Social Etiquette Luke 14:1, 7-14

If you have ever been to a wedding reception, you know that there are assigned seats for guests at the meal. The main table is reserved for the wedding couple and their wedding attendants. Closer tables are reserved for the immediate family. There is nothing unusual here. This is how formal dinners function. The seats of greater honor are determined by relationship (family, business, etc.) to the host. If you don’t want to be embarrassed, then don’t sit in the wrong seat of importance.

Jesus was invited to a meal at a prominent Pharisee’s home. He recognized that the guests sat according to relationship with the host. Jesus then gave some advice on social etiquette. Don’t take a seat too high in status or you’ll be asked to take a lower seat, wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Instead take a lower place and when moved up, you’ll be honored. His advice wasn’t surprising, this is how our social connections work. We socialize with people like us. We use formal social events to get attention, conduct business, further spread our networking and define our place. Nothing unusual here. Then Jesus used the dinner party to get theological. He gave advice for social etiquette for the Kingdom of heaven.

When having a party, don’t invite guests that will build your business or define your status in the community. Instead, invite the poor and crippled and lame and blind. The very people who have nothing to offer in return. Why? They are people of value in God’s kingdom. Jesus takes our understanding of how relationships work and flips them upside down. Under God’s reign, relationships aren’t about using others for our gain but for grace to be shown. This is how our relationship with God is expressed, by how we live life now under his rules defining value. At the ‘resurrection of the righteous,’ God will decide the positions of honor at heaven’s banquet. Once more, Jesus takes life in a totally different direction by his teaching and how he lived life by the kingdom.

Peace.

Where Your Treasure Is Luke 12:32-40

This last week has been a tough week. There were the shootings in El Paso and Dayton. Cries are going up to bring an end to this senseless loss of life that is becoming too ordinary. The month of July was the warmest recorded. Some deny that our activity is having any affect on climate while scientists are warning that this is only the start with much worse to come in the future. The hate-filled words that divide this country will not grow silent. This last week has been rough.

The message from the Scripture reading is really filled with hope with Jesus saying, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” It is God’s good pleasure to give us his rule. Note that it is not God’s good pleasure to support our bias, our prejudice, our hate, our violence, our greed, our self-serving nature, etc. God’s good pleasure is to bring about his rule which will allow life and all of creation to flourish. It may be God’s good pleasure to bring his kingdom but Jesus on the cross is our opinion regarding God’s kingdom. However, Jesus’ resurrection is God’s relentless work to bring life instead. So the hope-filled message is to not be afraid. The invitation is to invest ourselves in the kingdom which does bring life.

Jesus gives this message of hope with a couple points. He does this with the statement to sell our possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. The result is to have a treasure in heaven that won’t be taken away. He is inviting us to divest ourselves from the ways of the world that create poverty in the first place. We are to invest ourselves in the ways of God’s rule which bring life. This won’t be taken away from us.

The second point is one that we get backwards. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What we want to say is, “Where my heart is, there my treasure will go.” The problem is that our heart is not focused on God’s kingdom. Jesus was correct: the heart follows where the treasure is invested. If we invest what we treasure to alleviate poverty, that is where our heart will be. If we invest what we treasure in caring for creation, that is where our heart will be. If we invest what we treasure in reducing the hate, that is where our heart will be. If we invest what we treasure in these things of the kingdom, then our hearts will be focused on God’s kingdom of life which is God’s good pleasure to give.

The rest of the Scripture reading is about being watchful and ready for Christ’s return to bring the fullness of God’s kingdom. How will we be ready? Invest the things we treasure in the reign of God now and our hearts will be ready.

This has been a rough week. Remember Jesus words of hope, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Peace.

Mary, the nonconformist Luke 10:38-42

We have all had moments when pressured to conform. Maybe our group of friends seems to have a political viewpoint that we don’t agree. Yet we keep quiet, conform, so we don’t risk losing their friendship. Maybe we belong to an organization that has altered its goals which were too much of a change. We conform because we don’t want to be left on the outside looking in. We all have known a time when pressured to conform.

The story of Mary and Martha seems on the surface to be about Martha working too hard and Mary preferring to listen to Jesus’ words. Mary comes out on top receiving support from Jesus. However, there is more going on than merely overworking or resting.

Martha was doing nothing wrong being a good hostess. She had invited Jesus into her home. Hospitality was the cultural expectation in those days. Martha was fulfilling the cultural demands required of her. Mary wasn’t helping with the hostess work. Martha may have also been calling Mary into conformity.

Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to his teaching. Women did not sit at the feet of a teacher. Men sat at the feet of a teacher. Men would later pass on the information they wished to share. Mary violated the cultural boundaries for gender of her time. You know what? Jesus preferred Mary’s perspective. There would be plenty of time for Martha to fulfill her hostess duties. There are times when a person needs to step outside of cultural demands to hear what Jesus has to say. What we learn from him won’t be taken away from us.

We have all had times when pressured to conform to culture. The topic list is huge from race to immigration, religion, politics, how to spend money, what to eat, gender roles, etc. Yet if we want to listen to what Jesus has to say we need to be at times like Mary, a non-conformist. We need to cross the boundary lines so we can listen. What we learn will never be taken away from us. We have Christ and the kingdom.

Peace.

Are you good, neighbor? Luke 10:25-37

The parable of the Good Samaritan is well known even by those who haven’t read from the Bible in a long time. There are “Good Samaritan” laws written for people to stop and help others in need. This parable has had a major impact upon us and our understanding of our neighbor. However, the point isn’t about being a good person. The Samaritan isn’t even called ‘good’ in the parable. The parable begins with a question about inheriting eternal life.

We think that eternal life is about getting up into heaven. This was not what eternal life meant in the lawyers question. Eternal life was about living ones life in God and this was defined by the law. Inheriting eternal life was about living ones life in the new age that is coming in Jesus. So Jesus asked the lawyer about the law and he knew the answer: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor. Jesus told him to do this and he would live. Then the lawyer wanted clarity on who is the neighbor. Jesus’ answer was given with the parable.

A man was robbed, beaten and left for dead on the roadside. A priest and Levite crossed the road to avoid the man. We aren’t told why. Touching a dead body would have left them unclean and unable to do their duties. Maybe this concern was the reason, we aren’t told. A Samaritan (Samaritans were despised by the Jew and this would intensify the feelings) went over to help the injured man and even provide for his extended care. The Samaritan was willing to cross over and show mercy. He was the neighbor. This is how one lives out life in God; inherit eternal life.

We don’t do a lot of crossing over to show mercy these days and the anger that seems so much a part of society illustrates it. We don’t cross over and show mercy to our opponent because that would show weakness. We don’t cross over with mercy toward those on the other side of the political spectrum because that would be betrayal. We don’t cross over and show mercy to others we look down on otherwise we would see them as equals. Crossing over to show mercy isn’t easy. Eternal life is elusive these days.

How do we live life that is eternal in its quality? How do we live a life that is found in God? Like the lawyer we do know the answer: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor. The difficulty is doing it. Life in God is to cross over to the other person and when you get there, show mercy.

As Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

Peace.

Peace: accepted or rejected Luke 10:1-20

A couple points to consider.

First, are you at peace? This isn’t a trick question. Are you at peace?

Secondly, how does peace relate to your place in the kingdom of God?

Peace seems really in short supply today. The struggle to find peace is ongoing without a whole lot of success. The search for peace leads us to try practices like meditation or something called ‘being in the moment.’ These practices along with others can help us feel more relaxed and push off the stressors in life for a while but when you get cut off in traffic…you are hotly corrected for having the wrong political views…the boss expects more while offering less support…peace disappears. Our struggle for peace continues because we don’t quite understand how to make it happen. Peace doesn’t come by denying reality. Peace doesn’t come by having the biggest army. Peace is a gift and a gift comes through grace. Grace is an expression of kindness, a love that is given without merit or worth. Grace is hard to find in our polarized world. No wonder peace is so rare.

Jesus was sending out seventy followers with the instruction to offer their peace wherever they went. Their peace was directly related to being a part of the kingdom of God. Prior to this, Jesus rebuked James and John for wanting to destroy a Samaritan town with fire from heaven because the village wouldn’t receive them. Jesus was now giving a strongly different idea about being an emissary for the kingdom of God.

Jesus sent out seventy to the surrounding area where he was about to go. The first thing they were to do upon entering a town was to offer their peace. If their peace was rejected, the town wasn’t rejecting them but God. The response was not to destroy the town but to wipe off the dust from their feet. Since God was the one being rejected, God will deal with them.

If their peace was accepted, they were to stay at that home and enjoy the hospitality offered. The seventy were not to move from house to house. In other words, they were not to manipulate and play one home against another for their personal benefit. Rather they were to stay at the one place and receive the homeowners gracious hospitality. Do you know what happens when grace is met by grace? This is where the kingdom of God can be called near and peace is found.

The seventy returned excited over the ways that the kingdom’s presence was evidenced. Jesus commented that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Amazing how something as simple as an offering of peace, an expression of grace can undercut the essence of evil. What Jesus wanted them to celebrate wasn’t witnessing to the evidence of the kingdom but being secure of their place in God’s kingdom.

Does peace seem to be in short supply? Then share your peace. If it is received then both sides will graciously know that the kingdom of God is near. This is truly something to celebrate.

Peace

Anti Healing?? Luke 8:26-39

Something going on in this reading doesn’t make sense…or does it? A man is possessed by a ‘Legion’ of demons. He is chained, naked and living in the tombs of a cemetery. When Jesus casts out the demons, the man is clothed and in his right mind. The Legion of demons possess a nearby herd of pigs who run off a steep bank to drown in the water below. The local folk are angry and want Jesus to leave. Why? Why would they be so anti-healing?

Were the people angry about the financial losses from the drowned pigs? Nope. They didn’t even ask Jesus for some form of repayment.

Why couldn’t they celebrate the man’s good fortune of no longer being chained and naked? Why couldn’t they be happy for the man now rid of the demons and in his right mind? Why the anger? Jesus took away their scapegoat. As long as they could use the man as the focus of the unclean for their community, life in denial was good. Jesus took that focus away and now they would be like the pigs running head long to their own destruction.

Think about all the people we call evil. Think of all the people we put as the focus of what is unclean. The list is endless: immigrants, liberals, conservatives, Iran, the poor, the rich, etc. When one is removed from the list, another is simply plugged in. Unfortunately we also keep Christ at a distance and stay in the old ways that get in the way of healing.

Christ is our healing. He is the healing of the nations. His power is above the ‘Legion’ which was what a Roman 6000 unit of soldiers was called. He casts out the demonic that keeps us all in chains. He brings sanity to our culture.

So when it comes to Jesus what is our response? Will it be anger? Will it be courage to seek his healing? Will it be a continuation of seeing our uncleanness focused upon another and another and another? Will it be healing for our community, nation and world leaving us clothed and in our right minds as children of God?

Peace.

“The Truth: Bad and the Good” John 16:12-15

John devotes a lot of time to Jesus’ farewell to his disciples. In this selection, Jesus tells the disciples that he has more to say but the news is beyond what they can bear. What is the worst news that anyone can give to us? If the person is one we truly love, the worst would have to be of their death. We can join with them in the struggle against a terminal illness and try to manage the side affects, for example. What is the most difficult is losing them and facing life ahead without them.

Jesus had already told them a few verses earlier that they will find themselves ousted from the synagogue. More than that, some of the disciples will even be killed by people thinking they are serving God. Now Jesus is saying he is going away and in their grief that is all they can handle for now. The loss of Christ would be the ultimate loss. Their bad news and resulting questions are the same for us today. How would we (the church) move forward as his body in the world? How would we speak of hope without his guiding words? How would we know his comfort without his presence?

This Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday and we struggle to understand God as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The harder we try to put this doctrine written down in stone, the more elusive is the outcome. Yet, this is the way that God has chosen to relate with us. The sad news was of Jesus going to the Father. The good news is that the Counselor – the Spirit of truth – will come to guide us in the truth.

Our listening isn’t always the best. We choose to hear what we want to hear. However, if the church is to be a witness to Christ then we need to listen to the guidance from the Spirit of truth. If we are going to speak of hope then we need to listen better to the instruction from the Spirit of truth. If we are going to know comfort from Christ, it will be by the Spirit’s presence.

The bad news was of Jesus going to the Father. The good news is the coming of the Spirit of truth. We need the Spirit to guide us as our poor stewardship is leading to climate change. We need the Spirit of truth to help us maneuver in a world where truth has become self defined. We need the Spirit to guide us into the future that is still to unfold.

While Jesus has gone to the Father, we have the Spirit with us. The good news of the Trinity is that God has not abandoned us but is fully engaged in redeeming the world around us.

Peace.

“A bewildering voice? A Holy voice.” Acts 2:1-21

The day of Pentecost has come as the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples. The day is often called the birthday of the church. One thing for sure it is the dread of lay readers trying to pronounce the likes of Cappadocia, Elamites and Phrygia. The day is a strange one with a violent wind and tongues of fire on the heads of the disciples. The God-fearing Jews heard the witness of the disciples in their native language (outreach to the Gentiles will come later). The reaction was bewilderment and some considering the disciples to be drunk at 9:00 a.m. While alcohol may loosen the tongue, it doesn’t give command of another language. This shows the Spirit was given for the purpose to give witness to the mighty things God had done. Namely, raising Jesus from the dead.

The Holy Spirit was the gift given for the benefit of the church to do the work God has called it to do through Christ. Yet, as always, we work to limit the Spirit to our own prejudices and power structures. Peter quoted the prophet Joel to respond to the bewilderment of the people present. In the last days, God will pour the Spirit upon sons, daughters, young, old, men and women. Nobody gets left out! Imagine how much the church has lost out by restricting the witness of women. How many children have walked away because their voice was not allowed to develop and be shared?

The Holy Spirit was the gift given for the benefit of the church. Yet we praise the gifts of some and not others. We use the gifts as a measurement of who is most empowered or blessed the most by God. We get so enamored with the gifts that we forget to use them. The gifts need to used for the purpose given by the Spirit.

The people present were bewildered by what was going on. We should be too! There was God setting people free by cutting through the boundaries of sex and age. There was God refusing to be held under the power of tyranny as the crucified Jesus was raised from the dead. This news was bewildering to the people. The mighty acts of God was running counter cultural to all they understood. This was God setting his people and all of creation free.

So we celebrate Pentecost as the same Spirit is upon us to declare the mighty acts of God. The message is still the same of God cutting through the boundaries of age and sex and race for people to be free. The message is still the same of how God refuses to allow the powers at hand to have final control as Jesus was raised from the dead. The message is still the same but the language is bewildering because it is so different from what we are used to hearing. God is here and setting us free. This is what the Spirit is guiding us to do. This is a Holy voice.

Peace

“Come” Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

“Come” is a word of invitation and I think this sums up much of Revelation. The book has been encouraging the church to remain faithful to its witness and to come out of the world. This isn’t an invitation to live as a hermit in isolation but to enter into a new way of life that is defined by the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to us. There is no more crying or mourning or dying there because those old ways will be no more. The beasts and the wars and the plagues and the rest of the violent images represent the judgment of this world slowly dying away; giving way to the New Jerusalem. All will be judged based upon our loyalty to the old or to the new. “Come” is the invitation for those thirsty for this New Jerusalem. “Come” is the invitation for those wanting to drink from its river of life. “Come” is the invitation to live in the new of Christ’s return.

“Come” is what the Spirit says. “Come” is what the bride says. This invitation is for Christ to bring the fulfillment of what is underway in the New Jerusalem. I won’t give a list of the mourning or the crying or the dying that is going on around us. You can fill that list out yourself. The job is easy enough to do. However if your passion is for what is coming in Christ, then let “come” be your breath’s expression.

“It is I, Jesus…” who gave this revelation to John. The revelation is from Jesus Christ who died and who was raised from the dead and who will never die again. The message is a personal one to each of us to come out from this dying world and to live with anticipation of what is to come. The violent images of Revelation show the struggles but a new creation is being born with no more crying or mourning or dying.

So John ends Revelation with these words, “The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

A Living City Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

Genesis tells us that creation begins with Adam and Eve in a garden. Revelation tells us that all things are brought to fulfillment with a city. I have lived in several cities and they are amazing places. They provide the opportunity for the enjoyment of the arts, culture and entertainment. They are also places where the poor are held in the prison of their poverty. The wealthy are imprisoned literally behind gates caused by the fear of others. The dividing line may be a simple street but it might as well be a wall thirty feet high. There are sections that are still called the Polish or German or Italian or etc. part of the city. This continues even if the designation hasn’t been true for decades. Cities are amazing places but from Revelation we read of a city that is like no other.

This city is the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God to us. It is described as a place where there is no more crying or pain or mourning or death. These former ways of life are gone. The city has been measured and found to be solid to its foundation. The city is beauty having been constructed out of precious gems. What stands out is the way life is lived out under the light and guidance from the throne of God in the center.

There are walls and gates but they are never closed for fear and need of protection. The nations are no longer relegated to their “section.” Rather the nations are free to bring their honor and glory to the city. A garden like feel is described with a river that is the water of life. The tree of life covers both sides of the river and the leaves bring healing to the nations. Life is no longer guided by the sun and moon marking the seasons but by the Lord God who is the light. This really is a city like no other. This is a city where life is sustained and flourishes.

John wrote down Revelation to give encouragement for Christians to remain faithful. Rome is called the “Eternal City” because it is believed that it will continue forever. The city of Rome was an amazing city in John’s day. However John describes a city far greater where life and healing are brought to this world of crying, pain and death. This is the new Jerusalem where we will finally see the Lord face to face.

So what do we do with a vision like this today? Well, instead of continuing the ways of division, fear mongering, us against them, that dominate the world today we choose a different way to live. We work to bring healing to the polarization. We dismantle the walls that propagate fear. We look to the honor and glory of what other nations can give for the whole. In other words, we prepare for what life will be like in the new Jerusalem.

Peace.