Musings on the Daily Lectionary

In today's reading from Luke, 10 lepers approach Jesus, asking his help. Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. Presumably this implies that they will be healed. When "unclean" became "clean" again, this needed to be certified by the priests. On their way to the priests, "they were made clean." One of the 10 comes running back, praising God, and falling at Jesus' feet to thank him. "And he was a Samaritan."

That line may not be so startling as it was nearly 2000 years ago. But as Jesus himself notes, Samaritans were foreigners. They were also considered to be vile by most Jews of that day. But this despised outsider is commended for his faith by Jesus. "Your faith has made you well." The word Jesus uses here is different from the earlier word saying he was "made clean." This word literally means "saved" and is often translated that way. It also has connotations of wholeness. And so by faith this outsider has not only been cleansed but has been made whole, saved, become a part of the people of God.

Last night at our session meeting (that's the governing board of a Presbyterian Church) we discussed a passage from Romans where Paul writes that we have "received a spirit of adoption." Brett, the other pastor here, recalled a family in his home church that had a large number of adopted children, children from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. We noted how different adopted families can look from biological ones, and we recalled how the Church is a family of adoptees. Christian faith is supposed to be a big tent, a diverse family of all sorts of people. It's there in our gospel verses today, and it's there in the famous words from Paul, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

Paul cites the primary divisions of his world, insisting that all divisions have been undone by this adoption that we have in Jesus. And so it seems to me that when our congregations mirror the divisions of the world, divisions of race, ethnicity, class, and so on, we fail to live out our calling to be something new, to live out the oneness we have in Jesus.

O God, may our congregations become places of welcome and diversity that fully reflect the family of our adoption in Jesus Christ.

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Sunday Sermon: "Transitions and Identity"

Other than birth, we often think of our identities as fashioned by the transitions we accomplish, such as graduation. But what of those transitions that happen to us, such as the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

There is a popular image of Jesus as meek, mild, and saccharin sweet. Certainly Jesus is loving and kind, but he can also be very demanding of those who follow him. "Let them deny themselves and take up their cross... For those who want to save their life will lose it." And then from today's gospel, "And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive... So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

Now it is likely that the term "worthless slaves" was less harsh to the ears of Jesus' first hearers than it is to ours. "Worthless" may here refer to a slave who is owed nothing and not be a value judgment on the person's character. But even so, there is nothing sweet and saccharin about what Jesus says.

One of the difficulties with following Jesus is the need to handle the paradox of Christian faith. On the one hand, God's grace is freely offered to us in Jesus. Forgiveness, wholeness, peace with God, and true community with others are ours for the receiving. But at the same time, followers of Jesus are called to live out Jesus' teachings, to do the will of God, to love Jesus more than family or life itself.

Most of us don't like paradoxes. We want to resolve them, usually by embracing one side of the paradox or the other. Some emphasize the obedience side of the Christian life. For them faith is primarily a matter of keeping the rules, remaining pure, walking the straight and narrow. Others emphasize the grace side. For them faith is primarily a matter of freely accepting God's love and offering it to others. And both these groups often see the other as perverting faith.

But as uncomfortable as paradoxes can be, resolving the faith paradox simply doesn't work. It cannot be grace or obedience, love or law. Somehow it must be both. May God help us live faithfully in the tension of this paradox.

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Sermon for May 31: "Transitions and Identity"

Other than birth, we often think of our identities as fashioned by the transitions we accomplish, such as graduation. But what of those transitions that happen to us, such as the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Sermon for May 31.mp3

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

My denomination has struggled for many years now over the issue of ordaining those who are in same sex relationships. As Presbyterians, we tend to argue the issue over how we interpret the Bible. People of deep faith have very different but sincerely held views on what Scripture says on this issue. That is not to say, however, that this issue arose because it figures so prominently in biblical texts.

Why for example, has our denomination never fought about whether or not to ordain people who are greedy. The Bible has considerably more to say about this topic. Jesus spoke on how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom, and Old and New Testament regularly condemn greed and especially how the rich exploit the poor.

Today's reading from Ezekiel is a case in point. The prophet speaks of God judging between sheep, that is between the different people of Israel, and it is the rich who appear to be in danger. "Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture?.. Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep."

When it comes to the Bible, most all of us seem remarkably adept at grabbing those verses that support our positions and ignoring those which don't. And I can think of no real reason for the issue of gay ordination to become the line in the sand issue when it comes to following the Bible, except that a majority of Presbyterians feel safe that they can stay on the "correct" side of the line. But if the issue is greed or God's preferential care of the poor, that's less clear, and we dare not set up any clear cut standards on these.

An adult Sunday School class at our congregation has be reading A Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs, which recounts a man's attempt to follow literally what the Bible says. It makes for interesting reading. And it just might make us all think about how we choose which parts of the Bible we will actually follow.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

I've always marveled at the way Jesus answers questions posed to him. Today's "Good Samaritan" reading from Luke is a good example. (The striking contrast of the words "good" and "Samaritan" is pretty much lost on modern people who don't think of Samaritans as a despised, inferior, ethnic group.) The parable is well know, though I suspect people often forget the context. A lawyer -- that is, an authority in religious law -- asks Jesus about what one must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus simply asks this lawyer what the Law says, and quite naturally he is able to quote a good synopsis of the Law. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus concurs and suggest the lawyer do so. But the lawyer presses the issue asking, "And who is my neighbor?" This is the question that provokes Jesus to tell the parable of the "Good Samaritan," the tale of a surprising hero who tends to the needs of a beaten and battered man who has been ignored by a priest and a Levite. And at the end of the parable Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" The answer is obvious, but, of course, this does not actually answer the lawyer's original question.

The lawyer knows he is to love, to do good, to his neighbor. But he is looking for limits, for who falls outside some boundary. In essence, the lawyer's questions is, "Who do I not have to love?" But Jesus turns the question on its head. To a question about who is outside the boundary, Jesus tells as story about an outsider who acts like a neighbor. To the question, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus answers, "Be a neighbor."

We Christians engage in seemingly endless fights over what the Bible tells us to do or not do. And we have justified a fair amount of evil and hate from our readings of the Bible. Now clearly I would not be a Presbyterian pastor if I did not think the Bible had answers. But what if, like that lawyer, we're asking the wrong questions?

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Following the successful and joyful return of the 70, Jesus "rejoiced in the Holy Spirit," saying, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will."

Hidden from the wise and intelligent... The sentiment Jesus expresses is hardly unique. It is a regular occurrence in both Old and New Testament. It's not as though I just noticed that, but I have found such statements more striking lately. I'm especially struck by their contrast with my Presbyterian tradition, so enamored of education and learning.

Now I have no real plans to abandon my tradition's emphasis on studying Scripture and seeking to discern God's will through it. After all, my tradition insists that the Bible becomes God's word to us only through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and that refers to the Spirit's work both in inspiring the biblical writers and helping me hear what God wants me to hear, to speak anew and afresh from ancient texts.

But in practice I wonder how often I and others make much room for the Spirit's work. Beyond what I can learn by studying a passage's context, by utilizing my rudimentary proficiency at Greek or Hebrew, by consulting commentaries from eminent scholars, where do I open myself to God's revealing, that gracious outpouring granted to infants and denied the wise and intelligent?

God, open my heart to what you would reveal.

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Sermon for May 24, "Loving the World"

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

In today's reading from Luke, Jesus appoints seventy followers and sends them in pairs to all the towns he plans to visit. He tells them, "Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' " Those who do not welcome them are treated with disdain, although they too are told, "the kingdom of God has come near."

It had never really hit me until I was reading these words this morning how welcome is the only criterion Jesus applies. He does not say to cure the sick of those who believe your message, but of those who welcome you.

The Bible places a great deal more importance on welcome and hospitality than we do. They are much more than social graces. And biblical welcome was not always easy. It could mean housing strangers who were traveling through your village. That sort of welcome was precisely what "the seventy" would need in order to have lodging on their journey.

What if Jesus were to judge me, not on how well I understand doctrine, know the Bible, or believe the correct things, but on how welcoming I am?

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Sermon for May 24, "Loving the World"

Comedian Jerry Clower once said, "Some people are so heavenly minded, they ain't no earthly good." In today's gospel (John 17:6-19), Jesus says that his followers "do not belong to the world," but this may not mean what it seems. And Jesus may just agree with Jerry Clower.

Sermon for May 24.mp3

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Today's gospel reading comes from the ending of Matthew, the story of what is often called "The Great Commission." The disciples, as instructed by the women who found the empty tomb on Easter, have gone to Galilee where they meet the risen Jesus. "When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." Jesus then proceeds to send them out to make disciples of all peoples.

When I was in seminary, one of the first big papers I had to write was on this passage, and I had to provide my own translation of it from the original Greek. My version of the above verse was, "When they saw him, they worshiped him; but they doubted." Now I would never claim to be a Greek scholar, but the person who graded my paper, noted New Testament scholar, Jack Kingsbury, did not object to this translation. And it is what the Greek literally says.

I am taken by the notion that all the disciples worshiped but also doubted. I'm even more taken by the fact that Jesus commissions these folks anyway. I've talked with many in the church who seem to view faith as the absence of doubt. But here Jesus sends out the disciples to make new disciples by baptizing and teaching, even though they apparently still have doubts of their own.

Presbyterian minister and writer Frederick Buechner says that doubt is "the ants in the pants of faith." Maybe we would all do well to embrace our doubts a bit more. After all, we do live in world where religious certainties lead to all sorts of hate, violence, and war in the name of God, even in the name of the God who in Jesus spoke of loving enemies and forgiving those who killed him.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

I saw this Twitter post a few weeks ago from a person traveling in Africa. "Observation from Ethiopia. There is no correlation between material possessions and happiness. None." Most of us have probably heard similar things. The 1897 poem "Richard Corey" spoke of a refined, charming, wealthy man whom everyone envied who went home one evening and "put a bullet through his head." Simon and Garfunkel used the poem as the basis of a hit song. And even after Richard Corey is dead the chorus sings, "But I work in his factory, And I curse the life I'm living, And I curse my poverty, And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory."

All of us have heard that money and possession don't buy happiness. But we don't believe it, even when Jesus tells us so. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing."

What is it that makes life good, meaningful, fulfilling? Jesus says that it comes from letting go of our worries and striving for God's Kingdom, which I take to mean working for love, justice, peace, healing, the end of poverty, etc. Now if I could just trust Jesus enough to really believe it.

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