Jan 5, 2014 2nd Sunday of Christmas

John 1:1-18
  1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
   6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
   9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
   14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
   15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.


“GOD’S LOVE IS FOR ALL PEOPLE”
 
What a text for the first Sunday of a new year!  .
With broad, powerful strokes of the pen John sets the stage for what is to come, not only in his gospel, but in life itself.  .

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth...From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

And the TRUTH is, that God is LOVE.
And the GRACE is, that this if for ALL.

Not just those who know it, accept it,  cherish it, believe it.  But for ALL - even those who don’t know it, accept it, cherish it or believe it.  God loves them too!

As Martin Luther once said: “Nobody is in this life nearer God than those who hate and blaspheme him.  He has no more dear children then they.”
How great the grace of God is.  It goes beyond our logic, it doesn’t always make sense, it is not  reasonable.   If mercy is not receiving what I deserve,  grace is receiving what I don’t deserve.

God is a God of grace, first, last and always!

As the Psalmist says many times in many ways, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  Ps. 103:8

So...what does this mean for us today, as we begin a new year.
What are we to be about in 2011 and beyond?
We are to be INCLUSIVE in our spirituality
“The worst word in the english language is exclusive."  Carl Sandberg

Mother Teresa expresses inclusiveness this way:

“The same loving hand that has created you
       has created me.
If he is your Father
        he must be my Father also.
We all belong to the same family.
Hindus, Muslims and all peoples are our brothers and
        sisters.
The too are the children of God.

Our work among the Hindus proclaims that
        God loves them
        God has created them
        they are my brothers and sisters.
Naturally I would like to give them the joy of what I
         believe
but that I cannot do;
only God can.
Faith is a gift of God
         but God does not force himself.

Christians, Muslims, Hindus, believers and nonbelievers
       have the opportunity with us to do works of love
       have the opportunity with us to share the joy of
              loving and come to realize God’s presence.
Hindus become better Hindus.
Catholics become better Catholics.
Muslims become better Muslims.”    Mother Teresa

We are to be COMPASSIONATE in our attitude and actions; not judgmental.
“Be merciful (compassionate) as your Father is merciful.”  Lk 6:36

For God is love!  First, last and always!  Nothing!  Nothing must ever take precedence over this simple, awesome truth.

And what ever else this means, it does mean I have to let go of being judgmental even where I feel I have every reason to be judgmental and even where I think the Bible is judgmental and I have to seek to love even as I have been loved.  It means that I dare not “quench the Spirit” of God at work in my life (which is always a spirit of love) even as I seek to “test everything; hold fast to what is good; (and ) abstain from every form of evil.”  I Thes. 5:19-22

Our challenge, as Christians, is to let the Word of grace -the light which shines in the darkness - shine in us,  doing as Mother Teresa said - ‘”no great things only small things with great love.”

Dec 29, 2013 1st Sunday of Christmas

Matt.2:13-23

   13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
   14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
   16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
   18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
   weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
   and refusing to be comforted,
   because they are no more.”

    19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
   21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Seems too soon - to face the real world again; the real world which can so often destroy our moments of peace and ridicule our believing a Savior was born.  The Matthew story is “a turn toward lowliness and humility rather than grandeur and greatness....Jesus is to be identified, not with the powerful, but with the helpless, vulnerable people of this world.”

As the writer of Hebrews says he was “one of the dispossessed”.

And as Nelson Trout - first Lutheran African American Bishop in America - puts it:  “In Jesus Christ, God stoops down very low.”

This is the greatness of Christianity - it’s lowliness.  There is no place too unimportant, no event too insignificant that God has not been there and will not be there again.  God has become penetratingly human - nothing is beyond his reach.  This is what Christmas is all about!

Joseph makes real for us the struggle of God coming to us - and asking us to do something we would never do by ourselves.  God touches us in ways which require risk.  It is when we risk that we discover God’s will for us.

Often this means that we follow our feelings; that deep urging from within.
Faith, as P.T. Forsythe defined it, “is a power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of life”...among the strongest of feelings in our lives.  It turns us on to the spirit of God who is trying to get us to ‘go to Egypt’...to risk our lives in order that we might really find them, and really live!

Dec 22, 2013 Advent 4

Matt.1:18-25

  18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
   20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
   22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
   24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.


The Christmas story as told by Matthew is a reminder that all things were not easy for Joseph or Mary.  It is no small thing to believe that “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

Joseph was a special sort of person who risked much on a dream and on a willingness to be used by God.

He did not reject Mary openly; he did not even “put her away secretly”, but took her as his wife and became a part of the greatest drama to ever happen - the birth of  Immanuel - God with us!

As we celebrate Christmas the question looms - Is it possible God would do something through us, like God did through Joseph, if we only dared dream enough and risk enough?

Marry Christmas as you pounder “how Jesus the Savior came forth to die,for poor ornery sinners like you and like I...” and how God would use you
to make Christmas live again through you!

“It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you... yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand."    Mother Teresa

Dec 15, 2013 Advent 3

Matt.11:2-11

 2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
   4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[a] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
   7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
   “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way before you.’
   11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

 “Looking For Christmas”

E. B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, once said:  “I wake up in the morning torn between the desire to enjoy the world and to improve the world.  That makes it difficult to plan the day.”

I wake up during Advent torn between the desire to enjoy Christmas - and all that goes into getting ready for it; and the desire to change what we have done with this holy event.

To stop all the noise, distortion, sentimentalism, and commercialism which reeks with hypocrisy and distorts terribly the meaning of Christmas.

The important thing in all this is that we anticipate, prepare, look, wait for Christmas to happen anew, now where it is obvious, but where it is hidden.

This is the mystery and miracle of Christmas:  it comes in the most unlikely places.  John wasn’t sure it was in Jesus - who was too soft for John.
We too are not always sure where God is in our midst - is God really there in the infant holy, infant lowly?


“Who’s Who In God’s Kingdom”

John the Baptist, according to Jesus,  was greater than any man who has ever lived.  Yet not even John was fit for the Kingdom of heaven.  Our greatness does not make us fit; God’s grace does.

Dec 8, 2013 Advent 2

Matt.3:1-12:

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.’”
   4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
   7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
   11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

“Journey of Hope - John the Baptist”

John the Baptist was different.  His life style was different and his words were different.  He spoke the truth, clearly, bluntly, correctly:  “Repent!”
“Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”

Repent:  turn around.  Face your inner most self and confess your inner most secrets, your hidden ambitions, your not so holy intentions.

Everything written in the Bible is written so we might have hope.  (Rom 15:4)
The call to repentance sounds out of step, yet it is very much in step.  For repentance is the source of real joy.  It is the means by which we are set back on course.  It is something we need to do often.  It means turning around, changing direction; it is positive not negative, helpful not hurtful, necessary not optional, healthy not harmful, and even humorous, not always heavy.

Our challenge is to practice repentance until it not only feels good but also becomes a part of our very being; something we do often and joyfully because we know it leads to the joy of forgiveness.

Bear fruit:  Good fruit will come as we honestly and sincerely confess our sins.  It just will.
For out of a forgiven heart comes fruit worthy of repentance - compassion, forgiveness, kindness, thankfulness, helpfulness, etc. etc. etc.!

Then we will be instruments of hope in a world which always has enough hopelessness, but never enough hope!


 “Streaked With Hope”

John came as a voice in the wilderness crying, “Repent...” -
and many didn’t hear; and many of those who did hear didn’t heed; and those who did hear and heed were ushered into the greatest experience of their lives - they discovered the joy of repentance (turning around) and the joy of a life of hope with God.

A sense of judgment is necessary for happiness in life.  It keeps us from the world of pretense where nothing is real, and nothing is lasting.
It leads us to the joy of repenting and discovering what lies beyond our pretense.

The gift of God’s son is reason to hope.
Hope is a vital ingredient to life and to faith.
A quote from a Dr. Lowen expresses it well;  “And the sorrow associated with the loss is streaked with hope.”

Streaked with hope.  That’s Advent.  Born of our faith; enriching our lives; even giving new meaning to suffering.  Redemptive suffering which leads to joy in hope.

Dec. 1, 2013 Advent 1

Matt. 24:36-44

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
   42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

“Be Ready!”

Someone has said, “When we look at the past too much we become depressed or guilty.  When we look to the future too far, we become anxious; when we live in the present, we have less guilt or anxiety.”

Our text causes us to look to the future - perhaps too far - and can give us a good case of anxiety.

It is easy to take these words as a threat; and respond with fear.  The result is that we become so caught up in trying to be ready that we cannot enjoy life.  And we may even be disappointed when that for which we are ready doesn’t happen.  Religion than becomes a negative force in life, keeping joy out.

These words are meant to give hope not fear; they are a promise to be heard with the ears of faith which dares to believe that all is in God’s hands and it is good.

Look up and rejoice for something good is about to happen.
Be ready - your lover is coming soon.  God loves you.  Be ready to be loved all the way to the better end.
To be ready is to be fully alive and in love, as Ireneaus, the ancient church father said: “The glory of God is man fully alive.”

Nov. 24, 2013, Christ The King Sunday

Luke 23:33-43

 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[a] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
   35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
   36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
   38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
   39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
   40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
   42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[b]”
   43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

“A Different King”

What ever we say about Jesus and his Kingdom, however we try to understand the manifestation of power and glory which was his as the King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right; how  ever much we are moved by the powerful words of the Hallelujah Chorus which shouts “King of Kings and Lord of Lords, forever!”
We are reminded today that Jesus Kingdom is not of this world and is not like anything else in this world.  It is not made up of that which makes up our kingdoms.  it is as different as night is from day.

For it is not a matter of power politics; nor of deceptive promises.  It is not a matter of domination and manipulation.  Jesus Kingdom is made up of compassion, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, joy, peace and is found in places of weakness and foolishness, where the power and wisdom of God is revealed in all its power  and glory.

Robert MacAfee Brown relates the following life experience.

“The story is a true one.  It takes place on the roof of one of the crematoria at Birkenau, the death camp of Auschwitz, on a gray, cheerless day in the summer of 1979.

A group of us are standing on ruins the Germans tried (unsuccessfully) to obliterate, to hide evidence that sex million Jews had been shot and gassed and burned in such places, solely because they were Jews.

I reflect: if Golgotha revealed the sense of God-forsakenness of one Jew, Birkenau multiplies that anguish at least three and a half million times.  For the rest of my life, this crematorium will represent the most powerful case against God;  the spot where one could -with justice-denounce, deny, or (worst of all) ignore God, the God who was silent.

On what use are words as such a time?  So many cried out to God at this spot and were not heard.  Human silence today seems the only appropriate response to divine silence yesterday.

We remain silent.  Our silence is deafening.

And then it comes - first from the lips of one man, Elie Wiesel (standing in the camp where thirty-fife years earlier his life and family and faith were destroyed), and then in a mounting chorus from others, mostly Jews, the great affirmation:  ‘Shema Yisroel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai echod, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.’ “

Nov. 17, 2013, 26th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 21:5-19

5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
   7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
   8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
   10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
   12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

 “Not A Hair Will Perish”

The American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once said:

“The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.  One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them better.”

This certainly is the mark of faith which often has to hope against hope and act in love in spite of all the hate.  This is what this text is all about.

It is about the faith which is sure of what it hopes for and certain of what it cannot see.
It is about the love which dares to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.
It is about being witness to the truth in the face of evil and daring to believe that not a hair on our heads will perish.

As one writer put it:

“Christ risen from the dead shows that there is nothing rebellious creation can do to cause something to perish that God wants to preserve.”

It is not the evil which shall prevail; it is faith in the goodness of God which will prevail!
Indeed, not a hair will perish of what God wants to preserve!

Nov. 10, 2013, 25th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 20.27-38

20:27 Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection. 20:28 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up children for his brother. 20:29 There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless. 20:30 The second took her as wife, and he died childless. 20:31 The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died. 20:32 Afterward the woman also died. 20:33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
20:34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. 20:35 But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. 20:36 For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 20:37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’* 20:38 Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”

 “God Of the Living”  

It is dwarfed minds which want answers rather then vision; specifics rather then promise.

The Sadducees trap question reveals how small of mind they are.  They want to know in human terms what cannot be put in human terms - it is too big to be made so small.

When we try to put the mysteries of heaven in human terms  - trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in logical sequence, or throwing up our hands and saying it can’t be done so it doesn’t exist - we end up with nothing worth anything.

If we try live too much for heaven we will not live for today.  If we live only for today we have no hope for tomorrow.

The key is to live with a loving God today letting tomorrow be in God’s loving hands.  This is the source of our sure and certain hope.

Eternal life cannot be reduced to conditions of temporal life.  We are in God’s loving hands.
God of the living and of the dead; God of yesterday, today and forever.  We live in love and with love waiting for the day when all things will be new and only love will remain

“God Of The Living“(Part 2)

Jesus is running up against - again - the religious who were of a different kingdom.  They didn’t want him to be the final answer;  they wanted to be the final answer.  They wanted to keep God in the box of their own making, so God would not ask of them more than they were willing to give.  Jesus didn’t fit in their Kingdom!

Just as Mother Teresa didn’t fit for the ‘religious’ man who spoke these words when confronted with the possibility that Mother Teresa was close to what Jesus taught.
“Someone should tell Mother Teresa about triage.  In battle the medics don’t work on what they judge to be hopeless cases.  They work on the ones who have a chance to make it.  Mother Teresa is impractical.   Think how much better it would be if she helped people who were going to live and taught them a skill that would enable them to earn a living and maybe even help others.  She needs some business training.”

The Kingdom of God as seen in Jesus (and those who follow him) is impractical.  Yet it is what Jesus was all about and what we are to be all about - being  merciful as our God is merciful!

Do we dare believe that who we are, what we do, say, give, and how we live and treat even the least can be a part of God’s impractical, unexpected, and creative acts at work in our world through which God’s Kingdom does come on earth a small bit as it is in heaven?  Then we will be impractical, yet loving as we have been loved!
Our religion will not be in our rituals, but in our living!

Nov. 4, 2013, All Saints Sunday

Luke 6:20-31

 20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
   “Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
   for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
   when they exclude you and insult you
   and reject your name as evil,
      because of the Son of Man.
   23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
   24 “But woe to you who are rich,
   for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
   for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
   for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
   for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.


“Good Hearts”

“Blessed are the pure of heart, (those who have opened their hearts to the redeeming goodness of God’s love) for they will see God.”(Matt. 5:8)
And they will be a blessing.  It will be said of them “He/she had a good heart!”

All Saints Sunday has to do with our hearts.  The Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49)) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) both speak to issues of the heart.

Heart.  The word appears 872 times in the Bible.
It is an all inclusive word which captures all that we are -body, mind, spirit and means everything we are, the very center our our being, the very soul of our existence.  In the O.T. as well as new and even today, “the ‘heart’ is at the center of a person’s motivations and actions.  It is the deepest fiber and sinew of the human willpower”
John S. McClure

As Jesus says a bit further in the sermon on the Plain:
“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”  Lk. 6:45

How is it with your heart?
Believe it or not, want it or not,  God would, through Word and Sacrament search us, cleanse us, call us, equip us, change us, enrich us, forgive us, so that from the heart we might “be merciful, just as (our God) is merciful.”  Mt. 6:36

Jesus words to his disciples and to us call us to be open to having our hearts touched by the grace which blesses us and challenges us to live as those who, rich or poor, know we are blessed beyond human understanding.

The irony of life is that the deepest blessings sometimes come out of the deepest hurts - for the hurts open our eyes to see what is really important in life and if we will let them,  they tenderize our hearts so that we become more alive and more sensitive to the grace of God at work in our world.

It makes all the difference in the world when our hearts are turned towards God and God’s grace is at work in our hearts and lives, taking the worst which happens to us and making it a blessing; and taking the best that happens to us and making that a blessing too - for others who need to know they too are loved by God.

Then we too are numbered with the Saints for a Saint is someone with a “good heart”;  a heart which has been captured by the awesome love of God!

Oct. 27, 2013, 23rd Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 18:9-14

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10" Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
    13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
    14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

“IT’S ALL GRACE!”

This parable seems to be simple, black or white, right or wrong.
But it isn’t.  And we have to see ourselves in both men; take the good with the bad.

For there is good and bad in both.  The pharisee is everything we might wish to be in terms of religious commitment and dedication.  But it carries him to self righteousness, the last thing we want to be.  The Publican is everything we don’t want to be in terms of life style yet his prayer of the heart is the best he or we can pray.

Both need God’s grace; neither deserve it; both get it.

The parable is to wake us up to the truth that “nothing, nothing, nothing I can bring can earn, deserve, be worthy of, or pay off my debt, - it is all grace.”

Grace is not reserved for those who are close to God; grace is for all and those who admit they need it are the first to receive it.

Grace is not about a nice God being nice to nice people.  It is about a loving God being gracious to hurting people, no matter who. It’s about receiving what I do not deserve and never can deserve no matter how holy I become.

To live in God’s grace is to never stop praying the prayer of the tax collector even as I live with the zeal of the pharisee - knowing that a God of grace will never let me down, never let me go, nor never let me off.

Oct. 20, 2013, 22nd Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 18:1-8

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
    4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
    6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

“Always Pray And Do Not Lose Heart”

This parable is not about God and how God answers prayer.  It is about us and how we pray.  It is not about God and what God will do for us if we beg him long and hard enough;  it is about us and what we can do to not lose heart, when all around us goes smash.

We can pray!  And keep on praying until something good happens!  And it will!

It may not be a healing: it may be the strength and faith to match the burden.
It may not be a solution to a problem, solving it for us; it may be the strength and insight and determination to solve the problem ourselves.
It may not be a bolt of lighting, like Martin Luther; but it may be a gradual awareness of a pull and tug towards God’s will for our lives which will not stop until we go with it.

Something happens when we pray.  Our faith is strengthened, our hope is encouraged, and we do not loose heart.  It gives a sense of balance and perspective to our lives.


 “Will He Find Faith?”

This parable is about the faith which is behind persistent praying.  The faith which will not give up, give in, throw in the towel no matter how impossible things seem to be.

The faith which is able to hang in there, persisting in God’s goodness, justice, fairness, love, mercy and kindness even when there seems to be no evidence that God even exists!

As it was for Elie Wiesel and many other Jews in Nazi Germany.

“There were many periods in our past when we had every right in the world to turn to God and say, ‘Enough.  Since You seem to approve of all these persecutions, all these outrages, have it Your way: let Your world go on without Jews. Either You are our partner in history, or You are not.  If you are, do Your share; if You are not, we consider ourselves free of past commitments.  Since You choose to break the Covenant, so be it.”

“And yet, and yet...We went on believing, hoping, invoking His name...We did not give up on Him...For this is the essence of being Jewish; never to give up--never to yield to despair.”  A Jew Today, p. 164

This is also the essence of being a Christian!  To never give up no matter how bad it gets, to confess with the unknown person in a cellar in Cologne during the bombing of WW II,

“I believe in the Sun even when it is not shining;
I believe in love even when I feel it not,
I believe in God even when He is silent.”

The point of this parable is that God is much more then the unjust judge.
(It is, in the Hebrew way of thinking, an argument from the lesser to the greater.)

If this unrighteous judge can be moved to act, how much more will God respond to our persistent prayers with not just justice, but grace and mercy as well.
For God is a God of grace whose steadfast love endures forever!
This we can count on no matter what!

Oct. 6, 2013, 20th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 17:5-10

  5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
    6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
    7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Three distinct messages for us from these words:
1.  The life of faith demands avoidance of actions that may harm others, and forgiveness of others whose actions harm us.
2.  Faith is not only conciliatory; it is also daring, risking, doing big things with little resources.
3.  Servants are called to selfless performance: getting the job done           the master wants done, with little concern for getting the credit.
 “There is no limit to what a good person can do if they don’t care who gets the credit.”  We are called to be servants not celebrities.
And to be thankful that we can be Jesus’ servants.

“Only Done Our Duty”

When we have done every thing we can do we have only done our duty, and even then we are not worthy to be called children of God.  We are never good enough to be worthy of that!

It is our duty to do what God calls us to do - to forgive as we have been forgiven!

“Those who live by forgiveness must in fact live by it.”

That means we don’t just receive it; we pass it on.

Grace brings duty; duty becomes grace.

This is what the Kingdom of heaven is all about, and those who are servants of the Master are duty bound to be faithful instruments of grace.

Sept. 29, 2013, 19th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 16:19-31

19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
    22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell,[a] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
    25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
    27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
    29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
    30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
    31"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

“Faith Is For Living”

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus does not tell us it is a crime to be rich.
Or that those who have a good time of it here will get their suffering in eternity.

It sounds like it does, but it doesn’t!
Nor does it give us a clear picture of the way it is in heaven.
Anymore than our jokes about heaven do.

“To use this story as warrant for a doctrine of a brimstone hell, or to deduce from it the dogma of the absolute and irrevocable separation of the good and the bad hereafter, is to transplant it violently from its native soil of parable to a barren literalism where it cannot live.”
Parables of Jesus, Geo. Buttrick, p. 140

The point of the parable is that life is to be lived, not evaded.  The rich man was guilty of evasion; running away from real life into his pretend world where he didn’t have to see Lazarus - really see him.  He was afraid of the smell of poverty and used his riches to evade facing the poverty all around him.

Like it or not, we are the rich man.  We too run away from life, evading those places and people where our God has chosen to meet us, even as God meets us in the man Jesus who said, “What so ever you do for the least of these, you do it unto me.”

Living in the Kingdom of God is not a matter of having heaven all figured out; or the mysteries of death and eternity solved.  It is a matter of loosing oneself in life, giving oneself away, hurting with those who hurt, weeping with those who weep, laughing with those who laugh, and discovering that life comes not by evading but by jumping in.

This takes faith; faith which comes by hearing the Word of God, and doing it.
Faith is for living, not just for dying.


“Live For More Than Being Rich”

The parable of The Rich man and Lazarus is about indifference and idolatry; about how easily we ‘miss the mark’ for which life and possessions are intended.

We prize winning, having, owning, possessing, controlling, dominating, enjoying, yes,even wasting.  With Tivia we “wish I were a rich man” and live the illusion that money will solve all our problems.  Yet nothing could be more false.  For, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

The purpose of life is NOT to acquire wealth; the purpose of life is to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.  To take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and for which you were made.”  I Tim 6:11

That is, do something which makes a difference in the Kingdom of God; not just makes a buck.

The rich man lived his whole life for the wrong reason.  He became an indifferent, cold hearted man who couldn’t see or hear God’s call through Lazarus to live for more then being rich.

Jesus is challenging our indifference which leads to idolatry which leads to a whole life of wasted energy, of missing the mark, or living for the wrong reason.

Jesus is calling us to live by grace; that is, to live, as Mother Teresa says, not doing great things, but doing ” small things with great love”.

Sept. 22 2013, 18th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 16:1-13

  1 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
    3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
    5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
    6 " 'Eight hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,' he replied.
    "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
    7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
      " 'A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,' he replied.
      "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
    8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
    10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
    13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

“Shrewdly Graceful”

The master praised the dishonest servant
“because he acted shrewdly”

“sharp-witted, perceptive, smart, wise, savvy, clever, canny”

This is the bite of the story!  But because I fear you are still caught in the
seeming inconsistency of the story coming from Jesus lips let’s try guess what might be behind the story - had it actually happened.  And perhaps it did.

It is possible the master was just as dishonest a man as the servant.
It is also possible that what the servant did was cut out his commission from the amount owed to the master so the master really didn’t loose much.

It is also possible these were dead beat accounts and the master was glad to get what ever he could, and perhaps this was the start of the problem - the servant had allowed these accounts to get out of control or were not good accounts to start with.

We can only surmise what might be behind the scene in the story to try make sense of it. But when all is said and done -  as interesting as it may be - it will never come out right until we see it as a call to live shrewdly graceful.

What Jesus is dramatically laying before us is that we are to be as shrewd and cunning as those who don’t care - and we are to do it as those who do care, because we have a God who cares.  As those who live by grace and know it is the only way we can make it - in this life or the life to come.

As children of the light we are to work hard at being  shrewdly graceful - in how we live to forgive.  In how we live with the priorities of God’s Kingdom deeply imbedded in our heart, soul, mind and being. How we live with faith as “a power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of life.”  A power and passion born of grace which means we live not to get even but to forgive;  not to judge and condemn but to be compassionate as our God is compassionate!

“The point of the parable is not to approve what the steward did wrong, but to applaud how rightly he did it.  We are to do rightly what is right, even as he did rightly what was wrong.”
 

“Money:  Idol or Servant”

“This is the most difficult of all parables and no interpretation is wholly satisfactory.”

To discover its meaning we have to risk being wrong.  Or at best only partially right, as we do the best we can.  The key is not the man who is  a negative moral example.
The key is money - which plays such an important part in our lives.  Does it use us or do we use it?  The first clear point of the parable is that money is to be used!  Used to make friends!  That is what it is really for; to be used in ways which bind us together and deepen our trust and friendship.

This is not to say we can buy friendship;  it is to say that money can create genuine friendship, deepen relationships, and strengthen love and trust.

Money is a powerful tool to be creatively used to build life’s relationships.
There are times when I can’t afford to not spend it.  (How’s that for a double negative.)
I can use it to draw people to me and I even have to risk using it to help when the results
are not sure.

“Our pocket books can have more to do with heaven and also with hell, then our hymn books.”  Helmet Thielkie

“If a purely materialistic child of the world like the dishonest steward can manage on his level to compel money to serve his own ends and thus give it its relative importance, how much more - and at the same time, how differently - should the children of light do this on their level.”  Thielkie, “The Waiting Father”  p. 101

Sept. 15, 2013, 17th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 15:1-10

1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
    3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
 8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

“God Of The Lost”

We who are religious like to see repentance first, then God will forgive.

Is it not the other way around?
God forgives - or offers love and forgiveness to the lost - to help them repent.

God is open to the lost and rejoices on their being found.  It is in the process of the celebration that repentance takes place.  It is done because I have been found, when I didn’t think anyone, certainly not God, would want me.

What a joy to be found and loved before I could do anything about it.  To have a party thrown for me before I could even mumble my repentance.

To be saved is to trust that God loves me enough that I dare get lost again, for He will surely find me!  It is risky living - as only love enables life to be.


“Be Lost - Be Found”

The heart of the Gospel is in Luke 15.

These two parables are about how it is with God and how God is with us.
Problem is: we have to be lost to see it.  And we don’t want to admit our lostness.

We are more interested in having our religion keep us from ever thinking we are lost than we are in having it help us be found when we are lost.  We are afraid of that much grace!

And we miss the joy of being found; the joy of living each day knowing that we are loved by a God who will not let us go,  will not stop looking for us when we are lost,  and who rejoices with us when we are found.

Sept. 8, 2013, 16th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 14:25-33

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
    28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
    31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

 “Our Discipleship”

These are radical words designed to set us free from that which really destroys the joy of living - luke warm religion.  To play with religion is worse than no religion at all.  To want a little bit of God, but not enough to make us have to change our ways, is worse then having no God at all.  At least then we are honest!

Jesus is not advocating that we ‘hate’ in his name.  He is advocating that we place first things first - and that means discipleship!  Loving God with all our being.

These words were spoken at a time when Jesus was popular.  As such, they were designed to shatter the illusion that discipleship is a mass movement.  Jesus would have us go where we don’t want to go and do what we don’t want to do.  Many drop out. There are times when to be near Jesus is the most dangerous place to be. i.e. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

There is no relationship as complete as our relationship with Jesus.  No human relationship is 100%;  our relationship with Jesus is.  Follow Jesus and discover who you are and the joy of life abundant.
“The trick is to realize that loving God with all we are empowers us to love (not hate!) others.”  Lisa W. Davison. New Proclamation, Year C 2010, p. 205


“The Cost Of Discipleship”

The Kingdom of God is here to challenge us to live for more than personal gain.

In the Kingdom of God it is not only true that there is a
 “blessed assurance Jesus is mine, O’ what a foretaste of heaven divine.”

It is also true that there is a “blessed disturbance for I am His”
 and that means I cannot live as if only I count.

Jesus first - a demand both scary and consuming.
To be a disciple is to have to obey, and the price of obedience is the renunciation of self. Renouncing, that is, what we most do not want to give up.

Take up your cross - suffering there will be.
To be a disciple is to suffer and the price to be paid is ‘bearing one’s own cross’.  That is, to endure suffering which would not be ours if we were not a disciple.

Give all our possessions - all can be used to Kingdom glory.

Being a disciple is not something we do because it is convenient; it is something we do because we have to - no matter what the cost.

We will never know how well it works until we try it.

Sept. 1, 2013, 15th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 14:1, 7-14

1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.    7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
    12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

“Humility Is Our Key Word”

These words are about how it is in the Kingdom of God and how God would have us be.

With God there are no “greats”; no “ inner circles”; no “less or more important”; no social status.  No game playing, pretending to be humble so we can be great.

“Half of the harm that is done in this world, is due to people who want to feel important.  They don’t mean to do harm - but the harm does not interest them.  Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”  T. S. Elliot _”The Cocktail Party”

We live by grace not by our accomplishments.   Humility is our key word.

Humility is a sigh of strength.  It is a fruit of healthy ego-strength; liking myself but not hung up on myself.  It comes out of the honest struggle with my weakness; and the gracious acceptance of forgiveness.  It comes when I forget myself and remember who I am - a sinner - and who my God is - a gracious, loving, forgiving God.  Humble people like themselves and don’t need the acclaim of others to do so.  They just go about being their forgiven selves.


“True humility doesn’t consist of thinking ill of yourself but on not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you’d be apt to think of anybody else.  It is the capacity for being no more & no less pleased when you play your own (bridge) hand well then when your opponents do.”  Buechner, “Wishful Thinking”, p. 40

Humility is loosing oneself in living and not keeping score.  It is letting the love of God consume us until nothing is more important then the privilege of being a servant.
It is getting lost in doing good.  And letting God keep score, if God want s to, which God probably doesn’t.


Nelson Mandela - “Invicitus”
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory, when nice things occur.”



“Be All You Can Be - Yourself”

Jesus is doing more then changing social customs.  He is challenging the games we play; the sham which is ours because we don’t know how to be real with each other or with ourselves.

We find it hard to affirm our strengths and acknowledge openly our weaknesses.  Being humble is often a cover up for our feelings of pride.  Yet, the best thing we can do for ourselves, others and even God, is to be ourselves and accept ourselves as a child born in the image of God.

It is good to be human; we don’t have to play games to try hide our strengths or weaknesses.  We can be who we are, in the grace of God.  A forgiven sinner who is loved by a gracious God.  Jesus died to show us our value, our priceless value to God our Creator.  Our challenge is to be real with ourselves, others and God in the light of this awesome truth!

Aug. 25, 2013, 14th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 13:10-17

  10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
    14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
    15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
    17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Two haunting questions raised by this text:

“Do Christians (we) hide behind obscure biblical passages and ancient prejudices as a way of avoiding the call to be a healing presence in the world?”  Lisa W. Davison

Consider homosexuality as one example.  Do we hide behind the few verses of Scripture which seem to condemn homosexuality, so we don’t have to face the many verses of Scripture which call us to be “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Ps. 103:8) as Jesus was!  Thus being a healing presence in the world.


How do we keep the Sabbath today?

Weekly worship is still with us, yet few of us worship weekly.
Sunday is still a “special” day yet it is full of that which happens the rest of the week.

Reflect on these words from Gary E. Pelukso-Verdend, a United Methodist pastor at Phillips Theological Seminary inTulsa, OK.

“Keeping Sabbath is also a weekly reminder of God’s household economics in which economic justice is a foundational virtue of any society and in which the value of liberation for the bound takes precedence over normal prohibitions.  In today's 24/7/365 globalized and commercialized economy, keeping Sabbath thus understood will involve striving that rises to the level of agony.  We Christians have little external support for Sabbath stewardship.  It is not easy to be a good steward of time, money, energy, and attention in a world that never sleeps or rests, in which faith in the global economy sometimes crosses over into idolatry.”

Aug. 18, 2013, 13th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 12:49-56

49"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
54 He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?

“Is not My Word Like Fire?

There are things we do not want to hear.  Even in God’s Word!  The Prophet Jeremiah (and other prophets) got in trouble because they said what God wanted them to say, not what the people wanted to hear.

God’s word is not only a word of peace; it is also a word of challenge which brings unrest.

It is not just to comfort the afflicted; it is also to afflict the comfortable!

It does create division among people between those who hear and those who don’t want to hear.  This is true because God’s Word is fire and it creates a dangerous spirit - the spirit of love!  The kind of love which brings God’s kingdom to this world in ways which make it a different yet better place for all.

“Fire On Earth”

A difficult text.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not of division.

When what we hold sacred is challenged,no matter what it is,
 division is going to result.

Jesus challenged a lot of sacred cows in his day - and there was division!
Yet Jesus did not let this keep him from the sacredness of life. He did what he had to do to show God’s love and mercy to all and let no religious tradition stop him.
What we forget is that God’s Word is like fire and like a hammer which seeks to create in us a dangerous spirit - the spirit of love - and calls us to a radical way of living - as those who forget not the name of God no matter what price has to be paid.

To live as God’s chosen people does not mean we can have our cake and eat it too!
That we can presume on God’s generosity and take it for granted;
keep our faith and our love private;
  live off the fat of God’s love with little thought for others;
judge and condemn those who are different;
  gloat over what we have and condemn those who have not.

To live as God’s chosen people is to live as radicals who dare believe in love as the most powerful and most important power in all of life.
Nothing, not even our most honored and sacred relations must keep us from living as those who are servants of love; disciples of a God of love.

The words spoken by a young boy in the south during the racial struggle of the 1960’s  touch the heart of Jesus words to us today.

“I don’t know why I said no to segregation.
I’m just another white Southerner,
and I wasn’t brought up to love integration.
But I was brought up to love Jesus Christ,
and when I saw the police of this city
use dogs on people,
I asked myself what Jesus Christ would have
thought and He would have done
- and that’s all I know about how I CAME TO BE HERE,
 ON THE FIRING LINE.”

Telhard de Chardin captures Jesus words in prophetic words still seeking fulfillment.

“Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we will harness for God the energies of love:  and then for the second time in the history of the world man will have discovered fire!"
                                                   

Aug. 11, 2013, 12th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 12:32-40

32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  35 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

“Our Treasurer and Our Hearts”

What we live for is what we become.  I will end up - my heart will end up - where I put my energy and hope.  We become possessed by what we set out to possess.
i.e. addictions of all sorts.

We need to remember that life is a gift not a possession; and so is the Kingdom of God.
To lose life is to find it; to be possessed by the gift of the Kingdom is to become a servant in the work of the Kingdom.

Gospel feels like a double whammy.

It contains grace pure and clear - God is pleased to give us the Kingdom.
It contains a warning - we can miss the kingdom by living for the wrong reasons.

To live by faith is to live in openness to God as the faithful promise maker and promise keeper.  It is to live in readiness for the unpredictable arrival of God’s grace; it is to journey through life seeing more then can be seen and certain of that which cannot be seen.


“The Gift Of The Kingdom”

God wants to give us a great gift - a tremendous, valuable, priceless gift.
We are not sure we want it.

God wants to give us His Kingdom!
We are afraid to accept it for the gift cannot be kept to ourselves - we in tern must give it.

God’s Kingdom is a free gift, but God is never thrown at us for free; it costs us our lives given in thankful service for so great a gift, freely given.

For God’s Kingdom, freely given, joyfully received, becomes not a possession we have but a possession which has us!

We become possessed by the gift and all of life becomes a means of giving the gift.

Aug. 4, 2013, 11th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
    14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
    16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
    18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19  And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
    20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
    21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."


 “Rich From God’s Point Of View”

Possessions do enhance our freedom to enjoy life.  Yet how dangerous they are when they take possession of us.  The rich man was a fool because he failed to keep a clear space between himself and his possessions.  As well as between himself and others.
He tried to live by bread alone; pile up riches but be void of meaningful relationships which enrich life.

“Ah, there is only one problem, only one in all the world.  How can we restore to man a spiritual significance, a spiritual discontent;  let something descend upon them like the dew of a Gregorian chant...don’t you see, we cannot live any longer on refrigerators, politics, balance-sheets, and crossword puzzles.  We simply cannot.”   Author unknown


“Pronoun Problems”

The two men use the possessive pronoun freely, but never the pronoun which points to a relationship - ‘ours’.

You can, to a large degree,  determine a person’s theology by the pronouns used.  Pronouns give direction to life.  They point to what is important in one’s life.  Mine...yours...ours...Thine.

What a difference it makes when we are able to look at our possessions and say “Thine”.
Then our possessions fall into their rightful place in life.  Then they are not ours in a selfish way, but ours to use in a redemptive way.

We were created for more then just abundance.  We were created to know and be known by God.  Our spiritual needs cannot be satisfied with material goods - no matter how hard we try.

Jewish proverb:  “When you have everything, something is missing.”

We were created to be rich toward God which means to accept life as a gift and give the gift!  Life is a gift.  Life is found and experienced in giving the gift.

July 28, 2013 10th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 11:1-13

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
    He said to them, "When you pray, say:
   " 'Father,[a]
   hallowed be your name,
   your kingdom come.[b]
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins,
      for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
   And lead us not into temptation.[d]' "
    Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'
    7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness[e] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
    9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
    11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

 “The Mystery of Prayer”

The mystery of prayer is that it always works, sometimes better than we dare believe.
Prayer is always heard and answered; sometimes in ways different than our asking.

Prayer takes a lot of nerve.  Like banging on a neighbors door at midnight to ask for something to eat.  Jesus is telling us to bug Him, pester Him, bother Him with our needs for he is a friend who will not leave us standing alone in the dark.  He will give what we need because we are not ashamed to keep on asking!

What a Friend we have in Jesus!  We can take anything and everything to him in prayer!
He will choose what is right for us and answer accordingly.  Not always what we ask for; but always more than we asked for!

Pray with shameless persistence and then watch out!    “Ask and seek - take trouble to pray, love to pray, feel often during the day the need to pray -  and your heart will grow big enough to receive (God) and keep him as your own.”
A Guide to Prayer, p. 233

Prayer of an Unknown soldier from the Civil War:

“I asked God for strength that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humility to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do great things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better  things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;’
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for - but everything I hoped for;
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am among all men, most richly blessed!
.
“Pray With Shameless Boldness”

Importunity is to pray with a shameless boldness.

Prayer is more then something we do to get our way with God.  Prayer is something we do to discover God’s way with us, and discover how true it is that God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs.

Mother Teresa:; “Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself.  Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive God and keep God as your own.”

Harry Emerson Fosdick, “ Importunity in prayer is not needed to coax God, but to deepen our eager readiness for the good we seek.”

Prayer is one of the most important spiritual disciplines by which we open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Henri Nouwen: “
“It is impressive to see how prayer opens one’s eyes...prayer makes (us) contemplative and attentive.  In place of manipulating, the (person) who prays stands receptive before the world (and before God).  He no longer grabs but caresses, (she ) no longer bites, but kisses, (they ) no longer examine but admire.”  Prayers for Servants, p. 234

Prayer is a joy, not a duty’ a privilege, not an obligation; it is talking to PAPA - who loves us and will give us more than we ask for.

July 21, 2013 9th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:38-42

   38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
    41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."


“As strange and distasteful to some as it may seem, the place of women is not first and foremost the kitchen or serving room, but the same place it is for men, sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to his word.”
Karl Allen Kuhn,  New Proclamation, Year C 2010  p. 147

“Don’t Just Do Something - Listen!”

It is easy to pick on Martha and praise Mary.  The problem with Martha was not all her good work, but that she was too busy to experience the moment and savor the specialness of what was happening.  She was distracted.

This is how we miss God present in our lives - by being too busy.

“We...need to practice the ‘art of no agenda’ - to live in such a way that we begin to respond to the rhythms of life around us rather than control or initiate all of them.  We must, in prayer, seek to be open to and content with whatever the days brings.  We must allow ourselves to be ‘interrupted’ for God visits in interruptions.”
Other Side, July-Aug ‘92,p.11

Take time to listen for the still small voice of God.  Be quiet and sit at the feet of Jesus; take time to do nothing.

 ”The question that must guide all organizing activity in a parish (and in a family) is not how to keep people busy, but how to keep them from being so busy that they can no longer hear the voice of God who speaks in silence.”  Henri Nouwen, The Way Of The Heart, p. 47

 Martha was busy doing something;  Mary was busy listening to Jesus.
It is easy to get caught up in being busy and not have time to listen.

“It is impossible to overemphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to, to be taken seriously, to be understood.”  Paul Tournier

Children need to be listened to; husbands and wives need to be listened too (by each other); we need to know that God listens to us.

One thing is needful:  to listen and be listened too.  For it is in so doing that we discover the mystery of another person and the meaning of our lives together with each other and with God.  Don’t just do something.  Listen...listen...listen!

July 14, 2013 8th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
    26 “What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
    27 He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]"
    28 “You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
    29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
    30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
    36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
    37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
      Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

 “Dare We Ask Both Questions?”
This text is held together by two questions.

Spiritual question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

A necessary question if we are to become who we were created to be.

Dr.  Rogness, President of Luther Seminary once wrote:

  “Man’s profoundest need is for God.  Without God, whatever other inter relations he may achieve, man will eventually be a lonely, uprooted wanderer upon the earth.  The briefest and soundest biography of a man should be, ‘He came from God; he returns to God.’  Between these two points he does not live in a vacuum, of course.  He lives with his brothers.  But the key to how he will live with his brothers is how he lives with God.”

Relational question:  “Who is my neighbor?”

Without asking this question our religion becomes a part of our lostness.  For when we say God loves us someone else is going to be better off.

There are no religious questions without human entanglement.

Franz Kafka: “The only reality is the concretely real human being, our neighbor, whom God puts in our path.”

Answer to this question cuts to the quick- gets to the issue fast.
And then it becomes difficult - for our neighbor is whomever God puts in our path and there are no guidelines as to how we are to meet their needs - just do what we can to raise life up for them.  The focus is not on who is my neighbor as much as what is required of me?

And God’s answer to that is always compassion.  As difficult as it can be, as uncertain as it can be, be are to be servants of God’s love.  Period.  The rest is not ours to worry about.

These two questions go together;  you can’t ask the one without the other.

“Love Your Neighbor As Yourself”

We can love only as we have been loved.

The command to love our neighbor as ourselves begins with the awesome truth that God first loved us and loves us still, with a love we cannot destroy no matter how bad we become.

I cannot be good enough to make God love me and I cannot be bad enough to stop God from loving me.  This is the awesome grace we live in!  We are free to love as we have been loved!

Free to open our eyes to the misery all around us - something the priest and Levite didn’t do.  We dare not pass by on the other side - we must dare to see how it is with our neighbor.

We need eye control to keep this commandment.
We also must dare become involved ourselves - not from a distance, but personally.

Our neighbor is whoever is laid at our door; whoever needs my love and attention.  To practice brotherly love we need to be "flexible, adaptable, maneuverable, and ready to improvise!"  (Dr. Thielkle)

And remember where we started.
We are doing this because we have first been loved more then we will ever be able to love.  We do what we do because we have first been loved.

We do it for Jesus as Mother Teresa reminds us!

"The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action."
"Words To Love By…"  p. 22
 

July 7, 2013 7th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.
16 " He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
 18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

“Pray  Therefore...Send Laborers”

There is no question about the need; the harvest is plentiful.
There is no question about the importance of prayer as a part of the task.
The question is, who are the laborers we are praying might be sent out?

Praying was never meant to be a substitute for doing.  It is “me” who is to “go”!

To pray for the harvest is to pray that I might be one of the laborers sent out to struggle in the heart of the day whit the task of reaping the harvest.  
This is a dangerous prayer for we might be caught up in the answer.

George Eliot in his poem “Stradivarius” puts it this way:

“This God gives the skill
But not without men’s hands;
He could not make Antonio Stradivarius violins
Without Antonio.”


“Our Reason For Joy”

Joy is a central theme in the Bible.  Look up the word in a concordance;  the Bible abounds with joy.  It is also the keynote of the Christian faith, the heart beat of the Christian life.

A lady once said to me, “You can’t be a Pastor; you smile too much.”   There is a lot to smile about when “our hearts leap for joy!” (Lk. 6:23)

This joy comes not by our own doing - we don’t create it.
Joy comes by God’s doing - it is a gift!  A gift of grace.

We rejoice knowing that our ”names are written in heaven.”

Repentance is the joy of returning home.
Suffering ends in joy, for we can be defeated but not destroyed.
Discipleship becomes a joyful duty, serving long and hard in the kingdom labor force.

Life takes on a different perspective as we dare believe that God is for us, not against us, and “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. “ Rom 8:38

This is our reason for joy!

“God’s Great Nevertheless”

God doesn’t delight in judgment.  God delights in grace.  There is a great "nevertheless" which never gives up; always holds open the possibility that grace will happen and mortals such as you and I will see that the Kingdom of God has come near - to us.

The Kingdom of God can be rejected but it cannot be stopped.  It comes near, like it or not.
The eyes of faith see it, embrace it, even extend it as it comes among us in human form still.