September 8, 2019 God’s Kingdom Coming Luke 11:14-32

            Our gospel reading today is a unified whole, but it may come across as disjointed because there are so many references unfamiliar to us.  Let’s take a look at them because they are fascinating, and they also help us understand the richness of Jesus’ teaching.

We start off with Jesus casting out a demon.  You’ll remember that all sorts of things we call medical diseases or handicaps they called demon possession.  In fact, just about every ailment or infirmity was considered a demon.  It seems laughable, but if you consider that bacteria and viruses are basically invisible little creatures teaming all around us, and on us, and in us trying to do us harm, the idea of demon possession doesn’t sound so absurd.

Anyway, Jesus cures a man who has been unable to speak.  You’d think the crowd would be amazed and excited; especially since this is the kind of thing is the thing predicted in the Isaiah passage we read as our poetry for today.  Indeed some were amazed, but some we skeptical.  The skeptics, unable to deny the truth of the exorcism, say Jesus is doing it by the power of Beelzebul, or “Baal, the Prince.”  The name Baalzebub, which is a deliberate corruption meaning “Lord of the Flies,” appears in 2 Kings 1, which we had as our first reading.  In the first century Beelzebul is synonymous with Satan.

Let’s make sure we note something here.  There is no one consistent overarching understanding of evil, Satan, or the devil in the Bible.  Different authors use these concepts differently.  You don’t want to confuse them or else you end up with a real mess.  I confess I’ve watched some episodes of Lucifer on Netflix and I often find myself sitting on my theological high horse as critiquing the way that show plays fast and loose with Christian understandings of evil.

Anyway, for the purpose of what Luke wrote – so we’re talking the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles – there evil, Satan and the devil are all one in the same.  There is a cosmic battle going on over humanity between God’s kingdom and evil’s kingdom.  Evil makes a great show of power.  It appears to be strong and in control.  And for many purposes it is.  However, it is nothing, NOTHING, compared to God’s power.  However, God’s power does not come in great bangs, and pomp, and flashiness.  God’s power will come in the irony of the crucifixion; and later resurrection and ascension.

Jesus says that in this cosmic battle evil cannot turn against itself.  It would fall apart of its own accord.  No, evil is quite unified and it is against God. 

Jesus uses the image of evil as a strong man, fully armed, and guarding his castle.  The battle is real and it will be fierce.  People are fools when they think being a Christian is going to be a sweet tiptoeing through life with flowers, kindness, and niceness at every turn.  It’s not.

But let’s not lose sight of Jesus’ teaching.  Is it up to us to storm the castle of evil?  No.  What does Jesus say, “But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder.”

Who is this one who is stronger than the strong man of Satan?  You almost hear the words of the hymn A Mighty Fortress echoing in the background.  “But now a champion comes to fight, with weapons of the Spirit.  You ask who this may be?  The Lord of hosts is he!  Christ Jesus mighty Lord.  God’s only Son adored.  He holds the field victorious!”

So, let’s not fight battles already fought.  Our champion has already won for us.  Let’s just stay on the right side – the winning side of things!
            And indeed, that is where Jesus’ words take us next.  “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.  Then it goes and bring seven other spirits more evil than itself.”  In those days people thought demons hated water, so they congregated in the waterless places of the desert.

Jesus teaching is that there is no middle ground – no having one foot in the camp of God and one foot in the camp of Satan; trying to enjoy the cheap benefits of evil while also sitting back with the real benefits of God.  He’s not being mean.  He’s just stating reality.  Quick cheap thrills don’t last.  Evil’s ways look tempting at first: fun, easy fixes, problems ignored, actions without serious consequences.  But they are a lie.  Real lasting good and blessings come from God.

A woman in the crowd proclaims, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!”  While Mary was indeed blessed this woman claims that Jesus is so wonderful that he is a blessing to his mother.

Jesus does not deny the blessing on his mother but seizes the moment to point to the basis for blessing for all disciples:  those who hear the Word of God and obey it.  This is life lived in God’s kingdom.

The question remains though, will they do it?  Jesus says this is an evil generation.  So, whose side of the battle are they on?  Evil’s.  What will it take for them to change?

Jesus returns to something said earlier.  What does this evil generation want?  A sign.

Now think about it, will a sign really work?  If he were to perform some incredible miracle would it really have a lasting effect?  Nope.  People would just want another and another and another.  Their beliefs would be based on a constant stream of indulgence.  They would never grow or mature.  They would never “hear the Word of God and do it.” 

Jesus is actually mocking them when he talks about the sign of Jonah.  If you remember that story well you’ll remember that it is a satire; not a historically true account.  God told Jonah to go to the foreign city of Nineveh and tell them they were corrupt.  And that God would destroy them soon if they didn’t change their ways.  But Jonah didn’t want to go.  He wanted the Ninevites, enemies of Jews, to get what they had coming to them.  So instead of going to Nineveh Jonah hops on a ship and goes in the opposite direction.  God sends a storm, the sailors eventually throw Jonah overboard and he is swallowed by a big fish.  He spends three days in the belly of the fish having a change of heart.  I suppose living three days in a fish would cause you to have some time for serious contemplation.  And eventually the fish vomits Jonah up on the shore.  Apparently humans cause tummy aches in fish!

Jonah then reluctantly goes to the outskirts of Nineveh and says one sentence only once, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  (Jonah 3:4)  That’s it.  His entire prophetic career in one sentence.  It probably took him about three seconds to utter it.  And then he left.

Here’s a parallel.  An American missionary goes to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, stands on a street corner of the outskirts of the city and says, “Change from your evil ways or bad things will happen to you.”

It’s not going to happen.  It’s not going to make any difference!  But what happens in the story of Jonah?  These evil foreigners immediately change their ways.  They even put sackcloth and ashes on their cattle and chickens!

That is the sign of Jonah that Jesus is referring to.  Not the three days in the fish – which could be interpreted as Jesus’ three days in the tomb.  No, not here.  It’s just the message to change.

That’s Jesus’ words to these crowds.  Hear the Word of God and obey it.  They will receive no sign, no proof.  In other words, they will not be given a relationship of faith with God on their own terms.  A relationship of faith with God happens on God’s terms.

The final piece of our gospel passage is where we will end too – the queen of the South coming to Solomon.  According to 1 Kings 10 and Chronicles 9 the Queen of Sheba, or Queen of the South, traveled from her kingdom in southwest Arabia to test the reports she had heard about Solomon’s wisdom.  After testing him she was convinced that his wisdom came from God. 

Wrapping it all together: Jesus says that at the judgment, people like the Queen of the South, and foreigners like the people of Nineveh will add to their condemnation because they heard the preaching of ones who were lesser than Jesus and they changed.  Yet Jesus, the presence of God on earth, was not enough to make them change.

So what do we do with all this – these strange and challenging images all wrapped together?

I think we all want a sign from God.  We all want proofs to bolster our all too often failing faith.  We can get frustrated and scared at God’s apparent silence and seeming not to care.  But let’s also remember what God has given us.  And that God has given us the entirety of scripture which anticipates our struggles.

God does inspire, maintain, and strengthen faith.  Don’t expect miracles.  But do expect that as you grasp it you will discover the authenticity of others who grasp it too.  And remember, God’s great act of power toppling the strong man of Satan looked like failure to the world.  God works in unexpected places and in unexpected ways.  Don’t always be so bold to ask for big things.  Simply ask for eyes to see this day.  As for grace to have faith to make it through this day until tomorrow.  Sometimes that’s what it takes.  And in time hopefully you can have the sight to see God’s greater plan unfolding on the horizon.  This will not be a plan for you as an individual, but God’s plan for the whole of creation, which includes you.  For while we are important to God as individuals, God is doing far more than just us.  And it is good to be a part of that great whole.

September 1, 2019 Prayer Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-14

            One of my classmates in seminary was Art Cubbon, a Coast Guard Commander who was put in charge of leading a new class of boats to be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico to track down smugglers coming from Central and South America.  These boats were going to be the most powerful and fastest ocean going vessels ever operated by the Coast Guard.  Art got to have a hand in the design and construction of these new boats.  And he personally oversaw the construction of the prototype, the one he would personally command.

            Art was not the kind of guy who would sit back in his relatively high rank and receive reports and updates from the lower ranks.  Every day he was out in the docks personally crawling around the new ship seeing first hand how it was being built.  He asked questions and made changes.  When it was all done the prototype exceeded all expectations.  Art never said how fast it could go but he did say that for a long time after it was launched smugglers who were long accustomed to outrunning the Coast Guard in their speedboats were now being outrun.

            Art took his kids with him a couple times to see the ship being built.  The first time they were amazed and impressed to see so many people saluting their dad and addressing him as “Commander Cubbon.”  They asked him, “Everyone calls you ‘commander’.  What are we supposed to call you?”

            Art replied to them, “Call me ‘Dad’.  You’re the only ones who can call me that.  And that’s a higher rank than the Coast Guard can ever give me.”

            I like that story as I consider Jesus teachings on prayer.  In Chapter 11 of Luke we read the disciples asking Jesus how to pray.  John the Baptist has taught his disciples.  Now they want their leader to tell them.

            It seems like such a simple thing to us.  We know how to pray – just send a thought up to heaven; pretty simple!  But it’s not.  They’re probably asking for more than just the words to say.

            What posture should they take?  Stand, sit, kneel, lay down? 

What direction should they face?  East, West, towards Jerusalem? 

Is there anything they should do in preparation, any rituals, rites, or ceremonies? 

Do they need to cleanse themselves in any way? 

And certainly not least, how do they address God?  If you were here when we studied Exodus think back to the scenes where God is talking to the people on the mountain.  God is portrayed as so powerful that it’s like the very atoms of creation are so overwhelmed by God’s presence that they are breaking apart.  How do you address God who is powerful beyond all words, terrifying, and ultimately our judge?

            How do you address such a being?

            What are Jesus first words on how to pray?  “When you pray, say: ‘Father…’”

            Father implies a close, safe and intimate relationship.  Coast Guard Commander Art Cubbon had a rank that demanded salutes from many others and respect.  But there was no higher honor to him than being a dad.

            God could demand anything of us.  But God wants the connection of father and child.  Strange as it sounds, it is almost as if God is honored to be our parent.

            It is an amazing and powerful teaching.  It tells us a lot about God, God’s nature, and our relationship with God.

            Now, before we go farther, it is important to remember that all images have their weaknesses.  Some of us had good fathers who were supportive, capable, kind, and loving.  Some of us had abusive fathers who were exploitative, mean, and hurtful.  Some of us may not know who our father is.  Jesus meant no harm or bad feelings when he says to call God “Father.”

            In his day the father was the head of the household.  Any good father would work hard, be a steward of the land and livestock, make a lot of sacrifices, keep the family safe, and be responsible for pretty much everything.  Having a good father was a blessing.

            This was the image Jesus wants for his followers.  God our Father is strong, safe, secure.  Father is hard working, loving, kind, and deeply committed to his wife, children, servants, and slaves.  A good father could be proud of his family, and his family would work to honor the father and the whole family through similar commitment and hard work.

            We do well to keep this whole image in mind as we continue on with Jesus advice about prayer.  In the Small Catechism Martin Luther writes, “With these words God wants to attract us, so that we come to believe he is truly our Father and we are truly his children, in order that we may ask him boldly and with complete confidence, just as loving children ask their loving father.”

            People will jump to 11:9 of our gospel reading where Jesus says, “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

            This sounds like a recipe for greed and selfishness.  But it must be kept in light of the first bit – God is Father, we are children.  The requests must be made in light of the family system with a child making a request of a good father who will consider it in light of the overall strength and honor of the household.

            I think too often people pray as individuals.  As if prayer is a personal relationship with God.  It certainly is.  But it is also a family thing.  Our prayer time in church is not that we each say our own thing, bringing up our personal needs and individual ambitions.  In worship, when we are gathered as a family of faith, our prayers are OUR prayers.  Some of them are certainly individual.  That’s perfectly okay.  But they are all part of a community.  I think good prayers take into account the whole family of faith and its implications.

            Notice Jesus final words on prayer from Chapter 11, “…how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Prayer isn’t about selfish getting.  It is about the family of faith growing in strength and health.

            Let me read an excerpt from Mark Twain’s writing called Letter to the Earth:

(Letters From the Earth, Uncensored Writings, Mark Twain, HarperPerennial, Copyright 1938, 2004 Edition, Pg. 119-120)

            How would it be if prayer worked liked that?  It’s absurd!  Yet I think it gives us a good contrast to understand Jesus’ teachings.  It is perfectly fine to want things, yearn for things, and pray desperately for things.  Jesus teachings go on to tell us to be diligent and persistent in prayer.  But remember we are making them to our loving Father.  We make them as individuals who are part of a community.

            Our first role is members of God’s family.  From that we act.  From that we pray.  God hears and knows our prayers.  God desires to build us and his family into something strong and robust.  May God send the Spirit into your lives.  May you have the humility to recognize your brokenness.  May you have the courage to face tough challenges.  And may your prayers equip and empower you to live in fullness of life as God intends.

August 25 2019 Luke 10:25-42

            Our culture gives our lives structure.  It gives us rules and norms to follow and teaches us how to fit in.  What is acceptable in one culture is unacceptable in another.  For example, many consider a burp in public to be impolite.  But in Amish culture a burp is a compliment at a meal.  Unless you travel internationally you never really realize how much cultural expectations rule our lives.

The parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of Martha and Mary contrast cultural expectations with being a disciple of Jesus.  At first these two seem to have nothing at all in common – a foreigner helping a Jew, and sisters squabbling over who does the chores.  But there is more than just these two stories showing up side by side.

The parable of the Good Samaritan features “a certain man” who went down the road to Jericho.  Martha is referred to at first as “a certain woman.”  The good Samaritan exemplifies a disciple’s seeing.  Mary exemplifies a disciple’s hearing.  Both the Samaritan -a foreigner- and Mary, -a woman- represent marginalized persons.  They are unlikely heroes.  Combine them and you have a model disciple – someone who hears the Word of God and does it.

Let’s get at the combined teaching more deeply by first looking at one individually.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus says that a man – presumably Jewish – was going on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.  It was a notoriously dangerous road.  It descended 3,300 feet in 17 miles.  It ran through narrow passes at places and the terrain offered easy hiding for thieves who wanted to attack travelers.  In the parable an unfortunate man is attacked, stripped, beaten, and left for dead.  Notice that Jesus does not tell us the nationality of this man.  I’m not sure what to make of that.  Perhaps we are to assume that he is a Jew.  Or perhaps Jesus deliberately does not want the man’s nationality to be important.  Commentator R. Alan Culpepper hints that that is Jesus’ point – simply a man in need.

So, two religious leaders come by – a priest and a Levite.  You kinda think these religious people would offer help to this man in distress.  But for whatever reason, they don’t.  Perhaps they were too busy – both were important people after all.  Or perhaps they didn’t want to defile themselves.  Technically that would make them ineligible for religious service for awhile.  Many upstanding Jews would see the decision of these men not to help as understandable.

Perhaps think of it this way.  A man in Afghanistan traveling alone in a remote region is attacked by a band of criminals.  Everything is taken from him and he’s left by the side of the road bloody and unconscious.  An American supply convoy comes by.  Should they stop?  Is man an American soldier or someone else?  You can’t tell quickly.  They just keep going.  Perhaps they fear an ambush or maybe their schedule is tight and so they just keep going.  Later an American medical crew comes by.  But seeing the danger of the situation and fearing an ambush they continue on too.  These are the type of people we Americans want to think would take the risk and help.

In the parable a Samaritan then comes along.  Jews hated Samaritans, and Samaritans hated Jews.  Given that Jesus is a Jew creating the parable you’d expect the Samaritan character to continue on.  But he doesn’t.  He stops.  He accesses the situation.  He takes risks and offers help.

In our Afghanistan retelling it would be as if I high ranking Taliban officer would then stop and help the unidentified man.  The Taliban official gives him first aid then takes him to a nearby hospital for proper treatment.  That would seem like a good and generous thing to do.  But Jesus doesn’t end the parable there.

As Jesus tells it the Samaritan’s help to the injured man goes way above and beyond, to the point of being absurd.  He takes the man to an inn.  And remember innkeepers were notoriously corrupt – think of the innkeeper in the musical Les Miserables.  Yet he offers to pay whatever is needed in the future.  The Samaritan gives the innkeeper a couple days wages as down-payment.  Then he says charge him whatever more is needed – a sure opening for the Samaritan to be exploited.

If we return to our Afghanistan retelling, it would be as if the hospital the Taliban official goes to determines the man’s injuries are too severe to be treated.  He needs to be transported to a Level 1 trauma center; and fast.  So the Taliban official says, “Bring in a helicopter to fly him there.  I’ll pay whatever the transportation expenses are out of my own pocket.  And whatever his treatment costs are, I will pay.”  Such kindness and generosity would be absurd.  Yet such is the action of the Samaritan.

This is Jesus’ lesson on loving your neighbor and who is your neighbor.  Jesus’ last words on the subject are, “God and do likewise.”  And before our minds have even settled on the enormity of the demand of who our neighbors are we’re right into the account of Martha and Mary.  Cultural expectations, and religious teachings in those days would be that male members of the household would gather around to hear a great rabbi.  Women had their own place – service to the men.  Hear these words from the Mishnah (Jewish teachings from around the 1^st Century), “Let thy house be a meeting house for the Sages and sit among the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst… [but] talk not much with womankind.”  (Mishnah, Aboth 1.4-5)

Jesus would certainly have counted as a great rabbi, a Sage.  By sitting at Jesus’ feet Mary is acting like a male.  She is neglecting the duty of her sex, which is to assist in the preparation of the meal.  This is not laziness on Mary’s part.  This is not that Mary is spellbound by the teachings of a great guest in their house.  This is a clear violation of rules.  Mary’s conduct is bringing shame upon the entire household.

Martha does not scold Mary directly.  Martha, knowing the shame that is occurring, goes directly to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?  Tell her then to help me.” (10:40)

As I hinted a moment ago, our ears of today hear this as an accusation of laziness on Mary’s part.  But in the ears of the original readers this was Martha asking Jesus to affirm gender roles.  Men were to listen and learn.  Women were to serve.  If a woman needed to know something her husband, or the head of the household, would teach her what she needed to know.  Does Jesus not value these rules?

Nope.  Not one bit!

The key to it is earlier in Verse 40 where we learn that Martha was distracted by all the preparations.  For Martha her self-worth was determined by her gender roles.  It was of supreme importance to her to be a good hostess who could put on a good meal for an honored guest.  I imagine her doing everything she could to put together the most magnificent experience she could possible to for Jesus.

There’s nothing wrong with Martha’s motives.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do something great for an honored guest.  The problem is that she has put gender expectations above hearing the Word of God.  When Jesus says we are to leave everything and follow him we tend to immediately think of material possessions.  But Jesus really means everything.  Gender roles and expectations are secondary to discipleship.  Jesus words to Martha are not a criticism that a simple meal would do rather than an extravagant one.  This is about the love of God and obedience to God’s Word take precedence over all other things.

Here these words from commentator R. Alan Culpepper, “Neither the story of the good Samaritan nor the story of Mary and Martha is complete without the other.  Each makes its own point – the Samaritan loves his neighbor, and Mary loves her Lord – but the model for the disciple is found in the juxtaposition of the two.  To the lawyer, Jesus says, “Go and do,” but he praises Mary for sitting and listening.  The life of a disciple requires both.”  (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 11, Pg. 232)

The two stories completely break and ignore all distinctions of race, gender, and religion.  All are made in the image of God.  All are sinners in need of grace.  All are loved by God.

The rules of culture make distinctions of who’s in and who’s out.  The rules of God’s kingdom reject all such distinctions.  St. Paul follows up with his now famous words, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  (Galatians 3:28)

The rules of God’s kingdom are very simple – just two: Love God.  Love your neighbor.  They’re simple enough to remember.  They’re pretty much impossible to carry out.  Yet carry them out we try.  It is God’s way.  It is what we strive for.  And the more who are trying to live that way the more God’s kingdom comes to flourish.  You’ll never get financially rich by those rules.  You may get hurt and walked all over, even.  But you are accomplishing the work of God’s kingdom anyway.  And that is the goal which brings fullness to life.

July 21, 2019 Luke 8:1-21

 Our gospel reading is a collection of teachings and I’m guessing your mind was drawn to the Parable of the Sower at the center of the reading.  And within the Parable of the Sower many people are drawn to the types of soil.  Many people find themselves wondering if they are the category of good soil which is productive.  This parable engages us because we know the temptations of the other types of soil. 

We all know the feeling of being the path where the seed is snatched away by the birds.  Indeed in our own lives we can probably remember times when we’ve chosen to ignore a truth that is inconvenient for us.  Preferring instead to believe a lie that we like.

We also know the feeling of being the rocky soil, where we may have a moment of joy in faith but it fades away in time.  I think of those who come to church when their lives are in crises, but then when they feel like they’re back in control they slip away.

Similarly we know what it is to be among the thorns.  Our lives are full of competing interests.  We don’t have time to do everything we want to do; even if everything is a good thing.  It is easy to let faith slip to the side and other things take over.  God just isn’t loud enough in the midst of all the rest of the world’s noise.  Even though we know we need God ultimately for salvation, we can just let the other demands control our lives.

And then there is the good soil – what we want to be.  It sounds simple enough, but seems all too hard.  We think it is the rare type of person who is super-religious, perfect; far too good for our failing lives.

But I’ve deliberately led you down a false path.  There’s an absurdity to this parable that we miss in our lives of abundance.  The absurdity is the actions of the sower.  And if we are the soil types, then the sower is God.  How strange indeed does this sower act!

I doubt any of us have actually gone out and sown seed by hand in a field.  However, many of us have sown grass seed in our yards.  We get the image.  If you have a small area you reach into the bag of seed with your hand, grab a handful; and it immediately starts trickling through your fingers.  It’s hard to keep a fist full.  And as it’s trickling out we pull our hand out of the bag and scatter it to the left or to the right.  Then we reach in for another handful. 

Or maybe if we have a big area to cover we’ll have one of those fun little broadcaster contraptions that you pour the bag of seed into.  Just start pushing, open the little door at the bottom, the seed starts falling on the spinner underneath and it does the broadcasting for you.

I don’t consider grass seed to be all that cheap, but you could hardly consider it to be expensive either.  And it isn’t hard to come by.  Just drive over to The Home Depot, or any number of other stores, and buy a bag… or several.

Here’s something I’m almost sure you’ve never done.  You’ve never harvested your own grass seed!  Imagine what it would be like if that’s how you had to get grass seed.  You’d have to let part of your lawn grow tall and go to seed – or you’re starting a new lawn from bare earth you’d have to have a friend or neighbor let some of their lawn grow tall and go to seed.  You’d have to let it die off and dry.  It would probably fall over and get pushed down in a tangle.  Then somehow you’d have to cut it gently.  It’s no job for a weed whacker, which would scatter the seeds everywhere.  No, it would be a job for scissors, or more likely a sickle or scythe.  I doubt you have either of those in the pile of unused junk that’s in your garage.  Unless, of course, you have one for your Grim Reaper Halloween Costume.

You would have to carefully slice off the dried grass, keeping the seed attached.  Then you’d have to gather it and carry it somewhere for threshing.  How often do you come across a threshing machine when you’re shopping for bargains at yard sales? 

So you’d have thresh the seed by hand- either literally by rubbing the grass stalks in your hands to loosen the seeds, or by attaching strips of leather to sticks and beating the grass to loosen the seed.

Now you have to separate the seed from the grass stalks.  That’s another laborious process.  Ever seen someone do that in your neighborhood?  Nope.  With a combination of rakes and fans you could scratch and blow to get the grass stalks and chaff separated.

And after all that work you’d have a couple handfuls of seed.

Now it’s time to sow it in your lawn!

How are you going to handle that seed?  Like it’s gold!  You’re not going to just throw it around willy-nilly.  You’re not going to scatter it such that it scatters over onto the sidewalk or the street.  You’re not going to scatter it on rocks thinking, “Well, what grows will grow and what doesn’t, doesn’t.”  And you’re not going to throw those seeds in a thistle filled patch of grass.  Before you put the precious seed in that area you’re going to get rid of those weeds!  You’re only going to put that seed where the soil is good and it is likely to grow and grow well!

That’s the part of the parable that we miss.  This seed is valuable!  You don’t scatter it willy-nilly everywhere.  Jesus does not have the sower in the parable go to The Home Depot and buy a bag of seed on sale.  This is valuable seed that came about through hours and hours of labor.

God the Sower is throwing the valuable seed of his love here there and everywhere.  God throws it where it is likely to grow and where it has no chance whatsoever, but God sows.

If possible, as a follower of Christ put yourself in the role of the sower from time to time too.  Consider it from God’s perspective of sharing goodness and hope in places where it is likely to flourish and places where it has no hope whatsoever.  Sowing grass seed in the street has almost no chance of growing.  But God sows it anyway, and we do too.

As you think about what kind of soil you are, keep in mind God’s perspective of sowing anyway.  Whatever soil you think you are, God is putting value into you whether it is likely to grow or not.

That’s easier to say than to believe.  Sometimes you want, want, want to be good soil.  You want to be productive.  You want to do good things.  But you just don’t feel like God is sowing seed at all.  The path, the rocks, the thorns can feel like all too likely.  But God is sowing anyway.

There’s something we have to remember about growing things.  It takes time.  A seed planted today does not produce tomorrow.  It takes weeks, months, maybe even years for a seed planted to become productive.

Perhaps a good example for us are the apple trees we planted I think it was four years ago.  They weren’t planted from seed.  They came as trees a few feet high and we put them in the ground.  Even so they grew the first year but didn’t produce anything.  They grew the second year and didn’t produce anything.  They grew last year and a couple of them gave a couple apples, but still not much.

This year they were fully in blossom and there are some apples.  There won’t be a lot, but there will be some.  Next year there will be more.  And it will continue to take time, but the produce will come.

Let us not put God’s growing schedule on our schedule.  Be patient with God.  Or perhaps I should say, be patient with yourself.  God does not sow bad seed.  God sows only good seed.  And God is sowing it into you constantly.  Give it time to root.  Give it time to grow.  Give it time to ripen for the harvest.  Some trees take over a decade to produce fruit.  We are far more complex than trees, why should we demand faster results. 

Don’t forget Jesus’ final words in the Parable of the Sower, “But as for the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.” 

God’s not usually into quick fixes.  God is into lasting growth and productivity.  May you find the patience and endurance to see your life bear a harvest of abundance from God’s good seed. 

June 30, 2019 Luke 7:1-17

My father-in-law has a large collection of Lionel trains.  In his basement is a train layout where four trains can simultaneously travel around the train room.  He also subscribes to the magazine called Classic Toy Trains.  Each issue includes details of fascinating layouts that have been built by master modelers.  These layouts are often large, complex, and very detailed.  Some modelers work hard for realism; they make the structures look weathered, the locomotives look dirty, and even model weeds growing in drainage ditches.  Some create a scene where firemen are putting out a house fire, or a tow truck is responding to a car accident.

Nevertheless, these miniature worlds are still very simple.  Life is static for the miniature residents.  Clean people are always clean.  Dirty people are always dirty.  The whole world operates at the turn of a knob or the push of a button.  The world calamity that ever strikes is a train derailment.  And when that happens – from the perspective of the miniature people on the layout – a hand reaches from the sky and quickly puts all to rights again.

Many people see the real world working that way.  They want life to be simple.  They want things to stay the same and be predictable.  Then when a major calamity strikes they want a divine hand to reach down from the sky and put everything back into right order again.  But that is not the way the world works, nor is it the way God works.  God does not operate the creation the way a toy train enthusiast operates a train layout.

There are two scenes in today’s gospel and it is interesting to contrast them.  Both involve miracles but the circumstances are different.

From the first miracle you could get the idea that God does indeed run the world like a train layout.  The Roman centurion would have had charge of 100 soldiers.  He and his troops were probably stationed in the area to keep the peace and also let the locals know who’s really in charge.  Some Roman soldiers were harsh with the locals.  Others were not.  This particular centurion appears to believe that the best way to keep the peace was to be kind to the locals he oversees.  He has gotten to know them and is supportive of their religious needs.  It is an attitude that probably served him well. 

This centurion knows that many Jews would consider entering the house of a Roman something that could make them ritually unclean; or be ritually defiled.  That wouldn’t be the end of the world for a Jew, but it would mean they’d perform cleanliness rituals afterward to remove the defilement.

He has been paying enough attention to what is going on in the community around him to know that Jesus of Nazareth is considered a great healer; and that Jesus spends a lot of time in Capernaum.  When a beloved slaved becomes seriously ill, and the centurion learns that Jesus is in town, he asks for Jesus’ help.  But he does not approach Jesus himself.  Again, such  interaction could also potentially lead to.  Instead he asks some Jewish leaders to approach Jesus on his slave’s behalf.

Jesus, being who he is, decides to go to the centurion’s house.  Upon learning that the centurion sends friends to Jesus telling him he need not come.  The centurion believes Jesus can heal from a distance and asks for that.  Jesus’ praise for the centurion is about more than just his belief in Jesus’ healing power.  His praise is for the entire attitude the centurion brings to his life.  The centurion is strong but kind.

As if by remote control, Jesus heals the slave from a distance.

Many of the world’s religions, including Judaism and Islam, view God in this light.  God stays away from the earth and instead sends messengers or angels to interact with people.  But as Christians we believe something very different.  God does not stay away operating a simple and tidy world by remote control.  Through Jesus God has entered into the messiness of life.  He is not afraid to get his hands in the dirt, know first hand how people suffer, and even suffer and die himself.  Jesus would have had no problem meeting the centurion and going into his house.

The second scene proves just that.  A widow’s only son has died.  This son was probably her only real hope for survival.  In those days a woman needed a man in order to survive.  There were few legitimate jobs she could have and women weren’t allowed to own property.  This woman’s future was in serious jeopardy.

As Jesus enters the town he sees the funeral procession.  He has compassion for the widow.  From the previous scene with the centurion’s slave we know that Jesus could revive the woman’s son from a distance.  He could simply stand back and make the miracle happen.  But he does not do that. 

Jesus walks right up to the corpse.  While entering a Roman house or interacting with a Roman may or may not cause defilement, touching a corpse certainly does!  Yet the Bible makes it a point to tell us that Jesus touched the bier and probably the body as well.  As a clean upstanding Jew this was an act of defilement.  According to Numbers in the Old Testament Jesus would now have to go through a seven-day ritual of cleansing before being considered clean again.  Though not at all necessary, Jesus enters into that defilement to restore the man’s life.  Being close with people was more important to Jesus than being ritually clean.  In this case Jesus restores the man to life.

Life is complicated.  Life can be messy.  Sometimes the complexities and the messes seem to go on forever with no real hope for improvement.  We may wish for a divine hand to come from the sky and fix things.  That would certainly be nice, or so we think.  But God isn’t in the business of giving simple solutions to complex problems.

God knows how messed up things can get in the world.  And God is not afraid of those messes.

In the video course A Glimpse at the Spirit of Islam, a video created by the ELCA, host Dr. Doug Cox gives an example that shows that as he explains a difference between Christians and Muslims.  He suggests imagining that it’s dark and you’re lost in the woods.  You can’t find your own way out.  A Muslim believes that through revelations and writings God has given you a map of the woods, and maybe a flashlight too.  Using the map and flashlight you would then be able to get your own way out.

Christianity teaches something different.  Again, imagine it’s dark and you’re lost in the woods.  Again, the Bible could be seen as giving you a map and a flashlight to help, but you would not be left there alone.  In Christ we believe that God would join with us and accompany us on the journey.  We are not left alone and abandoned.  And it is not up to us to find the way out.  We are accompanied by God every step of the way.  God may not divinely rescue us.  God will work with us to get through.

There is no place too dark for God to go.  There is no mess too great that God will not wade into.  There is no hardship, pain, or heartache that is too great for God.  God is not afraid to get dirty to be with his people.

And if God can be in the difficult things, remember that God is also with us in the wonderful things.  God accompanies us in times of success and happiness and joy.  God is always with us as a companion and a guide.  God provides strength when we cannot find it.  And when we are truly down and out, unable to move at all, God’s strength alone will do the moving for us.  God will take us to his kingdom.

We are God’s no matter what.  Jesus didn’t have to touch the dead man, but he wanted to.  God doesn’t have to be close to us, but God wants to.  May we always feel God’s presence and know the joy that comes with it.

June 23, 2019 Luke 6:17-49

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

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

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

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

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

I like the way commentator Joel Green sets it up:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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