October 23, 2022 Pharisee & Tax Collector Parable Luke 18:9-14

 (This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Dansville)

Last Sunday was not my normal routine and my travels took me past the Walmart in Macedon shortly before noon.  I needed a couple things and so I went in.  The place was packed!  Hundreds of people were shopping.  Most of the registers were open and there were sizable lines at all of them.  I realized there were probably more people in that store at that moment than there were in worship that morning at all the churches in Victor combined.  And who knows how many thousands of people passed through that store in the course of the day.  I think I can safely say that more people went through the Macedon Walmart on Sunday than any other location in that area.  It is the center of life.

I don’t want to judge anyone.  People may do as they please.  And yet I wonder what sort of fulfillment people are finding in shopping and consumption? …and at a cheap store at that!  Are they really happy?  Are they content?  Are they really going anywhere in their lives?  Is the typical life of an American one of consumption without even thinking about any meaning to their existence?

Those are heavy questions.  They could take some time to ponder, yet I don’t want to lose your attention over them.  I’m using them to set the stage for our gospel reading for today.  You probably know the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector well.  A Pharisee and a tax collector both go into the temple to pray.  Remember, there was one and only one temple in ancient Judaism.  It was the temple in Jerusalem.  While the Jews believed that God’s presence was everywhere, the temple was the most holy place.  It was the place where people would go to be made right with God.  The temple was a place for animal sacrifices, giving offerings, and asking for forgiveness.

It's important to remember that not all Pharisees were the same.  They were a diverse group, but for the most part they believed that what God wanted from people was following the religious law given to Moses.  The Pharisees could be quite kind and generous.  They probably understood the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.  They knew people could become entrapped in special circumstances.  They knew some people would exploit loopholes.  But for the most part they felt the best way to be a good, solid, constructive person - a good person of faith – was to live by the guidelines God had given to Moses.  If there were Pharisees around today we’d probably consider them to be good people.  They believed that discipline, hard work, and good decisions would put them in right relationship with God; and that would lead to a life of wholeness and fulfillment.

This Pharisee is in the temple, with a life of righteous living, and yet he focuses on his own goodness as he prays to God.  This is more than just smugness.  He’s actually looking to himself for wholeness.

Then there’s the tax collector.  Jesus loved using exaggerations in his parables.  Tax collectors were despised people, and for good reason.  They had sold out their loyalty to the Romans.  They were collecting taxes and fees from their own people and that money was being given over to the Romans to, at least in part, pay for the armies which were occupying the land.  Tax collectors were traitors to their nation and traitors to their faith.  I suspect that many tax collectors were actually also spies and informants for the Romans.  If we were good Jews alive at that time we’d probably consider tax collectors to be bad people.

This tax collector doesn’t even lift up his eyes as he prays.  Jews in those days would pray looking up rather than bowing their heads.  But this man looks down.  He knows his life is a mess.  He knows he is a mess.  He knows he’s a sinner, that he doesn’t follow the laws, he’s hurting people, and that he isn’t doing what he should be doing to live a good life.

But in a shocking twist Jesus says the sinful tax collector goes home in right relationship with God while the righteous Pharisee does not.

A straightforward interpretation of this parable would be to say that it teaches that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace.  That it does not mean that we should beat ourselves up and think lowly of ourselves.  We are made in God’s image and God’s good creations after all.  But, that we should recognize the presence of God’s unearned favor in everything.  That will keep us from praying prayers like, “God, thank you for making me better than everyone else.”

Yes, that would be a straightforward and correct interpretation of this parable.  But that would be a theoretical interpretation that would not really impact our lives or the world we live in.  Let’s take it a step further.

You have choices as to where you could be right now.  You could be in bed sleeping in.  You could be watching TV.  There’s probably some kids’ soccer or football game somewhere that you could be.  You could be where probably the biggest collection of people are – the nearest WalMart.  But you are here.  Why?

There are two possible reasons.  Either A), someone forced you to come.  And if that’s the case, I thank you for being a good sport about it.  Or B), there is something deep inside you that is fundamentally like the tax collector in the parable.  You know that you need God. 

And if you need God, then you know there is something lacking in you.  You fall short.
You can’t do it.

You lack the ability to get to heaven on your own. 

You lack the ability to be perfect by your own strength. 

You lack the knowledge of how to be a whole and fulfilled person in and of yourself.

            As for those who are shopping in Walmart, what is going on in them?  I don’t know for sure.  But I suspect they’re there and not here because they afraid of the truth; the truth that they also are lacking.

            All people are seeking: substance, meaning, depth, truth.  But they’re not finding it.  Because they aren’t finding it in God.  And they’re afraid of that emptiness.  And so, instead of acknowledging it, they fill themselves with, well… it’s just easier not to find it because it might hurt too much,

or it might not align with what works for that person,

or, dare I say it, it might not align with what is easy.
It might challenge their beliefs and shake their way of life too much.

Our world is a nonstop distraction.  Whether it’s household chores, yard work, family commitments, work requirements, keeping up appearances, or a million other things, our world does not stop.  Ever.

Even with Covid it just changed to different ways of doing everything people always did.  Anything but for people to look deeply inside themselves and discover the horrible truth.  They are empty without God.

And so they gather in hordes to shop at a cheap department store hoping to fill that void with consumption.

Why do they choose that?  Because they are like the Pharisee.  Shopping at Walmart means that you have the world under your control.  You, by your own ability to earn, can fill your life with stuff to give you meaning; even though it doesn’t.  And when that stuff fails to give you meaning you go in for more.  And more.  And more…

But you are here.  You are here because you have the courage to face the truth.  Wholeness comes from God.  You can’t get it elsewhere. 

Oh yes, we all like to have stuff that’s fun.  And we like to look good.  And we like to be popular and well regarded, and all of that.  But ultimately we know that is secondary.

If I would have come today and found this sanctuary packed wall to wall and standing room only, this sermon wouldn’t have worked at all.  But I was sure of what is.  The world around us is more lost than it realizes.  I don’t say that to its condemnation.  I say it so that we realize the magnitude of the task ahead of us.

Someday people will come to a reckoning to the emptiness they find within themselves.  When will that be?  How long?  I don’t know.  For now people just seem to be going faster and faster to hide from the truth.  But it will come.

Whether that be a time soon or distant, our role is to continue to have the courage to live in the truth.  That’s the courage to recognize that we do not have it within ourselves to bring ourselves fulfillment.  That resides with God.  We need God.  And so we witness to the world the answer to their emptiness.  Don’t be surprised if they don’t want to hear it.  For they don’t.  But do know that you are God’s chosen people in this time and place.  You are God’s chosen people, endowed with the gifts and abilities necessary, to bring God’s wholeness to reality.

Through courage, commitment, love, and thoughtfulness we keep making God’s kingdom real.  We do not guilt or shame people for their actions.  That will only make them resentful.  But we do let the light of wholeness shine from ourselves.  That is a light in their darkness.  And some will indeed see.  Some will have the courage to face their inner darkness.  And God’s kingdom will continue to do what it has always done; bring people to abundance of life for all of life.

Though it be hard, rejoice to be God’s chosen agents of grace in this world!

October 16, 2022 Rules or Grace 1 Timothy 3:14-4:16

 Faith is seen by many people as constricting.  It puts limits on the fun you can have.  You have to be nice to people.  You can’t swear, do illegal drugs, or be a jerk when driving on the highway.  Faith and virtue seem to go hand in hand.  Growing in faith is seen as becoming more and more virtuous, and more and more constricted.

I have here a pitcher of water and some funnels.  Pouring water through them constricts the flow.

(Pour water into bucket directly)

If I just pour water out of the pitcher there is no restrictions whatsoever.  This is a person who just does what they want without regard to faith or any limits.

Next is a canning funnel.  It doesn’t constrict the water much, but it does limit it a bit. 

(Pour water into the light blue canning funnel)

Perhaps this is the person who says they believe in God, but they really don’t practice it.  They just say they’re going to be a good person and live by their own moral code, which creates some limits.

Or maybe this is the person who comes to worship for Christmas and Easter.  There is some limit on them but not much.  On Christmas Eve they could maybe go to a party but they choose worship.  Or on Easter they could sleep in or go to brunch, but they choose worship.  Again, some restrictions, but not much.

Next is a regular kitchen funnel.  Here we have more restriction.  If this represents a life of faith we see a lot of focus and control. 

(Pour water into the kitchen funnel.)

This is the person who worships regularly.  They give generously to their community of faith and to many charities.  They could use that money to indulge themselves, but their faith limits it and they give it to God.

This is the person who could do all sorts of things on Sunday mornings: sleep in, watch TV, play computer games, go out to eat, etc.  But they limit themselves to worship.

            Perhaps it is faith at this level that causes guilt when kids’ sports conflict with church things.  If it’s a parent they feel torn in priorities.  They know they should witness to their kids that faith should be the number one thing in their lives.  All other things should be secondary.  And yet, in today’s culture, unless a kid is involved in sports to the extent that it consumes Sunday mornings, they will never advance in that sport.  And besides, don’t sports build character and a sense of teamwork?  Don’t sports help kids feel worthwhile?

            So faith at this level means priorities that feel restricting.  It is easy to become resentful towards such restrictions.  Kids whose parents force them to church things rather than everything else feel left out, or like oddballs.

            There is yet another funnel.  This is a fuel filter for a gas lantern. 

(Pour water into the red fuel funnel)

Now the water flow is very restricted.  It is focused.  It is limited.

            Perhaps this person is what we would call a religious fanatic.  They limit and deny themselves to the extreme.  Perhaps think of the stereotypes of the Puritans.  Or perhaps people who sell their possessions and join a commune or monastery.  If we step out of Christian faith, perhaps this would be a Buddhist monk who has renounced everything in life and is deeply committed to achieving nirvana.

            These people are living saints.  They indulge in nothing.  They make faith their 100% priority at all times. 

            But is this really the nature of faith?  Or at least the nature of Christian faith?  A look at what we’ve been reading from 1 Timothy over the last few weeks could lead us to answer, “Yes.  Faith is about discipline and sacrifice and selflessness and virtuous living.”  After all we’ve read things like these requirements for church leaders, “…be above reproach,…temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money.”  (1 Timothy 3:2-3)

            From these words faith sounds like a pretty high bar of virtue to be maintained.

            But is that the right interpretation?
            Today we read, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage an enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

Is faith restricting?  Is growing in faith growing in restriction?   The text from 1 Timothy continues, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”

The answer is, “No.  Faith is not restricting at all.”  Faith is permission giving.  Faith sees opportunities and possibilities.  Faith takes risks.  It enjoys successes.  It knows of forgiveness when there are failures.  God wants wholeness of life, not restricted life.  God brings abundance and delight.

While many will live in such a way that they think increasing faith means ever more restrictions.  A life of grace is the complete opposite.  Faith is not a funnel at all.  Faith is perhaps more like a colander.

(Pour water into the colander -with bowl upside down inside to divert water to the sides.)

A life of faith can flow in many directions at once, without restrictions.

Does that mean that anything goes?  Does that mean that true faith means indulgence in all things?  Are we encouraged to become hedonists?

Our text says, “Train yourself in godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 

Godliness is knowing where your value comes from.  It is connecting to the deep reality that you are God’s.  It is knowing that God loves your ‘youness’.

And so a life of faith, and its fullness of life, will not be caught up in silly pursuits that lead to nothingness.

Why work hard to make money and then spend it on something that will not satisfy?

Why try to keep up appearances, make impressions, or try to fit in with people who don’t really matter?

Who’s opinion of you really matters?

God’s.  And God’s alone.

That is freedom!

That is the power of faith bringing you abundant life.

That is faith that will open your life to endless possibilities and opportunities.

Faith does not restrict.  Faith opens possibilities.  It keeps us from all that brings dead-end unfulfillment.  It makes us fully alive – in this life and the next.

October 9, 2022 To Spread the Kingdom 1 Timothy 2-3:13

(Sermon in two parts - After reading 1 Timothy 2:1-7)

I’ve had us pause the reading here because I think it is a good place that will help us understand what lies ahead.  I believe the ultimate goal of the author of this letter is not the formation of the church, but the effective spread of the gospel to the world.  He says that outright in 2:4, “[God] desires everyone to be saved and to know the knowledge of the truth.” 

In what we read last week there was a mention of the conversion of St. Paul.  As a young man Paul was a persecutor of Christians.  Then he had a dramatic conversion experience and became one of the biggest missionaries of the early church.  That conversion is important to the author of 1 Timothy.  It shows just how far God will go to have people – everyone - in his kingdom.  God is not looking for just the good, or those with the right religious convictions, or those who build their lives on the right priorities.  God wants everyone!

The main purpose of our lives is to witness to the love of God.  That may sound like a selfless and difficult way to live.  Why can’t we be selfish, lazy, and comfortable after all?  But we know that doing God’s work is the only truly worthwhile work there is, and it is the only thing we can do with our lives that has enduring value.

The words coming ahead will sound sexist and maybe misogynistic.  But I do not think the author has any fear of women in authority.  I’m going to point out a technicality when we get there.  I think he is trying to shape the church into an organization that will maximize its effectiveness in spreading the gospel. 

In what we read so far we were instructed to pray for everyone, including kings and all who are in authority.  It was no democracy in those days.  Most likely 1 Timothy was written to Christians living in the city of Ephesus late in the 1^st Century, or maybe early 2^nd Century.  Why pray for government leaders?  Because it puts all people in a positive light.  It reminds Christians of the value of each and every person, and the call to be loving towards all.  It also means that if any questions were to arise about the church from outside, there would be no reason for complaint.  The church should be seen in the world as a positive and constructive influence.  Christians should live quiet, peaceable lives.  The author of 1 Timothy believes this would be the best way to spread the gospel.  The author believes Christians should be seen, individually and as a group, as assets to their communities.

Christianity was a new religion.  It had some strange and radical ideas.  Strangest of them all was that the founder was executed without even the slightest fight.  And believe it or not, the ideas of a person being a divine/human mix or of being resurrected from the dead were not unique to Christianity.  But there were many teachings that sounded odd.  Christians were probably not persecuted in most places.  Although they were probably viewed with suspicion by outsiders.  So, how do you deal with those suspicions and oddities?  Let’s read on. 

(Read 1 Timothy 2:8-3:13)

These are verses that have caused harm to many many people over many many years.  What do we do with them?

Some just chuck them out.  Some say they wreak of male dominance and patriarchy; that they are just plain wrong.  Or that they show that the Bible and Christianity are misogynistic.  They say the Bible is closed minded and judgmental.

I believe we have to engage them more fully, even as we disagree with them.  Remember, the author’s goal is to spread the good news of God’s love.  That is central.  That is what must be accomplished.

And so, the author is going to be supportive of societal norms and expectations.  In those days the head of the household was the father.  He held all power and responsibility.  If something went wrong it was considered his fault.  A wife may be given charge of daily household things, but it was still under the authority of the father.

I disagree with those who say that men at that time were afraid of women gaining power; thus they wrote these texts out of fear and as an attempt to keep women forever secondary.  No, the author believes that if Christians are seen as challenging the norms of household operation they’d be seen as challenging the fundamental structure of society.  Remember earlier that the author thinks the fundamental structure of society is to be used for spreading the kingdom of God!  And so, Christians should be seen as being quiet supportive citizens.

In order to back up such a claim the author brings up the Adam and Eve story.  He blames Eve for the sin of eating the forbidden fruit.  Therefore women are secondary to men.

But here is where he makes a mistake.  I say he makes a mistake not only because I disagree with him, but because he is downright wrong in his scriptural interpretation.

Our first reading was from Romans where the real St. Paul writes about Adam and Eve.  Actually, you’ll note that he does not include Eve.  The real St. Paul places the breakdown of humanity with Adam.  Elsewhere the real St. Paul writes about the equality of races and genders.  There are also a number of references where he appears to have women in leadership positions in the church.

And that helps us.  I don’t think we get to pick and choose which parts of the Bible we consider to be valid or not.  If we do that then we’ll just pick those portions which say what we want to hear!  No, we do not get to pick and choose what we consider to be valid.  But we can, with humility, point out those places which are wrong.

One of the criteria we can use to say a teaching from the Bible is wrong is when it contradicts the Bible elsewhere.  This we have today.  This is not the only place where this happens.  In December we’ll start reading Matthew’s gospel.  He’s fond of quoting Isaiah and the other prophets.  Unfortunately he interprets them in ways that are wrong.  Or at least if we’ve ever read those portions we’d find ourselves saying, “Um, Matthew, that’s not what Isaiah meant at all.”

When it comes to women’s authority the author of 1 Timothy knows neither Paul’s thoughts in Romans nor the stories of Genesis.  In the stories of Genesis Adam and Eve are indeed cursed by God.  But in the Noah’s Ark story those curses are lifted. 

This is something we need to understand about the Bible.  Some people seem to think it is a divine rulebook that has just fallen from the sky, perfect and eternal in every way.

Not so.  The Bible is God inspiring humanity’s attempt to grasp the ungraspable.  The Bible is written into a context.  It is written to real people in a real time and place.  Take it out of its context and you end up with a mess.  Understand the context and you start to see its real power.

Yes, 1 Timothy was written in a context where the father was the head of the household.  The author thought that was part of God’s divine order.  Does he do it out of anger or fear of women’s power?  I highly doubt it.  His end goal was for the love of God to be proclaimed and widely and effectively as possible.  He felt that Christians should appear to be solid, dependable, constructive citizens.  And there is a technicality in his arguments.  A literal translation would say that the wives should be modest and silent.  Our translations say, “women”.  Again, I don’t think the author is against women at all.  He does, however, think that women who are wives should follow society expectations of wives. 

His other advice for leaders follows the mold that Christians should appear to be solid, constructive citizens.  Leaders should have lives that prove they are dependable and responsible.

When we read passages like this let us not think the author is trying to create perfect little well-behaved families; each with a three-bedroom ranch house, a picket fence, a dog, and well-behaved children.  That is not the model of righteousness God has in mind.  The author just wants the followers of Christ to be authentic and constructive citizens.

I can safely say that all of this passage points to making the spread of the gospel the focus of our lives.  It makes sense.  Think about it.  If we are to have eternal life with God, what truly is of lasting importance from our lives here?  Do our houses, or clothes, or friends, or possessions, or money or any of the stuff that just about everyone worries about a lot really matter at all?  If this life is just a shadow of the wholeness that is to come, then what does really matter.  What our author told us, “[God] desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  Whether that be easy or extremely difficult, that is the only thing worth working for.

October 2, 2022 Who’s Who & What’s What 1 Timothy 1

            It is with a bit of anxiety that we have this worship series on the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus).  It is a part of the Bible that I don’t really like.  These books of the Bible have been used to support sexism, racism, and slavery – in fact just about every ‘ism there is today.  These books can also create so many rules and expectations for virtuous living that Christianity can become a faith that leaves no room for fun; and is very judgmental.

            Some people make these books the core of their faith.  Some, among them the mainline Protestant denominations, basically ignore them.  Or they become apologetic about them.  Or they try to assign them as relics of the ignorant past.  But all such approaches are dangerous.  Christianity the world over recognizes the Bible as a closed canon of scripture.  You cannot add to it.  You cannot take anything away from it.  As my one seminary professor said of the Pastoral Epistles, “They are scripture.  They’re authoritative.  Deal with them!”  (Rev. Rick Carlson)

            So, how do we, “deal with them”?

            I believe that if we approach them with an open mind and an understanding of their context we can arrive at an understanding that will be a blessing to our lives and deepen our faith.  That being said, I know that comes from my own life context.  I know that if I were a woman who had been denied any number of opportunities or possibilities because the Bible says that women are fundamentally inferior to men then I would probably have a different attitude.  I don’t want to make light of how many people have been hurt by these books.

            I also want to say that we are fools if we think they are products of the ignorant past, and that today we have a better understanding of the truth.  Such a conclusion, while common, is ridiculous.  C.S. Lewis said that every generation thinks that it has achieved a full and accurate understanding of things over and above previous generations.

            We’ll get to more of that in future chapters.  Today as we look at 1 Timothy 1 we are engaging the basic question of what this new religion of Christianity looks like?  How is to be practiced?  What is its core?

If 1 Timothy is written to the people of the city of Ephesus late in the 1^st Century then there are a number of things to keep in mind.  Christianity was not the only new religion in the area.  There were new religions from Egypt, most of them about Isis.  From the east there was a resurgence of Mithraism.  And there was the established official religion of Ephesus, the religion of Artemus.  Judaism was also around.

            Today I hear people say that all religions are different branches of the same tree.  I completely disagree.  I don’t say that with arrogance or anger or ignorance.  I say it out of respect for the world’s belief systems, and I say it because Christianity is fundamentally distinct from all the others.

            What makes Christianity so distinct is its foundation, which is grace.  Grace is unmerited favor from God.  It is that God loves you even though you haven’t earned that love and can never earn it.

            Grace is a dangerous concept to build a religion on.  What does it look like?  Where are its boundaries?  How do you determine orthodoxy or heresy?  These are all good questions.

And just to remind us of how radical the idea of grace is, consider this.  How many times does the Bible record Jesus using the word “grace”?

Zero.

Never.  Not once.

            How many times does it appear in Matthew’s gospel?  Zero.

            How many times does it appear in Mark’s gospel?  Zero.

            How many times does it appear in Luke’s gospel, which we just read?  Zero.

            How many times does it appear in John’s gospel?  Four times in chapter 1.  And it never comes up again.  Jesus never says it.

            What do we do with this?  Is this not the foundation of faith yet our foundational stories don’t do anything with it?

            I ask those questions just so you realize how difficult a time the followers of Jesus had late in the first century.  It is St. Paul who gives us the concept of grace.  He uses it over 100 times.

            That concept of grace comes about from his conversion experience, which is referenced in 1 Timothy 1.  That is there, even though the readers knew it, because it is so foundational to everything that follows.

            While there is a lot going on in 1 Timothy 1 it is the conversion reference that is central to everything which follows.  It is this conversion which is Paul’s core to building a Christian life.

            You’ll remember that Paul was originally a persecutor of the followers of Christ.  He would travel around capturing Christians and turning them over to the Jewish authorities for punishment. 

            So what happened that turned Paul around completely?  You’ll remember that he originally went by the name of Saul, and then changed his name when he become a follower of Jesus.  Saul was traveling to Damascus to capture the Christians there when he suddenly sees a blinding vision.  As a part of that vision he hears Jesus ask him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  To which he replied, “Who are you, Lord?”  The reply came, “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.  But get up and enter the city, and you bill be told what you are to do.”  He looses his sight for several days.  He is taken to a follower of Jesus and his conversion begins.

            To Paul this was pure grace.  Nothing, nothing about him merited such choosing by God.  He deserved the reverse for trying to stop God’s will.  And only by the will of God was he changed.  Thus the concept of grace becomes the foundational understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

            It doesn’t matter that Jesus isn’t recorded as saying it.  It doesn’t matter that the gospels don’t use it.  (And remember the gospels were written after Paul’s letters.)  Grace is an excellent way to understand how God works.

            Early in 1 Timothy the author reminds the readers that it is God’s grace that is the foundation upon which everything else is built.  And it is the concept of grace by which everything else is judged as being orthodox or heresy.

            Christianity was then, and is now, an incredibly innovative and free faith.  That freedom often ran the early Christians amuck.  Did grace mean that anything goes?  Did grace mean that there were no rules?

            Putting shape to a community based on grace is that the Pastoral Epistles are trying to accomplish.

            I’m not going to get into the details of Chapter 1 other than to note this, the curious bit at the end where Paul says he has turned over Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan.  We read that and think Paul has damned them or called some curse down upon them.  But that is not at all the case.

            A more literal translation would not say that Paul has turned them over to Satan.  It would say that Paul has turned them over to “the” Satan.  Remember, in many places in the Bible Satan is seen as a part of God’s divine court whose role it is to bring people back to orthodoxy.  Thus, for Paul to turn someone over to Satan was to turn them over to God’s gracious corrective power.  It was not punishment or damnation.

            Such is the understanding of grace that the readers are receiving.  That they are wrapped in God’s love coming and going.  Even being reprimanded by God for errors was done with the spirit of love.

            In future weeks we’ll be looking at how grace comes to shape the church.  We’ll learn about church structure and authority.  We’ll learn the qualities church leaders are to have.  And we’ll learn how Christians are supposed to live.

            Today we’ll leave it with this.  The author says, “I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophesies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscious.”  (1 Timothy 1, 18-19a)

            Though we do not do literal physical combat, we are to see our faith as not an easy going along with the world around us.  We are to realize that faith is a challenge.  God’s grace, wonderful as it is, is contrary to how the world works.  But God’s grace is powerful.  It is to shape us, and to shape all those whom God brings to the truth of his love. 

September 25, 2022 Parable of the Greedy King Luke 19:11-27

             If you’re like me in this, and I’m pretty sure it’s safe to assume that you are, you love junk foods.  Junk foods can almost be addictive once you get to eating them.  There is a very good reason why.  They’re especially engineered to make you want to eat them, and then overeat them, and then still crave more of them. 

            Food companies spend millions developing their products with teams of food scientists for the purpose of creating a bliss point for you.  That bliss point is the exact balance of sugars, salt, fat, and flavors that isn’t too much, but isn’t too little, and it makes your brain crave more.

            While candy bars definitely fall into the category of junk food, they are distinctly different than, say, potato chips.  I think Snickers candy bars live up to their advertising claim that, “Snickers really satisfies.”  I love them.  And when I eat a full size one I am indeed satisfied.  I don’t really want to eat a second one, at least not for a while.

            But a bag of potato chips, that’s a different story entirely.  What evil genius came up with the idea of a “serving size” for potato chips?  There’s no such thing.  For me, eating a serving size is only going to make me mad.

            When we decided to resume coffee hour as the pandemic went on we decided to go with only prepackaged foods.  And thus we started getting those serving size bags of different flavored chips.  But one of those bags is hardly enough.  If I eat one bag I really want to eat seven more!

            If you’re sitting here in the sanctuary you probably have visions of your favorite junk food floating in your mind’s eye right now.  And if you’re watching online I’m guessing there’s a good chance you’re contemplating going to the pantry to get something, if you haven’t already!

            I’m not going to go so far as to call junk foods diabolical, but they definitely get into the realm of insatiable greed.

            I use them as an introduction to the parable we read from Luke’s gospel today.  It’s known variously as the Parable of the Pounds, or the Parable of the Minas, or as I prefer to see it called, the Parable of the Greedy and Vengeful King.

            This parable probably trips us up.  There’s a similar parable in Matthew’s gospel – the Parable of the Talents.  There we have a wealthy man going on a journey.  He summons some of his slaves and gives them talents of money to manage while he is away.  A talent is a huge sum of money – something like 15 to 20 years wages for the average worker.  In that parable when the man returns he asks for a reckoning from his slaves.  Two have invested their talents and doubled their money.  A third has hidden the money and done nothing with it.  The man praises the work of those who earned great returns.  He has the third slave thrown into outer darkness and destroyed.

            It is a somewhat frightening parable, but we get the point that we are the slaves and that we are to use the things God has given us for the increase of his kingdom.

            It is very difficult to read this parable from Luke and not think we are supposed to give it the same interpretation.  However, I believe that would be a mistake, a BIG mistake.  In Luke’s version I believe the parable is teaching the exact opposite lesson.

             Let’s put this parable in its context within Luke.  All summer we’ve been following Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem.  This journey makes up the central third of Luke’s gospel.  This parable is the very end of that journey.  If we read just one verse further we’re in the story of Palm Sunday.  There is our clue for how to interpret it.

            In those days the economy was basically stagnant.  Unlike today where we believe there is no limit to economic growth, then they saw all resources as being limited.  There was only so much land.  There was only so much money.  No more.  No less.  In order for me to get more it meant that someone else had to have less.  You clung dearly to what you had, and you worked hard not to lose it.

            As it is in Luke, the dynamics of this parable would have been familiar to its hearers.  A look at the history of that time shows several leaders who did just what the king does.  By some shrewdness or leveraging they had come to have control of additional land, and they left to inspect it and impose their rule.  As was typical of kings of the time, those who accepted his rule would be rewarded.  Those who sought to undermine the king would be punished or executed.

            When the king in the parable goes away he entrusts some of his riches to his slaves with the instructions to do business with them until he gets back.  Specifically it is ten slaves and each is given a pound, also called a mina.  A mina was about three months wages for a laborer.  So, it’s a great deal less than the talents in Matthew’s parable, but it is still a great deal of money for a laborer.

            When the king returns he asks for a reckoning from his slaves.  Now keep in mind, the economy is stagnant.  In order for someone to have more someone else has to have less.  So, we should be appalled that the first slave called reports that he has achieved a tenfold increase in his master’s wealth.  There’s no way such growth could have happened honestly.  This slave has to have leveraged, exploited, manipulated and trampled upon who knows how many people to get such a return.  The greedy king is delighted.  As a reward for such shrewdness and dirty dealings this slave is put in charge of ten cities.  We start to see the qualities this king wants from his staff.

            The second slave comes and has a five-fold increase in the money.  The king is not quite as pleased by this.  He offers the slave no praise, but it is still the cunning attitude he is looking for.  He puts this slave in charge of five cities.

            We then hear about a third slave.  This one has hidden the money and is not returning it.  Unlike Matthew’s version, where we join in criticizing this slave for being worthless and lazy, here we should be in solidarity with him.  This slave was not about to manipulate and exploit others on behalf of the overly greedy king.  This king is like a junk food mogul.  He wants more and more and more.  He can never have enough.  But this slave will put a stop to it in whatever way he can.  In this parable it is this slave who shows honesty and integrity.

            The king is enraged.  He takes the pound from the slave and adds it to the pile already in front of his top achiever.  Then the king says, “I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

            I know this will give us intellectual whiplash, for those are almost the same exact words used in Matthew’s version of the parable, and there they are words of praise for faithful disciples, but here those exact same words carry the opposite message.

            Think about what I said earlier.  If we read one verse farther we are into the Palm Sunday text.  Jesus has completed his journey to Jerusalem for the Passover holiday.  Sunday he will enter the city.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he will publicly teach in the temple complex, Thursday he will have the last supper with his disciples.  By nighttime he will be arrested.  Friday he will be tried, sentenced, and executed.

            “For those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”  Is that not our Lord’s path in the days ahead?  Indeed it is.

            I know it is hard to wrap our heads around opposite meanings from similar parables in two gospels, but I think that is indeed what we are to do.

            Commentator R. Alan Culpepper says this, “The parable underscores not the similarity between the king’s servants and the followers of Jesus but the contrast between such a king and the kingdom of God.  The king condemns the third servant as wicked, but Luke introduced the Gospel with a reference to “King Herod of Judea” and alluded to the wicked things Herod had done.  The reversal is subtle but unmistakable.  When the wicked king rewards servants for their acquisition of property and condemns the third servant as wicked, the reader knows that the servant and the bystanders who protest his punishment are not wicked but righteous.

            On the other hand, Jesus too has been on a journey, and he is on his way to Jerusalem where he will be hailed as a king.  He will confront the authorities in the Temple and condemn the scribes who “devour widows houses”.  He will praise the widow who gives two copper coins and announce the immanent destruction of the city.

            The parable, therefore, invites reflection on what it means to claim Jesus as “the king who comes in the name of the Lord”.  The norm of royal retribution applies:  Every king rewards those who serve him well and punishes his enemies.  But in Jesus’ kingdom the standards for reward and punishment are reversed.”

(New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9, Pgs. 363-4)

            In our world of more, more, more.  And products designed for us to want more, more, more.  God’s will is a contrast.  More, more, more of junk food will make you overweight, give you blood sugar problems, and give you cholesterol problems.  Then the manufacturers of junk foods can sell you their diet foods.  And indeed some companies have divisions for both junk food and diet food production.  They get you coming and going.

            God’s reign will perhaps not “get you coming and going,” but it will keep you always, from baptism to death.  God’s will can keep us out of the self-destructive cycle of greed and give us deep and lasting satisfaction.  And I can promise you, that while it’s no sin to eat a potato chip, and they can certainly be enjoyed, God’s way will keep us healthy in body, mind, and spirit.  That is to be truly alive!

September 18, 2022 Zacchaeus Luke 18:35-19:10

             You’ve surely come across the phrase, “Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.”  You see that on information from financial investment firms.  And you see it on the advertisements of personal injury lawyers.  They want to make it clear that they are not to be held responsible if the future doesn’t turn out well.

The thing is, in reality past performance is probably the best indicator of future results.  If you are a manager in a company there are probably people who are working for you that if you give them a project, even if it is difficult, or maybe even impossible, they will figure out some way of getting the job done, doing it well, and doing it on time.  And there are other people that you cringe to give a project to.  Somehow, someway everything they touch ends up being behind schedule and over budget.  They can be given an established project that is going well and they will run it into the ground.  They just don’t know how to manage.  No matter how much training they receive, and no matter how many chances you give them, they just underperform; if not outright fail.

            People rarely change, at least not significantly.

            So we are startled to read the story of Zacchaeus in today’s gospel reading.  If you grew up going to Sunday school you may remember the cute little song about Zacchaeus being a wee little man, a wee little man was he.  I’d sing it, but you don’t want me to.  It is easy to imagine Zacchaeus as cute.  It is easy to see him as a tragic little man who, for some reasons beyond his control, he was driven to become a tax collector, which was not a reputable occupation.  But let’s look more carefully.  Zacchaeus is described as a chief tax collector.  Or more literally a ruling tax collector.  That word “ruling” tips us off to a ruler we read about just before.

            If you were here last week you’ll remember we had the story of the rich ruler who asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life.  I said that scene was part 1 of a two-part episode.  Zacchaeus is part 2.  The stories are told as parallels.  Both are rich.  Both are rulers.  But one accepts God’s grace and changes dramatically.  And the other proves the point that a camel can’t go through the eye of a needle.

            It is easy to imagine Zacchaeus as a cute harmless little man, and the rich ruler as a tall, stern, judgmental fellow.  But I think that’s a mistake.

            The Bible doesn’t give us much in the way of details about these two men, but I think the rich ruler would be the kind of person we would like to invite over to dinner.  He was smart, educated, disciplined, well-mannered, good, and maybe even kind.  He’s the sort of person you’d want you kids to grow up to be like.

            Then there’s Zacchaeus.  Now remember, he is not just a tax collector.  He’s a ruling tax collector.  That’s all the proof we need to know he’s a truly bad guy.  He’s worked his way up the ranks of tax collectors.  He’s made a living by selling out his own people to the enemy.  He may have been a spy.  He may have given breaks to those who scratch his back, and turned the screws to those he didn’t like.  If you’re a man he may have reduced or dropped your taxes in exchange for certain, shall we say, “favors” from your wife or daughter.  I suspect he was squirrely and untrustworthy.  I doubt the Romans liked him any more than the Jews.  You would not invite Zacchaeus to your house for dinner.  You would not use him as a model for your children.  Do not underestimate how appalled the crowds were that Jesus singled Zacchaeus out and invited himself to dinner.

            As the stories go we do have a huge contrast between the rich ruler and Zacchaeus.  The rich ruler approached Jesus.   He called him “Good teacher.”  He asked him a righteous question. 

Zacchaeus didn’t dare approach Jesus.  He may have been ridiculed or injured by the crowd.  Instead he runs ahead and climbs a tree.  Neither running nor climbing a tree are dignified activities for a grown man of importance.  I imagine the crowd giggling with glee at his silly behavior.  And the crowd also feeling a bit of smug satisfaction that he is being pushed out.

Have you ever felt that way?  Sometimes when you enter a construction zone on a highway the lanes reduce from two to one.  Most people will dutifully merge well before they have to.  But often there’s some jerk who drives ahead and tries to horn in.  The selfishness is infuriating.  And there’s nothing more gleeful than seeing people not let the jerk jip ahead, but instead have to wait; perhaps even being forced to wait longer as punishment for their selfishness.  I have no idea, but it is entirely possible that that is what the crowd felt as they saw little Zacchaeus being excluded from getting up close and personal with Jesus.

Who knows what was going on in Zacchaeus’ heart.  The text just tells us that he wanted to “see who Jesus was” (19:3).  Maybe he was curious.  Maybe he was desperate.  Maybe he wanted to see if he could shake Jesus down for some unpaid taxes!  Or indeed, maybe his heart was desperately yearning for hope, love, and a good future.  Who knows.  Whatever the case, Jesus notices him.

Notice Jesus does not ask Zacchaeus to come down.  And Jesus does not ask Zacchaeus if he can come over for dinner.  He commands Zacchaeus to hurry down from the tree.  Why?  Because, and notice the language here, “must stay at your house today.”   There’s no doubt.  There’s no question.  There’s no option.  Jesus has invited himself to dinner at the house of a scoundrel.

Our minds might be spinning and the way God’s grace works.  Indeed God’s grace does not follow rules.  God’s grace does not follow logic.  All we know for certain is that we don’t deserve it, but God guarantees it to us anyway.

And so Zacchaeus complies.

The crowds grumble, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”  Notice this is not the religious leaders grumbling.  This is not the Pharisees grumbling.  This is the everyday run of the mill person in the crowd grumbling.  Jesus is not making himself popular by his choice of dinner host.

And notice this carefully too.  The scene doesn’t change.  Jesus does not come to Zacchaeus’ house, and after dinner and deep heart-to-heart talk with Jesus does Zacchaeus announce a change in his heart.  No.  Right there.  Right on the road in front of the crowds Zacchaeus is still standing, now down from the tree, and says to them all, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

Yay to Zacchaeus!  What a change of heart!  What a realization of his unworthiness and a commitment to live as God would have him live.

It is an amazing and inspiring message of how God’s grace works.  It is a contrast to what we read last week.  There we had a rich ruler who by his own righteous living felt he deserved good things from God.  Here we have a man aware of his sinfulness.  He knows he is needy.  He knows he does not deserve from God.  And thus he is open to God’s grace. 

It is important for all of us, no matter how righteously we are able to live or not, that we all need God’s grace.  Often those who are self-sufficient think they earn it, like they have earned everything else.  And those who are deeply broken think they cannot receive it because they are so fundamentally flawed.  Yet God’s unmerited favor comes to one and all, and is needed by one and all.

            It’s all good news!  At least theoretically.

            Let’s go back to where we began.  Past results do usually indicate future performance.  Did Zacchaeus really suddenly change to be a better person.  The Bible doesn’t say.  Zacchaeus disappears from the story.  Perhaps he did change suddenly and dramatically.  But as best I can guess, I doubt he did.

            Oh, I’m not saying that Zacchaeus didn’t change.  Indeed he did.  But I think the change was a long road.  Like a person trying to claw their way out of an addiction, he had good days and bad days.  He had set backs. 

            I doubt people suddenly started liking Zacchaeus.  Would you really be ready to suddenly embrace someone who had taken your land, or ruined your family, or cheated you out of opportunities?  It would be tough to say the least.

            That is where the grace of this story really speaks to us.  People seldom change dramatically for the better.  But they are still people.  Maybe we are the one struggling to change.  Maybe we are the one who is struggling because someone close to us is struggling to change.  It is easy to become judgmental, or to feel judged.  But while there always needs to be accountability, when we can fully live knowing we are in need of God’s grace we can be forgiving of ourselves and of others.

            That is life in God’s kingdom here on earth.  It is not that suddenly everything becomes good and everyone becomes constructive and nice.  But it is that everyone shares the common need for grace.  It is the common struggle lived together.  Let me conclude with these words from my colleague Johanna Rehbaum:

            “Divine grace is a strange, startling, and even frustrating thing sometimes.  It doesn’t behave the way we think it should.  It is offered to the desperate, the confused, and the liars and cheaters.  It is offered to the unrighteous, the righteous, the honest and dishonest, the saints and the sinners, even to me, and even to you.  Thanks be to God for such undiscerning grace!”