Gospel: John 8:31-36
1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 46
2nd Reading: Romans 3:19-28
What should we have for dinner? That’s the question that faces us every night. Sometimes we’re smart enough to plan out a menu ahead of time. Sometimes we’re just trying to get ourselves fed as quickly as possible from the ingredients we have on hand. Each of us considers the question from our own perspective. We look at the available ingredients and time as well as what our cravings are saying to us. Everyone shares their point of view and enters into a dialogue. We make the best decision we can for all of us, and then we get to cooking and eventually eating. Then we start again the next day.
The Reformation started with a question, as well: What is God’s will or purpose for the church? Maybe this question seems far removed from what to have for dinner, but we’re asking how to nourish our bodies and how to nourish the body of Christ. It kind of reminds me of the scene in “Oliver” when he asks for more. There were those who found the question threatening. The Roman Catholic Church had been creating the menu for years and forcing people to cook and eat what they wanted people to swallow. But there were many more who were already asking the question behind the scene. They were hungry for a new way of doing church. Many people were already considering the question from many perspectives, considering the resources, looking at all the options. Many people shared their point of view and entered into the dialogue. People started trying their own recipes. Martin Luther ended up writing his own recipe book. It included many old favorites, but with new twists, and especially empowering people to think and cook for themselves and decide what worked for their families. Out of the Reformation came many different meal options, new ingredients and preparation techniques. Of course, we aren’t still using all the same recipes that came from that time. The Reformation is ongoing. We must ask the question in every generation, in every context: What is God’s will or purpose for the church? We ask each other. We ask God. We all decide together what makes sense. We worship with the tools and knowledge skills and faith that we have available in this time and place. Then we do it all again the next week.
We are still asking that question about God’s purpose for our church. You’ve asked it before in the congregations you came from. You asked it before in this congregation over 10 years ago. You ate that dish and were nourished by it for many years. Now, new ingredients are available, new tastes, new cooks. So we sit with the question again: What is God’s purpose for our church, our congregation? We listen to our church and our community again. We listen to God again. Maybe God will share with us the same recipe that we’ve been using all this time. And maybe God will say something that we haven’t heard in quite the same way before. Maybe new ears hear something a little bit different. Maybe we have new language to understand and express God’s purpose for our community, but we’ll never know unless we stop and listen to God once more and listen to each other once more, which is what we’ve been doing in our Mission Statement Process in the past month. You are invited to participate in the Mission Statement process. Last month a group of us met on a Saturday and prayed and read the Bible and had a discussion about God’s purpose for our community. Our Mission Statement team has been praying and studying those responses to come up with a draft statement. If you didn’t get a chance to come to the retreat, you are invited to take home a Bible Study page to complete and return to the church to be considered as we shape our drafts.
We weren’t anticipating asking any questions about the space downstairs, until the preschool moved on. Now we have an opening and a question. How can we use the space downstairs to serve God? The council was considering placing an add, but we realized that this gives us a chance to listen to the Holy Spirit. It is a chance to ask the question, pray, consider the resources, have a dialogue, and decide together. So far, people have had such great ideas. It could be a day-use retreat space for groups to meet. It could be used for tutoring. It could be used for a parent-toddler play group. It could be used for a musical group to practice. You are invited to pray, to read scripture, to discuss, and to make a suggestion about how the space could be used to do God’s work in the community. The Holy Spirit speaks to every one of us and when we listen to each other we have a much richer and tastier menu and are nourished more fully.
God keeps on asking the question about how to show us love and help us to love each other. At times we haven’t been so wild about that question. We’ve been too distracted by our fears and our greed and our other priorities. But God keeps posing that question in every age. God doesn’t just give us questions, but gives us resources to help us find our way. God gives us our relationship with God as an example of what love can look like. God gives us prophets to help point us in a direction that is helpful. God gives us all the people we meet to help challenge us and help us grow. God gives us this amazing world we live in as a gift that we are stewards of. And God gives us endless chances to try again when we fail and to improve on our recipes.
This is partly what we mean when we talk about being simultaneously saint and sinner, slave and free, like the scriptures point out this morning. Maybe saint and sinner language is too loaded for us, these days. We either get too humble—“I’m no saint,” or defensive, “What do you mean, I’m continually sinning!? I do the best I can.” But the slave and free way of saying it may be more helpful. We can see how at any moment we are bound, in a kind of slavery. We are bound by our life circumstances. We are unable to see the options before us. We get stuck in our patterns. We get comfortable with where we are. And we make lots and lots of choices that distance us from others and hurt us an others. We are slaves to sin.
And yet that isn’t the end of the story. Jesus frees us, continually, with the gift of God’s love. Jesus reminds us that fear and guilt are not the end of the story. We don’t have to spend our days beating ourselves up for all the mistakes we’ve made. We are beloved children of God. We are adopted into God’s family. The Son has welcomed us. We can move from that place of slavery and being stuck. We can approach God for help. We can ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. We can expect another day of God’s grace to ask the questions. We can come together again in community with all these other imperfect beloved children of God and decide together. Our cookbook of life is open. We are free to use the amazing gifts and ingredients that God gives us to make something new and beautiful and delicious. We are free to ask the question, “What’s for dinner?” and listen to all the possible responses in the body of Christ. We are free to be nourished and fed at God’s table. And we are freed to take God’s love out to all we meet so that someday everyone will be fed in body and spirit. Someday all will be freed in body and spirit.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
October 20, 2013
Gospel: Luke 18:1-8
1st Reading: Genesis 32:22-31
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Wrestling with God: What comes to mind is some of these cute videos you can watch online on lion cubs wrestling with their great big lion daddies. Wrestling for lions and humans is an important part of development. It builds trust. It builds physical skill. It teaches about winning and losing. It teaches about letting go. Those tiny lion cubs seem to have no idea how small they are. They are just curious and feisty and in play they practice important skills that will help them hunt and attack prey someday. And those great big lions have so much patience. All it would take would be one swipe of the paw or one crunch of those powerful jaws and it would all be over. Yet they seem to know that this is part of cub development, and they show patience. They give just enough challenge to keep the little cubs learning and coming back for more.
Jacob was quite the wrestler. He had wrestled with his twin brother in his mother’s womb. Remember he was clenching the foot of his brother, Esau, when he was born. He wrestled with his parents for the role of the favorite child. After he took his brother’s birthright, he wrestled with guilt and he wrestled with being estranged from the brother he had been so close to. And now he is about to meet with his brother for the first time in over 20 years, for the first time since he cheated him. Some say he is a bit of a wimp—he sends the women and children first, ahead of himself across the river to where his brother will be meeting him. Maybe he just needed some time to think.
That night, the scripture says, he wrestles. He wrestles with himself. He is thinking of all the things his brother might say to him about him cheating him and ruining his life and so forth. And his brother would be justified saying all that. His brother would have the right to strike him or worse. You can imagine him going through every possible scenario, preparing himself for each rebuke from his brother.
While he is wrestling in hi s mind, a man comes and wrestles with him there by the river. Is it a man? Is it God? Is it an angel? Who is this nameless wrestler? By the end of the story, Jacob is convinced it is God. He says, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” It reminds me of the lion cub and the big father lion. Certainly, God could have prevailed and pummeled Jacob instantly. But that’s not who God our Father is. Wrestling teaches us. It is practice. Wrestling teaches perseverance, it teaches about playing fair (which is a lesson Jacob needs to learn), it teaches about strength, it teaches about tenderness, it teaches about forgiveness, and it teaches about blessing.
Do we ever wrestle with God? Are we afraid to approach God, waste God’s time, or pick a fight? Yet God is so approachable and accessible. Why not? That’s what dads are for. What kind of things do you wrestle with God about? Who usually wins? How do you know when you’ve seen God face to face?
The second reading today mentions wrestling with God in scripture. Reading from the Bible can become a good habit to get into. But don’t just read it. Ask the burning questions that come to mind. Use scripture to wrestle with God. It is God’s word, after all. Order a devotional book that can help you read it, or find some questions online that help you delve deeper into the text, to understand what the Bible is really saying. You don’t need a master’s degree at a religious institution to read the Bible and get something from it and to be challenged by it. But it also takes practice.
Like the cubs wrestling with the big lion, you have to start somewhere, and the learning grows with practice. Think of those little cubs. At first they are so weak and small. They might notice the flick of the tail and pounce. As they progress, they start batting at the big lion. Soon they are climbing up and knawing on dad’s ear. Eventually they are tumbling around in the dirt with him. It takes practice and patience. As we read the Bible, we might start by sitting back and watching. But with practice and bravery, we begin to approach and delve deeper. We let those questions surface. What is this Bible passage saying about God? What is it saying about me and my life? Is that really the kind of God I believe in? What exactly do I believe about God and why? How is that going to affect my life?
God can take it. God can take all our questions. God can take our critical thinking. God can take our challenges. God knows patience and tenderness. God wrestles with us and stays in the game and even blesses us through this wrestling.
In the Gospel reading for today, prayer is considered a kind of wrestling with God and with ourselves. Prayer takes practice. You might try a little prayer and it feels awkward. It is all about baby steps. Keep coming back to God and trying again. Try written prayers. Try sitting in silence. Try praying as you work. Try writing poetry as a prayer. Try gardening as prayer. Try golfing as prayer. Soon, you’ll be just like this loud widow, wearing God out.
God is like the lion, powerful, protective, observant, and a great teacher. When we go to wrestle with God, we are really working through our own stuff. Usually, we are trying to figure something out—what we should do, what is wrong and right, how to make amends for our wrongs, how to relate to other people and things like that.
Since we survive and grow by wrestling with God, through prayer or through reading the Bible, we soon learn what we need to know to take on the powers in our world. The cubs don’t wrestle with dad forever. They grow up and hunt their own food and raise their own families. Their wrestling progresses until it is a well-refined skill that they use everyday.
This widow doesn’t just sit home and practice wrestling. She is going public with it. She’s going to make sure everyone knows how she has been wronged. She learns the place to go to get justice. It isn’t just that she pleads and complains. It is that she goes to the powers that be, tells her truth and her story, and demands justice. She wrestles with those powers and she doesn’t give up until she gets what is right. Our faith encourages us to wrestle with God, wrestle in prayer, wrestle with scripture, wrestle within ourselves, and then to take action and wrestle with the unjust laws and unjust powers in our world. And not just to nip at the tail, but to continue wrestling, to climb that injustice and take it by the ear, to knock it to the ground so that the prayers of those who are wronged by injustice—the poor, the imprisoned, the sick, and the neglected, get the justice they have been praying for.
God pleaded with us and wrestled with us over the years. God came to us in scriptures, through angels, through the very world we live in. And then God sent us a wrestling partner just like us. Jesus wrestled with the religious authorities, with the Roman Oppressors, with people who were self-righteous. And Jesus wrestled with us to show us how to play fair, how to be tender and compassionate, and when to stand up for what is right. Jesus, like the father lion, could have crushed his opponents, but instead he let them, let us win and it put him in the grave. He showed that he was willing to die for justice, to win our hearts, and to show us that winning isn’t everything. And he rose to new life to show us that even when we lose, God has ultimate authority and power, that there is a bigger story that we are part of.
Do you know what happens next after Jacob crosses to meet the brother he wronged so many years ago? He confesses to his brother the wrong that he committed. Much to his surprise he finds a brother full of love and tenderness for him, who embraces him wholeheartedly and welcomes him and his family as if there had never been a rift. That is what God does for us. We come limping across the river after a lifetime of hurts and of wrongs and we find Jesus our brother with open arms and an open heart ready to embrace us.
1st Reading: Genesis 32:22-31
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Wrestling with God: What comes to mind is some of these cute videos you can watch online on lion cubs wrestling with their great big lion daddies. Wrestling for lions and humans is an important part of development. It builds trust. It builds physical skill. It teaches about winning and losing. It teaches about letting go. Those tiny lion cubs seem to have no idea how small they are. They are just curious and feisty and in play they practice important skills that will help them hunt and attack prey someday. And those great big lions have so much patience. All it would take would be one swipe of the paw or one crunch of those powerful jaws and it would all be over. Yet they seem to know that this is part of cub development, and they show patience. They give just enough challenge to keep the little cubs learning and coming back for more.
Jacob was quite the wrestler. He had wrestled with his twin brother in his mother’s womb. Remember he was clenching the foot of his brother, Esau, when he was born. He wrestled with his parents for the role of the favorite child. After he took his brother’s birthright, he wrestled with guilt and he wrestled with being estranged from the brother he had been so close to. And now he is about to meet with his brother for the first time in over 20 years, for the first time since he cheated him. Some say he is a bit of a wimp—he sends the women and children first, ahead of himself across the river to where his brother will be meeting him. Maybe he just needed some time to think.
That night, the scripture says, he wrestles. He wrestles with himself. He is thinking of all the things his brother might say to him about him cheating him and ruining his life and so forth. And his brother would be justified saying all that. His brother would have the right to strike him or worse. You can imagine him going through every possible scenario, preparing himself for each rebuke from his brother.
While he is wrestling in hi s mind, a man comes and wrestles with him there by the river. Is it a man? Is it God? Is it an angel? Who is this nameless wrestler? By the end of the story, Jacob is convinced it is God. He says, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” It reminds me of the lion cub and the big father lion. Certainly, God could have prevailed and pummeled Jacob instantly. But that’s not who God our Father is. Wrestling teaches us. It is practice. Wrestling teaches perseverance, it teaches about playing fair (which is a lesson Jacob needs to learn), it teaches about strength, it teaches about tenderness, it teaches about forgiveness, and it teaches about blessing.
Do we ever wrestle with God? Are we afraid to approach God, waste God’s time, or pick a fight? Yet God is so approachable and accessible. Why not? That’s what dads are for. What kind of things do you wrestle with God about? Who usually wins? How do you know when you’ve seen God face to face?
The second reading today mentions wrestling with God in scripture. Reading from the Bible can become a good habit to get into. But don’t just read it. Ask the burning questions that come to mind. Use scripture to wrestle with God. It is God’s word, after all. Order a devotional book that can help you read it, or find some questions online that help you delve deeper into the text, to understand what the Bible is really saying. You don’t need a master’s degree at a religious institution to read the Bible and get something from it and to be challenged by it. But it also takes practice.
Like the cubs wrestling with the big lion, you have to start somewhere, and the learning grows with practice. Think of those little cubs. At first they are so weak and small. They might notice the flick of the tail and pounce. As they progress, they start batting at the big lion. Soon they are climbing up and knawing on dad’s ear. Eventually they are tumbling around in the dirt with him. It takes practice and patience. As we read the Bible, we might start by sitting back and watching. But with practice and bravery, we begin to approach and delve deeper. We let those questions surface. What is this Bible passage saying about God? What is it saying about me and my life? Is that really the kind of God I believe in? What exactly do I believe about God and why? How is that going to affect my life?
God can take it. God can take all our questions. God can take our critical thinking. God can take our challenges. God knows patience and tenderness. God wrestles with us and stays in the game and even blesses us through this wrestling.
In the Gospel reading for today, prayer is considered a kind of wrestling with God and with ourselves. Prayer takes practice. You might try a little prayer and it feels awkward. It is all about baby steps. Keep coming back to God and trying again. Try written prayers. Try sitting in silence. Try praying as you work. Try writing poetry as a prayer. Try gardening as prayer. Try golfing as prayer. Soon, you’ll be just like this loud widow, wearing God out.
God is like the lion, powerful, protective, observant, and a great teacher. When we go to wrestle with God, we are really working through our own stuff. Usually, we are trying to figure something out—what we should do, what is wrong and right, how to make amends for our wrongs, how to relate to other people and things like that.
Since we survive and grow by wrestling with God, through prayer or through reading the Bible, we soon learn what we need to know to take on the powers in our world. The cubs don’t wrestle with dad forever. They grow up and hunt their own food and raise their own families. Their wrestling progresses until it is a well-refined skill that they use everyday.
This widow doesn’t just sit home and practice wrestling. She is going public with it. She’s going to make sure everyone knows how she has been wronged. She learns the place to go to get justice. It isn’t just that she pleads and complains. It is that she goes to the powers that be, tells her truth and her story, and demands justice. She wrestles with those powers and she doesn’t give up until she gets what is right. Our faith encourages us to wrestle with God, wrestle in prayer, wrestle with scripture, wrestle within ourselves, and then to take action and wrestle with the unjust laws and unjust powers in our world. And not just to nip at the tail, but to continue wrestling, to climb that injustice and take it by the ear, to knock it to the ground so that the prayers of those who are wronged by injustice—the poor, the imprisoned, the sick, and the neglected, get the justice they have been praying for.
God pleaded with us and wrestled with us over the years. God came to us in scriptures, through angels, through the very world we live in. And then God sent us a wrestling partner just like us. Jesus wrestled with the religious authorities, with the Roman Oppressors, with people who were self-righteous. And Jesus wrestled with us to show us how to play fair, how to be tender and compassionate, and when to stand up for what is right. Jesus, like the father lion, could have crushed his opponents, but instead he let them, let us win and it put him in the grave. He showed that he was willing to die for justice, to win our hearts, and to show us that winning isn’t everything. And he rose to new life to show us that even when we lose, God has ultimate authority and power, that there is a bigger story that we are part of.
Do you know what happens next after Jacob crosses to meet the brother he wronged so many years ago? He confesses to his brother the wrong that he committed. Much to his surprise he finds a brother full of love and tenderness for him, who embraces him wholeheartedly and welcomes him and his family as if there had never been a rift. That is what God does for us. We come limping across the river after a lifetime of hurts and of wrongs and we find Jesus our brother with open arms and an open heart ready to embrace us.
October 13, 2013
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19
1st Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15
Today, I’m going to give away the ending at the beginning. We can do everything God asks us to do, and still not get it, still not be transformed, still not be made new. And maybe that’s why we, as Lutherans, know that we will not be saved by our works, by our deeds. It is God’s grace alone that can save. The question is this: Will we be able to accept God’s grace and give thanks to God it?
The lepers did everything they were supposed to do. Society dictated that everywhere they went, they cried out, “Unclean.” Society dictated that, as beggars, they should say, “Have mercy,” just like we say many Sundays at church. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests, and they did and were made clean. They did everything they were supposed to do. But don’t you get the feeling that most of the lepers missed something?
Naaman, commander of the army of the King of Aram, did everything he was supposed to do. He was an important guy. He had a right to expect a lot of hocus pocus and hand waving and a big deal to be made over him. He expected to have to wash himself in the Parphar River or at least the Abana. He was ok with that. He was perfectly willing. But God was offering him something more than healing that was just skin deep. He was doing more than one could reasonably expect, but was still missing something.
When Paul was doing what the religious authorities said was right, what was right in his culture—spying on people, having them dragged from their homes for questioning, torturing them, he enjoyed the luxuries of life. He was well-respected, rich, and secure. But even though he was doing what he thought was right, he was still missing something. In fact he was missing everything.
God asks more of us, than just to do what our religion or government or conscience, tells us. God wants a changed life for us. God wants a grateful heart for us. God wants us to humble ourselves. God wants changed priorities for us.
Naaman wanted his skin to be healed and that was it. He wanted the rest of his life to be the same. He did not want to be inconvenienced. But God wanted more for Naaman. Naaman had everything he could ever want, or so he thought, but something was still wrong. He had a skin condition and some other disconnect in his life—maybe it was pride, maybe it was entitlement. God wanted to heal both the leprosy and that condition of the heart. God wouldn’t be able to heal both conditions by doing things Naaman’s way. God needed to wake Naaman up. So God brought Naaman a message through the most unlikely person—a slave of his wife’s. Naaman showed a lot of willingness, even listening to his wife. Most important men would have immediately dismissed this possibility—that the direction toward a cure could come from this slave girl. He had to humble himself to go to his king and tell him that he was listening to a little girl slave and ask for the king to write a letter to the king of Israel. He, then traveled to Israel, to see about the cure, which could not have been easy. He must have been embarrassed and crushed when the King told him there was nothing he could do to help him. And then to have the prophet Elisha summon him and go all the way to his house and not have the prophet even meet with him, but instead send him on another errand. He’s just had it, so he throws a fit and starts heading home. But God humbles him again, through his servant who takes a risk to correct his behavior. His slave reasons with him, gets him to do what he needs to do to be healed in both body and spirit.
I think it was the journey that healed him, more than the final step of washing in the Jordan River. Yes, when he emerged, he had brand new skin, but the journey taught him to pay attention to people that don’t matter to others, like the slave girl, the prophet’s messenger, and his servant. It taught him not to take his privilege for granted—he had to jump through many hoops on his journey to healing. It taught him to persevere. He was the kind of person that riches and women just fell at his feet. He wasn’t used to working for anything. But this was something he truly wanted and needed, and he eventually saw it through, finished what he started with wonderful results. Don’t you think he went home a changed man? We don’t know what happened to him, except what we read in the rest of that chapter, that he would worship God alone from that time on. Did he release his Israelite slaves? Did he stop going on conquests? We don’t know much, except that he was thankful to God. We don’t know how his gratefulness and new awareness played out in his life.
The lepers were all cleansed that day by Jesus. So why was one affected differently than the other 9? Was it something in his upbringing? Was it something to do with his life experience? Maybe it was an accident that he suddenly turned and saw Jesus and decided to thank him. The other 9 did exactly as Jesus told them, but they didn’t express their gratitude to Jesus, if they had any. Maybe it was that this man was a Samaritan. He was used to be on the sidelines. He knew he had no right to healing. Whereas others might have felt entitled, he knew he had done nothing to deserve this precious gift. The Samaritan couldn’t go to the temple to see the priest. He wasn’t welcome there because of his race and religion. Where else did he have to turn? So he gave thanks to Jesus, right there. His life was completely changed. It wasn’t just skin-deep. He shared his gratitude right there in public. His heart was open. He saw what others couldn’t see, God’s actions right there for healing of bodies and hearts. We don’t know the rest of his story and how his life might have been changed more than that of his fellow lepers. Did he give thanks daily for the rest of his life? Did his encounter with Jesus affect the way he interacted with people on a daily basis? Did he appreciate what he had more? Did he share what he had more? We don’t know how his gratefulness played out in his daily life after that.
Paul’s life was changed when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was chief of sinners, yet Jesus came to him and loved him, healed him, claimed him, and put him to work. And even though before that he had every comfort and freedom, he was much more comfortable and free when he was locked up for sharing the good news of God’s love and grace. He was right in his heart. He was grateful for all that God had done for him.
What all do we take for granted in our lives? Do we want the healing that Jesus offers without transformation, or do we want a changed life? Do we want to just do what we’re supposed to do, or can we take it to another level? Can we live a life of gratefulness, returning to Jesus again and again in appreciation?
Can you build gratefulness? Can you manufacture the transformation of a life? That’s what we’re talking about when we use the word “discipleship.” When we are a follower or disciple of Jesus, we are hanging on his every word, we are thankful for every gift that he gives us. Even if we aren’t naturally grateful, we can cultivate it. Many of you made your children sit down and write thank you notes. How about sitting down and writing one thank you note every day. You can even program your smart phone or e-calendar to remind you. How about praying for all the things you are thankful for each morning and evening? You can train your heart to give thanks. And believe me, it will change the way you see the world. It may not give you the skin of a baby, but it will give you the heart of a child, full of wonder, aware of the gift of this life, and ready to share it willingly with others.
I think we are really all 10 lepers. 9 times out of 10 times we forget to give thanks. But occasionally our eyes are opened to see God’s action in our lives and we turn in gratefulness to God for all God has done for us.
1st Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15
Today, I’m going to give away the ending at the beginning. We can do everything God asks us to do, and still not get it, still not be transformed, still not be made new. And maybe that’s why we, as Lutherans, know that we will not be saved by our works, by our deeds. It is God’s grace alone that can save. The question is this: Will we be able to accept God’s grace and give thanks to God it?
The lepers did everything they were supposed to do. Society dictated that everywhere they went, they cried out, “Unclean.” Society dictated that, as beggars, they should say, “Have mercy,” just like we say many Sundays at church. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests, and they did and were made clean. They did everything they were supposed to do. But don’t you get the feeling that most of the lepers missed something?
Naaman, commander of the army of the King of Aram, did everything he was supposed to do. He was an important guy. He had a right to expect a lot of hocus pocus and hand waving and a big deal to be made over him. He expected to have to wash himself in the Parphar River or at least the Abana. He was ok with that. He was perfectly willing. But God was offering him something more than healing that was just skin deep. He was doing more than one could reasonably expect, but was still missing something.
When Paul was doing what the religious authorities said was right, what was right in his culture—spying on people, having them dragged from their homes for questioning, torturing them, he enjoyed the luxuries of life. He was well-respected, rich, and secure. But even though he was doing what he thought was right, he was still missing something. In fact he was missing everything.
God asks more of us, than just to do what our religion or government or conscience, tells us. God wants a changed life for us. God wants a grateful heart for us. God wants us to humble ourselves. God wants changed priorities for us.
Naaman wanted his skin to be healed and that was it. He wanted the rest of his life to be the same. He did not want to be inconvenienced. But God wanted more for Naaman. Naaman had everything he could ever want, or so he thought, but something was still wrong. He had a skin condition and some other disconnect in his life—maybe it was pride, maybe it was entitlement. God wanted to heal both the leprosy and that condition of the heart. God wouldn’t be able to heal both conditions by doing things Naaman’s way. God needed to wake Naaman up. So God brought Naaman a message through the most unlikely person—a slave of his wife’s. Naaman showed a lot of willingness, even listening to his wife. Most important men would have immediately dismissed this possibility—that the direction toward a cure could come from this slave girl. He had to humble himself to go to his king and tell him that he was listening to a little girl slave and ask for the king to write a letter to the king of Israel. He, then traveled to Israel, to see about the cure, which could not have been easy. He must have been embarrassed and crushed when the King told him there was nothing he could do to help him. And then to have the prophet Elisha summon him and go all the way to his house and not have the prophet even meet with him, but instead send him on another errand. He’s just had it, so he throws a fit and starts heading home. But God humbles him again, through his servant who takes a risk to correct his behavior. His slave reasons with him, gets him to do what he needs to do to be healed in both body and spirit.
I think it was the journey that healed him, more than the final step of washing in the Jordan River. Yes, when he emerged, he had brand new skin, but the journey taught him to pay attention to people that don’t matter to others, like the slave girl, the prophet’s messenger, and his servant. It taught him not to take his privilege for granted—he had to jump through many hoops on his journey to healing. It taught him to persevere. He was the kind of person that riches and women just fell at his feet. He wasn’t used to working for anything. But this was something he truly wanted and needed, and he eventually saw it through, finished what he started with wonderful results. Don’t you think he went home a changed man? We don’t know what happened to him, except what we read in the rest of that chapter, that he would worship God alone from that time on. Did he release his Israelite slaves? Did he stop going on conquests? We don’t know much, except that he was thankful to God. We don’t know how his gratefulness and new awareness played out in his life.
The lepers were all cleansed that day by Jesus. So why was one affected differently than the other 9? Was it something in his upbringing? Was it something to do with his life experience? Maybe it was an accident that he suddenly turned and saw Jesus and decided to thank him. The other 9 did exactly as Jesus told them, but they didn’t express their gratitude to Jesus, if they had any. Maybe it was that this man was a Samaritan. He was used to be on the sidelines. He knew he had no right to healing. Whereas others might have felt entitled, he knew he had done nothing to deserve this precious gift. The Samaritan couldn’t go to the temple to see the priest. He wasn’t welcome there because of his race and religion. Where else did he have to turn? So he gave thanks to Jesus, right there. His life was completely changed. It wasn’t just skin-deep. He shared his gratitude right there in public. His heart was open. He saw what others couldn’t see, God’s actions right there for healing of bodies and hearts. We don’t know the rest of his story and how his life might have been changed more than that of his fellow lepers. Did he give thanks daily for the rest of his life? Did his encounter with Jesus affect the way he interacted with people on a daily basis? Did he appreciate what he had more? Did he share what he had more? We don’t know how his gratefulness played out in his daily life after that.
Paul’s life was changed when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was chief of sinners, yet Jesus came to him and loved him, healed him, claimed him, and put him to work. And even though before that he had every comfort and freedom, he was much more comfortable and free when he was locked up for sharing the good news of God’s love and grace. He was right in his heart. He was grateful for all that God had done for him.
What all do we take for granted in our lives? Do we want the healing that Jesus offers without transformation, or do we want a changed life? Do we want to just do what we’re supposed to do, or can we take it to another level? Can we live a life of gratefulness, returning to Jesus again and again in appreciation?
Can you build gratefulness? Can you manufacture the transformation of a life? That’s what we’re talking about when we use the word “discipleship.” When we are a follower or disciple of Jesus, we are hanging on his every word, we are thankful for every gift that he gives us. Even if we aren’t naturally grateful, we can cultivate it. Many of you made your children sit down and write thank you notes. How about sitting down and writing one thank you note every day. You can even program your smart phone or e-calendar to remind you. How about praying for all the things you are thankful for each morning and evening? You can train your heart to give thanks. And believe me, it will change the way you see the world. It may not give you the skin of a baby, but it will give you the heart of a child, full of wonder, aware of the gift of this life, and ready to share it willingly with others.
I think we are really all 10 lepers. 9 times out of 10 times we forget to give thanks. But occasionally our eyes are opened to see God’s action in our lives and we turn in gratefulness to God for all God has done for us.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
October 6, 2013
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10
1st Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Do we have any mulberry trees amongst us today—anyone who likes to stay put and isn’t planning on budging any time soon? Every time, I’ve read this in the past, I’ve just dismissed it because it is so ridiculous that anyone would be talking to a mulberry tree. But today, I decided this is about people and how we get stuck and cannot move.
We get stuck. We get paralyzed. We can’t move. We can’t motivate ourselves to action. To get us to move would be a miracle, plain and simple. We get paralyzed by comfort. What we have is just too good to give up or sacrifice. Even if it is chaos, we say, “It is my chaos, at least!” It is a situation I’m comfortable and that I know inside and out. If I was to give up my chaos, I could then take on another that I wouldn’t know as well and wouldn’t be able to navigate, so here I sit!
We get paralyzed by fear. We are afraid of the unknown. We look from our place of rootedness, and look out to the sea—it may be beautiful, but it is dangerous. We are afraid to risk being uprooted and taken what we know to go where we don’t know.
In the reading from Habakkuk, the writer is paralyzed by fear. He is surrounded by enemies. He calls out to God but cannot hear an answer.
In the reading from 2 Timothy, Timothy is paralyzed by fear—did you hear the writer refer to cowardice?
In the Gospel, the apostles are paralyzed. They are making excuses that they don’t have enough of what they need to move forward and follow where Jesus is calling them.
We get paralyzed, too, sometimes. Do you ever feel yourself in that same rut, going through the motions, doing the same things day after day, out of habit? We do it out of comfort. We do it out of habit. We do it out of fear of the unknown, and fear of our own shortcomings.
The problem is, we are not mulberry bushes. We are called to action. We are called to act on our faith—to step out and risk. We are called to follow Jesus. We are called to be transformed by our faith and to help transform our world because of our faith. We aren’t satisfied being stuck in one place and we look to God for direction and meaning and motivation to get unstuck and get a move-on to a journey that will bring us life and love and help us make a difference in our communities. Our fear and comfort may hold us back, but something bigger is calling us to more and we’re actually considering allowing ourselves to be uprooted and get a move on.
What is it that we need to help us get up and get moving, get motivated to live the life to which we are called? We need inspiration. The word “inspiration” has the word “spirit” in it. Spirit also means breath. Some even say the name for God from the Bible, “Yahweh” sounds like a breath. We need the indwelling of the spirit. We need God’s breath to come to us and get us going. Think of the story of the first human from the Bible. God created a human from the dust of the earth. The human was lifeless until God breathed life into him. Only after receiving breath from God, was he alive and moving and making decisions (although not always good ones), and naming animals and so forth.
What do we find inspiring? For Timothy, he is reminded of the example of his mother and grandmother. Think for yourselves some of the people who have gone before you in the faith. Think of how their faith sustained you. Consider the lives they led and how they modeled faith. Think of how they really lived life, all they taught you, the risks they took for their faith, and how it got them through times of fear and cowardice and comfort.
In my life, it was my grandparents that I look up to in the faith. They weren’t perfect, but they cared about other people, were generous, and passed down their faith that got them through the depression and many trials of life. And although they were Missouri Synod Lutherans, they still supported me, and were not closed-minded about who God could work through.
In this congregation, shout out some names that come to mind for you. Tell me a little story about that person and how they modeled faith.
For further inspiration, we go to God’s creation. We look at a tiny mustard seed and can look to that. If you have that much faith, that is enough. No more excuses! Look to the animals. They don’t despair about where they go or what they do. They just do it. They don’t worry about the future—lay awake at night. They just are. We certainly can be inspired by our pets and are every day. They teach us about healthy rhythms of life, rest and play and joy and delight. We can be inspired watching them. They are God’s creatures, claimed and loved, just as we are. Tell me about your pet and how your pet inspires you.
1st Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Do we have any mulberry trees amongst us today—anyone who likes to stay put and isn’t planning on budging any time soon? Every time, I’ve read this in the past, I’ve just dismissed it because it is so ridiculous that anyone would be talking to a mulberry tree. But today, I decided this is about people and how we get stuck and cannot move.
We get stuck. We get paralyzed. We can’t move. We can’t motivate ourselves to action. To get us to move would be a miracle, plain and simple. We get paralyzed by comfort. What we have is just too good to give up or sacrifice. Even if it is chaos, we say, “It is my chaos, at least!” It is a situation I’m comfortable and that I know inside and out. If I was to give up my chaos, I could then take on another that I wouldn’t know as well and wouldn’t be able to navigate, so here I sit!
We get paralyzed by fear. We are afraid of the unknown. We look from our place of rootedness, and look out to the sea—it may be beautiful, but it is dangerous. We are afraid to risk being uprooted and taken what we know to go where we don’t know.
In the reading from Habakkuk, the writer is paralyzed by fear. He is surrounded by enemies. He calls out to God but cannot hear an answer.
In the reading from 2 Timothy, Timothy is paralyzed by fear—did you hear the writer refer to cowardice?
In the Gospel, the apostles are paralyzed. They are making excuses that they don’t have enough of what they need to move forward and follow where Jesus is calling them.
We get paralyzed, too, sometimes. Do you ever feel yourself in that same rut, going through the motions, doing the same things day after day, out of habit? We do it out of comfort. We do it out of habit. We do it out of fear of the unknown, and fear of our own shortcomings.
The problem is, we are not mulberry bushes. We are called to action. We are called to act on our faith—to step out and risk. We are called to follow Jesus. We are called to be transformed by our faith and to help transform our world because of our faith. We aren’t satisfied being stuck in one place and we look to God for direction and meaning and motivation to get unstuck and get a move-on to a journey that will bring us life and love and help us make a difference in our communities. Our fear and comfort may hold us back, but something bigger is calling us to more and we’re actually considering allowing ourselves to be uprooted and get a move on.
What is it that we need to help us get up and get moving, get motivated to live the life to which we are called? We need inspiration. The word “inspiration” has the word “spirit” in it. Spirit also means breath. Some even say the name for God from the Bible, “Yahweh” sounds like a breath. We need the indwelling of the spirit. We need God’s breath to come to us and get us going. Think of the story of the first human from the Bible. God created a human from the dust of the earth. The human was lifeless until God breathed life into him. Only after receiving breath from God, was he alive and moving and making decisions (although not always good ones), and naming animals and so forth.
What do we find inspiring? For Timothy, he is reminded of the example of his mother and grandmother. Think for yourselves some of the people who have gone before you in the faith. Think of how their faith sustained you. Consider the lives they led and how they modeled faith. Think of how they really lived life, all they taught you, the risks they took for their faith, and how it got them through times of fear and cowardice and comfort.
In my life, it was my grandparents that I look up to in the faith. They weren’t perfect, but they cared about other people, were generous, and passed down their faith that got them through the depression and many trials of life. And although they were Missouri Synod Lutherans, they still supported me, and were not closed-minded about who God could work through.
In this congregation, shout out some names that come to mind for you. Tell me a little story about that person and how they modeled faith.
For further inspiration, we go to God’s creation. We look at a tiny mustard seed and can look to that. If you have that much faith, that is enough. No more excuses! Look to the animals. They don’t despair about where they go or what they do. They just do it. They don’t worry about the future—lay awake at night. They just are. We certainly can be inspired by our pets and are every day. They teach us about healthy rhythms of life, rest and play and joy and delight. We can be inspired watching them. They are God’s creatures, claimed and loved, just as we are. Tell me about your pet and how your pet inspires you.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
September 29, 2013
Luke16:19-31
1st Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19
My first year of college, I auditioned for and got a part in our college play. I was a “townsperson” in “A Christmas Carol,” the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, or Scrooge McDuck, depending on your favorite version. It was a good way to make friends and meet new people. I have a lot of good memories of that time.
Every good story borrows from others. We can all see how “A Christmas Carol” comes from this Biblical story of the rich man and Lazarus. Neither of these stories are meant to be factually true—they are stories to teach us how to relate to one another.
Sadly, our money can distort our view—keep us from seeing those around us. Scrooge couldn’t see the suffering of Bob Cratchit or any of the other people he had been hurting. The rich man couldn’t see Lazarus right out in front of his gate. Prosperity can get in the way of us seeing the people around us. We avoid what is distasteful so our enjoyment doesn’t get disturbed, so we don’t see the suffering of those around us. Money and possessions and comfort draw the curtains on our awareness, create a chasm between us and other people. If we are well-off, we might not think we need other people and may push them away as we pursue our own comfort.
So what is going to open our eyes? What is going to bridge the chasm? What is going to make us aware of those around us who don’t enjoy the benefits we do?
A scripture like this one can do the trick. A story like A Christmas Carol, can help us to do that. In these two stories we look at our own lives through the eyes of the characters. It puts a safe distance between us and the topic so we can really look at it clearly. We might not be as greedy and blind and as the rich man in this story, yet we all have been tempted by money and possessions. We might not be as grouchy and lonely as Scrooge, but we have been those things to a certain extent. His story casts light on our own story. These two stories get us thinking—When have I been greedy? When have I pursued money at the cost of relationships? When have I ignored someone suffering on my doorstep? What do I pursue in my life—what am I eager for? What do I most want out of life? When we ask those questions honestly, we’re going to start seeing what we might not have seen before. We will start to examine our own life. We will start to see people we might not have seen before.
I love the journey that Scrooge takes. First he looks at his life in the past. He sees all the potential in his life. He sees that his life might have been different. His heart is softened toward himself. He is able to find the distance necessary to let his guard down to truly examine how he got where he is. Without this step, he would just be defensive and never be able to see what he needs to see.
In the same way, it is important for us to have compassion on ourselves. To ask, “How did I get where I am?” helps us to see that we could have taken another path and we can, still. It helps us to have forgiveness for ourselves. We don’t just start out this way. Usually there is good reason that we are how we are. This doesn’t mean we don’t have choices—it shows we do. We chose to respond a certain way to the troubles and pressures of life and that’s how we got here. Going over the past, helps us see how we don’t need to repeat that in the present or future.
We don’t know how clearly the rich man can see his past, but we know he sees it well enough to remember the name of the man he repeatedly stepped over to get to his house. We know he is seeing this man now, who he seemed not to see before. Maybe it occurs to him that he could have helped and he wouldn’t have even felt it.
So then we come to the present. Scrooge sees the consequences of what he has done. He sees how he is hurting people right now, how he is missing out on relationships and love, how he is disconnected and all alone. He sees how people are making the best of their lives despite how he’s cheated them and how they have love for each other—something he doesn’t have.
How often do we stop and look around and say, “Is this where I want to be?” This story helps us do that. When we do we might see how some of our relationships could be improved or what we’ve done to mess them up. We might look at our list of unfinished business and see if there is something we could check off—someone we need to talk to, apologies we need to express, hopes we need to pursue. So often we are distracted by just the day to day things that need to be done, we forget to stop and look around and see if our life is going the way we intend it to and see how we can better respond to the things life throws our way.
Finally, Scrooge gets to see the future. This part used to scare me a lot, when I was growing up. He gets to see what might happen if he continues to act this way. He sees that Tiny Tim has died as a consequence of his actions. He sees his own grave.
This is the part of the parable that Jesus tells today. He tells the scary part. I am not that excited about using fear and threats as motivation, yet both these stories make us sit up and pay attention. They both tell us that there are long-term consequences of our actions. What we do in this life has ripple effects for a long, long time. The hurt that we cause goes on and on after we die. To feel that jab of guilt now, can motivate us to make a change that is going to better for all of us.
Scrooge wakes up, realizing that he’s been given a second chance. He is absolutely giddy with joy in being generous. It is too late for the rich man, but remember that he is a fictional character. This story is for his brothers who still have a second chance to sit up and pay attention—who still have a chance to see what he missed in life. We are all those brothers, invited now to pay attention—to look around at all those we’ve ignored and bridge those gaps, show compassion, build those relationships, and be generous.
The media tries to convince us to look up to the rich and famous. The Bible is a counter point to all of that. It elevates the poor as the ones who are blessed. The rich are the ones to feel sorry for. That is bad news for us, because we are the rich, right? What is helpful is that we have this warning, this wake-up call to remind us to see what is right in front of us. And there is more good news in 1 Timothy. Yes, the rich have more woes. We’ve got to watch out for all these extra temptations and keep our eyes clear and focus on what really matters. Our lives can’t be about just getting more stuff and money. That isn’t going to be good for us or anyone else. This scripture shows mercy even on us wealthy folks and gives extra advice to us since we are going to need it. It reminds us to focus on generosity, being rich in good works, and not to be haughty, and to pursue righteousness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. There is even good news for the rich.
Someone has come from the dead to tell us about the life that really is life. We read that and we know that Jesus came. It is that little wink to us because we know the rest of the story. But does knowing the rest of the story help open our eyes or keep us comfortable. Jesus is going to keep coming to us in stories and the people we meet to wake us up to take hold of the life that really is life and bridge the gaps in this life. God bridged the gap between heaven and earth and bridges the gaps between us. We have a choice what kind of life we will live. Will we live like Jesus, bridging gaps or like the rich man, increasing them? Will we really live for relationships or for our stuff? Jesus wants to give us new life right now, will we accept it, or refuse to see the realities before us.
I think one of the Lazarus’ at our door is our earth. It literally lays at our doorstep, wounded and crying out. And we step right past on our way to church or our job or to our parties. Will we wake up to see the distance we put between ourselves and this earth to which we are closely linked and which God made for us to care for? Will we realize it isn’t too late for us or for future generations and start acting generously storing up the treasure of a good foundation for the future and invest in the life that really is life?
Let us give thanks for God who shows mercy on us and gives us a second chance to be rich in what matters. Let us give thanks to God who bridges the gap to come to us to give us life. May our eyes be opened to the realities all around us. May our arms be opened in generosity to those Jesus puts in our path of life. May we share that life with all we meet, sharing the life that really is life.
1st Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19
My first year of college, I auditioned for and got a part in our college play. I was a “townsperson” in “A Christmas Carol,” the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, or Scrooge McDuck, depending on your favorite version. It was a good way to make friends and meet new people. I have a lot of good memories of that time.
Every good story borrows from others. We can all see how “A Christmas Carol” comes from this Biblical story of the rich man and Lazarus. Neither of these stories are meant to be factually true—they are stories to teach us how to relate to one another.
Sadly, our money can distort our view—keep us from seeing those around us. Scrooge couldn’t see the suffering of Bob Cratchit or any of the other people he had been hurting. The rich man couldn’t see Lazarus right out in front of his gate. Prosperity can get in the way of us seeing the people around us. We avoid what is distasteful so our enjoyment doesn’t get disturbed, so we don’t see the suffering of those around us. Money and possessions and comfort draw the curtains on our awareness, create a chasm between us and other people. If we are well-off, we might not think we need other people and may push them away as we pursue our own comfort.
So what is going to open our eyes? What is going to bridge the chasm? What is going to make us aware of those around us who don’t enjoy the benefits we do?
A scripture like this one can do the trick. A story like A Christmas Carol, can help us to do that. In these two stories we look at our own lives through the eyes of the characters. It puts a safe distance between us and the topic so we can really look at it clearly. We might not be as greedy and blind and as the rich man in this story, yet we all have been tempted by money and possessions. We might not be as grouchy and lonely as Scrooge, but we have been those things to a certain extent. His story casts light on our own story. These two stories get us thinking—When have I been greedy? When have I pursued money at the cost of relationships? When have I ignored someone suffering on my doorstep? What do I pursue in my life—what am I eager for? What do I most want out of life? When we ask those questions honestly, we’re going to start seeing what we might not have seen before. We will start to examine our own life. We will start to see people we might not have seen before.
I love the journey that Scrooge takes. First he looks at his life in the past. He sees all the potential in his life. He sees that his life might have been different. His heart is softened toward himself. He is able to find the distance necessary to let his guard down to truly examine how he got where he is. Without this step, he would just be defensive and never be able to see what he needs to see.
In the same way, it is important for us to have compassion on ourselves. To ask, “How did I get where I am?” helps us to see that we could have taken another path and we can, still. It helps us to have forgiveness for ourselves. We don’t just start out this way. Usually there is good reason that we are how we are. This doesn’t mean we don’t have choices—it shows we do. We chose to respond a certain way to the troubles and pressures of life and that’s how we got here. Going over the past, helps us see how we don’t need to repeat that in the present or future.
We don’t know how clearly the rich man can see his past, but we know he sees it well enough to remember the name of the man he repeatedly stepped over to get to his house. We know he is seeing this man now, who he seemed not to see before. Maybe it occurs to him that he could have helped and he wouldn’t have even felt it.
So then we come to the present. Scrooge sees the consequences of what he has done. He sees how he is hurting people right now, how he is missing out on relationships and love, how he is disconnected and all alone. He sees how people are making the best of their lives despite how he’s cheated them and how they have love for each other—something he doesn’t have.
How often do we stop and look around and say, “Is this where I want to be?” This story helps us do that. When we do we might see how some of our relationships could be improved or what we’ve done to mess them up. We might look at our list of unfinished business and see if there is something we could check off—someone we need to talk to, apologies we need to express, hopes we need to pursue. So often we are distracted by just the day to day things that need to be done, we forget to stop and look around and see if our life is going the way we intend it to and see how we can better respond to the things life throws our way.
Finally, Scrooge gets to see the future. This part used to scare me a lot, when I was growing up. He gets to see what might happen if he continues to act this way. He sees that Tiny Tim has died as a consequence of his actions. He sees his own grave.
This is the part of the parable that Jesus tells today. He tells the scary part. I am not that excited about using fear and threats as motivation, yet both these stories make us sit up and pay attention. They both tell us that there are long-term consequences of our actions. What we do in this life has ripple effects for a long, long time. The hurt that we cause goes on and on after we die. To feel that jab of guilt now, can motivate us to make a change that is going to better for all of us.
Scrooge wakes up, realizing that he’s been given a second chance. He is absolutely giddy with joy in being generous. It is too late for the rich man, but remember that he is a fictional character. This story is for his brothers who still have a second chance to sit up and pay attention—who still have a chance to see what he missed in life. We are all those brothers, invited now to pay attention—to look around at all those we’ve ignored and bridge those gaps, show compassion, build those relationships, and be generous.
The media tries to convince us to look up to the rich and famous. The Bible is a counter point to all of that. It elevates the poor as the ones who are blessed. The rich are the ones to feel sorry for. That is bad news for us, because we are the rich, right? What is helpful is that we have this warning, this wake-up call to remind us to see what is right in front of us. And there is more good news in 1 Timothy. Yes, the rich have more woes. We’ve got to watch out for all these extra temptations and keep our eyes clear and focus on what really matters. Our lives can’t be about just getting more stuff and money. That isn’t going to be good for us or anyone else. This scripture shows mercy even on us wealthy folks and gives extra advice to us since we are going to need it. It reminds us to focus on generosity, being rich in good works, and not to be haughty, and to pursue righteousness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. There is even good news for the rich.
Someone has come from the dead to tell us about the life that really is life. We read that and we know that Jesus came. It is that little wink to us because we know the rest of the story. But does knowing the rest of the story help open our eyes or keep us comfortable. Jesus is going to keep coming to us in stories and the people we meet to wake us up to take hold of the life that really is life and bridge the gaps in this life. God bridged the gap between heaven and earth and bridges the gaps between us. We have a choice what kind of life we will live. Will we live like Jesus, bridging gaps or like the rich man, increasing them? Will we really live for relationships or for our stuff? Jesus wants to give us new life right now, will we accept it, or refuse to see the realities before us.
I think one of the Lazarus’ at our door is our earth. It literally lays at our doorstep, wounded and crying out. And we step right past on our way to church or our job or to our parties. Will we wake up to see the distance we put between ourselves and this earth to which we are closely linked and which God made for us to care for? Will we realize it isn’t too late for us or for future generations and start acting generously storing up the treasure of a good foundation for the future and invest in the life that really is life?
Let us give thanks for God who shows mercy on us and gives us a second chance to be rich in what matters. Let us give thanks to God who bridges the gap to come to us to give us life. May our eyes be opened to the realities all around us. May our arms be opened in generosity to those Jesus puts in our path of life. May we share that life with all we meet, sharing the life that really is life.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
September 22, 2013
Gospel: Luke 16:1-13
1st Reading: Amos 8:4-7
2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Welcome to one of the most confusing Gospel readings in the whole Bible! What are we going to learn from this one? Thankfully, I have a whole week to study these things and help untangle them. This is where I am at.
We’ve got people. We create situations of isolation and alienation. We argue. We are selfish. We are greedy. We can’t get along. It is in the Old Testament reading: we disregard each other, we take advantage of people, we cheat people, we are greedy. We can read that and say, “That’s not me.” But that wouldn’t be being honest with ourselves. We like to buy our groceries cheap. Therefore the farm workers aren’t going to be paid well and their working conditions aren’t going to be good. Sometimes people who work in grocery stores or department stores don’t get paid well because we don’t want to pay a higher price. We saw what happened when that garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh. That day, I looked in my closet and wondered whether something I owned was made in that place, handled by one of those people who now lay beneath a sheet or still lost in the rubble. We can say, “That’s not me,” only because we are so removed from where our food and clothing comes from that we don’t know who suffers because of what we have and what we consume.
In the reading from 1 Timothy, there is a situation of isolation and alienation. People are separated from each other by a lack of a quiet and peaceable life and by social status and rank, like Kings are removed from the people.
In the Gospel, the manager is isolated and separated. He’s not one of the merchants who purchase the olive oil and wheat on credit. He’s got a manager’s position, so he has power over them and helps to set prices that determine whether they can do business or not. He’s not like the rich man—the rich man needs him to keep him rich. He’s all alone in his middle management position. Now he’s fired. He’s in big trouble and he sees it is only going to get worse. He has no marketable skills. He has no friends. He has no safety net. He is completely alone and if he doesn’t act fast, he will die
We, too, find ourselves isolated and afraid. We don’t know our neighbors. We often live far from family and friends. We sit in front of our computers and televisions instead of building relationships. We feel alone and there is no one we can talk to about it because we don’t have close enough friends to bear our hearts to and find some connection and comfort. We even sometimes feel distant from God and alone in our troubles.
The good news for this morning is that we aren’t alone. God hears our prayers and feels the ache of our hearts. God is right there with us in our suffering. This isn’t the way it is supposed to be and something can be done about it. God desires everyone to be saved from this place of isolation and embraced in the warmth of God’s love, and as one of my study commentaries said, “Doesn’t God get what God wants?”
God is a safety net. God will be there for us no matter what. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. God will never leave us or forsake us. “There is one God, one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” We all belong to God.
However, that doesn’t mean we won’t have trouble in our lives. God gives us the opportunity to be a safety net for each other. That’s where prayer comes in. Prayer is meant to be a first step in building a safety net. To pray is to communicate with God. And it is to turn our hearts and attention toward those who need it. When someone offers a prayer, here, in church, our ears prick up. We look for the connections with our own lives. We might jot down a name. We begin to feel compassion for that person like God does. Sometimes that is enough. Usually, we ask later and follow up with how the situation is going with the person who prayed. We might offer our own experience and offer support. Sometimes we get to help with physical assistance, material donations, or money. Sometimes we get to offer moral support and encouragement.
My cousin Curtis was recently in a terrible accident. Even though I was on vacation, it was a comfort to me to know that you were all praying. It wasn’t just a comfort to me, but to my mom who called the prayer request in, and to Curtis’ wife, siblings, mom, and dad. They were feeling so alone, but it lifted their spirits and helped them get out of bed every day, knowing they really weren’t alone.
When I got back from vacation, many of you asked me about him and how he was doing. It was good to tell his story, even though it was one of despair and pain. My cousin was driving drunk. But because of him, all my aunts and uncles have been having talks with all the cousins and maybe history will not have to repeat itself in our family that seems to carry the alcoholic gene.
Now my cousin, who was considered brain dead and a hopeless case, has awakened from his coma. He talks and understands and remembers some. He is blind. He has been released to a rehab center for months and maybe years of physical therapy. I am sure some days he feels alone, but he is a newlywed and has two beautiful young children to live for. I hope that prayer will continue to buoy his spirits. And when I see him next time, it won’t be like the last 5 years when we’ve seen each other—we’ll have something to talk about. I know more of his story and I can share a part of mine, that our community of faith prayed for him and uttered his name with compassion and care in our hearts.
Prayer is communication with God. It is a refusal to accept what our minds and culture and situation try to tell us everyday, which is this, “You are alone.” We are acting with faith that we are not alone and that we have God who listens. We are reaching out to find out and inevitably God is there and people are there who care and willing to help. To pray is to make an initial attempt at contact. Prayer asks, “Is anybody there?”
In the first reading, the rich trample on the needy, pretend like they are the only ones that matter and cheat others to increase their wealth. But sooner or later they are going to be made aware that their wealth cannot befriend them or bring them comfort in their time of need. We all need to be building relationships with others around us to have a fulfilling life.
In 1 Timothy, we are urged to pray for everyone—not just believers, not just in our circle of friends, not just those in our social class or political party. We are asked to reach out in every direction. We might just make a connection that we weren’t expecting. We might find compassion in our hearts for a leader that seems like an idiot, but might actually have something to offer that we might have missed.
In the Parable of the Shrewd Manager, in desperation the manager reaches out to those around him. The 50% and 20% he writes off their bill was probably his cut. He forgoes his profit in order to invest in what really is going to carry him through. His money will run out, but friends offer a more lasting and secure safety net. Maybe through them he can get a new job or a recommendation.
When we reach out in prayer, we have to admit to ourselves that we are in need. We can’t fulfill our own every need. We reach out for connection because we can’t do it all ourselves. We need each other. That is what Christian community is about. Today we welcome Tyana and Patricio and Khalea and Grace and Julia. We are saying to them, we need you. We are not all we could be without you. We need you to teach us what it means to see through your eyes and experiences. We need you to teach us about your lives and your places where connections and safety nets could be stronger. We need to hear your stories. They are saying to us, we need you, King of Kings, to help us raise our kids in the faith, to help our family remember how important it is to be active in the community in partnership with so many others.
Maybe it seems silly in a world where we are supposed to be so independent. But rather than independent we feel alone, and faith community is a place that challenges that and says, “Let’s work together.” Baptism is a sacrament in which God says, “Let’s work together.” In Holy Communion, God says to us and we say to God, “Let’s work together.” And it doesn’t stop here. We reach out beyond our walls, because even as a church we can’t do it ourselves, nor should we and we say to God’s community in our neighborhood, “Let’s work together.” “Let’s work together” to feed hungry people. “Let’s work together,” to care for the earth. “Let’s work together,” to make sure people have enough to live on. “Let’s work together,” to find resources for people in our community in need. “Let’s work together.”
1st Reading: Amos 8:4-7
2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Welcome to one of the most confusing Gospel readings in the whole Bible! What are we going to learn from this one? Thankfully, I have a whole week to study these things and help untangle them. This is where I am at.
We’ve got people. We create situations of isolation and alienation. We argue. We are selfish. We are greedy. We can’t get along. It is in the Old Testament reading: we disregard each other, we take advantage of people, we cheat people, we are greedy. We can read that and say, “That’s not me.” But that wouldn’t be being honest with ourselves. We like to buy our groceries cheap. Therefore the farm workers aren’t going to be paid well and their working conditions aren’t going to be good. Sometimes people who work in grocery stores or department stores don’t get paid well because we don’t want to pay a higher price. We saw what happened when that garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh. That day, I looked in my closet and wondered whether something I owned was made in that place, handled by one of those people who now lay beneath a sheet or still lost in the rubble. We can say, “That’s not me,” only because we are so removed from where our food and clothing comes from that we don’t know who suffers because of what we have and what we consume.
In the reading from 1 Timothy, there is a situation of isolation and alienation. People are separated from each other by a lack of a quiet and peaceable life and by social status and rank, like Kings are removed from the people.
In the Gospel, the manager is isolated and separated. He’s not one of the merchants who purchase the olive oil and wheat on credit. He’s got a manager’s position, so he has power over them and helps to set prices that determine whether they can do business or not. He’s not like the rich man—the rich man needs him to keep him rich. He’s all alone in his middle management position. Now he’s fired. He’s in big trouble and he sees it is only going to get worse. He has no marketable skills. He has no friends. He has no safety net. He is completely alone and if he doesn’t act fast, he will die
We, too, find ourselves isolated and afraid. We don’t know our neighbors. We often live far from family and friends. We sit in front of our computers and televisions instead of building relationships. We feel alone and there is no one we can talk to about it because we don’t have close enough friends to bear our hearts to and find some connection and comfort. We even sometimes feel distant from God and alone in our troubles.
The good news for this morning is that we aren’t alone. God hears our prayers and feels the ache of our hearts. God is right there with us in our suffering. This isn’t the way it is supposed to be and something can be done about it. God desires everyone to be saved from this place of isolation and embraced in the warmth of God’s love, and as one of my study commentaries said, “Doesn’t God get what God wants?”
God is a safety net. God will be there for us no matter what. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. God will never leave us or forsake us. “There is one God, one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” We all belong to God.
However, that doesn’t mean we won’t have trouble in our lives. God gives us the opportunity to be a safety net for each other. That’s where prayer comes in. Prayer is meant to be a first step in building a safety net. To pray is to communicate with God. And it is to turn our hearts and attention toward those who need it. When someone offers a prayer, here, in church, our ears prick up. We look for the connections with our own lives. We might jot down a name. We begin to feel compassion for that person like God does. Sometimes that is enough. Usually, we ask later and follow up with how the situation is going with the person who prayed. We might offer our own experience and offer support. Sometimes we get to help with physical assistance, material donations, or money. Sometimes we get to offer moral support and encouragement.
My cousin Curtis was recently in a terrible accident. Even though I was on vacation, it was a comfort to me to know that you were all praying. It wasn’t just a comfort to me, but to my mom who called the prayer request in, and to Curtis’ wife, siblings, mom, and dad. They were feeling so alone, but it lifted their spirits and helped them get out of bed every day, knowing they really weren’t alone.
When I got back from vacation, many of you asked me about him and how he was doing. It was good to tell his story, even though it was one of despair and pain. My cousin was driving drunk. But because of him, all my aunts and uncles have been having talks with all the cousins and maybe history will not have to repeat itself in our family that seems to carry the alcoholic gene.
Now my cousin, who was considered brain dead and a hopeless case, has awakened from his coma. He talks and understands and remembers some. He is blind. He has been released to a rehab center for months and maybe years of physical therapy. I am sure some days he feels alone, but he is a newlywed and has two beautiful young children to live for. I hope that prayer will continue to buoy his spirits. And when I see him next time, it won’t be like the last 5 years when we’ve seen each other—we’ll have something to talk about. I know more of his story and I can share a part of mine, that our community of faith prayed for him and uttered his name with compassion and care in our hearts.
Prayer is communication with God. It is a refusal to accept what our minds and culture and situation try to tell us everyday, which is this, “You are alone.” We are acting with faith that we are not alone and that we have God who listens. We are reaching out to find out and inevitably God is there and people are there who care and willing to help. To pray is to make an initial attempt at contact. Prayer asks, “Is anybody there?”
In the first reading, the rich trample on the needy, pretend like they are the only ones that matter and cheat others to increase their wealth. But sooner or later they are going to be made aware that their wealth cannot befriend them or bring them comfort in their time of need. We all need to be building relationships with others around us to have a fulfilling life.
In 1 Timothy, we are urged to pray for everyone—not just believers, not just in our circle of friends, not just those in our social class or political party. We are asked to reach out in every direction. We might just make a connection that we weren’t expecting. We might find compassion in our hearts for a leader that seems like an idiot, but might actually have something to offer that we might have missed.
In the Parable of the Shrewd Manager, in desperation the manager reaches out to those around him. The 50% and 20% he writes off their bill was probably his cut. He forgoes his profit in order to invest in what really is going to carry him through. His money will run out, but friends offer a more lasting and secure safety net. Maybe through them he can get a new job or a recommendation.
When we reach out in prayer, we have to admit to ourselves that we are in need. We can’t fulfill our own every need. We reach out for connection because we can’t do it all ourselves. We need each other. That is what Christian community is about. Today we welcome Tyana and Patricio and Khalea and Grace and Julia. We are saying to them, we need you. We are not all we could be without you. We need you to teach us what it means to see through your eyes and experiences. We need you to teach us about your lives and your places where connections and safety nets could be stronger. We need to hear your stories. They are saying to us, we need you, King of Kings, to help us raise our kids in the faith, to help our family remember how important it is to be active in the community in partnership with so many others.
Maybe it seems silly in a world where we are supposed to be so independent. But rather than independent we feel alone, and faith community is a place that challenges that and says, “Let’s work together.” Baptism is a sacrament in which God says, “Let’s work together.” In Holy Communion, God says to us and we say to God, “Let’s work together.” And it doesn’t stop here. We reach out beyond our walls, because even as a church we can’t do it ourselves, nor should we and we say to God’s community in our neighborhood, “Let’s work together.” “Let’s work together” to feed hungry people. “Let’s work together,” to care for the earth. “Let’s work together,” to make sure people have enough to live on. “Let’s work together,” to find resources for people in our community in need. “Let’s work together.”
September 15, 2013
Gospel: Luke 15:1-10
1st Reading: Exodus 32:7-14
2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
I have to admit, I’m not that great at keeping my house clean. It is a lot cleaner since we have a child, now, and have to keep our chaos under control or risk harm to our child. Still I struggle with keeping house. My mom vacuumed our house every morning and every night when I was growing up because she did daycare out of our home and needed to keep it up for her business. But it hasn’t always been my priority. A year after we moved into our house, we pulled up the carpets and refinished the wood floor. With carpet, you just don’t know that your house is clean, especially with three cats, as we had at the time. We were so happy to find a beautiful hardwood there, beautiful pecan floors in pretty good shape. So, I do a lot of sweeping, as you can imagine. That’s the way to get the dirt off of a wood floor along with an occasional scrub. Often I sweep when I get to sneezing—when there is so much dust and cat hair that it triggers my allergies, or when we are having company over, or when I’m mad. It helps me sort out my thoughts. An organized house, an organized mind. I can sort out my frustrations and I’ll have a wonderful result in the end.
These days, I can only sweep when Sterling is napping or after he’s gone to bed, otherwise I have a helper. The other day, my husband swept the kitchen and got distracted. He left the piles, and pretty soon, here was Sterling with the broom, sweeping those piles all over the kitchen again. The other thing that happens when I try to sweep when he’s awake, is that he sees something of value there and tries to eat all the Cheerios he’s rejected that end up in my pile.
Here’s God, who for all these years has been trying to tell the people how to keep their house in order and how to sweep, is now coming in to show people how it’s done. Jesus swept into this world, practically unnoticed. Some angels sang and some shepherds showed up. Maybe the stable he was born in could have used a sweeping. Maybe some people would have liked to sweep his mother under the rug—an unwed mother! He grew up knowing manual labor. He probably swept Joseph’s carpenter shop every day—not a very glamorous job for God our Creator.
When Jesus came on the scene, his cousin, John the Baptist, was ecstatic. Here’s the guy who is going to clear God’s threshing floor. Here is the one who will separate the grain from the chaff—get rid of everyone and everyone getting in the way of God’s rules and God’s reign. Next thing you know, Herod has swept John right out of existence.
When the Pharisees saw Jesus sweeping across the land, they were probably happy at first. Here’s a guy who likes to keep things nice and neat, they thought. He’s going to keep out the riff raff. He’s going to tidy up the temple and keep it the way we like it. He’s going to make sure the temple system that has gone on this long continues, promote the right kind of people to positions of power, make sure the poor stay that way.
Only God has a different idea of sweeping and of riff raff and of the value of people. Our systems don’t make sense to God. Since we are all God’s children, God sees value in all of us. When I sweep up my pile, I see different things of value than my little son sees. I’ve got to get those discarded Cheerios out of sight, and fast before they’re claimed again by little fingers. I’ve sometimes reflected that in some places in the world, those would be of value to people. But I can go get another box of cereal for $3 or so, which is pretty much meaningless to me. Many people in the world make $3 a day and have to support their families on that. I usually do take a quick look at my pile and make sure there isn’t something I do value. Sometimes I find a rubber band, or a straight pin for sewing, or a safety pin. Sometimes I find a dime or a penny. I usually sort that stuff out. I have a ton of rubber bands piling up, so I might be more inclined to throw that away. What has value and what doesn’t, is in the eye of the sweeper.
When God is the sweeper, all people are valued. We are all in that dirt pile of sin, of confusion, of compromises, of anger. That’s what the religious people didn’t see. They thought they were better than others, due to some accident of birth that gave them access to riches and education and position and power. But God was there when they were born, knew their dirt pile of greedy, fearful thoughts, and brought them into the fold. God only hoped they would do the same for others. Instead they used their position to keep others out. So God came among us as Jesus to show how to sweep up. Sweeping became a collection process for finding the value, not just a way of getting rid of unwanted dirt.
Paul, for one, was glad that Jesus did the sweeping. Under any kind of common sense, he should have paid for his crimes. Probably many others were suspicious of his confession that came so late. Was it sincere, or a result of finding himself blind and vulnerable in the hands of some Jewish followers of Jesus? Well Jesus swept him up all right. I’ll bet there were a lot people who would have been glad to see Paul thrown in the trash. But even in him, a blasphemer, a man of violence, and a persecutor, God saw value. God picked him up and showed him that there are better places to be than the dirt pile—that God had more in mind for him. God was going to put him to work in God’s service.
For the Israelites, God found the people in a heap of dirt, the Egyptians holding them in slavery. But God saw the value and potential in them and sorted them out of that dirt pile. Like little kids, they seemed to keep getting back in it, like we all do. At one, point, it seems God was ready to give up. That’s where this morning’s Old Testament reading comes in. God finds the Israelites worshiping other gods and being unfaithful and not following God’s rules. But Moses pleads with God to see the value in the people. We find that God isn’t willing to abandon people, even when they abandon God. God is completely faithful, although that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t occur to God to just forget the whole thing. God, by nature, is love, so no matter how many times God sweeps us up, God is happy to see us and let everyone know how glad God is that we are back in the purse or the fold or family.
So now that God has swept us up and polished us up, the question is whether we will then begrudge God for doing that for others. Or will we work to see the value in every other person. Maybe we don’t even need to see the evidence of their value, but can just trust that God values them, so they are of value. And then we get to learn what it means to treat every other person as having value. Can we value people with opinions that are different from ours, who live on the other side of the world, who think different than we do? And then the question is this, “What does it mean to value other people?” or “What does it mean to value God’s creation?”
It starts by cleaning our own house. We can sweep up the dirt of prejudice and ignorance right where we live. We examine that pile of dirt and recognize it for what it is. And we sort out from it what has value and what doesn’t and throw away the dirt and keep the rest.
1st Reading: Exodus 32:7-14
2nd Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
I have to admit, I’m not that great at keeping my house clean. It is a lot cleaner since we have a child, now, and have to keep our chaos under control or risk harm to our child. Still I struggle with keeping house. My mom vacuumed our house every morning and every night when I was growing up because she did daycare out of our home and needed to keep it up for her business. But it hasn’t always been my priority. A year after we moved into our house, we pulled up the carpets and refinished the wood floor. With carpet, you just don’t know that your house is clean, especially with three cats, as we had at the time. We were so happy to find a beautiful hardwood there, beautiful pecan floors in pretty good shape. So, I do a lot of sweeping, as you can imagine. That’s the way to get the dirt off of a wood floor along with an occasional scrub. Often I sweep when I get to sneezing—when there is so much dust and cat hair that it triggers my allergies, or when we are having company over, or when I’m mad. It helps me sort out my thoughts. An organized house, an organized mind. I can sort out my frustrations and I’ll have a wonderful result in the end.
These days, I can only sweep when Sterling is napping or after he’s gone to bed, otherwise I have a helper. The other day, my husband swept the kitchen and got distracted. He left the piles, and pretty soon, here was Sterling with the broom, sweeping those piles all over the kitchen again. The other thing that happens when I try to sweep when he’s awake, is that he sees something of value there and tries to eat all the Cheerios he’s rejected that end up in my pile.
Here’s God, who for all these years has been trying to tell the people how to keep their house in order and how to sweep, is now coming in to show people how it’s done. Jesus swept into this world, practically unnoticed. Some angels sang and some shepherds showed up. Maybe the stable he was born in could have used a sweeping. Maybe some people would have liked to sweep his mother under the rug—an unwed mother! He grew up knowing manual labor. He probably swept Joseph’s carpenter shop every day—not a very glamorous job for God our Creator.
When Jesus came on the scene, his cousin, John the Baptist, was ecstatic. Here’s the guy who is going to clear God’s threshing floor. Here is the one who will separate the grain from the chaff—get rid of everyone and everyone getting in the way of God’s rules and God’s reign. Next thing you know, Herod has swept John right out of existence.
When the Pharisees saw Jesus sweeping across the land, they were probably happy at first. Here’s a guy who likes to keep things nice and neat, they thought. He’s going to keep out the riff raff. He’s going to tidy up the temple and keep it the way we like it. He’s going to make sure the temple system that has gone on this long continues, promote the right kind of people to positions of power, make sure the poor stay that way.
Only God has a different idea of sweeping and of riff raff and of the value of people. Our systems don’t make sense to God. Since we are all God’s children, God sees value in all of us. When I sweep up my pile, I see different things of value than my little son sees. I’ve got to get those discarded Cheerios out of sight, and fast before they’re claimed again by little fingers. I’ve sometimes reflected that in some places in the world, those would be of value to people. But I can go get another box of cereal for $3 or so, which is pretty much meaningless to me. Many people in the world make $3 a day and have to support their families on that. I usually do take a quick look at my pile and make sure there isn’t something I do value. Sometimes I find a rubber band, or a straight pin for sewing, or a safety pin. Sometimes I find a dime or a penny. I usually sort that stuff out. I have a ton of rubber bands piling up, so I might be more inclined to throw that away. What has value and what doesn’t, is in the eye of the sweeper.
When God is the sweeper, all people are valued. We are all in that dirt pile of sin, of confusion, of compromises, of anger. That’s what the religious people didn’t see. They thought they were better than others, due to some accident of birth that gave them access to riches and education and position and power. But God was there when they were born, knew their dirt pile of greedy, fearful thoughts, and brought them into the fold. God only hoped they would do the same for others. Instead they used their position to keep others out. So God came among us as Jesus to show how to sweep up. Sweeping became a collection process for finding the value, not just a way of getting rid of unwanted dirt.
Paul, for one, was glad that Jesus did the sweeping. Under any kind of common sense, he should have paid for his crimes. Probably many others were suspicious of his confession that came so late. Was it sincere, or a result of finding himself blind and vulnerable in the hands of some Jewish followers of Jesus? Well Jesus swept him up all right. I’ll bet there were a lot people who would have been glad to see Paul thrown in the trash. But even in him, a blasphemer, a man of violence, and a persecutor, God saw value. God picked him up and showed him that there are better places to be than the dirt pile—that God had more in mind for him. God was going to put him to work in God’s service.
For the Israelites, God found the people in a heap of dirt, the Egyptians holding them in slavery. But God saw the value and potential in them and sorted them out of that dirt pile. Like little kids, they seemed to keep getting back in it, like we all do. At one, point, it seems God was ready to give up. That’s where this morning’s Old Testament reading comes in. God finds the Israelites worshiping other gods and being unfaithful and not following God’s rules. But Moses pleads with God to see the value in the people. We find that God isn’t willing to abandon people, even when they abandon God. God is completely faithful, although that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t occur to God to just forget the whole thing. God, by nature, is love, so no matter how many times God sweeps us up, God is happy to see us and let everyone know how glad God is that we are back in the purse or the fold or family.
So now that God has swept us up and polished us up, the question is whether we will then begrudge God for doing that for others. Or will we work to see the value in every other person. Maybe we don’t even need to see the evidence of their value, but can just trust that God values them, so they are of value. And then we get to learn what it means to treat every other person as having value. Can we value people with opinions that are different from ours, who live on the other side of the world, who think different than we do? And then the question is this, “What does it mean to value other people?” or “What does it mean to value God’s creation?”
It starts by cleaning our own house. We can sweep up the dirt of prejudice and ignorance right where we live. We examine that pile of dirt and recognize it for what it is. And we sort out from it what has value and what doesn’t and throw away the dirt and keep the rest.
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