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! 

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.”

Aug. 30, 2020 13th of Pentecost

 

Matthew 16:21-24 (The Message)
21 "Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. 22 Peter took him in hand, protesting, "Impossible, Master! That can never be!" 23 But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." 24 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how."

Peter wanted suffering eliminated from Jesus life.  We all would like to see the same.
Suffering is so costly.  It hurts so much, demands so much, takes so much.

Helmut Thielicke has said the problem for Americans is that we don’t know how to deal with suffering.  We regard it as something “which is fundamentally inadmissible, distressing, embarrassing, and not to be endured.”

What Peter and we do not understand is that suffering belongs to the very nature of this world and to the very nature of Jesus - the suffering servant who emptied himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:5-8)

As Douglas John Hall reminds us in “God And Human Suffering”, “there are forms of suffering which belong, in God’s intention. to the human condition.  Not all of what we experience as suffering is totally absurd, a mistake, an oversight, or the consequence of sin.”  Some of it is a part of what it takes to give us deep appreciation for what life is really all about.

How would we discover the power of love without suffering loneliness?
How would we experience wonder, surprise, or gratitude without the experience of limits.  Of not having everything we want, when we want it, without ever going without anything.

How would we know what was good if we never experienced the pain of what is bad?

become more truly whole, unified, and centered.”

Life without limits, without a purpose beyond having it bigger and better; without struggle, commitment to something beyond my own happiness and economic security; without denial, without the struggle which comes in loosing oneself in being an instrument of love in a world of hate; life without integrity and responsibility, servant hood and compassion IS NO LIFE AT ALL!  IT IS INDEED VERY THIN!

The challenge for all of us is not only to try figure out what God’s will really is.

It is also to be willing to suffer rather then lose our integrity.  Suffer to discover the deeper truths of life.  The secret of life is that it has to be lost to be found; it has to dare suffer to be real and have integrity.

“A pain-free life would be a life-less life.”                

“Becoming is suffering…through it we 

become more truly whole, unified, and centered.”

Douglas John Hall

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, you suffered for me and you suffer with me.  Help me to accept suffering as a part of life and transform it into goodness and joy.”

August 23, 2020 12th of Pentecost

Matthew 16:13-20  (The Message)

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?" 14 They replied, "Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." 15 He pressed them, "And how about you? Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. 

“The genius of the poet is that he says more than he knows.”

The genius of faith is that it says more than it knows - always!

God is unsearchable and incomprehensible;  grace goes beyond human understanding and logic.  Faith is believing more then we can ever know.

Peter was saying more then he knew when he confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  The words came strangely to his lips from beyond his own understanding.  It is so also with us,  as Luther wrote long ago: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or come to him...”

Faith is not having all the answers to the riddle of life;  not never having to doubt again; or be perplexed about things; or afraid; or confused; or ever having to feel lost again.  It is not a magical formula which takes away all the hurt, pain, and fear out of life.  

Faith is the God given capacity to hope when all looks hopeless; laugh when much is heavy; dance when there is little reason to dance; pray when God seems far away and not tuned in.  It is the God given capacity to list all the reasons why there is no God, and yet...and yet believe in God!

It is the sure and certain hope that God is for is, not against us.  No matter what!

Prayer thoughts for the week: Lord, I believe, help my unbelief...help me hold on when I feel there is seems to be nothing to hold on to.…help me remember and dare believe that when all seems lost, You are still with me.…keep me mindful of your awesome grace: that You are always with me, for me, by me, in me.  Never against me!