The Foremost Sinner Receive the Utmost Grace…

A Scottish New Testament lecturer, A.K.M. Adam, says that these verses in the introductory section of 1^st Timothy serve several functions. They magnify the glory of God’s grace. They tell us the extraordinary good news that God extends forgiveness and reconciliation not solely to “the foremost sinners” including a violent despiser of Jesus but, mercifully to middleweight and lightweight sinners such as most us.  His words  bind the manifestation of God’s mercy to the mission of Christ; merciful salvation comes to us not simply in a generic way, but very concretely in the person of Jesus whose forbearance, gentleness, and self-giving exemplify God’s way of dealing with us, the mirror-image of the violent persecution that characterized Paul’s former life. Reading from 1 Timothy 1:12-17

¹²I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, ¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul’s character and experience figure in this introductory section as an illustration of the extent of God’s grace. To understand the gift of mercy that is so very important to Paul we need to review what Paul was doing when he got what, most clearly, he did not deserve. Of himself he says he was  “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence”. In the Book of Acts Luke reports that witnesses to the stoning of Stephen “laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul”. A couple of chapters later we find Saul “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” . He even requests a letter from the high priest to the synagogues at Damascus, “so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem”. In his letter to the Galatians Paul describes his former life by saying, “I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it”.

To highlight God’s gratuitous mercy Paul explains that he received mercy “because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.”  But of what could you imagine of Paul to have been ignorant? He knew the God of Israel, the Torah, and the Prophets. He even knew enough about Jesus to oppose his cause. What Paul says that he did not know what he was doing in the same way that those who crucified Jesus did not know what they were doing: that is they did not grasp fully the significance of what was going on around them. In Luke’s description of the crucifixion he recounts Jesus praying “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing“. Paul’s rationale is he was ignorant as if ignorance offers an excuse. It doesn’t.  But Paul is not the only one to marvel at the contrast between the good we think our actions would have and the harm we actually do. “I didn’t know it would turn out that way.” “I was trying to help.” “I didn’t think anyone would get hurt.” It’s like hearing Patsy Montana sing “I didn’t know the gun was loaded and I’m so sorry my friend”.  No matter what our intentions, still, there we are, standing in the need of mercy. Paul aligned himself with the persecutors at first, but like those for whom Jesus prayed, he received mercy despite his early opposition to God’s purposes

As to his opposition to God’s intentions for creation Paul represents that as the absolute worst thing a person could possibly do; it follows then that because Paul persecuted the church, he must be the foremost of sinners. In 1 Corinthians 4:13 Paul describes himself as “unfit to be an apostle“, “the dregs of all things“. The less worthy of divine favor Paul makes himself out to be the more he underscores the incalculable scope of God’s mercy. This is truly good news. If we grant that God does not hold the sins of even the worst sinner ever — blasphemer, persecutor, insulter and opposer — then surely God’s grace extends to us less hyperbolic sinners.

Our understanding of free will means that we presume that God will accommodate those whose unyielding commitment to their own understanding of freedom and goodness distances them from forgiveness. God will not redeem everyone from the consequences of every evil that a person does suggests that none of us are in any position to make any claims about who God will or will not forgive. Not everyone will accept God’s offer, and that might include some of us who refuse to accept the possibility that God forgives sins that they wouldn’t!  I think that’s rather generous of God to ensure that the specific contours of final judgment lie well beyond our capacity to determine, whether concerning just what eternal blessedness will be like, or who will share it or not.

The thanksgiving expressed emphasizes Paul’s sinfulness only insofar as it demonstrates the surpassing greatness of Christ’s work to save Paul, to strengthen him, and to call him to something better. These words point beyond Paul, and beyond sinfulness, to the work of Christ to exercise “the utmost patience” in order to save blasphemers, persecutors, people of violence, and other sinners. Christ makes Paul an example to show that if Paul can be saved, anyone can be saved.

To figure out what it means for Christ to “save sinners,” we have to look back to the first verse of this lesson. There, we see that Christ strengthened Paul, judged him faithful and appointed Paul to Christ’s service. “Saving,” as Paul describes what happened to him is certainly not ignoring sin and the harm it does. Saving is not moving a name from one column to another. Saving is re-commissioning someone for new work. It is taking a persecutor of the church and turning him into an ambassador of Christ. Saving is the human equivalent of fashioning swords into plowshares or a rather sophisticated form of human recycling. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Paul should know. He thought himself to be Exhibit A.

But there is a little more about that we have lost over the years. In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain Picard has an experience of seeing what his life would have been like if one particularly embarrassing chapter had been removed from it. Afterward, he confides to his first officer, “There are many parts of my youth that I’m not proud of. There were… loose threads—untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads, I unraveled the tapestry of my life.”

Paul is genuinely remorseful about having persecuted the church, yet he cannot remove that thread and still tell the story of his life and his new life in Christ. In the end he comes to see Christ as having re-commissioned even this chapter along with all of the elements of his character that led him to do such a thing. At least part of the miracle of salvation in Jesus Christ, as testified to by the apostle Paul’s life, is that Christ does not unravel the tapestry of those whose lives he saves. He does not unravel anything, but out of that mess of threads and stitching, he recycles something delightful for the human family;  he redeems something  for the good of his kingdom.

The passage links the forgiveness Paul receives to his call to ministry. This passage also appreciates that responding to God’s compassion is not receiving a guarantee for a future gift, but taking up an offer on a relationship with a God who is going places. We are invited, in grace, to get on board and partner with God who is on a mission and where there will be a role, often a distinctive ministry, for us. That was Paul’s understanding.

Paul became a model of conversion, a hero for many early Christians. His switch from being a persecutor to becoming a bearer of mission is legendary. It is a celebration of God’s generous grace. The Gospels and Epistles emphasize and repeat the axiom that God’s greatness is revealed in having mercy for people we would not think would receive mercy. The minute we decide that some horrible sin is unforgivable, we challenge God to forgive it — and God answers our judgmental edicts with the promise of unexpected, unreasonable, overflowing mercy.

In 1976 John Powell, a Jesuit priest, published a book entitled, Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am?”  The book sold millions of copies and despite the tragedy of his own life remains in print to this day. Powell’s simple thesis is that people hide who they really are from others because of one basic fear. He describes this fear in a conversation..

Powell:  “I am writing a booklet, to be called, Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am.” 

Other:   “Do you want an answer to your question?”

Powell:  “That is the purpose of the booklet, to answer the question.”

Other:   “But do you want my answer?”

Powell:  “Yes, of course I do.”

Other:   “I am afraid to tell you who I am, because, if I tell you who I am, you may not like who I am, and it’s all that I have.” “There are times when I am deathly afraid that most everyone I know would want nothing to do with me if they really knew me.”

This passage from 1st Timothy contains a statement which is in stark contrast to the tendency we have to hide our inner frailties. In fact, the writer shines a light on his weakness for all to see. Listen once again, This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost.” How can someone reveal such a thing? The answer to that question is crucial because it points to the only real source of healing for and freedom from the inner anguish with which so many live. The answer to healing for our broken inner person is this: The sin and brokenness of humankind is great…     but the grace of God is greater still. In fact, it is amazing!”

Paul says that he was, “…a blasphemer, persecutor, and a man of violence…”  No kidding! He was there when Stephen was martyred for his faith by being stoned to death and may even have had a role in the execution. Christian people went into hiding in fear when Paul came to town seeking to bring them up on charges before the Jewish council.

“But,” he says, “I received mercy… and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”  Not only that, Paul says that he is evidence to everyone else that if he can receive God’s grace and love, anybody can receive God’s grace and love. If the Lord God of this universe knows you, loves you and redeems you, then there is no one to fear. The whole idea of God’s amazing grace is so wonderful that Paul concludes our scripture with this doxology: “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Philemon

1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, 2to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God 5because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. 6I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. 7I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

8For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, 9yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. 10I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. 12I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; 14but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. 15Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, 16no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you. 23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

The Letter of Paul to Philemon is a little treasure.  It is a tiny window on the complex world of first century Christianity and the systems of power in which it swam. It also gives us a glimpse of the very human side of Paul witnessing to the high demands which Christianity made on him and makes upon us all.

In that day slavery was an excepted institution.  What we know of slavery in the 21^st Century bares little likeness to either the secular slavery of the first century Roman empire.  Slaves weren’t considered people. They weren’t allowed to marry and any children born to them could be bartered or sold as any other possession by their master. or of the Hebraic concept which was much more humane.  This was vastly different than the much more limited and humane form of slavery as practiced by the Jews. Paul writes to the Ephesians that slaves were to obey their master.

Onesimus the reason for the letter being written.  Apparently he had run away to hide in the big city of Rome after in some manner defrauding his master Philemon.  Were he to be apprehended he would be physically brutalized  and possibly face the death penalty. As providence would have it Onesimus met the aging Paul who was imprisoned and discovered that they had something in common – Philemon.

The letter doesn’t say how Onesimus came in contact with Paul. We do know that he had repented of his crime, embraced the Christian faith and had become invaluable to Paul. Paul admits to considering simply keeping the run away slave with him but decided that to do that without Philemon’s consent would be wrong.

Despite the possible consequences, Paul’s counsels the young runaway that Christian ethics required that he return to his outraged master and seek forgiveness. Paul pens a masterpiece of delicate humor saturated with the confidence of Christian faith as he sends this young man back to face the music. Most clearly Onesimus had become quite dear to Paul, so much so he refers to the run away slave as his son. He says that parting with him was like parting with his ‘very heart’.

Philemon, a gentile and likely a Roman citizen, was a prominent citizen of Colossae and a leading member of the Church and whose conversion from pagan religion to Christianity was accounted to Paul. A precious bond of brotherhood in the faith had evidently formed between the two of them. The letter Paul writes to Philemon makes it clear that the current situation was putting their relationship to the test.

Paul is anxious that Philemon sees what he ought to do. Paul comes very close to being offensive when he instructs Philemon of his duty and reminds him that he is in debt to Paul, not financially, but possibly because he is a convert of Paul’s mission  Any part of this could easily alienate Philemon.  Paul treads a very fine line and risks his relationship with Philemon. He tries, not very subtly, to affirm the positive side with Philemon. Paul knows the social rules. He must send Onesimus back and to assume that Philemon would be happy to have Onesimus return to assist Paul would infringe on Philemon’s rights.

Paul goes out on a slim limb when he writes this masterpiece of tact. It would be very easy for him to offend or embarrass Philemon. How would Philemon cope with relating to Onesimus as a person and not just as a slave named useful? What would members of his household and his neighbors think of him for doing so? Paul even promises to pay off any debt there may be or make up for any wrong. But there was more at stake than money. Shame, reputation, sense of control, status, social expectations, the stability of the household and issues of law and order were all in play.

How can he get Philemon to agree with his request? Paul uses a play on words: The name, “Onesimus” means translates into English as “useful”.   So Paul, using a synonym writes: Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.  It is unlikely that Philemon laughed at this but it would have been noticed.  Through it, Paul points not only to the value that Onesimus has to Philemon, but now how valuable he is to both Paul and the Kingdom of God. Certainly, this is not the slave that Philemon remembered.   He had been transformed by Christ.

That Onesimus is identified as the traveling companion of Tychicus and as a trust worthy and dear brother in Colossians gives us some confidence that Philemon was persuaded to both receive him as a brother in Christ but also released him to return to assist Paul.

Paul breathes the spirit of Christ and of equality within the Christian community. into this letter.  He does not directly attack slavery, for this is something the Christian communities of the first century were in no position to do. Yet Paul, by presenting Onesimus as “brother, beloved…to me, but even more so to you” voiced the revolutionary idea that would break down worldly barriers of division “in the Lord.” Onesimus is a person. Paul has been served by him, but does not see him as an impersonal slave. He is a person, as much loved by God and beloved to Paul, as anyone else. Paul argues that Onesimus is now Philemon’s brother, not just his slave. As a person Onesimus is as deserving of as much respect as Paul himself. It is not just a case of doing a favor for someone who has become Paul’s companion and friend. It is a matter of how we view other human beings.

Paul’s invitation to Philemon to give up on getting even and see in a useless tool a person loved by God.  It is a case study in tactfulness. Without a hint of insincere flattery, we read how deeply Paul cares for Philemon a “dear friend and coworker.” It is obvious that love and trust preceded Paul’s request. Is it obvious to us that before we challenge anyone in like fashion, we need to pave the way with genuine encouragement?

We find in Philemon an invitation to extend forgiveness based on this same principle of giving up on getting even. We don’t see Paul using his power and prestige to influence Philemon. We see him appealing “on the basis of love”. That love flows from God embodied in the life of Christ and Christ’s continuing presence. That love is also the reason why Paul was prepared to risk a potentially embarrassing initiative and write this letter to advocate for Onesimus. Paul’s complex footwork reveals how much he was aware that his initiative could fall flat on its face. But he does not fall back into his comfort zone. There may have been ways in which he could have avoided the issue. After all, Onesimus was only a slave – only a slave?! Could Paul ever think like that?

Love sometimes requires going out on a limb and advocating for people who are powerless in systems which resist and resent their values being subverted. The task is still immense and continues today – wherever human beings are reduced through systems, prejudices and governments to things, useless or useful.

Be Bold and Courageous

Message from LaVerne Biel

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Some of you have known me a long time and some of you a couple years or less. Kent’s and I have always known that we like to squeeze and stretch ourselves personally, professionally, or spiritually whenever possible.

This last year God, Kent, and others challenged me in new and different ways. Now I see these challenges were really opportunities in disguise. One opportunity was to leave my home and possessions to strangers. In reflection this taught me to hold onto things lightly.

The next encounter was to run for political office. I really never saw myself as a political person. I held my beliefs closely. In fact I guarded them. What was the first thing I had to do? Field a question about my stand on abortion. Okay, I’m not sure how that relates to serving on City Council but I knew I had to answer the question truthfully. From there everything was a free fall. I ran as an Independent. For those of you who don’t know, running for political office consumes every waking moment of your life. From May until the primary August 6^th I had knocked on 7,000 doors, participated in two debates, talked to the press, raised campaign money, and met lots of new people from all walks of life. I missed family dinners, and reunions only to lose the primary election. However, I didn’t feel defeated. I still don’t! I really believe that I followed God’s leading. When I think back to what I was doing or where I was at in my life. I was complacent and content. Right after the election God told me that moving forward I was to be “bold and courageous” (which is the opposite direction from complacent and content).

Joshua 1:1-9 has provided me with a guideline on how to be bold and courageous which I’ll share with you. I found three words that outline Joshua 1:1-9, Promise, Possession, and Persistence.

(My paraphrase is in quotations)

Let’s read: 1. After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2. Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. 3. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country to the Great Sea on the west. 5. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, So I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6. Be (bold) and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7. Be (bold) strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it (as a republican) to the right or (as a democrat) to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9. Have I not commanded you? Be (bold) strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

I found this a story: A philosophy professor was known to give difficult tests. Her next exam was going to influence a quarter of the grade and her students were nervous and apprehensive the morning of the exam. They quietly and reverently sat down at their desks. Sitting on their desks was a single piece of paper face down. The professor asked them to flip over the paper and start their exam. The exam was a single question. Many students fidgeted in their seats and stared at their paper. One student tapped his pencil on his desk a few times, scribbled something down. Got up and handed his paper to the professor and left. He got an A. The question was: What is courage? His answer was: This is!

Back to the passage of Joshua 1:1 – 9.

In verse 1 we read about the passing of Moses. Joshua was Moses’ replacement and I’m sure that the Israelites were apprehensive about Joshua’s leadership abilities. They knew that Joshua was Moses’ minister, a great military leader, and that he had already seen the promise land. However, knowing what we know about our natural tendencies, I’m sure there was lots of lamenting and grumbling. What did God do to quiet them? God spoke directly to Joshua to reassure him that God was going to fulfill his promise to Moses and to the descendants of Abraham. God’s promise is a gift not an obligation.

The promise listed in Deuteronomy 11:24 “Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea.” God revealed this promise in Deuteronomy after the 10 Commandments and after a beautiful description of the promise land. We can estimate that there is a distance of at least 50 years between these promises. God comforts Joshua with this Deuteronomy scripture word for word. However, God’s word required some action from him. He had to extend himself. He had to be “all in”! Again, the passage reads, “where you set your foot” will be yours. Your foot! God made it personal. No horseback, no chariots, no decrees, no letters, no phone, no internet, no Facebook, and no Twitter. He was pretty clear that to take possession of the land then it required personal commitment and sacrifice. God tells Joshua that He will be with him and never forsake him while he stepped in an unknown territory.

God states this pretty clearly if you intend on possessing this land it’s going to require engaging your body, mind and your heart. It’s going to take your whole being. Verse 6 states “be (bold) strong and courageous. The Hebrew word in this passage for strong is “châzaq” (Khaw-Zak’) means obstinate, to bind, or restrain. To be obstinate is to be bold. The Hebrew word for courage is âmats (aw mats’). A primitive root: to be alert; physically or mentally. Why does Joshua need to be alert? This was necessary to lead them toward their gift and take possession of the land. Verse 7 again states to be (bold) strong and courageous by being careful to obey the Ten Commandments to be successful wherever you go. My best example of success was my grandfather. He was a farmer/machinist by trade. A jolly man who liked to play practical jokes, loved to horse trade, and was passionate about his faith and what he believed. I saw him treat every person that crossed his path with kindness and humility. When my grandfather died my dad talked to me about how my grandfather was successful. I have to admit at the time I didn’t see him as that. I remembered a man who gave me unconditional love. My dad pointed out that when he died all his bills were paid and he had $300 dollars left over. He gave his life to serving others to direct them toward God. God possessed his heart. He was successful. In order for God to possess our hearts we must be persistent in our faith.

Persistent faith permeates our thoughts. It consumes us. How can this happen? Verse 8 states that we are to speak the Book of the Law continually and to meditate on it day and night. I don’t know about you but this would require me to turn off the TV, stop playing computer games, and put down the novel I was reading. It sounds to me that persistence takes practice! I’m to shut off the outside noise, the events of the day, our culture, and focus on God by diving headfirst into His word and prayerfully mediate. In Verse 9, read for the third (for reinforcement) time God tells Joshua to be (bold) strong and courageous to not lose heart because God was going to be with him wherever he went. Persistence pays off by having God with us wherever our feet, heart, and mind are directed. It certainly sounds like a recipe for success.

Joshua fought his own battles with friends, enemies, and different cultures. In the end he knew he had to restate and clarify what the Israelites already knew. Joshua 24:15b, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

In the New Testament in I Corinthians 16:13 it says, ”be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be people of courage; be strong.  I’m sharing this passage with you because God is calling me to not be satisfied unless I’m being bold and courageous to follow Him in faith and obedience. God promises to be with me. He possesses my heart. I now know that I will practice my persistent walk wherever God leads me. Come join me to discover how you can be bold and courageous for God.

Be Bold and Courageous

Message from LaVerne Biel

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Some of you have known me a long time and some of you a couple years or less. Kent’s and I have always known that we like to squeeze and stretch ourselves personally, professionally, or spiritually whenever possible.

This last year God, Kent, and others challenged me in new and different ways. Now I see these challenges were really opportunities in disguise. One opportunity was to leave my home and possessions to strangers. In reflection this taught me to hold onto things lightly.

The next encounter was to run for political office. I really never saw myself as a political person. I held my beliefs closely. In fact I guarded them. What was the first thing I had to do? Field a question about my stand on abortion. Okay, I’m not sure how that relates to serving on City Council but I knew I had to answer the question truthfully. From there everything was a free fall. I ran as an Independent. For those of you who don’t know, running for political office consumes every waking moment of your life. From May until the primary August 6^th I had knocked on 7,000 doors, participated in two debates, talked to the press, raised campaign money, and met lots of new people from all walks of life. I missed family dinners, and reunions only to lose the primary election. However, I didn’t feel defeated. I still don’t! I really believe that I followed God’s leading. When I think back to what I was doing or where I was at in my life. I was complacent and content. Right after the election God told me that moving forward I was to be “bold and courageous” (which is the opposite direction from complacent and content).

Joshua 1:1-9 has provided me with a guideline on how to be bold and courageous which I’ll share with you. I found three words that outline Joshua 1:1-9, Promise, Possession, and Persistence.

(My paraphrase is in quotations)

Let’s read: 1. After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2. Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. 3. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country to the Great Sea on the west. 5. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, So I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6. Be (bold) and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7. Be (bold) strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it (as a republican) to the right or (as a democrat) to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9. Have I not commanded you? Be (bold) strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

I found this a story: A philosophy professor was known to give difficult tests. Her next exam was going to influence a quarter of the grade and her students were nervous and apprehensive the morning of the exam. They quietly and reverently sat down at their desks. Sitting on their desks was a single piece of paper face down. The professor asked them to flip over the paper and start their exam. The exam was a single question. Many students fidgeted in their seats and stared at their paper. One student tapped his pencil on his desk a few times, scribbled something down. Got up and handed his paper to the professor and left. He got an A. The question was: What is courage? His answer was: This is!

Back to the passage of Joshua 1:1 – 9.

In verse 1 we read about the passing of Moses. Joshua was Moses’ replacement and I’m sure that the Israelites were apprehensive about Joshua’s leadership abilities. They knew that Joshua was Moses’ minister, a great military leader, and that he had already seen the promise land. However, knowing what we know about our natural tendencies, I’m sure there was lots of lamenting and grumbling. What did God do to quiet them? God spoke directly to Joshua to reassure him that God was going to fulfill his promise to Moses and to the descendants of Abraham. God’s promise is a gift not an obligation.

The promise listed in Deuteronomy 11:24 “Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea.” God revealed this promise in Deuteronomy after the 10 Commandments and after a beautiful description of the promise land. We can estimate that there is a distance of at least 50 years between these promises. God comforts Joshua with this Deuteronomy scripture word for word. However, God’s word required some action from him. He had to extend himself. He had to be “all in”! Again, the passage reads, “where you set your foot” will be yours. Your foot! God made it personal. No horseback, no chariots, no decrees, no letters, no phone, no internet, no Facebook, and no Twitter. He was pretty clear that to take possession of the land then it required personal commitment and sacrifice. God tells Joshua that He will be with him and never forsake him while he stepped in an unknown territory.

God states this pretty clearly if you intend on possessing this land it’s going to require engaging your body, mind and your heart. It’s going to take your whole being. Verse 6 states “be (bold) strong and courageous. The Hebrew word in this passage for strong is “châzaq” (Khaw-Zak’) means obstinate, to bind, or restrain. To be obstinate is to be bold. The Hebrew word for courage is âmats (aw mats’). A primitive root: to be alert; physically or mentally. Why does Joshua need to be alert? This was necessary to lead them toward their gift and take possession of the land. Verse 7 again states to be (bold) strong and courageous by being careful to obey the Ten Commandments to be successful wherever you go. My best example of success was my grandfather. He was a farmer/machinist by trade. A jolly man who liked to play practical jokes, loved to horse trade, and was passionate about his faith and what he believed. I saw him treat every person that crossed his path with kindness and humility. When my grandfather died my dad talked to me about how my grandfather was successful. I have to admit at the time I didn’t see him as that. I remembered a man who gave me unconditional love. My dad pointed out that when he died all his bills were paid and he had $300 dollars left over. He gave his life to serving others to direct them toward God. God possessed his heart. He was successful. In order for God to possess our hearts we must be persistent in our faith.

Persistent faith permeates our thoughts. It consumes us. How can this happen? Verse 8 states that we are to speak the Book of the Law continually and to meditate on it day and night. I don’t know about you but this would require me to turn off the TV, stop playing computer games, and put down the novel I was reading. It sounds to me that persistence takes practice! I’m to shut off the outside noise, the events of the day, our culture, and focus on God by diving headfirst into His word and prayerfully mediate. In Verse 9, read for the third (for reinforcement) time God tells Joshua to be (bold) strong and courageous to not lose heart because God was going to be with him wherever he went. Persistence pays off by having God with us wherever our feet, heart, and mind are directed. It certainly sounds like a recipe for success.

Joshua fought his own battles with friends, enemies, and different cultures. In the end he knew he had to restate and clarify what the Israelites already knew. Joshua 24:15b, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

The truth is that all too often what we experience can take a seriously negative toll on our hopes and dreams. Feeling let down by our faith community may turn us away from God’s vision for our own lives. Reality is that the consequences of institutional injustice, racism, and the personal and social sins that harm us can’t be avoided, not by us or interestingly enough, by God. Even when we are doing our best to follow God there are no guarantees that our path will be productive or easy. The wisdom that Bruce Epperly gleaned from four passages of scripture is that if we remain awake to sacredness of this present moment we discover hope beyond conflict and failure.

Our passage from Isaiah describes a love story gone wrong. The lover has given the beloved everything possible to flourish, but the beloved turns away from the love that gives life and fecundity. Saddened by the beloved’s wildness, the lover has no choice but to let the beloved suffer the consequences of turning away from love. Love never compels.  It seeks to heal and transform. Even love has its limits. It must contend with the freedom of the beloved.

Isaiah 5: 1-7 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

God cannot compel the world to reflect God’s vision. When we turn away, God’s vision gets distorted; limited God’s possibilities can even appear negative to those who have turned away from divine love. Our actions have consequences for ourselves and for God. The good news is that love never gives up in its quest for life abundant for us and others.

Psalm 80: 1-2, 8-19 continues the image of a vineyard to describe God’s relationship with Israel, the world and us. The vineyard has been ravaged and may become a wasteland. The Psalmist cries out for divine deliverance. The Psalmist asks God to return again, for apart from God the vineyard is lost. Regardless of the source of the vineyard’s current condition, the Psalmist cries out to God to bless the nation once more. But, will blessing restore a people who refuse to repent?

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us! You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

The author of Hebrews 11:29-12:2  goes to great lengths to tell us that persons of faith are not guaranteed success or safety in this lifetime. The author takes faith seriously, but there is always an “in spite of” element to faith. Hebrews critiques prosperity gospels that promise to provide a slick road to success along with “how to” messages for turning your faith into riches and power. Our hopes are never complete in this world. We must trust that God’s ultimate intent for creation will be realized in the future, even if we do not experience it ourselves in our lifetimes.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

On the pilgrim way, our salvation and hope is found in looking to Jesus, the model of faith and source of healing and transformation. We are surrounded and sustained by a cloud of witnesses, whose lives and intercessions shape our lives. We cannot predict or insure the success of our endeavors but we can trust God with the final word for our lives, and that word is grace. In the meantime, Christ’s spirit guides us through dark valleys and challenging situations, promising a horizon of hope and healing.

Luke 12:49-56 asserts that our responses in obedience to Jesus’ message will lead to polarization and conflict. In this passage Jesus is a provocateur not a peacemaker. Jesus’ vision of the world as it should be is so radical, and so threatening, that will many turn against his followers. By living with integrity Jesus sees the possibility of martyrdom emerging from the violent actions of fearful and self-interested people.

49“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

54He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

We are not alone as we struggle with diversity of opinion, lifestyle, worship, and politics in our Meeting. We need to ask ourselves what radical visions lead to polarization in our Meeting. Dare we pursue potentially polarizing courses – perhaps related to global climate change, racism, economic injustice, inequalities in education, health care, and due process in the legal system? Can our meeting be both brazenly prophetic and empatheticaly pastoral? This Gospel passage is clear. A cost will be demanded regardless of whether we pursue a prophetic spirituality that challenges or a pastoral ministry that aligns itself with institutional injustice. Similarly there will be a price to pay for embracing destructive cultural norms or challenging destructive personal and interpersonal behaviors.

Jesus’ words suggest that the source of conflict will be found in the various ways we interpret our present time. What do we notice as we view the “signs of the times?” What is amiss in our culture, our economics, and our politics? In our congregational lives what are the things to which we are oblivious? Do radically different visions need always to lead to schism and conflict?

From the recent focus on Paul’s letter to the Romans we are called to live with our own integrity which may call us to prophetic obedience to Christ’s call on our lives. But it also requires of us that we acknowledge that though different from ours’ the course another is called to follow requires of them the same level of integrity and obedience we expect of ourselves. The source of unity, rather than schism and conflict, is grasping Paul’s notion that each one of us has to be faithful to the call of our own master who alone is in the position of evaluating the rightness or wrongness of our service.

Yes, we need to be aware of the many factors that create each moment of experience for ourselves and others. Faithfulness requires us to keep our heart, soul and mind open to see God at work in own life and in the lives of those with whom we worship. Are we attending to the highest divine possibilities for our own lives and the communities around us? God’s vision is always both local and global, and corporate and personal. God’s intentions are for the highest possibilities for this moment. Stay awake then. Strain your eyes toward God’s messages hidden within the unfolding of history and our personal and corporate lives.

As a community Spokane is truly blest to have Riverside State Park right in our back yard.  It is Washington State’s largest State Park. It offers two rivers, three campgrounds, an Equestrian Area, an off the road vehicle area, Cultural and Historical sites, swimming, access to boating, kayaking, fishing and paddling, miles and miles of mixed use trails with stunning scenery and views at every turn and disc golf.

You can hammer in your tent stakes and unroll your sleeping bag in a primitive camp site or uncoil the electrical pig tail of your Class A diesel motor home and watch the Mariners loss another game while sitting in front of your on board fire place.

And to use the camp sites there are rules with which you must comply or they will kick you out.  I’ve consolidated them. The first one isn’t even one of the eighteen listed. That rule is that you are required to report to Park Rangers those who are in non-compliance with the rules.

As a camper you must display the Discover Pass which testifies that you pay your fair share. You have to be in by ten p.m.  Quiet Hours are from 10:00 p.m. until  6:00 a.m. and must be observed. Those with engine driven electric generators must shut them off by 9:00 p.m. and can’t run them again until 8:00 a.m.  You can’t stay for more than ten or twenty days depending on the time of year. You can’t have more than eight people on your campsite. Removing or damaging any wildlife, plants, park buildings, signs and tables and other structures a prohibited as is feeding animals.  Pets must be on leashes not more than eight feet long.  Horses and alcohol are allowed but only in designated areas. Fireworks are prohibited as is smoking inside park structures. Pets, glass bottles and metal cans are not allowed on swimming beaches.

Now that’s just for a  temporary stay in the park.  Here in Spokane we can have three chickens but not roosters at our home.  We aren’t allowed to have open fires or discharge weapons. And folks get even more demanding of each other as residents in a condominium or a gated community.

So why is that important for us today?   The reading from the Epistles for today is Hebrews 11:1-16.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 

I’m going to drop down to where the author writes of Abraham::              By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

From the very first phrase in this chapter the writer encourages us by writing that trust in God, or the conviction that God is good and that God will perform that which God has promised, though not visible to our senses, is literally the foundation upon which we construct our lives.  The words not are a definition of what faith is but what faith does.  Faith gives to things a future which as of yet are only hoped for.  Things future and things unseen must become certainties to our mind if we are to live a balanced life.  Faith mediating between us and the supersensible is the essential link between ourselves and God.

The word of God is an invisible force which cannot be perceived by sense. The great power which lies at the heart of all that is does not itself come into observation; we perceived it only by faith which is ‘the evidence of things not seen.  There exists an unseen force that does not submit itself to experimental science, and that is the object of faith.

Yet as strangers and foreigners we desperately want the security of a city that has foundations but what we are able to construct can never secure us firmly to bed rock.  It’s our upside down equivalent of the Tower of Babel.  Rather than trusting God compulsively we codify rules and seek to build palpable structures   and expect everyone within our community to comply.

It’s like we worry about devising ways to anchor our double wide mobile homes to the earth. And we feel so secure that within our mobile home park we compose and seek to enforce covenants that control what our neighbors can and can not do. But despite our most sincere efforts the changing winds of life blow our dwellings off their fragile pads.  We are more like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob than we want to believe, imagining we have constructed foundations only to learn that our lives are really about tent stakes.   We have no deed for our double wide despite how luxurious we’ve made it, we have no foundation.

I was saddened this weak as I read, and then re-read,  “A Progress Report from Northwest Yearly Meeting Board of Elders”.  Clearly it written to defend themselves against the charge of being ‘unconcern or weak’ made against them for not more quickly censuring a local Friends Meeting that conscientiously and intentionally placed themselves “out of compliance with Northwest Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice’.  They have chosen to welcome into their faith community and persons who live in committed same sex relationships.

In the report the Elder’s reminded the readers that in response they had decided to reiterate the ‘historic stance’ in the “Our Witness to Human Sexuality” portion of the Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice and that they had formed a sub-committee to draft language that ‘upholds that stance while seasoning it with grace’. During Yearly Meeting sessions sufficient unity was not found to accept the more gracefully stated  statement as having had its first reading toward adoption.

Attached to the Progress Report was a draft proposal for a formalized multiyear and multi-step  legal process for adjudicating charges of noncompliance intended to assure  adherence with the language of Faith and Practice or if “reconciliation” is found to be impossible severing the non-compliant local church’s relationship with the Yearly Meeting, “with property issues handled with grace”. For me, reconciliation supposes movement on the part of both parties.  Such would entail a serious revisiting of the intent of Faith and Practice which is not contemplated.

Through out human history those who have stood against acknowledging truth when it has contradicted their fondest notions have been characterized as ignominious.  For instance, the Gospel is for all, not just Jews. The world is round, not flat. The Sun, not the Earth, is the center of our solar system.  Creation can’t be dated to 4004 B.C.  Native Americans who were here before most of us and the Afro-Americans we brought here are neither children of

Satan and obstacles in the way of our manifest destiny nor sub-human tools for our use.  People who suffer mental illness or physical deformity deserve having a life rather than being hidden away.  Women are equal to men.

I think it is an extreme imposition to charge someone with defending the language of a document as if it were a perfectly complete foundation for faithfulness.  Those who have been put in such a position have consistently been marked by disgrace, shame or humiliation.

The Religious Society of Friends has for 370 years sought to avoid such inquisitions. For himself, Jesus, in Luke 12 asks: “My friend, who set me over you to judge or arbitrate?

The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that such statements which pretend to being foundational for faithfulness are at best tent stakes which mark where we are in our faith pilgrimage and the holes left from where they are pulled up when we move on are quickly filled in by the sand which had held them.  We are wilderness wanderers and the appropriate role for our Elders is to point a way forward through a constantly changing landscape, not defend where we most recently erected our tents.

Despite our comforting prejudices Paul in his letter to the Romans says that in God’s sight we are all equals, saved not by our adherence to doctrinal orthodoxy or our compassionate witness but by grace – alone. Maybe Paul’s advice in Romans 14:22 needs to be taken to heart. He writes: “If you have some firm conviction, keep it between yourself and God.”  We are obliged to accept one another.  In the 15^th Chapter he penned that we are to accept one another  as Christ accepted us.  He wrote: “ …do you think lightly of his (God’s) wealth of kindness, of tolerance and of patience, without recognizing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to a change of heart.”  Paul pleads in the 14^th chapter of Romans: “Let us therefore cease judging one another….”

Following charges of insider trading being brought against a large hedge fund company and some of its employees the chatter on the financial blogs this week was deafening.  Small and medium sized manufacturers and small investors decried what they called crony capitalism.  Some doubted the offenders would get jail time and were livid over the multi-billionaire owner not being charged.  The big issue for some was the lack of morality in contemporary economics.  Others argued that the financial markets couldn’t be considered moral or immoral, they are amoral.  Adam Smith argued the philosophical notion that self-interest would lead to moral behavior as perhaps a replacement for Christian morality. Was he right?

In our Gospel reading of today, when Jesus was asked to intervene in a family squabble over the distribution of an estate he carefully avoided taking a position but he didn’t miss a teachable moment.

Luke 12:13-21

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” ¹⁶Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’¹⁸Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

By this time in his ministry, Jesus had developed a reputation as one who helped others. Luke says that he not only healed people but he went around teaching and proclaiming the kingdom of God. Reports of his activity circulated as early as Luke 4.  People came to Jesus in droves This 12^th Chapter of Luke begins saying that many thousands had gathered around him. But the motivations with which they came were probably as numerous as the needs they felt. Some came out of desperation, hoping for a cure for their servant or child. Some came to challenge him or justify themselves. Others came to Jesus with a complaint. It’s not that hard to imagine someone who felt that an injustice was being done would try to get Jesus to intervene on their behalf.

Jesus’ parable doesn’t warn against money, wealth, or material abundance. He warns against greed, about the insatiable feeling of never having enough. He said: “watch and be on your guard against excess”. The word Luke uses is the same word Plato uses to describe people that are gorging themselves and living in excess. The farmer’s problem isn’t that he’s had a great harvest, or that he’s rich, or that he wants to plan for the future. The farmer’s problem is that his good fortune has distorted his vision so that everything he sees starts and ends with himself.

Abundance brings problems. We often think that if we just had a little more, or if we were “swamped” with business, that all would be well with us. The story gives no indication that before the outstanding harvest the man was a greedy person.  But the presence of abundance made him a greedy person. Perhaps that is the way for us. Abundance may “trigger” in us the “greed gene,” a gene that is, for the most part, dormant and should remain dormant, but which can be triggered by overexposure to too much abundance. In a TED talk  (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design)  Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist, spoke about his discovery of a psychopathic killer gene, that interestingly enough he learned that he carried himself.  He says that its lies dormant in a child unless something truly traumatic happens.  We’ve seen this in our own family.  So maybe this notion of abundance triggering the greed gene isn’t all that unrealistic.

So, triggered by his newly experienced affluence, the farmer decides to build bigger barns. Again, this sounds like a reasonable course of action. But then the text says that the man decided to gather into these new barns not just the grain from the harvest but “my goods” (v. 18). He is now calculating how to maximize his wealth. But in Jesus’ parable, it is as if he is killing his soul by the expansion project.

Listen again to the conversation he has with, not a spouse or friend or parent or neighbor, but only with himself: “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”

Do you see what I mean? It is an absolutely egocentric conversation, even including a conversation with himself inside the conversation he is already having with himself! This is why he is a fool. He has fallen prey to the notion that life, and particularly the good life, consists of possessions, precisely the thing Jesus warns against.

Of what, then, does the good life consist? Read the rest of what Jesus says across the gospels and it becomes pretty clear: relationships — relationships with each other and with God. And, as you inevitably discover while reading, these two can’t really be separated. Hence Jesus tells stories like the parable of the Good Samaritan that invite us to think more broadly about who is our neighbor.  He preaches sermons that extol caring for the poor, loving our enemies, and doing good for those in need. Not once does Jesus lift up setting up a retirement account or securing a higher-paying job as part of seeking the kingdom of God.

Which doesn’t mean these things are bad. Really. Money can do lots of wonderful things — it can provide for our families, it can be given to others in need, it can be used to create jobs and promote the general welfare, and it can make possible a more comfortable life. It just can’t produce the kind of full and abundant life that each of us seeks and that Jesus promises. So it’s not about the money, it’s about our attitude towards the money and those around us.

Truth be told, I think most of know and believe that what Jesus says is true. We know that money can’t buy happiness. The thing is, even though we know this, most of us struggle to live this way. That is, most of us are seduced by the same message that captures the soul of the farmer in Jesus’ parable.

Which isn’t really all that surprising. Our culture inundates us with the message the farmer bought into. Advertisements are designed to exploit our insecurities. Inadequacy marketing identifies and exaggerates something about which we feel insecure — our breath, our body, our status, etc. — then it offers us something to buy — mouthwash, a weight loss program, a bigger car, etc. — that will remedy our concern and make us acceptable again.

What is the one distinct advantage that our addiction to affluence has over the abundant life Jesus extols: it is immediately tangible. Relationships, community, purpose — the kinds of things that Jesus invites us to embrace and strive for — are much harder to lay our hands on. We know what a good relationship feels like, but it’s hard to point to or produce on a moment’s notice. And we know that wonderful feeling of being accepted into a community, but it’s not like you can have Fed-Ex deliver it to your front door.

So we substitute material goods for immaterial ones because, well, they’re right there in front of us and we’ve got a whole culture telling us that this is the best there is.

All this teaching suggests the importance of proper priorities regarding possessions. They are a stewardship, not to be hoarded selfishly but to be used to benefit those around us. Jesus is not saying possessions are bad, but that the selfish pursuit of them is pointless. When the creation is inverted, the value of possessions is distorted. Those who climb over people or ignore them in the pursuit of possessions will come up empty on the day God sorts out our lives. What a tragic misuse of the gift of resources this man had gained! What could have been an opportunity for generosity and blessing became a stumbling block to his soul.

If we are not going to pursue material things, then how do we deal with our physical needs? You are not going to like Jesus’ answer to this question.  It is really fairly simple but by an large most of us have already rejected it as irresponsible and irrational: “Trust God.” Using creation as the example, Jesus points to the tender care of the heavenly Father and asks people to consider how gentle God is. If God can care for his other creatures, he can care for you.  From the beginning of this longer passage of Luke’s gospel, it’s basic exhortation is Do not worry. Given God’s care, we can be generous with the things God provides. The contrast between Jesus’ attitude here and that of the rich fool could not be greater. Jesus’ concern is with food and clothing (v. 22), the basics of life. His exhortation begins with a call not to worry and he explains his call away from worry by noting that life is more than food or clothing. The deepest dimension of life is relationship with God and with others. In 10:25-28 Jesus made it clear that real life has to do with relationship. Living is more than having; it is being in relationship with God and relating well to others. Placing concern for our daily needs in God’s hands is part of what it means to have relationship with God.

We can begin to see why Jesus warns his disciples, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (6:20b, 24).  The image which Jesus paints in his parables about the use of money and our attitudes toward possessions is complex. Jesus does not glorify poverty; it brings “evil things”—illness and perpetual hunger.  So having wealth is good and enables good living. But wealth itself is transitory. What the farmer assumes he is putting away for a comfortable future, on the night he dies, ends up going to others. The point is clear: “money, possessions, and the good life that they bring with them are at best ephemeral in character and in the end completely untrustworthy.”  Affluence can obscure our moral vision.  The possessions of the rich farmer have closed his eyes to the world around him and obscured his vision of people in need. Wealth creates chasms between people. The inability to see others becomes an impassable barrier that separates people one from another and prohibits meaningful interaction, but most of all Jesus said: ^21”So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”.

Following charges of insider trading being brought against a large hedge fund company and some of its employees the chatter on the financial blogs this week was deafening.  Small and medium sized manufacturers and small investors decried what they called crony capitalism.  Some doubted the offenders would get jail time and were livid over the multi-billionaire owner not being charged.  The big issue for some was the lack of morality in contemporary economics.  Others argued that the financial markets couldn’t be considered moral or immoral, they are amoral.  Adam Smith argued the philosophical notion that self-interest would lead to moral behavior as perhaps a replacement for Christian morality. Was he right?

In our Gospel reading of today, when Jesus was asked to intervene in a family squabble over the distribution of an estate he carefully avoided taking a position but he didn’t miss a teachable moment.

Luke 12:13-21

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” ¹⁶Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’¹⁸Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

By this time in his ministry, Jesus had developed a reputation as one who helped others. Luke says that he not only healed people but he went around teaching and proclaiming the kingdom of God. Reports of his activity circulated as early as Luke 4.  People came to Jesus in droves This 12^th Chapter of Luke begins saying that many thousands had gathered around him. But the motivations with which they came were probably as numerous as the needs they felt. Some came out of desperation, hoping for a cure for their servant or child. Some came to challenge him or justify themselves. Others came to Jesus with a complaint. It’s not that hard to imagine someone who felt that an injustice was being done would try to get Jesus to intervene on their behalf.

Jesus’ parable doesn’t warn against money, wealth, or material abundance. He warns against greed, about the insatiable feeling of never having enough. He said: “watch and be on your guard against excess”. The word Luke uses is the same word Plato uses to describe people that are gorging themselves and living in excess. The farmer’s problem isn’t that he’s had a great harvest, or that he’s rich, or that he wants to plan for the future. The farmer’s problem is that his good fortune has distorted his vision so that everything he sees starts and ends with himself.

Abundance brings problems. We often think that if we just had a little more, or if we were “swamped” with business, that all would be well with us. The story gives no indication that before the outstanding harvest the man was a greedy person.  But the presence of abundance made him a greedy person. Perhaps that is the way for us. Abundance may “trigger” in us the “greed gene,” a gene that is, for the most part, dormant and should remain dormant, but which can be triggered by overexposure to too much abundance. In a TED talk  (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design)  Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist, spoke about his discovery of a psychopathic killer gene, that interestingly enough he learned that he carried himself.  He says that its lies dormant in a child unless something truly traumatic happens.  We’ve seen this in our own family.  So maybe this notion of abundance triggering the greed gene isn’t all that unrealistic.

So, triggered by his newly experienced affluence, the farmer decides to build bigger barns. Again, this sounds like a reasonable course of action. But then the text says that the man decided to gather into these new barns not just the grain from the harvest but “my goods” (v. 18). He is now calculating how to maximize his wealth. But in Jesus’ parable, it is as if he is killing his soul by the expansion project.

Listen again to the conversation he has with, not a spouse or friend or parent or neighbor, but only with himself: “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”

Do you see what I mean? It is an absolutely egocentric conversation, even including a conversation with himself inside the conversation he is already having with himself! This is why he is a fool. He has fallen prey to the notion that life, and particularly the good life, consists of possessions, precisely the thing Jesus warns against.

Of what, then, does the good life consist? Read the rest of what Jesus says across the gospels and it becomes pretty clear: relationships — relationships with each other and with God. And, as you inevitably discover while reading, these two can’t really be separated. Hence Jesus tells stories like the parable of the Good Samaritan that invite us to think more broadly about who is our neighbor.  He preaches sermons that extol caring for the poor, loving our enemies, and doing good for those in need. Not once does Jesus lift up setting up a retirement account or securing a higher-paying job as part of seeking the kingdom of God.

Which doesn’t mean these things are bad. Really. Money can do lots of wonderful things — it can provide for our families, it can be given to others in need, it can be used to create jobs and promote the general welfare, and it can make possible a more comfortable life. It just can’t produce the kind of full and abundant life that each of us seeks and that Jesus promises. So it’s not about the money, it’s about our attitude towards the money and those around us.

Truth be told, I think most of know and believe that what Jesus says is true. We know that money can’t buy happiness. The thing is, even though we know this, most of us struggle to live this way. That is, most of us are seduced by the same message that captures the soul of the farmer in Jesus’ parable.

Which isn’t really all that surprising. Our culture inundates us with the message the farmer bought into. Advertisements are designed to exploit our insecurities. Inadequacy marketing identifies and exaggerates something about which we feel insecure — our breath, our body, our status, etc. — then it offers us something to buy — mouthwash, a weight loss program, a bigger car, etc. — that will remedy our concern and make us acceptable again.

What is the one distinct advantage that our addiction to affluence has over the abundant life Jesus extols: it is immediately tangible. Relationships, community, purpose — the kinds of things that Jesus invites us to embrace and strive for — are much harder to lay our hands on. We know what a good relationship feels like, but it’s hard to point to or produce on a moment’s notice. And we know that wonderful feeling of being accepted into a community, but it’s not like you can have Fed-Ex deliver it to your front door.

So we substitute material goods for immaterial ones because, well, they’re right there in front of us and we’ve got a whole culture telling us that this is the best there is.

All this teaching suggests the importance of proper priorities regarding possessions. They are a stewardship, not to be hoarded selfishly but to be used to benefit those around us. Jesus is not saying possessions are bad, but that the selfish pursuit of them is pointless. When the creation is inverted, the value of possessions is distorted. Those who climb over people or ignore them in the pursuit of possessions will come up empty on the day God sorts out our lives. What a tragic misuse of the gift of resources this man had gained! What could have been an opportunity for generosity and blessing became a stumbling block to his soul.

If we are not going to pursue material things, then how do we deal with our physical needs? You are not going to like Jesus’ answer to this question.  It is really fairly simple but by an large most of us have already rejected it as irresponsible and irrational: “Trust God.” Using creation as the example, Jesus points to the tender care of the heavenly Father and asks people to consider how gentle God is. If God can care for his other creatures, he can care for you.  From the beginning of this longer passage of Luke’s gospel, it’s basic exhortation is Do not worry. Given God’s care, we can be generous with the things God provides. The contrast between Jesus’ attitude here and that of the rich fool could not be greater. Jesus’ concern is with food and clothing (v. 22), the basics of life. His exhortation begins with a call not to worry and he explains his call away from worry by noting that life is more than food or clothing. The deepest dimension of life is relationship with God and with others. In 10:25-28 Jesus made it clear that real life has to do with relationship. Living is more than having; it is being in relationship with God and relating well to others. Placing concern for our daily needs in God’s hands is part of what it means to have relationship with God.

We can begin to see why Jesus warns his disciples, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (6:20b, 24).  The image which Jesus paints in his parables about the use of money and our attitudes toward possessions is complex. Jesus does not glorify poverty; it brings “evil things”—illness and perpetual hunger.  So having wealth is good and enables good living. But wealth itself is transitory. What the farmer assumes he is putting away for a comfortable future, on the night he dies, ends up going to others. The point is clear: “money, possessions, and the good life that they bring with them are at best ephemeral in character and in the end completely untrustworthy.”  Affluence can obscure our moral vision.  The possessions of the rich farmer have closed his eyes to the world around him and obscured his vision of people in need. Wealth creates chasms between people. The inability to see others becomes an impassable barrier that separates people one from another and prohibits meaningful interaction, but most of all Jesus said: ^21”So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”.

Teach us to pray like John’s disciples  Luke 11: 1-13

Our text for today, Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, is not as well known to us.  We’ve heard messages based on it all our lives.  It presents several quite different approaches to prayerToday I’m going to ask you to suspend some of what you’ve come to think that it is all about and listen with new ears to this gospel passage. The first of three sections begins:

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

In responding to the request of the disciple to teach them to pray like the disciples of John the Baptist Jesus quotes the opening of the Qaddish, one of the oldest and most used prayers in Jewish piety. This would be nothing really new to Jesus’ hearers – it is like taking a page from the Jewish prayer book. Its popularity in pre-Christian Palestine is attested by numerous echoes in late biblical, apocryphal and early rabbinic sources. It is regularly used with slight variations several times during morning and evening Jewish worship services.  The interesting thing is the unique addition Jesus makes.  This is how the Qaddish begins:

Heightened and hallowed be his great name in the world he created according to his will. And may he establish his kingdom in your life and in your days and in the life of all the house of Israel, very soon and in the coming season.
–And you say: Amen!
Blessed, praised and glorified, raised, lifted up and revered, exalted and lauded be the name of him who is Holy, blessed be He! Although he is high above all blessings, hymns, praised and solace uttered in (this) world.

To offer some light on what is going on here Scott McKnight points us to Mark 12:28-32. In that passage Jesus expands the traditional Shema to include Leviticus 19:18′s command of loving your neighbor. It reads: One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The Shema, from Deut. 6:4-5, is the fundamental text of Jewish monotheism, and devout Jews continue to recite it twice a day. Jesus broadens the fundamental command of Judaism to include not only allegiance to and love of God, but also love of neighbor – the basic duty of life extending both vertically AND horizontally. The inclusion of both love of God and neighbor is mirrored in the two sections of the Lord’s Prayer, and McKnight argues that Jesus is essentially doing the same thing with the Qaddish that he did with the Shema – expanding it to include dimensions of God’s glory and of his kingdom and also of life together based on love of neighbor in a community dedicated to living God’s kingdom as reality.

Are you aware of just how subversive and even revolutionary are each of the petitions of the Lord’s prayer: God is not distant but he is our Father; it is his name that should be exalted on the earth and not the name of any other ruler or power; his reign when manifest in this world, displaces the reign of other would-be lords. These fairly jump out at us from the page, but the petitions in the “love your neighbor” section are equally evocative.

To pray for our daily bread echoes the experience of Israel in the wilderness as God provided manna – just enough for each day, with no hoarding possible, no way for anyone to gain greater influence or power through God’s gracious gift. This undermines the nature of an affluent culture by declaring trust in God, not accumulation, as basic to our way of having needs met. To pray to be released from our debts as we release those in debt to us is an outworking of the principle of Jubilee that subverts a society based on debt and unequal economic power relations. To pray to be not lead into temptation but delivered from evil stands as a bulwark both against the tendencies of an oppressive society to call those who could to join the oppressors as well as the tendency of the oppressed to undertake violent revolution.

This is fascinating insight into what John the Baptist and Jesus brought new to the spirituality of contemporary Judaism. It echoes the voices of the Prophets in having both verticle and horizontal implications. It reforms what has been a narrowly focused faith and makes it inclusive. But Jesus wants more of his disciples than that.

In the blog The Hardest Question Russel Rathbon pushes the envelope of our comfort zone much farther. He points out that we are pretty comfortable with the first part of this text which has gotten a great deal of attention but, he says, it is the rest of this passage that causes us to scratch our heads.

5And (Jesus) he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. 9“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

We’ve been taught to understand the parable of the reluctant neighbor as an admonition to be persistent in prayer. “… even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.” The neighbor doesn’t want to give his friend any bread, but grudgingly he finally does — not out of love but irritation. Is this how Jesus wants us to think of God and of prayer? So if you ask a lot and search unceasingly, and knock relentlessly, finally and grudgingly you will receive, find, and have the door opened up to you? I know some who carry a heavy burden that their prayers were not answered because they believe they failed the persistence test. But this interpretation turns God into a miserly, hard-hearted “friend” who won’t give what is asked for until we have sufficiently begged and pleaded. Who needs a friend like that? Who needs a God like that? Jesus evidently wished his followers would have a different understanding of God.

There is another place in Matthew 6 where Jesus instructs his followers how to pray. 7“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

God’s response to our needs and desires cannot be based on our tenacity, our ability to harass God, or even our ability to ask for the right things in the right way. In his Small Catechism Luther dismissed that notion out-of-hand saying instead, “Of course, God’s name is holy in and of itself; Truly God’s Kingdom comes by itself, without our prayer; Truly, God’s good and gracious will is accomplished without our prayer.”

Jesus shifts metaphors and says: 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? And we want to say something like: Come on Jesus, what are you trying to do?—everyone knows we all give bad things to our children all the time. They want love and approval, but sometimes we give them insecurity and shame. They want our time, our presence, and our attention, but sometimes we give them distance and fear. What is the point of rubbing our noses in our parental failures with the sarcasm?

And then Jesus amazes us with this :13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” It stops us cold. Were we talking about the Holy Spirit? I didn’t know we were talking about the Holy Spirit. Maybe it is just assumed that when this disciple asked him about prayer he was really asking him about the Holy Spirit. But that’s not what Jesus was asked. Listen carefully. “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” I would think that Jesus would have been relieved that finally his disciples are becoming teachable instead of assuming they know, or not even listening. But Jesus doesn’t seem relieved, he seems irritated.

What is it that irritates Jesus so much? Or, if it’s not that why all the negativity? Could it be what lies behind the request from the disciple? The disciple didn’t ask Jesus to teach them to pray, he ask Jesus to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples. It’s like the disciples want something John’s disciples have that Jesus is not providing them. Is it that they want a formula for their spiritual discipline while Jesus wants them to seek the unpredictable, unquantifiable movement of the Holy Spirit?

Up till now, it’s all been about bread and forgiveness and not being tested and asking and seeking and knocking. Up till this point who has said anything about asking for the Holy Spirit? But now all of a sudden it’s about the Holy Spirit. What are we to make of this? Luke offers no further clarification.

I’m thinking back to Luke 4:1-13 where Jesus, “full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” It is the Spirit that helped Jesus endure the 40 days of fasting and the 3 testings by Satan – including the one about satisfying his hunger by turning stones into bread.

So I’m thinking that what Jesus is saying is that whatever the concrete specifics of our prayers may be, the crucial thing is to pray that our hearts be aligned with God’s heart, and that what we seek as the “answer” to our needs be inwardly formed by the Holy Spirit.

Martha, Martha

Luke 10:38-42

³⁸Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴²there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Martha whines to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me.” Jesus responds, “Martha, Martha”.  Can you imagine Jesus shaking his head in bodily language telling her that she just doesn’t get it?   He says “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part.”   I can almost see Mary stick out her tongue at Jesus. The meaning is clear: don’t be distracted by the mundane tasks of everyday life; instead, sit with Jesus and listen to him, for he has the words that lead to eternal life. The problem is that the meaning sitting on the surface of this text can be an enabler for some of us who aren’t very rigorous in our personal discipline and can make us feel good about being just plain sloppy housekeepers.  It  can help us rationalize not being distracted by the everyday tasks like mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathroom that I use or helping with the laundry.

Is Jesus really calling people from their domestic duties in favor of a life of contemplation at his feet—to meditation on his words? That seems to me a reading for the privileged. A single parent,  a subsistence farmer or a caregiver to a dependent loved one is very distracted by the work of everyday life. Not only distracted, but harried, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Someone has to feed the kids.  Someone has to make sure there are clothes to wear. If you can just sit at Jesus’ feet and not worry about who is putting the meal on the table, that means someone else is doing it for you. I think Jesus must be responding to something else here.

What a contrast this is to the story which immediately precedes it in Luke’s Gospel.  He tells the story of the good Samaritan. The preface to the good Samaritan story reads: Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ^26 27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”²⁸And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

In this parable Jesus tells his followers that living the Gospel is all about doing.  He castigates the religious and righteous for being so heavenly minded that they were of no earthly good when it came to caring for someone in need.  And of course he is illustrating the point that the neighbor whom we are commissioned to love as ourselves is, as we sang last Sunday, “anyone who has a need”.  And, of course, to make the pill even harder to swallow he makes the hero of the story an undocumented alien, a foreigner and immigrant traveling in Jewish territory.

So I’m convinced that the message of this Sunday’s gospel is not that study with a rabbi or minister always trumps housework. It’s not that women’s work is inferior to men’s. And, as one woman wrote of this passage, you’d have to be smoking something very potent and probably illegal to think that it’s that gender roles were established by God and are blurred at our spiritual peril. The message, I think, is that this spiritual pilgrimage we are on isn’t as simplistic as we are sometimes led to believe.  There seems to be two pieces that have to be balanced, and we find it in Luke’s gospel immediately before the Good Samaritan story.  He told his followers: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind” part and the “and your neighbor as yourself” part.

In this text Martha and Mary are being treated as disciples of Jesus. They are not two from the crowd of Jesus’ followers but part of his inner circle.  I don’t find it any different than when Jesus was teaching James and John in private.

Just a couple of weeks ago we read something quite similar from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.  He wrote: “The only thing that matters is faith working through love.”  I guess I’m saying that only things – one thing that always trumps another is a dangerous path to take.

At different times, in different circumstances we all may be and often are called to tryout different roles, identities, patterns of behavior some of which feel “tried and true” or even immutable not only for the sake of growing in our own discipleship, but to invite others — even or especially others who may seem perfectly happy with a privileged role they’ve got — to become more fully who they are in Christ, and to live more fully into the ministry to which Christ calls them.

How do we find a balance that embraces the needs of Mary and Martha?  Two things brought that home to me this morning during unprogrammed worship.  First there was a man calling from the back door “Is there anyone here?”  He had the keys to the Family Promise van and needed to hand them off to someone.  Then a bit later one of the worshipper’s phone must have vibrated – disturbing only its owner – but it required her to leave the Meeting Room for a few moments.  Both incidents reminded me that as wonderful it is to be fully absorbed in worship, at times the world will break in and call us to respond to the need of another.  For Martha the task was overwhelming, not so for Mary.  But we need to find both the Martha and the Mary in ourselves.

A wonderful, shocking, life-giving truth is that flexibility in our discipleship often yields more blessings than we know how to gather — blessings so rich they must be shared.

A preparative message for our community discussion on the meaning of membership.

Galatians 6:10. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

We’ve been led to believe that Eskimos have at least 52 words for ice, over 180 words for snow and as many as a thousand words for reindeer. Those who have studied the languages of the Inuit culture tell us that’s quite an exaggeration. But never the less, like the Inuit who live in a world of ice, snow and reindeer we too need expressions to make distinctions between things and experiences in our lives that are quite similar.

There is the great old story of the little girl from a plain Quaker background who after visiting a cathedral in a great city was heard to say that she now knew what was a saint.  It is one, she pronounced, through whom the light shown.  Since the middle ages the world has been blessed with the artistic beauty of art glass windows and it’s easy to forget that along with their beauty they taught stories from the Bible of the Church to a mostly illiterate population.

Though we often speak of such pieces of art as “stained glass” they are more correctly ‘art glass’.   Stained glass is the result of an artist’s hand painting faces, hands and even text on glass and baking it in a kiln to set the stain.  Art glass is the medium used to create patterned window panels.  It is an art form in itself.  Out of sheets of glass selected for their color, texture and opacity pieces of a design are cut, their edges ground and smoothly fit together with copper, lead or silver, cleaned and polished to form a panel to last for lifetimes.

What the little girl saw in that cathedral was light streaming through patterned art glass panels that bore the likeness of biblical characters and saints of the Church.

Most of the glass we use today is transparent. It is, in fact, a modern miracle. It transmits light so that objects or images on one side can be seen on the other as if there were no intervening material.  If television commercials have it right, this is a nightmare for birds and cats.  It allows us to watch fish in their bowls or watch raging winter storms and stay warm and dry.   We use it in our homes, cars, computers and every hand held device that has a screen.

To make the earliest commercial glass strong men stood on a raised platform and after dipping long poles into vats of melted sand they spun them until a large circle of the melted material congealed and set.  They broke the circle of transparent glass from the pole and cut it into a shippable form.  .

Last week I noticed that windows in the Glover Mansion are made of the center cores which remained from the glass making process. Because of their form they’re not transparent, they’re translucent.  They diffuse the light that they transmits in a way that objects beyond cannot be clearly seen.  In modern ways we intentionally make glass to do that, let light through but not to be able to clearly make out what’s on the other side.  Shower Doors for shower stalls are one obvious example.  Doors for kitchen cabinets are also typical.  Only in rare occasions would translucent glass be used in a patterned art glass panel.   

It is the quality of opalescence that is essential to beautiful “stained glass” windows, a milky, iridescent appearance of a dense glass medium when it is illuminated by sunlight.  Opalescent glass is a different product entirely than commercial window glass.  Instead of being manufactured to stringent standards of clarity and uniformity this glass is still made today  one sheet at a time. It is the product of experimentation with a wide variety of minerals that when added to the glass mixture results in glass that the light, as it passes through it, transmits all kinds of color.  Cut to the shape of parts of a larger design, ground, wrapped and joined with other pieces of the design it becomes a masterpiece of beauty and presentation.

As the little girl described, light passing through the art glass panels in a great cathedral teaches and inspires. Of course Quakers are the first to want to talk about the meaning of Light.  We speak of the Light of Christ, the Light within.  Even the revered old liturgical hymn Holy, Holy, Holy  has us singing of the light eternal which fills us with power, love and purity. 

My thought is that as much as we value transparency in commerce and communication in human interchange it is an questionable if not impossible goal. I rather like the idea that it is all the extraneous materials, the impurities if you like, which when added to melted sand turn crystal clarity to milky opalescence and which add colors to the glass.   And then, of course, it requires pieces from many colors and textures of hand thrown and rolled sheets of opalescent glass, cut, ground, wrapped and held together by a bonding of metals to create the extraordinary image that when light passes through draws us to reverence.