Sunday Sermon - "Scandalous Grace"

Musings on the Daily Lectionary - Presence

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name forever and ever.

Psalm 145:1-2

Each day the lectionary opens with morning psalms and concludes with evening psalms. But I must confess that I often skim over these. Some of the same psalms appear regularly so I've often seen them very recently, but I don't think that accounts for my tendency to ignore them. And I think my tendency is more pronounced with psalms like today's.

I don't know if it is the result of being Presbyterian, but I often read scripture with an eye to being informed. I want to find out more about God and faith and what it means for me to live a life of faith. There is much to be gained from reading the Bible in this manner, but it does tend to reduce faith to having enough information and the correct understanding of that information. But words like those above are simply about praise. They don't give information about God so much as they are a faithful poet's response to God.

I once heard a church consultant (Roy Oswald, I believe) speaking about mainline churches. And he said something along the lines of, "People come to us seeking an experience of God, and we give them information about God." Maybe I would do well to spend a bit less time trying to figure God out and a bit more time being open to God's presence. Maybe then I would find it easier to join the psalmist in praising God.

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Sunday Sermon - "Scandalous Grace"

The parable of the prodigal son is a favorite of many, but if we identify with the older brother, God's love can seem offensive. How far does God's love go? Answered with a little help from the novel, The Shack.

March 14 sermon.mp3

Luke 15:11-32

Scandalous Grace

James Sledge -- March 14, 2010

The parable of the prodigal son seems to be a favorite of many. There certainly is something warm and comforting about it. God’s love for us is tender and kindhearted, willing to embrace us despite our failings. Who wouldn’t like such a parable?

Well, the older brother for one, and perhaps some of the people to whom Jesus first spoke the parable. And maybe even us if we aren’t so quick to identify with the younger brother.

Many of us are quick to recognize and claim the generous grace found in this parable, but for some reason we often miss the offense, the scandal that accompanies that grace. The older brother tries to point it out to us. He stands outside the big party refusing to go in, refusing even to acknowledge that this person who has burned through the family inheritance with prostitutes and partying is his brother. But we just shake our heads at the older brother, hoping that he will somehow come around.

But what if we pressed the imagery of the parable a bit so that we might feel some of what the older brother feels. What if the younger brother is Bernie Madoff and we have lost our retirement in his scams? Should the father still welcome him back with open arms? What if the younger brother has committed terrible crimes, has murdered someone? Should the father still welcome him back? And what if we press this image to the limits of the imagination? What if the younger brother is Adolf Hitler, and as Berlin burns all around him he “came to himself” and says, “What have I done; what have I done!? Father I have sinned against humanity and you.” Should the father welcome him back?

Recently my wife and I took a short getaway to Florida to escape winter. When I go on vacations, I often pack a bunch of books I think I ought to read. Then I usually manage to leave every one of them unopened. And so this time I tried a more modest approach. I took a single book that I’ve been meaning to read for some time. Some of you may have read it. It’s called The Shack.

If you’re not familiar with it, the central character is a fellow around my age named Mackenzie. Mack, as his friends call him, has received a curious invitation to come spend a weekend at the shack where a still-at-large kidnapper murdered his youngest daughter a couple of years earlier. At first he thinks the invitation some sort of cruel hoax, but he gradually becomes convinced that the note in his mailbox is from God.

And so Mack heads to the shack for his weekend with God. I don’t want to spoil it for you if you’ve never read it so I’ll try not to reveal too much. (I highly recommend the book, by the way.) But I do want to share one of Mack’s experiences that particularly moved me. During his strange weekend at the shack, Mack has an encounter with a mysterious, beautiful woman in a long, flowing robe, like that of a judge.

As they speak, the conversation turns to Mack’s hurt and anger over his daughter’s murder, and his questions about how a good God could possibly allow such a thing to happen. As Mack’s anger builds, the woman tells him why he is with her, for judgment. At first Mack thinks he has died, but assured he is alive, he wonders what he is to be judged for, what he needs to repent of, but the woman explains that he will be the one doing the judging.

The idea seems preposterous to Mack, but the woman points out that he has a great deal of experience. He regularly judges the people around him. Mack has to admit to himself that he does indeed judge people all the time. But who is he to judge? “God… and the human race,” the woman replied the woman nonchalantly.

As Mack objects that he does not want to judge anyone, the woman prods him. “What about the greedy who feed off the poor of the world?... And what about the man who preys on innocent little girls? What about him, Mackenzie? Is that man guilty? Should he be judged?”

“Yes!” screams Mack.

The woman presses on, asking about the father of the man who had “twisted his son into a terror. How far do we go back, Mackenzie? This legacy of brokenness goes all the way back to Adam, what about him? But why stop there? God started the whole thing. Is God to blame?” The woman continues to bore in on Mack until in anger he bursts out, “Yes, God is to blame!”

“If you are able to judge God so easily, then certainly you can judge the world,” the woman continues. “You must choose two of your children to spend eternity in God’s new heavens and new earth, but only two.”

Mack objects but the woman continues, “And you must choose three of your children to spend eternity in hell.” As Mack begins to panic the woman calmly says, “Mackenzie, I am only asking you to do something that you believe God does.” The woman goes on to explain that God knows every person ever born much more deeply than Mack will ever know his children. And God loves every one of them out of that deep knowledge.

The woman continues to press in on Mack. If he thinks that God so easily judges God’s own children, surely Mack can judge his. One of them had been very troublesome of late. And what if one were to commit some heinous act? Mack continues to object but the woman will not relent. Finally Mack screams out, “I can’t. I can’t. I won’t!” The woman just looks at him. He looks at her, his own eyes pleading as he asks, “Could I go instead?” He falls at the woman’s feet pleading, “Please let me go for my children, please, I would be happy to… Please, I am begging you. Please…Please…”

And then it is over. The woman smiles at Mack and says, “Now you sound like Jesus. You have judged well, Mackenzie. I am so proud of you!”

“But I haven’t judged anything,” offeres a confused Mack.

“Oh, but you have. You have judged them worthy of love, even if it cost you everything. That is how Jesus loves.” And she explains that Mack now knows God’s heart.

Sometimes we use “child of God” like it’s a biological, innate thing. Biblically it is about God choosing us, adopting us in Christ. But God’s love isn’t just for folks like us. For God so loved the world… Every person is a child God longs to hold and love.

There’s a sign at a nearby church that reads, “Where everyone is a beloved child of God.” Sounds wonderful, but of course that makes us brothers and sisters with some unsavory sorts, criminals, dictators, scam artists, even Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. Hearts recoil at the thought. It is offensive. It is scandalous. Who would want such folk in their family? Who could love such folks? Who besides God?

In his teachings, Jesus frequently uses the image of a great banquet to describe God’s coming kingdom. It is just the sort of party we find in today’s parable with the best food and drink, with music and dancing and celebrating. But in our parable, one person, the older brother, refuses to attend. He will not celebrate with that no-good, scheming, thieving excuse for a human being that his father wants to claim as a beloved son.

None of our hearts is as big as God’s. And so it makes perfect sense that we are offended by God’s grace, that we would prefer God to judge rather than love the most unsavory of our fellow human beings. Surely love must have its limits.

But then again, would I really prefer that God’s heart, God’s love, become more like mine, more constricted, more limited, more conditional? Or might becoming a child of God be about my heart and your heart becoming more and more Christ-like, more and more like God’s so that we can share God’s astounding, amazing, even scandalous love and grace with all who need it, so we can offer that love to those who cannot imagine that it is for them, too.

All praise and glory to the God whose love is offered freely to all, even to me and you.

Musings on the Daily Lectionary - Daily Bread

Today's gospel is Mark's account of the feeding of the 5000. At least there were 5000 men, which I assume means there were a great deal more than 5000 folks all told. The several versions of this event are generally well known and well liked stories. They are also the subject of two very different sorts of interpretation. One, quite popular when I was growing up in the Church, spoke of a "miracle of sharing." Inspired by Jesus the crowds began to share the food they had hidden away in robes and knapsacks. And in the end, there was much more than was needed.

But another take on the story insists that Jesus miraculously produces all the food. It is a story about his divinity, they say. Jesus is able to give food to the hungry crowds in the wilderness just as God fed the Israelites with manna during their wilderness wanderings.

I tend to go more with the second interpretation, but I wonder if focusing on the mechanics of the miracle doesn't miss the point somehow. I can believe with all my heart that Jesus miraculously fed the 5000, but if I can't trust Jesus to provide what I truly need, what difference does that make?

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Thoughts on Faith - Glenn Beck and Social Justice

I have always suspected that Glenn Beck says outrageous things just to be outrageous, so I don't generally worry about responding to what he says. His recent comments about the Church may well be more outrage for outrageousness sake, but nonetheless he makes a bold assertion that can't go unchallenged.

"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"

Beck goes onto hold up a swastika and communist hammer and sickle as he insists that a concept dear to many Christians is simply code for communism and fascism. Now I have no idea what is behind Beck's assertions. I assume that he is a Christian. And I know that "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion." But some opinions are simply wrong, and I have to assume that Beck's opinion on social justice either ignores what it says in the Bible, or doesn't know what it says there.

My colleague Steve Lindsley (click here to read his blog) says in his blog that of the nearly 8000 verses found in Bible almost 2000 of them - roughly a quarter - address issues of social and economic justice. With so many verses there are lots to choose from, but since Steve's already done the research, here are some he listed.

If there is a poor man among you....you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand...but you shall freely open your hand to them, and generously lend them sufficient for their needs in whatever they lack (Deuteronomy 15:7)

I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor (Psalm 140:12)

Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also, do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, to the orphan or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place (Jeremiah 22:3)

Jesus said, Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:42)

Beck's outrageous statements about social justice clearly are not rooted in a firm knowledge of the Bible. But aside from his theatrics, Beck is simply doing what many of us do on a regular basis. Our Bible's, at least the ones we refer to in our minds, seem conveniently to be missing all the passages that might challenge our beliefs and certainties, our biases and prejudices, our political or economic leanings. Conservatives join conservative churches and liberals join liberal churches and we both selectively read the Scriptures to claim that we are the ones who got it right.

But once the Bible becomes a resource to be used in confirming what we already believe, is ceases to reveal God to us. Instead it becomes an instrument employed in proclaiming a God created in our own image.

But I can't find much hope in a God who is patterned on me or anyone else I know. I don't think the world is going to be saved by getting everyone to agree with me or with Glenn Beck. I think it much more hopeful to encounter a God who is not at all like us, who in Jesus returns love to those who kill him, who keeps sticking with humanity despite how hopeless we seem to be, and who promises to someday turn all human hearts so that we long to trust and follow God's ways rather than our own.

Find something on your church's website, or a sermon that offends you or concerns you? Before you take Glenn Beck's advice and "run as fast as you can," you might want to see if you have just encountered the God is not like you, and who is seeking to transform you into something more than you could ever be on your own.

Thoughts on Faith

"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

In today's gospel, Jesus journeys to his hometown and teaches in the synagogue on the Sabbath. At first the people are astounded at the words he speaks and the deeds he performs. But then they recall that they know Jesus. He's the carpenter, son of Mary and brother to James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and some unnamed sisters. "And they took offense at him. "

As we get to know people, we come to recognize certain patterns in their behavior and we have expectations of them. Hence we can sometimes say of someone, "She's just not herself today," meaning that she isn't acting in ways that conform to our expectations. And when Jesus returns to his hometown following his baptism and beginnings his ministry, he no longer fits into the categories and expectations his old neighbors have of him. They simply cannot make sense of this Jesus. They cannot fit what they see and hear into their previous understanding of who he is. And so they cannot accept or embrace him.

Most of us have small encounters of this sort from time to time. A friend or loved one surprises us, and we struggle to accept this part of them we've not seen or noticed before. Sometimes friendship, and even marriages, come to an end when someone cannot accept the "change" in the other.

Many of us also grow up and develop notions of who God is and how God should act. And quite often, Jesus surprises us and violates those expectations. At times I've wondered how often I may have missed God in my life because God came to me in ways I didn't expect.

I take it as an absolute given that God is far beyond our comprehension, and therefore much bigger than any of our expectations for how God should be or act. And so I suppose we should all expect to be surprised from time to time.

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Sunday Sermon - "It's Free!!"

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

I've always liked the story in today's gospel reading. Jesus is headed to the home of a religious leader to heal his daughter when a woman who has suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years touches him. She hopes to be healed without being noticed. Presumably she worries that people know she is "unclean" because of her illness. But Jesus doesn't let her remain anonymous. He realizes he has been touched, that healing power has gone out, and he seeks the woman out.

This frightens the woman but it need not. Jesus blesses what she has done, calling her "Daughter." The term has real significance. Her disease has not only impoverished her, her "unclean" status has cut her off from community. But Jesus designates her "Daughter," a member of the household. She has not only been healed, she has been restored to her place in the community, in the family.

In that sense her healing echoes what happens with Jarius, the synagogue leader. There a daughter is also restored, and a family is made whole. In one case it is an important leader in the community; in the other it is an unnamed, poor, unclean woman. But in both cases Jesus sets right and restores.

It is interesting how harsh and demanding religion, including my own notion of it, can sometimes seem. Yet surely we get terribly off track when we forget that first and foremost, Jesus came to restore, to heal, to make whole. And Jesus offered this healing and restoration freely to all. Oh that we all could have the heart of Jesus.

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Sunday Sermon - "It's Free!!"

We tend to think that if it's free, it's not worth anything. But the prophet calls exiles, and us, to come, buy food without money. Can we really trust ourselves to something we don't earn or deserve, to God's love offered as free gift?

March 7 sermon.mp3

Isaiah 55:1-9

It’s Free!!

James Sledge March 7, 2010

When I was twelve years old, my family moved out to “the country,” as we called it. It was old family land that had once been a farm. It had not been farmed in decades, but once we moved out there we were able to put up a fence so we could have horses. And we didn’t just have horses. We also had a pair of donkeys named Angelo and Annabelle.

Now how it was we acquired these donkeys probably qualifies as one of those “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” moments. Somehow my father had found out about an elderly woman who had seven or eight of them. I think she was moving into a retirement home, and so she was trying to find good homes for her pets. We took two.

We tried to ride them a few times, but that was generally a disaster. They either just sat there or they threw you off. And so they were little more than novelties or conversation pieces. They weren’t really good for anything. Well, they could bray so loudly that you could hear them for miles. And they were quite good at escaping.

Our horses would occasionally get out, but they would normally just eat the grass on the other side of the fence. The donkeys, on the other hand, would go on excursions. I bet I’m the only who got pulled out of school to go home to help catch the donkeys who were trotting down the road and startling drivers.

At some point the novelty wore off and we decided we should get rid of the donkeys. Now it was our turn to find them a good home. We told everybody and anybody that we were giving away donkeys. I think we even put an ad in the paper, but no takers. At some point, after trying to give them away for years, my parents decided to run a classified ad offering them for sale. They asked something like twenty-five dollars a piece for them, but you could get a deal and buy both for forty.

We had been trying to give them away for years, but they sold on the very first day the ad ran. And we got calls for a week from others interested in buying them. When they found out the donkeys had already been sold, some wanted to know if they’d been picked up yet, offering to pay us more than the advertised price if they could have them. Who would have ever thought it? A bidding war for our worthless donkeys.

Many of us have an innate suspicion that if something is free, it’s not worth anything. If we don’t have to earn it or pay for it, something is wrong. “There’s no free lunch,” goes the old saying. And yet, in our scripture for this morning the prophet shouts, You that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

These words are originally addressed to exiles in Babylon. The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and carried its people into exile some fifty years earlier. The Hebrews struggled to understand what it meant for God’s people to be defeated in such a manner. Were Babylon’s gods more powerful? Had Yahweh abandoned them? Was this their punishment for not living as God had called them to live? But now, after a half century of exile, the prophet begins to speak of rescue and restoration. God has not abandoned them. God is more powerful than Babylon. Draw near to Yahweh who is about to work salvation for Israel.

The image the prophet uses is that of the marketplace. If you’ve ever been to a third world country, you’ve likely seen something similar to what Isaiah has in mind. Vendors hawk their wares, vying for people’s attention. They call out, “Yo, look what I have. Wouldn’t you like some of these?” The market bustles as the vendors shout and buyers haggle over price.

But one vendor says, “Ho, look here.” You that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Now many of us have limited experience with markets of the sort Isaiah has in mind, but we know all about marketing and vendors hawking their wares. They assail us on our televisions, in the movie theater, in papers and magazines, and on our computer screens. “Ho, look here! Look at this! Can’t you see how cool or popular or happy this will make you? You know you have to have it.”

And we get caught up in the songs of the market. Yes, we do want that. Oh, yes, that will make us happy and popular; it will keep us from looking old; it will satisfy our longings and fill our insecurities.

But in the midst of all the songs of the market, one rings out a bit off key. “Ho, look here! I have what you really need, what will feed your deepest hungers and give you life at its fullest. And it is all free. Come, you with no money or you with a lot. Come, whoever you are.”

– But if it’s free, surely it’s not worth anything.

We Presbyterians, indeed most Protestants, speak of being put right with God by grace, a free gift from God. God offers us full and abundant life in Jesus, and it’s all free. But even thought we speak of grace, even though we sing of Amazing Grace, we don’t trust free gifts. If it’s really free, if people a lot worse than us can just get it, that doesn’t sound right. And so we turn it into something we deserve. We say that we get God’s grace if we believe the right things. We turn faith into the thing we do to get God’s love. Or we simply forget about grace altogether and say God loves us if we keep the rules and are good enough.

In case you haven’t noticed, I happen to be a man, male in gender, and I share a problem with some other males; I’m not all that good at relationships. That can be a problem in general, but it is also a faith problem. I’m pretty good at studying the Bible and figuring out what it might mean, but having a relationship with God is something else. Having a deep, intimate relationship with God means realizing and trusting how much God loves me, a love that is like that of a mother or a father, freely given without strings attached, a love that desires only the best for me, that longs for me to sense that love and come to it. But I keep making faith about figuring out the intricacies of the Bible or plumbing the depths of the most difficult theological concepts… my own version of being good enough.

But Jesus says, Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

And in the midst of all the clamoring voices of our age that claim to have the answer or the product or the possession that will make us happy, fulfilled and content, a voice cries out. “Ho, look here.” Everyone who thirsts come to the water. You that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Come to the table, whoever you are. Find here God’s grace poured out for all, God’s love that embraces you, that longs for you, simply because God loves you.

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

I am prone to associate God with the big and the grand, but in today's gospel reading, Jesus says that the kingdom, God's coming rule, is like a tiny mustard seed from which grows a large plant. Actually Jesus twice speaks of the kingdom as being like seeds, and I can't help wondering about the small things around us that are seeds of the kingdom, even if they look little like the kingdom in its final form.

I also wonder about all the opportunities that I have, that we all have, to scatter seed. Any time we do not stand by silently in the face of injustice, any time we act in ways that help others even though there is no personal benefit for ourselves, any time we return kindness when we have been hurt or wronged, any time we choose to love someone we would rather hate, another seed of the kingdom falls to the earth.

Such acts may seem far too small and insignificant to make any difference in the world, and on their own this is likely true. But when God waters and gives growth to these seeds...

You've probably seen the bumper sticker urging people to "Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty." I think Jesus would smile at this bumper sticker. Random and senseless speak to something without much seemingly practical purpose, and the tiny seeds of the kingdom can seem quite impractical, in no way a match for all that is broken, hurting, and oppressive in our world. But Jesus says the kingdom begins in just such impractical ways.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

I've been away for almost a week, on vacation in Miami. While there I did something I've almost never done. I read a book while sitting on the beach. I usually spend any beach time playing in the waves, but the water was a bit chilly, so I read. And the book I had brought was The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young.

I know that I came to the party a bit late on this one. A lot of you probably read it some time ago, but I had not gotten around to it. The beach provided a perfect opportunity however, and once I started it I had a hard time putting it down.

Something about Mack, the main character in the book, resonated with me, and I found his experiences at the shack very illuminating. Through them he moved from knowing a lot about God (or at least thinking he knew a lot about God) to developing a relationship with God that allowed him to entrust himself fully to God's care.

For me, trust and faith are often fairly mechanical things. I believe them on a certain level and even act on those beliefs at times. But I'm not sure I would usually describe my faith in terms of relationship and intimacy with God, and watching Mack journey toward intimacy with God was very moving to me.

I think I will always be a theologian at heart, and so I mean no slight to theologians or theology by this. But I wonder if I could sometimes do with a bit less theologizing and a bit more relating. I wonder if I don't need to spend less time considering and contemplating God, and more time connecting to God. And I also wonder exactly how I go about that.

Click here to learn more about the Daily Lectionary.