Oct. 25, 2020  Reformation Sunday

Matthew 11:16-19

16-19 “How can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children whining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a lush, a friend of the riffraff. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

The people of Jesus day did not want anything to change.  They wanted the promised Messiah to be according to their liking, not someone who would challenge them to change their way of thinking about God and about living in God’s love.  They wanted an exclusive God who would favor them and be harsh on others.  They wanted to” have their cake and eat it too.”

There was no room for change in their thinking or believing!

The Reformation is about change.  We don’t like change either .  We even use the Bible to keep us from change.  God wants to make a new covenant with us.  We don’t want it.  We want the old covenant where we know what to expect and are more in charge.

God’s Word is an instrument of change and will, if we let it, change the way we look at things. It “is the source of all that is creative in the life of the Church.”  (Luther) It sets us free to be new and different people.  People who put love at the center of life and let nothing keep it from doing its thing.

Today, for us, the Reformation has to do with our attitude towards all who are different, be the difference color, race, creed, sexuality, or any other differenced we can think of.  White supremacy is an evil in our midst created in part because we refuse to believe that “You cannot own a child of God.”  (Movie - “The State of Jones”)

That is, no one is superior to any one else!  We are all equal before God!  

The reformation we need, in our hearts and in our country is the rejection of exclusivity and the acceptance of inclusivity as God’s will - to put love at the center of our lives and let it lead us into redemptive change in our living.

Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, you have included me in your love.  Help me to be inclusive in my heart and mind,  doing that which is well pleasing in your sight. Amen”

Oct. 18, 2020 Pentecost 20

Matt. 22:15-22 (The Message)

“15 That's when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. 16 They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. 17 So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece. 20 "This engraving - who does it look like? And whose name is on it?" 21 They said, "Caesar." "Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his." 22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.”

“A Loaded Question”

A loaded question is one that has more hidden then revealed.

A loaded question doesn’t deserve a straight answer.  

In fact it can’t be answered straight.

The issue at stake in this text is not simply the payment of taxes.  It is the issue of the plurality and priority of the claims on one’s life and substance.

The issue at the heart of the text is how much are we willing to struggle with our faith as “a power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of life”. (P.T. Forsyth)

How much are we willing to struggle with putting our faith into action in love.

The answer Jesus gave left them with the struggle to be responsible for their own answer.  And to determine where the hypocrisy was in their lives. (We all have it - hypocrisy - like it or not!)

Each of us have the responsibility to determine as best we can where the hypocrisy is in our lives and then work at being more genuine, more inclusive, more truly human. 

For if the image of Caesar is on the coin, then the counterpart to that which Jesus leaves unsaid, is that Gods image is on us!  All of life is to be lived in gratitude to God who created us and sustains us with His love.

“How do you know when the night is over and the day has dawned?”  an old rabbi asked his students.  “It is when you can look into the face of any man or woman and see there the face of your brother or sister.  Because, if you cannot do that , no matter how bright it is, you are still in the dark.”

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, open my eyes to see my brother or sister in all who pass my way.  Amen

Oct. 11, 2020 Pentecost 19

Matt. 22:1-14  (The Message)

8 "Then he told his servants, 'We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren't up to it. 9 Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.' 10 The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on - every place filled. 11 "When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn't properly dressed. 12 He said to him, 'Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!' The man was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, 'Get him out of here - fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn't get back in.' 14 "That's what I mean when I say, 'Many get invited; only a few make it.'"

We are shocked and surprised by the treatment of the one who came to the feast without a wedding garment. We do want to have our cake and eat it too.  As Dr Helmut Thielicke says, “We seat ourselves at the banquet table without a wedding garment when we allow our sins to be forgiven but still want to hang on to them.” 

When we have no intention of being changed by God’s grace!

“Christian satiation is worse then hungry heathenism.”  Dr. Helmet Thielicke

Indifference and complacency are both dangerous to faith.  They take the life out of it.  

God expects to see something    

different in our lives because

we have been to his banquet.

Prayer thoughts for the week:

“Lord, help me to live as one who is being changed by grace.

keep me from smug complacency which fails to be graceful towards others.

Let something different happen in and through me because I have been forgiven.”   

 

Oct 4, 2020 Pentecost 18

Matt. 21:33-46 (The Message)

 33 "Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. 34 When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits. 35 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. 36 The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. 37 The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.' 38 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' 39 They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him. 40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?" 41 "He'll kill them - a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time." 42 Jesus said, "Right - and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles: The stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone. This is God's work; we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it! 43 "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life.

The Kingdom of God will always belong to someone, yet it is owned by no one.

We are tenants, not owners.  And the bottom line for a tenant is the crop produced.

Jesus is saying to the leaders of his day that “ the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and be given to a people who will produce the proper fruits” because:

They were adding to the burdens of the people rather then lifting their burdens.

They were more interested in being religious then in being merciful.

They were quick to cast the first stone as they judged others but could not

see the sins of their ways.

We who claim Jesus as Lord stand with the tenants.  We are to produce proper fruits.  If we don’t, we too will have it taken away from us.  This is not a threat.  This is part of Gods promise!  God expects much from us because God has done much for us.  We are blessed so we can be a blessing.

The fruit God is looking for in our lives is that we love one another as God loves us.

And that we “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly”.

This is not sweet sentimentalism but strong compassion.

Compassion which dares to not “insist on its own way” when that means others have to suffer.

It means daring to act so that others will have it as good as we do.

It even means we vote with concern in our hearts for the welfare of all - not just a choice few!

Compassion is “That inner disposition 

to go with others where they hurt,

where they are weak, vulnerable, 

lonely, and  broken.”  Henri Nouwen

Prayer thought for the week:  “ Lord, help me to struggle to be compassionate when it is so easy to be judgmental.  Help me to “go with” others “where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, broken”, not just in my thoughts and prayers but also in my words and deeds, that we might indeed be a country which has “liberty and justice” for all!