Lectionary 20 C - Psalm 103

Psalm 103:1-8

The “all that is within me” (or you for that matter) includes that which is less than praiseworthy so how can the “all of me” praise God’s holy name? It seems to me that the somewhat schizophrenic nature of Pauline theology – old Adam (Eve) cohabiting and competing with the new Eve (Adam) has the unfortunate consequence of a theology that does not allow for the “all of me” to praise God’s holy name. But what if we were to accept the fact that the “all of me” is comprised of the sum total of everything about us and that the aspects of me and you that are less than praiseworthy are none the less worthy of praising God’s name if for no other reason than the fact that God knows and loves the “all” of you and me. And if the “all of me” and the “all of you” can praise God’s holy name just as we are maybe we can stop hiding from ourselves and each other and realize the biggest benefit that we are not to forget is that God loves the “all of me” and the “all of you” so that we can love each other in the same way. Which as it turns out is the way that God desires to be praised. 

Lectionary 20 C - Isaiah 58:9-14

Isaiah 58:9-14
We live in a time when Sabbath rest hardly happens, even when we sleep. But before you blame the 24/7 wired world take note that Isaiah 58 is written to people living in the sixth century before God engaged the world through the Christ and yet they appear to be plenty busy on the day God set aside for rest. It is what occupies one’s ultimate concern that matters to God so if your wired world is all about you in the same way that serving one’s own interests in the sixth century before “Silent Night” superseded the Sabbath then God is not pleased. So we who celebrate God’s mercy to us should not be surprised that the way God would have us keep the Sabbath is to be merciful to others. Offer your food to the hungry. Satisfy the needs of the afflicted. Stop pointing the finger and refrain from speaking evil. Sabbath rest is important to one’s well-being but resting from Sabbath work is not. 

Lectionary 19 C - Luke 12:49-56

Luke 12:49-56

This is not a “What a friend we have in Jesus” Jesus text, but then Jesus is more complicated than any single hymn or Gospel text or bracelet that lets the wearer determine What Would Jesus Do? Jesus may have died to save us from our sins but he was crucified for being a trouble maker. That is not to say his offense was primarily political even though the Romans were happy to crucify another trouble making Jew between two common criminals. Jesus’ “crucify him” worthy crime was ultimately a religious offense to people whose history made them worry about anyone who colored outside the God defined lines. Remember the Babylonian captivity? So the Romans killed him because he messed with the law and order that they maintained to ensure a steady stream of tax revenue. The more complicit of the Jewish leaders condemned him to death because he messed with the profitable religion that the Romans allowed them for contributing to the system. But the pious cried crucify because Jesus named the God who could not be named, Abba, and there is nothing that breeds more bitter hatred than someone who says they know your God better than you do. God help us we have been crucifying each other over that since the beginning of time and will do so until the end of time when God decides it is finally time for everyone to get out of the pool. But until the last cloud rises in the west or the last south wind blows maybe we could interpret the present time in light of the future time and allow that Jesus is more complicated than a single hymn or Gospel text or personal preference WWJD bracelet and that the divisions Jesus talks about in Luke 12 are our own doing and not God’s design.

Lectionary 19 C - Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

The great cloud of witnesses commended to us for their ability to endure were less than perfect examples of faithful witnesses. The ones who passed through the Red Sea made the golden calf. The ones who circled the walls of Jericho until they fell down fell prey to greed and kept some of the “dedicated things” from the forsaken city. Samson may have torn down the temple but he also dallied with Delilah and David would have liked to build the temple but for that fling with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite. The point is the great cloud of witnesses is remembered because God remembered them despite their tendency to forget God. So we are surrounded by a great cloud of folks a lot like us and the encouragement they offer is that God gifted them with a reward they could not create and did not deserve. That is why we look past the cloud and fix our eyes on the pioneer and perfecter of faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him – that would be the world he came to save – endured more than the whole cloud of witnesses put together. So by all means run with perseverance the race set before you but recognize that when you stumble and fall the crowd will cheer you on but it will be Jesus who picks you up.

Lectionary 19 C - Psalm 82

Psalm 82

God doesn't care about the poor because they are poor but because they are people and God loves people. The trouble is people do show partiality, fawning over the powerful while neglecting those with the greatest need, i.e. the weak and the orphan; the lowly and the destitute. But in God’s design for human community those who wield the greatest power have the greatest responsibility to act justly in the same way that “to whom much is given much is required.” (Luke 12:48) When Jesus half-brother James wrote about works produced by faith he put it in the context of providing for the poor. “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” (James 2:15, 16) Of course the wishing well is as important as the providing for basic needs. That is one of the reasons I make eggs to order for our room in the inn guests because when it comes down to it having the choice of sunny side up or over easy or scrambled is of equal if not more value to the one being served than the egg itself. It’s all about relationship. 

Lectionary 19 C - Jeremiah 23:23-29

Jeremiah 23:23-29
The dreaming prophets were good at prophesying pleasantries to the people because the truth would not have been well received. Jeremiah didn't fit the profile of the prophet dream team because the Lord had placed him in the unenviable place of speaking truth to power and most of the time Jeremiah appeared to be the one God had forsaken. But while God may have appeared far off it was the people who were uninterested and disengaged from the God who had always remained near-by. Of course Jeremiah was vindicated when the bad news he proclaimed came true and the dreaming prophets and the people put to sleep by their lies woke up to the nightmare of the Babylonian captivity. Not a happy story but then that’s why Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. So what lesson might we learn from a sad story? I suppose one possibility is to double down on the law and preach morality to avoid the wrath of a near-by hammer come down God. Another might be to bet the bank on the Gospel and preach the dream of a near-by God whose righteous fire doesn't really burn. But if you are a prophet of the Lutheran persuasion the truth is in the waking dream where the Law is not diminished and the Gospel is not neglected but working in concert they reveal the God far off come near in Christ Jesus. Which means we strive to preach and teach a moral life that takes sin seriously and at the same time recognize the only way one can be fully moral is to obey the law of love which always counts relationship with the sinner as the way one lives God’s dream.

Lectionary 18 C - Luke 12:32-40

Luke 12:32-40

This is where God’s “trust me” rubber hits the road. Trust me means follow me and follow me means trust me. You can’t have one without the other. Faith is passionate not passive. But if this is the measure of a trust that follows – sell your possessions and give to the poor – then most of us must admit our trust falls short of worthy. But then being continually dressed for service is not about carrying our own weight, otherwise Jesus is just another version of a do this don’t do that debit credit system. No. Being continually dressed for service means being clothed in the cross where Jesus did the heavy lifting once and for all. The kingdom is gifted, not earned. The purse that will not wear out was purchased for us and Jesus is the treasure that will not be exhausted and the heart’s true home. And the capital Master is already dressed to serve returning in the here and now when have no fear little flocks gather at table to dine on bread and wine. Our waiting and watching with lamps lit takes on a different meaning when instead of an end time event the unexpected hour is continually coming in the here and now. We are Christ present for each other so that strength to endure another day is found despite our faltering courage. Every act of random kindness, every generous gift of grace, every word of mercy that mends broken relationships is a kingdom come moment. And the good news is that God proves trustworthy even when we are not. Which means even trust me is a gift. 

Lectionary 18 C - Hebrews 11:1-16

Hebrews 11:1-16

The trust in me theme continues with what must be acknowledged as the trust poof text. Faith “the assurance of things hoped for and the confidence in things not seen” is the version I memorized and the meaning, no matter how it is translated, has served me well. That being said I must confess that I am not a confident Christian even though I do have confidence in Christ. By that I mean I have all kinds of doubts about myself and my life of faith but no doubts about the one in whom I trust. But that shouldn't surprise you or me nor should we lament the truth about ourselves. I believe confident Christians are not all they are cracked up to be and a healthy dose of doubt means the life of faith is no walk in the park, which may be what the life of faith is all about. I hope in things that have been promised but not delivered. I have confidence in what I cannot see, the better country for which I long, and believe it is more real than the one in which I presently live. The Hebrews 11 list of those who lived by faith is not a list of faith super stars but those who hoping against hope lived as if the promise not realized had already been delivered and the things not seen were fully visible. Put your name in the Hebrews 11 list, you less than confident Christian, for the word to them is the word to us. Believe in what you cannot see. Trust me.

Lectionary 18 C - Psalm 33:12-22

Psalm 33:12-22

Psalm 33 continues the “trust me” theme of Genesis 15. Though kings trust in the size of their army and warriors the size of their biceps the one who trusts in the Lord hopes in unfailing love. It means like Abraham we look to the mystery of the unlimited heavens and beyond counting stars, look up to the One who looks down, opening our hearts and minds in holy waiting to abiding hope until unfailing love rests gently upon us. It is unfailing love that satisfies our spiritual hunger, unfailing love that brings us back from the brink of death dealing despair, unfailing love that is our help and our shield in times of trouble. This would be a vain hope for deliverance if the Holy One had only looked down from heaven. But in this we rejoice, that when the time had fully come and the waiting world could wait no longer God’s unfailing love left heaven and inhabited flesh and blood so that we could know as we are known and see as we are seen. God’s word through the psalmist is God's word to us. Trust me.

Lectionary 19 C - Genesis 15:1-6

Genesis 15:1-6

Confirming the covenant by looking at stars too numerous to count is hardly proof of the promise. But that is the way it has been with Abraham and God. In the same way God’s “trust me” was enough for Abraham to leave his people and his father’s household for a promised land he had never seen, so too, God’s “trust me” is enough for Abraham to believe what appears less likely with each passing year. Abraham’s believing “trust me” despite the delay in God making good on the promise is reckoned as righteousness, which is a way of saying the Lord and Abraham are BFF because friendship is a relationship of trust. So too for we who have not seen and yet believe; who following the Lord anticipate the promise of eternal life in a land beyond without having been there; who trust that despite the difficulties of each day prayers offered are heard and God’s grace and mercy and love is as boundless as the stars that cannot be counted. God's word to Abraham is God's word to us. Trust me.

Lectionary 18 C - Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd was trying to triangulate Jesus who knows a thing or two about healthy relationships between three persons. “Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance” sounds like a sibling rivalry with a little history. Who knows, maybe Jesus’ well known tale about two sons and a loving father comes from a chance encounter in the crowd with a real life prodigal. Of course Jesus does not take the bait (he never does) but speaking the truth in love goes to the heart of the matter. You have placed possessions in front of people, which is the definition of greed. To seal the deal he tells the story of a rich man who appears to be acting prudently. Crops not stored properly will quickly turn into cr@p, if you know what I mean. So it makes perfect sense to build bigger barns and enjoy the fruit of your labor, after all that is the reward of hard work and sound investments. But then this is a parable and the details are not to be dissected because it’s all about the punch line and in this case the punch line is a Jesus’ twist on what the Pentecost 10c texts have been teaching all week. You can’t take it with you when you go and living as if you can is foolish. The lesson is for the “someone” in the crowd although we are clearly meant to apply it to our own life. Your brother is more important than dividing the inheritance and the way one is rich toward God has everything to do with the value of our relationships in the here and now, even with brothers who won’t share.

Lectionary 18 C - Colossians 3:1-11

Colossians 3:1-11

Life that is not meaningless is the life hidden with Christ that is revealed when life that is meaningless dies. Therefore put to death the earthly things that diminish life on earth; anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive language, lies and the like. While it sounds like a “just do it” theology, which as we know rarely gets it done, the revealed life depends fully on the One who did it for us so that the ways we are fond to follow are finally exposed as dead ends. When by putting to death the dead end ways in which we used to live we live the life hidden in Christ, Christ is revealed. The revealed life of Christ is not consumed by greed, possessed by passions or divided by discrimination. Just do it? No. It’s been done. 

Psalm 49:1-12

Psalm 49:1-12

Psalm 49 continues the theme of Ecclesiastes, namely, no one gets out of here alive. Or as my theology professor Walt Bouman liked to say, “Eat healthy, exercise regularly, die anyway.” He was also fond of pointing out that despite all the advances in medical science the death rate is still one per person. While that might lead one to despair the Psalmist is confident enough to sing a solution to the riddle. Those whose iniquity brings trouble are not to be feared for even with the wealth of the world at their disposal there is no price that can be paid to purchase a pass on the grave. The wise and the foolish, the persecutor and the persecuted will perish together. While that might seem a Pyrrhic victory the psalmist trusts God will do what cannot be done. “God will redeem my life from the grave and will surely take me to himself.” What the psalmist anticipated and what we and Walt (now gone on to glory) know is that the ransom for human life, the price paid for a pass on the grave, was God’s own life and that more than foots the bill.  

Lectionary 18 C - Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

The opening word of the teacher declares "Meaningless! Meaningless!" If you didn't get it the first time he leaves no doubt as to what he means "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Most people prefer to sugar coat reality to make it more palatable as in “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” (Mary Poppins) Or they defy reality as in, "The one who dies with the most toys wins!" (Malcolm Forbes) The teacher prefers to tell it like it is. He hates the things for which he toiled and despairs of his striving under the sun. Even if you work with wisdom, knowledge and skill you can’t take it with you when you go and others will profit from your pain. The one who dies with the most toys still dies. This might lead one to despair of life but that is not what the teacher declares as meaningless. Vanity of vanities is how the old version goes and that puts the emphasis where it belongs. What is meaningless is a sugar coated reality that convinces one that circumstances can be controlled, the future can be made secure by the accumulation of wealth or wisdom or that with enough effort chasing after the wind can put the breeze in your pocket. The teacher’s instruction is not that life is meaningless; rather life lived without meaning is vanity.

Lectionary 17 C - Luke 11:1-13

Pentecost 10 C - Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

“Teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” Praying was not new to the disciples who as Jews would have done so religiously three times a day so this request has more to do with Jesus than a lesson in proper prayer posture. It’s like asking for the secret handshake, the visible, or in this case, verbal cue that the ones praying belong to the Jesus club. But instead of an exclusive club (we want our own prayer) Jesus begins with a new naming of the God whose name could not be spoken (lest ye die!) as Our Father. Everything that follows, including the parable and the seeking, finding, knocking as well as evil parents knowing the difference between eggs and scorpions, has to do with this naming of God as Father, or better, parent. The “Our Father” is not about gender but genetics. The kingdom come, the asking for daily bread, the being forgiven and forgiving, the temptation from which one is spared all depend on trusting the truth of “Our Father”. And one cannot trust the truth of God as Father unless one acknowledges the Father as “Our” which means we who belong to God belong to each other. (ala Sister Sledge “We Are Family” 1979) When we live “Our” while trusting God as “Father” the kingdom comes, bread is shared, we are forgiven and forgive and the time of trial is not avoided but overcome. And to that let all God’s children say, “Amen!”

Lectionary 17 C - Colossians 2:6-19

Colossians 2:6-19

The rulers and authorities intended to make a public example of Jesus by nailing him to a cross. But what rulers intended for evil God intended for good and in the ultimate irony the shame of the cross is its glory. Those who killed Jesus according to the demands of the law could not foresee that condemning Christ would in the end fulfill it. We who are not overly concerned with circumcision or keeping kosher or observing festivals must none-the-less admit our tendency to prefer the rules and regulations of religion, if only for the regiment they bring to what otherwise seems too good to be true or too simple to be of much use. Each tradition claims Christ and disagreements about perceived fundamentals of faith lead one to dismiss the other as misguided or misinformed or sadly mistaken. But if God set aside the requirements of kosher and circumcision and Sabbath without a substitution save one, then maybe that’s the only thing we have to hold onto to remain rooted and built up and established in the God who is Love.

Lectionary 17 C - Psalm 138

Psalm 138

The small g gods who covet a capital G will have to listen while the psalmist sings praise of the Lord exalted above all things, especially small g gods. The kings of the earth accustomed to people bowing down to them will have to bow down to a higher power and join the song, whether they like it or not. And so you might expect the Lord of all the earth, who puts little g gods in their place and is King above all kings to act the part. But this One who knows no equal, no rival, no one worthy of comparison, regards the lowly, preserves the powerless, and delivers the needy. Therefore the whole heart of the psalmist gives thanks despite walking in the midst of trouble, for the Lord is near and not far off. We, too, when strengthened in soul by the steadfast love of the Lord trust that the Lord’s purposes for us, which may or may not be immediately apparent, will in fact be fulfilled for the capital G God and the King above all kings hears the words of our mouth and knows the needs of our soul.

Lectionary 17 C - Genesis 18:20-32

Genesis 18:20-32

Abraham does not dispute the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah or the punishment God has planned for the twin sin cities. Abraham’s concern is for the collateral damage caused by God’s righteous wrath which must in his mind include his nephew Lot and Lot’s family. Each proposal preceded by “Far be it from you” asks God to reconsider the just sentence on the wicked for the sake of a diminishing population of the righteous. He stops at ten because he either senses he’s gone as far as God will go or he can’t imagine there would be less than ten righteous in the cities on the plain. Unfortunately for the wicked there are only four who are counted righteous, although the character of Lot’s turning back wife turned to salt is questionable. And Lot’s daughters prove to be as sinful as Sodom (Genesis 19:30-36) while Lot drunk in a cave is no saint. So what if no one is righteous? What then? What Abraham didn't know and we can hardly imagine is that God’s desire was that mercy would triumph over judgment for it is God’s will to be both just and the one who justifies. (Romans 3:26) So since none were found righteous, God in Christ became the One through whom we are counted righteous and who knows, might also be the One for whose sake every sin city is spared.

Lectionary 16 C - Luke 10:38-42

Luke 10:38-42

Martha is distracted by her many tasks because truth is without her they won’t get done. Luke doesn't tell us what the many tasks are but I imagine they have something to do with a house full of freeloaders. Not the Lord, mind you. Martha was happy to have Jesus over for a visit. It was all those fisher folk and tax collectors who came with him. Food has to be prepared. The table has to be set. The good silverware has to be polished and counted – because you can’t trust Galileans not to walk off with a fork or three. At any rate there are things to be done and Martha is the only one doing them. It may be that Martha is often distracted by many tasks but if that’s the case maybe Mary spends a lot time sitting and not helping. I know that is not the point of the story but what if everyone chose the better part? Who would wash the dishes? So if Mary was listening closely to Jesus she might hear him say, “I came not to be served but to serve” and get up and help her sister. And then maybe Martha might have a chance to hear Jesus say, “do not be anxious about your life…” and sit down at the feet of Jesus.

Lectionary 16 C - Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself even though all things seem to be pleased to remain hostile to God’s desire. That hostility did all it could to destroy God’s pleasure and in the agony and abandonment of the cross the world came close. One would think that after that God would be pleased to send the whole lot of us to hell but strangely God finds “no delight in the death of sinners” even if some who claim to speak for God do. That is not to say we are puppets to God’s desire only that God’s will be done might mean that which pleases God might finally overcome the human will to please self and in the same way a moth cannot finally resist the light on a dark night we will be drawn into a love that refuses to be denied. And the surprise of it all is that when God’s pleasure has its way with us we become more pleased to be reconciled to others and in doing so double God’s pleasure.