What is joy? It’s one of those easy questions to ask but a somewhat hard thing to define. If I take an old school approach I turn to Webster’s dictionary. There I find, “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying; keen pleasure.” Okay. That sounds good. But how do I attain it? I think we all want to feel joy but it’s not something you can just get with a formula and calculations. While there are things you can do increase your chances of feeling joy, often it just happens unexpectedly. You can’t guarantee that it will happen. I think we’ve all felt joy doing something or being some place. Then sometime later we try to recreate it but it doesn’t work. Or perhaps it does work but with declining returns. Joy is something we want but can’t really get our hands on; and certainly can’t control.
I think that helps to prepare us to engage what is going on in our gospel reading for today. In his typical style of withholding essential information until just the moment when he decides to reveal it, Luke holds off telling us the ethnicity of the one leper who returned to give thanks to Jesus. We’re well into the story before we learn that the only character who is praised was a foreigner. That is jarring. But we’re okay with that because that’s the way good storytellers often do things. What we’re not okay with, but what Luke seems to have done, is to yank the logic of the story out from under us as well.
You’ll remember that for these last several chapters Jesus has been traveling to Jerusalem with a (possibly large) group of followers. He’s talking and teaching along the way. He also eats meals in various places. He gets into some controversies with members of the Pharisee sect. As the gospel reading for today begins, he’s back on the road. We’re told that he’s traveling between Samaria and Galilee. So far so good.
Jesus has entered a village and is approached by ten lepers. Leprosy could refer to any number of skin conditions. Some of them were contagious and deadly. Everyone diagnosed with leprosy was separated from the healthy population. People with leprosy would often band together into groups apart from the rest of society. Since their condition may be contagious they knew they could not come into close proximity with others. We understand perfectly then when we’re told the ten lepers cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They’re keeping their distance. Here, though, Luke is leading us down a false path. That Jewish people would recognize Jesus and call him master is something we’d expect. So our minds automatically, yet incorrectly, make the assumption that all ten are Jewish.
Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. Luke continues to allow our assumption to go unchallenged. Yet he is pulling us into a trap. Both Jews and Samaritans had priests. In both cases priests were the ones who were to make examinations of people with leprosy. Only a priest could declare a person cured. The only difference between Jews and Samaritans in this regard is that Jewish people would go to Jerusalem to be examined by a priest, and Samaritan people would go to Samaria to be examined by one of their own priests.
Again, Luke is allowing the story to develop before us with our incorrect assumptions intact. The story continues as we’re told that as the lepers went on their way they were cured. That was a great thing to happen to them! Then we’re told that only one of them returns. That one, despite not being examined by a priest, knows that he is no longer contagious. So this time he comes right up to Jesus, falls at his feet, and gives thanks with a loud voice.
But there is where Luke pulls his trick of giving us the detail that the man was a Samaritan. We realize that we made a reasonable, but incorrect, assumption. We might be a little annoyed at being tricked like this, but that’s just what Luke does. Then, almost at the same moment we realize we’ve made a mistake, Luke also yanks the logic out of the story. Jesus says, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
At the same moment that we’re surprised that a foreigner, who shares neither religion nor nationality with Jesus, is the only one who is being thankful, we’re also a little puzzled with Jesus. Didn’t he just tell them all to go and show themselves to the priests. As the story is told, the Samaritan realizes his cure along the way. So presumably the rest are still on their way. They are directly obeying Jesus’ command. They are following orders. Yet now Jesus seems upset that they haven’t disobeyed him and returned with gratitude. Plus, if they did have a contagious disease, is it not smart to get an expert opinion before going back into contact with people?
It is the Samaritan who is, in a sense, being disobedient to Jesus. It is the Samaritan who is putting people’s health at risk. Yet Jesus commends him for it! What is going on here?
When I encounter things in the Bible that don’t make sense I turn to the experts. Over the years I have amassed an arsenal of commentaries written by experts who pour over the Bible’s stories for their whole lives. They almost always have insights I can use to make sense of what is going on. True, sometimes they are stumped. Some things they cannot decipher no matter how hard they try. But even so, they can usually make some educated guesses. So how do they handle this breakdown of logic in this story?
Let’s say – not very well. Many just ignore it. Friedrick Schleiermacher, a famous highly influential German theologian from centuries ago, concludes that the story is “negligently told.” (Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8, Pg. 297)
That’s not much help! No matter how much logic and brain power you apply to this text it leaves you baffled. But George Arthur Buttrick has what seems to me to be the right idea. He suggests that the story is not negligently told at all. Instead, it is expertly told, just as all of Luke’s gospel is. And Luke has deliberately shaped the story so as to trip us up in our assumptions of the nationality of the lepers, and then almost immediately afterwards, logic drops out from under us as well. Why? Because Luke wants us to realize something that logic cannot analyze.
I started off asking what is joy? Now I ask, what is gratitude? You can teach a child to say thank you. A child may obey you in it and learn to express gratitude. But is that really gratitude or is it just social conditioning? I’m sure we’ve all said thank you after receiving a gift, when our real thoughts are that we can’t wait to throw away or donate the item as quickly as possible!
But what is real gratitude? What is that deep feeling of thankfulness, and even joy, at receiving something? It is always something unexpected, and something that makes us feel like we are forever in debt to the person who gave it. We feel completely undeserving of it.
Perhaps all of the lepers who were cleansed felt thankfulness and some gratitude to Jesus. But it is only the Samaritan who is so overwhelmed with gratitude that he disobeys Jesus’ words and comes back, disregarding boundaries of safety, and throws himself at Jesus’ feet.
I don’t believe this story is intended to be a racist story. I don’t believe Luke is criticizing Jews and uplifting Samaritans as if they were somehow better. But Luke is making use of the general Jewish disdain for Samaritans. He is showing that God’s grace can appear in outsiders and in unexpected places. God’s grace is not the property and privilege of a select group. God’s grace is not logical. It is not controllable. It is not predictable. It is God’s sovereignty.
Try not to be too jealous when it appears that God’s grace is coming to others who seem less worthy than you think you are. Do not become distressed that you cannot use logic to manufacture joy or gratitude within yourself. Luke has told us a story that breaks the rules of proper storytelling to show us that God is not bound by the rules.
And ultimately, whether we ever feel like we’re receiving God’s grace or not, here is the ultimate truth. Death is the end of us. That is fact. That is logic. That is the rules. But it is God’s promise of irrational, illogical, impossible, and overwhelming grace, that says that death is not the end. Eternal life is grace.
That is our hope, our dream, our striving, and our joy. It is God’s promised joy for us all.
Monday, October 6, 2025
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
September 28, 2025 Luke 17:1-10
The verses that we read in our gospel reading may have felt disorganized and perhaps angry. Jesus seems to be jumping from topic to topic. He’s talking about hanging millstones around necks, being slaves who aren’t appreciated, and having no faith to speak of. Who would want to be a follower of someone like this?
The best way I’ve heard to understand this is to realize that it comes after a long series of teachings. Jesus is pulling together several themes he has touched on, and he is taking them one step further. From about halfway through chapter 11 of Luke’s gospel on to about where we are now in chapter 17 it can be helpful to imagine yourself as someone sitting in a theater watching a musical or play. Picture Jesus standing center stage. There’s a spotlight on him the whole time. Off to one side of Jesus is a big group of people who Luke would call Jesus’ disciples. But don’t picture them as the 12 apostles. This is a broader group of people who generally poor. They’re day laborers, subsistence farmers, fishermen, farm hands, etc. Off to the other side of Jesus is a big group of people who are his opponents. Luke usually just calls them “Pharisees” but it’s best to understand that as a catch-all term for people who are educated and well-to-do. The systems of society and the economy work for them. Because of that they seem to think they have God’s blessings on their lives. They subtly perceive themselves to somehow be better than those on the other side of Jesus.
As we see these chapters unfold on the stage in front of us it is as if sometimes a spotlight turns on to the disciples and the Pharisees are in semi-darkness. Jesus addresses his words to his followers but the Pharisees are overhearing him. Then the spotlight on the disciples turns off and one turns on over the Pharisees. Jesus now talks to them, but Jesus’ followers are still there on stage overhearing his words.
Back and forth it goes, chapter after chapter. Jesus’ words are addressed to different groups but no group ever leaves the stage. This means that we’re to understand that both groups hear everything Jesus says.
That part of the play is now wrapping up in chapter 17. At this point there’s a spotlight on the disciples. The teaching is directed towards them. The things Jesus is saying are not a scattered bunch of unrelated teachings, but a summary of the last few chapters’ worth of materials.
Jesus says, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” Who are the little ones? Last week we read the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus was one of the little ones. So too are the poor, crippled, blind, and the lame. While Jesus has been largely criticizing the Pharisees, when he says, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come…” he is reminding his followers that they are not immune from the sense of superiority the Pharisees have.
Jesus knows full well our human tendencies. We seem to always be establishing a pecking order with some people on the top and others beneath them. The Pharisees felt smug over the poor. Jesus criticized them for that. And, as Jesus teaches about God reversing the fortunes of the rich and the poor, now the poor could also fall into a trap of feeling morally superior because of their poverty. Jesus doesn’t want that to happen either.
Jesus is preaching God’s new economy of life, which brings forth both a call to repentance and a promise of compassion. In the new order none claim superiority or inferiority. All live with the call to repentance and the promise of divine compassion.
Jesus’ next words to his disciples are that they must now forgive others endlessly. If their lives are truly oriented around repentance and God’s promise of compassion for them, forgiveness is now no longer a scorecard of wrongs. You don’t get to tally how many times a person fails and asks for forgiveness. Then at some point they’ve reached the limit and you cut them off. The simple act of tallying the times you forgive someone runs counter to the nature of true forgiveness. True forgiveness does not keep track.
This is a teaching that has been exploited many times. I once supervised an intern pastor who I felt was exploitative and abusive. He would say to people, “You’re a Christian. You have to forgive me over and over.” That’s abusive and exploitative. You can’t leverage forgiveness out of other people. Jesus did not intend victims of abuse to hear this and feel like they are trapped in cycles of destruction. This teaching is meant to convey that since we are all sinners who inevitably will stumble frequently, that since God is richly forgiving we should be too.
(As an aside, that intern pastor I mentioned was removed from the program.)
Even so, this is a hard teaching. God being richly forgiving and therefore we are to be richly forgiving is a very difficult thing to live out! The apostles reply, “Increase our faith!”
Notice the shift in language that just happened there. Luke is pretty precise in the way he uses words. When he says, “disciples” he generally means the group of people who are following Jesus. There could be any number of them, men and women. But when he says “apostles” he means the 12 closest followers of Jesus. So now it is as if the spotlight on stage has gone off of the general group of Jesus’ disciples and a very focused light is on just the 12. They say, “Increase our faith!” Indeed, this demand for forgiveness is going to take a lot of faith to live out.
In response we expect Jesus to say something nice to them. The apostles have recognized a weakness within themselves. They are wisely turning to their Lord and asking for what they need to deal with that weakness. Jesus should commend them for their priorities and insightfulness. But…
Jesus replies, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Remember, the spotlight has narrowed to just Jesus and the 12 apostles. If anyone in the story should have faith it would be these 12 followers. Yet Jesus basically says that even they, his closest 12, are entirely lacking in what it takes. That’s really tough thing for Jesus to say!
What the apostles have missed, and what is so very easy for us to miss too, is that faith is not a commodity to be had; or a commodity to be increased or decreased. Faith is not a possession. It is, perhaps, better described as a disposition toward life.
When we build our lives around the ways of the world our attitude towards money, possessions, and status, will be fundamentally unfaithful. Our life priorities will be just plain wrong. When we build our lives around the inbreaking kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims, we are automatically faithful in all that we have. Such an attitude would not make a request like, “Increase our faith.” It would simply live into it.
But this is very hard. Luke has done a good job of showing that even the closest 12 followers of Jesus didn’t get it. We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves if we struggle with it. The point is not so much to get it right as it is to have the humility to know that you never will really get it totally right. Remember what Jesus said at the beginning of this section. “Occasions for stumbling are sure to come…” That is Jesus’ compassion.
The final thing Jesus says in this section is also troublesome to us. He says, “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table.’ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink.’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”
That one may sting. Are we really to live our lives devoted to God and at the end of it all think of ourselves, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” Are we worthless before God? Does God not appreciate how hard being a follower of Jesus usually is?
Jesus uses this image because it wraps up all that he has been teaching. It is an effective one. But we trip over it because our understanding of appreciation and value is different than theirs.
Jesus is using a common image. People knew well the dynamics of a master/slave relationship. And remember, slavery in those days was fundamentally different than the systemic permanent racial slavery of the United States. Slavery in those days was rarely life-long. The Old Testament has many rules about the treatment of slaves and the duration of their enslavement. So within their understanding, a slave who has done all that he or she has been ordered to do has simply fulfilled their master’s wishes. The slave is owed nothing more. When Jesus says that we are to see ourselves as “worthless slaves” he does not mean that we are useless. He means that our faithfulness to God does then therefore put God under obligation to do us any favors. Said differently, there is no “worth” that we can give to God that would put God in debt to us. We cannot pray, “God, I did this for you. Now you must do for me what I want.”
It all sums up like this. In these last chapters we may have found ourselves scowling at the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and sense of superiority. And we may have smiled upon the poorer disciples for their humility and authenticity. But by all of these words Jesus points out that: rich or poor, powerful or weak, educated or ignorant, kind or cruel, all people have the same base instincts at work in them. All are capable of twisting the ways of the world to their benefit. All are capable of twisting the promises of God to their benefit as well. Even as we strive to do our best to be faithful people living out God’s promises in our lives, we know that we will do so imperfectly at best. Yet we strive anyway, and we can count on God being with us always in our striving.
The best way I’ve heard to understand this is to realize that it comes after a long series of teachings. Jesus is pulling together several themes he has touched on, and he is taking them one step further. From about halfway through chapter 11 of Luke’s gospel on to about where we are now in chapter 17 it can be helpful to imagine yourself as someone sitting in a theater watching a musical or play. Picture Jesus standing center stage. There’s a spotlight on him the whole time. Off to one side of Jesus is a big group of people who Luke would call Jesus’ disciples. But don’t picture them as the 12 apostles. This is a broader group of people who generally poor. They’re day laborers, subsistence farmers, fishermen, farm hands, etc. Off to the other side of Jesus is a big group of people who are his opponents. Luke usually just calls them “Pharisees” but it’s best to understand that as a catch-all term for people who are educated and well-to-do. The systems of society and the economy work for them. Because of that they seem to think they have God’s blessings on their lives. They subtly perceive themselves to somehow be better than those on the other side of Jesus.
As we see these chapters unfold on the stage in front of us it is as if sometimes a spotlight turns on to the disciples and the Pharisees are in semi-darkness. Jesus addresses his words to his followers but the Pharisees are overhearing him. Then the spotlight on the disciples turns off and one turns on over the Pharisees. Jesus now talks to them, but Jesus’ followers are still there on stage overhearing his words.
Back and forth it goes, chapter after chapter. Jesus’ words are addressed to different groups but no group ever leaves the stage. This means that we’re to understand that both groups hear everything Jesus says.
That part of the play is now wrapping up in chapter 17. At this point there’s a spotlight on the disciples. The teaching is directed towards them. The things Jesus is saying are not a scattered bunch of unrelated teachings, but a summary of the last few chapters’ worth of materials.
Jesus says, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” Who are the little ones? Last week we read the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus was one of the little ones. So too are the poor, crippled, blind, and the lame. While Jesus has been largely criticizing the Pharisees, when he says, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come…” he is reminding his followers that they are not immune from the sense of superiority the Pharisees have.
Jesus knows full well our human tendencies. We seem to always be establishing a pecking order with some people on the top and others beneath them. The Pharisees felt smug over the poor. Jesus criticized them for that. And, as Jesus teaches about God reversing the fortunes of the rich and the poor, now the poor could also fall into a trap of feeling morally superior because of their poverty. Jesus doesn’t want that to happen either.
Jesus is preaching God’s new economy of life, which brings forth both a call to repentance and a promise of compassion. In the new order none claim superiority or inferiority. All live with the call to repentance and the promise of divine compassion.
Jesus’ next words to his disciples are that they must now forgive others endlessly. If their lives are truly oriented around repentance and God’s promise of compassion for them, forgiveness is now no longer a scorecard of wrongs. You don’t get to tally how many times a person fails and asks for forgiveness. Then at some point they’ve reached the limit and you cut them off. The simple act of tallying the times you forgive someone runs counter to the nature of true forgiveness. True forgiveness does not keep track.
This is a teaching that has been exploited many times. I once supervised an intern pastor who I felt was exploitative and abusive. He would say to people, “You’re a Christian. You have to forgive me over and over.” That’s abusive and exploitative. You can’t leverage forgiveness out of other people. Jesus did not intend victims of abuse to hear this and feel like they are trapped in cycles of destruction. This teaching is meant to convey that since we are all sinners who inevitably will stumble frequently, that since God is richly forgiving we should be too.
(As an aside, that intern pastor I mentioned was removed from the program.)
Even so, this is a hard teaching. God being richly forgiving and therefore we are to be richly forgiving is a very difficult thing to live out! The apostles reply, “Increase our faith!”
Notice the shift in language that just happened there. Luke is pretty precise in the way he uses words. When he says, “disciples” he generally means the group of people who are following Jesus. There could be any number of them, men and women. But when he says “apostles” he means the 12 closest followers of Jesus. So now it is as if the spotlight on stage has gone off of the general group of Jesus’ disciples and a very focused light is on just the 12. They say, “Increase our faith!” Indeed, this demand for forgiveness is going to take a lot of faith to live out.
In response we expect Jesus to say something nice to them. The apostles have recognized a weakness within themselves. They are wisely turning to their Lord and asking for what they need to deal with that weakness. Jesus should commend them for their priorities and insightfulness. But…
Jesus replies, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Remember, the spotlight has narrowed to just Jesus and the 12 apostles. If anyone in the story should have faith it would be these 12 followers. Yet Jesus basically says that even they, his closest 12, are entirely lacking in what it takes. That’s really tough thing for Jesus to say!
What the apostles have missed, and what is so very easy for us to miss too, is that faith is not a commodity to be had; or a commodity to be increased or decreased. Faith is not a possession. It is, perhaps, better described as a disposition toward life.
When we build our lives around the ways of the world our attitude towards money, possessions, and status, will be fundamentally unfaithful. Our life priorities will be just plain wrong. When we build our lives around the inbreaking kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims, we are automatically faithful in all that we have. Such an attitude would not make a request like, “Increase our faith.” It would simply live into it.
But this is very hard. Luke has done a good job of showing that even the closest 12 followers of Jesus didn’t get it. We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves if we struggle with it. The point is not so much to get it right as it is to have the humility to know that you never will really get it totally right. Remember what Jesus said at the beginning of this section. “Occasions for stumbling are sure to come…” That is Jesus’ compassion.
The final thing Jesus says in this section is also troublesome to us. He says, “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table.’ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink.’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”
That one may sting. Are we really to live our lives devoted to God and at the end of it all think of ourselves, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” Are we worthless before God? Does God not appreciate how hard being a follower of Jesus usually is?
Jesus uses this image because it wraps up all that he has been teaching. It is an effective one. But we trip over it because our understanding of appreciation and value is different than theirs.
Jesus is using a common image. People knew well the dynamics of a master/slave relationship. And remember, slavery in those days was fundamentally different than the systemic permanent racial slavery of the United States. Slavery in those days was rarely life-long. The Old Testament has many rules about the treatment of slaves and the duration of their enslavement. So within their understanding, a slave who has done all that he or she has been ordered to do has simply fulfilled their master’s wishes. The slave is owed nothing more. When Jesus says that we are to see ourselves as “worthless slaves” he does not mean that we are useless. He means that our faithfulness to God does then therefore put God under obligation to do us any favors. Said differently, there is no “worth” that we can give to God that would put God in debt to us. We cannot pray, “God, I did this for you. Now you must do for me what I want.”
It all sums up like this. In these last chapters we may have found ourselves scowling at the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and sense of superiority. And we may have smiled upon the poorer disciples for their humility and authenticity. But by all of these words Jesus points out that: rich or poor, powerful or weak, educated or ignorant, kind or cruel, all people have the same base instincts at work in them. All are capable of twisting the ways of the world to their benefit. All are capable of twisting the promises of God to their benefit as well. Even as we strive to do our best to be faithful people living out God’s promises in our lives, we know that we will do so imperfectly at best. Yet we strive anyway, and we can count on God being with us always in our striving.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
September 21, 2025 Luke 16:14-31
What does a sound look like?
That’s an odd question, I know. And in a technical sense it is an absurd question. A sound cannot look like anything. Yet there ways that you could in some ways show what a sound looks like. If you take an artistic creative approach you may think of movies like Disney’s Fantasia. There viewers heard different pieces of classical music while a whole variety of animations were shown. Some of them were abstract. Some were life-like.
You could take a scientific approach to show what a sound looks like. You could use various gauges to measure a sound’s volume and its frequency. You could then turn those readings into numbers or graphs. The image of a someone talking into a microphone, which is attached to an oscilloscope comes to mind. You could then use that data to recreate a sound quite precisely. So, in a sense you would have shown what a sound looks like.
In many ways, modern musical notation does just that. If you know how to read music you know through patterns of lines, dots, and symbols you can precisely communicate a sound on paper. You specify the type of instrument, the volume, pitch, and the speed. You can visually communicate melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. Again, if you know how to read music you can create a visual image of a sound.
Yet ultimately the process only works one way. You can create an image of a sound, but you cannot truly know what that image sounds like until you actually hear it. That’s especially true for complex things.
I want to take this approach to help us grasp something that is going on in many of the situations where Jesus is conflicting with the more wealthy and prominent people of his day.
In the back of your bulletin is the image of a sound.
It is the first three measures of a Bach organ piece called Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord. Later on we’ll listen to the first third of the piece and as we hear it the music will appear before us a few measures at a time. We will be able to see what the sound looks like that we are hearing.
Even if you know nothing about music, musical notation is pretty easy learn. Organ music is especially easy because, while playing the instrument is very difficult skill to learn, understanding its music is not. I believe it was Bach who said that all you have to do is press down the right key at the right time and the organ plays itself.
On the music at the back of the bulletin there are three sets of five horizontal lines that run across the page. You read music left to right, just like you read words in English. The little ovals designate what key to press and when. The set of lines on top is what you play with your right hand. The middle set of lines is what you play with your left hand. The bottom set of lines is what you play with your feet. Again, it’s all simple enough to depict the sound.
However, just seeing the music on the page does nothing to help you actually know what the sound is that it represents. The only way to know that is to hear it.
Perhaps you have some musical training and you can see a note on a page and be able to hum it, or recreate its pitch in your mind. You could then look at the music and think, “Well, I don’t have to actually hear it, but I can imagine it.” Looking at it you could discern that the very first sound you will hear is a very low note from the feet. That note is held. Then almost immediately the right hand will start playing something that is fast and high pitched. And shortly after the left hand will also join with something a little bit lower in pitch but also fast. All the while the feet are holding a note steady.
That’s all good logical deduction based upon the image. You’re able to get a bit of a feel for the sound, but you still don’t actually know what it sounds like.
Perhaps you are someone with a PhD in Bach’s music. You may be able to talk in great detail about the way Bach blended melodies and harmonies, and that his music often uses mathematical formulas. You may be able to talk about the way Bach’s music stretched the limits of what humans could play and what organs could do. You could study the paper music and see all of that at work. Yet you would still not know what it sounds like. The only way to truly know is to hear it. You cannot actually by your own knowledge and skill, no matter what that level is, know what sound that represents without its sound coming to you from outside.
After that lengthy introduction, let’s see what is taking place in our gospel reading. Jesus is criticizing some Pharisees, who are described as lovers of money. At first he seems to jump around among several topics. He tells them that they justify themselves in the sight of others, but God knows their hearts. He talks about the law and the prophets. He makes a reference to divorce and adultery. Then he moves on into the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
We’ve studied this parable in great detail in years past. It is indeed a rich and detailed parable. I was not going to go into the details this time. We can talk about them some other time if you’d like. What I want to focus on is how the rich man’s attitude mirrors the criticisms Jesus has just been giving. Jesus says that the rich man feasts sumptuously every day, and that he wears fine clothes. Yet just outside his gate lies Lazarus, who is desperately hungry. Dogs come and lick the sores on his sick and emaciated body. Don’t picture these dogs as cute little puppies offering him sympathy. Picture them as a hungry pack looking to have Lazarus as a meal as soon as he’s too weak to fight them off.
The rich man dies and is buried. Lazarus also dies. Given that Jesus does not include the detail that he was buried, we’re left to conclude that the pack of dogs finally got their meal.
Then things get interesting. Lazarus goes to be with Abraham. The rich man goes to Hades, where he is being tormented. He cries out to Abraham, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and come and cool my tongue.” So, the rich man recognizes Lazarus and even knows his name. He was not ignorant of the plight of Lazarus’ life. He also says, “Father Abraham.” That means that this rich man also has, in a sense, gone to Sunday school. He recognizes Abraham. By calling him father he knows what role Abraham plays in Jewish history and theology. As his pleading with Abraham goes on he also reveals that he knows about Moses and the prophets. In other words, this rich man is not without knowledge. He’s been taught. He makes a plea of logic with Abraham for his disbelieving brothers who are still alive. He says to Abraham, “If someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” But Abraham points out that even someone rising from the dead will not be enough to convince them to change.
What we have here in the rich man is someone who is smart and educated and who thinks that by his own smarts and education he can know what a godly life looks like. Or perhaps using our example with music, he thinks that because he can see the image of a sound and study it he can know what the music sounds like. But it is impossible.
I can almost promise you that unless you know the piece of music we will hear, even if you know music well, you cannot begin to imagine what it actually sounds like.
Belief in God and faith in Christ does not come to you by proofs and knowledge alone. You cannot know what a sound is like by looking at it. You must hear it. You cannot come to God by your own logic. Faith is not something we can develop by our own power. It is something that must come from God. It must come from outside us.
Perhaps the root problem of what Jesus is trying to get across to the Pharisees is that they think they can get to God by skills and abilities that reside within themselves. Since they believe that they become subtly smug, and ultimately feel superior. That gives them license to become exploitative. People like Lazarus are the result.
The Pharisees need to truly open themselves to God. Then they will be able to, in a sense, hear the music. Those of you who grew up Lutheran and went to confirmation class know these words of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism well, “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy, and kept me in the truth faith…” That is hearing the music coming from outside. That is the humility to know that faith comes, not from within us (as if it’s a possession we can boast about), but from God alone. Everything can come into place from there, but it cannot come into place otherwise.
It is time to hear what the sound looks like. Why have I chosen this particular piece of music? Many reasons coincide. Bach wrote this music almost 300 years ago. But he did not invent it from nothing. It is based on a famous hymn that Martin Luther wrote about 200 years before Bach. And, as is the magic of music, we still have the original hymn. We can and will sing it. And, what is that 500 year old hymn about? Inviting the Holy Spirit to inspire faith within us!
I do have to make an apology to all of you. We’re only going to listen to the first two minutes of this piece. For those of you who love organ music you’re not going to like that we abruptly cut out in the middle. For those of you who do not like organ music, and that is probably the majority of you, you won’t like suffering through even two minutes of this! Whatever the case, here is what the sound depicted on a page actually sounds like. The notes will appear line by line as it goes on. For those of you who can actually read music, you’ll probably be able to follow by following the base line in the pedals. It is a clear and low sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5isYiTEUE4&list=PL2C2EB2EC7B65F072&index=1
That’s Bach’s fantasy on it. Now we sing the original – Come Holy Ghost, God and Lord. Hymn 395 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.
That’s an odd question, I know. And in a technical sense it is an absurd question. A sound cannot look like anything. Yet there ways that you could in some ways show what a sound looks like. If you take an artistic creative approach you may think of movies like Disney’s Fantasia. There viewers heard different pieces of classical music while a whole variety of animations were shown. Some of them were abstract. Some were life-like.
You could take a scientific approach to show what a sound looks like. You could use various gauges to measure a sound’s volume and its frequency. You could then turn those readings into numbers or graphs. The image of a someone talking into a microphone, which is attached to an oscilloscope comes to mind. You could then use that data to recreate a sound quite precisely. So, in a sense you would have shown what a sound looks like.
In many ways, modern musical notation does just that. If you know how to read music you know through patterns of lines, dots, and symbols you can precisely communicate a sound on paper. You specify the type of instrument, the volume, pitch, and the speed. You can visually communicate melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. Again, if you know how to read music you can create a visual image of a sound.
Yet ultimately the process only works one way. You can create an image of a sound, but you cannot truly know what that image sounds like until you actually hear it. That’s especially true for complex things.
I want to take this approach to help us grasp something that is going on in many of the situations where Jesus is conflicting with the more wealthy and prominent people of his day.
In the back of your bulletin is the image of a sound.
It is the first three measures of a Bach organ piece called Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord. Later on we’ll listen to the first third of the piece and as we hear it the music will appear before us a few measures at a time. We will be able to see what the sound looks like that we are hearing.
Even if you know nothing about music, musical notation is pretty easy learn. Organ music is especially easy because, while playing the instrument is very difficult skill to learn, understanding its music is not. I believe it was Bach who said that all you have to do is press down the right key at the right time and the organ plays itself.
On the music at the back of the bulletin there are three sets of five horizontal lines that run across the page. You read music left to right, just like you read words in English. The little ovals designate what key to press and when. The set of lines on top is what you play with your right hand. The middle set of lines is what you play with your left hand. The bottom set of lines is what you play with your feet. Again, it’s all simple enough to depict the sound.
However, just seeing the music on the page does nothing to help you actually know what the sound is that it represents. The only way to know that is to hear it.
Perhaps you have some musical training and you can see a note on a page and be able to hum it, or recreate its pitch in your mind. You could then look at the music and think, “Well, I don’t have to actually hear it, but I can imagine it.” Looking at it you could discern that the very first sound you will hear is a very low note from the feet. That note is held. Then almost immediately the right hand will start playing something that is fast and high pitched. And shortly after the left hand will also join with something a little bit lower in pitch but also fast. All the while the feet are holding a note steady.
That’s all good logical deduction based upon the image. You’re able to get a bit of a feel for the sound, but you still don’t actually know what it sounds like.
Perhaps you are someone with a PhD in Bach’s music. You may be able to talk in great detail about the way Bach blended melodies and harmonies, and that his music often uses mathematical formulas. You may be able to talk about the way Bach’s music stretched the limits of what humans could play and what organs could do. You could study the paper music and see all of that at work. Yet you would still not know what it sounds like. The only way to truly know is to hear it. You cannot actually by your own knowledge and skill, no matter what that level is, know what sound that represents without its sound coming to you from outside.
After that lengthy introduction, let’s see what is taking place in our gospel reading. Jesus is criticizing some Pharisees, who are described as lovers of money. At first he seems to jump around among several topics. He tells them that they justify themselves in the sight of others, but God knows their hearts. He talks about the law and the prophets. He makes a reference to divorce and adultery. Then he moves on into the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
We’ve studied this parable in great detail in years past. It is indeed a rich and detailed parable. I was not going to go into the details this time. We can talk about them some other time if you’d like. What I want to focus on is how the rich man’s attitude mirrors the criticisms Jesus has just been giving. Jesus says that the rich man feasts sumptuously every day, and that he wears fine clothes. Yet just outside his gate lies Lazarus, who is desperately hungry. Dogs come and lick the sores on his sick and emaciated body. Don’t picture these dogs as cute little puppies offering him sympathy. Picture them as a hungry pack looking to have Lazarus as a meal as soon as he’s too weak to fight them off.
The rich man dies and is buried. Lazarus also dies. Given that Jesus does not include the detail that he was buried, we’re left to conclude that the pack of dogs finally got their meal.
Then things get interesting. Lazarus goes to be with Abraham. The rich man goes to Hades, where he is being tormented. He cries out to Abraham, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and come and cool my tongue.” So, the rich man recognizes Lazarus and even knows his name. He was not ignorant of the plight of Lazarus’ life. He also says, “Father Abraham.” That means that this rich man also has, in a sense, gone to Sunday school. He recognizes Abraham. By calling him father he knows what role Abraham plays in Jewish history and theology. As his pleading with Abraham goes on he also reveals that he knows about Moses and the prophets. In other words, this rich man is not without knowledge. He’s been taught. He makes a plea of logic with Abraham for his disbelieving brothers who are still alive. He says to Abraham, “If someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” But Abraham points out that even someone rising from the dead will not be enough to convince them to change.
What we have here in the rich man is someone who is smart and educated and who thinks that by his own smarts and education he can know what a godly life looks like. Or perhaps using our example with music, he thinks that because he can see the image of a sound and study it he can know what the music sounds like. But it is impossible.
I can almost promise you that unless you know the piece of music we will hear, even if you know music well, you cannot begin to imagine what it actually sounds like.
Belief in God and faith in Christ does not come to you by proofs and knowledge alone. You cannot know what a sound is like by looking at it. You must hear it. You cannot come to God by your own logic. Faith is not something we can develop by our own power. It is something that must come from God. It must come from outside us.
Perhaps the root problem of what Jesus is trying to get across to the Pharisees is that they think they can get to God by skills and abilities that reside within themselves. Since they believe that they become subtly smug, and ultimately feel superior. That gives them license to become exploitative. People like Lazarus are the result.
The Pharisees need to truly open themselves to God. Then they will be able to, in a sense, hear the music. Those of you who grew up Lutheran and went to confirmation class know these words of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism well, “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy, and kept me in the truth faith…” That is hearing the music coming from outside. That is the humility to know that faith comes, not from within us (as if it’s a possession we can boast about), but from God alone. Everything can come into place from there, but it cannot come into place otherwise.
It is time to hear what the sound looks like. Why have I chosen this particular piece of music? Many reasons coincide. Bach wrote this music almost 300 years ago. But he did not invent it from nothing. It is based on a famous hymn that Martin Luther wrote about 200 years before Bach. And, as is the magic of music, we still have the original hymn. We can and will sing it. And, what is that 500 year old hymn about? Inviting the Holy Spirit to inspire faith within us!
I do have to make an apology to all of you. We’re only going to listen to the first two minutes of this piece. For those of you who love organ music you’re not going to like that we abruptly cut out in the middle. For those of you who do not like organ music, and that is probably the majority of you, you won’t like suffering through even two minutes of this! Whatever the case, here is what the sound depicted on a page actually sounds like. The notes will appear line by line as it goes on. For those of you who can actually read music, you’ll probably be able to follow by following the base line in the pedals. It is a clear and low sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5isYiTEUE4&list=PL2C2EB2EC7B65F072&index=1
That’s Bach’s fantasy on it. Now we sing the original – Come Holy Ghost, God and Lord. Hymn 395 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
September 14, 2025 Luke 16:1-13
Jesus taught that people should sell their possessions and give the money to the poor. Then they should come and follow him. We know that teaching well. We don’t like it. We don’t like it because our stuff is so important to us. And, we don’t like it because it raises all sorts of questions: “Does Jesus really mean that? How would that work? How would we survive? If everyone did that then what would happen?”
Then we have the parable of the dishonest manager that we read today. It leaves us completely puzzled. What are we supposed to get from this? Isn’t commending someone for mismanagement which is covered up by sneakiness the exact opposite of what Jesus taught? Indeed it is.
Biblical scholars that I’ve studied say that this parable is intended to continue the teachings from the previous chapter. We read those last week. You’ll remember it was three parables about lost things: 1 in 100 sheep lost, 1 in 10 coins lost, and 1 in 2 sons lost. However, the scholars think that even though we are intended to see it as a continuation of the teaching we should not use the same interpretive technique.
Jesus often taught in parables. Parables are memorable and a good way to teach things, especially if you’re trying to get across multiple meanings at once. The problem with parable is knowing how you’re supposed to interpret them. In some, like the three we read last week, every detail is important and they are very symbolic. But other parables may be loosely created and not symbolic at all. The biblical scholars say we shouldn’t read too much into the parable of the dishonest manager. Jesus was just using an example that people of the time would easily understand.
So we have a rich man who has a manager and the rich man finds out that his manager has been reckless and irresponsible with his property. The rich man decides to fire the manager and demands that he turn over the accounting records.
Now these days if a person gets fired from their job, or even in the case of layoffs and downsizing, a person may be told of their firing and then immediately escorted to the door. If they have possessions at their desk or work area someone else will gather them and bring them to them. The fired or laid-off employee is not allowed to return lest they do something malicious in revenge. That is the smart way to get rid of an employee. But as Jesus has crafted this parable the manager is allowed to leave to get the records. While he may technically be fired at this point, no one outside knows it. Certainly the rich man’s debtors do not. The manager makes use of this. The manager is an agent of the rich man. He is allowed to make business deals and legal transactions in the rich man’s name. They are binding just as if the rich man did them himself. And so, he shrewdly and systematically summons his master’s debtors and lowers their debts. The amount of these debts are quite large. We’d call them commercial quantities. A hundred jugs of olive oil would be 25 times the amount a family farm could produce. So, it’s not like this manager is making little deals with little people. He’s making big deals with commercial producers. It was a quid pro quo system. I scratch your back and you have to scratch mine. The dishonest manager has reduced the amounts his master was owed and in so doing put those in debt to his master in debt to him. It is very cunning – manage someone else’s assets such that they lose them and you benefit. Those who owed the master will now be under social obligation to the manager when he is fired.
You’d expect the rich man to be apoplectic with rage. But as Jesus crafts the parable the master commends the shrewdness of the manager. It makes no sense, but this is Jesus’ parable and he puts the sudden twist on it to make his point. He says, “For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of the light.” In other words, if you have wealth use it shrewdly for God’s purposes. Earthly wealth is completely worthless in eternal life. But it is a tool that can be effective for doing God’s work in this life. See it and use it as such.
Let’s look at how this can play out, for it gives us principles for the use of money.
I believe most financial management companies offer what is called social purpose investments. Many highly profitable ways to invest money do not fit with Christian values. Weapons manufacturing, pornography, and gambling are solidly profitable industries. But do they fit with our values? Do we feel right investing in them? How does a comfortable retirement feel knowing your comforts are coming at the exploitation of others?
Similarly, investing in things that are socially
constructive, environmentally sustainable, and promoting human rights may not be as profitable, but you are putting the power of your money to work in ways that align with your values. The national church’s retirement plan has social purpose investing which I’m glad to be a part of.
That’s all fine and good. But it can lead to people building towers of righteousness for themselves and boasting about how superior their morality is. When, in fact, they are hardly doing anything at all. Plus, based on this parable, Jesus is calling for more.
Let’s say you don’t like what a company does. You’re most obvious choice is to avoid them. Boycott their products. If you can get enough people to boycott them they may change what they do. But there’s also another way. Instead of avoiding the company, you invest in it. If you and enough other investors buy enough stock you’ll be able to influence the board of directors and thus company operation. Now this is becoming more shrewd. I’m often critical of pastors and church leaders who go on and on about avoiding this product or that because they don’t think what they do is good. They are quick to say: “…don’t buy this product because they don’t treat animals well, …or they aren’t environmentally sensitive, …or they’re exploitative of labor.” But I’ve never heard the opposite approach. People never say, “Let’s buy up a company and force it to change.” That’s a more effective approach. The problem is that aside from the fact that it takes a lot of money, it also requires a good deal more thought and management than just complaining about a company, and because you complain you’ve put yourself on what you think is the moral high ground. My thoughts on this are these: If you have enough economic clout to make a boycott successful, then you probably also have enough economic clout to make a buyout possible. And if you don’t, then what are you really accomplishing?
Let’s return to Jesus’ words to focus the point. Jesus concludes, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.”
What is “dishonest wealth” we ask? Jesus would say that all wealth is dishonest. All wealth gives a sense of power and security that is false. It may appear to in terms of this world, but it does not in eternal life. And ultimately it is eternal life that our lives should be focused upon. There is the silly story of the lawyer who somehow gets permission that after he dies he gets to take one suitcase full of earthly stuff to heaven. He loads his suitcase full of gold bricks. When he arrives in heaven the angels open his suitcase and laugh hysterically at what they see saying, “He brought paving stones!?!”
All money, all power, all status is dishonest. In this parable Jesus teaches us how to use all of it. Use it to spread the good news of salvation.
I think we need to look at all the stuff that we have – furniture and household possessions, our cars, the stuff in our closets, the stuff piled up in our garages, the stuff we may have in a rented storage area, and ask ourselves how we are using all of that dishonest wealth to build God’s kingdom? If not, then why do we have it; especially if we are having to pay extra to store it. And we need to look at our bank account balances, mutual funds, stock and bond investments, and all sorts of savings; plus real estate, homes, business investments and the like and ask ourselves how are we using that dishonest wealth? Are we using it in a way that is focused on ourselves and our comforts and indulgences and safety, or are we using it in a way that does God’s work. If you aren’t using it for God’s work, then what is its purpose? Comfort and ease are not the goal of this life. That’s shallow short-term thinking.
Then further ask ourselves, what clever, shrewd, savvy, and unconventional ways can we apply those assets for our God? You know full well that many people lay awake at night cooking up schemes to increase their wealth. We should be laying awake at night cooking up schemes to do God’s work.
Be creative. Be shrewd. Don’t think that doing God’s work is always clean and pure and white such that you’ll never get dust on your finest clothes. Jesus didn’t live that way. Jesus walked in the dust of the earth with no earthly means of wealth and yet with nothing bought for us the greatest gift of eternal life.
Then we have the parable of the dishonest manager that we read today. It leaves us completely puzzled. What are we supposed to get from this? Isn’t commending someone for mismanagement which is covered up by sneakiness the exact opposite of what Jesus taught? Indeed it is.
Biblical scholars that I’ve studied say that this parable is intended to continue the teachings from the previous chapter. We read those last week. You’ll remember it was three parables about lost things: 1 in 100 sheep lost, 1 in 10 coins lost, and 1 in 2 sons lost. However, the scholars think that even though we are intended to see it as a continuation of the teaching we should not use the same interpretive technique.
Jesus often taught in parables. Parables are memorable and a good way to teach things, especially if you’re trying to get across multiple meanings at once. The problem with parable is knowing how you’re supposed to interpret them. In some, like the three we read last week, every detail is important and they are very symbolic. But other parables may be loosely created and not symbolic at all. The biblical scholars say we shouldn’t read too much into the parable of the dishonest manager. Jesus was just using an example that people of the time would easily understand.
So we have a rich man who has a manager and the rich man finds out that his manager has been reckless and irresponsible with his property. The rich man decides to fire the manager and demands that he turn over the accounting records.
Now these days if a person gets fired from their job, or even in the case of layoffs and downsizing, a person may be told of their firing and then immediately escorted to the door. If they have possessions at their desk or work area someone else will gather them and bring them to them. The fired or laid-off employee is not allowed to return lest they do something malicious in revenge. That is the smart way to get rid of an employee. But as Jesus has crafted this parable the manager is allowed to leave to get the records. While he may technically be fired at this point, no one outside knows it. Certainly the rich man’s debtors do not. The manager makes use of this. The manager is an agent of the rich man. He is allowed to make business deals and legal transactions in the rich man’s name. They are binding just as if the rich man did them himself. And so, he shrewdly and systematically summons his master’s debtors and lowers their debts. The amount of these debts are quite large. We’d call them commercial quantities. A hundred jugs of olive oil would be 25 times the amount a family farm could produce. So, it’s not like this manager is making little deals with little people. He’s making big deals with commercial producers. It was a quid pro quo system. I scratch your back and you have to scratch mine. The dishonest manager has reduced the amounts his master was owed and in so doing put those in debt to his master in debt to him. It is very cunning – manage someone else’s assets such that they lose them and you benefit. Those who owed the master will now be under social obligation to the manager when he is fired.
You’d expect the rich man to be apoplectic with rage. But as Jesus crafts the parable the master commends the shrewdness of the manager. It makes no sense, but this is Jesus’ parable and he puts the sudden twist on it to make his point. He says, “For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of the light.” In other words, if you have wealth use it shrewdly for God’s purposes. Earthly wealth is completely worthless in eternal life. But it is a tool that can be effective for doing God’s work in this life. See it and use it as such.
Let’s look at how this can play out, for it gives us principles for the use of money.
I believe most financial management companies offer what is called social purpose investments. Many highly profitable ways to invest money do not fit with Christian values. Weapons manufacturing, pornography, and gambling are solidly profitable industries. But do they fit with our values? Do we feel right investing in them? How does a comfortable retirement feel knowing your comforts are coming at the exploitation of others?
Similarly, investing in things that are socially
constructive, environmentally sustainable, and promoting human rights may not be as profitable, but you are putting the power of your money to work in ways that align with your values. The national church’s retirement plan has social purpose investing which I’m glad to be a part of.
That’s all fine and good. But it can lead to people building towers of righteousness for themselves and boasting about how superior their morality is. When, in fact, they are hardly doing anything at all. Plus, based on this parable, Jesus is calling for more.
Let’s say you don’t like what a company does. You’re most obvious choice is to avoid them. Boycott their products. If you can get enough people to boycott them they may change what they do. But there’s also another way. Instead of avoiding the company, you invest in it. If you and enough other investors buy enough stock you’ll be able to influence the board of directors and thus company operation. Now this is becoming more shrewd. I’m often critical of pastors and church leaders who go on and on about avoiding this product or that because they don’t think what they do is good. They are quick to say: “…don’t buy this product because they don’t treat animals well, …or they aren’t environmentally sensitive, …or they’re exploitative of labor.” But I’ve never heard the opposite approach. People never say, “Let’s buy up a company and force it to change.” That’s a more effective approach. The problem is that aside from the fact that it takes a lot of money, it also requires a good deal more thought and management than just complaining about a company, and because you complain you’ve put yourself on what you think is the moral high ground. My thoughts on this are these: If you have enough economic clout to make a boycott successful, then you probably also have enough economic clout to make a buyout possible. And if you don’t, then what are you really accomplishing?
Let’s return to Jesus’ words to focus the point. Jesus concludes, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.”
What is “dishonest wealth” we ask? Jesus would say that all wealth is dishonest. All wealth gives a sense of power and security that is false. It may appear to in terms of this world, but it does not in eternal life. And ultimately it is eternal life that our lives should be focused upon. There is the silly story of the lawyer who somehow gets permission that after he dies he gets to take one suitcase full of earthly stuff to heaven. He loads his suitcase full of gold bricks. When he arrives in heaven the angels open his suitcase and laugh hysterically at what they see saying, “He brought paving stones!?!”
All money, all power, all status is dishonest. In this parable Jesus teaches us how to use all of it. Use it to spread the good news of salvation.
I think we need to look at all the stuff that we have – furniture and household possessions, our cars, the stuff in our closets, the stuff piled up in our garages, the stuff we may have in a rented storage area, and ask ourselves how we are using all of that dishonest wealth to build God’s kingdom? If not, then why do we have it; especially if we are having to pay extra to store it. And we need to look at our bank account balances, mutual funds, stock and bond investments, and all sorts of savings; plus real estate, homes, business investments and the like and ask ourselves how are we using that dishonest wealth? Are we using it in a way that is focused on ourselves and our comforts and indulgences and safety, or are we using it in a way that does God’s work. If you aren’t using it for God’s work, then what is its purpose? Comfort and ease are not the goal of this life. That’s shallow short-term thinking.
Then further ask ourselves, what clever, shrewd, savvy, and unconventional ways can we apply those assets for our God? You know full well that many people lay awake at night cooking up schemes to increase their wealth. We should be laying awake at night cooking up schemes to do God’s work.
Be creative. Be shrewd. Don’t think that doing God’s work is always clean and pure and white such that you’ll never get dust on your finest clothes. Jesus didn’t live that way. Jesus walked in the dust of the earth with no earthly means of wealth and yet with nothing bought for us the greatest gift of eternal life.
Monday, August 25, 2025
August 24, 2025 Luke 14:1-24
There’s an old story about an elderly West Virginia mountaineer woman. She was sitting on the front porch of her rustic cabin when a nice car comes bumping up the winding driveway. The car stops in front of the cabin and a well-dressed young man gets out. She stands up and before the man can get a word out she says, “Mister, I don’t care whether you’re buying or whether you’re selling. There ain’t nothing we need that we ain’t already got. And there ain’t nothing we already got that we don’t need. Just turn yourself around and clear out.”
That may not be a polite way to address a visitor but you have to admire the woman’s contentment. How many people can truly say they have everything they need, and also say they don’t have any extra clutter in their lives? It seems to be a rule among humans that we always want more. More money. More stuff. More power. More comforts. More entertainment. More life. We’re never satisfied.
That takes us to our gospel reading. At first we may think, “Haven’t we heard all of this before? …Jesus at a dinner with Pharisees and being critical, healing on the sabbath, and then lessons about money and status…”
Yes, we have heard all of this before; especially the immediately preceding chapters. So why all this again? Whenever I read things that seem repetitive my mind goes to those high school writing assignments English teachers give. They expect so many hundred words for an answer, but you can’t think of that many words, so you get repetitive.
I doubt Luke created his gospel with a word count in mind. So why the repetition? I mean, it’s nice to have lots of stories about Jesus. Many of them are fun to hear. But do these carry a specific point? The answer is probably yes.
As I studied this text for today I was reading my best commentary on Luke’s gospel by Joel Green (New International Commentary on the New Testament). He points out that all 24 verses we read form a unit. They are all the same dinner scene. And that the diagnosis of the man who was healed is probably significant.
The story starts off again at a dinner with a leader of the Pharisees. Keep that in mind. Pharisees could come from all economic classes. This guy, being a leader, was certainly among the upper class. There is a man there who suffers from dropsy. Now dropsy is not a diagnosis we hear about these days. We now call it edema; the accumulation of fluids in the body, arms and legs being where it is most obvious. The ironic thing about edema, is that despite a person swelling up because of retaining fluids, that person may also be thirsty …very thirsty! Have you ever been thirsty? Sure you have. You crave something to drink. Your craving may be so strong that the only thing you can think about is having some water. The sufferer of edema may crave more of what they already have too much of! Joel Green suggests that since this is what starts the scene it gives us ideas about how to interpret the rest. So let’s use that as our guide.
The scene shifts to the way the guests chose the places of honor. Jesus notices and comments. He says, “…do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’”
This may seem like Jesus is telling them that it is okay to play the game of honor and status, just play it shrewdly. In fact, this advice from Jesus is not at all unique. But Jesus goes on and says to the host, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite 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 crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
We remember that in their give-and-take culture, you were expected to repay a favor. You invite me to your banquet and I invite you to one of mine in return. If you were a very wealthy person and I was a common laborer you wouldn’t invite me at all. And if you did invite me, I’d almost certainly decline. How could I possibly afford to return the favor? If you were a laborer and I were a laborer we might attend each other’s get-togethers, but we would seldom if ever be involved in a social event with people outside our class. Still though: big banquets, strategic guest lists, and choosing the places of honor are all the dynamics of the wealthy and elite. Rather than enjoying their position and the comforts they already have, they are employing them to get a strategic social advantage. Everyone in that society was trying to climb higher up the ladder. Since everyone was doing it, anyone who didn’t do it was slipping down. Resources were scarce. Spending them on those who couldn’t repay the favor was seen as foolish. It was a sure way to a lower status.
And so, like the person with dropsy who was already suffering from too much fluid in his body but was thirsty for more, the lives of these wealthy people, already bloated by too much consumption, are thirsty for more. Will they ever be satisfied?
Jesus goes on with a parable about a great dinner. The dinner was prepared at the appointed time and a slave is sent to remind the invited guests. But the guests all have excuses. One has just bought some land and wants to go see it. One has just bought some oxen and wants to try them out. One has just gotten married and has other things on his mind. I doubt Jesus came up with these excuses at random. They roughly correspond to legitimate excuses listed in Deuteronomy 20 that give exemptions from military service in war time.
So, the guests have been invited. But now that the party has come they refuse based on what is considered to be acceptable grounds. We realize Jesus is directing this parable at the sort of people who are around him at the banquet. God is throwing a great banquet. These people were invited. But they are so bloated on their own consumption and entertainment and strategizing to get ahead that they turn God down.
Jesus is likely being even more broad in his application of this parable. The Jews were God’s chosen people and the first ones invited to the banquet. But they refuse. So God invites everyone else. In the parable the master says to the slave, “Go out at once into the streets and the lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” When that is done and there is still room the master says, “Go out into the road and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.”
Ironically, those who have been invited first, so bloated by their consumption yet in their craving more, miss the invitation to the true feast. Others take their place instead.
It may be easy to look back across the centuries to these wealthy people in a far away land and think it has nothing to do with ourselves. Indeed, much has changed. But much remains the same.
One thing that comes to my mind is our idea of “progress”. We’ve somehow gotten ourselves set on the idea that we humans, by our own skill and intellect, can make this world an ever-better place. Cars get easier and easier to drive. Computers get faster. Longevity goes up. There are constant advances in health care. And so on.
Yet how much progress is too much? I’ve talked before in sermons about the way we have way overpopulated planet and overconsume energy at an alarming rate. Are we perhaps already bloated yet craving ever more?
C.S. Lewis, one of the best known Christian writers of the 20th Century, didn’t have much good to say about progress. In his essay, “The World’s Last Night” he says, “In my opinion, the modern conception of Progress… is simply a myth, supported by no evidence whatsoever.” And in God in the Dock, “Is Progress Possible?” Lewis says, “I care far more how humanity lives than how long. Progress, for me, means increasing goodness and happiness of individual lives. For the species, as for each man, mere longevity seems to me a contemptable ideal.”
That one stings! How much effort do we put into extended our lives? Think about the enormity of our health care industry and all that it consumes. Yet Lewis calls the desire for longevity to be a “contemptable ideal.” Such is the thinking of our faith ancestors from not long ago.
What has our addiction to progress gotten our already bloated lives? Secularism and individualism. Civic organizations decline and suffer for members. Veterans organizations are declining. Churches are on the verge of closing all over the place. And those fewer and fewer large churches with big staffs and programs can only stay afloat for so long. I was talking to my one cousin last week who is an administrator in a small rural district in Pennsylvania. Like many school administrators, he began his career as a classroom teacher. He’s been in it long enough to see that the ethical fabric of our nation’s children has eroded away to nothing.
It is typical to point to the youngest generation and point out their flaws. But such thing is a mistake, and it is not what my cousin and I do when we talk about such stuff. We both note that since World War 2 every generation that has experienced the postwar “progress” has basically been raised on emotional junk food. There’s little wonder there is little emotional strength, people are greedy, civic institutions are collapsing, overall national morality has tanked, and charitable giving is falling through the floor.
Yes, that is what happens when a society, already bloated, wants ever more. Perhaps the industrialized world has dropsy.
Come, Lord Jesus, and heal us of our disease! But the cure will hurt. It’ll be a huge dose of humility. It will be recognizing that God is God and we are not. It always has been and always will be. We’re not going to get ourselves out of this mess quickly or smoothly.
Whatever comes, rejoice that God has invited you to the banquet, the biggest banquet of all. And may you have the humility to accept the invitation!
That may not be a polite way to address a visitor but you have to admire the woman’s contentment. How many people can truly say they have everything they need, and also say they don’t have any extra clutter in their lives? It seems to be a rule among humans that we always want more. More money. More stuff. More power. More comforts. More entertainment. More life. We’re never satisfied.
That takes us to our gospel reading. At first we may think, “Haven’t we heard all of this before? …Jesus at a dinner with Pharisees and being critical, healing on the sabbath, and then lessons about money and status…”
Yes, we have heard all of this before; especially the immediately preceding chapters. So why all this again? Whenever I read things that seem repetitive my mind goes to those high school writing assignments English teachers give. They expect so many hundred words for an answer, but you can’t think of that many words, so you get repetitive.
I doubt Luke created his gospel with a word count in mind. So why the repetition? I mean, it’s nice to have lots of stories about Jesus. Many of them are fun to hear. But do these carry a specific point? The answer is probably yes.
As I studied this text for today I was reading my best commentary on Luke’s gospel by Joel Green (New International Commentary on the New Testament). He points out that all 24 verses we read form a unit. They are all the same dinner scene. And that the diagnosis of the man who was healed is probably significant.
The story starts off again at a dinner with a leader of the Pharisees. Keep that in mind. Pharisees could come from all economic classes. This guy, being a leader, was certainly among the upper class. There is a man there who suffers from dropsy. Now dropsy is not a diagnosis we hear about these days. We now call it edema; the accumulation of fluids in the body, arms and legs being where it is most obvious. The ironic thing about edema, is that despite a person swelling up because of retaining fluids, that person may also be thirsty …very thirsty! Have you ever been thirsty? Sure you have. You crave something to drink. Your craving may be so strong that the only thing you can think about is having some water. The sufferer of edema may crave more of what they already have too much of! Joel Green suggests that since this is what starts the scene it gives us ideas about how to interpret the rest. So let’s use that as our guide.
The scene shifts to the way the guests chose the places of honor. Jesus notices and comments. He says, “…do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’”
This may seem like Jesus is telling them that it is okay to play the game of honor and status, just play it shrewdly. In fact, this advice from Jesus is not at all unique. But Jesus goes on and says to the host, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite 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 crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
We remember that in their give-and-take culture, you were expected to repay a favor. You invite me to your banquet and I invite you to one of mine in return. If you were a very wealthy person and I was a common laborer you wouldn’t invite me at all. And if you did invite me, I’d almost certainly decline. How could I possibly afford to return the favor? If you were a laborer and I were a laborer we might attend each other’s get-togethers, but we would seldom if ever be involved in a social event with people outside our class. Still though: big banquets, strategic guest lists, and choosing the places of honor are all the dynamics of the wealthy and elite. Rather than enjoying their position and the comforts they already have, they are employing them to get a strategic social advantage. Everyone in that society was trying to climb higher up the ladder. Since everyone was doing it, anyone who didn’t do it was slipping down. Resources were scarce. Spending them on those who couldn’t repay the favor was seen as foolish. It was a sure way to a lower status.
And so, like the person with dropsy who was already suffering from too much fluid in his body but was thirsty for more, the lives of these wealthy people, already bloated by too much consumption, are thirsty for more. Will they ever be satisfied?
Jesus goes on with a parable about a great dinner. The dinner was prepared at the appointed time and a slave is sent to remind the invited guests. But the guests all have excuses. One has just bought some land and wants to go see it. One has just bought some oxen and wants to try them out. One has just gotten married and has other things on his mind. I doubt Jesus came up with these excuses at random. They roughly correspond to legitimate excuses listed in Deuteronomy 20 that give exemptions from military service in war time.
So, the guests have been invited. But now that the party has come they refuse based on what is considered to be acceptable grounds. We realize Jesus is directing this parable at the sort of people who are around him at the banquet. God is throwing a great banquet. These people were invited. But they are so bloated on their own consumption and entertainment and strategizing to get ahead that they turn God down.
Jesus is likely being even more broad in his application of this parable. The Jews were God’s chosen people and the first ones invited to the banquet. But they refuse. So God invites everyone else. In the parable the master says to the slave, “Go out at once into the streets and the lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” When that is done and there is still room the master says, “Go out into the road and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.”
Ironically, those who have been invited first, so bloated by their consumption yet in their craving more, miss the invitation to the true feast. Others take their place instead.
It may be easy to look back across the centuries to these wealthy people in a far away land and think it has nothing to do with ourselves. Indeed, much has changed. But much remains the same.
One thing that comes to my mind is our idea of “progress”. We’ve somehow gotten ourselves set on the idea that we humans, by our own skill and intellect, can make this world an ever-better place. Cars get easier and easier to drive. Computers get faster. Longevity goes up. There are constant advances in health care. And so on.
Yet how much progress is too much? I’ve talked before in sermons about the way we have way overpopulated planet and overconsume energy at an alarming rate. Are we perhaps already bloated yet craving ever more?
C.S. Lewis, one of the best known Christian writers of the 20th Century, didn’t have much good to say about progress. In his essay, “The World’s Last Night” he says, “In my opinion, the modern conception of Progress… is simply a myth, supported by no evidence whatsoever.” And in God in the Dock, “Is Progress Possible?” Lewis says, “I care far more how humanity lives than how long. Progress, for me, means increasing goodness and happiness of individual lives. For the species, as for each man, mere longevity seems to me a contemptable ideal.”
That one stings! How much effort do we put into extended our lives? Think about the enormity of our health care industry and all that it consumes. Yet Lewis calls the desire for longevity to be a “contemptable ideal.” Such is the thinking of our faith ancestors from not long ago.
What has our addiction to progress gotten our already bloated lives? Secularism and individualism. Civic organizations decline and suffer for members. Veterans organizations are declining. Churches are on the verge of closing all over the place. And those fewer and fewer large churches with big staffs and programs can only stay afloat for so long. I was talking to my one cousin last week who is an administrator in a small rural district in Pennsylvania. Like many school administrators, he began his career as a classroom teacher. He’s been in it long enough to see that the ethical fabric of our nation’s children has eroded away to nothing.
It is typical to point to the youngest generation and point out their flaws. But such thing is a mistake, and it is not what my cousin and I do when we talk about such stuff. We both note that since World War 2 every generation that has experienced the postwar “progress” has basically been raised on emotional junk food. There’s little wonder there is little emotional strength, people are greedy, civic institutions are collapsing, overall national morality has tanked, and charitable giving is falling through the floor.
Yes, that is what happens when a society, already bloated, wants ever more. Perhaps the industrialized world has dropsy.
Come, Lord Jesus, and heal us of our disease! But the cure will hurt. It’ll be a huge dose of humility. It will be recognizing that God is God and we are not. It always has been and always will be. We’re not going to get ourselves out of this mess quickly or smoothly.
Whatever comes, rejoice that God has invited you to the banquet, the biggest banquet of all. And may you have the humility to accept the invitation!
Monday, August 18, 2025
August 17, 2025 Will Those Who Are Saved Be Few? Luke 13:10-54
At the center of our gospel reading is a question, and it is a question that we also find at the center of our lives. As Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem someone asks him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”
Indeed, if existence is for eternity, and if God is our judge, and further, if God can either save or damn, then what are our chances? And how do we know which side of salvation we’re going to be on?
Would that Jesus gave a clear answer! If there is anything we humans are the most desperate for it is an answer to this! If we knew clearly and precisely what God wanted from us then life would be so much better, so much cleaner, so much clearer. The basic anxiety of existence would be settled. But Jesus’ answer is complex and contradictory.
Let’s start by understanding the dynamics within Judaism of those days. Jewish history was rough – conquered over and over again by just about every major empire since the Bronze Age. A look at their scriptures shows that they felt their history before God was a checkered one at best – and for the most part it was a history of unfaithfulness. They only existed as a unified nation under kings David and Solomon. The kingdom split into two after Solomon. The northern kingdom – with most of the tribes was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.E. Those tribes were, for the most part, lost. Basically only Judah remained.
So at the root of the question, “Will those who are saved be few?” is a lot of history. Will God only save the tribe of Judah? Will God save all those who have Jewish ancestry, even if they don’t know it? How many non-Jews will God save, and why? Will God save bad Jews simply because they are Jews, or will good non-Jews get in? How much do you really have to follow the religious laws for God to let you into heaven?
I do not think the person asking the question really saw it in light of the way many Christians do today; which is as more of a global question of salvation.
Jesus initially sidesteps the question. He gives a traditional image that implies only a few will find their way, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and now be able.”
Okay, this is looking like salvation is going to be tough, and very limited.
But then Jesus makes a transition in his image, “When once the owner has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from…”
With all the questions in the air, the hearers (and we the readers) are shocked to find that we’re already on the outside and unable to get in!
But then Jesus shifts the image yet again. He says, “Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some who are last will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
What does that mean? Jesus is pulling on images from the prophet Isaiah and his vision of a heavenly banquet for all nations on earth. Does that mean then that everyone gets in? But what about the narrow gate that few get in? What about the closed door that no one is left past?
Our heads are left spinning. Our hearts may be knotted by this confusion. Or perhaps our hearts just reject it all as nonsense.
It is my belief that most people in our society live with the idea that if they’re basically good God will like them and they’ll go to heaven. And bad people go to hell. It’s as simple as that. And of course, most people consider themselves to be basically good. They really don’t think about it much. They don’t have interest in religious teachings or a faith community. They don’t really want to hear what is good and what isn’t.
Author and program producer Michale Schur has explored the ideas of good and bad; right and wrong. He wrote the book How to Be Perfect and created the Netflix series The Good Place. In both places he shows that what is right and wrong, or good and bad, is actually enormously complex. It is in truth completely impossible to pin down. So, as for, “How to be perfect?” Just forget it. It won’t happen. And trying to be good and virtuous may actually not make you any better at all. You deserve to be praised for the desire to be good. No one is criticizing that. But the actual consequences of your actions may still be bad. The point is, and this I am sure of from moral philosophy, the idea of good and bad is in no way shape or form clear.
Consider this parable by Franz Kafka about the human predicament. It’s called “Before the Law” (cited from New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9, Pg. 279. Originally Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories, ed. Nahum N. Glatzer (New York: Schocken Books, 1983)) A man from the country seeks admission to the Law. When the doorkeeper tells him he may not enter, he looks through the open door, but the doorkeeper warns him that he is just the first of a series of doorkeepers, each one more terrible than the one before. So the man waits for the doorkeeper’s permission to enter. For days and then years, the man talks with the doorkeeper, answers his questions, and attempts to bribe him, but with no success. The doorkeeper takes the man’s bribes, saying he is only doing so in order that the man will not think he has neglected anything. As the man lies dying, he sees a radiance streaming from the gateway to the Law. Thinking of one question he has not asked, he beckons the doorkeeper and ask him why in all those years no one else has come to that gate. The doorkeeper responds: “No one else could ever be admitted here, since this gate was made only for you. Now I am going to shut it.”
It is a very intriguing parable! It is just as impossible as Jesus’ response to the person who asked him a question. What then are we to do? We are faced with the impossible – and eternity depends upon it!
This is all at the heart of the mystery of things like election and grace, and free will and determinism. This is the heart of what we ask ourselves if we contemplate questions like: What does it mean to exist? What is consciousness? How do we come to be here?
Underneath all these issues is this: We are dealing with something that is beyond our ability to consciously comprehend. Jesus did not give a clear answer because no clear answer is possible within the limits of our humanness. Will those who are saved be few? Wrong question. It’s a question made from the fears and limits of humans.
Jesus’ enigmatic response takes us to this truth. We simply need to trust God. This is God’s business. It is not our own. Sure, such questions will come into our minds. Perhaps they will even haunt us. I know they do some people. But ultimately we live in trust of God and let God sort out the technicalities.
Commentator R. Alan Culpepper says this in the New Interpreter’s Bible. I disagree with him, but he makes an important point. “Strive, therefore, as one who dares not presume on God’s grace. Strive as though admission to the kingdom depended entirely on your own doing, but know that ultimately it depends on God’s grace.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9, Pg. 279)
I disagree with his words because it makes it sound like life is a grueling test, and that grace will only come to those most diligent. His thoughts leave no room for fun, or for laughter, or for mistakes, or for indulgence. Jesus, after all, had fun with people. That’s a lot of what got him in trouble with the pious religious people of his day.
No. While I completely agree with is how much depends upon God’s grace. Even our very best attempts at goodness are laughable failures in God’s eyes. So, live with daring love, knowing that God loves you deeply. Actually, live with daring love knowing that God actually delights in you. Let God’s grace be the first word and the last word and every word in between. Let God’s grace inspire you, and the righteousness will flow authentically from there.
Monday, August 11, 2025
August 10, 2025 Why Bad Things Happen to Good People Luke 13:1-9
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” is a question that has been asked through the ages. We have no trouble with the idea of good things happening to good people. We have no trouble with the idea of bad things happening to bad people. That all just makes sense. It fits with our idea of fundamental justice. When you consider that being a good and virtuous person takes work and discipline it makes sense that the world would reward such things. In the Hindu religion it all fits into the idea of karma.
But when you are a good person and bad things happen to you the fundamental operation of the world seems to have gone wrong. We may be able to shrug off some of it. Sometimes things just happen. But when it is something major, like a debilitating injury to an innocent bystander, or a horrible medical diagnosis to a person who has always made healthy choices, -especially if it is us- then we are challenged to the core. I’ve heard people say many times that they can’t believe in a god that would let such things happen. I can sympathize with their struggles. But that sympathy is not biblical.
People have sometimes answered the question of why bad things happen to good people by saying that we have freedom. If a bad people exercise their freedom wrongly then innocent people get hurt. There is logic to that. There can’t truly be freedom if the possibility of hurting innocent people isn’t an option. But that does not explain why natural disasters and random happenstance happen to both the good and to the bad. And, why things sometimes go bad despite our best efforts.
We’ll turn to what Jesus says in a moment, but we should note that the Old Testament’s thoughts on good and bad fit with our basic understanding of justice. Deuteronomy 28-30 teaches that if people are faithful to God and do what is good and right God will cause them to prosper. And if they lose faith and do what is wrong God will punish them. Ezekiel 18:26-27 warns, “When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it… Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life.”
It was also commonly believed among Jews in Jesus’ day that sin brought punishment. In John 9 the disciples see a man who has been blind from birth and they ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” It is in Jesus’ reply that we start to see how his teachings differ entirely. He replies, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; but that God’s works might be revealed in him.” That is a very odd response. It doesn’t really answer the question, but I think we’re okay with it. What we are not okay with is what Jesus said in today’s gospel reading.
The text started off, “At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” (Luke 13:1) That needs a bit of explanation. What it means is that some Jews from Galilee had been killed while they were worshipping. It happened at the order of Roman governor, Pontus Pilate. Pilate was known for brutality and disdaining Jewish religious practices. What Jesus is being asked is if those Jews who were killed during worship were somehow particularly heinous that God used Pilate to kill them. Perhaps think of it in terms of God sending a lightning bolt to kill a particularly evil person in their act of evil.
Jesus replies, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you.”
Okay, our interest is peaked. They were not somehow worse sinners. So then what is the reason? Jesus continues with a gut punch, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”
Ouch. Why do bad things happen to good people? Jesus basically just said that all people are bad.
You may remember from last week that we talked about the way Jesus had harsh teachings for the Pharisees and the lawyers. They were people who were prominent and of means. Then Jesus also had harsh teachings for the crowds. The crowds certainly contained many people who were poor and struggling. Jesus even called these poor struggling people hypocrites; just like he called the Pharisees and lawyers hypocrites. What was going on? Why not have a word of comfort for these people?
That takes us to what we read today. And here again, Jesus is calling all people sinners. I suppose if you ask Jesus, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Jesus just might reply, “There’s no such thing as good people.” We don’t like to hear that!
Jesus goes on in the gospel, “Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” This tower of Siloam was presumably part of the defenses of Jerusalem that collapsed unexpectedly. So, did God arrange things such that it fell so as to punish particularly bad people? Jesus goes on, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
Again, these are not nice teachings! When we feel we are wrongfully suffering we want to feel some compassion from God. We certainly don’t want to be further condemned!
The scene, and the whole series of scenes we’ve been reading these last several weeks, wraps up with the parable of the fig tree. The owner of a vineyard has an unproductive fig tree in it. It may seem odd to have a fig tree in a vineyard. I’ve heard two completely contradictory theories on this. Some say that it would have been very strange to have a fig tree in a vineyard. Others say it wouldn’t have been odd at all. I don’t really know. Personally, I suspect Jesus is deliberately mixing images. The Old Testament prophets often compared the nation to a vineyard. They also compared the nation to a fig tree. But I don’t think there were fig orchards. So, it wouldn’t make sense to talk about a fig tree not bearing fruit among others. At the same time it wouldn’t make sense to remove an unproductive vine in a vineyard because it’s hard to isolate and remove an individual vine. I think Jesus is mixing both images deliberately.
Whatever the case, the owner of the fig tree notes that the tree is not bearing fruit. It hasn’t borne fruit for three years. That doesn’t mean it’s a three-year-old tree. Fig trees weren’t expected to bear for a least the first ten years. That means this is a thirteen-year-old tree. For thirteen years it has taken up space and given nothing in return. It makes sense that the owner commands the gardener to rip it out. It should be replaced with something that will be productive. But the gardener begs for mercy for the tree. The gardener asks that it be given extra care and attention for one more year. Then if it doesn’t produce it can be ripped out.
This parable defies concise interpretation. Most of Jesus’ parables can have multiple meanings. We could spend an hour spinning it out in any number of directions. But all of them get to the same point, which is both comforting and challenging.
First, let’s remember what we’ve learned from the things we’ve read from Jesus over the last several weeks. They boil down to the idea that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. None of us can claim to be virtuous on our own. Recognizing that we are sinners is not to depress us, but it is to push us to recognize our need for God for everything.
Then we come to today. Why do bad things happen to good people? We’re asking the wrong question. We’re all sinners in need of God’s grace and we all deserve punishment. However, by God’s grace we are given another chance. And we are not just given another chance, but by God’s grace God will continue to care for us and nurture us. God will nurture us into loving productivity. That’s the good and wonderful news. But there is another “however”.
However, this is all happening by God’s mercy for us; sinners that we are. If we become complacent or boastful or think we deserve God’s love, then we are continuing to be like an unproductive fig tree. God always reserves the right to rip us out and get rid of us. You’ve heard the phrase, “We are to love and fear God.” That’s simply recognizing God’s sovereignty. God can do as God wants to do. God has made us promises, and by so doing God has voluntarily put limits upon God’s own power. But God is not to be mocked. Ultimate punishment is always God’s right.
So, why do bad things happen to good people? It is a question that has been asked many times and will be asked many times again. But according to Jesus it misses the point. Whatever our life’s circumstances, we rely on God’s grace. We remember that whether life is good or bad, easy or hard, God is working on us to make us good and productive. Learn and grow through adversity for that also is the grace of God.
But when you are a good person and bad things happen to you the fundamental operation of the world seems to have gone wrong. We may be able to shrug off some of it. Sometimes things just happen. But when it is something major, like a debilitating injury to an innocent bystander, or a horrible medical diagnosis to a person who has always made healthy choices, -especially if it is us- then we are challenged to the core. I’ve heard people say many times that they can’t believe in a god that would let such things happen. I can sympathize with their struggles. But that sympathy is not biblical.
People have sometimes answered the question of why bad things happen to good people by saying that we have freedom. If a bad people exercise their freedom wrongly then innocent people get hurt. There is logic to that. There can’t truly be freedom if the possibility of hurting innocent people isn’t an option. But that does not explain why natural disasters and random happenstance happen to both the good and to the bad. And, why things sometimes go bad despite our best efforts.
We’ll turn to what Jesus says in a moment, but we should note that the Old Testament’s thoughts on good and bad fit with our basic understanding of justice. Deuteronomy 28-30 teaches that if people are faithful to God and do what is good and right God will cause them to prosper. And if they lose faith and do what is wrong God will punish them. Ezekiel 18:26-27 warns, “When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it… Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life.”
It was also commonly believed among Jews in Jesus’ day that sin brought punishment. In John 9 the disciples see a man who has been blind from birth and they ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” It is in Jesus’ reply that we start to see how his teachings differ entirely. He replies, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; but that God’s works might be revealed in him.” That is a very odd response. It doesn’t really answer the question, but I think we’re okay with it. What we are not okay with is what Jesus said in today’s gospel reading.
The text started off, “At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” (Luke 13:1) That needs a bit of explanation. What it means is that some Jews from Galilee had been killed while they were worshipping. It happened at the order of Roman governor, Pontus Pilate. Pilate was known for brutality and disdaining Jewish religious practices. What Jesus is being asked is if those Jews who were killed during worship were somehow particularly heinous that God used Pilate to kill them. Perhaps think of it in terms of God sending a lightning bolt to kill a particularly evil person in their act of evil.
Jesus replies, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you.”
Okay, our interest is peaked. They were not somehow worse sinners. So then what is the reason? Jesus continues with a gut punch, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”
Ouch. Why do bad things happen to good people? Jesus basically just said that all people are bad.
You may remember from last week that we talked about the way Jesus had harsh teachings for the Pharisees and the lawyers. They were people who were prominent and of means. Then Jesus also had harsh teachings for the crowds. The crowds certainly contained many people who were poor and struggling. Jesus even called these poor struggling people hypocrites; just like he called the Pharisees and lawyers hypocrites. What was going on? Why not have a word of comfort for these people?
That takes us to what we read today. And here again, Jesus is calling all people sinners. I suppose if you ask Jesus, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Jesus just might reply, “There’s no such thing as good people.” We don’t like to hear that!
Jesus goes on in the gospel, “Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” This tower of Siloam was presumably part of the defenses of Jerusalem that collapsed unexpectedly. So, did God arrange things such that it fell so as to punish particularly bad people? Jesus goes on, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
Again, these are not nice teachings! When we feel we are wrongfully suffering we want to feel some compassion from God. We certainly don’t want to be further condemned!
The scene, and the whole series of scenes we’ve been reading these last several weeks, wraps up with the parable of the fig tree. The owner of a vineyard has an unproductive fig tree in it. It may seem odd to have a fig tree in a vineyard. I’ve heard two completely contradictory theories on this. Some say that it would have been very strange to have a fig tree in a vineyard. Others say it wouldn’t have been odd at all. I don’t really know. Personally, I suspect Jesus is deliberately mixing images. The Old Testament prophets often compared the nation to a vineyard. They also compared the nation to a fig tree. But I don’t think there were fig orchards. So, it wouldn’t make sense to talk about a fig tree not bearing fruit among others. At the same time it wouldn’t make sense to remove an unproductive vine in a vineyard because it’s hard to isolate and remove an individual vine. I think Jesus is mixing both images deliberately.
Whatever the case, the owner of the fig tree notes that the tree is not bearing fruit. It hasn’t borne fruit for three years. That doesn’t mean it’s a three-year-old tree. Fig trees weren’t expected to bear for a least the first ten years. That means this is a thirteen-year-old tree. For thirteen years it has taken up space and given nothing in return. It makes sense that the owner commands the gardener to rip it out. It should be replaced with something that will be productive. But the gardener begs for mercy for the tree. The gardener asks that it be given extra care and attention for one more year. Then if it doesn’t produce it can be ripped out.
This parable defies concise interpretation. Most of Jesus’ parables can have multiple meanings. We could spend an hour spinning it out in any number of directions. But all of them get to the same point, which is both comforting and challenging.
First, let’s remember what we’ve learned from the things we’ve read from Jesus over the last several weeks. They boil down to the idea that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. None of us can claim to be virtuous on our own. Recognizing that we are sinners is not to depress us, but it is to push us to recognize our need for God for everything.
Then we come to today. Why do bad things happen to good people? We’re asking the wrong question. We’re all sinners in need of God’s grace and we all deserve punishment. However, by God’s grace we are given another chance. And we are not just given another chance, but by God’s grace God will continue to care for us and nurture us. God will nurture us into loving productivity. That’s the good and wonderful news. But there is another “however”.
However, this is all happening by God’s mercy for us; sinners that we are. If we become complacent or boastful or think we deserve God’s love, then we are continuing to be like an unproductive fig tree. God always reserves the right to rip us out and get rid of us. You’ve heard the phrase, “We are to love and fear God.” That’s simply recognizing God’s sovereignty. God can do as God wants to do. God has made us promises, and by so doing God has voluntarily put limits upon God’s own power. But God is not to be mocked. Ultimate punishment is always God’s right.
So, why do bad things happen to good people? It is a question that has been asked many times and will be asked many times again. But according to Jesus it misses the point. Whatever our life’s circumstances, we rely on God’s grace. We remember that whether life is good or bad, easy or hard, God is working on us to make us good and productive. Learn and grow through adversity for that also is the grace of God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)