A certain lord kept a fool or jester in the house as great men did in olden times for their amusement. This lord gave a staff to his fool and told him to keep it until he met a greater fool than himself, and if he met such a person, a greater fool, he should give him the staff.
Not many years later, the lord fell sick. His fool came to see him and was told of the lord’s illness. The fool asked, “Whither wilt thou go?” “On a long journey,” said the lord. “And when wilt thou come back again,” asked the fool, “within a month?” “No,” said the master. “Within a year?” asked the fool. “No, never,” responded the master. “And what provisions hast thou made for thy long journey?” asked the fool. “None at all,” replied the master.
“Thou meanest thou art dying, going way forever,” said the fool, “and thou hast made no provisions before thy departure? No plans, no nothing? Here, take my staff for I am not guilty of any folly as that. Thou art a greater fool than I am.”
Are you like the master, a fool, because you have not planned for that last journey? Harsh though it sounds, that is the statement in our Gospel lesson for this week. It speaks about being ready for the coming of Christ. It speaks of our Hope.
As Paul wrote to the Romans, “…we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. …we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:22-25).
Not long before his death, Henri Nouwen wrote a book entitled “Sabbatical Journeys,” in which he wrote about some friends of his who were trapeze artists, called the Flying Roudellas. They told Nouwen that there is a special relationship between the flyer and catcher on the trapeze. This relationship is governed by important rules, such as “The flyer is the one who lets go, and the catcher is the one who catches.” As the flyer swings on the trapeze high above the crowd, the moment comes when he must let go. He flings his body out in mid-air. His job is to keep flying and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to take hold of him at just the right moment. One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen, “The flyer must never try to catch the catcher.” The flyer’s job is to wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him, but he must wait.
Nouwen said, “Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.” Waiting is not a static state, it is a time when God is working behind the scenes, and the primary focus of his work is on us. I like Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Romans 8:24, “Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. God is creating his life within us, and we must wait for it to come to full term.”
The second point is we are to wait expectantly. Gary Preston tells a story in his book “Character Forged from Conflict,” that illustrates how we are to wait. He writes: “Back when the telegraph was the fastest means of long-distance communication, there was a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a young man who applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large noisy office. In the background a telegraph clicked away. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed the job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man completed the form and sat down with several other waiting applicants. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. Why had this man been so bold? They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They took more than a little satisfaction in assuming the young man who went into the office would be reprimanded for his presumption and summarily disqualified for the job. Within a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, ‘Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man.’ The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and then one spoke up, ‘Wait a minute! I don’t understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair.’ The employer replied, ‘All the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out this message in Morse code: “If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.” None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. So the job is his.’”
The young man got the job because he was not just waiting – all the others were waiting – but he was waiting expectantly. We, you and I, are all sitting in the waiting room. But it is how we wait, and what we do with the waiting, that is important. Waiting does not mean just sitting down and doing nothing. You have to be watching and looking for God to fulfill His promise. You have to believe He is going to do it. We could miss what He is doing because we are just waiting without expecting God to really come through.
Finally, Jesus is reminding us that we are accountable to Him for the faith lives which we live. Our Lord challenges us to be faithful at all times as we walk our journey of trusting in Him. Our faith is not something which we turn on and off, but something which is always prevalent in our lives. Jesus wants us to be accountable in our faithfulness, a faithfulness based on the promises of God as we find them in the Bible and we are asked to have the same kind of reliance. The Gospel message is essentially a promise for our lives in which we are asked to believe.
It is like the following: Far away in a desert stands a water pump in the sand. You are alone, your canteen is empty and you come upon that pump. Tied to it is a hand written sign put there by some pilgrim. The sign reads, “I have buried a bottle of water to prime the pump. Don’t drink any of it. Pour in half of it to wet the leather. Wait, and then pour in the rest. Then pump. The well has never run dry, but the pump must be primed to bring the water up. Have faith, believe. When you are through drawing the water, fill the bottle and bury it in the sand for the next traveler.”
Having come upon this pump in the desert with this sign and being out of water, what would you do??? Will you dig up the water bottle and drink from it?? Or will you believe and believing, dare to pour that water, every drop of it into the old ‘trusty’ pump?? Because you trust, you take a risk, both for yourself and for the next person who will pass that way. What will you do???
Will you be faithful in the written promises of God? God has promised through Christ to care for us, to redeem us, to provide for us in His unique way. Faithfulness calls us to rely on God’s promises for our lives not ours. Faith is trust. Faith is trusting in God’s promises each day, because we are accountable for our faithfulness at all times when we need it and when we don’t. Confidence in God’s promises is a way of life. We are held accountable for the way we live and because we believe and trust we will want to live a faithful life.
Let me close with another story. A man owned a little grocery store. It was the week before Christmas, when a tired-looking woman came in and asked for enough food to make a Christmas dinner for her small family. The grocer asked her how much she could spend. “My husband did not come back; he was killed in the War and I have nothing to offer but a little prayer,” she answered.
The grocer was not very sentimental or religious, so he said half mockingly, “Write it on paper and I’ll weigh it.” To his surprise, the woman took a piece of paper from the pocket of her dress and handed it to the man saying, “I wrote it during the night while watching over my sick baby.”
The grocer took the paper before he could recover from his surprise and, because other customers were watching and had heard his remarks, he placed the unread prayer on the weight side of his old-fashioned scales. Then he began to pile food on the other side, but to his amazement, the scale would not go down.
He became angry and flustered and finally said, “Well, that’s all the scale will hold. Here’s a bag, you’ll have to put it in yourself. I’m busy.” With trembling hands, the woman filled the bag and through moist eyes expressed her gratitude and departed.
When the store was empty of customers, the grocer examined the scales. They were broken and they had become broken just in time for God to answer the woman’s prayer. As the years passed, the grocer wondered about the incident. Why did the woman come at that particular time? Why had she already written the prayer in such a way as to confuse him so that he did not examine the scales.
Years went by and the grocer never saw the woman again. Yet he remembered her more than any of his customers. He came to treasure the slip of paper upon which the woman’s prayer had been written – simple words, but from a heart of faith. They said, “Please, Lord, give us this day our daily bread.”
The lady’s written prayer was a great act of faithfulness. She believed God would provide and He was true. She didn’t know exactly how God would do it, however, the unique circumstances of the story with the scales being broken, people in the store, and the frustration of the grocer all lead to God’s way of providing for this young mother.
The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. But we are called to live in the present, waiting in hope, waiting expectantly, and waiting faithfully as He has called us to serve with that which has been gifted us.
Amen.
August 12, 2009
August 3, 2009
July 29, 2009 + “Where Is Your Investment Account?” (Luke 12:13-21) + Hayward Fong
Did you know you can purchase almost anything on eBay these days? About a year ago an Australian man sold his complete life – his home, his possessions, his job and his friends – the bidding reached L 400,000. About the same time a 20 year old student in the USA put his ‘soul’ up for sale on eBay. The bidding went to $400 before eBay removed the ad. What value would you place on your life this morning? If a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck when you arrive home today, what would you grab? How do you value a life? How do you measure what your life is worth? In buying life insurance, you think of the needs of those you leave behind, your family, meaningful organizations in your life, etc.
To the classical Greek world the division between soul and body was commonly accepted, as it is today. To the Hebrew mind, and to the Christian mind, such a division was, and is, unthinkable. For the Judeo-Christian mind it is impossible to separate the soul from the body. The Hebrew word ‘nepes’- the self, was a whole person, indivisible in parts and it is that understanding that we must keep in mind as we turn to this parable.
If we go back to the beginning of this Chapter, you will find that Jesus is teaching a crowd of many thousands. From the crowd a voice is raised above the others and asks the question of verse 13. ‘Teacher’ is Luke’s word for ‘Rabbi’ and the man in the crowd assumes he is addressing a legal expert. He asks Jesus a question concerning inheritance. Notice what he does not say in his question. He does not say that he and his brother are quarrelling over money and that he does not want this to get out of hand and destroy their relationship; therefore for the sake of their brotherly relationship would Jesus intervene and reconcile them. On the contrary, he says something like this, “Rabbi, my brother is in the wrong and therefore he should give me my rights.”
The words of this man, the demands that he makes, indicate that he and his brother had already been estranged because of the issue. The assumption behind the request is clear. The father had died without leaving a will or instructions, so according to the law of the time, the estate could not be divided until the older brother agreed. The fact that this man wants his inheritance would lead us to conclude that he was a younger brother. The petitioner had already decided what would be a just outcome of his request. But he doesn’t know Jesus!
In verse 14, Jesus addresses the questioner as ‘Man’ which was a form of address which denotes displeasure in the Middle East. He refuses to be judge between these two men and proceeds to explain why. He uses the question as a teaching opportunity, not just for the benefit of the man who had asked the question but for all who would hear.
Verse 15 gives us a clear warning about the insatiable desires of possessions. Possessions are attached to a deep, often irrational fear, that one day we will not have enough. There is always that gnawing fear that one day it will all be gone and it is never satisfied. Why, because the insecurity is never dealt with. Jesus warns the man, and us, that the measure of life is more than possessions. The amount that you have is no measure of the value of your life. Note how Jesus describes this desire for possessions – ‘greed.’ Greed is never satisfied; it never has enough. Jesus then moves on to tell them this parable, a strange and challenging story, to illustrate this general point.
Many of us may find this parable uncomfortable because, in America at least, we are considered wise if we hold onto our surplus and lay it up for the ‘rainy day.’ This is called ‘financial planning.’ The other tendency is to use our surplus to acquire more extravagant consumer goods. This could be called ‘upgrading.’ The ‘rich man’ in the parable, who could count up his amassed fortune and sit back and relax, living well off the interest, is the model for American retirement. Jesus shows us this ‘rich man’ in a very different way that convicts us all.
The man in this parable is already rich. He had what he needed for daily life and more than a little bit more. He did not work any harder for this bumper harvest that had arrived this year. It was not by the sweat of his brow or the toil of his labors that his fields yielded more than any other year. But listen to what he says in vs. 17-19. Let me read them again for you. “… and he thought to himself, ‘what shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this; I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’”
Did you notice that at the very beginning, ‘he thought to himself’? This would have come as a shock to those listening to Jesus that day. In the Middle East people make important decisions after long discussions with their friends. Everybody’s business is everybody’s business in such village life. Sometimes even trivial decisions are only made after discussion with family and friends; but if appears from Jesus’ account that this man had no friends. The literal translation as noted by commentators is that ‘he dialogued with himself.’ What a sad scene is depicted in those words – he had riches but he was alone. Isaiah 5:8 warned about the dangers of wealth – this man had paid no heed to the warning and was alone, with no one to discuss what he should do with this bumper harvest. How sad!
“What shall I do (with my crop)?” This man believes that this harvest is his. He shows absolutely no awareness that this harvest is a gift from God. He has a plan, but notice how self-centered it all is. He made no mention of the effort of the farm hands. It is all ‘I, I, I along with my, my, my - my crops, my bars, my grain, my goods, my soul.
It has been said that Jesus came to banish the words “I” and “mine” from life and to substitute “we” and “ours.” It is certainly significant that in the Lord’s Prayer the first person singular never appears; it is always the first person plural. Self is banished and man is taught to think of himself as one of a community of brothers and sisters.
The ancient monks of the Middle East may have made many mistakes in their outlook on life, but they had one custom worthy of emulation. It was laid down that no monk might ever speak of “my” book, “my” pen, “my” cell, and to use the word was regarded as a fault demanding rebuke and discipline.
This man remembered the first part of Ecclesiastes 8:15 to eat, drink, and be merry, but he failed to heed or chose to ignore the latter part of the verse – ‘it is God who gives the days of life to man.’ This man believed that a man made in the image of God can be ultimately satisfied with eating, drinking and being merry. What a fool he is? One of Lucy’ favorite hymns is formed with words from Psalm 42:1-2, ‘the soul of man thirsts for God just as the soul of a deer thirsts for water.’ St. Augustine stated, ‘my soul is restless till it finds its rest in thee.’ This rich man believed his soul would find rest, satisfaction, in the storing of the abundance of his wealth in bigger barns.
His plan is not God’s plan. God announces that this man’s soul is forfeited that very night and the goods that he was planning to store, and satisfy his soul with, would be left for someone else to enjoy. A commentary notes that in the Greek, there is a subtle play on words. The man, following the teaching of Ecclesiastes, plans to ‘make merry’ or ‘rejoice’ which is the Greek word ‘euphraino’ (from which we get the word euphoria), but God called him ‘aphron’- they sound almost identical when spoken. He thought he would ‘rejoice’ but God said he was a ‘fool.’ He learned, too late, that his soul is not his, but a gift from God. In fact the language used by Jesus here denotes the repayment of a loan. His soul was not his, but God’s and God has called it in. The question now becomes, who will inherit the man’s wealth? We turn again to the Book of Ecclesiastes (2:18-19), “I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me; and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.” In this parable God reminds this rich man and us of this other gem of wisdom.
It may well be said that the most dangerous word is the word, “tomorrow.” It may be a grim thought but a necessary one. We have no bond on time. No one knows if tomorrow will ever come. There is an old story of three apprentice devils that were coming from hell to earth to serve their time. They were telling Satan before they left what they proposed to do. The first said, “I will tell men that there is no God.” “That,” Satan said, “will not do because in their hearts they know there is.” The second said, “I will tell them that there is no hell.” That,” Satan said, “is still more hopeless for even in life they have experienced the remorse of hell.” The third said, I will tell them that there is no hurry.” “Go,” said Satan, “tell them that and you will ruin them by the millions.”
The rich fool forgot time. It is said that Alexander the Great kept a little model of a skeleton on the table before him to remind him that, even at the happiest, time was short and death must come. It is a thing that all of us must remember, not simply as a grim and frightening thing, but as a challenge to prepare ourselves for taking a step to a greater work and a higher world and a life in the presence of God.
Jesus concludes this parable with another general principle. The young man had come demanding his share of the wealth of his father but Jesus turns his attention to his wealth with God. Whether the inheritance was under the control of his brother or them both, ultimately it was under the control of God. Ultimately it belonged to God and was on loan to them.
You know it would be easy for us all to dismiss this parable. You may say to me, “Hayward, I’m not rich like this man. I’m not about to knock down barns and build bigger ones. I have no bumper crops this year or for that matter any year. And haven’t you heard of the credit crunch? Get real, Hayward!”
If you have money in the bank, money in your purse and you have spare change in the dish at home, then at this moment you are among the wealthiest 8% of the world’s population. If you went to school while growing up and learned to read, you’re better off than 2 billion people in today’s world. If you have food at home, have shelter, a bed to sleep on, you are wealthier than 75% of the world’s population.
I could continue with these comparisons, but what I want to do is leave these thoughts for you to ponder: If God demanded your soul of you right now, where would your wealth/treasure be stored? Are you the blessed who has stored up treasure in heaven? Or are you the ‘rich fool’ before God whose material possessions are keeping you off the road to heaven? God will demand an accounting from each of us, but we don’t know when He will call in His chips. This young man came asking about material wealth and Jesus turned his eyes to his eternal wealth. Where is your investment account?
Amen.
To the classical Greek world the division between soul and body was commonly accepted, as it is today. To the Hebrew mind, and to the Christian mind, such a division was, and is, unthinkable. For the Judeo-Christian mind it is impossible to separate the soul from the body. The Hebrew word ‘nepes’- the self, was a whole person, indivisible in parts and it is that understanding that we must keep in mind as we turn to this parable.
If we go back to the beginning of this Chapter, you will find that Jesus is teaching a crowd of many thousands. From the crowd a voice is raised above the others and asks the question of verse 13. ‘Teacher’ is Luke’s word for ‘Rabbi’ and the man in the crowd assumes he is addressing a legal expert. He asks Jesus a question concerning inheritance. Notice what he does not say in his question. He does not say that he and his brother are quarrelling over money and that he does not want this to get out of hand and destroy their relationship; therefore for the sake of their brotherly relationship would Jesus intervene and reconcile them. On the contrary, he says something like this, “Rabbi, my brother is in the wrong and therefore he should give me my rights.”
The words of this man, the demands that he makes, indicate that he and his brother had already been estranged because of the issue. The assumption behind the request is clear. The father had died without leaving a will or instructions, so according to the law of the time, the estate could not be divided until the older brother agreed. The fact that this man wants his inheritance would lead us to conclude that he was a younger brother. The petitioner had already decided what would be a just outcome of his request. But he doesn’t know Jesus!
In verse 14, Jesus addresses the questioner as ‘Man’ which was a form of address which denotes displeasure in the Middle East. He refuses to be judge between these two men and proceeds to explain why. He uses the question as a teaching opportunity, not just for the benefit of the man who had asked the question but for all who would hear.
Verse 15 gives us a clear warning about the insatiable desires of possessions. Possessions are attached to a deep, often irrational fear, that one day we will not have enough. There is always that gnawing fear that one day it will all be gone and it is never satisfied. Why, because the insecurity is never dealt with. Jesus warns the man, and us, that the measure of life is more than possessions. The amount that you have is no measure of the value of your life. Note how Jesus describes this desire for possessions – ‘greed.’ Greed is never satisfied; it never has enough. Jesus then moves on to tell them this parable, a strange and challenging story, to illustrate this general point.
Many of us may find this parable uncomfortable because, in America at least, we are considered wise if we hold onto our surplus and lay it up for the ‘rainy day.’ This is called ‘financial planning.’ The other tendency is to use our surplus to acquire more extravagant consumer goods. This could be called ‘upgrading.’ The ‘rich man’ in the parable, who could count up his amassed fortune and sit back and relax, living well off the interest, is the model for American retirement. Jesus shows us this ‘rich man’ in a very different way that convicts us all.
The man in this parable is already rich. He had what he needed for daily life and more than a little bit more. He did not work any harder for this bumper harvest that had arrived this year. It was not by the sweat of his brow or the toil of his labors that his fields yielded more than any other year. But listen to what he says in vs. 17-19. Let me read them again for you. “… and he thought to himself, ‘what shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this; I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’”
Did you notice that at the very beginning, ‘he thought to himself’? This would have come as a shock to those listening to Jesus that day. In the Middle East people make important decisions after long discussions with their friends. Everybody’s business is everybody’s business in such village life. Sometimes even trivial decisions are only made after discussion with family and friends; but if appears from Jesus’ account that this man had no friends. The literal translation as noted by commentators is that ‘he dialogued with himself.’ What a sad scene is depicted in those words – he had riches but he was alone. Isaiah 5:8 warned about the dangers of wealth – this man had paid no heed to the warning and was alone, with no one to discuss what he should do with this bumper harvest. How sad!
“What shall I do (with my crop)?” This man believes that this harvest is his. He shows absolutely no awareness that this harvest is a gift from God. He has a plan, but notice how self-centered it all is. He made no mention of the effort of the farm hands. It is all ‘I, I, I along with my, my, my - my crops, my bars, my grain, my goods, my soul.
It has been said that Jesus came to banish the words “I” and “mine” from life and to substitute “we” and “ours.” It is certainly significant that in the Lord’s Prayer the first person singular never appears; it is always the first person plural. Self is banished and man is taught to think of himself as one of a community of brothers and sisters.
The ancient monks of the Middle East may have made many mistakes in their outlook on life, but they had one custom worthy of emulation. It was laid down that no monk might ever speak of “my” book, “my” pen, “my” cell, and to use the word was regarded as a fault demanding rebuke and discipline.
This man remembered the first part of Ecclesiastes 8:15 to eat, drink, and be merry, but he failed to heed or chose to ignore the latter part of the verse – ‘it is God who gives the days of life to man.’ This man believed that a man made in the image of God can be ultimately satisfied with eating, drinking and being merry. What a fool he is? One of Lucy’ favorite hymns is formed with words from Psalm 42:1-2, ‘the soul of man thirsts for God just as the soul of a deer thirsts for water.’ St. Augustine stated, ‘my soul is restless till it finds its rest in thee.’ This rich man believed his soul would find rest, satisfaction, in the storing of the abundance of his wealth in bigger barns.
His plan is not God’s plan. God announces that this man’s soul is forfeited that very night and the goods that he was planning to store, and satisfy his soul with, would be left for someone else to enjoy. A commentary notes that in the Greek, there is a subtle play on words. The man, following the teaching of Ecclesiastes, plans to ‘make merry’ or ‘rejoice’ which is the Greek word ‘euphraino’ (from which we get the word euphoria), but God called him ‘aphron’- they sound almost identical when spoken. He thought he would ‘rejoice’ but God said he was a ‘fool.’ He learned, too late, that his soul is not his, but a gift from God. In fact the language used by Jesus here denotes the repayment of a loan. His soul was not his, but God’s and God has called it in. The question now becomes, who will inherit the man’s wealth? We turn again to the Book of Ecclesiastes (2:18-19), “I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me; and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.” In this parable God reminds this rich man and us of this other gem of wisdom.
It may well be said that the most dangerous word is the word, “tomorrow.” It may be a grim thought but a necessary one. We have no bond on time. No one knows if tomorrow will ever come. There is an old story of three apprentice devils that were coming from hell to earth to serve their time. They were telling Satan before they left what they proposed to do. The first said, “I will tell men that there is no God.” “That,” Satan said, “will not do because in their hearts they know there is.” The second said, “I will tell them that there is no hell.” That,” Satan said, “is still more hopeless for even in life they have experienced the remorse of hell.” The third said, I will tell them that there is no hurry.” “Go,” said Satan, “tell them that and you will ruin them by the millions.”
The rich fool forgot time. It is said that Alexander the Great kept a little model of a skeleton on the table before him to remind him that, even at the happiest, time was short and death must come. It is a thing that all of us must remember, not simply as a grim and frightening thing, but as a challenge to prepare ourselves for taking a step to a greater work and a higher world and a life in the presence of God.
Jesus concludes this parable with another general principle. The young man had come demanding his share of the wealth of his father but Jesus turns his attention to his wealth with God. Whether the inheritance was under the control of his brother or them both, ultimately it was under the control of God. Ultimately it belonged to God and was on loan to them.
You know it would be easy for us all to dismiss this parable. You may say to me, “Hayward, I’m not rich like this man. I’m not about to knock down barns and build bigger ones. I have no bumper crops this year or for that matter any year. And haven’t you heard of the credit crunch? Get real, Hayward!”
If you have money in the bank, money in your purse and you have spare change in the dish at home, then at this moment you are among the wealthiest 8% of the world’s population. If you went to school while growing up and learned to read, you’re better off than 2 billion people in today’s world. If you have food at home, have shelter, a bed to sleep on, you are wealthier than 75% of the world’s population.
I could continue with these comparisons, but what I want to do is leave these thoughts for you to ponder: If God demanded your soul of you right now, where would your wealth/treasure be stored? Are you the blessed who has stored up treasure in heaven? Or are you the ‘rich fool’ before God whose material possessions are keeping you off the road to heaven? God will demand an accounting from each of us, but we don’t know when He will call in His chips. This young man came asking about material wealth and Jesus turned his eyes to his eternal wealth. Where is your investment account?
Amen.
July 27, 2009
July 22, 2009 +“Lord, Teach Us to Pray” (Luke 11: 1-13) + Hayward Fong
I think most of us who are here this morning feel a need of connecting with God in order to truly experience an abundant, fruitful life. Having said that, how often have you asked how do I achieve that connection? Jesus said, “You cannot bear fruit unless you abide in me.” So it seems the first thing we need to do is establish a relationship with Jesus. In order to establish that relationship, we need to overcome the barrier we call sin, that is to say exercising our free will contrary to what God would like us to do. Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” Most of us try to carry out the Ten Commandments, or at least the major ones. And we also try to live by the Golden Rule most the time. It is the subtle ones that we tend to overlook, but they constitute sin nonetheless. We have the community of the church to provide the support and guidance to keep us connected and moving in the right direction. We have the Bible to read and study to provide the road map, or in modern day language, the GP?. And we also have prayer to help us stay connected with God.
You may ask, what is prayer? For most of us here the answer may be obvious but I don’t want to take anything for granted. Biblically speaking, prayer is simply having conversation with God, or spending time in God’s presence. If we are to remain connected to God and enjoy a fruitful life from this relationship with God (in Jesus), we must communicate with him. Can you imagine claiming to have a best friend whom you haven’t communicated with for 20 years? How can someone have a close relationship with you if they don’t know what’s going on in your life, your joys, your hurts, your struggles? Although God knows every detail in our life, he wants to talk with us, and the way we relate to God is through prayer. Typically we think of prayer as asking God to do something, but prayer is first and foremost a conversation with God.
Most of us probably realize the importance of prayer and yet prayer seems to be one of the easiest areas to overlook in our life. I don’t know about you, but even as your Wednesday morning leader I find prayer difficult at times. I can get easily distracted. I find it difficult to make the time. I sometimes wonder if I’m doing it in the right way, am I getting the words right. Perhaps we don’t know what to say (Romans 8:26). Sometimes prayer feels like more of a chore, one more thing on my schedule, than a joy of being with God. Take out the trash, don’t forget the groceries, and oh yeah pray. It is easy to get discouraged with prayer because we have not seen any answers. Perhaps praying feels more like talking to the ceiling than to God.
While preparing for this message, I came across a quote from one of the great writers on prayer in the 20th century, Thomas Merton. He writes: “But let us be convinced of the fact that (when it comes to prayer) we will never be anything else but beginners all our life.” – Thomas Merton
It gives me great comfort in knowing that a person who was considered to be an expert on prayer admitting to being a beginner. Rather than feeling guilty about our inadequacies in prayer, we should be courageous like Jesus’ disciples and boldly ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Let us learn from the Master. And being with Jesus and witnessing his prayer life, his disciples realized that they were missing something. Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples and comparing your own prayers with Jesus? Talk of feeling inadequate. On one particular occasion after being with Jesus, while he was praying, one of the disciples finally gathered the courage enough to ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John (the Baptist) taught his disciples.”
So, let us start by asking Jesus the same thing, in fact that can be our first prayer to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We recognize that we are all just beginners in prayer and we need to learn from Jesus how to connect to God in a deeper way through prayer. We need to learn how to delight in spending time with God, so we can see God work in our life and in the lives of those we pray for.
Before we get into what Jesus teaches, let us look at Jesus’ model of prayer. What is it about Jesus’ life of prayer that the disciples needed to learn? First off, notice that Jesus prayed frequently and in solitary places. Luke 5:16 says, “… Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” As busy as Jesus was in his ministry Jesus prayed frequently. Jesus always seemed to have a crowd of people around who needed healing, desired to hear his teaching, and of course there were the disciples he was training too. And yet in the midst of all that need, Jesus frequently got away from it all and spent time in prayer. We don’t know how frequent is frequent, was it every day, twice a day, three times a day? We don’t know; all we know is that Jesus spent significant amounts of time with his Father.
When Jesus prayed he often withdrew to a solitary place, or lonely place. In other words, a place where there was no one but God. Sometimes it was the top of a mountain, or in a garden, but it was away from people. No people begging for healing, not even any disciples. Jesus made it a priority to get away from the hustle and bustle to talk with his Father.
In our fast paced society with cell phones, pagers, wireless email so you can get your email anywhere at anytime; it seems we are available to everyone at almost anytime, everyone that is … except God. How often do you get away from the distractions of the world to be alone with God? No cell phone, pager, no radio or television playing in the background, no family, just you and God. When will you make time to get away to be with God? Jesus created time and space to meet with God.
Susanna Wesley, the mother of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, had something like 14 children. It is said, when she wanted to spend time alone with God, she would literally take her dress and pull it over her head. This was a signal to her children that she was spending time with God, and they better not bother her. Along the same line, she made time to spend with each child exclusively, one hour each week. I guess you can make the time if you want to. Susanna Wesley did; so can we.
There was a second thing we read about which the disciples saw modeled in Jesus prayer life. When Jesus prayed, miraculous things happened. Out of his time with God, things happened. It was during or shortly after times of prayer that some of the most significant events occurred in Jesus’ ministry. At Jesus’ baptism Luke’s gospel account records this: “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3: 21-22).
Notice that it was not only after baptism, but also after his prayer that the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and God the Father spoke from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Later in his ministry a similar thing happened when he was on the mountain with his three closet disciples, Peter, James, and John. “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning (Luke 9:29).
This change of appearance which we call the transfiguration occurred in response to his prayer. Jesus’ three disciples were able to see him for who he truly was in his full glory.
On yet another occasion Jesus had a crowd of thousands around him; he was given two fish and five loaves of bread by a boy. Jesus prayed by giving thanks to God, and he proceeded to hand out baskets and baskets of food until everyone had their fill.
You may think, “Well, that’s Jesus, of course he can do these things. What do you expect?” Listen to what Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12).”
The power Jesus had came not from within his own human frame but from the presence of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that is in every believer, and it came from the Father’s answer to prayer.
Many times we underestimate the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit in today’s world. We often get easily discouraged because we do not see any immediate earth shattering miraculous answers. The person with cancer we prayed for isn’t healed. The marriage we prayed for isn’t mended. The people who are far from God don’t seem to return. When we don’t see the results we hope for, it is easy to give up. But as Jesus reminds us that we cannot give up praying, and that we must pray in boldness and persistence. If it is a just cause, we must keep asking because it will be given to you; keep seeking and you will find, and keep knocking because the door will be opened.
The illustration Jesus used was a man getting up at midnight and going to his neighbor, awaking him up to get three loaves of bread because he didn’t have any for his guest. To you and me, this seems pretty rude, but in middle-eastern Jewish culture which prided itself on hospitality, the rudeness was the neighbor who refused to hand over the bread until he persisted. Although the neighbor initially said no, he eventually conceded in order to keep his integrity. Jesus’ point was, if a human neighbor is willing to do that, how much more will God respond to our needs if we ask. Of course God is going to give you good things, if you ask, particularly the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must pray in faith believing God is going to do powerful things if we ask and ask with persistence.
John Wesley once said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” Think about that for a second; in fact write that down somewhere. What if God did nothing but in answer to our prayers? How much would God get done? Prayer is essential for God to act in our world today.
Whatever the reason for the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus decided to teach them how to pray, and he used a form for prayer which we call the Lord’s Prayer. He gave this model to his disciples and has been handed down through the ages to you and me. It is a powerful personal prayer, but often we just say it without any understanding or meaning. We just say it as our duty. I believe in order for us to be truly connected to God and experience the fullness of life he wants to offer us and our church, we need to be a people of prayer.
You may ask, what is prayer? For most of us here the answer may be obvious but I don’t want to take anything for granted. Biblically speaking, prayer is simply having conversation with God, or spending time in God’s presence. If we are to remain connected to God and enjoy a fruitful life from this relationship with God (in Jesus), we must communicate with him. Can you imagine claiming to have a best friend whom you haven’t communicated with for 20 years? How can someone have a close relationship with you if they don’t know what’s going on in your life, your joys, your hurts, your struggles? Although God knows every detail in our life, he wants to talk with us, and the way we relate to God is through prayer. Typically we think of prayer as asking God to do something, but prayer is first and foremost a conversation with God.
Most of us probably realize the importance of prayer and yet prayer seems to be one of the easiest areas to overlook in our life. I don’t know about you, but even as your Wednesday morning leader I find prayer difficult at times. I can get easily distracted. I find it difficult to make the time. I sometimes wonder if I’m doing it in the right way, am I getting the words right. Perhaps we don’t know what to say (Romans 8:26). Sometimes prayer feels like more of a chore, one more thing on my schedule, than a joy of being with God. Take out the trash, don’t forget the groceries, and oh yeah pray. It is easy to get discouraged with prayer because we have not seen any answers. Perhaps praying feels more like talking to the ceiling than to God.
While preparing for this message, I came across a quote from one of the great writers on prayer in the 20th century, Thomas Merton. He writes: “But let us be convinced of the fact that (when it comes to prayer) we will never be anything else but beginners all our life.” – Thomas Merton
It gives me great comfort in knowing that a person who was considered to be an expert on prayer admitting to being a beginner. Rather than feeling guilty about our inadequacies in prayer, we should be courageous like Jesus’ disciples and boldly ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Let us learn from the Master. And being with Jesus and witnessing his prayer life, his disciples realized that they were missing something. Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples and comparing your own prayers with Jesus? Talk of feeling inadequate. On one particular occasion after being with Jesus, while he was praying, one of the disciples finally gathered the courage enough to ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John (the Baptist) taught his disciples.”
So, let us start by asking Jesus the same thing, in fact that can be our first prayer to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We recognize that we are all just beginners in prayer and we need to learn from Jesus how to connect to God in a deeper way through prayer. We need to learn how to delight in spending time with God, so we can see God work in our life and in the lives of those we pray for.
Before we get into what Jesus teaches, let us look at Jesus’ model of prayer. What is it about Jesus’ life of prayer that the disciples needed to learn? First off, notice that Jesus prayed frequently and in solitary places. Luke 5:16 says, “… Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” As busy as Jesus was in his ministry Jesus prayed frequently. Jesus always seemed to have a crowd of people around who needed healing, desired to hear his teaching, and of course there were the disciples he was training too. And yet in the midst of all that need, Jesus frequently got away from it all and spent time in prayer. We don’t know how frequent is frequent, was it every day, twice a day, three times a day? We don’t know; all we know is that Jesus spent significant amounts of time with his Father.
When Jesus prayed he often withdrew to a solitary place, or lonely place. In other words, a place where there was no one but God. Sometimes it was the top of a mountain, or in a garden, but it was away from people. No people begging for healing, not even any disciples. Jesus made it a priority to get away from the hustle and bustle to talk with his Father.
In our fast paced society with cell phones, pagers, wireless email so you can get your email anywhere at anytime; it seems we are available to everyone at almost anytime, everyone that is … except God. How often do you get away from the distractions of the world to be alone with God? No cell phone, pager, no radio or television playing in the background, no family, just you and God. When will you make time to get away to be with God? Jesus created time and space to meet with God.
Susanna Wesley, the mother of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, had something like 14 children. It is said, when she wanted to spend time alone with God, she would literally take her dress and pull it over her head. This was a signal to her children that she was spending time with God, and they better not bother her. Along the same line, she made time to spend with each child exclusively, one hour each week. I guess you can make the time if you want to. Susanna Wesley did; so can we.
There was a second thing we read about which the disciples saw modeled in Jesus prayer life. When Jesus prayed, miraculous things happened. Out of his time with God, things happened. It was during or shortly after times of prayer that some of the most significant events occurred in Jesus’ ministry. At Jesus’ baptism Luke’s gospel account records this: “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3: 21-22).
Notice that it was not only after baptism, but also after his prayer that the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and God the Father spoke from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Later in his ministry a similar thing happened when he was on the mountain with his three closet disciples, Peter, James, and John. “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning (Luke 9:29).
This change of appearance which we call the transfiguration occurred in response to his prayer. Jesus’ three disciples were able to see him for who he truly was in his full glory.
On yet another occasion Jesus had a crowd of thousands around him; he was given two fish and five loaves of bread by a boy. Jesus prayed by giving thanks to God, and he proceeded to hand out baskets and baskets of food until everyone had their fill.
You may think, “Well, that’s Jesus, of course he can do these things. What do you expect?” Listen to what Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12).”
The power Jesus had came not from within his own human frame but from the presence of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that is in every believer, and it came from the Father’s answer to prayer.
Many times we underestimate the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit in today’s world. We often get easily discouraged because we do not see any immediate earth shattering miraculous answers. The person with cancer we prayed for isn’t healed. The marriage we prayed for isn’t mended. The people who are far from God don’t seem to return. When we don’t see the results we hope for, it is easy to give up. But as Jesus reminds us that we cannot give up praying, and that we must pray in boldness and persistence. If it is a just cause, we must keep asking because it will be given to you; keep seeking and you will find, and keep knocking because the door will be opened.
The illustration Jesus used was a man getting up at midnight and going to his neighbor, awaking him up to get three loaves of bread because he didn’t have any for his guest. To you and me, this seems pretty rude, but in middle-eastern Jewish culture which prided itself on hospitality, the rudeness was the neighbor who refused to hand over the bread until he persisted. Although the neighbor initially said no, he eventually conceded in order to keep his integrity. Jesus’ point was, if a human neighbor is willing to do that, how much more will God respond to our needs if we ask. Of course God is going to give you good things, if you ask, particularly the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must pray in faith believing God is going to do powerful things if we ask and ask with persistence.
John Wesley once said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” Think about that for a second; in fact write that down somewhere. What if God did nothing but in answer to our prayers? How much would God get done? Prayer is essential for God to act in our world today.
Whatever the reason for the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus decided to teach them how to pray, and he used a form for prayer which we call the Lord’s Prayer. He gave this model to his disciples and has been handed down through the ages to you and me. It is a powerful personal prayer, but often we just say it without any understanding or meaning. We just say it as our duty. I believe in order for us to be truly connected to God and experience the fullness of life he wants to offer us and our church, we need to be a people of prayer.
July 15, 2009 + “Duty and/or Devotion' (Luke 10: 38-42) + Hayward Fong
We continue this morning with the Third Year Lectionary assignment for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
I am always so glad to see you, but I often wonder what brings you to these Wednesday morning services, week-in and week-out. I know how difficult it must be to get here at 7:30 every week, particularly when it is so nice and cozy in the warm bed. Is it a sense of duty? Do you feel a sense of obligation to me since I have to be here? Or do you feel a sense of responsibility to the Lord for all that he has done for you. Is it possible to serve the Lord as well as others out of habit rather than out of love?
In last week’s study, Jesus was discussing with a Jewish lawyer the two great commands of the Scripture, that we are to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus used the story of “The Good Samaritan” to illustrate how we should love our neighbor. Now he uses an incident which I just read, involving two sisters, Mary and Martha, to illustrate how we should love God.
The incident takes place in Bethany, a little village just outside of Jerusalem. From what we can infer from Luke’s record and John chapters 11 and 12, Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus live together. It appears that Martha may be a widow, or at least the elder sister, for she is the head of the household. It is here in Martha’s home that Mary and Lazarus, Jesus and his disciples sit down for some relaxation away from the pressure of the crowds. Jesus is no stranger to this home for he had been here many times, a place that he knew He was loved and accepted. Both sisters are delighted to see Jesus but as you have heard they express their enthusiasm in very different ways. Let me read again how Luke describes His welcome. “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village, and a certain woman, named Martha welcomed Him into her house (vs.38). And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word” (vs. 39).
People have varying temperaments; some are active, always needing to be busy, never able to sit still. Others are thoughtful, willing to sit back and think things through. Martha is a very activity-oriented person, her sister appears to be of the more thoughtful nature. I believe that many of us have wrongly contrasted Martha and Mary, as though each Christian should make a choice to either be a worker like Martha or a worshipper like Mary. But in so doing I think we miss the point; I believe the Lord wants each of us to imitate Mary in our worship and Martha in our work, and to achieve a balance in both.
Mary is content to sit at Jesus’ feet soaking up the Word, and not “do” anything. But her big sister, Martha was looking around at all the guests and sees the need to prepare a meal. Martha was obviously a great hostess; she got up and began to prepare food for Jesus and all those there with Him. Martha looked and said to herself, “What a privilege to prepare a meal for the Master?” Mary on the other hand would have said, “What a privilege to sit at the feet of the Master?” Is one right and the other wrong? No! Duty and Devotion are both necessary, but there must be a balance.
Every action, every relationship, every institution has a basic focus, which is its reason for existence if it hopes to succeed … if it loses that focus, it will fail. When you lose your focus, which is why you do what you do, then you are in trouble. So, this morning, I want us to look at this story and see what it teaches about the cost of loss of focus.
Loss of focus caused Martha to resort to self-pity. All you ladies can appreciate what entertaining unplanned visitors is like and why Martha is flustered and feeling more and more frustrated with each passing moment. I have lived that experience many times so I also know what it’s like.
In the first part of vs. 40, Luke writes, “But Martha was distracted with much serving, …” the sense of the word “distracted” as used here means “to be pulled away” or “dragged away.” The implication is that Martha also wanted to hear Jesus herself and to sit at his feet, but she was pulled away by her sense of her “duties.” Fretting about the meal has robbed her of the joy of her service to the Lord. We should, of course, take our responsibilities seriously, but not ourselves to the point that we overestimate our importance. The problem did not lie in the work Martha was doing. It was the attitude that she was doing it with that became the problem. Martha’s problem was one of balance, between the going and doing and the sitting and listening. The difference between Martha and Mary is not that one served and the other did not, but one served out of duty and the other out of devotion.
In our daily lives we can become so busy with the everyday things of life that we neglect the most important. Modern conveniences have not produced more leisure time; American society has become an overworked society, at least those who still have a job. Steven Convey in his book, “First Things First,” says “People expect us to be busy, overworked. It has become a status symbol in our society – if we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re embarrassed to admit it. Busyness is where we get our security. It’s validating, popular and pleasing. It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives.”
Loss of focus caused Martha to become angry at others. Our world is full of distractions. And the greater the pressure, the more tempting it is to focus on the urgent rather than the essential.
In fairness to Martha, I truly believe she wanted to honor Jesus. I even believe she began preparing dinner with the right attitude. I believe you ladies out there can relate to what I am about to say. Again, I can speak from personal experience, not once, but many, many times. You begin the task of a huge festive event with the greatest of enthusiasm, but as time passes you realize that you are running out of time and you can’t possibly finish everything you planned to do. When that happens, you get angry … angry at yourself for allowing yourself to get into this fix and angry at anyone else who might have made a difference in accomplishing you goals. Martha was like that, the harder she worked the more worked up she became. Some people “burn out” in service but Martha was “burned up” in hers. It’s bad enough to have everything to do. It’s even worse when we can think of someone who isn’t pulling their weight and who has let us down. That was what was happening to Martha. Tension and frustration were mounting ... she had so many things yet to do, time was running out and her sister was sitting out there at Jesus’ feet.
Loss of focus caused Martha to find fault. Martha was ready to explode as she came roaring out of the kitchen, red faced and furious. She says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” Martha is so upset with her sister she doesn’t even call her by name. In all fairness, I believe Martha had probably given all sorts of signals that she needed help in the kitchen, but Mary either didn’t catch the signals or chose to ignore her. I think Mary chose to remain seated at Jesus’ feet and face Martha’s anger because sitting at the Lord’s feet meant everything to her at that point. No one can force us to be devoted; devotion is a voluntary decision.
Loss of focus has caused Martha to question God’s care. Whatever Martha has already done to get Mary’s attention, she is totally exasperated now and speaks directly to Jesus. There is an accusation in her voice when she says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” Martha was angry at Mary for being so selfish and she is angry at Jesus for allowing this to go on. Notice that Martha addressed her irritation to Jesus. You have to admit that she is one gutsy woman. Martha is accusing Jesus of not caring for her, because she was sure that if Jesus really cared for her He would tell Mary to get up and help her. In the vernacular of today, she’d probably say something like, “Lord, you know what a ding bat my sister is, but you are part of the problem too. You tell her to get her sweet self in here and help me!” In saying this she not only rebuked her sister but also the one for whom all these preparations are being made. Whenever our service causes us to criticize others and pity ourselves because we feel overworked, we need to take the time to examine our lives.
It is interesting how Martha links Jesus’ care for her with His willingness to tell Mary to get busy helping her. Martha thought that she knew how Jesus should demonstrate His care for her. I wonder, “Do we do that?” Do we ever accuse God of not caring for us, because we already decided what his care for us looks like? Part of Martha’s problem was that she worried too much about what others were doing. Does Martha’s concern over Mary remind you of Peter in John 21: 18-22? While Jesus was explaining to Peter what the future held for him, Peter looked at John and asked Jesus, “But what of this man?”(vs. 21). Jesus reminded Peter: That was not really any of his concern. He just needed to follow Jesus (vs. 22). In today’s text Jesus by his refusal to do as Martha had asked demonstrates that although what she was doing was valuable work, she should worry less about Mary’s choices. It all boiled down to the fact that Martha wanted to force Mary to serve Christ her way.
Loss of focus can be eliminated by remembering why we are doing what we are doing? (vv. 41, 42) Jesus responds to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled by many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her.”
Jesus responds with great tenderness. Notice that Jesus did not rebuke her for making preparations for Him and the other guests. He did not reject Martha’s attempt to serve Him. Martha’s problem was not that she was preparing food for the guests to eat, which was necessary, but she was giving too much importance to it. In the hustle and bustle of everyday living, we have to be careful that we do not let the necessary things that must be done get out of balance and distort our lives.
The core of Martha’s problem is that she tried to impose her value system on Mary. Note that Jesus did not tell Martha to do what Mary was doing. It was Martha’s attitude that needed correction. Martha’s work was both good and necessary. The reality is that you and I, as with all believers, need to cultivate both the Martha and Mary in each of us.
Martha came to Jesus because she wanted Him to lighten her load that day. He did what she wanted but not in the way that she had expected. He lightened her load not by having Mary help her but by giving her a new perspective on her work. When we forget why we are doing what we are doing we can get turned upside down, and we may end up feeling overworked and unappreciated. Dr. Mark Hollingsworth (Baptist minister) once remarked, “If we forget God while serving God we will probably quit God!” When we keep our attitude right we find that God will enable us to do what “needs” to be done with joy and satisfaction.
Unless we take the time to spend time with Jesus personally and privately, we will soon end up like Martha, busy but not blessed.
Martha was not wrong nor was Mary. It is a case where one did good and the other better. The Christian life is learning to balance duty with devotion.
I am always so glad to see you, but I often wonder what brings you to these Wednesday morning services, week-in and week-out. I know how difficult it must be to get here at 7:30 every week, particularly when it is so nice and cozy in the warm bed. Is it a sense of duty? Do you feel a sense of obligation to me since I have to be here? Or do you feel a sense of responsibility to the Lord for all that he has done for you. Is it possible to serve the Lord as well as others out of habit rather than out of love?
In last week’s study, Jesus was discussing with a Jewish lawyer the two great commands of the Scripture, that we are to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus used the story of “The Good Samaritan” to illustrate how we should love our neighbor. Now he uses an incident which I just read, involving two sisters, Mary and Martha, to illustrate how we should love God.
The incident takes place in Bethany, a little village just outside of Jerusalem. From what we can infer from Luke’s record and John chapters 11 and 12, Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus live together. It appears that Martha may be a widow, or at least the elder sister, for she is the head of the household. It is here in Martha’s home that Mary and Lazarus, Jesus and his disciples sit down for some relaxation away from the pressure of the crowds. Jesus is no stranger to this home for he had been here many times, a place that he knew He was loved and accepted. Both sisters are delighted to see Jesus but as you have heard they express their enthusiasm in very different ways. Let me read again how Luke describes His welcome. “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village, and a certain woman, named Martha welcomed Him into her house (vs.38). And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word” (vs. 39).
People have varying temperaments; some are active, always needing to be busy, never able to sit still. Others are thoughtful, willing to sit back and think things through. Martha is a very activity-oriented person, her sister appears to be of the more thoughtful nature. I believe that many of us have wrongly contrasted Martha and Mary, as though each Christian should make a choice to either be a worker like Martha or a worshipper like Mary. But in so doing I think we miss the point; I believe the Lord wants each of us to imitate Mary in our worship and Martha in our work, and to achieve a balance in both.
Mary is content to sit at Jesus’ feet soaking up the Word, and not “do” anything. But her big sister, Martha was looking around at all the guests and sees the need to prepare a meal. Martha was obviously a great hostess; she got up and began to prepare food for Jesus and all those there with Him. Martha looked and said to herself, “What a privilege to prepare a meal for the Master?” Mary on the other hand would have said, “What a privilege to sit at the feet of the Master?” Is one right and the other wrong? No! Duty and Devotion are both necessary, but there must be a balance.
Every action, every relationship, every institution has a basic focus, which is its reason for existence if it hopes to succeed … if it loses that focus, it will fail. When you lose your focus, which is why you do what you do, then you are in trouble. So, this morning, I want us to look at this story and see what it teaches about the cost of loss of focus.
Loss of focus caused Martha to resort to self-pity. All you ladies can appreciate what entertaining unplanned visitors is like and why Martha is flustered and feeling more and more frustrated with each passing moment. I have lived that experience many times so I also know what it’s like.
In the first part of vs. 40, Luke writes, “But Martha was distracted with much serving, …” the sense of the word “distracted” as used here means “to be pulled away” or “dragged away.” The implication is that Martha also wanted to hear Jesus herself and to sit at his feet, but she was pulled away by her sense of her “duties.” Fretting about the meal has robbed her of the joy of her service to the Lord. We should, of course, take our responsibilities seriously, but not ourselves to the point that we overestimate our importance. The problem did not lie in the work Martha was doing. It was the attitude that she was doing it with that became the problem. Martha’s problem was one of balance, between the going and doing and the sitting and listening. The difference between Martha and Mary is not that one served and the other did not, but one served out of duty and the other out of devotion.
In our daily lives we can become so busy with the everyday things of life that we neglect the most important. Modern conveniences have not produced more leisure time; American society has become an overworked society, at least those who still have a job. Steven Convey in his book, “First Things First,” says “People expect us to be busy, overworked. It has become a status symbol in our society – if we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re embarrassed to admit it. Busyness is where we get our security. It’s validating, popular and pleasing. It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives.”
Loss of focus caused Martha to become angry at others. Our world is full of distractions. And the greater the pressure, the more tempting it is to focus on the urgent rather than the essential.
In fairness to Martha, I truly believe she wanted to honor Jesus. I even believe she began preparing dinner with the right attitude. I believe you ladies out there can relate to what I am about to say. Again, I can speak from personal experience, not once, but many, many times. You begin the task of a huge festive event with the greatest of enthusiasm, but as time passes you realize that you are running out of time and you can’t possibly finish everything you planned to do. When that happens, you get angry … angry at yourself for allowing yourself to get into this fix and angry at anyone else who might have made a difference in accomplishing you goals. Martha was like that, the harder she worked the more worked up she became. Some people “burn out” in service but Martha was “burned up” in hers. It’s bad enough to have everything to do. It’s even worse when we can think of someone who isn’t pulling their weight and who has let us down. That was what was happening to Martha. Tension and frustration were mounting ... she had so many things yet to do, time was running out and her sister was sitting out there at Jesus’ feet.
Loss of focus caused Martha to find fault. Martha was ready to explode as she came roaring out of the kitchen, red faced and furious. She says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” Martha is so upset with her sister she doesn’t even call her by name. In all fairness, I believe Martha had probably given all sorts of signals that she needed help in the kitchen, but Mary either didn’t catch the signals or chose to ignore her. I think Mary chose to remain seated at Jesus’ feet and face Martha’s anger because sitting at the Lord’s feet meant everything to her at that point. No one can force us to be devoted; devotion is a voluntary decision.
Loss of focus has caused Martha to question God’s care. Whatever Martha has already done to get Mary’s attention, she is totally exasperated now and speaks directly to Jesus. There is an accusation in her voice when she says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” Martha was angry at Mary for being so selfish and she is angry at Jesus for allowing this to go on. Notice that Martha addressed her irritation to Jesus. You have to admit that she is one gutsy woman. Martha is accusing Jesus of not caring for her, because she was sure that if Jesus really cared for her He would tell Mary to get up and help her. In the vernacular of today, she’d probably say something like, “Lord, you know what a ding bat my sister is, but you are part of the problem too. You tell her to get her sweet self in here and help me!” In saying this she not only rebuked her sister but also the one for whom all these preparations are being made. Whenever our service causes us to criticize others and pity ourselves because we feel overworked, we need to take the time to examine our lives.
It is interesting how Martha links Jesus’ care for her with His willingness to tell Mary to get busy helping her. Martha thought that she knew how Jesus should demonstrate His care for her. I wonder, “Do we do that?” Do we ever accuse God of not caring for us, because we already decided what his care for us looks like? Part of Martha’s problem was that she worried too much about what others were doing. Does Martha’s concern over Mary remind you of Peter in John 21: 18-22? While Jesus was explaining to Peter what the future held for him, Peter looked at John and asked Jesus, “But what of this man?”(vs. 21). Jesus reminded Peter: That was not really any of his concern. He just needed to follow Jesus (vs. 22). In today’s text Jesus by his refusal to do as Martha had asked demonstrates that although what she was doing was valuable work, she should worry less about Mary’s choices. It all boiled down to the fact that Martha wanted to force Mary to serve Christ her way.
Loss of focus can be eliminated by remembering why we are doing what we are doing? (vv. 41, 42) Jesus responds to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled by many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her.”
Jesus responds with great tenderness. Notice that Jesus did not rebuke her for making preparations for Him and the other guests. He did not reject Martha’s attempt to serve Him. Martha’s problem was not that she was preparing food for the guests to eat, which was necessary, but she was giving too much importance to it. In the hustle and bustle of everyday living, we have to be careful that we do not let the necessary things that must be done get out of balance and distort our lives.
The core of Martha’s problem is that she tried to impose her value system on Mary. Note that Jesus did not tell Martha to do what Mary was doing. It was Martha’s attitude that needed correction. Martha’s work was both good and necessary. The reality is that you and I, as with all believers, need to cultivate both the Martha and Mary in each of us.
Martha came to Jesus because she wanted Him to lighten her load that day. He did what she wanted but not in the way that she had expected. He lightened her load not by having Mary help her but by giving her a new perspective on her work. When we forget why we are doing what we are doing we can get turned upside down, and we may end up feeling overworked and unappreciated. Dr. Mark Hollingsworth (Baptist minister) once remarked, “If we forget God while serving God we will probably quit God!” When we keep our attitude right we find that God will enable us to do what “needs” to be done with joy and satisfaction.
Unless we take the time to spend time with Jesus personally and privately, we will soon end up like Martha, busy but not blessed.
Martha was not wrong nor was Mary. It is a case where one did good and the other better. The Christian life is learning to balance duty with devotion.
July 13, 2009
July 12, 2009 + Speaking Truth to Power + Frank Alton
Amos 7:7-17; Mark 6: 14-29
Speaking truth to power is risky. That seems like the understatement of the century after hearing the story of John the Baptist’s beheading. But however understated or redundant, it is a truth we must face over and over again. Whether it’s our personal struggle to stand up for ourselves with our parents, our employers, our spouses, or someone who is oppressing us; or whether it is speaking up on behalf of some other group of people who are being treated unjustly, the risks of speaking truth to power are evident at every turn.
The people of Iran learned the lesson recently, as protesters and their leaders were arrested for questioning the current arrangement of power. The risk isn’t just about life and death. It’s about success and failure. What if a lot of people die speaking truth to power and nothing changes? A recent editorial in the New York Times, entitled “Understanding Iran: Repression 101”, compares the impact of the protests in Iran to those 20 years ago in Tiananmen Square in China, where the Chinese Communist party, albeit changed, continues in power; and to Solidarity uprisings in Poland where more radical change resulted. It goes on to compare protests and revolutionary movements in Burma and North Korea and Nicaragua. We can ask about the impact of protests in this country – against various wars, about environmental issues or abortion, the anti-nuclear movement of two decades ago, and many other examples of speaking truth to power.
Clearly, if speaking truth to power is evaluated based on short term success in light of the risks involved, not many would chose to participate. But that is to address the matter politically. How might it look different if we address it spiritually? What happens spiritually when we fail to speak truth to power? William Sloan Coffin said, “If you lessen your anger at the structures of power you lower your love for the victims of power.” (To the left, p. 5) I agree with Rev. Coffin. But love and anger are difficult travelling companions. One usually wins over the other at any given moment. That leads me to ask a question about the spirituality of people who speak truth to power. What prepares a person spiritually to speak truth to power? Amos and John the Baptist offer some hints.
First of all, both Amos and John had an appropriate sense of their own importance. Now, appropriate means neither too high nor too low. Both decided that despite not having high enough status, there was no one else more appropriate or available to take up the mantle. Amos refers to himself as “just” a herdsman, as over against Amaziah, who was a priest, with access to the king’s ear. When Amaziah tried to emasculate Amos by calling him a prophet and saying he wasn’t living up to a prophet’s status, Amos refused to take the label. “I am not a prophet. I am just obeying God’s call to prophesy.” Amos spoke truth to King Jeroboam; the official priest Amaziah tried to silence him. Amos wouldn’t hear of it. He was clear about who he was and what he was called to do. It wasn’t about him; it was about a larger cause. He wasn’t into status–that didn’t matter.
The same was true of John the Baptist. John’s role as messenger was to prepare for someone else. He began his career making sure everyone knew that he was not “the one.” “There is one greater than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Along the way he insisted that that he had to decrease while Jesus increased.
The people who need to speak truth to power don’t do it because it makes sense for them to be the ones who do it. They do it because there is no one else who is any better. Even though on the outside prophets clearly have a lower status than kings, in the Bible the call of the Prophet and the call of the King are very similar. In Nathan's oracle to David concerning building a "house" for God (temple) and a "house" for David (dynasty), God says, "I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel" (2 Sam 7:8). The wording is strikingly similar to that in Amos's account of his calling: "and God took me from following the flock, and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel"' (Amos 7:15). Similarly, John’s announcement of his message is the same as Jesus’: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God has come near.” The prophet has to know this while accepting a situation in which the prophet is in the power- down situation with respect to the person in power. That is the appropriate sense of self-importance so clearly spoken by both Amos and John.
The person who speaks truth to power has a sense of being part of something greater than him or herself – something that is more important than ones personal agenda, personal status, or petty peccadilloes. Who speaks truth to power? Not the powerful themselves. Rather, it is those who are considered least likely to do so. People who speak truth to power aren’t always the ones in the spotlight. Well known people are often expected to speak truth to power, so there may actually be less impact when they do. It’s the common person who has no right to speak, the one whom nobody expects to do it, that will have greater impact on the powerful. Whenever you find yourself tempted to say, “What difference could my voice make?” remember that it has mostly been people who didn’t think they could make a difference who made a difference when they spoke truth to power.
That was the kind of impact Gandhi had. While he became a person of stature through his struggle, he started out as a common person. He was able to have the impact he had because he understood that speaking truth to power required a spiritual strength that had to be developed. And he dedicated most of his energy to developing that spiritual strength.
Throughout history it has been mostly the unsung heroes rather than the historical icons we tend to elevate to hero status who have made the most significant changes. Howard Zinn proposes some alternative heroes for our nation’s history.
Why not recall the humanitarianism of William Penn, an early colonist who made peace with the Delaware Indians instead of warring on them, as other colonial leaders were doing?
Why not John Woolman, who, in the years before the Revolution, refused to pay taxes to support the British wars, and who spoke out against slavery?
What about grassroots heroes like Fannie Lou Hamer, the Mississippi sharecropper? Mrs. Hamer was evicted from her farm and tortured in prison after she joined the civil rights movement, but she became an eloquent voice for freedom. Or Ella Baker, whose wise counsel and support guided the young black people in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the militant edge of the civil rights movement in the Deep South?
Today also there are heroes speaking truth to power, like thousands of students on more than 100 college campuses across the country who are protesting their universities' connection with sweatshop-produced apparel; and the four McDonald sisters in Minneapolis, all nuns, who went to jail repeatedly for protesting against the Alliant Corporation's production of land mines; and the thousands of people who have traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia, to demand the closing of the murderous School of the Americas. (Published in the June 2000 issue of The Progressive Unsung Heroes by Howard Zinn)
The spirituality that undergirds this ability to speak truth to power has to do with moving from a reactive mode to an active mode of being. This is true whether it involves a public political protest, a child standing up to a parent, an employee standing up to a supervisor, or a customer relating to a shopkeeper. Personally, I have found it more challenging to speak truth to power on behalf of myself than on behalf of others. About 25 years ago I took a battery of tests that revealed how I respond to things when I’m in a reactive mode and how I respond when I’m in an active mode. For example, when I didn’t feel that people were respecting me, I went to my reactive response, which was either to withdraw or to relate to them as a compliant child. On the other hand, when I felt respected, I could access the broad range of active skills and abilities that I have and respond fruitfully.
Over the years I’ve learned that I have the option of choosing to respond from an active mode even when I am experiencing a lack of respect, by consciously accessing either healthy anger by restoring boundaries in a relationship, or by disengaging from the relationship because I realize the other person doesn’t respect me, and that I don’t want to be in relationship with that person. When I combine that awareness with the realization that I am participating in something that is greater than myself, I can choose to remain engaged, and channel my anger to speak truth to the one who claims more power in the circumstances, but who doesn’t really have more power in the larger scheme of things.
Another aspect of spirituality for speaking truth to power is the importance of maintaining a combination of love and anger, along with the courage to speak when it’s dangerous. St. Augustine wrote: “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.” But it is also important for the spokesperson to stay connected to the love for the people that motivates the speaking truth to power in the first place. As William Sloan Coffin said, “We have to hate evil, else we’re sentimental. But if we hate evil more than we love the good, we become good haters, and o those the world already has too many. However deep, our anger must always and only measure our love.”
We see this balance in Amos. God shows three scenes to Amos in Amos 7: locusts ready to eat the harvest, a shower of fire that dried up the sea and ate up the land, and a plumb line. In the first two cases, Amos begged God to relent of the plans for destruction, and God did relent. In the third case, which is today’s passage, God inserts a question to Amos after showing him the plumb line: “Amos, what do you see?” God hadn’t asked that the other two times. Once Amos acknowledges that he sees a plumb line (a tool of measurement rather than an instrument of destruction like the other two), God proceeds to reveal plans for destruction. This time Amos does not beg. What happened? Did Amos lose his love and patience for the people? Or did he finally see what God saw: the discrepancy between Israel’s calling and its conduct.
The demand for justice required dramatic action to make the wall “plumb.” The wall that was Israel would never be able to support the structure of God’s call on its life without the needed correction to straighten the wall. A building whose walls are not straight (or “plumb”) will collapse under its own weight. In that case, love requires convincing the owner to invest in making the necessary adjustments.
I have a friend who just added a room onto a house. Last week the inspector came and said the city had denied the building permit. At this point, my friend will try to negotiate with the inspector to allow the room to stand, perhaps paying a fine. But if the inspector refuses, my friend will have to tear down the addition, which cost about $15,000. At a certain point, it does no good to argue. It is time for action.
Some of you may be following the news about the current spat between labor unions. At a time when workers need unions to be advocating for them more than ever, some of the largest unions are trying to recruit members from each others’ ranks. Whatever else one might say about that, it demonstrates a disconnection between the anger that leads people to fight for justice and the love for the people that evokes that anger when the people are hurt.
We have our own struggles to keep love and anger, justice and peace together. It turns out that this is one of the great challenges of taking up the mantle to speak truth to power. It is the message of the Psalm for today – Psalm 85: “Will you be angry with us forever? Show us your steadfast love, O God, and grant us your salvation… Steadfast love and truth fill meet, justice and peace will kiss each other. Truthfulness will spring up from the ground and justice will look down from the sky.”
Must we speak truth to power? Yes. Do we need to do that from a spiritually centered place? Double yes. As Immanuel continues to engage our anger at injustice by participating in struggles for justice for many groups of people, I pray that we will be able to do it in ways that also reveal our love and build bridges of peace. For otherwise, our justice work will just be clanging gongs and noisy cymbals.
Speaking truth to power is risky. That seems like the understatement of the century after hearing the story of John the Baptist’s beheading. But however understated or redundant, it is a truth we must face over and over again. Whether it’s our personal struggle to stand up for ourselves with our parents, our employers, our spouses, or someone who is oppressing us; or whether it is speaking up on behalf of some other group of people who are being treated unjustly, the risks of speaking truth to power are evident at every turn.
The people of Iran learned the lesson recently, as protesters and their leaders were arrested for questioning the current arrangement of power. The risk isn’t just about life and death. It’s about success and failure. What if a lot of people die speaking truth to power and nothing changes? A recent editorial in the New York Times, entitled “Understanding Iran: Repression 101”, compares the impact of the protests in Iran to those 20 years ago in Tiananmen Square in China, where the Chinese Communist party, albeit changed, continues in power; and to Solidarity uprisings in Poland where more radical change resulted. It goes on to compare protests and revolutionary movements in Burma and North Korea and Nicaragua. We can ask about the impact of protests in this country – against various wars, about environmental issues or abortion, the anti-nuclear movement of two decades ago, and many other examples of speaking truth to power.
Clearly, if speaking truth to power is evaluated based on short term success in light of the risks involved, not many would chose to participate. But that is to address the matter politically. How might it look different if we address it spiritually? What happens spiritually when we fail to speak truth to power? William Sloan Coffin said, “If you lessen your anger at the structures of power you lower your love for the victims of power.” (To the left, p. 5) I agree with Rev. Coffin. But love and anger are difficult travelling companions. One usually wins over the other at any given moment. That leads me to ask a question about the spirituality of people who speak truth to power. What prepares a person spiritually to speak truth to power? Amos and John the Baptist offer some hints.
First of all, both Amos and John had an appropriate sense of their own importance. Now, appropriate means neither too high nor too low. Both decided that despite not having high enough status, there was no one else more appropriate or available to take up the mantle. Amos refers to himself as “just” a herdsman, as over against Amaziah, who was a priest, with access to the king’s ear. When Amaziah tried to emasculate Amos by calling him a prophet and saying he wasn’t living up to a prophet’s status, Amos refused to take the label. “I am not a prophet. I am just obeying God’s call to prophesy.” Amos spoke truth to King Jeroboam; the official priest Amaziah tried to silence him. Amos wouldn’t hear of it. He was clear about who he was and what he was called to do. It wasn’t about him; it was about a larger cause. He wasn’t into status–that didn’t matter.
The same was true of John the Baptist. John’s role as messenger was to prepare for someone else. He began his career making sure everyone knew that he was not “the one.” “There is one greater than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Along the way he insisted that that he had to decrease while Jesus increased.
The people who need to speak truth to power don’t do it because it makes sense for them to be the ones who do it. They do it because there is no one else who is any better. Even though on the outside prophets clearly have a lower status than kings, in the Bible the call of the Prophet and the call of the King are very similar. In Nathan's oracle to David concerning building a "house" for God (temple) and a "house" for David (dynasty), God says, "I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel" (2 Sam 7:8). The wording is strikingly similar to that in Amos's account of his calling: "and God took me from following the flock, and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel"' (Amos 7:15). Similarly, John’s announcement of his message is the same as Jesus’: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God has come near.” The prophet has to know this while accepting a situation in which the prophet is in the power- down situation with respect to the person in power. That is the appropriate sense of self-importance so clearly spoken by both Amos and John.
The person who speaks truth to power has a sense of being part of something greater than him or herself – something that is more important than ones personal agenda, personal status, or petty peccadilloes. Who speaks truth to power? Not the powerful themselves. Rather, it is those who are considered least likely to do so. People who speak truth to power aren’t always the ones in the spotlight. Well known people are often expected to speak truth to power, so there may actually be less impact when they do. It’s the common person who has no right to speak, the one whom nobody expects to do it, that will have greater impact on the powerful. Whenever you find yourself tempted to say, “What difference could my voice make?” remember that it has mostly been people who didn’t think they could make a difference who made a difference when they spoke truth to power.
That was the kind of impact Gandhi had. While he became a person of stature through his struggle, he started out as a common person. He was able to have the impact he had because he understood that speaking truth to power required a spiritual strength that had to be developed. And he dedicated most of his energy to developing that spiritual strength.
Throughout history it has been mostly the unsung heroes rather than the historical icons we tend to elevate to hero status who have made the most significant changes. Howard Zinn proposes some alternative heroes for our nation’s history.
Why not recall the humanitarianism of William Penn, an early colonist who made peace with the Delaware Indians instead of warring on them, as other colonial leaders were doing?
Why not John Woolman, who, in the years before the Revolution, refused to pay taxes to support the British wars, and who spoke out against slavery?
What about grassroots heroes like Fannie Lou Hamer, the Mississippi sharecropper? Mrs. Hamer was evicted from her farm and tortured in prison after she joined the civil rights movement, but she became an eloquent voice for freedom. Or Ella Baker, whose wise counsel and support guided the young black people in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the militant edge of the civil rights movement in the Deep South?
Today also there are heroes speaking truth to power, like thousands of students on more than 100 college campuses across the country who are protesting their universities' connection with sweatshop-produced apparel; and the four McDonald sisters in Minneapolis, all nuns, who went to jail repeatedly for protesting against the Alliant Corporation's production of land mines; and the thousands of people who have traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia, to demand the closing of the murderous School of the Americas. (Published in the June 2000 issue of The Progressive Unsung Heroes by Howard Zinn)
The spirituality that undergirds this ability to speak truth to power has to do with moving from a reactive mode to an active mode of being. This is true whether it involves a public political protest, a child standing up to a parent, an employee standing up to a supervisor, or a customer relating to a shopkeeper. Personally, I have found it more challenging to speak truth to power on behalf of myself than on behalf of others. About 25 years ago I took a battery of tests that revealed how I respond to things when I’m in a reactive mode and how I respond when I’m in an active mode. For example, when I didn’t feel that people were respecting me, I went to my reactive response, which was either to withdraw or to relate to them as a compliant child. On the other hand, when I felt respected, I could access the broad range of active skills and abilities that I have and respond fruitfully.
Over the years I’ve learned that I have the option of choosing to respond from an active mode even when I am experiencing a lack of respect, by consciously accessing either healthy anger by restoring boundaries in a relationship, or by disengaging from the relationship because I realize the other person doesn’t respect me, and that I don’t want to be in relationship with that person. When I combine that awareness with the realization that I am participating in something that is greater than myself, I can choose to remain engaged, and channel my anger to speak truth to the one who claims more power in the circumstances, but who doesn’t really have more power in the larger scheme of things.
Another aspect of spirituality for speaking truth to power is the importance of maintaining a combination of love and anger, along with the courage to speak when it’s dangerous. St. Augustine wrote: “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.” But it is also important for the spokesperson to stay connected to the love for the people that motivates the speaking truth to power in the first place. As William Sloan Coffin said, “We have to hate evil, else we’re sentimental. But if we hate evil more than we love the good, we become good haters, and o those the world already has too many. However deep, our anger must always and only measure our love.”
We see this balance in Amos. God shows three scenes to Amos in Amos 7: locusts ready to eat the harvest, a shower of fire that dried up the sea and ate up the land, and a plumb line. In the first two cases, Amos begged God to relent of the plans for destruction, and God did relent. In the third case, which is today’s passage, God inserts a question to Amos after showing him the plumb line: “Amos, what do you see?” God hadn’t asked that the other two times. Once Amos acknowledges that he sees a plumb line (a tool of measurement rather than an instrument of destruction like the other two), God proceeds to reveal plans for destruction. This time Amos does not beg. What happened? Did Amos lose his love and patience for the people? Or did he finally see what God saw: the discrepancy between Israel’s calling and its conduct.
The demand for justice required dramatic action to make the wall “plumb.” The wall that was Israel would never be able to support the structure of God’s call on its life without the needed correction to straighten the wall. A building whose walls are not straight (or “plumb”) will collapse under its own weight. In that case, love requires convincing the owner to invest in making the necessary adjustments.
I have a friend who just added a room onto a house. Last week the inspector came and said the city had denied the building permit. At this point, my friend will try to negotiate with the inspector to allow the room to stand, perhaps paying a fine. But if the inspector refuses, my friend will have to tear down the addition, which cost about $15,000. At a certain point, it does no good to argue. It is time for action.
Some of you may be following the news about the current spat between labor unions. At a time when workers need unions to be advocating for them more than ever, some of the largest unions are trying to recruit members from each others’ ranks. Whatever else one might say about that, it demonstrates a disconnection between the anger that leads people to fight for justice and the love for the people that evokes that anger when the people are hurt.
We have our own struggles to keep love and anger, justice and peace together. It turns out that this is one of the great challenges of taking up the mantle to speak truth to power. It is the message of the Psalm for today – Psalm 85: “Will you be angry with us forever? Show us your steadfast love, O God, and grant us your salvation… Steadfast love and truth fill meet, justice and peace will kiss each other. Truthfulness will spring up from the ground and justice will look down from the sky.”
Must we speak truth to power? Yes. Do we need to do that from a spiritually centered place? Double yes. As Immanuel continues to engage our anger at injustice by participating in struggles for justice for many groups of people, I pray that we will be able to do it in ways that also reveal our love and build bridges of peace. For otherwise, our justice work will just be clanging gongs and noisy cymbals.
July 9, 2009
July 8, 2009 + Who Is Your Neighbor? (Luke 10:25-37) + Hayward Fong
Samuel gave such a stirring sermon last Sunday, I’m glad I had skipped the Lectionary assignment and spoke instead about Independence Day and Christian Freedom. Immanuel is in the Second Year cycle, so as to avoid any duplication of thoughts, I’m using one of the other two years for our Wednesday worship. The familiar selection, which I just read for the 15th Sunday is commonly called the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
A few years ago, one researcher found in a survey that 49% of the people interviewed said they would be able to tell the story of the Good Samaritan if asked to do so, 45% said they would not be able to, and 6% were unsure whether they could or not. Among those who attended religious services every week, the proportion that thought they could tell the story rose to 69%.
But whether or not one could accurately retell this parable, the concept of the “Good Samaritan” is familiar enough to most everyone. We name hospitals, churches, and institutions in his honor. Most people know a ‘Good Samaritan’ when they see one…Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, that anonymous person who simply stops to change a flat tire for you or helps a blind person across the street. Yes, we have all met one or have heard of one even if we can’t relate to the details of the parable.
In the story, we are immediately introduced to a lawyer, who poses a question to Jesus as a test, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” When I was teaching in the Army, I would often encounter someone in the class who would “sharp shoot”, put me to the test. I wish I had the ability to turn the tables as Jesus in those situations. Jesus answers the lawyer’s question with one of his own, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
The answer comes back, “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.” Good answer. And Jesus agrees. But the lawyer, not satisfied with that, still wishes to be noticed, so he asks another question, “And who is my neighbor?” In other words, “OK, Jesus, I understand that I’m suppose to CARE, but what are the limits of my caring? When can I quit? And here Jesus tells this famous story.
The first person to whom we are introduced is the poor traveler. He had taken the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which was notoriously dangerous. It descended nearly 3,300 feet in 17 miles, running through narrow passes at various points. The terrain offered easy hiding places for the bandits who terrorized travelers. This unfortunate man had been stripped, beaten and left for dead. Jesus’ audience that day knew how easily it could happen and I suspect that we as Jesus’ audience today could easily identify by glancing quickly through the newspapers or watching the TV news of the violence taking place on a daily basis.
Suddenly who should come along but a Priest? If anyone could be expected to stop and help it would be a Priest. But wait! The Priest doesn’t come over to help; on the contrary, he passes by on the other side. No reason is given. Perhaps it was fear? The Priest may be thinking, those who beat the man in the ditch might be lying in wait to beat him as well. Have you ever come upon someone after an ugly accident, and simply passed by for fear of becoming involved? You didn’t want to be a hero! As a note, if a Priest found a body on their journey they had a duty to bury it. Maybe that was what was going through his mind. For whatever reason, he went on his way.
Next, along comes the Levite…an “assistant” Priest. As Luke records it, “…he came to the place and saw him, (and) passed by on the other side.” He wasn’t going to be a hero either!
Now the final character comes along – a Samaritan. The GOOD Samaritan! Nowhere in the Bible will we find the words “Good” and “Samaritan” next to each other. For those folks who first heard this story, the phrase “Good Samaritan” would have been an oxymoron, (oxymoron is the putting together of words which seem to contradict each other) – the only GOOD Samaritan would have been a DEAD Samaritan.
Why such a depth of feeling? A little Jewish history! The hostility between Jews and Samaritans was hundreds of years old. It went back to the time of the division of the nation into the Northern and Southern kingdoms – Samaria came to be identified with the North and Judea with the south. Following the fall of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria in 721 B.C., exiles from many nations settled in Samaria, creating something if a melting pot, no longer was it purely Jewish. Move forward a hundred years or so. Now it is the turn for the Southern Kingdom to fall – this time the conqueror was Babylon, and, as was the custom of the day, the people were carried off into exile to prevent any uprising in the occupied territory. The few Jews left in Samaria were considered no threat in that regard, so they were left in Palestine. Seventy years passed and the exiles were allowed to return. The Samaritans were ready to welcome them back, but the returnees would have none of it – Samaritans had intermarried with gentiles making them “half-breeds.” They had perverted the race. The Samaritans had also perverted the religion. They looked to Mt. Gerizim in their own land as the place to worship God, not Jerusalem. The interpreted the Torah differently that the Southern Jews.
By the time of Jesus, the animosity toward Samaritans was so great that some Jews would go miles out of their way to avoid walking on Samaritan soil. The hatred between Jew and Samaritan in Jesus’ day was as least as deep as the feeling Jews and Arabs have towards each other today. So much of this necessary historical background; let’s get on with the story
If Jesus were just trying to say we should help the helpless, supply the need of the needy, he could have talked about the first two men who passed by and the third one who stopped and cared for the half-dead guy in the ditch, without any identity. If Jesus were also making a gibe against the religious establishment, we would expect the third person to be a layman – some ordinary Israelite – in contrast to the two professional clergy. If Jesus were illustrating the need to love our enemies, then the man in the ditch would have been a Samaritan who is cared for by a loving Israelite. But that’s NOT the way the story goes. I’ll get into the question “Why a Samaritan?” in a few moments. Let’s get back to the story and try to see why Jesus cast these roles as He did?
The Samaritan sees the man, but instead of distancing himself just as the Priest and Levite had earlier, he comes closer. As Luke states, “…when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them (oil to keep them soft, wine to sterilize). Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii (two days wages), gave them to the innkeeper. And said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’” Not an insignificant amount, not lavish either, but enough to do the job. End of story!
Jesus has responded to the lawyer’s question about the neighborliness with this story and now turns the question back to the lawyer. “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” His answer, “The one who showed him mercy.” Amazing isn’t it? The concept of the GOOD Samaritan is so distasteful that the lawyer cannot bring himself to even speak the name. Perhaps the answer to that question I raised a few moments ago, “Why a Samaritan?” is that Jesus did not want his hearers to identify with this generous caregiver. It would be a temptation to identify with the charitably attractive and winsome behavior of this man, the helper/hero that he obviously was, but no good Jew could do that. He would not want to be like the Priest or the Levite either, so the only character left with which to identify would be the man in the ditch.
Now Jesus concludes, “Go and do likewise.” What? Be the guy in the ditch? Perhaps that is not so far-fetched as we might think. We never hear if this poor victim recovers, but my assumption is that he does. That being the case, what would the effect have been on him that a Samaritan had rescued him? One would presume that it would forever color his view of Samaritans. For that matter, one would presume that it would forever color his view of the world’s victims. There would be less callousness, less inclination to lay blame for getting into such fixes in the first place, less temptation to “pass by on the other side.”
If Jesus’ story had gone on any longer, I would bet that this poor fellow, from that day forward, became a better neighbor to the rest of the world than he would have ever dreamed possible. On occasions, when thinking of this parable, I’ve wondered about the rest of the story. What effect did the charity have on the man who was robbed and beaten and taken care of? Did he remember the cruelty of the robbers and shape his life with that memory? Or did he remember the nameless generosity of the Samaritan and shape his life with that debt? What did he pass on to the strangers in his life, those in need he met? Has anyone ever helped you?
“Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” Amen.
A few years ago, one researcher found in a survey that 49% of the people interviewed said they would be able to tell the story of the Good Samaritan if asked to do so, 45% said they would not be able to, and 6% were unsure whether they could or not. Among those who attended religious services every week, the proportion that thought they could tell the story rose to 69%.
But whether or not one could accurately retell this parable, the concept of the “Good Samaritan” is familiar enough to most everyone. We name hospitals, churches, and institutions in his honor. Most people know a ‘Good Samaritan’ when they see one…Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, that anonymous person who simply stops to change a flat tire for you or helps a blind person across the street. Yes, we have all met one or have heard of one even if we can’t relate to the details of the parable.
In the story, we are immediately introduced to a lawyer, who poses a question to Jesus as a test, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” When I was teaching in the Army, I would often encounter someone in the class who would “sharp shoot”, put me to the test. I wish I had the ability to turn the tables as Jesus in those situations. Jesus answers the lawyer’s question with one of his own, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
The answer comes back, “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.” Good answer. And Jesus agrees. But the lawyer, not satisfied with that, still wishes to be noticed, so he asks another question, “And who is my neighbor?” In other words, “OK, Jesus, I understand that I’m suppose to CARE, but what are the limits of my caring? When can I quit? And here Jesus tells this famous story.
The first person to whom we are introduced is the poor traveler. He had taken the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which was notoriously dangerous. It descended nearly 3,300 feet in 17 miles, running through narrow passes at various points. The terrain offered easy hiding places for the bandits who terrorized travelers. This unfortunate man had been stripped, beaten and left for dead. Jesus’ audience that day knew how easily it could happen and I suspect that we as Jesus’ audience today could easily identify by glancing quickly through the newspapers or watching the TV news of the violence taking place on a daily basis.
Suddenly who should come along but a Priest? If anyone could be expected to stop and help it would be a Priest. But wait! The Priest doesn’t come over to help; on the contrary, he passes by on the other side. No reason is given. Perhaps it was fear? The Priest may be thinking, those who beat the man in the ditch might be lying in wait to beat him as well. Have you ever come upon someone after an ugly accident, and simply passed by for fear of becoming involved? You didn’t want to be a hero! As a note, if a Priest found a body on their journey they had a duty to bury it. Maybe that was what was going through his mind. For whatever reason, he went on his way.
Next, along comes the Levite…an “assistant” Priest. As Luke records it, “…he came to the place and saw him, (and) passed by on the other side.” He wasn’t going to be a hero either!
Now the final character comes along – a Samaritan. The GOOD Samaritan! Nowhere in the Bible will we find the words “Good” and “Samaritan” next to each other. For those folks who first heard this story, the phrase “Good Samaritan” would have been an oxymoron, (oxymoron is the putting together of words which seem to contradict each other) – the only GOOD Samaritan would have been a DEAD Samaritan.
Why such a depth of feeling? A little Jewish history! The hostility between Jews and Samaritans was hundreds of years old. It went back to the time of the division of the nation into the Northern and Southern kingdoms – Samaria came to be identified with the North and Judea with the south. Following the fall of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria in 721 B.C., exiles from many nations settled in Samaria, creating something if a melting pot, no longer was it purely Jewish. Move forward a hundred years or so. Now it is the turn for the Southern Kingdom to fall – this time the conqueror was Babylon, and, as was the custom of the day, the people were carried off into exile to prevent any uprising in the occupied territory. The few Jews left in Samaria were considered no threat in that regard, so they were left in Palestine. Seventy years passed and the exiles were allowed to return. The Samaritans were ready to welcome them back, but the returnees would have none of it – Samaritans had intermarried with gentiles making them “half-breeds.” They had perverted the race. The Samaritans had also perverted the religion. They looked to Mt. Gerizim in their own land as the place to worship God, not Jerusalem. The interpreted the Torah differently that the Southern Jews.
By the time of Jesus, the animosity toward Samaritans was so great that some Jews would go miles out of their way to avoid walking on Samaritan soil. The hatred between Jew and Samaritan in Jesus’ day was as least as deep as the feeling Jews and Arabs have towards each other today. So much of this necessary historical background; let’s get on with the story
If Jesus were just trying to say we should help the helpless, supply the need of the needy, he could have talked about the first two men who passed by and the third one who stopped and cared for the half-dead guy in the ditch, without any identity. If Jesus were also making a gibe against the religious establishment, we would expect the third person to be a layman – some ordinary Israelite – in contrast to the two professional clergy. If Jesus were illustrating the need to love our enemies, then the man in the ditch would have been a Samaritan who is cared for by a loving Israelite. But that’s NOT the way the story goes. I’ll get into the question “Why a Samaritan?” in a few moments. Let’s get back to the story and try to see why Jesus cast these roles as He did?
The Samaritan sees the man, but instead of distancing himself just as the Priest and Levite had earlier, he comes closer. As Luke states, “…when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them (oil to keep them soft, wine to sterilize). Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii (two days wages), gave them to the innkeeper. And said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’” Not an insignificant amount, not lavish either, but enough to do the job. End of story!
Jesus has responded to the lawyer’s question about the neighborliness with this story and now turns the question back to the lawyer. “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” His answer, “The one who showed him mercy.” Amazing isn’t it? The concept of the GOOD Samaritan is so distasteful that the lawyer cannot bring himself to even speak the name. Perhaps the answer to that question I raised a few moments ago, “Why a Samaritan?” is that Jesus did not want his hearers to identify with this generous caregiver. It would be a temptation to identify with the charitably attractive and winsome behavior of this man, the helper/hero that he obviously was, but no good Jew could do that. He would not want to be like the Priest or the Levite either, so the only character left with which to identify would be the man in the ditch.
Now Jesus concludes, “Go and do likewise.” What? Be the guy in the ditch? Perhaps that is not so far-fetched as we might think. We never hear if this poor victim recovers, but my assumption is that he does. That being the case, what would the effect have been on him that a Samaritan had rescued him? One would presume that it would forever color his view of Samaritans. For that matter, one would presume that it would forever color his view of the world’s victims. There would be less callousness, less inclination to lay blame for getting into such fixes in the first place, less temptation to “pass by on the other side.”
If Jesus’ story had gone on any longer, I would bet that this poor fellow, from that day forward, became a better neighbor to the rest of the world than he would have ever dreamed possible. On occasions, when thinking of this parable, I’ve wondered about the rest of the story. What effect did the charity have on the man who was robbed and beaten and taken care of? Did he remember the cruelty of the robbers and shape his life with that memory? Or did he remember the nameless generosity of the Samaritan and shape his life with that debt? What did he pass on to the strangers in his life, those in need he met? Has anyone ever helped you?
“Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” Amen.
July 1, 2009 + Independence Day: Christian Freedom (Psalm 33:8-22; Galatians 5:13-18) + Hayward Fong
Next Saturday, July 4th, we celebrate the 233rd birthday of our nation, The United States of America. Since the date falls on a Saturday, many offices will be closed on Friday and people will take the day off to make it a three day holiday weekend.
People will be celebrating Independence Day in a variety of ways. Many have become traditions. Some people will travel to see loved ones and others will just stay at home with the family. There will be fireworks. With the tinder dry brush conditions, I hope people will realize the high danger of wild fires associated with neighborhood firework displays. There will undoubtedly be the traditional barbeques and picnics, and hopefully some patriotic observances in recognition of what the Day stands for.
We celebrate this holiday because of what happened in 1776.
On July 4, 1776, there was signed in the City of Philadelphia one of America’s historic documents: The Declaration of Independence. It marked the birth of this nation which, under God, was destined for world leadership.
We often forget, in declaring independence from an earthly power, our forefathers made a forthright declaration of dependence upon Almighty God. The closing words of this document solemnly declare: “With firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
The fifty-six courageous men who signed this document understood that this was not just high sounding rhetoric. They knew that if they succeeded, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. If they lost, they would face a hang man’s noose.
We celebrate that these people had the wherewithal and courage to break the existing hold of Europe on these wilderness colonies.
It is important to remember certain facts about the men who made this pledge; they were not poor men by any stretch of the imagination. Most of them enjoyed much ease and luxury in their personal lives. They were wealthy landowners, respected men in their communities. Among the signers was a Presbyterian minister, John Witherspoon.
But they considered liberty much more important than the security they enjoyed, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. They fulfilled their pledge. They paid the price. And freedom was won. It has been said, “To be born free is a privilege. To die free is an awesome responsibility.”
Freedom is never free. It is always purchased at a great cost. On the signing of The Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, “I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet, through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means.”
We celebrate the actions of people we only know about because of books. We celebrate the actions of people who lived without the things we take for granted in our everyday living.
What did they want to become independent from? If you read through the document you find oppression, abuse, removal of rights, false justice and punishment. You find a precisely stated set of charges against the king and their justification for independence. Their declaration was to break free of the strangling hold of a tyrant.
Interestingly we celebrate the day of declaration not the day it was actually achieved. I guess if they had actually lost the struggle we would not be celebrating at all on Saturday. We celebrate the ideal of the prize that was worth so much time, energy and lives.
So what is the Christian comparison?
The scripture we heard this morning is talking about freedom. This passage is about Mosaic Law, something that helped to identify sin and how to live a life honorable to God. However, too many people, religious leaders, used the Law as a tool of control. They used it for power and position and separation.
Paul declares freedom from the Law. He tells the churches in Galatia that they are called by God through Jesus to be free.
The people of Paul’s day suffered persecution and hardship which increased as they become Christians. The community made it tough to live this new found faith. It was hard to celebrate the freedom that Paul encourages.
They had already broken from their old tradition. They were trying to figure out the ins and outs of this new faith. They had lots of questions and pressures to give into and it appears in Scripture that one of the most logical was becoming a Jew to become a Christian. The pressure was to live under the Law as a first requirement. Paul argued that it was not so.
Hindsight is so good. Today we can look at United States history and find the investment made by these signers so long ago was worth it. It is great to be free. It is fantastic that I can pretty much do what I want and say what I want.
The structure of the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence would give an English teacher apoplexy. The second sentence is straight forward and says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable (unchangeable) Rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 233 years later we still enjoy the freedom that the Declaration of Independence created for us: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This is my kind of place. I am so happy that God placed me here – in the United States of America, in Los Angeles, in your company here at Immanuel. There are a lot of less comfortable places in the world where there is little or no freedom. Places where the liberty and pursuit of happiness are a pipe dream. The sun does not set on any part of this planet where the biggest goal is to have life and there is little hope for much else.
Great as it is to live here in the United States, we are not without our problems, or should I say challenges to freedom and the pursuit of happiness: traffic laws, traffic lights, speed limits, home mortgages, income taxes, building codes, unemployment, medical costs, long lines at the checkout counter, need for money…the list could go on and on. It seems to me that with freedom, a lot of other things come which steal away our freedom.
The freedom we receive is cooperative, not exclusive. It is a union of people to protect God given rights at a cost that is shared by the group. The freedom we enjoy was not obtainable by one or two. In the revolutionary war they fought to make something new.
The freedom we receive has limits that keep us from expressing our freedom at the expense of another. But let us look at this from a Christian perspective. We live in the greatest country in the world, the richest, the finest, and the seemingly blessed.
In our reading, Paul tells the churches in Galatia that they are meant to be free. Free from slavery to sin – free from the obligation to keep the Law which is impossible to keep. However, Paul explains that with freedom there are still rules and limits.
He states Rule 1 like this: “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (vs. 13).
We cannot use our freedom to become immoral people!
We cannot use our freedom to abuse or use other people!
We cannot use our freedom to avoid obligations with the church!
We cannot use our freedom to sit around and do nothing!
Our freedom is not a license to sin in any way. Paul adds, “We are to serve one another in love” (vs. 13).
Sounds like a limited version of freedom with all sorts of restrictions, kind of like the fine print that comes with the no interest credit card from B of A. But it really isn’t too expensive. After all, the people at church are family by birth or holy adoption. Remember Paul is writing to the churches in Galatia. We all do things we don’t necessarily like for family, at least occasionally.
Paul states Rule 2 like this: “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (vs. 14). Here’s that “Love your neighbor” thing again. It starts in Leviticus (19:18), then Jesus is quoted in Matthew, Mark and Luke, then Paul (Gal. 5:14) and James (2:8) both remind us. Sort of a pain, isn’t it, to be reminded about loving your neighbor, over and over and over again?
Perhaps, we need to take the reminders as extra significance or importance. Here Paul reminds us that this one rule replaces the entire Law. This one rule, if followed, will set your life on an even footing in the right direction. This one rule will set you free of all the little nuances and petty restrictions of the Law.
Loving your neighbor as self, what does that really mean? How do we demonstrate our love for ourselves?
When we are hungry, thirsty or sick, we do something about it. When I decide to go someplace, I get in my car, something I bought to meet my needs. I guess there are a lot of things I do for myself… some are needs, some are comforts or fun. But I am worth all of it…right?
According to Paul, our neighbors are worth something as well. With freedom comes obligations to our family, community, neighbors and even individuals along our path. Folks that don’t value you or me at all, should still be important to us because of our freedom.
Paul is writing to people who are in the middle of a battle over salvation. They do not have the advantage of hind sight. They are fighting their way toward the path of righteousness and are uncertain of the proper steps. Some of their issues are raised within the Church itself. There must have been some real knock-down conversations and accusations between fellow believers, as they struggle with the freedom that Paul reminds them of.
The main struggle is to try to live under the oppression of the Law in hopes that it would get better or to choose the freedom that God offered through Jesus Christ.
Our forefathers in this nation recognized that their lives were on the edge of slavery to the king. No rights or self government and more and more loss of control over lives led them to declare freedom against the all powerful King of England.
They did not declare war on the king. They just severed their servitude to a life as servants to an unjust king. They changed their direction, choosing the harder path of independence. A path of struggle and pain that would end in freedom like few in the colonies had ever known.
Paul tells his readers that for Christians that path is directed by the Spirit. The battle he describes is between the sinful nature of every person and the guidance offered by the Holy Spirit. He explains that the struggle is an individual battle within each person. The choice is being bound and controlled by a sinful nature or following the Spirit toward ultimate freedom.
The struggle for independence is still going on today. In our nation the battle over religious freedom is growing and I would suggest that if we don’t join the battle, we will continue to see our rights and freedoms trimmed and removed. Our nation’s founders obviously were much more open to the leading of God than many of our politicians and judges today who are trying to lead us to their form of a theocracy to the exclusion or limitation of other religious beliefs.
The battle over our individual spiritual freedom continues as well. We struggle over right and wrong everyday. We decide over loving ourselves and loving our neighbor and we probably don’t do as good a job as we could or should.
God offers us the help we need though it’s not as easy to find as we want. It takes real effort and control to listen to the Spirit. It takes an even greater effort to follow its direction.
All Glory be to God! Amen.
People will be celebrating Independence Day in a variety of ways. Many have become traditions. Some people will travel to see loved ones and others will just stay at home with the family. There will be fireworks. With the tinder dry brush conditions, I hope people will realize the high danger of wild fires associated with neighborhood firework displays. There will undoubtedly be the traditional barbeques and picnics, and hopefully some patriotic observances in recognition of what the Day stands for.
We celebrate this holiday because of what happened in 1776.
On July 4, 1776, there was signed in the City of Philadelphia one of America’s historic documents: The Declaration of Independence. It marked the birth of this nation which, under God, was destined for world leadership.
We often forget, in declaring independence from an earthly power, our forefathers made a forthright declaration of dependence upon Almighty God. The closing words of this document solemnly declare: “With firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
The fifty-six courageous men who signed this document understood that this was not just high sounding rhetoric. They knew that if they succeeded, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. If they lost, they would face a hang man’s noose.
We celebrate that these people had the wherewithal and courage to break the existing hold of Europe on these wilderness colonies.
It is important to remember certain facts about the men who made this pledge; they were not poor men by any stretch of the imagination. Most of them enjoyed much ease and luxury in their personal lives. They were wealthy landowners, respected men in their communities. Among the signers was a Presbyterian minister, John Witherspoon.
But they considered liberty much more important than the security they enjoyed, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. They fulfilled their pledge. They paid the price. And freedom was won. It has been said, “To be born free is a privilege. To die free is an awesome responsibility.”
Freedom is never free. It is always purchased at a great cost. On the signing of The Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, “I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet, through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means.”
We celebrate the actions of people we only know about because of books. We celebrate the actions of people who lived without the things we take for granted in our everyday living.
What did they want to become independent from? If you read through the document you find oppression, abuse, removal of rights, false justice and punishment. You find a precisely stated set of charges against the king and their justification for independence. Their declaration was to break free of the strangling hold of a tyrant.
Interestingly we celebrate the day of declaration not the day it was actually achieved. I guess if they had actually lost the struggle we would not be celebrating at all on Saturday. We celebrate the ideal of the prize that was worth so much time, energy and lives.
So what is the Christian comparison?
The scripture we heard this morning is talking about freedom. This passage is about Mosaic Law, something that helped to identify sin and how to live a life honorable to God. However, too many people, religious leaders, used the Law as a tool of control. They used it for power and position and separation.
Paul declares freedom from the Law. He tells the churches in Galatia that they are called by God through Jesus to be free.
The people of Paul’s day suffered persecution and hardship which increased as they become Christians. The community made it tough to live this new found faith. It was hard to celebrate the freedom that Paul encourages.
They had already broken from their old tradition. They were trying to figure out the ins and outs of this new faith. They had lots of questions and pressures to give into and it appears in Scripture that one of the most logical was becoming a Jew to become a Christian. The pressure was to live under the Law as a first requirement. Paul argued that it was not so.
Hindsight is so good. Today we can look at United States history and find the investment made by these signers so long ago was worth it. It is great to be free. It is fantastic that I can pretty much do what I want and say what I want.
The structure of the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence would give an English teacher apoplexy. The second sentence is straight forward and says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable (unchangeable) Rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 233 years later we still enjoy the freedom that the Declaration of Independence created for us: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This is my kind of place. I am so happy that God placed me here – in the United States of America, in Los Angeles, in your company here at Immanuel. There are a lot of less comfortable places in the world where there is little or no freedom. Places where the liberty and pursuit of happiness are a pipe dream. The sun does not set on any part of this planet where the biggest goal is to have life and there is little hope for much else.
Great as it is to live here in the United States, we are not without our problems, or should I say challenges to freedom and the pursuit of happiness: traffic laws, traffic lights, speed limits, home mortgages, income taxes, building codes, unemployment, medical costs, long lines at the checkout counter, need for money…the list could go on and on. It seems to me that with freedom, a lot of other things come which steal away our freedom.
The freedom we receive is cooperative, not exclusive. It is a union of people to protect God given rights at a cost that is shared by the group. The freedom we enjoy was not obtainable by one or two. In the revolutionary war they fought to make something new.
The freedom we receive has limits that keep us from expressing our freedom at the expense of another. But let us look at this from a Christian perspective. We live in the greatest country in the world, the richest, the finest, and the seemingly blessed.
In our reading, Paul tells the churches in Galatia that they are meant to be free. Free from slavery to sin – free from the obligation to keep the Law which is impossible to keep. However, Paul explains that with freedom there are still rules and limits.
He states Rule 1 like this: “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (vs. 13).
We cannot use our freedom to become immoral people!
We cannot use our freedom to abuse or use other people!
We cannot use our freedom to avoid obligations with the church!
We cannot use our freedom to sit around and do nothing!
Our freedom is not a license to sin in any way. Paul adds, “We are to serve one another in love” (vs. 13).
Sounds like a limited version of freedom with all sorts of restrictions, kind of like the fine print that comes with the no interest credit card from B of A. But it really isn’t too expensive. After all, the people at church are family by birth or holy adoption. Remember Paul is writing to the churches in Galatia. We all do things we don’t necessarily like for family, at least occasionally.
Paul states Rule 2 like this: “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (vs. 14). Here’s that “Love your neighbor” thing again. It starts in Leviticus (19:18), then Jesus is quoted in Matthew, Mark and Luke, then Paul (Gal. 5:14) and James (2:8) both remind us. Sort of a pain, isn’t it, to be reminded about loving your neighbor, over and over and over again?
Perhaps, we need to take the reminders as extra significance or importance. Here Paul reminds us that this one rule replaces the entire Law. This one rule, if followed, will set your life on an even footing in the right direction. This one rule will set you free of all the little nuances and petty restrictions of the Law.
Loving your neighbor as self, what does that really mean? How do we demonstrate our love for ourselves?
When we are hungry, thirsty or sick, we do something about it. When I decide to go someplace, I get in my car, something I bought to meet my needs. I guess there are a lot of things I do for myself… some are needs, some are comforts or fun. But I am worth all of it…right?
According to Paul, our neighbors are worth something as well. With freedom comes obligations to our family, community, neighbors and even individuals along our path. Folks that don’t value you or me at all, should still be important to us because of our freedom.
Paul is writing to people who are in the middle of a battle over salvation. They do not have the advantage of hind sight. They are fighting their way toward the path of righteousness and are uncertain of the proper steps. Some of their issues are raised within the Church itself. There must have been some real knock-down conversations and accusations between fellow believers, as they struggle with the freedom that Paul reminds them of.
The main struggle is to try to live under the oppression of the Law in hopes that it would get better or to choose the freedom that God offered through Jesus Christ.
Our forefathers in this nation recognized that their lives were on the edge of slavery to the king. No rights or self government and more and more loss of control over lives led them to declare freedom against the all powerful King of England.
They did not declare war on the king. They just severed their servitude to a life as servants to an unjust king. They changed their direction, choosing the harder path of independence. A path of struggle and pain that would end in freedom like few in the colonies had ever known.
Paul tells his readers that for Christians that path is directed by the Spirit. The battle he describes is between the sinful nature of every person and the guidance offered by the Holy Spirit. He explains that the struggle is an individual battle within each person. The choice is being bound and controlled by a sinful nature or following the Spirit toward ultimate freedom.
The struggle for independence is still going on today. In our nation the battle over religious freedom is growing and I would suggest that if we don’t join the battle, we will continue to see our rights and freedoms trimmed and removed. Our nation’s founders obviously were much more open to the leading of God than many of our politicians and judges today who are trying to lead us to their form of a theocracy to the exclusion or limitation of other religious beliefs.
The battle over our individual spiritual freedom continues as well. We struggle over right and wrong everyday. We decide over loving ourselves and loving our neighbor and we probably don’t do as good a job as we could or should.
God offers us the help we need though it’s not as easy to find as we want. It takes real effort and control to listen to the Spirit. It takes an even greater effort to follow its direction.
All Glory be to God! Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
