February 23, 2020 Transfiguration Matthew 16:13-17:13

            Life can be pretty routine.  Some of us may say that life is even boring.  Perhaps you find yourself wanting something interesting, something different, something unexpected to happen.  Indeed, variety is the spice of life.  However, when we find things to be routine and want a change, we still want to have that change be on our terms and at a time that is convenient for us.  Just think of the way a sudden crisis can make life tough.  And we’ve probably all had times when it seems like life is traveling from one crisis to the next.

Sometimes I wonder what life was like for Jesus disciples.  While we may get the idea that these guys are on the road each and every day and traveling far and wide, we need to remind ourselves of the truth.  With the exception of Jesus journey to Jerusalem at the Passover, which would lead to his crucifixion, Jesus really didn’t travel much.  Most of his ministry took place around the shores of the Sea of Galilee and the surrounding towns.  The Sea of Galilee is small – roughly 8 miles by 15 miles.  If having a body of water in the middle helps to give you perspective, think Canandaigua Lake.  Jesus’ travels would then be to places like Canandaigua, Naples, Gorham, Bristol, Middlesex, and Cheshire. 

And that’s about it.  Almost all of his earthly public ministry within an area not even half the size of Ontario County.  I’m certain that Jesus’ disciples went back to their own homes most nights.  They almost certainly kept their trades and jobs in order to help support themselves.

Sometimes the Bible would make it seem like every day is a day of adventure and miracles.  But probably not.  If every miracle recorded in the gospels is historically accurate, then if you spread them over a two-year period you realize that even miracles weren’t a daily thing.

Keep this small scale ministry, and mostly very routine in your mind as we look at the chapter we read from Matthew’s gospel.  While Jesus is certainly the star of the story, these chapters give Peter quite a bit of stage time.

We start off with Jesus traveling to Caesarea Philippi.  That’s a significant journey.  It’s a departure from the norm.  This is one of Jesus’ longest trips – 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee.  He has taken his disciples out of the routine to begin preparing for the end.

And with the regular crowds not gathered around it’s time for some serious discussions with his disciples.  He asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  You know their answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.  The crowds know there is something special about this Jesus fellow – something that is setting him apart.  He’s one whom God is speaking significant things through.

And when Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter gets a moment to shine, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Let’s pause there for a moment.  Remember, this word “messiah” is a word we Christians usually use only to refer to Jesus.  But the word “messiah” was used many times by Jews of the time.  Messiah is a Hebrew word.  It is the equivalent of the Greek word Christ.  It simply means, “anointed one.”  Many people are considered messiahs in the Old Testament.  Some of them were good.  Some were not.  King David was considered a messiah; as was King Saul.  Cyrus, the Persian ruler, wasn’t even Jewish and the prophet Isaiah calls him a messiah.

There was nothing special about calling Jesus messiah.  That’s no great insight on Peter’s part.  It just means Jesus has been anointed for a role.  What is special about Peter’s reply is calling Jesus the Son of the living God.  This is the major revelation.  This is what we have talked about before when we’ve talked about the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Peter is recognizing Jesus as being God’s presence and bringing God’s teachings and God’s reality to the earth.

Jesus proclamation that, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven,” is a statement meaning that human logic and reason have not reached this conclusion.  Like all of faith, it is something inspired by God.

We want to cheer Peter for his insight.  Indeed he is flying high!  And don’t we want to do the same – know that we’re on to something good – really good!  It feels great.  What’s even better is when one good thing leads to another.  And that ‘another’ is even greater.  Sort of the way learning math builds concept upon concept into greater and greater power.

Jesus proclaims that the community of faith, the church, is to be built – dare I say it – not so much upon Peter as a man, but upon the revelation of God through people.  And that community is even stronger than death.

But the teaching isn’t done.  Jesus tells the disciples not to share that he is the Messiah, for they’ll need to see the Messiah crucified before they can really understand what this anointed one will do.

Jesus goes on to teach this.  But is Peter, fresh from his revelation of the identity of Jesus as the Son of the living God, able to understand that?  Nope.  All too quickly human thinking has come back into the picture.  Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that he will be rejected and killed by the religious leaders.  Peter treats Jesus as if Jesus is possessed by a demon.  It’s exorcism language that Peter uses.  And Jesus responds with similar exorcism language, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block,” or more literally a “scandal”, “to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

There’s an entire sermon right there, the difficult truth that the human point of view and Satan’s point of view are identical!  But we’re going to keep moving.

The teachings continue from Jesus.  Six days later he takes just three of the disciples – Peter, James, and John – up on a high mountain by themselves.  Moses and Elijah appear talking with Jesus.  Peter, somewhere between his revelation of Jesus as the Son of the living God and being called Satan, decides to brave another insight.

And notice carefully the text here, because it’s written in a humorous way.  Matthew says Moses and Elijah are talking with Jesus.  While they are talking, in other words Peter interrupts them, and says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here…”  And then jump another verse, “While he was still speaking, suddenly bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said…

In other words, Peter interrupts Jesus.  Then the voice from the cloud interrupts Peter.  Everyone is talking.  But who is listening?  What does the voice say to interrupting Peter?  Listen carefully because it is part of what Peter said earlier, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased…”  and maybe especially to Peter, “…listen to him!”

In other words, Peter – “Sit down, shut up, and listen!”

Listen.

Listen to what Jesus has yet to teach.

Peter, and all others, keep open to what God is doing; keep open to what the Son of the living God will do to reveal God’s nature most fully.

It is not time to talk.  The time to talk will come.  In fact Jesus will tell his disciples very clearly when it is time to talk.  It is the very last verse of Matthew’s gospel.  Jesus as he is ascending says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” 

The time to talk comes only after the disciples have all failed Jesus and fled.  The time to talk comes only after they have seen the crucifixion.  The crucifixion is the central act of God’s revelation of his nature.  It is, ironically, fullness of life.  Then the disciples can talk and teach and evangelize and baptize.  Not before.

It is all very hard to grasp.  Peter certainly struggled with it.  We do too.  But remember, the human point of view is Satan’s point of view.  Tempting as it is, it will lead nowhere except frustration and disappointment, brokenness and emptiness.  Fullness of life comes from staying with God’s point of view.  In our gospel reading right after rebuking Peter Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers let them deny themselves [deny the human/Satanic point of view – this is not about self-hate or self-punishment] and take up their cross and follow me.”  Notice how he goes on, “For those who want to save their life [the human point of view] will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Tough words but wise words.  True words.

February 16, 2020 Epiphany 6 Matthew 15:1-16:12

            Introduction to the reading:

In order to better understand our gospel reading we should remind ourselves of the dynamics of congregation Matthew appears to have written for.  We’ve talked before that they were almost certainly a congregation of Jews who had decided to follow Jesus.  You’ll remember that Matthew’s gospel is probably written around the year 80.  From roughly the years 66-70 there was a Jewish revolt against the Romans which culminated in the Romans destroying the temple in Jerusalem, destroying the whole city of Jerusalem, and effectively ending all branches of Judaism centered around the temple.  The only branch of Judaism left was the Pharisee branch.  Matthew’s congregation surely was among these Jews. 

The Pharisees were hardly a unified group, however.  They were scattered throughout the region and they still depended on the unity Jerusalem created.  In the years following the destruction of Jerusalem there appear to have been some councils or meetings in the city of Jamnia, which is east of Jerusalem on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  Pharisee leaders gathered and were struggling to put something back together of their faith.  It was the period scholars call “formative Judaism” and it continued until about the year 200.

It is to Jews living in this chaos and uncertainty that Matthew writes.  Matthew’s gospel is not attacking a historical, well-established religious group when he writes against the Pharisees.  He’s writing to people living in faith chaos.  These are people struggling to know what to believe.  They don’t know where to turn to trust.  They don’t know how to express their faith.  And remember this very very important detail.  Christianity has not yet emerged from Judaism as a distinctly different religion.  From the point of view of the Romans Christianity was just one more sect within Judaism at this time.

At issue for Matthew’s readers is how to live out their faith?  What does daily life look like as a Jew and as a believer that Jesus was God’s Messiah?  What traditions and rituals are important, what aren’t?  And maybe most importantly, where is Jesus, and what is God up to?

In Matthew chapters 14 through 17 we see into the struggles of this young church.  As we read it I invite you to try to feel the chaos that is in the background.  People are lost.  They are confused.  They are searching and not finding.  And also pick up on the underlying principles Jesus is teaching.

(Read Matthew 15:1 - 16:12)

If you were here last week you may find yourself asking, didn’t we just read about the feeding of the 5000, what’s with this feeding of the 4000?  Indeed as Matthew portrays them, the stories are almost identical.  Mark’s gospel, whom Matthew is using as his major source here, recounts two feeding miracles too.  Mark makes a distinction that the first one – the feeding of the 5000 - was in Jewish territory.  The second one – the crowd of 4000 – was in non-Jewish territory.  Mark makes a tidy teaching of it showing God’s abundance for both Jews and non-Jews alike.  Matthew either downplays that point, or doesn’t make it at all.  Instead he seems more interested in showing the repeatable abundance that Jesus can provide.  A great feeding miracle was not just a one-time thing for Jesus.  Or said differently, God’s abundance for his people is not limited at all.

And that may help us enter what is perhaps the most troubling part of these chapters, Jesus rejection of the foreign woman.  This is one of those passages where scholars have spilt gallons of ink over the centuries trying to make sense of.  Truthfully, we do not know exactly why Matthew included it.  It was in his source of Mark but he doesn’t stay locked into Mark always.

More radical feminist scholars have had a field day with it.  Perhaps most interesting is Sharon Ringe in the 1985 Feminist Interpretation of the Bible.  Her conclusions are widely recognized as being wrong, but she may actually help us to open the door to what is going on.  Ringe points out that the usual patterns of controversy with Jesus are reversed.  Usually someone hostile to Jesus counters him.  He responds with a corrective or reproving remark.  Then he concludes with a statement the opponent would be hard pressed to deny.  Here, this foreign, presumably uneducated woman appears to best him.  And because of that Jesus gives her what she wants.  As if to make a contentious conclusion Ringe suggests that this woman is doubly and outsider – foreign and female.  She continues that she is an aggressive single parent who defies cultural taboos and acts to free Jesus from his sexism and racism by catching him in a bad mood or with his compassion down, she bests him in an argument and herself becomes the vehicle of his liberation and the deliverance of her daughter.

As I said before, this conclusion is truly an inaccurate interpretation of what Matthew intends, but it can be useful because I think she is on to something.  Remember, we’re talking about a Christian community struggling to identify who it is and figuring out how to live out faith.  If nothing else, this scene doesn’t allow us to put God, and how we express our faith in God, into a tidy little container that is convenient and make sense. 

God will not be limited; certainly not by human conclusions of how God should work and how God should act.  God is God.  We are not.

And do we not also easily take the point of view Jesus appears to present?  Many people believe the saying, “Charity begins at home,” is in the Bible.  It’s not.  If anything, the Bible teaches the opposite!

As dean I’ve worked with most of the churches in the conference.   All are declining.  Many are anxious.  When numbers dwindle and finances get tighter and tighter there is a tendency to turn in on ourselves.  Churches will cut giving to the synod and other outside giving.  They will focus on preservation.  They effectively say, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

Jesus is certainly not being mean to this woman.  Nor is he testing her faith.  He is, however, voicing a concern many people in Matthew’s day and our day have.  Resources are tight, better hunker down and protect.

Who are we to say who is worthy to receive and who is not?  Who are we to say that God’s will is that we take care of ourselves and reject the needs of others? 

God cannot, and will not, be bound by our fears and our limits. 

What made that Canaanite woman faithful?  Was it her beliefs?  Nope.  It was her persistence.  It was her insistence that the God of Israel has not limited his goodness only to Israel but that it is for all people.  She was vehement that God’s grace not have bounds or limits.

I’ve preached many times that we should not expect our prayers to result in miraculous solutions to our problems.  But I’ve never preached that you shouldn’t make such prayers.  If you want something from God, ask for it!  Demand it!  Pressure God.  Let God know your wants and needs regardless of whether they seem righteous or plausible.  The key is to bring them to God.  Don’t sit there in your mind and think, “This is what I really want, but I know I’m not supposed to think this way so I’m going to change my prayer to something that feels more righteous.” 

God knows what you want better than you do yourself.  So pray what you feel.  Pray what you want.  Don’t worry if it’s appropriate or not.  Let God know.  Let God decide.  About the only prayers not suitable are prayers of hatred where you want to bring divine wrath down upon your enemies.  And if you feel that way, then pray for a different perspective.

As I read these chapters of Matthew I feel a community of believers struggling to know what is right.  They want to draw lines between righteous and unrighteous, between Godly and Ungodly.  But Matthew is teaching that God will not be so bound.

For many churches in our conference, and for us as well, I say that God is up to something new and unexpected.  Refusing to accept that God can work in new and startling ways is an attitude that is sure to miss what God is really up to.

If you limit Jesus to only being a nice sweet guy, then you miss the fullness of God.  And if you insist that seven loaves and a few small fish can’t possibly feed a crowd of thousands, then you miss the fullness of God.  And certainly, if you insist that death is the end and that there is no hope, then you also certainly miss the fullness of God.

God is not a tamable beast.  God is doing big things.  We do well to stay open to them.  Just like in Matthew’s day, the church and the future both belong to God.  We should rejoice and be open to a quite-likely wild ride of faith!

February 9, 2020 Epiphany 5 Matthew 13:54-14:36

I had a very annoying neighbor when I was growing up.  I probably shouldn’t complain because I had just one very annoying neighbor and you may have had loads of them!  She was late middle aged at the time.  She never held back her opinions and she had opinions about everything.  It was actually pretty entertaining for myself and my two cousins; all three of us being laborers on their farm.  She and her husband – both graduates from Harvard and him having a PhD - had moved from the city life of Philadelphia in order to go into the organic farming business.  They had no experience, and to say they didn’t know what they were doing was an understatement.  Oh the laughs my cousins and I had at their attempts at farming with their self-believed brilliance!

            She certainly had her political views, and like everything else, was not afraid to share them.  She was fond of saying something which just made me roll my eyes at the time, but as time has gone by I’ve come to realize did actually have a good deal of truth to it.  Of politics she would often say, “It’s all just a game.”  And indeed, at the risk of getting into hot water for sharing political views, most of what I see at state and national level politics looks more like power posturing than real leadership.  Those in office and those running for office seem to be driven more by appealing to whatever demographic combination of voters they are hoping to appeal to rather than actual leadership.

            Real leadership, whether it be in government, or business, or the military, or even a religious non-profit is going to require making a lot of tough and unpopular decisions.  A real leader knows that exercising power has consequences.  Some people will be winners.  Some people will be hurt.  And a real leader has the courage to make those decisions, be able to go to sleep at night, and yet be fully aware that people may also be hurt.

            It’s been along time since I’ve read the interview, but during Desert Storm I remember General Norman Schwarzkopf, one of the more famous Lutherans of the last century, saying that he knew his decisions could result in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and he didn’t take that lightly.

            Good leaders don’t take their decisions lightly.  They aren’t out for popularity.  They are out for accomplishing a purpose that should be for the benefit of society and the whole world.

            Turning to our gospel reading we find a truly bad leader – Herod Antipas.  Scoundrels of the worst sort, the Herod family was sleezy, corrupt, and manipulative.  Matthew’s gospel begins with the father of Herod Antipas killing the babies in Bethlehem.  Now this generation of Herods is in power.  The birthday party they have for Herod was certainly not of the “family friendly” sort.  By today’s standards the entertainment was probably downright criminal; and I’m not referring to having someone’s head brought in on a platter! 

            John the Baptist becomes a toy in the hands of disgusting people, who through dirty dealings had come into, and kept, power.  He was an expendable life in the game of power.

            Matthew could have put the account of the death of John the Baptist just about anywhere in the gospel.  He put it here, and it was probably by design.

            Contrast the powerful Herod family and their actions at a banquet with powerful Jesus of Nazareth and his action at a banquet of a very different sort.  Herod certainly had tons of food – and tons may not be an exaggeration.  It had been gathered by the exploitation of people and probably prepared by slaves.  Jesus has five loaves and two fish and a “great crowd” to feed.  Numbers in the Bible are always hard to nail down, but Matthew tells us 5000 men plus women and children.  So, let’s say roughly 20,000 people.

            Last week’s Super Bowl took place in the Hard Rock Stadium which has a seating capacity of roughly 65,000.  I wonder how many pounds of hotdogs they sold?  I understand that for the Super Bowl there were something like 100 chefs and 2400 culinary staff preparing food.  While Jesus doesn’t have 65,000 in his crowd, he has only five loaves, two fish, and a dozen disciples – for today’s sake let’s call them “food distributors” - at his disposal.  Can you imagine standing in the middle of that stadium with even just 20,000 people in it and having five loaves of bread and two fish to feed them all?

            Again, contrast the banquet Jesus gives with the banquet of the Herods.  No one gets killed at Jesus’ banquet.  No one gets exploited.  No one dances a dance that should not be danced.  Yet all are fed.  All are fulfilled.  And there are twelve baskets full of leftovers; twelve being a number symbolic of completeness.  So even after all are filled there is still a completeness of leftovers.  This is life with Jesus in charge.  This is life in Jesus’ kingdom.  From little God provides and abundance.

            Now, I wish I could say that if you commit your life to Jesus fully you will have such an abundance, even if you come with nothing.  I wish I could say that with enough faith and trust in God that God would always provide for your every need – food, shelter, clothing, medical care, family, friends, your self-worth.  It would be great if we would be protected from the bad and evil things that happen in the world, whether they be human induced or natural causes.  But that’s not how things work, is it?

            Almost as if Matthew knows we’re going to have such questions arise in us, he moves us into the next scene.  Indeed, I believe the placement of the story of Jesus walking on the water is no coincidence coming right after the feeding of the 5000.

            Jesus sends the disciples away in a boat across the Sea of Galilee.  Matthew doesn’t tell us that detail, but since it’s the only body around that must be it!  Jesus dismisses the crowds.  Jesus’ disciples have a hard time of it.  Strong winds are whipping the sea into big waves.  These disciples, and remember some of them are fishermen experienced on this lake, are worried.  They struggle all night to get across the lake and aren’t succeeding.  Remember also, the Sea of Galilee is only eight miles wide.  They’re in trouble.  When the see Jesus walking to them on the water they are terrified.  Is Jesus some evil spirit come to fetch them to their doom?  In myths of the time only gods could walk on water.

            Well, Jesus lives up to that, doesn’t he?  When the disciples fear he is a ghost he says pretty literally, “Take heart, I am; do not be afraid.” or as our translations put it into better grammar, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”  I think you get it though.  “I am,” or in Hebrew, “YHWH,” is the name of God given in the Old Testament.

            The scene gets silly when Peter decides to go on a stroll across the water to meet Jesus.  It turns out that he gets a bit wet from the experience, but Jesus is there to save him.

            Peter’s request to get out of the relatively safe boat and wander on the water is silly to be sure, but in this brief action I think we find a lot of ourselves and our own faith experience.

            We want to believe.  We want to reach out.  We want to take risks.  Maybe we are even bold enough to dare leaving the safe boats of our own little worlds and step out into the danger.  Peter is typical of anyone whose life is a mix of courage and anxiety, of hearing the word of the Lord and looking at the terror of the storm, of both trust and doubt.  These are all ingredients in a life of faith.

            Putting the gospel reading’s stories in order we see the ways of earthly power as exhibited by Herod.  Then we see the ways of the kingdom as exhibited by Jesus feeding a multitude with basically nothing.  And then we see ourselves – ourselves wishing Jesus were with us fully in flesh and blood to provide the full miraculous feeding, yet knowing he is not with us in that fullness, and that the storms of life still threaten to drown us.

            I think the lesson for our lives is that we cannot and should not turn to Jesus expecting miracles to solve things.  Instead, to recognize that God has given us the muscles to row the boat across, even in tough and dangerous seas, and that God is with us always -whether we see God or not- journeying with us, for as long as there is distance to be covered.

February 2, 2020 Epiphany 4 Matthew 13

(This is the explanation about the "kingdom of heaven" I gave before the 8:30 service reading of Matthew 13)

Matthew 13 is at the heart of Matthew’s gospel.  This is especially important when we remember that Matthew wrote his gospel in the form of a chiasmus.  A chiasmus is a series of parallels nested together.  A topic is introduced, and then another, and then another, all the way until half-way through.  Then the topics are revisited in exactly the reverse order. 

Each of the four gospels is written in a very different form.  Luke’s gospel is written in a straightforward story style.  John’s gospel is a collection of highly developed individual scenes.  Mark’s gospel is circular; with neither beginning nor end.  Matthew’s gospel is a chiasmus.  Like any chiasmus, the center, which we read today is key.

Matthew 13 is a collection of parables about the kingdom of heaven.  The problem is that as we read this center of this chiasmus  we easily miss what Jesus means when he talks about “the kingdom”.  Many people immediately think of heaven and eternal life.  But that’s not what’s meant.  Some people will think of the kingdom as some sort of faith feeling or disposition that can exist inside a person.  But that’s missing it too.

Perhaps we should start by remembering that we don’t live in a time of kings and kingdoms.  A democracy operates very differently.  We believe we have some measure of self-rule. We’re used to our leaders having to make a plea to appeal to voters and do what they want; else we don’t re-elect them.  Not so in a kingdom.  A king is a lifetime -or a forever- ruler.  Political leaders at just about every level in a kingdom don’t have to pay attention to the population or make decisions in the population’s interest.  They can do what they want as long as they keep the king’s favor, or else they have to carry out what the king wants, whatever the king wants. 

Jesus is not the first one to use kingdom language to talk about God.  In those days many Near Eastern religions used kingdom language.  Judaism did.  The gospel writer Matthew is thoroughly Jewish.  Like them he believed that God was the creator of the world; and God is the rightful King of the world.  They also recognized the presence of evil.  Something had gone wrong from God’s original design and things were not as God intended.  The devil had by some means usurped God’s sovereignty and established a kingdom of his own.  As Matthew sees it the other kingdoms of this world (represented by the Roman empire and the two king Herods, and even the Jewish religious leaders) were also agents of the devil’s kingdom.  Herod the Great tried to kill the infant Jesus when he had the babies of Bethlehem killed.  Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist.  The Romans could be brutal in carrying out their will.  And the Roman economy allowed only a few elite at the top with the masses subject to them.  Something like 3% of the Roman population owned over 95% of everything.

It is important to note that Matthew, along with the rest of the Bible’s authors, do not spend a lot of time speculating about how or why God’s reign on earth has been usurped by evil.  Genesis 3 tells the story of Adam and Eve’s fall.  It’s the Bible’s lone story about how and why things went wrong.  It presents the fault as that of humans who seek their own path to fulfillment rather than trusting God.  Compare the Bible with other religions of the time and you realize just how little time the Bible spends on the origin of evil.  Greek mythology had all sorts of stories.  Jewish and Christian authors whose work did not make it into the Bible also had stories of battles and fallen angels and lots of vivid speculation.  But none of these accounts were accepted into scripture.  While our minds might want answers about knowing the origin of evil, if the Bible is the work of the Spirit, then evil’s presence is a mystery that the Spirit does not think we need to have fully answered.

Matthew’s whole gospel is a story about a conflict of kingdoms.  It is the kingdom of heaven vs. the kingdom of the devil.  There is no middle ground.  The rumbles began with Jesus’ birth.  Then conflict came in the open when Jesus is tested by the devil in the wilderness.  The conflict will grow until Jesus is captured, arrested, and killed.  With the devil sure that victory is finally in hand the resurrection suddenly upends the entire order the devil has established.

            While God remains the true king, we find ourselves living in a rebellious world that gives its allegiance to another.  We are in a tough bind.  While we want to live fully for God and God alone, we are also sinners who not only fail to live up to the ideals, but also join in the rebellion against God.  Being a citizen of God’s kingdom does not automatically take one out of the citizenship of the other.  I suppose you could say that -at best- we have dual citizenship.

            As Matthew sees it, since the beginning God has continually chosen people to work through to restore the kingdom.  Jesus’ genealogy in Chapter 1 names some of them, starting with Abraham and moving through King David.  Ancient Jews, inspired by Deuteronomy 6:4-9 worked to be committed to God’s kingdom and God’s kingdom alone.  You’ll recognize these verses as the Shema, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.  Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

            These famous verses call on people to stay committed to God’s kingdom.  It is to be their way of life; the ethics they build upon.  From the beginning Matthew sees that God has chosen a people and formed a covenant with them.  They will bring the kingdom into reality in the rebellious world.  That covenanted people were first the Jews (blood descendants of Abraham) and through Jesus the covenanted people was expanded to all people who live by faith. 

            While God’s kingdom is alive and functional on the earth it is not at its fullness.  It never will be until God acts to draw creation to its fullness.

            For Matthew, life in God’s kingdom is dynamic.  It is an ongoing conflict with the kingdom of the devil.  Like any war one side’s moves are countered by the other.  And so the struggle continues.  The kingdom is past.  It is present.  It is future.

            Jesus’ parables of the kingdom then are teachings created to inspire the hearers to recognize the struggle and to continue in it.  The kingdom is not something abstract and distant.  It is to be present in our lives.  Our actions are to be inspired and directed by it so that in very concrete ways God’s will is done among us – his covenant people.

            When you read Matthew 13 keep in mind the conflict of kingdoms, and the way things would work in this world if God’s kingdom was truly lived out by all.

January 12, 2020 Matthew 8-9:35

Introduction to the Reading:

Thus far in the gospel of Matthew we’ve learned about Jesus’ birth, a bit about his infancy, his public acceptance of the role of Savior by the baptism by John the Baptist, his testing in the wilderness, and the calling of the first disciples.  Then we skipped the Sermon on the Mount, which covers three chapters.  We’ll look at that more fully in the Easter season.  But in that sermon Jesus makes major proclamations that turn the world upside down.  The world’s ideas of power aren’t valid before God.  Shows of righteousness not backed up by the heart are hypocrisy.  True discipleship comes through service.  And God’s kingdom is at hand.

But talk can be cheap.  Jesus made all these proclamations, can he back them up?  That takes us to the two chapters we are about to read.  Chapters 8 and 9 of the gospel are a listing of miracles; one after another after another after another, all the way up to ten.  Listing ten is probably not an accident.  The gospel writer Matthew wants to present Jesus as the new Moses.  If you know the book of Exodus well you know that there were ten plagues upon the Egyptians brought about by God through Moses.  They were destruction.  Here Jesus, as the new Moses, performs miracles of healing, safety, and wholeness. 

There are a couple other pieces in between the ten miracles.  Overall though these two chapters take Jesus’ words on the Sermon on the Mount and put them into action.

Congregational Reading of Matthew 8-9:35

            Jesus’ work in these chapters is amazing.  Where there is brokenness Jesus brings wholeness.  Where there is disease he brings healing.  Where there is chaos and terror he brings peace.  Where there is death and despair Jesus brings about new life.  He creates a wonderful vision of what life in his kingdom is like.  As his followers we are invited to participate in this wonderful kingdom of heaven that Jesus is ushering in!

            Here’s the sermon I want to be able to give:  I want to say that if you live in God’s kingdom you will have a long, happy, healthy life.  I want to say that you will be free from disease, from brokenness, from bad things, from injustice, and from unfairness.

            I want to be able to preach to you that if you have faith, and enough faith, and strong enough faith, that you too can experience the storms of your life miraculously calmed, that mental illness will be solved, that sickness will be healed, that addictions will be overcome, that all will be well.

            And even though it isn’t nice, I’d still like to be able to preach that if you had sickness or failure or storms in your life that is proof that your faith is weak and that you need to improve; that you somehow need to try harder, trust more, be more disciplined, work more intensely.  And if you do those things you will surely succeed, for it is God’s will to give good lives to those whom he likes.

            Yes, a sermon like that would be easy to create.  It would be nice to preach.  And I’m sure you can find many pastors whose sermons are just like that, or some variation of that.

            Lutherans have a name for that sort of thinking.  We call it a “theology of glory”.  The theology of glory is that it is up to you, that you by your own strengths can make good things happen.

            If that is your life, then I suppose I’m happy for you.  But that is not the life of most people.

            In contrast to the theology of glory is the “theology of the cross”.  The name alone makes us not like it, but it is far closer to the truth.

            In 1 Corinthians 2 St. Paul wrote, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  Paul was no theologian of glory.  A theologian of glory would use the death of Jesus as a starting point for personal gain – health, acceptability, and easy life, maybe even prosperity and popularity.

            A theologian of the cross has got the more accurate understanding.  Jesus may have performed many amazing a powerful miracles.  But we do well not to dwell on them or be in awe of them.  You know full well where the story of this miracle worker Jesus is headed.  A theologian of the cross knows that the cross is Jesus’ most powerful act.  It is the last stop for sin, death, and delusions that a life of faith is an easy stroll through a park.

            Not that God wants to see us hurt.  That is not at all the case!  But to use faith for personal gain and expect it to be a vaccine from the hardness of life is a mistake.

            Certainly pray for miracles.  God does them!  God wants you to express your desires.

            But – and here’s the big struggle – don’t expect to be able to understand what God does with your own logic.  If you get a miracle, great.  If you don’t, don’t try to figure it out.  Don’t think that you faith must be weak.  Don’t pummel yourself into thinking that God must be holding back grace and healing in order to teach you a lesson.  God can do anything, sure, but God on the whole God is not in the business of creating pain in order to teach us things.

            The funeral service of 41 year old Amy Plouffe last Thursday is among the greatest unfairnesses I’ve ever encountered.  Did Amy do anything to deserve her lot in life?  No. I can think of countless people who are mean, conniving, corrupt, and exploitative who go through life with the greatest of ease.  But Amy innocently suffered from cancer for six years, and even at her pain-filled end she barely voiced a peep of pain, instead apologizing to the hospital staff for her needs and inabilities.

            Where was Jesus with miracle number 11?

            The grace of God comes to us in the tenacious way God does not let go of us.  The grace of God comes to us in joining with us in suffering – not judging us, not teaching us, not condemning us.

            If you learn something and become a better person because of something you’ve suffered, then great.  God will equip us through hardship.  But you are a theologian of glory if you think God deliberately hurt you to teach you.

            The ten miracles were about showing Jesus’ power.  Fortunate were those who experienced them!  But they were not, and never were intended to be, the norm for a person of faith.

            The miracles are intended to teach us that God’s power is greater than anything – ANYTHING – that can harm us.  If you are suffering from something maybe you feel like you deserve it.  You can look to some past mis-deed.  Or maybe you feel like you are suffering for no reason.  Either way, know that God’s power is greater than the injustice; or God’s power is greater than the mistake.

            Ultimately God’s will is accomplished.  All will be restored.  All will be healed. 

            And perhaps this is the best piece of it all.  It doesn’t matter whether you believe it, or you don’t believe it.  It isn’t up to your faith.  It is up to God’s abilities.  God will do it.  That is where our faith lies – not in our ability to believe, but that God has been, is now, and will continue to act.  And ultimately our lives will be joined into God’s amazing future of wholeness.

January 5, 2020 Christmas 2 Matthew 3-4

            By now I’m sure you’re sick of Christmas songs, at least I am, but it’s January 5 and the twelve-day Christmas season goes until tomorrow.  So indulge me in one more Christmas song, albeit a secular one.  I’m sure you know it well:

You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
He's checking it twice
He's going to find out
Who's naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

            Though this is a secular song it mixes in old ideas about the Christian saint: Nicholas, Bishop of Myra.  Legends give St. Nicholas almost God-like qualities.  Every year St. Nicholas reviews the lives of people and uses Christmas as a time to give an annual update about one’s place in heaven. 

St. Nicholas was believed to travel into hell before he made his rounds to people’s homes.  While in hell he would grab a demon – which became the source of Santa having elves – and take that demon with him on his world tour.  The demon was to frighten “naughty” people into better behavior.  Coal in one’s stocking was originally a fiery ember taken from hell.  Getting one in your stocking meant that as of that moment, without repentance, to hell is where you were going!

            Along that line of thinking, John the Baptist appears at the beginning of our gospel reading today.  He says, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  His message goes along the lines of Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  He teaches that the Messiah is coming soon as a great avenger of wrongdoing.  He sees all and knows all.  His winnowing fork is in his hand and he’s going to clear the threshing floor.  The good will be kept.  The rest will be swept away.  So as if Christmas is coming, now’s the time to shape up.  You’d better do it before it’s too late.

            And John the Baptist is pulling no punches.  Many believed that a Jewish bloodline made them God’s chosen and therefore somehow having the inside track into God’s love.  They were “children of Abraham” by bloodline.  John says that means nothing.  God could raise up children to Abraham from the stones laying around.  He also calls the religious leaders a brood of vipers.  That’s more than just an insult.  It has theological meaning too.  In those days vipers, or snakes, were believed to be born by eating their way out of their mother’s womb.  So the image is that they have eaten their way out of the maternal covenant they originally had.

            Yes, John the Baptist presents the coming Messiah as a great and ferocious warrior.  He says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!  The naughty and nice lists are about to be acted upon.

            But then Jesus comes on the scene.  And when John is arrested Jesus begins his public ministry.  And notice that Jesus’ words are absolutely identical to those of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  These are the very same words, but a very different intent.  Will Jesus be the kind of Messiah John the Baptist predicted?  Will he be the kind of Messiah anyone expected? 

Will Jesus bring out his lists of who’s naughty and who’s nice and set up a court of law to judge? 

            What is this “kingdom of heaven” that has come near?

            In ways that are subtle, but very notable, Jesus is going to turn things upside down.

            Remember John saying that God could raise children to Abraham from the stones?  And if you can remember it, to whom does Matthew trace Jesus’ genealogy?  Back to Abraham.  But here the Abraham covenant is remembered differently from the way the Jewish leaders understood it.  Children of Abraham did not have to do with blood lines.  It had to do with God’s covenant – new agreement with people.  God made unconditional promises to Abraham.  Abraham struggled to believe those promises but they came about.  And now Jesus is going back to them to show people how to establish righteousness with God.  It will be about relationship, not bloodline.

            Jesus’ baptism can be understood as the moment he becomes public in his role as Savior.  But he does not immediately take center stage.  First he is driven into the wilderness to be tested by evil.  The tests get at one simple point.  How will Jesus use his powers and his role of Savior?  Will he use them the way the world would use them?  After all, don’t we say things like the Army’s advertising slogan, “Be all you can be!”  Social media is full of inspirational memes that encourage us to reach for the stars and grab hold of what we deserve.

            I haven’t seen the movie Frozen 2 but it reminds me of the scene in the first Frozen movie where Elsa (being afraid of and hiding her miraculous powers to create ice and snow) has hidden them and put herself in seclusion.  And then when all is discovered she flees to the mountains and lets it all go.  If you’ve seen the movie you surely remember the inspiring scene where she sings Let it Go and creates for herself a colossal and stunning ice palace.  We share in her exhilaration of freedom and wish we could free ourselves from every burden and expectation that binds our true selves.

            But…

            But… unbeknownst to Elsa she has thrown the entire land into a snowy, deep, and permanent freeze.  Few people pick up on that lesson from the movie.  Using your own powers for your own purposes hurts a lot of others and destroys things.  As the movie progresses Elsa will learn to control her powers for the good of all.

            How will Jesus use his powers?  That is the testing in the wilderness.  Unbridled he would cause terror and destruction.  So before he even takes the stage as Savior we learn that his powers will be controlled for the good of all.

            After John the Baptist is arrested and taken off the scene then and only then does Matthew tell us Jesus begins his public ministry.  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Same words, very different message.

            Jesus immediately starts to collect followers for his movement to bring about the kingdom of heaven here on earth.  But we’ve noted many times in the past that he does not form a search committee or hire head hunters.  He does not go to the prestigious centers of learning of the day, the “ivy-league colleges” if you will, and seek out the brightest and best up and coming talent.  He stays in the unremarkable district of Galilee and starts inviting some fishermen to follow him.  About the only thing these fishermen are good for is that they aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and work hard.  Certainly no one has ever chosen them for anything special before.  They are mediocrity to the core.

            That is how Jesus begins to bring about the kingdom of God.

            What does all this mean for our day to day lives?  Surely we should all develop the skills we have to do all that we can with them.  But to what end?  To amass for ourselves the most?  No.  To equip ourselves in service to others.  Sometimes that’s easy.  A Boy Scout sees and elderly woman struggling to cross the street and he helps her out.  But often being the most for others is complicated.  It isn’t easy.  Jesus certainly did not have a one-size-fits-all approach to ministry.  Sometimes he got angry.  He harshly criticized and challenged some people.  Some people he met with warmth and abounding forgiveness.  And one size does not fit all for us.

            On my way travels to and from North Dakota the last weeks I had a layover at the train station in Chicago.  With time to kill the kids and I decided to go outside and walk around center city, leaving Nissa to watch the luggage.  Union Station is only a block from the Willis Tower so we decided to walk around it.  And then we were struck by a whim.  Our usual fare for such a layover is to grab something from the McDonalds in the train station.  But kitty corner from the Willis Tower we spotted another McDonalds.  Which one had better prices?  We decided to step inside.  Just as we were about in the door we encountered a beggar jangling a cup of coins and asking for change.

            What to do?  Don’t you hate those moments?  This man was clean, groomed, and warmly dressed.  I’ve met some with matted hair and you could smell them almost before you saw them; smell them because of body odor or because of breath from whatever they had been drinking.

            Everything I’ve ever been taught, and even the Servant or Sucker course we’ve offered here a couple times says not to give anything.  You’re just enabling addictions at worst or preventing them from being a constructive part of society at best.  That course suggests that you support and participate in local efforts and organizations, things like Family Promise.  Then we people ask for help you direct them toward such programs.  It’s a good idea.  You are committed but not you alone and you minimize perpetuating destructive habits.  But what to do when you are face to face with someone begging?

            Certainly don’t throw insults at them.  Just ignore them?  That’s tempting.  Some of my colleagues carry little care kits with like socks and soap and pass them out when someone begs.  That’s a good idea I guess.  But I’ve seen beggars take one glance at those things and chuck them on the ground.  I’ve thought it would be good to load my car with my favorite candy bars and give them out.  That would create a yummy and kind of personal connection.  But it wouldn’t work.  I’d just eat them all myself, plus chocolate melts too easily.

            With that man at that McDonalds staring me in the face asking for spare change, what should I do?  How should I as a child of God and a sinner in need of God’s grace connect with this man who is also made in the image of God and in need of God’s grace?  I confess I think I failed.  I made the briefest eye contact, nodded almost imperceptibly, and hurried past him in discomfort.

            What I should have done, especially given that I had hours of nothing to do ahead of me, is at least given him a couple seconds of my time.  My kids were with me but they are grown enough that I didn’t have to worry about their safety.  Plus we were the sidewalk of a busy street.  There was no danger.  I probably should have stopped, greeted him and shaken his hand, and then simply told him that I don’t give out spare change but I support programs that help people get back on their feet.

            One thing is certain, he wouldn’t have liked me for doing it.  He was counting on people tossing in a few coins without making eye contact and continuing on their way.  But comfortable for him or not, someone who stops, touches him through a hand shake, asks his name and shares his or her own, has given him humanity.  It is noting that he is worthwhile.

            “Repent, the kingdom of heaven has come near,” is not a warning to get off Santa’s naughty list.  It’s a call to use who you are for others; to build them up.  It is difficult, but not amazing.  Through Abraham God has made a covenant of relationship, not rules.  Lots of little things add up to huge piles.  And God’s kingdom is the building of relationships with others.