Pentecost 16

Today's lessons are not about the authority of the prophets to teach but the ability of their listeners to learn.

I must quote  Nancy Koester:
Are we teachable? Can we change? Can we grow into the image of God in which we are created?

Each text for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost asks these questions. Psalm 25 puts them in the form of a prayer: “Lead me in your truth and teach me.”

The gist of the lesson in Ezekial is that the exilic Israelites should quit blaming their situation on the sins of the past and take responsibility for their present actions.

In the alternate lesson the Israelites quarrel with God and Moses over their thirst.

The lectionary passage Philippians 2:1–13 continues Paul’s preceding recommendations on how followers of Jesus Christ should live.  Again to quote Working Preacher. 

When Christ came to the Temple in today's Gospel he marked the beginning of the end since he here confronted Jewish authority directly and set the seeds for his eventual crucifixion.

It is interesting to note that in the parable neither son comes off as a particularly shining example of Christian obedience. God works through imperfect followers. We should not use our inadequacies as an excuse for not acting.

Pentecost 15

Chapter 19 of Matthew deals with questions of salvation and what one must do to earn it. The simple answer, of course, is that one cannot earn what is freely given. Today's lessons deal with an issue dear to the hearts of the church's faithful members. I have been faithful in attendance at the services of God's House all my life, I have tithed or better and have been a pillar of the congregation; I even have a plaque to confirm it. What then of these johnny come latelys? What did they do to earn salvation, they don't even contribute to the upkeep of the building.

Our adventure begins with the reluctant prophet Jonah whom God sends to Nineveh. Not only does Jonah not want to go to Ninevah, he fears the wrath of its citizens given the message he has been sent to deliver and furthermore he fully believes the people should suffer God's righteous wrath for the iniquity of their lives. When his message achieves the results God desired and God repents his wrath Jonah is annoyed with God and tells him so, then sits and sulks by the city's walls. Why should these people get off scot free when Jonah has lived his entire life in God's service.

The alternate OT Lesson is a passage from Exodus chronicling the Israelite's wanderings in the desert. Why did Moses and Aaron lead them into the wilderness to die of hunger when they could be feasting in the fleshpots of Egypt. When God sends them Manna from Heaven it isn't long before they complain again about the boring nature of this life-giving food.

Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

This verse is echoed in all our lessons today.

Php 1:29  For you have been given the privilege of serving Christ, not only by believing in him, but also by suffering for him.
Php 1:30  Now you can take part with me in the battle. It is the same battle you saw me fighting in the past, and as you hear, the one I am fighting still.

The message of the parable in Matthew:
The doling out of God's mercy is not done by Union Scale, it is no closed Union Shop. There is no fairness about it because none of us have 'earned' it. It is a benificence freely given to all to whom it is granted by the Holy Spirit that they believe. Depending on how you look at it God shows no favouritism or he shows all favouritism. There is no special place reserved for those who have laboured all their lives on behalf of God's saving grace save for the joy they have experienced in God's service. In fact the expectation of reward for faithful service could be accounted a sin.

1Co 9:16  I have no right to boast just because I preach the gospel. After all, I am under orders to do so. And how terrible it would be for me if I did not preach the gospel!
1Co 9:17  If I did my work as a matter of free choice, then I could expect to be paid; but I do it as a matter of duty, because God has entrusted me with this task.
1Co 9:18  What pay do I get, then? It is the privilege of preaching the Good News without charging for it, without claiming my rights in my work for the gospel.
1Co 9:19  I am a free man, nobody's slave; but I make myself everybody's slave in order to win as many people as possible.

God's mercy is not fair. Perhaps we should be thankful it is not fair. If it were fair none of us would merit it.

Pentecost 14

Rather obvious today's theme is Forgiveness.

Let's begin with another passage from Matthew we recite every Sunday:

Mat 6:12  Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.

You may use the more obsolete term "trespasses".

The idea is that we cannot free ourselves from the guilt within us and be truly forgiven our sins unless we forgive those sins we observe in others. Unfortunately we can most readily recognize our own peccadilloes in others because they are so familiar to us despite the fact that we manage to be blind to them in our own actions.

Take another example:

2Sa 12:5  David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living LORD that the man who did this ought to die!
2Sa 12:6  For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took."
2Sa 12:7  "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul.

Read the rest of this story and note that Nathan traps King David by telling him a parable.

The framers of our pericope chose the story of Joseph and his brothers to associate with today's theme. When their father Israel, (Jacob), dies Joseph's brothers fear reprisals from their brother Joseph for the wrongs they have done him. They have guilty consciences. Despite the fact that Joseph had forgiven them they had not forgiven themselves for their own wrongdoing. Because they still think in terms of revenge they expected their brother would as well.

Two verses stand out in Psalm 103:

Psa 103:8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Psa 103:13  As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

Romans raises yet another aspect of the Forgiveness equation:

Mat 7:1  "Judge not, that you be not judged.

Or to put it in more contemporary lexicon, don't sweat the small stuff. At the time the issue was the eating of non-kosher foods. How often do we get caught up in splitting hairs and forget our mission to spread God's love. Is that principle so important that it merits alienating a fellow christian brother.

To come back to Peter's question:

"Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?"

And the answer as far as I'm concerned is that if you 're keeping score you haven't truly forgiven. To be truly forgiven the record has been destroyed. That is what God's forgiveness grants us if we truly repent. If we cannot forgive the faults of others is it because we cannot truly accept the idea that God can forgive them in us? Do we judge others too harshly because we judge ourselves too harshly as well? Or is it that we have not truly repented because we have that secret vice we really don't want to give up?

If, like Joseph's Brothers, we cannot abandon those vengeful sentiments and jealousies then we probably can't accept that God will forgive them in us.

Pentecost 13

Mat 18:15  If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower.
Mat 18:16  But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses.
Mat 18:17  If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.

Whether or not these are statements made by Jesus or placed in his mouth by the writers of Matthew to enhance their authority they are a fundamental means of dealing with disagreements and dissension within any group, the church included. The most reviled possible individual the writer could conceive of was a tax collector. Today the final step in dealing with an obstreperous  individual within the church would be excommunication, a step rarely used within the Lutheran context but an extension of the more primitive practice of shunning in which an individual so sentenced would literally disappear from the view of his neighbours in ancient interdependent societies tantamount to a death sentence. I would discount the translations that refer to Gentiles, but this was written for a Jewish audience.

The advice is very apt pointing out that before approaching others about a complaint the complainant should approach the person who has aggrieved him first one on one, then with witnesses, and finally to a higher authority.

The alternate OT Lesson deals with the institution of Jewish Rite of Passover. A seminal event in Jewish faith.

The lesson from Ezekiel deals with his commission from God to call his people Israel to account. Verse 11 makes it clear that Ezekiel's task is to ensure through his prophesy that Israel turn from their wicked ways for it is not God's purpose to punish but to turn sinners to repentance.

The passage from Psalm 119 reads like one from the book of wisdom. Internalizing the Laws of the Lord sets us free and makes us happy. If we learn to live by them we will delight in them and find comfort in them. Compare with Psalm 23:

Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Romans summarizes the Law of Moses and Jesus more succinct formula.

Today's Gospel ends with this famous addition:

Mat 18:19  Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven.
Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.

Each of us is the sum total of everything that has ever happened to us in life, everything we have experienced, learned, and read. Each of us looks at any experience, teaching or doctrine through the prism of our life's experience. It should come as no shock that everyone of us has their own unique point of view. We are products of our upbringing, our cultural heritage, the language we speak, our work experience, our economic position, our status in the community.

What is important is that we love ourselves, that we feel comfortable within our own skins and right with our God as we conceive him/her. Secondly that all we think and do and say is aimed at doing no harm, indeed doing good to our fellow creatures and the world around us.

Given the scope of possibility for disagreement if two or three agree on anything in God's name who can stop it from happening.

The issue then seems to be obedience to the Law, Authority, and Concord. And the answer seems to be that if we live in unity with our neighbour and do right by them we cannot go very wrong.

However in the very next verse comes the BUT from Peter we will confront next week. How many times must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me.

Garth's Catechism

• Does not give the answers, provides a process for asking the right questions.
• Is not a talisman against evil, but a means of support when bad things happen.
• The opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty.
• One cannot prove the existence of God, that’s why one needs faith.
• Belief is not intellectual knowledge, it is a spiritual gift.
• There is only one God, but there are many approaches to conceiving him.
• One cannot know God, but one can believe he exists.
• God is in all things and of all creation.
• Heaven is not a place but a state of grace.
• The Kingdom of God is not a place in time or space.
• Prayer is not a shopping list, it is conversation with God.
• God does not need our thanks and praise, it is we who need to give it.
• Sin is anything that separates us from the Love of God.
• Hell is not a place but being separated from God. We create our own hells.
• Faith is granted to individuals but it is lived out in the communion of all believers.
• We meet God in the person of his saints, our fellow believers.
• We cannot earn God’s grace, it is freely given.
• We cannot buy God’s grace through good works or deeds, but our response to redemption will prompt us to express God’s love through acts of love of our own.
• Confession implies regret and a will to turn away from past sins.
• Repentance means turning away from sin, forgiveness means wiping the slate clean, it is not a license to return to former behaviours and do it again.
• Lutherans believe, they are not saved in a one-time act but experience a growing conviction of the Love of God.
• God does not punish us for sinful behaviour, but neither does he proof us from the consequences of our acts and those of our fellow human beings and the forces of nature that surround us.
• Bad things happen to good people, being Christian does not guarantee good health, wealth, or happiness.
• God does not punish our sins, we do that ourselves; nor does he reward good, goodness is its own reward.
• Holding a grudge hurts only the person who poisons his spirit with that hate.
• The Ten Commandments and the Law are a guide for communal living. Breaking them does not constitute sin, sin is what breaking them does to the individual who transgresses them. It is not the act itself that is sinful, it is the intent. Even good things can be done with sinful intent.
• Evil is not incarnate, it is an absence of God’s Love.
• Nothing in creation is inherently evil, evil occurs when good things are put to bad uses.
• Jesus Christ is God Incarnate, an expression of God’s Saving Grace. He is one with God and has existed throughout eternity.
• We express our experience of God’s Love in terms of the Holy Spirit. We are imbued with it in Baptism, Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Some experience God’s Spirit in dreams and others through the appearance of Angels.
• We term that part of us that experiences God as our Soul. It inhabits ever pore of our being and animates our person. We experience it in our fellow beings through their aura, that which animates every living creature. Some extend that to include even inanimate objects
• We can experience God’s Love, but only another human being can express it through healing touch.

Pentecost 12

Today's lessons are about identity and purpose.

Let's begin with the alternative OT Lesson.
Moses was an escape artist from the day of his birth. First he was concealed at birth to escape the ordered extermination of all Hebrew Males; then after growing up in the palace as the adopted son of the Pharaoh's daughter, remember Moses and the Bullrushes?, he rediscovers his Hebrew roots and goes to see his people leading to the killing of an Egyptian overseer; escaping to Midian he finds favour with Jethro the priest and marries his daughter Zipporah; content to mind his father-in-law's sheep and goats he is jerked out of his pastoral existance by the Burning Bush at which point begins the ultimate escape saga--The Exodus.

Moses' was no ordinary family. His older sister Mirian was capable of speaking up to the Crown Princess of Egypt and brazenly deceiving her to save her brother's life. His older brother Aaron was a priest and prophet. Through them the tribe of Levi became identified as the priestly clan. But Moses was a reluctant hero ever filled with feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. His reticence in public speaking led to Aaron becoming his mouthpiece. However it was the education he received in the palace that gave Moses the tools to lead his people. His inferiority complex and lack of self-confidence was with him throughout his long journey to the promised land. Constantly he complained to God about the Israelites' lack of faith in his leadership and in God's promises. Repeatedly he returned to God for reassurance spending so much time on Mount Sinai that the people rebelled in his absence. The lesson here is that God chooses the people for the job, heroes are made not born.
Jeremiah is another reluctant prophet. He complains that on God's behalf  he has become an outcast among his own people, reviled and isolated. God's reply:

Jer 15:19  Then the LORD told me: Stop talking like a fool! If you turn back to me and speak my message, I will let you be my prophet once again. I hope the people of Judah will accept what you say. But you can ignore their threats, *
Jer 15:20  because I am making you strong, like a bronze wall. They are evil and violent, but when they attack,
Jer 15:21  I will be there to rescue you. I, the LORD, have spoken.

In our Psalm King David shares in self-doubt and asks for reassurance as well.

In Romans the Epistle writer adjures the faithful to be steadfast in that faith, to do God's work among their number, and:

Rom 12:21  Don't let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.

And so we come to the Gospel. It was last Sunday that Peter blurted out his revelation as to Christ's true identity. Today we must face up to the realities involved in that calling. It is that same Peter who would deny that a loving God would require such a sacrifice from his beloved Rabbi to which he receives the rebuke:

Get Thee behind me Satan. You're in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.

Again, God chose fishermen and peasants, men of the people to be his messengers to the downtrodden. The authorities of the day and those in power and positions of leadership were threatened by his message and feared Jesus' attack on the status quo. It was they who recognized him as a threat to their positions in the community and saw to his conviction and execution. It is this eventuality for which Jesus is preparing his Disciples.

Once more it is to be seen that God uses the raw material at his disposal to attain his ends. These men were not special, it was God's calling that made them special. It should also be obvious that the interpretation in Matthew was written with the benefit of hindsight. At the time those surrounding Jesus would have shared the opinion that Peter spoke up and voiced.

At 33 in his day Jesus was an old man. Most men did not live to be twice that age in his time.  The cynic in me says that Jesus needed to die at the height of his powers, had he lived to reach old age and his dotage his impact would have lost much of its power. Had he avoided the very public arrival in Jerusalem  he might have lived to reach old age. But that was not the purpose for which he was born.

So finally, it is one thing to know intellectially what is necessary. Many are gifted with great intellect and learning. But it is having the faith to act upon that knowledge and the courage to suffer the consequences that makes great leaders.

The Story of Joseph--Alternate OT Lessons Pentecost 2014

The story of Jacob’s son Joseph is pivotal to all Jewish history and creed. For it was he who was instrumental in bringing his father and 11 brothers to Egypt where they eventually fell into slavery necessitating the rise of Moses, the deliverance from Egypt, the wanderings in the Sinai, the giving of the Law and Israel’s rebirth as a monotheist culture.

Jacob was a momma’s boy who followed his scheming mother’s prompting to steal his elder brother’s birthright. The son of his favourite wife, Rachel, Joseph too was a dreamer and a schemer who must have fondly reminded his aging father of his youthful self for he favoured him and showered gifts on him. Possessed of great vanity and self-importance the seventeen-year-old Joseph angered his older brothers who, when Joseph was sent to check up on them, plotted to murder him and take his bloodied long-sleeved coat to his father. Reuben’s scruples could not abide this deed so Joseph was thrown into a dry pit and sold by Judah to traders in Reuben’s absence who in turn traded him to a servant of Pharaoh in Egypt. The torn and bloodied long-sleeved robe was still presented to Jacob. So God uses less than perfect models to attain his ends.

Famine in the Middle East is a recurring theme and when it once more returned the brothers are sent to Egypt where it was rumoured grain was to be gotten. In the intervening years Joseph had ingratiated himself with Pharaoh and was in charge of his granaries. Recognizing his brothers Joseph deals harshly with them and plays tricks on them until they bring his young brother Benjamin to him and after revealing himself has them bring Jacob to Egypt as well.

The story continues with the Israelites settling in the Land of Goshen where they were fruitful and multiplied at a rate that alarmed their Egyptian hosts. They are enslaved, then their male offspring ordered killed to deplete their numbers. And so the story continues having begun in June with Abraham taking Isaac to the mount to offer as sacrifice, a tradition common among his Canaanite neighbours. It would seem that the intent is to parallel the development of Christian traditions and teachings with the similar myths that led to the Judaic tradition.

Understanding that the number 40 stood for a long time and not literally that exact figure looking at a map it seems impossible that the Israelites took more than a year or two to complete their journey to the Promised Land. The trip to Mt Horeb or Sinai for example would following the Biblical record have taken c. 44 days. The one important stipulation was that the trip took long enough for attrition, malnutrition, warfare, and disease to wipe out the generation that had been infected by Egyptian Culture and Religion. Moses died within sight of the Promised Land on Mt Nebo, only Joshua and Caleb actually made it all the way.