Seeing the Truth

               At my last service at St. John of Cat Spring, I asked for prayer requests just before the prayers of the church.  One of my congregation members raised his hand and said, “I’d like to pray for Bethany Lutheran Church.”

                I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that prayer request, so I started thinking about it. And suddenly, I put two and two together.  You see, right before church, one of our youth met me in the hall as I was heading to worship, and the little tyke said, “Pastor, I hate to see you go.  I want to make sure and get your address so that I can keep up with you because when I grow up and get a job, I’m going to send you some money.

                I was touched by this child’s comment but also a bit perplexed, so I asked the little guy why he was going to send me money.  He replied just as innocently as a child can, “Because my daddy says you are the poorest preacher he’s ever seen.”  Did I mention that my congregation member wanted me to pray for Bethany Lutheran Church?

                And maybe, just maybe history will bear it out that I am the poorest preacher that some of you have ever seen.  But if I am to be the poorest preacher that you have ever seen, let it be because I was not able to help you understand complicated theological concepts.  Let it be because I was not able to provide illustrations that brought the biblical passages to life.  Let it be because I am a sinner who falls far short of what God has called him to be.  Let it be because of these things.

                But if I am the poorest preacher that you have ever seen, let it not be because I didn’t work day after day to tell you about what God has done for you through Jesus Christ.  Let it not be because I didn’t try to convey to you how much God loves you and what He was willing to do to redeem you.  Let it not be because I failed to preach the Truth.

                Perhaps at this point there are one or two of you who are scratching your head and thinking, “Wait a minute. I was with you right until that last statement you made.  Are you somehow suggesting that you know what the Truth is?  Are you starting off your first Sunday sermon here somehow insinuating that you know the Truth and the rest of us don’t and that we are just a bunch of ignorant folks who you are here to enlighten?”

                No.  I am not suggesting that at all.  For the Truth I am here to proclaim is Truth that is readily accessible to each and every person.  The Truth that I am here to proclaim is very, very near to each and every one of us.  The Truth that I am here to proclaim is actually with us right here, right now for all to see.  How so, you might ask?

                Well, let’s turn now to our Gospel lesson for today to find the answer to that question.  This is actually quite a funny text to have before us on Christ the King Sunday, for our King, King Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate as a criminal; bound; awaiting trial.  Jesus doesn’t look like a king at all.  And this is probably what is behind Pilate’s initial question.  It’s likely a contemptuous question.  “Are YOU the king of the Jews?”  Pilate knows the answer is a flat out “NO!”  Jesus is from the wrong part of the country.  He only has a hand-full of close followers, and they have all deserted Him.  He is poor; all alone; with seemingly no power or authority.  This is no king, but if he is harboring delusional thoughts of grandeur—of overthrowing the Roman presence in Judea, then, then this Jesus might just be a threat.  Better to be safe than sorry.  Better to make sure.

                Jesus responds to Pilate’s question with a question.  “Are you asking me this on your own or are you just believing the rumors that everyone is spreading about me?”

                Pilate isn’t too thrilled with Jesus’ question.  “Am I a Jew?” Pilate strongly responds.  You see, Pilate had nothing but contempt for the Jews.  He was assigned to keep the peace.  He had no use for Jewish customs or Jewish beliefs.  He didn’t care about their religious politics.  This is what is behind his response to Jesus.  In other words, Pilate is saying, “I am not a Jew.  I don’t care about your religious squabbles.  Your people handed you over to me for some reason that I really don’t care about.  I just want to keep the peace here in Judea.  Now, what have you done to make them angry?”

                Jesus responds, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”  This is such an important statement.  We could spend all morning unpacking it, but for now, let us be content to hear Jesus admit that He is a king. Let us hear that Jesus has a kingdom, but it is not like any kingdom of the world.  It is not founded in power or prestige or violence.  It is not tied to any geographic area.  It is not from or of the world, but it is for the world.  Let me say that again, Jesus kingdom is not of the world, but it is certainly for the world.  “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 did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.”

                Ah, but Pilate can’t hear such a thing.  Being a politician and a puppet of the emperor, he knows he must squash rebellion.  Jesus’ words sound rebellious!  “Aha!  So, you are a king!”

                In so many words, Jesus says with some amount of reluctance, “Yes. I am a king, but hear again that my purpose is a bit different from most kings.  I am a different sort of king.  For this I was born and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Oh, let us hear Jesus’ words to Pilate.  Oh, let us understand them deeply, for in them is an invitation not only to Pilate, but to us as well.  Everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to Jesus’ voice.  Do you hear Jesus’ voice?  Do you belong to the Truth?  We will come back to this shortly.

                Pilate responds with the most ironic question in the whole Bible—at least it is ironic if you are a Christian.  If you are not a Christian, the question makes perfect sense.  I mean, indeed, what is Truth?  Does anyone really know what the Truth is?  You have your truth.  I have my truth.  Democrats have their truth.  Republicans have their truth.  If I don’t like what you say, I’ll just go find someone else who has a different understanding; a different insight; a different thought.  No one really knows the truth.  Pilate’s question ultimately is a rejection of what Jesus said.  Pilate cannot hear Jesus’ voice.  Pilate does not belong to the Truth.

                Ah, but what is Truth?  I said it was an ironic question if you are a Christian, because the answer is this: the Truth is standing right in front of Pilate.  For you see, my brothers and sisters, the Truth is not an idea; it is not a concept; it is not a philosophy; the Truth is a person—the God made flesh.  The Truth is Jesus.  Remember the story of when Jesus and His disciples were gathered in the room and Jesus told them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, believe in God.  Believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ ⁵Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ ⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

                Jesus is the Truth.  Do you belong to the Truth?  Do you hear His voice?  Pilate could not. Pilate was blinded because He believed that truth was found in power, in prestige, in wealth, in privilege.  Pilate’s heart was captured by these things, so he could not see Jesus for who he was: the one who had come into the world to save it.

                And it is so easy to be blinded to Jesus.  It is so easy to have our hearts captured by other things.  It is so easy to miss the Truth and become enslaved to the cares and worries of the world.  You may ask how?  Well, let me offer up this little illustration.  You see, my previous home was pretty close to that other NFL team in Texas.  Sorry, life-long Cowboy’s fan here.  But that’s not the point.  What is the point is this: there were a few folks in the community who would comment that it was too difficult to drive 10 minutes to church; it was too much of a problem to sit for an hour in worship; it cost too much to put $20 in the offering plate.  And yet, and yet, these same folks would drive an hour and a half and fight Houston traffic to attend a Texan’s game.  They’d spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a ticket for themselves and their families.  They would spend hundreds of dollars on food and souvenir items.  They’d devote three hours to watching the game, and then fight traffic to get out of the stadium and drive back home.  Their hearts were captured by their team.  Their king was athletics.

                And do you see how demanding that king was?  Do you see how much their king too of their time and energy and money?  Do you see how much their king took from them?  And what did they receive in return?  Momentary pleasure in a win.  Disgust in a loss.  The hope of another season.  A souvenir jersey that will fall apart.  A few memories to hold in their heads. Things that will all pass away and fade and leave them with absolutely nothing.  Such is the case with all false kings.  Such is the case with anything that your heart is captured by that is not Jesus.  And…here is the kicker…even though we essentially get nothing from those kings, what do they continue to do?  What do they continue to demand?  More time, more energy, more money.  They continue to make demands of you while giving you nothing in return.  Keep serving these kings, and you end up empty, restless, joyless, angry and frustrated.

                And so, let me now ask, about Jesus.  What does it mean when Jesus is your king?  What does it mean when your heart is captured by Him as the Truth?  How demanding is Jesus?  In one way, He is absolutely much more demanding than any other king.  For Jesus demands total allegiance.  He demands our entire life.  He demands that we honor and love Him with our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength.  He demands that we love our neighbors as ourselves.  His demands are above and beyond what any other king would ever demand.  They are so great that we can never fulfill them.  And while most other kings would look upon us as failures and dismiss us for not being loyal enough; not being good enough; not being the subjects that we should be.  While most kings would cast us out of their kingdoms or punish us for our failure, our King, the Way, the Truth, the Life, instead lays down His life for us.  Our King, King Jesus redeems us with His holy and precious blood.  Our King sacrifices Himself for us to show us mercy and love.  Our King pours Himself out for us and then pours Himself into us so that we can become children of God and inheritors of eternal life.  Our King, in spite of our failures, loves us with a love beyond measure, and He shows us this sheer grace so that He may establish His kingdom in our hearts. For He longs to capture our hearts and reign in our hearts each and every day.  And once we see that; once we see the Truth standing there before us; once we see Jesus in our hearts as the Lord and King who loved us while we were still sinners; we become full of peace, love, joy, and hope.  What is Truth?  It is Jesus; King Jesus.  May He be king of your  heart this day and everyday.  Amen.

The Lord: Forgiveness (Part 3)

Today, the rubber begins to hit the road.  Today we come to the pivotal biblical teaching on forgiveness.  This teaching is actually so deep and rich that we will spend three Sundays delving into it, and hopefully, at the end of it all, we will come to a deep and full appreciation of forgiveness and find out how indeed we can forgive.

But before we get there, let me take just a moment to recap where we have been so far for anyone who might have missed the first two sermons. First, we delved into what forgiveness is.  We found that it has scientifically proven health and mental benefits.  We also found that it is commanded by God.  We found that if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven.  Yet, despite all of this, we also found that forgiveness is extremely difficult because it means that we pay for the wrongdoing of someone else.  We bear the cost of someone else hurting us.  Our working definition of forgiveness for this series then is this: the change in our emotional state when we choose to absorb the cost of someone else’s actions that have hurt us. 

Last week, we discovered that the Bible doesn’t give much instruction on how we can forgive.  We found that it commands forgiveness; that it expects forgiveness, but there is no direct process on how it can be accomplished in our lives.  Instead, Jesus begins his teachings on forgiveness with an emphasis on first getting those who have hurt us to take responsibility for their actions.  We are called to seek out those who have hurt us to win them back–win them because they are in danger of losing their salvation.  Jesus outlines a process in doing this, but if that process doesn’t work–if those who have wronged us fail to take responsibility, then we must move on to the hard work of forgiveness.  We must move on to shouldering the cost of how we were wronged.

This leads us straight to our Bible lesson this morning from Matthew chapter 18.  Peter, the spokesman of the disciples picks up on what Jesus is saying.  He understands what Jesus is saying about forgiveness.  He knows that Jesus is asking them to pay the cost of another’s wrong doing.  So Peter asks, “Lord, how many times must I forgive someone?  Seven times?”  Now, Peter thinks that he should receive a pat on the back or two for this question.  The religious teachers of his day had talked of forgiveness as well.  They had decided in their deliberations that one was obligated to forgive another person two times.  After the third offense, one was no longer obligated to forgive.  Does this sound like someone playing baseball?  Three strikes, and you are out!!  Peter is going well above what the religious authorities taught.  He has doubled their number and then added one: seven.  Seven is also considered the perfect number–the number of godliness.  Surely this is accurate.

Jesus actually will have none of it.  Jesus says, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  Now, the Greek is a little bit difficult to parse here.  You could also translate this seventy times seven–which some of you may have been exposed to in other translations of the Bible.  Either way, Jesus is purposely expanding the number greatly–so much so, that Jesus is truly saying, “Look Peter, you don’t keep count.” If you are keeping count; if you are keeping score; you have not yet understood the idea of forgiveness.

I am quite sure that Peter was taken aback by Jesus reply.  I am quite sure that Peter looked at Jesus with those deer in the headlights eyes.  I’m sure Peter stood there for a moment with his mouth agape before trying to form the words, “But...how?”  How can I forgive someone like that?  How can I bear that much cost?  How can I bear that much pain?  How can I do such an impossible thing?

Like the Master Teacher he is, Jesus responds with a story.  It is a powerful story.  A frightening story.  A story packed with imagery and detail and a wallop of a punch.  And within this story, when we come to understand it. When we come to understand all that is being said.  When it clicks within our minds and our hearts, then, yes, then we will understand and know how to forgive. 

Oh but we need to spend some time in this story.  We need to examine it.  We need to see what this story tells us about God, about ourselves, and then about forgiveness.  And to do this, we will spend today focusing on the Master.  We will spend next Sunday focusing on the servant, and we will spend the last Sunday putting it all together.

As we look at the parable Jesus told, we first see that the Lord and Master in this parable is unimaginably rich.  How do we come to this conclusion.  Well, we come to this conclusion by seeing how much the servant owes him.  This servant is in debt to his master 10,000 talents.  Now, how much is that?  Anyone out there who is a mathematician will appreciate this.  One talent is worth 6,000 denarii, and one denarii is a day’s wage.  Day laborers generally work for $100 a day, so let’s do all the multiplication.  One hundred times 6,000 is $600,000. $600,000 times 10,000 is six billion.  The Lord’s servant owes him six billion dollars!!!  And this is not the only servant. There are more servants to go, and we know from the outset of this parable that they owe the master money as well.  Who has that kind of money to loan?  Only someone who is unimaginably rich! 

This is an important part of this parable because it leads to an important tenet of the Christian faith.  We believe and proclaim that all sin is a sin against God.  Yes, when we sin against another person, we wrong that other person, but we also wrong our Heavenly Father.  There have been a few folks in my time who I have heard who have a hard time wrapping their heads around this.  They will say, “Sure, I may have sinned against this person, but it wasn’t against God.”  I get that argument.  I understand it, but you’ve got to expand your thinking a bit.  For it’s like this: let’s say you drive down to Houston to do some shopping.  You pull into Memorial City Mall, and you see a parking spot open up–that’s a rare thing, you know!!  So you speed up a little bit, and you pull in just in time.  But another patron, who had also seen that parking spot bumps into your car and dents it.  You are not happy with the situation, and you confront the person who hit you.  You demand an apology and payment for the damages.  The person looks at you and says, “You know, I didn’t hit you.  I hit the car.  I don’t owe you and apology.  I owe the car an apology, and I don’t owe you damages.  I owe the car damages.  What is your car’s name so that I can make a check out to it?”  I know that sounds stupid. Why?  Because we all know, that if you own the car, you are due the damages.  If you are driving the car, they hit you. As the owner, you are the one who was sinned against!!! 

So here is the question: what does God own?  What belongs to God?  God is unimaginably wealthy.  God owns everything–including you; including me.  When we sin against one another, we are sinning against the one who owns us.  We are sinning against God.  We will need to remember this next week as well as we talk about the servant, but for now, let’s move on.

The second thing we see about the Lord and Master is that He is unimaginably compassionate.  He is unimaginably gracious.  The servant who owes him six billion dollars is brought before Him, and He demands payment.  The Lord has kept an account of everything owed to Him.  He knows every cent due.  He knows what is rightfully His.  Just like us when our car is damaged and we want things set to right; the Lord wants things set to right.  It is only just.  It is only fair.  You can’t have people squandering your wealth without an accounting.  You can’t have people causing damage without demanding responsibility!  Imagine the chaos such things would cause!!  Payment for the debt must be made!!! 

But how can $6 billion be accounted for?  The only way the Lord can recoup the debt is by selling the servant, his family, and all his possessions.  This is only a drop in the bucket, but the debt must be paid. 

Such a thing is devastating for the servant, so he pleads with the Lord not to do such a thing.  “Give me time, and I will repay everything!!”  We’ll talk more about this next week.

What is important to us today is to see the Lord’s response.  The Lord has compassion.  Literally, in the Greek, the Lord’s insides melted.  When the Lord heard His servant’s plea, He was moved deeply.  How deeply.  The Lord released the servant and wiped out the debt.  The wording here is very important–the slave was literally a prisoner.  He was in bondage, but he is now freed.  He is now released, and his debt is gone; wiped out; completely erased. 

But that forgiveness wasn’t cheap, was it?  Oh, it was cheap for the slave, but it wasn’t cheap for the Lord.  The Lord just incurred a $6 billion expense.  The Lord just had $6 billion erased from His net worth.  Can you imagine swallowing that much?  Can you imagine doing that for someone?  Can you imagine the generosity?  The compassion? The grace?  That is unimaginable.  No one does this.  No one. No one cancels that much debt.  No one pays that cost themselves.  Except for this Lord.  Except for our Lord.  Can you see the generosity of God?  Can you see the compassion of God?  Can you see what God is willing to do for His servants?  Oh ponder the depths of God’s grace and love and mercy!!!

Oh, and if the parable would have ended here, perhaps we could be happy.  Perhaps we could simply revel in the glories of God and His generosity.  But Jesus doesn’t simply stop with the forgiveness of the debt.  There is more.

The servant who was forgiven–who was released, seeks out a fellow servant who owes him money.  Using the mathematics of earlier.  This fellow servant owes the forgiven servant $10,000.  Not insignificant, but completely manageable.  But there is no scene of forgiveness to be played out.  There is no release. There is imprisonment.  We will speak of these things further next week, but for now, let us simply see that the one who was forgiven refuses to forgive, and that initiates another sequence of events–a sequence of events that takes us right back to the Master and Lord.

The Lord is told about the actions of the forgiven servant.  The Lord is told of how the one who was forgiven refused to forgive.  The Lord is told of how the one who was released turned around and made a captive.  And the Lord’s wrath is kindled.  “You evil slave!”  Yes, that’s the Greek word.  Wicked seems to tone things down a bit.  A judgment is rendered here, and it is not pleasant.  “You evil slave!  I forgave you because you pleaded with me.  Shouldn’t you have done the same?!” 

God is not mocked.  God’s forgiveness is not mocked.  God’s righteous anger burns against those who have been forgiven and who fail to forgive.  God’s wrath falls upon them with the heaviest possible consequences.

The $6 billion debt is reinstated.  The slave is thrown into prison.  And the slave is tortured.  That might make us squeamish hearing Jesus say those words.  That may makes our stomachs turn.  We like hearing about God’s love.  We like hearing about Christ’s love.  But judgement?  Torture?  Really?  Surely this is just over the top language.  Surely this is just an interpretation.  Surely this isn’t the “real” Jesus.

Yes. It is.  It is the real Jesus talking about the real God.  We must remember that God is a God of justice.  God’s anger and wrath burns hot against sin.  God will not let sin go unchecked.  And if you have been forgiven $6 billion dollars, it is unjust to demand payment of $10,000.  Look at it this way–if you were lucky and a hard worker, you could expect to make one talent in your LIFETIME.  This servant was forgiven 10,000 lifetimes’ worth of debt, and he refuses to excuse three month’s of wages!  Do you consider that just?  Do you consider that fair?  Do you consider that worthy of the one who forgave $6 billion becoming angry?  Of course you do.  At a deep level, you recognize the injustice.  You recognize that the punishment fits the crime.

And so, is this where we are left?  Are we left here looking at God who punishes if we do not forgive?  Are we left here now thinking, “Geez, I’d better think twice about holding onto my grudges.  I’d better think twice about not forgiving someone else.  I’d better start letting go of my anger towards others lest I end up in hell being tortured because I ticked God off.” 

Stop.  Breathe.  The long answer is no.  We do not forgive others because we are scared to death of God.  We do not forgive others because we fear ending up in hell being tortured for eternity.  There is no comfort in such forgiveness.  There is no peace in such forgiveness.  It is forced and compelled forgiveness, and it certainly is not from the heart.  We will arrive there, but today it is sufficient for us to ponder both the love and the justice of God.   Hold these two things in dynamic tension.  For to see God’s love and God’s justice in tension in this manner is an important step in the process of learning how to forgive.  Amen.

Romans 9:14-18: Do You Have Free Will?

I will begin my sermon to you this morning by asking you a big question: do you believe that you have free will?  You may groan.  I can already hear your thoughts: Pastor, you just got back from vacation and rest, and you hit us with that of question?  Are you insane?

My sanity is irrelevant, but I’d probably answer in the affirmative.  I am a bit insane, but to return to the original question I think is more pertinent.  Do you believe that you have free will?  Most of us would probably without hesitation answer, “yes.”   We believe and act as though we have free will.  Our entire criminal justice system is based on the idea that we have free will.  Our entire society is based on the idea that we are free to choose what we want to buy; what we want to do; what career we want to pursue.  So why even ask the question?

Well, for a couple of reasons because there are more than a few folks who argue that we don’t have free will, but that we simply are under the illusion that we have free will.  There are some noted scientists including Stephen Hawking who believe that we are governed by our genetics and scientific law, we have no choice in what we do.  Sam Harris, a noted atheist and neuroscientist, talks about studies that show us making choices before the brain is even aware of our choice.  He concludes that we aren’t in control of our actions.  I share this so that you are aware that there are those who are making strong, scientific, secular arguments that we don’t have free will.  But it is not only some in the secular crowd that believe we have no free will.  There are many theists and Christians who do not believe in free will either.  Some Christians believe that God has planned out every single moment of our lives.  God has counted the numbers of hairs on our head–for those of us who still have hair, and He knows all and has all power.  And if He is all powerful, then He controls everything.  Nothing happens without His say so.  Oftentimes we call this predestination.

I am reminded of the story of the preacher during the civil war who preached encouragement to a platoon heading into battle. “Men,” he said, “God has ordered the days of your life.  He has planned everything out for you.  If it is not your day to die, no bullet from the enemy can harm you.  Have no fear!”

As the battle waged, enemy forces pushed the platoon back to the point where even the good reverend had bullets whizzing by him.  And it just so happened that the reverend found himself taking shelter behind a tree with a private whom he had preached to earlier that day.

The private looked at the reverend cowering behind the tree and said, “Reverend, I thought you said that if it wasn’t our time to go, no bullet could harm us.  Why are you hiding behind this tree?”

The reverend retorted quickly, “My son, you misunderstand the finer points of predestination.  This tree was predestined to be here, and I was predestined to be behind it.”

You may be wondering why I am even bringing this up or even spending time on it, and the answer has to do with the nature of who God is.  If God controls everything–each and every moment of our lives, then we have to wrestle with some significant questions.  If God controls us as a cosmic puppet-master, then why does He allow evil in the world?  Why did He allow that microburst to affect us last week and devastate so many houses in Sealy–including some of our members homes?  If God is in control of our actions, then why does he allow people to kill and murder?  If He is in control, does that make God a murderer?  If God is in control of everything, is God just?  Is He righteous?

Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, we come before you today exploring the mystery of your will and your power.  Do you give us free will?  Are you in control of everything?  And if you are in control of everything, do you cause evil to happen?  Open our hearts and our minds to understand you, to know you, to have some insight into how you work to ensure that your goodness shines through, and that we can have confidence in knowing that you are just.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

This question of whether or not God is just is front and center in our biblical text this morning from the book of Romans.  Paul is dealing with the fact that most of his fellow Jews have not come to belief in Jesus Christ.  This has called into question whether or not the promises that God made to the people of Israel in the Old Testament are still valid.  Can God revoke a promise that He has made?  Paul is making the case that God has not revoked those promises and will not revoke those promises because God is consistent.  Paul has begun working through the Old Testament to show this, and Paul began by showing that God made choices along the way when it came to passing down the covenant promises.  God chose Isaac instead of Ishmael.  God chose Jacob instead of Esau.

But that has led to the question: if God chooses one person over another in regards to the passing down of the covenant, is God just?  Is God righteous?  Is it fair that God chooses one over another?

The short snippet from Romans 9 that we have before us this morning deals with these questions head on.  Paul begins with these words, “14 What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses,‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ 16 So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.”

Let’s delve into what Paul says here about Moses.  Paul quotes a snippet of Exodus 33, and this is quite a chapter.  At the beginning of the chapter, God is angry beyond belief.  The people He had brought out of Egypt had worshiped a golden calf saying that it had brought them out of Egypt instead of the God who had brought the ten plagues upon the Egyptians and had parted the Red Sea.  In a short period of time, they had rejected their Deliverer, and God was intent upon abandoning them.

In fact, God said straight up to Moses, “Take these people into the land of Canaan, but I will not go with you.”  God was leaving them on their own.  But Moses interceded for the people.  Moses begged God to go with them, and God relented.  God decided to stay with His people.  Then Moses asked God to show His glory to him.  And God said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord”; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

Interestingly enough, God is especially showing mercy on His chosen people.   They deserve His wrath and punishment for abandoning Him.  They deserve His abandonment because they abandoned Him.  But He is merciful toward them.  He gives them what they do not deserve.  And this is at the heart of God’s statement here.  This is why Paul quotes it.  For at the beginning of the book of Romans, Paul showed that all are deserving of God’s wrath and punishment.  All have fallen short of the glory of God.  None deserve His mercy and compassion.  They didn’t in the Old Testament; yet, instead of bringing condemnation on everyone, God chose to have compassion.  Instead of being just–giving people what they deserve, God chose mercy.  That was actually a marvel and wonder.  This is why Paul includes that statement, “ So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.”  If the passing of the covenant were dependent upon human will or strength, the covenant would never be passed on because we would not be worthy of having that covenant.  The Israelites were certainly not worthy of having that covenant bestowed upon them, but God showed mercy and compassion.

And if Paul would have stopped here, we wouldn’t be having too many discussions about free will and predestination.  But Paul doesn’t stop with these words.  He continues with more from the Exodus.  Verse 17 “For the scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.’ 18So then he has mercy on whomsoever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomsoever he chooses.”

This is a bit concerning because it very much looks like God hardens a person’s heart so that they never come to believe in Him.  It looks like God actually condemns a person because of God’s own actions.  But we need to remember what was going on here.  We need to remember that God was using Pharaoh for a purpose.  God was using Pharaoh to reveal to the world who God is and what God can do.

Remember first off, Pharaoh was not a good guy.  Pharaoh had ordered the killing of all the first born sons of the Israelites.  He had also enslaved them and made them do back-breaking work.  Pharaoh was guilty of infanticide, genocide, and enslavement.  And God needed to show the world that God was a God of justice–God would not allow infanticide against His people to go unpunished; God would not allow genocide against His people to go unpunished; God would not allow the crime of slavery against His people to go unpunished.  And so, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that justice could be served.  God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that the world could see what kind of God the Israelites had.  God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that God’s ultimate plan of revelation could be made manifest.

And I think it is this that unlocks the meaning behind verse 18, “So then he [God] has mercy on whomsoever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomsoever he chooses.”  God needed to have mercy on the Israelites to bring His covenant promises to fruition.  God needed to harden Pharaoh’s heart to bring His covenant promises to fruition.  Sometimes God must show mercy to keep His promises, and sometimes God needs to harden the hearts of people to bring his covenant promises to fruition.

Now, what does that mean?  What does that have to do with our free will?  I think it means this: we both have free will and we don’t.  That sounds really, really stupid, but hear me out.  In these verses from the book of Romans, Paul shows that God has a plan and a purpose.  God has a covenant to fulfill.  God has made particular promises to the people of Israel and now to the rest of the world through Jesus Christ.  And despite our individual choices, God will work to make that covenant come true.  Let me say that again: despite our individual choices, God will work to make His covenant promises come true.  And so, we have free will to make our choices, but God will work–sometimes despite our choices–to make sure His promises come true.

Let me try and show you how this works with a previous reference to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Today is Pentecost, so I should talk about the Holy Spirit at least a little.  Remember several weeks ago when I preached the sermon about prayer–that we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words?  Think about how that works out.  Think about how that process takes place.  We pray.  Our prayers are our choice.  We put together the words.  We put together the phrases.  Sometimes, we don’t know what to say and we are simply silent.  We are exercising our free will in these prayers.  We are exercising our free expression, but then the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.  The Holy Spirit takes our prayers and molds them and makes them into prayers that are holy and acceptable before God.  The Holy Spirit transforms them so that they are in accord with God’s will and not our own.  So, we have free will to ask for whatever we wish.  We have free will to pray for whatever we wish, but then we don’t have free will in how those prayers are delivered.  We don’t have free will in the overall outcome of those prayers.  God’s will will prevail.

God’s will indeed will prevail.  And that is what we most need to hold onto.  God’s promise will not be revoked.  And God will do what it takes to ensure that His promises will come to fruition.  We will see this play out even more in the weeks to come as Paul continues to wrestle with what is going on.  We will see that sometimes, God will harden people’s hearts–so that His promises will come true.  And ultimately, God’s mercy and love will reign.  Ultimately, God’s compassion will shine through–even though Israel’s heart is hardened.  Even though, sometimes our hearts are hardened.

For God ultimately, God wants no heart to remain hardened.  Ultimately God wants every heart to come to Him.  Ultimately, God wants to save the world.  That’s at the heart of the Gospel: 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.  And God acted through Jesus in a manner that is designed to melt even the hardest heart–having Jesus die for us when we least deserved it.  Giving us a priceless gift when we were least worthy of it.

And God will pull out all the stops to bring you to know His love.  Sometimes He will show great mercy to you so that you can sense His love.  Sometimes He may harden you so that the glory of His promises can be revealed not only to you but to others.  For it is His will that will reign supreme.  It is His love that is meant to be revealed to the world.  Sometimes because of our choices, and sometimes despite them.

Let us pray, Gracious God, help us to see that your will reigns supreme.  Help us to see that even though you may harden our hearts–even though you may harden the hearts of others, that in the long run, you are working to reveal your love in Jesus Christ to the world.  May our free will come to align with your will so that you may receive glory and honor.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

If You Have Anything to Say to Me...

    Our Gospel lesson this week is actually quite a bit longer than the designated text for the day.  The designated text put together by those who do the Revised Common Lectionary is actually Matthew 16: 15-20.  Next week, we are supposed to get Matthew 16:20-35; however, as I looked over these lessons, I couldn’t help but realize, these texts really should not be separated.  They demand to be put together because it is in holding them together that we truly get the Gospel revealed to us and lead us toward reconciliation and forgiveness.

    The text begins with instructions on how to handle reconciliation.  If someone in the church sins against you, you are to confront that person one on one.  If the other does not listen, you are to take two or three witnesses.  If the person does not listen, you are to bring them before the entire assembly, and if the person does not listen to the entire assembly, they are to be treated as a Gentile or tax collector.  This is very straight forward and simple, is it not?  I mean there isn’t much wiggle room in how we are supposed to handle a situation like this is there?  No.  There isn’t.  Except...

    Except no one follows this teaching.  No one.  Even those of us who are pastors and proclaim God’s Word Sunday after Sunday don’t follow this teaching of Jesus.  I mean, let’s be honest with one another when it comes to talking about reality.  Whenever we get upset with something someone has done to us or if they have done something in the church we don’t like, we don’t go directly to that person.  We either stew about it and stop attending church because “I don’t want to see that person anymore because he or she hurt me”; or we start talking about what that person did with anyone else who will listen.  “Did you see what color they painted the fellowship hall?  Oh the horrors!!  Why couldn’t they have just painted it white?”  If I can get someone, anyone to agree with me, well, then I feel justified in my position.  And, believe me, this is not something exclusive to congregation members.  We clergy jump on this bandwagon all the time.  We talk about our church leaders.  We talk about other Christians–other pastors.  Rarely, if ever do we go directly to someone and confront them with something they said or did–despite our knowing better.  I mean, even those who don’t follow Jesus have their own way of putting this.  You might have even said it yourself.  “If you want to say something to me...say it to my face.”  We know what we are supposed to do, but we just don’t do it.

    Why?  Well, of course, it’s easier not too.  I don’t have to face them directly.  But there are also the consequences that must be faced.  For whenever we confront someone with wrongdoing or confront another with hurting us, we are usually met with a harsh response. “How dare you confront me?  Do you think you are such a goody two shoes that you can tell me what I’ve done wrong?”  That’s just one of the responses.  I mean, oftentimes when we confront another, we come across as extremely self-righteous and arrogant.  This does not lead to reconciliation.  Furthermore, there are more than a few who have adopted the self-esteem gospel–that if we just let everyone know they are loved and perfect just the way they are they will work hard; do good things; and be productive.  Except that doesn’t work.  It actually leads to a sense of entitlement and narcissism.  And if you confront such a person with hurting you, it will fall on deaf ears because they don’t believe they are capable of doing wrong.  And even if you were to follow the teaching Jesus offers them, they would simply say, “I’ll just go find another church where I won’t have anyone mess with me.” 

    Do you see the difficulties involved with following Jesus teaching here?  Do you see why many people refuse to operate in such a fashion?  It’s too difficult to face another person, and the consequences are generally poor.  It’s a teaching which is almost too difficult to bear.

    Perhaps this is why Peter comes up to Jesus and says, “Lord, how many times do I really have to forgive someone?  As many as seven times?”

    Some of you might think seven times is too small a number, but let me ask you this: would you let someone steal from you up to seven times?  Would you let someone slap you in the face seven times?  Would you willingly let someone take advantage of you seven times in a row without some sort of recourse?  No.  No one here this morning would think of such a thing–generally.  Seven times is a pretty generous number, but Jesus says, “No.  You are thinking too small.  As many as seventy-seven times.”

    And here we get to the important crux of the matter.  Here we get to why Jesus teaches what He teaches regarding reconciliation and forgiveness.  Here we get to why Jesus begins this segment with what to do if a member of the church sins against you.  Here we get a parable of God’s mercy and justice–a parable that leads us to the cross.

    Jesus tells us of a servant who has wracked up an incredible debt.  10,000 talents is the figure given.  Let’s translate this into dollar signs.  Let’s say an average laborer earns $30,000 per year.  A talent would have been 15 times that, so $450,000.  Take $450,000 and multiply that by 10,000.  That’s a lot of zeroes my friends.  By my calculations it would be $4,500,000,000.  This servant owed the modern day equivalent of 4.5 billion dollars!!! 

    Now, I want you to ask yourself: who in the world wracks up that kind of debt?  Who in the work borrows that much money–I mean aside from certain governments...  How in the world do you wrack up that much debt?  Any clue?  The best I can come up with is someone who is so totally irresponsible and so consumed with money that they get as much as they possibly can regardless of any sort of consequence or conscience.  This is the kind of guy Jesus talks about.

    Second question: what kind of lord loans that kind of money to this kind of servant?  I mean really.  Which one of you would have loaned that kind of figure to someone?  The lord must be extremely wealthy and not care what happens to that kind of money, that’s for sure.  Either that, or this lord must be somewhat crazy.  No one would even think of doing such a thing.  But apparently, this one did–at least in the parable.

    The lord comes one day to settle accounts, and he is furious at what is owed him.  He threatens to sell the man and his family as slaves to pay off the debt–this was considered quite acceptable in the world during that time.  The servant doesn’t want this to happen–not in the least, so he begs and pleads with his lord.  “Do not sell me.  I will repay you!”

    Interestingly enough, there are a couple of things to note here.  Unless one is very wealthy, this kind of debt cannot be paid off in one’s lifetime.  The guy is making a promise which cannot be fulfilled.  Secondly, it’s an obvious comment to save his own skin–a skin which was in trouble because of his irresponsible behavior in the first place.

    But the interesting stuff doesn’t stop there.  The lord, moved by pity forgives the debt!!!  He doesn’t work out a payment plan.  He doesn’t reduce the debt and work things out; he says you are off the hook.  You are free.  You are clear.  Go!

    Now, what would you and I do at this point?  What would you and I do if we were suddenly told that a huge amount of debt has been forgiven us?  Would we go out and do the same thing again?  Or would we be filled with joy at the fortune which had befallen us?  Would we be consumed with anger and greed, or would we have hearts full of gratitude?

    You would expect the latter, but this servant just doesn’t seem to get it.  He comes across a guy who owes him a pittance compared to the debt just forgiven him.  The actions of the lord had absolutely no effect on this guy.  He is still completely self-centered and selfish.  He is still as self-absorbed as before, and there are drastic consequences.  The lord will not let such actions stand.  Let’s try to understand why.

    A few months ago, I listened to a Timothy Keller lecture on Youtube, and he shared the following illustration by Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones.  Dr. Jones said that in order to understand the Gospel, one of the things I needed to understand was the size of the debt forgiven me.  In a sermon, Dr. Jones said, “Let’s say I come home one day from vacation and my neighbor, who was checking my mail told me, ‘While you were gone, a bill came, and I paid it for you.’  In order to know how to properly respond, I need to know how large that bill was.  If it was postage due, then I can say, ‘Thank you, I appreciate it.’  But if it was that bill from the IRS which says I owed thousands of dollars that I didn’t have, well, that’s another story.  But until I know the size of the debt you paid, I don’t know whether to say thank you or to fall down on my knees and kiss your feet.”

    Think about that for a minute as you consider what Jesus did on the cross.  For it was on the cross that Jesus incurred and paid the debt you had accumulated with your sinfulness.  It was on the cross that Jesus died as a payment to remove that which kept you from being on good terms with God.  It was on the cross that Jesus endured the wrath of God so that you don’t have to.  “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 may be saved through Him.”  On the cross, Jesus reconciled the world unto God.  Jesus reconciled you unto God when there was this huge outstanding debt that you had accumulated through your sinfulness. 

    And if you realize, first off that you were sinful and had accumulated debt.  Then, if you realize the size of the debt that Jesus paid for you.  Then, if you understand that He did this to wipe out anything that stood between you and God, you will get to that point where you say, “Man, I want all my relationships to be this way.  I don’t want anything to be in the way of how I live with others.  I want to be reconciled with them just like I am reconciled with God.”

    And so, if someone has sinned against me, I don’t wait for them to come to their senses; I don’t sit on the pain and just let it fester; there is something wrong, and if God took the initiative to fix it, then I want to take the initiative to fix it with whoever has wronged me.  And I will go to the one who hurt me, not in a spirit of self-righteousness because I needed forgiveness too, but in a spirit of humility–in a spirit of reconciliation.  I will go to that other saying, “I am not here to point out your wrong because I am so right; I am here because there is something between us that is keeping us from living out our relationship to the fullest.  I don’t want that thing to be there.  I want to be reconciled with you but I cannot because there is this hurt you caused me.”

    And if the other party does not agree, then, because you want this reconciliation so badly, you will involve others–ultimately the entire church because reconciliation is that important.  And if in the face of the church the other party does not repent–treat them as a Gentile or tax collector.  Which we need to ask–how did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors?  He ate with them.  He healed them.  He associated with them and worked with them for the express purpose of proclaiming to them the Gospel.  He wanted them to know the marvelous power of God so that their lives would be changed–just like our lives are changed by what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.  Such forgiveness–such reconciliation from the heart is a difficult thing until you realize what Jesus has already done for you.  He’s forgiven your debt, and now He asks you to do the same.  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.

Religion Versus Grace

    When I was in first grade, I didn’t have any of my closest friends in my homeroom class.  This made life particularly difficult at lunch since I didn’t have anyone really to cut up with and talk to at the lunch table.  I longed for a friend to share that time with.  I don’t know if Jimmy picked up on my desires or if it was something else, but one day, as he sat across from me, he said, “Kevin, I will be your friend...if...if you give me your dessert.”

    You see, when I was in first grade, I wasn’t necessarily enthusiastic about eating in the cafeteria too often.  My mom fixed me a lunch most of the time.  There was always a sandwich and some chips, and for dessert, I usually had one of the several varieties of Little Debbie snack cakes.  For the early months of first grade, this was usually enough to satisfy my hunger easily, and to begin with, I felt like I could spare the calories.  I wanted a friend, badly, so I gave up my dessert.

    Each day, I’d give Jimmy my dessert, and each day he’d proclaim his friendship of me.  But then there came a day...  Yes, then there came a day when my stomach cried out in hunger.  I was a growing boy, and I had played to my heart’s content at recess, and I wanted to eat my dessert.  “Jimmy, I am really, really hungry today.  I really, really want to eat my dessert.”

    “But then I won’t be your friend.”

    “But I’m hungry.”

    “I won’t be your friend.”

    I thought for just a few moments.  I desperately wanted a friend, but I was hungry.  As I thought, I also came to the conclusion that I was tired of giving Jimmy my desserts. 

    “I’m going to eat my dessert.”

    “I’m not your friend.”

    And so it is with much of life.  For the most part, if we want to receive anything, we have to pay a price for it.  If we want a particular item in the store, we have to pay money.  If we want a good paying job, we have to pay to go to school or spend years climbing the corporate ladder.  If we want to be respected by others, we have to accumulate wealth or wisdom.  If we want to be loved, we have to show love to another.  There always seems to be strings attached–with a price tag–for things and for relationships.  Some even extend this particular aspect of human life to our relationship with God.

    The thinking goes, “If I want God to love me, then I have to be obedient to Him.  If I want to get God’s attention, then I have to do the things He commands me to do.”  This is what is at the heart of what many people in our society today consider religion.  If I am obedient, then I will get the blessings. 

    If I believe enough in God and trust God enough, He will bring me wealth.

    If I pray a certain amount each day, my sickness will be healed.

    If I put enough in the offering plate, the Lord will multiply it 10 fold.

    If I work hard enough for justice, the Kingdom of God will come to earth.

    If I use my prophetic voice and speak against wealth and privilege, then people will see how radical faith is and flock to church.

    If we do the right things, then we will experience the blessings.  Do you see how this supposedly works?

    In many congregations today, our first lesson will be read, and many will pick up on the final verse read.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this verse repeated by colleagues who are focused almost completely on the concept of justice, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8 This is what the Lord requires of us, and we have to do it!  All the focus and attention will go here, and many will begin proclaiming their vision of what it means to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.  Many will talk about feeding the hungry, combating systemic poverty and racism, and treating others with kindness and respect.

    These are not bad things in and of themselves.  In fact, these things are indeed part of the Christian walk.  These are things we are called to do, but because our society today is so biblically illiterate, they come to think that this is what faith is all about–they come to think faith is about what we do, and they miss something so precious, so central, so important to what it means to be a believer in God and a follower of Jesus Christ.

    So much attention will be drawn to Micah 6:8 that Micah 6:3-5 will oftentimes be overlooked.  “O my people, what have I done to you?  In what have I wearied you? Answer me!  4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.  5 O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”

    What is going on here?  Why are these verses so important?  They show us God’s actions toward Israel.
They show us what God has done for the people:

    1. He delivered them from Egypt and the house of slavery.

    2. God sent them leaders who gave them law and order.

    3. God delivered them from King Balak when Balak ordered Balaam to curse them.  God appeared to Balaam and prevented this from happening. 

    4. God gave them the land from Shittim to Gilgal and helped them conquer it, aiding Israel against their enemies.

    In each of these instances, God blessed His people.  God freed them, supported them, guided them, and established them.  God showered His blessings down upon them time and time again, and it is only after the blessings that the words are uttered, “what then does God require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” 

    The blessings come first, obedience follows.

    That is the tremendous difference between religion and grace.  Religion says, “Do this and you will be blessed.  Be obedient, and you will receive blessings.”  Grace says, “You are accepted, now do this.  You are blessed, then be obedient.”  Religion requires someone to work toward God and emphasizes our actions.  Grace celebrates what God has done and then asks for a response to what God has done. 

    And what has God 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 into the world not to condemn the world but so that the world may be saved through Him.

    The grace and mercy of God was poured out for all of us on the cross where Jesus hung and died to redeem us from our sin.  On that cross, God paid the price for healing broken relationships, and three days later, God showed us the promise of eternal life.  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has opened the kingdom of Heaven to all who are brought to faith by His Spirit.  God has revealed and given His blessings to each and every one of us, and He didn’t even ask for even as much as our dessert before giving it to us. 

    These are the blessings of God showered down each and every one of us.  Grace.  Pure and simple.  And how will we respond?  Will we seek obedience?  Is God’s mercy and grace and sacrifice enough to cause us to seek to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God?   Sure.  At least it should be.  And it is definitely a part of how we Live God’s Word Daily.  Amen.

You are not Stones

    We love to build our temples out of beautiful stones.  Brick by brick we build them.  We try to make them as large and as grand as possible.  Oh, I am not necessarily talking about physical temples–no, not in the least.  Not many of us physically construct such a thing in our lives, but metaphorically.  Yes, we build our temples as best as we can trying to make them as beautiful as we possibly can.

    •    Here is a brick for getting a good education.
    •    Here is a brick for graduating in the top 10% of the class.
    •    Here is a brick for getting scholarships to the university.
    •    Here is a brick for getting a good paying job.
    •    Here is a brick for finding a good spouse.
    •    Here is a brick for having children.
    •    Here is a brick for having well behaved children.
    •    Here is a brick for getting involved in the community.
    •    Here is a brick for helping out at the local food pantry.
    •    Here is a brick for volunteering at the YMCA.
    •    Here is a brick for going to church.
    •    Here is a brick for putting something in the offering plate.
    •    Here is a brick for having a nice house.

And we keep adding bricks.  We keep building and building, and sometimes, just sometimes we step back and say to ourselves, “What a beautiful building I have built.”  Of course, sometimes the building doesn’t go as planned.  Sometimes the stones aren’t as beautiful as we would like.  Sometimes they don’t fit as well as we would like them too, but with just enough effort–just enough maneuvering around, we alter the construction to hide those flaws.  After all, it would be a terrible thing if someone were to see that the facade of that temple wasn’t necessarily perfect. 

    So often, our lives revolve around building such temples.  So often our lives are consumed with having such places of beauty and pristine, and before we realize it, our lives find their meaning only and solely in that temple we have constructed and are constructing.  It is then that something dangerous begins to happen to us.  When we find meaning in life from constructing such temples and maintaining their beauty, that meaning and purpose can be shaken to the core if the stones start falling apart or if they are discovered to be flawed.  What do I mean by that?

    When I was in college, one Christmas, I asked my parents for one gift and one gift alone: a gold cross necklace.  I didn’t want anything else.  That was it.  I wanted to wear my faith around my neck–so to speak.  I didn’t get the cross for Christmas, much to my chagrin.  But, my parents had a trick up their sleeve.  Since my birthday is just a couple of weeks after Christmas, they decided to surprise me by giving me that necklace then.  When I opened the box, I was on cloud nine.  I loved the gift.  I loved that little gold cross necklace.  I put it on and steadfastly resolved to never, ever take it off.

    And I didn’t.  I wore it every waking and sleeping moment.  I was proud of that necklace and what it represented.  I could argue that the necklace literally was a part of me. 

    One day, I played an intra-mural football game at school.  It was a hard-fought game, and we were pretty physical even though we had no padding on.  After the game, I noticed my necklace was gone!  I was not happy.  I searched and searched the field on which we played.  I went out after dark with a flashlight hoping to catch a glimpse of the gold in the ground.  Nothing.  I despaired.  I literally was crushed.  I felt like a part of me was gone.

     Jesus said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

    That’s not a comforting thought.  It’s not a comforting thought at all.  When we’ve spent so much time constructing these things; when we’ve spent so much time with building blocks and necklaces that mean so much; when we’ve made our purpose in life to construct more and better and beautiful temples, these are not the words we want to hear.  Now, Jesus may have been speaking about the upcoming destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D.  Some scholars believe this, but what if there indeed is a deeper thought here.  What if Jesus is forcing us to go deeper.

    For the thought of the destruction of the Temple was a horrible one.  The Jews had endured this once in their history.  The Temple represented God’s presence on earth.  It represented where God lived.  It represented the place where people could go and be guaranteed to be near the presence of God.  If it were destroyed?  What then?  If the Temple were gone?  How would God’s presence be felt? 

     “Do not be terrified,” Jesus says.  “Lots of things are going to happen.  But don’t fear.  I’ve got a plan.”

    After searching futilely for my necklace, I picked up the phone.  It was not a phone call I wanted to make.  I called my mom and dad.  I broke down in tears as I told them that my beloved necklace that they had purchased for me was gone.  I sobbed as I told them of my search and how nothing turned up.  I apologized for losing what they had given me.

    “Kevin, it’s just a necklace,” they said.  A word of grace.  Whether my parents meant it or not, the message to me became loud and clear–you are not that necklace.  Your identity is not wrapped up in that necklace.  You did not lose a piece of you when that necklace somehow was ripped from your neck.  It is a just a stone–a beautiful stone, but a stone none-the-less.  Stop worrying about the stone.  There are more important things.

    It’s hard to stop worrying about those bricks we use to build up our lives.  It’s hard to stop worrying about even building those temples.  Somehow, we have come to think that we should be judged by those temples.  Somehow we have come to think our self worth depends upon those temples.  Somehow we have come to think that how others should or should not view us depends upon those temples. 

    It’s not just necklaces which drive us to despair.  Sometimes, if a person loses his or her job, that person feels like the purpose of life is gone.  If a house is broken into and goods are stolen, sometimes people feel violated.  If a project does not go as planned, sometimes a person agonizes and spends countless hours worrying about what went wrong.  If children do not live up to expectations, parents seek out professional help to “fix” their kids.  Hey, even we pastors are not immune from such things.  When worship attendance is up, we are on cloud nine.  When it is down, we get depressed.  We all build temples, and most of the time, our emotional state is completely dependent upon how that temple looks. 

    And the scariest part is that the temple will indeed be torn down.  Not one stone will be left upon another.  It will all disappear in a heart beat; in the blink of an eye.  Or, rather in the ceasing of the heart to beat when mine eyelids close in death.  And what will become of that which we have slaved over for all of our years?

    Hear now a word of grace: you are not that temple.  Your worth is not wrapped up in that which you strive to build.  Your worth comes from something completely different.  Your worth; your purpose; your value comes from God. 

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes 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 may be saved through Him.

    Each and every day, my brothers and sisters, opportunity knocks.  Opportunity breaks into this world as Christ comes to us to remind us that He has a plan and a purpose for us.  Our temples may be knocked down.  Our lives may fall apart.  We may lose our jobs, our families, our friends, but we can never lose God’s love.  Never.  Ever.  We have an assurance that not one hair on our head will perish.  Is it any wonder then that Jesus says such things are opportunities to testify?  When our identity rests in Him, we have nothing to fear.  And that is what it means to Live God’s Word Daily.  Amen.

Do You Have Itchy Ears? (Like Me?)

    There is a story I have told in a sermon before, but I believe it bears repeating in light of our lessons this morning:   

    A retired preacher went back to visit a town in which he once served.  Sitting down in the local café, he recognized on of his former parishioners.  The preacher called out, “Hi, Bob, how are things at the church?”

    Bob recognizing the preacher from years ago replied, “Hello Reverend.  Actually, I don’t know how things are at the church anymore.  I don’t go there.”

    This surprised the pastor.  Bob had been a pillar of the congregation when he left.  Bob had served as congregation president; he taught Bible study; he was a mentor to several youth; he attended almost every single Sunday; and he was a steady and generous contributor.  The fact that Bob no longer went to church there rocked the pastor to the core.  “May I ask what happened?” the pastor said.

    Bob didn’t hesitate, “Well, Reverend, I hate to say it, but Satan raised dissension in our midst.  Some folks just stopped believing the appropriate things, so half of us got up and started our own church.”

    The pastor replied, “I am truly sorry to hear that.  How are things going at that church?”

    Bob replied, “I don’t know.  You would think that we would be able to agree on everything, but it didn’t happen.  Satan’s reach is long, and before you know it, a group of us had to leave again.  About six couples started gathering in our homes to listen to God’s Word.”

    The pastor then said, “And did you find peace in that small group?”

    “No,” Bob said.  “Before long my wife and I had to leave that group as they were not true to the Word or to doctrine.  We began worshiping together on Sunday’s alone.”

    The pastor replied, “I take it then, that this has brought you spiritual peace?”

    And Bob said, “Nope, before long, things went south again.  I worship on the east side of the house, and my wife worships on the west side.”

    Yes, it is funny, and it probably is funny because it has a bit of truth within it.  For in many ways, this story illustrates the religious backdrop that is the United States of America–particularly the church.  We literally have thousands of denominations in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of churches, and many of them have come about in exactly the fashion this story presents to us.  They have split over disagreements and doctrines, and more often than not, our second lesson which we heard this morning is used as justification for those splits.

    In case you missed it, I’d like to refresh it in our minds.  Please take a listen to what St. Paul tells Timothy: 16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

    Usually, folks use this text as a weapon to basically say, “All scripture is inspired by God, and you are not taking scripture seriously. You have itchy ears and are leaving sound doctrine.  We have no choice but to break away and hold onto the right, pure doctrine.”  It’s always the other person who has the problem.  It’s always those people out there who are wrong.  It’s always the other guy who has itchy years, and it’s definitely not me.

    Of course, that’s the attitude; however I think it’s mistaken.  In fact, I’d submit to you this morning, my brothers and sisters, that each and every one of us have itchy ears.  I’d submit that each and every one of us have our own particular understandings and core convictions, and we like those things affirmed and stroked.  I’d submit that each and every one of us do not like having those convictions challenged, and we are often content to surround ourselves with people who believe exactly as we believe and do the things we like to do.

    That’s an extremely easy thing to do in our technological age.  I mean, how many of you have ever deleted someone off your Facebook list because they embrace a particular ideology and keep harping on it?  Guilty as charged here.  In this day folks are more than happy to announce their particular philosophy and theology, and many of them put this stuff on Youtube.  It’s easy to search around on there until you find folks who agree with your point of view and keep listening to them and have them reinforce your beliefs instead of being challenged by others.  It’s easy to frequent certain websites who give a particular slant to the news and avoid others which give you a different perspective on an event.

    Before you know it, you can end up completely isolated–never challenged.  And if you are challenged, say for instance, you don’t like what I say in the sermon this morning, you can head out of here turn on the television or get on the internet.  In a matter of moments you can find another preacher like Joel Osteen who will tell you the things you want to hear.  It’s that simple.

    And of course, such isolation leads to division.  We have only to look at what happened the past few weeks in Washington D.C. to see evidence of this.  Two sides which are completely entrenched decide to play games with the American people.  They are completely isolated and refuse to consider a different point of view.  Not only does it divide the capital-it divides the nation; and, instead of a place that seeks to be different from society, the Church oftentimes reflects society.  We become embroiled in division as well.

    And what do we fight about?  Interestingly enough, when you sit down and think about it, we don’t often fight about sound doctrine.  Instead, we fight about what we are supposed to DO; how we are supposed to live out the Christian faith.  How does this look?  Well, it can be a battle over what color to paint the building.  Some churches fight over whether or not it is okay to put artificial flowers on the altar or if real ones need to be used.  Churches fight about who can serve as a pastor–if a certain gender is allowed or not or if a person of a particular sexual orientation can serve.  Some fight about how a church cares for the poor–should they help without question or should someone work before they eat.  Others fight about how the church engages politics–should they lobby government and force government to promote Christian values, should the church remain separate and apart from government completely, or somewhere in between.

    All of these battles are focused on the law.  They are not focused on doctrine.  Now, the law is very important.  There is no doubt about that.  It helps us tremendously in teaching us how we ought to live.  It serves as a guide as to what is right and what is wrong.  It also teaches us and confronts us with our sinfulness.  Most of you know the Big Ten, and I’m not talking about the football conference.  You know the 10 Commandments: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me; you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, honor your father and mother, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s property or his wife and so on.  You know Jesus’ commands, “If you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery.  If you have anger toward your brother, you are committing murder.  When you fed the least of these my brothers, you fed me.”  We need the law, but we cannot follow it completely.

    And that is important.  Very important.  None of us can completely measure up to what the law demands.  None of us can follow every detail.  It’s an impossibility.  If we were able to follow it, we wouldn’t need a Savior.  Jesus would not have had to die.  As that most famous quote from the Gospel of John says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes 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.”

    We call this grace.  And in my estimation, this is the sound doctrine from which we turn away from.  When we focus on the law, we divide ourselves to exclusion; however, if we focus on grace, a very different dynamic occurs.  When I realize that I am totally dependent upon God for my salvation, I am humbled.  I no longer see myself as the be all and end all when it comes to knowing and practicing the faith of Jesus.  And when I look at another person, I come to understand that other person needs Jesus just as much as I do.  Therefore, I cannot see that other person as an enemy, as an opponent, or someone doomed to hell because he or she does not believe as I believe.  Instead, I see that person as a brother, a sister, a member of my family–whether I like that person or not.

    And when a group of people gather together inspired by grace, they can come together regardless of differences and work and worship together.  In this manner, they change society instead of mirror it.  And that, my brothers and sisters, is Living God’s Word Daily.  Amen.