Author: Pastor Aleese Kenitzer

As many of our kids in the greater Muscatine community return to school tomorrow, we offer a prayer for all students, teachers, mentors, coaches, nurses, and all who form our children and youth. Have a great first day back Shepherd students – whether here in Muscatine or away at college!

Dear God, as we get ready to start another year in school, we ask your blessing on students. Bless them with eagerness to learn, that their world may grow large; respect for teachers and fellow students, that they may form healthy relationships; love for nature, that they may become caretakers of your creation; happiness when learning is easy and stick-to-it-iveness when it is hard; faith in Jesus as their best teacher and closest friend. We ask for your protection over all who learn and teach. Watch over them and keep them safe as they travel to and from school. As they learn, help them also to discover the different gifts that you have given each one of them to be used in your work in the world; and as they hear the many voices that will fill their days, help them to listen most carefully for your voice, the one that tells them you will love them always, no matter what. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Blessings to all engaged in education in the coming year, and blessings to all of us as we continue to grow and learn in faith! 

This past Sunday, Elyse Eichelberger publicly confessed her faith and affirmed her baptismal promises. And together in worship, we all confessed with our lips that Jesus Christ is Lord through the words of the Apostle’s Creed. 

But how does the faith we confess on Sunday morning impact the rest of our lives? 

Some might say that the faith we confess on Sunday mornings sends us forth to live in service to God and to our neighbor throughout the week. True, very true. And others might say that the faith we confess on Sunday mornings is what we hold onto when life gets rough. Also true, very true. Both are examples of how the faith we confess on Sunday mornings impacts the rest of our lives. 

But this past week, as I prepared for Sunday worship, I realized that our faith really can only impact the rest of our lives if we are willing to put our faith in God, rather than within ourselves. 

Take for example the story of Peter walking on the water. For a while, Peter was able to walk on the water. Was it because he was focused on Jesus? Or, was it because he trusted his Lord? We don’t know. But what we do know is that at some point, he faltered. And I got to wonder if one of the reasons Peter faltered was because he began to rely on his own abilities rather than on Jesus. And yet, once Peter cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me”—a cry of trust and a cry of faith in Jesus and what Jesus could do—Peter was lifted from the waters. 

In many ways, we’ve been groomed to rely on what we can do and rely on our abilities to do what needs to be done. But part of living our faith is recognizing that we can’t do it all on our own. That might sound trite, and like messages that come from a self-help book. But that message of a living reliance on God is actually quite counter-cultural to the society in which we live. 

So if you were to take stock of your life of faith, would you say that you put your faith in God? Or, that you put your faith in yourself and your own power to muster your way through life? Or, somewhere in the middle? Each of us may find ourselves in a different spot. But out of love, our God desires for us to place our trust in Christ, more and more, so that we might experience for ourselves the faithfulness and mercy of our Lord. 

Throughout the summer, a handful of Shepherds, along with participants from Grace and Zion, have read two books as a part of Book Club: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis and Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Through reading and conversation, we’ve challenged ourselves, and each other, to examine what we believe about life, death, resurrection, and the kingdom of God. 

But speaking for myself, examining what I believe about each of these topics hasn’t always been the easiest thing to do. I, like many of us, have grown up within the church for decades. And with that, I come with years of teaching and language that – to this point – has helped me express what I believe about God and about how God acts in the world. 

So, to reframe what I think I believe? What I’ve been taught since I was in Sunday School or confirmation? That…isn’t always easy. In fact, it takes courage. And yet, for myself,  I’ve discovered that by even considering another perspective, my faith hasn’t been questioned. Rather, my faith has been deepened as I move beyond the pat-answers given to me in Sunday School years and years ago, and as I develop my own, personal, understanding of God at work within me and within the world. 

For sure, to engage in this sort of faith development is risky. And yet, without it, our faith may become stagnant. Just as a child is intended to grow and mature – changing physically, emotionally, and socially – so are we to grow and mature spiritually. 

So, if you’re looking for a group to wrestle with various perspectives and questions of faith, I invite you to consider joining the Big Questions adult group as a part of Family Faith Nights. We’ll meet weekly, per the Family Faith calendar, from 6:00 – 7:30pm at Grace (meal time included). Through our group work, our hope will be to explore the truths that shape our questions and the beliefs we carry, while also leading each of us to a faith that is more solid and richly personal. 

If you want to learn more about this group, click here to get a fuller picture. Or, if you’re ready to sign up as a participant, sign up online or in the narthex.  Not able to make it every week? Not a problem. Come as you’re able. 

Whether this seems like a good opportunity for you or not, it is my hope that you – as individuals and as a congregation – continue to allow ourselves to dig deep in our faith. We could coast along, satisfied with our faith and our relationship with God where it is right now, at this time. But as we continue to grow, and as we continue to allow the Spirit to mold and shape us, we might find ourselves transformed – in our belief, and as people. 

For the past three weeks, we’ve heard Jesus tell parables of the kingdom: the parable of the sower, the parable of the wheat and the weeds, and a series of short parables including the mustard seed, yeast, field, pearl, and catch of fish. 

So why not stick to one parable of the kingdom and call it good? Can’t we get what we need to know about the kingdom from one story…rather than seven? 

Well, think of it this way: have you ever tried sharing an experience you had with another person, but find yourself without the words to fully capture everything that that experience was to you? I’ve been there. And, I’ve also been on the receiving end of that conversation as friends have tried – sometimes using numerous different examples – to communicate the depth of what they’ve come to experience/come to know. 

Sometimes, it’s difficult to concretely and succinctly describe something that is so big, so vast, and so incredible…something like the kingdom of God. 

Trust me, there are times I wish the Bible had more concrete descriptions. Just tell me what I need to know! But, without leaving room to engage with depictions of things like the kingdom of God, truth is, we’re actually limiting God from being God…and we’re limiting God’s Kingdom from being God’s Kingdom. 

So as we close our mini-series on the parables of the kingdom, challenge yourself to go back to these passages one more time and consider: what new perspective of the kaleidoscope of God’s Kingdom was revealed to you this year? And, what have these parables revealed to you about your participation in God’s Kingdom? 

We may be moving on from the parables of the kingdom in worship. But for the rest of our lives of faith, we will be forming words and images and ideas to point to the fullness of God’s Kingdom. So rather than create a concrete paragraph description, try this: live what God’s Kingdom is. Live into the invitation that Christ has offered to you. And then, testify to that. 

For the past two weeks in worship, we’ve heard two parables from Jesus describing God’s Kingdom. First, the parable of the sower, and second, the parable of the wheat and the weeds. 

As I was wrestling with these parables and preparing to preach, I have to admit: it was challenging to narrow down my thought process to one main point. I know it’s easier to grasp ahold of one point, rather than a multitude, especially when an idea is communicated verbally. But, when it comes to parables, the point is exactly the opposite. Parables are not meant to be distilled down to one message, nor to a simplistic allegory. Parables, according to C.H. Dodd (New Testament scholar and professor), are “a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application as to tease it into active thought.” (Parables of the Kingdom, 1935:16).

So if in the past two weeks you’ve found yourself walking away with more questions than answers – especially from our Gospel readings – well, the parables are doing what they should be doing then. Parables are not meant to give us concrete explanations, but are to call attention to the unsatisfactoriness of previous explanations and understandings that we may have held onto. 

So as we approach yet one more week of parables this coming Sunday, allow yourself to be teased into active thought. And, if there’s something that’s still sticking with you from the parables we’ve heard already, continue to mull it over. Because it just might be in that mulling that God has a specific word for you. 

A good farmer (and gardener) knows that for plants to grow, the soil needs to be cultivated. It needs to be worked. It needs to be turned over. 

But often, that process of turning over the soil isn’t a delicate one. Think of the last time you thrust a spade into the ground. The spade distrubs the soil, breaking it up. It’s for the plant’s benefit that the soil is loosened up and turned over. But the act of cultivation is actually quite an agreesive act. 

In our Gospel reading this past Sunday, we heard the parable of the sower in which seed falls in various environments. The sower (which, one might interpret as God) sows the seed of the kingdom liberally, without worrying about where it lands. If it lands on concrete, so be it. If it lands on fertile soil, so be it. God faithfully spreads the seed of God’s Word. 

But, God also faithfully nurtures and cultivates us to receive God’s Word. Which, at times, might feel a bit disruptive. Discomforting. Because turning over the “soil” of our lives, our world, our church, might shake things up a bit. It might loosen things up a bit. And, it might turn some things over. 

And yet, as God does this work, our lives, our world, and our church is now able to more fully receive the seed of God’s Word. 

So if it feels as though you’ve been “shaken up” or “turned over” or “loosened up” in your faith at some point, take heart. For God is not working for your demise. Quite the opposite. God is seeking to invite us into this work of cultivation so that the seed of God’s Word takes root, grows, flourishes, and bears fruit…for our sake, and for the sake of the world.