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God, there are so many times whenever we may be hurting, we may be struggling, but God, you're not seeing us based off of the weakness and the struggle, you're seeing us based on claiming us as your own.

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God, you empower us, you move us, you encourage us. We thank you that you define us based on what you have called us to be, on who you have called us to be.

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We thank you for your strength, we thank you for your love, in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Howdy.

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Howdy.

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Well, I hope everybody had a pretty good 4th of July. I don't know, I did a lot of people get a chance to go out of town.

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Hopefully plenty of pool parties, plenty of hamburgers, hot dogs, maybe some fireworks that might have been out there.

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Apparently there's this kind, it's a spinning ladybug or whatever, where you light it, it spins and it shoots up in the air.

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Oh my word, it's a bastard. I thought it was like a Harry Potter thing or something. It's kind of, it was really, really cool.

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But what was also really great was I had a chance to end up seeing some people that I knew as I was younger.

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About two weeks ago, I got a chance to spend time with one of the old junior counselors from camp.

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When I was an adult counselor, and apparently he remembered me because I had had this big argument with somebody about whether Green Lantern in comic books was a real superhero.

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Apparently all the time that we'd spent together at camp and church and everything else, Green Lantern is my claim to fame with him.

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Apparently other people were arguing, but they got him confused with Green Arrow, which that's a whole other issue.

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But then I had a chance to spend time with my cousin, and this is a cousin of mine that I knew her from San Antonio.

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And she lives still there now, but we didn't get to see each other that much for many years.

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And basically once you graduate from high school, you see your cousins basically whenever somebody passes away, unfortunately.

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So we were able to catch up with each other. What's interesting is the perspective that she had on when we were kids.

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And in my mind, I'm like, oh no, does she remember when I did this? Does she remember when I did that?

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Does she remember that I was really, really bad at sports and that I could never beat anybody on the video game?

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Or the time when I stepped and got a nail shoved up my foot? All these things in my mind, which fortunately she was just happy to see me and enjoy the time together.

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But that's the thing about it, is that when somebody knows you when you're younger, oftentimes it's very easy to wonder in your mind,

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are they seeing me for who I am today, or do they still remember me as that young whippers snapper, that kid who made all the silly mistakes?

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The thing is, is that we end up seeing much of that in our Gospel passage today.

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As much as we may know Jesus to be the Messiah, the one who has come from God to cleanse the world of their sins, remember, he grew up somewhere.

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There was a place where he ran down the street with the other kids, where he probably tripped and skinned his knees.

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I highly doubt that he would trip and God would send his angels to levitate him two inches off the ground so he never hits the rocks.

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The times whenever something made him sad and he would cry with his mom, maybe he wasn't the best at sports,

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maybe he didn't tell all the best jokes that there might be. I mean, not everybody can be a winning storyteller like some of us,

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but hey, there you go, I guess being the Messiah to bring salvation to the world, I guess that's an okay consolation prize.

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But with it though is that Jesus is back in his hometown speaking words of salvation and hope to a community that knew him from when he was a child.

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And not only that, but this is the place that had figured out that they knew exactly who he was going to be based on what they saw him to be.

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See, this is a community that had known his whole family. They knew where he came from, at least in the general sense.

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See, Jesus was the carpenter's son. And the carpenter's son is not meant to be somebody who's going to be a great rabbi.

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They're going to have to travel from town to town to find work. It's going to be difficult in a hard life, and he's a blue-collar guy.

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To become a rabbi, you were supposed to memorize the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah.

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Do we really think that Jesus would have had difficulty with that?

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If Jesus was not studying under a rabbi, it was not for the inability, but rather is when your dad is the carpenter, does anybody take it seriously to raise you up to be the next rabbi?

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Or even more than that. Is that there you end up having his family that's there, and you've not only got Mary who that whole town knows that she got pregnant before her husband and she got married,

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but also that the whole time, whenever you know someone's family, that family is defined by a certain amount of honor.

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There's a certain level of respect that that family gets, so if somebody starts to rise above that, then it's almost like the community thinks that they're stealing the thunder from somebody else.

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You're not allowed to be this important person, because that's not what your family is designated for.

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I'm sure that in our society, we've never gotten jealous when somebody rises above their station in life, have we?

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Or even more than that, is that this Jesus is willing to spend time with other people, the common folk.

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This is the person who probably would have been happy to go to a karaoke night or go out line dancing on a Thursday.

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This is someone who is willing to spend the time with people and just to enjoy life.

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Is that really what they expect from their great teacher?

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But even more than all that, is that if he is meant to be the one from God, the Messiah, the Messiah is someone who's supposed to come out of nowhere.

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Because if he's supposed to come from God, he could not possibly have come from one of their local communities, but they knew exactly where he's from.

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So how in their minds could they take him seriously?

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Believe me, I totally understand what it is whenever people know the silly side, the fun side, the interesting side,

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and then you're trying to switch into a new role, it can be a little difficult from time to time.

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But there's also a place at which being outside of your comfort zone almost makes that a bit easier.

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See, sometimes being the outsider is actually the thing with its advantages.

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See, one of the things that I've discovered is that at times whenever I was in a place that I didn't belong,

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sometimes it actually made it easier for me to be myself.

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Because when you're in a place where everyone sees you as one of their own,

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the difficulty comes in that you're not supposed to step out of their comfort zone either.

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See, I was a Texan living in California.

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I mean, they'd already kind of assumed that I must be some backwards hick out there without any idea of what I was doing.

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But then I come in with thoughts and teachings and ways of doing things and they were able to see me for me and it's like,

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okay, well, I guess he's not like all those crazy Texans. I guess he's okay.

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Or being an American living in China, and they have all their stereotypes of what they might think an American might be,

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but they're able to get to know me and say, oh, well, you know, it's okay for you to be a little different because that's expected.

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We understand that. Or even being from a different church body coming in to a Lutheran church,

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I still remember finishing seminary coming out and being a pastor and saying,

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don't worry, one of these days you'll figure out this whole Lutheran thing.

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I still don't think I've quite figured out Lutheran thing out.

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But the good part about that, though, is that when you are outside of your comfort zone,

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is that it also gives you a chance to let go of the things that you thought you were supposed to be or do

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and discover something new about yourself.

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See, that's one of the things that's so fascinating about what Jesus ends up doing with his disciples,

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is he ends up sending them out in pairs, but he makes them go out without extras,

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make sure that they don't have a bunch of money set aside, that they can go somewhere.

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Well, you know what, this is a place we've never been to before, but hey,

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we'll go pay for a room over here, we'll kind of get ourselves figured out and then everything will be okay.

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No, first thing you have to do is find someone somewhere in that town that welcomes you,

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and you have to immediately get busy with preaching the gospel to everyone.

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But that comfort zone, that's sometimes so difficult.

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They weren't even allowed to wear two sets of clothing, which was a trend for trying to show people that you were important.

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Is that instead, they're supposed to be there on their own, and the only thing that they can lean on is the strength of the message of salvation.

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Isn't that something that we face quite often?

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How many times that we're afraid of getting outside of our comfort zone?

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The times whenever we want to lean on what we're used to, the times whenever we want to know that we can fall back on something.

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And whenever we know that whatever we're pursuing is new or difficult and we already feel nervous.

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But that's the thing about our weakness, is that while we are oftentimes trying to avoid it,

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is that in so many ways that weakness is actually the very thing that God can oftentimes use to do what he means on his own power and his own strength.

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See, the thing is that in our epistle lesson, we were hearing from Paul that there was a thorn in his flesh that he was struggling with,

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and nobody actually really knows for sure what this was.

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What was it that kept bothering him time and time again?

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Was it some physical issue that he had?

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He spent a lot of time in jail.

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Maybe he had to spend so much time on these really hard benches that his body just could not handle it anymore.

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Did he have a speech impediment?

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We know from Scripture that he was a much stronger writer than he was a preacher.

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Was it something that he didn't want to admit to, some physical ailment, a disease,

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or maybe just something that socially was unacceptable with other people?

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Whatever it was, though, there was always something that he could always see as that weakness.

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But every time that that would come up, is it just reminded him that I'm not supposed to boast about myself.

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I'm not supposed to try to pretend that I'm so perfect that I have it all figured out,

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because then at what point in time does anybody realize that God is using a human being to do his work?

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At what time do I allow others to see that side of myself?

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To know that I don't have to pretend that I have it all figured out before I can say that God's grace is sufficient for me.

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That's one of the pieces that we end up seeing, not just whenever we face the issues of our past,

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or even the weaknesses of our present, but also whenever we're asking what is the purpose that God is moving us forward to in the future.

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There are many ways in which this gospel lesson is supposed to push us,

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to cause us to struggle or to try for something a little bit different.

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See, we end up knowing that the more familiar somebody becomes, the easier it is to figure out their flaws.

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The more familiar or comfortable somebody is, the easier it is to point out the struggles that they have.

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But you see, that's not where we're supposed to stay there, because we're not meant to build on the weaknesses of others as we boast in our own strength.

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It's supposed to be the opposite.

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We're supposed to be satisfied with knowing the weaknesses that we have, because God is still working through us,

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and we're meant to encourage and benefit those who are around us.

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So I want you to think about this. Think about somebody in your life that you know is struggling with some level of insecurity,

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or trying something new, or having to go out in uncharted territory.

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And how easy is it to point out the flaws in what they're doing, instead of pausing long enough to say,

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but this is what I see God doing through you? Because those are actually some of the best places to find ourselves.

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Whenever we know that God has placed us in somebody's life, to strengthen them, and to encourage them in the midst of that weakness.

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But also, that's a chance to be willing to push ourselves beyond where we're meant to be originally.

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You see, whenever we stay where we're at with what we're comfortable with, we may feel strong and safe, and that everything's okay.

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But is God truly getting to live out the potential He's placed in us?

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If all you're doing is what you're already the best at, then how are you ever getting a chance to grow?

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If all you're looking at is saying, I'm already perfect at this, this is all I can do, then are you sure that there's not something more

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that God is saying, yes, but if you go here, I can shine more brightly, because you don't have it all figured out.

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But third, is that sometimes we are meant to listen for God's Word, even in the places where it may be familiar.

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It is very easy in today's world that the next generation oftentimes just wants to step away from what their parents knew,

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or what it is that they grew up hearing all the time.

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It's very easy to walk away because we just say, nope, I've heard that, I've done that, it's all good.

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I'm going to move on because I'm a grown-up now, and I have all the answers.

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But what's amazing is how often God is still speaking, even at the times when we think we've heard it all before.

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Whenever we're used to a person or an idea, or that somehow we say, well, I've already heard this, this is too familiar, I'm ready to move on.

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Instead of saying, maybe that's exactly the time when God is trying to say something new to you.

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Maybe that's why we don't read the scriptures as often times as we should, because we think, I've already heard it all before in Sunday school, I'm good, I'm done.

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I got confirmed, I'm finished.

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But the more that we are in God's Word, even the times when we think, oh, I've got this all figured out,

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those can often times be the ways in which God is trying to speak to us most clearly.

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See, that was one of the great parts about getting to spend time with not only my camp friend, but also with my cousin,

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is that in a lot of ways, it was also taking a load off of my mind and off of my shoulders.

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Because what I realized is that the person who was judging me the most about myself was me.

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And as much as I was trying to get away from where I had been when I was younger,

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is that all of it was meant to be leading me to where I am today.

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And that's the same for you.

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So whatever may be there in your childhood, your younger days, your past, that's not the thing that defines you, nor is it the people around you.

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But rather, even in the times when you feel like you're doing something new or different, something you've never been in before,

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is that maybe the very time when God is saying,

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this is where I'm shining the brightest, not when you feel strong, but when you know that you are weak.

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May God be our strength and our peace, especially in the times when we feel like we're going into the unknown

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and we're not sure what leg we have to stand on.

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Thanks be to God.