me to listen to what Jesus said about the poor and how we are to serve the poor.  I take that seriously and therefore I do what I can to live out the belief.

If you believe a certain thing, then you’ll do actions that carry out that belief.  But only if you really believe that thing.  If you just affirm it, there’s a good chance you won’t carry out actions in alignment with the belief.  Those actions would make you uncomfortable and probably violate whatever it is that you truly believe.

Humans are nothing if not consistent in their actions aligning with their true beliefs.  The human brain craves consistency and congruence between belief and action, making it far more important than other things, except our survival instinct.  We don’t want to be considered a liar, which would be shameful.  So we prefer to be consistent in our actions with our beliefs.  And we carry out what we actually believe.

If you believe that you can’t trust other people, then you will carry out actions that telegraph to others that you don’t trust people.  If you believe that Jesus tells us to feed the hungry, then you’ll figure out ways to feed someone who is hungry when you come across this person.

But it comes down to how truly you believe something.  One way to tell what you really believe about the world, people, etc., is to take a look at your actions.  What do your actions tell you about what it is that you actually believe and value?

Our beliefs/theology/attitudes all drive our actions.

Have you ever heard someone talk about how they are just hanging in there until they can retire or get another job?  I don’t want to be too difficult on someone like that.  I don’t know their story.  I don’t know what they have gone through.  I don’t know what they have put up with in their life and their job.  I’m willing to bet they have worked long and hard and are just plain and simple tired.  They are probably tired of the rhetoric.  They are probably tired of the hypocrisy.  They are probably tired of their boss and their boss’s crappy management style and personality.  They are probably tired of crappy customers and/or coworkers who were abusive or degrading.  They are probably tired of all the meetings.  They are probably tired of the distractions that kept them away from just doing their job.

People who are waiting to retire or get another job show up, and do what they have to – sometimes it’s just the minimum.  They do what will allow them to keep their job.  They do their job, or what they can and leave their job at work.  They aren’t interested in saying anything about the company they work for outside of work.  They don’t have anything much to say about the company they work for – often it’s best to not say anything at all.  Just wait it out.

When asking someone who is waiting to retire or get another job what they do and where they work, they will tell people, but not give much details.  They show up, get paid, do some work.  They are waiting to retire or get another job.  Waiting to retire is different from someone who is looking forward to retiring.  Waiting to retire is just hanging in there and hoping that life can begin once they leave.  Looking forward to retiring is recognizing that life is going on now, even in the work that you do and that when you retire you’ll have even more opportunity to live fully, just in a different way.

How many Christians in the church are waiting to retire?  Not from their job or employment – but from having to follow Jesus?  Especially when Jesus calls on us to do something uncomfortable or inconvenient?

Are you a Christian who is waiting to retire from active discipleship so that life can begin?

Race is a subject that is difficult to talk about.  At least it is for white people – that’s my observation.  Most white people, like me, don’t think about race until a major incident happens that involves race.  And only when talking about race can’t be avoided.  And when that happens it is usually something pretty negative and it forces us to talk about something we’d rather not deal with.  Often times, we end up expressing fixed notions about race, rather than learning anything that would cause us to question our beliefs. And we have the privilege of not having to deal with it or talking about it most of time, and think this is normal for everyone.  Except it’s not.

Most of the time we would rather not talk about race.  It’s much more convenient to just talk about people of other races rather than talk with them.  People make assumptions.  Emotions flair.  Identity is wrapped in race.  Biases come out when we talk about race.  Fear comes out when we talk about race.  Blindness and closed ears and hearts show up when we talk about race.  Those are the obvious things.

The less obvious things are the reality that we don’t really understand the experience of people with other skin colors.  We really don’t.  And if we are honest, most of the time we don’t want to understand.  It’s inconvenient and it a lot of work.  It makes us uncomfortable.  A great example is the hoopla around the conflict that arose in DC last weekend with the Black Hebrew Israelites, the white MAGA hat wearing boys from Covington Catholic high school in Kentucky, and a Native American.

I have not seen any of the videos.  Not one.  It doesn’t matter if I see any of the videos.  Which also means I haven’t said a single thing about the incident.  Instead, I have been watching the reactions.  I have seen articles that are in direct conflict with other articles – all in the name of making sure we don’t have to actually talk about race – we can use race as a weapon to bludgeon our opponents and enemies.  We can go on worshiping a golden calf that we have constructed in our nation – being right.  Comfort and convenience are also golden calves that rear their head for situations like this.  We don’t want to be uncomfortable, so clearly we don’t have to hear anyone who expresses different ideas from ourselves.  We don’t have to try to understand where people are coming from.  We don’t have to try to see where our own reactions may be off or missing parts.  Instead, we can just point out how right we were.  We can point out how the “facts” show that we, and those like us, are the real victims, and “our” people have no responsibility for the conflict.

Race is a difficult subject, especially for the church in America.  I’m part of the ELCA.  It is one of the whitest denominations in the country.  Something like 97% of the membership is white.  That’s even with emphasis on diversity and openness.  That hasn’t worked.  Resolutions about race haven’t worked.  10 year initiatives to move the denomination towards greater diversity haven’t worked.  And the question is why?

That’s the question that was asked in an ELCA clergy Facebook group recently.  I took a crack at exploring why the ELCA is one of the whitest denominations in the country. Here’s what I wrote:

Why is the ELCA overwhelmingly white? Because the vast majority of the people in the pews don’t know anyone who is not white. They have no relationships with people of different colors/nationalities/etc. Their entire life and world is with people who are white. How do people who have no relationship with someone different from them invite someone who is different? That’s the real question. Until the people in the pews start to build relationships with people who are different from them, “those” people will not come into an ELCA church. Until people in the pew invest time to get to know and build relationships and actually care about others who look different, without an agenda of getting butts in the seats, “those” people will not come into an ELCA church. Until “those” people are just people, they won’t come to an ELCA church.

We can have all the right words, but without actual relationships with people, the words are empty.  We can have all the right initiatives, but without actual relationships with people, the initiatives are empty.

Our denomination is suffering from being comfortable.  Building relationships with people who are different from ourselves takes work and it is uncomfortable.  Too often our congregations would rather just cut a check instead of go out into the community, meet people eye-to-eye, and get to know people who are different.  Too often our congregations would rather serve food to someone else and see that person as poor and needy – thus keeping them at arm’s length – rather than eating with these same people, learning their names, listening to their stories, and actually caring about them like they would with someone who looks like us.  We’d rather have acquaintances who are a different race, rather than seeing these people as family, friends, and more – Our salvation and theirs are directly tied together, our well-being is directly tied to them.  Their humanity is our humanity.  How we treat people who are different than us is the answer to the question of “Who is my neighbor?”

Do we really want to be more diverse?  That’s the first question.  I’m not convinced that we, as a denomination, really want to.  We voice the words that we do, but we haven’t followed up those words with actions.  We seem to be more concerned with getting butts in the seats – in this case, different colored butts.  Butts in the seats is about saving an institution – it’s not about discipleship and following Jesus.  So what is our real goal with this – being more diverse as a denomination?  And what are we committing to actually do?

Want to be more diverse?  Here’s a way to start – find people different from you and get to know them.  Know their name, listen to their story.  Come with no other agenda than to build relationship with that person.  Show love, mercy, compassion, and find ways to make peace.  Eat with people.  Spend time with people who are different than you.  Care for them and allow yourself to be cared for.  And have no agenda, except to build a relationship.  If anything else is more important, it will come through – people aren’t stupid.  They see through fakeness.  They know when they are being used.  They also see authenticity.  And people are starving for authentically lived out Christianity.

Here’s why I think it would be good for our denomination to be more diverse.  Because it would be living out the invitation from God to participate in the unfolding of God’s reign.  It would be the embodiment of Good News.  It would be authentic Christian community.  It would open us to being more empathetic, to listening more, to empowering more, to healing more, to feeding more (materially and spiritually), to being disciples more, to doing ministry more.  That’s not a one way street where we are the ones doing this to someone else – we aren’t the saviors.  We need salvation.  We would be on the receiving end of all of this too.  We would be changed just as much, if not more.

Diversity would be a way for us to experience an encounter with Jesus.  And in so doing, to be changed so that we can be a change in the world.  We would experience mercy, grace, forgiveness, peace, love.  We would come to better understand what Jesus was talking about when talked about the poor, the outcast, the stranger.  We would identity with these children of God.  And we could more fully go and be disciples of Jesus.

Dear fellow white person, the world calls on us to bow down to the golden calves it has set up – comfort, convenience, being right.  As Christians, we are called to reject these false gods, their false promises, and false gospels.  Instead, we are to follow Jesus – a dark-skinned Jew from the Levant…If we can worship and follow Jesus, who doesn’t look like us (Despite the white Jesus images we surround ourselves with)…If we can answer Jesus’ call to pick up our cross and follow him…If we can answer Jesus’ call to love our neighbors and enemies, and welcome the stranger…then we can certainly do this.  Why?

Because as much privilege as we have, we are broken and sinful.  We don’t have the power to do any of this on our own.  We are scared.  We are afraid of what the new normal between races will look like and mean for us.  We are afraid of what we will lose.  We are afraid to be uncomfortable.  We are afraid to not know.  We are afraid to not be in control.  We are afraid to not have all the power or most of the power.  We are afraid.

And it is that brokenness that God sends the Spirit to us to guide us and move us forward. To take the next step.  To be uncomfortable.  To be inconvenienced.  To love.  To empower.  To be changed.  To encounter Jesus and experience God’s reign and salvation.

What we say and do to others says more about ourselves and about our relationship with God, than it does about the other person.

How we treat the stranger says more about us and what we really think about Jesus than it does about the stranger.

How we treat the hungry, the poor, the defenseless, the outcast says more about us and what we really think about God than it does any of these people.

There are numerous Bible passages that tell us to welcome the stranger, to feed the hungry, to care for the poor, to embrace the outcast, to love our enemies.  When we ignore these passages and instead dehumanize and degrade “others” we are willfully rejecting God.

When will we realize that our salvation and well-being is directly tied to these people?  This is what loving our neighbor, loving our enemies, and loving God is all about.  We are not islands.

Who are we really disciples of?  That’s the question that shouts at me as I read the news, scroll through social media, Hear comments from politicians, religious figures, celebrities, and more.  It’s the question that shouts loudly as I observe how people treat others when they drive, when we come across someone who is different, when we encounter the poor, the homeless, the outcast.

Who am I a disciple of?  That’s the question that gets in my face each day.  Sometimes I fail in answering this question because I am sinful and broken and sometimes follow the ways of the world.  Other days are better and I listen to Jesus and follow him.

Who are you a disciple of?  Jesus?  How would anyone know?  Does it show in how you talk and in what you do?  Does your discipleship come through in how you talk about people who are different from you?  Does it come through in how you treat the poor?  Does it comes through in what you say about your enemies?  Does it come through in what values you embrace?

Who are you a disciple of?

What I observe is a supposedly Christian nation that is comfortable with the label of being Christian, but in practice is anything but following Jesus.  And it pains me to say that.  This isn’t true of everyone, of course.  There are many who are doing what they can to follow Jesus.

Who are we disciples of?  Based on what I observe and hear, the answer I must conclude is that some, or possibly many, in our nation are disciples of the Republican or Democrat parties.  Some in the nation are disciples of Donald Trump or Nancy Pelosi.  Or pick any other political leader that comes to mind.  Considering we have started another presidential campaign and many people are jumping in, there will be plenty more people for us to become disciples of.  Of course, that’s not to limit discipleship to politics.  There are others who are disciples of sports teams or figures, celebrities, work, addictions, entertainment, etc.  Anything that can be an idol can also be a master that we can follow.

I don’t say any of that lightly.  Discipleship is a serious matter.

What is a disciple?  Someone who listens to their teacher, takes in what they say, and follows them.  To follow means to you speak the words that you hear your teacher speak.  You emulate your teacher.  You adopt the beliefs of your teacher.  You follow the actions your teacher tells you to do.  To follow means to take on the attitude of your teacher.

Often to be a disciple is to see your salvation wrapped up in and personified in the person you are following. Disciples and followers of Jesus are supposed to do this.  We are supposed to speak words that Jesus speaks – it’s called the Good News.  We are supposed to follow the actions that Jesus calls on us to do.  We are called to treat people – even enemies – in certain ways.  It’s what makes a Christian, Christian.

If we are really disciples of Jesus, we would think, act, speak, and behave far different from we do as a nation.

Disciples of Jesus come to the aid of people who are distressed or oppressed.  Disciples of Jesus show mercy.  Disciples of Jesus offer forgiveness willingly.  They recognize their own brokenness when they interact with others.  They see the log in their own eye when they see the speck in the other person’s.

Disciples of Jesus look through the lens of Jesus when they interact with other.  They look through the lens of Jesus when they are considering other groups, different religions, people from other countries, people of different sexuality.

Disciples of Jesus hear Jesus’ words and do them – feed the hungry, clothe those who need clothing, welcome the stranger, care for the sick, visit those in prison.

Disciples of Jesus do the things they would rather not do, but do them anyway because Jesus tells them to do it.  Things like love your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Turn the other cheek.

Disciples of Jesus love their neighbors and understand that a neighbor is more than just someone you like, it goes way beyond that.  Disciples of Jesus understand that loving our neighbors and enemies is how we show that we love God.

Disciples of Jesus show who they are by their actions, by their love, by their selflessness.

America, and the world, would be far different if Christians actually lived out what they claim to believe about Jesus and what he teaches and calls on Christians to live.  Not because we would have instituted some kind of theocracy – far from it.  The world would be better because Christians would actually be living out the teaching of Jesus – willingly.  They would be living the faith, rather than arguing about who is right, pointing out why we should fear “others,” and putting our hope and salvation in any person or ideology.

Let us pray, Lord forgive me when I turn my back on following you in favor of my way of living.  Radically reorient me towards you so that I may hear your words and follow them in joy.  You have the words of eternal life.  Amen.