May 24, 2020 Easter 7 Matthew 6:19-7:12

As we’re in Phase 1 of “reopening” our economy I’ve been thinking about how vast our nation’s economy is and what is the driving force behind it. A great deal of it is what many people never really think of, though they depend on it all the time – the physical infrastructure: pipelines, electricity, highways, communications, water and sewer treatment, and all the machinery needed to keep it working. As far as I know, all of that has continued operating with little interruption. There is also the emergency services like hospitals and garbage collection and the like. I name all of that because I want to isolate the consumer economy and look at it in light of Jesus’ teachings as we continue in the Sermon on the Mount.

When I think about what’s behind the consumer economy I realize that it’s mostly driven by vanity. We’ve talked about this before. I’m not just talking about things like cosmetics and high fashion clothing. I mean about how much of the way we use what we have to make statements about ourselves.

A car is about far more than just getting from point A to point B. A car is a statement about your life. If you drive a rusted out 25-year-old Buick people will think differently about you than if you drive a new Tesla. Your house says a lot about you. How successful are you? What areas would you not want to live in because that address would reflect badly on you.

I have to laugh sometimes when I tell them my street address: 133 Park Avenue, especially on the phone. Park Avenue sounds like such an upper end address. Of course Park Avenue in Canandaigua is by no means a bad street, but it is a short street with century old ordinary 3 and 4 bedroom houses. It isn’t as ritzy as it sounds.

Of course I’m not talking about the sound of your address, for any name can be given to any road. But there are probably places where if you lived, you would not be happy to let people know your address.

Brand names, clothing, autos, houses, computers, phone brands: it all gives us an image. And if we are honest with ourselves, that image impacts our self-understanding. If all the products and things of the economy around us signal that we are a failure, we probably feel like a failure. And if all the products and things of the economy around us signal that we are a success, we probably feel like a success. There’s nothing unique about that. I believe that goes for all people of all nations and across all of time.

So Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount that we read come across to us as outright scandalous. His teachings, “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” are foreign to everything we experience. We use the consumer economy to define us. Jesus calls on us to live in a very different way.

His thoughts in verse 24 really lay out the reality, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” We may not like stark dualities, but this is certainly one. Either you let God define you or you let the world define you.

In the 2017 version of the movie Ben Hur, Judah Ben Hur, a prominent wealthy Jew tells his poor Roman friend Messala that wealth isn’t everything. Messala replies that’s easy for a rich person to say. It’s different when you are poor.

I believe most of us fall into the category of perhaps not being rich but being well off enough that we do not have to worry about our next meal. We do not fear having everything taken from us or entering abject poverty. And so our faith in God comes from that perspective. We may even look at our wealth and possessions and conclude that they do not own us. That we would not lose our sense of worth if we lost all our stuff. But try that from the perspective of the person who is truly poor – the refugee who has fled leaving behind a home, car, and retirement savings – now having only the clothes on their back. Or the migrant worker who will work his whole life and not get ahead at all.

I don’t intend any of this to make us feel guilty. Rather I believe we all live with a burden in our subconscious that we need to maintain an appearance that solidifies our value in the world. That burden is subtle, so subtle we may not be able to even clearly identify it, but it is there.

Jesus’ teachings about possessions are challenging to be sure. They are also immensely freeing. When Jesus tells people to sell what they have, give it to the poor, and come follow him, he is actually offering them a path to freedom.

You cannot serve two masters. Perhaps you do serve God, but when the needs of keeping your self-worth in the world’s eyes come into play I doubt you will be willing to drop them.

Oh the burdens we bear and we don’t even realize it! We think we are free, but the dualism is there. Either your self worth comes from the world or it comes from the one who made you – God.

A big step we can make to our own freedom is to take to heart what Jesus says later on: “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” I think he is primarily talking about judging other people’s sinful actions, but he also means judging people in general.

I think we all contribute to judging appearances. I know I do. If someone looks like me and has the same sort of stuff I have I tend to trust him or her more. And if someone is – let me say – too far “above” or “beneath” me according to worldly standards, I’m not so quick to trust.

I am far more interested making friends with people who can help me than making friends with people who can’t. And yet isn’t that being judgmental? Is that not determining a person’s worth as a friend based upon their worldly standing?

Jesus says, “Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye?”

I don’t perceive there to be any logs in my own eyes. And yet, in light of what Jesus teaches, I’m not so sure. What subtle rules and expectations do I have that are out of line with God’s teachings? Who am I to advise someone with a speck in their eye when I unknowingly have my own logs?

Indeed we do need there to be accountability. Destructive behavior is destructive behavior. Abuse is abuse. We should not mistakenly tolerate it in light of what Jesus teaches. But most of judgment is not in this category. It is judging and grading people based on their usefulness to our own lives.

Jesus calls us to take a radical and freeing step towards building ourselves around who God, and God alone, made us. It is an amazing freedom.

And it is probably a freedom that we will fail at. Jesus knows we will fail. Jesus knows how hard it is. And he is not quick to condemn us for it. Instead he will continue to accompany us and challenge us.

This segment of the Sermon on the Mount wraps up with the Golden Rule, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you…” This concept did not originate with Jesus. It is a common teaching among many religions of that day. There is nothing uniquely Christian about it. But as Jesus uses it here it is the guiding principle underneath all that he said before:

If you judge others based on their level in the consumer economy, are you not also judging and measuring yourself in the same economy?

If you build your self worth based on your stuff are you not also judging others the same way?

If you refuse to forgive others are you not also refusing forgiveness for yourself?

If you cannot acknowledge the log in your own eye how can you take the speck out of another’s?

As Jesus applies it, the Golden Rule is not a strategic principle to ensure good stuff for you. It is a path of freedom from bondage.

May you be truly free – free from the many countless things that would entrap you – and know fully God’s love and intentions for life.

May 17, 2020 Easter 6 Matthew 6:1-18

Last week we looked at how Matthew likes to use nested parallels (a chiasmus) to write about Jesus. The person who wrote Matthew’s gospel was not an eyewitness of Jesus but, like the author of Luke, pulled together a number of sources about Jesus’ life and teachings. While the Sermon on the Mount is an authentic collection of Jesus’ teachings, the way we have it in the gospel is most likely an arrangement made by Matthew. Jesus himself probably never gave such a sermon.

Given the way Matthew likes to use the chiasmus structure, it’s no surprise he uses it for the Sermon on the Mount. When a writer creates a chiasmus the most important point is put at the center. In the center of the Sermon on the Mount we find the Lord’s Prayer. As the center the Lord’s Prayer gives us a lense to view the whole sermons, and actually Matthew’s entire gospel.

We’ll look at the prayer from that perspective, but before we do let’s notice the other teachings that surround the Lord’s Prayer.

We are the point in the sermon where Jesus has moved into how you practice your piety. Three things are brought up in particular: almsgiving (or financial giving), prayer, and fasting.

Each of these three things could easily be done in a way to attract attention to yourself. But that raises a question – why are you doing it? Are you doing it for praise and approval of others? Are you doing it so that others say, “Do you see how much he’s giving to the work of God?” Or, “They are such a religious family. Look at how well behaved they all are and how faithfully they live.” Or, are you doing these pious acts for a very different reason? Ultimately, where is your heart?

I think we’ve all done subtle things to make ourselves look good. You see an attractive person you want to impress and so you put on your best face. How many boys and girls have decided to like or dislike something solely for the purpose of appearing attractive to some other girl or boy? People put on a “dating face” when they start a relationship they hope will have promise.

It’s more than just trying to make favorable impressions. A couple years ago when I was shopping for a new minivan I realized how much of a chameleon the salesman had to be. He certainly he had his own taste in cars. He knew what he liked and what he didn’t like. He knew what was a wise purchase and what was foolish. But he kept all that inside. Instead he changed to suit whatever his customer wanted.

For example, say someone like me shows up. I’ve made an appointment and I walk in with a few sheets of paper in hand from the online inventory at the dealership. Almost the first words out of my mouth were that I wanted to look at these vehicles and nothing more. And I said the terms that I would buy under: I wasn’t going to tolerate talking about rust protection, or extended warranties, or any other special deals. I was a potential buyer who knew what he wanted. I had sat down with a calculator before arriving to figure out the lowest cost vehicle that would suit my needs. On the whole, I’m sure I was a very boring customer. The salesman was gracious and did exactly what I asked.

But I’m sure this same salesman also knew how to sell a fancy four-wheel-drive truck to a guy who would probably never take it off a paved surface. He knew how to sell a luxury car to a woman who only cared about how it made her look. And he certainly knew how to sell a simple sedan to a poor college student who just needed a cheap way to get from point A to point B. He could sell to them all, changing himself to have whatever priority his customer had. That’s salesmanship. That’s not, however, how Jesus intends faith to work.

What is Jesus saying about piety – almsgiving, praying, fasting? Don’t do it for the image it creates. Do it as an expression of your faith relationship with God. Don’t worry what other people think – whether it’s positive or negative. Ultimately it is your relationship with God that is important.

I’ve come across sermons that say in Jesus’ day wealthy people would have processions with trumpets to announce particularly big charitable gifts. I suppose it would be akin to a donor banquet thrown by a charity where major givers are celebrated. I’ve also come across sermons where the pastor ways put on airs when they were fasting or doing other religious disciplines. But in truth there is no evidence of anything like that actually taking place. There are no reports of people literally disfiguring their faces when fasting. There are no reports of trumpets being blown ahead of major givers, or people making loud prayers in the synagogues or street corners. Remember, Jesus often taught using parables and extreme exaggerations to make her point. I think he’s doing the same thing here.

When it comes to how you practice your faith it is to be done first and foremost with your relationship with God in mind. Don’t worry about how it makes you look before others, either good or bad.

That takes us to the Lord’s Prayer and its central place.

The prayer starts off with a very simple line, “Our Father…” Jesus does not make prayer an individual thing between you and God. You do not say, “My Father.” No, it’s a communal thing, “Our Father.”

The prayer starts off with this crucial relationship. Jesus says to address God as a Father. The Greek word used here is “Pater”. In Aramaic, the language Jesus actually spoke, it would be Abba – dad or daddy. It shows respect yet is still familial. Jesus does not say address God as: master, as if we are slaves; or king, as if we were subjects; or even Lord. But Father. And a recognition of hallowing, or honoring God’s name.

Moving farther into the prayer remember Matthew’s overall theme of a conflict of kingdoms – the kingdom of God (or heaven) vs. the kingdom of this world (or evil).

“Your kingdom come.” Who’s kingdom? The worldly kingdom? No, God’s kingdom.

“Your will be done.” Again, whose will are we committing to do?

And the next line is very important, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

It is essential when reading Matthew’s gospel, and really much of Jesus’ teachings, that we do NOT get the idea of suffer now to be rewarded later. (Indeed, St. Paul did write about the sufferings of this age being insignificant to the glory that God has in store. His writings are true, but that is not the thrust of the Bible’s teachings for our lives.)

All too often people think life is a test to see if you are worthy enough to go to heaven. That is not, absolutely not, what the Bible teaches. God loves us. All of us! God wants all of us. And God wants us to live in his kingdom – his ways – here on earth. Life is not a test to see if you are good enough.

The Lord’s Prayer is about bringing God’s kingdom to real flesh and blood life for people here and now.

Notice it continues, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Notice two things. One, it is turning to God for daily needs. Daily needs include food, clothing, emotional support, friendship, etc. We turn to God and not the world, not other people, not institutions, or bank accounts, or governments, or anything else. We ask for God’s nurture and nourishment in very real ways here and now for us and for others. God’s kingdom is our life.

The next line takes us central to how our relationship with God and each other is built, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This does not mean to let yourself be walked all over by everyone. But it does put grace at the center of our relationship with God and each other.

“Do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.” Use these verses and look both forward and backward in Matthew’s gospel. What happens before Jesus’ begins his public ministry? Forty days in the wilderness – a trial. This is asking God not to try us. Jesus survives that trial.

Look also to the end of the gospel reading. Jesus is in an even deeper trial. Will he go through with it? Will he again stay obedient to God no matter what the cost? Will he allow himself to be arrested and humiliated and beaten and executed?

How do the disciples fair under the same circumstances? What does Jesus say to them at after the Last Supper when he is with them in Gethsemane? “Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Of course they do fall asleep! They all forsake him. They do fail in the face of trial.

When you look across Matthew’s gospel you see how the Lord’s Prayer, central here, is being lived out. The whole gospel can be faithfully interpreted through the prayer. And the prayer can be faithfully interpreted by the rest of the gospel.

Matthew presents us with the Lord’s Prayer as a simple measure to use for all of life. When you don’t know what to do, consider the Lord’s Prayer. When you don’t know what to pray, use the Lord’s Prayer. It is our relationship with God in a nutshell!

May 10, 2020 Easter 5 Matthew 5:1-47

I believe I’ve mentioned several times over these last months that Matthew’s gospel is not a typical linear story. It is a series of nested parallels called a chiasmus. I haven’t had us look at it until now. Even so, we have read it in a way that honors its literary structure. Today though, let’s spend most of our sermon time actually looking at the gospel’s patterns and structures. Remember, these things are typical of many writings from ancient Hebrew scholars.

(The following are Power Point slides and explained during worship)

The Chiasmic Structure of Matthew’s Gospel
A 1-4 Birth and beginnings                                                                    Narrative
            B 5-7 Blessings, entering the kingdom                                       Discourse
                        C 8-9 Authority and invitation                                       Narrative
                                    D 10 Mission discourse                                     Discourse
                                                E 11-12 Rejection by this generation      Narrative
                                                            F Parables of the kingdom         Discourse
                                                E’ 14-17 Acknowledgment by disciples  Narrative
                                    D’ 18 Community discourse                              Discourse
                        C’ 19-22 Authority and invitation                                  Narrative
            B’ 23-25 Woes, coming of the kingdom                                     Discourse
A’ 26-28 Death and resurrection                                                            Narrative

Structure of Matthew 1:1-12:21
A 1:2-25 Jesus as Messianic King, Son of David and Son of God
            B 2:1-23 Conflict with the Kingdom of This Age
                        C 3:1-4:17 The Ministry of Jesus in Relation to John the Baptist
                                    D 4:18-22 The Disciples Called
                                                E 4:23-9:35 The Authority of the Messiah in Word and Deed
                                    D’ 9:36-11:1 The Disciples Authorized and Sent
                        C’ 11:2-19 The Ministry of Jesus in Relation to John the Baptist
            B’ 11:20-12:14 Conflict with the Kingdom of this Age
A’ 12:15-21 The Servant King

Structure of the Sermon on the Mount

(Notice that Matthew also likes to create groups of three)

A 4:23-5:2 Introduction

            B 5:3-16 Three pronouncements about discipleship (Beatitudes, salt, light)
                        C 5:17-48 Three teachings on a follower’s thinking (anger, lust, divorce)
                                    D 6:1-4 Righteousness before God - giving
                                         E 6:5-15 Righteousness before God – prayer (Lord’s Prayer, center of sermon)
                                    D’ 6:16-18 Righteousness before God - fasting
                        C’ 16:19-7:12 Teachings on a follower’s deeds (serving God, anxiety, judging, asking)
            B’ 7:13-27 Three end-of-time warnings (two ways, two harvests, two builders)
A’ 7:28-29 Conclusion

Today we read the “Three pronouncement about discipleship” including the Beatitudes. Also “Three teachings on a follow’s thinking.” In the first part, especially the Beatitudes, we have to remember that the audience is a group of people who are poor, largely powerless, and dispossessed. For them life is hard, and life is short. They work all day and spend all they make to feed themselves in order to survive to work all day tomorrow. Their labors are helping rich people get richer.

Into that context then you have Jesus saying, “Blessed are you…

Blessed are: the poor in spirit, the mourners, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted.

Their lives are anything but blessed. But Jesus says they are blessed. And he does not mean you are suffering now and God will reward you with niceness in eternal life. No. Remember, Matthew’s gospel is about a conflict of kingdoms. God’s kingdom vs. the kingdom of the world. God’s kingdom is coming. He is ushering it in. Its coming will be real for them. Living in it will bring them real hope and real blessings.

Jesus goes on, “You are the salt of the earth…” and, “You are the light of the world…”

These people didn’t see themselves as salt or light. They lived dark bland lives of labor until they died. Yet Jesus promises that as they bring in the kingdom of God they will be the flavor and light that the world needs. Jesus is empowering them. He is telling them they – the dispossessed and unimportant in the world’s eyes – are valuable; essential even.

For us 21st Century Americans the Sermon on the Mount sounds like a series of moral teachings. For Matthew’s original hearers these were words of wonderful promise. God had heard their cries and knew their problems. God wasn’t going to come in and solve their problems for them, rather God was going to equip them and work through them to accomplish his great kingdom. After all, it feels far better to be equipped to earn something than to have something just given to you. Those things in life that you appreciate the most are the things you’ve worked the hardest to accomplish.



The second portion of the sermon we read is about a follower’s thinking. Jesus talks about the religious laws. He uses six examples and you may have noticed the formula he uses. We’ll use the first one as an example.

First, Jesus reaffirms the law. So he says, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder.”

Second, Jesus radicalizes the law. He continues, “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister.” The radicalization catches and convicts everyone. And if you find yourself good with one, you will be caught in another.

Third, Jesus gives an application, “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you…” This application affirms God’s original intention for humanity.

Ultimately this part of the sermon drives us to acknowledge that we are sinners. We need God’s grace. It takes away our arrogance and sense of self-perfection; no matter how hard we try.

When we live in God’s grace we are in a place to truly apply what Jesus teaches.

Though we do not live with the hardship and oppression of those long ago we are still called to be salt and light. We are called to continue the work of bringing in God’s kingdom that they began. Sometimes it seems like we are slipping ever farther from that accomplishment. Sometimes it seems like we are getting nearer. Either way it is God’s kingdom. It is God’s great work. And we are a part of it.

Midweek Musings written for May 10

As the dean of the conference I am tasked with writing Midweek Musings for one month of the year.  This year I have the month of May.  Midweek Musings are thoughts about the Bible readings that are coming up for the next Sunday.  They are distributed throughout the synod and read by many pastors and laypeople.

We ended Sunday's worship during the sermon.  Next week we'll pick up where we left off and add on some more material.  Therefore it makes no sense for me to post here a sermon that was never preached, and then largely repeated next Sunday.  However, I am going to share what I wrote for Midweek Musings.  While we will be reading from Matthew's gospel, most churches will be reading John 14:1-14.  I invite you to read those verses before continuing here.

In verse 2 of this passage Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.”  A closer look at the Greek text makes me want to translate it, “In my Father’s house are many abiding places.”  While abiding and dwelling are certainly synonyms I believe abiding carries the meaning of the entire passage more effectively.

The scene is the Last Supper.  Jesus has been telling the disciples of his immanent betrayal and that he would be leaving them.  In the verses immediately preceding our verses Peter has asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus answers, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”  The disciples are deeply troubled by it all.  They have devoted their lives to following Jesus.  Now, however, they are told they cannot follow.  What is going on?  What is happening?  Where can they turn?  Where can they put their trust?  It is into this anxiety that Jesus speaks 14:1-14.  They will always safely abide in God.  The text goes on in what may appear to be a dizzying strand of logic, but we get the point.  Jesus is being emphatic about abiding fully and securely in God.

John 14:1-14 can easily be misinterpreted into a theology of glory -  where we humans can use faith as a path towards personal empowerment.  But when kept in light of the disciples’ anxiety at the Last Supper, we stay safely in the theology of the cross.

Our current times are anxious times.  People are anxious about infectious disease.  People are anxious about the economic downturn.  People are anxious about how life will be different; and perhaps for churches, how worship will be different.  The news is full of reports of death, hardship, and frustration.  Into this doom and gloom it is good when we can bring a message of hope.  The church is not the only messenger of hope, however.

At the risk of being seriously misunderstood, I want to bring up the current advertisement by Pfizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl0tEfLve1U  #sciencewillwin  It is worth watching if you haven’t seen it.  This advertisement is filled with religious ideology.  The opening line is, “At a time when things are most uncertain, we turn to the most certain thing there is.  Science.”  Now, don’t misunderstand me please.  As someone with a degree in civil engineering, and as someone who employs scientific principles throughout my life (including biblical study), I do not intend to attack the scientific community.  God has given us brilliant minds and amazing capabilities.  With many people denying scientific claims about the environment we certainly need solid scientific authority in our culture.  Personally I feel no tension between faith and science.  To me science is one aspect of the much bigger faith God has given me.  However, is science really the most certain thing there is?  Is science our abiding place?  Absolutely not!  Inspiring as this advertisement is, it is built on the misguided theology of glory.

God our Father is our abiding place.  In uncertain times we turn to the most certain thing there is: the love of God.  Nothing, absolutely positively nothing, is bigger or stronger than God’s love.  Nothing can separate you from it!  What can separate you from the love of God?  Will COVID-19, or economic collapse, or anxiety, or cancelled worship, or…  (Well, why don’t I just let St. Paul finish the sentence!) “…hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35,37)

Not even death will separate us from God’s love.  So yes: scientists, researchers, and engineers please work hard with the skills God’s given you to develop solutions.  But as for our abiding place, the most certain thing there is, that is God’s love!