Good Trouble

Post Author: Rev. Eileen Ruppel-Doan

Let me tell you a story about a group of people who have a history of getting into  good trouble, to borrow the words of John Lewis. Now some might think these individuals are united as a group by their ethnic or linguistic heritage, the hymns they like the most, or their affinity for casseroles or hot dish. But those are all just surface level things. What they really have in common is being troublemakers to the core. 

Lutheran Troublemaker Seal

It started with a man named Martin, who thought the church of his day was abusing people spiritually and ignoring the heart of the matter:God’s infinite grace. Martin stirred up so much trouble he irreparably changed the course of religious history globally, and that was mostly by accident. 

Then, there was a troublemaker named Dietrich who lived in World War II Germany creating networks of resistance and talking about the real cost of discipleship in the face of oppression. 

Then there were a lot more trouble makers, women like Elizabeth and Earlean who dared to be ordained as clergy when women couldn’t before. Then there was the entire “Extraordinary Roster” of LGBTQIA+ leaders whose congregations called them to serve as their pastors and deacons before that was “allowed.”

Then there was Nadia, and Lenny and others. 

And so on and so forth, a whole 500+ years of trouble making. And then, beloveds, if you hadn’t caught on yet, came us. The current troublemaking Lutherans, who have pot stirring running in our spiritual veins. Us Lutherans who were publicly called out this week as key leaders claimed that our social service agencies serving 1 in 50 Americans are illegitimate and fraudulent. Us Lutherans, whose radical call to follow Jesus and proclaim his grace is terrifying for people in power. Us Lutherans who have been here before and will surely be here again, causing trouble where trouble is needed. 

But before any of these stories could begin to take shape, there was a brown skinned Palestinian radical rabbi who did not speak English or know anything about America, who was killed by his government for being too loud, too vocal, and too outspoken when the world wanted his silence and compliance. There were his earliest followers, like Simon in today’s Gospel, who was just trying to fish and who needed a nudge to look up from what he was doing so that he could take on a whole new mission.

In the middle of a crowd pressing in because they were so desperate for Good News, Simon continued to do his everyday work that needed to be done in order to provide for himself and his family. Except one random day, he ends up being invited to come along with Jesus, to follow him in pursuit of good trouble making. Being invited by Jesus into that work is what shows Simon just how good and abundant life can be. It changes him, from going through the motions of daily life to being part of a mission and a purpose. This invitation into mission changes his pessimism into hopefulness and action. 

The invitation Simon and others received from Jesus is very similar to our own. This invitation from Jesus is powerful. Sometimes I think we’re afraid of that word power because the way we only understand power as harmful in the world. But God’s power is not harmful.The power God places in God’s people is important and holy. It’s our mission. 

What does it say about us Lutheran trouble makers, that our mission, purpose and power in this world is so bold that it’s threatening to those who are motivated by hate and greed? Our mission, just like Jesus’s, causes people to look up from what they are doing and take notice. I hate to phrase it this way, but  this is almost a compliment to have our faith drug through the mud this way- it means that we Lutherans are doing such large scale work that the world is taken aback by it, the world is offended by our radical love of neighbor. 

Lutherans have always been witnessing the Gospel this way. Of course people have noticed. Of course our radical work of justice and good news is terrifying to people who benefit from the oppression of others. 

Our mission from Jesus is powerful. When the power of the world around us looks like this unspeakable violence and irreparable harm we better be willing to reclaim some of our own power too. We better be ready to tap into our story of making trouble. This is not the time to be a bystander. 

Beloveds, if you have been waiting for the time to be more aware, more informed, or more vocal about what is going on in the world, this is it. This is, a moment when we Lutherans need to get loud again. That may be uncomfortable, but the gospel is uncomfortable. Thankfully we have been here before. 

Jesus in his own story never told anyone to be nice or well behaved. He did say how to turn over the tables in the temple, free the prisoners and reject abusive authorities. 

It is time to think about what Jesus would ask us to put on the line in whatever places and spheres we are each in, whether at school or work or in our families or social circles. It’s time to live out our mission in each of these. Because those actions big and small are how the world may begin to right itself. 

One of my favorite parts of Lutheran history is our boldness, our disruptiveness, our ability to live into grace above all else. The good news is, you don’t need to know a single fact about the Protestant Reformation, or Martin Luther, or the ELCA, in order to be a part of that. You simply are invited, like Jesus invites Simon, to follow along and get into some good and necessary trouble for the sake of the world God so loves. 

There’s a verse from the book of Esther that says you have come “For such a time as this.” I can’t think of a more appropriate verse this week as Lutherans are yet again out here, making the news, publicly disrupting. We are here to be the loud Lutheran trouble makers that we always have been, for just such a time as this. Thanks be to God for this amazing skill set we have been gifted and the ways in which we will use it. Amen.