Who's Who? But Who Cares?

November 27, 2016    1^st Sunday of Advent               Matthew 1:1-17

The genealogy of Jesus may seem like just a long list of hard to pronounce names, and who really cares?  But when we look at it more closely we find a lot of important lessons for our lives.  As we read through Matthew’s gospel we’re going to discover a lot of things about him.  Among them is that he’s a very tidy writer and likes to put things in good order.  He wants us to know Jesus ancestry and so it puts it at a very logical place, the beginning!  Matthew’s gospel isn’t the only place in the Bible that gives a genealogy of Jesus. Luke’s gospel does too, but Luke starts elsewhere and puts the genealogy at chapter 3.

In coming weeks I’ll give you a handout about the structure of Matthew.  We’ll discover that Matthew likes structure and he’s written his gospel around a very sophisticated pattern.  We get a hint of that with the genealogy.  He wants us to recognize patterns with Jesus ancestors: fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and fourteen generations between then and Jesus.

Much as Matthew might love structure, he apparently didn’t do well in math.  If you count out the generations you realize he doesn’t actually list fourteen generations in each segment.  The third segment contains only thirteen generations.  Nevertheless fourteen was a very important number for Matthew.  Fourteen is the numerical value of King David’s name in Hebrew.  It is also twice times the ideal number of seven.

Whatever the case, if we critically look at Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus we do discover other problems.  It doesn’t match up with Luke’s genealogy at all.  There’s no reconciling the two.  Plus not only is Matthew’s math off, the divisions of 14 generations aren’t equal.  The first covers 750 years, the second covers 400 years and the third covers 600 years.  He also skips four kings and one queen.

What does this mean?  Does this mean that Matthew’s genealogy is bogus and Matthew isn’t a reliable source for information?  No.  Let’s use this as a lesson to understand more about Matthew.

Matthew’s gospel was most assuredly written for a Jewish  audience who had accepted Jesus as the Son of God and converted.  As we go through the gospel we’ll discover how they are being persecuted for their conversion; persecuted primarily by other Jews who reject Jesus.  And we’re going to find just how fear-filled their lives are.  They’ve come to be believers.  It’s hard to say they’ve converted to Christianity because Christianity is in its infancy at this point and there’s no real structure.  But Jesus said he’d return.  They thought it would be soon, but his return is delayed, which heightens their fears all the more.

Most biblical scholars believe Matthew was written around the year 80.  Prior to the year 70 Jews who had converted to Christianity appear to have remained welcome among Jewish communities.  There’s evidence that Jewish Christians would still worship with Jews in the synagogues on the Sabbath – which was Saturday.  Then on Sunday the Christians would have a second worship.

But if you remember your history well you’ll remember that in the year 64 Rome burned.  Emperor Nero, who was probably insane, was looking for a scapegoat.  Christians got blamed and persecution of them began.  Still, this didn’t affect outlying areas like Judea a whole lot.  But then in the year 70 the Romans burnt the temple and totally destroyed Jerusalem as punishment for Jewish revolts.  It was a tumultuous time for Jews.  They cast Christians out of their synagogues and the two religions went their separate ways.

Well discover that as Jesus predicted, families were torn apart.  Friendships were destroyed.  A lot of people were being hurt.  This is the life of the people Matthew is writing to.  There are a few fundamental things he wants these people to know.  The way he’s structured the genealogy speaks to that.

He wants his readers to know that what is happening is not really chaotic.  It is orderly.  It is part of God’s orderly and structured plan. 

Very importantly, he does not want his readers to feel like Jesus has abandoned them just because he hasn’t returned as quickly as they had hoped.  Remember always, Matthew likes patterns and he writes with structure.  He wants his readers to know that God didn’t just pop into the world for a short time and then just pop back out after the resurrection.  No, the genealogy shows how God has deeply rooted himself into history – into our history.  Even though the genealogy goes to Joseph, and thus shows no actual DNA connection to Jesus, for Matthew this is an important connection.  Our human story and God’s story are one in the same.

And though the genealogy itself doesn’t point it out, Matthew wants us to know that God is still very much with us and that our story is still God’s story.  Matthew begins the gospel with a genealogy and do you remember the final words of the gospel?  Jesus says, “And remember, I AM with you always to the end of the age.  Matthew’s fearful community is not lost or forgotten.  They are not unimportant to God.  And the same goes for us too.

Now let’s take a little time to look at the actual people in the genealogy.  Some of them you may recognize.  Matthew starts with Abraham.  We know him.  He’s the one God made the covenant with that his ancestors would become God’s people.  We also know Isaac and Jacob.

We recognize some of the kings: David and Solomon.  Josiah may stand out.  He is arguably the most righteous king in all of Jewish history.  There are a number of people that we do not know, but you’ll find their names in Old Testament stories.  And then there are a lot of people recorded nowhere else.  We have no way of verifying them at all.

Some of the people in the genealogy are very virtuous – like King Josiah and Boaz.  And some not so much – like King Solomon.  Many of the kings listed were just plain bad.  Some people are manipulative scoundrels like Jacob.  Some, like Abraham, are filled with faith.  Some are killers like King David.

All in all, we ask ourselves, is Jesus’ genealogy one of picture perfect virtuous people?  Is God willing to claim only the righteous?  No.  Rich/poor, good/bad, known/unknown, all are included.  God wants us to know he is rooted in the same messy reality we live in, not something perfect.  God will come into this world as a human connected to all the imperfections of the past.  God embraces and claims as his own both our good and our bad.

There’s one more thing I want to point out about the genealogy.  It’s almost all men as you’d expect a genealogy from that time.  But strangely, four women appear, and a fifth is eluded to.  If you know these women well you’ll know there is a common thread among them.  And believe me, if you are a woman you do not want to be among them!

There’s Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho who turns traitor against her own people to help the Israelites conquer the city.  Bathsheba isn’t mentioned, but she’s eluded to in verse 6 where she’s called the wife of Uriah.  You probably know the less than virtuous stuff that went on between her and King David.  Still, if you’re creating a movie you can depict it and still get a PG-13 rating.

Then there’s Tamar.  We find out about her in Genesis 38.  I won’t give details because we like to keep sermons family friendly.  You’ll have to read about her yourself, but again, if you’re making a movie, you can depict her and still pull off a PG-13 rating but you’re flirting with R territory.

And then there’s Ruth.  I simply can’t talk about what goes on when she meets Boaz.  We read about her in Ruth chapters 2 to 4.  While the author there uses euphemisms to refer what she and Boaz got up to in the dark, if you’re a movie maker and you want to do the scene justice, let’s just say you may go beyond an R rating. 

So what company does that put the fifth woman, Mary, among?  The notes in my study Bible say that the women all have “irregular sexual unions” but are considered important for God’s plan.  Who knew there was so much spice in Jesus’ ancestry!?!

With Jesus firmly rooted into our reality Matthew has prepared us for him to be born, which we’ll look at next week.

King???

November 20, 2016    Christ the King Sunday                        Luke 23:33-43

At the beginning of the service I said that our Bible readings aren’t what we would expect for Christ the King Sunday.  Kings are strong and triumphant people.  We’d then expect Bible texts about Jesus in power and triumph.  Stories about the resurrection would seem to fit.  There we’d see Jesus triumphing over death and we I could create a sermon that says that if you are a faithful person you too will triumph over death.

But our Bible readings are not about the resurrection.  The passage from Luke that we read is about the crucifixion.  This is the opposite of triumph.  This is failure – complete and total failure.  Why this text to celebrate Jesus as king?

Or probably far more important is this question.  Who cares?  When our lives are focused on Thanksgiving and Christmas what does the fact that… a long time ago in a country far far away a Jew named Jesus was killed by being nailed to a stick along the side of a road?  How on earth does that have anything to do with me?  Good question.

If you picked up a Star Wars theme when I said, “a long time ago in a country far far away…,” that was deliberate.  I think that can help us get at the answers we need.

Star Wars is written around the idea that there is a supernatural force that some people can harness to accomplish their will or overcome adversity.  The force can help them overcome almost impossible odds and do things that are nothing short of miraculous.  When harnessed for good evil cannot hope to triumph.  The good guy, with the force as his ally, always wins in the end.  There’s a sacrificial part to it too.  Star Wars fans can certainly point out characters who sacrifice even their lives so as to empower others more effectively.

Many people see their Christian faith in the same way.  They think there are powers of evil at work in the world and that if they do things the right way there are supernatural powers of good that will help them.  They believe that if they harness the correct powers of prayer, and worship, and Bible study that God is sure to help them when their cause is just.  Success may not be easy.  It may require some sacrifice, but it is assured.

They even believe that some people are more skilled at harnessing the powers of good than others are.  I can think of a number of times when I’ve been in the hospital because someone is seriously injured or dying.  Family and friends show relief when I walk into the room.  They ask me to pray to God to save their loved one.  Their sentiments and their fears are understandable.  I don’t want to mock anyone in that terrifying situation, but I also want to say, “If you think that because I arrived more effective prayers will begin rising to heaven you’d better find yourself a better pastor!”  I can’t swing the future or call upon supernatural powers that are going to overcome the present reality.  God’s will will be done and neither I nor anybody else has the power to change that.

If “The Force” from Star Wars was a reflection of Christian theology then we would have Jesus rising from the dead as our Bible readings for Christ the King Sunday.  But we don’t.

Scripture wants us to see Jesus’ kingly and most powerful moment was not in performing miracles or healing people or using divine power, not even in triumphing over death in the resurrection, but in being wrongly crucified; and not making use of divine power whatsoever.  If there was such a thing as the Force, Jesus could certainly have used it.  But he didn’t use that escape route.

Something deeper and more significant is going on here.  Our second reading from Colossians had the verse, “For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20)  The word “pleased” is the Greek word .  Indeed it means to be happy with, to be well pleased, or to take delight in something.  In other words, it is God’s delight to come to earth as a limited and mortal human.  And not just delight to come to earth, but delight to reveal the fullness of God’s nature to us – even as that meant crucifixion.

Why do we call Jesus king?  It is not because he was popular, nor because he could do miracles.  It’s not because he would eventually be raised from the dead.  He is king because of his love for us.  And this was not a grudging, almost hateful, demanding love.  It was a delight-filled, a joy-filled love.

Look at the crucifixion scene as our gospel writer Luke lays it out for us.  In the previous verses Jesus has been tried and sentenced to death.  He’s been mocked by soldiers and flogged nearly to death.  He’s forced to shamefully carry a cross – his own means of death – to the execution site.  He fails at it and someone else is compelled to carry it.

With no details in the story at all Luke simply says they crucified him along with other criminals.  He’s taunted and mocked by passers-by, by the religious leaders, and even by one of the criminals with him.  It’s got to be bad when even a bad guy mocks and rejects you with his dying breath.  If ever there would be solidarity you think it’d be then.

What are Jesus’ responses? 

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

And to a criminal, “You will be with me in paradise.”

            This is the role God takes on with delight!?!  This is how much God loves us?  Humans at their worst, yet God loves us so much that at our worst God still wants to be with us.

Have you ever loved someone or some cause so much that your devotion, even if costly, didn’t seem to hurt much?  Have you ever loved and cared about something and given yourself over to it even if it would never win you praise and no one would notice?

One summer I lived at seminary and picked up a job assisting Guy Kump, one of the maintenance workers.  He was responsible for cleaning and preparing several of the seminary’s buildings for the upcoming fall semester.  There was nothing spectacular or stand-out-ish about him.  He wasn’t particularly smart or great at conversation.  But he did have a passion for cleanliness, especially floors.  Any floor under his care was going to come out spotless.  I remember helping to strip and wax the vast marble floor at the front of the chapel.  After a couple days work and seven coats of wax the floor reflected like a mirror.  It reflected so much light that it almost hurt your eyes.  Overall the chapel is a very beautiful building and visitors often oohed and ahhed when they entered.  A floor that reflected like a mirror was just a part of it all.

If the chapel was magnificent, the seminary compensated with the dorms and apartments on campus.  Old, out of date, and dingy; they were hot in the summer and cold in the winter.  Walk into some of those buildings and you wondered whether the place was coming or going.  But when it came to cleaning and prepping them, Guy Kump saw them as no different than the magnificent chapel.  Floors were scrubbed and cleaned and then waxed with numerous coats.  Students entered and paid no attention to the fact that their floors shone too.  No one noticed how hard Guy worked there.  But to him the darkest most forgotten corner with its worn out old tile was just as important as the marble in the chapel.  I saw him love each and every inch and it was cared for equally.  I think I can safely say that those floors were a part of Guy’s own sense of self.  He found fulfillment and wholeness for himself in the oft overlooked role of being a janitor.

Perhaps that’s a trite example of selfless love, especially compared to the crucifixion, but if you’ve ever felt that way about something you know what I mean.  No matter how much you give and how much it costs, somehow in doing so you find your very own self most complete and fulfilled.

When my colleagues and I met to talk about sermons for today one of them said she wished she could be as loving as Jesus – to be so filled with love that she could genuinely forgive people who were in the process of humiliating her and then killing her.  But she couldn’t.  She knew we were called to mirror the love of Christ, but it would never happen.  She simply couldn’t be that loving.

While we are indeed called to have such selfless love, the good news is that while we are certain to fail, it is not our ability to love that saved us.  The good news is that we are delighted in.  No matter how bad, or shameful or disgusting or unlovable we think we might be, no matter how guilty we may feel that Jesus’ love for us is so superior to our ability to love, we are so loved by God that for God’s own sense of fulfillment God willingly, and in some sense even joyfully, suffered crucifixion to save us.

You are not loved by God reluctantly.  God did not grudgingly die to save you as if you were a burden he was forced to bear against his will.  While horrific and painful, saving you was God’s good pleasure and joy.  His gift.

This gift is what makes Jesus king.  This gift is not seen in resurrection.  It is seen in crucifixion.  Though it happened a long time ago in a country far far away it is God’s resounding Yes! to you, for this day and for every day.  May you always know how much you are loved and how valuable God finds you to be.

Politics, Power and God

November 13, 2016    26^th Sunday After Pentecost    Luke 21:5-19

I know you’re probably sick to your ears with politics and political analysis, but I’d like to walk with you down the political lane of first century Jewish politics.  Imagine yourself a Jewish leader living near Jerusalem.  Things aren’t great, but things are going well enough.  Your country has long been a territory under the control of Rome.  You don’t like that, but you’ve learned that if you keep your head down, do your work, pay your taxes, and don’t cause trouble the Romans don’t bother you.

But there’s this really bizarre dynamic going on.  While the Romans definitely are in charge, the Herod family pretends to be the ruling family of the Jews – the Jewish monarchy.  For the last few generations there has been a King Herod.  Interestingly though, while the Herods are technically Jewish they probably don’t have an authentic Jewish blood line.  So they can’t be in the line of David and thus legitimately be the king.  But neither you nor anyone else dares to look into that too much.  Those who oppose the Herods or get too nosy somehow always end up dead. 

You know that in the previous century the Herods helped the Romans solidify control of Jewish territory and as a result the Romans have appointed a Herod ancestor as “King of the Jews”.  Because of this even though the Romans technically rule the Jews have some degree of autonomy.  That’s good.

And whether they’re legitimately Jewish or not, the Herods have definitely invested in Jewish interests.  At the time of Jesus the temple had been under a construction and expansion project for over 40 years.  The temple itself was not a very big building – little larger than our sanctuary.  The Herods had beautified it with gold and marble.  They’d added courtyards and walls; enough to make it an awe inspiring spectacle.  By the time of Jesus the temple complex sprawled over 20% of the land inside the walls of Jerusalem.  It could hold its own against any temple or arena in Rome or Athens or wherever.  The Herods had raised Judaism from an obscure backwater religion into national prominence and recognition.  Jerusalem was worth going to because of the great Jewish temple!

But there was a dark side to the Herods.  Those who opposed them always ended up dead somehow.  The Herods were not good humble Jews.  They lived it up.  And their tendency to marry, divorce and remarry made Hollywood stars love lives seem simple.  The Herod family tree looks more like a plate of spaghetti than anything else!

If you were a Jewish leader you had to play a very delicate game.  You needed the Herods.  You had to keep them happy, but you were appalled by them too.  You made compromises.  You made deals, trying your best in a very difficult political landscape.  Any mistake could bring about disaster.  And you had more than just the Herods to worry about.  Judaism itself was not a unified religion.  The sect of the Pharisees didn’t put much store in the temple or your leadership in Jerusalem.  The Pharisees had been creating these local gatherings called synagogues.  They had their own beliefs and appointed their own leaders.  They tended to question the central authority of Jerusalem.  And they were growing.

There were oddball groups like the Essenes – ultra ultra strict and orthodox, these groups rejected you altogether.  They lived out in their own communities in the wilderness.

There were also Zealots who wanted to overthrow the Romans by force.  They needed to be kept in check or else the Romans might crack down militarily.  You’d lose the tenuous existence that you’ve created.

And then there were these oddball movements that would spring up under charismatic leaders.  Jesus of Nazareth was one of them.  You never knew what these groups would do.  You kept an eye on them.

All-in-all, being a Jewish religious leader required good business and political skill.  So much was at stake.  So much could go wrong.  God had called you to keep the faith and preserve the traditions.  You had a lot of responsibility; yet not much power.

I say all this because it helps us to understand the complexity of their situation, and also maybe realize some parallels to our own lives.

Now listen to Jesus’ words to his disciples from the gospel reading:  “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”  That is flabbergasting news.  The temple, destroyed?  The temple, the home of God, the center of Jewish faith; gone?  People for centuries had sacrificed greatly to build and maintain it.  People had died to preserve it.  How could God allow such a thing?  Did God not care how hard people had worked to create a fitting place to represent God’s presence?

Look at what had happened.  Without condemning the faith behind the temple, Jesus criticized what it had become.  Instead of being a place of grace and mercy it had become a system of manipulation and oppression.  While the Herods were generous it was really a tool for their political gain.  They wanted power and the only way to get it was if the Jews supported them.  From the Jewish side there was benefit from the Herods too.  Not only did they provide generous support they also preserved some semblance of Israel as an independent nation. 

God doesn’t need to work that way.  God does not need money or politics savvy or armies to do his will. 

In the ‘60’s of the first century there was growing dissent among the Jews.  Rebellions and uprisings were happening against the Romans.  Charismatic leaders were whipping up followers and they appear to have been teaching that the time to overthrow the Romans was then.  They taught that God wanted and needed them to overthrow the Romans – by their power it would be done.  And so if their hearts were pure and their goals were just if they acted God would grant them success.  They were wrong.  And in the Roman crackdown Jesus’ prophecy became reality.  The temple was destroyed.

How does God get his work done?  Through political elections?  Last week at the Men’s Breakfast we considered who Jesus would have voted for.  I said that if Jesus was given the ballot he probably would have written in, “Dad”.  But of course as Jesus says God’s kingdom is not of this world.  It does not work that way.

Jesus goes on to teach his disciples that there will be wars and insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and all sort of dreadful portents.  What are they to do about them?  They are to do nothing.  They are to neither work to support and create them nor try to stop them.  When persecuted and put on trial for their faith are they to put together an ace legal defense team?  Does God need lawyers to get his work done?  Nope.

Jesus wants his followers to know a very simple truth.  Following him isn’t hard.  It isn’t complicated.  It doesn’t take business savvy nor political savvy.  (That’s a slam against both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton if you missed it.)  You don’t have to be smart, or pretty, or strong, or rich, or charismatic.  You simple do: what is good, what is right, what is just, what is loving, what is up-building.  And if you are uncertain or have doubts, then err on the side of mercy and forgiveness. 

Ultimately Jesus calls on his disciples and all of us who follow after them to see other people as full human beings worthy of dignity and respect.  In that God’s work is done.  God’s will is accomplished.

We pray “thy kingdom come” but that cannot happen with an election.  It happens within ourselves when we make it real around us.  Mother Theresa said, “Spread love everywhere you go.  Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”

Truth and Thankfulness

November 6, 2016      All Saints Sunday                     Ephesians 1:11-23

Election Day is on Tuesday, but I don’t have to remind you of that.  I think we’re all exhausted by it all, and I don’t believe any of us are actually running for public office!  Perhaps my biggest fear is that when it’s all over it won’t be over.  I don’t mean the possibility of contested election results.  I mean that grid-lock and political maneuvering will continue.  It seems like partisan ideology has completely eclipsed pragmatism.

Anyway, enough of my political opinions.  It seems like one thing almost all politician do very well is lying.  Perhaps it’s a partial truth, perhaps it’s wishful thinking to win votes, or perhaps it’s a downright lie, but they all seem to do it very well.  There’s nothing new about this.  One of my favorite quotes comes from St. Augustine from 4^th century Rome, “I was preparing to recite praises of the emperor, most of which were lies, and by so lying win favor from those who knew [that they were lies].”  (Confessions, VI.6)

Politics is dirty business.  I often fear that anyone truly honest and upright wouldn’t stand a chance.  Like the two men walking through a cemetery looking at the tombstones.  One tombstone read, “Here lies John Smith, a politician and an honest man.”  To which the one man said, “Isn’t that sad.  They had to bury two people in the same grave.”

The world of business can be similar to politics.  You have to think ahead and strategize, even planning for a compromise.  I remember when we building this sanctuary we had to submit a landscaping plan to the town for approval.  Bruce Boncke pointed out that no matter what we put down the planning board will ask for more.  Therefore, deliberately make it lean so that when they ask for too much more we can appear to compromise; which is actually ending up with something practical.

Politics, business and just about everything in daily life involves posturing, maneuvering and compromise.  We learn it at an early age.  How many of you put on a ‘dating face’ to impress someone you like, hoping that the other person will fall in love with you; and only after that would you then start to show your flaws?

On All Saints Sunday there is good news for us when we turn to our Ephesians text.  Unlike politicians who lie to us, God does not.  It’s the straight honest truth.  It’s the truth about our eternity, which is a good thing indeed.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…”

This is true praise of God – not a political surrogate inventing praise for a person he or she is getting paid to make look good.  There’s no need to exaggerate on God’s goodness.  God simply is good!

“…he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world…”  This is not a doctrine of predestination as some people like to take it.  It is a statement that God has the past, the present and the future in hand.  All is surely going according to God’s design.

“…to be holy and blameless before him in love.”  Some read this and get the image of someone spotless and nice – perhaps too nice to be likeable.  But that’s not what is intended, for people who are too nice aren’t effective at anything.  No, this means people of character, integrity and goodness who work hard for the betterment of others around them.

“He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  If this came from a politician we’d think they were buttering someone up.  But again, this is true praise of joy and thanksgiving from a genuine disciple to our God who really is that good.

“In him we have redemption through his blood…”  This is actually business language.  Just the way you redeem a coupon or redeem a product rebate so it is that our souls are bought by Jesus.  The price was his own blood.

I donate blood frequently.  Of course it’s a sterile and almost painless process, and very different than Jesus’ crucifixion, but even so I consider it a valuable gift.  I want it to be used well – to help someone in need.  I wouldn’t donate blood if it was going to be dumped out or wasted.  Christ’s crucifixion is a valuable payment for someone valuable to God – you. 

If we jump down a little bit, “With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure…”  What is this mystery?  Does it mean we get inside information as to how the election will turn out?  No, it means that we know what God is up to.  God is drawing all of creation to himself in love and mercy.  That is God’s plan for the fullness of time.  It means that we are heading for a time when lies and manipulation leveraging every situation to get the most out of it will be no more.  It means peace and safety and comfort.

The test from Ephesians tells us.  God’s plan, literally his “stewardship” for us is to gather all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.  In other words God isn’t involved in some limited disaster zone clean-up plan.  God is drawing it all into one great thing.

The next verses speak of us receiving an inheritance, or I prefer to translate it as we are part of a heritage.  That reminds us that what we do is not just our own work in our own lifetime but something that we pick up from those who have gone before us and something that is passed on throughout history for as long as God allows creation to continue.

The letter to the Ephesians continues with praise for them for the work that they do.  We live centuries later and thousands of miles away but we too accomplish good work.  Our church budget shows some of the obvious work:

–support for the larger church and it’s work in the world,

-support for missionaries nearby and far away,

-support for world hunger,

-support for our local food cupboard, and on and on.

Support is more than money.  There’s hands-on support for the Victor Farmington Food Cupboard and regular food donations and donations to special projects like the Thanksgiving baskets.  There’s hands on support to the Neighbors in Ministry to Seniors program, Community Lutheran Ministries and other local needs.  I suppose that list could go on and on too.

There’s also support from the building and grounds that we maintain.  Because of us groups like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, AA, Community Chorus and others have a place to use at no cost.  We empower them to be benefits to the community.

Of course we also have tenants who pay us – the YMCA, Weight Watchers, plus couple music teachers and other groups.  Even though we receive benefit for their use it is also a sharing.  This building wouldn’t be much use to the glory of God if we restricted it and it sat here empty most of the time.

And of course there is this building’s intended use – as a place for spiritual growth and worship.  Worship services, Sunday school, Bible studies, Holy Yoga, and a work area for projects.

            In all the world you have to earn things.  You have to work.  You have to get things by your merit.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Earning things is a great way to appreciate what you have.  But it can also become exhausting and mistakes are costly.  Over the door we have the sign, “Sinners Only.  This is a Space of Grace.”  And indeed it is.  Here you do not earn.  Here you do not merit.  Here is a safe space of grace.  It is a space for you and for all of God’s children.

            Like the Ephesians who responded to God’s grace by being gracious and giving, so do we.  That is the straight truth with no political spin.  We are blessed to be blessings, and indeed we are; always striving to improve.

            May the saints who have gone before us and completed their pilgrimages on earth inspire us to do the same.  May we embody God’s grace in this world, and may we let God make meaningful use of ourselves each and every day to his glory.  In God’s time we will rejoice fully when God draws all things to himself and creation is complete.  Our God has a great and glorious future in store for us.

Anxiety

October 30, 2016        Reformation Sunday                           John 8:31-36

Anxiety is a powerful force.  In some sense it rules our lives.  Anxiety is at the root of most if not all psychiatric issues.  How would you feel about a psychiatric hotline that answered with this message:

Welcome to the Psychiatric Hotline.

If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1… repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2.

If you have multiple personalities, please press 3,4,5, and 6.

If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want.  Just stay on the line so we can trace the call.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are depressed, it doesn’t matter which number you press.  No one will answer.

If you are delusional and occasionally hallucinate, please be aware that the thing you are holding on the side of your head is alive and about to bite off your ear.

(from anxietyguru.net)

Of course psychiatric disorders are nothing to laugh at.  And I’m going to be so bold as to say that what we consider to be normal and healthy about anxiety is also being ruled by a state of fear.  However it is a state of fear so subtle that a normal person would vehemently deny it, no matter what you say.

In our gospel reading Jesus is having a confrontation with some Jewish people.  He tells them that if they believe in him they will be set free.  They say they’re children of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone.  We’re probably supposed to laugh at that because the Jewish people had been enslaved by just about every empire that ever existed in the Middle East.  And right then they were basically the slaves of the Romans.  But this little joke is just opening to door to their real slavery.  Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”  What is this sin he is talking about that they don’t get.  It is the same enslavement that we face, even if we do consider ourselves to be psychiatrically healthy – the slavery to anxiety.

In many ways anxiety makes the economy run.  Without anxiety there would be no interest in being fashionable or cool or successful.  Without anxiety you wouldn’t care how you looked or what other people thought of you.  If it weren’t for anxiety about invasion and terrorism we wouldn’t have a military.  In big and small ways anxiety drives us each and every day.

I’ve talked to a number of senior citizens who said that when they were young they worried about getting established and making it.  Then when they had kids they started worrying about them.  When their kids had kids then they started worrying about their grandkids.  You never get beyond a state of worry of some sort.  You never get beyond anxiety.

Anxiety is a powerful force for evil in the world.  Never underestimate how powerful and clever it is.

Our scripture poetry for today was Psalm 46.  Psalm 46 has a lot to say about anxiety.  Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s inspiration for writing the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, which we will sing later.  Look at how that psalm begins.  It points us to God as the source for refuge and strength – not our possessions, not our money, not our insurance policies, not our military and not our friends.  It is God and God alone.

What all can threaten us?  Well, there are natural disasters, but the psalm says God is with us in them.  The psalm also brings up war and conquest.  God is with us then too.  The psalm also brings up divine wrath, an interesting thing to do; but are we to fear even that?  No.  God is with us, always, forever: a refuge, a stronghold, a fortress.

Many Christians will take these words and think it means that God will keep you safe in all circumstances.  They think that if God is on your side your life will be good and fun and complete.  I don’t know where they get that idea, because history and the Bible teach something very different.  How many of Jesus’ 12 apostles died of natural deaths?  Only one – St. John, and church tradition tells us that was only because he managed to survive when they tried to poison him to death.

How about St. Paul, the great theologian of our faith?  How safe and normal and secure was his life?  Here’s what he writes in 2 Corinthians 11:

“Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned.  Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure…”  (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)  And he goes on.

Does Paul live to some great old age and enjoy a wonderful retirement?  Nope.  Church tradition says he was beheaded.  Some modern historians think he was captured and killed by bandits.  Whatever the case, this was not a sweet life.  I know I ruffled a few feathers last week when I said God wasn’t too interested in your happiness.  Paul wasn’t exactly a happy man, but he was a whole and fulfilled man.

Let’s turn to the author of A Mighty Fortress.  What was Luther’s life like?  Arrests, trials, a kidnapping, hiding out, rejection and excommunication.  And what seems to me to be worst of all, Martin Luther saw how his writing and preaching and teaching had led to war, riots and rebellions.  In the movie Luther that came out several years ago it suggests that he was aware that over 100,000 people were dead because of him.  That’s not an easy thing to have on your conscious.

At one level Psalm 46 could be called the biggest lie in the Bible.  Yet on another level it reveals a deep and powerful truth:  The Lord of hosts is with you.  The God of Jacob is your refuge. 

Visible or invisible, God is at work in the world.  And God is working for good.  Safe or unsafe, God is with you.  Dead or alive, God is with you.  Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God.

St. Paul wrote about his calamities.  He also wrote about God’s never-failing love.  You’ll remember this passage from Romans 8 from funerals, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, ‘For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of god in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:35-29)

Slaves to anxiety are blind to it, though society may call them healthy and normal.  But you want to be free.  True freedom is not getting to do what you want whenever you want.  True freedom is to be whole in God.  It is to be free of anxiety.  We’ve talked about this many times before.  It is to know that you are God’s forever.  You are loved.  You are safe.  Nothing and no one can touch you.

That will not lead to a life of relaxation and comfort.  It will probably be a life of high adventure.  But it will be rewarding and fulfilling like nothing else.

May you make God as your source of refuge and strength.  And may God protect and keep you every day as his child.