19th Sunday after Pentecost -- 29 September 2013

He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

• A number of years ago, I took a drive with a few friends of mine. We attended an hobby-oriented event and then went with our driver, Mickey, to pick up some special wallpaper he had ordered for his house.
• So off we went, following the directions of his GPS map and direction device in his car. For some obscure reason, he named his GPS “Lois” and we followed the female voice as we were directed to our destination to get the wallpaper.
• As we drove along, we saw road construction signs saying the bridge ahead of us was being repaired and was “out.” Mickey remarked that “Lois” had said nothing about this and we continued on our merry way.
• The “Bridge Out” signs became more and more frequent and “Lois” still said nothing, so we kept on the route.
• ... until we reached the bridge... which was not there. The bridge was indeed “out.” Mickey then said “I guess the signs were right.” The rest of us in the car then heaped abuse on Mickey for the rest of the trip, figuring it was the right and fair thing to do. (We'd probably have done this anyway once we saw his taste in wallpaper, but that's another story for another day.)
• This story seemed appropriate to the reading from Luke's Gospel. Here's a fellow who wouldn't or didn't see the signs that were right in front of his face. In our Gospel reading, the “rich man” who finds himself in Hades, asks Abraham to send Lazarus to cool his burning tongue and then send Lazarus to warn his five brothers of what could happen to them. Then there is this great piece of dialog:
• Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.'
• He said, "No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
• He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'
• I think we can see what Luke is referring to in this passage. Not even somebody coming back from the grave would convince some people to recognize the needs of the poor. Even Jesus' own resurrection cannot create faith if a person has not already heard the words of Moses and the prophets. Those signs are with us now and even some special messenger would not change the minds of those who would not see. So when it comes to just treatment of the poor, no one with a Bible can claim not to have known any better. The teaching of the prophet and of Jesus are right there for all to see.
• It is worthwhile to note that there is no judgement in the story about the morality of being rich or being poor. In fact, in Biblical times, riches were considered a gift from God, but nothing was said about any moral superiority of the rich because of that. Conversely, those without wealth cannot be dismissed as morally inferior, either. This is a trap and there are people -even in our own day- have fallen into it.
• Another thing to note: Did you hear the names of the people in the passage? The poor man is “Lazarus”, and the rich man, who has been given names by people who studied the Bible, is simply called “the rich man” in the Gospel of Luke. Lazarus is the only character in any of Jesus' parables who is named. Even the rich man knew Lazarus' name when he recognized him as Lazarus rested at Abraham's side. We can assume that the rich man knew Lazarus' name when the poor man lay outside of the massive gate of the rich man's palatial estate, begging for crumb and being licked by the local stray dogs.
• But even in Hades, the rich man still sees Lazarus as a tool, a messenger to do his bidding, and not a person at all. With this, Jesus is saying that we cannot ignore the poor and we cannot see them as anything less than persons in their own right.
• As far as the rich man's brothers go, if they'd been ignoring the Scriptures teaching, they could just as easily ignore someone who quote Scripture to them. If Moses and the prophets are not enough, Lazarus won't be either, even if he returned from the dead.
• The sin of the rich man was not being rich; riches can still rightly be seen as a gift from God. It was not noticing what was in front of his face every day. This neglect may go beyond not seeing; it may be seeing and turning away. Remember, the rich man knew Lazarus' name.
• Riches are not the problem here. Wealth is not the issue for Jesus. It is what is done with wealth and riches that makes the difference. We can ignore the need around us and wrap ourselves up in ourselves or we can do what we can with what we have.
• I'm going to close with a quote that I found very moving and personally challenging. It comes from a comedian on a US TV show, Steven Colbert. He does satire and, as usual, clowns quite often tell us more truth than speakers, and unfortunately, quite often, preachers:
• “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.” (Steven Colbert)

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 22 September 2013

“You cannot serve God and wealth."

• Is everyone as baffled by this parable as I am? I've had some real problems discovering the Good News here. When I am preparing a sermon for the worship service, I often ask myself “What is the Good News?” In the parable of the dishonest steward, Jesus appears to be almost commending the steward for cheating his employer and telling the creditors to change their bills. Even the man's employer congratulates him on being shrewd in dealing with his situation. How is this Gospel? It doesn't appear to make sense. Yet Jesus recommends that we become just as savvy in our dealings with the world around us. “for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” So what are these dealings about?
• When I was in university, I studied economics... and I did it willingly. In the class, we talked about money and what money is. In economics, money is “both a measure of value and a store of wealth.” Knowing what something costs lets a person know how valuable the item is in comparison to other items. Knowing how much money one has or what the value of their belongings are reflects how wealthy they are.
• Beyond that, money has a potential value. It can be used to purchase goods and services. Money by itself – stuffed in a mattress, as the old jokes would have it - lacks any real ability to satisfy, unless one enjoys just looking at it,
• Money has come to be a lot of other things, too. Sad to say, it has come to be a measure of success and a measure of how valuable a person could be socially. The more money a person has, the more valuable and important they are seen to be in society. The converse becomes true as well: the less money, the less value or importance.
• Money also comes to be seen in a personified way, as a being in it's own right. At it's worst, it becomes an idol, one that must be pursued, chased, and caught as often as possible. It is to be worshipped and obeyed. It actually makes a very good idol, because it can be manipulated by the worshippers and made to do what they would like any god to do.
• Money as a idol is a monster. It always demands more and more – more attention, more time, more acquisition of more money.
• For more than a few people, money has become such an idol. The amassing of money has become the central theme and desire of some people's lives. Even the word used for money in this passage in many translations - “Mammon” meaning wealth in Hebrew - has taken on a character of being a personal being, a demon or devil we might say. It appears that this personification reflects the preoccupation with money found in some lives. In those lives, money has become a jealous and demanding god.
• We may will wonder what the Bible says about money. It says quite a bit.
• here are at least 300 references in the Scriptures referring to justice for the poor and the oppressed and the need to take notice of the plight of the poor as well as how money gets in the way of that.
• The prophets constantly speak to this injustice. As an example, look again at the passage from the prophet Amos, who preaches against those who defraud the poor and cheat those they sell to in the marketplace.
• By contrast, there are at most 6 references in the Scripture that refer to homosexuality. Shear weight of evidence should give us pause.
• Paul's first letter to Timothy holds one of the most well known comments on money and wealth. Paul writes “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil...” (1 Timothy 6:10)
• Luke puts it this way: “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
• It appears that the Gospel teaches that the search for wealth is incompatible with the service for God. The present, then, is a time of decision as to how important what we say we believe really is to us.
• Luke is the Gospel that puts the most emphasis on the Kingdom of God turning rich and poor upside down. Our text today speaks of a different way of life and a different way of using wealth. It is not simply for looking after our own interests. When all is said and done all our wealth belongs to God and it is in our care for the furthering of God's reign among us. It is a tool to be used for the furthering of the kingdom rather than an end in itself. It can be a dangerous tool and often misused for are always in search of our perfect security, even though we are told that the way to follow Jesus is to give up any commitment to such security.
• The simple, tough truth here is that any commitment we might put ahead our commitment to discipleship to Jesus Christ can be a form of idolatry. We've spoken before about the sin of Adam being what would later be called a sin against the First Commandment, placing himself ahead of God. Any of us might fall to that temptation as well. Maybe this is why Scripture speaks so often about the problems found in the pursuit of wealth.
• For me to say “problems” shows how troubling this issue is. In plain words, it isn't a “problem”, but “sin.” Maybe that is the Good News, since we can't change anything until we realize the need for change and we can't repent unless we realize that we have sinned. Even if we don't want to hear it, the call to repentance is always Good News, because despite what we might feel or think, the call to repentance and change is an invitation to find the love of God - available and powerful – close to each of us.

17th Sunday after Pentecost ---- 14 September 2013

Early on in my sermon, I asked the congregation if I should deliver it "as written" or excise a word that some find offensive. The answer back was "Go ahead and read it!" These folks are great!

"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

• I'm not sure I've ever heard a phrase that held more good news for all of us. The Pharisees said this as an accusation. So it looks like Jesus has upset the religious people of his day again. This is still Good News.
• The Pharisees wonder why Jesus doesn't spend all his time with them. He has been a dinner guest of some of the major players in the Pharisee party. After all, they're worth spending time with, right?. Because of that, they're more than ready to have Jesus come to them, because they have no need to come to him; they are already “found.” The Pharisees and the scribes were scandalized by Jesus' acceptance of sinners, that he would welcome them and eat with them. The sharing of table fellowship was quite important, maybe even more than it is today. It was fine if Jesus came and ate with them, but for Jesus to eat with sinners? That's just beyond the pale! After all, you could catch sin by being around those sinners... which sounds more like the flu than anything else. They've missed the main lesson and it is really quite sad.
• The so-called sinners are different. Jesus accepts the sinful as they are, accepting them while not condoning their sin, and this give them hope and peace. Sinners come to Jesus; he is the way out of being lost. He has good news for them and he'll also sit down and have dinner, too. Maybe they want to be around him to catch what he has.
• Now about us... Does this have anything to say about us?
• Nobody likes to be reminded that they are human, that they are a sinner. It's impolite and controversial and doesn't make good table conversation. We don't want our faults noticed. (At least, I don't.) We all want to be perfect. We all want to be Superman. Actually down deep, we all want to be God. (It's human nature.)
• Still, in our Lutheran Church, we preach repentance and proclaim forgiveness a lot. In the Brief Order of Confession and Forgiveness both are proclaimed and for two reasons: to remind us that we are sinners and to remind us that we are forgiven. Both are quite necessary and both are dangerous.
• Let me speak about these dangers. Christians run two risks when we talk about sin and sinfulness. First, we might feel and think that we are not forgiven, that all we're guilty of is too much to be forgiven. We might feel that we have not done enough to merit forgiveness, that we are unworthy. We'd be right, and that's why the emphasis is on God's grace and nor our efforts. The danger of being reminded of our sinfulness is that someone might not hear the word of forgiveness. They might get caught up in their own past and might miss the reminder of their future. They might be appalled and deafened by what they've done... and failed to do.
• The second risk is to think or feel that we don't sin or cannot sin. As a member of a congregation I attended in the past said “None of us really sin, do we?” We could forget that we remain both sinner and saint. We could forget that we still have to repent of our sins, not so much to be forgiven as to LIVE forgiven. Repentance, after all, leads to growth and to change. This can be tough but it is where we are to go.
• Today, we heard from the letter attributed to Paul written to his co-worker Timothy. He says this about the ministry of Jesus Christ: The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners... Paul goes on to say that he is the worst sinner. Maybe... who knows? We'll have to accept what he says about himself. The truth is that Jesus came among us to save sinners, and like it or not, that's a category we all fall into.
• The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin show the shepherd and the housewife going to great lengths to recover what was lost... and then throwing a party to celebrate the finding of the lost! This is how much our God cares for us and for all the world. This whole passage is shot through with mission for the Church, because our message is based on seeking the lost so we can all share our joy together.
• In Denver, Colorado in the US, there is a small mission church called the House for All Sinners and Saints, part of the ELCA. Their founding pastor is Nadia Bolz-Weber and she might be a bit scary to some. She's a young woman, heavily tattooed, open to a lot of things and quite different from the usual idea of a pastor. She has a lot of good things to say and has written a few books.
• In her latest book, she writes about sin and forgiveness. I'm going to quote from it and the language is not what is usually heard in the pulpit. It's been said that Pr. Nadia cusses like a trucker. I'm quoting her:

“God’s grace is not defined as God being forgiving to us even though we sin. Grace is when God is a source of wholeness, which makes up for my failings. My failings hurt me and others and even the planet, and God’s grace to me is that my brokenness is not the final word. My selfishness is not the end-all…instead, it’s that God makes beautiful things out of even my own shit. Grace isn’t about God creating humans as flawed beings and then acting all hurt when we inevitably fail and then stepping in like the hero to grant us peace—like saying, ‘Oh, it’s OK, I’ll be a good guy and forgive you.’ It’s God saying, ‘I love the world too much to let your sin define you and be the final word. I am a God who makes all things new.”

• "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." This fellow loves all the world and all people so much that sin -and death- will not have the final word. The final word, as the Book of Revelation say, is ‘See, I am making all things new.’ And today, this new day – he welcomes us... and eats with us.

16th Sunday after Pentecost ---- 8 September 2013

(Today was the beginning of Sunday School for St. John's, so there were special prayers for the teachers and students, and for the entire congregation because the whole congregation serves as student and teacher by word, action, and example. At least, that's how I see it.)

Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

• We all know the exclamation: “What in the world was that?” This phrase usually accompanies some confusing, shocking, or just plain surprising sight. If we see it in front of our eyes, it is almost as if we can't believe those eyes; it's too amazing. If we see it out of the corner of our eye, like a bird whizzing by or a basketball coming at us on the edge of our vision, it doesn't matter what it is. We just can't see it right and it surprises us. We might say out loud “What in the world was that?” I've had that sort of reaction when I saw an unusual piece of agricultural equipment passed me on the road, when a small bird zipped by my head, or when something out of the ordinary flashed through the night sky. We could say other things in such situations, but for today, we'll leave it at that.
• With all that goes on around us, whether locally or more world-wide, we may wonder what in the world is going on. There are things beyond our understanding because of their complexity and because of the possible consequences any action may bring on. The situation in Syria is an example. What's going on there is not a simple story in the least. What's going on in our weather and our environment is not a simple matter either. There are days when the situations and their troubles simply boggle the mind.
• We may also wonder where solutions are and if they're are solutions. We wonder what will lead us out of those troubles.
• In short, we wonder what in the world will save us?
• We could look to our thoughts, our actions, our possessions, our desires, and even our faith.
• Our thoughts cannot save us because our thoughts are part of our self. Our thoughts can sometimes lead us to despair or to rebellion against God. Our actions are often disordered, selfish, and self-directed; more clearly said, we tend to do what we see as best for us, despite everything else. This is the original sin, the sin of Adam – in short, “I know better than God.”
• Possessions? Our possessions often own us far more then we own them. We may spend more on protecting our possessions than we did on the items themselves. We might even treasure them more than life itself, whether our lives or others' lives.
• Our desires? They often go hand-in-hand with our thoughts, leading us to pursue things, situations, relationships that are ultimately not good for us. Again, back to the original sin.
• Our faith? This is an odd one because faith is so very important to discipleship. Yet if we trust in our faith to save us, we are trusting in ourselves, first and foremost. Faith can become a deed, a possession, a trophy to show how good we are, and if that is the case, it takes us in the wrong direction.
• We've been taught that there is nothing in this world that will separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus and that is one way of speaking about salvation.
• Another, more prickly way of speaking of salvation is found in today's Gospel, which talks about the love of God in quite a different way: Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. This is the message we hear in today's Gospel.
• “Carrying the cross” as the way of discipleship is not something of this world. The suffering involved in the cross is something of and in this world, but the meaning of that suffering is not.

• In today's Gospel reading, Jesus speaks of what discipleship costs using two parable of knowing and accepting the cost of a decision. The man building a tower and a king going to war will consider what their plans could cost them before proceeding with their plans. Jesus goes on to say “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Earlier in our reading, he says “"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”
• These are hard sayings, sayings that some commentators say are full of exaggerated language. The truth remains that following Jesus will have a cost. That cost could be misunderstanding, ridicule, mistrust, exile and loneliness, and even the shedding of blood. Yet it is the taking up of the cross and following Jesus – in whatever way the cross might be found in our lives- that is the inner character of discipleship. How it looks on the outside is almost anyone's guess, but the embracing of the cross is the real mark of discipleship.
• This carrying the cross is our participation in the salvation we have received through Jesus. In an upside-down Gospel way of being, the cross is a sign of the love of God. This love enters our world in the act of creation, in the sustaining of creation, and in the act of redemption. It is the answer to the question, “What in the world will save us?” It is the lived answer that says “nothing in this world and nothing in your possession or control will save you. It is simply God's grace – unearned, unmerited, coming to us in our world and our lives in unexpected ways.
• This teaching about the embracing of the cross has neither popular or easy. Yet it is the saving Word of the Gospel and style of our lives as Christians. It is the rock of our faith and the still-point in the ever-changing storms of our lives. We might not understand it fully, but it is what we can believe in. Remember though, the words of the British writer, G.K. Chesterton: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

15th Sunday after Pentecost --- 1 September 2013

With the return to school of so many young people imminent, let's remember to hold them in prayer.

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.

• I think we all know that Jesus was a great story-teller. John the Baptizer was more the hell-fire-and-brimstone type of preacher, and Jesus could do that as well. It does seem though that he preferred to tell stories, stories with a message, and who doesn't love a good story? We've come to call these parables. Parables are brief stories that illustrate a principle or lesson, using human characters. A fable is similar and it uses animals, plants, objects, or forces of nature in the story telling to make the point.
• The parables in Luke's Gospel today are deeper than they appear, which is always the way with parables. The best stories always tell more than they seem, even if they reveal something about the teller. Jesus' two parables repeated here are in response to a dinner invitation and the behaviour of the guests. (There is another parable told and a healing performed at the occasion, but they are not included in our reading. The Lectionary quite often cuts things out for the sake of space or theme.) In any event, while the other guests and the host watch him closely, Jesus watches the guests jockey for the most honourable seats and tells a parable regarding this behaviour. Later, he tells another to the host with regard to the guest list.
• Now many have taken these two parables as an example of how Christian should behave. Humility and solidarity with the poor and suffering would appear to be the lessons taught. In truth, these are good lessons, lessons worth learning and living.
• “... when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place” may sound unusual to our modern ears, especially since most parties we'd be invited to have assigned seating. This appears not to be the case in Jesus' time and people all wanted to be in the best and most honourable seats. Surely, none of us wants to be seated at close to the kitchen, yet to demand preferential places would take us beyond ourselves. This decision for the “lowest place” may sound like false humility and a ploy to be raised to a higher place, but -let's face it- how many of us really want to be treated exactly as we deserve? That's the old justice vs. mercy tension, isn't it?
• The second parable, the one told to the host of the dinner, recommends inviting those who cannot repay you to your banquets so that “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” I think we can all see how this would mess up our summer barbeque plans, let alone our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Some commentators on this passage interpret it as an admonition to consider the poor and the destitute in all we do.
• I would hope that no Christian would argue with that interpretation. Truly we are to be more than mindful of those on need, whether that need is the need for food, for shelter, for understanding, for forgiveness, or for companionship. In many ways, this parable outlines who we might reach out to and who we might invite into our congregation. This church, and in fact no gathering of Christians, can exclude someone because of their economic or community status... of the lack of it.
• These interpretations are quite important and they don't exhaust the meaning of the parables. One of the themes running through both parables is that of the unexpected. Scrambling for the places of honour at a dinner is expected: don't do it! Inviting friends, relatives, and wealthy acquaintances to a fancy dinner is what is expected: don't do it! In recommending and even commanding the unexpected, Jesus makes the point that whatever is most expected will be turned up-side-down. Sitting at the lowest place, even eating in the kitchen or sending invitations to odd and “unacceptable” people demonstrate the Gospel fact that the love and grace of God is offered to those who seem unworthy and undeserving.
• What we have here are parables of the Kingdom of God, telling us and reminding us that it is God's grace that saves and not our own works. This wonderful grace is given to us despite our being unworthy, unready, and possibly even unwilling. The Kingdom of God has come near while we were sleeping, going about our own business, or looking the other way. The Kingdom of God has come near and confronts us in many aspects of our lives.
• Earlier, I said that stories entertain, teach lessons, and reveal something about the teller. These stories are no exception. Jesus is telling something about himself and his mission in each. His concern for the poor and suffering is proclaimed each time this passage is read. His desire for his disciples to be simple, humble, and real is there, too. So too is his concern for those who haven't hear his teachings or have heard and ignored them, a concern shown in the fact that these stories are still being remembered and told with life and power after 2000 years... and counting.
• Jesus gave us his word, his wisdom, and his very life so that we might live. This continues to this day in his Word proclaimed and his Word consumed... as we hear and do today.

“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”