"The Jesus of No-Excuses"

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.

"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.

"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.