Please note: the "FLIP CI.." in the center is a watermark
by the designer and will not appear on the actual cover.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday, October 28, 2010
"Unhooked from the Trailer"
John 8:31-36
I can't remember how many times I’ve gone boating on the lake. I attach my boat to the trailer hitch on my truck, drive to the ramp, and back the trailer onto the boat ramp. I put my fishing poles and tackle boxes in place, place a sack lunch and drinks in the cooler, and I put the plug in the boat so it doesn’t fill up with water and sink.
I’m all ready to go out for a day of peace and relaxation. Then I get in the truck and slowly back the trailer down the ramp until the boat is resting on the water. I get out of the truck, step onto the front of the trailer and climb into the boat. I sit down, turn on the ignition key to start the outboard motor, and then put it in reverse to back off the trailer.
There have been a few times when the boat didn’t move. It would rock and do unusual things until I figured out that I hadn’t unhooked the boat from the trailer. Rather than being set free to feel the peace and tranquility of floating on the water, I was still tethered to the trailer.
It had carried me to the point where joy and peace could be found, but once I was at that point, I needed to be unhooked from the trailer to experience the wonderful and exhilarating freedom of being on the water.
I think the Law of Moses and the prophets are like my trailer and my boat represents the Christian life of faith. They go together. The trailer is important. I can’t journey from one place in my life to another without it. The Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments are important to me. I can’t live the Christian life without them.
But there is a time and a place where the two need to be separated in order to find the peace and the joy that the Christian life can bring to us. Like a rope held my boat to the trailer, something holds us to the law until we are liberated from it.
The question is: What is the rope that keeps your boat, your Christian life tied to the law? To say “sin keeps us from joy” is true. And the apostle Paul said with the law came sin, so it’s the same thing. To be a slave to sin is to be a slave to the law. And we, in Christ, are no longer under the law – even though it’s helpful in many ways.
How do we detach from the law and sin that comes with it? St. Paul said, “We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works of the law.”
Faith in Jesus Christ is what allows us to detach ourselves from required obedience to the law so we can enjoy the peace and freedom of living as a Christian.
Boats can be a metaphor for the church. The church can be a wonderful instrument that leads people to great joy and peace in their lives, but if the boat can’t be unhooked from the trailer, there can be no peace and joy. It’s like saying, “Hey, world, come and sit in our boat. It’s a great boat. We can cook on it; we can read a book in it; we can sunbathe on it. Come and join us.”
What does the world say? “That’s nice – but who wants to sit in a boat on a trailer? You guys are so tied to the law, you’re slaves to it. You have no freedom. The day you can detach yourselves from that trailer, we’ll be glad to join you. We want some joy. We need some peace. We need some freedom. We can’t find any where we are and we don’t see any with you because of all your arguing, so we’ll just keep looking until we find someone who has it.”
When Christians start living in the freedom that faith in Jesus Christ gives us, the world will be able to see joy, peace, and freedom in the church of Jesus Christ. Then maybe they’ll be attracted to the body of Christ.
Faith that Jesus has paid for the sin of the world - past, present, and future - unhooks me from the mentality of being required to obey the law to get to heaven.
Being unhooked from the law doesn’t mean I can throw the law away. It’s too valuable and too necessary to throw away. There’s a fine line between freedom and stupidity. How can I get my boat to the lake if I don’t use a trailer? The trailer helps me get to places in my life that my boat can’t get to by its own means.
In the same way, the law helps me on the journey to wonderful places in the Christian life. The law keeps me out of trouble. A trailer prevents the road of life from tearing up the bottom of my boat. The consequences of breaking the law don’t disappear just because I can unhook myself from it. If I steal, I still suffer the consequences of stealing.
Jesus has freed us from slavery to sin and the law. Believe it and you will have no fear of what God might do to you whenever you break it. The only thing you need to fear now is what the road will do to you if you don’t use a trailer to journey to new places in life where you can experience peace and joy and freedom.
The truth is found in Jesus Christ. Have a little faith. Unhook yourself from the law and sin. Throw your rope to him. He will set you free to enjoy places of peace and rest in your life.
Peace - PWM
I’m all ready to go out for a day of peace and relaxation. Then I get in the truck and slowly back the trailer down the ramp until the boat is resting on the water. I get out of the truck, step onto the front of the trailer and climb into the boat. I sit down, turn on the ignition key to start the outboard motor, and then put it in reverse to back off the trailer. There have been a few times when the boat didn’t move. It would rock and do unusual things until I figured out that I hadn’t unhooked the boat from the trailer. Rather than being set free to feel the peace and tranquility of floating on the water, I was still tethered to the trailer.
It had carried me to the point where joy and peace could be found, but once I was at that point, I needed to be unhooked from the trailer to experience the wonderful and exhilarating freedom of being on the water.
I think the Law of Moses and the prophets are like my trailer and my boat represents the Christian life of faith. They go together. The trailer is important. I can’t journey from one place in my life to another without it. The Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments are important to me. I can’t live the Christian life without them.
But there is a time and a place where the two need to be separated in order to find the peace and the joy that the Christian life can bring to us. Like a rope held my boat to the trailer, something holds us to the law until we are liberated from it.
The question is: What is the rope that keeps your boat, your Christian life tied to the law? To say “sin keeps us from joy” is true. And the apostle Paul said with the law came sin, so it’s the same thing. To be a slave to sin is to be a slave to the law. And we, in Christ, are no longer under the law – even though it’s helpful in many ways.
How do we detach from the law and sin that comes with it? St. Paul said, “We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works of the law.”
Faith in Jesus Christ is what allows us to detach ourselves from required obedience to the law so we can enjoy the peace and freedom of living as a Christian.
Boats can be a metaphor for the church. The church can be a wonderful instrument that leads people to great joy and peace in their lives, but if the boat can’t be unhooked from the trailer, there can be no peace and joy. It’s like saying, “Hey, world, come and sit in our boat. It’s a great boat. We can cook on it; we can read a book in it; we can sunbathe on it. Come and join us.”
What does the world say? “That’s nice – but who wants to sit in a boat on a trailer? You guys are so tied to the law, you’re slaves to it. You have no freedom. The day you can detach yourselves from that trailer, we’ll be glad to join you. We want some joy. We need some peace. We need some freedom. We can’t find any where we are and we don’t see any with you because of all your arguing, so we’ll just keep looking until we find someone who has it.”
When Christians start living in the freedom that faith in Jesus Christ gives us, the world will be able to see joy, peace, and freedom in the church of Jesus Christ. Then maybe they’ll be attracted to the body of Christ.
Faith that Jesus has paid for the sin of the world - past, present, and future - unhooks me from the mentality of being required to obey the law to get to heaven.
Being unhooked from the law doesn’t mean I can throw the law away. It’s too valuable and too necessary to throw away. There’s a fine line between freedom and stupidity. How can I get my boat to the lake if I don’t use a trailer? The trailer helps me get to places in my life that my boat can’t get to by its own means.
In the same way, the law helps me on the journey to wonderful places in the Christian life. The law keeps me out of trouble. A trailer prevents the road of life from tearing up the bottom of my boat. The consequences of breaking the law don’t disappear just because I can unhook myself from it. If I steal, I still suffer the consequences of stealing.
Jesus has freed us from slavery to sin and the law. Believe it and you will have no fear of what God might do to you whenever you break it. The only thing you need to fear now is what the road will do to you if you don’t use a trailer to journey to new places in life where you can experience peace and joy and freedom.
The truth is found in Jesus Christ. Have a little faith. Unhook yourself from the law and sin. Throw your rope to him. He will set you free to enjoy places of peace and rest in your life.
Peace - PWM
Thursday, October 7, 2010
"Are You Inspired"
Okay. Somebody help me here. I’m reading 2 Timothy 3:16. It says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”
I’m feeling a bit sensitive about that word “all.” Why? Well, just read these words from Scripture and tell me if you think they are “inspired”:
Deuteronomy 21:18, 21, “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who when they have chastened him, will not heed them…then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stone; so you shall put away evil from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.”
Deuteronomy 22:13-14, 20-22, “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, “I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin…if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.”
Leviticus 20:9, “For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”
Leviticus 20:10, “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
Deuteronomy 17:12-13 As for anyone who presumes to disobey the priest appointed to minister there to the LORD your God, or the judge, that person shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.
Leviticus 20:27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.
Exodus 31:14-15 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. 15For six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:17 Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.
Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
These are but a few writings of Scripture that are conveniently left out when debating the “inspiration” of the Bible by a loving God. If all Scripture is inspired, then shouldn't we follow these? That’s why I’m asking you. Maybe you can clear it up for me.
I decided to look up the explanation of “all” in the Greek lexicon of the www.blueletterbible.com. I found this commentary:
“The words world and all are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that 'all' means all persons, taken individually.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Particular Redemption, A Sermon, 28 Feb 1858).
He was explaining how Christ did not necessarily redeem “all” people, a point that the honorable C.H. Spurgeon and I don’t agree upon. Yet I suppose if “all” does not refer to all persons, using his argument, then it probably doesn’t refer to all scriptures either.
And that keeps the can of worms open. Who’s to decide which passages of Scripture are “inspired” and which are not?
I suppose I’ll just have to follow the ones that point to (1) Christ, (2) good works – which is the conclusion of the 2 Timothy passage and the end result of “inspired” writings, and (3) to the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against these, there is no law.
Peace - PWM
I’m feeling a bit sensitive about that word “all.” Why? Well, just read these words from Scripture and tell me if you think they are “inspired”:
Deuteronomy 21:18, 21, “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who when they have chastened him, will not heed them…then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stone; so you shall put away evil from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.”
Deuteronomy 22:13-14, 20-22, “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, “I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin…if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.”
Leviticus 20:9, “For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”
Leviticus 20:10, “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
Deuteronomy 17:12-13 As for anyone who presumes to disobey the priest appointed to minister there to the LORD your God, or the judge, that person shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.
Leviticus 20:27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.
Exodus 31:14-15 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. 15For six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:17 Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.
Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
These are but a few writings of Scripture that are conveniently left out when debating the “inspiration” of the Bible by a loving God. If all Scripture is inspired, then shouldn't we follow these? That’s why I’m asking you. Maybe you can clear it up for me.
I decided to look up the explanation of “all” in the Greek lexicon of the www.blueletterbible.com. I found this commentary:
“The words world and all are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that 'all' means all persons, taken individually.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Particular Redemption, A Sermon, 28 Feb 1858).
He was explaining how Christ did not necessarily redeem “all” people, a point that the honorable C.H. Spurgeon and I don’t agree upon. Yet I suppose if “all” does not refer to all persons, using his argument, then it probably doesn’t refer to all scriptures either.
And that keeps the can of worms open. Who’s to decide which passages of Scripture are “inspired” and which are not?
I suppose I’ll just have to follow the ones that point to (1) Christ, (2) good works – which is the conclusion of the 2 Timothy passage and the end result of “inspired” writings, and (3) to the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against these, there is no law.
Peace - PWM
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Icing on the Steak
Luke 17:5-10
Once upon a time, I had a Golden Retriever. She was a ninety pound lap dog. She was more auburn in color than golden. Because we lived in Nashville at the time, we named her Reba. The name had a nice ring to it in that country music city – Reba Meier, with no “McIn--” at the front.
Reba was born to retrieve. It didn’t matter what you threw, she’d go fetch it if you were willing to throw it. My arm would tire out before her energy to retrieve ever wore out.
Before breakfast, I’d say to her, “Paper?” Her eyes would get big and she’d run to the front door, doing a tap dance on the hardwood floors until I got there. I’d open the door and say, “Fetch.” She’d bolt across the yard, skid to a stop at the side of the road, and pick up the newspaper. Grinning, she’d deliver it to my waiting hand.
Fotograf: Andreas Dobler
Sunday afternoons, I’d be sitting on the living room couch, watching the Titans battle their opponents. I’d say to her, “Toy?” She’d dash to her basket of goodies in the kitchen and bring back a raggedy pull-rope made of tightly wound cloths. Holding it until I grabbed one end, she’d try to pull me off the couch in a game of tug-of-war. She was born to retrieve, and to entertain, and she couldn’t get enough of it.
St. Paul tells us (Eph. 2:10) that “we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We have been created for good works and we should walk in them.
The world teaches us to expect rewards for doing the things we are expected to do. In the church, we start young. We give perfect attendance pins to children for coming to Sunday school every week, even though it’s expected. If they get sick, in consideration for not bringing their germs to infect anyone else, we take away their milkbone. Nice move.
The accolades of the world, like honor, praise, fame, money, even a word of “thanks,” are nice milkbones. But they will never fill our deepest hunger.
Like a Golden or Labrador is created to retrieve, we are created in Christ Jesus to love. This is what is expected of us. When love and service become our reward in and of themselves, we will know God lives within us, and we will be filled.
At the end of each day, when we lie in front of the fireplace, exhausted from a day of serving the Master, we will have our reward. God is with us. We can say, “We are unworthy servants, doing only what is expected. And thank you, Lord, for giving us such pleasing and rewarding work.”
And every once in a while, if a milkbone is thrown in, that will be icing on the steak.
Peace - PWM
Once upon a time, I had a Golden Retriever. She was a ninety pound lap dog. She was more auburn in color than golden. Because we lived in Nashville at the time, we named her Reba. The name had a nice ring to it in that country music city – Reba Meier, with no “McIn--” at the front.
Reba was born to retrieve. It didn’t matter what you threw, she’d go fetch it if you were willing to throw it. My arm would tire out before her energy to retrieve ever wore out.
Before breakfast, I’d say to her, “Paper?” Her eyes would get big and she’d run to the front door, doing a tap dance on the hardwood floors until I got there. I’d open the door and say, “Fetch.” She’d bolt across the yard, skid to a stop at the side of the road, and pick up the newspaper. Grinning, she’d deliver it to my waiting hand.I’d always ruffle her ears and give her a big hug, saying, “Good girl, Reba.” Once in a while, I’d give her a milkbone. She loved that.
Fotograf: Andreas Dobler
Sunday afternoons, I’d be sitting on the living room couch, watching the Titans battle their opponents. I’d say to her, “Toy?” She’d dash to her basket of goodies in the kitchen and bring back a raggedy pull-rope made of tightly wound cloths. Holding it until I grabbed one end, she’d try to pull me off the couch in a game of tug-of-war. She was born to retrieve, and to entertain, and she couldn’t get enough of it.
St. Paul tells us (Eph. 2:10) that “we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We have been created for good works and we should walk in them.
The world teaches us to expect rewards for doing the things we are expected to do. In the church, we start young. We give perfect attendance pins to children for coming to Sunday school every week, even though it’s expected. If they get sick, in consideration for not bringing their germs to infect anyone else, we take away their milkbone. Nice move.
The accolades of the world, like honor, praise, fame, money, even a word of “thanks,” are nice milkbones. But they will never fill our deepest hunger.
Like a Golden or Labrador is created to retrieve, we are created in Christ Jesus to love. This is what is expected of us. When love and service become our reward in and of themselves, we will know God lives within us, and we will be filled.
At the end of each day, when we lie in front of the fireplace, exhausted from a day of serving the Master, we will have our reward. God is with us. We can say, “We are unworthy servants, doing only what is expected. And thank you, Lord, for giving us such pleasing and rewarding work.”
And every once in a while, if a milkbone is thrown in, that will be icing on the steak.
Peace - PWM
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Filling the Chasm of Discontent
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus
John Heller wrote the classic book called Catch-22. While attending a party hosted by a billionaire friend, someone made the comment that the billionaire made more money in a single day of hedge fund trading than Heller had ever earned from his book, Heller replied: “Yes, but I have something that he will never have: enough.” (Scott Bader-Saye, sermon on Luke 16 in Christian Century, Sept. 21, 2010, p. 20.)
Peace - PWM
John Heller wrote the classic book called Catch-22. While attending a party hosted by a billionaire friend, someone made the comment that the billionaire made more money in a single day of hedge fund trading than Heller had ever earned from his book, Heller replied: “Yes, but I have something that he will never have: enough.” (Scott Bader-Saye, sermon on Luke 16 in Christian Century, Sept. 21, 2010, p. 20.)People who never have enough find little peace or joy or love in their lives. The rich never have enough to make them content. They fear thieves plotting to take their stuff. They fear they won’t have enough money to live in comfort till they die. And they know they’ll live for at least another twenty years. Trusting in money is like standing on quicksand. It’s always draining away from you.
The New York Times ran an article last week called “The Angry Rich” by Paul Krugman. Those who make more than $500,000 a year are the ones who are complaining the most and the loudest about letting the Bush tax cuts end. They will be affected the most. A half million dollars a year is not enough for them.
Some people see this parable as being about heaven and hell when we die. If that’s the case, then all Jesus will have to do when he returns is to analyze your checkbook when you die. He'll calculate how much you spent on yourself and how much you gave to the poor during your lifetime. Then he’ll know what bus to assign you. That wouldn’t be good news for most of us today.
The Love of Money
I think the story helps us see what the love of money does to a person. What separates the rich from the poor is the level of their discontent or unpeace. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor. They shall inherit the kingdom of God.” The poor don’t need a bank account to last the next ten years to make them content. They are content if they know they have enough food for today, and maybe tomorrow.
People today aren't convinced when Jesus says, "Your interpretation of Moses is all messed up.” (my paraphrase, :) They don’t believe someone who has come back from the dead when he says true abundance is found in helping others.
The rich protect their money. The poor protect each other. Somewhere between the two is a chasm that cannot be crossed. Except Jesus said, “With God all things are possible.” There is a way across that chasm. That way is with Jesus Christ, risen, living and breathing in your heart and mind.
Jesus is Enough
Peace and contentment in this life will only come when Jesus is enough. This is the full expression of faith – when Jesus is enough for us. When he is ruling in our hearts, we will have peace. He carries us across that chasm called discontentment. He is the bridge from a life of trust in material things to a life of compassion for our neighbors who suffer. It’s a chasm we cannot cross on our own power.
Jesus showed God’s incredible love for us. Jesus is enough because love is enough. When you know you are loved, you can do without just about anything. You can be content with very little. It’s not easy to understand how knowing you are loved by the God who made you is enough. But if you trust what Jesus taught, then you will follow him by caring and supporting those who are sick and who suffer. In this, you will be carried across the chasm and find peace.
Peace - PWM
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Give Me Your Tired
Luke 10:1-11, 17-20 This Sunday is the 4th of July, so it’s appropriate to mention what Emma Lazarus wrote as the Inscription on the Statue of Liberty. It says,
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me;
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me;
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
If I didn’t know better, I might think Jesus said this. Maybe he did and Luke decided not to include it, thinking it could be used somewhere else. Sunday’s text would be a good place to say it since Jesus was talking about needing laborers for the harvest.
It seems to me that if we are trying to be the body of Jesus Christ in our communities, and if we accept the call to be laborers in the harvest, we might take the inscription on the Statue of Liberty and put it above the front doors of our churches. What a perfect invitation for a church to extend to its community:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to us;
We lift our Lamp beside the golden door.
Statistics tell us that over 83% of the people in our neighborhoods won’t be in church Sunday morning. That might increase on July 4. The harvest is plentiful.
We need more laborers, more people willing to share what feeds them as they participate in a church community. Sharing the good news is more about growing in relationship with people than it is about recruitment.
Being the church is about people gathering in Christ’s name to rejoice in life’s blessings, helping each other in difficult times, and establishing a reputation in our communities for our kindness, our ability to help others, and our willingness to help. People are attracted to churches when we share the peace we know in Christ.
Once these tired and poor are drawn to us, I hope we can give them a place where they can experience the fruits of the Spirit: peace, joy, love, goodness, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control.
Peace - PWM
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Pot Calling the Kettle Black
Luke 7:36-50
The most fun part of studying the Bible is the questioning part. Have you ever noticed that there are so many things left unexplained in stories? Maybe that’s so you and I can insert ourselves to make it apply to us today. But that’s also the hard part. Sometimes it is difficult to recognize we are all the characters in the stories.
Who would think they are the Pharisee in this story? Yet, how inhospitable have we been to Jesus? How many times have we looked down our noses at “sinners” and wonder how Jesus can tolerate them? The Pharisee didn’t see his own sin. He violated the social norm of the day when he showed no honor to his guest. He did not wash his guest's feet, greet him with a kiss, or anoint his head with oil. In that culture, this is what you did to show respect for your guest.
In addition to her sin, (another question left unanswered - what sin is so apparent that Jesus should recognize it without knowing her?), the Pharisee condemns the woman for violating social norms. Women were not supposed to touch men in public settings. The pot was calling the kettle “black.” That's why Jesus pointed out the Pharisee's shortcomings he could not see in himself.
The woman (the SINNER) showed greater hospitality. She never stopped serving her Lord. She is ignoring the criticism, letting it fall like water off a duck’s back. She doesn't react to it in self-defense. Is that how we react to criticism when it is coming from those who stand on soap boxes of righteousness?
Isn’t it odd that she’s crying? There’s no reason given. Some might say she’s repenting. Maybe, maybe not. She doesn’t say she’s going to “sin no more.” Maybe she’s heard the religious authorities are plotting to kill this compassionate teacher, as they killed most prophets who didn’t proclaim the doctrines of the tradition.
The best part of the story for me is Jesus’ short lesson to the Pharisee. Two debtors. (I’m having a hard time deciding which one of the debtors, Pharisee or woman, has the greatest sin.) Yet the Creditor cancelled the debts of both. It appears that the Creditor made this decision without any conditions being met by either of the debtors - except their helplessness to repay.
What a breathtaking picture of grace! The pot and the kettle have both been washed clean. May we see ourselves as the sinner with the largest debt that has been wiped away, and respond with the same degree of love for the Creditor. Let’s go into the world and serve Jesus. He’s in the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned.
Grace and peace - PWM
The most fun part of studying the Bible is the questioning part. Have you ever noticed that there are so many things left unexplained in stories? Maybe that’s so you and I can insert ourselves to make it apply to us today. But that’s also the hard part. Sometimes it is difficult to recognize we are all the characters in the stories.
Who would think they are the Pharisee in this story? Yet, how inhospitable have we been to Jesus? How many times have we looked down our noses at “sinners” and wonder how Jesus can tolerate them? The Pharisee didn’t see his own sin. He violated the social norm of the day when he showed no honor to his guest. He did not wash his guest's feet, greet him with a kiss, or anoint his head with oil. In that culture, this is what you did to show respect for your guest.
In addition to her sin, (another question left unanswered - what sin is so apparent that Jesus should recognize it without knowing her?), the Pharisee condemns the woman for violating social norms. Women were not supposed to touch men in public settings. The pot was calling the kettle “black.” That's why Jesus pointed out the Pharisee's shortcomings he could not see in himself.
The woman (the SINNER) showed greater hospitality. She never stopped serving her Lord. She is ignoring the criticism, letting it fall like water off a duck’s back. She doesn't react to it in self-defense. Is that how we react to criticism when it is coming from those who stand on soap boxes of righteousness?
Isn’t it odd that she’s crying? There’s no reason given. Some might say she’s repenting. Maybe, maybe not. She doesn’t say she’s going to “sin no more.” Maybe she’s heard the religious authorities are plotting to kill this compassionate teacher, as they killed most prophets who didn’t proclaim the doctrines of the tradition.
The best part of the story for me is Jesus’ short lesson to the Pharisee. Two debtors. (I’m having a hard time deciding which one of the debtors, Pharisee or woman, has the greatest sin.) Yet the Creditor cancelled the debts of both. It appears that the Creditor made this decision without any conditions being met by either of the debtors - except their helplessness to repay.
What a breathtaking picture of grace! The pot and the kettle have both been washed clean. May we see ourselves as the sinner with the largest debt that has been wiped away, and respond with the same degree of love for the Creditor. Let’s go into the world and serve Jesus. He’s in the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned.
Grace and peace - PWM
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Suffering
Romans 5:1-15
I found this story on the internet: One evening, Batman and Robin decided to go camping. They set up their tent and were fast asleep. A couple of hours later, Batman woke up his faithful friend and said, "Robin, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Robin, who was used to these midnight lessons, replies, "I see millions of stars."
Batman asks, “What does that tell you?”
Robin ponders for a minute, then says, “Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Chronologically, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident that God is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Batman?"
Batman is silent for a moment, then speaks: "Robin, you're an idiot, it means somebody stole our tent while we were sleeping."
I see a parallel story that looks like this:
A Bishop and one of the preachers in his synod were riding a train on the “L” in Chicago. As they passed a rundown area of the windy city, the Bishop said to the preacher, “Preacher, look out the window and tell me what you see.”
The preacher, who was used to these pontifical lessons replied, “I see many streets with cardboard boxes that have people living in them.”
The Bishop said, “And what does that mean?”
The preacher pondered for a minute, and then said, “Theologically, I see a world of brokenness and sin that makes God unhappy. Ontologically, I see the absence of God in places where suffering seems most intense. Anthropologically, I see how human groups separate themselves from those who are not like them. Philosophically, I see there are those who simply find no meaning in life. And psychologically, I see that it is difficult for people to raise themselves up when they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. What does it tell you, Bishop?”
The Bishop was silent for a moment, then speaks: “Preacher, you’re an idiot. It means people are still hungry and cold and suffering in the richest country in the world.”
To me it says we make religion too much about what is in our heads instead of what it is in our hearts.
Our Christian calling is to relieve pain, and hunger, and suffering in the world. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (according to the apostle Paul), what we do for Christ will bring a different kind of suffering.
There are two kinds of suffering. One is the kind that comes from injustice, from treating certain people as lower forms of life because of the color of their skin, because of the country of their ancestry, because of their gender, because they are not in the same economic bracket as them, or because of the political party they vote for.
People find all kinds of reasons to separate themselves from others. They malign the integrity and worth of others and find ways to treat them with disgust. That’s called human nature. That’s called being of the world. When you contribute to suffering in the world, you are of the world. It doesn’t matter if you belong to a church. To contribute to suffering and separation is to be of the world.
On the other hand, when you and I attempt to relieve suffering brought about by the world, we are no longer of the world but we are in Christ. Yet, we need to be aware that as we begin the work of relieving that suffering, you and I will experience the suffering of the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross we bear for Christ is to fight so that all people can have food on the table, and clothes on their back, and a roof over their head, and respect as unique creations of God.
The world will fight, tooth and nail, to continue the injustices that bring pain, and hunger, and imprisonment, and inequality because Injustice is the demon who doesn’t want to disappear. Our call in baptism is to follow Jesus into the world, and to change a world that thrives on inequality, and unequal treatment of people. When we fight injustice, we should expect to suffer for it.
Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are you when you are persecuted for doing what is right, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:10-12).
The hard part about all this is that you can only know the joy and the peace this brings after you’ve already arrived. Maybe that’s the reason more people don’t attempt it. They can’t understand that being persecuted for doing the right thing is beneficial to us. The only way to get there is to trust what Jesus and St. Paul said. We have to live by faith that the cross will bring life and peace.
God’s special rewards come after we exercise faith and trust, which can only happen when we don’t know the outcome. One of those wonderful rewards is peace. A peace in your heart. A peace that passes all understanding. You see, that, too, you can’t know until you’ve arrived.
C. S. Lewis once said that the most frequently spoken word in heaven would be, "OH." As in, "Oh, now I understand." Or, "Oh, now I see what God's plan was." Or, "Oh, now I see the reason for the trial I went through."
Jesus endured his suffering because he had faith in his Father. Suffering was heaped upon him for doing his Father's work. Pharisees said his power came from Baalzebub when he relieved the suffering of others. This suffering brought the endurance that made it possible for him to live at peace with himself, while at the same time, accomplishing the work that had been set before him. Suffering produces endurance; endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
Our desire for peace does not necessarily ensure peace. But it gets us started in the right direction, toward following Jesus Christ, and continuing his work of relieving suffering. Suffering in this way is not to be feared. For this will bring you endurance, and that endurance will produce character in you, and that character will bring hope…not just hope for you, but it will bring hope to those who are outcast, and rejected, and scorned by the world.
You will be following Christ into the world. You will be Christ in the world, and yours will be the kingdom of God.
Peace - PWM
I found this story on the internet: One evening, Batman and Robin decided to go camping. They set up their tent and were fast asleep. A couple of hours later, Batman woke up his faithful friend and said, "Robin, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Robin, who was used to these midnight lessons, replies, "I see millions of stars."
Batman asks, “What does that tell you?”
Robin ponders for a minute, then says, “Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Chronologically, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident that God is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Batman?"
Batman is silent for a moment, then speaks: "Robin, you're an idiot, it means somebody stole our tent while we were sleeping."
I see a parallel story that looks like this:
The preacher, who was used to these pontifical lessons replied, “I see many streets with cardboard boxes that have people living in them.”
The Bishop said, “And what does that mean?”
The preacher pondered for a minute, and then said, “Theologically, I see a world of brokenness and sin that makes God unhappy. Ontologically, I see the absence of God in places where suffering seems most intense. Anthropologically, I see how human groups separate themselves from those who are not like them. Philosophically, I see there are those who simply find no meaning in life. And psychologically, I see that it is difficult for people to raise themselves up when they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. What does it tell you, Bishop?”
The Bishop was silent for a moment, then speaks: “Preacher, you’re an idiot. It means people are still hungry and cold and suffering in the richest country in the world.”
To me it says we make religion too much about what is in our heads instead of what it is in our hearts.
Our Christian calling is to relieve pain, and hunger, and suffering in the world. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (according to the apostle Paul), what we do for Christ will bring a different kind of suffering.
There are two kinds of suffering. One is the kind that comes from injustice, from treating certain people as lower forms of life because of the color of their skin, because of the country of their ancestry, because of their gender, because they are not in the same economic bracket as them, or because of the political party they vote for.
People find all kinds of reasons to separate themselves from others. They malign the integrity and worth of others and find ways to treat them with disgust. That’s called human nature. That’s called being of the world. When you contribute to suffering in the world, you are of the world. It doesn’t matter if you belong to a church. To contribute to suffering and separation is to be of the world.
On the other hand, when you and I attempt to relieve suffering brought about by the world, we are no longer of the world but we are in Christ. Yet, we need to be aware that as we begin the work of relieving that suffering, you and I will experience the suffering of the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross we bear for Christ is to fight so that all people can have food on the table, and clothes on their back, and a roof over their head, and respect as unique creations of God.
The world will fight, tooth and nail, to continue the injustices that bring pain, and hunger, and imprisonment, and inequality because Injustice is the demon who doesn’t want to disappear. Our call in baptism is to follow Jesus into the world, and to change a world that thrives on inequality, and unequal treatment of people. When we fight injustice, we should expect to suffer for it.
Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are you when you are persecuted for doing what is right, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:10-12).
The hard part about all this is that you can only know the joy and the peace this brings after you’ve already arrived. Maybe that’s the reason more people don’t attempt it. They can’t understand that being persecuted for doing the right thing is beneficial to us. The only way to get there is to trust what Jesus and St. Paul said. We have to live by faith that the cross will bring life and peace.
God’s special rewards come after we exercise faith and trust, which can only happen when we don’t know the outcome. One of those wonderful rewards is peace. A peace in your heart. A peace that passes all understanding. You see, that, too, you can’t know until you’ve arrived.
C. S. Lewis once said that the most frequently spoken word in heaven would be, "OH." As in, "Oh, now I understand." Or, "Oh, now I see what God's plan was." Or, "Oh, now I see the reason for the trial I went through."
Jesus endured his suffering because he had faith in his Father. Suffering was heaped upon him for doing his Father's work. Pharisees said his power came from Baalzebub when he relieved the suffering of others. This suffering brought the endurance that made it possible for him to live at peace with himself, while at the same time, accomplishing the work that had been set before him. Suffering produces endurance; endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
Our desire for peace does not necessarily ensure peace. But it gets us started in the right direction, toward following Jesus Christ, and continuing his work of relieving suffering. Suffering in this way is not to be feared. For this will bring you endurance, and that endurance will produce character in you, and that character will bring hope…not just hope for you, but it will bring hope to those who are outcast, and rejected, and scorned by the world.
You will be following Christ into the world. You will be Christ in the world, and yours will be the kingdom of God.
Peace - PWM
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Truth
John 16:12-15
“The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth.” You mean the truth is not in printed form? When the truth is in printed form and called inerrant, it can be used to manipulate and control. Why give up a tool like that? And didn’t Jesus say he was the truth?
For me, this is the key. Jesus is the truth. Once you get that, all other things will start to fall into place. The biggest is that Jesus shows us the Father. Good all the time. When Jesus is the Word and God is good all the time, the printed word becomes the means through which the Spirit speaks truth to each of our hearts. One verse can mean one thing to you and another thing to me. The only absolute is Jesus and his revelation of the Father.
Your world will become a more peaceable place when you trust Jesus and the Father are one.
Peace - PWM
“The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth.” You mean the truth is not in printed form? When the truth is in printed form and called inerrant, it can be used to manipulate and control. Why give up a tool like that? And didn’t Jesus say he was the truth?
Your world will become a more peaceable place when you trust Jesus and the Father are one.
Peace - PWM
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
More wonderful than Jesus
John 14:23-29
This is becoming one of my favorite gospel passages, specifically verse 28. “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,’ because the Father is greater than I.”
This passage presented more questions than peace for me until I discovered the Greek word for greater could also be translated as more wonderful. Now it makes perfect sense to me. In fact, it is the good news in a nutshell: the Father is more wonderful than Jesus. I like that picture. It’s a picture the church ought to be sharing more often with the world.
One of Martin Luther’s repeated claims in his sermons of the Church Postil was that people were attracted to Jesus because they heard he was kind, he was able to help them, and he desired to help them. People weren’t afraid of Jesus. He didn’t wield the Law and threaten them with eternal destruction.
If the church wants to be a light that attracts people like moths to a flame, it should work harder to become a hospital for the wounded and an oasis in the desert. Sometimes I think it looks more like a guard checking everyone’s I.D. before it allows passage through the gates of the Garden of Eden.
God the Father is more wonderful than Jesus. God is good ALL the time. That’s the good news more people need to hear. It’s a salve on open wounds. It’s a cold drink of water on a parched tongue.
This is the God everyone can love, worship, and serve.
PWM
This is becoming one of my favorite gospel passages, specifically verse 28. “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,’ because the Father is greater than I.”
This passage presented more questions than peace for me until I discovered the Greek word for greater could also be translated as more wonderful. Now it makes perfect sense to me. In fact, it is the good news in a nutshell: the Father is more wonderful than Jesus. I like that picture. It’s a picture the church ought to be sharing more often with the world.
One of Martin Luther’s repeated claims in his sermons of the Church Postil was that people were attracted to Jesus because they heard he was kind, he was able to help them, and he desired to help them. People weren’t afraid of Jesus. He didn’t wield the Law and threaten them with eternal destruction.
God the Father is more wonderful than Jesus. God is good ALL the time. That’s the good news more people need to hear. It’s a salve on open wounds. It’s a cold drink of water on a parched tongue.
This is the God everyone can love, worship, and serve.
PWM
Friday, April 30, 2010
Love that Glorifies God
John 13:31-35
I’m such a Greek definition junkie, it’s frightening. Who defines these words anyway? And more important, why do the various translations choose different words? The only way anyone can insert the ‘right’ English word in place of the Greek is based on their personal theology of the nature of God.
Anyway, the two words in this text that grabbed me by the throat and told me to look them up were “love” and “glorify.” I’ve researched "love" before. Yet my mind understood something a little different this time. Agape is the kind of love that is founded in esteem, admiration, veneration. Some other words are: to acquiesce/agree/consent/submit with satisfaction, and to cherish with reverence. There is a sense of inner feeling present. This is the kind of love we need to give God with all our heart and soul and mind. Because we esteem them, we choose to act toward the wellbeing of the person we love.
Phileo (brotherly love) is that kind of love that involves some emotion and affection. You like them. This is closer to friendship, and can overlap with agape when that feeling involves deeper bonds of family relationships.
Jesus’ command is that we agape each other. We are commanded to esteem, admire, venerate, acquiesce, agree, consent, submit with satisfaction, cherish with reverence – one another. And the same is true with our neighbor, and our enemies. How do we do that? Since it's a command, we have to work at it.
Jesus gave us the ultimate example when he demonstrated esteem for the disciple planning to betray him in the story immediately before this one. Jesus consented to Judas for the person he was. He did not treat Judas any different from his ‘friends.’ Jesus submitted, as a Servant, to wash Judas’ feet. Then he ate a meal with Judas. He continues to invite all who act against him into relationship.
Jesus did not make a spectacle of Judas for what he was about to do. He did not openly bring dishonor to Judas. Judas did that to himself. Although he let Judas know he knew what was about to happen, Jesus consented to the person of Judas to the bitter end.
After Judas left the room, Jesus indicated that what he had just done has caused him to be glorified. "To glorify" means to give importance, to praise, to honor. This incredible display of love, washing the feet and welcoming the person preparing to turn him over to the authorities to his table, brings honor to Jesus.
And through Jesus, God is honored as One who serves sinners and welcomes all of us when we betray Jesus. The invitation remains open to the table of grace every week. God desires a new covenantal relationship. God is not angry. God is love.
I think we can see ourselves in every person mentioned in Scripture. I don’t often think of myself as Judas. But anytime I do not esteem, admire, or cherish with reverence my brother or sister in Christ, I betray Jesus and his new command. The world cannot see Christ in a church embroiled in internal warfare. It sees Judas. I am Judas when I advance any cause that is anti-Christ, which is whatever goes against love. Lord have mercy.
PWM
I’m such a Greek definition junkie, it’s frightening. Who defines these words anyway? And more important, why do the various translations choose different words? The only way anyone can insert the ‘right’ English word in place of the Greek is based on their personal theology of the nature of God.
Phileo (brotherly love) is that kind of love that involves some emotion and affection. You like them. This is closer to friendship, and can overlap with agape when that feeling involves deeper bonds of family relationships.
Jesus’ command is that we agape each other. We are commanded to esteem, admire, venerate, acquiesce, agree, consent, submit with satisfaction, cherish with reverence – one another. And the same is true with our neighbor, and our enemies. How do we do that? Since it's a command, we have to work at it.
Jesus gave us the ultimate example when he demonstrated esteem for the disciple planning to betray him in the story immediately before this one. Jesus consented to Judas for the person he was. He did not treat Judas any different from his ‘friends.’ Jesus submitted, as a Servant, to wash Judas’ feet. Then he ate a meal with Judas. He continues to invite all who act against him into relationship.
Jesus did not make a spectacle of Judas for what he was about to do. He did not openly bring dishonor to Judas. Judas did that to himself. Although he let Judas know he knew what was about to happen, Jesus consented to the person of Judas to the bitter end.
After Judas left the room, Jesus indicated that what he had just done has caused him to be glorified. "To glorify" means to give importance, to praise, to honor. This incredible display of love, washing the feet and welcoming the person preparing to turn him over to the authorities to his table, brings honor to Jesus.
And through Jesus, God is honored as One who serves sinners and welcomes all of us when we betray Jesus. The invitation remains open to the table of grace every week. God desires a new covenantal relationship. God is not angry. God is love.
I think we can see ourselves in every person mentioned in Scripture. I don’t often think of myself as Judas. But anytime I do not esteem, admire, or cherish with reverence my brother or sister in Christ, I betray Jesus and his new command. The world cannot see Christ in a church embroiled in internal warfare. It sees Judas. I am Judas when I advance any cause that is anti-Christ, which is whatever goes against love. Lord have mercy.
PWM
Friday, April 23, 2010
Gazelle
Acts 9:36-43
I can think of many Tabithas that have graced church sanctuaries and served within the walls of church buildings. Tabitha is a name that in Aramaic means “a female gazelle” and its counterpart in Greek, Dorcas, also means gazelle. When I think of the animal, the gazelle, I think of an animal that is sleek and beautiful and fast and vulnerable. It has no aggressiveness against other species and no means of defense, other than its ability to run from danger. And sometimes it’s not fast enough to get away from the predator that stalks it. Psalm 23 reminds us that the predator that stalks us all is death. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death – I will fear no evil – for you are with me.”
I can think of many Tabithas outside the church, too. We are all gazelle. Vulnerable to the predator and to the conditions of life that force us to move on to new pastures. Some of those pastures are heavenly. The family and friends in our lives who leave this world for their heavenly home.
And then there are other family and friends who leave for pastures like new jobs, new schools, new options for retirement, new congregations. Some of these options are not always choices we want to make, but the circumstances of life require us to make changes. Tornados swoop down upon us, forcing adjustments to our plans. The economy torpedoes our plans for retirement. Health problems divert the plans we set for ourselves. The course of life itself sends children away from the nest to build their own nests. And we are forced to adjust to the change. We may not be happy with change, but life is change.
To complain about change is to complain about life. It’s only when things do not change that the predator who seeks your life can sneak up behind you and capture you. I don’t simply mean death to your body. I mean death to your spirit, death to a life that is rich and full of purpose.
The story of Tabitha reminds me that nothing in life stays the same. She was a beloved member of the community at Joppa. Tabitha had heard Jesus’ voice. She was one of his sheep. Her good works were a testimony to her love for her Lord. The text says she was a disciple devoted to good works and to charity. She was doing exactly what Jesus said he was doing in the Gospel lesson. He said, “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.”
Tabitha’s good works in her church and community testified to the One she followed. She left a legacy that others could point to – a legacy of good works and things that could be seen and touched and told about – tunics, and clothing, articles for good that she made with her own hands and gave to others. Tabitha used her talents and resources to help others. The widows were very upset that she had died. I think about James 1:17 when I hear that, “Religion that is acceptable to the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Yet life changes quickly. You may be the best disciple of Jesus Christ in your community, but that isn’t going to stop the reality that death comes to us all. We are all gazelle. Good works and acts of love do not extend our lives. We are all going to die. Just like Tabitha.
I have to admit that the raising of Tabitha from the dead by Peter is an unanswered question in my mind. How am I to understand this to apply to me, and you, today? I can only see it as a sign that was needed in that day for the growth of the early church, that a miracle of supernatural proportions was able to be seen and told. But still I ask, don’t we need those kind of miracles today, too? And what does it take to make them happen? Maybe it just takes eyes of faith that see them happening. Surely there were people who lived in Tabithas neighborhood who said, “She really wasn’t dead. She was alive but you just couldn’t tell it.” It takes eyes of faith to recognize the miracles that take place every day.
There’s another part of the story that I think is important. When Tabitha died, there was a sense of great loss in her community. Just like there is a sense of great loss when anyone in our family dies, or leaves home because of transitions from high school to college, or daughter to wife, or son into the military, and when people leave their church family. What will we miss? What legacy have they left behind in their absence?
It makes me think about the legacy I will leave when I die, or when the conditions of life force me to make changes. What legacy will you leave behind that those who remain in your family, in your neighborhood, in this flock of gazelle – that they will point to and grieve in your absence?
This weekend, my congregation is taking pictures for a new pictorial directory. When we compare it to the one we produced four years ago, we will see there have been many changes. When we also compare pictures of the days when this church began 25 years ago, we will see far more changes. Many new gazelle have come, and many have gone. That’s life. We are not here to stop change. We are not here to stop life. We are here to share the good news of God in Jesus Christ and to help each other as we make our way through the conditions life brings to us.
And we do that best when we devote ourselves, like Tabitha, to good works and charity. We have heard Jesus’ voice. We know him, and he knows us. He is our Good Shepherd who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death so that we fear no evil. The rod and staff of his word guides us whenever we get off the straight and narrow. And he leads us to green pastures where there is peace, and to paths of righteousness for his namesake. Goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, because Christ has removed the predator. Death no longer will hold us. And he will raise us at the last day.
Thanks be to God for goodness and mercy in Christ Jesus. Like Tabitha, may we be devoted to good works and charity.
Peace - PWM
I can think of many Tabithas that have graced church sanctuaries and served within the walls of church buildings. Tabitha is a name that in Aramaic means “a female gazelle” and its counterpart in Greek, Dorcas, also means gazelle. When I think of the animal, the gazelle, I think of an animal that is sleek and beautiful and fast and vulnerable. It has no aggressiveness against other species and no means of defense, other than its ability to run from danger. And sometimes it’s not fast enough to get away from the predator that stalks it. Psalm 23 reminds us that the predator that stalks us all is death. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death – I will fear no evil – for you are with me.”
I can think of many Tabithas outside the church, too. We are all gazelle. Vulnerable to the predator and to the conditions of life that force us to move on to new pastures. Some of those pastures are heavenly. The family and friends in our lives who leave this world for their heavenly home.
And then there are other family and friends who leave for pastures like new jobs, new schools, new options for retirement, new congregations. Some of these options are not always choices we want to make, but the circumstances of life require us to make changes. Tornados swoop down upon us, forcing adjustments to our plans. The economy torpedoes our plans for retirement. Health problems divert the plans we set for ourselves. The course of life itself sends children away from the nest to build their own nests. And we are forced to adjust to the change. We may not be happy with change, but life is change.
To complain about change is to complain about life. It’s only when things do not change that the predator who seeks your life can sneak up behind you and capture you. I don’t simply mean death to your body. I mean death to your spirit, death to a life that is rich and full of purpose.
The story of Tabitha reminds me that nothing in life stays the same. She was a beloved member of the community at Joppa. Tabitha had heard Jesus’ voice. She was one of his sheep. Her good works were a testimony to her love for her Lord. The text says she was a disciple devoted to good works and to charity. She was doing exactly what Jesus said he was doing in the Gospel lesson. He said, “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.”
Tabitha’s good works in her church and community testified to the One she followed. She left a legacy that others could point to – a legacy of good works and things that could be seen and touched and told about – tunics, and clothing, articles for good that she made with her own hands and gave to others. Tabitha used her talents and resources to help others. The widows were very upset that she had died. I think about James 1:17 when I hear that, “Religion that is acceptable to the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Yet life changes quickly. You may be the best disciple of Jesus Christ in your community, but that isn’t going to stop the reality that death comes to us all. We are all gazelle. Good works and acts of love do not extend our lives. We are all going to die. Just like Tabitha.
I have to admit that the raising of Tabitha from the dead by Peter is an unanswered question in my mind. How am I to understand this to apply to me, and you, today? I can only see it as a sign that was needed in that day for the growth of the early church, that a miracle of supernatural proportions was able to be seen and told. But still I ask, don’t we need those kind of miracles today, too? And what does it take to make them happen? Maybe it just takes eyes of faith that see them happening. Surely there were people who lived in Tabithas neighborhood who said, “She really wasn’t dead. She was alive but you just couldn’t tell it.” It takes eyes of faith to recognize the miracles that take place every day.
There’s another part of the story that I think is important. When Tabitha died, there was a sense of great loss in her community. Just like there is a sense of great loss when anyone in our family dies, or leaves home because of transitions from high school to college, or daughter to wife, or son into the military, and when people leave their church family. What will we miss? What legacy have they left behind in their absence?
It makes me think about the legacy I will leave when I die, or when the conditions of life force me to make changes. What legacy will you leave behind that those who remain in your family, in your neighborhood, in this flock of gazelle – that they will point to and grieve in your absence?
This weekend, my congregation is taking pictures for a new pictorial directory. When we compare it to the one we produced four years ago, we will see there have been many changes. When we also compare pictures of the days when this church began 25 years ago, we will see far more changes. Many new gazelle have come, and many have gone. That’s life. We are not here to stop change. We are not here to stop life. We are here to share the good news of God in Jesus Christ and to help each other as we make our way through the conditions life brings to us.
And we do that best when we devote ourselves, like Tabitha, to good works and charity. We have heard Jesus’ voice. We know him, and he knows us. He is our Good Shepherd who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death so that we fear no evil. The rod and staff of his word guides us whenever we get off the straight and narrow. And he leads us to green pastures where there is peace, and to paths of righteousness for his namesake. Goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, because Christ has removed the predator. Death no longer will hold us. And he will raise us at the last day.
Thanks be to God for goodness and mercy in Christ Jesus. Like Tabitha, may we be devoted to good works and charity.
Peace - PWM
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wha Do Ya Love Me...Now that I can dance......
Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Now that I can dance….Watch me now…
John 21:1-19
The Beatles and a hundred other artists have sung the same song. Peter, the Rock, and a billion Christians have danced around that question.
Three times Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” Peter said the right words back each time. That sounds like a conversation between me and my wife. She usually has to tell me she loves me first if she wants to hear me say it to her. “Of course, I love you. You know I love you.” I’m so bad. Of course I love her. So why don’t I take more initiative and say it before it’s required of me? Must be about self-centeredness, as usual.
We know the right words to say to Jesus when we are asked. “Yes, we love you Jesus.” Then Jesus says, “Okay, if you love me, then this is what I want you to do. Feed and tend my sheep. Take care of them.” Take some initiative. Love is more than words. Love is verb. Love is an action. Love is a commitment of time, money, and energy to feed and tend his sheep.
Okay, who are the sheep? I suppose that’s a question just like the lawyer’s question, ‘who is my neighbor.’ So I won’t go there.
One of the major and recurring themes in Martin Luther’s sermons was his emphasis that we love God best, most directly, when we love our neighbor.
I think John Wesley summarized the Old Testament commandments well – in just three words – “do no harm.” That’s a good synopsis of the wisdom of the ages for helping people to get along with each other in peace and harmony. Do no harm. Wesley did not claim that this was the sum total of the Law. It's part of the way there. Doing no harm is a glass that’s half full.
Jesus on the other hand gives us clear instructions in what to do if we love him. The other half of the glass requires that we take the initiative to care for our neighbor who is in need, and the stranger among us, and in Jesus’ interpretation: even for our enemies. “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Provide for their needs.”
‘Feed my lambs’ doesn’t mean we should just let the hungry and poor alone so they can fend for themselves. Loving Jesus is not about “If they can make it without me causing them harm, good; but if they can’t make it, it’s not my problem.” That’s dancing around the question. It is our problem if they are hungry. The book of James tells us that if we know the good we are supposed to do and don’t do it, that is sin (James 4:17).
People should be able to look at your life and know if you love Jesus. We should look at our own lives every week and be able to tell whether or not we loved Jesus this week. He is in the sick, the poor, the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned.
Do your actions reveal your love for your Lord? Or are you dancing around the question? Instead of saying, “Of course I love you Jesus,” say this to him, “Watch me now…”
Blessings,
PWM
Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Now that I can dance….Watch me now…
The Beatles and a hundred other artists have sung the same song. Peter, the Rock, and a billion Christians have danced around that question.
Three times Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” Peter said the right words back each time. That sounds like a conversation between me and my wife. She usually has to tell me she loves me first if she wants to hear me say it to her. “Of course, I love you. You know I love you.” I’m so bad. Of course I love her. So why don’t I take more initiative and say it before it’s required of me? Must be about self-centeredness, as usual.
We know the right words to say to Jesus when we are asked. “Yes, we love you Jesus.” Then Jesus says, “Okay, if you love me, then this is what I want you to do. Feed and tend my sheep. Take care of them.” Take some initiative. Love is more than words. Love is verb. Love is an action. Love is a commitment of time, money, and energy to feed and tend his sheep.
Okay, who are the sheep? I suppose that’s a question just like the lawyer’s question, ‘who is my neighbor.’ So I won’t go there.
One of the major and recurring themes in Martin Luther’s sermons was his emphasis that we love God best, most directly, when we love our neighbor.
I think John Wesley summarized the Old Testament commandments well – in just three words – “do no harm.” That’s a good synopsis of the wisdom of the ages for helping people to get along with each other in peace and harmony. Do no harm. Wesley did not claim that this was the sum total of the Law. It's part of the way there. Doing no harm is a glass that’s half full.
Jesus on the other hand gives us clear instructions in what to do if we love him. The other half of the glass requires that we take the initiative to care for our neighbor who is in need, and the stranger among us, and in Jesus’ interpretation: even for our enemies. “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Provide for their needs.”
‘Feed my lambs’ doesn’t mean we should just let the hungry and poor alone so they can fend for themselves. Loving Jesus is not about “If they can make it without me causing them harm, good; but if they can’t make it, it’s not my problem.” That’s dancing around the question. It is our problem if they are hungry. The book of James tells us that if we know the good we are supposed to do and don’t do it, that is sin (James 4:17).
People should be able to look at your life and know if you love Jesus. We should look at our own lives every week and be able to tell whether or not we loved Jesus this week. He is in the sick, the poor, the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned.
Do your actions reveal your love for your Lord? Or are you dancing around the question? Instead of saying, “Of course I love you Jesus,” say this to him, “Watch me now…”
Blessings,
PWM
Friday, April 9, 2010
OMG!
John 20:19-31
Oh, my God! I forgot my sermon notes!
Oh, my God! Look at how cute that little baby is!
Oh, my God! I can’t believe I got an “A” on my math test!
Oh, my God! You didn’t really say that to her, did you?
The acronym – OMG – is a short way of writing it on Facebook or texting it on a cell phone.
Many of us are guilty of using the name of God in such a way. Yes, some say “Oh my gosh”, of which gosh is a substitution of a word for ‘God’ that makes it sound less offensive to some.
You know there is a commandment against this, don't you? In fact, it’s one of the BIG TEN: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And many people do it like it’s no big deal. Who is it hurting?
According to the writer of Exodus, it’s a serious offense. It carries a severe punishment with it. Exodus 20:7 says the Lord will not hold the person guiltless – as in, 'you’re going to pay for this' – and Leviticus 24:16 says, One who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death.
Is blaspheming and speaking God’s name in vain the same? The short answer is ‘Yes.’ The Hebrew word for ‘blaspheme’ can mean two different things. It can mean to pierce, or perforate, as in - to put lots of holes in it – to make it like a sieve. I guess that’s a literal way of thinking of a holey God. A God we have pierced many times. And humanity did literally pierce God - with nails, in his hands, and in his feet, and in his side. We continue to pierce him with our tongues when God’s name is used without due respect.
The second meaning of the Hebrew word ‘blaspheme’ means to separate out from others, to declare distinctly, and most appropriate to this discussion, ‘to call by name.’ That’s why the Jews said it was a sin to speak the name of ‘God’ – because you couldn’t speak it with the reverence and awe it deserved. We speak the name of God today without much thought.
Sometimes Christians and unbelievers alike get more distinct in calling out God’s name. They may say, “Jesus Christ!” – and they don’t mean it in a way that puts them on their knees in awe, or worship, or praise. How easily we abuse and pierce the name that is above all names.
To blaspheme and to take the name of the Lord your God in vain are both about using God’s name in a way to give it an emptiness of meaning. The death that comes to us when we think of God so flippantly is our spiritual death. The absence of our awareness of God with us every moment of every day.
When Thomas, the Twin, saw Jesus, he said, “Oh, my God!”
Thomas is becoming my hero as the disciple who “got it” before any of the other disciples. Thomas was not using God’s name in an empty way. In fact, he proclaims the gospel in this statement. Thomas is the first disciple to declare it to all the rest. Yes, their eyes had been opened to see that Jesus was risen, and they believed it. But then, they’d already seen three human bodies come back to life.
Thomas’ eyes are not only opened to see Jesus is alive, but his eyes are opened to who Jesus of Nazareth really is – God - in human form.
To say, “My Lord” was no problem. It was a title of respect that you might give to a superior, like ‘master.’ But to say, “My God!” was to separate out Jesus as God. Thomas was declaring Jesus is God. He said “My Lord and my God”…in awe, in reverence, in recognition that Jesus was far greater than a human being that had risen from death.
Thomas declares Jesus is the Divine come down from heaven. In Jesus we see a Creator whose nature is one of goodness, mercy, and love. Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is the Spirit of truth. Jesus is one and the same with the Father and the Holy Spirit, three in One. The unchanging Truth.
Thomas was the first to speak the name of God in it’s visible truth. Blessed are those who have not seen his physical body, or put our hands in his wounds, and yet we say of him, “You are my Lord and you are my God.”
This is the good news. Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. Thank you Thomas for being the first to tell us: God is good......all the time!
Blessings - PWM
Oh, my God! I forgot my sermon notes!
Oh, my God! Look at how cute that little baby is!
Oh, my God! I can’t believe I got an “A” on my math test!
Oh, my God! You didn’t really say that to her, did you?
The acronym – OMG – is a short way of writing it on Facebook or texting it on a cell phone.
Many of us are guilty of using the name of God in such a way. Yes, some say “Oh my gosh”, of which gosh is a substitution of a word for ‘God’ that makes it sound less offensive to some.
You know there is a commandment against this, don't you? In fact, it’s one of the BIG TEN: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And many people do it like it’s no big deal. Who is it hurting?
According to the writer of Exodus, it’s a serious offense. It carries a severe punishment with it. Exodus 20:7 says the Lord will not hold the person guiltless – as in, 'you’re going to pay for this' – and Leviticus 24:16 says, One who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death.
Is blaspheming and speaking God’s name in vain the same? The short answer is ‘Yes.’ The Hebrew word for ‘blaspheme’ can mean two different things. It can mean to pierce, or perforate, as in - to put lots of holes in it – to make it like a sieve. I guess that’s a literal way of thinking of a holey God. A God we have pierced many times. And humanity did literally pierce God - with nails, in his hands, and in his feet, and in his side. We continue to pierce him with our tongues when God’s name is used without due respect.
The second meaning of the Hebrew word ‘blaspheme’ means to separate out from others, to declare distinctly, and most appropriate to this discussion, ‘to call by name.’ That’s why the Jews said it was a sin to speak the name of ‘God’ – because you couldn’t speak it with the reverence and awe it deserved. We speak the name of God today without much thought.
Sometimes Christians and unbelievers alike get more distinct in calling out God’s name. They may say, “Jesus Christ!” – and they don’t mean it in a way that puts them on their knees in awe, or worship, or praise. How easily we abuse and pierce the name that is above all names.
To blaspheme and to take the name of the Lord your God in vain are both about using God’s name in a way to give it an emptiness of meaning. The death that comes to us when we think of God so flippantly is our spiritual death. The absence of our awareness of God with us every moment of every day.
When Thomas, the Twin, saw Jesus, he said, “Oh, my God!”
Thomas is becoming my hero as the disciple who “got it” before any of the other disciples. Thomas was not using God’s name in an empty way. In fact, he proclaims the gospel in this statement. Thomas is the first disciple to declare it to all the rest. Yes, their eyes had been opened to see that Jesus was risen, and they believed it. But then, they’d already seen three human bodies come back to life.
Thomas’ eyes are not only opened to see Jesus is alive, but his eyes are opened to who Jesus of Nazareth really is – God - in human form.
To say, “My Lord” was no problem. It was a title of respect that you might give to a superior, like ‘master.’ But to say, “My God!” was to separate out Jesus as God. Thomas was declaring Jesus is God. He said “My Lord and my God”…in awe, in reverence, in recognition that Jesus was far greater than a human being that had risen from death.
Thomas declares Jesus is the Divine come down from heaven. In Jesus we see a Creator whose nature is one of goodness, mercy, and love. Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is the Spirit of truth. Jesus is one and the same with the Father and the Holy Spirit, three in One. The unchanging Truth.
Thomas was the first to speak the name of God in it’s visible truth. Blessed are those who have not seen his physical body, or put our hands in his wounds, and yet we say of him, “You are my Lord and you are my God.”
This is the good news. Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. Thank you Thomas for being the first to tell us: God is good......all the time!
Blessings - PWM
Monday, April 5, 2010
Holding Someone’s Sin Against Them
John 20:19-21
With the Palm Sunday through Easter week, I didn’t have time to blog. This week’s text is again subject to my comments.
The sentence that grabs me is the one saying, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” Stop there. The Greek word is actually translated as “to send away” or “to let go” or even “to disregard.”
Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples. This is the same Spirit who brings love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control as its fruits. And then he gives them his disciples the authority to disregard the sins of others as they determine is appropriate.
This is similar to his statement in Matthew where he gives the disciples the keys to the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind (meaning “forbid”) on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose (meaning “permit”) on earth will be loosed in heaven. Jesus gave his disciples the authority to make new determinations or interpretations of what the Scriptures mean. (I’ll give credit and deflect tomatoes to be thrown at Rob Bell for this – in Velvet Elvis, p. 49).
“If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” It sounds like this one is the reverse of the former. As long as the goal or end result of holding onto someone’s sin brings the fruit of the Spirit, then to hold onto them is good. When does that happen?
When does holding onto a sin someone has committed against me ever bring me peace or joy? When I see someone commit a sin against another person, or even against God, when does it ever bring me peace to hold their sin against them. Don’t they suffer enough by the consequences of their own actions?
I’m supposed to work at building relationships with others, not building walls of judgment because of the sin I think they commit. I suppose the disciples could have gotten mad at Thomas for not believing them when they told him they had seen Jesus. “What do you mean you don’t believe us? Are you calling us ‘liars’?” We can find all kinds of reasons to take offense if we don’t have the Spirit guiding us.
I think the Holy Spirit is a key piece here. What fruit of the Spirit does the disregarding of sin or the holding onto sin bring to me or to the other person as a result? But there may be an even more important point…
Peace, PWM
With the Palm Sunday through Easter week, I didn’t have time to blog. This week’s text is again subject to my comments.
The sentence that grabs me is the one saying, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” Stop there. The Greek word is actually translated as “to send away” or “to let go” or even “to disregard.”
Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples. This is the same Spirit who brings love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control as its fruits. And then he gives them his disciples the authority to disregard the sins of others as they determine is appropriate.
This is similar to his statement in Matthew where he gives the disciples the keys to the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind (meaning “forbid”) on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose (meaning “permit”) on earth will be loosed in heaven. Jesus gave his disciples the authority to make new determinations or interpretations of what the Scriptures mean. (I’ll give credit and deflect tomatoes to be thrown at Rob Bell for this – in Velvet Elvis, p. 49).
“If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” It sounds like this one is the reverse of the former. As long as the goal or end result of holding onto someone’s sin brings the fruit of the Spirit, then to hold onto them is good. When does that happen?
When does holding onto a sin someone has committed against me ever bring me peace or joy? When I see someone commit a sin against another person, or even against God, when does it ever bring me peace to hold their sin against them. Don’t they suffer enough by the consequences of their own actions?
I’m supposed to work at building relationships with others, not building walls of judgment because of the sin I think they commit. I suppose the disciples could have gotten mad at Thomas for not believing them when they told him they had seen Jesus. “What do you mean you don’t believe us? Are you calling us ‘liars’?” We can find all kinds of reasons to take offense if we don’t have the Spirit guiding us.
I think the Holy Spirit is a key piece here. What fruit of the Spirit does the disregarding of sin or the holding onto sin bring to me or to the other person as a result? But there may be an even more important point…
Peace, PWM
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Hokey Pokey – Is That What It's All About
Philippians 3:4-11 & John 12:1-8
If you remember the Hokey Pokey, you're giving away your age. If you are under 39 years old, you may not understand it. The Hokey Pokey is a community participation dance that has empowered a lot of wedding receptions and gatherings where people are feeling happy and a little crazy. After all, that’s what it’s all about…isn’t it? Sing it with me: “You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out. You put your right foot in, and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.”
What if that IS what it’s all about? Putting your right foot in – at the right time. Putting your right foot out – at the right time. Putting your right foot in and shaking it all about – using the right motion and the right timing. Doing the right things, at the right times. That’s the Hokey Pokey, but I don’t think St. Paul would agree that this is what it’s all about.
You see, in his letter to the church at Philippi, he told them he had done all the right things at the right times. He was perfect in the eyes of the tradition and law. But, he said, that’s not what it’s all about. It’s not about following the law perfectly. The law never brings us peace. We can see today how much it is bringing us pain, and division, and judgment. From the Lutheran perspective, the purpose of the law is to bring us a recognition of our inability to follow it. The law cannot save us. It drives us to the mercy of God. Only the grace of God in Jesus Christ can save us.
Once we recognize that God sent his Son inspite of our sin, then we can do the Hokey Pokey – we can dance, we can rejoice, we can share in the peace and joy that God’s mercy and grace brings to us. We can see the Law for the blessing it is to us. We follow it, not because it is required but because it brings us joy and delight.
We gather with family and friends, and we dance. We do the Hokey Pokey. We put our right foot in – at the right time. We put our left foot in – at the right time. We put our right foot in and we shake it all about – doing the right things: following the law as love dictates and becoming the hands of Jesus Christ in the world. Grace is about dancing in the grace of God’s mercy and love. We do the Hokey Pokey and we turn ourselves around – because Jesus Christ is what it’s all about.
Dancing with my Father God in a field of grace,
PWM
If you remember the Hokey Pokey, you're giving away your age. If you are under 39 years old, you may not understand it. The Hokey Pokey is a community participation dance that has empowered a lot of wedding receptions and gatherings where people are feeling happy and a little crazy. After all, that’s what it’s all about…isn’t it? Sing it with me: “You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out. You put your right foot in, and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.”
You see, in his letter to the church at Philippi, he told them he had done all the right things at the right times. He was perfect in the eyes of the tradition and law. But, he said, that’s not what it’s all about. It’s not about following the law perfectly. The law never brings us peace. We can see today how much it is bringing us pain, and division, and judgment. From the Lutheran perspective, the purpose of the law is to bring us a recognition of our inability to follow it. The law cannot save us. It drives us to the mercy of God. Only the grace of God in Jesus Christ can save us.
Once we recognize that God sent his Son inspite of our sin, then we can do the Hokey Pokey – we can dance, we can rejoice, we can share in the peace and joy that God’s mercy and grace brings to us. We can see the Law for the blessing it is to us. We follow it, not because it is required but because it brings us joy and delight.
We gather with family and friends, and we dance. We do the Hokey Pokey. We put our right foot in – at the right time. We put our left foot in – at the right time. We put our right foot in and we shake it all about – doing the right things: following the law as love dictates and becoming the hands of Jesus Christ in the world. Grace is about dancing in the grace of God’s mercy and love. We do the Hokey Pokey and we turn ourselves around – because Jesus Christ is what it’s all about.
Dancing with my Father God in a field of grace,
PWM
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Angry Brother
Luke 15:1-3; 11b-32
I attended a lecture by Dr. Amy Jill Levine, New Testament professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School. She knows a great deal about the Jewish tradition in the first century. She has a personal connection to it, seeing that she’s Jewish. This informs her understanding of the written word of the Christian testament. I trust that there’s an unwritten Word present, too.
Anyway, she says that when Jesus told parables, the Jews of that day would have understood that the end of the story was the most critical point of the teaching.
Many Christians focus on the son who took his father's money and left. That's not them, of course. There's always someone else whose sin is worse that we can point to. It takes our attention off ourselves.
Yet look how happy the father is to see his son come home. This is not the image of a punishing God. Far from it. This Father wants the best for his children, good and bad. There’s no remembrance of sin, even before the son admits his mistakes.
The parable concludes with the Father’s interaction with the prodigal’s older brother. Certainly, a rebellious brother does not deserve a feast. If the older son had his way, the undeserving brother should have been put in the servant’s quarters just as the prodigal thought, and treated as a lesser person in the household.
There was no joy in the return of his brother. No love. No peace, only anger. No fruits of the Spirit. Do we see any of that today?
As shamefully as the older brother acts, the Father treats him tenderly. The Father does not reprimand the ‘obedient’ son. He does not react to his unloving, i.e., sinful response. All that is the Father’s is the son’s. And look, there I’ve done it again. I focused on the older son at the end of the parable. The true lesson is seen in the Father’s response, even to the self-righteous older son. The Father is tender. Open. Loving. Non-judgment. Non-condemning. Not weighing one sin against another.
Rejoicing that God’s grace is without limits and overlooks every kind of sin, is outrageous. When I treat members of my own Christian family in less than loving and joyful ways, no matter what they've done, I reject the invitation to join the feast. Good God, folks, there’s a banquet going on right now! Sit down at the table and eat – with your brother and sister!
Peace, PWM
Anyway, she says that when Jesus told parables, the Jews of that day would have understood that the end of the story was the most critical point of the teaching.
Many Christians focus on the son who took his father's money and left. That's not them, of course. There's always someone else whose sin is worse that we can point to. It takes our attention off ourselves.
Yet look how happy the father is to see his son come home. This is not the image of a punishing God. Far from it. This Father wants the best for his children, good and bad. There’s no remembrance of sin, even before the son admits his mistakes.
The parable concludes with the Father’s interaction with the prodigal’s older brother. Certainly, a rebellious brother does not deserve a feast. If the older son had his way, the undeserving brother should have been put in the servant’s quarters just as the prodigal thought, and treated as a lesser person in the household.
There was no joy in the return of his brother. No love. No peace, only anger. No fruits of the Spirit. Do we see any of that today?
As shamefully as the older brother acts, the Father treats him tenderly. The Father does not reprimand the ‘obedient’ son. He does not react to his unloving, i.e., sinful response. All that is the Father’s is the son’s. And look, there I’ve done it again. I focused on the older son at the end of the parable. The true lesson is seen in the Father’s response, even to the self-righteous older son. The Father is tender. Open. Loving. Non-judgment. Non-condemning. Not weighing one sin against another.
Rejoicing that God’s grace is without limits and overlooks every kind of sin, is outrageous. When I treat members of my own Christian family in less than loving and joyful ways, no matter what they've done, I reject the invitation to join the feast. Good God, folks, there’s a banquet going on right now! Sit down at the table and eat – with your brother and sister!
Peace, PWM
Thursday, March 4, 2010
What’s a fig tree to do?
Luke 13:1-9 (part 2)
That's the question I always ask myself. What does this Bible story tell me I’m supposed to do? When I do that, I think I start out on the wrong foot every time. Because it’s rarely about what I’m supposed to do. It’s about what God did for me in Christ.
People we think were good people died in the Haiti earthquake, side by side with those we think were not so good. A seminarian died in one place, and a voodoo priestess in another. Yet, Jesus said God is not about retribution. A God of love doesn’t go after bad people and take down innocents with them. Our good actions don’t guarantee us the favor of luck.
Then why does Jesus throw in repentance as a means to prevent our own destruction? That seems contrary to the point he makes that it doesn't matter if you are good or bad. Isn’t repentance about turning our lives around and becoming a ‘good person?’
The way many people see repentance leads them to think this story is about judgment. If you don’t repent, you’ll get cut down and thrown in the fire. That’s a typically Jewish thought from the OT: do good and God will reward you; do bad and you’ll get the ax. This story would rub the Jews who were listening the wrong way. It goes against the Hebrew image of God from the OT.
But the word repent doesn’t suggest we force change on ourselves so we become good people. The word ‘repent’ refers more to the turning around of our attitude. Jesus is saying, “Change your attitude.” This change in attitude brings a reform in why we do the things we do. It’s the heart of being a Christian. Thomas Merton was right when he said, “In Christianity, motivation is everything.”
What is the change in attitude Jesus wants us to make? I think Jesus wants us to change our attitude about God being vindictive and punishing. We hear that so much. Bad things happen in nature because God is mad at something. Insurance companies have clauses for “acts of God,” defined as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc. Jesus tells the parable to teach a different image of God, and how the change in attitude comes about.
The lesson for me comes from watching the rescue efforts of the gardener. He sees my life is meaningless when I don’t bear fruit. “Let me work with it. I will break up the hard ground around it, and nourish it. Let’s give it more time.” When I consider what Christ has done for me, how he shows me the truth in our God of mercy and love, I don’t fear the ax. Christ will always be the Mediator for me. Always giving me another chance.
Ultimately, this story is about perpetual second chances. One season, I may get it right. Only to sink back into a season of fruitlessness. The gardener never gives up hope. He made us. In his own image, he made us. He will always work with us.
A side note about fruit: Is there a way I can know if my actions are good fruit? I think so. Galatians 5:22-23 says “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.” If my actions generate any of these for another person, I might be able to consider it a grace from God that something I did made a difference in their life. Maybe I was like Christ to them for a moment in time. If my heart is pure, the motive of my works will be for the good of anyone who might be impacted by my actions.
May we all recognize the second chances we are given. And be grateful. PWM
P.S. Sorry, there’ll be no weenie roast tonight.
That's the question I always ask myself. What does this Bible story tell me I’m supposed to do? When I do that, I think I start out on the wrong foot every time. Because it’s rarely about what I’m supposed to do. It’s about what God did for me in Christ.
People we think were good people died in the Haiti earthquake, side by side with those we think were not so good. A seminarian died in one place, and a voodoo priestess in another. Yet, Jesus said God is not about retribution. A God of love doesn’t go after bad people and take down innocents with them. Our good actions don’t guarantee us the favor of luck.
Then why does Jesus throw in repentance as a means to prevent our own destruction? That seems contrary to the point he makes that it doesn't matter if you are good or bad. Isn’t repentance about turning our lives around and becoming a ‘good person?’
The way many people see repentance leads them to think this story is about judgment. If you don’t repent, you’ll get cut down and thrown in the fire. That’s a typically Jewish thought from the OT: do good and God will reward you; do bad and you’ll get the ax. This story would rub the Jews who were listening the wrong way. It goes against the Hebrew image of God from the OT.
But the word repent doesn’t suggest we force change on ourselves so we become good people. The word ‘repent’ refers more to the turning around of our attitude. Jesus is saying, “Change your attitude.” This change in attitude brings a reform in why we do the things we do. It’s the heart of being a Christian. Thomas Merton was right when he said, “In Christianity, motivation is everything.”
What is the change in attitude Jesus wants us to make? I think Jesus wants us to change our attitude about God being vindictive and punishing. We hear that so much. Bad things happen in nature because God is mad at something. Insurance companies have clauses for “acts of God,” defined as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc. Jesus tells the parable to teach a different image of God, and how the change in attitude comes about.
The lesson for me comes from watching the rescue efforts of the gardener. He sees my life is meaningless when I don’t bear fruit. “Let me work with it. I will break up the hard ground around it, and nourish it. Let’s give it more time.” When I consider what Christ has done for me, how he shows me the truth in our God of mercy and love, I don’t fear the ax. Christ will always be the Mediator for me. Always giving me another chance.
Ultimately, this story is about perpetual second chances. One season, I may get it right. Only to sink back into a season of fruitlessness. The gardener never gives up hope. He made us. In his own image, he made us. He will always work with us.
A side note about fruit: Is there a way I can know if my actions are good fruit? I think so. Galatians 5:22-23 says “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.” If my actions generate any of these for another person, I might be able to consider it a grace from God that something I did made a difference in their life. Maybe I was like Christ to them for a moment in time. If my heart is pure, the motive of my works will be for the good of anyone who might be impacted by my actions.
May we all recognize the second chances we are given. And be grateful. PWM
P.S. Sorry, there’ll be no weenie roast tonight.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Repentance is overrated when misunderstood (Luke 13:1-9)
Huh? So if I repent, the same things won’t happen to me? None of my blood mingled with my offerings? No buildings will fall on me? “Okay, God. I’m sorry.” There. Piece of cake. Now I can breathe a little easier.
Actually, I think the word ‘repent’ is a dinosaur in religious language. It has lost it’s meaning. It has lost its value to those who seek the kingdom of God. Some say repentance is turning your life around. And it is. But something else initiated the turn around. People don’t turn their life around on willpower alone. More is needed.
Maybe a clue comes in the story following Jesus’ call to ‘repent.’ Someone comes to the poor tree’s rescue. Look! Up in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. It’s the Gardener. He mediates between the fruitless tree and the owner of the vineyard. Grace… undeserved and unsolicited. Will the tree wake up and accept the gift? Does it need to? Or will Living Water from the Cloud in the sky dissolve it and bring it to the root of the tree’s problem?
Stay tuned to see if the tree responds……or if a weenie roast is about to happen.
PWM, Daily Planet reporter
Actually, I think the word ‘repent’ is a dinosaur in religious language. It has lost it’s meaning. It has lost its value to those who seek the kingdom of God. Some say repentance is turning your life around. And it is. But something else initiated the turn around. People don’t turn their life around on willpower alone. More is needed.Stay tuned to see if the tree responds……or if a weenie roast is about to happen.
PWM, Daily Planet reporter
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