Sunday Sermon

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Today's reading from Luke 6 features two episodes where Jesus upsets people by violating the Sabbath laws. Nearly 2000 years removed from these events, it is easy to dismiss these Sabbath regulations as petty legalism, but keeping the Sabbath had helped define and preserve Judaism through some very difficult times. During the exile in Babylon, with the Temple destroyed and all religous activity associated with it impossible, the keeping of Sabbath became the primary way that these exiles maintained their Jewishness. And in a world that as yet knew nothing of weekends, Sabbath keeping was a public faith statement.

For Jews who were serious about keeping their faith such as Pharisees, Sabbath was crucial. And so the ease with which Jesus seemed willing to bend Sabbath rules was deeply troubling to them. They saw it as a threat to a foundational element of their faith.

Pharisees often come off like stock villains in the gospels. But the Pharisees constituted a serious reform movement within the Judaism of Jesus' day. They took their faith very seriously and worked diligently to live out a faith that permeated daily life rather than focusing on rituals, sacrifices, etc. On some issues they must have found Jesus quite refreshing, but on others...

People sometimes place the Pharisees on the law side of a Grace versus Law conflict. But we still wrestle with this conflict today. Presbyterians, along with others spawned by the Protestant Reformation, have long emphasized grace. And yet our denomination's big fights are usually about rules, about law, if you will.

I'm not sure there are easy answers here, but I pray God will give me wisdom to know where the law is getting in the way of the grace offered in Jesus.

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Sermon for May 3, "Becoming the Flock"

The sheep become one flock, not because of anything the sheep do, but because the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, calls. All who recognize his voice, be they rich or poor, black or white, young or old, are the flock.

Sermon, 5-3.mp3

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

In today's Luke reading, Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. In Jesus' day, tax collectors were not workers for the IRS. They were contractors who collaborated with the occupying Roman Empire. They were allowed to use Roman soldiers to force collections, and they could keep for themselves any amount collected beyond what went to Rome. Tax collectors were therefore seen as greedy, criminal, and traitorous, having turned against their fellow Jews for the chance to become wealthy.

When Jesus calls Levi, people object. It is the scribes and Pharisees who speak up, but likely most everyone would have shared their feelings. Jesus responds by saying, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance."

There is a famous quote -- attributed to Abigail Van Buren -- about the church being "a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints." But I wonder how many people like Levi, people labeled sinners by the public, would feel welcome at most congregations.

Lord, show me how to be more welcoming to those you call.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Stand up and walk'?" This is Jesus' response to scribes and Pharisees who accuse him of blasphemy. Jesus has just said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you," to a paralyzed man after his friends lowered him through an opening in the roof. That was the only way they could get through the crowds coming for healing. Jesus seems genuinely moved by their efforts, and so he forgives the man.

It strikes me as a bit odd that Jesus' first inclination is to forgive the man. Nothing in the story indicates the man needs forgiveness more than the next guy. And while Jesus does eventually heal the man, the healing remains secondary to the forgiveness.

When I think of all the things I would like to get from God, I'm not sure forgiveness is anywhere near the top of the list. I wonder what Jesus thinks I need most.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Strange the things that strike you when you read a passage of Scripture. When I looked at today's reading - Luke's version of the calling of Peter, James, and John - two things jumped out at me. The first was Simon Peter's reaction to the miraculous catch of fish. "But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!' " It' s the same sort of reaction Isaiah has when he encounters God's presence in the Temple (Isaiah 6:5). And it is the standard, biblical response to encountering divine presence. It speaks of awe, wonder, and the common Old Testament phrase, "the fear of the LORD."

I don't hear much about awe in current Christian experience, and I hear much less about "the fear of the LORD." I wonder why this is, especially if "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." (Proverbs 1:7)

The second thing that jumped out at me in today's Luke reading was the ending. On what had to have been the most incredible success of their fishing careers, Peter, James, and John hung up their nets. I really don't know why this contrast struck me so, but it did. Many of us long for success more than just about anything. These fishermen have a catch for the record books. Surely they would be inducted into the Sea of Galilee Fishing Hall of Fame. But they walk away from it all. I assume that someone else collects and sells the fish.

It makes me wonder a bit about the things that I count as successes in my life.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

A lot of Christians take for granted that Jesus performed miracles, healing people such as we read in today's verses from Luke. But I've always found it hard to preach from miracle stories, and I know that a lot of people find these miracle stories big obstacles to faith. Thomas Jefferson produced a "Bible" that edited out all the miracles of Jesus. And for much of the 20th century it was popular to give rational explanations for miracles. I heard more than one sermon as a boy where the miraculous feeding of the 5000 turned out to be a miracle of sharing.

But if the supernatural aspect of miracles have posed difficulties for modern, scientific people, the biblical story nonetheless greatly limits this miraculous power. Jesus can only heal you if you can get to him, if he has time, if he isn't too tired, if he hasn't already left and gone on to the next village. If you happen to be sick or demon possessed but you live in first century Europe, you're not getting healed because Jesus ain't coming to your town.

Theologians refer to this as the scandal of particularity. In Jesus, God's power is present in a particular place and time, and not in another. Near the end of "Jesus Christ Superstar" the voice of Judas sings, "Every time I look at you I don't understand Why you let the things you did get so out of hand. You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned. Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation. Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication." And when I get most upset with God it is usually because God won't act in the grand way I'd prefer. Rather than waving a magic wand and ending war, poverty, and injustice, God more often seems to work through the small efforts of faithful people.

I suppose that I'm still struggling to embrace "God's power made perfect in weakness," as Paul describes Jesus' death on the cross. Perhaps at times, faith is largely about trusting that God knows what God is doing, even when I'm sure there's got to be a better way.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." 1 John repeats this refrain over and over. We cannot love God without loving our brothers and sisters. "Brothers and sister" likely refers to fellow believers and not all humans, but I'm not sure this makes the reading any easier to live out.

Some of the worst fights are church fights. And they can be over the most trivial things. In most congregations there are stories about arguments over carpet color or some other aesthetic issue that left feelings so bruised that people left that church. And churches often have more than a few members who can be awfully hard to love.

It should be noted that loving our brothers and sisters is not the same as agreeing with them, endorsing their views, or tolerating aberrant or destructive behavior. But it is about having their best interest at heart, caring for them, seeking what is good for them, even when we find them difficult to like. Perhaps it is precisely when we love those whom we find hardest to love that we become most Christ-like, in some small way mirroring his love that would die for sinners - would die for a world so bent on resisting God.

Lord, teach me to love more like Jesus.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus a lot on the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew uses the latter term. As a good Jew, he avoids saying "God" when possible.)

Modern Christianity seems to have lost any real expectancy of the Kingdom. If we speak of the Kingdom it often refers to the afterlife and not to anything here on earth. What a contrast to our gospel reading, where Jesus' arrival is connected with God's new day where the poor find good news, the blind are restored, the oppressed and captive are freed. Jesus also speaks of the year of jubilee or "the Lord's favor." In the Old Testament this was supposed to be a regular occurrence where debts were forgiven and land was returned to families who had to sell it because of bad economic times. Imagine the outcry is something such as this was suggested in our country. Charges of socialism would surely fly. And yet the Kingdom Jesus proclaims speaks of a leveling, of a lifting up of the poor and downtrodden, and and parallel pulling down of the well-off.

Now I don't believe that human beings can bring the Kingdom. Only God can do that. But while we cannot produce the Kingdom by anything we do, we are still supposed to be living as citizens of that Kingdom. Our congregations are supposed to be provisional outposts of the Kingdom, living in ways that help the world catch a glimpse of God's coming day.

But I am very much a part of this day, of its economic structures and its inequalities. And I must admit that I often am at a loss as to how I can reconcile my citizenship in the Kingdom with my citizenship in a world that is far from that Kingdom. O God, please guide me in how I am to live in this world but not be of it.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Simon son of John, do you love me?" The risen Jesus asks this question to Peter three different times. Peter insists that he does, growing a bit more exasperated each time the question is repeated. And each time Peter says yes, Jesus commands him to feed his lambs or tend his sheep.

On one hand, the threefold pattern of this story conforms to Peter's threefold denial of Jesus just after his arrest. These verses seem to serve as a reinstatement, a rehabilitation forPeter. If other Christians had questions about him, thought his denial had disqualified him, here Jesus restores him as a shepherd of the flock.

But additionally, the pairing of love for Jesus with the command to care for others speaks to all Christians. As Jesus says before his death, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." And of course Jesus has given his disciples a "new commandment, that you love one another." And the word Jesus uses for "love" is not about feelings so much as it is about caring for others, giving oneself for others, etc.

Our culture often thinks of faith as a personal and private thing. But Jesus says that loving him shows up in our relationships with others. Lord, help me to love those you place in my life.

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Semon Thoughts on a Non-preaching Sunday

Today's gospel reading features another post resurrection appearance by Jesus. This one, in Luke's gospel, is just after the risen Jesus joined two of his followers on the "road to Emmaus." As the disciples receive a report from those Emmaus travelers, Jesus suddenly stands in their midst. And Luke makes a great deal about pointing out that Jesus is flesh and blood, going so far as to report that Jesus asks for and eats something, a piece of broiled fish.

Luke seems intent on not letting us miss the flesh and bones nature of resurrection. In our day, people often think of resurrection as virtually the same thing as life after death. But for Luke, resurrection is not about escaping fleshy existence, and the problem with this fallen world is not that we are made of fleshy substance. Jesus was quite able to dwell in human flesh, and the risen Jesus is flesh and blood, too.

Luke sends a powerful message to those who would locate all Christian hope off in some spiritual realm. God's kingdom is real, physical, not something wispy and ethereal. And we are called to give witness to God's power to redeem all creation, including flesh and blood.

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

" O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day." Those who are familiar with the Psalms will recognize the opening of Psalm 96. "A new song?" What's wrong with the old songs? Religion often seems enamored with the old and uncomfortable with the new. That certainly got Jesus in trouble. He even spoke of his good news as new wine that couldn't be held by old wineskins. Of course Jesus also said that his coming would not "abolish the law or the prophets," that "not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law." (I've always loved the King James translation that says "one jot or one tittle" will not pass away.)

It seems that faith which is true to the Bible must always wrestle with this tension between old and new. The traditions that we have should not be too easily dismissed simply because they are old. They are, after all, a repository of faithful living that have been handed down to us. But neither are traditions to be followed simply because they are old. That "old time religion" may have been good enough for a lot of our forbears, but that does not insure it is right for this time.

The Church Reformed, Always Being Reformed is the motto of my theological tradition. God, keep me in touch with those traditions that have sustained the faithful over the years. And help me to see where you are making all things new in Christ.

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