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.

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.

Discipling the Nations – 11/16/08

This past week I met Agshin Jafarov. He’s from Azerbaijan. He’s a Christian that grew up in a Muslim family. His family doesn’t know that he’s become a Christian. They think he’s studying comparative religion in America. He’s currently studying theology at Western Seminary with the hope of returning home to share the good news with his friends and family. I also met Rothney Tshaka. He is from South Africa and grew up there during apartheid. He’s now a professor at New Brunswick Seminary out in New Jersey, but hopes to return home to teach in the University of South Africa.

Another person I met was Jhonny. He’s Puerto Rican and grew up in New York City. He was raised in the Pentecostal tradition and his first church was in Nicaragua. A devastating earthquake opened his eyes to a whole new layer of ministry that his church had not prepared him for earlier. I met Derrick who had no sense of his heritage or where his ancestors came from until he got a degree in African studies. It connected him with his grandparents and with the RCA. He now serves as a coordinator for African missions for our denomination.

Jong Kug Kim grew up in South Korea and lived through a Japanese invasion and the Korean War. He was raised a Christian and is now a minister for the RCA at a church out in New Jersey. Eddy was born in Nicaragua, spent a good portion of his life in Canada, and is now beginning to lay the ground work for hundreds of church plants out in California. He says that the biggest struggle is learning what it means to be Mexican. Then, there’s Adriene who grew up following Martin Luther King Jr’s death. She left the church for a while, became a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, but is now a minister of Arts and Dance for the RCA in New York City.

Bertalan Tamas is serving the church in Hungary. J.P. is serving the church in India. Stephanie is serving the church in St. Louis. Humberto left Brazil to serve the church in Canada. Vern spent most of his life in Chiapas and is now sharing what he learned about cross-cultural ministry with students at Western. This past week I met many people from many different nations and they call came together in one place for one reason. There was one topic of conversation for three days: in a world that’s as diverse as this one is in the 21^st Century, how do we make disciples of all nations? In fact, we were probably asking the same questions the disciples were asking after they got Jesus’ instructions as we heard them this morning.

“Go and make disciples of all nations.” The church throughout the centuries has done it’s best to fulfill this mission. These words spoken by Jesus form part of the great conclusion to Matthew’s gospel. We know them well. What you might not know so well is that this short passage brings together to great themes of the Bible into one. Jesus is standing on a mountain and talking about the nations. Throughout the Bible important things happen on mountains. And, throughout the Bible, God always has the nations in mind.

A stray sheep led Moses to the mountain of Horeb where the Lord called Moses back to Egypt. The Lord spoke these words, “I will be with you. And this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Later, the Lord would descend on Mount Sinai and declare to Moses and the Israelites, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

It wouldn’t be long after that that Moses stood on Mount Nebo and the Lord said, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, I will give it to your descendents.” Moses was not the only prophet who would find the Lord in the mountains. The prophet Elijah would run to Mount Horeb when Ahab and Jezebel were trying to kill him. The Lord came to him, not in the great wind, nor the powerful earthquake, nor the raging fire, but in a gentle whisper. The Lord gave Elijah instruction as to how he should proceed and preserve the remnant of faithful followers.

The prophet Isaiah also saw an important role for the mountain in his vision of the last days: the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” They will beat their swords in to plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

This long tradition of the mountain was certainly carried on in the time of Jesus. When Jesus gave his great sermon that told us that hate was murder and lust was adultery, to love our enemies and pray in secret, to avoid judgment and worry, he was standing on a mountain. When Jesus was transfigured before his disciples into a dazzling white, Moses and Elijah joined him and we discover that just as the Lord spoke in a gentle whisper he now speaks through Jesus. They all stood on a mountain. After Jesus’ resurrection, he called his disciples up a mountain and said, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations.” That brings us to theme number two: that God always has the nations in mind.

When God called Abraham away from his land and family he said, “I will bless you and all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.” As you heard already, when the Lord set apart Israel, he called them a holy nation. Even though the whole earth and all the nations belonged to the Lord, Israel would be set apart as a nation of priests to bless the nations. The coming of the nations was a great theme for the prophet Isaiah as well. We already heard how the nations would stream to the mountain of the Lord to learn God’s ways and make peace. In the same way, every Advent we hear the prophet say, “Here is my servant…I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” And we hear, ‘See I made him a witness to the peoples…Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you.” The prophet Amos said something similar, “On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen in order that they may posses all the nations called by my name.”

Of course, as Christians, we believe that this booth, that servant, is Jesus. He clearly shared Isaiah’s vision for the nations. Jesus told the story of the day when the Son of Man would come in glory and all the nations would gather before him. He would separate them based on how they cared for those who were hungry and thirsty, naked and sick, imprisoned or strangers within their borders. This morning we listened as he sent his disciples out from the mountain top to go make disciples of all nations. All of this is to say, that every important event in the Bible, every desire of God has come together at this point in Matthew’s gospel. The fact that Jesus is standing on a mountain and talking about the nations indicates to us that this is not just the end of Matthew’s gospel it is the end of the very long history of God who was preparing the way for this day. Everything else has been leading up to this point. What God has wanted all along is to see every nation made into a disciple; to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and to obey everything that Jesus has commanded.

Water cleanses, water purifies, water refreshes, water sustains. Jesus Christ is the living water. Those are words we hear every time another child or grand child or neighbor or friend is baptized. They are words of God’s promises to cleanse, to purify, to refresh, and to sustain. Baptism is a sign and seal of God’s promises to his people. In baptism God promises, by grace alone: to forgive our sins, to adopt us into the body of Christ, the church; to send the Holy Spirit daily to renew and cleanse us; and to resurrect us to eternal life. This is the entirety of the good news wrapped into one gracious moment. Welcoming people into this good news is the beginning of making disciples.

This was, after all, the beginning of how all of us became disciples. We were heard the good news that God would not hold our sins against us but would remove them far from us and forgive us. We were moved to hear that God would not lord his power over us but would run to embrace us as a compassionate Father to his children. We were encouraged to know that we do not stand alone but have been adopted into a greater family and joined with Jesus Christ as in a body. Faith and love were born in our hearts when God poured his Holy Spirit upon us. Hope became a part of our lives as we look forward to the day when our lives will be made new for all eternity. Being a disciple is reminding one another of that gracious, good news that infuses every aspect of our lives. Likewise, making disciples is proclaiming that good news to those who have yet to hear. But there is more.

Our baptismal liturgy also says, “through baptism Christ calls us to a new obedience: to love and trust God completely, to forsake the evil of the world, and to live a new and holy life.” This is the part that’s difficult to get the nations to buy into. This is where Jesus’ message doesn’t always make sense. This is where, for example, we hear from Isaiah that when the nations walk in way of the Lord they will not learn war anymore. They will take their weapons and pound them into tools of agriculture. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to the nations. They would rather their own nation be the center of attention. They would rather have the nations stream to their highest mountain. They would rather settle their disputes with violence rather than creation. So, the Lord has set apart a people who will live not by power, not by might, but by the Spirit and trust God completely.

These same peoples are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world by forsaking the evil of the world. They are to refrain from murder by being slow to anger. They are to avoid adultery by turning away from lustful looks. They should not easily divorce, nor make false oaths. They should turn the other cheek and love their enemies and give to everyone who asks of them. They should give in secret, pray in secret and fast in secret thereby storing up for themselves treasures in heaven that will not rust or fade. All of this sermon on the mount cuts against the grain of a society that says we should have what we want and when we want it even if it comes at the expense of others. That’s why the Lord is looking for disciples who will make disciples.

The servant of the Lord was one who would open eyes that are blind and bring prisoners out of their darkness. The servant of the Lord was one who would do justice for the nations and demand justice of the nations. Those nations that will inherit the kingdom of God are those who have fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, cared for the sick, and visited the prisoner. But too often the nations would rather pursue wealth and influence, to care for the least of these is not always high on the agenda of the nations. Than again, I suppose that’s why Jesus has called for a people who will make disciples of them; people who will baptize and teach the nations to live a new and holy life.

As I spent a few days with people from South Korea to South Africa, from Canada to Brazil, from America to Azerbijian, on common thread became clear. Our common desire to make disciples stemmed from a reaction to the catastrophes of this world, whether they be natural disasters or wars or prejudice or greed. We were confident that Jesus’ advice to us in the face of such evils is not to make war or make enemies, but to make disciples by baptizing and teaching. The fact that so many nations were represented in that room only confirmed for us that Jesus knew what he was talking about and that his words were true.

After our worship this morning, we will be holding yet another congregational meeting. It is a time to review the previous year, to elect new elders and deacons and to approve another budget for another year. The Bible doesn’t say much about elections or budgets and they can often times seem very unholy. But this morning we are reminded that they represent another year of life at Hope Reformed Church and, more importantly, another year where we live forgiven, as one body, sustained by one Spirit, to make disciples, if not of this nation, then at least of those we encounter in this sanctuary and on this corner. We have good news to share and good works to carry out. And the best part of all is this: Jesus said, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Amen.