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.