People these days have become obsessed with the environment. We are constantly hearing about deadly greenhouse gases and the effect they are having on the climate. We are also hearing about how our high level of consumption is leaving behind a residue of trash and harmful substances that need to be eliminated. To curb the problem people have begun to chant the mantra, reduce, reuse recycle. And so people are recycling. They are recycling their shampoo bottles and empty cereal boxes and soup cans. They are buying their clothes at consignment shops to reuse old clothes instead of buying new. They are driving low emission hybrid vehicles, or zero emission electric vehicles. All in the hope to reverse the trend and preserve the environment.
So how did this happen? What lead to this concern for the care of the environment? A fear that our planet has become polluted, that we have filled it with deadly substances. A fear that the natural pristine order of this good world has become corrupted and corroded with our various byproducts. This environmental craze is built off of a fear that irresponsible use of the planet has polluted and poisoned the world so that it wont be a suitable place for us to live.
And so people recycle. They take shorter showers, they buy organic, they pay a little extra for a hybrid, they car pool. They buy high efficiency light bulbs. They turn off the lights, the tv, the computer all in the hope that they can help save the planet. All in the hope that they can help to return our planet to its natural, pristine and optimally habitable state. It's hip to be an environmentalist.
But with all this concern for the planet and pollution and the land and the environment, with all the reducing, reusing and recycling that is going in cities and urban centers all over the place, there is a pollution that is continuing unchecked. There are industries that are turning out destructive and corrosive materials and substances that will kill the planet, that will create a living environment that is utterly uninhabitable, that will be the death of all of us. And it's not smoke, its not greenhouse gases or automobile emissions, it's not oil spills or chemical spills. Instead the pollution that is destroying our planet and making unfit for people to live is the pollution of sin.
And it is a pollution. Pollution occurs when an un-natural substance is introduced into the natural environment that mixes and mingles with the natural so that it becomes corrupted and unstable. Sin does just that. Sin adds a foreign substance into God's good created order. It introduces things that do not belong. We think of chemical sludge dumped into streams and rivers and are concerned for the danger to the environment and for the health and well being of our children, but sin and the world's sin factories introduce the foreign and corrupting substances into the human experience every single day.
In our Old Testament text, this morning we see an act of pollution. We see that the actions of men interrupt the natural order of God's good world so that the environment was desecrated. Cain had become jealous of his brother Abel because the Lord accepted his sacrifice while Cain's had been rejected. And so Cain murdered Abel.
Life and death is in God's hands. It is not given to men to decide when life begins or when it ends. This is God's work. It happens according to the natural unfolding of God's creation. But then Cain took life into his own hands. In a fit of jealous rage he introduced something foreign into God's pristine world. He corrupted God's world and cursed God's world when he murdered his brother. He introduced something in to God's creation that did not belong and the result was that the ground itself was tainted.
Notice what God says, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brothers blood from your hand.”
Life is God's gift. It belong to God to give life it belongs to God to take it away. Cain interrupted the natural ecology of God's world so that the ground itself was polluted.
God says as much in Numbers 35:33-34, “You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”
Or else, consider Psalm 106. 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
So sin, and specifically murder, pollutes the land and affects not just the people, but it affects all of God's creation.
But that is not all, murder is not the only sin that pollutes. In Leviticus 18 God gives commands about all kinds of sexual sins, sins that his people are not to commit. They are sins that violate and defile the nation, the people, and even the land. God says, “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. Murder and sexual sins are a pollution. These sins introduce a foreign substance into the natural order of God's world so that it becomes disordered and harmed.
Lets consider our own day and our own time. Think of the murders that continue on each and every day. There are murders that go on that are publicly sanctioned. Murders of the unborn that are legally protected and even funded. There is an increasing disdain for the life of the aged and infirm. Make no mistake, the sins of abortion and euthanasia are sins that have stained the land with the blood of our innocents.
But that is not all. The indecent and lewd acts that were condemned by the Lord in Leviticus are more and more becoming common place. These relationships, that are contrary to God's created order, and are violations of his creation are becoming also publicly sanctioned and even protected by legislative or judicial decree. Make no mistake, these acts pollute and defile the land.
In the Old Testament, this pollution of sin required that those living in the land be destroyed. God said that the land would vomit out the people who committed those acts. God judged them in their sin so that they were destroyed.
My Christian friends, we live in a land that is polluted. If God judged the Canaanites and Perizites and the Hittites and Jebusites so that they land spewed them out, than certainly our land is poised to do the same. This pollution needs to be cleaned up. The environment needs a good spring cleaning.
There's nothing you or I could do about it, to be sure. After all to say that I had to change or that you had to change and that together we could make a change would be ludicrous. It would be like trying to clean up the smog in LA with a glade plug in. We are just not up to the task. So we can't fix it. But God can. God can clean up the sin that has corrupted our world. And God can return the world to order and cleanliness.
There is kind of a weird little thing that occurs in our text this morning that you can't really see in the translation. Sometimes there are phrases or comments that are made that could be possibly understood more than one way, and we seem to have one of those instances here in our text. When Eve gave birth to Cain, our translation tells us that she said, “Behold I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” The Hebrew grammar leaves us guessing a little bit as to exactly what she intended to say; it allows us to wonder if Eve didn't think The Lord had just sent the Messiah. A few verses prior God gave the first Messianic promise, the first promise of a savior. God promised a son of hers would crush the head of the serpent. And then Eve God pregnant and had a boy and she said, “Behold I have gotten a man, the Lord.” Apparently, Eve thought that Cain was the Messiah. Eve thought that this boy would clean up the pollution and mess that she and her husband had made.
Eve was wrong. Cain was not the Messiah. In fact, he turned out to be a murderer. And a polluter of the world. A man, yes. But the man who first spilled a man's blood and thus polluted the earth with death at the hands of men. And so Abel's blood cried out from the recently polluted ground for God's vengeance.
But time went on. Adams son and Eve's daughters gave birth to generations of men. And to generations of sinners. And the pollution on God's planted continued. But the Lord kept his promise and sent that man that Eve was looking for from her womb. The Lord sent Jesus; a man and the Lord all at once. God sent Jesus, to be born of a woman, born under the law, the same law that condemns Cain and also condemns us.
What Cain was not, Jesus was. Cain coveted. Jesus loved. Cain took life from his brother. Jesus healed those who were injured and even raised the dead back to life. Cain polluted the earth with the blood of his brother, Jesus came to clean up that pollution.
The Old Testament tells us that anyone who murders another, who spills the blood of his brother on the ground, that murderer will be cursed. The Lord cursed Cain because of the blood of Abel. If Cain was cursed because of the blood of his brother, imagine the curse for murdering the very Son of God. Imagine the world wide pollution that would ensue from the death of God's own Son after his murder. Imagine the curse. Imagine the death that would swallow up those guilty of his murder.
You would think, wouldn't you?
But the blood of Jesus did not bring about a curse. It did not bring about death and destruction on the earth. It was, if you would, a counter pollution. The blood of Jesus was spilled out on the ground, but not for our curse, not for our judgment. Instead, it became our blessing. We were blessed by God because of this blood of Jesus.
The curse of the law was too great a judgment for Cain to endure so God gave him a mark, an identifier that he should not be touched. The Lord has given the same thing to us. He has marked us and identified us as His own through baptism. We have been marked and set aside and preserved from Judgment because of what God has done for us.
The world is certainly polluted, filled with sin and cursed because of it. Yet Jesus has the antidote for that pollution. He has cleaned and cleansed the world when his blood was spilled on the earth so that we could be forgiven.
Amen.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
October 17, 2010 - Luke 18:1-8
A group of Christians had gathered together to pray recently in a school in New Delhi, in India when a radical Hindu group broke into the school and began to beat the pastors who were leading the prayer service. When the local authorities arrived, the attacks were permitted to continue. When arrests were finally made, it was the Christians who were taken to jail while their attackers were set free.
A Lutheran pastor in Africa decided to break off from his church's ties to a more liberal world wide Lutheran church body. When he purposed to ordain a pastor without the support of this liberal church organization he was told that there would be an attempt on his life. He performed the ordination in a private and unpublicized church service.
God will give justice, but there are certainly times when it seems like he is taking his time in administering it. And as it seems to us like we are up to our necks with injustice, that can be a real challenge.
We don't always stop to take notice. After all, in our corner of the world Christians have a lot of freedom to practice our faith. We look around us and sure, we can see evidence of sin. It's not always easy for us to express our faith and come right out and say what we believe. Our way of life is different and our priorities and lifestyle are different. But we no one is threatening to kill us or harm us. Not like they do in other places around the world.
But Corinthians says that when one member of the body of Christ suffers, all suffer together with him. Those Christians in New Delhi, those Christians in Africa, not to mention, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, and Indonesia, and elsewhere around the world, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. As they suffer the brunt of this persecution, we suffer with them. We mourn with them. We pray for them and we cry out with them, How Long O Lord.
Psalm 13, this prayer of David sums it up pretty well:
“13:1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
As a believer in Christ, you don't have to live in some remote corner of the world to suffer at the hands of sin and evil in the world. You might suffer in some way or some means in your own neighborhood, in your own life and right here where you live. You might find yourself praying that same prayer and asking yourself that same question. Where is God? Is He still there? Is He concerned about what is happening to us down here on this planet? Or has he forgotten?
Dear friends, he has not forgotten. Jesus would have us to know that He is here with us. He is not far away, distant, or removed from our problems and our struggles, but he is right here in the middle of them. He is close beside us and he will not leave us. He sees what his people are enduring and he wouldn't have us despair. No. He does not want us to loose heart. Instead he wants us to stand up and stand tall and be confident that he hears us and that he is with us. He wants us to know that he is close beside us and here, in our text, in this parable, he urges us to pray.
Jesus tells a parable. Of an unjust judge. And judge who is unrighteous and who doesn't care what people think or what God thinks. And a widow. A poor, helpless woman who has no husband and few rights, if any at all. And this judge, who doesn't care about anyone, isn't really all that interested in hearing this widow's problems. He's too busy, too preoccupied and would really rather that she just went away.
Don't we sometimes feel like that is how God treats us, like he is preoccupied or busy or distant or unconcerned. Don't we feel like we at times have to work extra hard just to get an audience with our Lord when he should be on top of those problems that we are having.
Lord, how could you let this happen? How could you allow something like this to go on? Where were you when I needed you? Why didn't you step in to save me? Why didn't you stop this from happening? And we think we've got a pretty legitimate complaint.
But notice what this poor, helpless woman does, this woman in need of justice, this woman who has no where else to turn. Notice what she does. She doesn't quit. She doesn't allow herself to be ignored. She keeps coming. Keeps asking. Keeps urging. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and this woman made herself a nuisance in the ears of this wicked and lazy judge. The woman was tarnishing his reputation and making him look bad so he gave in. He heard the widow's case and he gave her the justice she demanded.
So is this God? Would Jesus have us understand God to be like this wicked judge? Unjust? Preoccupied? Only willing to dole out justice when we pester him to it? No! This parable is a study in contrast. God is good. He hears your prayers. He knows your needs even before you know them. He knows what you have suffered and how you have suffered. He knows how severely you have been wronged and he will give you justice.
Will not God give justice to the elect? Says Jesus. To those who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.
The Lord will provide justice. He will give you what you need. He hears your prayer. He knows your need and He will respond. He will not leave you to suffer. Instead he will answer the prayers of His faithful people. Take heart and keep praying.
In this sin-filled world Christians will suffer. With our enemy the Devil such an ever present foe, we can count on the fact that he will target God's people to test them and to see if he can have some success in drawing them away from their faith. And God permits him to do so. But when this happens God wants you to pray. That is the whole reason Jesus told this parable. Our text said that Jesus told the parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not loose heart.
Our Lord knew what we would suffer. He knew what we would endure. He knew that there would be evil and sin in the world. He knew that this sin would affect us and harm us. He knew that we would struggle against temptation and sin. He knew that we would battle with the lies of the Devil. So our Lord gave a parable to encourage us always to pray.
My friends, God wants you to pray. Always.
When you are in your car. When you are riding the bus to school. When you are about to eat a meal. When you are sitting at your desk. When you are facing some challenge. When you are about to undergo surgery. When someone has sinned against you. When you are afraid, nervous, joyful, glad, overwhelmed, grieved, excited, terrified, any time and every time. God wants you to pray. Always.
Our Sunday Morning adult Bible study has just begun a study on a book entitled Grace Upon Grace, Spirituality for Today by John Kleinig. In this book, Dr Kleinig likens prayer to being included in God's cabinet. It is like God is a ruler or king and his plan and agenda for His kingdom is laid out for us. When we pray, it's like we are participating in the work that God is doing on earth.
Dr Kleinig also talks about prayer as guard duty. We are soldiers in the army of the Lord, but we are not offensive soldiers. Jesus has already won the war. We are like sentries, manning our look out posts. Watching for the attacks of the devil on our children, our brothers or sisters, our friends, our parents. And this is an important point. Sometimes we can be self-centered in our prayers; we pray for our own needs or when we feel our own attacks. But we can pray for each other. If Satan is leaving you alone for a time, that means he is spending that time harassing someone else. Pray for that person. Whoever it may be. If you can't think of someone to pray for or someone who is suffering pray for Christians around the world. Join with them in their suffering by lifting them up in prayer before your Heavenly Father. Call in for support for them from Jesus who has defeated Satan and who has sent him running.
Jesus will help. He is far from preoccupied, He is ready and waiting. Willing and eager to help. And help he does. Because of his great love for us. He does not delay. He comes to chase away our adversary.
So don't despair. God is with you. He has not left you, indeed he is near by. Take heart. Take courage and pray to the God who has promised to hear. Who has promised to save. Who has promised to deliver you from whatever you might be suffering. In His Name.
Amen.
A Lutheran pastor in Africa decided to break off from his church's ties to a more liberal world wide Lutheran church body. When he purposed to ordain a pastor without the support of this liberal church organization he was told that there would be an attempt on his life. He performed the ordination in a private and unpublicized church service.
God will give justice, but there are certainly times when it seems like he is taking his time in administering it. And as it seems to us like we are up to our necks with injustice, that can be a real challenge.
We don't always stop to take notice. After all, in our corner of the world Christians have a lot of freedom to practice our faith. We look around us and sure, we can see evidence of sin. It's not always easy for us to express our faith and come right out and say what we believe. Our way of life is different and our priorities and lifestyle are different. But we no one is threatening to kill us or harm us. Not like they do in other places around the world.
But Corinthians says that when one member of the body of Christ suffers, all suffer together with him. Those Christians in New Delhi, those Christians in Africa, not to mention, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, and Indonesia, and elsewhere around the world, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. As they suffer the brunt of this persecution, we suffer with them. We mourn with them. We pray for them and we cry out with them, How Long O Lord.
Psalm 13, this prayer of David sums it up pretty well:
“13:1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
As a believer in Christ, you don't have to live in some remote corner of the world to suffer at the hands of sin and evil in the world. You might suffer in some way or some means in your own neighborhood, in your own life and right here where you live. You might find yourself praying that same prayer and asking yourself that same question. Where is God? Is He still there? Is He concerned about what is happening to us down here on this planet? Or has he forgotten?
Dear friends, he has not forgotten. Jesus would have us to know that He is here with us. He is not far away, distant, or removed from our problems and our struggles, but he is right here in the middle of them. He is close beside us and he will not leave us. He sees what his people are enduring and he wouldn't have us despair. No. He does not want us to loose heart. Instead he wants us to stand up and stand tall and be confident that he hears us and that he is with us. He wants us to know that he is close beside us and here, in our text, in this parable, he urges us to pray.
Jesus tells a parable. Of an unjust judge. And judge who is unrighteous and who doesn't care what people think or what God thinks. And a widow. A poor, helpless woman who has no husband and few rights, if any at all. And this judge, who doesn't care about anyone, isn't really all that interested in hearing this widow's problems. He's too busy, too preoccupied and would really rather that she just went away.
Don't we sometimes feel like that is how God treats us, like he is preoccupied or busy or distant or unconcerned. Don't we feel like we at times have to work extra hard just to get an audience with our Lord when he should be on top of those problems that we are having.
Lord, how could you let this happen? How could you allow something like this to go on? Where were you when I needed you? Why didn't you step in to save me? Why didn't you stop this from happening? And we think we've got a pretty legitimate complaint.
But notice what this poor, helpless woman does, this woman in need of justice, this woman who has no where else to turn. Notice what she does. She doesn't quit. She doesn't allow herself to be ignored. She keeps coming. Keeps asking. Keeps urging. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and this woman made herself a nuisance in the ears of this wicked and lazy judge. The woman was tarnishing his reputation and making him look bad so he gave in. He heard the widow's case and he gave her the justice she demanded.
So is this God? Would Jesus have us understand God to be like this wicked judge? Unjust? Preoccupied? Only willing to dole out justice when we pester him to it? No! This parable is a study in contrast. God is good. He hears your prayers. He knows your needs even before you know them. He knows what you have suffered and how you have suffered. He knows how severely you have been wronged and he will give you justice.
Will not God give justice to the elect? Says Jesus. To those who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.
The Lord will provide justice. He will give you what you need. He hears your prayer. He knows your need and He will respond. He will not leave you to suffer. Instead he will answer the prayers of His faithful people. Take heart and keep praying.
In this sin-filled world Christians will suffer. With our enemy the Devil such an ever present foe, we can count on the fact that he will target God's people to test them and to see if he can have some success in drawing them away from their faith. And God permits him to do so. But when this happens God wants you to pray. That is the whole reason Jesus told this parable. Our text said that Jesus told the parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not loose heart.
Our Lord knew what we would suffer. He knew what we would endure. He knew that there would be evil and sin in the world. He knew that this sin would affect us and harm us. He knew that we would struggle against temptation and sin. He knew that we would battle with the lies of the Devil. So our Lord gave a parable to encourage us always to pray.
My friends, God wants you to pray. Always.
When you are in your car. When you are riding the bus to school. When you are about to eat a meal. When you are sitting at your desk. When you are facing some challenge. When you are about to undergo surgery. When someone has sinned against you. When you are afraid, nervous, joyful, glad, overwhelmed, grieved, excited, terrified, any time and every time. God wants you to pray. Always.
Our Sunday Morning adult Bible study has just begun a study on a book entitled Grace Upon Grace, Spirituality for Today by John Kleinig. In this book, Dr Kleinig likens prayer to being included in God's cabinet. It is like God is a ruler or king and his plan and agenda for His kingdom is laid out for us. When we pray, it's like we are participating in the work that God is doing on earth.
Dr Kleinig also talks about prayer as guard duty. We are soldiers in the army of the Lord, but we are not offensive soldiers. Jesus has already won the war. We are like sentries, manning our look out posts. Watching for the attacks of the devil on our children, our brothers or sisters, our friends, our parents. And this is an important point. Sometimes we can be self-centered in our prayers; we pray for our own needs or when we feel our own attacks. But we can pray for each other. If Satan is leaving you alone for a time, that means he is spending that time harassing someone else. Pray for that person. Whoever it may be. If you can't think of someone to pray for or someone who is suffering pray for Christians around the world. Join with them in their suffering by lifting them up in prayer before your Heavenly Father. Call in for support for them from Jesus who has defeated Satan and who has sent him running.
Jesus will help. He is far from preoccupied, He is ready and waiting. Willing and eager to help. And help he does. Because of his great love for us. He does not delay. He comes to chase away our adversary.
So don't despair. God is with you. He has not left you, indeed he is near by. Take heart. Take courage and pray to the God who has promised to hear. Who has promised to save. Who has promised to deliver you from whatever you might be suffering. In His Name.
Amen.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Pentecost 20 - Ruth 1:1-19
In our Epistle text for today, the Apostle Paul encouraged young Pastor Timothy to work hard at his charge as the pastor over the church in Ephesus. He wrote to his young protege “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard working farmer who should have the first share of the crops.” In other words, “do your work. Do your best. Be honest, play by the rules, and trust the Lord to bless your efforts.”
That same advice could apply to us, here at St Paul Chuckery.
Over this past week, in the Confirmation class that I teach here at the day school, we have been talking about the Kingdoms of God. Lutheran Theology talks about 3 Kingdoms, 2 on earth and one in eternity; the two on earth are the Kingdom of Power and the Kingdom of Grace, and then, God's heavenly kingdom where he will reign supreme for all eternity is the Kingdom of Glory. If you have the time and the opportunity, I would encourage you to take one of them aside and have them define each of those kingdoms for you. See what they come up with.
For our discussion this morning, those first two kingdoms, those Kingdoms where Christ is Lord and King here on earth are important, the Kingdom of Power and the Kingdom of Grace, we also refer to them as the “Right Hand Kingdom” and the “Left Hand Kingdom”. The kingdom of Grace (The Right Hand Kingdom) is the church, where Christ rules with love and forgiveness, where he gives out salvation for free and where the only thing we have to offer is our sin. The second kingdom, the Left Hand Kingdom is the Kingdom of Power. It is where God rules on earth through the earthly authorities, through our parents, but also through presidents and governors and teachers and employers. Here we have obligations and deadlines to fulfill and we also have work to do. According to the Kingdom of Grace, God has done everything for us. According to the Kingdom of Power, there is work that God wants us to do. And when we do our work and when we apply ourselves, we are rewarded.
In the Epistle Text for today, Paul was telling Timothy, as a pastor in the Church to get to work and get the job done. In the Church, in the Right Hand Kingdom, Christ had done everything. But that Church, you and I, we find ourselves living in the Left Hand Kingdom where there is work for us to do, where God blesses our work and our effort. We can't earn a spot in the church, We can't earn a spot in God's heart, that is done for us by Jesus. But by our own work, we can earn a spot in men's hearts, we can play according the man's rules, we can build up this spot in the Left Hand Kingdom and then use it for Christ to build up His Church.
Our Old Testament Lesson brings these two things together for us this morning. The Book of Ruth is an example for us of one who applied herself in the kingdom of the left, and one who was then blessed by the Lord, and because of her work and through her work, the Lord accomplished our salvation.
Ruth was a Moabite girl. A pagan and an unbeliever. She grew up with parents and friends who prayed to false gods and who did not know the true God. She happened into the Scriptures and into the people of God and the community of faith almost what might seem by accident. There was a famine in Israel and the Israelites went where the food was. You might compare her situation to our own. These days the economy is bad, people are out of work so they go where the jobs are. The same thing happened with Ruth's husband. His family moved to Moab in the midst of a down economy in Israel. They got married and all of a sudden Ruth's story coincided with God's salvation story.
It wasn't too long after, that Ruth's father in law died. Her Mother In Law, Naomi, stayed in Moab, however, because her sons where there. Their jobs where there. But soon her sons died also. And Naomi was left with no husband, no sons, and no relatives, a stranger in a strange land. She heard the local economy back home was better, she figured there were better chances for her with her family so she set off to move back home. We could probably read that same story or one a lot like it in the Columbus Dispatch, couldn't we?
So here's Ruth. Her husband is dead, her mother in law is moving away, to only God knows where, but she decided to go. She had nothing in Israel, no-one familiar waiting for her, no friends, no relatives, no house, no employment, not a whole lot to look forward to, but she devoted herself to the care of her mother in law. They both lost everything, she would make sure they didn't loose each other.
Now there was another sister in law in the picture, Orpah. Orpah, like Ruth, had married one of Naomi's sons. Orpah, like Ruth and Naomi had her husband die. When Naomi set about returning home Orpah went with her. But Naomi protested. The girls should stay with their families and with what was familiar. Orpah consented and stayed. She went back to the home of her family. Could you blame her? Isn’t' that what you would have done? I know I would have. But not Ruth. She stayed with Naomi. To put this back into our previous conversation, she saw work to be done in the Kingdom of the Left, to help and to serve her mother in law, she devoted herself to that work, and the Lord blessed her.
What work has the Lord placed before you? Are you like Ruth, one who has been challenged with service to your neighbor, to someone that you certainly are not obliged to serve, you aren't required to help, but still, if you did The Lord might work through your efforts for good.
Consider the work of the LWML. Today is LWML Sunday, for those of you not familiar with our Lutheran Acronyms, that stands for the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. The LWML does Ruth's work, of finding those who have needs and supporting them, and caring for them, and providing for them. They support the seminaries and the training of future pastors, here in the United States but also around the world. They provide clothing for the needy, humanitarian aid for the destitute, the support missionaries in countries all over the world. Between 2009 and 2011 they have plans to distribute $1.8 million to all of these projects, one mite box at a time.
And guess what, through their hard work and their willing service doing projects few people even bother to notice, God works for the good of his Kingdom. The LWML works hard in the Kingdom of the Left to take care of those who have need and through that work God builds up the Kingdom of the Right, the Church on earth. It grows, it is fed, it is encouraged, it continues its fight and its battle with sin death and the devil through little card board boxes filled with pennies and dimes and quarters.
God does the same through you. You, people of St Paul Chuckery, God works through you. As you do your work and dedicate yourself like Ruth did, like the LWML does, as you do your work in the Kingdom of the Left, God blesses that work and He works through those efforts to build up his church. You might not think about it, you might not realize it, but God makes things happen, God continues to write chapters in his salvation story.
That's what he did through Ruth. Like we said, her story was pretty common, one we might read in our own newspapers, tragic? Yes. Special or out of the ordinary? Not terribly. But God worked through her.
If you skip ahead to Matthew chapter 1 we are given a genealogy, a family history of Jesus. Where he came from and who his ancestors were. In that list is mentioned one, Ruth, a girl who grew up a pagan, an unbeliever, but one who He called to faith, one who he called to be his own, one who willingly received the gifts that God gave and then set about using those gifts to serve her mother-in-law when she was needed. And the Lord worked through her efforts and her faithfulness. She became a piece of the story of Salvation that God wrote for you and me. Jesus was born to be our King, the King of the Jews and the King of the heavens and the earth. He earned that crown and that throne when He died and paid for our sin and when His Heavenly Father accepted his sacrifice and raised him from the dead and seated him as King over every king and Lord over every lord. Jesus is Lord of Heaven and Earth, in the Kingdom of Power, but also and especially in the Kingdom of Grace.
And as he was writing that story, as he was making that happen, God used Ruth. And maybe God will use you as well. When all of His Salvation history has been written at the end of time and we are together in Eternity, perhaps your name will be mentioned as one God worked through to call someone else to faith. Maybe a word that you spoke encouraged someone to go to church, to pick up their Bible, to get to know Jesus, maybe that little work you did, that little mite that you donated had a profound and eternal impact on the life of another person. You might never know. Ruth probably didn't, at least not at the time, but here she is in our Scriptures as an ancestor of Jesus.
The Lord worked through her. Through Ruth and because of Ruth, Jesus was born.
Ruth worked. She did her part in the left hand kingdom, and God used it for good in his Right hand Kingdom. God's ultimate purpose is heaven and salvation and eternal glory in the new heaven and the new earth. And He made that happen through Jesus. Jesus is lord and Jesus is king. And Jesus is powerful. He uses that power over this world and he uses that power in you.
May you, like Ruth and like the LWML be a willing servant in the Kingdom of God.
Amen.
That same advice could apply to us, here at St Paul Chuckery.
Over this past week, in the Confirmation class that I teach here at the day school, we have been talking about the Kingdoms of God. Lutheran Theology talks about 3 Kingdoms, 2 on earth and one in eternity; the two on earth are the Kingdom of Power and the Kingdom of Grace, and then, God's heavenly kingdom where he will reign supreme for all eternity is the Kingdom of Glory. If you have the time and the opportunity, I would encourage you to take one of them aside and have them define each of those kingdoms for you. See what they come up with.
For our discussion this morning, those first two kingdoms, those Kingdoms where Christ is Lord and King here on earth are important, the Kingdom of Power and the Kingdom of Grace, we also refer to them as the “Right Hand Kingdom” and the “Left Hand Kingdom”. The kingdom of Grace (The Right Hand Kingdom) is the church, where Christ rules with love and forgiveness, where he gives out salvation for free and where the only thing we have to offer is our sin. The second kingdom, the Left Hand Kingdom is the Kingdom of Power. It is where God rules on earth through the earthly authorities, through our parents, but also through presidents and governors and teachers and employers. Here we have obligations and deadlines to fulfill and we also have work to do. According to the Kingdom of Grace, God has done everything for us. According to the Kingdom of Power, there is work that God wants us to do. And when we do our work and when we apply ourselves, we are rewarded.
In the Epistle Text for today, Paul was telling Timothy, as a pastor in the Church to get to work and get the job done. In the Church, in the Right Hand Kingdom, Christ had done everything. But that Church, you and I, we find ourselves living in the Left Hand Kingdom where there is work for us to do, where God blesses our work and our effort. We can't earn a spot in the church, We can't earn a spot in God's heart, that is done for us by Jesus. But by our own work, we can earn a spot in men's hearts, we can play according the man's rules, we can build up this spot in the Left Hand Kingdom and then use it for Christ to build up His Church.
Our Old Testament Lesson brings these two things together for us this morning. The Book of Ruth is an example for us of one who applied herself in the kingdom of the left, and one who was then blessed by the Lord, and because of her work and through her work, the Lord accomplished our salvation.
Ruth was a Moabite girl. A pagan and an unbeliever. She grew up with parents and friends who prayed to false gods and who did not know the true God. She happened into the Scriptures and into the people of God and the community of faith almost what might seem by accident. There was a famine in Israel and the Israelites went where the food was. You might compare her situation to our own. These days the economy is bad, people are out of work so they go where the jobs are. The same thing happened with Ruth's husband. His family moved to Moab in the midst of a down economy in Israel. They got married and all of a sudden Ruth's story coincided with God's salvation story.
It wasn't too long after, that Ruth's father in law died. Her Mother In Law, Naomi, stayed in Moab, however, because her sons where there. Their jobs where there. But soon her sons died also. And Naomi was left with no husband, no sons, and no relatives, a stranger in a strange land. She heard the local economy back home was better, she figured there were better chances for her with her family so she set off to move back home. We could probably read that same story or one a lot like it in the Columbus Dispatch, couldn't we?
So here's Ruth. Her husband is dead, her mother in law is moving away, to only God knows where, but she decided to go. She had nothing in Israel, no-one familiar waiting for her, no friends, no relatives, no house, no employment, not a whole lot to look forward to, but she devoted herself to the care of her mother in law. They both lost everything, she would make sure they didn't loose each other.
Now there was another sister in law in the picture, Orpah. Orpah, like Ruth, had married one of Naomi's sons. Orpah, like Ruth and Naomi had her husband die. When Naomi set about returning home Orpah went with her. But Naomi protested. The girls should stay with their families and with what was familiar. Orpah consented and stayed. She went back to the home of her family. Could you blame her? Isn’t' that what you would have done? I know I would have. But not Ruth. She stayed with Naomi. To put this back into our previous conversation, she saw work to be done in the Kingdom of the Left, to help and to serve her mother in law, she devoted herself to that work, and the Lord blessed her.
What work has the Lord placed before you? Are you like Ruth, one who has been challenged with service to your neighbor, to someone that you certainly are not obliged to serve, you aren't required to help, but still, if you did The Lord might work through your efforts for good.
Consider the work of the LWML. Today is LWML Sunday, for those of you not familiar with our Lutheran Acronyms, that stands for the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. The LWML does Ruth's work, of finding those who have needs and supporting them, and caring for them, and providing for them. They support the seminaries and the training of future pastors, here in the United States but also around the world. They provide clothing for the needy, humanitarian aid for the destitute, the support missionaries in countries all over the world. Between 2009 and 2011 they have plans to distribute $1.8 million to all of these projects, one mite box at a time.
And guess what, through their hard work and their willing service doing projects few people even bother to notice, God works for the good of his Kingdom. The LWML works hard in the Kingdom of the Left to take care of those who have need and through that work God builds up the Kingdom of the Right, the Church on earth. It grows, it is fed, it is encouraged, it continues its fight and its battle with sin death and the devil through little card board boxes filled with pennies and dimes and quarters.
God does the same through you. You, people of St Paul Chuckery, God works through you. As you do your work and dedicate yourself like Ruth did, like the LWML does, as you do your work in the Kingdom of the Left, God blesses that work and He works through those efforts to build up his church. You might not think about it, you might not realize it, but God makes things happen, God continues to write chapters in his salvation story.
That's what he did through Ruth. Like we said, her story was pretty common, one we might read in our own newspapers, tragic? Yes. Special or out of the ordinary? Not terribly. But God worked through her.
If you skip ahead to Matthew chapter 1 we are given a genealogy, a family history of Jesus. Where he came from and who his ancestors were. In that list is mentioned one, Ruth, a girl who grew up a pagan, an unbeliever, but one who He called to faith, one who he called to be his own, one who willingly received the gifts that God gave and then set about using those gifts to serve her mother-in-law when she was needed. And the Lord worked through her efforts and her faithfulness. She became a piece of the story of Salvation that God wrote for you and me. Jesus was born to be our King, the King of the Jews and the King of the heavens and the earth. He earned that crown and that throne when He died and paid for our sin and when His Heavenly Father accepted his sacrifice and raised him from the dead and seated him as King over every king and Lord over every lord. Jesus is Lord of Heaven and Earth, in the Kingdom of Power, but also and especially in the Kingdom of Grace.
And as he was writing that story, as he was making that happen, God used Ruth. And maybe God will use you as well. When all of His Salvation history has been written at the end of time and we are together in Eternity, perhaps your name will be mentioned as one God worked through to call someone else to faith. Maybe a word that you spoke encouraged someone to go to church, to pick up their Bible, to get to know Jesus, maybe that little work you did, that little mite that you donated had a profound and eternal impact on the life of another person. You might never know. Ruth probably didn't, at least not at the time, but here she is in our Scriptures as an ancestor of Jesus.
The Lord worked through her. Through Ruth and because of Ruth, Jesus was born.
Ruth worked. She did her part in the left hand kingdom, and God used it for good in his Right hand Kingdom. God's ultimate purpose is heaven and salvation and eternal glory in the new heaven and the new earth. And He made that happen through Jesus. Jesus is lord and Jesus is king. And Jesus is powerful. He uses that power over this world and he uses that power in you.
May you, like Ruth and like the LWML be a willing servant in the Kingdom of God.
Amen.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Pentecost 19, October 3
A young man was recently interning at a major corporation and noticed that he had been assigned a heavy work load. He asked around to the other interns to see if they were experiencing a similar amount of work and discovered that he had been assigned more than double the average work given to the other interns. Concerned about the discrepancy he went to his boss and let him know that he was struggling to get his work done, hoping for some relief. “Looks like you are going to have to learn to manage your time a little better.” was the reply.
There are times when the Christian life can seem to be a burden. There are times when we feel that we need help and strength and relief. There are times when we feel, just like that intern, that God has piled up on our shoulders more than what we can handle.
Fortunately, for the Christian, our Lord is merciful. He strengthens our weak knees, he binds up our hands, he provides for us the strength that we need to complete the tasks that he sets out in front of us.
The task Jesus set out before his disciples, on this day, was the work of forgiveness. “Rebuke the sinner, restore those who repent. If someone sins against you repeatedly, over and over and over again, forgive the sinner over and over and over again. You must forgive him.”
There are times when that seems to be an overwhelming task. When something as simple as forgiveness seems as though it is more than we can handle, a bigger task than what we can perform.
If the work of forgiving someone who has sinned against you seems like a daunting task to you, then know that you are not alone. It is common to the human experience that we struggle with the sins of others. We struggle when others sin against us and we struggle with forgiveness. When Jesus gave this command even to his disciples, it was more than they thought they could handle, so they went to our Lord with a request, much like that overworked intern, and asked for some relief. “Increase our faith.” they said.
Perhaps you have felt the same way.
Forgiveness is not an easy thing. I was reading a story told by a woman whose child had been abducted. And the abductor found her phone number and would call her home and talk to her, meanwhile holding her daughter captive. The woman was a Christian woman and her biggest struggle was learning to forgive this man for all he had taken from her. It was not easy to do.
And that is forgiving for one offense. For us, it makes a difference the number of times we have been offended. Jesus says, forgive not just once, not just twice, he says if someone sins against you seven times in one day, each and every time forgive him. The number seven is one of those biblical numbers that hints at completeness, the total/the whole thing. What Jesus is saying is that if your brother sins against you repeatedly, all day long, forgive him repeatedly as many times as he sins against you.
And so the response of the disciples. Probably about the same as any one of us, once we have finally understood what our Lord meant...
“Increase our faith.” “Add to us faith.” “Lord you are asking more of me than what I think I can handle. You are going to have to help me through this one. I am not equipped to do it. I am going to need a little bit, no scratch that, I am going to need a lot more faith.”
Lord, have mercy.
That's the place to start. When you find yourself in a position to give out forgiveness, when you find yourself sinned against, hurt and offended, dragged through the mud and dishonored, the place to begin is with that simple prayer, “Lord, have mercy.” “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”
It seems that the biggest obstacle to forgiveness is pride. “I don't deserve this. I should be treated better than this. I have been wronged.” And so, as we are holding on to and holding out for our own rights and our own righteousness we are tempted to with hold forgiveness. We are tempted to place ourselves in God’s place as the one who judges and condemns this sinner. But that is not for us to decide. Jesus is the one who forgives, who has forgiven us, who has released us from our debt to him, and now he commands us to release one another.
And so we begin with a prayer that acknowledges our own sin. We are all sinners, we are all in the same boat. We have all received the forgiveness of Christ and He would have us pass that forgiveness along to each other. Why? Because that is the work that God has given Christians to do.
We are His priests, his servants in the world. We are those who are given the privilege of passing out his gifts of forgiveness. It is our job, the duty of our faith. We are here to forgive.
Or didn't you catch that last part of the text.
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Our text comes to us in three parts; a section on forgiveness and restoration for the sinner, a section on faith, and this last section on serving. But they are all three drawn together. In the first section, Jesus commands us to forgive. In the second section, after the disciples realize what a daunting and overwhelming task this forgiveness can be they ask the Lord for faith so that they can complete the task, and then in the third, Jesus reminds us that when we have forgiven we are only doing our duty as his servants. The bottom line? Forgive because it is your duty as a Christian.
But that is a tall order. Isn't it?
The disciples were right to request faith. Not one of us could do the job without it. Wounds we have received at the hands of others can sting us still years into the future. And those wounds can be hard to heal. Years later, we can still hold on to these sins that have been committed against us. And so we pray with the disciples, “Lord, increase our faith.”
“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,” says Jesus, “you could tell a tree to go plant itself in the ocean and it would obey you.”
These days with cgi animation and computer generated graphics we aren't surprised to see anything on screen any more. The limits of what directors can show on film are all but gone. So when Jesus says, a tree will be uprooted and go plant itself in the ocean we don't bat an eye. Those who have gone to the movies and have seen Prince Caspian or The Two Towers have already seen it happen. But Jesus isn't talking cgi graphics. Jesus isn't talking fantasy. Jesus is talking faith. Jesus is saying that even that thing you believe to be impossible is possible through even the smallest of faiths.
Faith, you understand, is only as powerful and as strong as its object. Christian faith holds on to Jesus and for Jesus nothing is impossible. Everything is possible. Everything including forgiveness.
You see, the one who believes and has faith in Jesus has received His gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in your heart. And the Holy Spirit sanctifies you through the Word of God and prayer. That is to say, the Holy Spirit makes you Holy and overcomes sin in you through the Word of God and prayer. Perhaps you already know what this is like, perhaps you already know how this happens. You find yourself sitting alone with you Bible open on your lap. You are reading it and praying. And as you read, you come across a verse that suddenly opens your eyes to see something you have seen before. A particular aspect of God’s law or sin comes to mind, or perhaps an aspect of God’s forgiveness you had previously overlooked is revealed to you. That is the Holy Spirit. Comforting you, encouraging you, or convicting you of some sin. This is how the Spirit works to overcome sin in us. This is how the Spirit works to move us to forgiveness, even to forgive those sins and those sinners who especially have wronged us.
But there is more that God does for us. To say that the Spirit works to overcome sin in us means that somewhere along the way we have sinned. We are guilty and we need forgiveness. Jesus compares the disciple tasked with the duty of forgiving “a slave”. When a slave goes out into the field and does his job, he doesn't get special treatment; he is only doing his duty. He comes in and gets himself dressed to serve dinner.
See what kind of a Lord we have. Even as he calls on us to do our duty and to forgiven and to love, he has done this very thing for us. Even while we were still sinners he came to us to be our slave, to be our servant. Just as he calls us to dress ourselves to serve, he set the stage for this when he got up from dinner to wash the feet of his disciples. He didn't hold it over their heads, he didn't ask them for any more than what he was willing to do himself. He even went above and beyond. He did greater and more. He made himself the servant and the slave of us and of all people when he even died for our sins on the cross. Your Lord, Jesus, died for you on the cross and you are forgiven.
We are challenged and even overwhelmed by the task of forgiveness. It is over our heads and more than we can accomplish. But still God calls us to do it. We struggle at it, we do our best but even then our own sin gets the better of us. We deny forgiveness. We withhold forgiveness. We hold back and hold out. But not Jesus. He gives the whole thing. Every time. He makes himself our servant so that we can serve each other.
Amen.
There are times when the Christian life can seem to be a burden. There are times when we feel that we need help and strength and relief. There are times when we feel, just like that intern, that God has piled up on our shoulders more than what we can handle.
Fortunately, for the Christian, our Lord is merciful. He strengthens our weak knees, he binds up our hands, he provides for us the strength that we need to complete the tasks that he sets out in front of us.
The task Jesus set out before his disciples, on this day, was the work of forgiveness. “Rebuke the sinner, restore those who repent. If someone sins against you repeatedly, over and over and over again, forgive the sinner over and over and over again. You must forgive him.”
There are times when that seems to be an overwhelming task. When something as simple as forgiveness seems as though it is more than we can handle, a bigger task than what we can perform.
If the work of forgiving someone who has sinned against you seems like a daunting task to you, then know that you are not alone. It is common to the human experience that we struggle with the sins of others. We struggle when others sin against us and we struggle with forgiveness. When Jesus gave this command even to his disciples, it was more than they thought they could handle, so they went to our Lord with a request, much like that overworked intern, and asked for some relief. “Increase our faith.” they said.
Perhaps you have felt the same way.
Forgiveness is not an easy thing. I was reading a story told by a woman whose child had been abducted. And the abductor found her phone number and would call her home and talk to her, meanwhile holding her daughter captive. The woman was a Christian woman and her biggest struggle was learning to forgive this man for all he had taken from her. It was not easy to do.
And that is forgiving for one offense. For us, it makes a difference the number of times we have been offended. Jesus says, forgive not just once, not just twice, he says if someone sins against you seven times in one day, each and every time forgive him. The number seven is one of those biblical numbers that hints at completeness, the total/the whole thing. What Jesus is saying is that if your brother sins against you repeatedly, all day long, forgive him repeatedly as many times as he sins against you.
And so the response of the disciples. Probably about the same as any one of us, once we have finally understood what our Lord meant...
“Increase our faith.” “Add to us faith.” “Lord you are asking more of me than what I think I can handle. You are going to have to help me through this one. I am not equipped to do it. I am going to need a little bit, no scratch that, I am going to need a lot more faith.”
Lord, have mercy.
That's the place to start. When you find yourself in a position to give out forgiveness, when you find yourself sinned against, hurt and offended, dragged through the mud and dishonored, the place to begin is with that simple prayer, “Lord, have mercy.” “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”
It seems that the biggest obstacle to forgiveness is pride. “I don't deserve this. I should be treated better than this. I have been wronged.” And so, as we are holding on to and holding out for our own rights and our own righteousness we are tempted to with hold forgiveness. We are tempted to place ourselves in God’s place as the one who judges and condemns this sinner. But that is not for us to decide. Jesus is the one who forgives, who has forgiven us, who has released us from our debt to him, and now he commands us to release one another.
And so we begin with a prayer that acknowledges our own sin. We are all sinners, we are all in the same boat. We have all received the forgiveness of Christ and He would have us pass that forgiveness along to each other. Why? Because that is the work that God has given Christians to do.
We are His priests, his servants in the world. We are those who are given the privilege of passing out his gifts of forgiveness. It is our job, the duty of our faith. We are here to forgive.
Or didn't you catch that last part of the text.
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Our text comes to us in three parts; a section on forgiveness and restoration for the sinner, a section on faith, and this last section on serving. But they are all three drawn together. In the first section, Jesus commands us to forgive. In the second section, after the disciples realize what a daunting and overwhelming task this forgiveness can be they ask the Lord for faith so that they can complete the task, and then in the third, Jesus reminds us that when we have forgiven we are only doing our duty as his servants. The bottom line? Forgive because it is your duty as a Christian.
But that is a tall order. Isn't it?
The disciples were right to request faith. Not one of us could do the job without it. Wounds we have received at the hands of others can sting us still years into the future. And those wounds can be hard to heal. Years later, we can still hold on to these sins that have been committed against us. And so we pray with the disciples, “Lord, increase our faith.”
“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,” says Jesus, “you could tell a tree to go plant itself in the ocean and it would obey you.”
These days with cgi animation and computer generated graphics we aren't surprised to see anything on screen any more. The limits of what directors can show on film are all but gone. So when Jesus says, a tree will be uprooted and go plant itself in the ocean we don't bat an eye. Those who have gone to the movies and have seen Prince Caspian or The Two Towers have already seen it happen. But Jesus isn't talking cgi graphics. Jesus isn't talking fantasy. Jesus is talking faith. Jesus is saying that even that thing you believe to be impossible is possible through even the smallest of faiths.
Faith, you understand, is only as powerful and as strong as its object. Christian faith holds on to Jesus and for Jesus nothing is impossible. Everything is possible. Everything including forgiveness.
You see, the one who believes and has faith in Jesus has received His gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in your heart. And the Holy Spirit sanctifies you through the Word of God and prayer. That is to say, the Holy Spirit makes you Holy and overcomes sin in you through the Word of God and prayer. Perhaps you already know what this is like, perhaps you already know how this happens. You find yourself sitting alone with you Bible open on your lap. You are reading it and praying. And as you read, you come across a verse that suddenly opens your eyes to see something you have seen before. A particular aspect of God’s law or sin comes to mind, or perhaps an aspect of God’s forgiveness you had previously overlooked is revealed to you. That is the Holy Spirit. Comforting you, encouraging you, or convicting you of some sin. This is how the Spirit works to overcome sin in us. This is how the Spirit works to move us to forgiveness, even to forgive those sins and those sinners who especially have wronged us.
But there is more that God does for us. To say that the Spirit works to overcome sin in us means that somewhere along the way we have sinned. We are guilty and we need forgiveness. Jesus compares the disciple tasked with the duty of forgiving “a slave”. When a slave goes out into the field and does his job, he doesn't get special treatment; he is only doing his duty. He comes in and gets himself dressed to serve dinner.
See what kind of a Lord we have. Even as he calls on us to do our duty and to forgiven and to love, he has done this very thing for us. Even while we were still sinners he came to us to be our slave, to be our servant. Just as he calls us to dress ourselves to serve, he set the stage for this when he got up from dinner to wash the feet of his disciples. He didn't hold it over their heads, he didn't ask them for any more than what he was willing to do himself. He even went above and beyond. He did greater and more. He made himself the servant and the slave of us and of all people when he even died for our sins on the cross. Your Lord, Jesus, died for you on the cross and you are forgiven.
We are challenged and even overwhelmed by the task of forgiveness. It is over our heads and more than we can accomplish. But still God calls us to do it. We struggle at it, we do our best but even then our own sin gets the better of us. We deny forgiveness. We withhold forgiveness. We hold back and hold out. But not Jesus. He gives the whole thing. Every time. He makes himself our servant so that we can serve each other.
Amen.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Pentecost 18 - September 26, 2010
“Give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food I need” is the prayer found in Proverbs 30. The world is filled with extremes, extremes of poverty and extremes of wealth. There are those who are extremely poor. Those who are happy to own the clothes on their back, and if they are fortunate enough, to know where their next meal will come from.
And then there are the very rich. Those who don't know any financial limitations, who are able to afford a lavish lifestyle and flaunt their wealth with exotic purchases. Cars, homes, vacations, parties, they have lots of money and lots of friends. Whether we are talking extremes of wealth or extremes of poverty, the world is filled with both.
In the prayer from Proverbs, neither one is to be desired. Whether it be poverty or wealth, we are better off without it. Either extreme provides Satan with an opportunity. Those who are poor are tempted to covet, and the covetousness tempts them to steal. Those who are rich are tempted to feel self satisfied and secure in their wealth to the extent that they forget how greatly they need God. And so the author prays, “feed my only with the food I need, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. “ Would that the Lord preserve us from both.
But while we might pray that prayer, God still deals with us according to his will. “The poor you will always have with you,” says Jesus. “There will always be the poor in the land.” writes Moses. And likewise, there are also those who are rich. Indeed, scripture acknowledges the fact that riches are a gift from God. After all, God gave wealth to Abraham, to Job, to David and to Solomon. There are times that God allows for his people to have plenty and times that God allows for his people to be in want. And this being the case, there are those of us who are could likely fit into either category. Here in our own little church family, there are those of us who are abundantly blessed with the world's goods and there are those of us who are very limited in these blessings. But it doesn't matter which category is yours, whether we are rich or poor, the word of God speaks to us all.
In our Gospel text for today, Jesus tells a parable that encompasses both extremes. Jesus tells the parable of two men, a man who is wealthy beyond measure and another man, a man named Lazarus, who is poverty stricken. The rich man would throw lavish parties, with tables filled with food. The poor man would watch from the outside and he would have been happy to have the food that they threw away. The rich man had plenty of friends, as it seems all rich people do. Lazarus was accompanied only by dogs. The rich man had the best that money could buy. Lazarus had nothing.
Well it turns out that while the rich man was well equipped with all of the world's goods there was one thing he lacked, one thing that Lazarus had in abundance, and that was the wealth of heaven. Lazarus possessed faith and by that faith he grabbed hold of God's goodness and grace and the promise of God's salvation. So when the two died, the rich man went to hell, where he was in torment and Lazarus was taken by the angels to the side of Abraham where he was comforted and at rest. The roles in life were reversed in death. The rich man could watch with longing while Lazarus received all the good things given by God in heaven. The rich man wished for a simple drop of water, while Lazarus was comforted even by heaven's dignitaries.
There are times when people have misunderstood this parable. There are times that people assume Jesus condemns the rich and favors the poor. That the rich man's crime was being rich and that Lazarus was righteous because he was poor. This isn't the case. Whether you are poor or rich we are all in the same boat. We are all equally impoverished when it comes to our relationship with God. Whether you are poor or whether you are rich, it doesn't make you any closer to God or further away from God. In the end, what matters is faith. In the end, what matters is the Word of God. It's like Abraham said in the parable. “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them listen to them.” And so do we. We have Moses, the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles. Let us hear them.
Today, our Old Testament text is written against the sins of the wealthy. It condemns those who have made an idol out of their wealth. They eat the finest and richest of foods, they drink their wine out of bowls instead of cups, they lounge around on fancy imported furniture and make up songs to sing about their wealth. It sounds like the subject of many a music video. It all amounts to idolatry. Diamonds and gold and mansions and luxury – the things of this world can lead one to fashioning a false god out of their wealth.
“You will be the first to go into exile.” says the prophet.
Worshiping wealth and holding on to money as your God is profoundly foolish. Money can't save you. Wealth can't provide for you. Possessions will not protect you. Only God can do these things. Only God can save us.
Our Amos text is written to those who cheated out the poor to make themselves rich. It's almost like he was writing to us in 21st century America. You only need to say, “Enron” or “Wall Street” and you will get the picture; the people at the top of the heap made themselves rich by taking everything they could get from the people at the bottom. Meanwhile, those people they stepped on as they were climbing up the ladder were suffering. And they didn't care. Just so long as they had their wealth and their riches, they didn't care.
This is wrong. It is sin. It's like we said, God allows some to be poor and he allows some to be rich. Neither one is more righteous and neither one is more sinful. Both are gifts from God. Both are opportunities for Christian faith and service.
Through poverty God teaches us faith. Those who are poor struggle to get by. They struggle to pay their bills and keep themselves fed and clothed and sheltered. It's not easy. But God provides. God knows what we need and while it might not be in abundance, God does take care of us.
As the Israelites were preparing to enter in to the promised land, Moses reminded them of how God provided for them in the wilderness. Even though they were living in the desert without the means to buy clothes and shoes and all those things, God took care of them. Their clothes didn't get wear out, their shoes didn't get holes in the bottom. God provided for them and they probably didn't even realize it. Consider that for just a moment, generally speaking, we don't stop to consider the condition of your clothes until they need to be replaced. We don't stop to consider the condition of the roof over your head until it starts to leak, or your car, until it breaks down. We have a way of taking these things for granted. Likewise with the Israelites, they probably didn't even realize it until Moses said it. But God had been providing for them and taking care of them all along and the same can be said for you. God is providing for you in ways you haven't even realized. Whatever bill you are worried about paying, God will provide for you.
That's the thing about being poor. You get to see God's providence. When you have to worry about covering your expense, you wind up having to depend on the goodness of God to provide for you. You have to pray about clothes for your kids and finding the money to cover the bills. You have to turn to God in faith with these things and then depend on him to provide. And then when he does you get to witness his providence. The rich don't have this blessing. They pay their bills out of their abundance and don't ever have to worry about it, they don't need to pray for God to provide. Depending on God is a blessing.
But there are also those of us who are rich. There are those of us to whom God has given an abundance of the World's goods. This too is a good thing. This too is a blessing from God. The danger lies in the temptation, to let that money become your god. To depend on your money to save you and to be your security. But wealth is also a gift and a blessing and an opportunity. God has given that wealth to you and that he wants you to enjoy it, but also that he wants you to use it to serve him and to serve your neighbor. He wants you to avoid the temptation to horde it like the rich man in the parable or to worship it like those mentioned in the passage from Amos.
When I was younger, there was a friend of my family who happened to have been blessed by God with wealth. He owned a lumber business that had done very well and that provided him an opportunity to get into real estate investments that also were very successful. As a result he had become quite well off. This man, rather than hording this money and keeping it all to himself and to his family, was very generous. He was in fact, very generous in his gifts to support education in general, but especially Lutheran education. He gave large sums of money to the Lutheran day school I attended. He gave to Concordia universities, he donated tremendous sums of money to the seminaries. He even gave support to me as I was making my way through the seminary. God had given to him a great abundance of wealth and he in turn used that wealth to help support the training and teaching of pastors and teachers and church workers, all for the building up of the kingdom of Christ.
In the end, what matters the most is the Word of God. God has given us Moses and the prophets. God has given us the Gospels and the Epistles. These things are the means by which he sends His Spirit to us to establish us and strengthen us in the faith. This word convicts us of our sin and points us to his salvation found in Jesus.
In his letter to Timothy Paul writes “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
To the Church in Philippi he writes “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Amen.
And then there are the very rich. Those who don't know any financial limitations, who are able to afford a lavish lifestyle and flaunt their wealth with exotic purchases. Cars, homes, vacations, parties, they have lots of money and lots of friends. Whether we are talking extremes of wealth or extremes of poverty, the world is filled with both.
In the prayer from Proverbs, neither one is to be desired. Whether it be poverty or wealth, we are better off without it. Either extreme provides Satan with an opportunity. Those who are poor are tempted to covet, and the covetousness tempts them to steal. Those who are rich are tempted to feel self satisfied and secure in their wealth to the extent that they forget how greatly they need God. And so the author prays, “feed my only with the food I need, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. “ Would that the Lord preserve us from both.
But while we might pray that prayer, God still deals with us according to his will. “The poor you will always have with you,” says Jesus. “There will always be the poor in the land.” writes Moses. And likewise, there are also those who are rich. Indeed, scripture acknowledges the fact that riches are a gift from God. After all, God gave wealth to Abraham, to Job, to David and to Solomon. There are times that God allows for his people to have plenty and times that God allows for his people to be in want. And this being the case, there are those of us who are could likely fit into either category. Here in our own little church family, there are those of us who are abundantly blessed with the world's goods and there are those of us who are very limited in these blessings. But it doesn't matter which category is yours, whether we are rich or poor, the word of God speaks to us all.
In our Gospel text for today, Jesus tells a parable that encompasses both extremes. Jesus tells the parable of two men, a man who is wealthy beyond measure and another man, a man named Lazarus, who is poverty stricken. The rich man would throw lavish parties, with tables filled with food. The poor man would watch from the outside and he would have been happy to have the food that they threw away. The rich man had plenty of friends, as it seems all rich people do. Lazarus was accompanied only by dogs. The rich man had the best that money could buy. Lazarus had nothing.
Well it turns out that while the rich man was well equipped with all of the world's goods there was one thing he lacked, one thing that Lazarus had in abundance, and that was the wealth of heaven. Lazarus possessed faith and by that faith he grabbed hold of God's goodness and grace and the promise of God's salvation. So when the two died, the rich man went to hell, where he was in torment and Lazarus was taken by the angels to the side of Abraham where he was comforted and at rest. The roles in life were reversed in death. The rich man could watch with longing while Lazarus received all the good things given by God in heaven. The rich man wished for a simple drop of water, while Lazarus was comforted even by heaven's dignitaries.
There are times when people have misunderstood this parable. There are times that people assume Jesus condemns the rich and favors the poor. That the rich man's crime was being rich and that Lazarus was righteous because he was poor. This isn't the case. Whether you are poor or rich we are all in the same boat. We are all equally impoverished when it comes to our relationship with God. Whether you are poor or whether you are rich, it doesn't make you any closer to God or further away from God. In the end, what matters is faith. In the end, what matters is the Word of God. It's like Abraham said in the parable. “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them listen to them.” And so do we. We have Moses, the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles. Let us hear them.
Today, our Old Testament text is written against the sins of the wealthy. It condemns those who have made an idol out of their wealth. They eat the finest and richest of foods, they drink their wine out of bowls instead of cups, they lounge around on fancy imported furniture and make up songs to sing about their wealth. It sounds like the subject of many a music video. It all amounts to idolatry. Diamonds and gold and mansions and luxury – the things of this world can lead one to fashioning a false god out of their wealth.
“You will be the first to go into exile.” says the prophet.
Worshiping wealth and holding on to money as your God is profoundly foolish. Money can't save you. Wealth can't provide for you. Possessions will not protect you. Only God can do these things. Only God can save us.
Our Amos text is written to those who cheated out the poor to make themselves rich. It's almost like he was writing to us in 21st century America. You only need to say, “Enron” or “Wall Street” and you will get the picture; the people at the top of the heap made themselves rich by taking everything they could get from the people at the bottom. Meanwhile, those people they stepped on as they were climbing up the ladder were suffering. And they didn't care. Just so long as they had their wealth and their riches, they didn't care.
This is wrong. It is sin. It's like we said, God allows some to be poor and he allows some to be rich. Neither one is more righteous and neither one is more sinful. Both are gifts from God. Both are opportunities for Christian faith and service.
Through poverty God teaches us faith. Those who are poor struggle to get by. They struggle to pay their bills and keep themselves fed and clothed and sheltered. It's not easy. But God provides. God knows what we need and while it might not be in abundance, God does take care of us.
As the Israelites were preparing to enter in to the promised land, Moses reminded them of how God provided for them in the wilderness. Even though they were living in the desert without the means to buy clothes and shoes and all those things, God took care of them. Their clothes didn't get wear out, their shoes didn't get holes in the bottom. God provided for them and they probably didn't even realize it. Consider that for just a moment, generally speaking, we don't stop to consider the condition of your clothes until they need to be replaced. We don't stop to consider the condition of the roof over your head until it starts to leak, or your car, until it breaks down. We have a way of taking these things for granted. Likewise with the Israelites, they probably didn't even realize it until Moses said it. But God had been providing for them and taking care of them all along and the same can be said for you. God is providing for you in ways you haven't even realized. Whatever bill you are worried about paying, God will provide for you.
That's the thing about being poor. You get to see God's providence. When you have to worry about covering your expense, you wind up having to depend on the goodness of God to provide for you. You have to pray about clothes for your kids and finding the money to cover the bills. You have to turn to God in faith with these things and then depend on him to provide. And then when he does you get to witness his providence. The rich don't have this blessing. They pay their bills out of their abundance and don't ever have to worry about it, they don't need to pray for God to provide. Depending on God is a blessing.
But there are also those of us who are rich. There are those of us to whom God has given an abundance of the World's goods. This too is a good thing. This too is a blessing from God. The danger lies in the temptation, to let that money become your god. To depend on your money to save you and to be your security. But wealth is also a gift and a blessing and an opportunity. God has given that wealth to you and that he wants you to enjoy it, but also that he wants you to use it to serve him and to serve your neighbor. He wants you to avoid the temptation to horde it like the rich man in the parable or to worship it like those mentioned in the passage from Amos.
When I was younger, there was a friend of my family who happened to have been blessed by God with wealth. He owned a lumber business that had done very well and that provided him an opportunity to get into real estate investments that also were very successful. As a result he had become quite well off. This man, rather than hording this money and keeping it all to himself and to his family, was very generous. He was in fact, very generous in his gifts to support education in general, but especially Lutheran education. He gave large sums of money to the Lutheran day school I attended. He gave to Concordia universities, he donated tremendous sums of money to the seminaries. He even gave support to me as I was making my way through the seminary. God had given to him a great abundance of wealth and he in turn used that wealth to help support the training and teaching of pastors and teachers and church workers, all for the building up of the kingdom of Christ.
In the end, what matters the most is the Word of God. God has given us Moses and the prophets. God has given us the Gospels and the Epistles. These things are the means by which he sends His Spirit to us to establish us and strengthen us in the faith. This word convicts us of our sin and points us to his salvation found in Jesus.
In his letter to Timothy Paul writes “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
To the Church in Philippi he writes “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Amen.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Pentecost 17. Luke 16
"It's not business. It's personal"
The Donald is at it again. His popular show The Apprentice aired its season premier this past Thursday with a new group of contestants set to take on the various challenges. Each week, viewers watch as the those contestants compete to earn the greatest amount of money at some assigned task. The winning team is safe, and the loosing team heads to the board room, where one member of the team will hear Mr Trump utter those dreaded words, “Your Fired.”
Donald Trump has made his fortune as a laser focused business man. He wants to earn a profit. Those who help him achieve that goal are rewarded. Those who cost him that goal are cut loose. And as the show says, “It's not personal. It's business.”
Not so with Jesus. As he illustrates for us here in our text through this parable what's good for business is not what's good for Jesus. It's not about the bottom line. It's not about making a buck. It's not about getting ahead. It is about love. It is about mercy. It is about the gospel. And the Gospel is about people.
In the end, Jesus is not impressed with money or wealth. And, in his mind, neither should we be impressed with money. Rather that money, that “unrighteous mammon” as he calls it, should be only and at its best a means to an end.
“And I tell you, says Jesus, make friends for yourself with that unrighteous mammon so that when it fails (and it will fail) they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
So money is a means to an end. What is that end?
In our text, Jesus offers a parable. He tells his disciples of the actions of an unrighteous steward, or manager. The man had performed poorly in his work and he was about to get fired. And when he discovered that his working days were through, he hit upon a plan to make things better for him when he was unemployed. He called in his master's debtors – his master was a business man, in real estate, not too different from Mr Trump in that regard. This master made his fortune renting out his fields to farmers who then brought some of the harvest to him as payment. It appears that this steward had not performed up to par for the master, and he was about to hear those dreaded words that Donald Trump has made famous, he was about to be told, “Your fired”. But the soon to be unemployed steward hit upon a plan. The steward gathered up the list of his master's debtors and he called these men into his office and gave each of them a discount. One owed 100 measures of oil, his bill was reduced to 50. Another owed 100 cores of wheat, his bill was reduced to 80. The renters went home happy with a reduced bill, and a favorable opinion of the steward. Perhaps he would find work with one of them.
Now this is a challenging parable. The seeming star of the show was a bit of a scoundrel. He was dishonest. Jesus calls him “unrighteous”. But it would appear that Jesus wants us to learn something from him. Does he want us to be dishonest? Does he want us to cheat? Does he want us to steal?
Obviously not. Jesus is not urging us to cut-throat business practices; nor is He commending the man's sin. The key to understanding the parable is to first understand what Jesus would have us know about the unrighteous man's master. In this parable, and really with any other parable, the main thing that Jesus wants us to learn, isn't what we do, isn't what we are supposed to do. Rather the thing that the parables are here to teach us is what God does. Instead of looking in the parable to see how God wants us to behave, Jesus wants us first to understand his character and the character of the Father. In that regard, this parable is less about the dishonest and unrighteous manager, rather it is about the merciful Lord.
The manager was dishonest. Not only that, he was also incompetent. That's why he lost his job. But he was shrewd. He was wise. He had the ability to size up the character or his master. He was able to predict how his master would react even when he was cheated. And this gave him an edge; he knew his master was kind and merciful and he hit upon a plan to take advantage of that kindness and mercy. The manager knew his master. He was a merciful man and the manager trapped him in his mercy.
The master had a reputation. The debtors didn't question or object when the steward gave them a break, they figured the master was being generous. And once the discount was given, the generous and merciful master wasn't going to take it back. You see, you understand, the master was more concerned to be merciful than he was to be rich. (Again, our tag line. “It isn't business, it's personal.”) So the steward, the manager, the first century apprentice, gave away his master's property, and then enjoyed the good fortune of being the hand that delivered the gift to the debtors, and reaped the benefits of their good will.
And there's the lesson. This is a parable about being faithful with those things that God has given to us. God gives us many things. And God is generous. And God would have us be generous. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for the bottom line. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for business. But God wants it to be personal. He wants it to be about the Gospel; the Gospel that is about His Mercy and His Generosity and His Kindness that he has set aside for people.
Now, certainly God gives us money. He gives us property. He gives us material things. But not so we can pile them all up and be impressed with how rich we are. Not so that we can build for ourselves a board room paneled with mahogany, furnished with a large table from which we can bark out orders and tell people they are fired. Rather He has given us that money as a means, as a tool, as an instrument for making friends with the world. “Money talks” people claim. The question is, what does your money say? Christ reminds us that the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
Consider the Starbucks Corporation. You go into a Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee and you will find little advertisements printed on their paper cups that tell you about their corporate responsibility. They purchase beans from struggling 3rd world countries and reinvest the profits to support the farmers. Proceeds from their Ethos bottled water helps to provide clean drinking water around the world. They make a profit, but they use their profit to “give back”. They use their profit to create a public perception that is favorable with their customers. And in turn, their customers feel good about spending $4.00 on a cup of coffee. Indeed the sons of this world are shrewd in dealing with their own generation.
So what does your money say? Does your money say, “I care about people.” “I care about mercy and kindness.” “I care about the gospel.” Or does your money say, “I care about me and what's mine”? My family, my house, my business, my bank account.
For the Christian, money is not about money. It's not our hope, it's not our salvation. It's not our safety or security. It is just a thing. A thing that God gives and that God takes away. It's just a means to an end. When we have it, God wants us to use, but not simply for ourselves. God wants us to use it for our neighbor. To show love and to show mercy. Because that is what Jesus has done for us.
Consider if you will the generosity of our Lord. He is generous in all things.
The Lord is generous in giving us possessions. Stop for a moment and think about your routine this morning. You woke up in a warm and dry bed. Got dressed, ate breakfast. Had a ride here to church. You had those things because God is generous with you. But those things are small things. Those are the unimportant, and worthless things. God has given you so much more.
Jesus asks the question, 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? And what is so very often lost on us is the fact that Jesus our heavenly father has set aside for us the gift of heaven. God is truly our heavenly father and he has given to us all the benefits of being his children.
In my own house, what's mine belongs to my children. They live under my roof and enjoy the fruits of my labors completely for free. I don't charge them. I don't send them a bill each month. I don't expect rent or compensation in any way. And someday, after I am dead and gone, everything I own will be left to them. My estate will be theirs.
God does this very thing for you. His estate. His heavenly mansion is yours. You stand to inherit heaven. Everything that is there. It's wealth. Its beauty. Its honor. Its glory. It will all be yours. You will walk through the kingdom of heaven, not as a bond servant. Not as an employee. As a son and a daughter of the King. God's servants will be your servants. Gods house will be your house. God's banquet table will be your banquet table. Gods celebration will be your celebration. And he gives it all to you for free.
It is so ironic that we spend so much time fretting and worrying and even arguing about something so simple and silly as money. God gives it. He knows you need it and he won't let you go without it so why worry about it? In the mean time you have neighbors who God has given to you and who you are able to help with that money and God wants you to do it. So do it. In the mean time, he will continue to give what you need. He will continue to provide what you need not only for this life, not only for your bills and expenses but also and especially for the next. He has paid for you with even his own blood. If you are worth all that to him, surely you can be confident that he will give exactly what you need.
And those neighbors, while they need your help and your assistance what they need more than anything is the gospel. The truth, the true riches. And just as God has given it to you, he would also give it to them. So share. Give. Be generous. Because God has been generous with you. And remember. It's not business. It is personal. It is about the Gospel.
Amen,
The Donald is at it again. His popular show The Apprentice aired its season premier this past Thursday with a new group of contestants set to take on the various challenges. Each week, viewers watch as the those contestants compete to earn the greatest amount of money at some assigned task. The winning team is safe, and the loosing team heads to the board room, where one member of the team will hear Mr Trump utter those dreaded words, “Your Fired.”
Donald Trump has made his fortune as a laser focused business man. He wants to earn a profit. Those who help him achieve that goal are rewarded. Those who cost him that goal are cut loose. And as the show says, “It's not personal. It's business.”
Not so with Jesus. As he illustrates for us here in our text through this parable what's good for business is not what's good for Jesus. It's not about the bottom line. It's not about making a buck. It's not about getting ahead. It is about love. It is about mercy. It is about the gospel. And the Gospel is about people.
In the end, Jesus is not impressed with money or wealth. And, in his mind, neither should we be impressed with money. Rather that money, that “unrighteous mammon” as he calls it, should be only and at its best a means to an end.
“And I tell you, says Jesus, make friends for yourself with that unrighteous mammon so that when it fails (and it will fail) they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
So money is a means to an end. What is that end?
In our text, Jesus offers a parable. He tells his disciples of the actions of an unrighteous steward, or manager. The man had performed poorly in his work and he was about to get fired. And when he discovered that his working days were through, he hit upon a plan to make things better for him when he was unemployed. He called in his master's debtors – his master was a business man, in real estate, not too different from Mr Trump in that regard. This master made his fortune renting out his fields to farmers who then brought some of the harvest to him as payment. It appears that this steward had not performed up to par for the master, and he was about to hear those dreaded words that Donald Trump has made famous, he was about to be told, “Your fired”. But the soon to be unemployed steward hit upon a plan. The steward gathered up the list of his master's debtors and he called these men into his office and gave each of them a discount. One owed 100 measures of oil, his bill was reduced to 50. Another owed 100 cores of wheat, his bill was reduced to 80. The renters went home happy with a reduced bill, and a favorable opinion of the steward. Perhaps he would find work with one of them.
Now this is a challenging parable. The seeming star of the show was a bit of a scoundrel. He was dishonest. Jesus calls him “unrighteous”. But it would appear that Jesus wants us to learn something from him. Does he want us to be dishonest? Does he want us to cheat? Does he want us to steal?
Obviously not. Jesus is not urging us to cut-throat business practices; nor is He commending the man's sin. The key to understanding the parable is to first understand what Jesus would have us know about the unrighteous man's master. In this parable, and really with any other parable, the main thing that Jesus wants us to learn, isn't what we do, isn't what we are supposed to do. Rather the thing that the parables are here to teach us is what God does. Instead of looking in the parable to see how God wants us to behave, Jesus wants us first to understand his character and the character of the Father. In that regard, this parable is less about the dishonest and unrighteous manager, rather it is about the merciful Lord.
The manager was dishonest. Not only that, he was also incompetent. That's why he lost his job. But he was shrewd. He was wise. He had the ability to size up the character or his master. He was able to predict how his master would react even when he was cheated. And this gave him an edge; he knew his master was kind and merciful and he hit upon a plan to take advantage of that kindness and mercy. The manager knew his master. He was a merciful man and the manager trapped him in his mercy.
The master had a reputation. The debtors didn't question or object when the steward gave them a break, they figured the master was being generous. And once the discount was given, the generous and merciful master wasn't going to take it back. You see, you understand, the master was more concerned to be merciful than he was to be rich. (Again, our tag line. “It isn't business, it's personal.”) So the steward, the manager, the first century apprentice, gave away his master's property, and then enjoyed the good fortune of being the hand that delivered the gift to the debtors, and reaped the benefits of their good will.
And there's the lesson. This is a parable about being faithful with those things that God has given to us. God gives us many things. And God is generous. And God would have us be generous. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for the bottom line. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for business. But God wants it to be personal. He wants it to be about the Gospel; the Gospel that is about His Mercy and His Generosity and His Kindness that he has set aside for people.
Now, certainly God gives us money. He gives us property. He gives us material things. But not so we can pile them all up and be impressed with how rich we are. Not so that we can build for ourselves a board room paneled with mahogany, furnished with a large table from which we can bark out orders and tell people they are fired. Rather He has given us that money as a means, as a tool, as an instrument for making friends with the world. “Money talks” people claim. The question is, what does your money say? Christ reminds us that the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
Consider the Starbucks Corporation. You go into a Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee and you will find little advertisements printed on their paper cups that tell you about their corporate responsibility. They purchase beans from struggling 3rd world countries and reinvest the profits to support the farmers. Proceeds from their Ethos bottled water helps to provide clean drinking water around the world. They make a profit, but they use their profit to “give back”. They use their profit to create a public perception that is favorable with their customers. And in turn, their customers feel good about spending $4.00 on a cup of coffee. Indeed the sons of this world are shrewd in dealing with their own generation.
So what does your money say? Does your money say, “I care about people.” “I care about mercy and kindness.” “I care about the gospel.” Or does your money say, “I care about me and what's mine”? My family, my house, my business, my bank account.
For the Christian, money is not about money. It's not our hope, it's not our salvation. It's not our safety or security. It is just a thing. A thing that God gives and that God takes away. It's just a means to an end. When we have it, God wants us to use, but not simply for ourselves. God wants us to use it for our neighbor. To show love and to show mercy. Because that is what Jesus has done for us.
Consider if you will the generosity of our Lord. He is generous in all things.
The Lord is generous in giving us possessions. Stop for a moment and think about your routine this morning. You woke up in a warm and dry bed. Got dressed, ate breakfast. Had a ride here to church. You had those things because God is generous with you. But those things are small things. Those are the unimportant, and worthless things. God has given you so much more.
Jesus asks the question, 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? And what is so very often lost on us is the fact that Jesus our heavenly father has set aside for us the gift of heaven. God is truly our heavenly father and he has given to us all the benefits of being his children.
In my own house, what's mine belongs to my children. They live under my roof and enjoy the fruits of my labors completely for free. I don't charge them. I don't send them a bill each month. I don't expect rent or compensation in any way. And someday, after I am dead and gone, everything I own will be left to them. My estate will be theirs.
God does this very thing for you. His estate. His heavenly mansion is yours. You stand to inherit heaven. Everything that is there. It's wealth. Its beauty. Its honor. Its glory. It will all be yours. You will walk through the kingdom of heaven, not as a bond servant. Not as an employee. As a son and a daughter of the King. God's servants will be your servants. Gods house will be your house. God's banquet table will be your banquet table. Gods celebration will be your celebration. And he gives it all to you for free.
It is so ironic that we spend so much time fretting and worrying and even arguing about something so simple and silly as money. God gives it. He knows you need it and he won't let you go without it so why worry about it? In the mean time you have neighbors who God has given to you and who you are able to help with that money and God wants you to do it. So do it. In the mean time, he will continue to give what you need. He will continue to provide what you need not only for this life, not only for your bills and expenses but also and especially for the next. He has paid for you with even his own blood. If you are worth all that to him, surely you can be confident that he will give exactly what you need.
And those neighbors, while they need your help and your assistance what they need more than anything is the gospel. The truth, the true riches. And just as God has given it to you, he would also give it to them. So share. Give. Be generous. Because God has been generous with you. And remember. It's not business. It is personal. It is about the Gospel.
Amen,
Sunday, September 5, 2010
September 5, 2010 - Luke 14:25-35
In 1975 the Main Technical Organization began construction on a high-rise office building in Krakow, Poland. The 300 foot tall structure was intended to be its headquarters and base of operations. After 6 years of construction the steel frame was in place, floors and levels were completed, but the parent corporation ran out of funds and construction was halted. They were never able to resume construction and costly obstacles have prevented the project from being completed by another investor. So today, 30 years later, the unfinished tower still stands; functioning only as a space for billboards and advertisements. Unofficially the locals refer to the bare framed high rise as Skeletor.
If only the Main Technical Organization in Krakow Poland had read Luke 14.
In our text this morning, Jesus uses this very sort of scenario as an example to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you want to build a tower, do your homework before you do your construction. Figure out if you have the funds to complete the project because if you don’t, you could find yourself half way through, out of cash and out your investment. And consider the result – if you can't finish the job, think of the wasted resources, not to mention the public humiliation of having erected a lasting monument to your own poor planning. What does that do for investor relations?
But in the end, Jesus isn't talking about business. Jesus isn't talking about earthly investments and earthly towers. Jesus isn't concerned with building earthly kingdoms. Jesus is talking about heavenly investments and heavenly kingdoms. In fact, elsewhere Jesus commands those who would be his followers to be shrewd with such “unrighteous wealth”, to be faithful with such “unrighteous wealth” so that our Lord will entrust them with the wealth that is eternal.
Jesus is not giving us advice for managing our business, rather he is using this business as a touch-point to teach us about His kingdom. If you would come after Jesus, if you would be his disciple and follow in his footsteps, be sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Be sure you know what it's going to cost. You'd better be sure you can afford to pay.
Luke reminds us that Jesus is travelling. In Chapter 9 Jesus told us where he was going. He was going to Jerusalem and when he got there he was going to die. Talk about a construction project, hammer and nails, beams and board were being hewn and shaped into a cross to be carried outside the city to a hill where the hammer blows would fall on his hands and feet and the sweat of construction would be laced with blood from the tears in the flesh of he forehead. Jesus was using wood and a few nails to construct, not a tower, but a Kingdom built with his broken body.
As Jesus was speaking the words of our text, he was playing the part of a general contractor assembling a work crew to assist with the construction. He didn’t want any “part timers”. He would take only those willing to go the distance, the whole entire distance.
The question is, are you ready to work on Jesus’ construction crew? Are you prepared to follow him to his work site, prepared to follow Jesus even to death? Are you prepared to “take up your cross and carry it” even when it means you must die? Are you prepared to renounce everything, your money, your possessions, your very self to follow your Leader? This is what Jesus requires. This is what Jesus commands. Don’t we forget just how high is the cost of following Jesus?
So let's suppose St Paul Chuckery is a tower. A steel framed construction that has been standing for years. Is the building complete? Is the construction finished? Or are we a work in progress? Are the windows installed and the wiring intact? Has the heating and cooling been put in place? Is the wallboard up? The ceiling tiles? The light fixtures? Or are we like that high rise in Krakow, Skeletor, tall and strong, we've been around for ages, but there's still work to do?
There is plenty of work still to be done. And Jesus our general contractor needs workers; architects, engineers, building planners, welders, electricians, finish carpenters, technicians, all different people with all different gifts. Jesus also needs raw materials. Lots and lots of raw materials. And this building, this high rise, this Kingdom of Christ among the kingdom of men can't be completed with anything you'd find on the shelves at Home Depot. The building materials are people, 1 Peter calls them the livings stones that are built up into a spiritual house, the temple of our Lord Jesus Christ, with He himself as the chief cornerstone. We need people. We need to go out and get them. Retrieve the from the quarry of the outside world, chisel and shape them with the Word of God, put them here in their place, fasten them in with the mortar of the Gospel and then go out and find more.
But the cost is high. It doesn't come cheap. Good constructions never do. The question is can you afford the cost? Are you “all in”? Committed to the project or only half way? Remember, Jesus says “consider the cost”. Before you sign on as one of his workers in building the Kingdom of God ask yourself if you’ve got what it takes to complete the task?
Jesus says the cost is high. “How high,” is the question we always want to ask? How much is it going to take? How far will it set me back? Jesus says it will take everything. Everything you've got and everything you are. Remember his words, renounce everything; your family, your mother and father, you son and your daughter, you husband or wife, even your very self. And not just your self, your possessions, everything that you own in this world. Your house, your car, your money, the family farm, your savings, your retirement. Lay it all aside, count it all as loss, give it all up, give it all away. If you don't, you're not worthy. You can't be Jesus' disciple. You are useless to God. You are like salt that has lost its saltiness. No flavor.no use on the compost, throw it out on the road and trample it under foot.
So here's the question, are you in? Are you in? Not just a little bit. Not just half way. Not just 10%. Not just a tithe. We're talking all in. Going for broke. Putting the whole thing down for the kingdom of heaven. Are you in? We think this is hyperbole, a literary trick. It’s not. Jesus doesn’t accept 1/2 time workers. He calls them lukewarm; people he would spit out of his mouth. Jesus wants the whole thing. And so again, are you in?
I didn't think so. You're not. I'm not. None of us are. Not even close. A few of us might get up near 10% and assume we are doing pretty good. Others of us hover around 5, a few others 1 or 2%. A bunch of us are probably good for a few dollars here and there. No one is in all the way. We can't. (we tell ourselves) We couldn't. We won't. But that is what Jesus commands. And those who don't aren't worthy to be his disciples.
Friends we have sins to confess. First of all, we have been busy building earthly kingdoms, tallying up earthly costs and we have forgotten the eternal. We have lost sight of the eternal kingdom that Christ is building and would have us build. We have lost sight of the fact that we must go and get stones to lay on the foundation in this construction project he has called us to complete and we have been okay to let the exposed beams turn to rust from the snow and the rain. We should be abandoned, good for a few billboard and perhaps even torn down.
But then comes Jesus. On his way to Jerusalem. On his way to his meeting with the High Priest, with Pontius Pilate. On his way to meet with the guards, the crowds, the executioner. On his way to condemnation and crucifixion. We should be thrown out of the spiritual house built up into Christ, but he is sent out - outside the city, near the city dump, near the Jerusalem dung pile, where they piled up the trash. Jesus was cast out of the city like salt that has lost its saltiness. He was nailed to the cross and he died. In your place, for your sin. He took your place in God's punishment.
History tells us that when Rome crucified their prisoners and law breakers, often, if there was no one to claim the body it would be taken down from the cross and thrown into that trash heap outside Jerusalem. But this is not what happened to Jesus. His dead body was honored, carried to a new tomb cut into the rock and a large stone was placed over the opening. And after three days in that tomb, and before it had a chance to rot or decay, the body of Jesus was restored to life. The death of sin and the punishment of hell that was released onto him as he hung on the cross was used up so that he was raised from death to life.
Jesus is alive. And his life isn't just the happy ending to an otherwise sad story. It isn't just his story. This is your story. This was your death that he died for you and now this is his life that he lives for you. You were dead. You were tasteless salt, you were fodder for the dung heap. But you are not any more. You were not taken down and thrown out into the trash. You were buried with him through Baptism into death. And if you were buried with him you were also raised with him. And now you are alive. You have been resurrected. You have been restored. You were not worthy to be his disciples. You were not worthy to be counted as his follower. But now you are. You are his disciple you have been to the cross, because he has been to the cross for you. Your cross has been carried because he has carried it for you.
And now the Grand and great Architect of the Church and the Kingdom of God has added you as a living stone to his eternal house that He is building. He has handed you the schematics and blueprints and he has told you the work that needs to be done. He has called you to help finish out the construction. He has sent you out into the highways and byways to round up the raw materials to finish the structure that stands as yet undone.
It is soon to be finished. It is soon to be complete. And more than a palace, more than a tower, more than the Taj Mahal, it will be the eternal temple, the heavenly city of God himself. Pick up your hammer, grab your nails, and lets get to work.
Which of desiring to build a tower
Amen.
If only the Main Technical Organization in Krakow Poland had read Luke 14.
In our text this morning, Jesus uses this very sort of scenario as an example to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you want to build a tower, do your homework before you do your construction. Figure out if you have the funds to complete the project because if you don’t, you could find yourself half way through, out of cash and out your investment. And consider the result – if you can't finish the job, think of the wasted resources, not to mention the public humiliation of having erected a lasting monument to your own poor planning. What does that do for investor relations?
But in the end, Jesus isn't talking about business. Jesus isn't talking about earthly investments and earthly towers. Jesus isn't concerned with building earthly kingdoms. Jesus is talking about heavenly investments and heavenly kingdoms. In fact, elsewhere Jesus commands those who would be his followers to be shrewd with such “unrighteous wealth”, to be faithful with such “unrighteous wealth” so that our Lord will entrust them with the wealth that is eternal.
Jesus is not giving us advice for managing our business, rather he is using this business as a touch-point to teach us about His kingdom. If you would come after Jesus, if you would be his disciple and follow in his footsteps, be sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Be sure you know what it's going to cost. You'd better be sure you can afford to pay.
Luke reminds us that Jesus is travelling. In Chapter 9 Jesus told us where he was going. He was going to Jerusalem and when he got there he was going to die. Talk about a construction project, hammer and nails, beams and board were being hewn and shaped into a cross to be carried outside the city to a hill where the hammer blows would fall on his hands and feet and the sweat of construction would be laced with blood from the tears in the flesh of he forehead. Jesus was using wood and a few nails to construct, not a tower, but a Kingdom built with his broken body.
As Jesus was speaking the words of our text, he was playing the part of a general contractor assembling a work crew to assist with the construction. He didn’t want any “part timers”. He would take only those willing to go the distance, the whole entire distance.
The question is, are you ready to work on Jesus’ construction crew? Are you prepared to follow him to his work site, prepared to follow Jesus even to death? Are you prepared to “take up your cross and carry it” even when it means you must die? Are you prepared to renounce everything, your money, your possessions, your very self to follow your Leader? This is what Jesus requires. This is what Jesus commands. Don’t we forget just how high is the cost of following Jesus?
So let's suppose St Paul Chuckery is a tower. A steel framed construction that has been standing for years. Is the building complete? Is the construction finished? Or are we a work in progress? Are the windows installed and the wiring intact? Has the heating and cooling been put in place? Is the wallboard up? The ceiling tiles? The light fixtures? Or are we like that high rise in Krakow, Skeletor, tall and strong, we've been around for ages, but there's still work to do?
There is plenty of work still to be done. And Jesus our general contractor needs workers; architects, engineers, building planners, welders, electricians, finish carpenters, technicians, all different people with all different gifts. Jesus also needs raw materials. Lots and lots of raw materials. And this building, this high rise, this Kingdom of Christ among the kingdom of men can't be completed with anything you'd find on the shelves at Home Depot. The building materials are people, 1 Peter calls them the livings stones that are built up into a spiritual house, the temple of our Lord Jesus Christ, with He himself as the chief cornerstone. We need people. We need to go out and get them. Retrieve the from the quarry of the outside world, chisel and shape them with the Word of God, put them here in their place, fasten them in with the mortar of the Gospel and then go out and find more.
But the cost is high. It doesn't come cheap. Good constructions never do. The question is can you afford the cost? Are you “all in”? Committed to the project or only half way? Remember, Jesus says “consider the cost”. Before you sign on as one of his workers in building the Kingdom of God ask yourself if you’ve got what it takes to complete the task?
Jesus says the cost is high. “How high,” is the question we always want to ask? How much is it going to take? How far will it set me back? Jesus says it will take everything. Everything you've got and everything you are. Remember his words, renounce everything; your family, your mother and father, you son and your daughter, you husband or wife, even your very self. And not just your self, your possessions, everything that you own in this world. Your house, your car, your money, the family farm, your savings, your retirement. Lay it all aside, count it all as loss, give it all up, give it all away. If you don't, you're not worthy. You can't be Jesus' disciple. You are useless to God. You are like salt that has lost its saltiness. No flavor.no use on the compost, throw it out on the road and trample it under foot.
So here's the question, are you in? Are you in? Not just a little bit. Not just half way. Not just 10%. Not just a tithe. We're talking all in. Going for broke. Putting the whole thing down for the kingdom of heaven. Are you in? We think this is hyperbole, a literary trick. It’s not. Jesus doesn’t accept 1/2 time workers. He calls them lukewarm; people he would spit out of his mouth. Jesus wants the whole thing. And so again, are you in?
I didn't think so. You're not. I'm not. None of us are. Not even close. A few of us might get up near 10% and assume we are doing pretty good. Others of us hover around 5, a few others 1 or 2%. A bunch of us are probably good for a few dollars here and there. No one is in all the way. We can't. (we tell ourselves) We couldn't. We won't. But that is what Jesus commands. And those who don't aren't worthy to be his disciples.
Friends we have sins to confess. First of all, we have been busy building earthly kingdoms, tallying up earthly costs and we have forgotten the eternal. We have lost sight of the eternal kingdom that Christ is building and would have us build. We have lost sight of the fact that we must go and get stones to lay on the foundation in this construction project he has called us to complete and we have been okay to let the exposed beams turn to rust from the snow and the rain. We should be abandoned, good for a few billboard and perhaps even torn down.
But then comes Jesus. On his way to Jerusalem. On his way to his meeting with the High Priest, with Pontius Pilate. On his way to meet with the guards, the crowds, the executioner. On his way to condemnation and crucifixion. We should be thrown out of the spiritual house built up into Christ, but he is sent out - outside the city, near the city dump, near the Jerusalem dung pile, where they piled up the trash. Jesus was cast out of the city like salt that has lost its saltiness. He was nailed to the cross and he died. In your place, for your sin. He took your place in God's punishment.
History tells us that when Rome crucified their prisoners and law breakers, often, if there was no one to claim the body it would be taken down from the cross and thrown into that trash heap outside Jerusalem. But this is not what happened to Jesus. His dead body was honored, carried to a new tomb cut into the rock and a large stone was placed over the opening. And after three days in that tomb, and before it had a chance to rot or decay, the body of Jesus was restored to life. The death of sin and the punishment of hell that was released onto him as he hung on the cross was used up so that he was raised from death to life.
Jesus is alive. And his life isn't just the happy ending to an otherwise sad story. It isn't just his story. This is your story. This was your death that he died for you and now this is his life that he lives for you. You were dead. You were tasteless salt, you were fodder for the dung heap. But you are not any more. You were not taken down and thrown out into the trash. You were buried with him through Baptism into death. And if you were buried with him you were also raised with him. And now you are alive. You have been resurrected. You have been restored. You were not worthy to be his disciples. You were not worthy to be counted as his follower. But now you are. You are his disciple you have been to the cross, because he has been to the cross for you. Your cross has been carried because he has carried it for you.
And now the Grand and great Architect of the Church and the Kingdom of God has added you as a living stone to his eternal house that He is building. He has handed you the schematics and blueprints and he has told you the work that needs to be done. He has called you to help finish out the construction. He has sent you out into the highways and byways to round up the raw materials to finish the structure that stands as yet undone.
It is soon to be finished. It is soon to be complete. And more than a palace, more than a tower, more than the Taj Mahal, it will be the eternal temple, the heavenly city of God himself. Pick up your hammer, grab your nails, and lets get to work.
Which of desiring to build a tower
Amen.
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