Advocating Grace – 4/05/09

Susanna was brought here when she was 7 months old. She didn’t know the place she was leaving and she didn’t know where she was going. She only knew she was with her parents and that was good. In reality, she was leaving Mexico and coming to the United States of America. With no idea that she was outside the law, she went to school, she got good grades, and was encouraged by her counselors to apply for scholarships and loans to attend school. They were puzzled when she turned them down. An internship at a bank was also part of her high school education. They liked her so much that when she graduated they were going to hire her on the spot. They were puzzled when she refused. Since she didn’t have a social security number, she knew her chances were slim and she didn’t want to put her family in jeopardy. Despite her abilities, she waits tables to make money.

Rosa grew up here as well, but was born in Mexico. She fell in love and while she and her husband couldn’t be legally married, they spent their lives together and had three children. All was well until one trip to the grocery store. Her husband dropped her off and never came back. She was now alone, illegal, and a single mother of three. Life was hard but she made it on her own. She would fall in love again with a man named Guillermo. He was nice at first, but more violent as their relationship went on. Still, he provided a steady factory income and kept food on the table. That was how it went until one trip to church. Guillermo decided to be baptized and, in this case, his sins were literally washed away. He owns his car. He owns his house. He is liked at his job. He doesn’t abuse his wife or children anymore. However, his driver’s license is about to expire and he won’t be able to get a new one. It’s going to make getting to work much more difficult if not impossible.

Harry Pangemanan came from Indonesia in 1993 on a tourist’s visa. He was hired as a supervisor in New Jersey and given a driver’s license and social security number. He and his wife and their children attended Highland Park Reformed Church. In January, he was detained because their documents were not up to date. People from the church visited him every day and his wife and children went when they could. Without notice, he was flown from a facility in New Jersey to a deportation site in Tacoma, WA; thousands of miles from his family. They have spent $20,000 on legal fees in preparation for the upcoming deportation hearings.

All of these stories take place in the immigration system here in the United States of America. When you consider James’ story as he came here from Rwanda and the long list of other stories, it’s clear that the system is not as smooth as it could be. But the point of the stories is to highlight the idea of a system. In people terms, a system is a group of people that interact for one reason or another. In a system, these people will hold a general set of beliefs and generally follow a set of rules and share common behaviors. There will also usually be physical structures that are associated with the system and serve as symbols. We talk about them all the time: the health care system, the education system, the prison system, the social service system, the financial system, you could even say that there is a Christian or religious system.

There are, after all, a group of people that get together for reasons having to do with the faith that they share. We might not see each other anywhere else, but almost every Sunday we see familiar faces. We also hold similar beliefs whether they be theological or social. We share in common behaviors: we sing, we stand, we sit, we drink coffee, we go to Sunday School, we serve. And, we do much of this in a physical structure with noticeable markings to tell people that this is a church; one piece within the Christian, religious system. In this church last week, we talked about advocating for moral leaders, for people who would be humble enough to serve people rather than their own prestige. This week we’ll be considering what it means to advocate for more faithful systems, whether they be immigration or any other type. In fact, this is one way to look at Jesus’ triumphal entry.

After all, Jerusalem was the center for just about every Jewish system that existed in the day especially those that were religious. At the center of that center was the temple where God’s people from the surrounding area would flock many times a year to worship, to renew their covenants with God, to make sacrifices, and to celebrate God’s covenant with them. Passover was approaching as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt. As we know so well, he was hailed by the crowds as the king who was coming to restore Jerusalem and all of its systems to glory. “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Jesus’ first peak at the temple was a quiet one and, no doubt, the anticipation of the people grew as he observed what was going on there: the sacrificial system at work.

That night something else was growing inside Jesus. Call it jealousy, call it anger, call it righteous indignation, whatever you call it, it led Jesus to Jerusalem again the next day and he visited the temple the next day as well. It would not be so quiet this time. He began to drive out of the temple those who were selling animals for sacrifice and those who were buying animals to make sacrifices. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. You can just hear the chaos of coins spilling all over the ground as the moneychangers race to pick up their profits, of animals on the loose, and people awestruck. Jesus’ vigorous display completely dismantled the system of sacrifice.

By some accounts, it was a corrupt system. Some say the poor would have to pay extra, animals that traveled long distances were rarely approved so that you would have to buy in the temple which charged exorbitant rates. Mark says nothing about that. Regardless, Jesus seems enraged by the system as it has been put in place. Certainly, some of the same people who praised him were no in the temple to offer sacrifices in gratitude for him. But, he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. Some king he’s turned out to be. The people were only following what had been prescribed for them in their Scriptures. They were there to renew their covenant with God and God’s law said that they had to sacrifice. Sure it may have had its problems, but at least there was a system in place. What kind of sacrilege was Jesus bringing upon them?

Jesus was teaching them, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a den of robbers.” With these words, Jesus was joining the voices of Isaiah and Jeremiah and calling the people back to God. There were two problems with the system as Jesus saw it. First, there was only one nation represented. Since the time of Isaiah, God has meant to extend his promises to all who were willing to obey him. God desired that his house would be a house of prayer for all peoples. In Jesus’ day, however, all other peoples could be considered unclean and unworthy of the temple. The system made them feel unwelcome. The second thing that angered Jesus was that the temple was used as a front for sinful living. People would oppress the alien and orphan and widow, they would steal, murder, or commit adultery and then come to the temple imagining they are safe. They thought that as along as they made a sacrifice, they could go on doing as they please. In reality, they were robbing God and one another.

With his words and with his actions, Jesus is saying that the religious system is broken. With his disruptive display and his teaching, Jesus was advocating that the system be changed so that it was more in line with God’s desires for his people and for the world. Jesus was telling those who stuck around that God desired a relationship with people from all nations and was calling all people to stop robbing one another of the life God wants to give them. It’s no different than Jesus’ call to love God and love one another. The apostle Paul came up with a good word for this: grace.

Paul would see this as part of the mystery that had been veiled through the ages, but was now unveiled in Jesus Christ. Paul would see Jesus’ words and actions as part of God’s eternal plan to redeem the whole world. By God’s grace, Paul was equipped and sent to bring this good news to the Gentile nations to tell them that they had become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus. Because of him, all people have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith. By grace we have been saved through faith. Jesus Christ is our peace. So, we have peace with God and peace with one another, not because God has been bought off, but because of grace.

Through this same grace, a new system has been put in place. Through this new system the wisdom of God’s grace will be made known to all of the rulers and authorities on earth and in heaven. Through this new system, all the rich variety of what God had in mind since the foundation of the world will be made known to the world so that everyone can see it. There’s a name for this new system: church. It’s no coincidence that at the center of this new church system are two symbols which we call “means of grace.” The baptismal font and the communion table are two ways that God conveys his grace to us as we gather in his house. The water of the font calls to mind the ways in which God graciously forgives our sins, graciously adopts us into the body of Christ, graciously sends the Holy Spirit to renew us daily, and will one day graciously resurrect us to eternal life. The bread and the cup of the communion table call to mind the gracious sacrifice that Christ offered so that we might share in his communion of grace with God, believing that this table is a foretaste of the eternal banquet that he has gone to graciously prepare for us.

Swimming in all this grace hardly makes sense to the rulers and authorities of the world and in the heavenly places. Most systems run on laws and regulations. Most systems are considered just if they stick to those laws and regulations. We usually don’t know that there is a system until it doesn’t work for us. I doubt any of us will know what it’s like to flee our homes to save our lives as James’ family had to, but we can certainly use actions to advocate for grace. Not many of us will know what it’s like to miss a meeting and have to wait 45 days for coupons to buy food, but we can certainly use our voices to advocate for grace. Few of us will know what it means to leave friends and family to find work, but we can certainly teach ways to advocate for grace. More of us than before know what it means to live without medical insurance, but we can still find a way to advocate for grace. The wisdom of God says that truly just systems are those founded on and functioning with grace. Immigrants, single moms, the uninsured, the undereducated, and others might not fit within the law, but the church is called to make the wisdom of God known; to advocate for systems of grace.

Paul went to prison advocating for grace. When you question a system, you also question its leaders. When you advocate for a change in the system, you are often advocating for a change in leadership. When the chief priests and the scribes saw what Jesus did in the temple and heard what Jesus said, they also noticed how spellbound the crowd was. Grace is extremely attractive to those who need it and extremely dangerous to those who rely on laws. So, when Jesus and his disciples left that night, the leaders of the religious system began looking for a way to kill Jesus before he could take their power from them. Jesus would be beaten, mocked, and spit upon because he advocated for grace. Ultimately, Jesus was crucified so that each and every one of us could know grace. Jesus died so that each of you would know that God had a plan from the beginning of time to shower you with grace.

For this reason we bow our hearts before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. We pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, he may grant that we may be strengthened in our inner beings with power through God’s Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, as we are being rooted and grounded in love. We pray that we may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to that same God, who by the power at work within us is able to do accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Leaders of Morality – 3/29/09

Sex, Lies, & Video Tape. That’s the name of a movie that came out in the late ‘80’s. It’s definitely not one for the family-friendly, Movie Club we have here at Hope. Too often those words seem to be more than just a movie title. You don’t have to look very far in the newspaper or on line to find a whole series of scandals involving sex and lies and, sometimes, video tape. In fact, look no further than our elected officials today and throughout the years. Time Magazine had a whole online article about the Top 10 Political Sex Scandals. It all started with Eliot Spitzer.

One of the things that drives us crazy about these stories is the hypocrisy. Eliot Spitzer was a very aggressive attorney general in the state of New York. He worked tirelessly to protect consumers and shareholders from corporate fraud and financial scandals in New York. He even pursued the break up of several prostitution rings. But when he transferred $10,000 from his bank account, people started getting suspicious. They were right and they were angry. David Vitter was another hypocrite. He was an aggressive supporter of Conservative positions on abstinence-only education and same-sex marriage. At the same time, his phone number was found on a client list for the “D.C. Madam.” The hypocrisy is really disappointing. The lying is really frustrating.

This was the case with John Edwards as he ran for President. He vehemently denied any wrong doing for days, if not weeks. He offered to take a paternity test to prove that he wasn’t the child’s father and that he hadn’t had an affair. When it didn’t work, he admitted the truth on TV. Of course, no one lied better (or worse) than Bill Clinton. Bill’s denials are the most famous and outrageous and they never convinced anyone. These sex scandals are unfortunate where you find them and they are found everywhere. You have Republicans like Larry Craig and Mark Foley and Democrats like Gary Hart.

I know that it feels strange to be talking about sex scandals in church. It sounds like something that belongs on the pages of the National Enquirer. It feels like gossip. It feels like you’re invading someone’s private life and nosing in on their business. Often, the argument goes, people’s personal decisions and private life have no bearing on the way they can govern. Very few of these scandals resulted in public outrage. Most people don’t really care whether or not their politician is promiscuous or faithful in their marriage. The two Biblical passages I share with you this morning are for the purpose of wondering whether we should. We heard this morning how sex and politics have been tied together for quite some time.

Some of Wil’s favorite stories in his little children’s Bible are about David; especially David and Goliath. David is a hero in many a Sunday School class because of his defeat of the great giant and the great power he has in battle. No doubt modern-day Christians are the first to admire David and look to him as an example. I’m sure the people of his own kingdom looked up to him and that little boys wanted to be like him. It’s possible to see how all of that praise and admiration could go to someone’s head. As he looked out over his kingdom it’s possible to imagine how David could see it all as belonging to him; even that beautiful young woman named Bathsheba.

The scandal comes and goes pretty quickly, but the cover up goes on for quite some time. At least, David tries to cover it up. If you remember, when David can’t get Uriah to sleep with his wife, he has him killed on the field of battle. Imagine if this were more than a story in the Bible. What if this was the story on the front page of the Grand Rapids Press and it was about the President of the United States. These would be serious allegations. The media would be all over it. In David’s case there was no media, but there was a prophet. His name was Nathan.

The fascinating thing about this story is that Nathan would often serve as David’s trusted advisor, the President’s Chief of Staff. He would advise him on the upcoming battle’s and tell David whether or not the Lord was with him. This thing that David had done with Bathsheba and Uriah had displeased the Lord and Nathan was coming to tell him about it. But he couldn’t just come out and accuse him. Nathan had to draw him in with a story. It’s about a rich man and a poor man who live in the same city. In fact, they live right next to each other. The rich man has a large flock and the poor man has just one ewe. This little lamb would eat food from the dinner table and crawl into the poor man’s lap. It was like a daughter to him.

When a dinner guest came to the house of the rich man, he really didn’t want to take one of his own flock to feed the guest. So he took the poor man’s lamb and fed it to his guest. It’s an unnerving story and David is rightly agitated by it. The arrogance of that man! The heartlessness of that man! The cruelty of that man! He says to Nathan, “That man deserves to die! Whoever that man is is going to restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no pity.” Nathan says to David, “You are that man.” You can almost see the blank stare on David’s face. You can watch his mind work through his eyes as he searches his experience. Perhaps he wonders if Nathan really knows about what he had done.

Then we find out that Nathan isn’t the one who was paying attention. Nathan isn’t the one who has an issue with David. It’s someone up the chain of command who has been watching. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul, and I gave you everything that a king needs and desires, and I gave you Israel and Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have added that much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?” David had brought trouble on his house by sneaking around in secret, but it would become public as his own family struggles for the throne. Thankfully, there are no lies in this story. David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

It wouldn’t be long after this episode that David would write the words we heard this morning from Psalm 51: have mercy on my, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. There is a humility in these words, a brokenness in this Psalm that turns God’s face back to David to restore him. This is why David was considered a man after God’s own heart. Not so much because of the power and the might, but because of his faith and his humility before God. If only we could say the same thing about Herod.

Herod is the one who brings scandal to the gospel of Mark. Herod wanted to be like David. At least, he wanted the power and the might. He wanted the prestige that came with being the one who would rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. He would do whatever it took; including marrying his brother’s wife. I’m not sure what political purpose this served but John, playing the role of Nathan, was not going to let him get away with it. He had been telling Herod that it was against God’s law to take his brother’s wife in such a way. Herodias had some aspirations of her own, it seems, so she developed quite a grudge against John who was ruining her plans. She wanted to have John killed. Instead, Herod arrested John the Baptist and bound him and threw him prison. Of course, the story doesn’t end there.

Herod did protect John while he was in prison. He had this strange fascination with John. Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man. He liked to listen to him. It’s as if Herod knew what John said was true but, at the same time, was too afraid to admit it. Herod was bound by his desires for fame and fortune and saving face. So, all of Herod’s feelings would be sorted out when he threw a banquet for all of the important Galilee. All of his officers and courtiers and the leaders of Galilee came out to help Herod celebrate his birthday. Herodias’ daughter would help as well.

She came in to dance for all of the men in the party. She dances well. Herod is pleased and makes a rash pledge to the girl: Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it. He solemnly swears to the girl and, more importantly, before all of his guests: Whatever you ask me, I will give you even half of my kingdom. Rather than reply, the girl runs out to find her mother. It’s almost as if they had set it up ahead of time. Herodias tells her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Adding her own twist on the request, she rushes back to Herod and says, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” Nice girl.

The king was deeply grieved. He liked to listen to John. He feared John. Deep down he knew John was right. But he also knew that if he didn’t keep his oath before all of his guests his control would be undermined. He would be seen as weak by the very people over whom he had power. Without a moment’s delay, the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head and shortly thereafter John’s head was brought on a platter and given to the girl who, in turn, gave it to her mother who put it on the mantle over the fire place. Not really, but this story is gross and disturbing. Imagine seeing this one on the front page.

These stories have a lot in common. They are both in the Bible. They are about politics as they both involve a king. In each story the king feels that his power affords him certain privileges that others might not have. Each king feels he is above the law and takes a woman for his wife that is married to someone else. But what I really want us to notice is that in each story there is a prophet who confronts the king about his sin. There is a representative from God who feels he has the authority to question the king’s motives and actions. These representatives use their voices to advocate for a more upstanding leader.

This season of Lent we have been talking about various practices that we can do to achieve a more just world. We can live more simply. We can care for the creation. We can offer charity to those in need. We can enter into a ministry of reconciliation that restores relationships across gender, race, and class. Today and next week we’re taking a look at advocacy. Christians don’t always feel like they have a place in advocacy. Church and state are separate, we say. But this morning’s passages offer us a look at how God’s representatives, God’s prophets, address those who are in power. This morning’s passages seem to say that, as God’s people, as ambassadors for Christ, we should care about who is holding positions of power and how they are using that power; for service rather than scandal.

It’s not just about the sexual scandal. Even the modern-day stories we began with this morning aren’t just about the sexual scandal. The stories reveal the side of people that says we can have what doesn’t belong to us, that we don’t have to admit mistakes, that our private actions don’t affect other people. You don’t have to be a politician to fall into that trap. This morning’s passages suggest that if what our leaders are doing is against God’s word or God’s law that we should say something about it. We should say that those who are serving the country are ultimately serving God. We should care about the morality of our leaders and be leaders of that morality. I realize that that’s a scary thing to say because that’s what the Taliban believe and what other radical groups have believed. That’s why our focus is always on Jesus who came to serve.

When James and John asked for the seats of power and Jesus’ right a left hand, Jesus told them that they had missed the boat. They had it all wrong. They, too, were focused on the power and might of David’s kingdom and they wanted Jesus’ kingdom to be the same. Jesus told his followers, “You know that among the nations those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you.” Jesus would go on to tell them that whoever wishes to become great among you must be a servant and whoever wishes to be first must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not be served but to serve. So, then as we look for those who will lead us, we should stand in the tradition of Nathan and John and advocate for leaders who will not serve their own desires. We should use our voices to call for leaders who won’t serve their own power, nor their own institutions or ideologies, but serve the Lord who gave his life as a ransom for many.

As this season of Lent draws to a close we begin turning our eyes to Jesus’ throne, to the place where Jesus was crowned as Lord of all. It is because of the cross that we don’t have to grab things for ourselves, but can humbly serve one another. It was in Jesus on the cross that we see what it means to be king, to be a faithful ruler. We see in him God’s mercy and God’s steadfast love and all the things that David wrote about in his humble and contrite Psalm. On the cross, our transgressions were blotted out. On the cross we were washed thoroughly from our iniquity. On the cross we were cleansed from our sin. On the cross, Jesus paid the price that would set us free from our bondage to fame and fortune, to power and prestige. So, it is through the cross that we return to God and by taking up our cross that we praise the Lord knowing that it is God who will lift us up and raise us to new life. Amen.

It’s In Our Genes – 3/22/09

Are you smarter than a ninth grader? We’ll start with science. What does DNA stand for? It’s Deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is that tiny, spiral-shaped thing that makes up the basic building blocks of life. It contains all of our genetic instructions and stores all kinds of information. People compare it to a blueprint like those in architecture or to code like in computer programming or to a recipe like in cooking. Our DNA contains all of these instructions and information that produce all kinds of proteins that our bodies need to function so that we can go about our business throughout the day. In the last decade or so people have mapped DNA and DNA is becoming a more and more popular identification tool.

For example, I can look at my DNA and find out who my ancestors are. If you were to take some hair or saliva from my mom and dad and take some of mine you would find a certain level of matching. You could find out that we belong together. I’m not sure how many generations back that works, but it works. You can also confirm who I am. There are genes for eye color and height and skin color and blood type. No one else has my genetic make-up. I am who I am because of the information stored there. I will be who I will be because of the information stored there as well. So, DNA offers us a lot of answers to our questions. Where did we come from? Who are we? And, where are we headed? Those are all questions that might be found in our DNA.

These days, church leaders are saying that churches have DNA as well. In other words, they say that there are basic building blocks that tell us who we are and what we might become. What makes up a church’s DNA? Well, those same leaders will point to location and type of building and congregation size and denomination and theological perspectives, to name a few. But they will also point to stories. They will look back over the history of a church and pull out certain moments and say that these are part of the church’s DNA. They are stories that people might remember fondly or not, but either way those stories have played a meaningful role in the member’s lives. I’ve heard some of those stories in the two years that I’ve been hear.

It was a striking experience to read about the beginnings of the church. It is inspiring to go over the articles that cover the founding of the church and its building. You see men and women embarking on a new adventure, but filled with faith as they leave one church to start another. That’s part of Hope’s DNA. You read in the articles how, after just a few months, 100 kids from the neighborhood were filling the church’s Sunday School. It seems that there were more kids in the Sunday School program than there were among the church membership. Clearly, Hope was filling a hole in the life of families around the church. That too is part of the church’s DNA.

It wasn’t long into the ministry of the church that people who needed to find their way to God were welcomed by Hope. I’ve heard often from people, divorced or otherwise, that Hope was the place that people could come for a refuge, for a support when their marriage proved to be otherwise. I didn’t get the sense that the church approved of divorce, but that the pastor and congregation recognized the pain and the need for healing that these people carried with them. That’s part of this church’s DNA. Closely associated with that, is the role that women were allowed to play here Before many others, this church recognized that call that God had given to male and female alike; how both of them were made in the image of God and called to be disciples. Whether it was through the church softball league or ordination, this church stood up for the rights of women. That’s part of the church’s DNA. In both of those cases Hope was a kind of leader.

Hope was also a place for refugees. Whether they were from Vietnam or Bosnia or Rwanda, Hope has always seemed to find a way to make room for people from other countries. Not only did they welcome them here, but provided shelter for them and developed relationships with them. This is also part of the church’s DNA. Most recently, there was the decision to stay here in this building. When it might have been easier to move on to another place, Hope decided to make use of this place. When other congregations packed up and moved to another corner, this congregation decided to stay here; to worship and serve on the corner of Burton and Kalamazoo. That decision to stay this corner is part of the church’s DNA as well. Now, no doubt there are other stories that could be told; some of them good and some of them bad. So, it’s natural to wonder, “Why do you pick those stories to tell?” There are two reasons for that.

First, they are your stories. I didn’t make them up and read about them in a newspaper. You told them to me. From the Congregational Listening exercise that you did just before I came to the Consistory retreat we just recently had. When you all are asked when you have most felt like a disciple of Jesus Christ, you don’t talk about consistory meetings or committee meetings or Sunday school, you tell these stories. I’m simply telling them back to you. In a sense, these stories have become part of your spiritual DNA; some of the building blocks that make up your life of faith. I’m sure that all of you don’t connect with all of these stories, but I get the sense that just about all of you connect with at least one of them.

The second, and more important, reason these stories get told is because they fit within a larger story. These stories seem to have a significant connection with the greater story we tell as Christians. Where did Jesus come from? Who is Jesus? Where is Jesus headed? Those are the questions of our faith and they are answered in the stories of the Bible. When our stories line up with Jesus’ stories, we should take notice. So, when hundreds of neighborhood kids flock here to hear about Jesus, we remember how Jesus welcomed little children to his lap. When men and women find acceptance and meaning here, we remember all those stories about Jesus where outcasts were welcomed in and how Jesus often called unusual followers.

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. In Christ, God was paving the way for everyone: male and female, Jew and Gentile, slave and free to have a right relationship with God, to be one with God. Therefore, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Everything old, all the sins, all the shame, all the stories we would rather not tell about ourselves, pass away. Everything is new! There is a new beginning, a new direction, and a new way to walk. It’s a fresh start. That means that no one is to be regarded from a human point of view, based on how smart they are or the mistakes they’ve made or how much money they bring to the table, none of those things that the world values. Everyone who walks through the door is to be seen as someone who God might reconcile to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

We, the church, Hope Church has been given the ministry of reconciliation; the task of helping people find their way into a right relationship with God and experience the amazing grace of walking in God’s kingdom. That’s the story of the Bible. As Hope has been a place of reconciliation for a neighborhood, for children and women, for divorcees and refugees, it has been faithful to that story on the corner of Burton and Kalamazoo. That corner has changed quite significantly over the past 20 years. In fact, Hope Reformed Church has changed quite significantly over the last 20 years. All that means is that there are opportunities to create new stories that people will tell, new building blocks that will form new people in their faith as they are reconciled to God. This church has touched so many people for many years, God has reconciled to himself many people. As a consistory, we have been talking about how Hope will be a place of reconciliation and welcome for the next 20 years. That conversation starts today.

In all of your pews are pink slips of paper that will begin to help us answer the question, “Where are we headed?” At the moment, I just want you to look at it. Write your name on it. Begin to think about how much time you can devote to the ministry of this church and when. Also, begin to think about where your deepest concerns and the world’s greatest needs come together. In a very real sense, this is where God is calling you to be a disciple. At the offering, you can fill it out. We’ll get more specific over the next few months as we meet together, but it’s always good to start with the heart. After the sermon, I’ll ask you to carry these forward and place them before God as a way to commit to those concerns again. It should be said, however, that this isn’t just about getting you to work harder. It’s much deeper than that.

As the apostle Paul wrote, “the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all.” That one is Jesus. Shortly before Jesus died he prayed a prayer and he prayed for us as we sit here today. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word.” Jesus thought about us as he spoke to God and he prayed that we would be one. He meant that we would work with him, but he meant more than that. He meant that we would have all things in common with one another and with him, but he meant more than that too. He meant that we would be in him, that we would have communion with him, just as he is in the Father in and the Father in is in him. Jesus prayed that we would be so surrounded by God’s glory that we would be transformed. Jesus prayed that we would be so drenched in God’s presence that all of the old would pass away and a new creation be born. This is why Jesus prayed and why he died.

Jesus died for all, Paul writes, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. Jesus prayed for all, “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” God is making his appeal through us, Paul writes, giving us the ministry of reconciliation and entrusting us with the message of reconciliation. So, we are ambassadors for Christ; ambassadors who have been filled with God’s glory, ambassadors who God trusts enough to represent and who God loves in enough to send his son. This is what we acknowledge and stand in awe of every season of Lent: for our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.

So, it turns out that it’s not only DNA that determines who we are and we are headed. In Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit, God has entered into our lives so that we might enter into his life. It seems that the reasons we tell the stories we tell is because they remind us of those moments, not when we were smart, but when we were faithful, when we were disciples. The reason those moments are so meaningful is not because we like to congratulate ourselves, but because we had found ourselves to be in God. Even if we couldn’t name it as such, even if they’re only fond memories or good feelings, those moments we remember most fondly are those in which we are in God as God was in Jesus and he in God. It’s those moments that we were completely one with God that stick out in our history; those moments when God is in us and we are enveloped in God’s loving presence. It’s this mystical communion that makes those stories most meaningful to us. And, it’s that same communion that we seek as we look for ways to create new stories for new generations so that there might be new creations in Christ. So, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, I say to you: On behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Amen.

Earnest and Eager – 3/15/08

It’s time to pass the plate. No, your pastor is not asking for an early offering. A few authors of a new book are asking Christians to step up their giving to needs and causes around the globe. They aren’t addressing all Christians by the way, just those Christians in America. If you’re wondering, as of 2005 that’s about 225 million people. Of course, not all of them attend church regularly, so the book begins by focusing on the 138 million people who attend church more than twice per month. The authors ask the question, “What could 138 million people do if they would give 10% of their income every year?” They see a great potential and are calling Christians to step up to the plate by passing the plate. In a moment I’m going to ask you how much extra money you think is out there.

What we’re discussing this 3rd Sunday of Lent is charity. Since September, we’ve been pouring over the pages of Scripture and listening to all of the voices in the Bible that call for justice. If nothing else, I hope you’ve discovered just how important that word is to the Biblical message. This season of Lent, we’re taking a look at specific things that we can do in order to do justice as the prophet says. We began by looking at living more simply. The idea that if we want to do more justice in the world we will live with less so that others can simply live. The point was not only that we should make sacrifices for the sake of others, but that living with less might actually makes us healthier and happier. It’s certainly good for the environment.

That was what we looked at last week in worship and in Sunday School. Even a brief glance at the first chapter of the Bible offers clues to how important the earth and all its creatures are to God. While humans are the only ones made in the image of God, they are done so to nurture and guard the creation. They children of God are called to answer the groanings of creation so that the earth itself might achieve the very same glory that God’s children have. Again, it’s easy to see how simple living and caring for creation are tied together. Smaller homes, less driving, fewer possessions all mean using earth’s resources at a more sustainable rate. Smaller homes, less driving, and fewer possessions also mean more possibilities for charity.

So, it’s time to answer that question, “how much extra money would be available if 138 million committed Christians gave 10% of their income to charity?” According to the authors’ calculations, there would be an extra $46 billion dollars annually. That’s extra, by the way, because committed Christians are already some of the most generous people in America. So, if only those 138 million committed Christians would give another 8% of their income, there would be another $46 billion dollars. Knowing that, I want to do something that is a little overwhelming and perhaps a little pointless. I’m hoping it’s worth the effort. The authors go on to list what might be accomplished with all of this money.

(Please see Passing the Plate by Christian Smith, et.al. pp. 15-?? for the list.  Hint: you can get most of it by previewing the book on Amazon and Google.)

That’s about what $46 billion could do every year. Let me just remind you that this is after-tax income of only those 138 million Christians who consider themselves committed. The authors think that if everyone who called themselves Christian gave 10% there would be an extra, an extra, $133.4 billion dollars that could be devoted to Christian and other development causes around the world. This money wouldn’t require Congress to pass a law or the United Nations to act. You wouldn’t need to send troops overseas or wait for the Supreme Court to make a decision. The only thing that’s required to make all of those things happen is for committed Christians in America to be more charitable.

As we listened to the Scripture passages this morning we are forced to admit that this matter of charity is a matter of the heart. It makes sense, after all, being that charity is often used as a synonym for love. What the passage from Deuteronomy and the passage from 2 Corinthians have in common is that they address us at the core of our humanity; at the secret thoughts of our hearts and at our motivations. From their beginning, God’s people have been commanded to give liberally from their resources. “You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be…Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’” But throughout this passage, God seems quite concerned with what’s happening on the inside.

“Do not be hard-hearted.” Lend “willingly.” “Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought.” Do not “view your neighbor with hostility.” “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.” So, it’s not just that we give liberally to our neighbors, but that we don’t resent it or hang it over their heads or hold a grudge against them for taking from us. Or, as Paul wrote it, “If I give away all my possessions…but do not have love, I gain nothing.” As far as God is concerned, it’s a matter of the heart. God is asking for charity that is charitable. Paul is asking for the same thing from the Corinthians.

As Paul went about the Mediterranean planting seeds of faith with good news, he also asked that those seeds bear fruit for the poor in the church at Jerusalem. What we encounter in this passage from 2 Corinthians is Paul’s appeal that the church in Corinth finish gathering the offering and send it on. Again, we find that Paul is appealing to their hearts. “I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.” He writes that he is proud, not only because they began to gather an offering, but because they actually desired to do it. He encourages them by saying that it doesn’t matter what the size of the gift is as long as the eagerness is there. “For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has – not according to what one does not have.”

Paul is looking for eager and earnest giving. He is looking for Christians to give with an intense enthusiasm, to be excited about their charity on behalf of others, to give what they are able and to look forward to doing it. Paul is also looking for Christians to give with a focused seriousness, to make their charity a priority, and to strive to do it well and with great effort. For Paul, to give charitably is to give eagerly and earnestly; with enthusiasm and seriousness and to match those inner feelings with outward action. If the authors of Passing the Plate are even half right, the Christians seem to lack both the inner enthusiasm and outward action of charitable giving. I have to say that Hope is much more generous than most churches. And, I have to admit that the older generations are much more faithful than my generation. But the needs still far outweigh the effort.

Perhaps $46 billion is too big to deal with this morning. Maybe Global Missions and U.S. Development are too broad a category to really grab us this morning. So, let’s take the same message of eagerness and earnestness and apply it to a neighbor who asked for $300. An older gentleman from the apartment complex just to our Northeast came by this past Monday. He’s somebody’s grandpa. He walked with a walker, much like my own grandpa does. I’m sure he relies on Social Security to get by these days and this month he ran a little short on his rent; $300 short. He said that two of his nephews just got out of jail and needed a place to stay and he tried to help them out. This month he couldn’t help himself. He had opened his hand to his poor and needy neighbor and now was looking for someone to open their hand.

I entertained all kinds of mean thoughts about this man. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” But none of the passages say, “Give liberally as long as the person is honest.” I wondered, “Why would you come here for money but not for worship?” But neither of the passages say, “Give liberally as long as the person will come to your church.” I thought, “You’ll probably do something with the money that I don’t approve of.” But neither of the passages say, “Give liberally as long as the person will put the money to good use.” I had never met the man before so I have no evidence one way or another. I thought those mean thoughts as we stood there having a conversation and I sent him away saying that I would talk to the deacons and let him know if we could help him out. As he limped away, I felt guilty.

There is a lot of need in the world today and a lot more of it could be met if Christians in America would give more charitably; more eagerly and earnestly. Our present abundance would go a long way toward achieving the fair balance that Paul wrote about, but guilt is the wrong note to end on. Guilt is not a good motivator for our hearts. But gratitude is. Gratitude is what Paul uses to motivate the Corinthians to give charitably and gratitude is what has been passed down to us by our Reformed ancestors. “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Paul used the amazingly gracious act of Jesus Christ to inspire the Corinthians to greater giving. During the season of Lent we take the time to acknowledge the generous act of Jesus Christ who was the Word made flesh, who was with God, who was God, but who did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.

What we witness during the seasons of Advent and Lent is that this Word emptied himself to become human. Having emptied himself, he also humbled himself. He was not a human ruler or a human king or even a human priest in the temple though he had the wisdom and power to do both. Rather he took on the form of a slave with no where to lay his head and no home to call his own. He not only lived as a slave, but died like one too. He became obedient to the point of death. It wasn’t a peaceful falling asleep. It wasn’t under the close watch of physicians and medication. It was a brutal and painful death on a cross. It was a death that absorbed all the hate and violence and sin a fallen world had to offer so that that same world might be free from that sin; so that we might be free from that sin; so that we might stand up from underneath that sin, shake it off and walk in a newness of life not experienced before, a peace of mind that passes understanding, on a firm foundation that cannot be shaken.

Jesus was broken and spilled out and poured at our feet. This generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ brought great change in the world. And we’re not talking about quarters and pennies. We’re talking about a faith that overcomes fear and sins no more. We’re talking about a hope that sees beyond sight and touch, beyond even death, to eternal life. We’re talking about a love that softens hearts and opens hands, that approaches charity with eagerness and earnestness, so that there will never be anyone in need among us. So, let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Amen.

Building a Playground for God – 3/08/09

If Julie and Josh and Wil and I leave our house and walk five blocks to the west we will come to a park with a playground. It’s a park attached to a school and there is a lot of room to run around and plenty of trees for shade. Unfortunately, the playground is not very conducive for playing; at least not for Wil. They don’t have the usual steps that take you from the ground up to one level and more steps that take you to another level. You have to be able to take a pretty big first step to get onto the play ground structure. Or, you have to be able to maneuver a rope ladder or some other structure that requires a level of coordination that most 3-years-olds don’t haven. Whoever built that playground wasn’t thinking of small children when they built it.

If Julie and Josh and Wil and I leave our house and walk five blocks to the east we will come to another park with another playground. This park is attached to what used to be a school and is now a church. There are a couple of big trees for shade and the playground is much more accessible for Wil and even for Josh. The steps are short and there is more than one set of them so that anybody can get from one level to the next without a lot of trouble. There are plenty of slides and they are of various heights and speeds for kids of different ages. And, there are more challenging obstacles and monkey bars for the older kids to play on and enjoy. Whoever built this playground did a much better job of considering kids of different sizes and ages who might play together.

This morning we’ll spend some time talking about creation and justice; what some might call environmental justice. The playground serves as a nice metaphor for what the Bible seems to say about our relationship with the earth and the environment around us. In other words, the Bible seems to say that God has given us this earth as a kind of unfinished work of art; like a mural. Each generation and each person is given the opportunity to add to that mural or alter that mural. We build on the earth all kinds of things like houses and stores and neighborhoods and cities. So, the first thing to say about the environment and justice is that all of this building and shaping that we do is a good thing. When we create something we are joining in God’s creative activity.

At the same time, since we are fallen, we have to admit that we don’t always create in ways that honor what God has given us. And, we don’t always create in ways that allow other people to participate or that consider future generations and the work that they will want to do. If you imagine the mural and imagine the natural world as God’s major contribution, then you can see how anything we will add would change what God has done. Thankfully, God is not a self-centered artist and wants us to add to his work of art. But that means we should think of our work as artistic. Meaning we don’t just plop a bright red square in the middle of an impressionist landscape. There are ways to add to a piece of art that take into consideration what previous artists have done. There are also ways to add to a piece of art that take into consideration what future artists will do. If we cover the whole canvas as with our own ideas there won’t be as much room for the next generation to create. O.k. enough with the art. Let’s move on to a real example: cars.

We have in this country a whole network of roads and highways and interstates that have allowed for a level of mobility and freedom not known by everyone in the world. If you have a car, that is. We can start by saying that this is network is not a bad thing by itself. However, the car and the interstate have led to sprawl and segregation and smog. Because people have cars and because there are nice big roads to drive real fast on, people can live far from where they work or where they shop. As people moved out to the country, so did the shops and the businesses and the playgrounds. Of course, we know that the history of America is such that not everyone was able to enjoy that mobility. Many people of color were denied that move and subsequent generations are brought up in neighborhoods with fewer opportunities to work and play.

With more cars on the road there was less public transportation and fewer walk able neighborhoods. You are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to time and efficiency if your only choice is the bus. And, forget about walking. I don’t know many people who have two playgrounds within 5 blocks of their house. Many people have to drive to get to a park and almost everyone has to drive to get to the grocery store. With all the cars on the road we have to worry about pollution and asthma and other health-related diseases that stem from a lack of activity. Now, I know you can’t blame roads and cars anymore than you can blame the TV. But they are part of what we have added to the environment, to the mural of creation, and the repercussions are not all good.

One of the reasons Christians at least have come to believe that we can mold and shape the earth however we see fit is that we have been given dominion. At least that’s what it says in Genesis 1. God spoke and said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion.” God says that humans are to have dominion, authority, the power to control the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and the animals on the ground. A few verses later, after God created humanity he blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion. There’s that word again. Dominion seems to mean that humans have been given the right to grow and expand and reproduce and subdue the world as necessary to carry on that privilege.

We should pause here and celebrate that. In a sense God, is saying, “Here’s your playground. Have fun! I’ve built if for you so that you can play and laugh and get exercise. Fill it up. Conquer its challenges. Change it around if you want to. I’m giving it to you and you have the power to do anything you want with it.” The words of the simple children’s prayer come to mind at this point: God is great and God is good. Let us thank him. Amen? More and more, Christians are coming to the conclusion that one of the ways to thank God for what we have been given is to be better stewards of it. That stewardship begins by hearing all of the words that surround God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply.”

The first thing we can say is that we are not the only ones to receive the blessing to be fruitful and multiply. On the fifth day of creation, when God created the birds of the air and the fish of the sea he blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas and let birds multiply on the earth.” The words are no different, the blessing is the same as the one that humanity would receive a few verses later. Birds and fish are definitely not a priority over humans, but it seems fair to say that any multiplication of humans should be done in a way that allows the birds of the air and the fish of the sea to multiply as well. Unfortunately, we are over-fishing our waters, polluting our air and cutting down our forests so that the rate of extinction for species around the globe is higher than ever. Genesis 1 points out that this is not just a liberal, environmentalist’s concern.

Another point to make about Genesis 1 relates to food. God says, “I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.” Dieticians, by the way, will tell you that a diet heavy in green plants is the healthiest for our bodies and the most sustainable for the earth. God has given us these green plants for our health and enjoyment. But it’s worth noting that God has also given them to the animals. “To every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for good.” I think that means we have to share.

Now, I’m not a vegetarian. In fact, last night I ate a nice big, juicy Porterhouse and will probably eat more of it today. It’s true that, after the flood, God told Noah that, just as he had given every green plant he was now giving Noah and his family every animal for food as well. But it’s worth noting that the covenant God made with Noah, God also made with the animals saying, “I establish my covenant with you and with every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.” In Psalm 36, when the Psalmist says, God saves humans and animals alike, he wasn’t joking. Today, we eat too much meat and, after cars, that greatest pollutant of our earth comes from the raising of cattle for food. Their ill-treatment, their disgusting diet, and the amount of energy used to ship and package the meat is harmful for us and the earth. No doubt part of environmental justice, part of caring for creation, is eating more local foods that come from lower on the food chain.

There are some who will say that we just have too many people in the world. The problem is over population, they say. There’s some crazy statistic, however, that says all 6 billion people could fit in the state of Texas in 2 person homes on city-sized lots. It would be crowded, but it proves the point that there aren’t too many people. We just aren’t using what we have very well. In a sense, too many of the playgrounds we have built are like the ones to the west of my house: not everyone can play and enjoy the benefits. The ways we use land in our cities and our country sides benefits fewer and fewer people. City neighborhoods are segregated as we’ve spread ourselves all over the place, paving over farmland and putting up shopping malls. The farmland that is left is devoted mostly to two crops much of which gets processed for cattle feed or corn syrup. This doesn’t seem to be what God had in mind when he put Adam in the garden. In fact, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. On the surface, those sound like simple gardening terms, but there’s more to them than meets the eye.

I can prove it to you if you like, but the words are much more caring and kind than till and keep. I’ve heard other people translate them as serve and protect. This last week I heard someone translate them as serve and preserve. I like the words nurture and guard. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to nurture and guard it; to help it along, to give it what it needs, and to make sure that no one tramples on it. It’s almost as if the earth is to be treated as a person. So, rather than using it up as fast as we can, we would honor what the earth can do and allow it to grow at its own pace. We’d be surprised by how much it fruit it will bear. The earth is awfully resilient and generous with us and there are ways to grow things in the soil that don’t require pesticides and genetic engineering; ways that are sustainable and will leave a fruitful land to the next generations; ways that have a heart for creation. Part of environmental justice is to take the words seriously that we care for creation. At the moment, most people believe that technology will save us.

Technology is all about efficiency, speed, and convenience. The printing press, the steam engine, the light bulb, refrigerators, cars, heart monitors, and cell phones are all examples of technology. Technology has created a lot of wealth and a lot of health in the world and there is a lot for which we can be thankful. Again, the Bible seems to say that God has called us to join him in creating and technology is one of the places we look to see humanities great potential for creativity. Technology has been used to make our air and water cleaner again. Technology is used to make our appliances more energy efficient. Unfortunately, we too often use technology to support our bad habits. TV’s, refrigerators, and cars are more environmentally-friendly than ever, but we use them more than ever too so that CO2 levels continue to rise. Computers are faster than ever, but are filled with toxic chemicals that get dumped on poor women and children around the world because companies want us to get a new one every two years. The reason we want renewable energy is so that we can continue our fervent pace of life and growth. It’s obvious that many of the problems we are looking to technology to solve don’t have to be problems in the first place. There are plenty of perfectly happy and healthy people who live long lives without technology. The message for this second Sunday of Lent is that technology will not save us, but God will.

You may have heard it said before that the Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. Many people think that’s not a mistake. It seems to say that God will honor what we have done; that the new heaven and the new earth will have space for the kinds of things that we have added to the canvas. It will be a glorious city and most glorious of all will be God. There will be no temple because the temple will be the Lord himself and the Lamb. But there will still be kings and nations and cities. The people of these places will stream in and out of that city and the gates will never be closed to anyone whose name is written in the book of life. This playground of God will allow everyone to play. People from every nation and tribe and language will walk in the glory of the Lord and the Lamb will be his lamp with no need for sun or moon to shine on them.

Here’s the fascinating part, flowing from the throne of God is a river. It’s flowing through the middle of the city street and it’s bright as crystal. On either side of the river is the tree of life. It produces twelve kinds of fruit and it does it every month. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. So, in the end, with all the glory of the cities jewels and gates and walls, it is the natural beauty that brings life. The river and the tree with its fruit and its leaves bring healing to the world. On that day, all the servants of God will worship him around that tree and by that river and they will see God’s face. The good news is that we don’t have to wait for that glorious day to come. There are rivers and trees all around us, there is healing to be found in this earth if we will let it have a place in our life. In caring for creation we are caring for ourselves, any gardener will tell you that and the Bible says that God has made it that way. We may not see God’s face in creation, but we do see God’s hand; a hand that has put before us a land in which we can live and move and have our being; a land on which we can work and play and create; a creation that God cared for so much, a world that God loved so much that he sent his one and only son so that whoever believes in him would not die but have eternal life. Amen.

How To Get Rich – 3/01/09

Have you heard the story of Leonard Abess Jr.? He’s yet another CEO from the financial industry that found his way in to the headlines. I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, here we go again. Another story of greed and fraud where one person walks away rich and leaves hundreds of others standing empty-handed.” Those thoughts are to be expected these days, but that’s not what this story is about. Millions more people know Leonard Abess Jr. after the President’s speech this last Tuesday. Leonard was lifted up before the nation as a model of corporate loyalty and responsibility. Like many others, he sold his company and made millions of the sale of his stock, but that’s where his story and the others diverge.

Leonard made $927 million dollars of the sale of the bank that he owned. He had grown up in the bank and purchased it from his father. He had worked for many of the employees that now worked for him. Concerned that many of his employees were had lost their retirements, Leonard decided to take $60 million dollars and pass it out to his employees. Everyone from bank tellers, clerks, and bookkeepers to senior executives received a deposit in their account. Depending on how long they worked for the bank, some people received up to $100,000. Leonard even sought out 72 employees who had since retired.

At a time when many executives are having to explain themselves to the public, Leonard’s story is refreshing to hear. He even heeded Jesus’ advice to not let his right hand know what his left hand was doing; he didn’t publicize his intentions or the act itself. Word of his generosity did spread. And, despite his generosity, Leonard is not without his critics. $60 million dollars isn’t even 10% of what he got and it’s not like he needed the money. Even before the sale he had purchased a $23 million dollar estate down the street from Sylvester Stallone. Surprisingly, Leonard is among those critics. He recently wondered if he had done enough for his employees. Imagine that: giving away $60 million dollars and wondering if you should have given away more.

This is not the typical story that we’ve been reading in the paper these days. More typical is the kind of story that Jesus told before his disciples; stories of greed and abundance and frivolous spending; stories of striving after possessions and food and clothing. We heard Jesus tell one such story this morning. The Bible calls it the Parable of the Rich Fool. It begins with a family dispute. At this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus had been speaking for quite sometime. When Luke mentions a crowd, he means a crowd. People had gathered by the thousands to listen to what Jesus was saying. According to an earlier verse, the crowd was so thick, straining so hard to hear, that they were trampling on one another.

Out of this crowd someone managed to find a moment of silence long enough to say, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” As Jesus usually does, he responds to the man’s question with another question and a parable. He asks the man, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” Typically, there would be a group of elders or well-respected people who would settle these disputes. Clearly, Jesus had come to be seen as a wise man among the crowds. He could have sided with one brother over the other. He probably would have divided the crowd who had also taken sides. But Jesus saw passed the dispute to the real issue. Jesus knew that settling the dispute between this man and his brother did not solve the real problem. The real problem was much deeper.

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable of rich man and his land. The land of the rich man produced a lot of food. His crops were abundant. So, the rich man gets to thinking, “What should I do with all of these crops? I have no place to store them.” Suddenly, it seems, he is struck by an idea, “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; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” The man sounds content. He sounds at ease. He doesn’t sound like a bad guy and his problems sound like good ones to have. Who wouldn’t love to suffer from having too much? Instead of talking to his soul, he should have spent more time talking to God.

The man seemed to have forgotten that the land belongs to the Lord and that God gives the increase. There is no such thing as my grain and my goods because the abundance of his crops was a gift from God. Since, he didn’t speak to God about this God had a few words for him. “You fool! This very night your lie is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” That’s the moral of the story for the crowds that day. Don’t store up your treasures on earth. Rather store up treasures in heaven. God had commanded everyone to tithe their produce and leave the edges of the field for those in need. If his own store houses were overflowing, no doubt the rich man had forgotten or neglected to follow these commandments. Jesus didn’t want the same thing for his disciples.

After finishing the parable, he turned to his disciples and said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.” Notice, Jesus didn’t tell his disciples, “Don’t be greedy like that rich man.” He said, “Don’t worry.” If Jesus knew that greed was behind the dispute between the two brothers, he also understood that worry was often behind the greed that led to such disputes. Many people of Jesus’ day didn’t have a lot. Not many people could relate to the rich man’s problems. His disciples had left everything to follow him, so they didn’t have an abundance of possessions either. Reminding them of the ravens and the lilies, Jesus told them that there was no need for them to strive for possessions; only strive for God’s kingdom. Apparently, that message is easily forgotten.

By the time that the apostle Paul is writing to his protégé, Timothy, the same issues had crept into various congregations. Timothy, it seems, was dealing with all sorts of disputes over words and wrangling for power in the congregation. Like Jesus, Paul saw right passed the disputes to the source of the problem. People were arguing because they saw a chance for gain in fame and fortune. There was only so much to go around, they imagined, and each one wanted the majority share. Paul doesn’t deny that there is great gain in seeking God, that there is great contentment in godliness. But at the same time he sees all sorts of temptation for those who want to be rich. He has seen too many people become trapped by senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Then come those famous words, “For the love of money is a root of all evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.”

Paul’s point is simple: we didn’t bring anything into the world and we can’t take any of our possessions with us, so we mind as well take hold of those things that will lead us to eternal life. Just as Jesus urges his followers to strive for God’s kingdom, Paul writes, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith.” For those who are rich he writes, “Command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches (how timely are those words?), but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of life that really is life.”

“Sell your possessions,” Jesus said to his disciples who already had few possessions, “and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” It’s striking how consistent the Bible is on this message. “You cannot serve God and wealth,” Jesus says in another place. Someone once asked me, “Is it a virtue to be poor?” In other words, does God automatically approve of or show favor to people just because they are poor. Or, in other words, “Is it bad to be rich?” So, let’s make it easy. There is nothing in the Bible that says it’s good to be poor and there is nothing in the Bible that says it’s bad to be rich. However, the Bible does say there is great temptation in wealth and seems to say that there is value in living with less. That’s because if we live with less we can give more. If we depart with our treasures on earth, we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. What we hear all around us doesn’t make it any easier to share that message.

First, we are bombarded with advertisements that tell us how much better life will be if only we have the newest technology or the latest fashion. Even if it’s not a direct invitation to something new, commercials show us what the good life is supposed to look like, so that even family struggling with debt can drive away down a tree-lined cul-de-sac, in a fully-loaded SUV with bikes on top to go spend the weekend at the cottage. What sense does that make? We say that we don’t believe it, but when people are asked how much money they need to be happy virtually everyone, from the upper class to the middle class say the same thing: just a little more than I have now. Over the last 30 years average home has doubled in size and the average home in America is twice that in Europe. And, they are overflowing with stuff as evidenced by the booming storage facility and portable storage industry. At the same time, the average family has shrunk in size. So, it seems, as a nation we have bought bigger homes for fewer people and filled them with stuff and we are not any happier for it. Depression, suicide, and divorce have all gone up. Is that the life we want? Despite the evidence, there is some small part of us that believes more money equals greater happiness. No doubt for some that is true.

Leonard Abess wasn’t the only one the President mentioned in his speech. He also spoke of a young girl named Ty’Sheoma Bethea, a middle school student in South Carolina. Her school was the focus of a documentary called “The Corridor of Shame.” She attends class in a building that was built in 1896 and is now falling apart. She wrote that she in her letter that she and her classmates are just students like any other trying to become lawyers and doctors and public servants, possibly President. For millions of undereducated, uninsured, hungry and homeless, more is definitely better. But it’s not long after we have food and clothing that more stops making us happier or healthier.

Still, we have politicians who talk endlessly about greater wealth for everyone. There are those conservative voices who continue to say that if we just let the market work there will be great wealth for everyone. On the opposite side are the liberal voices who want the government to redistribute wealth. They are just like those two brothers arguing over how to divide their inheritance. Jesus sides with neither of them because they are both wrong. An endless wealth, no matter how it gets distributed, is not an answer to our struggles. Out of this great crowd of voices comes Paul who says that contentment is not found in wealth or possessions but in eternal life and Jesus who says, “Strive first for God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” Wait! Stop right there Pastor Peter! Didn’t you just say that if we seek God’s kingdom God will give us all those things? Doesn’t God reward us with wealth if we are faithful? Those are good questions. Here’s your answer.

When Jesus said “these things” he was referring to food and clothing; things that are essential for survival. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to ask God for their daily bread; for enough to get them through the day. In the same way, Paul wrote to Timothy that if he had food and clothing he would be content. That’s because he had taken hold of something more valuable: the eternal life to which we have all been called and for which we have all made a good confession before many witnesses. Today, more than ever, the world needs a witness who will part easily with possessions, who will be rich in good works, and give generously to others. As Christians we can show rich and poor alike that life, real life, eternal life, is not found in striving after earthly treasures, but after those treasures stored up in heaven.

There are two groups of people that make that message hard to share. There are those who are on their way up the economic ladder. There are those who have studied hard, worked hard, made sacrifices and played by the rules and climbed their way out of poverty. Who wants to be the one to tell them that they should live with less? At the same time, there are those who never had a lot, but now have less because of the current economic conditions. There are those who were never extravagant, but now wonder what tomorrow holds for them and their families. Who wants to be the one to say that less is more when it comes to possessions? As hard as it is to share that message, it is still the message. But let’s make sure our focus is right.

The message for this first Sunday in Lent is not, “Don’t be greedy.” Rather, the message is “Do not worry.” Do not worry because God is one who feeds even the smallest of creatures, who neither sow nor reap, nor have a POD unit in their front yard. Do not worry because God is one who clothes the lilies who neither toil nor spin; flowers whose simple beauty is more glorious than anything Solomon wore. Do not worry because God is one who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Do not worry because God is sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords, who gives life to all things. Do not worry because God is our Father who finds great pleasure in giving us his kingdom and those things we need. This Lenten season, do not worry, but do good, be rich in good works, and ready to share, thus storing up for yourselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that you make take hold of life that really is life. Amen.

God’s Entitlement Program – 2/22/09

My Wednesday afternoon started with Kay Muller. She didn’t know that I was talking about her this morning, but I couldn’t stop thinking about our visit. She has left behind her home and is making a new one for herself and Porter Hills. She really likes it. Outside her room is a little patio and a courtyard to enjoy the 4 days of sun per year that we have. Her calendar is filled with activity that was previously unavailable to her. Strangers are becoming friends around the lunch table and dinner table. And old friends are becoming new acquaintances as she meets some of the church members who have been there for quite some time. Kay talked with me about God’s blessings in her life.

After I spent some time with Kay (and got lost in the maze of hallways) I went to go see Jule and Betty. Betty doesn’t know I’m talking about her either, but I couldn’t stop thinking about our visit. She told me about various angels in disguise that have come alongside her as she goes to sit with Jule every afternoon. In these icy, Michigan winters navigating parking lots and gas stations can be tricky with a cane or walker. On more than one occasion Betty was helped by strangers who took her arm and kept her upright. On more than one occasion she has had a neighbor shovel a walk, go to the store, or run an errand for her. Betty talked with me about God’s blessings in her life.

After I spoke with Jule and Betty, I went to go see another Betty; Betty Cooper that is. Betty also spoke to me about God’s blessings. By this time the message has sunk in. As I listened to their stories and their reflections, I became aware of this deep sense of gratitude that they all felt. I don’t think they were trying to share it. I don’t know if they even felt, but it was thick in their room as they share their stories. Of course, it’s easy to be grateful when everything is going your way, but it’s not like any of them won the lottery. Betty Westra is learning how to live on her own, how to wade through piles of paper she may not have encountered before, how to be patient as her husband recovers. Betty Cooper can only see out of one eye. Her back and her knee hurt too much for her to attend many activities around her. And Kay has pains of her own.

Still, all of their stories were filled with a great sense of gratitude for what they did have and for the little moments in which they felt particularly blessed; even if it was just for a moment. Their stories were particularly refreshing, I think, because the other stories I was reading were filled with anything but gratitude. I read one story about the struggle college professors are having a hard time with students. Their high school days are filled with tests and information that they need to memorize to pass those tests. It’s hard work some of the time and, generally, hard work results in good grades. College is a different story because they can’t just regurgitate information. They have to learn how different pieces fit together and show that they can think about them. Students want an “A” just for their effort and their professors want them to see that learning is about more than just trying hard.

Alongside this story were many more about this ongoing financial struggle. The front page news had to do with this guy out of Antigua who seems to have committed fraud to the tune of $8 billion dollars. All of this after the Madoff scandal, after the flying on private jets, and after disguising big, corporate bonuses as “awards,” has happened. From college students to executives in the financial world there is a sense about these headlines. Rather than a sense of gratitude about them they have this pervasive sense of entitlement. Call it greed or arrogance. Whatever it is it gives the impression that there is a group of people who get whatever they want regardless of the cost. It’s this sense of entitlement that makes people most angry about these stories. It’s this sense of entitlement that God was guarding against on the mountain at the transfiguration.

We find Peter and James and John heading up a mountain with Jesus to be apart with Jesus by themselves. Either they were going to get a scolding or this meant that they were being set apart in some way. They were, after all, the first to be called by Jesus. Out of nowhere comes this moment that would no doubt stick with them and form them in their faith forever. Jesus was transfigured before them. He clothes became a dazzling white. The author of the gospel wants us to know that know amount Clorox or Tide with bleach was going to make them as white as they had become. To add to the special effects that they were seeing, Moses and Elijah stood there; the keeper of the law and a representative of the prophets. They were talking with Jesus.

Somehow Peter summons the courage or, should we say, the nerve to interrupt their conversation. Trying to preserve the moment as long as possible Peter says, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Mark also wants us to know that Peter had no idea what he was talking about. They were all terrified and Peter spoke out of his fear. While Jesus clothes shined with a dazzling white, the sky dimmed as a cloud overshadowed them all. Out of that cloud came a voice. It said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!” With those few words the whole experience was over. The voice no longer spoke, the cloud rolled away, and Moses and Elijah vanished. It was just Jesus and the disciples.

Who knows how long it took, but Jesus’ words probably returned to them at some point. Just a few days earlier Jesus has said to his disciples, “There are some of you standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” Perhaps this was it! Either way, Peter and James and John had been let in on a little secret. A door was opened for them and heaven broke through to earth and they were the only ones who could see it. They were the only ones who were there to hear the voice. Perhaps this does make them special. Or, perhaps they were the ones who needed to hear it the most.

In all of the gospel stories, the Transfiguration of Jesus, this dazzling display on the mountain, is sandwiched between two moments when Jesus begins talking about his death and his resurrection. Well, into his ministry now, Jesus began to teach them that he would have to undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. He would say this more than once. On one occasion, Peter took him aside and rebuked Jesus for speaking of such nonsense. On another occasion, James and John would take Jesus aside and jockey for the seats of power when he took his throne. Being among the first to be called, Peter and James and John felt entitled to share in Jesus’ victory and authority. The voice in heaven spoke to this sense of entitlement. There were enough religious leaders who felt entitled to power and authority, God didn’t want any more.

Peter and James and John should have known this. Everywhere they went with Jesus they were butting up against the authorities who felt entitled to speak for God and to act on God’s behalf. When Jesus walked among the paralyzed and pronounced the forgiveness of their sins, the religious authorities were there to condemn him for blasphemy. Only God could forgive sins they would say and we are the ones who decide when God has forgiven sins. Clearly a paralytic had not offered enough sacrifices to be healed and, therefore, God had not yet forgiven their sins. But to prove his point, Jesus not only frees the man of his sin, but also of his condition. He stands up and walks home. The crowd, on the other hand, is frozen with awe and doubt filled with gratitude as they glorify God for this work they had witnessed.

Not only would Peter and James and John see Jesus heal sinners he would watch him eat and drink with them. In fact, one of their own brothers would come from that seedy crowd. Matthew, a tax collector, would be among those whom Jesus called to follow him. It interesting that Matthew would never struggle with that sense of entitlement with which Peter and James and John struggled. After sitting alone for so many days in that tax collection booth it’s clear how a sense of gratitude could overcome him when Jesus called him to walk the path of discipleship. There was nothing that entitled Matthew to such a calling. In the eyes of the religious authorities, if there was anyone who was called to walk with the Messiah, it was them.

(sense of entitlement comes with power and privilege; difference between demanding basic rights and security and a sense of entitlement)

Jesus would quote to them words we heard from Hosea this morning, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’” In Hosea, they form part of God’s call to repentance. In Jesus’ mouth they are no different. The religious authorities’ sense of entitlement came from the sacrifices over which they presided. They were the gatekeepers of forgiveness and blessing as they checked sacrifices for faults and blemishes. Jesus’ words call their whole system into question and call for forgiveness, for generosity, for inclusion in God’s kingdom. I imagine that Peter and James and John loved it when Jesus stuck it to the authorities like that; something that they had never been able to do. And, something that, I imagine, they looked forward to doing when Jesus took his throne.

So, up on the mountain the voice had to make it plain. The voice from heaven had to make it clear. Yes, Jesus was God’s Son. Yes, he was the Messiah. Yes, he would be enthroned at God’s right hand. But, now, more than ever they were to listen to what he had to say: if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. For Peter and James and John, the moment of the Transfiguration would be an insight that few others would get to experience and it wouldn’t be what they expected. For Jesus, the crown was on the other side of the cross. It was not something that he would be handed because he was next in line or because of some privilege that he inherited. Jesus crown would be a gift from God after he laid down his life on behalf of humanity.

Transfiguration Sunday continues to do something similar for us. We have spent the month of December celebrating the birth of the Savior. The season of Advent looks at Christ’s first coming and celebrates our eternity when Christ will come again. We have spent the month of January and February watching the identity of Jesus unfold. The season of Epiphany reminds us that all peoples and all nations are welcomed by Jesus into God’s kingdom. In these months we have come to realize who long God’s love is and how broad God’s love is for those who have faith in him. Jesus is God’s Son and beloved by God and we are in on it. We have been to the mountaintop too and we know something that the world does not. But just when that pride starts creeping in, that sense of entitlement, the voice from heaven says, “Listen to him.”

Now comes March. Now comes the season of Lent. Now comes the cost of discipleship. It can be a rude awakening for those who carry with them a sense of entitlement and sense of getting whatever they want, when they want, and how they want it. Lent is often times about just the opposite; about giving what you do want to give, when you don’t want to give it, and in ways that you might not feel prepared to offer. At the same time, we won’t be trying to save the world here. We’re just trying to do something that provokes a sense of gratitude in people. That’s what is so fabulous about the stories of those other three disciples that we talked about this morning: Kay, Betty, and Betty.

Kay was grateful when someone noticed her sitting alone in the cafeteria and called her over to join them. Betty was grateful when to women helped her navigate the slippery parking lot. The other Betty is grateful that the chapel is just across the hallway and that she gets to have communion there once a month. These aren’t great big things, but they are enough to show that someone cares. They are enough to show that there is still good. And, with a little faith, little things like that point us to God and fill us with a great awe and a great sense of gratitude. This is true, not only for those of you who sit in the pews, but also for those of us bold enough to take the pulpit.

Regardless of where we sit in worship, the season of Lent is about returning to the Lord. It’s not about clawing our way to the top or demanding what we are entitled to, but about placing our lives in God’s hands and letting God lift us up. “Come let us return to the Lord and he will heal us and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us and on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us pres on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.” Amen.

Looking for Jesus – 2/15/09

St. Valentine, Charles Darwin, and Abraham Lincoln; as far as sermon illustrations go there was a lot to choose from this week. At the same time, no one is really sure who or how many St. Valentine’s there are and it’s really more of a Hallmark holiday these days. Charles Darwin and the church, well, they haven’t been getting along too well lately. So, that leaves Lincoln. This whole last week there were news clips, articles, and documentaries that were looking for Lincoln. They wanted to get passed the myth and try to find the real man who served as President. To do that they highlighted is own words, the words of those who were closest to him, and took a new look at history itself. There were a couple of things that jumped out at me as I listened.

The historians presented a much more complicated view of Lincoln on the civil war. There was no doubt that he wanted to preserve the union. That was his mission. But, I always took that to mean that he had a great care for all of the states. Looking over his writings, he rarely if ever referred to the southern states as states or even as the confederacy. They were, however, referred to as insurgents or insurrectionists. It sounds like such an odd thing to refer to other citizens of the same country as insurgents. He didn’t want to sit at the table with them, he didn’t want to negotiate with them, he wanted to defeat them. To this day there are descendants of confederate soldiers who think of Abraham Lincoln as a war criminal. You definitely don’t hear that in 8th grade social studies. Neither did you hear that Lincoln didn’t expect freed slaves to become citizens, at least not in America.

Again, looking over his own writings it is clear that Lincoln opposed slavery. Still, he wasn’t an abolitionist and there is even some debate as to whether or not he thought of black people as equal. In the end, many of the historians decided he was a politician; meaning he said what he had to in order to be elected. So, when he was running for election he would call for the freedom of slaves but also suggest that white people were superior to blacks for the sake of the vote. Much of what Lincoln wrote about freed slaves was regarding colonization in other places like Liberia or Panama. In other words, Lincoln felt that freed slaves would never be welcomed in a racist society so the best plan was send them all back to Africa. Of course, not everyone was happy with that plan. Apparently, Lincoln was willing to listen.

It was people like Frederick Douglass who were credited with turning Lincoln toward emancipation. It was said that Lincoln had never met an African-American who could match his wit and his intellect. In meeting Douglass, Lincoln had met his match and began to open his mind. As I listened to all the historians that were looking for Lincoln, I began to wonder if it was necessary to look for Jesus. Just as people has pick and choose which stories they like to tell about Lincoln, Christians have always selected passages and phrases that suit them and their interests. However, it didn’t take long to realize that, while Jesus may be complex. Though the church often tries, Jesus is not that complicated.

C.S. Lewis, one of the great church thinkers and authors, wrote in Mere Christianity, “It is so easy to get muddled about that. It is easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects – education, building, missions, holding services…[but[ the church exists for nothing else but to draw people into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.” What C.S. Lewis is saying is that the only reason God came in Christ was to make us like him. Paul says it this way, “So, he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For in him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

When Paul writes “both of us” he is not referring to two, individual people, but two groups of people; to Jew and to Gentile. When Christ came and preached peace to those who were near, he was preaching to the Jews; to those who knew God, who were circumcised, who knew the commandments and were aware of the covenants of promise. The Jews knew the covenants like those promised through Hosea which we heard this morning, “I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness, in justice, in steadfast love, in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” In other words, God was making a promise of peace to his people.

The Jews knew these promises and they knew God so at least they had hope in the world. But Paul writes that those who were far off, those Gentiles were strangers to all of that. They were without God in the world so they had no hope. But now, Paul writes, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. As God has done so many times throughout the Old Testament, God showed pity to those who were not worthy of pity. As God did so many times for the people of Israel, in Christ, God was now calling as his people those who were not acting as his people. God was not taking them as slaves or even as subjects, but as a spouse; as one honored and cherished. God was taking them in righteousness, in justice, in steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness. In other words, God was taking them in peace through Christ.

For he is our peace, writes Paul, in his flesh he made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two thus making peace. It’s not that the law was bad. The commandments and the ordinances of God were meant for the well-being of the people of God. But God’s people had used them to build a wall between themselves and all the other people of the world. Those commandments and those ordinances had created a distaste for one another and a distrust in one another that lead to a great hostility between the two groups. So, those commandments and those ordinances had to go. The commandments and the ordinances were the bricks that were used to build the dividing wall so the whole thing had to come down and the bricks thrown out. In their place came Christ who would serve as the cornerstone of a new building project. It starts with those who are looking for Jesus.

All God wants from us is to be like Jesus Christ so that we can have everything that God wants for us; all of the safety and justice and mercy and love. Of course, that’s easier said than done. It’s easy to know and hard to live. Jesus is easy to see if we’re willing to look in the right places. But all of those different objects that C.S. Lewis wrote about seem to keep getting in the way; all the education and building and missions, worship services and cathedrals and clergy and sermons, even the Bible itself can become bricks in new dividing walls that divide black and white, rich and poor, male and female, Reformed and Christian Reformed. They start creating a distaste for one another and a distrust in one another and we’ve got hostility all over again that pours out into a segregated society and a war torn world. It’s not that we tried to do it, we may not have even wanted it, but somehow we got caught up in it and now don’t know how to get out of it. Christ got us out of it through the cross. Paul writes that God put to death the hostility between the two groups through cross so that the two groups might be reconciled into one body or, perhaps, into one building.

With the dividing wall out of the way, God would build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and with all the members of the household of God build a holy temple for the Lord; holy because there was no wall to divide Jew from Gentile, slave from free, or male from female. All of them would be built together into a dwelling place for God. All of us have been brought near for that very reason. Through our faith in Christ we have access in one Spirit to our Father in heaven and we are being built into a dwelling place for him. The bricks are no longer made of stone, they are not commandments and ordinances that divide. The bricks come in all colors and genders and shapes and sizes. What they all have in common is Jesus Christ. These bricks are people who walk in love. They look like you and me.

There is one story about Lincoln worth telling this morning. It’s about his personal servant, William Johnson, described as a freed “colored man” who came to Washington from Illinois. In the afternoon, we worked for the Treasury Department. In the mornings, he was Lincoln’s right hand man. He traveled with Lincoln to Gettysburg and would die from the small pox that Lincoln contracted there. William Johnson was buried by Lincoln in what would become Arlington Cemetery. There was one word on his gravestone: citizen. Of course, William wasn’t and couldn’t have been at that point. That wouldn’t happen until many years later. But clearly, Abraham Lincoln had come to the view that all men deserved to be equal status in America. He wrote it in stone for all to see and he would die because of that belief. But he may never have gotten there had he not listened to the likes of Frederick Douglass.

If there is one cue that the church can take from Abraham Lincoln it is to listen; to listen, not just to those who think like us and look like us, but to everyone whom God has called as a member of his household. If there is a second cue, it’s that we should make our beliefs in equality and justice known and be willing to lay down our lives for them. If you are looking for Jesus, he just may be found on the other side of the walls that continue to divide us. It starts with the people who are right around us. If we are to have the peace that Jesus came to bring, it begins by acknowledging that we are all citizens, not only in this country, but with the saints. In Christ, God has taken all of us up to be honored and cherished in faithfulness. Only together can we represent the covenant of peace that God spoke of through Hosea so long ago and established in Jesus Christ. Through us, God is working for peace. And through this dwelling place of people God will work again to abolish the roadside bomb, the predator drone, and war from the land and to establish righteousness and justice, steadfast love and mercy.

As Paul wrote about bringing different races and nations into one church, he must have known how difficult that task would be. I imagine that’s why, in the middle of his letter, he burst into prayer and praise. As our church continues to seek ways to bring different races together and represent the covenant of peace established in Jesus Christ, I leave you with that prayer, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Know Your Honor – 2/08/09

What do Tom Daschle and Michael Phelps have in common? I imagine an Olympic swimmer and a US politician are not often mentioned in the same sentence but, unfortunately, we have that opportunity this morning. Each of them have experienced a sort of fall of grace in the last few days. Tom Daschle, as many of you may have heard, withdrew his nomination for one of the President’s cabinet positions. In all of the digging around that has to be done, it turned out that he forgot to pay a good portion of the taxes he owed. One of the most frustrating things about this is that he is a democrat; one of the guys who says that tax-payer supported, government programs are necessary for our welfare. To not pay taxes is a bit hypocritical to say the least. Magnifying the whole thing was that he wasn’t the only one.

Three other of the President’s nominee’s have come under scrutiny for not watching their finances closely enough. Two of them have resigned. Somehow the guy who is put in charge of all the money is the one whose appointment was confirmed. This is all very disappointing if you ask me. We have a President who says that he is going to change the way Washington works by setting higher standards. But now it seems as if no one can live up to higher standards. Again, the frustrating thing is that so many politicians will stand behind microphones or appear on TV calling for virtue and sacrifice, but do just the opposite behind closed doors. Republicans and Democrats alike have been caught in sexual scandals and financial scandals and these latest are only a continuation of the same sad story. Just as sad, however, is the latest chapter in the story of Michael Phelps.

You may have heard that the swimmer was caught in a photo with a pipe in his hand, and not just any pipe. It was one used to smoke marijuana. Now, by most accounts, those who have reported on him, those who know him, Michael Phelps is a good guy and not one to put on a false face. By most accounts he made a stupid mistake. Many people described it as a momentary lapse in judgment. That may be, but we should take note that it came after his intense training was over, after his success, and after he had signed many millions of dollars worth of contracts. What’s aggravating about this story is that Michael was becoming a spokesman, a figurehead, a role model for hard work, focus, and determination. Somewhere along the way he forgot what got him there. Now, to many people, he’s a kind of hypocrite.

We could come up with a long list of politicians, athletes, actors, Wall Street executives and even preachers who, when they achieve a certain level of success or notoriety, fall from their perch because of something in their past. Certainly, we all have a past, but what many of these stories have in common is that the scandals happen after a certain level of success has been achieved. Tom Daschle, for example, didn’t forget to pay taxes until he was making millions as a consultant for health care companies. On the one hand, people in the public aren’t given much of a break. We all have a past. On the other hand, people in the public eye should know that they are going to be scrutinized. What nags us about this is that people seem to be taking advantage of their position. Power and prestige aren’t license to be above the law. Power corrupts, they say, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is something about fame and fortune that goes to our heads and turns them to mush.

It seems that God was aware of as much when he warned the Israelites about the Promised Land. “Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God.” We should hear echoes of the garden of Eden here, where every creature was commanded to be fruitful and multiply. God certainly remembers the garden and those moments when Adam and Eve forgot who put them there and took too much for themselves. God’s people are about to reenter the garden, so to speak, God is warning them not to reach for that apple.

In fact, God reminds them how they got there in the first place. They once were slaves in the land of Egypt. They would not have gotten out without the hand of the Lord. They wandered 40 years through an arid wilderness and wasteland filled with snakes and scorpions. They would not have made it without the Lord as their shield and guide. It was the Lord who brought water from a rock when they were thirsty and wanted to return to Egypt. It was the Lord who sent manna from heaven when they were hungry and wanted to go back to slavery. All of this was to humble them and to test them and, in the end, to do them good. All of it was meant to show them what it meant to fear the Lord, to hope in his steadfast love, to walk in faith. God’s warning was that the people should not say to themselves, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” As they crossed into the Promised Land they were to remember that it was the Lord who gave them power to get wealth.

Perhaps they did for a time as Israel became a powerful and wealthy nation under David and Solomon, but even those two were compromised and often hypocritical in their leadership; corrupted by their power. Israel’s leaders often were and the prophets were not able to do much against the machine that had been created. God would remove them from the garden again and send them into exile and bring them back to their land again. There was renewed loyalty and faithfulness as the homes and cities were rebuilt, but by the time Jesus has come there was corruption and hypocrisy throughout the land. The people against whom Jesus directed his words were religious leaders to be sure, but they were also political leaders and social leaders; all wrapped into one package. Jesus saw the hypocrisy in all of them.

Jesus said to the crowds and his disciples, “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses seat; therefore, do whatever the teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” Instead, Jesus goes on to say, they preach these sermons with calls that are difficult to follow but they don’t do it themselves; unless, of course, someone is watching. When the cameras are rolling, they put on their best garments and widest grins. If they get the best seat at the table, they’ll put on a good show for all to see. If you see them in public, you better call them rabbi because they want everyone else to know how much they are respected and how great a following they have. Many of them were hypocrites.

Jesus goes off on a laundry list of accusations against the leaders of the day. The words are vivid and biting. Many of them are familiar to our own experience in religious circles. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” he says, “you cross land and sea to make a single convert, and you make a new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Jesus warns, “for you tithe expensive herbs and spices, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” If anyone ever needs proof from you that justice is part of Jesus’ mission, just point them to those words. “It is these you ought to have practiced,” Jesus said.

He also said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Perhaps this one strikes us most familiar. We’ve all encountered pastors or teachers or leaders of various kinds that look like they fit the part, but behind the scenes take on a different role. We’ve all seen churches that are beautiful in their architecture and design, but have people inside that are cold and ugly. We are all aware of our own hypocrisy in various ways and times. It is difficult to walk the talk.

That’s why Jesus has special warnings for those who take titles, like rabbi, like teacher, like Father, like instructor, like Senator or President. There is one teacher and we are all students. There is one Father and he is in heaven. There is one instructor and he is called the Messiah. It’s not that these roles and these titles are bad, it’s what they do to us. Like the wealth and power that God talked about in Deuteronomy, titles and positions corrupt us to the point that we forget about the One on whose power we are supposed to rely. There is just something in human nature that seems to prevent us from being able to hold onto our virtue and reach for power and influence at the same time. Again, it’s not that power and influence are bad. They’re just dangerous; dangerous for everyone except Jesus.

Jesus is the only one who was holy enough to direct his power and influence in the proper direction. When the scribes and Pharisees would use theirs to draw attention to themselves and call servants to their feet, Jesus would use his to draw attention to God and to be a servant at our feet. He would go so far as to wash the feet of his students saying to them, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” Good luck finding many scribes or Pharisees, many Senators or Representatives, Pastors or teachers who will go so far. Jesus transformed what it means to be great when he said, “The greatest among you will be your servant.”

The real problem with the recent stories about Tom Daschle and other hypocritical politicians is that they set the tone for future politicians. Because they are in the limelight young men and women who aspire to politics will take their cues from them, will be seduced by the same offers and take the same shortcuts. The real problem with the recent story about Michael Phelps and all the other hypocritical athletes is that they set the tone for future athletes. Because they are in the spotlight, boys and girls who aspire to great things in sports will take their cues from them, will be seduced by the same offers and take the same shortcuts; whether its marijuana or steroids. As long as the spotlight is focused on them, the world will think that honor is found in fame and fortune, in power or prestige.

It’s all the more reason that we, as followers of Jesus, must take our cues from him. Jesus must be the one who is lifted up into the spotlight and the one to whom people look to as they aspire in life. Jesus is the one who will show them that real honor is found in the weightier matters like justice and mercy and faith. He is the only one who will show them that real honor is found in humility, in service, in washing feet, and the care of the least of these. Real honor is found in humility and there will never be justice without it. I know, I know, there’s not much money in it and it all sounds like kind of a drag. That’s the point. Consider that it’s sort of like the wilderness experience that God’s people experienced in the Old Testament. This call to service is meant to humble us and to test us but, in the end, to do us good. All of it is meant to show us what it means to fear the Lord, to hope in his steadfast love, to walk in faith. Eventually you get to the Promised Land.

Paul says it this way: we have been buried with Christ by baptism into death , so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Death seems an odd way to get to new life but, like the wilderness, it’s God’s way to get us to the Promised Land. There is evidence all around us that striving for the wealth of heaven by our own power, like reaching for the apple, only leads to a fall. It sets us up for all kinds of hypocrisy. In this life we are students, we are servants, lifted up only by the glory of our Father. Somehow the life we all long for will be born out of the life that is laid down. Somehow the life we all want comes to us when we give life away.

“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Jesus would show us this not only by washing feet, but by laying down is life on the cross to be raised on the third day and seated at the right hand of his Father in heaven. The thing he showed us is that God’s promises can never be grasped like the apple in the garden, they can only be given as a gift. We have a Father in heaven who longs to keep those promises, to give those gifts. The good news is that God doesn’t care about how much power comes with the position we hold. God doesn’t care how fast we can swim. God only cares about how much we will serve and that doesn’t cost a dime. God wants us to make it to the Promised Land. God wants us eat our fill. God wants us to have new life. We just have to trust that God will give it to us. The Psalmist says, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people, he adorns the humble with victory.” Amen.

Jesus Christ Laws – 2/01/09

A young man and young woman notice each other across the room. They bump into one another again in town and notice that they are reading the same book. They begin talking. They start dating. They write letters. They exchange gifts. They fall in love. The happier they become with one another the harder it is for them to be together. They long for a future together but are told that they will never be able to marry. It’s not because of distance. It’s not because of disease. It’s because of the color of their skin.

Three young men walk into town after football practice. They’re thirsty. They’re hungry. They’re tired. What they really want is a nice, thick chocolate milk shake. The only place in town with a working milk shake machine is Mae’s Diner. The three young men know that they won’t be served a milk shake there. There’s a sign out front that says white only. It doesn’t refer to the type of money they take or to the color of clothes that are acceptable. The sign means that you must have white skin to enter.

A group of little girls meets on the same corner every morning. They have woken up early and finished up their homework. They ate breakfast and kissed their parents good bye as they rushed out the door. They have promised one another that they would always walk together to school in the morning. Part of their walk is passed a big, brick building that is flooded with children. It looks like a really nice building and very important. Every morning that they pass they wonder what goes on inside. They wonder why their skin color should prevent them from learning in that place.

It’s election season. The candidates couldn’t be more different from one another. One was about change and the other about the status quo. One seemed kind and the other seemed cold. An older woman had begun paying close attention to what they said in their speeches. As a woman she was finally given the right to vote. But she was the daughter of a slave and was never given much chance to learn to read. She couldn’t pass the test that they made her take and the $2 in her pocket she needed for her rent.

Today is the beginning of black history month and these stories represent some of the most tragic parts of that history. They represent Jim Crow Laws. After slavery was over and the southern states were restored to their full place in the union, many of them passed new constitutions. From 1876 to 1965 states in the north and in the south passed and upheld laws that separated people based on the color of their skin. Black and white people were not allowed to marry, black and white people were to eat in separate restaurants, they went to separate schools, and, in effect, had different rights when it came to voting. For all most 100 years of this nation’s history people were legally discriminated against because of the color of their skin.

Some people would say that these laws were meant as a protection for black people. That is, if black children were to attend the same school as white children they would be harassed and abused without end. They mind as well be at a different school. There were others, however, who were motivated by science. Those who said that black people were genetically inferior to white people. There were others who were simply motivated by hate. We sit here today knowing that those Jim Crow Laws are wrong. Today, we are able to judge those laws and their motivation as out of line with the values of this country. But there are other laws today. Laws that people argue about. It’s more difficult to judge if they’re right or not; if they are just or not. Both of the passages we heard this morning deal with the law; with God’s law and the motivation that is behind it.

“So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?” It’s helpful to know that this question comes immediately after the giving of the 10 Commandments. The second time around that is. You may remember that Moses smashed the first two stones on which the commandments were written as he saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. He had to go back up the mountain. He had to carve up two more tablets of stone and God wrote out the 10 Commandments once more. These commandments were to form the foundation of God’s law. From these laws, many more laws would be written. From its foundation, many more foundations would be laid. “So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?” We might imagine that the people would respond with the 10 Commandments like an ancient Heidelberg Catechism. They do not.

Moses continues on by describing what is behind this law. Or, more appropriately, who is behind this law. It is the Lord. It is the one who owns the heavens and the heaven of heavens and the earth with all that is in it. This Lord your God is God of all gods and Lord of all lords, might and awesome. No doubt Moses means to remind that people that their God is supreme and that they are to acknowledge him as such. What does the Lord of the heavens and earth require of you? “You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear.” This sounds like the commandments we all know and respect. And we have come to respect God for them as the Israelites had.

But there was more to God than just his supreme nature. Moses also described this God of gods and Lord of lords as one who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. This same Lord who owns all the heavens, looked down and set his heart in love on one people out of many. He looked on them in their slavery in Egypt and made them as numerous as the stars of the sky. What does this God of gods and Lord of Lords require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being…You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Moses has laid out a classic description of God. He is one who is the transcendent lawgiver and supreme over all other kings of the earth and all other gods of the heavens. One before whom we bow down and worship. One before whom we can have no others. But God is also the imminent caretaker. One who takes special notice of a people enslaved in Egypt and leads them out of slavery to a Promised Land. One who has a special concern for widows and orphans, and loves strangers. One who provides them food and clothing. One in whose footsteps we walk. He is a God of justice, and love and provision. This God does not discriminate and he cannot be bought off. He gives laws, not to control the people, but for their own well-being. What humbles us in this description of God is that the one who is Lord over all created order is also one who loves even the least in that creation.

Israel would carry these words with them throughout their history. Well, most of them. The would always remember that their God was supreme. They would remember their commandments. They would look after their own. But through the years they had forgotten That God does not discriminate. He had chosen one people out of the many, but he was not partial to one people out of the many. In fact, he loved the stranger and wanted Israel to love them too. Jesus was sent to remind them of this forgotten message.

While the Phraisees and Sadducees were arguing about minor points of the doctrine and trying to trip Jesus up, one in the crowd that he’d get to the heart of the matter. Which commandment is the first of all? This scribe, who certainly was familiar with the whole law, was not going to let Jesus tell a story or do a fancy trick to get out from underneath him. It was a straightforward question and he was looking for a straightforward answer. That’s what he got, plus one. Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. Notice those last words.

Jesus has considered the first 5 books of the Bible with all 600 plus rules and regulations and picked out two and called them the greatest. Greater than “you shall not steal” or “you shall not commit adultery,” greater than “remember the Sabbath” and “do not covet,” Jesus picks two commandments that are not even in the first 10 Commandments. Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter. Perhaps we should say that, in picking these two commandments, Jesus gets right to the heart of God. He makes it plain and he makes it simple. The law is about love and love is the law. All of the distinctions, all of the divisions, all of the discrimination that have resulted from the use of God’s law actually go against the law. The law is about love and love is the law.

The scribe, it seems, agrees that loving God and loving neighbor is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Pages and pages of instructions regarding sin offerings and thanksgiving offerings and grain offerings and well-being offerings and guilt offerings were reduced to a secondary status by two verses about love. Laws that many people held dear were nothing compared to love. Jesus said to the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” From that day on, no one dared to ask Jesus anymore questions. Either they knew he was right or they knew they couldn’t prove him wrong. Some would start to follow him and others would try to kill him all for advocating love.

What was lost in the shuffle in Deuteronomy becomes abundantly clear in Jesus Christ. In him, we see the transcendent lawgiver draw near as the imminent care taker. In him, we see the one who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the widow and orphan, who loves the stranger and provides food and clothing for them. In Jesus Christ we discover again, that God’s law is not for arbitrary control. Instead, God’s law is given for our own well-being; that we may have life and have it abundantly. Our only motivation in making rules and regulations is love. It doesn’t get more complicated than that. Though we do try.

We make rules for ourselves all the time about our appearance, about our weight, about our job performance, about our social status; rules that we feel the need to follow, but rules that end up enslaving us to some image or end that burdens us and weighs us down. Not many of those rules we make flow out of love that we have for ourselves. We make rules for our children about how they should act, about their grades, about their friends, and how they spend their time. As a parent now, I’m more aware than ever of the need to make rules and provide structure for children. However, I’m also more aware than ever that many of my rules are motivated by my own selfish desire to not be annoyed or bothered. There are plenty of rules that I make that are not about keeping will healthy or safe, but about keeping me sane.

Jim Crow Laws are a vivid and recent reminder that black history, our history really, has been fraught with laws that are not always motivated by love or that seek the well-being of others as God’s law does. Of course, that history has been changed by another and significant degree in the past two weeks with the election of this country’s first black President. A man who would have been enslaved, a man who would not have been free to marry, to eat at restaurants, to go to any school, to vote for President, is now president himself. At least in this last election the history of skin color was put aside and a man was judged on his character and qualifications. That is something that everyone, male and female, black and white can celebrate this month.

I heard two black women talking about black history this past week and they described the photo in which Martin Luther King Jr. stood over the shoulder of Lyndon Johnson as he signed the Voting Rights Act. The two women remarked on how the black man is now the one who is sitting in the presidential seat and the wondered who would serve as Barak Obama’s Martin Luther King. They remembered the story in which LBJ said to MLK, “Go out and make it possible for me to do the right thing.” The two women wondered who would make it possible for Barak Obama to do the right thing. I hope it is the people who are obedient to Jesus Christ laws.

If we want the orphan and widow to have justice we are the ones to make it possible. If we want the alien to be welcomed we are the ones to make it possible. If we want food on every table we are the ones to make it possible. If we want health care to work for everyone and for everyone to work for their health we are the ones to make it possible. If we want marriage to be respected as a foundational institution we are the ones to make it possible. If we want the family to be supported and children to be nurtured we are the ones to make it possible. If we want laws that promote the well-being of all people regardless of race or class or gender, we are the ones to make it possible. We’ll make it possible with our voice, with our feet, with our hands, and with our hearts. We’ll make it possible when we love God and when we love our neighbor as ourselves.

This table around which we gather is a vivid and present reminder that what brings us together is not slavery to a law, but gratitude for love; gratitude that the transcendent lawgiver is also the incarnate caretaker and out of all the universe has set his heart in love on us. We are welcome at this table, not because we have followed all the rules this week and kept up proper appearances, not because we have fulfilled some law, but because the fulfillment of the law is love; because God is love. We find at this table that we are not far from the kingdom of God. This table reminds us that in making the right thing possible we are not leading the way, but simply following in the steps of Jesus Christ, the one who lived, the one who died, the one who was raised so that all might have life and have it abundantly. Amen.