A Rather "Blah" Ending

The ending just doesn’t seem right.

And I am not talking about the movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”  No.  I am talking about our Gospel lesson today from Mark chapter 11.  We have returned once more to walking through the Gospel of Mark, and our first day back just happens to be the text that is usually read on Palm Sunday–Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  In all my years preaching on this text, I have generally overlooked verse 11.  I have focused most of my attention on all the rig-a-ma-roe that takes place when Jesus enters into the city.  It’s a grand parade!  It’s a note of triumph!  There is singing and cloak spreading and palm branch waving.  It is joyous and uplifting as Jesus enters into Jerusalem, but it ends abruptly, and, might I add, rather unsatisfactorily–at least to our taste.

It’s kind of like the way Christmas is now for many people.  Maybe you have had this experience at some point and time.  You go through all of the build up for the holiday: shopping, getting ready for the meal; wrapping presents; cooking, cleaning, decorating; putting tons of time and energy into it...Christmas Day finally arrives, and what happens?  In less than 10 minutes, the kids have all the gifts unwrapped and they run off to play with their toys.  You slave for hours cooking dinner, and it is demolished and eaten in less than 15 minutes.  With full bellies, the adults all find their most comfortable spot in the house and doze off.  The television is blaring.  Kids are off making a bunch of noise.  There are a boat load of dishes in the kitchen, and someone has to clean it all up.  And you think to yourself, is this what it’s all about?  Is this what I spent all that time and effort and worry for?  There is a great sense of let-down as all that time, effort, and energy suddenly come crashing down.  If you don’t know that feeling in regards to Christmas, I bet you know it regarding something else.  All the grandeur ends in a whimper.

That’s what happens when Jesus enters into Jerusalem.  Those of you who grew up in the church know the story.  You know the actions of the day.  Thousands upon thousands of Jewish pilgrims are headed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast.  It is the holiest of holidays for the Jews.  This celebration was mandated by God Himself to commemorate the saving of the Jewish people from slavery to the Egyptians.

In Exodus Chapter 12 God said these words to the people:

14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. 15Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel. 16On the first day you shall hold a solemn assembly, and on the seventh day a solemn assembly; no work shall be done on those days; only what everyone must eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance.

This day; this celebration of Passover was a huge deal for the Jewish people.  It symbolized freedom.  It symbolized deliverance.  It symbolized the removal of oppression and tyranny.  It offered them hope for the future when God would once again make Himself known to the world and deliver His people.

Of course, at this time, that meant the Romans who occupied Israel.  There was great hope; there was great expectation that God would indeed deliver them once more, and on this day, that hope rested upon one man: Jesus of Nazareth.

Oh, they had heard the stories about Jesus’ healing.  They had heard the stories of His miraculous raising of people from the dead.  They had heard of His feeding of the multitudes.  They had heard about His preaching and proclaiming of the arrival of the Kingdom of God.  They knew of His power, and now...now He was coming to Jerusalem–the center of power and authority for Rome’s occupation and the center of power and authority for Jewish religion and worship.  How would things transpire?  What kind of statement would be made?

Jesus sets the tone by sending two of His disciples into town to procure a donkey “that has never been ridden.”  The commentaries note explicitly two important things: 1) an animal that has never been ridden is a special animal.  Such animals were generally seen as being suitable for sacred purposes.  2) Jesus, and the people, know the prophesy from Zechariah chapter 9,

“9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!  Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.  11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”

This text was about the promised Messiah.  The people knew it.  Jesus knew it.  A donkey was procured.  The procession began.  And people lined the streets.  They took off their outer robes and put them in front of Jesus.  They waved leafy branches.  They shouted out, “Hosanna.”  Now, please know that the original Aramaic word Hosanna! literally means, “Save us now!”  These words; these actions by the crowd had great significance!  This was not simply a spontaneous, happy gathering celebrating a person who was much admired.  No.  It goes much, much deeper.

Hear the words of scholar and theologian N.T. Wright:

You don’t spread cloaks on the road–especially in the dusty, stony Middle East!–for a friend, or even a respected senior member of your family.  You do it for royalty.  And you don’t cut branches off trees, or foliage from the fields, to wave in the streets just because you feel somewhat elated; you do it because you are welcoming a king.  Two hundred years before, Judas Maccabaeus defeated the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, entered Jerusalem and cleansed and rebuilt the Temple–and the people waved ivy and palm branches as they sang hymns of praise. The point Mark wants to make, however, is clear.  From chapter 8 onwards the disciples have believed that Jesus is the true and rightful King of the Jews, on his way to the capital city to be hailed as such.  This is the moment of his royal reception...[And] In the middle of the chant they have inserted the dangerous prayer: Welcome to the kingdom of our father David!

So, I hope you see.  This entry into Jerusalem is a direct confrontation of the powers that be.  It is a direct confrontation of the earthly kingdom of Rome.  It is a direct confrontation of the religious order.  It is a direct confrontation of all of the principalities and powers.  The crowd is in a frenzy.  Everyone is worked up.  Expectations are high.  Jesus is announcing Himself as the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  He is the one ushering in God’s Kingdom!

And how does it end?  Jesus walks into the outer courtyard of the Temple.  He looks around.  He checks His watch–well, no, they didn’t have watches back then, but the language leads us to say almost the same thing.  He checks the time, sees that it is late, and goes camping.  That’s how it ends.  All the pomp.  All the circumstance.  All the uproar.  Poof!  Gone.

Why?  It seems so unsatisfactory.  It seems like such a let down.  It seems so contrary to the way we would write the story.

But this is not our story.  It’s God’s story.  It’s God’s story of redemption.  It was deeply held that when the Messiah returned, he would do two things: He would cleanse the temple and set the religious authorities right and he would liberate the people from their oppressors.  In doing so, he would make Israel, the chosen nation of God great once more.  They would be a power to be reckoned with.  All the nations of the world would once again tremble at the power of the God of Israel.  That was the expectation, but the reality became much different.  The true Messiah; the true Son of God had His sights set on a different temple and a different throne.

First, let’s talk about the temple that Jesus truly has his sights set on.  It is not a temple built with hands.  St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”  This is a far cry from the Jewish understanding of where God was located.  The Jews believed that God dwelt within the temple at Jerusalem in the holy of holies.  They believed this was the most sacred place on earth.  Jesus looked at that temple.  He looked toward that holy place, and He walked away.  He would return at a later date, but He would come to show the temple for what it truly was: a den of thieves.  Jesus was casing the joint.  He was making careful observations for He knew what He was here to reveal.  He knew He was here to reveal to the world the true nature of God’s love and the true nature of our oppression.

For you see, there is a reason we are oppressed by worldly powers.  There is a reason we feel oppressed by all the things that are going on in society.  There is a reason we feel stressed out and burned out and at our wits end.  There is a reason we feel out of control.  We feel such oppression and are oppressed because the human heart is deeply selfish.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  It can be good at times, but the reason there is so much pain and suffering in the world; the reason the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; the reason there is hunger and thirst; the reason people kill one another with guns and knives; the reason people steal and manipulate the system is the desire for power and prestige and security.  The reason is fear that we won’t have enough or that someone will take what we have.  At the center of our heart is a deep longing for security and well being, and we will do most anything to satisfy that longing.

And Jesus stands at the courtyard of our hearts casing the joint.  He stands there looking at what He could possibly do to change our hearts.  He stands there wondering if there is a possibility of change.  How can a heart be changed?

The Roman Empire sought to keep people in line and sought to keep the peace by means of fear.  If you didn’t pay your taxes; if you caused problems; if you tried anything that looked seditious, you were arrested, tried, and oftentimes executed.  Troublemakers were not tolerated.  People were publicly humiliated, killed, and crucified to send a message: step out of line, and this is what will happen to you.

The Jews saw these acts of power and believed that the Messiah would bring about God’s power.  Wielding the authority of heaven would be something to be even more fearful of!  When God’s might and God’s wrath were unleashed, then all would tremble at the power of Israel’s God!  When the Messiah ascended the throne, things would drastically change.  There would be peace because everyone would be terrified of what would happen if God were crossed.  Of course, the Messiah would probably be seen as quite the tyrant–as would God.  And would this really change a heart?  Do you truly love a tyrant?

Jesus walked away from such expectations.  There had to be another way.  There had to be a way to ascend to the throne without fear.  There had to be another way of cleansing the temple of our hearts without breaking and crushing them in terror.

The answer was the cross.

For even though Jesus could have ascended into that throne; even though He was worthy to sit on that throne.  Even though He had obeyed all of God’s commands and observed God’s will perfectly; He chose to face utter rejection not only by the people, but from God the Father.  He chose to face the wrath of not only the people for failing to live up to their expectations, but He chose to face the wrath of God so that those very people could be saved.  He chose to give up the throne so that He could dwell within your heart.  How so?

Most folks, when they hear the story of Jesus admire Him.  I mean it.  Even some of the most secular folks appreciate many of Jesus’ teachings.  They love it when He talks about peace and justice.  They love it when He talks about loving even your enemies.  Other folks love Jesus when they hear that He can give them peace, joy, happiness, and fulfillment.  They desperately want those things, and go to church hoping to get them.  There are others who have been promised wealth and health and strong relationships because of a relationship with Jesus.  They admire Jesus for what He can give to them.  In all of these ways, people come to Jesus with great expectations.  They cheer Him on.  They shout, “Save us now!”  But then Jesus confronts them with more.  He doesn’t act like they think He should act.  He doesn’t give them what they think they deserve.  You see, Jesus sees through our facades.  He knows that oftentimes we want the things He can give us; we don’t necessarily want Him.  We want the goods, but we don’t want to really commit to Him.  We love what Jesus can give us, but we don’t really love Him.

If we cherish things above our relationship with God, we commit idolatry.  We commit sin.  If our desires supersede God’s desires, we are acting out of selfishness, and that selfishness ends up causing great pain.  We are all guilty of this.  We deserve condemnation, but instead of allowing God to bring such condemnation upon us; Jesus takes it upon Himself.  Jesus faces God’s wrath for us.  Jesus takes our place because He loves us.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

It’s unexpected.  It’s a different ending to the story.  It’s not what we are used to.  For every other religion and philosophy says, “Do this and God will bless you.  Do this, and God will love you.”  Christianity says, “Jesus has already done this; Jesus has already blessed you; Jesus has already loved you; now do this.”  It is that love which truly changes a heart.  Has it moved yours?  Amen.

You are Possessed!

    I want to leap directly into our biblical text this morning from the Gospel of Mark because there are quite a few things to consider–not the least this whole idea of the demonic.  I mean, those of us who live in this part of the world are not accustomed to talking about demons and angels and spiritual warfare.  Because of science and philosophy, we have basically decided these things are the stuff of legend and practiced by backwards cultures who have not been enlightened.  But I want to take a little bit of time this morning to show that in some way, we are not only all possessed, but we all deserve exactly what that demon received from Jesus.  Then, I want to show you what happens instead.

    Mark tells us that Jesus and the disciples He just called go into a city called Capernaum, and Jesus enters the synagogue to teach.  He begins teaching on the Torah, and He causes quite a stir among the listeners because he taught with authority and not like the scribes.  This was a big deal.  Why?

    Well, the scribes were big wigs in the Jewish community.  They combined the offices of Bible scholar, teacher and moralist, and civil lawyer.  They were highly, highly respected by a great many people, and they were those of a select few who could enter the Jewish High Court.  As scribes walked through the streets, people would defer to them, and the first seats in the synagogues were reserved for the scribes.  I’m giving you all this background information to show that folks listened very carefully to what the scribes said, and when the scribes were doing their teaching, they always began their teaching by saying, “Well, this text from the Bible according to Rabbi so and so, who said according to Rabbi so and so, who said according to Rabbi so and so, means this.”  You see, the scribes always appealed to other authorities to back up their interpretations of the Bible.  And along comes Jesus.  Jesus doesn’t make any appeals to other rabbis.  Jesus doesn’t make any appeals to any experts in theology.  Jesus stands before the synagogue and says, “Listen up folks, the Bible says this.”  Jesus is showing that He, Himself is authoritative.  He has authority to interpret the Scriptures on His own without the need to reference anyone else.  It was quite an unheard of thing.

    It is at this moment of teaching, when folks are bewildered and awe struck by Jesus that a man enters the synagogue who has an unclean spirit.  Don’t kid yourself and think that Mark is trying to lessen the evil nature of the spirit that inhabits this man by calling it unclean.  Mark uses the words unclean and evil throughout his Gospel to refer to such spirits, and the connotation is clear–this guy is inhabited by something evil; something dark; something that is anti-God and anti-goodness.  The guy with this spirit walks into the synagogue and causes a major disruption. He is shouting at the top of his lungs, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

    Now, I want to stop and stay here a moment because there is a matter of importance to delve into. The phrase here “What have you to do with us?” is a very interesting statement–it’s a loaded statement in the ancient world, and it almost always–almost always indicates that someone is trying to place distance between himself and another.  According to one commentary I read, “The meaning can range from conflict between two parties..., or avoidance of conflict..., to simple disengagement of one party from another.”  (Michaels143) In this particular case, the demon recognizes Jesus; the demon recognizes who Jesus is as the Holy One of God; and the demon knows what Jesus is here to do–destroy us!!  Hence, when the demon says “What have you to do with us?”, the demon is saying, “I want nothing to do with you because I know you are here to destroy me!  Get away from us!”  You see, this phrase indicates that the demon is trying to put an inseparable gap between him and Jesus.  Why is this important?

    How often do we strive to put an inseparable gap between us and God?  Oh, you might think that just by being here this morning or by praying every day or by trying to do good things that you are pursuing God.  Others of you might think that you and God are just like this (hold up intertwined fingers).  Some of you might be here this morning out of curiosity trying to figure out what Christianity is all about and you don’t think this possession stuff and separation from God has anything to do with you, but give me a chance to address this for just a moment by starting with this question: in what do you place your ultimate trust?

    Think about that question as I say it one more time, in what do you put your ultimate trust?  You might not have ever thought of this question before, so let me get you to think in another fashion.  Complete the sentence: my life would be perfect if only... 

    Let me tell you how I would have answered that question not too long ago because there were several answers to that statement, and in my weaker moments, I still have these thoughts.  My life would be perfect if only I would win the Powerball.  My life would be perfect if only I could make my congregation grow larger.  My life would be perfect if only my work could get noticed and people would think I am extremely intelligent and a great pastor and they would invite me to come and speak in front of their churches and assemblies.  Do you hear what I am trying to put my trust in?  Do you hear in the background the things I thought were my saviors?  I was putting my trust in money; in prestige; in power; and in acceptance.  I thought these things would bring me joy and happiness.  And the lure of them was tremendous.  Every time I’d get a little extra cash, my heart leaped.  Every time the Powerball reached a certain level–at least over $100 million, I’d buy a ticket.  Every time folks told me how wonderful a sermon was, I found joy.  When new folks joined the church, I was on cloud nine.  Ah, but do you think it was ever enough?  Do you think I ever was satisfied by any of these deep down desires?  Do you think I found any sort of lasting joy and peace?   Not a chance.  Not a chance in the least.  Why?

    The demons would give me just enough to satisfy me for a time before crushing my spirit.  They would give me just enough to hope in them before whispering in my heart and soul–don’t you wish you had more.  And I wanted more.  You know, I knew down deep, I think, that it was wrong.  I knew these things should not drive me, but I could not help it.  I could not get away from those demons because...because I wanted them. I wanted money and power and prestige and status.  I wanted them badly.  If only I had them, my life would be perfect.  Do any of you resonate with such things?  I am not asking you to nod or say yes, but in your heart, do you know what I am speaking of?  I think each and every one of us do–because every human heart has such desires.  They differ from one to another, but every human heart desires something deep down which will satisfy it, and we, for the most part, don’t realize we are possessed by that desire–so possessed that we cannot tell where we stop and it starts.  The demon is in very, very deep.

    And, for those of us who believe in God, we wonder why God isn’t helping us get what we want.  Oftentimes we wonder why God isn’t helping us get that thing which we tell ourselves will make our lives perfect.  And, in fact, when something happens to us which actually puts a wall between us and our deepest desire–when we are faced with hardship or hurt, we cry out to God saying, “What are you doing to me?!!”  You know, that’s not very far off from “What do you want with me, Jesus of Nazareth?”

    Because what is behind that question to God?  Why do we toss our hands up in the sky and say, “God why are you doing this to me?”  Here’s what’s behind that question, and I’m sorry if this hurts, but it hurt me like hell when I first heard it too.  When we ask that question of God, we don’t believe we deserve what is happening.  We don’t believe we deserve any sort of pain or suffering or agony. We believe we have done enough good things and been good enough sort of people that we don’t deserve God causing us any sort of harm.  When we say, “God, why are you doing this to me?”, we are really saying, “God, I’m a pretty doggone good person, and I don’t deserve this!  Stop it!”  Do you see the self-righteousness of that statement?  Do you see how that statement is trying to put distance between you and God?  Do you see how it is putting an inseparable gap between you and God?  Remember when I said we were all possessed?  Remember when I said we deserve what happened to that demon?  Yeah, it’s not pretty.  We are all right there being confronted by the Holy One of God.

    And what Jesus does to that demon really isn’t pretty.  “Shut up!” Jesus says, “Be muzzled, tie a rope around your mouth!” –that’s actually what the Greek says.  “Come out of Him!”  And with a loud cry–a cry that is indicative of a death wail, the demon comes out.  And the people are amazed–actually the word means they are either amazed in a good way or they are terrified.  Perhaps they are terrified because Jesus just revealed He indeed is here in this world to destroy evil.  Jesus is here to defeat the powers of darkness, including the darkness which is deep within our hearts–with those demons we cling to.

    But here is the interesting twist.  Here is the message Jesus has for you and for me.  Instead of crushing us and destroying us–instead of tearing us out and sending us to our demise, Jesus Himself was tied up.  Jesus Himself was cast out by the powers that be and hung on a cross.  And while on that cross He cried out a death wail, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?!” as he endured the wrath of God that was meant for you and for me.  He took upon Himself the punishment which we should have received for trusting in false gods and for putting an inseparable gap between us and God.  And Jesus did this because He loves you.

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him!

    1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”  God’s perfect love casts out our fear, our demons, and changes our hearts.   Our hearts are grasped by what God has done so that we begin saying something very different.  We say, “My life would be perfect, if I had Jesus.”  For in Him we find true fulfillment; true joy; and true peace.  May you find peace in Jesus.  Amen.

Your Offerings are Worthless!!

    As I begin, I can’t help but wonder how many folks looked at the sermon title this morning and then thought to themselves, “Well, I might as well just put my offering envelope up and save the money I was going to give to the church this morning.  How dare anyone put such a title as their sermon?”  Before you actually void or tear up that check or put that cash back into your pocket, I hope you will bear with me as we work our way through my sermon this morning.  Perhaps you will understand and then, at the end, be even more willing to give than before.

    Just over 100 years ago, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche helped lay the groundwork for many of the ways our current culture acts.  I can hear a few of you moaning in your heads right now. “Pastor’s going to get all philosophical and stuff.  We will never be able to understand this stuff.  We might as well go to sleep right now.”  Believe me, I understand.  You see, they didn’t have a Nietzsche for dummies book, so I actually had to wade through some of his writings.  More than a few times, my eyelids had to work double time to stay open!!

    But that is not the point.  The point is much more important, one that I hopefully can give you some time to ponder.  For you have undoubtedly run across more than one of the consequences of what Nietzsche taught.  You have undoubtedly encountered someone who adheres to at least part of his philosophical system.  You have undoubtedly run across someone who says, “There is no absolute truth.  What is true for you is true for you, but it’s not true for me.  That is just your opinion because no one can really know the truth.”  You see, Nietzsche proposed that there is no such thing as absolute truth.  He proposed that since there is no absolute truth, the concept of the ideal is irrational.  There is no such thing as justice.  There is no such thing as ultimate kindness.  There is no such thing as good.  There is no such thing as evil.  It is all a matter of one’s perspective.  Therefore, if something works for me and is good for me, then I can continue to pursue it–because it is good for me.  That it might be bad for you is only a matter of perspective, and it shouldn’t really matter too much to me because there is no ultimate judge of right or wrong.

    Are you with me so far?  I hope so.  I hope you haven’t gotten too lost because the next part is pretty crucial.  If there is no right and no wrong, what then is our motivation for doing things?  Why do we engage in the things we do or think the things we think?  Nietzsche offered up this thought: it is all about power.  It is all about how we obtain what we want.  It’s all about how we further our own position and basically survive in this world.  It’s all about our own self interest, making our self more powerful and ultimately, putting ourselves in the most advantageous position possible.  Chew on this for just a second.  I mean, really chew on this.  Without any sort of transcendence; without any sense of something beyond ourselves; it leads us directly to relativism–no right and no wrong and unbounded self-interest.  Do you see how our society today has been impacted by Nietzsche?  Do you see how such things infest our culture?  If you need any further evidence, I point to this past political cycle and the fallout from this past Tuesday’s election.  Have you noticed all the spin put on the results?  Each side is trying to manipulate what happened to its own advantage with the goal of obtaining more and more power to accomplish its own agenda.  Nietzsche nailed it.

    There is a bit of a quibble I have with Nietzsche; however.  Nietzsche was famous for stating that “God is dead,” and it was from this starting point–the lack of anything transcendent–that he arrived at the conclusion that everything was all about power and self-interest.  I personally don’t believe you need to get rid of God for folks to continue to act in their own self-interest and to engage in all sorts of power plays.  Even if one believes there is a God, that person can still do exactly what Nietzsche proposes and try to manipulate things to his or her own advantage.  What do I mean by that?

    Let’s take a quick walk through our Old Testament reading this morning from the book of Amos.  Here’s a little background.  Amos was a prophet who was called from shepherding to confront the injustice in Israel.  Much like our own situation, the rich were getting richer.  The poor were getting poorer.  But unlike our situation, there were no programs, no initiatives to help the poor and the needy.  They were basically on their own, and they were suffering.  The poor were suffering badly.

    And Amos holds nothing back.  He brings the Word of the Lord with conviction and with words that proved very, very unpopular.  “Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!  Why do you want the day of the Lord?  It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.  20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?  21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  22 Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.  23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.”

    Let’s work our way through these verses.  I will come back to the day of the Lord stuff momentarily because it is important.  But before I do that, let’s concentrate on what Amos says about the peoples’ offerings and their worship.  See, my sermon title doesn’t come from me: it comes directly from Amos.  The Lord says, “I hate your festivals.  I will not accept your offerings–they are worthless.  I do not want to hear your worship.”  Why?  Why is God saying such things?  Some point to the next verse to bring it all to a close.  God doesn’t want offerings.  God doesn’t want worship.  God doesn’t want festivals and assemblies.  Instead God wants justice to flow like a mighty water and righteousness to flow like an ever flowing stream.  This is what really counts.  This what is really important.  So, go out and do justice.  Go out and make righteousness happen.  Sermon is over.  Be happy it is shorter than normal!  (Psyche!)

    Let’s re-think this for a moment.  Because God commanded festivals and solemn assemblies in the Law.  God commanded the people to bring Him offerings.  The Law is explicit about this too.  God also commanded the people to worship Him.  These are things that God wants!!  So why is He rejecting them?  Why does He say He hates them?

    Let me illustrate it this way. I remember vividly growing up as a kid.  More than once I heard one of my friends say, “It doesn’t matter that I am going out drinking this weekend.  I’m going to go to confession, and it will all be forgiven.”  Or, “It doesn’t matter if I’m having sex with this girl.  I’m going to confession, and it will be forgiven.”  Hearing folks say this always bugged me.  It didn’t seem right.  And it’s not.  Why?

    This is why: because by doing the rites and rituals, the folks who said this believed they were making a claim on God.  They believed that if they just did the proper things–offered the appropriate worship; offerings; or confessions, then God would have to forgive them.  Essentially, they were saying, “God, I know you really don’t want me to do those other things, but you said I would be forgiven if I did x, y, and z. I’ve done x, y, and z, so you cannot be mad at me.  You cannot punish me.  I’ve jumped through your hoops, so you have to forgive me.” 

    Let me stop for just a second and see if you can see how this is a power play.  Can you see how this serves a person’s self interest?  Can you see how this is ultimately about getting the better of God?  Can you see how this is not focused upon God and what God wants but is focused upon what I want and how I can obtain what I want without any consequences? 

    And this stuff was going on long before Nietzsche penned his works.  It’s exactly what the Israelites were doing.  They were disobeying God’s law.  They were not letting justice flow like mighty waters.  They were not letting righteousness flow like ever flowing streams.  They were abusing and using the poor.  They were trampling them underfoot and destroying them.  They were padding their bank accounts at the expense of others and laughing at how blessed they were.  And then they would go to the temple and offer their sacrifices.  They would chant their prayers.  They would sing their songs.  They would make their offerings convinced they had done their duty and God would love them and bless them because they had given God what He wanted.  They’d satisfied Him by their worship and offerings and sacrifices.  They were good to go.  They’d done their duty.

    And God says, “I hate, I despise your assemblies.  I hate, I despise your offerings and do not accept them.  I hate, I despise your singing and your worship.”  Why?  Because the people are trying to make a power play on God.  They are trying to have their cake and eat it too.  They are thinking that by worship and sacrifice and offering, they can excuse their behavior even though they know it’s wrong. 

    And they are looking forward to the Day of the Lord–yes, the day when God comes to restore everything to the way it should be and justice will be meted out.  They are looking forward to this day thinking they will have a grand time because they’ve worshiped; they’ve put their money in the plate; they should be good to go.  But God says, “Think again.  You have not even come close to satisfying my demands.  You have only and have ever only looked out for yourself.  My wrath will burn against you.  Why do you want the Day of the Lord.  It will be darkness not light!”

    Scary stuff.  Very scary stuff.  And so, what do we do about this?  Do we stop here and think, “Wow!  I hear what Amos is saying.  Our offerings; our worship; our singing; all of it is for naught.  We need to stop this stuff right now, and we need to go out and do justice.  We need to work for righteousness.  We need to throw ourselves into these things because the Lord demands this of us.”

    Stop right there.  Stop right there and think about where you are headed with this train of thought.  For if you think that you will satisfy God by doing justice and making righteousness flow like an ever flowing stream, what are you doing?  Or better yet, why are you doing it?  If you are scared that your offerings aren’t satisfying God and that you need to throw yourself at doing justice because that is what God requires, then I’d submit to you that you are attempting your own power play.  You are attempting to satisfy God with your actions once again and save yourself from the coming wrath.  You are not focused on God, you are once again focused on yourself and your own best interests.  I’m doing what God commands because I don’t want to face the darkness on the day of the Lord.  We are right back to Nietzsche. 

    Can anything break us out of this self-centeredness?  Can anything get us away from focusing on ourselves? 

    How about this?

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through Him.

    You knew I was going to get to Jesus somehow.  At least I hope you knew I was going to get to Jesus.  For you see, Jesus is the one who acted completely the opposite of what Nietzsche proposed.  Instead of seeking His own self-interest; instead of seeking His own power; Jesus sought to fulfill the will of the Father.  Jesus sought complete obedience to the one He was equal to.  Jesus sought to become powerless even though He had access to absolute power.  And instead of kingdoms, Jesus found the cross where He endured the wrath meant for us.  He became the blameless offering and sacrifice to end all offerings and sacrifices.  There was no longer any need to offer sacrifices of atonement to get ourselves right with God.  All was accomplished by Jesus.

    And that completely changes things for us.  No longer do we have to worry about a power play
with God.  We do not have to seek to save ourselves and act with self interest.  We can seek God and His righteousness for His sake and not our own.  We can seek to let justice flow like a mighty water and righteousness flow like an ever flowing stream not because this is what God demands lest we be punished, but because we know it is something near and dear to God’s heart, and in thankfulness we wish to please the one who acted on our behalf.  We gladly lift up our voices in praise and worship not because it’s going to affect our salvation, but in joyful thanksgiving that our salvation has already been accomplished.  We give our offerings of time and talent and money not to satisfy the commandment, but to show our gratitude to the God who took on human flesh and died for us.  And we now await the coming Day of the Lord with joyful expectation.  We no longer have to save ourselves.  We no longer have to worry about whether or not we have done enough good; or worshiped enough; or gave enough.  Jesus already gave it all.  Amen.

There is No Other God: A Letter to My 2014 Confirmands

October 19, 2014

Dear Confirmand,

            This letter is based on Isaiah 45 verse 5.  “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me, there is no god.”

    I wanted to write this letter to you on the day you are being confirmed.  I wanted to spend a little while letting you know what you are doing today and how important it is.  When I was your age, I didn’t think confirmation was all that big a deal.  It was something we Lutherans did–like the Catholics and others, but I personally didn’t see much significance in it.  It was one more hoop I was supposed to jump through to be an adult member of the church.  And that is exactly what you will be after today, but the focus of confirmation isn’t just about this.  It’s much, much more.

    For today hearkens back to the day you were baptized.  You were much smaller than you are now.  You couldn’t make any decisions at all.  You didn’t ask to be baptized.  You didn’t ask to be a Christian.  You didn’t even know God or Jesus.  Yet, your parents wanted you to be a Christian.  They wanted you to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  They wanted you to follow Him throughout your life.  They promised to raise you to become a Christian.  It was their promise; not yours. 

    Today, that changes; however.  Today you are going to stand before this congregation and say, “Today, I affirm what my parents did years ago.  It’s no longer their promise which holds me to the church–it is my own promise.  I now want to follow and serve Jesus Christ.  He is my Lord and Savior.”  This is a very important stand you are taking–a very important stand.   You may not quite understand this now–in fact you might not have thought about what I am going to tell you at all.  It’s okay, though.  It’s only been recently that I have really come to start understanding just what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus.  It’s only recently that I really and truly understood what the Gospel meant.  It’s only recently that I have come to see just how different the Christian faith works in this world.

    You see, for the longest time, I wanted to be important.  I wanted to be valued.  I wanted what I said and what I did to count.  I wanted people to tell me what a good job I was doing.  I wanted people to like me.  And I wanted to make a name for myself.  As a pastor, you get this one of two ways: either by growing a church bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where people can’t help but see what you do or you toe the party line and suck up to the power structure so that they will bring you up through the ranks.  I’m not one to suck up to people in power and authority.  I never have done well with that, so the other alternative was to make a church grow–and grow big.  Do you know what this caused me?

    It ended up causing me a lot of grief.  For you see, when things were going good at church and people were joining the congregation, I was happy.  When everyone was getting along and our pews were full of people, I was all smiles.  Everything was wonderful.  But, you know, things do not always work out in the way we want them too.  Our church hasn’t grown as fast as I wanted it to.  There were some people who left the church for various reasons, and it hurt me.  It hurt me a lot.  I thought I had to make everyone stay because my value and my worth came from whether or not this church grew and grew and grew.  And when it didn’t grow and grow and grow, I became angry and tired and frustrated.  It was my own fault really.  I was simply doing what the world had taught me to do.  I was following a lot of false gods.

    You see, the world teaches us from the time we are born that our value; our worth; and our happiness comes from what we do.  You all know this very well by now; so well you probably think this is how everything works in life.  You know this very well as you go through school.  If you want a good grade, then you have to study and prepare and do your homework and school work.  You know that if you want to participate in athletics or cheerleading or any extra-curricular activity, then you have to keep your grades up.  You also know that in order to fit in with a particular group at school, then you have to dress a certain way or act a certain way.  If you don’t do those things, you will not be accepted.  You have also reached that age where designer labels matter.  It’s not enough to buy a pair of blue jeans; they have to have the right label so that no one will judge you or laugh at you.  You also know that your value in sports and in activities is directly linked to how well you can perform.  If you can hit a baseball well, you will be in the starting line up.  This is just how the world works.

    And it won’t change much as you grow.  More and more you will find things telling you that if you want value; if you want happiness; if you want some sort of worth, then you will need to do certain things.  If you want a good job, then you will have to get an education.  If you want to be happy, you will need to buy a certain type of car. If you want to experience peace, then you will have to give up money to travel to a certain vacation spot.  If you want your children to be happy, if you are blessed with children, then you will have to buy them a particular toy.  Over and over and over again, you will be told this.  Just about everything in the world operates this way.

    And if you believe this; if your mind and heart is captured by this, then you will find yourself just like I was: tired, worn out, angry and burned out.  You will find yourself wondering if you really have worth and value.  You will wonder if you will ever find true happiness and joy.  And whether you know it or not, it will be your fault because you will have spent a lifetime pursuing a lot of false gods instead of the One True God–the God who says in our first lesson this morning–there is no other God, except Him.

    Now, this might sound a little bit arrogant.  I mean, aren’t there a lot of people who worship in other religions?  Aren’t they sincere in their faith?  Don’t they try to be devout people who do good things?  Why in the world should we say that the God we worship is the only True God and that they are not worshiping our God?   Shouldn’t we be respectful instead of thinking that we are better than them? 

    Here is the thing, if you are worshiping the One True God, then you will be respectful and humble.  You will care for people who you disagree with.  You will give people freedom to go their own way, and you will still love them even if you know that way is headed down the wrong path.  If you worship the One True God, then you will recognize that other people can be good and moral and nice–sometimes even being better and nicer and kinder and more loving than you.  But you will still realize that they are pursuing false gods.  You will still be able to recognize that the way of the One True God is vastly different than the way of every other god and especially the way of the world.

    I will try to show you how.  You see, last November, I went to visit my grandfather.  He’s 95 now, so he has a world of accumulated wisdom.  My grandfather was a pastor, and he and I talked a lot when we visited.  He talked a lot about the things he did as a pastor.  As he talked, I learned a lot.  He never served a large congregation.  He was a country pastor.  He never worked his way up into the higher offices of the church.  You could say that he never really advanced very far in his career if you wanted.  He never wrote a book or became a famous theologian.  He knew this, and he was more than okay with it.  I know this because as he talked to me, he said something that hit me to the very core.  He said, “You know, I didn’t accomplish much in the eyes of the world, but the Lord and I are on very good terms.”

    That stopped me dead in my tracks because up until that time I realized what I was trying to do.  I realized I was trying to accomplish a lot in the eyes of the world.  I was trying to get my value and worth and happiness from my accomplishments.  I was buying into what the world said, “Do this, and you will be loved and appreciated.”  But our Christian faith does not say this.  Our Christian faith says something completely and utterly different.  Our Christian faith says being on good terms with the Lord is the most important thing, and that does not come about from anything we do.

    And this is the most important point that I want you to hear this morning as you confirm your faith.  This is the central thing I want you to grasp and hold onto.  The world says, “Do this and you will be accepted.”  All other religions say, “Do this and God will love you.”  Christianity says the exact opposite.  Christianity says, “God accepts you; God loves you; now live into that freedom.”

    The world and every religion wants you to earn your own way.  The world and every other religion wants you to justify yourself–justify your value; justify your work; obtain your own happiness.  Christianity says Jesus gives you love and acceptance and value and true happiness without any work on your part.  It is the exact opposite of the world.

    And Jesus gives this all to you despite the fact that you are imperfect–despite the fact that you are a broken piece of this broken world.  I know I don’t have to tell you this too much.  I remember very well what it was like in school.  There were kids who used to pick on me all the time and highlight my imperfections.  You probably have that happen to you as well.  And the way I used to make myself feel better was to pick on others and highlight their imperfections.  I didn’t know any other way, but I do now.  I accept my flaws.  I accept my brokenness, and I ask Jesus to change me.  He’s got a lot of work ahead of Him in that regard, but He willingly works on me.  And on you.  And on everyone who calls upon His name.  Why?

    Because He loves us.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.” 

    Christianity is the only religion or philosophy in the world that teaches that God dies on behalf of the world.  It’s the only religion that says you are accepted before it ask you to do anything.  It is the only religion in the world that gives you value even when you really don’t deserve it.  And when someone gives you something you know you don’t deserve, you do not become arrogant.  You become humble.  You become thankful.  You become respectful of others, and you want them to know that God has done the same for them that He has done for you. 

    It is my sincere hope for you today that as you confirm your faith, you realize just how rebellious you are being.  You are turning your back on a world and on all the false gods who want you to earn your value and worth and to justify yourselves.  You are saying to them, “I wish to follow a different path.  I wish to follow the One who has already loved me; already given me value; and already given me joy.  I renounce all you false gods, and I place my trust in the One True God.  The God who died for me.  I put my trust in Jesus.”  May we all have the courage to do just that.

Sincerely,

Pastor Kevin Haug

God's Wrath

    During the summer while I was teaching a class on the basics of Christianity, I talked a bit about the Israelites worshiping the golden calf.  For those of you who may not be familiar with this part of biblical history, let me give you a quick refresher.

    The Israelites had been enslaved by the Egyptians and through the mighty, miraculous acts of God, they had been freed.  A man named Moses, who was called by God, led the people out of Egypt and toward the freedom of the Promised Land.  They traveled to a mountain called Sinai, and while there, God made a covenant with the people.  God would look after the people and bless them, and the people would worship God alone and follow His commands.  All parties agreed to this arrangement. 

    After this agreement, God called Moses to come up on the mountain.  Moses was gone an extended period of time, and the people became concerned.  In their anxiety, they turned their backs on the covenant they had agreed to and forged an idol out of gold.  Of course, it was a calf.  They worshiped and held a celebration to this god who led them out of Egypt.  As you can imagine, God’s anger was kindled mightily against those who were worshiping this false god.  Moses came down off the mountain and exposed the people to God’s wrath–many were consumed by that wrath as God literally opened up the earth and swallowed them.

    In our day and age, some might scratch their heads in bewilderment at God’s actions here.  I mean, why kill thousands of people for simply worshiping another god?  What were they hurting?  They were just following their hearts and beliefs.  They weren’t killing anyone or stealing or anything.  Why would God get so angry and upset over something which is rather trivial–at least according to modern standards?  Why didn’t God simply forgive them instead of consuming them?  Here’s what I told my class.

    A God who does not become incensed at sin is not a God worth worshiping.  Let me say that again: a God who does not become incensed and wrathful at sin is not a God worth worshiping. 

    That might give some of you pause, especially given what many folks believe about the Christian God.  I mean, we in the church proclaim over and over and over that God is love.  And this is most certainly true!!!  One of my favorite passages of scripture to quote is 1 John 4: 7-8.  “7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”  There’s actually a camp song I learned as a child which goes along with this passage, and perhaps because I learned that song, this passage is burned into my brain.  And that is a good thing.  It is important to know and understand and realize God is love. 

    But don’t confuse the fact that God is love with the fact that God is also a God of justice.  God is not simply one to walk around with a flower lei around His neck; putting flowers into firearms; and saying, “Let’s just love one another.  Everyone will come into my love eventually anyway.  Peace, man.”  God’s anger burns brightly at sin.  In fact, I’m not sure I can adequately convey to you this morning just how angry God gets when He sees us falling away from His ways.  Hell fire and brimstone doesn’t even begin to cover it. 

    I mean, I’ve known pastors and preachers who yell and scream about hell and damnation.  I know they do so to scare the living daylights out of people and get them to repent.  This is not my method of preaching.  “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” the saying goes.  And this is true.  But, if you think God is simply honey, then you don’t get the fullness of what God is about; and you certainly will not understand the Gospel.

    I mean, as I read through Scripture, as I read about how God hates sin, I can’t yell.  It’s as if I am sitting in a horror movie, and the fear is so great, I cannot even scream.  God’s wrath is that terrible.  It’s that menacing.  And we just don’t seem to get that anymore.  We don’t seem to understand how God looks at our imperfections–our unwillingness to follow His commands–our inability to live out His teachings–and His wrath is kindled.  God is angry!  Tell me you don’t see the same thing in our Gospel lesson this morning from the 22nd chapter of the book of Matthew.

    Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to...”  Think about this.  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who threw a wedding banquet for His son.”  Those first invited turn him down.  He gives them another chance, and this time the king’s messengers plead with those invited.  The best of the best is prepared for the banquet.  “Come to the wedding!!!”  The invitation is sincere.  It is heart-felt.  The king wants to honor his son and have the guests celebrate, but they refuse again.  This time, they get nasty.  They move onto things they consider more important.  They refuse to listen to the slaves, and some become violent with the king’s messengers.  They beat, torture, and kill the slaves.  And what does the king do next?  Sometimes we gloss over this passage because we know Jesus is making a comparison with God.  We don’t like hearing what God does next to those who flat out refuse to come to the feast.

    He sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.

    Does this sound like a God of love to you?

    Does this sound like a king full of compassion and charity to you?

    Wrathful.  Vengeful.  Angry.  These are the words that come to mind.

    But who now will come to the wedding?  Who now will honor the king’s son?

    “Go out into the highways and crossroads and invite anyone and everyone to the feast,” are the instructions.  “Those who were first invited were not worthy.  Throw open the doors.  Let everyone else in.  The party must go on.”

    Now, this sounds more like it.  This sounds more like the God we know and love.  All inclusive.  All loving.  The good and the bad are let in.  Everyone is having a great time. 

    But here we go again.  The parable does not end there.  The king comes in to check on the guests.  He comes to see how things are getting along at the party, and the king stumbles upon a man who is not dressed appropriately!! 

    “How did you get in without a wedding robe?” the king asks.

    Now, before some of you who were raised to wear your Sunday best to church start looking disapprovingly of my blue jeans and boots, let me fill you in on something here.  Remember, first off, the king brought folks from the streets and intersections of the roads.  These folks were of all walks of life.  They were good and bad; rich and poor.  They all came to the feast, and not all of them had wedding robes to wear.  However, it was customary that if a person could not afford a wedding robe, a king would gladly provide one for them for free.  This is not a place to cry, “Wear your best clothes to church!!”  This is something much, much different.  This is about a guest who was provided with the clothes to wear, and he refused to put them on.  He refused to be clothed in the proper manner when all was given to him. 

    “Throw him out into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  He’s not allowed to be at this party anymore.”

    For not wearing a robe?  Thrown out because of his attire?  The punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime. 

    If you don’t understand God’s wrath.

    If you don’t understand God’s justice.

    If you think God just lets us do whatever we want whenever we want with no consequences.

    But God is not that way.  The parable shows that irrefutably.  God’s anger burns hot against sin.  Even ones we consider inconsequential.  Why?  Because He abhors evil.  He abhors when violence and hatred arise.  He abhors it when we hurt one another and take advantage of one another.  And such pain must be paid for.  Such violence must have an answer.  Think about it, if you are taken advantage of, do you just rub it off?  If someone angers you or breaks your trust, do you continue to have the same sort of relationship with them as before?  If someone steals from you, do you just write it off and let bygones be bygones?  Do you rejoice when such things happen and just say, “Oh well, it doesn’t matter, I’ll just love them and they will be okay.”?  Does anyone actually do this?  No.  Deep down, we don’t.  We know crimes must have some sort of punishment.  Justice must be served; for without justice there is complete and utter chaos.  And if justice is not meted out in this world?  If God knows about such injustice and He just overlooks it?  What then?  Do you have a God worth worshiping if He overlooks such things?  Do you have a God worth worshiping who turns a blind eye to violence and hatred and pain?  Do you have a God worth worshiping if He simply says, “Oh well, this all happened, but I’m sure folks feel sorry for it.  They can come join me without consequence.”?  Is this the kind of God you worship?

    No.  Not at all.  God becomes extremely wrathful at sin.  Even small ones.  For those small sins lead to larger ones.  Think about the progression in how Sunday mornings were once reserved for worship and family.  Think about how they slowly progressed to the point where some select sports now schedule tournaments on Easter Sunday.  And we who let things slide early on can now just scratch our heads in bewilderment.  God doesn’t do that.  God’s wrath burns hot against small sins as well as large ones–whether you’ve rejected the invitation or failed to wear the robes provided for you.  God’s anger burns.

    This parable does not seem to have much good news in it.  Not if we are honest with ourselves.  For oftentimes we are much like those first invited to the wedding feast fo the Son.  We know we are supposed to follow the Son–to worship Him regularly and dine with Him and celebrate His goodness.  And yet, we find other things to do.  We get involved with other activities–sports, outdoors, sleeping, work.  We place all these things of value in front of our relationship with Jesus.

    And even though we know we’ve been invited to the party, most of the time we don’t wear the appropriate clothing.  “For as many of you who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have clothed yourself with Christ.”  So said St. Paul in Galatians 3.  But how many of us during the course of the day really feel like we show forth Jesus?  How many of us believe we truly are wearing Him and being a good representation of Jesus?  Be brutally honest.  From what you know about Jesus, do you honestly think someone would mistake you for Him?  Not much of a chance of that, is there?

    And so, if we are honest with ourselves, we see that we are like those who refused to come; or we are like the one cast out because we failed to wear the clothes provided.  It would seem as though all hope were lost to us.

    But there is one who hasn’t really made an appearance in this parable.  Who was the wedding banquet thrown for?  The Son.  What if, the Son comes to His Father and says, “Dad, wait a minute.  Before you consume everyone because they are not worthy...before you cast those who are not wearing the robes out into the outer darkness...let me act on their behalf.  Let me take their punishment.  Don’t destroy them.  Yes, they deserve punishment.  Yes, they deserve your wrath, but let me take it.  Let me save them.  For I love them.”  And what if the king said, “Yes, Son, you may take their place.  My wrath will be satisfied because of what you do.”? 

    And what if the Son was stripped of His robes?  And beaten?  And tortured?  And crucified all for the sake of those who deserved God’s wrath?  And what if, the Father, the King were so distraught and so overwhelmed by what His Son did, that He raised His Son from the dead to show that death would not be the end?  That love and justice could meet in an absolutely beautiful event?  Where God’s wrath would be satisfied and His love could be extended?

    Would that be a story worth sharing?

    “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all those who believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be save through Him.”  The wrath of God has been satisfied.  And you are welcome at the banquet because of it.  Amen.  

It's Not About You: Sermon on Matthew 10:34-42

    There is a scene in the movie “The Avengers” where things are beginning to fall apart.  All of the heroes of the story have been drawn together because of a threat to earth, but they are unable to work together.  Huge egos find it difficult to cooperate, and this is illustrated almost perfectly during a particular scene when everyone starts throwing accusations and blame around at each other.  At one point, Captain America blames Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man.  Tony abruptly turns to Capatin America and says, “Since when did this become about me?”

    Captain America retorts, “Isn’t it always?”

    Isn’t it always?  In some ways, it is, or at least we like it to be.  We tend to want to know how things impact me.  How is a new law going to impact me?  How is construction on a road going to impact me?  Why do I care what is going on in other parts of the world if they don’t impact me?  How is a new business coming into the community going to impact me?  I could go on and on with this train of thought.  All too often, when it comes to discussing things, we place ourselves right in the middle of it as if we were the main consideration.

    We like to do that with faith and belief as well.  I remember vividly going through seminary and hearing over and over and over again, “We need to make the Christian faith relevant to what is going on in the world today.”  As we discussed this statement, it became more and more clear that what was really being said was, “We need to show how the Christian faith affects people in the midst of their daily lives or they won’t see any use for it.”  Do you hear one of the underlying things in this statement?  There is an assumption that the Christian faith must be found useful to a person or to a group in order for it to be relevant.  I remember a colleague once quipping to me, “So what are you going to offer folks to get them interested in Christianity?”  The assumption here is that we need to show that Christianity works–that it is necessary for someone’s life or that it will improve someone’s life.  The assumption is that people are the object of the Christian faith and that the Christian faith is all about people.  Taken to its smallest component, Christianity becomes all about me and how it affects me and how it works for me.

    It’s the wrong assumption.  Why would I say that?

    Well, let’s start by looking at our Gospel lesson this morning.  Let’s look at this text as if this text were all about us–the focus was our lives.  Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to bring peace but a sword.”  If we just stopped there, you might have a few folks whose eyebrows are raised.  Those who want peace will turn Jesus off right here. Those who like to fight will be saying, “Preach on brother!”  Immediately, we get division.  Immediately we have some folks thinking, “Christianity is not for me!” while others say, “Tell me more.”  That’s just the first line.

    Jesus goes on, “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.  37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”  Now, for those who do not have great relationships with their family members, Jesus sort of gives them justification for keeping their distance from their families.  They might rejoice and say, “This Jesus is great!”  However, if there are those of us who have great relationships with our families, Jesus’ words aren’t exactly comforting.  We might say, “Jesus, I love my wife and my kids tremendously.  I cannot choose between them and you.  I cannot follow you.”  If Christianity is all about me, then if something in Christianity affects me poorly, I walk away from Christianity.

    But let’s keep going and head to the last few verses.  “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  41Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”  If Christianity is all about me, well, then if I seek to follow it, I have to get pretty worked up about this particular teaching as well.  I have to ask myself, “How do I welcome Jesus?  How do I welcome a prophet?  How do I welcome a righteous person?  How can I make sure to give a cup of cold water to the least of these so that I obtain my rewards and do not lose them?”

    For you see, if Christianity is all about me, then I am using it to receive rewards.  I am using Christianity as a means to an end.  I am trying to make my life better, do the things that bring about my happiness, my joy, my peace.  I am using Christianity to get the rewards and avoid the punishments.  I am embracing Christianity because it works for me, and if Christianity stops working, then I can disregard it and stop adhering to it.  After all, it’s all about me.

    In my estimation, and in the estimation of many others, this is not why Christianity is to be followed.  Christianity is not to be followed because it works, it is to be followed because it is true.  And Christianity is not followed because it is about me; rather Christianity is to be followed because it is about Jesus.  And it is through Jesus, and through Jesus alone that I finally find peace, joy, happiness and meaning.  I cannot get those things as long as I am the focus.  They only come when Jesus is at the center–when Jesus is the focus. 

    This is an important thing to remember because all of Scripture is colored by what Jesus has done.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.”  Remember, this was done not because we were exceptionally good people–not because we were righteous people–but while we were still sinners.  While we were still unlovable, Christ came and died for us, and this shifts the focus from what we have to do to what Christ has done.  Knowing this, let’s now take another look at what Jesus says in our Gospel lesson today.

    “Do not think that I have come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.  37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”  Looking at this from the perspective of what Christ has done for us, it makes more sense for oftentimes, our family members become the center of our lives.  We seek to make our family members happy.  We seek their approval.  We want them to love us, and we will oftentimes do anything and everything we can to stay in their good graces.  When Jesus becomes the center of our lives, we don’t stop loving our families–not in the least.  We continue to love them, but we no longer seek their approval. We no longer try to make them happy as if that is our sole responsibility in life.  When this happens, someone gets upset.  Not us, but those who once were the only focus of our attention.  Division takes place, but not because we want it–it’s because we are no longer giving the attention we once were.  Yet, we don’t stop loving our family.  In fact, we grow to love them even more because we know that Christ died for us when we were unlovable, and because of what He did, we know we can love our parents, spouses, our in-laws, and our children when they are unlovable.  When Jesus is the center of our lives, there is division, but we are moved with love despite this.

    Moving on further down.  “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.  Whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”  Remember, this isn’t about you and what you have to do.  Remember, it’s about Jesus.  Whoever welcomes Jesus welcomes the one who sent Him–God the Father.  Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet receives a prophet’s reward.  Let me ask you: who is the ultimate prophet?  Who do we name as prophet, priest, and king?  Jesus.  Whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.  Who is the only person who has ever been totally righteous?  Is it you or me or any purely human being who has ever lived?  No.  None is completely righteous before God except Jesus.  The reward of the prophet is the reward Jesus came to bestow freely.  The reward of the righteous is the reward Jesus came to bestow freely.  And that reward can never be taken away from you.  God loves you too much to take it from you. 

    How do I know this?  He sent Jesus to be the prophet, the righteous person that we were supposed to be.  Jesus lived the life we were supposed to live and has given us that merit.  Furthermore, Jesus received the punishment we should have been given.  He died the death we deserved so that we no longer have to live in fear of punishment.  We now know that because of Jesus we have life forever.  We have satisfaction.  We have peace.  We have joy.  All because of Jesus.  It’s all about Jesus.  Amen.

Revisiting Salt and Light

Last week, I received an abnormal amount of hits on one of my previous sermons "Salt and Light." 

Every three years, this particular teaching of Jesus is placed before pastors and congregations that follow the Revised Common Lectionary.  Last Sunday was the appointed time for this text:

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Apparently, some folks had reached the bottom of the barrel when it came to looking for sermon hints, and in a last ditch effort, several read mine.  :-)

As I saw the hits mount, I decided to read that sermon again.  I don't think it was all that bad, but as I read through it, I thought to myself, "Where is the grace?"

There was none.

My sermon focused completely and totally on action: my action, my congregation's action, the things we were supposed to do.

Where was forgiveness?

Where was God's love for us?

Where was the transformation of heart and soul gifted by the Holy Spirit?

It just wasn't there.

And a straight forward reading of this text, with no other context, doesn't have much grace at all.

But if you place it within the larger context of the Gospel message...

You ARE the light of the world...

You ARE the salt of the earth...

Intriguing use of words there by Jesus, is it not?

You ARE!

Not, if you follow me and believe in me and do what I say, then you will be.  No.  You ARE!

We are created to be light for the world; salt for the earth.  It is our purpose.  We didn't ask for this.  We didn't seek out this purpose.  We didn't ask God for the light to shine through us--God put it there.  We are created to shine light into a world of darkness by doing good works and glorifying our Father who is in heaven.

The problem: we like putting a bushel basket on ourselves.   And it's not because of some sort of humility driving us to do that.

There is a part of us that craves the darkness.  There is a part of us that craves being superior to everyone.  There is a part of us that craves the baser things of life, and when light shines on such things, it shows them for what they are: sinful.

And so, we cover the light.  We hide the light so it doesn't shine and reveal the fact that we enjoy sinful pursuits and perverted pleasures.  We hide the light so it doesn't show our complicity in systems which promote poverty and abuse and subjugation.  We hide the light so it doesn't reveal our darkest secrets and desires of greed, lust, envy, anger, and the like.  We hide the light so that we can go on thinking we are good people because we don't act out those very thoughts.

²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

You see, the Pharisees and scribes were the purity folks of Jesus' day.  They were the folks who concentrated on following all the rules to a tee.  They were the folks who put on an air of holiness, and Jesus tells His followers their righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.


How?

Well, the scribes and Pharisees might have had an external facade, but it was the inside that counted.  That's where true righteousness comes from.  True righteousness comes from having a heart oriented toward God--a heart that unashamedly and humbly puts itself on a lampstand to shine light into a room.

And who can have such a heart?  Who can make their heart do such a thing?

Not us.  Not on our own.  St. Paul wrote in the 7th Chapter of the book of Romans:

¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

We know the good we should do.  We know the light we should shine.  We know we shouldn't have certain thoughts of anger, lust, greed, envy, and contempt.  But we have them anyway.  We don't do the good anyway.  As much as we would like our hearts to be oriented toward God, we keep fighting to have them oriented toward ourselves.

Yet, despite this, Christ still died for us.  Christ still offered Himself on the cross to reconcile us unto God.

Only a love like that can change a heart.  Only a love like that, once it's power infiltrates through our barriers can change a person.  Only a love like that can bring a person to his or her knees with thanksgiving and humility and awe and wonder.

"You ARE the light of the world..."
"You ARE the salt of the earth..."

What terrifying, humbling, and empowering words at one and the same time.

Be a Witness

    Long ago, when I was in high school, I actually had the privilege of having my dad teach me Algebra, Physics, Chemistry, and Pre-Calculus.  I know I am biased, but my dad was a very good teacher.  I learned a lot from him.  But there was one thing which rather upset me at the time.  Dad wouldn’t help me with my homework at home.  If I had a question about anything, I was required to go to his class during study hall.  He just wouldn’t help me at home.  It was rather frustrating!  Why would my dad do this to me?  Why would he make me go to study hall to get help?  He was right there!  It didn’t seem fair. 

    But, let’s think about this for just a moment.  Let’s think about why my dad did what he did.  Let’s think about what is and isn’t fair.  And let’s think about it by asking this question: Did Jesus need to be baptized?  Ponder that for just a moment.  Did Jesus need to be baptized?
    The obvious answer is “No.”  I mean John the Baptist is blunt when Jesus shows up to be baptized.  John looks Jesus straight in the eye and says, ““I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 

    Jesus is God incarnate–the fully human, fully divine Son of God.  God doesn’t need to be baptized–at all.  God doesn’t need repentance or the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus is blameless before God and before humanity.  There is no need for him to go through this process.  At all.  Yet, Jesus shows up to be baptized by John, and Jesus makes John go through with it.  “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”   Why does Jesus demand to be baptized? 

    Let’s turn to the opening statement of our second lesson from the book of Acts.  Peter is addressing the household of Cornelius–a Gentile.  Please remember in the context of this time, Jews and Gentiles did not mix.  They were like oil and water.  Jews considered Gentiles unclean.  Peter had just had a vision in which a sheet was lowered out of heaven with all sorts of unclean animals on it.  God commanded Peter, “Get up. Kill and eat.”  Peter replied, “Nothing unclean has ever touched my lips.”  God said, “What I have called clean, do not call unclean.”Immediately after this vision, messengers from Cornelius arrived at Peter’s door.  They said Cornelius had received a command to contact Peter while praying.  Peter went to the household.  When he arrived, he found a group of God-fearing Gentiles who were receptive to the message of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit brought them to faith.

    Upon seeing this, St. Peter addresses the people who had gathered in the house, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”  Now, we usually take this text and run with it and talk about how God doesn’t show any sort of favoritism based upon one’s cultural context, one’s gender, one’s sexuality, one’s skin color, or what have you.  There is nothing wrong with doing such a thing, but I think we need to push it farther.  We need to push God’s impartiality all the way through.  Even to His own Son who came to live among us.

            Why was Jesus baptized?  God shows no partiality.

    Why did my dad refuse to help me at home?  Dad shows no partiality.  Not all the students could access my dad as easy as I could.  It wasn’t fair to them if he helped me at home.  Dad wasn’t going to show favoritism.

    God wasn’t going to either, and this has some very important implications–some very important implications.  How so?

    Well, let’s think just a moment about what things might have looked like if God showed partiality.  Let’s think just a moment about what Jesus’ life might have looked like if God showered Him with favoritism as the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.

    Do you think Jesus would have been born in a stable?  Not hardly.

    Do you think Jesus would have been raised in a rather poor family and been taught the trade of carpentry–a trade considered very, very low on the social totem pole?  Probably not.

    Do you think Jesus would have lived for 30 years in relative obscurity with no one knowing much about Him?  Again, no.

    If God showed any sort of partiality, Jesus probably would have been born in a palace.  He would have had the best of wealth and privilege.  He would have eaten the finest foods, enjoyed the finest drink, gone to the finest schools and had the finest clothes.  He would have enjoyed all the best things the world had to offer and never had to deal with social outcasts and misfits.  Life would have always been grand and marvelous IF, IF God showed partiality to His Son.

    But God shows no partiality.  God shows no favoritism.  Even to His Son.

    And so Jesus was poor, like the vast majority of the world’s population.

    Jesus had to work, and His hands were calloused from the labor of carpentry–just like most people in the world have to work.

    Jesus was surrounded by ordinary people who did ordinary things and who eked out their living.  Jesus never had a place of wealth and privilege.  He was just like the vast majority of people who lived.

    And Jesus was not immune to suffering.  “God shows no partiality.”  If God showed favoritism, there wouldn’t have been a cross.  But there was.  There was a cross.  A horrible, bloody cross that Jesus hung upon.  Just as we suffer, Jesus suffered. 

    But there was more to Jesus’ suffering because He did not carry simply His own suffering.  It wasn’t just His pain He bore on the cross.  No.  “This is my Son,” God said at Jesus’ baptism, “with Him I am well pleased.”

    God’s Son sent to reconcile the world to God.  Jesus didn’t just hang on the cross experiencing His own suffering because He took upon Himself our suffering.  He took upon Himself our shame.  He took upon Himself our guilt.  He took upon Himself our sin.  He took upon Himself our pain. 

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through Him.

    Just as God showed no partiality in how Jesus lived, suffered, and died, so God will show no partiality in salvation.  “Because He lives, we shall live also” and “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

    This is grace without partiality.  For you and for me and for all who call upon the name of Jesus.  And we are witnesses to this Grace.  We are witnesses to what God has done through Jesus Christ.  We are witnesses of how God did not even show favoritism to His own Son.  We are witnesses to the God who is not above suffering, but who suffered like us and who showed us what the final word will be.

    Is this news worth telling?  Is this grace worth sharing?  Do others need to hear about the God who suffers with them and promises them hope?  Is there any doubt about what we are called to do?  Live God’s Word Daily.  Be a witness.  Amen.

The Language of Love

Two things struck me yesterday.  Two very, very important things.

The first happened sitting in the barber shop.  I had just finished visiting one of my shut-in members and decided to get my hair chopped before the events of Christmas.  A very, very interesting conversation happened in the barber shop.

During the visit, I commented on a particular issue and let slip the word "d@mn."  I then said, "I shouldn't have said that."

The lady barber said, "Aww, this is a barber shop. That's allowed."

I said, "It has nothing to do with the location.  It has everything to do with my profession."

Of course, I was then asked what I did, and I responded that I was a clergy.

"You're our kind of clergy," came the reply.

Maybe, but as the conversation evolved, maybe not.

For as we visited a very interesting dynamic started concerning justice. 

"I believe that if a person commits a murder or rape or something like that, they are going straight to hell," the barber said.  "I don't buy any of these priests or pastors who visit with someone on death row and proclaim them forgiven.  I was taught that if you do good things and are a good person, you are going to heaven.  If you do anything to the contrary, then you are going to hell."

I responded, "I think there is a difference between God's forgiveness and the necessity for justice."

"I don't think so," was the reply.

"And so, is Moses in hell?  Because he committed murder."

Silence for a moment.  Then a half-hearted joke, "Maybe he should be."

"Don't mess with a pastor who knows the Bible.  God operates differently than we do.  God offers forgiveness."

It's called grace.

The second piece of note was an article in this month's The Lutheran Magazine titled, "Is the word returning empty?  Biblical fluency puts life into the word for daily use."

 The article itself is quite intriguing, and the arguments are quite cogent.  However, I would argue that we clergy desperately try to help people with biblical fluency.  We just haven't been doing a very good job of it.  In fact, I would argue the reason we primarily haven't been doing a very good job of it is because we have become consumed with dictating the law.

Now, this is starting to get into some heavier theological concepts, but let me try to keep it relatively simple by saying--instead of focusing on the proclamation of what God has done for us by reconciling the world and us unto himself, we do much more talking about what we should be doing. 

It matters not which side of the Christian spectrum one falls upon.  The "right" side tends to focus on individual morality.  The "left" side tends to focus on community responsibility.  The "right" focuses on individual righteousness.  The "left" focuses on communal justice.  Both emphasize the law.

Sure, each side will say that such emphasis is a response to God's grace; however, I have come to realize that much of the preaching and articles I read from both standpoints give very, very little time to what God has done and why we respond as we do.

In short, we minimize grace--God's action, and emphasize the Law--our action or even inaction.

From a Lutheran perspective--an even I would say an orthodox Christian perspective, this is backwards. 

We are pretty fluent in applications of the law and how it relates to our lives, but we aren't so good about being fluent in Grace.

It's awful hard to be fluent in the language of God's love.  It's awful hard to be fluent in the language of forgiveness--even for that S.O.B. who murdered a little child.  It's awful hard to be fluent in the language of reconciliation--especially if that so and so did something I don't like or voted for the "other guy."

The language of grace; the language of love takes us to a different reality.  It takes us to a different place.  It leads us to a place of humility and compassion and service--simply because we realize how much we need Christ and His action on the cross.

For that is the ultimate language of love: a willingness to die for your enemies.  That's grace.  And most of us aren't too fluent in it at all.

Perhaps, God will give us the desire to learn.