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

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

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

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

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

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

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