June 23, 2019 Luke 6:17-49

Have you ever had a friend who started to become embarrassing?  Maybe it was an elementary school friend who as you moved into middle school was awkward as you wanted to move in higher social circles.  If you’ve ever read any of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books or seen the movies you know exactly what I’m talking about.  You don’t want to break the friendship, but this person’s wants and desires seem silly or childish.  You fear association with this person is damaging your reputation.

Or maybe as an adult a high school friend starts telling stories about you that you wish could be forgotten.  Maybe someone you know is showing early signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s and he or she says or does things that are embarrassing.  You get tired of apologizing and don’t want to do things in public.

By all measures Jesus could have been the coolest guy in town.  Perhaps he didn’t have the most prestigious family of origin – Joseph was at best a laborer of limited skills – but Jesus’ abilities to perform miracles, speak well, and great knowledge surely gave him all the ingredients of great popularity.  He’s the sort who’d be voted, “Most Likely to Succeed.” 

But he didn’t live the way you’d expect such a person to live.  If you were here the last couple weeks you know that Jesus hasn’t been choosing his friends wisely.  Instead of picking those who could get him ahead in life he’s choosing the wrong sort: common fishermen, toll collectors, laborers, sinners.  None of these people were going to get Jesus anywhere in life. 

That is the exact backdrop the gospel writer Luke wants us to see when he gives Jesus’ great Sermon on the Plain – which is probably the same sermon in its more famous form in Matthew’s gospel called, “The Sermon on the Mount.”  Luke appears to have edited it down to one-third the length in Matthew. 

I like the way commentator Joel Green sets it up:

“Those who do not discriminate in their choices of table companions, those who do not fast, those who do not observe the Sabbath – such people are defined as outsiders, people of low regard in the system.  Jesus not counteracts those negative sanctions by doing nothing less than redefining the world, positing as the foundation of this world the Old Testament affirmation of the merciful Father and erecting on this foundation a new set of dispositions out of which will flourish new practices, perceptions, and attitudes.”  (New International Commentary on the New Testament, Gospel of Luke, Pg. 261) 

So, after tearing down the old ways of living in the last couple chapters, Jesus gives this sermon.  It is the sort of thing you wish politicians would do in their speeches.  Instead of just tearing down their opponents and their opponents’ agendas, also give a positive workable agenda as a replacement.

            The sermon starts off with some blessings that we probably know well – the Beatitudes; blessings that seem reversed.  Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh…” and so on. 

Then there are woes that are also reversals, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.  Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.”

These thoughts could make us plenty uneasy, especially if we look at our lives and find ourselves saying, “On the whole, I’m doing pretty well.”  But that is not what Jesus means here, and we should not worry.  There is no inflation-adjusted threshold of poverty or wealth that God uses to determine who gets blessings and who gets woes.  It’s about attitudes that accompany wealth and attitudes that accompany poverty.

Those who are rich tend to be lulled into a false sense of security.  They think their skills and resources will ensure their future success.  They know how to make it and they think it will continue like that always.  The poor, however, feel needy and insecure.  They’re looking for security outside themselves, which more readily opens them to understanding their need for God’s grace.

Along with rich and poor is weeping and laughing.  When Jesus says woe to those who are laughing he is not criticizing happiness.  The laughter is the laughter of the fool who is unconcerned about the priorities of God.  It is the person who is arrogant about his or her position or believed superiority. It is the one who laughs at others misfortune and struggles because he or she thinks they deserve it.

Jesus’ teachings in this sermon about behavior are quite radical.  The principles of justice that is the foundation of law can be traced all the way back to the Babylonian legal code – the code of Hammurabi.  You know it well – an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  Many think that is biblical, and it is in the Bible.  But it did not originate there.  It is the Babylonian legal code used as a foundation for Jewish justice, as well as justice for many cultures.  Though it seems severe, I think we agree with the principles.  Said differently, let the punishment fit the crime.  Breaking the speed limit by 5 mph is not the same as embezzling a million dollars from a company.  And so the punishments should fit the crime.

But Jesus calls for something different.  Now he’s not making a statement intending for a nation to build a legal code around it.  He’s not saying that prisons should be emptied and bad people be allowed to run unchecked.  No, he is speaking in the background of a typical justice system.  His followers are not to be focused on, or worried about getting a fair shake, or getting revenge.  His followers are to be focused elsewhere – God’s work - knowing also that God will bring about justice to those who exploit, hurt, and destroy.  Basically he is saying don’t worry about it.  Justice for yourself is not your top priority. 

And yet, Jesus is also not calling for his followers to be passive and just accept abuse and mistreatment.  We are not to be doormats who get walked all over all the time.  He is actually calling for aggressive action to undermine hostility and violence.

If God is your source of self-worth; not your job or your possessions or your friends,

And if God is your source of true justice; not your ability to win a court case or your ability to get revenge or get back and someone,

And if you see God as gracious and loving of you, even despite your flaws,

Then you are ready to live in a way that is very different from the world around you.  Dr. Rick Carlson, my one seminary professor said that Christians aren’t to be counter-cultural.  They are to be anti-cultural.  If you think about it, almost everything you see on the news, and everything that is advertised to you, and just about everything most people build their lives around makes just no sense in light of God’s promises.

Jesus calls us to live those promises.  That does not mean being passive.  It means being assertive as we build upon the solid foundation God provides.

God does not want this life to be a waiting game for us until we die and then get to go to heaven.  Most of Jesus’ teaching about the coming of the kingdom of God are about his followers making the promises of God’s kingdom come alive here on earth.  That is what he means when he says, “The kingdom of God has come near.”

Let justice be God’s.  Let your worth lie in God’s hands.  And let your energy be focused on building up others and the community around you.  And you will be blessed now, you will laugh now, and you will have wholeness now.  That’s not a prosperity gospel, where God will bless you for being good.  That is the reality of those who are free from the world’s bondage to sin and death. 

June 16, 2019 Luke 5:27-6:16

It has long been said that you cannot legislate morality, but many people have tried.  We certainly see that in our gospel reading today.  Over and over again Jesus gets into conflict with the Pharisees about what he or his disciples do on the sabbath, and about whom Jesus spends time with – most notably the tax collectors and sinners.  The religious leaders thought it was necessary for people to behave in a pure and righteous way in order for God to love them.  The thought that if pure and righteous behavior was part of the legal code then it was more likely to be observed.  The problem is that legislating morality can take some bizarre turns.  We see that in the examples Jesus gives.  But let’s not just stay in the first century and Palestine with this.  Let’s also realize this in something closer to home.

Recently when I was waiting in the barber shop I looked at the pictorial history book Canandaigua published as part of the celebration of being designated a city for 100 years.  Puzzling to me has always been why a hundred years ago Canandaigua wanted to change its government form from that of a village to that of a city.  I always thought cities were big and villages were small, but New York State doesn’t determine whether a municipality is a city or village based on population.  It is an act of the legislature.  So, why do it?  There must have been some benefit.

Apparently there is no clear as to why, but the book raises the reason most cited by historians.  It was early in the 20^th Century and women didn’t have the right to vote… yet.  But the handwriting was on the wall that women would soon have that power.  It is important to remember that the biggest opponents of the women being given the right to vote was not men, but other women.  The New York State Association Opposed to Women’s Suffrage was a women’s group with a branch in nearby Geneva.  The National Association Opposed to Women’s Suffrage was also a women’s group with hundreds of thousands of members.

However, in the sweet little village of Canandaigua it was the men who had an issue rather important to them on their minds.  It was the hot button issue of the time.  It was a key moral issue that many were pushing to have to become law.  For, of course, many felt the laws of the United States must enforce the morality that God expects.

The issue, and this issue was being strongly pushed by the women of the nation, was the abolition of alcohol.  The Eighteenth Amendment, which outlawed alcohol, wasn’t ratified until 1919.  So in 1913 when Canandaigua becomes a city, alcohol was still allowed nationwide, but many women were hoping to make the village of Canandaigua dry.  The men didn’t want that to happen and they feared that when women got the right to vote they could make the village dry.  But if Canandaigua was a city, not a village, that decision wouldn’t be made at the local level.

So, what is the real reason Canandaigua become a city?  In order keep the bars open!  It’s all very silly.  I bring it up to remind us of a nearby example of how legislating morality can quickly turn into a huge mess with many spin-offs.

Judaism in Jesus’ day was in just such a mess.  Many Jewish religious leaders firmly believed that proper adherence to the law would make God happier with the nation and God would then be more likely to rescue them from Roman occupation.  For the religious leaders this was not about everybody being prim and proper.  This was about national morality that would save them.  It was deadly serious, and a famous traveling preacher like Jesus who ignored all those expectations was a big problem.

But let’s not go so far as to say that Jesus’ attitude was that anything goes.  Not so.  Jesus does not attack good morals, in fact he upholds them, but he is rooted in the heart of relationship with God and not technical following of rules.

Notice what Jesus does when he meets Levi the tax collector.  Although perhaps we’d be better not to call Levi a tax collector but a toll collector.  Critics of the gospels note that the biblical authors do not make the distinction that existed.  Direct taxes were collected by tax collectors employed by the Romans.  While tolls, tariffs, and customs fees were collected at toll houses by toll collectors.  This is the group we often encounter in the Bible described as “tax collectors”.  Toll collectors paid in advance for the right to collect tolls, so the system was open to abuse and corruption.  The toll collectors were often not natives of the area where they worked, and their wealth and collusion with the Roman oppressors make them targets of scorn.

Levi was certainly one of these toll collectors, and Jesus meets him while he is at his tax (or toll) booth.

Again, notice that Jesus does not support what Levi is doing.  He does not say, “Levi, what you’re doing is okay so keep up the good work.”  Instead he says, “Follow me.”  He invites Levi to leave the line of corrupt work and start a new life.  In response Levi gives a great banquet and invited Jesus.

Later when the Pharisees were complaining about Jesus being at the banquet Jesus says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

There’s the key piece – sinners to repentance.

We make a mistake if we think of Jesus as a hippie flower child who said silly stuff like, “Why can’t we all just get along?”  That’s not who he was.  There was real power, real corruption, real enslavement, real hurt going on all over the place in those days.  Just like it goes on in the world today.  Tell someone who is the victim of a crime, “Why can’t you just get along” with their attacker and you’ve just insulted their pain.

Jesus calls people to repentance.  But not repentance from technical breaking of the law, like healing on the sabbath.  He’s calling for repentance from participating in corruption, like Levi was probably doing.  Jesus called for people’s hearts to truly be in line with God’s will.  There’s no way to legislate that, or turn it into a series of rules.  Levi the toll collector got it, and he changed.  Jesus gave the same call to the Pharisees, but they did not get it.  Convinced of their righteousness before God by their own will power they rejected him.

When Jesus talks about patching an old garment with new cloth, or putting new wine into old wineskins, or old wine being better than new, these are all sayings to affirm that you can’t just patch a little new morality into an old system and call it good.  Jesus’ teachings require a whole orientation of life.

Are you really honoring God if you’ve technically followed the law but neglected human need?  We need to take initiative to restore those who are hungry or sick to wholeness and health.  The life of a disciple is never one where you look at something and say, “I’m righteous according to the law.  I’ve done my part.  Now it’s up to somebody else.”  No.  Faith is demonstrated with works of goodness.

Our gospel today ends with the list of the twelve apostles.  Luke likes to give people’s names and credentials.  He talks about Caesar and Herod and Quirinius and Pilate and all sorts of high-power people.  But no such person is among the list of the twelve.  These hand-picked closest followers of Jesus are not the brightest and best in the world.  They are a mix of misfits and nobodies.  But they are the ones who have responded to Jesus call to repentance.  And though they will not get it for quite a while, through their struggles they do grow to understand the righteousness God calls us to.  It is not the righteousness that gets lots of praise and recognition.  It is the righteousness of those take up a task, albeit imperfectly, and move it forward.

May we all have the same righteousness; not seeking God’s favor through the following of a moral code.  But the living out of the importance of others in our every day lives.

June 9, 2019 Pentecost Luke 14:1-14

In the not too distant past the church was a cultural driving force.  It was the center of morality.  Most everyone, whether they actually were members of a church or not, knew the basics of a church.  Not so anymore.  You can’t assume anything.  Here’s an example. 

As many of you know there is a Geocache hidden under one of the benches in our outdoor chapel.  Geocaching is a worldwide game of hidden containers – or caches - that can be found with GPS.  Ours is very popular, especially for people with kids; and that’s probably because it’s large and filled with toys to trade.  When people find our geocache they almost always write something on the online log about it; something like, “Nice find,” or “Thanks for the cache.”  Here’s a log entry from late April that says too much, but it reveals an interesting perspective on many people’s understanding of church.

“I pulled my motorcycle up to the corner parking lot and resisted the urge to ride right up to ground zero and instead, parked next to a grounds maintenance truck in the otherwise empty lot.

A short walk across the grassy field and I came to the site of some kind of ceremonial stage. I thought this might be related to Easter or some kind of summer sermon or something.”

When someone calls an altar in a worship space, “some kind of ceremonial stage,” you know this person is not acquainted with spiritual spaces!  This is just antidotal but it is becoming the norm. 

With the significant decline of the church is also coming a significant decline in the foundational voice of our society’s morality.  When I say morality I don’t mean things like issues around human sexuality, or whether a behavior or substance is legal or illegal.  I mean something much deeper.  And let’s get at that by looking at the gospel reading.

Jesus has been invited to a meal at a religious leader’s house on the sabbath.  This is probably a formal meal and Jesus is a special guest.  He challenges some religious laws about what is or is not acceptable to do on the sabbath and then gets into something much deeper.  He notices the way guests are seating themselves.  In those days meals were important social ceremonies.  Little was left to chance.  People noticed where one ate, with whom one ate, and where one sat to eat.  All of these things determined one’s social position. 

First Century lawyer Pliny the Younger recorded this criticism about the discriminatory meal practices of his host in one of his letters: “Some very elegant dishes were served up to himself and a few more of the company; while those which were placed before the rest were cheap and paltry.  He had apportioned in small flagons three different sorts of wines; but you are not to suppose it was that the guests might take their choice: on the contrary, that they might not choose at all.  One was for himself and me; the next for his friends of lower order (for you must know that he measures out his friendship according to the degrees of quality); and the third for his own freed-men and mine.”  (Pliny, the Younger, Letters 2.6)

Jesus’ message about all of this was nothing new.  He is just citing Proverbs 25 when he says that at a banquet you should take the lowest seat and wait to be invited higher rather than taking a high ranking seat and be asked to move lower.  In and of itself that is just good advice to avoid embarrassment, but we realize he meant something more when he goes on to instruct the religious leader who invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…”

This advice is more than just being charitable, it is somewhat scandalous.  The crippled, the lame, and the blind were explicitly excluded from many things, especially religious service, and in some communities not even allowed in religious worship services.  Yet Jesus says these are the very people who should be invited.

Today we do not have the strict social rules that they had in Jesus’ day about meals, but we all know that we still have social stratification.  And underneath that also exists what Jesus was really attacking – the desire to move up higher.  It seems like in every culture and every nation people have strategized ways to get ahead; and devoted their lives to it.  I don’t think we overtly endorse it as Americans, but we still do it in very subtle ways.

We’ll be celebrating confirmation soon and even our confirmands are well acquainted with how it all works.  Let’s say they enjoy playing soccer and want to improve.  Can you really expect to be a significant player on the team if you just sign up at the beginning of the school’s soccer season and show up for the first practice? 

No!  You’ve probably been playing for years already.  Almost all have done soccer camps and travel teams; many playing soccer year round.  Now the school’s coaches aren’t going to tell you that you can’t make the team unless you do all these extra things, but if you don’t you’ll probably never develop enough skills to make the team.  If you want to be on the team it becomes a multi-year, and year-round strategizing of teams, camps, and clinics.  And it’s not just soccer.  I see the same thing with youth in baseball, softball, basketball, lacrosse, and others.

And it’s not just sports.  It’s academics too.  I’ve had parents give me advice about strategies to make sure my kids can get in the National Honor Society.  And it goes for music too, often private lessons are used to get a higher seat in a school musical ensemble.

If you have a passion for something, and you truly love doing it, and you just want to become as good at it as you possibly can, then I have no problems.  I encourage it.  But whenever something becomes a strategy to get ahead of others the church’s teaching have a problem with it.  That is where the foundation of the church’s morality and the foundation of society’s morality are seriously parting ways. 

When the confirmands make their affirmation of faith with the Apostles’ Creed and make other promises to continue to live in the covenant of their baptisms I’m not concerned about their beliefs about church doctrines, or how they interpret Bible stories, or even if they’re going to call a worship space, “some sort of ceremonial stage”. 

My focus, and what they are really doing, is making a public statement that they will not live their lives according to the growing social morality, which is to strategize to get ahead in life and get as high as you can.  Rather, they will live by Jesus’ teachings, which are that that sort of thing is misguided.  You’re wasting your live and your energy if you’re driven to be the person on top.  There’s always going to be someone else who want that role.  And even if you do succeed in getting there – and you’ve probably walked over lots of people to get there – sooner or later someone else is going to take you down.

Commentator R. Alan Culpepper says, “[Jesus’ teachings] are liberating word that can free us from the necessity of succeeding in our culture’s contests of power and esteem.  They free us form over-under relationships and the attitudes and barriers they create, so that we may be free to create human community and enjoy the security of God’s grace.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9, Pg. 287-8)

To our confirmands, and to all of us, the nation’s morality is changing.  The foundation that used to be there is largely gone.  To affirm that you will live your life according to Jesus’ teachings of God’s goodness is increasingly counter-cultural.  But it is something we do because we know the other way to be a lie.

Let us live with confidence, and let us live so that our faith is not just about our own fulfillment, but so that we can witness to others the same moral foundation which leads to such fulfillment.