The Life Laid Down
Sermon by Pr. Craig Mueller on the Fourth Sunday of Easter + Sunday, April 21, 2024
Five years ago, we got this book in the mail. “History. Holy Trinity.” It was published in 1906. A man in Blanchardville, WI sent it to us. Though we already had a copy, his note was heartwarming. “This was found in an attic in a house in Hollandale, WI. I thought someone in your church may wish to have it.”
As our 150th anniversary celebration draws very near, I am drawn to the history of our earliest years. Though Holy Trinity was legally organized in 1874, efforts to establish an English-speaking Lutheran church in Chicago started in 1855, twenty years earlier. Our roots go back 170 years!
The best way to describe Holy Trinity’s early years is “fits and starts.” From 1855 to about 1912, there were many trials and tribulations. Multiple times hopes for a new pastor were dashed when he rather quickly resigned. Due to exhaustion, changing denominations, or taking a new call with a seminary. So our forebears sometimes felt orphaned.
Let me tell you, they got around downtown Chicago. For multiple reasons, they were like nomads moving from one location to another. After they finally had a church building in 1867, their hopes were soon absolutely shattered. The Great Chicago Fire destroyed the church in 1871, as well as many parishioner’s homes. They were penniless and homeless. The devastation tested their faith. It was hard to believe the Good Shepherd was tending their flock. Many scattered. Others left the city.
In 1874 when Holy Trinity was officially chartered, there were 37 members and $5.80 in the treasury. Yet it was a time of hope. In 1886 they built a large Gothic structure at LaSalle and Elm. We’re taking a field trip there next Sunday! This was the large significant downtown Lutheran church that we don’t have today! But they never got over the weight of the debt they carried. One historian noted that the wealthy downtown folks didn’t step up financially. Their best supporters were those who had shared the trials and tribulations of their days of strife. Their beloved building was at risk of foreclosure and that is what brought Holy Trinity to the Lakeview neighborhood in 1914 or so.
I’m moved by the faith and determination of our Holy Trinity ancestors. Many people today have lost faith in the church as an institution. Churches are closing and many are on life support. Yet our forebears laid down their lives—gave their all—for the generations who would follow, including us.
The main point of First John is a line in today’s reading. “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” You may have all the goods the world offers, but God abides in those who lay down their lives for another, especially those in need. Especially those most vulnerable. Especially those marginalized.
There’s a key Easter phrase in the Hymn of the Day we will soon sing: “the life laid down, the life restored.” The Risen Christ, the One who lays down his life for the sheep, and is raised in the resurrection.
We are conditioned to keep our lives, to hold on. In a risky and troubled world, we will do everything to keep our lives from danger, to keep our lives from the neighbors we do not trust, to vote our self-interest rather than the common good. But we have a God who risks everything. A Christ who puts himself in harm’s way for the sake of his beloved flock.
Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hired hand, who upon seeing the wolf coming, runs away. And the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep. But like a parent who will do anything and everything to protect a child, Jesus lays down his life for the sheep.
God’s self-risk is anathema to the rulers of this age. It is pure foolishness to those whose sole purpose is self-preservation, self-possession, self-aggrandizement.
Our early forebears had a different sense of sacrifice than many of us do. Laying down your life for something greater than yourselves, for a future not yet imagined.
One wealthy philanthropist once said, “the only things we keep permanently are those we give away.”
The life laid down, the life restored. Death and resurrection. The message of the Great Fifty Days of Easter.
But here is another take on today’s readings, on laying down our lives. Tomorrow is Earth Day, a day to support for environmental protection, especially for the non-human inhabitants of our island home.
When we think of laying down our lives for others, most of us will think of people in need. But let’s expand our thinking. To fauna and flora. To the water cycle. To mineral deposits. We share this planet with creatures of all kinds. Are we willing to lay down our lives for them as well? For future generations, not only of our descendants, but of our plants and animals with whom we share this earth?
The animal of today’s gospel, of course, is sheep. We can go churchy-sentimental with this image. But for ancient Israelites, sheep were their life force. Sheep were an economic reality that symbolized divine blessing. We too depend on other animals and the land for our livelihood..
Sheep challenge our sense of individualism—that everything is about me. They remind us of our ecological interconnectedness. “One flock” takes on new meaning. People. Animals. Plants. The land. The earth. God.
Christ lays down his life in his death. In this resurrection he takes it up again and bestows on us his life-giving power and healing. That we may know life in its fullness.
Like our Holy Trinity forebears who faced trials and tribulations, starts and fits, losses and setbacks, Christ puts himself in harm’s way for us. Walks with us in death’s darkest valley. Leads us beside still waters when our hearts are restless. Feeds us at this table in a world of enmity. And then guides us into an unknown future.
Thanks be to God for our ancestors who led us this far by faith. And for this community today, now called to lay down our lives for those who come after us—not only people. But all creatures great and small!
