The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost --- 28 September 2014

Philippians 2:1-13

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

• The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi because it was a church in trouble. There were arguments, factions, and a breakdown in the unity of the church there.
• The church at Philippi was the first church founded by Paul on the continent of Europe. The congregation was composed of people of all classes of the society of the city, but generally the church was seen as a poor one money. Still, they contributed to Paul's collection for the sisters and brothers of the church in Judea. Paul had a very large soft spot in his heart for the Philippians and so was quite disturbed to hear of their troubles.
• We don't know if Paul was in prison when this letter was written. The letter hints at it but says nothing specific. He does say that the Philippian Church was suffering and this could refer to internal splits and factions, to misguided teaching, or to external persecution.
• Paul makes it clear that he wants the church to be united - be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. What we hear in today's reading includes Paul's great canticle on Jesus' emptying of himself for the salvation of the world. It may be that Paul is quoting a early Christian hymn that the Philippians would recognize. Using this, Paul tell the Philippians to Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, This, then, would assure the unity of the church far more than any other thing.
• Paul then tells his readers to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling... This could be confusing to us today. It sounds as if we are to take charge of our own salvation and work it out for ourselves. It also sounds that this is to be done in an attitude of “fear and trembling” rather than joy and confidence. Taken at face value, it sounds like what classical Lutheran theology called “works righteousness” which could be called an earned salvation which trusts in our own doings. In our own age, this appears in various Christian groups where salvation depends on either good deeds that can be counted up and “cashed in” for a place in heaven or where salvation depends on each person's decision to take Jesus as their “personal saviour.”
• So as you can see, some explanation is necessary here.
• Paul says each disciple must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Add to this the passage from Ps. 111 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10) We can also add the words of the Small Catechism's explanation of the first commandment:

                        You shall have no other gods.

                        What does this mean?
                        Answer. - We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

• We are all familiar with the idea of the Fear of the Lord. Fear in this context is not terror (although it is.) There is a word in the English language that carries with it what phrase means and that word is “awe.” That word is terribly over used (and cheapened) these days. It really can be fear but it is also the sensation one gets when seeing the ocean, looking down from a great height, standing at the foot of a mountain, or looking up at a starry sky. That speechless sensation or emotion is awe and that is what the Hebrew expression we translate as “fear of the Lord” means.
• The trembling Paul speaks of is not necessarily shaking with fear although can be and often is.
  What it more than likely refers to is humility and the acknowledgement that we are less than we pretend to be and God is more than we could ever imagine. So work out your own salvation with fear and trembling comes to mean standing before God with awe and humility to accept the gift of salvation from our awesome God. It is not an exhortation to take charge of our own do-it-yourself salvation in the face of a ferocious God, but a call to live in humility and constant dependence on God's help.
• If we don't read further in this passage, we encounter the danger of taking a verse or a part of a verse out of context. What follows the exhortation to work out our salvation is the reminder and proclamation of grace - for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
• ...for we might forget that grace is always the original and final movement. But Paul did not! In this part of the letter, he urges the Philippians to trust in the grace of God to complete all that God wants for them.
• What does God want of the Philippians? The same thing God want of us here today in Aylmer:
• ...be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.... Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross.
• If any of us here – and first of all, your pastor – wonders and wants to know what God's will is for each of us, this passage is the place to begin.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The 15th Sunday after Pentecost ---- 21 September 2014

Matthew 20:1-16

1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, "You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, "Why are you standing here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, "Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, "You also go into the vineyard.' 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, "Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' 9 When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, "These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?

• This parable should make us uncomfortable and itchy. If it doesn't, we might not be hearing it right.
• Many of you might agree that this is no way to run a farm, is it? The payment schedule is markedly unfair and I'm pretty sure that things would be tough around the farm next time workers might be needed. After all, who would take a job on a farm where those who have worked all day are paid the same as those who worked only one hour? It surely isn't fair.
• If we step into the parable, we realize of course that this is not a lesson on how to run the farm or the business. If we take it as a discussion of the life of a Christian and the live of the entire church, we will still find it uncomfortable. So those who have been faithful from childhood and who have worked and given generously will be treated the same as a bunch of Johnnie-come-latelys? How is that fair?
• So this parable is not simply about the great generosity of God. If it were – as one commentator said – than all the workers would be paid much more. Everybody would get three denarii rather than one!
• So it's got to be about something else. It's about God and the Kingdom of God, of course. It's also about those who are called to be part of it.
• The parable, which is often called the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, is more about the landowner than it is about the workers, in just the same way that the parable of the Prodigal Son is more about the father than the son. At its heart, the parable highlights the sovereignty of God. It is not about justice or fairness as we understand them. To comprehend the parable at its best, we would have to look at things through the eyes of God, and I don't think I can do that yet. I don't know about you.
• Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? In truth, we are. We want God to play by our rules and to see things our way. We've all heard the old saying: God created us in his image and we've been returning the compliment ever since. God does not see as we see or judge as we judge. And thank God for that.
• Now what about the other characters in the parable, the workers? Of course, the main focus is on those workers who toiled throughout the whole day and who received no more than the agreed-upon wage.
• The landowner says “Are you envious because I am generous?” This is how it is rendered in English and the original Greek says something more like “Is your eye evil because I am good?” Some commentators say the workers are giving the landowner the “evil eye” because he is paying them less. In German, it is called "böser Blick." This “evil eye” is sort of a visual curse that many cultures engage in and the gesture might have been thrown at him to express their disappointment.
• There is another possibility as well, one that suggests a deeper problem than is seen at first glance. Earlier in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus calls the eye “the lamp of the body.” He goes on: So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! The evil eye then shows the darkness of the person's soul. There is a call to conversion here in this parable if we realize that the evil lies in the heart shows itself in the actions of the whole person. Here the jealousy, greed, and disappointment of the workers shown in their grumbling mirrors the selfish and self centred inclination of their spirit. They will not be happy or satisfied with the agreed-upon wage and they will complain about the generosity of the landowner.
• This parable is another parable of the Kingdom of God where expectations are overthrown and turned upside-down. We may count on our own faithfulness and energy to earn a reward from God. This parable lays waste to such expectations and returns us to the most basic of understandings of our Christian faith – that we are saved by grace and not by the works of the Law or any other work of ours.
• If this parable appears to cut the legs out from under us, it may be for the best. Once again, we are left with only the grace of God to depend on. Once again, we learn that the grace of God is the only sure thing we can depend upon.
• Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? It is this generosity of God on which we depend. Why? No less than this... Because it has been promised to us.

The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 14 September 2014

(I was unable to publish this last weekend because of the sudden death of a family member and the trip to Scranton, PA my wife and I made.)

Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, "Pay what you owe.' 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, "You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

“So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

• I don't know about you, but this Gospel reading frightens me at times. There is a very real and very strong call to forgiveness and the parable of the unforgiving servant has a very stark and messy ending. The entire exchange between Jesus and Peter speaks of forgiveness and both the depth and frequency of forgiveness.
• The parable that follows, which is often called the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant for obvious reasons, holds in it great exaggeration. The sum owed to the first servant by the second is a little more than 3 months wages for a worker of the time. It is a serious amount, but not entirely unimaginable. What the first servant owes, however, is beyond imagining. It is comparable to a worker's wages for 125 years! Jesus is making a point here; he is telling a story full of such exaggeration in order to make his point. And that point has to do with forgiveness from the heart.
• His words may appear harsh to us: So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you... This idea of punishment is not easy for us to hear, but with it, Jesus makes his point.
• Forgiveness is hard. It is hard to forgive others, especially if what they've done might be called “unforgivable.” We all retain memories of hurts, slights, and sins against us. We remember; even if we don't harbour and nourish resentment consciously, we still remember. It's a natural human thing.
• Which is why forgiveness is a divine thing, a graced thing. To forgive might demand that we leave a bit of ourselves behind. It might demand that we leave resentment or righteous indignation or justifiable hurt behind. It might demand that we lay aside any thirst for vengeance and revenge that may lie within us. To offer real forgiveness also makes us admit - to ourselves, at least – that we have really been injured in some way. To be truly forgiving makes us vulnerable. To forgive might just be a sign that we are becoming new and being “born again.”
• The other side of forgiveness is just as hard. To ask forgiveness carries with it the acceptance of our own sin and our own guilt. Asking forgiveness means we are “one down” and we are placing ourselves in a vulnerable position. It is a risky thing because we might not be sure that we will be forgiven.
• In a number of ways, asking forgiveness requires us to take stock of ourselves and realize that we are not perfect and that we are not God, which comes as a shocking realization to some, since honest self-knowledge is a fearful and humbling thing.
• Yes, forgiveness – from either side – is hard and it is what we are called to. This calling of ours is not without example or model. Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to how the king treats his indebted servant. Since he is forgiven his debt, should he not do the same and forgive the debt owed to him? This is our example, one that makes us look at ourselves, at those who may have offended us, and on how God has treated us in terms of forgiveness.
• Should we forgive seven times? "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” It's hard enough to count to 77, so maybe Jesus is saying don't keep count so we can come to the limit and then lower the boom. If the servant was forgiven a debt of 10,000 talents ($6 billion), how should he have treated the man who owed him 100 denarii ($5000)? Possibly Jesus is using these astronomical examples to show how much we have been forgiven by God.
• Were we to need another example or demonstration of this grace of forgiveness we might look to Shakespeare' The Merchant of Venice, where the disguised Portia speaks eloquently of the nature of mercy or forgiveness: 
• • The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
    It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
    Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
    It blesseth him that gives and him that takes...
        ...Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
     That, in the course of justice, none of us
     Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
     And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
     The deeds of mercy.
                            (The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1)

• Forgiving as we've been forgiven is the crux of the parable. Not forgiving in the same way or to the same extent, but forgiving because we've been forgiven. The forgiveness of our sins is an act of grace. The forgiveness we give each other is also an act of grace since the grace of forgiveness is modelled and given by God.
• John's Gospel tells us ‘This is my command-ment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. There is no greater example of love and forgiveness than the life and the life-giving cross of our Savior. And that is nothing to be frightened about.

The 13th Sunday after Pentecost --- 7 September 2014

Matthew 18:15-20

15 "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

“...if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. "

• This morning's Gospel reading appears to many to be a blueprint and a formula for how to deal with opposition problems and troubles in a congregation. Please understand; having trouble in a congregation is not all that unusual. No congregation is perfect; Every congregation has troubles, whether they are monetary, social, organizational, or pastoral. And, yes, pastors can cause trouble in congregations, trouble beyond the trouble pastors are supposed to cause by preaching the Gospel.
• For any number of people, this passage outlines a way to deal with troublesome issues and troublesome people within the church. In many cases, such people are removed by some formal ceremony after some deliberation and discussion.
• There are Christian groups that practice “shunning”, which is to remove a member and have nothing to do with them even while they remain in the community. If one spouse is shunned, the other may not speak to them nor may any children speak to the shunned partner. This might be seen as a rather radical way of dealing with sin and opposition.
• To get the best understanding of what is going on, we need to look closely at what Jesus said to his disciples. Right off, Jesus acknowledges that there will be conflict within the church. He said that if the offender does not heed the words of the offended party and later, of the congregation in general, “let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
• It seems pretty straight-forward, doesn't it? But there is a catch. How does Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors?
• The Pharisees and synagogues in general at the time excluded Gentiles who had not undergone conversion and those who were known as public sinners. The converted Gentiles – called Proselytes – were welcome in the Jewish community and had in fact taken on the observance of the Mosaic Law. The Gentiles who had not done this were not welcome. Even those who admired the Jewish code of morality and attempted to live by it without becoming a member of the people of Israel might be admired and praised but would never be fully accepted.
• Those who were public sinners like the tax collectors who were seen as collaborators with the Roman occupation were rejected and removed from the community. The tax collectors were not alone in being judged as public sinners; they were simply one of the most visible. Others were prostitutes, some types of animal herders, and often all of the poor, those who could not afford to do all that the Law required.
• Think now; how did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors? How did he treat Zachaeus, the little tax man who climbed a tree to see Jesus pass by? With whom did Jesus eat and spend his time? Remember that he was called a glutton and a drunkard since he ate with sinners. How did he treat the woman caught in adultery? How did he treat Peter who denied him more than once as Jesus was being tried before his crucifixion?
• To treat people as a Gentile and a tax collector would be to treat them as Jesus did – reaching out lovingly with an invitation to reconciliation. Jesus did not belittle or deny the reality of sin; he just made sure that all who met him knew that such obstacles could be overcome by grace. In our dealings with people within and beyond the church, we can't deny the reality of sin either. What we are called to do is to proclaim the reality and the strength of God's grace, even to people who might antagonize us.
• In working with people in the community of the church, it would be good to remember that Jesus' words about where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them also apples to any situation where Christians are gathered and not only in worship. In deliberations of a church council, in the meetings of committees and groups with in a congregation, in gatherings of pastors, whether formal or informal, Jesus is there. When Christians gather for whatever reason in the name of Jesus, he is present. So it would be in meetings where there might be disagreement and dissension. If Christians have gathered to be the church and do the work of the church, Jesus is present.
• Have you come to think the Jesus is here among us today? In Word and Sacrament, in song and story, in the presence of baptized people, he is with us. He will remain with us when we go out from here to do whatever we do any day.
• And that realization will make a difference in how we do what we do.
• When you come to think about it, Jesus could proclaim the Good News of salvation without us, but he has chosen not to. He has chosen to work through us. What is done in his name carries with it his presence. And where he is found there is the grace of salvation.