Sept. 27, 2020 17h of Pentecost

Matthew 21:28-32 (The Message)

28 "Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.' 29 "The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went. 30 "The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went. 31 "Which of the two sons did what the father asked?" They said, "The first." 32 John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn't care enough to change and believe him.”

The answer to Jesus question, “Which of the two did what his Father wanted?” is obvious.  The one who said no and then went anyway.  It is not enough to just say yes to God.  Actions must follow words or the words are empty and useless.  “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  Mt. 7:21

It is not only our sin which separates us from God.  Our religiosity - our pretending we are more holy then we are - our playing at our religion separates us  from God.  As Martin Luther once said “The curse of the godless person can sound more pleasant in God’s ears than the hallelujah of the pious.”

It is not wise to say yes too quickly, or to think that once we have said ‘yes’, there will never be a no again.  Never be a doubt or a question or a hesitation.  Those who seek to oppress people take away the right to say no.  This God will never do.

There are times when it is healthy to say ‘no’, even to God.  So we can say ‘yes’ and mean it.  It has been said that a mentally healthy person can say ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘yippee’.   Perhaps that is true of a healthy religious person too.  We have to be born anew again, and again, and again (change our minds) as we journey with God through life.  For “it takes a long time to make a soul.”  Alan Jones

Those who never change their minds,  

never change anything.”  

Winston Churchill

Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, be patient with me as I say no so I can say yes and even yippee.”

Sept. 20 2020 16th of Pentecost

Matthew 20:1-16 (The Message)

1 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3 "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing? 7 ' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard. 8 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.' 9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.' 13 "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?' 16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

We all like to think we are generous, and are eager to embrace generosity when or where ever it happens.  Yet we also quickly begrudge it when it doesn’t happen to us.

God’s generosity (grace) happens!  Sometimes to us and sometimes to others and we have no control over it.  God will be generous to whom God will be generous!

None of us deserve it; so it is always a gift.

Working long and hard in the Kingdom does not make us any more deserving of God’s grace then those who come in late and work little.  In fact, we are the fortunate ones, for we had the privilege of working long and hard in a task which brings joy and blessing. 

“God’s grace cannot be a random problem-solver doled out to the few and the virtuous—or it is hardly grace at all!”    Richard Rohr

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, thank you for giving me much to do for you,

which enriches my life with grace upon grace.  And keep me from thinking I deserve it!”

 Sept. 13, 2020 15h of Pentecost

Matthew 18: 21- 35  (The Message)

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”

22 Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

23-25 “The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

26-27 “The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

28 “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’

29-31 “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

32-35 “The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”

There are times when we have to withhold forgiveness or all we do is enable. 

 

Is it possible the servant was not gracious with his fellow servant because he was forgiven too much too soon and it didn’t work?    It didn’t work because he wasn’t ready for it.  He was still caught in his own selfish, self-centered, self-seeking attitude which prevented him from being gracious no matter how gracious others were to him.  It didn’t work because he was not ready to admit that he was powerless to do anything about his condition and needed the kings mercy, not just a little time to work things out.

We can cheapen the gift of forgiveness when we offer it too quickly or too easily or even too often.  Then it ends up making little if any difference in our lives.  We are called to want to forgive; we cannot always forgive as quickly or easily as we would like.

Forgiveness is not pretending everything is okay when it isn’t.  It is not letting someone walk over you again and again and again, doing nothing about it.  It is not allowing someone to be irresponsible over and over and over again, doing nothing to stop it.  That’s enabling in the language of today - co-dependency - which leads not to life and happiness but more dysfunction and unhappiness.  There are times we cannot forgive and there are times our forgiveness will make no difference, because it cannot connect in a real way with the life of the one we would like to forgive.  This is a bitter reality of forgiveness.

                                      

Yet we are to never give up on forgiveness;  always be ready to forgive when the time comes.  When actions “speak louder then words” and we dare take the risk of forgiveness again.

 

“Forgiveness is love’s toughest work, and love’s biggest risk.  

If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, 

it can make you a doormat or an insufferable manipulator.”  Lewis Smedes

Prayer thoughts for the week:

“Lord, help to forgive even when I don’t want to.”

“…keep me open to forgiveness even when the one I want to forgive doesn’t want my forgiveness.”

“…help me to never give up on forgiveness.”

Sept. 6, 2020 14th of Pentecost

 

 

Matthew 18: 15-18  (The Message)

15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him - work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. 16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. 17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love. 18 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.

We are not to be piously judging and condemning; we are to be accountable to each other and not be indifferent about that which causes disharmony in our lives and relationships.  And we are to strive for forgiveness, not giving up until it can happen.

Forgiveness is not an option in God’s Kingdom.  It is a must!  And we are to keep at it until it happens.

I just visited with a friend who took this advice literally. He lives in a small town in Kansas and goes to a small church there.  A conflict with a neighbor, an older man, lead to some harsh words from his lips.  He was troubled about this and went to his Pastor to ask if he could have a moment in the church service to ask the older man for forgiveness.

The Pastor said yes and he did just that.  In front of the congregation, to the surprise of 

the old man and probably everyone else in the service, he asked him by name for forgiveness.  There were tears in the eyes of the old man as he hugged my friend and accepted his forgiveness.  About three weeks later the older man died suddenly of a heart attack.

With peace in his heart and soul!  What we say to one another can indeed be eternal!

"To err is human;  

to forgive is divine."         

 Alexander Pope,                                              

18th c. English poet                                    

Prayer thought for the week: “Lord help me to remember to seek forgiveness when I say hurtful words or do hurtful deeds.  Or when someone has done hurtful things to me.  It brings peace to our hearts and gives us a glimpse of the joy which is eternal.”