Whenever I’m in line at a grocery store waiting to pay my eyes wander to all the magazines on the shelves. There’s always at least some of them with splashy headlines about how to: look good, lose weight, be successful, make tons of money, etc. You know what I’m talking about. And they also promise, or strongly suggest, that by buying their magazine and reading the articles inside that it will all be easy. They suggest that there is some secret that you do not know, but they do! And simply applying it will make all sorts of good things happen.
Now we all know it can’t possibly be true, but it is tempting nevertheless. We ask ourselves is there something important that we don’t know about, but should.
It seems to be deep in human nature to want to do things the easiest way possible. We certainly put that to good use. We make life easy for ourselves. We try to be efficient. It is said that, “necessity is the mother of invention.” I like to say that “laziness is the mother of invention.” By that I don’t mean laziness in a bad way, I mean in a good way as a driving force to make things easier.
But of course it goes too far. People want short cuts rather than earning things. They want to get rich quick rather than putting in the hard time and effort needed to create the value for society necessary to have significant wealth.
Our gospel reading is the final portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We’ve been reading through it for the last five weeks. It is the central teaching of Jesus’ ministry. It gives the foundation of what following Jesus is based upon. Here at the end of it Jesus gives final warnings. I don’t think he’s being harsh or mean. He’s being realistic. Following him is not like reading an article from a magazine in a grocery store check-out line that promises fast easy fixes. Following him is going to take work – hard work, and lots of it!
We may not like hearing those words, but we know they are true. We know full well that what the magazines promise won’t work. But would we buy a magazine that tells the truth? How tempted would you be to pick up a magazine that headlines, “Lose weight through seriously eating less, hard work, and a permanent lifestyle change.” Or, “How to have more money buy working longer hours, sacrificing luxuries and conveniences, and doing without.” How about, “Having a trim figure by untold hours of exercise and giving up everything you like to eat.”
I don’t think we are to be frightened by Jesus saying, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” No, I don’t think Jesus is telling his followers that getting into eternal life is nearly impossible. He is just telling the truth, even as that truth is unlikable.
But we know those truths: Weight loss does take eating healthy things in moderation and a lot of physical activity. We know that getting more money involves a lot of work, and quite often sacrifices. (Those sacrifices may or may not be worth it. Is it worth sacrificing too much time with your family in a quest for wealth.)
And here is a truth that I think is almost entirely overlooked in our society today, but fits exactly with what Jesus teaches. Living a fulfilled life is not about getting and having a bunch of stuff that comes easily. Living a fulfilled life usually involves embracing a lot of mundane drudgery. It is doing countless tasks that get little attention and little pay, but is essential to being fulfilled.
No parent likes getting up in the middle of the night to change a messy diaper or deal with a sick or hungry kid. It happens all too often! And it can be frustrating helping a child who struggles constantly with homework, or who is always getting into trouble, or is always making messes or breaking things. These things wear a person down. There is little praise and recognition for it.
When my own kids were young I would hear people generally comment about little kids, “I wonder where they get all their energy?” To which I would reply, “I know exactly where they get all that energy. They suck it out of me!” And I will make the disclaimer that my kids were great overall.
The thing is, while many families may enjoy great family experiences and vacations and the like, real authentic strong and loving bonding is forged through embracing the mundane drudgery of daily life. It isn’t the spectacular. It is doing the ordinary well.
Two of our youth are being confirmed today. Confirmation is affirming the promises their parents made on their behalf at baptism. As they do so they become adult members of the congregation. I suppose I could create an inspiring sermon to tell them to embrace the world and do great and spectacular things in faith. But what I really need them to hear is that God often comes very powerfully in the ordinary. Do not overlook it. Do not look for spectacular or splashy things. Instead, be ready and willing to take on whatever task may be in front of them – be it easy or hard.
It is an attitude of the heart, a fundamental way of looking at the world and life.
Perhaps I go too far to call the magazines at the store false prophets, but I think it basically fits to apply Jesus’ words, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad three bears bad fruit.”
For the most part an honest, hardworking, discipled person will be a trustworthy person. And someone who’s out for their own selfish ends will never be a solid friend or a dependable person. Your relationship with them will always be transactional, and transactional such that it will be in their favor.
Our first reading was the Pentecost reading from Acts. It is the time of the dramatic coming of the Spirit upon the disciples at the Jewish early harvest holiday of Pentecost. We could say that with such an inspirational beginning the disciples were well set to head into the world. We could think that if we ever had such an experience our faith would surely be stronger and more capable; have less doubts, and more confidence. But continue reading through Acts. You’ll discover that the disciples had more then plenty of struggles ahead. Many of them were very routine – like who would do the housekeeping and the accounting. Their effectiveness came from their willingness to embrace the truths of Jesus’ teachings and the less-than-spectacular tasks of witnessing to the gospel.
Here is the good news in all of this. It is not the splashy news of a magazine cover. It is the true and solid good news. Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with the image of two men who build houses. One, the one who builds his life on the solid foundation of Jesus’ teaching, builds his house on rock. When the floods came and the winds blew the house stood.
The other hears the words of Jesus but still wants a shortcut through life, a life of good things without the necessary work, builds his house on sand. When the floods came and the winds blew the house fell.
Life will always have floods and wind; in whatever form they may take. The life built upon what Jesus teaches will stand and stand strong.
I’m not saying that a follower of Jesus is immune from failure or calamity or anything like that. I’m saying that the core of who that person is, is built on the solid rock of a good heart with the right life commitments. Such a person is indestructible and unshakable.
Jesus’ does not teach his followers to look for the easy or the spectacular. He teaches his followers to embrace the ordinary with purpose, recognizing its value. And then learning and growing with him. Such is the life that leads to true fulfillment, whether society truly sees it or not.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Monday, May 8, 2023
May 7, 2023 Easter 5 Matthew 5:17-48
As you know, we serve as the anchor church for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lyons. They’re planning a special worship service for Memorial Day weekend. I was working on that service last week. It occurred to me that Memorial Day and the recent income tax season stand in stark contrast to each other.
I assume you filed your income tax forms with the federal and state government, and maybe others as well. Maybe you filed yourself. Maybe you paid someone to file for you. And maybe you helped others with their taxes. The thing about taxes is that it is as if we consider the government to be our adversary. We want to pay as little as possible. There are formulas and deductions and all sorts of strategies that just about everyone employs to the fullest in order to lower the taxes we pay as much as possible.
How often have you ever sat back and thought, “I get a huge benefit for the taxes I pay. In fact, I get more benefits than what I’m paying for, so I will do my duty to my country and voluntarily pay more”?
Have you ever filled out your taxes and discovered that you had to pay money in and felt, “Good, I’m glad the government is holding me accountable for the benefits I receive. I certainly wouldn’t want to short my country by being selfish and greedy with what I earn”?
Heh, I doubt it!
It almost feels like the money we pay in taxes is money that just goes down the drain. It is as if we do not make a connection to our taxes and: the roads, national defense, safety regulations, law enforcement, education, and more that we get from our governments. We immediately focus on whatever type of government spending there is that we don’t like. And there is plenty to choose from!
So it is a huge contrast then when we consider Memorial Day coming up. Memorial Day is about honoring those who have died in miliary service to this nation. They certainly didn’t stop at contributing to this nation through their taxes. They gave everything – their lives! And they may have done so with unwavering and unquestioning commitment to the nation.
Do we think them stupid? Nope. We honor them. We remember them. And rightly so. But it is certainly a contrast. Taxes are an adversarial relationship with our government. Military service is one of absolute commitment and incredible trust.
A member of the armed forces trusts that as they are working and acting, at the orders of their commanders, they are indeed doing things for the betterment of the nation, and perhaps the world as a whole. Refuse orders… disobey… and likely receive serious consequences. I wouldn’t suggest being a member of the armed forces with the same attitude you have when doing your taxes!
The attitude for taxes is to study the technicalities of the law and get away with as much as you can. The attitude for military service is to offer yourself to the needs of your country with deep trust.
As we move deeper into the Sermon on the Mount today, we find Jesus talking about the religious laws. What approach should people take? Using our contrast between taxes and the armed services as a framework, is it faithful to study the religious law looking for loopholes and then exploit them, or is it faithful to generously live into the spirit of the law? Of course the answer is this second approach. God did not give the law for people to find loopholes and wiggle through. God intended the law for good. People should recognize that and desire to live into it fully.
It is important for us to realize that Jesus isn’t saying anything all that revolutionary about the law. We have records of other Jewish leaders of that time, and in prior times, who said basically the same things. They encourage people to see the spirit of the law and want to live into it. Seeking loopholes is not what God intended.
Actually there is very little of Jesus’ teaching anywhere that is new. From a certain perspective he is no different than many other morality teachers. So what stood him apart?
What stood him apart is that he sets himself up as the fulfillment of the law. He does not point a finger at people and say, “Be warned. Straighten up or you’re going to get it!” He doesn’t say, “God’s watching you and God’s not happy.” No, that’s the sort of message the prophets often gave.
Again, Jesus says he is the fulfillment of the law. He is the fulfillment of the law because he knows full well he will die for it. Because he will die for it he is proof that his life and teaching are the definitive revelation of the will of God.
Fulfilling the law frees us from being tangled in its technicalities, but it does not mean we are exempt from it.
Jesus creates a pattern as he teaches about the law. He does this pattern six times over. Let’s look at the first one as an example.
He starts by staying, “You have heard that it was said…”
Then he states the law, “You shall not murder; and, whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.”
He continues, “But I say to you…”
Then he roots the law in its origin and radicalizes it, “…if you are angry with a brother or sister you will be liable to judgment.”
Something important happens as he does this. It doesn’t happen with just once. It happens with the whole set of six. And all six together take us into a fundamental truth.
Maybe as you’re hearing the six you think, “Okay, I don’t get angry easily, or at all.” And then, “I don’t commit adultery or even have lustful thoughts.” And then, “I’m not divorced.” And, “I don’t swear ever.” And, “I never want revenge for people who hurt me.” And “I love my enemies all the time.”
And I think you get the point. Perhaps you can escape some of these. But no one escapes all of them. As Jesus radicalizes the law he entraps absolutely everyone. Since he roots his radicalization, not in the letter of the law, but in the fundamentals of God’s intentions behind the law, we have no wiggle room out. Our hearts have to be truly in the right place.
We fall short. We can’t do it. We are forced to recognize that we need God’s grace. We aren’t going to do it on our own righteousness.
None of what Jesus says is intended to make us feel guilty. But it is intended to keep us from getting smug. No matter how “good” you are, you are – at best – only fulfilling the barest minimum of the requirements. There’s no way to fulfill them all.
So, we have to depend upon grace. We can’t earn it.
If it’s hopeless for our own righteousness should we then give up trying? You’ve surely heard that before. Even the earliest Christians were learning how to exploit God’s goodness.
No. The sermon is intended to spur us on to ever greater energy and commitment. It is to cause us discontentment with the way things are in the world around us and spurs us on to endless engagement.
There’s no room in the morality Jesus describes for someone to say, “I’ve done my part. I’m good. It’s up to someone else.” Instead it is the mindset of the soldier who is giving everything to his or her country. And since we know the story of Jesus well, we know that he asks nothing more of his followers than he himself is willing to do.
May we live in the spirit of the law, rooted in God’s intentions. May our hearts truly desire the good that God seeks to bring about. And may we realize that try as we might at this, we will still fail at it, but know that we can rely upon God’s grace for us always.
I assume you filed your income tax forms with the federal and state government, and maybe others as well. Maybe you filed yourself. Maybe you paid someone to file for you. And maybe you helped others with their taxes. The thing about taxes is that it is as if we consider the government to be our adversary. We want to pay as little as possible. There are formulas and deductions and all sorts of strategies that just about everyone employs to the fullest in order to lower the taxes we pay as much as possible.
How often have you ever sat back and thought, “I get a huge benefit for the taxes I pay. In fact, I get more benefits than what I’m paying for, so I will do my duty to my country and voluntarily pay more”?
Have you ever filled out your taxes and discovered that you had to pay money in and felt, “Good, I’m glad the government is holding me accountable for the benefits I receive. I certainly wouldn’t want to short my country by being selfish and greedy with what I earn”?
Heh, I doubt it!
It almost feels like the money we pay in taxes is money that just goes down the drain. It is as if we do not make a connection to our taxes and: the roads, national defense, safety regulations, law enforcement, education, and more that we get from our governments. We immediately focus on whatever type of government spending there is that we don’t like. And there is plenty to choose from!
So it is a huge contrast then when we consider Memorial Day coming up. Memorial Day is about honoring those who have died in miliary service to this nation. They certainly didn’t stop at contributing to this nation through their taxes. They gave everything – their lives! And they may have done so with unwavering and unquestioning commitment to the nation.
Do we think them stupid? Nope. We honor them. We remember them. And rightly so. But it is certainly a contrast. Taxes are an adversarial relationship with our government. Military service is one of absolute commitment and incredible trust.
A member of the armed forces trusts that as they are working and acting, at the orders of their commanders, they are indeed doing things for the betterment of the nation, and perhaps the world as a whole. Refuse orders… disobey… and likely receive serious consequences. I wouldn’t suggest being a member of the armed forces with the same attitude you have when doing your taxes!
The attitude for taxes is to study the technicalities of the law and get away with as much as you can. The attitude for military service is to offer yourself to the needs of your country with deep trust.
As we move deeper into the Sermon on the Mount today, we find Jesus talking about the religious laws. What approach should people take? Using our contrast between taxes and the armed services as a framework, is it faithful to study the religious law looking for loopholes and then exploit them, or is it faithful to generously live into the spirit of the law? Of course the answer is this second approach. God did not give the law for people to find loopholes and wiggle through. God intended the law for good. People should recognize that and desire to live into it fully.
It is important for us to realize that Jesus isn’t saying anything all that revolutionary about the law. We have records of other Jewish leaders of that time, and in prior times, who said basically the same things. They encourage people to see the spirit of the law and want to live into it. Seeking loopholes is not what God intended.
Actually there is very little of Jesus’ teaching anywhere that is new. From a certain perspective he is no different than many other morality teachers. So what stood him apart?
What stood him apart is that he sets himself up as the fulfillment of the law. He does not point a finger at people and say, “Be warned. Straighten up or you’re going to get it!” He doesn’t say, “God’s watching you and God’s not happy.” No, that’s the sort of message the prophets often gave.
Again, Jesus says he is the fulfillment of the law. He is the fulfillment of the law because he knows full well he will die for it. Because he will die for it he is proof that his life and teaching are the definitive revelation of the will of God.
Fulfilling the law frees us from being tangled in its technicalities, but it does not mean we are exempt from it.
Jesus creates a pattern as he teaches about the law. He does this pattern six times over. Let’s look at the first one as an example.
He starts by staying, “You have heard that it was said…”
Then he states the law, “You shall not murder; and, whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.”
He continues, “But I say to you…”
Then he roots the law in its origin and radicalizes it, “…if you are angry with a brother or sister you will be liable to judgment.”
Something important happens as he does this. It doesn’t happen with just once. It happens with the whole set of six. And all six together take us into a fundamental truth.
Maybe as you’re hearing the six you think, “Okay, I don’t get angry easily, or at all.” And then, “I don’t commit adultery or even have lustful thoughts.” And then, “I’m not divorced.” And, “I don’t swear ever.” And, “I never want revenge for people who hurt me.” And “I love my enemies all the time.”
And I think you get the point. Perhaps you can escape some of these. But no one escapes all of them. As Jesus radicalizes the law he entraps absolutely everyone. Since he roots his radicalization, not in the letter of the law, but in the fundamentals of God’s intentions behind the law, we have no wiggle room out. Our hearts have to be truly in the right place.
We fall short. We can’t do it. We are forced to recognize that we need God’s grace. We aren’t going to do it on our own righteousness.
None of what Jesus says is intended to make us feel guilty. But it is intended to keep us from getting smug. No matter how “good” you are, you are – at best – only fulfilling the barest minimum of the requirements. There’s no way to fulfill them all.
So, we have to depend upon grace. We can’t earn it.
If it’s hopeless for our own righteousness should we then give up trying? You’ve surely heard that before. Even the earliest Christians were learning how to exploit God’s goodness.
No. The sermon is intended to spur us on to ever greater energy and commitment. It is to cause us discontentment with the way things are in the world around us and spurs us on to endless engagement.
There’s no room in the morality Jesus describes for someone to say, “I’ve done my part. I’m good. It’s up to someone else.” Instead it is the mindset of the soldier who is giving everything to his or her country. And since we know the story of Jesus well, we know that he asks nothing more of his followers than he himself is willing to do.
May we live in the spirit of the law, rooted in God’s intentions. May our hearts truly desire the good that God seeks to bring about. And may we realize that try as we might at this, we will still fail at it, but know that we can rely upon God’s grace for us always.
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