All Saints Sunday, Nov 1st, 2015, thoughts going in

John 11:32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Thus the people who had come to mourn said, “Look how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus from dying?” 38 Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. 42 I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

            Just a few words about 'atmospherics' before I make some comments on the text. In the big picture, the church year is coming to a close. The "year of grace," as the old scholars used to call it, is a continuous cycle--a never ending story that begins with the PROMISE of the coming Redeemer in Advent, and ends with him exalted on the throne of the universe on the last Sunday of the church year, "Christ the King" (Nov 22nd, this year). Within this big picture, the church takes time to celebrate two meaningful festivals: the Festival of the Reformation (last week), which celebrates the triumph of the Gospel, and All Saints (this week) which celebrates the triumph of life over death IN CHRIST. As one commentator puts it, "On All Saints' Day the church turns its attention to the deceased saints of her past, men and women whose lives bear witness to the hope rooted in the gospel that proclaims God's victory over death. In other words, the gospel for this Sunday is an immensely fascinating and meaningful passage within the overall narrative of the book of John, but it takes on an even more specific significance by being chosen as the keynote reading for All Saints.

            This brings me to the text itself. I have one minor quibble. I assume for brevity's sake, the lectionary picks the story up in progress. The interaction of Jesus with Martha is completely missing, but earlier we read: 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you.” 23 Jesus replied, “Your brother will come back to life again.” 24 Martha said, “I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, 26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. The point being, John the story-teller uses the same phrase twice within a very brief period: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Martha says it in vs 21 and Mary says it in vs 32. YES, of course it's a great statement of faith on the part of these two women, but it's MORE than that. John the writer is telling us his readers that Jesus is the ANTIDOTE to death.... that when death meets Jesus, death loses. Through Christ, God, not death, has the last word.  Truly? Every time?

            Yes... and yes... eventually. To unpack... let's begin with the "through Christ part." Martha and Mary say Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died... and this is a statement Jesus does not deny; just the opposite, he affirms it by saying [yes, indeed] I am the resurrection and the life. The point is that it's NOT generic faith that is the solution to death; it's not pop spirituality that is the solution to death; it's not pursuit of the American dream or socialistic idealism ... it's not scientific advances or removal of all bacon from our diets (see recent news stories)... it's not rigid adherence to an ethical code... and it most certainly isn't the practice of numbly checking-out of reality with drugs or alcohol or both. The most any of these things can do is make us forget about, ignore, or delay our death problem; none of them will solve it. And the thing is this, we as finite human beings, must sooner or later come to grips with the fact that our death problem is the ONLY PROBLEM THAT MATTERS. If nothing else, John the evangelist wants us to KNOW that in Jesus, the death problem gets tackled head on. Through Jesus, wherever the power of God comes into direct contact with the power of death, death loses.

            In this passage we see this specifically regarding Lazarus. The text takes pains to explain that Lazarus is really dead... that's the point of vs 39 he's been dead four days. The folk spirituality of the day held that a dead person's spirit may hover around for a brief period, but then is gone. Barclay notes: It was Jewish belief that the spirit of the departed hovered around his tomb for up to four days, seeking an entrance again into his body. But after four days the spirit finally left for the face of the body was so decayed that it could no longer be recognized. So, the point of this phrase in the story is that every last shred of hope is GONE. But hope, and not just hope, but reality, come crashing back when with the voice of God Jesus calls: Lazarus, come out!

            What makes this a perfect passage for All Saints is its varied application. The "sainted life" is a life of being called forth from death. It's a call every Christian has experienced at baptism. A biblical truth and hallmark of Reformation is the that ALL believers are "saints," in that they are called out from a life devoted to sin (death) in favor of a life devoted to Christ. This is why St. Paul refers to all of his readers as "saints" (see Eph 1:1, 2Cor 1:1, etc.). A constant misunderstanding within modern Christianity is that the term "eternal life" refers solely to a heavenly existence following physical death. This is a very truncated view of the term. John's gospel, especially, uses this term in its complete sense. Eternal life is the life of the ages that crashes in upon THIS life; first and foremost as Jesus, The Life, comes into the world; and then as we experience this reality by grace through faith in our own lives. And to whatever extent we live in that reality, WE are living saintly lives!

            All Saints day is intended to honor those whose example of living saintly lives is remembered best, but it's also a day to honor those who in our own lives have modeled this reality. This could be our parents, grand parents, aunts/uncles, or anyone.  It's also a day to remember and CELEBRATE that we too have been called out of death, and called into this saintly realm.

Cheers,

T.M.

             

Reformation Sunday, "Fearless Generosity Pt 4," October 25th, thoughts going in

[1Kings 7:8-16] 8 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” 15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

[Luke 21:1-4] 1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 "Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

            This Sunday we mark the Festival of the Reformation--a triumph of the Gospel and the Word of God, but we also finish up our stewardship mini series entitled FEARLESS GENEROSITY. As I've noted, it's a theme derived from Ephesians 3:20-21: 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Throughout each of the four weeks of October we've taken a look at different aspects of what this Fearless Generosity looks like at ground level. We began by seeing how that empowers us to FEARLESS LIVING. The second week we took a look at FEARLESS SERVICE, and last week we looked at FEARLESS SOWING. In three weeks of stewardship emphasis--a topic that most of us think is about money--we haven't looked at money at all. But, you guessed it, during this fourth week we're going to finally get around to talking about money... or at the very least giving. This week's emphasis is FEARLESS GIVING.

            The gospel reading is very brief, only four verses, but is very well known. It stars a nameless widow who gives all she has. A fantastically suitable Old Testament accompanying passage also stars a destitute widow.' That being the case, let me begin by making a couple of remarks about widows--in general, and specifically, in the Bible. In the ancient patriarchal society of the Bible, being a widow meant potentially great hardship. The status of women was hooked to the nearest adult male of the family--a husband, adult son, or brother. A woman who had none of these in her immediate family would quickly be reduced to begging. This is the sad reality of the situation--with the only mitigating factor being that God had commanded alms- giving to the poor in the Torah. And so it is extremely safe to say that both widows in this week's readings are destitute--yet, both end up being used mightily by God; the widow of Zarephath to preserve the life of the prophet Elijah, and the widow in the Temple to be seen and singled out by Jesus.

            The stewardship series offers the Gospel reading as the focus of the Sunday sermon, primarily because the thing that the widow gives is actual money. Yet, given that (a) a lot of giving is accomplished by the widow of Zarephath and (b) there's more to actually sink our teeth into, I've made the decision to preach from the Old Testament reading.

            Regardless, there's a unifying theme that we can't ignore. BOTH of these women by virtue of their actions end up displaying an immense TRUST in God. Isn't that interesting? It always seems like those of us who have the most trust the least... which is to say, we trust the least in God. We trust ourselves; we trust our income; our savings; our ability to get a job in the marketplace; our common sense; etc. One of the things we take from these passages, however, is that fearless giving can only happen when we fearlessly TRUST in God.  More this Sunday!

Cheers,

T.M.

Pentecost +21, "Fearless Generosity Pt 3," October 18, 2015 thoughts going in

Mark 4:1-9:  Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times." 9 Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."

            We continue this week with our four week journey into the topic of Stewardship. The overarching theme this year is FEARLESS GENEROSITY--a theme gleaned from Ephesians 3:20-21: 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Throughout each of the four weeks we'll look together at different aspects of Fearless Generosity.

            Our theme verse holds up the reality that it is GOD who has the power (Gk dynamis) to do abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine. And, as mentioned before, the word rendered abundantly is a triple compound: hyper-ek-perisou. It would be like saying, literally in the English, WAY-SUPER-LOTS-MORE-OVER-AND-ABOVE. *This is what the power of God is able to accomplish, and fascinatingly, Paul says that power/dynamis is within us! We began by seeing how that empowers us to FEARLESS LIVING; last week the emphasis was on  FEARLESS SERVICE; this week we'll take a look at FEARLESS SOWING.

            Since late Summer, into early Autumn, one of the things I've been enjoying is taking little day drips out of the city in search of hiking trails. These trips have led me primarily westward--and it's amazing that you don't have to drive very far at all before the landscape turns quite rural; sprawling farms, with fields tall with oats, or wheat, or corn, as far as the eye can see. The "amber waves of grain" line from the old song comes to mind.

            Such is the agricultural 'view' in our day and age. Really, the same could be said for my grandfather's day. But not for first century Palestine. Farming, and fields of crops, would've looked much less clean/tidy with haphazard foot-paths, trees, shrubs, thorns/thistles, 'tares,' etc. as all part of the mix. This was the rural pictorial reality of Jesus' hearers, and it's the picture we need to conjure in our mind's eye as we approach Mark 4.

            Vss 1-2 are simply 'stage-setting' on the part of the writer. While we may think it odd that Jesus got in a boat to teach the crowds, scholars tell us that there are several 'cove' like settings along the lake that actually have quite natural 'acoustic' settings. Vs 3 begins the parable. I love how one commentary describes parables. Most of us learned the Sunday school definition of a parable (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning). This is fine as a starting point, but truly there is more going on than just that. He says: The Hebrew 'mashal' (proverb) provides the backdrop for Jesus' parables. It can mean a dark, perplexing saying that is meant to stimulate hard thinking. They reveal the mystery while hiding it at the same time because a listener can only understand them by daring to become involved in their imaginative world. The same commentator reminds us that in the Greco-Roman world 'sower' was a stock symbol for a teacher, 'sowing' for teaching, 'seed' for words/content, and 'soil' for students. In this general sense, what stifles the seed from growing is lack of intellect (or application) on the part of the student. In the case of Jesus' parable(s), the idea is similar: Jesus (and his emissaries after him) is the sower, the Word/Gospel/promises of God is the seed, and outsiders are the soil. In this case, however, what prevents the seed from growing isn't a lack of intellect... it is, rather, the difficulties brought on by spiritual realities: Satan snatches the seed, the allure of the world, and the condition of the hearer's own heart.

            There are three noteworthy things about this story. The first is that three fourths of the seed is evidently wasted effort: (v4) As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path... (v5) Some fell on rocky places (v7) Other seed fell among thorns. In they hyper productive era in which we live, it seems hard to imagine that anyone would countenance ANY activity in which they knew going in, was going to result in so much 'failure.'

            The second noteworthy thing is that the sower sows ANYWAY. Because, in the end, there's no choice; and there's no better method. Tractors, plows, weed-killers, and combines haven't been invented yet. The farmer doesn't do it this way because he's stupid; the farmer does it this way because it's the ONLY way to be a farmer.

            And the third noteworthy thing is that even though only a fourth of the seed will bear fruit, the harvest is worth it. (v8) Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.

            In short, the sower may not look like much, a simple peasant farmer doing his job, broadcasting seed in the hopes of a future crop... yet... it is also true that trusting in nature and the goodness of God, the sower goes out and FEARLESSLY SOWS.

            Of course, Jesus was the prototypical fearless sower. And when we think of all of the seed/words from God he sowed in his life, at the end the 'crop' was about a dozen key guys plus or minus, and maybe twice that number in terms of close associates; not much, really. And in truth, that's where it all would've ended if his followers had not followed his example of fearless sowing.

            This is food for thought for us as we contemplate our call to engage in fearless sowing!

Cheers,

T.M.

Pentecost +20, "Fearless Generosity Pt2," October 11, 2015 thoughts going in

Luke 4:16-21:  6 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

            We continue this week with our four week journey into the topic of Stewardship. The overarching theme this year is FEARLESS GENEROSITY--a theme gleaned from Ephesians 3:20-21: 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Throughout each of the four weeks we'll look together at different aspects of Fearless Generosity.

            Our theme verse holds up the reality that it is GOD who has the power (Gk dynamis) to do abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine. And, as mentioned before, the word rendered abundantly is a triple compound: hyper-ek-perisou. It would be like saying, literally in the English, WAY-SUPER-LOTS-MORE-OVER-AND-ABOVE. *This is what the power of God is able to accomplish, and fascinatingly, Paul says that power/dynamis is within us! Last week we saw how that empowers us to FEARLESS LIVING. This week the emphasis is on how we are empowered to FEARLESS SERVICE.

            There are layers of things going on in the Luke passage above that's been appointed for this week's focus. Jesus, reading from the Isaiah scroll is obviously quoting a passage that had a significance to its original audience. But it's also true that within the Isaiah passage (61:1-2), the prophet is referring to a concept much older than himself--Jubilee Year (see Leviticus chapter 8).

            So, let's start at the bottom layer and work forward. Jubilee Year was a string of 7 Sabbath years. God had commanded that when the Israelites took possession of the land he was giving them they were to give the land a rest every seventh year; the land was to have a Sabbath year. Agriculturalists speak of the concept of soil becoming malnourished if crops are never rotated or if it's over-farmed, and so some have always seen a sort of divine husbandry concept in the idea of the Sabbath year. Not that I disagree, but there's something much deeper at work. When God tells Israel to let the ground lay fallow every seventh year... literally, to not plant any crops for a year, but rather live on their stores, something spiritual is happening. God is telling the Israelites to TRUST that they will be alright under this arrangement. One commentator also very appropriately points out that part of this trust is the necessity of adopting a "simple living" lifestyle, at least for two years... the year leading up to the Sabbath year, and the Sabbath year itself.

            Sidenote:  Christians in particular are historically known for an ethos of simple living. Do we still? What does simple living enable us to do that we would otherwise not be able to do?

            To continue, in Leviticus 8 God commands that a string of seven Sabbath years will constitute a SUPER Sabbath year known as Jubilee. During Jubilee, not only does the land lay fallow; not only do God's people engage in simple living; not only is it an exercise of faith that they'll be ok, it's also to be a massive reboot. Those who had fallen on hard times and sold themselves into indentured service are to be SET FREE. Land that had been acquired from a family down the street that had fallen on hard times was to be RETURNED TO THEM. Debts were to be canceled! Jubilee was a radical idea. In our English it sounds like a cause for excitement and celebration--after all, Jubilee sounds like Jubilant! But stop and think, if you had profited and grown fat on the misfortunes of others, you may not be that excited that Jubilee was happening....as what's good for the downtrodden is bad for your net worth. There's a spiritual lesson there as well. In God's economy you may be allowed to profit on the misery of others, but not indefinitely. God never takes his eye off the downtrodden. Well, as I say, ALL of this is just from layer #1.

            Then the prophet Isaiah comes along and refers to this concept in his day, saying the Spirit is upon him, and he has been appointed to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor (a Jubilee). To whom? In his case, Isaiah was talking to those who had spent the last 70+ years in captivity during the Babylonian exile. He was telling them that their lot was changing; that God had looked favorably now on them in their misfortune. Like debts being canceled, and like the giant reboot of things going back to where they belong, Isaiah was telling his audience that God was moving in their midst now to guide them back to their homeland.

            Last of all Jesus comes along, and once again refers to this concept in his day...more or less directly quoting the Isaiah passage about the Spirit of the Lord being upon him and to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor. His immediate audience is comprised of 1st century Jewish hearers who are languishing under a cruel Roman occupation. But in the wider sense, Jesus' audience is any and every person who has access to St. Luke's gospel. And this is perhaps the most important part: the original concept of Jubilee... the original idea of a year of the Lord's favor was only scheduled to occur every fifty years; Isaiah's application of this concept to his own ministry of inspiring people to return home after the end of their long captivity... Isaiah's year of the Lord's favor only happened once. The year of the Lord's favor that Jesus proclaims is ONGOING. He is ever, and always, proclaiming that the time is NOW; TODAY'S date is when this scripture has been fulfilled in your life. Jesus, God's own son, has come to preach Jubilee to you... release from all of the world's enticements that have held you captive; sight ... healing your spiritual blindness... FREEDOM.

            But now the question is freedom to do what? The original Isaiah passage is informative. After telling his hearers that the year of God's favor has come for them, Isaiah tells them: They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God (61:4, 6).

            In other words, God is setting them free to SERVE; to DO; to MINISTER. This is a recurring theme that we find throughout the Bible. God leads his people out of Egypt, setting them free, to BE; to DO; to SERVE. St. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 that salvation is solely thanks to the generous gift of God's grace, but that it's GOAL is to create God's workers here who will BE; DO; and SERVE.

            In the end, "stewardship" could be viewed as a modern way of talking about Jubilee--or at least a component thereof. The year of God's favor has come to us. How do we live in it? How do we live simply? How do we exercise our faith? How do we sense the anointing and inspiration to BE, DO, SERVE, and LIVE for others in this time of God's favor?

Cheers,

T.M.