Sunday Sermon: "Who's In and Who's Out?"

In the Law given to Israel at Mt. Sinai, eunuchs are banned from being a part of "the assembly of Yahweh." Yet God's amazing and surprising love reaches out to a eunuch in today's reading from Acts 8:26-40. God's love in Jesus regularly shatters the boundaries that we think are sacrosanct .

Sermon, 5-10.mp3

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

One of today's psalms, Psalm 148, is one of those Let everything praise the LORD psalms. Angels, sun, moon, stars, waters, sea monsters, hail, snow, mountains, trees, wild animals, birds, kings, princes, men, women, young, and old are all called to praise Yahweh. It is an extravagant explosion of praise, and the psalmist clearly thinks that such an extravagant explosion is natural, an obvious reaction in gratitude for all that God has done.

It struck me the other day -- I don't know if this is an original thought or if I'm simply remembering something someone else said -- that most of the things we feel proud about should instead be cause for gratitude, for thanksgiving. Proud to be an American? What did I do to become an American other than be born? Proud of my accomplishments? Aren't they largely the results of gifts I received, both those that are innate to me such as intellect and abilities, along with opportunities for education provided by parents and situation?

I don't for one second mean to denigrate the hard work of people. Who we are is always a combination of the gifts we received and what we do with them. But is seems there is a natural human tendency to take credit for our efforts without acknowledging the gifts.

John Calvin, my tradition's most significant forebear, said that the primary motivation for the Christian life is gratitude. Not fear, not desire to get something, but gratitude. I think Calvin would have thought that what we do with the gifts and opportunities handed to us is our way of saying thanks, our way of praising God.

May all that I do in some way give you praise, O God.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Two very different newspaper columns caught my attention this morning. In the first, Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. wrote about how people of faith were more likely to support torturing terror suspects than those with no religious affiliation. And he noted how non-Christians are often the ones who take hard or dangerous stands rooted in moral principle while many Christians choose to remain silent. Think German Christians during the Holocaust, or white, Southern Christians during the Civil Rights era.

Now sometimes those of us in the more liberal parts of the Christian fold want to claim that Pitts' criticisms fall harder on more conservative Christians. (White, evangelical Christians were the group with the highest level of support for torture.) But if we liberals fare better by some measures, on others we do not. We often want to trumpet how inclusive we are, how open to others of differing viewpoints, and what lovers of diversity we are. But I was reminded of how hypocritical we can be about this by -- of all things -- Rob Oller's sports column in today's Columbus Dispatch. He wrote, "It is an irony of our age: Those who preach tolerance show intolerance toward those they deem to be not tolerant enough." I have often observed a similar behavior amongst us liberal pastors. When we speak of being inclusive, that inclusiveness often extends in only one direction, to those more liberal than ourselves.

In today's reading from Luke 6, Jesus says, "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite... Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you?"

Why is it that many of us find it so easy to take Jesus' name, to call ourselves Christians, but also find it so easy to ignore what Jesus says to us? Lord, help me see myself as I truly am. And help me to become what you would have me be.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

I've written before about the cavalier, overly casual way many of us approach God, as if God were our co-equal or our buddy. But while I think we would do well to recover a sense of awe about God, I would not want us to imagine God as simply distant, powerful, and terrifying. Both Old and New Testaments of the Bible insist that the awesome God who created heaven and earth is deeply concerned for all creation, as verses from one of today's psalms attest. "God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds... God covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills. God gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry." (Psalm 147)

Over and over the Bible is quite clear that God cares deeply for us. And while the life of Jesus' shows that God's love does not mean that life will always be a piece of cake, a basic, fundamental claim of the faith is that God loves us and wants good for us. What could be more wonderful? As the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans, "If God is for us, who is against us?"

Amidst all the uncertainties and vagaries of life, what a wonderful thing to fall back on. God is for us. God loves us. Thanks be to God!

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Luke's version of the Beatitudes has never been as popular as the one found in Matthew. Not only are the poor simply the poor, not the "poor in spirit," but there is a corresponding list of woes. Here is a portion of today's gospel. "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh... But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep."

Does God really care more for the poor? Does God really place a curse (that's what a biblical woe is) on the rich and those who are laughing? If so, then I sure seem to work pretty hard to get myself under a curse.

The Bible is a complex document, and it is filled with metaphor and hyperbole. But these verses are still startling. And it seems to me that the more literally one reads the Bible, the more problematic these words become. I am no biblical literalist, but nonetheless, the verses surely say something about God's priorities. So why do my priorities seem so different?

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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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