Sermon 08.22.10
“The Jesus of No Excuses”
Did you ever notice that whenever Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, something usually goes wrong? He never seems to just read and discuss the Hebrew Scriptures like he is supposed to do. He doesn’t always unroll the scroll, recite the verses and then turn to discuss them with the other religious leaders. Nine out of ten times, an incident occurs, the Pharisees are ready to hurl him over a cliff, he’s threatened with punishments and you have to wonder why he keeps doing this. What is it that he doesn’t understand?
It happens again in today’s Gospel. The text begins innocently enough – “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.” Seven verses later, he’s wiping up the floor with the hypocrites to the cheers of the crowd.
What happened? He was probably between verses 12 and 13 of the fourth chapter of Leviticus when he spied the woman whose back was bent, the infirmed one, as the King James Version says. He sees an opportunity for a healing. And it just happens to be the Sabbath. I’ll bet you could see the funnel cloud all the way from Jerusalem.
The image of the crippled woman in Luke’s text for today is certainly an object of great pity. Try to imagine what it must have been like for her existence: unable to straighten upright, always bent over. Day after day she sees nothing but her feet, the dirty, dusty streets of the town, and other peoples’ sandals. She could not talk to another person, eye to eye, never saw a sunset, never seen the stars, had been infirmed, as the old King James versions says, for 18 years. This is six years longer than the woman who was healed of her hemorrhages. Had she given up hope? She didn’t ask Jesus to heal her, she was just passing by the synagogue.
But it was the wrong day, unfortunately. Healings can only take place during the week. “Come back another time,” says the leader of the synagogue. He completely misses the miracle because he is so focused on following the rules. A woman is not longer inflicted with a pain that had her doubled-over in misery for almost 10,000 days, and the leader is concerned with the propriety of Jesus’ actions.
What I love most about Jesus is that he never, ever makes excuses. The church of no excuses is where Jesus fits in. He could have said to the leader, “But she was sick….or but she was in the neighborhood so it seemed convenient…or but she couldn’t come back another day…but I won’t be available later in the week…or I’m really backed up with miracles in Galilee…or maybe I’m never coming back to this synagogue instead. Jesus doesn’t make excuses for his healing.
But we are the people with excuses. Especially when it is a matter of coming to church. We have lots of excuses. A church in Wichita, Kansas, once advertised a “no excuses” Sunday service.
To encourage both the faithful and the unfaithful to attend church this year, every Sunday will be a no-excuse Sunday and the following will be provided:
Cots will be placed in the vestibule for those who say. “Sunday is my only day to sleep in.”
Murine will be provided for those with tired eyes, from watching TV too late on Saturday night.
There will be steel helmets for those who say, “The roof would cave in if I ever went to church.”
Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who think it’s too hot.
We will have hearing aids for those who say, “The minister speaks too softly,” and cotton for those who say, “The pastor is too loud.”
Score cards will be available to those who want to list the hypocrites present.
Some relative will be present, for those who like visiting on Sunday.
There will be TV dinners for those who say they can’t go to church and cook dinner also.
One section of the church will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
Finally, the church will be decorated with Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have seen it without them.
Now Jesus doesn’t play this game. Instead, he takes the Pharisees head on and gives them a dose of their own medicine. He points out the fact that they all work on the Sabbath, in one way or another. Just lays right into them and blows away their excuses. He says that untying your donkey to give it water is working on the Sabbath. And by the way, wouldn’t the Sabbath be the best day of the week for a healing?
There is a mix of messages in today’s passage. One aspect focuses on Christ as healer, as miracle worker, no matter what day of the week it is. Whenever there is an opportunity to bring restoration and wholeness, he will be there, even if he’s working on something else. God invented multi-tasking. And Jesus is not especially concerned with the calendar.
The second message is that sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. Rather than appreciate the renewal of the woman’s health, the leaders of the synagogue are so worried about the letter of the law and that miracles qualify as working on the Sabbath. We certainly do that from time to time, getting stuck on one things, such as a bad sermon, and forgetting that the rest of the service went really well. And we actually loved the hymns, now that you think about it.
The third message is that Jesus takes no prisoners or excuses. He calls it as he sees it. He is not afraid to lift up the sin of hypocrisy and start taking names, even among the religious leaders in the synagogue. His followers are in agreement on that and start rejoicing. He makes trouble, but manages to clean up his mess in such a way that it turns out for the better.
The good news for us today, also comes in three parts. First, Jesus truly has the power to free us, to unbind us of all ailments, be they mental, spiritual, emotional and physical. He heals at unexpected times and is not limited to social conventions. Miracles still occur, even after 18 years.
The second part of the Gospel take-away for this morning is that we have to work on our limited vision of what the reign of God will be like. We all have preconceived notions of societal norms and Jesus, unfortunately, mostly works outside of the box. As Paul says in Romans, we are not to be conformed to the world, but to transform it.
And the third advice that we are given is not to back down and make excuses for our faith. If we call ourselves children of God, we cannot permit hypocritical actions. Jesus is not interested in hearing our excuses for not being faithful followers. And he isn’t afraid of calling our bluff if it comes to that.
May we celebrate the healing of the crippled woman, who raised her body as an expression of praise to Christ our Lord. Let us rejoice, like the crowd, in the miracles that we see all around us, if we are paying attention. And finally, we pray that we can be more tolerate, more loving, and more understanding than the religious leaders that Jesus addressed. Our excuses will go unheard, but God’s word will return to us to set us free. Amen.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
"The Stressed-Out Savior"
Sermon 08.15.10
“The Stressed-Out Savior”
It’s difficult to put Jesus and the word “stress” together in the same sentence. The Jesus that we know is serene (as in the head of Christ by painter Sulliman), is the great physician due to his many miraculous healings, is the lovable Savior that the children flocked to, is the powerful Lord who walked on the water and commanded the waves. Stress just isn’t part of his vocabulary.
We all know that Jesus has had frustrating moments with the disciples, and had less than friendly relationships with the religious leaders of the day. But I don’t picture him at his wit’s end, pulling out clumps of hair, banging his head against the wall, or smashing a nice earthen ware jug in a fit of rage. It’s an image that we can’t fathom, and yet it is precisely that type of situation as described in today’s text from Luke. And the translation of it, the Greek verb synecho appears only once in the New Testament as a translation for the word stress.
Jesus is not only angry; he’s nasty angry with incredibly harsh warnings. His words are hard to chew and ever harder to swallow. Jesus is upset that his mission has not been thoroughly accomplished through the baptism of fire, and now he’s up against a deadline. He speaks of relatives turning against other relatives, and you get the feeling that it’s going to be much, much more than the Hatfields and the MCoys. All of the in-laws will be there to add fuel to the family chaos. Not a pretty picture at all.
Jesus even adds a final insult to his spurious speech – you all can predict the future weather, but you’re not even remotely aware of what’s going on all around you right now. Period. End of Sentence. Jesus turns on his heel and disappears for the rest of the day. An ugly barrage of words, at best.
But Jesus was just speaking the truth about stress. The old is never new; it’s just repackaged for us today. We are on a planetary timetable as volatile as the first century AD. In Jesus’ time, there was political rest in other countries, violence in many cities, and even Christians arguing with other Christians (imagine that) when Paul writes to the Corinthians, correcting them in 1 Corinthians 1:12 Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter, " or "I follow only Christ." Can Christ be divided into pieces? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul?
The painful answer for us is that these conflicts have been and will continue to be sources of stress in our lives today.
We all experience stress – it is a normal functioning of our human reasoning. Distress is what happens when your gut says “no” and your mouth says “yes.” It’s like the poster that my clergy girlfriend has in her office: One day I shall lose my buds of calm and blossom fully into hysteria.”
The level may vary by each individual: how to stretch one’s dollars on a fixed income, concerns over aging parents, worries about a grandchild leaving for college or medical issues for members of our families. Stress doesn’t have to mean a national crisis – it can be a deeply moving constellation of personal concerns. Because we live in a broken world, we experience the strain and pain of distress each and every day.
Will Willimon, a famous Methodist preacher, taught at Duke Divinity school for many years. As he helped to prepare his young students for the ministry they often sought his advice on matters other than classroom instruction. Many times, they reported that when they told they spouse or significant other that they thought they were called to ordained ministry, that person didn’t want to be married or attached to clergy. In fact, 35% of clergy marriages end in divorce compared with the 25% average of non-clergy couples. Jesus warns everyone in this passage that he comes to wreck relationships, rather than building them up.
For Jesus, there is the tension of bringing people on board for the kingdom when time is running out. He acknowledges the sacrifices that will be made, when families are thrown into chaos, and that even with that, all of his work here on earth may be futile. Here is Jesus, the original example of clergy burnout.
The Stressed-Out Saviour also wants to emphasize that he is not about peace and security this time around. In his time and place, there is an emergency which demands that lives be dramatically changed. We do not hear words that comfort or console us. Rather, it is a time of conflict, crisis and rejection. Our hearts are certainly not soothed by his words. So for us, we can only turn to logic from the apostle Paul who says in Romans 5:3-5. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-- they help us learn to endure and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. The good news is that the Prince of Peace will still make an appearance, but not just yet.
But remember also that Jesus never said it would be easy. He just said it would be worth it. The Bible does not record Jesus ever uttering that life would be a piece of cake. Christ never stood with the Sadducees and Pharisees and the disciples in a circle around the fire singing “Kumbaya”. He did not declare to the apostles that they would be as happy as pigs in a mud pen, or that following him would lead to fame and glory. Jesus never even promised a happy ending for all of his friends.
There is no easy way to wrap up this passage with a pretty bow made from ribbons of faith. We simply cannot find with any certainty the peace and security that we need from the words that we read. James C. Dobson actually puts this all together when he says, “There are very few certainties that touch us all in this mortal experience, but one of the absolutes is that we will experience hardship and stress at some point”. All we know is that stress will be with us. And so will Jesus. Amen.
“The Stressed-Out Savior”
It’s difficult to put Jesus and the word “stress” together in the same sentence. The Jesus that we know is serene (as in the head of Christ by painter Sulliman), is the great physician due to his many miraculous healings, is the lovable Savior that the children flocked to, is the powerful Lord who walked on the water and commanded the waves. Stress just isn’t part of his vocabulary.
We all know that Jesus has had frustrating moments with the disciples, and had less than friendly relationships with the religious leaders of the day. But I don’t picture him at his wit’s end, pulling out clumps of hair, banging his head against the wall, or smashing a nice earthen ware jug in a fit of rage. It’s an image that we can’t fathom, and yet it is precisely that type of situation as described in today’s text from Luke. And the translation of it, the Greek verb synecho appears only once in the New Testament as a translation for the word stress.
Jesus is not only angry; he’s nasty angry with incredibly harsh warnings. His words are hard to chew and ever harder to swallow. Jesus is upset that his mission has not been thoroughly accomplished through the baptism of fire, and now he’s up against a deadline. He speaks of relatives turning against other relatives, and you get the feeling that it’s going to be much, much more than the Hatfields and the MCoys. All of the in-laws will be there to add fuel to the family chaos. Not a pretty picture at all.
Jesus even adds a final insult to his spurious speech – you all can predict the future weather, but you’re not even remotely aware of what’s going on all around you right now. Period. End of Sentence. Jesus turns on his heel and disappears for the rest of the day. An ugly barrage of words, at best.
But Jesus was just speaking the truth about stress. The old is never new; it’s just repackaged for us today. We are on a planetary timetable as volatile as the first century AD. In Jesus’ time, there was political rest in other countries, violence in many cities, and even Christians arguing with other Christians (imagine that) when Paul writes to the Corinthians, correcting them in 1 Corinthians 1:12 Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter, " or "I follow only Christ." Can Christ be divided into pieces? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul?
The painful answer for us is that these conflicts have been and will continue to be sources of stress in our lives today.
We all experience stress – it is a normal functioning of our human reasoning. Distress is what happens when your gut says “no” and your mouth says “yes.” It’s like the poster that my clergy girlfriend has in her office: One day I shall lose my buds of calm and blossom fully into hysteria.”
The level may vary by each individual: how to stretch one’s dollars on a fixed income, concerns over aging parents, worries about a grandchild leaving for college or medical issues for members of our families. Stress doesn’t have to mean a national crisis – it can be a deeply moving constellation of personal concerns. Because we live in a broken world, we experience the strain and pain of distress each and every day.
Will Willimon, a famous Methodist preacher, taught at Duke Divinity school for many years. As he helped to prepare his young students for the ministry they often sought his advice on matters other than classroom instruction. Many times, they reported that when they told they spouse or significant other that they thought they were called to ordained ministry, that person didn’t want to be married or attached to clergy. In fact, 35% of clergy marriages end in divorce compared with the 25% average of non-clergy couples. Jesus warns everyone in this passage that he comes to wreck relationships, rather than building them up.
For Jesus, there is the tension of bringing people on board for the kingdom when time is running out. He acknowledges the sacrifices that will be made, when families are thrown into chaos, and that even with that, all of his work here on earth may be futile. Here is Jesus, the original example of clergy burnout.
The Stressed-Out Saviour also wants to emphasize that he is not about peace and security this time around. In his time and place, there is an emergency which demands that lives be dramatically changed. We do not hear words that comfort or console us. Rather, it is a time of conflict, crisis and rejection. Our hearts are certainly not soothed by his words. So for us, we can only turn to logic from the apostle Paul who says in Romans 5:3-5. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-- they help us learn to endure and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. The good news is that the Prince of Peace will still make an appearance, but not just yet.
But remember also that Jesus never said it would be easy. He just said it would be worth it. The Bible does not record Jesus ever uttering that life would be a piece of cake. Christ never stood with the Sadducees and Pharisees and the disciples in a circle around the fire singing “Kumbaya”. He did not declare to the apostles that they would be as happy as pigs in a mud pen, or that following him would lead to fame and glory. Jesus never even promised a happy ending for all of his friends.
There is no easy way to wrap up this passage with a pretty bow made from ribbons of faith. We simply cannot find with any certainty the peace and security that we need from the words that we read. James C. Dobson actually puts this all together when he says, “There are very few certainties that touch us all in this mortal experience, but one of the absolutes is that we will experience hardship and stress at some point”. All we know is that stress will be with us. And so will Jesus. Amen.
Monday, August 9, 2010
"Check Your Purses Here"
Sermon 08.08.10
“Check Your Purses Here”
Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Some of you are already turning me out. She’s going to talk about money again, so I may as well think about what I need to thaw out for dinner or how many more games could the Orioles possibly lose. Sadly, I tell you the truth, last week’s sermon and this week’s are not part of my stewardship campaign. I’ll inflict that on you a little later in the year.
But I am going to talk about giving, and to start with, here’s a story:
The apostles Paul writes: “But do not ignore this fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is worth a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.”
An economist who read this passage was quite amazed and talked to God about it. “Lord,” he said, “is it true that a thousand years for us is like a minute to you.”
The Lord said yes.
The economist said, “Then a million dollars to us must be like a penny to you.
The Lord said yes.
The economist said, “Will you give me one of those pennies?”
The Lord said, “All right. Wait here a minute.”
Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out. That’s a tough proposition that Luke throws out to us this Sunday. It’s easier for a woman to understand – we have purses to match our shoes, purses that go with elegant clothes, and purses that are so big we can put a complete change of clothes in them. I myself carry so much stuff in my purse that I could probably do brain surgery in the middle of the Sahara desert, if necessary. And I wanted to give you all an idea of how many purses I have, so you don’t think I’m not including myself in the sermon.
Men, fortunately, or unfortunately, don’t usually carry more than a wallet, which is worn out because you keep opening it to give more money to your children, and your grandchildren, and maybe even your great-grandchildren. Eventually, though, the leather wears and cracks and you have to buy a new one, maybe every twenty years or so…
Make purses that do not wear out. Purses made of silk, satin, leather all wear out eventually, or are ruined. I often think that if I had a $400 Gucci purse, there would surely be a pen that would leak all over the bottom or a melted Snickers bar.
Jesus is not really talking about pocketbooks or wallets. The purse is an attitude for giving, for being people who are unselfish in mind, body and spirit. He says that those who are generous, those who give alms, will not have to put up with having their purses being stolen. The attitude for giving is openhanded, because the true treasure is in heaven.
Charitable giving is where your heart lies.
No event was a more spectacular example of this was 9/11. New York was swapped by people donating supplies, folks hauling in items that were sorely needed for the dead and dying. The Red Cross actually had to turn people away who had come to donate blood because their own resources couldn’t handle the crowd. This event, which was the US’s most horrific, was also its best moment when you consider the outpouring that took place. This is the alms-giving that Jesus wants us to strive for; the bountiful sacrifice for the greatest good. No moth can destroy this kind of purse that we hold so dear.
We are at our worst when we hold tightly to our earthly purses, bought at such a great price. They will surely weigh us down from making it to the kingdom that Jesus promises to his little flock. But we keep on stockpiling those purses anyway. America is said to be made of those who have, those who have not, and those who have not paid for what they have. Eventually the purses turn into larger satchels that we wear around our necks like milestones and we suffocate under the pressure.
Jesus says that where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. Your treasure can’t be full of gold and silver; it can’t be the place where you stash your fortune of jewels. Your heart will never be made of money.
And he tells us in verse 32: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He knows that most of us fear of losing our purses and wallets. We get nervous and clutch them even tighter in crowded places. Jesus understands our anxiety, and assures us that kingdom will be given in exchange for a purse. Sounds like a pretty good bargain to me.
At the heart of worship is the collection, so here’s my small stewardship pitch. Here is where we have an opportunity to walk the talk. You can sleep through the sermon, or mouth the prayers while you scan the back of the bulletin. But when the basket comes through, you need to do something. Money may be the thing that you put in, but it all has to do with attitude. An attitude that giving is part of the Christian way of life. Treasures are not to be hoarded like possessions. Don’t be dragging those purses behind you.
Billy Graham was once speaking in the San Jose area, and on the closing day of the revival, he told this story. It seems that there was a strong man that traveled with the circus. One of his most impressive stunts was to take an orange and squeeze every last drop of juice from it. Then the strong man would offer $1,000 to anyone in the crowd who could squeeze as one additional drop. He went from town to town making this offer, but no one was ever able to win the contest and collect the money.
Then one day the circus came into a small town in California and the strong man put on his act again, but this time, his opponent was a wizened old ninety-eight pound weakling. This small man took all the orange scoops up together in his hand and squeezed out 6 more drops of juice. The strong man was amazed and take back by this incredible feat. He asked the man with the juice on his hands to explain how it was possible for him to do this. The man just shrugged it off, saying, “I’m the treasurer down at the local Baptist church and we do this all the time.”
This man’s capability was no doubt because he knew that the church is the first place of charity and selfless giving. He understood that his actions, though profoundly effective on the strong man, and the crowd watching, were a weekly pattern of the emptying out of purses that will not last in heaven.
When you leave today, take a hard look at your purse or wallet and see if it speaks to your heart, your treasure, which is being stored up in heaven. Are you giving alms, and developing an attitude of giving out of thanksgiving, instead of obligation? I think that there will be someone standing outside the pearly gates with a sign that says, “Check your purses here before entering.” It will be a lot easier if your bag is not crammed with earthly treasures.
Let me quote verses 33-34 one more time, for emphasis and from Eugene Peterson take in the Message, which uses a very different metaphor. But I think it rings true whether you have a purse or a wallet: It says, “Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that won’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can count on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will want to be, and end up being.”
The place where your treasure is, is the place you will want to be, and end up being. This week, let us look to trimming back, tossing out the stuff in the purses that we don’t need, the stuff that I spoke of last week. Invest in a purse that won’t wear out and goes with everything you wear when you live generously. May we follow Jesus’ words to the best of our ability. Amen.
“Check Your Purses Here”
Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Some of you are already turning me out. She’s going to talk about money again, so I may as well think about what I need to thaw out for dinner or how many more games could the Orioles possibly lose. Sadly, I tell you the truth, last week’s sermon and this week’s are not part of my stewardship campaign. I’ll inflict that on you a little later in the year.
But I am going to talk about giving, and to start with, here’s a story:
The apostles Paul writes: “But do not ignore this fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is worth a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.”
An economist who read this passage was quite amazed and talked to God about it. “Lord,” he said, “is it true that a thousand years for us is like a minute to you.”
The Lord said yes.
The economist said, “Then a million dollars to us must be like a penny to you.
The Lord said yes.
The economist said, “Will you give me one of those pennies?”
The Lord said, “All right. Wait here a minute.”
Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out. That’s a tough proposition that Luke throws out to us this Sunday. It’s easier for a woman to understand – we have purses to match our shoes, purses that go with elegant clothes, and purses that are so big we can put a complete change of clothes in them. I myself carry so much stuff in my purse that I could probably do brain surgery in the middle of the Sahara desert, if necessary. And I wanted to give you all an idea of how many purses I have, so you don’t think I’m not including myself in the sermon.
Men, fortunately, or unfortunately, don’t usually carry more than a wallet, which is worn out because you keep opening it to give more money to your children, and your grandchildren, and maybe even your great-grandchildren. Eventually, though, the leather wears and cracks and you have to buy a new one, maybe every twenty years or so…
Make purses that do not wear out. Purses made of silk, satin, leather all wear out eventually, or are ruined. I often think that if I had a $400 Gucci purse, there would surely be a pen that would leak all over the bottom or a melted Snickers bar.
Jesus is not really talking about pocketbooks or wallets. The purse is an attitude for giving, for being people who are unselfish in mind, body and spirit. He says that those who are generous, those who give alms, will not have to put up with having their purses being stolen. The attitude for giving is openhanded, because the true treasure is in heaven.
Charitable giving is where your heart lies.
No event was a more spectacular example of this was 9/11. New York was swapped by people donating supplies, folks hauling in items that were sorely needed for the dead and dying. The Red Cross actually had to turn people away who had come to donate blood because their own resources couldn’t handle the crowd. This event, which was the US’s most horrific, was also its best moment when you consider the outpouring that took place. This is the alms-giving that Jesus wants us to strive for; the bountiful sacrifice for the greatest good. No moth can destroy this kind of purse that we hold so dear.
We are at our worst when we hold tightly to our earthly purses, bought at such a great price. They will surely weigh us down from making it to the kingdom that Jesus promises to his little flock. But we keep on stockpiling those purses anyway. America is said to be made of those who have, those who have not, and those who have not paid for what they have. Eventually the purses turn into larger satchels that we wear around our necks like milestones and we suffocate under the pressure.
Jesus says that where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. Your treasure can’t be full of gold and silver; it can’t be the place where you stash your fortune of jewels. Your heart will never be made of money.
And he tells us in verse 32: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He knows that most of us fear of losing our purses and wallets. We get nervous and clutch them even tighter in crowded places. Jesus understands our anxiety, and assures us that kingdom will be given in exchange for a purse. Sounds like a pretty good bargain to me.
At the heart of worship is the collection, so here’s my small stewardship pitch. Here is where we have an opportunity to walk the talk. You can sleep through the sermon, or mouth the prayers while you scan the back of the bulletin. But when the basket comes through, you need to do something. Money may be the thing that you put in, but it all has to do with attitude. An attitude that giving is part of the Christian way of life. Treasures are not to be hoarded like possessions. Don’t be dragging those purses behind you.
Billy Graham was once speaking in the San Jose area, and on the closing day of the revival, he told this story. It seems that there was a strong man that traveled with the circus. One of his most impressive stunts was to take an orange and squeeze every last drop of juice from it. Then the strong man would offer $1,000 to anyone in the crowd who could squeeze as one additional drop. He went from town to town making this offer, but no one was ever able to win the contest and collect the money.
Then one day the circus came into a small town in California and the strong man put on his act again, but this time, his opponent was a wizened old ninety-eight pound weakling. This small man took all the orange scoops up together in his hand and squeezed out 6 more drops of juice. The strong man was amazed and take back by this incredible feat. He asked the man with the juice on his hands to explain how it was possible for him to do this. The man just shrugged it off, saying, “I’m the treasurer down at the local Baptist church and we do this all the time.”
This man’s capability was no doubt because he knew that the church is the first place of charity and selfless giving. He understood that his actions, though profoundly effective on the strong man, and the crowd watching, were a weekly pattern of the emptying out of purses that will not last in heaven.
When you leave today, take a hard look at your purse or wallet and see if it speaks to your heart, your treasure, which is being stored up in heaven. Are you giving alms, and developing an attitude of giving out of thanksgiving, instead of obligation? I think that there will be someone standing outside the pearly gates with a sign that says, “Check your purses here before entering.” It will be a lot easier if your bag is not crammed with earthly treasures.
Let me quote verses 33-34 one more time, for emphasis and from Eugene Peterson take in the Message, which uses a very different metaphor. But I think it rings true whether you have a purse or a wallet: It says, “Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that won’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can count on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will want to be, and end up being.”
The place where your treasure is, is the place you will want to be, and end up being. This week, let us look to trimming back, tossing out the stuff in the purses that we don’t need, the stuff that I spoke of last week. Invest in a purse that won’t wear out and goes with everything you wear when you live generously. May we follow Jesus’ words to the best of our ability. Amen.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Ther Persistance of Prayer
Sermon 07.25.10
The Persistence of Prayer
Three ministers were talking about prayer in general and the appropriate and effective positions for prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working on the phone system in the background of the church office.
One minister, a Methodist, shared that he felt the key was in the hands. He always held his hands together and pointed them upward as a form of symbolic worship.
The second minister, an Episcopalian, suggested that real prayer was properly conducted on your knees as a form of grateful humility before God.
The third minister, a Baptist, suggested that the other members of the clergy were both wrong; the only position worth its salt was to pray stretched out flat on your face, prostate before the Holy One.
By this time, the phone man , couldn’t stay out of the conversation any longer. He interjected, “I found the most powerful prayer I ever made was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole, suspended forty feet above the ground.”
The subject of the sermon this morning is prayer, if you haven’t already guessed it, and there is no one means, or place, that is the most effective for this act of worship. I’ve prayed with children who have lost their pet gerbils, in the middle of the grocery store when I can’t find fried onion rings, and even one particular time on a roller coaster in Orlando.
Jesus begins the text by praying. This is not uncommon in Luke’s gospel; in fact there are a little less than 60 mentions of prayers or praying in this gospel. Jesus often models the behaviors that he wanted the disciples to follow, and in this case they finally have the nerve to ask him in verse 1, “Lord, teach us to pray.” I’ll bet you that some of us are still asking that same question some 2000 years later.
The response that Jesus gives them is the Lord’s prayer. In Luke, it is short, almost terse and straight to the point. He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial."
Notice that Luke does not include “thy will be done” and deliver us from evil, nor the ending doxology. Maybe that occurred in lesson #2. The disciples could only absorb so much or any given day and what he taught them was the basics. He says, “Recognize the holiness of the Lord and pray for the realm of the kingdom on earth. Provide us with spiritual nourishment, forgive and be forgiven, and keep us from wicked and evil ways.” It couldn’t get much simpler than that. Maybe God has given us a complete package, saying that the “thees” and “thous” aren’t the most important part of prayer.
More importantly, Jesus emphasizes that you must be persistent in prayer. We can pray as long as we want because God is persistent with us. We don’t lose heart in our attempts to pray and to serve, because God doesn’t give up on us. God brandishes us with a love that is eternal, not transitory. Even if we have been praying for a situation for a long time and seen no results, that doesn’t mean that God is ignoring you. Keep praying. It isn’t over until God says it’s over.
The passage from Colossians also explores the faithfulness of God, beginning with the first two verses: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.”
Paul exhorts the Colossians to stand firm in their prayer life, having their basis in Jesus Christ. Jesus embodied the persistent love of God. Jesus exemplified and identified the God who would not let us go, the God who kept coming back for us. Our faithful life of prayer to God in Christ Jesus responses to this lasting relationship.
The Lucan gospel message also brings this to light when Jesus says to ask, seek and knock – to be unrelenting in our prayer life. We must bring our petitions to God, listen for God’s response and keep on ringing the spiritual door bell over and over again. It is Paul’s voice from Romans that we also recall in 1st Thessalonians 5:17. Pray without ceasing. Now that’s what I call persistent!
A man named William Carey found his determination in the Word of God. When asked about his accomplishments in translation of the Bible during his missionary stay in India, he said, “I am not a genius, just a plodder.” But what constant devotion to his work. In 40 years of labor, he translated all or portions of the Bible into the 34 of the languages and dialects on India.
Jesus uses the example of a man who keeps pestering his neighbor with requests until the neighbor finally relents. So too it is with God. constantly, we bring our prayers of concern and petition, our prayers of gratitude, our prayers for reconciliation of relations and our prayers of praise. In case you have never heard this, the acronym for the types of prayer is ACTS – adoration, contrition, thanksgiving and supplication.
Ask, seek and knock and the door will be opened unto you. We are assured by Paul that God answers prayers by opening the door to us through direct communication. It has been said, in the words of modern technology, that prayer is the ultimate wireless connection, or that Jesus has unlimited incoming calls. People who are persistent in prayer keep on calling until someone answers the phone (or e-mail), whatever the case may be. We should be constant in our relationship through disciplined prayer.
Whether at home during private devotions, or when we have our time of sharing on Sunday morning, God hears our constant calls, our determined voices, our continual needs.
As you leave the sanctuary today, remember the promise of Jesus that the door will be opened by him if we seek, ask and knock. Pray faithfully, pray without ceasing, and pray with persistence. May Jesus Christ, who taught us the perfect prayer, make it so also for us. Amen
The Persistence of Prayer
Three ministers were talking about prayer in general and the appropriate and effective positions for prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working on the phone system in the background of the church office.
One minister, a Methodist, shared that he felt the key was in the hands. He always held his hands together and pointed them upward as a form of symbolic worship.
The second minister, an Episcopalian, suggested that real prayer was properly conducted on your knees as a form of grateful humility before God.
The third minister, a Baptist, suggested that the other members of the clergy were both wrong; the only position worth its salt was to pray stretched out flat on your face, prostate before the Holy One.
By this time, the phone man , couldn’t stay out of the conversation any longer. He interjected, “I found the most powerful prayer I ever made was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole, suspended forty feet above the ground.”
The subject of the sermon this morning is prayer, if you haven’t already guessed it, and there is no one means, or place, that is the most effective for this act of worship. I’ve prayed with children who have lost their pet gerbils, in the middle of the grocery store when I can’t find fried onion rings, and even one particular time on a roller coaster in Orlando.
Jesus begins the text by praying. This is not uncommon in Luke’s gospel; in fact there are a little less than 60 mentions of prayers or praying in this gospel. Jesus often models the behaviors that he wanted the disciples to follow, and in this case they finally have the nerve to ask him in verse 1, “Lord, teach us to pray.” I’ll bet you that some of us are still asking that same question some 2000 years later.
The response that Jesus gives them is the Lord’s prayer. In Luke, it is short, almost terse and straight to the point. He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial."
Notice that Luke does not include “thy will be done” and deliver us from evil, nor the ending doxology. Maybe that occurred in lesson #2. The disciples could only absorb so much or any given day and what he taught them was the basics. He says, “Recognize the holiness of the Lord and pray for the realm of the kingdom on earth. Provide us with spiritual nourishment, forgive and be forgiven, and keep us from wicked and evil ways.” It couldn’t get much simpler than that. Maybe God has given us a complete package, saying that the “thees” and “thous” aren’t the most important part of prayer.
More importantly, Jesus emphasizes that you must be persistent in prayer. We can pray as long as we want because God is persistent with us. We don’t lose heart in our attempts to pray and to serve, because God doesn’t give up on us. God brandishes us with a love that is eternal, not transitory. Even if we have been praying for a situation for a long time and seen no results, that doesn’t mean that God is ignoring you. Keep praying. It isn’t over until God says it’s over.
The passage from Colossians also explores the faithfulness of God, beginning with the first two verses: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.”
Paul exhorts the Colossians to stand firm in their prayer life, having their basis in Jesus Christ. Jesus embodied the persistent love of God. Jesus exemplified and identified the God who would not let us go, the God who kept coming back for us. Our faithful life of prayer to God in Christ Jesus responses to this lasting relationship.
The Lucan gospel message also brings this to light when Jesus says to ask, seek and knock – to be unrelenting in our prayer life. We must bring our petitions to God, listen for God’s response and keep on ringing the spiritual door bell over and over again. It is Paul’s voice from Romans that we also recall in 1st Thessalonians 5:17. Pray without ceasing. Now that’s what I call persistent!
A man named William Carey found his determination in the Word of God. When asked about his accomplishments in translation of the Bible during his missionary stay in India, he said, “I am not a genius, just a plodder.” But what constant devotion to his work. In 40 years of labor, he translated all or portions of the Bible into the 34 of the languages and dialects on India.
Jesus uses the example of a man who keeps pestering his neighbor with requests until the neighbor finally relents. So too it is with God. constantly, we bring our prayers of concern and petition, our prayers of gratitude, our prayers for reconciliation of relations and our prayers of praise. In case you have never heard this, the acronym for the types of prayer is ACTS – adoration, contrition, thanksgiving and supplication.
Ask, seek and knock and the door will be opened unto you. We are assured by Paul that God answers prayers by opening the door to us through direct communication. It has been said, in the words of modern technology, that prayer is the ultimate wireless connection, or that Jesus has unlimited incoming calls. People who are persistent in prayer keep on calling until someone answers the phone (or e-mail), whatever the case may be. We should be constant in our relationship through disciplined prayer.
Whether at home during private devotions, or when we have our time of sharing on Sunday morning, God hears our constant calls, our determined voices, our continual needs.
As you leave the sanctuary today, remember the promise of Jesus that the door will be opened by him if we seek, ask and knock. Pray faithfully, pray without ceasing, and pray with persistence. May Jesus Christ, who taught us the perfect prayer, make it so also for us. Amen
Being a Messy Mary
Whenever this text comes up in the lectionary readings, it almost begs for a few more verses. There should be a big old catfight between the sisters, food left burning in the oven and Jesus storming out the door dragging each woman by her hair.
It’s story that provokes all of the Martha’s in the world, all of the neat, organized and orderly people who have their spices alphabetically placed in the cabinet.
It’s a story that placates all of the Mary’s in the world, the ones who would rather be with the host of the party instead of in the kitchen preparing for it.
It’s the story of workers and shirkers, where no one seems to be truly satisfied.
The duty of a first-century Jewish woman is to help with household chores, and Mary knows this. By sitting at the feet of Jesus, she is acting like a man ... taking the place of an apostle! In this parable, Jesus allows Mary, a woman, to claim the same role that his disciples claim for themselves. She’s violating a crystal-clear social boundary, bringing shame upon her house, and neglecting her own family member! It makes me want to say, “Mary, Mary, what are you thinking?”
In the meantime, Martha is tugging at Jesus’ sleeve and his ear. The house is a mess, there’s a dinner to be cooked, and she needs assistance from her sibling. Martha’s protest is justifiable, but the gospel writer casts it in a negative light by characterizing Martha as distracted by her work.
We know how the story ends, with Martha asking Jesus to put Mary in her place. “Tell her to help me,” says Martha, assuming that Jesus will want their house to be in order. But Jesus answers her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:40-42).
The surprising final score is Mary 1, Martha 0.
Martha and Mary, forever bound together in a message about propriety. The Felix and Oscar - the Odd Couple in the Bible.
Now, as enlightened 21st-century socially correct Christians, we might want to give Mary a thumbs-up for her come-from-behind victory, but the fact of the matter is that we tend to honor Martha in our day-to-day lives. We have a deep desire to be neat and tidy and organized, and we feel badly that our desks are overflowing with papers, our closets crammed full of clothes, and our garages and basements packed with tools, toys, sports equipment and boxes of who-knows-what.
According to The New York Times (December 21, 2006), sales of home-organizing products keep going up and up, from $5.9 billion in 2005 to a projected $7.6 billion in 2009. That’s a lot of accordion files and label-makers and plastic tubs. The industry that makes closet organizing systems pulls in $3 billion a year, according to Closets magazine.
However, The New York Times reports that a new movement is afoot, one that calls you to embrace your disorder and “say yes to mess.” Recent studies are revealing that
• messy desks are the marks of people with creative minds and higher salaries;
• messy closet owners are probably better parents than their tidier counterparts;
• really neat people are often humorless and inflexible, and not as great as they look.
No wonder we get confused when we read this parable. We must pay attention to Jesus when he honors Mary for listening instead of laboring. And we need to accept the fact that a perfectly organized life is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
The power of Mary is that she has her priorities straight. Neatnik Martha fusses around in the kitchen, “distracted by her many tasks” (v. 40), while Messy Mary leaves her stuff in a pile and plops down at the feet of Jesus. She’s showing that she loves the Lord her God with all her heart, all her soul, all her strength, and all her mind (v. 27) — she’s demonstrating her love of God by focusing intensely on his word as it is coming to her through Jesus.
Martha, on the other hand, is distracted by her work, and unable to hear the word of God. Biblical scholar Alan Culpepper reminds us that Jesus told a story, just two chapters earlier in the gospel of Luke, about what happens when a seed — representing the word of God — falls among thorns. In that case, the fruit of the seed cannot mature, because the thorny people are preoccupied with “the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (8:14).
In Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message, Jesus says: “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it — it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”
Perhaps Peterson’s words “main course” for “better part” (NRSV) can help this well-worn story be heard in fresh ways. Members of the congregation never likes hearing this text preached because they always comes away with the sense that it’s never possible to get things right. If, like Martha, we work hard, we will be labeled “overfunctioning.” If, like Mary, we sit and listens too long, nothing gets done. I would like to have heard a final remark from Martha after Jesus tells her that Mary’s choice is more important: “So says you, but I know better. Listen, if I sat around on my salvation the way she does, who’d keep this house together?
As for Mary, she “has chosen the better part,” says Jesus, “which will not be taken away from her” (10:42). Mary knows that a person “does not live by bread alone” (4:4). Like the disciples, she leaves everything to follow Jesus (5:11). Like the good soil in the parable of the seed, she hears the word, holds it fast in an honest and good heart, and bears fruit with patient endurance (8:15).
Earlier in Luke, Jesus spoke of the sower and the seed as the word of God falling on the earth. In one case it fell among thorns, …those who do not receive it because they are preoccupied by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. Martha’s distraction places her in this category, even though she is fulfilling the role assigned to her by society, she allows secondary matters to distract her from hearing the word of God.
Jesus’ response to Martha is the climax of the scene. The repetition of her name, “Martha, Martha” conveys a mild rebuke or lament. Like demons, her own cares about fulfilling her duties have thrown her life into disorder. Like thorns, they have prevented her from attending to Jesus’ teachings.
Her life of order has been thrown into disorder. We have done the same things, time and again, to keep ourselves in the kitchen, chained to the refrigerator.
We tell ourselves that we can’t possibly do bible study because we don’t know enough about the bible to even turn to the right book. We tell ourselves that we can’t pray, because we’re afraid we won’t use the correct words. We tell ourselves that we can’t volunteer at church because we don’t understand what the committee does.
We fret and fuss and fume and keep everything under control, rather than lose ourselves to a life of unorganized faithfulness. What Jesus really said to Martha was “Don’t sweat the small stuff…and it’s ALL small stuff compared to the word of the Lord.”
Like the thorns that tormented Martha, let us not be held fast to the kitchen, but leave the dishes in the sink and settle into prayer. Let the vacuum be still and listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Leave the leftovers out for a while and immerse yourself in prayer. Put the mop down and pick up a Bible.
The kitchen will always be there as a temptation for us. If you can’t stand the heat, then get out and cool down. Feast on the main course, forget your distractions and all things shall be well. Amen.
It’s story that provokes all of the Martha’s in the world, all of the neat, organized and orderly people who have their spices alphabetically placed in the cabinet.
It’s a story that placates all of the Mary’s in the world, the ones who would rather be with the host of the party instead of in the kitchen preparing for it.
It’s the story of workers and shirkers, where no one seems to be truly satisfied.
The duty of a first-century Jewish woman is to help with household chores, and Mary knows this. By sitting at the feet of Jesus, she is acting like a man ... taking the place of an apostle! In this parable, Jesus allows Mary, a woman, to claim the same role that his disciples claim for themselves. She’s violating a crystal-clear social boundary, bringing shame upon her house, and neglecting her own family member! It makes me want to say, “Mary, Mary, what are you thinking?”
In the meantime, Martha is tugging at Jesus’ sleeve and his ear. The house is a mess, there’s a dinner to be cooked, and she needs assistance from her sibling. Martha’s protest is justifiable, but the gospel writer casts it in a negative light by characterizing Martha as distracted by her work.
We know how the story ends, with Martha asking Jesus to put Mary in her place. “Tell her to help me,” says Martha, assuming that Jesus will want their house to be in order. But Jesus answers her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:40-42).
The surprising final score is Mary 1, Martha 0.
Martha and Mary, forever bound together in a message about propriety. The Felix and Oscar - the Odd Couple in the Bible.
Now, as enlightened 21st-century socially correct Christians, we might want to give Mary a thumbs-up for her come-from-behind victory, but the fact of the matter is that we tend to honor Martha in our day-to-day lives. We have a deep desire to be neat and tidy and organized, and we feel badly that our desks are overflowing with papers, our closets crammed full of clothes, and our garages and basements packed with tools, toys, sports equipment and boxes of who-knows-what.
According to The New York Times (December 21, 2006), sales of home-organizing products keep going up and up, from $5.9 billion in 2005 to a projected $7.6 billion in 2009. That’s a lot of accordion files and label-makers and plastic tubs. The industry that makes closet organizing systems pulls in $3 billion a year, according to Closets magazine.
However, The New York Times reports that a new movement is afoot, one that calls you to embrace your disorder and “say yes to mess.” Recent studies are revealing that
• messy desks are the marks of people with creative minds and higher salaries;
• messy closet owners are probably better parents than their tidier counterparts;
• really neat people are often humorless and inflexible, and not as great as they look.
No wonder we get confused when we read this parable. We must pay attention to Jesus when he honors Mary for listening instead of laboring. And we need to accept the fact that a perfectly organized life is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
The power of Mary is that she has her priorities straight. Neatnik Martha fusses around in the kitchen, “distracted by her many tasks” (v. 40), while Messy Mary leaves her stuff in a pile and plops down at the feet of Jesus. She’s showing that she loves the Lord her God with all her heart, all her soul, all her strength, and all her mind (v. 27) — she’s demonstrating her love of God by focusing intensely on his word as it is coming to her through Jesus.
Martha, on the other hand, is distracted by her work, and unable to hear the word of God. Biblical scholar Alan Culpepper reminds us that Jesus told a story, just two chapters earlier in the gospel of Luke, about what happens when a seed — representing the word of God — falls among thorns. In that case, the fruit of the seed cannot mature, because the thorny people are preoccupied with “the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (8:14).
In Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message, Jesus says: “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it — it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”
Perhaps Peterson’s words “main course” for “better part” (NRSV) can help this well-worn story be heard in fresh ways. Members of the congregation never likes hearing this text preached because they always comes away with the sense that it’s never possible to get things right. If, like Martha, we work hard, we will be labeled “overfunctioning.” If, like Mary, we sit and listens too long, nothing gets done. I would like to have heard a final remark from Martha after Jesus tells her that Mary’s choice is more important: “So says you, but I know better. Listen, if I sat around on my salvation the way she does, who’d keep this house together?
As for Mary, she “has chosen the better part,” says Jesus, “which will not be taken away from her” (10:42). Mary knows that a person “does not live by bread alone” (4:4). Like the disciples, she leaves everything to follow Jesus (5:11). Like the good soil in the parable of the seed, she hears the word, holds it fast in an honest and good heart, and bears fruit with patient endurance (8:15).
Earlier in Luke, Jesus spoke of the sower and the seed as the word of God falling on the earth. In one case it fell among thorns, …those who do not receive it because they are preoccupied by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. Martha’s distraction places her in this category, even though she is fulfilling the role assigned to her by society, she allows secondary matters to distract her from hearing the word of God.
Jesus’ response to Martha is the climax of the scene. The repetition of her name, “Martha, Martha” conveys a mild rebuke or lament. Like demons, her own cares about fulfilling her duties have thrown her life into disorder. Like thorns, they have prevented her from attending to Jesus’ teachings.
Her life of order has been thrown into disorder. We have done the same things, time and again, to keep ourselves in the kitchen, chained to the refrigerator.
We tell ourselves that we can’t possibly do bible study because we don’t know enough about the bible to even turn to the right book. We tell ourselves that we can’t pray, because we’re afraid we won’t use the correct words. We tell ourselves that we can’t volunteer at church because we don’t understand what the committee does.
We fret and fuss and fume and keep everything under control, rather than lose ourselves to a life of unorganized faithfulness. What Jesus really said to Martha was “Don’t sweat the small stuff…and it’s ALL small stuff compared to the word of the Lord.”
Like the thorns that tormented Martha, let us not be held fast to the kitchen, but leave the dishes in the sink and settle into prayer. Let the vacuum be still and listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Leave the leftovers out for a while and immerse yourself in prayer. Put the mop down and pick up a Bible.
The kitchen will always be there as a temptation for us. If you can’t stand the heat, then get out and cool down. Feast on the main course, forget your distractions and all things shall be well. Amen.
Parables from the Back Side
Sermon 07.11.10
Parables from the Back Side
The words “Good Samaritan” have come into common usage, even among unchurched folks. We understand the phrase to mean a person who is good hearted and goes out of his or her way to help others.
Usually, when a sermon is preached on this subject, the focus is on the Good Samaritan himself, or possibly the priest and Levite who pass the man who is dying before their very eyes. And there’s very little that I could bring to the table on such a familiar subject.
But one way of looking at this parable is from the back side, as J. Ellsworth Kalas has done. He is a Methodist minister who has made a habit looking at the time-tested Bible stories, but adding his own little twist.
So let us look at this well-know text from the back side of the parable. A young upstart lawyer asks Jesus about the commandments, and receives Christ’s answer about love of God and neighbor. He agrees with the correctness of Jesus’ replay but he’s looking for a way out.
Perhaps, like many of us, he wanted the law to be cut down to manageable size, and he knew that the key to doing so would be the limiting of the definition of “neighbor”. We can love some people without too much effort, so it would be convenient if the commandment were to apply only to such persons.
Jesus then tells the memorable story of two folks who pass by the man, only to rescued a Samaritan.
But what about the victim, the man who was robbed, beaten and left to die? What story is there in a man who came to within an inch of loosing his life, only to be saved by a Samaritan?
We need to remember that we’re talking about someone who had NEVER associated with a Samaritan, not even in passing encounters. Perhaps he had not even spoken to one. Furthermore, he hoped that it would always remain that way.
But now, in his deepest moment of need, it is a Samaritan who cleans his wounds, who dresses them with a balm, who murmurs reassurances to him on the way to an innkeeper, and who makes final arrangements for his continued care. A Samaritan. A hated Samaritan has show mercy and compassion,
How do you think the victim felt about this? That’s easy, you say – he was just glad to be alive. Not necessarily. There are times when I have done pastoral counseling when I have suggested that the person being counseled see help from a particular source, have maybe suggested that the person needs to discuss his or her problem with an employee or family member, only to have that person say to me, “I’d rather die, before I go to so-and-so.”
So how do you think that this Jewish victim felt when he realized that he was getting all of this help from a hated Samaritan? I wonder if he whispered to God, “Thanks for the help, Yahweh, but why couldn’t you have sent someone else, so I wouldn’t feel so bad about my rescuer?”
Kala tells the story of running out of gas in one of the most despicable parts of the city he was living in. When car finally coasted in on fumes, he found himself in front of the storefront of a strip club. Two men were standing outside, the bouncers. Kalas explained the problem and asked where the nearest gas station was. Instead of giving directions, one of the men suggested that he siphon some gas out of his car into Kalas’ vehicle, which they did. Kalas tried to pay them, but they refused, saying they were heading out for a late breakfast and just happened to be there, and that it was no big deal. Kalas even volunteered to buy the men their breakfast, but they refused and moved forward to a restaurant around the corner.
After getting his care back on the road, Kalas reflected on what had happened – he had been rescued by bouncers from a strip club who cheerfully helped him and then went on their way. The self-righteous man of the cloth, the minister, had been assisted by seedy characters who exhibited a sense of duty and obligation, despite the circumstances.
Kalas searched for a way to explain his delay to his wife. He said that it would have been much easier to tell her that he’d been aided by someone from the Rotary Club, or a person who was a board member of the United Way, or even an ordinary blue-collar worker of any reputable profession. But it was hard to tell the truth: he was home because of folks with shady characters in a scandalous environment, He had been helped by people he would normally never associate with, talk to or meet. He had been helped by truly Good Samaritans.
The Good Samaritan is so often bad news to our preferences and prejudices. And surely as I’m standing here, I can tell you that someday, you will be helped by a person that you do not expect to come to your aide. God will allow that person to come into your life in a strange but helpful way.
You and I will travel the route of the man who was left beaten and robbed along the roads of our own lives because of the way that our salvation has come to us. The road from our Jericho to Jerusalem is just as perilous, the journey that we make from life to death. From time to time, thieves will appear and attack us. Thieves such as despair, unrelenting loneliness, unreasoning fear, lust, anger, crushing defeat. We face our enemies on a daily basis sometimes, leaving us broken and bleeding by the roadside.
Travelers may come to our aid, but their help is only temporary. They offer momentary solace, but no tried and true solution to our problems. Then a final stranger arrives, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are sometimes angry to see him arrive. We are embarrassed by this Good Samaritan. We try to pay our way out of the situation, to keep our dignity intact. But Jesus answers, “No one can give purchase what I offer, and it is freely given.”
The Eternal Samaritan gives to us only when our need is desperate, only when we confess that we are helpless and require salvation, and when we recognize love in action.
The Good Samaritan binds our wounds, tends to our care, and places us on a donkey called grace. Let us be carried with ease and confidence to God’s safe lodging with gentle kindness.
Parables from the Back Side
The words “Good Samaritan” have come into common usage, even among unchurched folks. We understand the phrase to mean a person who is good hearted and goes out of his or her way to help others.
Usually, when a sermon is preached on this subject, the focus is on the Good Samaritan himself, or possibly the priest and Levite who pass the man who is dying before their very eyes. And there’s very little that I could bring to the table on such a familiar subject.
But one way of looking at this parable is from the back side, as J. Ellsworth Kalas has done. He is a Methodist minister who has made a habit looking at the time-tested Bible stories, but adding his own little twist.
So let us look at this well-know text from the back side of the parable. A young upstart lawyer asks Jesus about the commandments, and receives Christ’s answer about love of God and neighbor. He agrees with the correctness of Jesus’ replay but he’s looking for a way out.
Perhaps, like many of us, he wanted the law to be cut down to manageable size, and he knew that the key to doing so would be the limiting of the definition of “neighbor”. We can love some people without too much effort, so it would be convenient if the commandment were to apply only to such persons.
Jesus then tells the memorable story of two folks who pass by the man, only to rescued a Samaritan.
But what about the victim, the man who was robbed, beaten and left to die? What story is there in a man who came to within an inch of loosing his life, only to be saved by a Samaritan?
We need to remember that we’re talking about someone who had NEVER associated with a Samaritan, not even in passing encounters. Perhaps he had not even spoken to one. Furthermore, he hoped that it would always remain that way.
But now, in his deepest moment of need, it is a Samaritan who cleans his wounds, who dresses them with a balm, who murmurs reassurances to him on the way to an innkeeper, and who makes final arrangements for his continued care. A Samaritan. A hated Samaritan has show mercy and compassion,
How do you think the victim felt about this? That’s easy, you say – he was just glad to be alive. Not necessarily. There are times when I have done pastoral counseling when I have suggested that the person being counseled see help from a particular source, have maybe suggested that the person needs to discuss his or her problem with an employee or family member, only to have that person say to me, “I’d rather die, before I go to so-and-so.”
So how do you think that this Jewish victim felt when he realized that he was getting all of this help from a hated Samaritan? I wonder if he whispered to God, “Thanks for the help, Yahweh, but why couldn’t you have sent someone else, so I wouldn’t feel so bad about my rescuer?”
Kala tells the story of running out of gas in one of the most despicable parts of the city he was living in. When car finally coasted in on fumes, he found himself in front of the storefront of a strip club. Two men were standing outside, the bouncers. Kalas explained the problem and asked where the nearest gas station was. Instead of giving directions, one of the men suggested that he siphon some gas out of his car into Kalas’ vehicle, which they did. Kalas tried to pay them, but they refused, saying they were heading out for a late breakfast and just happened to be there, and that it was no big deal. Kalas even volunteered to buy the men their breakfast, but they refused and moved forward to a restaurant around the corner.
After getting his care back on the road, Kalas reflected on what had happened – he had been rescued by bouncers from a strip club who cheerfully helped him and then went on their way. The self-righteous man of the cloth, the minister, had been assisted by seedy characters who exhibited a sense of duty and obligation, despite the circumstances.
Kalas searched for a way to explain his delay to his wife. He said that it would have been much easier to tell her that he’d been aided by someone from the Rotary Club, or a person who was a board member of the United Way, or even an ordinary blue-collar worker of any reputable profession. But it was hard to tell the truth: he was home because of folks with shady characters in a scandalous environment, He had been helped by people he would normally never associate with, talk to or meet. He had been helped by truly Good Samaritans.
The Good Samaritan is so often bad news to our preferences and prejudices. And surely as I’m standing here, I can tell you that someday, you will be helped by a person that you do not expect to come to your aide. God will allow that person to come into your life in a strange but helpful way.
You and I will travel the route of the man who was left beaten and robbed along the roads of our own lives because of the way that our salvation has come to us. The road from our Jericho to Jerusalem is just as perilous, the journey that we make from life to death. From time to time, thieves will appear and attack us. Thieves such as despair, unrelenting loneliness, unreasoning fear, lust, anger, crushing defeat. We face our enemies on a daily basis sometimes, leaving us broken and bleeding by the roadside.
Travelers may come to our aid, but their help is only temporary. They offer momentary solace, but no tried and true solution to our problems. Then a final stranger arrives, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are sometimes angry to see him arrive. We are embarrassed by this Good Samaritan. We try to pay our way out of the situation, to keep our dignity intact. But Jesus answers, “No one can give purchase what I offer, and it is freely given.”
The Eternal Samaritan gives to us only when our need is desperate, only when we confess that we are helpless and require salvation, and when we recognize love in action.
The Good Samaritan binds our wounds, tends to our care, and places us on a donkey called grace. Let us be carried with ease and confidence to God’s safe lodging with gentle kindness.
Freedom of Worship
January 15th, 1791 was a big date for religion, for it is on this day that the first amendment to the United States constitution was ratified. Now I know that 4th of July is the holiday that we are celebration, and that our basis for this celebration is the remembrance of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But we truly do not achieve a sense of the history of religious tolerance and freedom until fifteen years later. Here is the actual text of the first amendment to the United States constitution.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any religion.[1] Freedom of religion is considered by many people and nations to be a fundamental human right.[2] Thomas Jefferson said (1807) "among the inestimable of our blessings, also, is that ...of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think most agreeable to His will; ..."[3] In a country with a state religion, freedom of religion is generally considered to mean that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths.
Now here is your history lesson:
The modern legal concept of religious freedom as the union of freedom of belief and freedom of worship with the absence of any state-sponsored religion, originated in the United States of America[citation needed].
Most of the early colonies, which were in part founded as a result of religious persecution, were generallly not tolerant of dissident forms of worship with Maryland being the only exception. For example, Roger Williams found it necessary to found a new colony in Rhode Island to escape persecution in the theocratically dominated colony of Massachusetts.
Freedom of religion was first applied as a principle of government in the founding of the colony of Maryland, founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore, in 1634.[18] Fifteen years later (1649) the Maryland Toleration Act, drafted by Lord Baltimore, provided: "No person or persons...shall from henceforth be any ways troubled, molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof." Doesn’t this make you proud to be part of this great state?
Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed:
"[N]o man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."
And now, with this little bit of background, here is your sermon. It would appear that we have 3 distinct venues of freedom of religion that most of us take for granted: the freedom to worship in any place, the freedom to worship with any body of believers, and the freedom to express our beliefs without fear of being persecuted.
The first freedom allows us to meet in the open, in any type of church, and I use this word very loosely. It can be a cathedral, like St John the Divine in New York city, or a modust suburban 1940’s church with an education wing, like St. Mark’s, a preaching barn like the many large fundamentalist contemporary congregations use, a simple storefront location or even a network of house churches, like the UCC has started in Delaware.
The church that my husband and I helped to start in North Caroline first met in a business office then in a roller rink, and finally in a warehouse. There are as many venues as we need and we do not need to travel to these places incognito. The churches can advertise in the yellow pages, put up billboards and erect signs in the front yard. Nothing needs to be done in secret.
Years ago, the earliest of Christ’s followers met in secret. Some of you may be familiar with the Christian symbol of the fish or icthyus. When two people would meet, one would draw a half circle in the dirt on the street. If the other person completed the circle, then both knew it was safe and both knew they were Christians.
The second religious freedom is to worship however we choose. We can be Baptists, Methodist, Episcopalians, Grrek Orthodox or the United Church of Christ. We can choose our beliefs and our creeds, and if we don’t like the church we attend, we can turn around and go to another. Worldwide there are – now hold onto your seats, there are an astonishing 38,000 denominations. Surely with such an extensive variety, there’s a denomination for everyone.
One of my old pastors told this wonderful story about a church that was in the process of building a new sanctuary. It was a dream come true after a period of an intense capital campaign to raise funds. But two weeks before the new building was to be dedicated and opened for the first service, half the congregation left and went down to the church around the corner. Why? They wanted to sod for the lawn around the new church building and disagreed vehemently with those who wanted to lay down grass seeds.
Sometimes it’s not a matter of doctrine or creeds or even the personality of the pastor. Here, in the US, we can choose our congregations base on any religious criteria that we think is important, even the color of the carpet..
The third religious freedom we enjoy is the right to publically express our faith. We can place statues of Saint Francis in our gardens, put “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper stickers on the back of our cars, hang crosses around our necks or wear a tee-shirt that declare the passage from John 3:16. There’s probably someone out there who has the face of Christ tattooed on his or her arm. Go to any Christian store today and you will find accessories galore, from the pens that were given out to the men on Father’s Day to religious candy called Testamints.
This is not true for other countries. When my seminary class traveled to Turkey and Lebanon in 2006, we were told by the professors that no religious jewelry or clothing were to be worn, since the country is 98% Muslim, with the state religion being Islam.
Lastly, albeit sadly, we have the ultimate. According to ex-president Bill Clinton:“We have the most religious freedom of any country in the world, including the freedom not to believe.” Even that is important, because it means that we cannot force our religious on anyone. And now we have come full circle to the reasons that America was founded as a land of freedom from religious persecution.
We have come a long way since 1776, and are blessed beyond belief by the religious freedoms that we enjoy.
May we always remember what has been truly given to us.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any religion.[1] Freedom of religion is considered by many people and nations to be a fundamental human right.[2] Thomas Jefferson said (1807) "among the inestimable of our blessings, also, is that ...of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think most agreeable to His will; ..."[3] In a country with a state religion, freedom of religion is generally considered to mean that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths.
Now here is your history lesson:
The modern legal concept of religious freedom as the union of freedom of belief and freedom of worship with the absence of any state-sponsored religion, originated in the United States of America[citation needed].
Most of the early colonies, which were in part founded as a result of religious persecution, were generallly not tolerant of dissident forms of worship with Maryland being the only exception. For example, Roger Williams found it necessary to found a new colony in Rhode Island to escape persecution in the theocratically dominated colony of Massachusetts.
Freedom of religion was first applied as a principle of government in the founding of the colony of Maryland, founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore, in 1634.[18] Fifteen years later (1649) the Maryland Toleration Act, drafted by Lord Baltimore, provided: "No person or persons...shall from henceforth be any ways troubled, molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof." Doesn’t this make you proud to be part of this great state?
Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed:
"[N]o man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."
And now, with this little bit of background, here is your sermon. It would appear that we have 3 distinct venues of freedom of religion that most of us take for granted: the freedom to worship in any place, the freedom to worship with any body of believers, and the freedom to express our beliefs without fear of being persecuted.
The first freedom allows us to meet in the open, in any type of church, and I use this word very loosely. It can be a cathedral, like St John the Divine in New York city, or a modust suburban 1940’s church with an education wing, like St. Mark’s, a preaching barn like the many large fundamentalist contemporary congregations use, a simple storefront location or even a network of house churches, like the UCC has started in Delaware.
The church that my husband and I helped to start in North Caroline first met in a business office then in a roller rink, and finally in a warehouse. There are as many venues as we need and we do not need to travel to these places incognito. The churches can advertise in the yellow pages, put up billboards and erect signs in the front yard. Nothing needs to be done in secret.
Years ago, the earliest of Christ’s followers met in secret. Some of you may be familiar with the Christian symbol of the fish or icthyus. When two people would meet, one would draw a half circle in the dirt on the street. If the other person completed the circle, then both knew it was safe and both knew they were Christians.
The second religious freedom is to worship however we choose. We can be Baptists, Methodist, Episcopalians, Grrek Orthodox or the United Church of Christ. We can choose our beliefs and our creeds, and if we don’t like the church we attend, we can turn around and go to another. Worldwide there are – now hold onto your seats, there are an astonishing 38,000 denominations. Surely with such an extensive variety, there’s a denomination for everyone.
One of my old pastors told this wonderful story about a church that was in the process of building a new sanctuary. It was a dream come true after a period of an intense capital campaign to raise funds. But two weeks before the new building was to be dedicated and opened for the first service, half the congregation left and went down to the church around the corner. Why? They wanted to sod for the lawn around the new church building and disagreed vehemently with those who wanted to lay down grass seeds.
Sometimes it’s not a matter of doctrine or creeds or even the personality of the pastor. Here, in the US, we can choose our congregations base on any religious criteria that we think is important, even the color of the carpet..
The third religious freedom we enjoy is the right to publically express our faith. We can place statues of Saint Francis in our gardens, put “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper stickers on the back of our cars, hang crosses around our necks or wear a tee-shirt that declare the passage from John 3:16. There’s probably someone out there who has the face of Christ tattooed on his or her arm. Go to any Christian store today and you will find accessories galore, from the pens that were given out to the men on Father’s Day to religious candy called Testamints.
This is not true for other countries. When my seminary class traveled to Turkey and Lebanon in 2006, we were told by the professors that no religious jewelry or clothing were to be worn, since the country is 98% Muslim, with the state religion being Islam.
Lastly, albeit sadly, we have the ultimate. According to ex-president Bill Clinton:“We have the most religious freedom of any country in the world, including the freedom not to believe.” Even that is important, because it means that we cannot force our religious on anyone. And now we have come full circle to the reasons that America was founded as a land of freedom from religious persecution.
We have come a long way since 1776, and are blessed beyond belief by the religious freedoms that we enjoy.
May we always remember what has been truly given to us.
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