Musings about Faith

Reflections on the Gospel - Mark 1:21-28 - "Jesus: The Exorcist"

2012-01-28T09:49:00.001-06:00

Read the Gospel text here: Mark 1:21-28

Jesus: The Exorcist

From the verybeginning of the Gospel things move quickly. Just look at the first page of the Gospel of Mark and seehow close all the headings are to one another (pew bible NT p. 27). Beginning with the introduction we movequickly through John the Baptist, the Baptism of Jesus, the Temptations in theWilderness, the Beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the calling of the Disciples, andfinally now we have come to Jesus’ first recorded healing – the Healing of theMan with the Unclean Spirit. Thepace has been almost breathless – but as we read through this first chapter wedo need to pause briefly at verses 14 & 15: … Jesus came to the Galilee proclaiming the Good News of God, andsaying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near, repentand believe in the Good News.” This is what drives the subsequent episodes: the Good News, the Gospelof the Kingdom of God that has come into our midst. Everything that follows emerges from this verse. And so we come to Jesus’ first healingin verses 21-28 and it is the healing of the man with the unclean spirit. Why is an exorcism the first healingmiracle in Mark? And why is this such an important sign of the proclamation ofthe Good News of God?

For us 21^stcentury, post-enlightenment folks we as a society are both fascinated andskeptical about exorcisms. Thinkof the various movies and stories that center around this subject. Perhaps the best known are the oldmovies entitled “The Exorcist” with Linda Blair, and the Michael Keaton movie, (alsorelatively old), called “Beetlejuice.” What we find in these films and the many others like them isa focus on the supernatural and a depiction of overwhelming evil run amok. These films are full of effects –everything from spinning heads to floating furniture. I suppose this makes for good movies, but if we are going tolook at these accounts of Jesus casting out unclean spirits in Mark then weneed to set these images aside and see them as fantasies that bear no relationwhatsoever to the Gospel texts.

Remember in Mark1:10 the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove. In this passage the man, who is in thesynagogue has an unclean spirit. I believe the comparison to beintentional. The Spirit of God ismanifested perfectly in Jesus’ life, ministry, crucifixion andresurrection. The Spirit of God ismanifested in unconditional love and grace, forgiveness and healing. The unclean spirits that have inhabitedthis man would be spirits that manifest in ways that are directly opposite tothis. So instead of grace and loveand forgiveness unclean spirits might include the spirits of anger, envy,jealousy or perhaps spirits of various addictions, prejudice, racism, orarrogance; or even perhaps the spirits of more socially acceptable spirits likeworkaholism or greed. Does thisbring this passage a bit closer to home? It does for me. These uncleanspirits are the spirits that divide us from God and from each other; they arethe spirits that encourage judgmentalism and revenge and self-justification andeven violence. We all struggle mightilywith these unclean spirits. Whatare some of the unclean spirits that you struggle with, and which you might askJesus’ to exorcise from your life?

Jesus beginswith this exorcism in the synagogue because Mark wants to make it clear thatthe Spirit of God is more powerful than the unclean spirits of this world andthat the proclamation of the Good News of God is more than just words. It is the taking on and overpowering ofthe unclean spirits of this world: Love will over come hate, light willovercome darkness, life with overcome death, grace and forgiveness willovercome the powers which deny and work against these.

One last point – noticethat Jesus commands silence from the unclean spirits. This is a pattern that will occur again and again throughoutthe first part of the Gospel of Mark. Scholars call this the “Messianic Secret.” What is that about? Why does Jesus constantly command silence about himself and his work inMark? There is a simple answer:until the crucifixion and resurrection Jesus’ work and identity as Messiah isincomplete. In other words, Jesusis revealed to be the Messiah and Son of God not through his miracles andteachings, but on the cross! Thecross looms large and until we can see the shadow of the cross then we cannotunderstand who Jesus truly is and what his ministry is all about. Of course it is also important to notethat Jesus is not successful keeping people quiet about him; they ignore hisorders to keep silent and we as the readers of the Gospel are in on the secretanyway. We know that Jesus is theMessiah and Son of God and that it is ultimately only the power of the crossthat can cast out the unclean spirits with which we struggle.

To listen to this sermon - go to http://wartburgparish.com/ - and click on the media tab. The sermon, as preached by Pr. Duncan, is there available for you to listen to or download.

Reflections on the Lessons for Epiphany III - Call

2012-01-19T23:07:00.000-06:00

Read the Gospel text here: Mark 1:14-20

Read the Jonah text here: Jonah 3:1-10 (Though you might want to read the entire book!)

CALL

Both of the lessons today deal withthe issue of call. In the Gospel, Jesus calls thefishermen Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. “Follow me,” he says, and they leave everything and followhim. This lesson is contrasted bythe lesson from the reluctant prophet Jonah, who also received a call from theLord God: “Go!” “And then away inthe opposite way he went.”(1) It is also interesting to note that Mark makes itclear throughout the Gospel that these disciples really didn’t know what theywere getting into. They havepreconceived ideas of who Jesus is and what he wants from them that turn out tobe completely wrong. One wondersif the disciples actually understood more from the beginning if they would havebeen so willing to leave their nets and follow. Jonah on the other hand seems to have a pretty good idea ofnot only what is expected of him, but what the result will be. This is why he tries to run away. He is not in agreement with God. In both cases the bottom line ministrythat these men are being called to is one of unconditional love and grace; itis one of radical inclusion. Inthe Gospel this is made manifest on the cross. In Jonah, God does not want to see the city of Israel’shated enemies destroyed and Jonah just knows that God will end up having mercyand extending forgiveness. AndJonah wants no part of it.

I think there are points of contactbetween us and the disciples, and us and Jonah. Like the disciples, we too often create an image ofJesus/God that looks more like our ideas of who God is and what we think God’spriorities should be. PopularChristianity includes a strong element of judgment and tends to downplay God’slove and grace. Oh yes, “God loveseveryone” (we say)… “but” – and then we come up with conditions: “you have to“accept Jesus as your savior or you have to be good or you have to believe in acertain way or you have to be a part of a certain expression or denomination oryou have to accept these political positions or you have to… etc. etc.etc.” WRONG! God’s love and grace areunconditional! God loves us, and becauseof that then we are able to respond to our call. This is why the focus is on the cross of Jesus. It reminds us of God’s amazing love andgrace for us. If it starts tobecome a symbol of “you better do this, or that, or else” then we are missing thepoint.

Like Jonah, we too often like topretend we know the mind of God. God can’t love those people, God can’t possibly be willing toforgive and accept those people! We like to think of ourselves as havinga special IN, and the annoying thing about grace is that it tends to be soradically inclusive. And this isexactly the point that God makes at the end of the book of Jonah. God informs Jonah in no uncertainterms, that God is a God of love and forgiveness and God loves the creation so wildlyand passionately that God will go to whatever lengths God needs to in order tobring people into relationship and wholeness. Too bad you don’t like it, Jonah! But you cannot presume the mind of God. And this is our problem as well. Way too often, we like to presume themind of God. We are constantlybaptizing our prejudices, our priorities, our opinions, our politics andclaiming: “God is on my side – and – God opposes you.” Or we arrogantly assert – “If you wantto be right with God you have to think like me!” WRONG! We do notknow the mind of God and to presume the mind of God is to try to put ourselvesin God’s place, which you might remember did not work out so well for Adam andEve. (And which theologians down through the years have used as a definition ofSin).

A very wise Pastor has summed upthe message of these lessons in this way: “IfGod does not love everybody, then there can be no love for anybody. If God is not gracious to all, therecan be grace for none.” (2) Thisis the central theme of the story of Jonah and the Gospel of Jesus. And like Jonah and the disciples we areall being called to follow, to live lives that reflect this grace and love andto reach out in God’s love and grace to care for others and pass on thislove. It is to this that we arebeing called. God’s call to us isthat we would open our hearts to God’s love and grace and be open vessels ofthis love and grace to all – that is – TO ALL. It is a risky call, because God is so generous and like thedisciples we have a hard time understanding and accepting God’s radicalinclusivity. And like Jonah whenwe do begin to understand we might want to go in the opposite direction. But just as God pursued and followedJonah even into the belly of the whale, God will follow us and never let us go;constantly showering his love and grace upon us and calling us to follow and tolove – In the name of Father, Son+ and Holy Spirit!

(1) - I am wondering if any of my readers will recognize this line. "And away------ in the opposite way I walked. What a clever plan, what a capital plan. I've listened with attention...." Perhaps readers from England in particular might recognize it. If you can identify it, send me an email or post a comment. I realize it is unrelated to the theology and biblical exposition of the post - but I could not resist!
(2) Pastor John Jewell - a United Methodist pastor whose sermons sometimes appear on Textweek. I read this line in his sermon on these very text several years ago and have always found them very meaningful. They sum up for me one of the core foundational planks of the Gospel! Thank you Pastor Jewell.

Reflections on the Gospel: Mark 2:1-12

2012-01-15T12:51:00.001-06:00

Read the Gospel text here: Matthew 2:1-12

Digging Through the Dirt

By our 21^st centurystandards, homes in the 1^st century were much smaller, much moresparse, and the space was used very differently. Rocks and mud were plentiful in that place so houses werebuilt primarily with mud brick and rocks. Most but not all 1^st century homes had a courtyard of somesort, and often animals were kept in the house as well. But perhaps the part of the house thatwas most different was the roof. Because of our relatively wet weather we have tended to build houseswith gabled roofs. The rain and,especially, the snow can more easily slide off of a gabled roof, and it helpskeep the inside much dryer. Consequently it is difficult, if not downright dangerous, to climb up ona gabled roof, so this space is not utilized for living, for the mostpart. Not so in 1^stcentury Palestine. First of all,in the very dry climate, with no snow to speak of, there is no need for agabled roof. The roofs wereflat. So they could be used for avariety of things, and they were. Supported by crude wooden beams and covered with palm leaves and mud,these roofs would be strong enough to support various activities, such ascooking and sleeping. And in someplaces (notably places like in Bethlehem) grain was even grown on the roof.

Now in our Gospel text for today wefind Jesus at home in Capernaum. Now earlier in chapter one, we learn that Peter and Andrew have a homein Capernaum (vs. 29) and it appears that Jesus has made this home his base ofoperation at least here in the first couple chapters. Now Peter and Andrew were fishermen, which could be a ratherlucrative trade at times, so this house was undoubtedly a moderately largehouse, though probably still pretty small by our 21^st centurystandards. Jesus was inside thishouse when people who were in need of healing began to converge upon it. It seems as though this was one ofthose houses that either did not have a courtyard, or may have had a small courtyard,but it seems that Jesus was inside the living space itself. For when 4 young men arrive with theirparalyzed friend they cannot get close to Jesus, in fact, they can’t even getinside the house. What to do? There is healing available for their friend,but the people and the physical presence of the house itself create a seeminglyinsurmountable obstacle.

We encounter obstacles in life allthe time. Sometimes these obstaclesare bumps in the road; sometimes they can be detours; sometimes they cancompletely stop us in our tracks. Thereare even times that we do not recognize the obstacles for what they are – thatwhich keep us apart from others; that interfere with our relationships withloved ones, with others and with God; that which separates us from God. This appears to be the case inCorinth. The church in Corinth isout of control. They have setinappropriate rules for being a part of the community, they have found ways tomaintain the social divisions of their society, they are clamoring for positionand prestige within the community, they are looking for human adulation. In short, they have lost sight of thecross, of the call to be a servant and to be open to all in Christ’s name. This, St. Paul points out, is anobstacle that is separating them from God. Paul suggests to them that as they seek for praise andadulation, for prestige and position, as they turn their back on those in needor pull apart from others who are different and of a different background,position or race than they are – this then has become an almost insurmountable obstacle that is separating them from God. What to do?

The 4 friends in the Gospel firstrecognize the obstacle. They seewhat they are up against and then they work together to figure out a way toovercome it. The goal is to get toJesus. So, they climb up to theroof and begin to dig through the dirt and the hardened mud and the palmleaves. They do the hard work ofdigging through the roof in order to get to Jesus. It is the only way. They clear out a passage that they then can use to lower their paralyzedfriend down into the house where Jesus will see him and reach out to him andheal him. And they do this hard work and they get from Jesus more than theyexpected. For Jesus does something unexpected when he addresses this paralyzedman. He doesn’t just heal hisbody. Rather, he starts by healinghim on the inside: “Your sins are forgiven!” Forgiveness is where it starts.

There is another group in this story. A group of scribes and Pharisees who sit and watch and object. "Just who does this guy think he is, forgiving sins?!" This group is struggling with a serious obstacle as well. The obstacle which is separating this group from others and from God is their own arrogance, their own certainty of their rightness, their holiness, their purity. This has become an obstacle which is keeping them away from God. This is an obstacle many in our society struggle with as well: the arrogant certainty of their rightness, their own personal holiness and purity. It is in fact an obstacle which separates them from others and puts a large moat between them and God.

What kinds of hard work do we needto do in order to get to Jesus? In what ways are we paralyzed in our lives, inwhat ways are we confronted by seemingly insurmountable obstacles that divideus from our loved ones, from others and from God? This is the question posed by this text. Before we can fully respond to God’scall and freely follow Jesus, before we can be free in our relationships withothers we need forgiveness and healing. Gifts that God, through Jesus is prepared and waiting to provide for us. But first, perhaps, we have some dirtto dig through!

Reflections on the “Name that is above every name…”

2011-12-31T17:11:00.000-06:00

Read the text here: Philippians 2:1-13

This weekend we celebrate the Feastof the Holy Name of Jesus. This isa festival that does not land on Sunday very often and it provides us with awonderful opportunity to consider the Holy Name of God and the Holy Name ofJesus – in whom we are baptized and in whom we have our calling, our purposeand our very lives as Christians. Therefore I would like us to consider two of our lessons and lay themside by side – Psalm 8 and Philippians 2:1-13.

OLORD, our lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth. (Psalm 8:1, 9) Actually the first two words of this Psalm are “O Yahweh, our lord”which immediately reminds us that God has a name and that name is Yahweh. Out of respect, however, this name isnever spoken – especially among the ancient Israelites. The word “LORD” (spelled with capitalletters) is spoken instead, even though the name Yahweh appears in theHebrew. Now what does the nameitself mean, and what does it tell us about God? In Exodus 3, afterencountering the burning bush and receiving a very clear call to return toEgypt to lead the people of Israel out of captivity, Moses asks God a question:“If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors hassent me’ and they ask me, ‘what is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Ex.3:13-14 – pew bibles p. 39). God’sresponse: “I AM who I AM.” InHebrew this is haYah haYah. Notice anything familiar? Yes, the first three letters of thename Yahweh appear after (what we would consider to be) an article. So, who is God? God is “I AM” – being itself, beingpersonified. The name Yahweh is aspecial word that is a form of the Hebrew verb “to be.” Psalm 8 then goes on to describe acreator God of great power and might; a God who is powerful enough to createthe heavens and the earth and who has created humanity “a little less thandivine.” A God who is worthy to beworshipped and glorified and who gives us our lives and our purpose. It is this God of which that humanity is a reflection(Genesis 1:27 – p. 1).

And here is where we run intotrouble. It is so tempting for usto think of God only in these terms – power, glory, might. The problem with this is that 1^st,this is not the whole story and 2^nd, there is a great temptation forus to see ourselves only in the reflected glory of God. So when, in Psalm 8:6, we read that Godhas given over to humanity “dominion” over the creation – we tend to interpretthis line that well, we are in charge now and can do whatever we want. So we see the creation as ours toexploit and use as we see fit, and we see ourselves reflected in the glory andpower of God. So power, might,wealth, glory all become for us a part of what we believe we are called topursue and acquire. This attitudehas been a sad part of Christian history since the beginning and is,unfortunately, as much a problem today as it was 2000 years ago. Everything from the “Prosperity Gospel”to the temptation to see ourselves as God’s crusaders – standing up for God,defending God in the various ways, seeing ourselves and our group or even ournation as God’s special, unique group – these are all manifestations of thismisreading and misunderstanding of the Bible.

Remember, Luther said, we are to always– ALWAYS – read the bible through the eyes of Christ, through the lens of theGospel. So let us turn to St.Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Of course, people in Jesus’ time struggled with the same problem. Jesus being proclaimed “Messiah” or“Christ” led those folks to the exact same problem: “The Messiah is supposed tobe the great and powerful and mighty liberator who will free us militarily and withviolence from the Roman oppressors” was the general belief. Unfortunately, thatis not what the Messiah does. Paulis addressing this issue when he quotes this ancient hymn which is found in2:6-11. Who is the Christ? Paulanswers – Christ is the one who refused to bask in the reflected glory of God,but who instead emptied himself,taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness… humbled himself…obedient unto death… What adifferent way of understanding who God is, who Jesus is and what our calling isas Christian disciples! The name“Jesus” means “God saves;” in Hebrew the name is “Yahowsua” (or in English –“Joshua” – “Jesus” is the Greek form of Yahowsua/Joshua). Did you notice the first three lettersof the Hebrew: Yah? Yahweh – God –being itself saves and constantly saves – how? Through Jesus the Messiah –how? By emptying himself, takingthe form of a servant/slave…? Why– love – amazing, incredible and incomprehensible love (John 3:16 – pp. 71-72).

When we are baptized into Christ wetake the name of Christ it is becomes a part of who we are and how we aredefined as Christians; it becomes a definition of our calling. When we are baptized into Christ we areemptied and then filled with the love and grace of God and sent forth to beservants of God, humble and obedient. As much as we humans would prefer to stand in the reflection of God’sglory and power, the Gospel deflects this and we stand, by virtue of ourbaptism, in the light of God’s love, as reflected in the birth, life, death andresurrection of Jesus, the Son of God; God incarnate; the one through whom Godis offering salvation!

Yahweh- יהוה

I Amthat I Am – haYah haYah היה היה

Jesus = Yahowshuwa = Joshua יהושוע

Reflections on the Christmas Gospel – Luke 2:1-20

2011-12-25T12:28:00.004-06:00

Read the Christmas Gospel here: Luke 2:1-20

Fear Not!

Andthere were shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock bynight; and lo the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lordshown round about them and they were sore afraid. And the angel said until them, fear not, but behold I bringyou good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people! For unto you is born this day in thecity of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!

Fearnot!?! Are they kidding? These poor shepherds on night shifthave the job of watching and protecting their sheep during the night. They have to be alert. Being a 1^stcentury shepherd could be described as hours of boredom, interspersed withmoments of terror. For in thedarkness it would be very easy for a predator to sneak up undetected and attackthe flock and do significant damage before the shepherd could do anything aboutit. And we need to remember thatthese flocks represented someone’s wealth, though probably not the shepherds, asthey were most likely hired hands. But in the days before banks people would often put their wealth intolivestock. So the life of ashepherd was tough. There was therisk of watching over someone else’s sheep, but not only that, but shepherdswere considered to be the scum of the earth. Shepherds were looked upon as dirty and disgusting men whowere outcasts from society. Butyet it is to these men that the angel appears with an announcement. “Fearnot!” says the Angel! What a thing to say. Fear and anxiety were part and parcel of the life of a shepherd. The life of a shepherd was a life livedon the edge.

Throughout the Gospel Jesus isconstantly saying the same thing to his disciples and others whom he encounters:Do not be afraid! As Jesus is walking out towards thedisciple’s boat on the water he tells them, Donot be afraid; before some of the healing miracles, Do not be afraid; at the empty tomb, Do not be afraid! I donot hear these words of Jesus as a suggestion – but rather as a command! “The Kingdom has come into your midst –do not be afraid – follow me… to the cross!” Perhaps one of the most importanttimes Jesus uses this phrase can be found in Luke 12:32: Do not be afraid little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure togive you the Kingdom… Thecontext for this is Jesus’ teaching during the Sermon on the Plain and he isaddressing a variety of issues – eating, drinking, clothing, striving afterpossessions, wealth, power and status – all of the things that tend to be rightat the root of human fears. All ofthis is like chasing the wind, Jesus suggests. And as we strive after the wind and we struggle and fallshort fear begins to grow. Thefear that we will not measure up, or the fear that we will fall short and notsucceed in acquiring these things that we think leads to a fulfillinglife all of this leads us to fear. And , as “Star Wars” Master Yoda reminds us, “fear is the path to thedark side. Fear leads to anger,anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” For fear shuts us down and closes us off from others. Fear clouds our minds and controls ouractions. Fear enables us to bemanipulated by those who would exploit our fears to turn our backs on others orto do horrific things to others – especially others who are different from usin some way, or who we see as a threat.

Fearnot! Says the angel to the shepherds. For God has entered into this world by being born as a human baby. Fearnot! Says Jesus to his disciples of every age. For Jesus has brought the Kingdom of God into our midst andwe now have nothing to fear. God provides for us and calls on us to reach out to others, especiallythose (like the shepherds) who are different, rejected and despised; and torecognize the image of God in all whom we meet. Fear not! Jesus is risen! The powers of this world – the powersof greed, power-mongering, injustice, oppression, selfishness, hate and deathhave been defeated. In the birth,death and resurrection of Jesus the powers of God’s love, grace, kindness andforgiveness have emerged victorious. There are times when it might not seem so and times when we areoverwhelmed with fear and doubt and darkness. But Christmas reminds us that it is into just such darknessthat God is born among us in Jesus. God enters into this darkness and defeats these powers of darkness –chief among them being fear.

On this Holy Night/Day, the Gospelstory we have all heard so often calls on us to consider our own fears. To peer into the darkness in order tosee what it is that oppresses us; what it is that holds us back; that keeps usfrom reaching out to others and moving forward. What are your deepest fears and how do they affect how youlive your life? And then, hear thewords of the Angel: Fear not! For behold I bring you good tidings ofgreat joy – for unto you is born this day… a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Thanks be to God!

Have a blessed Christmas!

To listen to Pastor Duncan's Christmas Eve Sermon - click here: "Fear Not!"

Reflections on the texts for Advent IV - "Bread"

2011-12-18T12:56:00.001-06:00

Read the Gospel - St. Mark 2:23-28

And Mary said... "My soul magnifies the Lord,and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." (Mary's Song - The Magnificat - Luke 1:46-55)

Bread!

We begin our reflection on thisGospel passage back in Genesis – Genesis 41. The Pharaoh of Egypt hasbeen having dreams – something about cows and corn – and these are troubling tohim. Now, the Pharaoh was apowerful man. He had control overthe lives of all of his subjects. So, Joseph – the favorite son of Jacob – is brought before him in chainsand told to interpret. Famine ison the way, Joseph tells them. Andhe adds further that you – the King - can ignore this warning or you can act onit in order to prepare. Pharaohknows that to ignore such a warning would be foolish. Controlling food is one way of controlling the people, butif the food runs out and people begin to starve then power and control is injeopardy. Joseph is put in chargeof preparing for the famine and it is averted – in Egypt. But back in Canaan, where Jacob and hisbrothers are still living, things are not going so well. Hunger is rampant. When they finally come looking for foodit is Joseph who is able to use access to bread as a tool to trick and trap thebrothers.

Bread is central to the story ofGod’s involvement with human history. From this story of Joseph to the story of God providing Manna in thewilderness and on beyond that, hunger and the access to bread is central. And the point that the bible makes overand over and over again is this: the use of bread as a tool for maintainingpower and control is condemned and is not God’s will. Those who engage in this stand outside of the Kingdom of Godand are roundly condemned. See theholiness code of Leviticus (listed at the end of this article) or theprophecies of prophets such as Amos (5:6-15 for one instance). Hunger is not God’s will and the use ofhunger as a tool of power is contrary to the will of God.

Jump ahead now to 1^stcentury Palestine, around the time of the birth of Jesus. Herod the Great is the ruler and servesas the Roman puppet. But Herod isbrutal and rules with an iron hand. And he knows how to maintain his power – keep people hungry! This way they will be dependent. Herod, also a great architect, buildsmassive grain storehouses that he maintains and keeps under careful guard. His own private storehouses are filledto overflowing. In fact 70 yearslater when his fortress-palace of Masada was taken over by the Zealots as alast stand against the Romans, there was enough grain left over to support theZealots for years. In other words,there was no way for the Romans to starve them out, they had to come up withanother plan. (See below for a picture of the ruins of these grain storehouses).

Contrast that then with the textfor today. Jesus’ disciples arehungry and pick grain and eat it on the Sabbath, thus breaking the rules forthe observance of the Sabbath day. Jesus is confronted and defends his disciples pointing out that theneeds of people – that is, feeding hungry people – is more important thanstrict observance of the rules of Sabbath observance. “The Sabbath was created for humanity, not humanity for theSabbath.” It is the same issuethat comes up over and over again, which I have outlined above. Using access to bread and hunger as atool for power is against the will of God and is condemned. And it doesn’t matter if it isreligious or political power. Hungeris against the will of the creator.

So. what does this have to do withChristmas? A lot! Christmas is the time when we celebratethe Incarnation: that God is born into this world in Jesus of Nazareth; andthat in Jesus, the Realm of God is now made present. That grain or bread is provided to the hungry and that theyeat and are filled is a sign of the Realm of God come into our midst (see theFeeding miracles); but continuing and pervasive hunger is against God’s willand a sign that the Realm of God has not yet come in its fullness. Hear the words of Mary’s song from Luke1 – God cast the mighty down from theirthrones and has lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good thingsand the rich he has sent away empty. We may not like to think that God has preferences, but theBible and the Gospel make it pretty clear that God is on the side of the victimand is against those who inflict suffering – and hunger is suffering!

The celebration of the Incarnationat Christmas is also a sign that those of us who are called to be Jesus’disciples have some responsibility to provide bread and to do what we can toalleviate hunger. As Christians, as followers of Christ, we simply cannotpretend that hunger does not exist. It does – in our world, our nation, our state and our community. And we cannot ignore it. As a part of our collective Christmasobservance perhaps we need to include the hungry and those in need. I realize that many people are very generous around Christmas time and that is wonderful. But let us also remember thatin a month there will still be children who are hungry; there will still bethose who are in need. I believethis text today is lifting up for us the importance of keeping this issuealways in sight.

There is a reason we use bread forHoly Communion. The Body of Christgiven for you – is not represented to us as fruit or cheese or anythingelse. It is bread! Bread is a sign of the Realm of Godcome into our midst; a sign that God is at work through us – God’s people – workingagainst the reality of hungry; that God is at work opposing those who would usehunger as a tool for control and power. As we take the bread, we are filled with God’s grace and sent forth fromthe table to love and serve and to work against the power of hunger.

Above are the ruins of the storehouses at Herod's fortress/palace of Masada. Herod also built a palace called the Herodium outside of Bethlehem. It had similar storehouses of grain. When Mary and Joseph neared Bethlehem this structure would have been the first thing they saw. It is hard to miss. The contrast between the conditions in which Jesus was born and the Herodium are extreme. Jesus is born in a dark, dirty, smelly cave. A place where there was probably little bread or any other things that would have made the birth easier. Mary and Joseph were probably hungry and cold. They were accompanied there only by a couple low-life shepherds. But there within view of the cave stood the Herodium with its full storehouses of grain and its full cistern of water. It seems to me that to look at contrast kind of puts Mary's words in a new light: that is, when Mary sings about casting down the mighty from their thrones and sending the rich away empty. (BTW - I took this picture).

Another note: We have been using Pr. Adam Hamilton's Christmas study video this year called "The Journey." In part 3 he talks about this issue and about hunger and points out, as I did above, that hunger and poverty is part of the story of the birth of Jesus. His congregation in Leawood, KS does something really unique which I think is worth sharing. Each year they designate their Christmas offering - the entire offering - to be given to alleviate hunger. The offering is split between local agencies and those who work against famine in Africa. Not only that but they encourage their members to consider giving to this offering an amount equal to whatever they spend on themselves for Christmas. So if you are going to spend $500 buying presents, then he encourages you to give $500 to this offering towards alleviating hunger. Perhaps it might cause some to reconsider the amount they spend on Christmas in the first place - which would be a good thing too. As Pr. Hamilton notes in the video: "Christmas is not your birthday!" Amen.
The Link to this congregation's website: Christmas Offering at Resurrection

Scripture texts formeditation:

David eats the Breadof the Presence – I Samuel 21:1-6

Joseph interpretsPharaoh’s dream – Genesis 41

Amos 5:6-15

Holiness Code –Leviticus 23:22, 25:35, 37

The Feeding of the5000 (and the 4000) – Mark 6:30-44, 8:1-10

One last thought. Every year there is always hoopla and airtime taken up with denouncing the supposed "war on Christmas." This "war" (which is sort of akin to the "Keep Christ in Christmas" movement) seems to focus on things like greeting folks with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." This is nonsense. There is no "war on Christmas" - it is just media babble. But there is a "war" (though I do not like to use that word) on the poor. The latest statistics suggest that 1 in 2 Americans are now living below the poverty line. The gap between the poor and the rich is widening more and more. The very rich have enriched themselves at the expense of workers, farmers and hard-working Americans - and yet they pay less tax than the rest of us. It is despicable. One presidential candidate suggested that the Occupy Wall Street protesters need to get a job and a bath - except, there are no jobs to be had. That is the point, which he doesn't seem to get. Another candidate seems to think that since we have such a problem with obesity among the poor this means they have plenty to eat. Which simply goes to show how terribly out of touch and misinformed he is. We have a responsibility. Hunger is not acceptable. Hunger in America is not acceptable. As Christians we are called to work in every way we can against the powers that create hunger, that victimize the poor and that ravish our economy for their own benefit. This Christmas, may all of us make reaching out to the poor and the hungry a part of our Christmas journey.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

Reflections on the Gospel – Mark 1:4-15 - Walking Through the Wilderness of this World

2011-12-11T12:15:00.001-06:00

Read the text here: Mark 1:4-15

Walking Through the Wilderness of this World

Have you evernoticed that a lot of the stories in the bible are set in the wilderness? Now to be clear, we are talking aboutwilderness, Middle East style. Not the American wilderness. As rustic as the American wildernessmight be, for the most part the American wilderness is still a fertileplace. The American wilderness isa place of woods and game, vegetation and a myriad of animals; a place, whilenot without risk, where nevertheless one could survive for a time (if you knowhow). The wilderness of the bible, to the contrary, is the wilderness of theMiddle East and is not such an inviting place. The wilderness of the bible is a place of complete desolation;a place with little to no vegetation or water, few animals; it is a desertenvironment with extreme temperatures. This is a place where one would be hard pressed to survive for anylength of time. But yet, thisplace figures importantly into the stories of the Bible.

Beginning rightaway in Genesis, Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden. Where do they go? Into the wildernessof the creation, and there they have to settle and live. This place is different from theGarden, in this wilderness of the world life is hard and one must struggle tosurvive. The wilderness thenbecomes a place of stark reality; a place of abandonment, of loss, ofconviction, of consequences; it becomes a place of testing and endurance. But that is not all, the wildernessalso becomes a place where God is found and where God is profoundly present. When Adam and Eve are banished from thegarden, God does not remain behind alone. God goes with them into thewilderness. When Cain is banishedfor murdering his brother Abel, God goes with him. Perhaps one of the first important stories where thewilderness is featured is found in Genesis 22. Abraham takes his only son – Isaac, the son of promise – intothe wilderness for sacrifice. And there, Abraham is prepared to sacrifice his belovedson. But there, caught in thethicket is a Ram. God provides a Ram for the sacrifice, Isaac is spared and theentire experience is one of testing and refining of the faith of Abraham.

InExodus, Moses leads the people of Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea andinto the wilderness, where they then wander lost for 40 years. This wilderness experience then becomesfor Israel a time of loss, anger, unfaithfulness, struggle and confusion. But at the same time, this wildernessexperience molds and shapes Israel into the people of God. For it is there in the wilderness thatthe people of Israel encounter God in a most profound way. The testing of the people in thewilderness leads to a life-changing and life-affirming experience of thepresence of God. Like in the storyof Adam and Eve and Cain, God is with the people every step of the way; like inthe story of Abraham, God provides Manna and water for their absolute needs andthe experience shapes them all and puts them on the path to the promised land.

It should not besurprising then that Mark begins his account of the Good News of Jesus Christin the wilderness. John theBaptizer is there, in the wilderness – like Elijah – calling the people to comeout to him. Remember it wasbelieved that the God of Israel resided in the Temple (Holy of Holies) inJerusalem, but here we learn that all of the people of Jerusalem were comingout into the wilderness to be baptized by John! They were going in the opposite direction from where God issupposed to be! They enter the God-forsakenwilderness and there they find God reaching out to them, inviting them torepent, to turn around and go in the opposite direction; there they find God promisingthem forgiveness and grace and assuring them of God’s commitment to theCovenant. And not only that therein the midst of the scene God provides. Like the Ram caught in the thicket which God provides for Abraham; likethe Manna from heaven provided to the starving people of Israel who arewandering lost in the wilderness, God provides none other than God’s only Son,the ultimate Lamb of God, who is also there in the wilderness and comes to bebaptized with the people whom God loves.

Wetoo live in the wilderness of this world, wandering lost, feeling forsaken attimes. The symbol of thewilderness is very real to us and to our experience of life. It is our place of testing and struggleand it molds and shapes us even as it threatens to overwhelm us. “The wilderness can be the despair thatdenies hope, the cynicism that goads us to believe that our doubts are truerthan our insights, the grief that binds us to our losses, the hostility thatwill not let us enjoy friends or family, or the addictions that degrade us,forcing us to give away all we have. Our spirits often drive us to wildernessesof our own making: desolate, lonely, god-forsaken places populated with allsorts of wild beasts.” (1) But therewe find God, reaching out to us, providing for us. It is there that we find Jesus, who comes into thewilderness to confront the evil and overcome the powers that dwell there, andto restore a garden-like, Eden-like, quality to our lives. No matter how desolate the wildernessof our lives appears to be, God is there, in Christ. God is there, loving and caring and offering forgiveness andgrace and providing for our needs. If we only might look up we might see the Manna showering upon us, orthe Ram stuck in the thicket or Jesus standing there besides us. And like Abraham and the people ofIsrael, we are shaped and molded by our experience of God in the wilderness andwe are set on the road of the discipleship, where we are led, like Isael,towards the promised land.

(1) The quotation is taken from the Smyth & Helwys Commentary on the Gospel of Mark - page 93

Reflections on the Gospel - Mark 1:1-8

2011-12-03T20:30:00.001-06:00

Read the text here: Mark 1:1-18

Beginnings and Endings

The beginning of the good news of JesusChrist, the Son of God. (Mark1:1)

As beginnings go,there is really not much here. Inthe Greek there are exactly 5 words that are followed by words of the prophetthat introduces John the Baptist and there we are: immersed in the story. No extended introduction with agenealogy (Matthew), no birth or childhood stories (Matthew & Luke), noextended philosophical musings on the incarnation (John). Nope, Mark is short and sweet and tothe point. Mark is in a hurry totell this story; Mark is in a hurry to get to the climax = the Passion. From this non-beginning beginning Markjumps from event to event in Jesus’ life and ministry at a fast pace. There are no extended sermons and thereis really no time to catch your breath. After all, Mark is proclaiming the “Gospel,” the “Good News,” the “GladTidings” of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

But that one word –“Gospel” – brings with it the power of dynamite. Mark doesn’t have to use many words to get this storystarted. This one word packs thepower of a rocket booster to propel us into the story. In our time, this word – “Gospel” –really means only one thing. It isused to describe the proclamation of Jesus as Lord, crucified and risen! But for Mark’s community and those whoreceived this telling of the story that word had other meanings. The Greek word – evangelion – was the word that was used to describe official Romanproclamations. If the empire hadtriumphed in battle somewhere and thus, brought Roman Peace (pax Romana) to a region; or if a newdivine emperor had taken power; or if there was some great news of the gloriousempire then the “Gospel” of Roman divine mandate was proclaimed throughout theempire. For Mark’s audience, thisword was then associated with the powers of oppression, the powers of peacethrough violence, the powers of death and darkness. So that word packs a punch for here, Mark is proclaiming a“Gospel” of the true power of God; the “Gospel” of freedom, grace andforgiveness, the “Gospel” of true peace (Shalom),the “Gospel” of life and light, the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ, the Son ofGod. Jesus Christ! Not theemperor! God’s son is this peasantfrom Nazareth, which is a no-where place! What a proclamation! No wonder Mark can’t wait to tell the story!

So after those first5 words we are introduced to the voice of the one who is called to prepare theway. Who is this? Mark tells us his name is John. But he is dressed like Elijah, he ispreaching repentance like Elijah and he is located in the wilderness around theJordan river (not Jerusalem!) like Elijah! Is this not Elijah? The very last two verses of the last book of the Old Testament make thispromise:

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijahbefore the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to the children andthe hearts of the children to their parents….. (Malachi 4:5-6)

You see – it is Elijah! Come at the end of all time. But wait,Mark used the word “beginning.” Isthis the end or the beginning? Elijah is in the wilderness calling the people to repentance, but thisElijah is John and his end of time proclamation also is preparation for a newbeginning. Ending? Beginning? Both – and! God has involved himself in the human experience from thebeginning of time. God has always been at work. But John represents an end of one way of God’s being in theworld and the beginning of a new way. John represents the end of the centrality of Jerusalem and the Temple;John represents the end of the time of the prophets and kings. On the other hand, John represents anew beginning where God recommits to the covenant; John represents a newbeginning where God himself is born into this human world; John represents anew beginning of a time when God will shower his beloved creation withforgiveness and love and grace. Endings and beginnings – all bound up together in these opening versesof this Good News of Jesus Christ.

Wewill again be confronted with this very issue at the end of the Gospel of Markwhen we hear how the women went to the tomb on the first day of the week toanoint the body, but the body was gone and instead there was an angel who proclaimedthat Jesus was risen! “And the women fled from the tomb and said nothing to noone, they were afraid for….” Theend! An end that isn’t an end,that leaves us hanging – just like the beginning that doesn’t ease us into thestory. Mark apparently doesn’t dobeginnings and endings. Or doeshe?

Perhaps Mark istrying to tell us something else. Maybe Mark is making the point in the first part of chapter 1 that thisbeginning is also an ending! Thisisn’t Elijah, because then it wouldn’t be a beginning – but at the same time itis the new Elijah – John who is preparing the way for the new beginning of thestory of God’s love and grace as shown forth in Jesus! Maybe Mark is making the point that theconclusion of chapter 16:8 is not really the end of the story – but that thisending is also the beginning of the new age, the Kingdom come into our midstand made possible only through the death and resurrection of Christ; abeginning of a story that is still ongoing and includes us – here – now in 2011/2012. This is not accidental. This is not incidental. This is an essential part of the entireGospel: the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning! Ultimately it is the cross of Christ which represents the ultimate ending which turns into a beginning. The cross is an instrument of torture and death, an instrument of the power of the world to bring God's work to an end. But it is not the end, because of the resurrection it is the beginning - a new beginning. A beginning of a new part of the story of God's amazing love ad grace and forgiveness.

Below is one of my favorite works of Renaissance art - it is the "Crucifixion" by Matthais Grünewald. In the center is Jesus on the cross. To the left (as we look at the painting) is Mary and John and Mary Magdalene in mourning. But on the right side is John the Baptist pointing a boney finger towards the cross. From the beginning to the end and beyond it is the cross which is central and which gives our lives meaning; it is the cross which continues to give us new beginnings. Luther said each day we should begin the day by crossing ourselves and each evening we should end the day by crossing ourselves to remind us that we are claimed by Christ and that through the cross God continues to give us new beginnings.

Reflections on the Gospel – Mark 13:24-37

2011-11-27T12:08:00.001-06:00

Read the text here: Mark 13:24-37

Keep Awake! Be Prepared! The Lordis coming! These themes of the season of Advent are also themes of this passagein the Gospel of Mark. Last weekwe finished our experience of the Gospel of Matthew with the prophecy of theSheep and the Goats from Matthew 25; this week we begin our year of Mark with apassage from the heart of what is called the “Little Apocalypse” in Mark. Last week Matthew gives us a rather unambiguousteaching on the Last Judgment and the centrality of Faith in Action; this weekMark gives us a very ambiguous look into the future to the Day of the Lord andwhat our response is to be. Whatin the world is this all about?

First, a definition is in order - theword: Apocalypse. The word itselfcomes from a Greek word which literally means “lifting the veil” or“revelation.” The first of thesedefinitions is especially important and relevant for Mark because the climacticevent in Mark’s telling of the story of Jesus is the crucifixion account inchapter 15 that ends with the tearing of the veil or the curtain in the temple(15:38). This is the veil thatseparates the holy of holies from the world. And the God of Israel resides in the Holy of Holies, butonce the veil is torn God abandons the Holy of Holies and God abandons theTemple and takes up residence in and among God’s people. So Apocalyptic is first and foremostabout this question: Where is God Found? And the answer Mark provides: In the Cross of Jesus!

Apocalyptic musings are, of course,all the rage and have been through the 20^th century (beginning inthe late 19^th century) in particular. Predictions of the end of the world in fiery, bloody andgraphic detail have been the subject of films, books and (sorry to say)preaching and (bad) theology. Thisviewpoint has even invaded our foreign policy as a nation, as some support ofIsrael, among one particular powerful group, is based on this (mis)-reading ofthe apocalyptic texts of the New Testament. Recently a California pastor announced that the world wouldend in terror and that the “rapture” would occur on May 21 (oops, I meanOctober 21). Lots of folks tookthis prediction seriously. Folks quit jobs, gave away possessions in order toprepare. One cynical group on theinternet created a business where they would promise to care for your pets inthe event you were “raptured.” They actually made money on this and folks signed up for theservice. Tragically one mothereven went so far as to murder her children in order to “save” them from theterror to come.

Is this what apocalyptic is allabout? In a word – NO! How can allof this predicted terror be squared with the Gospel proclamation that God lovesus madly and passionately – so much in fact that he gave us the Son? It can’t. There is not room here for a detailed critique ofcontemporary apocalyptic. I willsimply say that for the most part what has taken hold is a fiction that is completelyunbiblical and actually contrary to the Gospel. The doctrine of the “rapture” is both a figment of a warpedimagination and an example of really bad bible interpretation. The “Left Behind” books are fiction –and destructive fiction at that, since so many assume they represent the NewTestament. The other major problem with contemporary popular apocalyptic is that it is very self-focused. It appeals to the selfish and self-centered parts of our human nature that are mostly concerned with - What's in it for me? How do I make sure that I am covered? If that is really the focus of apocalyptic then how do we square that with a Savior who calls us to care for others and reach out to others in ways that address their real, physical needs? We can't. All of the Gospels and Paul believed that Jesus was coming back right away. But at the same time they also believed that in the meantime Christians were called to work for justice and to care for people and to busy themselves with the work of love. NOT to sit in caves alone, or on rooftops waiting for the Jesus to arrive. In other words - it's not about me - it's about community! The most destructive part of the popular apocalyptic/rapture nonsense is the destruction of community and the resultant turn inwards. The Gospel, the teachings and life of Jesus and the letters of Paul all have a completely different perspective: love through community!

So what does Mark in particular sayabout Apocalyptic? And how doesMark understand Apocalyptic? First, for Mark there is a two-fold focus: Yes, Mark (and Paul andothers in the 1^st century) did believe that Jesus would return rightaway. They were wrong and also misunderstoodJesus’ teaching. But the word “apocalyptic” itself gives us a hint of thesecond, and more important focus which Mark lifts up – that is: the crucifixionof Jesus. Jesus is enthroned in power when he is on the cross. Not only that, but Jesus’ death on thecross also results in the tearing of the veil of the temple. God now is not cooped up in the Holy ofHolies. God is now to be found inand among God’s people. And notjust in the good, happy or glorious, but rather, more profoundly, in hunger, inloss, in terror and fear, and in death itself. God is present – because of the Cross of Jesus!

Consequently, the call ofapocalyptic is NOT to turn inward and focus on our selves and our own selfishneeds. But rather it is to turnoutward. To see through the eyesof the Gospel that there is need – hunger, unemployment, homelessness, grief,loss, death in our midst and that God is present in those situation THROUGH US. Jesus says – Be Prepared – KeepAwake! How do we do that – throughFaith in Action. Through reachingout and caring and loving in Jesus’ name!

“Once asked what he would do if hebelieved the world would end tomorrow, Martin Luther is said to have responded,"I would plant a tree today." We also, confident of God's love andsure of God's promises about the future, can also invest in the present, in theeveryday and the ordinary, in the people and causes all around us. For we haveGod's promise in the cross and resurrection of Christ that in time God willindeed draw all of God's creation not just to an end, but to a good end.” DavidLose, Working Preacher

Reflections on the Gospel of Mark

2011-11-22T20:33:00.001-06:00

…and just as he wascoming up out of the water, her saw the heavens torn apart… (Mk. 1:10)

…and the curtain ofthe Temple was torn in two… (Mk. 15:38)

Advent is here and begins thiscoming weekend, and with Advent comes a shift in the lectionary readings onSunday morning from the Gospel of Matthew to the Gospel of Mark. So for Advent 2011 and all of 2012 (tothe end of November) our Gospel readings will come primarily from the Gospel ofMark (with a little John thrown in here and there). Mark is unique in a variety of ways and this year of Markprovides us with important opportunities for growth and understanding. Mark is considered to be the earliestGospel of the three synoptic Gospels and was probably written around the timeof the Jewish War that eventually culminated in the annihilation of Jerusalemand the complete destruction of the Temple. This was a very difficult time for Jews and Christians alikeliving in Israel. When the dust finally settled the Jewish people have been driven intoexile and the center of the fledgling Christian church moved from Jerusalem tothe competing centers of Rome, Antioch and Alexandria.

This background helps us tounderstand Mark and also, I believe, gives us a point of contact. These were hard times and one issuethat is central in the Gospel of Mark is the issue of hunger and bread. Starvation was a constant issue at thistime and this is not so different from our own time. There is an amazing amount of hunger which surroundsus. Around the world we seeliterally millions of people starving to death in places like Somalia, but evenin our own country unemployment and raising food prices have brought more andmore hunger right to our very doorstep. For the first time in a long time the Peace Food Pantry is struggling tokeep up with the demand. The BoyScout food drive only provided about half of the food that was donated lastyear even though the need is so much greater now. Hunger is in our midst, just as it was a very real presencefor Mark’s own community.

So in the midst of all of thisstruggle and difficulty and hunger the question that Mark raises is a simpleone: Where is God? Where is God tobe found? And the answer ispointed to in the passages quoted above – note the bold-face on the word torn. The heavens are tornapart at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and at the conclusion of Jesus’ministry the curtain in the Temple is also tornin two. The belief was thatGod resided in the Temple Holy of Holies which was divided from the outsideworld by a special curtain or veil. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and stand in thepresence of God. The violentripping of the heavens first and then the temple veil signifies that God willno longer be contained. God is nowpresent with God’s people in the midst of their struggles and misery andhunger. Through Jesus, God entersinto the human experience and is especially present with those in need. Through Jesus, God feeds and heals andcomforts and loves.

And everything moves us towards thePassion in Mark – so that the Passion of Jesus IS the culmination and theanswer to every question. Whenwill the Messiah come? The Messiah has come in Jesus and his coming culminatesin the crucifixion. The cross isabsolutely central to understanding Mark. In fact, throughout the entire Gospel there is a breathless haste thatpervades the telling of the story – until we arrive at the Passion. “Immediately” this and “immediately”that. Jesus is on the move and weliterally jump from one thing to the next at a fast pace because we are careeningtowards the cross!

Also, in Mark, Jesus is fully humanin a very unique way, and in a way that is not shared in the other Gospels. In Mark, Jesus has strong emotions, hegets angry, he despairs, he gets tired physically, he even makes mistakes andtakes correction; Jesus is not just described as being fully human; Jesus isfully human in a remarkable way that might actually make someuncomfortable. But of course, thisis what we confess every week in the creed, even though I suspect few of ushave ever thought through the implications of our belief that Jesus was fullyhuman. Well, we get to this yearas we explore the Gospel of Mark.

At this time of the year when weare focused on Christmas preparations the introduction of the Gospel of Markprovides us Christians with an important reminder that we, like the discipleshave been called to follow the master to the cross. We have been called to not ignore or avert our eyes when wesee hunger, unemployment, senseless violence and other examples of human miseryand brokenness. Instead we arecalled to “immediately” recognize that we are defined by the cross of Jesus,that we have responsibility as followers and disciples and God has notabandoned us, but is here, profoundly present with us – especially when westruggle.

To give credit to where credit is due - I spent a day at a seminar on Mark conducted by Eden Seminary New Testament Professor Dr. Deborah Krause. It was a magnificent conference and Mark was opened to me in a way it never had been before.

Reflections on the Gospel – “The Sheep and the Goats” Matthew 25:31-46

2011-11-20T14:13:00.001-06:00

Read the Text Here: Matthew 25:31-46

Surprise!!!

We have come to the last Sunday ofthe church year and the last Sunday of our year of Matthew. This Sunday is also celebrated as theFeast of Christ the King or the Feast of the Reign of Christ. The text is the prophecy of the sheepand the goats and is a judgment prophecy. The context of this passage is important in that it is contained in thevery last teaching discourse that is contained in Matthew. Immediately following this – in chapter26 – we move into the passion narrative. This is important to recognize this ona day in which we are celebrating the “Kingship” of Jesus for Kingship loomslarge in the Gospel of Matthew. The kings of this world (like Herod in Chapter 2) are enthroned in gloryand splendor and have power and authority concentrated in them. Some of them were considered to begods. But Jesus, our King, isenthroned on a cross, wearing a crown of thorns. Jesus does hold the authority and power of God, but gives itup out of love. The resurrectionenthrones Christ at the right hand of God, but not before the Passion. This context is very important forunderstanding this judgment prophecy.

Judgment is a part of our faith andcertainly influences our understanding of God. Some of us have come to understand the Gospel only in termsof judgment. For these people theGospel is a series of rules and regulations that MUST be followed or else. For others of us we downplay judgmentto the point that it becomes little more than a slap on the wrist. The prophecyof the Sheep and the Goats makes clear that judgment is real and that both ofthose understandings are incomplete. This teaching along with the parables that we have been studying sinceJuly helps us to understand a couple important things about judgment.

1^st – Judgment is theconsequence of Sin. Judgment isthe consequence of our actions, our behaviors and our decisions. This image of God giving out earned butbasically unjust punishments that seem out of proportion to the infractionitself is simply a incorrect understanding of the Gospel. Sin is our putting ourselves in theplace of God and pushing God out of our lives; the results of Sin are the sinsof hurting others as we push our selfish agendas. The consequence is that we will destroy ourselves andothers. We bring judgment onourselves. Thus, earthquakes andhurricanes are NOT a sign of God’s judgment. The goats here are not destroyed by a tornado. We will learn that the goats areseparated out and judged because they have consistently put themselves in thecenter of their own universe pushing God and others out in the process. They have brought this judgment upon themselves.

2. We are thus completely dependenton Christ’s love and grace. AsPaul states in Romans – we are all guilty and deserving of judgment. The Gospel is about to move into thePassion during which Jesus suffers the ultimate consequence in our place sothat we might be forgiven and be free to live lives as disciples which reflectthis grace and love. Think, forexample, of the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” (yes it’s from Luke). The younger son deserves punishment andjudgment and actually fully expects it. What he receives instead is unexpected and abundant grace and love andforgiveness. In fact it is soabundant that it is offensive to his older brother. We deserve judgment, but because of Christ we are saved fromit and forgiven and showered with abundant and undeserved grace and love.

3. And, it all comes as a bigsurprise! The part of this prophecyI love the most is when both the sheep and the goats respond to the judgmentwith surprise: “When was it that we….?” This brings it right down to the level of our everyday lives andrelationships. Our discipleship isto become 2^nd nature – we do those acts of mercy and grace, we livein ways that reflect God’s love not because we are trying to be good so Godwill love us. But rather thisbehavior comes naturally to us – so naturally in fact that we are surprisedwhen Christ tells us that it was He, Himself that we served and cared for inlove – or not!

What then can we do? If there is not a list of things to do;if God doesn’t base our acceptance on the good and wonderful things we do andif Christian discipleship is to become 2^nd nature how do weaccomplish that? The Gospel andSt. Paul have answers for this question too: We pray – we study the bible – weattend worship – we partake of the Sacrament – we remember our Baptism – wepractice acts of mercy – we give of ourselves in small or large ways to thework of ministry – we contribute our time, talents and money to the work of thechurch - we celebrate and participate in community.

This prophecy is one of judgmentand is a call for us to look and evaluate ourselves and our lives andpriorities. It is also a call tocommunity – to be in a community to rests on the love and mercy and grace andlove of Christ, who is the King of Glory.

Notice in the picture above how the sheep are clustered together working together to protect each other from the hot sun. Notice how the goats are pretty much the rugged individualist. Dr. Bruce Shein (my NT professor in seminary) used to say he never saw a dead sheep in the field, but often saw lots of dead goats!

Also - note: The judgment is based on caring for others - feeding, providing water, visiting, reaching out to those who are excluded and so forth. Funny, Jesus never says anything about having right doctrine, or believing the right things, or understanding, or being morally pure or being a part of the right denomination or associating with the right people - it's all about Faith in Action reaching out and caring for others - those who are excluded, those who are hungry, those who are suffering. Funny how this text never seems to come up in the rather self-congratulatory and vacuous political dialog that we are currently enduring. I wonder why that is?

Reflections on the Parables – Matthew 25:14-30 – The Parable of the Talents

2011-11-13T12:05:00.001-06:00

Read the text here: Matthew 25:14-30

End of the Road - Beginning of the Journey

Well, we have come to the very lastparable of the year! The text for next week is more of a prophecy (the sheepand the goats) than a parable. Butwe finish our 6-month look at Jesus’ parables with this Parable of theTalents. So before we look moreclosely at this particular parable I want to make a couple observations aboutparables in general. 1^st– All of the parables are parables of the Kingdom of God, which through Jesus hascome into our midst. The Kingdomof God (or in Matthew the Kingdom of Heaven) is not off in the future – it isnow! 2^nd – All of the parables give us a glimpse of who God is andhow God chooses to relate to us. And the words that describe this would include – overflowing love andabundant grace; 3^rd – the parables all call on us to respond toGod’s overflowing and sometimes crazy and illogical love and grace by livinglives that reflect the Kingdom. Andresponse is called forth – one way or another. By refusing to respond, that is a response. So what kind of response is appropriatefor such amazing gifts that God bestows upon us. Keep these in mind as you consider this parable.

We are now close to the conclusionof the Gospel of Matthew and Jesus is preparing his disciples for his arrest,crucifixion and resurrection. SoJesus is talking about end times and also about how it is we are to live in thetime between Jesus’ ascension and his 2^nd coming. This particular parable is actually the2^nd of a set – the first being last week’s Parable of the Wise andFoolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13). Matthew 25:1 includes an introduction that would include both parables: The Kingdom of Heaven is like this…. 10 bridesmaids waiting to processinto the Wedding Banquet of the Lord. But 5 were unprepared in that they ran out of the oil of faith and theirlamps went out. The lamps thatreflected the love and grace and forgiveness of the Groom stopped burning. Consequently they exclude themselvesfrom the Great Banquet.

Jesus goes on immediately to tellanother parable of a master who is going away for a long, long time and inpreparation for this he entrusts his property to 3 servants. This is given to them – according to theirability and potential – in the form of “talents.” Now a talent is a financial commodity, roughly equal to 20years wages for a common laborer at the time. Five talents would equal 100 years of common wages. The point is that it is an overflowingamount that has been entrusted to the servants (us). What do the servants do with what is entrusted to them? What do the servants have to present tothe master when he returns from his journey? Well two of the servants invest, cultivate, give it away andotherwise manage the trust in a way that gives them a 100% return. But the 3^rd servant –well – he has nothing to show. Hehad taken what was entrusted to him and hidden it away, protecting it so thathe could simply return to the master all that had been entrusted to him. There is no procrastination or busynesshere. This servant did this onpurpose. And the consequence is that he is throw into the “outer darkness”(like the 5 foolish maidens) and (also like them) excluded from the GreatBanquet!

It is very interesting to look atwhat the servant says to explain why he chose to bury the talent. The master is a harsh man, he says, onewho has high expectations and it is clear that this servant was afraid of themaster. Now, we don’t know how theother servants felt about the master, but they do not seem to be paralyzed withfear like this 3^rd servant. This fear has led the servant to focus on one thing –self-preservation! He cannot getbeyond this and the treasure entrusted to him benefits no one – because it isburied. If we see the talent asfaith (which is not passive but active) then we can see the relation with the 5foolish bridesmaids. For them itwas busyness and procrastination – for the 3^rd servant it wasfear. But the result was aself-focus and selfishness which resulted in the extinguishing and burying oftheir faith – which means no action; no reflection of God’s grace; just a focuson the unholy trinity of me, myself andI.

So what about you? What are yougoing to do with the overflowing and abundant gifts that God has entrusted toyou? Are you like the girls in the1^st parable – too busy to worry about faith? Or are you like the 3^rdservant in the 2^nd parable – either so fearful of God, or soself-focused that all you want to do is bury the gifts and keep them hidden? In what ways is God calling you toinvest your talent / treasure?

This morning we will include acommitment time during our worship. This will be a time for us to consider how we use the gifts that God hasgiven to us – in what ways we are letting the light of our faith shine forth. The commitment slip we are asking youto bring to the altar includes a financial commitment to the ministry of theGospel for the coming year. Butthat is not all. It also includesother things – a commitment to regular prayer and Bible study, a commitment tobeing in worship and partaking regularly of the Sacrament, etc. All of this is important as it providesus with a way of both investing the talent/treasures God has given us andreplenishing the oil of our faith.

Relfections on the Parables - Matthew 25:1-13 - The Parable of the Wise & Foolish Maidens

2011-11-06T12:33:00.002-06:00

Read the Parable here: Matthew 25:1-13

Be Prepared!

Watch and wait! Be prepared for delay – a long delay! Don’tbe caught unprepared! These appear to be the central themes of our Gospelparable for today. The parable of the 10 Bridesmaids is perhaps one of the bestknown, but also one of the most difficult of all of Jesus’ parables. Perhapsthis is because it really takes aim at us modern Christians – right where weare most vulnerable: the pace of life! On the one hand we live in a veryfast-paced and impatient world. Wehate waiting; we are uncomfortable with silence. We need to have somethinggoing on all of the time. We get impatient with waiting at the doctor’s officeor standing in long lines or with an internet connection that isn’t as fast aswe would like. We can hardly wait– we can hardly stand to wait! Butthen on the other hand we are procrastinators. I don’t feel like it. I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll finish thatmodel with my son tomorrow, I’ll visit my mom in the nursing home tomorrow,I’ll start reading the bible and praying tomorrow, I’ll give a little more ofmy time and money to the church tomorrow, I’ll…. (You can fill in the blanks.) So, to us busy, faced-pacedprocrastinators, Jesus has a parable – one that really focuses on the issue oftime and raises some important questions about how faith is reflected in ourlives.

The setting is a wedding. We had a parable about a wedding celebration last week. Thesettings of two of Jesus’ most challenging and difficult parables are weddings.Why? Well, weddings were very important in the ancient world. In many ways thefuture health and well-being of a community was dependent on weddings. And so these were major events. In a smaller village everyone would beinvited and everyone would be involved. The wedding events would begin with the groom and his party calling onthe bride’s father and concluding the arrangements – dowry, wedding gifts, andso on. Following that the bridewould be presented to the groom, who would escort her to his home, then theywould enter the bridal chamber alone for a while. After all of that was concluded they would go in processionto the wedding banquet/party, which could last for the better part of a week. So the 10 young women in our parable fortoday have been chosen to be a part of this final procession to the feast.

Now, apparently these young women are assuming that theprocession will begin sometime around dusk. Perhaps from previous experience they figure that all thatother stuff will be concluded by then. But for whatever reason it is not. And they have to wait, and wait, and wait and wait. So far in the story there is nothing todistinguish these girls one from another. Each has been chosen to participate, each is prepared for theprocession, each is waiting and each one of them ultimately falls asleepwaiting. It is only when the cryarises announcing the advent of the bridegroom that we realize there ISsomething that distinguishes these girls from one another. Five of them had anticipated that thewait might be longer than anticipated and had brought extra oil, just incase. The other five, well, theydidn’t. They thought perhaps thatsurely it can’t take that long and they were too excited and in too big a hurryto bother with extra oil. But now,at midnight, the groom is coming, the procession is beginning and they are outof oil. “Can we borrow some ofyours?” They ask their sisters? “No, there isn’t enough,” comes the reply. And so the five “foolish” girls rushout to search for oil in the middle of the night, trying I suppose to get itand get back in time. But theyfail, and they are then locked out of the party!

Please note – just like in the Parable of the WeddingBanquet from last week, these 5 “foolish” girls have brought “judgment” uponthemselves, and it is administered by no less a person than the groom himself(not the servants!). The foolishgirls have excluded themselves from the party because they were not prepared towait; because they ran out of oil and so their light went out. And without aburning lamp they cannot participate in the procession and they cannot enterthe feast! This parable should bythis time be easy to interpret: Jesus is the delayed Bridegroom; the Maidensare the disciples/believers of every age and the oil is faith active in thelamps of lives so that it burns brightly. Just like the parable from last week there is a baptism connection. In baptism we always conclude thebaptismal liturgy by lighting a candle and handing it to the newly baptized (orhis/her parent) with these words: Let your light so shine before others, thatthey may see your good works and glorify your father, who is in heaven. This line is based on ateaching of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:16). The light is thelight of faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in our Lord whom we expect at any moment, but faith that calls forus to expect and prepare for delay; faith in the crucified and risen Messiahwhose light shines forth in the gift of faith that is bestowed upon us atbaptism.

And remember faith in the bible is not just mental assent;faith is not passive. Faith is not a personal private thing; faith is not beingreligious. Faith is always active;faith is public and visible to all – like a burning lamp; faith is alwaysreflected in one’s life and priorities; faith is the light of Christ shiningforth brilliantly through the lives of Jesus’ disciples of every time andplace.

So are you prepared for the wait? Are you prepared to letthe light of your faith, the light bestowed on you at baptism, are you preparedto allow it to shine forth in your life? How does your faith manifest itself inthe way you live and the choices you make? How is the light of Christ shiningforth in your life? Are you intouch with the bridegroom though constant prayer? Are you participatingactively in the life and ministry of your community of faith – through yourgiving of your time and talents and money? Are you ready to join in theprocession and join the saints of every age at the wedding banquet of ourLord? For ultimately this parableis not really about oil or lamps it is about being ready to meet the groom; itis about being ready to meet Jesus and join Him at the feast!

Reflections on the Parable – Matthew 22:1-14

2011-10-28T20:48:00.001-05:00

Ok, Back to Parables for the lastfour weeks of the church year. All of these four parables have been classifiedas “Parables of Judgment.” And, tomake matters more complex, this week we have the first of two Wedding Banquetparables. So – weddingbanquet/judgment = all rolled up into one parable.

Read the text of the parable here: Matthew 22:1-14

This parable comes in the middle ofJesus’ contentious debates with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians and otherswho are trying to undermine Jesus so they can get eliminate this troublemakeronce and for all. But it is not soeasy. Jesus is clever and quickwitted and, not only that, but he knows the law backwards and forwards. Besting Jesus in a debate is notworking out so well. And to makematters worse Jesus has picked up a large crowd of followers who are hanging onevery word! This raises the stakes as well and also threatens riot. So into this highly charged atmosphereJesus tells a parable about a King who has invited all of the nobility to thewedding feast of his only Son, but those who were invited reject the invitationtwice! And the 2^nd time they mistreat the servants, even to thepoint of killing some of them! So, the King sends retribution against them andsends his servants out to the highways, the town squares, the streets of thecity to round up everyone else – “the good and the bad” – who are invited inplace of the original guests. Itdoes not take a brilliant exegetical mind to see that Jesus has cast hisopponents in the role of the 1^st invitees who have rejected theinvitation and murdered the servants (Jesus and the prophets!).

First a couple of historical notes:To be invited to the wedding of the King’s son was the greatest honor a citizencould have expected to receive. Ifsuch an invitation arrived it was a circle the date and do not miss thisevent. In a poor agrarian societythe regular diet would have consisted of mostly grains and bread, olives, leeksand so on. Meat was saved forspecial occasions – notably religious festivals and weddings! That these 1^strecipients would have refused for rather mundane things would have providedsome chuckles. Who in their right mind would refuse an invitation to a weddingfeast of a King where there would be free food (meat!)? But the sending of a 2^ndinvitation would have also brought nods of recognition. Sometimes an invitation would have beenput aside in order to wait to see who else is going to be there. After all, if you are going to a majorsociety event you want to know that the celebrities and big names in thesociety are actually going to be there. The beating and murder of the servantsbearing the 2^nd invitation would have provided the shock. And theretribution that follows would not have raised eyebrows. Of course the King had to respond tosuch an affront to his honor. Butequally shocking would have been the King’s extending the invitation to everyoneelse –people of a lower social class – both the good and the bad!

So the King fills up the hall withguests – the poor, the outcasts: losers of various stripes and flavors. Andwedding garments were provided. Therewas a superstition that was very common in the entire Mediterranean region thatconcerned itself with a jealous or envious wedding guest putting a curse on thenew couple by means of an “evil eye.” To counter this danger the host would provide special wedding garmentsthat could disarm the curse and protect the couple. So when the King finds a guest who is not wearing thewedding garment that had been provided it is seen as more than just a fashionfaux pas. This was an affront, an insult and a threat. No wonder the King hasthis guest thrown out into the outer darkness (the “Suburbs of Hell” as onewriter calls it).

In closing some thoughts about theapplication of this parable. It ison the one hand a judgment parable. We cannot pretend that it is not simply because we don’t like to thinkof the judgment side of God. Butnote, first of all the original invitees brought the judgment upon themselves.The King does not send violence after the first rejection instead he sendsanother invitation. He really wantsthese folks to come to the Banquet. It is only after they beat and murder the servants that they bring thisjudgment down upon themselves. 2^nd, it is the King who is in chargeof judgment. The King, who wentout of his way to invite folks to the great wedding banquet, and who opens upthe invitation to all. So, if webegin to see ourselves as the invitees we also need to recognize that whateverjudgment may be in the future is up to God and is not delegated to us!

On the other hand, this is a parableto Grace. The King really wants these folks to come to the wedding banquet andgoes out of his way to send two invitations to try to get them to come and thenwhen rejected the King extends the invitation to all – the good and the bad.The only expectation is that we accept the invitation, that we humbly put ourself-centered need to be in the center of our universe aside so that we can puton the white garment of Baptism and come to the banquet. And guess what? It isfree. The gift of God’s love, grace, forgiveness is free. The garment is evenfree, the food at the banquet is free. What a deal!!! The invitation has arrived. How will you respond?

Reflections on the Gospel – Matthew 22:15-22 – “The Icon/Image of God”

2011-10-16T21:39:00.000-05:00

Read the Gospel text here: Matthew 22:15-22

Reflections on the Gospel – Matthew 22:15-22 – “The Icon/Image of God”

What no parable? We are taking a break from parables for the next couple weeks. But fear not we still have a few of Jesus’ most challenging and wonderful parables to examine before the end of November. But today and for a couple weeks we find ourselves standing in the Courtyard of the Temple listening in as Jesus is challenged and verbally attacked by various groups – scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees (just to name a few). In the text for today the questioning attackers are trying a new tactic: flattery, manipulation and seduction. “Oh teacher, we know you are so holy and teach God’s way in truth and purity, please tell us the answer to this important spiritual question… blah, blah, blah.” Jesus does not fall for it, but it certainly would be easy for others to be snagged by this.

The question itself seems innocent enough when it is posed: should we pay taxes to the Romans or not? What is the right thing for a devout and spiritual person who desires to keep God’s law? Except that the question is a trap. If Jesus were to say – “no, you should not pay taxes” – then he would be in trouble with the Romans; and if he were to say “yes, you should pay taxes” – then he would be in trouble with many of the more radical elements of his followers (the Zealots, etc…). This question is a no win question for Jesus. But Jesus does not fall into the trap, instead he turns it back on the questioners by using a very common Rabbinical practice of his day – he answers the question with a question: “Can you show me a coin? Whose image is on the coin?” Jesus need not have said anything else after this. For the simple act of producing a Roman coin within the Temple was enough to discredit and undermine the credibility of the questioners.

Roman coins had more on them than just the head of the Emperor (Tiberius in this instance). There would also have been an inscription that would have read something to this effect: The Divine Caesar, Son of God. For a devout Judean to produce this coin, or have possession of this coin, especially inside the Temple compound was a blatant breaking of the 1^st commandment – it was blasphemy. To possess this coin was tantamount to acknowledging another god besides the one God, Yahweh. With this in mind then Jesus’ final, famous, line takes on new meaning: “Render/give to Caesar what the things of Caesar and render/give to God the things of God!” And what actually are the things of divine Caesar who claims to be a son of god – nothing! By contrast, the God and Father of Jesus is the God who created everything that is – so the things of God’s are simply everything that is!

Sometimes this passage is used to justify a division between church and state or a theology of two kingdoms. This is not what this text is about. The text is really all about the image of God. In verse 20, this translation has Jesus ask, “Whose head” in on the coin. But the Greek word (for head) is actually the word – IKON – which should sound familiar. This Greek word has been taken into English as the word ICON which means IMAGE. The question then is “whose image is on the coin?” – Caesar’s. But, whose image is reflected in creation? Whose imagine are we created as reflections of? The image of the one true and almighty God – that’s who! (Genesis 1:27 – So God created humankind in His image; in the image of God were they created; male and female were they created.) And so, if we are made in the image of God what does that say to us about our loyalties and our priorities; what does it say to us about how we are in relationship with others, who are also created in the image of God?

This text is about loyalty and about commitment’ It is about making decisions and setting priorities; it is about recognizing that not only are we made in God’s image but the cross of Jesus is branded on our foreheads in Baptism and so we are an icon or image of Jesus in the midst of this world. And does this make any difference? It should – it should say a lot to us about the way we live and spend our money and schedule our time and so on. So in what ways is your life an icon or image of Jesus?

Reflections on the Parables - "The Parable of the Wicked Tenants" - Matthew 21:33-46

2011-10-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

Read the text of the parable here: Matthew 21:33-46

Something for Nothing - The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

We have been looking at parables now for a while – since the beginning of July to be exact. One thing that has been mentioned in passing is that some of the parables have long interpretation traditions that color and influence our reading of them. In some cases this is a good thing; in some cases, not so much. The parable for this morning is one of these latter. The parable of the wicked tenants has a long, sad and violent history as being a proof-text for anti-Semitic activities. This interpretation suggests that the Jewish people, like the wicked tenants, have destroyed the servants (prophets) and the son (Jesus) and because they are guilty of killing Jesus they should be put to the sword and persecuted. This is NOT what this parable is about. That interpretation completely misses the mark and, more than that, is thoroughly anti-Gospel. So there is no misunderstanding: I completely reject that interpretation!

As we have seen from the other parables they focus either on God (the land-owner in this case) and/or on US. WE are the wicked tenants. WE are the ones who have rejected Jesus, and killed the servants and the son. WE are the ones who are always trying to get something for nothing (see ELW hymn #349 – verse 2!). God, the landowner, has called us to work in the vineyard of the world. But we decide we want the fruits of the land for ourselves and we refuse to give back to God that which is rightfully God’s. And we beat and mistreat and murder those who would call us to be responsible. And what does God the landowner do in response? God keeps sending servants, until finally God sends God’s son. In other words, God never gives up on us. This is the amazing part of the story, and the part that is too often missed. Certainly the attitude of the tenants is hair-brained. Do they really think they can get away with this plot to take over the vineyard? But the landowner’s constant efforts to establish a relationship with the tenants and never giving up, no matter how many servants are badly treated.. Well, that is kind of crazy too. That’s the thing about God’s grace – it isn’t sensible, it isn’t logical – it just is – abundantly!

So, after all that they do how should the landowner treat the tenants in the end? “They should be put to the sword and utterly destroyed!” Now, who says that? The Pharisees and scribes who are listening to Jesus tell the story. Jesus doesn’t say that! And in speaking those words of condemnation the Pharisees and scribes condemn themselves! And…

“…that's part of Matthew's narrative brilliance, I suspect, to have his opponents voice their own condemnation. But it invites us to consider a different question: not what will that landowner do, but what did that land owner do. And to that question we have Jesus' own answer: the landowner sent his son, Jesus, to treat with all of us who have hoarded God's blessings for ourselves and not given God God's own due. And when we killed him, God raised him the dead, and sent him back to us yet one more time, still bearing the message of God's desperate, crazy love.” Dr. David Lose, Luther Seminary - "Crazy Love"

This parable is, like the others, about the abundant and extravagant grace that God has for us! In this parable Jesus is illustrating how God goes to extravagant and excessive, even illogical and crazy extents to shower this love and grace upon us. And no matter how many times we reject God, God keeps at it. God keeps working on establishing a relationship with us!

This parable is paired in Matthew, with the Parable of the Two Sons (from last week). Jesus’ words of interpretation that conclude that parable make it clear that ultimately it is about faith (see 21:32). So too does the Parable of the Wicked Tenants point us to issues of faith. A loving, patient and forgiving God freely and abundantly showers God’s grace upon us. How will we respond? Will we accept this gift? Will we respond to the gift with faith and trust that leads us to act in responsible and generous ways towards God and others? Or are we content, like the tenants, to assume that we can get something for nothing?

Reflections on the Parable – “The Workers in the Vineyard” – Matthew 20:1-16

2011-09-18T12:14:00.000-05:00

Read the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard here: Matthew 20:1-16

It's Not Fair!

Over the course of our focus on the Parables of Jesus there have been two very important themes that have emerged: 1. God loves God’s creation – extravagantly, madly, passionately and showers upon the beloved creation this love and grace in outrageous abundance. God’s goes to extravagant and illogical extremes in showing love, grace and forgiveness to all of God’s creation – that would be us, you and me. And the 2^nd theme is related and comes forth from this: we are called to be in community and to reflect this crazy extravagant love and grace and forgiveness in the way we relate and treat and interact with others!

This is not so easy for us and Jesus acknowledges this fact in the parables while at the same time shocking and challenging us to move beyond our inclination to be focused only on ourselves and our tendency to judge and our desire for selfish fairness. It is this latter issue that is the focus of the parable for today: The Workers in the Vineyard. The landowner hires day workers throughout the day but in the end, when it is time to pay the workers all of them get the same pay regardless of how long they have worked. Now it is important to note a very important point: The employer pays all of the workers exactly what he promised. He is not trying to cheat them. They all agreed to work for a set amount, but at the end of the day the workers who worked the longest felt it was unfair that those who were hired last got paid the same. The issue is envy and their sense of fairness, which has been offended.

If we are honest we have to admit that we probably are sympathetic to the position of the workers. If we were in their place we might very probably feel the same. It’s not fair that they all got paid the same! But we also need to look a little more closely at this. There are three points that I feel this parable raises about the issue of fairness and how we tend to experience and apply it.

First – if we are not careful, our sense of fairness can easily turn into works righteousness. You only get what you earn; you only get what you deserve; if you don’t put in the time and the work then you don’t deserve to receive _______ (you can fill in the blank). This is a popular attitude in our society. And to some extent our economy is based on this. But it runs into problems when people find themselves unable to work and contribute for reasons that are out of their control (ageing, illness, unemployment, etc.). So do we hold to our fairness doctrine that says – if you don’t work then you don’t eat regardless? It also runs into problems when we apply the same paradigm upon our relationship with God. This then turns the grace and love of God into a commodity that must be earned. This is completely rejected by Jesus and condemned by the parables that Jesus tells. God’s love and grace are freely and extravagantly given to us all.

2^nd – If we are really honest we have to admit that our sense of fairness is really very egocentric. We evaluate issues of fairness in terms of what I feel is fair, or what is fair for me! As David Lose writes, “We tend to measure fairness in terms of our own wants, needs, hopes, expectations, often with little -- or at least secondary -- regard for the wants and needs of others.” Way too much of our political discourse is focused to appeal to our self-interest at the expense of the community. This parable calls that into question. The landowner’s generosity is extravagant and, in fact, it is to be celebrated as it means that all of the worker’s can now feed their families. How hard is it for us to be able to see that this position or this law or that government program, which might take a little from us individually may offer a lifeline and healing to someone else. This parable calls for us to seriously consider this.

Third, and last is the issue of envy. Envy, the green-eyed monster, blinds us, it burdens us, enrages us, divides us and separates us from each other and from God. Envy can lead to resentment and bitterness that sometimes can last a lifetime. Envy separates us from the community and from God and sends us off into our lonely corners of self-pity and resentment where we can create for ourselves (and sometimes for those around us) an experience of hell on earth if we are not careful. This parable calls on us to look at how we apply our sense of fairness and how it leads us to separation and a continued experience of resentment and bitterness.

The bottom line: God is not fair. A sense of fairness is a human trait. God, by contrast is extravagantly and illogically loving and gracious. God showers us with love and forgiveness and acceptance and grace. God’s love for us is not dependent upon any sense of what is fair. And to that we can only respond: Thanks Be To God!

"Forgiveness" - Reflections on the Parable of the "Unforgiving Servant" - Matthew 18:21-35

2011-09-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

Read the Gospel Parable here: Matthew 18:21-35

Reflections on the Parable – “The Unforgiving Servant” – Matthew 18:21-35

The parables are like a large and beautiful diamond. To focus one’s gaze on the parables is to gaze into the heart of the Kingdom of God. Each of these parables give us a different view and help us to complete the picture of what God’s realm on earth looks like; and they help us to also see a little of who God is. These images are often surprising, shocking and even offensive: God is like a sower who doesn’t really know how to sow; God is like an incompetent judge; God is like an employer who doesn’t know how to manage personnel. God’s realm is a place where all of God’s people are a part of one community; where we have responsibility for each other; where the usual human cultural, racial and sexual divisions and stereotypes no longer apply. God’s realm is a place of radical, illogical abundant grace, love and forgiveness.

The parable of the Prodigal Son gave us one glimpse of the abundant and radical forgiveness that God offers to us through Jesus. Today our parable gives us another view and may add some more to the picture. In the parable of the Unforgiving Servant we have a King who has slaves and one slave in particular has become substantially indebted to him. The slave owes the king 10,000 talents! Now, a talent was a measure of weight – roughly 130 lbs – which was used to measure out silver or gold. In monetary terms 1 talent was equal to about 15 years of income for a 1^st century peasant or farmer. That would be 10,000 x 15 = 150,000 years of income. This slave owes the king something somewhat equal to the US current national debt! That is a lot of indebtedness! The slave cannot hope to come close to paying this off. He begs for forgiveness and it is granted. The king forgives him the entire debt! That is a lot to forgive! The king (God) extravagantly and abundantly and illogically forgives!

And what does this slave do in response? Well, he goes out and comes across a fellow slave who owes him 100 denarii and demands repayment. Now slave 1 owed 10,000 talents; 1 talent is worth 15 years of income and 1 talent = 5,475 denarii. So, if 10,000 talents are close in value to current US debt, 1 denarii would be like having $1,000 on a credit card that you can’t pay off. It is a burden, but not really comparable to the trillions owed by the US to banks. But slave 1 will not forgive and has slave 2 thrown into debtor’s prison. Slave #1, by refusing to extend forgiveness, has just refused the forgiveness offered to him by the King. Despite the extravagant gift offered to him by the King, he refuses it through his inability to extend the same gift, at a much smaller level, to another. He chooses prison and darkness for himself and his family. End of story…. Not really.

What about us? “How much do I have to forgive?” asks Peter. “77 times,” answers Jesus – which means there is no limit. And that refusal to forgive will be a prison for us and for our families. The 1^st point of course is obvious – God’s forgiveness for us is abundant and extravagant and illogical. God’s forgiveness of us is always available. Can we accept it though? Remember, the other parables have made it clear that we are interwoven with others in our community and refusal to forgive others is tantamount to rejecting God’s offer of forgiveness, which binds us and throws us into the darkness and prison of our bitterness and anger and nursing our hurts. God offers us the opportunity to turn all of that over to God and to be freed from this prison of our own making. This parable offers us a choice: can we accept the gift which God offers to us, which includes our being willing and able to turn our hurts over to God and offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us? Or would we prefer to remain bound and in the darkness of our bitterness and anger, nursing old hurts and betrayals?

A couple of words about forgiveness: this is one of those Church words which gets bandied about so much that over time it takes on baggage that keep us from understanding what it really means. 1. Forgiveness does not mitigate consequences. If you have been victim of a criminal act you might very well be able to come to a point where you can forgive the perpetrator, but this does not mean that then there are no consequences for either of you. There may be serious consequences which you might need to live with for a long time. When I broke my grandmother’s picture window playing baseball, my grandmother forgave me, but I still had to pay for the window. Forgiveness does not eliminate the consequences 2. Forgiveness does NOT mean – “forgive and forget!” Repeat: Forgiveness does NOT mean – “forgive and forget.” How this attitude ever developed I do not know. But it is completely unbiblical. When we forgive we need to have learned and grown through the experience – and the same with the one who we are forgiving. This comes up all the time – but if forgetting is part of the equation then we will never move forward. 3. Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. We may be able to come to a point where we can forgive a hurt or betrayal which we experienced, but it does not necessarily follow that we can be reconciled with the perpetrator. Maybe, but it is a different process. 4. Who benefits from forgiveness? It is not necessarily the one who is being forgiven. The gift of forgiveness is a gift which God offers to us as a way of our being freed from the bondage and darkness and dungeon of holding grudges, seeking revenge, nursing hurts and so forth.

Finally, forgiveness is a gift from God. We cannot do it on our own. We need to pray for God’s help in forgiving others, and in forgiving ourselves. God is offering this gift to us abundantly and extravagantly, but too often we would prefer to turn our backs on the gift so we can continue to nurse the hurts and remain in the familiar surroundings of our prisons. Slave #1 ultimately was unable to accept the extravagant gift that the king offered him. What about us? What hurts do we continue to nurse? What and to whom do we need to offer forgiveness? Are we ready to ask God to open our hearts and forgive so that we might be freed?

Have we as a nation come yet to the point where we can forgive the 9/11 terrorism attacks? We have come a long way in 10 years: 2 wars, an economic meltdown (which is not unrelated), a new security regimen. We have been profoundly changed. So many beautiful and precious lives were lost; families profoundly changed. There has been much that has been heroic and deeply moving; but there continues to be scapegoating of Muslims, the stupid burning of the Islamic Holy Book the Quran, the senseless outlawing of sharia law - all of which just continues to scapegoat and victimizes Muslims. In some ways we are still in the darkness of the dungeons of anger and revenge. But there is light too, there are stories of grace and self-giving. Forgiveness on a personal level is hard; forgiveness on a national scale is even harder. But yet God offers us the gift of forgiveness. The light of this gift appears as a small light in the midst of the darkness, as a crack of the dungeon door. I believe that it is in this that we find our hope. God is with us - even in the midst of the aftermath of such a horrific event and God will effect healing and forgiveness. It may take a long time - but we will move forward, we will experience healing and God will continue to shower us with God's love and grace.

"The Tapestry of the Kingdom II" - Reflections on the Parable of the Rich Fool - Luke 12:13-21

2011-09-03T20:43:00.000-05:00

Read the Parable of the Rich Fool here: Luke 12:13-21

Reflections on the Parable of the Rich Fool – Luke 12:13-21

Last week we focused on the Parable of the Friend at Midnight and saw that the parable was one that pointed to the importance of community. It taught us that the Kingdom of God is a complex and colorful tapestry where all of God’s people are woven together and where we are all interdependent with each other. As citizens of the Kingdom, or the Realm of God, we are linked one with another and we have responsibilities for one another. This is not easy for us. In our culture we celebrate independence and being self-sufficient. But this “rugged individualism” takes a terrible toll on so many. It leads to a lot of loneliness; it leads us to keep to ourselves; and it leads to a lot of individual greed. And since we do not understand ourselves in relationship with a broader community many among us (including many of our political leaders) have lost any sense of corporate responsibility. We are in it (life) for what we can get out of it and the game is played in such a way that getting ahead is to be done any way necessary – no matter who or how many others are hurt in the process – as long as me and mine get ahead. Unfortunately, this very popular and prevalent view is condemned unequivocally by today’s parable.

The farmer in the parable for today has been very successful. This year’s harvest has yielded better results than he had expected and he now has more than he can even store and maintain. What to do? Well, he (quickly) builds larger barns to store his grain and then congratulates himself on his wealth and cleverness. So what is wrong with all of that? Why is he called a “fool?” Isn’t he just being a responsible farmer? Well, yes – so far so good. The problem is not in his windfall per se, or even his efforts to manage it. But rather, there are two problems with this man and his response – and it is these two things that prompt Jesus to call him a “fool.” First, read through the passage carefully and notice all of the “I” statements: "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" … "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul...." As David Lose states:

The relentless use of the first person pronouns "I" and "my" betray a preoccupation with self. There is no thought to using the abundance to help others, no expression of gratitude for his good fortune, no recognition of God at all. The farmer has fallen prey to worshiping the most popular of gods: the Unholy Trinity of "me, myself, and I."

Within the context of the First Century, this is attitude actually runs counter to the culture and to Jewish Law and so would have been a surprise (though being self-centered was not new even back then). But there were social and legal constraints on it. For us, however, the attitude is not so unusual. In fact we celebrate this kind of thing, don’t we? But being a part of God’s Kingdom calls forth a different response: a response that sees individuals as part of a community; a response that calls forth a sense of responsibility for others. Being a part of God’s Realm is being a part of a Tapestry where we are all – all of us, of different nationalities, races, social conditions and on an on – are linked and woven together.

So, the man is a fool because he sees only himself and his own needs and cannot see his connection with the community. But, there is another issue also – again from David Lose:

He is not foolish because he makes provision for the future; he is foolish because he believes that by his wealth he can secure his future: "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."

In other words, he is guilty of idolatry. His ultimate trust is placed in his possessions. Possessions are good. There is nothing wrong with possessions – until they take over our lives and we begin defining life in terms of our possessions. And of this we are all guilty to some extent or another.

Like the parable of the Friend at Midnight, the parable of the Rich Fool calls for us to recognize that we are part of the Tapestry of the Kingdom of God. We are, as believers and followers of Christ members of a community, not just individuals. Consequently, we have responsibility for others with whom we are interwoven and interdependent. Additionally, this parable calls on us to look at our own habits of acquiring possessions and demands that we question whether we are placing too much faith in money or the things we own. Ultimately it is Christ that saves us – not our money or our things. Not only that, but all that we have and all that we own is not ours anyway – it is God’s. And if we have been blessed by God then how do we respond in a way that gives thanks to God and is responsive to our responsibility as a part of God’s Tapestry?

"The Tapestry of the Kingdom" - Reflections on the Parable of the Friend at Midnight - Luke 1:1-13

2011-08-28T12:42:00.000-05:00

Read the Parable here: Luke 11:1-13

Reflections on the Parable of the Friend at Midnight – Luke 11:1-13

We have come to a peculiar set of parables in Luke 11/12 which will be our focus for this week and next. Up until now, for the most part, the parables have been fairly transparent in that it has been easy to see which character represents God, which character represents us and to see possible applications to daily life. “The Good Samaritan” and the “Prodigal Son” are complex and multi-layered stories but they are engaging as stories and it is not too hard to see where Jesus is going with these stories. But, there is a set of parables that are not so easy to interpret and the “Friend at Midnight” is one of these parables. On a quick reading you might get the idea that Jesus is lifting up perseverance or persistence in prayer, and that is the traditional interpretation. But there must be more to it than that. Is the point of this parable only that God can be manipulated to answer our prayers and give us what we need/want because we get on God’s nerves through our constant prayer? Kind of like a whining child at Walmart who wants his mom to give him a candy bar and keeps at it until she relents? Well, I don’t think so. There is more to this parable than that.

So first let us remember that these parables all give us a glimpse of the Kingdom of God – which is come into our lives now. 2^nd, these parables all point to grace – God’s overwhelming grace which God showers upon us abundantly and generously in different ways. So the traditional interpretation (which is essentially my Walmart example) really does not point us towards grace, rather it points us to works righteousness, so let us set that aside. So, in order to interpret this parable I would want to turn to the context – both the textual context and the social context. We’ll start with the latter.

Most peasants lived in small villages in Jesus’ day. Cana and Nazareth were both villages and in village life people were very interdependent. They had to count on each other to assist them with various tasks in order to live. One simply could not survive on one’s own. Our American “rugged individualism” would not have worked in this context. For example, small villages would have had one communal oven in which to bake bread. The women would have worked together, helped each other, and provided for each other in this important task. Consequently there were expectations and even rules governing this interdependent community. One of the important and essential rules (which actually goes back to the Pentateuch) was the treatment of strangers and visitors. Hospitality was absolutely mandated. A visitor was to be taken in, cared for and fed – even if it meant that the family or even the village would have less food for themselves. In our parable a visitor has arrived in the village. The host needs to provide food, but doesn’t have enough food to provide for him and so, as expected, goes to a neighbor for assistance. The neighbor is not very receptive (which would be the shock element in this story) and comes up with all kinds of lame excuses. But eventually he agrees. Why? The English text uses the word “persistence” – because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

The choice of this English word is understandable, but incorrect. The original Greek word actually means “Shamelessness.” In other words – it is the threat of being shamed in the village for not fulfilling his obligations and the expected code of hospitality that finally induces the neighbor to do the right thing. This story is not about personal persistence – it is about community and how we are interconnected and have responsibilities for each other. In other words, the Kingdom of God is like a tapestry where all of God’s people are woven together into a complex tapestry and where they are all interdependent with each other.

Textual context: This parable follows immediately upon Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. “Teach us to prayer,” asks the disciples and Jesus launches into this version of the Lord’s Prayer which is much shorter and feels incomplete to those of us who pray the Matthean/Didache form each and every week. But notice where Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer breaks off: Bring us not to the time of trial – do not bring us to temptation. And then Jesus launches into this parable. It is not an accident. I believe that for Luke one of the greatest and most destructive temptations is the idea that we can do it on our own; that we are independent and don’t need any one else. This is the temptation we ask God to keep us from being seduced by: we pray - Help us to recognize that we are interdependent – help us to accept and live that as citizens of the Kingdom of God we are also the tapestry of the Kingdom.

Finally, note the importance of “bread” in this text. Give us the bread for today and the man then comes to ask the neighbor for three loaves of bread. In Luke, references to bread are references to the Sacrament of Holy Communion – which is the ultimate Kingdom meal. The Sacrament of the Eucharist is what weaves us together as the Kingdom Tapestry. In the breaking of the bread we recognize Jesus present with us and we see our brothers and sisters in Christ as fellow citizens of God’s Kingdom.

Reflections from the Pastor - "The Parables"

2011-08-23T15:26:00.000-05:00

Since the beginning of July we have focused on the Parables which Jesus tells in the course of his teaching. These Parables are found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, primarily. And these Parables are all focused on the Kingdom of God – or, if you prefer, the Realm of God. God’s Realm has come into this world and into our lives through Jesus, the Word made flesh. The Parables then present different angles or views of God’s Realm. As we study, ponder and pray about the Parables we begin to see different dimensions of what God’s Realm is and different aspects of who God is.

There are a couple important themes which link the Parables with each other and which most of the Parables share. 1.) The parables that Jesus tells are about what God is doing; how the Kingdom of God or the God’s Realm has come into the world through Jesus and how this Realm of God is abundantly present to all the world. 2.) The parables and the Realm of God are not primarily about us. Try as we might to read ourselves into the parables in various ways ultimately Jesus is telling stories about what God is doing – showering us with grace, love and forgiveness – and not what we need to do in order to earn our way into the kingdom. 3.) When we do appear or when Jesus references his listeners he does so in order to try to help his disciples of every age open themselves up to the realm of God which is here; he does so in order to help his listeners to see, to perceive, to recognize that God is here working among us and loving us; he does so in order to invite us to join him in the work of loving the world and reaching out with grace, love and forgiveness to the world – which we cannot do without the Spirit working in us.

And how does Jesus fashion stories that do accomplish these things? Well by creating situations and characters that shock or jolt us out of our comfort zone and suggest a world that is very different than the world we know. And so, Jesus portrays God in some very unusual, surprising and even offensive ways. God is the incompetent judge who is not interested in judging; God is the really bad sower who doesn’t know how to properly sow a field with seed and instead of carefully sowing the seed on good soil (so as not to waste any) God tosses the seed (which is the Realm of God made manifest in the Word/Jesus) every where so that it lands in all kinds of places and it takes root and grows – everywhere; God is the employer who doesn’t know how to manage employees and is way too generous; God is the Father of the prodigal sons who is so anxious to love and forgive that he humiliates himself. And who are we? We are the good soil, the weedy soil, the rocky soil, the hardened soil upon which the seed of the Word is sown and which begins to grow but may not provide a climate where it might flourish; we are the workers who complain and grumble about how generous the employer is, who feel that such generosity is just not fair; we are the prodigals who want the father dead so we can have everything that doesn’t really belong to us and who are so rigid and self-righteous we refuse to attend the feast of celebration.

And then there is the parable of the Good Samaritan in which Jesus is the man in the ditch, and which calls on us to look beyond our prejudices and pre-conceptions and self-interest to recognize that the man in the ditch is our brother/sister who needs our help. Or the parable of the Friend at Midnight which points out that God’s Realm is a place of community, and in this community we are all interdependent and our physical and spiritual health is interwoven with other believers like a huge tapestry.

We are a part of the Kingdom of God – the Realm of God and we have a God who loves us madly and passionately which goes against our human logic. In God’s Realm forgiveness and love and grace are showered upon all of God’s people – with no consideration of the human categories which we use to separate people. Can we accept this? Can we see that through the Holy Spirit, God calls us to love each other in this way, to reach out to others and to be an open vessel of this crazy love?

These are Jesus’ Parables and while we will be returning to the lectionary readings in September – guess what? We will not be leaving the Parables behind. Almost every week between now and the end of November feature a Matthean Parable. So, we are not through with the Parables yet. Which is a good thing! Thanks be to God!

"Recognizing the Neighbor" - Reflections on the Parables - Luke 10:25-37

2011-08-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

Read the Parable of the "Man who Feel Among Robbers" Here: Luke !0:25-37

Recognizing the Neighbor – Reflections on Luke 10

We have come in our parable sermon series to one of the most well known parables in the Gospels – The Parable of the Good Samaritan – which is found in Luke 10. Throughout our series several themes have arisen which all of the parables share to one degree or another: 1. The parables that Jesus tells are about what God is doing; how the Kingdom or the Realm of God has come into the world through Jesus and how this Realm of God is abundantly present to all the world. 2. The parables and the Realm of God are not about us. Try as we might to read ourselves into the parables in various ways ultimately Jesus is telling stories about what God is doing – showering us with grace, love and forgiveness – and not what we need to do in order to earn our way into the kingdom. 3. When we do appear or when Jesus references his listeners he does so in order to try to help his disciples of every age open themselves up to the realm of God which is here; he does so in order to help his listeners to see, to perceive, to recognize that God is here working among us and loving us; he does so in order to invite us to join him in the work of loving the world and reaching out with grace, love and forgiveness to the world – which we cannot do without the Spirit working in us.

This brings us then to this very well known parable about a Jewish man who is beaten, robbed, rejected, thrown into a ditch and left for dead. Three fellow travelers come upon him – two hurry by without offering help, but the third person (a hated Samaritan) offers abundant assistance. Now, I know we have all heard countless sermons on this parable and on the face of it, the parable calls to us to reach out like the Samaritan. What makes this story particularly profound – and probably very offensive to Jesus’ first listeners – is the casting of the Samaritan as the hero. Samaritans and Judeans hated each other and they were disinclined for a variety of reasons to offer any assistance of any kind to each other. Jesus final words to his questioner, “Go and do likewise” is thus a difficult lesson to hear. And in this it is very much like last week’s parable of the weeds among the wheat: It is not up to us to judge, it is not up to us to categorize people – God loves all and we are called to love others as well, especially those who are most unlike us and those who we are inclined to classify as “the other.”

But of course, it is difficult – if not impossible – for us to do this, right? We can’t will ourselves to put aside our prejudices and our attitudes and opinions about others over night. The ability to take baby steps in this direction is as much a gift of God’s grace and is itself a sign of the Realm of God come into our midst. It seems to me, however, that one of the first steps we can take is first to work on recognition; on seeing. This is a difficult first step. And it is often a step we don’t want to take and thus we may be inclined to resist the Spirit’s guidance in this. But, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we have to try to recognize this group of people or that person, who is a different race, who holds different religious views, who is of a different religion, or has a different background, or is from a different culture, or has different opinions, or who holds different values than I – we have to try to recognize this group or individual as a neighbor whom God loves as much as God loves me and those who are like me. This means not being so absolutely certain of my own “rightness” or even righteousness; it means recognizing that I can learn from others and that the needs to others need to be important to me as well. And it is a call to then do everything in my power to care for those in need; to see that the real needs of my neighbor are taken into consideration – and this is not just a call to charity it is a call to do everything possible.

I have over the years heard various candidates for public office during political campaigns appeal to people’s self-centeredness by asking folks to ask themselves – “am I better off since so and so has been in office?” This parable says to us in no uncertain terms that “That is the wrong question – the right question is this: is my neighbor better off? Are those less fortunate than I getting the food and clothing and shelter and access to health care that they need? Is this country, state, county a place where all that can be done to alleviate suffering is undertaken?” And if not then what can I do about it? What can my church do about it?

Finally, an image from a different parable: The Sheep and the Goats from Matthew 25. Ultimately who is the man beaten, robbed, stripped, thrown in a ditch and left for dead? It is none other than Jesus himself. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it (that is reached out to care in neighborly love and grace) to one of the least of these (those who are poor, who are suffering, homeless, dirty, depressed, alcoholic, even hateful – those who are different than me in many ways) then you have done it to me.” Go, thou and do likewise – in the grace and love of Christ. For as we begin to see, as we begin to care, the Realm of God has truly come into our midst.

Parable Series - "The Parable of the Weeds growing Among the Wheat"" - Matthew 13:24-43

2011-08-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

Read the Parable here: Matthew 13:24-43

Reflections on the Text – Weeds in The Field – St. Matthew 13:24-30

What do you do about weeds? Anyone who does much gardening will have to confront this problem sooner or later. This is the problem faced by our farmer in the parable for this morning. He had dutifully sown wheat in his field but then his servants discovered that weeds were growing there along with the wheat. And not just any weeds: Tares or Darnel. This added a complication. Darnel actually looks like wheat when it first comes up, so it is hard to tell the difference. Only when the wheat ripens and then the stalks begin to bend over can you see the difference more clearly, for the Darnel has no grains so it remains straight. So it is no wonder that the farmer was concerned that if his servants began to try to eradicate the Darnel they would certainly, accidently pull up some of the good wheat as well. It is a very interesting story. And there are a couple important points which need to be pointed out:

1. 1. When first told about the problem, the farmer responds that “an enemy has done this.” Now, even though Jesus in his explanation of the parable a little later identifies the enemy as the devil, the Greek makes it clear that the enemy/devil is NOT an equal with the farmer/God. The enemy has to sneak in to sow the weeds at night, he can’t do it in the daylight. This is an important point as sometimes we may think of the power of evil as being equal to the power of God, as if the forces of light and the forces of darkness are of equal strength. This is not the case. God has the upper hand. The power of God’s love and grace is stronger than the power of hate and evil.

2. 2. The servants are all very enthusiastic about weeding. These servants have discovered the problem and, it appears that they have even worked out a plan of attack before they even come to the farmer with the news. The servants in the parable, by the way, are the disciples of every age – they are us. (By the way – we are the Wheat too).

3. 3. The farmer clearly instructs the servants NOT to do anything, but to leave it. For he is afraid that in their enthusiasm they would most certainly pull up some of the wheat. Perhaps the servants are thinking of this as unavoidable “collateral damage.” But for God the Farmer the risk of loosing one – even one – of the good plants is a risk he is not willing to take.

4. 4. The NRSV translates the Farmers instructions to the servants like this: Let both of them grow up together until the harvest. The word that is translated as “let” is very interesting. In Greek it is the same word that appears in the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. This word that Jesus uses can be rendered in English as “let,” as “leave,” as “permit” or as “forgive.” What is Jesus saying here? Are we really to forgive the evil which is done to us? (answer: YES – 70x7 = an uncountable, infinite number of times!) ((Also – another note – to forgive, doesn’t mean that we are not to resist evil.))

5. 5. Finally, note that when the time comes – and it will come – the destruction of evil will be done by the reapers – not by the servants. It is all up to God – not up to us!

All of this has some really important and profound things to say about our human tendency and desire for crusades and for “holy” revenge. Open a news website, or even a newspaper and you will find at least one story of someone or some group somewhere taking it upon themselves to eradicate evil and to defend God – sometimes to bloody and horrifying results. And sometimes these folks are, or call themselves Christian. It is not new. We can go back to the earliest days of the church to find all kinds of atrocities committed in the name of God and Jesus, in order to defend God and Jesus and to purify the body of believers. Sometimes these actions take the form of “holy” revenge. In every case they are destructive and create much pain and suffering. And most important – to engage in this is directly contrary to the Gospel.

It is not up to us to defend God or Jesus. God hardly needs defending, and certainly not by us. Remember the farmer’s instructions to the servants: … for in gathering the weeds you might uproot some of the wheat along with them. Rather, this parable calls for us to “let” it go, to “leave” it to God, and to “forgive” the evil and focus on the work God has given us to do – that is sowing the fruit of the Kingdom of God: which is love and grace.

Parable Series - "The Parable of the Sower" - Matthew 13:1-23

2011-07-29T12:20:00.000-05:00

Read the parable text here: St. Matthew 13:1-23

Reflections on the Gospel – Matthew 13:1-23 - “The Parable of the Sower”

A sower went out to sow… This is perhaps one of the best known of Jesus’ parables. It is one of the few parables that appear in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15) and in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas. Jesus even names this parable – “The Parable of the Sower” – which should give us a strong hint as to where the meaning lay. But in the course of my preparation I read (skimmed) a number of other articles and commentaries about this parable and discovered that some have come up with another title for it: “The Parable of the Soil.” And this 2^nd title reflects one of the major struggles with interpreting Jesus’ parables, namely: we want the parable to be about us! We are so self-focused that when we read the Gospels we want them to be a mirror that reflects us, and of course we want the interpretation to be that we are the good soil – of course. Everyone else, all of those sinners; those who are not like me – well, they are those other kinds of soil. We want to be the good soil!

But the parable is not about us. The parable is not even about the soil. Jesus’ title given in verse 18 should be a major hint: “The Parable of the Sower.” This parable is about the sower – God. God is the sower. And like many of the other parables that depict God as not altogether competent (in our human definition of that word “competent”) God is actually not very good at sowing. Jesus’ listeners would have known how to sow. They would have known that you don’t just throw the seed here and there and everywhere in a disorganized kind of way. Seed was expensive and so a farmer needed to take some care in how the seed is sown. Not God. But the picture we have is of God, the sower, throwing the seed everywhere. And I mean everywhere! The seed is not sown only in Israel, among God’s chosen people; the seed is not sown only among the elite Pharisees and those with means; the seed is not sown only among those who carefully fulfill all of the purity and ritual regulations. No, God throws seed everywhere – among everyone. No wonder there is such a negative discussion between the parable and its explanation in the Gospel text. Even Jesus’ disciple’s didn’t want to hear that God was sowing the Word among those other people – the poor, tax collectors, sinners, Gentiles and other who are not like us!

And what is this seed? Jesus tells us in his explanation (vss. 18-23) that the seed is the word. The Greek word used in this passage by Matthew is LOGOS. Sound familiar? John 1:14 = And the Word (LOGOS) was made flesh and dwelt among us. The seed is the word which is Jesus himself. Jesus is the word of God incarnate. The Kingdom of Heaven comes into our world through Jesus – the Word. God, the sower, is throwing the Word everywhere. And everywhere it lands it grows. This is where we enter this parable. The soil represents those who hear and experience the Word of God and the reception this word receives. But we don’t get to choose. Does soil get to choose whether or not it is good soil or not? No and neither do we. In fact, we as individuals and as a community represent all of the soils together. We are the soil which is hardened and from which the birds eat the seed, we are the rocky soil, we are the soil which nurtures weeds and thorns and we are the good soil from which God brings forth a harvest, for ultimately it is God that gives the growth.

So what do we take away from this parable? It is about God, the sower, who sows the Word, which is Jesus incarnate. The Word is sown everywhere, among everyone and God brings forth growth in every instance. May we recognize the seeds of the Word that grow among us and may we be open to the growth which God brings forth from us.

The Persistence Widow and the Incompetent Judge – Luke 18:1-8

2011-07-10T11:10:00.001-05:00

For the summer we are moving away form the Lectionary and doing a sermon series on the Parables of the Kingdom. We began last week and continued this week with the Parable of the Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge from Luke 18. I suggest that rather than think of the Judge as unjust we should actually look at him as being an Incompetent Judge.

Read the Text of the Parable here: Luke 18:1-8

What is the Kingdom of God? This phrase is a central part of the Jesus’ proclamation in the Gospels – The Kingdom of God is in your midst! Or – Today this saying has been fulfilled in your hearing! Or – Thy Kingdom come…. So what is the Kingdom to which Jesus refers? In Mark and Luke it is the “Kingdom of God,” in Matthew it is the “Kingdom of Heaven” and in John it is “Eternal Life.” It’s all the same thing, even though the terms are slightly different. So what is the Kingdom of God? Let me begin by stating clearly what the Kingdom is not – it is not a distant and remote “heaven” which is apart and removed from our life on earth. It is not “pie in the sky in the sweet by and by;” It is not something we get or go to only after we die.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus is constantly repeating the same thing over and over again – the Kingdom of God is here in your midst. The Kingdom is come – in Jesus. The Kingdom is Now; the Kingdom is also Not Yet. Which is where the tension resides: The Kingdom is here and now; the Kingdom in its fullness is not yet. But over the centuries Christianity has lost a sense of the Kingdom Now and has tended to focus on the Not Yet. But when we do this we loose an important and central part of Jesus teaching – we loose a sense of immediacy; and we also loose a sense of our own mission and calling.

Last week we began our summer sermon series on the Parables. And it is with the Parables where Jesus is the most blunt with his descriptions of the Kingdom come Now into our midst. We started with the story of the Workers in the Vineyard and we learned that one characteristic of the Kingdom is Generosity. God is generous – in fact God is illogically and overwhelmingly generous. And since we are Citizens of the Kingdom Come, through whom the world experiences God’s Love and Grace; and through whom the world intersects with the Kingdom – we are called to be generous also: Generous with the gifts God has given us – our time, talents, generous with the love and grace He has given to us and generous with our financial resources – none of this is our own, it comes to us from God.

This week we hear the rather odd story of the Unjust Judge or the Persistent Widow and like most of Jesus’ parables there are a variety of ways this one can be interpreted. One approach is for us to identify with the Widow. In this interpretation we acknowledge that we seek after justice and while justice is denied and denied and denied the parable teaches us to be persistent and never stop praying or working for justice. (I have pointed out previously that prayer, like faith is best understood as an activity – so to pray for justice is not just to wish for justice or to point out the need for justice to God – but also to actively work for justice). And so, persistence is a key word here – like the widow we should never give up. We know that God is a just God for whom justice is a priority. And so we work for justice – no matter the obstacles – we recognize that it is our job to reach out to those who are in need of food or clothing or comfort and so on. And we are to remain committed to this work over the long haul – we are to be persistent.

Another way of interpreting this Parable is to relate God to the Unjust Judge or maybe we might think of the Judge as the Incompetent Judge. Some are so uncomfortable with this idea that they say, well the Unjust Judge is a negative example: the parable shows us what God is not. But, what if that is not the case? What if the point is that God is the Incompetent Judge in that God’s love for God’s people and God’s commitment to justice is so overwhelming that God throws fairness (which is usually a characteristic of a good judge) out of the window and showers love and grace abundantly on those who do not deserve it. We always assume that the poor widow was in the right and the judge was unjust because he refused to rule in her favor. But the parable never actually says this. Nowhere does Jesus state that the widow’s suit was right or just. And the problem with the judge is that he just doesn’t want to waste his time on what he might see as a frivolous case. The injustice then is that she can’t get a hearing. And in the end she still doesn’t get a hearing because the judge rules in her favor just to get her out of his hair.

Perhaps God is like that. God knows we are guilty and that we have no case. But because of God’s overwhelming and overflowing love for us, God rules in our favor and sends us away to continue to work in the Kingdom. It is as though God is saying to us: Stop trying to justify yourself – stop judging others – get to the work of the Kingdom: the work of Generosity, the work of Finding the Lost, the work of Sowing the Seeds, the work of seeking Justice for our neighbor – and commit yourselves to this work – be persistent in your work and always remember that God is not so interested in judging as God is interested in loving!

Bibliography - I have been inspired in my understanding of the Parable by the work of Robert Farrar Capon - especially his book: "The Parables of Grace" and "Hunting the Divine Fox."

A CHRISTIAN FRAME OF MIND – by W.S. Gilbert

2011-07-05T17:18:00.000-05:00

I just got back from vacation and I spent my vacation at a Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Gettysburg. It was wonderful. I became acquainted with this little story by Gilbert which he published in FUN in 1870. As is always the case with Gilbert his insights into the human condition and our social system are searing and right on. This story is no exception - and is posted in dedication to all of those who feel like being right and breaking away is their calling from God (instead of being faithful and working to be vessels of God's healing and inclusive love). SBD+ Enjoy.....

A CHRISTIAN FRAME OF MIND – by W.S. Gilbert

There was once a Colonial Bishop, whose see was on coast of Africa.

He was an energetic Bishop who laboured nobly, according to his views, and no
man gainsaid him.

In his immediate neighbourhood resided a barbarous tribe, The Tribe of the
Canoodle-Dums. You may have heard of them.

They were idolators.

They were ft simple race, with a primitive religion. They were a
mild and peaceable people, and lived in prefect harmony with one another.

The Bishop said (and very properly), "I will convert these poor benighted
heathens.'

He entered among them and they received him hospitably, He is indebted to them
for teaching him the flavour of ape which, to this day, is always served in
various forms at the episcopal banquets There are few pleasanter dishes than ape
stewed with oysters and port wine. But, on the other hand, he found them but
little prepared to listen to the beauties of the religion he was about to unfold
to them.

He began by entering into conversation with their Chum, or High Priest.

The Bishop learnt from the Chum, or High Priest, the heads of the
Canoodle-Dummers' faith.

He found that at sunrise they were summoned to prayer by the beating of a tom-
tom, or the blowing of it horn.

"It does not matter which," said the Chum.

"How is this?" said the Bishop. "it does net matter which?"

"It does not in the last matter, whether it is tom-tom or a horn," said the
Chum. "Why should it?''

"Oh," said the Bishop, "This is a terrible state of things." And he thought to
himself, "it in useless, just at present, to endeavour to inculcate the beauties
of Christianity. In their present Butte of mind they will not appreciate what I
have to tell them. I will begin by endeavouring to instil a healthier moral
tone, so will they the more readily apprehend the doctrine that I shall then lay
before them."

With the permission of their chief, he summoned the tribe. They
came like lambs.

"Oh, : Canoodle-Dummers," said he, "I am pained to find that you are indifferent
as to whether a tom-tom or horn is used to summon you to your devotions."

"We are quite indifferent," said they, with one voice, "so that we are
summoned."

"But," said the Bishop, "Observe, if a horn is right, a tom-tom must be wrong.
So, likewise if a tom-tom is right, a horn is out of the question."

"But, why?" said the Canoodle-Dummers.

"Why?" echoed the Bishop, indignantly, "Why, of course!"

"I see," said each Canoodle-Dummer thoughtfully. And the members of the tribe
looked askance at each other, and each edged away from his neighbour.

And the neat day the tribe was divided into two mighty religious factions, those
who stood up for the horn, and those who stood up for the tom-tom.

The Chum, or High Priest, endeavoured, but in vain, to reconcile them.

"Why," said the Chum, "should you quarrel on such a point? You are all good
men. You are all amiable, sufficiently virtuous, tolerably sober, charitable,
and generally well-conducted. You agree on all the vital points of your
religion. Why divide on matters of unimportant detail?"

"Why, indeed! "said the tribe. And the two factions embraced.

"Stop!" said the Bishop, "I am pained beyond measure to see this. What are the
ingredients of a plum pudding to the shape of the mould in which it is boiled?""

"Nothing at all," said the tribe'. And they were again and finally, divided,

The Bishop persevered.
He addressed the Horn Party, and said, "I notice with pain that some
of your horns are long, and some are short. This should not be."

"Which is right?' said the Horn Party.

"I am not of your religion," said the Bishop, "so I cannot undertake to offer an
opinion. But one thing is certain, if one is right the other is wrong."

So the Horn Party was divided into two sects, the Long Horns and the Short
Horns. And the Long Horns hated the Short Horns more than the Horn party hated
the Tom-tom party. And the Short Horns returned the compliment

The Bishop then addressed the Tom-tom party and said, "I am grieved to see that
some of your tom-toms are long and narrow, while others are short and stout. If
it is that a tom-tom should be long and narrow. It is a sin to use those that
are of diametrically opposite form."

And the Tom-tom party were accordingly divided into two sects, the Long and
Narrow Tom-Tom party and the Short and Stout Tom-tom party

And the feud that existed between the Horn party and the Tom-tom party was as
nothing compared to that which raged between the Long and Narrow Tom-tom party and the Short and Stout Tom-tom party.

The Bishop still persevered..

He pointed out in the Long Horn party that same of the long horns were sharp and
some were flat.

So the Long Horn party were subdivided, and became the Sharp Long Horns and the
Flat Long Horns,

He pointed out to the Short Horn Party that some of the short horns were cows'
horns and some were rams' horns.

So, the Short Horn party were subdivided and became the Short Cow Horns and the
Short Rams Horns.

The Bishop still persevered

He pointed out to the Long and Narrow Tom-tom party that some of their long and
narrow tom-toms were headed with the skin of sheep and some with the skin of
pigs.

So the Long and Narrow Tom-tom party were sub-divided and became the Long and
Narrow Sheepheaded Tom-tom party and the Long and Narrow Pigheaded Tom-tom
party.

He pointed out to the Short and Stout Tom-tom party that some of their short and
stout tom-toms were boxed in with wood and some with iron.

So the Short and Stout Tom-tom party were sub-divided into the Short and Stout
Wooden-boxed Tom-Tom party, and the Short and Stoat Iron-boxed Tom-tom party.

And here the good Bishop took breath and rested. For by this time there was only
one man to each sub-division, and this process of disintegration could he
carried on no further.

Let us hope, however, that he was as successful in converting them to
Christianity, as he was in bringing them to a Christian frame of mind.

By Sir W. S. Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) Published in "Fun" January
8, 1870. page 115.

An Introduction to the The Parables of Jesus Sermon Series

2011-06-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

Reflections on the Parables by Pastor Duncan:

This Sunday we begin a summer long series of sermons based on the Parables of Jesus. Many of these are familiar to us as a good part of Jesus’ teaching was in parables. So what are parables – they are stories which lead the listener to a new place or a new way of thinking. Jesus’ parables would have been at times shocking and offensive. The characters behave in ways that are socially unacceptable for 1^st century Judeans. Take for example the Parable of the Good Samaritan – the idea of a Samaritan offering assistance to a Judean would have been terribly offensive; or the Prodigal Son – the reaction of the father who runs out to greet his wayward son would have been scandalous. Sometimes the characters in the parables behave in ways that go against common sense: the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep and going in search of 1 lost one (risking his entire flock and livlihood in the process) or even today’s parable – paying those who worked one hour the same as those who worked the whole day…. Well, what business man would do something silly like that?

So what is Jesus up to? Well all of the parables are stories of the Kingdom of God, which is now present on earth through Jesus. Each one of these parables give us a glimpse of the Kingdom and each of these parables demonstrate that we can experience God’s Kingdom now in our lives. So what are some of the lessons? Well, the Kingdom is radically inclusive and there are no divisions between Judeans and Samaritans and not only that, but the purity laws (that prevented the Priest and Levite from helping) are not as important as human kindness and grace; the Kingdom is a place of forgiveness and acceptance – the wayward son is received back with open arms by the father, but can we get beyond our prejudices in order to accept it, or will be sulk and refuse to accept God’s abundant love and grace, like the older brother? The kingdom takes risks on behalf of grace (the searching for the lost sheep) and for today human definitions of fairness don’t count, God showers abundantly his gifts of love and grace on all of God’s creation.

The parables are a gift to us. If we are open to hearing what they have to teach us they can lead us into ways of being in the world that are unique and filled with God’s love and grace. The problem is that too often we are like the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son. We offer this sermon series as an opportunity to learn and grow in our life of faith.

A New Devotional Website

2011-06-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

One of the most wonderful gifts that comes to us through the ancient monastic tradition are the orders for daily prayer which have been and continue to be prayed daily in many communities. Last summer I spent almost a week at St. Meinrad's Archabby and it was wonderful to prayer the daily office (as it is called) with the monks. The services are: Lauds at 3:00 AM (times are approximate and vary from location to location); Morning Prayer at 6:00; Noon Prayer at 12:00 noon; Evening Prayer at 6:00 and Compline at 9:00 PM. Now the ancient tradition also included other brief services at 9 AM and 3:00 PM. Our hymnal - Evangelical Lutheran Worship and also the Lutheran Book of Worship before it, contained beautiful settings of the office services of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline. Evening Prayer and Compline are especially popular in Lutheran circles. Episcopalians use Morning Prayer with a bit more regularity. Every night at Lutheran Summer Music at 9 we sand Evening Prayer, and it was glorious. My daughter came to love EP so much that she insisted we sing it in the car driving home from LSM after her 1st summer there. At Peace we do Morning Prayer every Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM.

So, why do more folks not participate in the services of the Daily Office? Well, our schedules are all so crazy that it is very difficult to do so. Who wants to get up for Lauds at 3:00 AM (not me - even though I did it at St. Meinrad); and mornings are so hectic with going to work, and evening is filled with activities and then when we finally get home we are tired.

So - here is a wonderful solution: An ELCA congregation in Hawaii has created a daily office website. You can go there at choose which service you want to pray - click on it and it is all there. All the texts which are appointed for the day - including the texts for feast days and commemorations (I just finished praying Morning Prayer and today is the Birth of John the Baptist and all of the appointed texts are there). I encourage you to check this out. It is a wonderful site and a great opportunity to lift your hearts in prayer for a short amount of time. Here is the link: Enjoy:

The Daily Office Website

Thy Kingdom Come.... The Justice of God and Budget Making....

2011-06-22T19:48:00.000-05:00

First, some preliminary comments:

1. This blog post is in response to a comment posted on one of my former student’s Facebook page. The student (we’ll call him “Brad” – names have been changed to protect the innocent, though those who know him will know who I am talking about) had posted a quote from Dom Crossan to the effect that the Bible – both testaments – is very forthright and unapologetic in its call for “distributive justice.” This is laid out in the Torah very clearly, and then bluntly reenunciated by the prophets. Jesus also picks up the theme and is unapologetic about it – especially in the Gospel of Luke. Among the comments to this post of “Brad’s” was a friend of his who curtly dismissed the quote as being warmed over “communism” or “socialism.” Brad politely disagreed. Well, I will not be quite so polite in my response to the silly and uniformed comment.

2. Herman Melville was one of America’s greatest writers. My favorite of his short stories is “Billy Budd,” which was adapted into one of the 20^th century’s greatest opera librettos (not to mention the music – which makes it one of the all time greatest operas ever written, but that is a real digression). E.M Forster and Eric Crozier are the librettists and as the plot is cascading towards its cataclysmic climax the Master-At-Arms (John Claggert) requests permission to speak to Captain Vere on the Quarterdeck. Tensions are high and so are suspicions and fears. The H.M.S. Indomitable is in French, enemy waters. The fleet has been hit by high profile mutinies at Spithead and the Nore. The crew for the most part have been pressed and so they are hostile to the officers. It is an explosion waiting to happen. Claggert suggests to the Captain that a very popular sailor, named Billy Budd, is disaffected and is leading others astray. He is, says Claggert, “ripe for the crimes of Spithead and the Nore,” he is turning men’s hearts to, “dare I mention that foul word – mutiny!” “Mutiny! Mutiny!” Responds the Captain abruptly, “Mutiny, Mr. Claggert, I am not to be scared by words!” That is the point of this digression. Just throw in a hot word – like “mutiny” into the powder keg of late 18^th century navel discipline – or “communism” and “socialism” in the context of early 21^st century political and economic discussion and the result is an end to any hope of intelligent conversation.

3. So, while I usually do not venture into politics, as I feel my calling is not to be political but to be faithful to my calling to follow Christ I begin this short reflection on budgets and justice with a categorical rejection of these silly hot words which most people do not understand. And besides they are completely irrelevant to any discussion of the Gospel. The Gospel emerged in the 1^st century while these economic positions emerged in the 19^th century philosophically. So to Brad’s commenter I would simply say, go study up before you start throwing words around that you do not know or understand. I am not to be scared by words.

4. This is not a partisan rant. Both parties in my view are responsible for the current mess; there are leaders of both parties who have provided courageous and visionary leadership; and there are politicians and business leaders of both parties who have been petty and greedy and have done everything they can to further their own agenda at the expense of the nation. I will lay out my cards here though. I long for real republicans to step forward and oppose the hijacking of their great party by this group of pseudo-republicans who are really libertarians in disguise and whose economic philosophy seems founded on greed and self-interest.

So, we – as a nation – are in an economic mess: unemployment is at its highest levels in years, there is a housing crisis and the national debt has grown to astronomical size. What is the solution? Well, one group of politicians seems to have devised a perfect solution: cut entitlement spending, cut education spending, cut spending on programs that provide a life line for thousands of American men, women and children and at the same time cut taxes; maintain current tax cuts and find new ways to exempt the wealthiest individuals and companies from paying taxes. Does that make sense? Well, no – not to me it doesn’t. This approach, which is spelled out in the budget offered by Representative Paul Ryan is nothing short of immoral and would have a devastating impact on thousands and thousands of individuals and communities. And, as the “1000 Pastors for a Moral Budget” letter states (see below), as open hearted and well intentioned as many Americans and churches are, they simply cannot provide the level of assistance that is needed. Do thousands and thousands would be thrown into poverty without a life line, children are abandoned to starvation - all of this if the house libertarians have their way.

So, what is the solution? I am not an economist but I know enough accounting to know that you cannot keep spending what you don’t have. So I agree that the deficit is a serious problem. It is a serious problem that has been contributed to by many quarters of the society and political spectrum over a number of years. So the first thing is that we need to stop pointing fingers and playing the blame game. The deficit is not only Obama’s fault. There is plenty of blame to go around. Let us not forget that when Clinton left office the budget was balanced. The tax cuts and the military ventures of the following administration of George W Bush have also contributed to this terrible deficit mess.

So, then what to do? The congress seems to have determined that the way to deal with the deficit is to cut, cut, cut and cut. And what are they cutting? Well, primarily entitlement programs, programs that provide food and clothing and education. Politicians claim they are going to cut fat. But it has gotten to the point that there is no more fat to cut in some programs and we are seeing muscle cut and programs gutted. These kinds of cuts are simply immoral. (Aside = They also want to cut the NEA and NPR and PBS and other cultural programs. These cuts would also have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of Americans, additionally they would create more problems then they would solve. Support of the arts actually provides an economic incentive and puts money and jobs into the economy. To make these cuts would be counter-productive.)

What other alternatives are there? Well, why is it that there has developed this senseless and destructive libertarian attitude about taxes? The new republicans in the congress (who are hardly republicans at all – they are libertarians in republican garb) seem to be ready to destroy the lives of millions, gut the economy and allow the country to be destroyed just so they can avoid paying taxes. Tax rates need to be raised! We need to go back, at least, to Clinton era tax rates and all of the tax cuts for everyone which were ridiculously extended by the congress and signed into law by Obama need to be rescinded. The no-tax attitude of this group does not make sense. It is simply selfish. We Americans expect our government to provide a lot, but we do not want to pay for it. It is time to grow up and be responsible. It is time for republicans to start being republicans again and not libertarians.

Back in the 80’s when Ronald Reagan was first running for the presidency one of his catch phrases was: “Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?” That I have always believed is the wrong question. The question should be – “is my neighbor better off?” Is there enough food to go around? Is there housing and shelter for everyone? Do those who are ill have access to quality health care? What are ways we can help folks find employment? These are the questions we need to be asking?

As a Christian, I believe the New Testament and the ministry of Jesus, into which we are called as Baptized Christians to enter call on us to put the care of our neighbor above all and to work for distributive justice. In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Mary, a poor village girl receives a visit from the Angel who tells her she will bear God’s son. Later when she visits her cousin she can no longer contain herself: My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… ⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; ⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty… This is a vision of the Kingdom which has come into our midst in Jesus. Jesus affirms this in chapter 4 when he opens the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and then proclaims that Today this saying has been fulfilled in your hearing. We who claim to be Christians have a responsibility to care for “the least of these.” We who claim to be Christian have a responsibility to stand up to the economic philosophy of greed, otherwise known as libertarianism, and denounce it. Because we are called to care for our neighbor, to love our neighbor as ourselves and if our neighbor is suffering, then we are suffering too.

So, don’t go bandying around words that have no meaning; try to look beyond your own selfish and self-centered concerns and see the pain and need that is all around you and then reach out, in anyway you can. This is our calling as Christians and as we do this we do experience the Kingdom of God come into our midst.

1000 PASTORS FOR A MORAL BUDGET

2011-06-21T09:33:00.002-05:00

1000 PASTORS FOR A MORAL BUDGET

We are local pastors. Our lives are committed to our churches and communities. Every day we work to preach and live the Gospel of Christ. We challenge our congregations and parishes to live lives of personal responsibility and encourage them to live good and righteous lives. This also means calling our communities and nation to live up to corporate responsibilities.

In every one of our congregations we have programs that help those in need with jobs, clothing, food, or counseling. We gladly take up the challenge of encouraging our congregation members to give more, but in these past few years, it has been difficult for us to watch the need around us rise while the resources we have diminish. We work, pray, and do whatever we can to remain faithful to the responsibility of every Christian to help the poor. Still, we can't meet the crushing needs by ourselves. We do our best to feed the hungry, but charitable nutrition programs only make up 6% of total feeding programs in the country while the government makes up 94%.

In every one of our congregations we have members who receive much-needed support from government programs. We have seen this support allow young people to be the first members of their families to get college degrees, ensure mothers can feed their children a healthy diet, enable those with disabilities to live fulfilling lives, give much-needed medical care to those who can't afford it, support seniors, provide housing for families, and help people in finding a job.

SNAP, WIC, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Head Start, Pell Grants, and Community Development Block Grants aren't just abstract concepts to us; they serve the same people we serve. There are changes that can be made or efficiencies that can be found, but every day we see what government can do. There is more need today than Churches can meet by themselves. This is why we join in the “Circle of Protection.”

As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up--how it treats those Jesus called “the least of these” (Matthew 25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world are protected. We know from our experience of serving hungry and homeless people that these programs meet basic human needs and protect the lives and dignity of the most vulnerable. We believe that God is calling us to pray, fast, give alms, and to speak out for justice.

As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. We want to support you in reducing the deficit. Small business and job growth are essential part of the path to prosperity for all Americans. We are also committed to resist budget cuts that threaten the well-being and, in some cases, the lives of the neediest among us. Therefore, we join with others to form a Circle of Protection around programs that meet the essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad. We urge you to prioritize them, and we pledge our support and prayers for you in doing so.

Affirmed and signed by,

Pastor S. Blake Duncan

Jun 17, 2011

Reflections on The Feast of the Holy Trinity

2011-06-16T12:21:00.000-05:00

I want to give attribution right off for some of the information that I am going to share today – the Feast of the Holy Trinity. At the conference I attended in Minneapolis I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Diana Butler Bass speak and it is to her that I owe some of these thoughts, along with Dr. Marcus Borg (his new book "Speaking Christian").

When I was serving at a previous congregation, before coming to Peace, I had a member of the congregation tell me once that every time she said the creed she crossed her fingers behind her back. Why, I asked. Well, the creeds were all about the Trinity and how could she say she believed something that she didn’t understand. Hmmm – well. So, is that what the creed is? Is the creed just series of statements to which we are to assent and affirm as if we were going down a list? Trinity is ultimately a mystery, as are several other things mentioned in the creed, including the Resurrection, the descent into hell (or “the dead”), the “sitting at the right hand” and so forth. What do we do with mystery? Is there no room for questions or even doubt? And if we have questions or doubt does that mean we should abstain from confessing the creed?

“We Believe…” (Nicene Creed); “I Believe….” (Apostle’s Creed). These words seem to be the sticking point for many. I would suggest that we in the church have, over time, changed the meaning of this word “believe,” and that in its original form it was not a word of affirmation or assent, but rather a word of commitment and relationship. In its original form the Latin word that begins the Nicene Creed is the word CREDO – which means We Trust. This matches the New Testament Greek word for Faith (pistis) that also means Trust. There is a different Latin word that is used for mental assent, or agreeing with a statement as if to say – “yes, I agree that is true” (Which is what “believe” has come to mean). This word was not used, instead the word which means “trust” was used. Think through the creed and insert the word “Trust.” How does this change the meaning of the words of the creed for you?

That is not all though. When the committee that worked on the translation of the Bible that eventually became the King James Version was meeting. They began to fish around for a word to use to translate passages like John 3:16 which uses the Greek word for faith as a verb (pisteo). How to translate this? What word to use that captures the sense of active trust, the commitment and relationship implicit in the Greek? So, the committee settled on an Old English word – Be louf; which is related to a German word – Belieben. And what does Belieben mean? It mean: Be-love. Here is my literal translation of John 3:16, with the word “be-love” used instead of the more common “believe:” For in this way, God loved the created world, so that He gave His one and only Son, in order that everyone who Be-loves into Him will not perish, but will have eternal life.

So then we return to the Creed. How does it change our confession of the words of the creed if we understand “believe” and “be-love?” “We be-love God” – who is that? “…the father, the almighty,” – why? “because he is the maker of heaven and earth.” “We be-love Jesus Christ” – who is that? “…God’s only Son, our Lord,” – why? “because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary…. Etc… “We be-love the Holy Spirit,” – who is that? “The Lord, the giver of life…”; why? “… because he proceeds from the Father…. Etc…” The creed now is an affirmation of commitment and relationship and trust. It is no longer a checklist that we have to run down each week. The creed is an affirmation that I am committed to and are in a relationship with Jesus, Christ – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And if I have doubts or questions, I can still affirm my commitment and relationship. There is thus room for questions and doubts, there is room to search for answers and explore the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

Reflections on Pentecost - "You Got the Power" - Acts 2:1-42

2011-06-12T12:32:00.000-05:00

Read the story of Pentecost here: Acts 2:1-42

The rushing wind – the tongues of fire – the speaking in other tongues! This story of Pentecost is well-known to us and we have heard it many times. It is such a dramatic story! And then Peter gets up and preaches. Wow! Peter! The same hard-headed disciple who never could quite understand what Jesus was talking about and who, when the chips were down, drew his sword to fight (completely against Jesus’ orders) and then he turned right around and denied Jesus three times. THIS Peter preaches in the public square on Pentecost. And this is no ordinary sermon. This is the best sermon ever! At the end the text tells us that three thousand come to believe in Jesus. And then what? Our lectionary Pentecost text is heavy on the spectacle but it cuts off during Peter’s sermon and we never get to hear the result. So here it is – verse 42 – which concludes the Pentecost story:

They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

So what is Pentecost all about? It is about the creation of community in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. God did not send God’s Spirit upon individuals. The Spirit is sent to the community – the church. And how do we tap into God’s Spirit? By devoting ourselves to the Apostle’s teaching as contained in the Bible – that is, immersing ourselves in the Word; Through breaking of bread – that is, regular participation in the Sacrament of Holy Communion; and through fellowship and prayer – that is, being together, reaching out to others, caring for others, lifting other’s needs to God – all of that is what it means to be in prayer. The power of God is showered upon us who are a part of the community of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

We will celebrate the confirmation of 5 of our young people today. What exactly is confirmation? Well, confirmation is not graduation – it is an opportunity for the young people to confirm their faith and to say publicaly before the entire congregation that “yes, I want to be a part of this community.” They will be asked to promise that they will regularly participate in worship, they will study the Word, they will share in the Sacrament and that they are committed to being vessels of God’s Spirit in the midst of this world (that would be – prayer and fellowship). Notice that the promises sound a lot like verse 42. It’s not an accident.

In making these promises and confession these young people will affirm the Baptismal vows that their parents and sponsors made on their behalf when they were newly born. This also gives us the opportunity to affirm our own commitment to the Baptismal vows that we made at our own confirmation and to recognize that one of God’s greatest gifts to us all is the gift of community. In our very individualistic consumer-oriented culture the verses quoted above may sound odd and out-dated. But in fact, they are one of God’s greatest gifts to us. The church may not be perfect – but it is the community of Christ and this gift to us gives us grounding and allows us to plug into the Spirit. It also enables us to recognize that the church is not yet another institution. Rather, WE are the church – the community of Christ – “called, enlightened, sanctified for the work of Jesus Christ.” Amen!

Reflections on Ascension - Acts 1:1-11 - "Left Behind"

2011-06-05T12:02:00.000-05:00

Read the Ascension text here: Acts 1:1-11

Several weeks ago a "Rev." Harold Camping announced and a number of believers were truly expecting the end of the world. May 21 – absolutely – it can’t be wrong. All the calculations pointed to this date. So, huddled and expectant they waited. In a way they were gazing into the heavens watching and hoping and expecting. And it was evening and it was morning – no rapture! This is not too surprising actually. There have been any number of predictions going back to the 19^th century and they have all been wrong. And, I can myself predict with certainty that future predictions will also be wrong. Why? Well, for starters Jesus specifically commands folks NOT to even try predicting. But there are other reasons as well and these reasons all come together around the Feast of Ascension.

First, one assumption of these predictions is that the world is so evil that God will destroy the world. This is the first mistake. In fact, this is completely non-biblical (as is the entire Rapture theology for that matter). When God created the heavens and the earth, at the end of each day we read that God looked on what God had made and saw that it was good. Actually the Hebrew is the word “TOV.” God pronounced the work of creating the earth and everything that is as being TOV – fantastic – amazing – awesome.! The word “TOV” implies excitement; it implies that God was so excited by God’s work of creation that God could hardly keep from dancing! And throughout the Old Testament – despite the problems – God constantly reaffirms God’s love and commitment to this amazing creation. In fact God is so filled with love and commitment for the creation that God is born in Jesus.

Second, the Acts text is one of my favorite New Testament stories. Jesus leads the disciples out to Bethany, says goodbye and ascends to heaven. The disciples stand there watching, gazing into the heavens. Finally an angel (messenger) tells the disciples to stop gazing into the sky, to lower their gaze, look around and get to work. How often are we tempted to gaze into the sky looking for God? How often do we miss God at work in the midst of the world all around us because we are looking in the wrong place – into the sky. Like the disciples we need to lower our gaze, look around at God’s creation and get to work.

Finally, what is this work that we are called to? It is everything that we are engaged in – what we do day in and day out. Any work that contributes to the community, builds up others, provides sustenance – that is the work of everyday life: our vocations, family life, play, civic involvement, volunteer work – all of it honors the Father who created this world TOV. This is why we have been "left behind" – and this is a good thing (it is TOV) – Jesus leaves his disciples behind for the good of the world which God loves so that they might do works of love and grace and be open vessels of God’s love in the midst of this wonderful creation.

"Love Wins" by Rob Bell - My Reflections on this book...

2011-05-30T23:51:00.000-05:00

The place: Northern Germany; the time: Late 15^th, early 16^th century. Martin Luther had posted his 95 theses; he had had his famous confrontation at the Diet of Worms at which he had refused to take back any of his teachings or writings. After a contentious debate all of his supporters had walked out of the Diet (assembly) leaving his enemies, who promptly passed articles of condemnation and excommunication against Luther. Why? He was preaching Grace! He was teaching that St. Paul had proclaimed that we are brought into relationship with God through Christ on the basis, NOT of anything we do, but only on the basis of God’s love and grace. This was a dangerous teaching. One Cardinal expressed that if this kind of theology caught on then the church was doomed. If the church was not needed to broker forgiveness, to maintain and adjudicate God’s law, to sell indulgences on the basis of which is determined who goes to heaven and who doesn’t, then who needs the church?

I was reminded of this dispute as I read a recent article in Time Magazine about the controversy surrounding Rob Bell’s book: Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. His own evangelical colleagues have been harsh in their condemnation. “Universalism,” they cry! “Theologically disastrous!” Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is quoted as saying “When you adopt universalism… you don’t need the church, and you don’t need Christ and you don’t need the cross…” Sounds a lot like the Medieval Cardinals complaint about Luther. Both of them are saying – If God is about love, then who needs us?

So, is Rob Bell guilty of universalism? I think not. Bell is deeply committed to Jesus. But, like Luther, Bell has found a way to present the Gospel of grace in new and fresh and compelling ways. The problem for the establishment is that that shatters the “arrogant certainty” which characterizes so much of the discourse between Christians these days. Bell is suggesting that we Christians need to first, rediscover that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of love (See the lectionary Gospel texts for Easter 5, 6 and 7 A - for example, not to mention all of John's account of the last supper and the final discourse that follows). And second, judging is not in our job description. We need to accept that God is bigger than any of us; and that God might choose to reach out to the whole world in a variety of different ways. And rather than us sitting in judgment on others, we Christians are called to recognize that heaven (and hell for that matter) are already in our midst and that we are called to reach out in the love of God to this hungry and hurting world – yes, the entire world. Even to people whom we don’t like or we don’t agree with or who think differently than we do, and who have different priorities and recognize that we are all children of God.

Bell reminds us that the grace and love of God is completely beyond our comprehension. The grace and love of God are also beyond our control – praise God. The grace and love of God are extended to all of the world that God created and declared “good.” While we humans want to be in control and limit heaven to folks like us – God has other ideas. This is exactly what the Gospels say. The false Gospel of the tyrant God who was suppose to destroy the world and visit havoc and misery on millions of people on May 21 is a lie; the false Gospel of the tyrant God who will destroy all that God loves in creation is a lie; the false Gospel of the tyrant God who expects mental assent to a series of propositions is a lie. We are brought into the heart of God not through our good deeds, our right belief, our certainty, our passion, or anything else – we are brought into the heart of God on the basis of God’s love and grace – only!

And then what is the church. If the church is not needed to broker God’s grace and forgiveness; if the church is not there to determine who is in and who is out then what is the point. The church is a community of those who God loves. We come together to celebrate this love and to be reminded and strengthened in our faith through hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament of Bread and Wine. The Church it is the people – living out their lives – called, enlightened, sanctified for the work of Jesus Christ. (Jay Beech - "We Are the Church") The church is like an outpost of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth – where those who God loves can be in relationship with others who God loves and through whom others can experience this love.

I actually did not find the book to be terribly new. I had read it all before in the New Testament and in Luther. But Bell has a unique way of writing and of using language that makes him easy to read and understand. This is a wonderful book. I commend it to everyone and hope you will all take a little time to read it. I have placed my copy in the church library and will be buying a couple more copies to put in there for you. Read it - read it – read it! I can’t lift up this book enough.

I will let Pastor Bell have the last word. At the end of the book he writes:

Love is why I’ve written this book and love is what I want to leave you with. May you experience this vast, expansive, infinite, indestructible love that has been yours all along. May you discover that this love is as wide as the sky and as small as the cracks in your heart no one else knows about. And may you know, deep in your bones, that love wins.

Amen!

Reflections on the Gospel - Recognizing the Holy Spirit - St. John 14:15-21

2011-05-27T18:48:00.000-05:00

Read the Gospel text here: John 14:15-21

Recognizing the Holy Spirit

There is a theater convention that was very popular especially in the 18^th and 19^th centuries that center around mistaken identity. One of the best examples of this is the plot of Mozart’s wonderful opera “Cosi fan Tutte” (which is hard to translate. It means something like “They are all like that.”) The main plot device is that there are two couples who are supposedly madly in love. The men are so certain that their girlfriends are so madly in love with them that they agree to a bet to test the girls' love. The guys then dress up as “Albanian” soldiers and proceed to woo each other’s girlfriends. Yes, it is very silly. It requires a suspension of belief as the primary question that has always arisen in my mind is this – so no matter how good the disguise is it really possible that the girls really could never recognize their boyfriends? Well, as is typical of Mozart it ends with a hint of sadness in the midst of all of the joy – and the music is incredibly beautiful.

Our Gospel text today is in part about seeing and recognizing. And like the two women in the opera who are looking right at their lovers but do not recognize them, I think we too have a hard time recognizing God’s working through the Holy Spirit – even though God is right then in front of our eyes. After demonstrating unconditional love and grace (foot-washing) and then explaining to the disciples that it is to this that they are called, Jesus promises the disciples that God will send to them “another” Comforter/Advocate (Paraclete in Greek). This is the Holy Spirit. So here in this text we get a hint of what the Holy Spirit looks like:

Hint #1. The Holy Spirit looks like an Advocate – “the one who stands up for you when you need it; the one who speaks on your behalf; the one who lends you a helping hand, takes your side, and won't leave you while you're down.”1.

And Hint 2. The Holy Spirit looks like Jesus – “The Spirit is "another advocate" because Jesus is the first. The Spirit, Jesus goes on to say, will abide with us just as Jesus the Word made flesh has abided with us. The Spirit is sent in Jesus' name and reminds us of what he taught (14:25). In a very real way, the Spirit mediates Jesus presence and helps to keep his promise that he will not leave us orphaned and will come to us.”1.

“In summary, then: the Holy Spirit is an advocate that looks a whole lot like Jesus. Which means that we've actually seen the Spirit lots of times. Anytime, in fact, someone stands up for another... Anytime someone acts like Jesus... Anytime someone bears the love of Christ to another... we've seen the Holy Spirit.”1.

So when was the last time you saw the Holy Spirit? Who did the Spirit look like? Perhaps the Spirit looked like a friend, a family member, a nurse or a teacher – maybe the Spirit looked like your Pastor or like Julie or a member of church or a co-worker. I have seen the Holy Spirit and – you know what – the Holy Spirit looked like some of you. This is the point. How does the Spirit work in the world now? Through God’s people – through you and me. We need to put aside the image of a God who intervenes in the world from outside or above; we need to put aside the image of a God who on the one hand might shower God’s favorites with gifts like a kind of cosmic Santa Claus but who on the other hand is so vengeful and angry that He can’t wait to reek devastation and “tribulation” on those who are not part of the inside group. There is no Biblical justification for this. “The Word because Flesh and dwelt among us…” God works by entering into human history and experience and working from within. And God reaches out in intense and overwhelming love to all – that is ALL – of God’s children. There will be no “rapture,” there will be no “tribulation” visited upon us by a removed and vengeful God. Instead God is working to transform this world that God so intently loves; God is working through the power of the Holy Spirit – that is God is working through you and me.

1. The quoted sections of the above are from David Lose’s article: “What the Holy Spirit Really Looks Like” which is posted at Working Preacher

Who Are We IN Christ?

2011-05-26T00:24:00.000-05:00

What follows is part of my annual report to the congregation - June 1, 2011. It also owes much to a presentation I attended last week at the Festival given by Diana Butler Bass.

Who are we IN Christ?

Who are you? Who am I? How do we define ourselves? I suspect that for most of us the way we would answer that question is by saying what we DO – I am a pastor, a farmer, a grocer, a lawyer, a nurse, a teacher and so on. Or perhaps we would answer the question by listing our relationships – I am a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a grandparent and so on. Ok, if I change the question and ask – Who are you IN God? How would you answer that? What does that little preposition mean? How does it change the question? Or does it?

In ancient times when someone was baptized they received a new name. This was to symbolize that (following the words of St. Paul) in Christ we are a new creation; in Christ we have a new way of being in the world. And we rest in Christ totally. We are in Christ and Christ is in us! The hymn I Bind Myself (which is also known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate ELW #450) puts it this way:

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

That says it all doesn’t it? Baptized in Christ – we are Christ’s – now and forever. Now what does that mean for our lives? What does it mean for the way we live our lives, the way we are in relationship with others, the priorities we set and the choices we make? What difference does being IN Christ make in your life? For each of us there is going to be a different answer. God calls all of us to follow, but we are not all called or gifted in the same way. As we come to the close of this school year and begin looking to the next year of ministry what are ways that we are each called to live IN Christ. How is that manifest? To what new ministries and experiences is God calling you?

Ultimately to be IN Christ means that it is all encompassing. To be a Christian is not just a set of things we have to “believe.” Being IN Christ means a way of living, of relating to others and of setting priorities. According the Diana Butler Bass being IN Christ for both individuals and churches means three things in particular: 1. Experiential belief – that is, our faith emerges out of our experiences of God at work through us and around us; 2. Intentional practice – that is, our calling is to go in search of ministry opportunities – not to sit back and wait for things to come to us; 3. Relational belonging – that is, this church, this parish is a group of people who are not only in relationship with God but also with one another and that we experience God present and active in the world through our relationships with other. And that brings us back to #1. So who are we? How do we define ourselves? Being IN Christ includes both our relationships and our vocations. In fact, it includes every dimension of our lives.

Time off....

2011-05-17T08:14:00.000-05:00

      Good morning friends. I am taking a week to attend the Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis and this is one reason I have not posted. I didn't post last week because I tried an experiment with the "Road to Emmaus" text. I sang a Ylvisaker folk song ("On the Road to Emmaus) and interspersed the verses with reflections about the text. It went very well. And this past week we had Parish rotation and at Peace Lutheran church in Chester we had a dialog sermon - they asked me questions and I attempted to answer them. The questions ranged from "Is Ghandi in Hell" (ala Rob Bell) to questions about why the LCMS refuses to pray with anyone who is not LCMS (I know the reason - but I sure don't understand it - it seems very arrogant and exclusivist to me, the folks at Peace had the same reaction). But the bottom line message I attempted to convey in both of these sermons is that 1. We are called to serve - not to judge. 2. God promises to be with us on our journeys through life and beyond and through the incarnate Word is present with us in the midst of everything. (Nothing can separate us).

     Last night Dr. Thomas Long spoke about the trouble the church is in - decline and so forth. He talked about how people in some quarters are beginning to act in ways that are akin to preparing for death. He had three categories which come from an author names Arthur W. Frank: 1. The reaction of becoming more disciplined. A patient who is ill unto death at first might react by becoming a very disciplined patient - faithfully taking their medication and doing everything they are told to do by the medical staff. So too areas of the church become very disciplined about doing things the way we always have done them. Well 20 years ago we did this and it worked then. That kind of thing. 2. There is a reaction to mirror the healthy. So the sick patient will imitate and act like those around him/her who are healthy - they will mirror healthy behavior. So too the church - we look at Saddleback and say - wow, that program really works there let's do it here (even though our demographics are nothing like theirs). 3. The opposite of #1 - the patient becomes dominating and uncooperative and hostile. Hence, groups of true believers separating from the sinful larger body of the church (read sarcasm). The formation of knee-jerk groups (like CORE, LCMC and LCNA or these Anglican splinter groups) who are so intent on being the true body of Christ that they miss the point of the Gospel.

     Dr. Long finished up with a 4th response - and that is the desire to tell the story. A dying patient will start to want to tell their story. The church has a story to tell as well - an important story. And this story is not a story of an exclusive, judgmental group of true believers - it is a story of the body of Christ who is called to reach out to God's people and care for God's creation; it is a story of the incarnation of God into the midst of a fallen world out of love; it is a story of call - call to follow, to serve, to love as Christ loved us; it is a story of crucifixion and resurrection. Which prompts me to this final reflection. OK - the church is dying and like physical death it is moving towards transformation. But so what else is new. The church has always been in the process of dying. It has always been in the process of transformation. There is nothing new here. The fact is that human people are profoundly uncomfortable with death and dying and so we do everything we can to avoid and prevent it. So we create rigid structures, we judge those we don't agree with, we exclude those who are "not like the rest of us" so we can hold on to the rail of our sinking and dying ship. But just like in physical death we believe that God is a God of resurrection, and that death is not the last word. From death will come life - "abundant life" (from last Sunday's Gospel). And this life is beyond our ability to imagine. The church we know is dying and being transformed - yes, and it has been like this since the church emerged back in the first century. God is at work.

      Dr. Long used the illustration of the falling dream. He was sitting on an airplane next to a man who was sleeping when all of a sudden the man reached up to grab on something - the man was having a falling dream. That is the reaction isn't it. If we feel like we are falling into the abyss we desperately try to grab onto something to hold on. But God says to us - Let go - God is there and will catch us. Our calling is to be faithful.
                                                                                 In the name of the Father, +Son and the Holy Spirit.

Reflections on the Gospel - "Faithful Thomas"

2011-05-01T12:31:00.001-05:00

Read the Gospel Text Here: John 20:19-31

Poor Thomas. Over the last 2000 years we have come to know the disciple Thomas as “doubting Thomas” because of this episode in the Gospel of John. “Unless I see… and touch… and place my hands… I will not believe,” says Thomas. One can hardly blame him. After all, the other disciples have not exactly been paragons of faith. Judas betrayed Jesus, Peter denied he even knew Jesus and the others? Well, our text tells us they are hold up in a secret room hiding with the door locked! Not exactly a testimony of great faith.

These disciples (or at least some of them) had seen Jesus tortured and crucified. They knew he was dead. They had seen him do amazing miracles including raising Lazarus, and they had heard him predict his own resurrection. But we have noted throughout Lent that they really didn’t seem to pay much attention to that. And affecting ones own resurrection is quite a different matter. These disciples didn’t believe anymore than Thomas. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus picks a knick-name for the disciples and he calls them “Little Faiths.” This moniker seems appropriate for the Gospel of John as well.

But what exactly is faith? Does faith consist in accepting and believing extraordinary things that would otherwise be unbelievable? Is faith completely a mental exercise? Is faith in Jesus solely accepting the veracity of a series of incredible stories of miracles and signs – including the resurrection? Is that what faith is? I’m not so sure that this is faith. It seems more like mental gymnastics to me.

In the Old Testament and in the Gospel of John there is no noun for the word “faith.” It is always a verb. It is always an action. The point of the miracles and the signs of Jesus and the resurrection itself is not to encourage us to sit back in our arm chairs and ponder whether or not we can find enough credulity to “believe” these stories were historical fact. Rather, they are to lead us to act; they are to lead us to live lives that imitate and reflect the love and teaching and miracles of Jesus. Mental attitudes are not even important. Ultimately God creates faith. And as we act and we live lives that reflect the gifts of God’s love and grace; that reflect the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus then God instills and creates faith.

Thomas finally gets what the other disciples get: a personal encounter with the living Jesus. And it makes a difference to him, and it makes a difference to the other disciples. They eventually unbolt their locked door and go out into the world sharing the Good News that Jesus is raised and that the powers of death and darkness are defeated. We too are called to get out of our armchairs, unbolt our doors and live lives that reflect this amazing Gospel of Jesus, crucified and risen!

Easter Sermon - 4/23/11 - John 20:1-18 - "Just One More Surprise"

2011-04-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

Read the Gospel text here: St. John 20:1-18

Just One More Surprise - Easter Sermon 2011

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! It had been a terrifying week for the followers of Jesus. He had entered Jerusalem in triumph and they all expected that the time had finally come – Jesus was finally going to reveal himself as the victorious Messiah. All Jesus’ followers were primed and ready to begin the revolution. But Jesus had withdrawn and had not followed through. What a disappointment! As time passed, the disciples and the crowds began to get frustrated and angry. What kind of Messiah is this, they wondered? By the middle of the week almost everyone had turned against him. Even Jesus’ closest disciples were grumbling and one, Judas, had begun to make plans to turn Jesus over to the authorities. Betrayal was in the air. And it was all because Jesus just didn’t seem to understand what was expected of him. Jesus just didn’t seem to understand what it meant to be the Messiah. Jesus’ refusal to fulfill his expected role was a surprise to his followers - a disappointing surprise!

But the surprises had only just begun. The disciples all met in a secret place for the last time in order to share a meal together. Jesus then surprised everyone when he washed his disciples’ feet – all of them – one after another! What kind of Messiah washes feet? That is a job for servants and slaves. Jesus then talked about love and service and commitment! Jesus then shared bread and wine – but with a surprising twist – the bread is my body, broken for you (he said); the wine is my blood, shed for you. The disciples were confused. They didn’t understand. This is not what was expected. Then they went out to the garden, and there Judas had arrived leading a group of soldiers to arrest Jesus. Now it begins! Finally the time has come when Jesus will reveal himself as the triumphant and victorious Messiah. Peter drew his sword and attacked. YES here we go! But, Jesus rebuked him – put away your sword! He said. WHAT?! What a surprise! What a disappointing surprise! Jesus arrested, then tried, condemned and crucified like a common criminal. This is definitely not what was expected. This was a horrible surprise. In fear and confusion and terror the disciples stayed hidden in a secret place in Jerusalem, not knowing what to do.

A day later, the Feast of Passover came to an end and on that day the women, who had been followers of Jesus, got up early in the morning and went to the tomb where Joseph of Arimethea had had Jesus buried. They intended to anoint the burial with oils and spices for burial, as was their custom. But when they arrived, the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb. Mary ran back to bring the news to the disciples. Peter and John raced to the tomb. Sure enough, he was not there! What kind of twist is this – what a surprise! Now what? They rushed back to the rest of the group leaving Mary there crying. This whole week has been just one surprise after another. This whole week has not turned out as was expected at all. Jesus was the Messiah - they all knew that – but he refused to act like the Messiah was supposed to act. Jesus was the Son of God, but the Son of God was crucified as a common criminal. And now Jesus’ body was supposed to be in the tomb, but it was missing.

Expectations and Surprises! That is what this Easter story is all about: Our expectations and God’s surprises! We all have lots of expectations of how the world is supposed to work, don’t we? And we take these expectations into all of our relationships, including our relationship with God. We have developed expectations of how we think God is supposed to act or what God’s opinion of this and that is supposed to be. We assume that God is always on our side and that our priorities are God’s priorities. We try to fit God into our box and we try to manipulate God. There are so many voices in our society that like to claim they know the mind of God; there are so many who think they need to defend God (as if the God who created the universe needed defending!) This is God’s position on this or that, they say; God is a republican or democrat or libertarian or tea party member; God acts like this; if you don’t do this or act like this or think like we think or have our priorities then God won’t love youz! We all are guilty of this. We’re all guilty of reducing God to our own size through our expectations.

Perhaps we don’t want to admit or to see that God is a God of surprises. Perhaps it is too threatening or it makes us too insecure and uncertain. But God will not be limited by our expectations. The Old Testament is filled with surprises. God simply refuses to act the way the Israelites think God is supposed to act. But, Jesus is God’s ultimate surprise. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John tells us in chapter 1. God himself becomes en-fleshed; God moves in with us and lives among us! What a surprise that is! Do you mean to say that God is not off in the distance watching us impassively from above? Yes, that is exactly what John tells us in no uncertain terms in the Gospel. God is not to be found way off in the distance. Rather, God is right here with us, in our midst. Through Jesus, God enters into all human experiences. Through Jesus, God feels loss and grief, God mourns, God loves, God rejoices, God even laughs – all though Jesus. What a wonderful surprise that is! There is nothing that can befall us that God has not entered into through Jesus; and there is nothing can befall us that God can’t transform and redeem. For the ultimate surprise is the surprise we celebrate today on Easter: Christ is not in the tomb, where he’s supposed to be. Christ is Risen! Death is overcome; the darkness is defeated and light and life are victorious.

So, let’s get back to our story. We left Mary standing weeping outside of the tomb. Someone moves in beside her and she starts blabbering on about how they expected to find the body and now it’s gone and what are they going to do, and where did you move it to….. Mary – says Jesus gently. Surprise!

What about us? Life does not always proceed the way we expect does it? Life is filled with missed opportunities, the grind and monotony of work, failed relationships, destruction caused by substance abuse, broken hearts, disappointed dreams, grief and loss and we could go on and on. We expect this to some extent, don’t we? I mean, that is what life is like. We expect that there is nothing that can be done about it. That’s just the way it is. But Jesus is standing there besides us as we are going on and on like Mary, and then he gently speaks a name – your name. And in that moment we realize that the risen Christ is with us in the midst of our lives – and that no matter what Christ will never abandon us. In that moment the surprise of resurrection comes to us. The Easter proclamation – Christ is risen – He is Risen indeed is a joyous and, indeed, a giddy affirmation that God is full of surprises! Christ is Risen – He is Risen Indeed – Surprise!!!!

The title of this sermon is Just one more surprise. Some of you might recognize that line it comes from the beautiful and popular hymn “Borning Cry.” This has become John Ylvisaker’s best known and most loved hymn. I think it is easy to see why it’s so popular. The hymn begins with birth and baptism and goes through all the stages of life affirming Christ’s presence all along the way: childhood, young adult, marriage, middle age. And then the hymn concludes with these words: When the evening gently closes in, and you shut your weary eyes, I'll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise."

Christ is risen – He is Risen Indeed – Surprise!

See this beautifully created music video by Wolfie Productions:

"Borning Cry" by John Ylvisaker

Sermon on The Gospel Readings for Palm Sunday - "Expectations!"

2011-04-17T12:44:00.001-05:00

Read the Processional Gospel here: Matthew 21:1-11

Read the Passion of St. Matthew here: Matthew 26:14-27:66

What excitement! The day has finally come – Jesus is finally going to do it. Jesus is finally going to take the lead in restoring Israel! After the years of unusual teachings – turn the other cheek, love your neighbor and so forth; after all of the healings and the miracles; after all of those odd and confusing statements about picking up your cross and following and the predictions about going to Jerusalem to be crucified and raised; after all of that – Jesus is finally going to reveal himself as the Messiah! Jesus is finally going to reveal himself as the one who is the glorious King of Israel and he will destroy the invaders and the infidels (the Romans) once and for all! Finally!!!

It must have been a heady and exciting time for those crowds that followed Jesus around throughout his ministry, and also for the disciples. Jesus had attracted a number of followers during the three years of travelling around Judea and the Galilee preaching and teaching and doing miracles – followers such as former John the Baptist disciples and curious Pharisees, peasants and merchants, political revolutionaries and those who were collaborators – even Jesus’ inside group of male disciples included a curious mixture of men who otherwise would probably have never gotten along – merchants and businessmen like Peter and Andrew, James and John, radical revolutionaries like Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, and then there were collaborators such as Matthew the tax collector and on and on. But the one thing that seemed to unify this group of disciples and the crowds was their fascination and commitment to what they thought was Jesus’ mission: the believed that Jesus was the Messiah. And this Messiah healed and taught and performed miracles – never before has anything been seen like this in Israel, exclaimed the crowds back in chapter 9. The disciples had figured it out ages ago, in fact Peter had actually verbalized and told Jesus to his face that he believed him to be the Messiah – and Jesus had not denied it. Sure, Jesus then made some odd comments about dying and rising, but none of the crowds or disciples paid much attention to that! “Jesus was the Messiah – and you know what that means, right? Jesus is going to reclaim the throne of David once and for all and then the reign of God will begin. Jesus is going to lead his army of followers against the Romans and expel them and destroy them once and for all!” After all, that is what a Messiah does!

And so, Jesus enters into the city on a donkey to the cries of Hosanna from the crowd. Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David - which means – Save Us, Save Us, Son of David! The crowd could hardly wait – they were pumped and ready to follow Jesus. They were ready to join his rebellion! And the disciples were right there with the crowd the whole way, cheering Jesus on and ready to fight!

These were the expectations of the crowds and the disciples on the day we remember today: Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah, the King. This could only mean one thing – Military Victory! When the crowds cried “Hosanna” or “Save Us” they meant “Save us from the Romans.” They had very clear expectations, and very clear understandings of what they expected to happen and they are ready for it.

We can all relate to this, can’t we? We all have any number of expectations that often form an important part of our relationships. Parents have expectations for their children; husbands and wives have expectations about what marriage is suppose to be and what we expect of our spouses; we have expectations of our government, our schools, our sports teams and on and on. And how many times in your life have you had expectations disappointed? How do you deal with these kinds of disappointments? Can you adjust your expectations to a new reality or do you incline to stubbornly hold on to out of date or unreasonable expectations?

And, what kinds of expectations do we have of Jesus? And are our expectations all that different from the crowds that greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem? Don’t we also incline towards a glorious Messiah? Don’t we American Christians prefer the risen Christ of Easter rather than the broken Jesus on the cross? Every year churches around the our country are filled on Easter Sunday. Can we say the same about our Good Friday services? Why is that? For without Good Friday, Easter is meaningless. There can be no resurrection without crucifixion and this fact alone should call us to take a long hard look at our understandings and expectations, and to reconsider what this means for our faith and what it means for our daily lives.

For their part, this crowd appears to be not inclined to revise their expectations, not on this day; during this week. They are excited and waiting for the word from Jesus. But it never comes. Jesus lets the moment pass. The crowds are like a fire ready to burst into flame, but Jesus doesn’t light the fire. He moves in a different direction. He stays on the Mount of Olives, he continues to teach and debate and all the while his disciples and the crowds are getting restless and angry, to the point where one disciple finally takes matters into his own hands and tries to force Jesus to act – this is Judas. Judas is the one who does the act of betrayal, but don’t think that the other disciples weren’t thinking the same thing – they were. They all wanted to find a way to get Jesus to act like the Messiah they believed he was. But Jesus hadn’t taken advantage of all that support he had when he entered Jerusalem, so Judas tries to force his hand in the Garden of Gethsemane. And what do the other disciples do? At the time of his arrest, one of the disciples draws his sword and strikes a blow! “Ok, here we go – now the insurrection starts….” No – they still don’t get it….

Put your sword back into its place (says Jesus) – for all who live by the sword will perish by the sword!

What a shock! This is not what was expected. Is it any wonder then that the crowds turned on Jesus? Crucify him, Crucify him! Is it any wonder the disciples all fled in fear and confusion? “What a disappointment! Our hopes are completely dashed! Jesus the Messiah did not meet the expectations we had for him; he wasn’t the kind of Messiah we were expecting!”

But God doesn’t do things in the way we humans expect. God’s ways are different than our ways. God does answer and respond to the calls of Hosanna – Save us; but not in the way we expect. Through Jesus, God saves us through service; gives victory through weakness; gives life through death. It is not what we expect.

But it is not like this is a particularly new way for God to act. We can run through the entire salvation history of Israel and see that this is exactly how God acts. Surprisingly, God acts consistently through forgiveness and grace and weakness: God chooses Abraham and his wife Sarah to be the patriarch of a great nation through which God will bless the world. Even though they are homeless wanderers and a little on in years. God stays with this family through all of the deceit and dishonesty and selfish behavior exhibited by Jacob and his sons. Then God calls a murderer who is on the run to return to Egypt to lead God’s people into a new land. Throughout salvation history God calls men and women to witness through their lives that God is not about status quo, business as usual. God is about liberation. God is about lifting up the lowly and caring for the poor and hungry and lonely and grieving and destitute. God is about casting the mighty and selfish down from their thrones and sending the rich away hungry. God works in our midst not through power and might and wealth – but through weakness and love and grace. This is not what we expect. The cross as a symbol of liberation and grace – who would have thought?

We are now about to enter into our remembrance of Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem – a week we call Holy. As we proceed throughout this week we should note that this is a week filled with expectations that are continually dashed by a God who loves us so much that God refuses to be imprisoned by our expectations. From the entrance into Jerusalem, through the Last Supper in the Upper Room, to the arrest in Gethsemane, the trials before Caiaphas and Pilate, the crucifixion at Golgotha – and then the most surprising twist of all: the empty tomb! This is not what we expected! Praise God! For through these events God, through Jesus reaches out to us in love and grace! It’s not what we expect – thanks be to God! +

Reflections on the Gospel – John 11 – The Raising of Lazarus

2011-04-09T23:52:00.000-05:00

Read the text here: John 11:1-45

We have come to the end of our Lenten journey, which also means that we have come to the end of our series of Gospel stories from John. In succession we have heard the story of Jesus' visit with the Pharisee Nicodemus, who visited Jesus at night; then Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan Woman at the well in the bright light of mid-day. What a contrast John gives us with these two stories – the insider Nicodemus who is really an outsider because he does not believe and who comes at night which represents to us that he is in the darkness; and the outsider Samaritan Woman who is really an insider because of her belief and whose encounter occurs in the bright light of the day to represent that she is of the light. Then the man born blind – who has been in darkness all him life – is given sight and he becomes a child of light because of his belief while the Pharisees and officials who can see (technically) are the ones who are really blind and in the darkness.

Throughout these stories in John we can see the important themes of light and darkness, which was first presented in the prologue (John 1:1-5). The children of light are those who believe; the children of darkness are those who do not believe (1:12-13). The key to all of these stories is “belief.” And please note – in John (like in the Old Testament) the noun form (belief) is never used – to believe is always a verb. It always involves action and response and commitment. It is never static; it is never cerebral; it is never an intellectual exercise. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah is a way of life.

We come now to the final story in this Lenten series – the Raising of Lazarus in chapter 11. This story is the climax of the first portion of the Gospel of John, known as the Book of Signs. The Raising of Lazarus is the last of 7 signs that have been interspersed with dialogs and teachings throughout chapters 2 through 11. Chapter 1 was the prologue and Chapter 12 is a transition (anointing) that leads into the Book of Glory that climaxes in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

This climactic story both looks back – to the prologue and the previous signs – and it looks forward to the resurrection of Jesus when God’s glory is revealed in all of its fullness. A couple of things to think about:

1. Jesus is met by grief-stricken sisters who reproach him for his tardiness in coming – If you had been here my brother would not have died! How many times do we feel that if only God is tardy or delayed in the way Jesus is in this story? If only you had….. – I am sure we can all fill in the blank.

2. How does Jesus respond to this emotion? Does he get angry with the women? No – Jesus weeps! (And the Word became flesh – 1:14) Jesus enters into the emotion of the women and grieves with them.

3. Jesus then brings resurrection from death. This is the glory of God, to which John refers in the prologue. By entering into the human experience God, though Jesus, redeems it from within. In other words, God brings resurrection from death, joy from sorrow, hope from despair.

4. I am the resurrection and the life says Jesus. And these things are NOW! Not off in the future in some never-never land fantasy time. Resurrection and life are NOW, though Jesus. Just as the gift of Eternal Life is NOW.

5. Unbind him Jesus commands. We are not puppets to be acted upon. God has work for us too. We are called to participate in Jesus ministry of resurrection and life.

It comes around as it does in all of the other stories to belief – the verb. Do you believe? And it is not enough to say – yes, I believe; how is this faith in Jesus the Messiah manifest in your life? In what ways does God’s light shine through you? In what ways does God reach out through you to bring resurrection and eternal life to those whom you encounter?

This week we pause at Bethany to consider these things before we begin the journey to the cross and the empty tomb in the weeks to come.

Sermon on John 9 - "Sin & Belief / Darkness & Light" - Lent IV A

2011-04-02T20:38:00.000-05:00

Read the text for today here: John 9:1-41

Well, I don’t know if you have noticed – middle of Lent and I have not spent a lot of sermon time talking about sin, so far. But that changes today because our Gospel lesson for Lent IV is, in part, about sin. What exactly is sin? What does it do to us and how do we deal with it? These are some of the questions posed by this text.

So, what do you think about when you hear the word sin? I suppose you think about doing bad things – breaking the 10 commandments or doing hurtful things to others. Perhaps you think of sin in terms of rewards and punishment. If you are good – God will reward you; if you are sinful you will be punished. This is a very popular way of looking at sin; in part I suppose because it makes logical sense to us. That seems to be the way the world works, right?

Many years ago – when I was in high school I spent my summers, as I think I have mentioned before, working out in the warehouses and in the yard at a lumber company. My supervisor was an older man named Johnny. Johnny was very religious, and at the time I was filled with questions so we spent a lot of time talking about Christian faith. I remember one conversation very vividly. We were talking about sin and Johnny spelled out the rewards/punishment view and told me that that was how it was – that is how God acts: God rewards the good and punishes the sinners. As an example – he told me about a young man he knew who was a Christian, but who had fallen into a wild life of partying and then one night after a little too much to drink and a little to much speeding he had an accident and he was killed. That, said Johnny, proves my point. God caused that accident – that was the punishment for his lifestyle. Wow, is that true? Does God zap us like that? Are the earthquakes in places like Haiti and Japan God’s retribution for things that may have happened centuries ago – as has been claimed by a certain well-known TV preacher? Is this the way God acts? And if so – well, where is Grace?

Dealing with sin on the basis of rewards and punishments was as popular an approach in the time of Jesus as it is in our day. At the very beginning of our Gospel text Jesus and his disciples are walking through a town and they see a blind man begging. “Look at that man,” says one of the disciples, “he has been blind since birth. Is he blind because of his own sin or his parent’s sin?” Notice there is no other option for this questioner – it is assumed it is one or the other. There is no 3rd option here. But Jesus rejects this reward and punishment approach to sin out of hand – “Neither his sin nor his parents” says Jesus. That is not how God acts. God doesn’t make people blind as a form of punishment; God doesn’t hold grudges for centuries and then visit devastation in the form of natural disasters on places like Haiti as punishment; God did not “take,” (to use Johnny’s word) God did not “take” that young man – the accident was the result of his own bad choices. In that case, there is a difference between punishment and consequence.

So, what does Jesus say and do about all of this? “Through this man’s blindness the glory of God will be revealed.” And then Jesus proceeds to bring sight to the blind man; Jesus proceeds to bring light into the midst of deep darkness. That is how God acts! Through Jesus, the light of God’s love and grace illumine even the darkness of sin, and loss and death. Look, we live in a fallen world – we sometimes make bad decisions for which there are consequences – others sometimes make selfish and self-centered decisions that hurt us – sometimes natural disasters befall us. The promise is that God’s love and grace will permeate these situations – God is present with us in the midst of them – “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus,” says Paul. And God brings life from death – joy from sorrow – order out of chaos - light out of darkness. This is what Jesus means when he says that through this situation the Glory of God will be revealed. The Glory of God is shown in Jesus – who was crucified and then on the 3^rd day rose again. In other words, God brings resurrection from death. That is the point. Death and darkness and loss and fear and grief and violence and unemployment and on and on – they are a real part of our fallen world, with which we must contend and by which we are affected – but they do not have the last word. The last word is resurrection and love and grace, which is shown forth in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, I began this sermon with a series of questions about sin – specifically the question of what exactly is sin, according to this story and the Gospel of John. As I noted earlier, we tend to define sin very narrowly as bad things we do or as breaking the 10 commandments and so on. But John has a different approach to the question of sin. For John our usual way of defining sin is off the mark – doing bad things or not following the 10 commandments should be seen as symptoms of sin rather than as sin itself. For John the definition of sin boils down to one thing: belief. Do you believe? Or not? If you believe then you like the Blind man can see and like the Samaritan Woman you are in the light and are walking with God. If you do not believe then like the Pharisees in this story you are really blind and like Nicodemus you are in darkness – you are in sin. Belief therefore frees us from sin – it frees us to follow, it frees us to love and it frees us to action.

The best example of this is Luther who, as a young Augustinian monk, spent hours and hours in the confessional confessing every little sin he could possibly think of. And just when he thought he had finished he thought of more. He could not be free of these sins – they were constantly weighing him down and they paralyzed him. His exhausted confessor, Johann Staupitz pointed out to Luther that at the core he had a problem with trust. He needed to trust – he needed to believe that God loved him; that God surrounded him with grace and that Jesus died for him. This is what John is saying to us – do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus died for you; that Jesus’ resurrection is for you? Do you believe that you are loved and forgiven by God and that God’s grace permeates every dimension of your life? Yes, Lord, I believe – says the Samaritan Woman and the Blind Man and Mary at the grave of Lazarus. Can we affirm those words with them?

Does this mean that everything will be perfect from now on – no? Does this mean that there won’t be consequences for bad decision – or that there still won’t be loss or natural disasters – no. What it means is that there is hope and that from the darkness of loss and death we know and can affirm that the resurrection of Jesus is the last word; that God’s grace is the last word.

Many of you know the story of John Newton, the man who wrote the words to the hymn “Amazing Grace.” How he was a slave trader and a really horrid human being, but that at some point in his life he experienced a conversion and a transformation. This transformation he attributed to God’s Grace – God’s Amazing Grace, which could even save a “wretch” like him. And despite all of the ups and downs of the rest of his life he could nevertheless still proclaim that it was the grace of God which gave him hope and gave his life meaning. And I think we can also affirm with John Newton, the important of this gift of grace for us. For like him…

I once was lost but now am found – was blind but now I see.

SBD+

"Amazing Grace" Sung by Celtic Women with a very cool Bagpipe band!

Reflections on I John for Lent

2011-03-30T21:21:00.000-05:00

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. I John 4:7-10

Throughout the season of Lent at our 12:30 mid-week Lenten prayer service we are meditating on the Epistle of I John. Like many of the epistles in the New Testament, this letter was written to address a specific situation that had arisen within a specific community. The community is believed to be the community that had risen up around the beloved disciple John. By the time of the letter scholars believe John had died and the community was now struggling with division and conflict. Specifically a serious conflict had arisen over the question of whether or not Jesus was really human or if (as the break-away group was proclaiming) Jesus was only divine and that Jesus only seemed to be human. This may have been the first recorded instance of this disagreement, but it would not be the last. This question of the relationship of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, and whether Jesus was human at all would continue to be a major conflict in the early church (it is still with us, by the way) and would lead eventually to the formation of the three great creeds – the Apostle’s, the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds. The technical name for the belief that Jesus only seemed to be human is docetism.

Apparently this conflict within the Johnnine community had gotten out of hand. The docetist faction had pulled themselves apart, so as not to be “tainted” by “incorrect belief.” And not only that, but it appears that they had adopted a very hostile attitude to all of those who disagreed with them. The writer of this epistle addresses all of the issues – lovingly, but firmly. From the beginning of the epistle he makes it clear that to assert that Jesus only seemed divine or that Jesus was only pretending to be human is a denial of the heart of the Christian faith. If Jesus was not fully human then there is no Christmas, no incarnation; and the death and resurrection itself becomes meaningless. The humanity of Jesus is essential to our salvation and our faith, without that then Jesus becomes yet another divine deity who pretends to be human and accomplishes nothing of importance. It is through the incarnation of Jesus - the humanness of Jesus that God enters into our human experience, and is able to be present with us in the midst of the darkness of our human lives and thus to redeem and to offer salvation to us from within it. First John asserts in the very first verse of the 1^st chapter his affirmation that Jesus was fully human, which echoes the earlier Gospel of John from the same community: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us….

Jesus is fully human – God enters into the human experience through the birth of Jesus and saves us from within our humanity. Jesus is fully divine – Jesus is God incarnate and thus fully divine. The power to save, to extend God’s grace is dependent on Jesus being both 100% divine and 100% human – all at the same time. How is this accomplished? I do not know. It is a mystery and I am content with mystery. What I do know is that my own experience is of a Jesus who is both completely divine and completely human. In this way I know that God is with me in the light and in the darkness – in joy and in sorrow – at times of bitter despair and in times of exultation and celebration. How have you experienced the humanity and divinity of Jesus in your life? This is the question for the Lenten journey.

Lastly, John also makes it clear that our calling is not to be “right.” But our calling is to love, as God loves us. That if we allow mystery to be a part of our faith experience there are going to be things that we do not agree on and things that we do not completely understand – and this is ok. At the foundation though there must be love – God’s love for us, which is revealed in Jesus and which calls us to open our hearts in love to others. May this Lent also provide an opportunity for us to contemplate the amazing love and grace of God as shown forth in Christ and may it lead us to love of others.

Reflections on the Gospel - "Of Wells and Tents" - John 4:5-42

2011-03-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

Read the Gospel text here:John 4:5-42

"Of Wells and Tents" - The Samaritan Woman at the Well - John 4:5-42

Within the first two weeks of Lent we have the opportunity to hear two wonderful stories from the Gospel of John and to meet two people with whom Jesus has an encounter early in his ministry. Last week we heard the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisee Nicodemus. This week Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. The contrast between them could not be greater. Nicodemus is very much an insider – he is a leader among the Pharisees, he is educated, he is established; he comes to Jesus at night to discuss Jesus’ teaching, which try as he might, he just cannot understand. The unnamed Samaritan woman is very much an outsider – she is a Samaritan (Judeans like Nicodemus would have had nothing to do with Samaritans) and she was a woman; she was uneducated and she seems to be somewhat of an outcast from her own community. She comes to the well at noon, which was the worst time of the day to draw water. By noon the sun was high and it was hot. Most women went to the well early in the morning or in the evening – not at noon. This is why she and Jesus are alone. No one else wants to be out in the heat. She and Jesus then engage in a dialog that is much deeper are more probing than the one with Nicodemus. Why? Well, simply put - Nicodemus didn’t get it. The Samaritan woman does get it – slowly – but still she gets it.

It is important to address a very popular interpretation that has tended to affect the interpretation of the passage. In verses 16 through 18 Jesus asks the woman to go and fetch her husband. She replies that she has no husband and Jesus affirms that, adding that he knows she has had five husbands and that she is living with a man who is not her husband. Many preachers and commentators down through the years have interpreted this to reflect badly on the moral character of this woman – and thus distracted by this non-issue end up missing the important part of the story. Please note – Jesus does not condemn her and neither does he offer her forgiveness. Why? She has nothing to be forgiven for. The fact that she has had 5 husbands would not have been her choice or her fault. Women in 1^st century Palestine had no choice over those kinds of things. She was a victim. She was either widowed or divorced – which would have all been done without her input or assent. If anything she deserves our compassion.

At the center of this encounter is a question that the woman asks about worship. She asks – where is God to be found? On Mount Gerizim in Samaria or in Jerusalem? This question lay at the heart of the Gospel of John – where do we find God? Jesus takes the question seriously and gives her an answer that I am sure she was not expecting: neither place – you must worship God “in spirit and in truth.” In other words – open your heart, God’s dwelling is not in any particular place – it is with and among God’s people: people just like you. Even though you may be excluded by the society, you are not excluded by God – God is open to all who open their hearts and believe in the Son of Man. In John 1:14 we read: and the Word was made flesh and dwelt (tabernacled / tented) among us. God is no longer remote. God is available through the Son. And if that was not enough Jesus finishes off this section with a confession: I AM – Jesus says. (The phrase that appears in the NRSV translation – “I am he” is incorrect – there is no “he” in the Greek. It is just “I AM.”) This of course is the name of God, and unlike the Pharisees the woman doesn’t flinch when she hears this. She accepts and believes.

Ultimately this passage is about identity and belief. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Messiah – Jesus is the Word made flesh – the I AM come into the world. And to whom does Jesus come? To all who have open hearts – to all who believe. You don’t have to be a certain class or ethnicity or believe the right dogmas or be perfect or be male – God is open to all who follow and believe in Jesus the Christ. In a real way this story reflects the famous passage from John 3:16. For a Samaritan woman represents the outsiders of the world to whom the Son has been sent to love. And her faith and action mark her as one who is a child of the light and who has been given the gift of eternal life. Like her we too are called to open our hearts and allow our belief to be reflected in the way we live our lives – for we too are children of the light to whom God has given the gift of Eternal Life.

An excellent discussion of this text and the background of interpretation is by David Lose and can be found here: Misogeny, Moralism and the Woman at the Well

I find the comments - especially by those who claim to be Christian - to be really appalling. Are American Christians really that close-minded, judgmental and biblically illiterate? None of us has all the answers and it seems to me that we Christians are called to openness, humility and to graciousness. Note Luther's explanation of the 8th Commandment:"We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbour, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way."