The Camden Shop is now open! After a short prayer of blessing, we opened the doors and shoppers found clothing and housewares that they needed. We are so excited about how this place will help our friends in the Camden neighborhood! Spread the word, and come say hello!



We are open every Saturday of the month at Gethsemane from 12-3pm

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

In this weeks message, I need to teach you a new word. More specifically, I need to teach you all how to be better liars then you may already be. 

To start, there is lying like we all know; deliberately not telling the truth. Then there are other forms of lying like equivocation where you use ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing. 

There is also prevarication which is to make a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth in a way that still creates a false sense of knowing. But, the very best way to lie is learned by most of our politicians and diplomats. This way of lying is to lie by telling the truth. 

How can you lie by telling the truth? I’ll give you any example 

You are a young kid and you come home one day from school. Your parent greets you and asks you about your day and even inquires about the homework you have. They ask if you finished your homeworker for the day, and you respond that you finished your book report that is due tomorrow morning. Well done, you have finished some of your homework, and this may be true that you did all of the report, but it may not mean you are all done with everything due tomorrow or even for the week. You have just lied by telling the truth.  

The new word that you are learning today that defines this action of truthful lying is paltering. When you palter, you lie by telling the truth; you don’t give the whole truth, nor just speak truth. Paltering can involve failing to disclose relevant information, but unlike lying by omission, paltering involves the active disclosure of true but misleading information. Paltering is powerful; it enables would-be deceivers to actively influence a target's beliefs. You just say true things that lead others to believe a lie. 

Now, I hope none of you fall into using paltering, but we have to understand paltering in order to make sense of the gospel lesson this week. 

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks a question; “Who do people say that I am?”

Well, when the disciples were asked this question, they responded with a couple opinions. Some said He was Elijah, others said John the Baptist, or even Jeremiah was thrown out there; all prolific and powerful people within their religious history. And, just like the disciples, we take examples, or modern day equivalents, and we make Jesus out to be what we want Him to be. We say Jesus is a great teacher, helper, leader, and even protector. 

Now, while these depictions and choices about who Jesus is may be true, there is a lie that is wrapped up in these truths; these are our personal depictions of who Jesus is, not who He is truthfully said to be. 

You see, God defines who His son is, not us. Someone who justifies their poor actions by saying Jesus was with them, or use Jesus to validate their actions is not truthfully depicting Jesus the way He has been depicted. Using Him to validate our own costs falls into paltering. 

An example of this is how we say Jesus looks like us. He looks like a white man and even whiter when we put a light behind him in our churches, and that Jesus is just like us. Therefore, we say He must think like us and have the same values like us, and while it is true Jesus is very much a part of us as anyone can be, it is a lie that is used for the benefit of people that look like me to abuse their authority and perpetuate their power in the world; they palter. 

Paltering turns a little truth into a lie to control people for their own needs, privilege, and gain. 

Out of all the disciples, Peter did not Palter. When asked who Jesus was, Peter answered by saying Jesus was the son of God, Messiah, and the God on this planet. 

The truth is that Jesus was born of Mary, suffered on a cross, went back to heaven and now sits at the right hand of God who will come to judge the living and the dead. There is no agenda there. There is no paltering there. There is just truth; truth given to us by God Himself. 

There is something profound in this gospel that we need to hear. Whenever we need Jesus to be something for us, for power, money, privilege, we are paltering so that He is serving our agenda. We must be mindful of that. We must call that out. You see, Jesus does not to change who He is. He does not change to look more like us. Instead, we need to conform to the image of the broken Christ and live and walk as disciples carrying our own cross. That is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

Amen

When we build on a firm foundation of Christ, we can withstand whatever comes our way. A foundation based on God produces steadfast faith and life. (Matthew 7: 24-29)

It seems as though there have been many flood warnings lately: hurricanes, tropical storms, sudden deluges over deserts. Many people in different cities and towns trying to prepare their homes from raging rivers, tidal waves, or rising ground water levels. On the news, we see people shoveling sand into bags and stacking them in rows in front of their homes, businesses, and houses of worship. Sometimes with success, sometimes to no avail.

Although we haven’t had much rain here this summer, when it did rain, it poured. Ever since our family bought our 1925 home, we’ve struggled with one basement wall that seems to let in water whenever it downpours. We’ve tried trenching, grading, and landscaping around the foundation to divert water from the house; we’ve added thousands of rocks and thick plastic to provide a hopeful barrier. But, a couple weeks ago when I went down to organize of Christmas room— rearrange the many, many artificial trees (we love Christmas decor), downsize the bins to make more room—there it was… a floor full of water. A friend and I moved everything off the concrete and mopped; we shifted shelves away from the wall and found the beginnings of mold. My husband came home with the heavy duty toxic cleaner, safety mask, and a new humidifier that needs to be changed a few times a day. Fortunately, it seems we have avoided the mold growing, but obviously work still needs to be done.

For years we’ve talked about having someone come and fix the foundation situation. Have them do what they do to with foam and concrete to reinforce what is already there. If we don’t, we could have some permanent damage: crumbling walls, infiltrated mold. I’m sure those who poured the original foundation (almost one hundred years ago) thought that it would withstand centuries of weight and wear. But time and shifting ground takes its toll. 

We need call in the reinforcements.

When I think of the above passage in Matthew about foundations—the critical foundation in Christ that can help us withstand whatever comes our way—I try to picture what shape my personal foundation is in on any given day. Are there holes and cracks in my faith, ones that have allowed the leaking-in of negative thoughts, worldly behaviors, or doubts? Have I tried to patch it all with praise music in my car, reading memoirs of other writers who have gone through mid-faith crises, or maybe just tried to ignore any uncertainties. 

Decades ago, I did an altar call at an evangelist church, publicly rededicating myself to Christ (since I never had an official confirmation in my teens). At the time, I was filled with renewed passion and energy, on the “faith high” many of us seek when following our Savior—getting swept up in the Holy Spirit and God’s plans for us. Sometimes I wonder where that fresh wonder has gone. Has is worn down with years of losses, struggles, disappointments, and disillusionments as to what my life “should” look like by now? Is there something wrong with how my faith foundation was poured? Or is it in how I care for that foundation, neglect to fill the holes and cracks when they come—to ask for help from God to reinforce my faith, to make it ever stronger. 

How about you? 

How is your foundation: was it poured perfectly, or, like two of the three little pigs in the nursery rhyme, was it built of sticks or straw? Is your faith still strong in Christ or is it crumbling? Now is the time to assess. Walk down to the basement and check if there is mold, or water, or anything that should not be there taking root or flooding you under. Ask God to reinforce your foundation, and take steps to protect it. Not the shoveled sand in stacked bags at a distance, or drainage tiles and grading of the landscape around its perimeter. But by asking God to get in to the cracks of your foundation and fix them, seal them, permanently. Live strongly and securely in your faith in Christ and sound the warning for others to do the same. Amen.

Gethsemane Lutheran Church

4656 Colfax Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55412

612-521-3575