Monday, November 25, 2013



Giving Thanks in Trying Times

Daniel 2:17-23

November 24, 2013

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Giving Thanks in Trying Times

Daniel 2:17-23

            Many of you have the same custom on Thanksgiving Day.  Sometime over the course of the meal, before or after or in between, you will go around the table and everyone is expected to identify and describe something that they are thankful for. 

            Those who do this year after year have a well-rehearsed litany. They know this is coming, so they are thankful for the same things every year.  They recite it quickly to get it over with. But, guests are always caught off guard, even if they have been warned. 

Some really struggle with this custom because they understand the magnitude of the question, “What are you thankful for?”    They may stammer or stutter a bit because they know that the answer to this question will reveal what they truly value.  When you answer this once-a-year question, you tell everyone at the table, this is what is most important to you. So you don’t want it to sound trivial or shallow, or else people might think that you are trivial or shallow.

            In our scripture today, Daniel gives thanks to God for wisdom and strength to remain faithful in trying times.  This is what he thinks is most important.  In a few moments, you’ll see why these are the qualities that matter.

            Over the course of this message I’d like you to think about this question.  What are you thankful for?  What do you truly value?  What is most important to you?  Figure out the answer to this question and you’ll come closer to God than you were before. First, let us pray:

            Lord, you have given so much to each of us. Grant us one more thing – a grateful heart.  Help us to enter your gates with thanksgiving, and your courts with praise.[1]  Through Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen.

            For Daniel things were going from bad to worse.  He was far from home, and home was rubble burned and scarred.  He was young and at that stage in life when the future is supposed to open up before you like a flower; but the flower was crushed under the boots of a Babylonian army.  They had encircled his city, Jerusalem, broke down her walls, destroyed her Temple, ransacked and looted her homes, and carted off the best and the brightest across a thousand miles of desert to serve as glorified slaves in Babylon.  Daniel was one of those bright young men who were ripped from their homeland.

            Daniel was a man of faith and so decided he would make the best of a bad situation.  He used the talents and abilities God had given him to bloom where he was planted.  His gifts and skills and positive attitude did not go un-noticed; so, he was recruited for an internship to serve in the King’s palace.  He would spend three years learning the language and customs and all that it took to become a valued adviser in government service.  This was about as high as an out-of-towner could expect to go, so this was a plum opportunity for Daniel.

             Daniel did so well in this program that even the King thought him ten times brighter than the native born boys who had a head start in language and customs.  Daniel may be far from home, and may be a prisoner; but he was now at least a prisoner in the King’s palace and there were worse places he could be.

            Then the King began to have a disturbing dream, and the Bible says, “his spirit was troubled and he could not sleep.”[2]  Night after night he had the same dream and it was driving him crazy.  This was long before Freud and the development of modern psychological theory, so, he called in his consultants, the magicians, the enchanters and the sorcerers.  He told them that he was having this worrisome dream, and he wanted them to tell him what it meant.

            They were only too eager to strut their stuff so they asked him to tell them the dream.  The Kings had evidently worked with consultants before.  He knew that if he told them the dream, they would give him some kind of answer, any kind of answer, whether it was true or not.  He wanted to verify their deliverables, so before he signed the contract, he said if you know your stuff, if you really know your stuff you will first tell me what I dreamed. Do that, and then I’ll believe your interpretation.

            The consultants are looked at each in panic other like students who hadn’t studied for a test.  They said, “Your highness, you don’t understand, we can’t tell you what you have dreamed, but we can certainly tell you what it means. So just tell us what you dreamed, and we’ll tell you what it means.”

            The King was pretty cranky.  He hadn’t slept in days.  He raised the stakes.  He said, “If you don’t tell me what I’ve dreamed you shall be torn limb from limb, and your homes shall be laid in ruins.”[3] It was time to put up or shut up.  He had it up to here with sycophants and hangers-on.  He was ready to clean house.  If you couldn’t cut the mustard you would be fired, which in this case meant that you might be literally thrown into a fire.  His edict applied not only to those in upper management, but even on down to those who just completed their internship.

That meant Daniel and his friends were also on the hook.  The ink was barely dry on their diplomas when they are drawn in to this royal battle.  They hadn’t asked to be included in this, but there they were, almost finished before they had a chance to begin.

I want you to follow what Daniel does next, because this can serve as a model for you the next time you face a difficult situation.  First he goes to the King to ask him for more time.  Then he goes to his friends to ask them to join him in prayer. Finally, they go together to God.

That’s not a bad paradigm for dealing with any important problem.  Most of the bad decisions we make, we make because we feel rushed.  We are uncomfortable in the situation, and only what that feeling to end, so we reach for an answer that is quick and easy.  We just want to move on, whether we are ready to do that or not.  We want instant answers before we even understand what the question means.

Daniel could not fake an answer to the King’s question, “what did I dream?”  There was no way to bluff that, so he asked for time.  The King gave it to him.  Most people will, if the problem is important enough.  Most understand that it is better to do it right, than to do it right away.  Those who do not, who are too impatient, usually add to the problem, rather than take it away.

The next thing Daniel did was to gather his friends together for prayer. We do that a lot in the Church, though sometimes we’re not sure why?  Do numbers make the prayer more effective?  Does God hear better when many people ask for the same thing?  Is group prayer like getting out the vote?  Does God answer the prayers of those with the most votes?

I’m not sure that’s it. When Daniel invited his friends to pray with him I think it was more for his benefit than God’s.  When we pray in groups we find encouragement in each other. We have a sense that we are part of something greater than ourselves. When we pray in groups we think a little more about what we are praying for.   We don’t want to be heard as being shallow or trivial, so our prayers become less shallow and less trivial.  Our prayers become more corporate, more concerned with others and less concerned about ourselves.

As Daniel prayed for an answer to the King’s question, he did so not just to save his own skin, but also to save the lives of his friends and even those who didn’t think much of him at all. His prayer was for all the people who found themselves on the receiving end of the King’s anger.

God is gracious.  God gave the answer to Daniel.  He saw the King’s dream and understood its meaning.  Before he goes to the King with this good news.  Before he goes to collect the royal reward that will surely follow, Daniel pauses for a thanksgiving service.  There was no turkey or football.  It was just pure thanksgiving.  He prayed:

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
            To whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes the time and season;
            He removes the kings and sets up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise and
            Knowledge to to those who have understanding;
He reveals deep and mysterious things;
            He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with him.
            To thee, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise.[4]

Notice, in Daniel’s Thanksgiving service, he identifies first the one to whom he gives thanks.  Blessed be the name of God.  The Lord is the one to whom we give thanks.

A friend of mine observed:

I am amazed at how easily Thanksgiving is accepted in our country.  As far as I know none of the atheist groups are trying to get rid of it.  No one thinks their rights are violated by Thanksgiving.  On that day, we shut the country down, but no one will march on the capitol with placards saying, “Down with Thanksgiving.  Why is that?  Why do we get away with all this government-sanctioned piety in the country?  Perhaps it is because our souls all long to give thanks.  It is what they do best.  It is what souls were designed to do.”[5]

We all have this instinct but many don’t know how to direct it.  That’s why some have fallen into the habit of calling this Turkey day.  It’s easier to celebrate the slaughter of a defenseless bird than it is to acknowledge that there may be someone other than myself who is responsible for the blessings I enjoy.  If I recognize a power greater than my own, I will have to come to grips with the reality that I don’t know all the answers nor do I have the strength to meet all situations.

That is why Daniel thanks God for wisdom and courage and strength.  These are the things that really matter.  Daniel more than most understood how quickly the blessings we take for granted can be taken from us.  He knew how quickly the security of a strong wall could be broken down. He had seen the Babylonian army do just that.  He knew how trust in our own ability to repel an invader could be erased in a moment of national turmoil, how your world can be changed in an instant – and so do we.  We have also seen how vulnerable we are.

That’s why Daniel prayed for wisdom and courage, because an enemy who can attack out of the blue cannot destroy these blessings from God.  That’s why we pray for wisdom and courage as well, and why we give thanks when God provides them.

If around your Thanksgiving table someone asks you to identify what you are most thankful for, consider carefully your response because it identifies what you think is most important.  There are blessings that God has given you that give you joy, a warm home, a loving family, and a good job, even your health.  Then there are blessings that God gives you that are essential to your soul – faith, hope, love, wisdom, strength, and courage.  These are qualities that can only be given away, but never taken away.  They are the gifts for which we ought to truly be thankful.

I close with one of those thoughts that float around the internet.  I don’t know who wrote it or where it came from, but it captures the heart of this message.

I asked for strength that I might achieve,

            He made me weak that I might listen.
I asked for health that I might do greater things,
I was given grace that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I received nothing that I asked for,
All that I hoped for.
My prayer was answered.

So, give thanks with grateful hearts, for all that God has given and all that He promises yet to come.







[1] Psalm 100:1
[2] Daniel 2:1
[3] Daniel 2:5
[4] Daniel 2:21-22
[5] Barnes, Craig:  Choosing Gratitude.  November 22, 1998.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

T.M.I.
Luke 21:5-19
November 17, 2013

            Fundamentalism has become a force in almost every major religion.  You will find it in Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and in Christianity.  Although the followers of each have strong and opposing views on the nature of God and humanity, sin and salvation, they do share one common conviction – the world is changing too fast and that’s why they want to hold onto the tried and true. 
            Sometimes I feel the same way.  Every time I’m forced to learn a new computer program because the manufacturer no longer supports the old one, the one I bought only three years ago, I ask, “What was wrong with the old one? I liked the old one.  I understood it.  Why did they have to change it? Now I have to start all over and learn something new?”
            Old ways are comforting and change can be unsettling, but, get used to it.  It is inevitable and it is accelerating.  There are people here today who remember horse and buggies, telephones you had to crank and movies that had no sound.  In one lifetime we’ve gone from Wilbur and Orville Wright flying a hundred feet over a sand dune in Kitty Hawk to Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.  Who knows what kinds of changes my children will see in their lifetimes?  That is just technology.  Consider the changes in views and lifestyles and it will make your head spin.
            In our scripture today Jesus speaks of the things that change and the things that don’t and you might be surprised about which is which.  Before we try to figure that out, let us pray:
            Lord, we live in a world of constant change; some good, some bad and some in-between and sometimes it is hard to know which is which.  Grant us wisdom so that we can know what to hold onto and courage to let go what we should.  Amen.
            Anyone approaching Jerusalem in Jesus’ day couldn’t help but gawk at Herod’s Temple erupting from Mount Zion.  Josephus, a historian of the day said it was built of stone and marble, fifteen stories high, and covered with gold.  When sun’s rays reflected off it you had to squint and cover your eyes.  It was a symbol of Israel’s faith and wealth and power; the National Cathedral, White House and Wall Street all rolled up into one.  So, it was a source of great pride for the people.  No matter what kind of hovel you lived in, no matter that the Romans ruled your nation, you could still point to the Temple and say with pride, “Look at what we built!”
            Jesus had just come to town riding on the back of a donkey to a cheering crowed waving Palm Branches and some of his disciples had to be impressed with the sight.  They were small town fisherman and farmers so the Temple made a big impression. Still under construction, they had to be overwhelmed by foundation stones, which were huge and skillfully cut.  You can still see them today in the western or “wailing wall” in Jerusalem.  Not only was the Temple built to last, it was also dedicated to God so Peter and Andrew, James and John quite naturally concluded that the Lord would watch over it - protect it. They thought it would stand for a thousand years.
            So they were more than a little surprised to hear Jesus say, “the days will come when one stone will not be left upon another.”[1] If you are looking for something that will endure – this isn’t it.  If you are looking for something that will not change – look somewhere else.
            The disciples, naturally incredulous and curious, asked Jesus when this catastrophe would take place.  They wanted a sign, a warning, so that they could get ready, or at least skip worship that day.
            All of us are interested in the future, and wouldn’t mind knowing what’s going to come around the next corner as long as it will be good news.  If it will be bad, we’d just as soon not know.  Peter and Andrew and the rest may have been thinking the same thing when Jesus told them what to look for.  They may have been sorry they asked.
            First, Jesus said, beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and “The time is near!” Do not go after them.[2]  “Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord”, will enter into the Kingdom of God.”[3]  There will be those who claim to speak for God but do not, who will use the name of God to garner votes or gather disciples or even call for violence. 
            Clearly, truth mattered to Jesus.  He did not take the view that “all roads lead to heaven” or “It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you follow as long as you’re sincere.”  He did not diminish the importance of the decisions we make.  They do matter, he said so choose wisely the kind of life you will lead and for what you might be willing to die, because that is what separates opinion from faith.
            The Apostle Paul spoke of this as well in a verse that sounds vaguely familiar, “The time will come”, he said, “when people will be lovers of themselves and so lovers of money, boasting and arrogant, abusive and unholy, haters of good and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power.  Avoid them!”[4]
            That last part helps us discern between the true and false prophets that Jesus described.  There are those who hold the outward form of godliness, but deny its power. 
            When you listen to a preacher, this preacher, or any other, the question you should always be asking is, “Do these words spring from God’s Word or is the resemblance merely coincidental?”  Is the sermon shaped by the Word of God or does it try to fashion the Word into the preacher’s own image? Is the preacher really trying to discern the voice of God or is he just enamored by the sound of his own voice?   Does it just hold the outward form of godliness, but deny its power?  That’s one way we can know the difference between those who seek the truth and those who will settle for a lie that sells.
            That we hear from so many today who seem so willing to package faith and market it in the same way we sell soap indicates we may be closer to the end than we are to the beginning.  When some seek only of the rewards of faith but ignore its responsibilities, Paul’s prophecy hits close to home. “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth to wander away to myths.”[5]
            So, if a preacher says something that raises your blood pressure, your first question should be, “Is that really in the Bible, and is it being rightly interpreted?  Maybe we should have a talk about this.” That’s what it should be.  But, for many, the first question is, “Where’s the nearest exit?” or “Where’s a church that will say what I want to hear?”  If that’s the case, Jesus said, you’ve come upon one of these signs that indicate you may be closer to the end of faith than to its beginning.
            Understanding the next road sign is even more difficult than the first because it is so dramatic.  “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first.”[6]   Jesus held no Polyanna view of the world.  He knew that as long as sin existed conflicts would endure and these would be resolved through war.
I was born during the back end of the Korean War, and in my lifetime have seen the Viet Nam War, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and the War in Afghanistan and  the war in Iraq.  Terror has been part and parcel of the human existence and will be forever captured in the images of twin towers crashing to the ground.  Even so, Jesus says, “Do not be terrified.”
            How in the world do you do that? How do we face all we face in this world and not be a little terrified?  How do you pick up the newspaper in the morning and not be a little worried?  How do you go to the hospital or funeral home and not be a little afraid?
One preacher put it this way, “Scripture is clear, this is possible only for those who are convinced that something decisive has happened in the life and death of Christ, that God has entered our world and -- despite what we do with the world -- will not desert us. There is no way to think about the future realistically without thinking with faith in the fact of God’s loving grasp on the future.”[7]  That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Let not your hearts be troubled and neither let them be afraid.  Believe in God, believe also in me.”[8]
            These dark times and difficult day will give us, he said, an opportunity to testify.”[9]  For it is during the dark times that God’s light shines more brightly.  It is during the difficult day when faith is tested do we learn whether or not it is real.
            That is something all of us are looking for.  In today’s Internet age, accumulating information is as easy as typing a few words into a search engine.  Instantly, your computer will tell you how many “hits” you have.  What it will not do is tell you what is important and what is not.  That you have to figure out for yourself, and ironically, the more you know, the harder that becomes.  When I was eighteen I understood the way the world works much more clearly than I do now, and that’s not because I was wiser then – I just didn’t know as much.
            We even have terms to describe that today, “information overload” or “paralysis by analysis”. T.M.I. doesn’t mean Three Mile Island. It is too much information. Knowledge and wisdom have always been two different things.  Job understood this implicitly, but it took the kind of catastrophe Jesus described in this passage that prompted him to even ask the question, “Where shall wisdom be found?”  By this point in his life he learned that it wouldn’t be found in his checkbook or family album. It wouldn’t be found in thick walls and a ready defense, because all of these things can change in a dark moment or difficult days.  So, Job finally concludes, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding.”[10]
            In other words, even though the great Temple of Herod may be destroyed and twin towers cast down, God remains faithful so “not a hair of your head will perish.”[11]  “Jesus Christ is the one who remains the same yesterday, and today and forever.”[12]
            Live with that conviction; find that faith that endures and the Bible says, “you will gain your soul.”[13]  Let that be your testimony.  God rules the world and nations do not.  The Lordship of Christ has been established and will one day be completely fulfilled in “a new heaven and a new earth.  God will dwell with us and wipe away every tear.  Death shall be no more, mourning and crying a pain will be no more for the first things will have passed away.”[14]
Let us pray:
            For those who face dark moments and difficult days, we pray your comfort O Lord.  For those facing confusing times and difficult questions, we ask your wisdom.  For those who feel weak and heavy laden lend your strength.  For our world, O Lord, grant us thy peace.  Amen.


           
 





[1] Luke 21:6
[2] Luke 21:7
[3] Matthew 7:21
[4] 2 Timothy 3:2-5
[5] 2 Timothy 4:3
[6] Luke 21:9
[7] Willimon, William: “The Things that Make for Peace”
[8] John 14:1
[9] Luke 21:13
[10] Job 28:12-28
[11] Luke 21:18
[12] Hebrews 13:8
[13] Luke 21:19
[14] Revelation 21:1-4

Monday, November 18, 2013

For those who Struggle with the Scriptures

Luke 20:27-38

November 10, 2013

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            “Do you believe in the Virgin Birth?”  That was the leadoff question a Pulpit Nominating Committee asked in my first interview after seminary.  There was a whole range of subjects they could have raised to begin our conversation, but they chose that one.  Why?  Why was that so important to them?  That’s what I asked myself when I faced those nine who examined me with all the scrutiny of a customer looking over a used car.  Truth be told, I was taking their measure as well.  What are these people like?  What’s important to them?  What will they expect from me?

            It turned out that the Virgin Birth question was a litmus test to determine my view of scripture.  One of them said, “We just wanted to know if you really believed in the Bible.”  For them the Bible was a pretty simple book that could be summed with the bumper sticker slogan, “God said it.  I believe it.  That settles it.” 

            They wondered why people argue over scriptures that seemed to them so crystal clear.  They were puzzled when they heard folks in the larger church wrestle over the controversial questions of gay marriage, abortion, and war.  Some of them never squinted and shook their heads over some hard to understand scrap of scripture - and they felt bad for those who do. 

             Maybe there’s someone here today like that.  Maybe the Bible is for you a very simple book and you know exactly what it says and what it means in every verse.  Chances are better that you have found the Bible sometimes hard to read and difficult to understand.  You have struggled over the scriptures and are more akin to the preacher who said, “Anyone who reads the Bible and is not puzzled at least half the time doesn’t have his mind on what he is doing.”

            In our scripture today we get to eavesdrop on a Bible showdown between Jesus and the Sadducees.  Both will quote from scripture, but only one “rightly handles the word of truth.”[1]  This is more than a matter of personal interpretation and not every answer is right. As we see Jesus plumb the depths of scripture we may learn how to better understand God’s Word for ourselves.  Let us pray:

            Lord, you have chosen to reveal yourself to us through words printed on a page, but we confess we often find them hard to read and even harder to take.  So, we close the book and find something else to divert and distract.  Open our eyes today.  Through your Holy Spirit lift these words off the page and into our hearts.  Through Jesus Christ, the word made flesh we pray.  Amen.

            “Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question.”[2]  Now questions are good. That’s how we find answers, how we learn things. Although, my teachers always said, “there is no such thing as a stupid question”, there are questions that are insincere, questions we ask for purposes other than learning. 

            For example, when my wife asked me before I left for church, “Are you really going to wear that tie?” – she was not looking for information.  When my son looks at my desert and inquires, “Are you going to eat that?” – this is not an abstract search for knowledge.   When one of you comments on my sermon at the door and asks, “Are you crazy?” – You are not really wondering about my mental heath – or maybe you are.
 There are questions and then there are questions.  Some are sincere.  Someone is really looking for an answer. Some are not.  The question is intended only to provide some entertainment or amusement, an intellectual distraction.
William Willimon tells about the time a great and aging preacher Carlyle Marney came to the Duke University Chapel.
 A student asked, "Dr. Marney, would you say a word or two about the resurrection of the dead?"
 Marney replied, "I will not discuss that with people like you."
 The student was surprized and a little offended, "Why not?"
 Marney said, "I no longer discuss such matters with anyone under 30.” 
Again the student surprized and a litte offended asked, “Why not?”
            Marny said, "Look at you, in the prime of life, powerful and filled with potential - never have you known honest-to-God failure, heart-burn, real disapointment, weakness, solid defeat, brick walls, mortality. So what can you know of a dark world which only makes sense if Christ is raised?"
            There are some questions that should only be asked by those who are desperate for an answer.  There are some subjects so sacred we dare not play with them like some kind of theological toy. When the Sadducees asked Jesus about the resurrection they were not really wanting an answer that spoke their souls.  What they were doing was setting a trap because they didn’t even believe in the resurrection. This was just a hole they dug a hole and covered it with leaves, and dared Jesus to cross.
            “Teacher, Moses wrote for us (right here in Deuteronomy) that if a man’s brother dies and he leaves a wife but no children, the man is supposed to marry the widow and raise up children for his brother (so he will be remembered).  Now, let’s say there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second married her and died and then the third and so on and so forth until all seven died childless.  Finally, the woman also died.  In the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be?”[3]
            This was not a real question.  The real question has to be, “What was the seventh brother thinking as he stood to marry this woman who had buried all six of his brothers?”  He’s got to be tugging on his collar and looking for a loophole to get around that verse that told him he was supposed to do this.[4]
            This command was in the Bible and more than that it was in the Thorah.  That was important. The Sadduccees believed all the answers to life’s big questions could be found in the Books of Moses, the first five books in the Bible. As far as the Sadducees were concerned, if it wasn’t in the Thorah, it didn’t matter, and they could find resurrection nowhere in those five books.  So, they concocted a trick question about this woman and her seven husbands as a litmus test to separate the liberal from conservative, old school from new, tradition from the latest fad.
 They thought they had Jesus because their trap was so exquisite.  How could he choose one and ignore the others who had all been legally married to this woman?  And if he said all seven would be her husband in heaven, well everyone could see the problems with that. Heaven would soon become hell. They could anticipate no answer that would not make him look foolish.  This was the first example of “gotcha” journalism.
            You see the Bible can be used to hurt or heal.  It can be used to curse or bless.  It can be used to confuse or to shed light, to be be a hammer or a “lamp for our feet and a light for our path.”[5]
            But, how can the average person know when the Bible is being used to rightly instruct or wrongly destruct.  When you are on the sidelines watching the religious pros go at it, amd they are throwing scripture around like name-droppers at a political party,  how do you know which one is right, which one to listen to?
            The first question to ask is, “Does this make sense?” The Sadduccees story of the woman and the seven brothers is what some call “logic chopping”.  Others call it “proof texting”.  It works like this. You take a scizzors and snip out a bit of scripture here and a bit of scripture there, maybe find some contemporary idea that is floating around, and then you tape the whole mess together to prove whatever it is you’re trying to prove. In that way peope over the years have used the Bible to justify slavery, the subjugation of women, and why God has chosen a particular side in war.
            Most of us have pretty good instincts and know when that is being done.  You knew the question of the woman and the seven brothers was ridiculous because that kind of thing never happens. You never see that in real life so you knew this was just a game of gotcha.  A red flag went up right away, so if you were in the crowd that day you would have known to hold onto your wallet.
Most of the time we know when a salesman is trying to sell us a bill of goods.  But, sometimes we do get snookered and end up bringing home the gizmo that’s guaranteed to help us lose weight, look better, and live longer.  Sometimes our instincts are not enough.  We need to be careful about relying too much on our feelings, or even the way we usually think, because we thought that gizmo was a good idea at the time. 
Jesus knew that too and that’s why he returned to the scripture because it speaks with the authority of God.  He said, “Moses himself showed in the story about the burning bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”  Jesus point is that when God spoke he used the present tense.  He didn’t say “I was”, he said “I am.”[6]  So God is God not of the dead, but of the living.  Here, we have an early hint of resurrection, a clue that will lead us to something yet to come.  This, the Sadduccees with all of their emphasis on the Thorah missed. 
That’s the thing about scripture.  You can study it for years, but not see all that is there.  You can spend every morning in the Word and still stumble upon a phrase or meaning you never noticed before.  You will never master it, and that is both its frustration and its glory. 
There will be passages you will never understand because the Bible itself says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, now we know only in part.”[7]  For some that is a roadblock.  It stops them dead in their tracks.  They hit some verse or story and wonder how Jonah could fit in that fish or how Jesus could walk on water.  They don’t understand why God would “harden Pharoah’s heart” or send an apocolypse in Revelation.[8]
These questions without answers prompt them to slam the book shut and return it to the shelf. But, if you do that you throw the baby out with the bathwater, and that’s too bad because there is truth here that can be found nowhere else.  There is comfort in these pages that can carry you through your next operation.  There is hope that is promised if that operation doesn’t go so well.
The Sadducees stumbled over Jesus’ promise of resurrection because they could only conceive of heaven as being like this world - only bigger.  They were like six year old boys who shudder at the thought of ever kissing a girl and can never forsee a time when that might be a good idea.  Let ten years pass though and their thoughts on this subject will change.  That, Jesus said, is the difference between this world and the next.  We will look at things differently because then, the Bible says, we shall “know more fully” and more importantly we shall be “fully known.”[9]  The Bible puts it this way, “It does not yet appear what we shall be.”[10]
Whatever it is we shall become and whereever end up can be discovered in clues scattered through the scriptures.  Finding them and understanding them is worth the effort because they do serve as a “lamp for our feet and a light for our path.”  That’s how we know how we should then live.
Chances are you are going to need some help for no other reason than “two heads are better than one.”  That’s why we believe our Adult Education Classes and small group ministries are so important. Even I, after all my years of study, will sit in one of these groups and hear a new take on some bit of scripture I’ve read a hundred times before.  Someone new to the scriptures will see something I had missed and that is exciting because it means I’m still growing and growing in the Lord is always better than standing still.  Moving streams are always more clear than stagnant waters.
If, in frustration, you have slammed this book shut and thrown it in the corner, I encourage you to pick it up once more.  Remember there will be some things you will never understand and some things you only think you understand. But, there will be a few words that will leap off the page and you’ll nod your head and smile and even feel your pulse rate rise.  Like the two who walked with the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus you may say to yourself, “Did not my heart burn within me while he opened up the scriptures.”[11]
Let us pray:
O Word of God incarnate, O Wisdom from on high,
O truth unchanged, unchanging, O light of our dark sky;
We praise you for the radiance that from the hallowed page,
A lantern to our footsteps, Shines on from age to age.  Amen.[12]

           

           

           

           

           
             



           






[1] 2 Timothy 2:15
[2] Luke 20:27
[3] Luke 20:28-33
[4] Deuteronomy 25:5
[5] Psalm 119:105
[6] Genesis 3:6
[7] 1 Corinthians 13:12
[8] Exodus 14:8
[9] 1 Corinthians 13:12
[10] 1 John 3:2
[11] Luke 24:32
[12] O Word of God Incarnate.  The Presbyterian Hymnal #327

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Out on a Limb

Luke 19:1-10
November 3, 1013


            I’d like to begin today with a show of hands.  How many of you like to pay taxes?  How many of you in April say to yourself, “Oh goody, I get to write another check to the I.R.S., to the State of Pennsylvania, to York County, to the township, to the School District?

            If you are like me, it’s not your favorite thing, but you understand that roads do need to be built, and borders protected, and children need schools, and the elderly cared for, so you don’t mind so much doing your part.  But, then you hear another story about government waste or fraud or you discover that Congress exempts itself from some of the taxes you have to pay, or provides for itself huge subsidies for the new Affordable Healthcare Plan.  How does that make you feel?  Does it make you angry?

            As frustrating as all of that may be, it pales in comparison to the feelings people had for tax collectors in the time of Jesus.  In those days there were no complicated forms to fill out. There were no glitchy web-sites to navigate. In fact you didn’t have to figure anything out at all.  The local tax collector told you what you owed and you’d better pay up or you’re wages would be garnished, your home confiscated, or you might even be thrown into debtor’s prison.  Hiring a whiz bang tax attorney would not make any difference because there was no appeal.  There was no way to challenge the tax collector’s assessment. 

That’s the reason the Roman government did not bring in their own people, but instead hired folks from the local community because they knew everybody. They knew who was doing well and who was not.  They knew who bought a brand new donkey. They knew who just took a vacation to the Sea of Galilee because they lived there.  They were part of the community so, there was no way to shelter or hide your income and assets. And if tax collector added a little bit on the top for himself, Rome did not care as long as they got theirs.

That was Zacchaeus.  He was a hometown boy, born and raised in Jericho.  He was Bar-Mitzvaed in the local synagogue. When he was young he went swimming with his friends in the nearby Jordan River.  Growing up he had the same dreams they did: get a good job, buy a house and raise a family of his own.  

But, somehow, somewhere along the way he came to believe that if he was going to be successful he would have to do things he never thought he would do.  He would have to compromise his convictions.  He would have to go along to get along.  He learned that early on when he realized that he could get a better grade in school if he told the teacher what he thought the teacher wanted to hear.  When he started work for the government he found that he’d better do what his boss told him whether he thought it right or wrong if he wanted the next promotion.

Maybe you’ve faced the same temptation to compromise your values, following a leader you do not respect in order to get ahead; or joining in with a group gossiping about someone and you do not object because you want to be accepted and you’re afraid if you say something they might turn on you next.  Maybe you’ve always said, “Yes”, but were dying to say, “No, that’s not right.” What are you willing to do to get ahead?  How many shortcuts are you willing to take?

None of this happens overnight.  These compromises crawl into your life inch by inch, day by day, and after a while you don’t even recognize yourself anymore.  You look in the mirror and discover you’ve not become the person you always thought you’d be.  You wonder, “What happened?”

That’s where Zacchaeus was.  With every angry glare and stare he remembered, “Once he was my best friend.  We used play ball together, but now he won’t even talk to me.” Zacchaeus had more money than he ever dreamed, but he never felt more empty. He never felt more alone.  This was not how he thought his life would be.

Then he heard that Jesus was coming and everyone was excited because he had the day before healed a man born blind right.  Everyone knew this fellow so they knew the miracle was real. They wanted to see and touch and hear from this man who could make the blind see.
Now, Zacchaeus was not a tall man.  He never bumped his head on a chandelier that was hung too low in someone’s living room and said words he should not say. Hi never crammed his legs into airline seats that are too close together.  He never had to shop and the Big and Tall store.  There are some advantages to be gained when you are not 6 feet 4, but seeing over the people in front of you at a parade is not one of them.
So, he climbed the nearest Sycamore tree to see Jesus.  He did not want Jesus to pass him by.  He did not want to lose him in the crowd.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever thought that Jesus will only notice me if I try really hard to be good, climb really high on the ladder to success?  Jesus will only pay attention to me if I stand out from the crowd and try to be better than everyone else, rise above everyone else?

If so, you may found yourself out on a limb like Zacchaeus.  You may find discover you’ve put your weight on something that cannot hold you up.  Jesus knew that.  He knew Zacchaeus was in a precarious position in more ways than one so he said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”
Now, the best I can remember, this was the only time in the gospels Jesus used the word, “hurry”.  Typically, he was not a “hurry-up” kind of guy.  Folks like him who leave thing in the hands of God are usually a bit more patient.  They have learned to “wait upon the Lord”, but on this occasion Jesus thought Zacchaeus had spent enough time out on a limb. He had wasted enough of his life pursuing things that did not satisfy. He didn’t want him to build a tree house to become more comfortable in his self-alienated life.  He wanted him to restore his relationship with God and with his community and there was no time like the present.  He wanted him to get off that limb and come down, and he want him to do it right now.

I think Jesus wants the same thing for you.  I think he wants you to come down to the place where your feet are on the ground again.  Come down to the Savior who has come down from heaven to find you.  He wants to come and stay in your home today – not tomorrow or the next day, but today.  So, today is the day to make the choice to invite Jesus into your life and into your home.

The Bible doesn’t tell us what they talked about at lunch, but who do you think did most of the talking?  Do you think Jesus used this as an opportunity to further Zacchaeus’ theological understanding, to teach a class in Bible 101?

Or do think Zacchaeus did the talking when Jesus asked him about his children, his work, and his hopes and his dreams and his faith?
Was Jesus the great inexhaustible fountain of wisdom and Zacchaeus the audience?  Or is it possible that when you are in the presence of Christ, he asks about you?

I have a feeling that when you are in the presence of ultimate love, you are the agenda.  You are the one Jesus cares about.  Your problems matter to him, and so he listens and let you lean upon him when you’re feeling weak and weary and heavy laden.

That’s what Zacchaeus did that day.  He leaned upon Jesus and then he stood on his own two feet and looked in the mirror with clear eyes.  He recognized the life he had been living, and realized that he had been climbing the ladder of success pm on the backs of people who had done him no wrong.  And he wanted to make that right.
So, with no prompting at all by Jesus he said, “Half of my possessions Lord I will give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone (which he had) I will pay back four times as much.

Zacchaeus instinctively knew that there is a connection between the soul and the flesh, between salvation and service, between the spirit and stewardship.  He understood that if his new found faith was going to mean anything at he had to express and demonstrate that to God, to himself, and to others in the ways he used and shared his time and talent and treasure.  He more than most knew talk can be cheap so he did not want to cheapen this new relationship with Christ by continuing to live a selfish, self-alienated life.  He wanted to make a difference.

 One of my favorite Peanuts comic strips is the one that came out some years ago just a few days before Thanksgiving. Lucy's feeling sorry for herself and she laments, "My life is a drag. I'm completely fed up. I've never felt so low in my life."

Her little brother Linus tries to console her and he says, "Lucy, when you're in a mood like this, you should try to think of things you have to be thankful for; in other words, count your blessings."

To that, Lucy says, "Ha! That's a good one! I could count my blessings on one finger! I've never had anything and I never will have anything. I don't get half the breaks that other people do. Nothing ever goes right for me! And you talk about counting blessings! You talk about being thankful! What do I have to be thankful for?"

Linus says, "Well, for one thing, you have a little brother who loves you."

With that, Lucy runs and hugs little brother Linus as she cries tears of joy, and while she's hugging him tightly, Linus says, "Every now and then, I say the right thing."

You can do the same. You can reach out to people like Zacchaeus who feel cut off and out on a limb.  You can speak for Jesus and bid them come down and come here to listen and lean upon the love of God and experience his peace that passes all understanding.

O God, we too need you to redeem our past, to transform our present, and to redirect our future. Call us out of the places we sit today and show us how to be the people you would have us be. In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, we pray. Amen.