Pentecost 22a - Zephaniah 1:7:12-18

Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18

Zephaniah is very popular with the “Save Fort Worth” people that spend the weekend standing on Sundance Square street corners warning of impending doom for having too much fun. I must admit I don’t find much worth saving in Zephaniah’s graphic description of the day of great distress and anguish. The violence visited on people just like you and me and our children and the image it evokes of God acting out of a fit of jealous rage is offensive. Of course God has every right to punish people resting “complacently on their dregs” who treat God with disdain. You’d be jealous too and might be tempted to express your righteous indignation violently. But that would be wrong wouldn’t it? We might even call it sin. So how is it sin for us to kill someone who treats us with contempt while God can destroy a whole city; men, women, children, animals and call it justice?  And even if the Jerusalem elite were worthy of the most dreadful death the Babylonians didn’t discriminate as the guilty and innocent shared the same fate. Of course years later the Persians did the same thing to the Babylonians. And so the story goes. Maybe the prophetic word is about the destruction we visit upon each other, from Cain and Abel to the Holocaust. So even if the faith of Zephaniah requires him to give God the credit it’s always humans who do the dirty work.

The Feast of All Saints Year A - conclusion

I’m going to order a new body board today for our yearly Thanksgiving week pilgrimage to Mustang Island State Park which means I’ll smell the salt air and ride the surf in my dreams tonight. It happens every year that as the day draws near to trade my pastored up shirt for a wet suit I’m able to be on the beach long before we get there. In theological terms we say that is future present which just means we live the promise before it’s fully realized. The Feast of All Saints would be a sad day indeed if it were only about remembering those who have died. But it is at the intersection of memory and expectation that the saints and we are most present. They with us in fond memory and we with them in hopeful expectation. In the same way the first lesson imagines the God far removed being so present as to reach out and wipe away tears. The psalmist already tasting the goodness of the Lord invites the still afflicted to hear and rejoice. In the epistle the hope that purifies is that we will be what we already are. And the Gospel promise is that “blessed are you” doesn’t wait for circumstances to change but lives the promise in the present. Surf’s up!   

The Festival of All Saints Year A - Matthew 5:1-12

Matthew 5:1-12
“Blessed are those” becomes “blessed are you” when you live the Beatitudes. By that I mean the “rejoice and be glad” not the persecuted for righteousness sake. In our everyday the "blessed are you" has a tough time overcoming the persecuted (period end of sentence). But the “blessed are you” is and was an invitation of what we are to be because they are a promise of what will be. That does not deny “persecuted for righteousness sake” as your reality. That’s pretty much a promise too. But to look beyond being poor in spirit, meek and mourning, starving for justice means one is a merciful, pure in heart peacemaker. As far as Jesus is concerned that is blessed indeed.

The Feast of All Saints Year A - 1 John 3:1-13

1 John 3:1-3
The hope that purifies is that we are what God says we are, beloved children. I know the analogy to human parenthood falls short of the glory of God, but when I consider that God loves me in the way that I love my children, Joshua and Mary Ruth, I am purified from all that would make be believe I am less than I am; a beloved child of the creator of the universe. The love God has for us cannot be limited by all the things said and unsaid, done and left undone that limit our response to that love, in the same way that not a day goes by when I don’t marvel in the miracle and give thanks for the gift of my children. That is the hope that purifies, God giving thanks to God for the miracle and gift of a child that is you.

The Feast of All Saints Year A - Psalm 34:1-10

Psalm 34:1-10

Delivered from terrors and saved from troubles the psalmist rejoices in the goodness of the Lord. Sometimes the only way out of trouble is through it which is what the cross is all about. To fully bear the weight of human sin the cross must have struck terror in Jesus, if only for a moment. “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” But the terror of the cross is temporary and “into your hands I commend my spirit” is the beginning of the forever life that shines forth in radiance from the empty tomb to bathe the world in the light of resurrection hope. Because Jesus endured the trouble and terror of the cross we can sing “taste and see that the Lord is good” even when the days we face are not.  

The Feast of All Saints Year A - Revelation 7:9-17

Revelation 7:9-17
These words were written to encourage and comfort people who were suffering terribly for the sake of the faith. Let’s put aside the thought that Revelation is a road map through Divine destruction with promises of paradise for a select few and consider that the God who wipes away the tears of a multitude too great to count might not want to poke the eyes out of everyone else. Maybe within the necessary narrative for a persecuted people there is a word that speaks to all humanity created in the image of the holy. There are innocents who suffer all of life as a great ordeal, starving for food or affection with no hope for happiness. Will God wipe away their tears? There are those less innocent who scarred by neglect or abuse suffer the great ordeal of lives doomed to misfortune and out of their pain visit it others. Will God wipe away their tears? There are those not innocent at all but acting out of selfish interest suffer the great ordeal that looks like prosperity but lacks love and mercy and kindness and if they knew perhaps they would weep as well. Will God wipe away their tears? Can God wipe away every tear from every eye and still be a God of justice? I don’t know but I hope so and not because I need a happy ending to the sad human story, but because I hope God does.

Reformation Year A - conclusion

It’s early in the morning on Reformation Sunday. I’m sipping a tall bold at my Starbucks. On the way over here NPR was featuring a professor of religion who was discussing the current state of affairs in the American religious life. We’re still a spiritual nation but not quite as religious as we used to be. That’s not good news for “organized” religion but then we should be used to that by now. Even if Jesus said the church would be founded on a rock it has never been stationary. Even so the life of faith was never meant to be lived alone. It’s just in our nature to congregate and when we do organization inevitably follows. So the church goes through times of plenty and times of want, times that call for correction and times when we really do get it right. Today we’ll see a lot of red in the pews, even if you live in a blue state, and we’ll sing “A Mighty Fortress” with choirs and brass adding to the festival feeling and we’ll remember Martin Luther, the saint and sinner who got us started. But while it might seem Reformation Sunday only celebrates things Lutheran it’s really about the freedom found in the Gospel that, organized or not, is what our religion is all about.

Reformation Year A - John 8:31-36

John 8:31-36
Maybe if I knew what my “we are descendants of Abraham” was I would know what keeps me from being free. But the sad truth is that those who claim to be “truly my disciples” are often just as bound as those who could care less. The truth is not as easily defined as one might think and as soon as you “name it and claim it” you have lost it. “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” (Janis Joplin - Me & Bobby McGee) might not be Gospel but it is truth. When you get to the place where what matters to you is not as essential as to what makes a difference so that nothing matters but everything is important you come close to freedom. It is not a freedom we fight for or protect as crazy as that sounds. No one has ever been freer than Jesus, but not when was healing or preaching or praying. Freedom for Jesus was the cross and the sad and wonderful truth is that it is the same for us.  

Reformation Year A - Romans 3:19-28

Romans 3:19-28
God is the one who is just and the one who justifies; period, end of sentence. So why do we work so hard for what is none of our business? I don’t mean sin, we don’t have to work at disobedience or doubt or self centeredness or disregard for the needs of others or neglect of the planet or any of the ways we are guilty of being less than human. No, sin is all about us, which is why the just one who justifies the creation gone its own way enters the fray to contend with the inevitable consequence of human rebellion, death. Faith does not activate or complete what God has already done in entering the human story. Faith means we enter God’s story in the Christ and stop working for what is already ours because we no longer doubt what is beyond comprehension. We are already justified, made right with God, because God won’t have it any other way which means we are free to be fully human.

Reformation Year A - Psalm 46

Psalm 46
To “be still” in the presence of shaking earth, falling mountains and roaring seas is not the natural response to natural disasters, unless being still is fainting dead away. In the same way that the uncertainty of nations in uproar and falling kingdoms typically lead us to circle the wagons and prepare for the worst by doing our best to make sure our piece of the earth doesn’t melt away. But the command is to “be still” while God does the heavy lifting of breaking bows and shattering spears. Being still in the face of personal and collective calamity only happens if we stand still on the foundation of faith which is the “know I am God” part of the equation. So being still doesn’t lead us to know God as much as knowing God allows us to be still.

Refomation Year A - Jeremiah 31:31-34

Jeremiah 31:31-34
When will the “days are surely coming” finally get here? I know some will quickly point out “the days are surely coming” came with the new covenant signed and sealed by the blood of Jesus. But if that is true, and of course I believe it is, the "days are surely coming" are not yet fully here. Even those who have the new covenant written on their heart and claim to “know the Lord” filter that knowledge through denominational lenses or personal experience and believe they have 20/20 vision while everyone else has to squint.  The “days are surely coming” won’t get here until my “know the Lord” doesn’t deny the truth of your “know the Lord.” But surely there is a right and a wrong way to know the Lord? For something to be true something else is necessarily false. Well, yes but how can we tell the difference when everything we know is subject to our own bias, even the way we come to the scriptures? Maybe we can agree on this, at least for this text. God is the only actor and the people are passive for the heart of the promise is that God does not treat law breakers as they deserve but forgives iniquity and remembers sin no more. Maybe the day will surely come when we do the same.

Pentecost 19a - conclusion

This isn’t a proper conclusion to the Pentecost 19a texts but I wanted to promote my new blog Confessing the Lectionary. For those of you who don’t worship at Calvary I’ve been using lectionary based confessions for our 9:30 service that I wrote about ten years and decided a couple weeks ago to write new ones to go along with the RCL put them in a blog just in case someone else might like to use them. We use them as a part of our entrance rite by singing a chorus during the procession, this week it’s “I Love You Lord” then reciting the confession from the altar and then singing the chorus again. I post them early in the week. Feel free to cut and paste!

L              The Lord said to Moses: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:2, 18) Let us confess the ways we fail to reflect the image of God.

Silence for confession and reflection

L              O Lord

C             Keep us from walking in the counsel of the wicked and sitting in the seats of the scornful. May we delight in your law and remember your teaching! (Psalm 1:1-2)

L              The righteous are like trees planted by streams of water bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper for the LORD knows the way of the righteous. (Psalm 1:3, 6)

Pentecost 19a - Matthew 22:34-46

Matthew 22:34-46
It is a sign of our sinfulness that we sacrifice the second greatest commandment on the altar of the first. By that I mean we justify breaking the command to love neighbor as self if we believe the neighbor loves the Lord less than we do. Even theological next door neighbors are separated by mutual suspicion that their neighbor’s love of the Lord is either all mind and no heart or all heart and no mind or lacks the soul of service or the soul of morality or the soul of spirituality or the soul of (you fill in the blank).  And for those outside the neighborhood the convenient “love the sinner not the sin” allows us to hate both as sinners such as ourselves are incapable of distinguishing between the two. I know tough love has limits and lines must be drawn but Jesus does not qualify love of neighbor by how well one loves God and for good reason. The two greatest commandments are one. If you love God you love the neighbor God loves. If love your neighbor you love the God who loves your neighbor. The only ones who are required to love their neighbor as themselves are the ones who love God with their whole heart and mind and soul. The rest of us can go on hating the neighbors we don’t like.

Pentecost 19a - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

There are some scriptures that reveal the heart of Paul that is often hidden behind his stoic posture. We know he is able to endure all things, that he does nothing to satisfy self and even seems celebrate the long list of abuses he has endured for the sake of the Gospel. Sharing the suffering of Christ is the calling to which he aspires and ironically a good bit of that suffering comes from the congregations he established. But he has deep affection for the people God has given him, even the Galatians and Corinthians, although he’s not so gentle with the Galatians or very tender with the Corinthians. But he still cares for them in a way that is genuine and heartfelt. This deep affection is the relationship God desires between those who belong to the body of Christ, but especially between pastor and parishioner. The gift of the church to both is in the sharing of the Gospel in all its dimensions so that when one suffers all suffer, when one rejoices all rejoice.  When you stay in a place as long as I have, or like Pastor Eric before me, people become very dear to you. Of course I don’t know how it can be that I am baptizing the babies of babies I baptized! The gift of this place is in the relationship we share and the affection we have for one another. More and more I think I feel it most when missing those who have joined the great cloud of witnesses I remember their faces and hear their voices as if they were still right here with us, which of course they are. The great gift of the Gospel is that relationships begun in this life extend into the forever future because as much as we might care for one another we are even dearer to God.

Pentecost 19a - Psalm 1

Psalm 1
If the first psalm was written by David it must have been penned before he lingered on the balcony above Bathsheba or walked in his own evil counsel concerning Uriah the Hittite. Maybe the truth of “happy are they” can only be fully known when one has spent time with one’s own sinfulness and realized the seats of the scornful are hard and unforgiving which is what you become when you sit in them. In the end “the man after God’s own heart” was not blown away like the chaff in a west Texas wind but the sword never left his house and “Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son” is as deep a lament as “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The truth about us is that we are all guilty of listening to less than fruitful counsel and we are comfortable in unforgiving seats. But like trees who had nothing to do with where they were planted we are fortunate to find ourselves drinking deep from the stream of living water that is Jesus, who though righteous was numbered with the wicked.

Pentecost 19a - Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

The Law is given as gift to a people who will wander in the wilderness for forty years so that the relationship begun in Egypt might survive until the land promised. That doesn’t mean that everything in Leviticus is Gospel truth. It just means we cannot understand the command to be “holy” outside of “the Lord your God is holy.” The law reflects the personality of God. God does not render unjust judgments. God does not show partiality to the poor or preference to the great. God speaks the truth and does not hate so that even God’s reproach is an act of kindness. Of course it didn’t work with the people of Israel who proved to be rebellious and stiff necked or with us who share the same characteristics. That is why God living “love your neighbour” does not hold us accountable even though we violate the law and profit by his blood.

Pentecoat 18a - conclusion

If the details of our everyday were not so important to our sense of wellbeing we’d find it easier to live into radical messages of freedom were nothing ultimately mattered except connecting to the eternal future and the divine spark that is in the DNA of humans created in God’s image whether they recognize it or not. But the captives suffered real pain and hardship and loss for seventy years before God tapped the master of the world on the shoulder and said send my people home. And while the psalmist might sing of the Lord who established the earth so firmly it cannot be moved I bet he’d duck for cover in an earthquake. I don’t doubt the Thessalonians received the word with rejoicing despite persecutions but I cannot believe they did not cry out and doubt when push became more than shove. And Jesus who dodges the Pharisees with a clever comeback will not be so witty when his hands and feet are fastened to wood. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We live in between what is and what will be and every moment we live more fully into the future by trusting freedom over captivity, firm footing over shaky ground, acceptance over persecution and life over death we are able to endure even the most difficult of our every days.

Pentecost 18a - Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22
You can’t trap Jesus to brew your tea no matter what side of the party you sit on. This text is not about taxes. There are no options save death when Rome demands it’s due and lawful or not, the tax collector doesn’t care what you think as long as you pay the bill. When we use any word about Jesus to support one political position over another we are like Pharisees making a deal with the devils of their day (Herodians) in order entrap Jesus. That’s not to say the scriptures don’t encourage all kinds of things that are emphasized on one side of the political line or the other. But the mission of Jesus is to reveal the God whose image is imprinted on the human heart and so for all the might and majesty mustered by Rome, a head on a temporal coin isn’t worth the metal it’s printed on. The lesson for us may be to measure our lives by the things that belong to God, love and life, which is eternal and unending and outside of our control. Jesus is perfectly willing to be entrapped for that mission and when his time comes he will not shy away from answering the question that for the sake of the world gets him nailed to the cross.

Pentecost 18a - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

One reason Paul may be continually thankful for the church of the Thessalonians is because he is continually troubled by the church of the Corinthians. And in same way the Philippians and Ephesians may have helped him endure the “who has bewitched you” Galatians, present day overseers may balance the burden of their call by rejoicing in works of faith in one place while laboring with love for ministries that struggle. I don’t know because I’ve been in the same place for twenty years and the Calvary that I landed in, by the grace of God btw, was already a “friendly church serving Christ and community.” But all of us together are called to be church steadfast in hope and inspired by the Holy Spirit. So how do we help each other be the best we can be and sound forth the word in the Macedonia and Achaia that for us are congregations in Northern Texas and Northern Louisiana and Durant, OK and Clovis, NM? What was then is now. We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers.

Pentecost 18a - Psalm 96:1-13

Psalm 96:1-13
Trees shout while the sea thunders and the fields rejoice and all people sing the refrain, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” The new song that the whole earth sings is prompted by the promise to judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with truth and equity. That is not good news for everyone as being judged in truth is a problem for those who prefer to live lies and despise righteousness. But if despite your sinfulness you are drawn to surrender to the beauty of God’s holiness being judged with equity is an invitation to finally be free of all that diminishes life and makes us less than human. And that is good news indeed.

Pentecost 18a - Isaiah 45:1-7

Isaiah 45:1-7

Cyrus the Great was good to all the gods who had been displaced by the Babylonians returning “the images of the gods… to their places and I let them dwell in eternal abodes.” (The Cyrus cylinder 538 BC) Granted he hoped for something in return. “May all the gods whom I settled in their sacred centers ask daily of Bêl and Nâbu that my days be long and may they intercede for my welfare.” But he was especially kind to the exiles from Judah and not only sent them home but funded the rebuilding of the temple and the reestablishment of sacrifices according to the Law of Moses. Not that he gave the God of Israel sole credit for making him “Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters...” But then Cyrus didn’t know he was a pawn in God’s game and that the little “g” gods couldn’t hear or answer any of his prayers. The lesson of Cyrus is that God’s good and gracious will is done with or without prayer (Luther’s explanation to the 3^rd petition of the Lord’s Prayer) so that sometimes even less than pious people perform holy acts.

Pentecost 17a - conclusion

The Café menu for Wednesday was Pastor Phil’s “even better than mom’s” Meatloaf, Potatoes Elaine (mashed red potatoes with the skin) the classic Green Bean Casserole and a brand new salad that I’ve named Intern Alex’s BLT Salad. (you can view the recipe at www.calvarylutherancafe.blogspot.com) It was a comfort food feast for the patrons of the café and as always a wild ride for the kitchen crew where almost everyone got burned including yours truly. The texts for Pentecost 17a are all about feasting. Isaiah dreams the feast of fat things for all people where God’s diet is death. The table prepared with cup overflowing is in front of enemies and in shadowed valleys, kind of like a midweek gathering at church for comfort food. Feasting and rejoicing go hand in hand and thinking on all things lovely gives strength to weary souls. And even if one guests comes undressed and is subsequently undone the rest of the guests enjoy the hospitality of the king. Maybe this is a case where the 99 are more important than the 1?

Pentecost 17a - Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14

The interesting twist to “many are invited but few are chosen” is that the choice belongs to the invited. Granted the poorly dressed one is dismissed in no uncertain terms but one can’t help but notice the guest list originally included those who declined and they did not suffer a similar fate. It was only after the A-list said, “No thank you” that the good and bad from the highways and byways were invited to fill the void. It could be that the “friend” in less than acceptable garments represents those who attending the banquet would have rather stayed home, but being tied hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness seems a little over the top for a dress code violation. We could read this text as a warning to dress up our lives in acceptable fashion or else suffer the consequence. But maybe we would be better dressed if we read it as an invitation to live life like a wedding reception where the party celebrates our very best hopes and dreams.
 

Pentecost 17a - Philippians 4:1-9

Philippians 4:1-9

Paul writing from prison encourages the Philippians with a lovely laundry list of “whatever is” which goes well beyond the power of positive thinking. It is, however, an attitude adjustment in the same way we are to have the mind of Christ who did not consider equality with God something to be exploited. Gentleness evident to all, and the double dip of rejoicing, is only possible because the Lord is near. It is for this reason that Euodia and Syntyche are to set aside whatever has come between them and remember the Gospel for which they both contend. Paul had no way of knowing his letter would be read by anyone after it had served its purpose and certainly could not have foreseen over 2000 years of church history. If he had he might not have called out these two women. On the other hand I wonder if the things that divide us would be as important if we knew our names would be forever enshrined in the scriptures.

Pentecost 17a - Psalm 23

Psalm 23
The table prepared is in the presence of enemies, which makes one wonder about the relative calm of green pastures and quiet waters. But maybe that is why this psalm is so often recited at funerals. While the dearly departed have passed through “the valley of the shadow” and experience heads anointed with oil and cup overflowing, we who mourn do so in the presence of death, the last enemy to be defeated. The table prepared is the promise that the shadow cast by death is not long enough to block out the light, for the evil death would do has been undone by the cross – the rod and the staff of the Shepherd. The green pastures and still waters happen whenever souls are refreshed, despite real loss and longing, by the sure and certain promise of a forever dwelling in the house of the Lord.

Pentecost 17a - Isaiah 25:1-

Isaiah 25:1-9
When the city is reduced to rubble and the fortified town turned into a ruin then the strong will honor God and the ruthless will revere the Lord. The only power the mighty respect is a more mighty power. In the end death silences the scepters sway and it doesn’t matter how ornate your tomb is when “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” is the only honest epitaph. Every knee shall bow because God is the only one left standing and the forever feast on the holy mountain is a celebration of God not the “all peoples” who are invited. I know there are plenty of scriptures that would confirm that God is just ruthless as we are but if that is the case then the wicked win.

Pentecost 16a - conclusion

I like a good wine, especially a big Cab. Good wine does not happen accidently. It’s a marriage of natural conditions and the capacity to craft something from what nature provides. A vine blessed by a balance of sun and soil and rain but without time and the talent of the vintner would just be grape juice. The lessons for Pentecost 16a imagine Israel as a pleasant planting that despite the best efforts of the vintner only produced sour grapes. Isaiah blames the vine asking what more could have been done to produce good grapes. The psalmist is not so sure asking what the vineyard did to deserve destruction. Jesus, the prophetic stone rejected, predicts the keys to the vineyard changing hands, although the new tenants are hardly more trustworthy and one wonders if the parable might not need a retelling. We often find ourselves in a dry vineyard brought about by decisions made or delayed. But just as often we wonder what went wrong and call God to explain. And there are times when hearing the truth about ourselves we understand the consequence of serving ourselves instead of the owner of the vineyard. The text that is good news for us is that despite our failings right relationship with God comes by faith which will produce fruit whenever like the apostle Paul we press on to take hold of the God who has already taken hold of us.   

Pentecost 16a - Matthew 21:33-46

Matthew 21:33-46
Since the text says Jesus is talking about “them” we can safely assume he is not talking about “us.” But then the living word, sharper and more active than a two edged sword, doesn’t let anyone off that easily. In many ways we are like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They were well versed in scripture and loved the law that revealed the way of the Lord. They were familiar with the pattern of religious ritual that gave shape to their every day and marked the passing of the seasons. They trained up their children in the way they should go so that when it came to the time of their passing God would not abandon them to Sheol. Jesus, the self proclaimed rock rejected, threatened the very fabric of their religious life and no matter how Matthew remembered it, the pious people of Jesus’ day were serving God by wanting to arrest Jesus and make him conform to the faith of his forebears. So what might that say about the “us” that objects to being identified with “them”? We have ways set in stone that elevate human traditions to divine status. We judge others by their ability to conform to the pattern of our faith. We might be well meaning but that doesn’t mean we aren’t misguided. The good news is that the stone over which we stumble and the rock that crushes our personal preferences is the precious cornerstone that for the sake of those outside the vineyard would have us give it away in obedience to the heir who owns it.  

Pentecost 16a - Philippians 3:4-14

Philippians 3:4-14
Like the apostle Paul I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh. Born to Lutheran educators, baptized in my first month, memorized the liturgy before I could read, confirmed by my thirteenth year, graduate of a Lutheran grade school, high school, college, and seminary and served as a Lutheran grade school teacher, youth director and pastor. I know we’re saved by grace but surely a Lutheran pedigree like that counts for something? Of course it does and in many ways it is the reason I am able to press on to take hold of the Christ who took hold of me through the water of baptism and the faith of parents and teachers. Paul considers confidence in the flesh as loss but clearly values the heritage it represents and his brothers and sisters according to the flesh for whom he would sacrifice his salvation. (Romans 9:3) So while we place no confidence in our religious pedigree we are grateful for the formation that does not happen without the family of faith.

Pentecost 16a - Psalm 80:7-15

Psalm 80:7-15
The psalmist must not have read Isaiah who lays the blame for broken walls on the “pleasant planting” that produced sour grapes. There are times when we can identity clearly the cause and effect of choices made or delayed, but there are just as many times when “why, O Lord?” has no obvious answer. We cannot endure for long with the "why, O Lord" and so when the walls of our security have been broken down and the pleasant planting of our lives ravaged by calamity we cry aloud with the psalmist. “Restore us, God Almighty!” “Return to us, God Almighty!” “Look down from heaven and see!” Which is to say even when there are no satisfactory answers to “why?” we trust the Lord still tends the vine of our lives.

Pentecost 16a - Isaiah 5:1-7

Isaiah 5:1-7
God’s lament sounds familiar because God’s sad song is so often ours as well. We invest time and energy and emotion into relationships that fail to produce hoped for results. Of course when human relationships go sour we say “it takes two to tango” while Isaiah envisions all the blame is on the vineyard God planted. It is true that sowing wild oats (grapes?) is common enough to be cliché but Israel, a small country situated between hostile empires, can hardly be blamed for trying to survive the place of its planting. Maybe that was the point all along. Trusting God was not supposed to be like all the other nations who sacrifice everything, including their first born, to appease the blood lust of their gods. The people of God were to reflect the same sort of care to the widow and the orphan and the sojourner as God showed to them. The fruit of righteousness was never meant to be about the sacrifice required by law but rather the law of living by love. In that respect God the gardener was dancing all alone so I guess it does take two to tango after all.

Pentecost 15a - conclusion

I’ve been watching a Habitat for Humanity house being built in the Sundance Square parking lot where my truck spends some time. Habitat for Humanity is supported by the Fund for Humanity which operates with the understanding that “what the poor need is not charity but capital, not caseworkers but co-workers. And what the rich need is a wise, honorable and just way of divesting themselves of their overabundance.” Habitat, begun in 1976 with Millard and Linda Fuller’s idea for affordable housing, shelters more than 2 million humans (and I imagine pets as well) in over 400,000 houses built by people of every race, color and creed working together to do something significant for someone else. Ezekiel imagines a world where children are not punished for the sins of parents but turning from their own sin live within a new heart and a new spirit. The psalmist sings of God who remembers mercy but is forgetful of youthful sins and perhaps hopes we will do the same. The ancient hymn of the church sings of Jesus who was in every way God but chose to live in our flesh and die our death so we could live His life. And like the son who said “no” but then lived “yes” I imagine the people in hard hats and matching t-shirts feel a little bit better about themselves and the world we inhabit together by pounding a few nails in a Habitat that will house humans they most likely will never meet.

Pentecost 15a - Matthew 21:23-32

Matthew 21:23-32

The chief priests and elders of the people are stuck between a rock and a hard place by Jesus’ question but will come up with a third option by the Friday we call “Good”. But then Jesus knew along that “crucify” would be the only possible answer for the powers that be pushed into a corner from which there was no escape. Stuck between the way of God we are unwilling to follow and the way of the world we are reluctant to resist the third way is the only option for us as well. Crucify God and maybe this time the persistent question will stay dead and we’ll be done with it. But like Jesus on the third day crucifixion is the beginning not the end. What needs to die is the part of us that is like the son in the parable who says “yes” but lives “no” so that the part of us that rises is like the son who said “no” but is finally free to live “yes”.

Pentecost 15a - Philippians 5:1-13

Philippians 5:1-13
The whole of the scriptures is expressed in Philippians 2:5-11 and if all we had was this ancient creedal hymn it would be enough to reveal the mind of the Divine. In Jesus it is God who is emptied into all of humanity and in servant form suffers a dreadful death designed by the children created in God’s own image. How is it possible that the church has such a sordid history of not finding any consolation in this expression of ultimate love, no compassion, no sympathy, demanding like minds be bound by hard cover catechisms where right belief matters more than loving fellow believers, let alone the world Jesus died to save? The promise is every knee will bow and every tongue confess that the Jesus emptied, serving, suffering and dying for creatures who could care less was what God was about all along. Being of like mind means be like Jesus who never met a sinner he didn’t love to death.

Pentecost 15a - Psalm 25:1-9

Psalm 25:1-9
David trusts that the rebellious sins of his youth will not be remembered by the Lord and I have no doubt that the same applies to the sins of one’s middle age as well. That is because the Lord, who is our all day long hope, does not need to be prompted to remember great mercy and love for that is the character of the One who erases the record of everything about us that makes mercy necessary. Now if only we could do the same for others, and God help us, for ourselves. But the truth about us is that shame is our constant companion and we live with the memory of rebellious ways and youthful sins revisiting ancient history as if it happened yesterday. So maybe the instructions sinners need most is a lesson on forgiveness where charity begins at home.

Pentecost 15a - Ezekiel 18:1-4; 25-32

Ezekiel 18:1-4; 25-32

Apparently the prophet is not familiar with family systems theory. The sins of the parents are always visited upon the children and sour grapes do not grow sweeter with more time on the vine. We are all shaped by our past and not in control of our future which makes our present an unpredictable place. So what if we were to say we are not responsible? I didn’t choose my family of origin and even though they did the best they could they carried with them the same sort of things that have made me less than I desire to be. And I say that from the perspective of having loving parents; kind, decent people who none-the-less live their brokenness in ways they do not like. Heaven help the children that welcome death because they live in hell. So are the ways of the Lord unfair? Of course they are. That is why the Lord bound by our past with no pleasure possible died naked and alone nailed to a piece of wood in order to secure a future for us where the life of the parent and the child would not be subject to the corruption inherent in our DNA.

Let the Love of Jesus

I wrote these lyrics three years ago. The tune is CCR's version of Midnight Special.

E                      A7

Let the love of Jesus
                            E
Shine its light on me
                         B7
Let the love of Jesus
                       E
Shine its light me

                             A7                                           E

Well Jesus told a story, bout some workers in a field

                   B7                                           E

Who got to thinking, we deserve a better deal

                                   A7                                             E

When the day finally ended, they thought they’d get more

                         B7                                                   E  E7

But the master told them, it’s what you singed up for.

Chorus

No one’s deserving, no matter who you are

All sin is equal, in the sight of God.
All are forgiven, and in Christ set free
To live the love of Jesus, for all the world to see

Chorus

Well when Jesus comes looking, for you to work today

Don’t sit around and argue, about your pay.
You’ll be rewarded, by the work you do
When you show others mercy, like its been shown to you

Chorus

Pentecost 14a - Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:1-16
The kingdom of heaven is a contradiction of the more common kingdom where fair play is measured by survival of the fittest and the winner is the one who dies with the most toys. The all-day workers sweating in the sun obviously deserve more wages than the slackers who sat around all day. You can bet that the next time the master went looking for workers the marketplace had become a right to wait state and expecting a full day’s pay for the last hour was the new normal. That is why the kingdom of heaven is like something no one ever does. And if we are not outright envious of God’s generosity we are at least stingier than Jesus when it comes to the “kingdom come” where last and first are reversed.

Pentecost 14a - Philippians 1:20-30

Philippians 1:20-30

To live is Christ. To die is gain. We tend to believe these two statements in reverse. To live is gain. To die is Christ. Life is held onto as long as humanly possible and death is only welcome when life itself has become intolerable. Or when living a life worthy of the calling is a means to an end. In other words one believes in order to receive a reward (heaven) and avoid punishment (hell). But if the life that is worthy of the calling is the end itself then the gain is the privilege of believing in Christ and sharing his sufferings which means death is just joining more fully with the Christ that is already fully joined to us. The point is the two are so closely related as to be the same. To live is Christ. To die is Christ. The gain is the same.

Pentecost 14a - Psalm 145:1-8

Psalm 145:1-8
“One generation commends your works to another” is the way the faith has been passed down through the ages so that the ancient story of mighty acts and awesome works is not lost. More than myth the ancient story is retold in the living language of the generation entrusted to bear it into the infinite future. Granted, the “passing on” generation always hopes that their way of telling the story will be as enduring as the story itself and that the generation “receiving” the gift will not throw away the wrapping it came in. But the truth is our way of understanding “the Lord gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” is the same for every generation, even if it’s shared on a Kindle instead of a scroll.

Pentecost 14a - Jonah 3:10-4:1-11

Jonah 4:1-11  Debate on the Book of Jonah is often focused on the detail of the “whale” and whether someone could be swallowed up and survive. Those who read the story as literal truth do so out of reverence for the scriptures as the source and norm of all doctrine and faith and believe if you doubt the literal truth of one story all the other stories are called into question. Those who read Jonah as a parable or allegory also reverence the scriptures as the source and norm of all faith and doctrine but believe a story does not need to be literally true to be true. The point of this story, which I am quite willing to swallow as literally true, is in chapter four. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he knew God would be merciful and forgive the enemies of Israel and that was “very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.” (4:1) God provided shade to cool Jonah’s jets but then struck it down to make a point and Jonah sitting in the hot sun and lamenting the burned up bush was “angry enough to die.” (4:9) With or without the big fish story this is the part of the text that is literally true about us, especially when like Jonah we care more about the bush of our own understanding than the “great city” of fellow believers whose fish story may be bigger, or smaller, than ours.

Pentecost 13a - Conclusion

I know there will be some who see a more than coincidental connection between the lectionary texts for the 13^th Sunday after Pentecost and the 10^th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Joseph forgiving brothers who did their best to do him in; the psalmist rejoicing in God who is forgetful when it comes to sin but remembers compassion forever; the Christians in Rome told to stop judging between practices of religious piety because all are directed towards God; and a slave, who doesn’t ask for forgiveness but only more time to pay a debt he knows he cannot pay, is forgiven the entire amount only to turn around and treat a fellow slave with contempt. So is God trying to tell us something? Well, of course. God is always trying to tell us something but that is the nature of the living word. It may be that there are lessons to be learned about how God desires us to live together as the human family and forgiveness is unconditional, for in the end all of creation belongs to God and all people are created in God’s image. But the more appropriate application is that any violence in the name of God is wicked and misrepresents the creator who holds all life sacred. We might preach and teach that all sin is equal in the eyes of God but the actions of the terrorists cannot be compared to the trivial sins we commit. Yes. I said trivial, even though the lies we tell are hurtful to others as well as ourselves and the ripple effects of our prejudice and pride and immorality are a destructive energy of which we cannot see end. But the callous hearts and the evil imagination that perpetrated this crime against the sacredness of life is beyond our ability to understand or in the end forgive. As many of you have come to suspect I believe in heaven more than hell, although I have no doubt every human being will be judged and every last one found guilty. However, I trust God’s forgetfulness when it comes to sin and limiting God’s mercy remembered is beyond my pay grade. Maybe the judgment faced by the terrorists I find it difficult to forgive is that when they expected to be welcomed in eternity as glorious martyrs they came face to face with God who was weeping and in that moment they knew in their very souls how horribly wrong their vision of the Holy was. That sounds a lot like hell to me. Truth to be told I fear my trivial sins will bring me to see the same sight. God help us all.

Pentecost 13a - Matthew 18:21-35

Matthew 18:21-35
It is obvious from Peter’s question that he is looking for a loophole and the offer of seven “get out of jail free” cards appears quite generous, especially if the seven times “sins against me” is for the same offense. Seventy-seven times must have come as quite a shock and the parable that follows does not soften the blow. Forgiving a brother or sister from the heart is not an option and there are no loopholes. I don’t know if a purgatory like punishment is the method of payment for those who have racked up a lifetime of debt by withholding forgiveness. If it is a good bit of the church is in trouble, but then why not for the church profits from the business of conditional forgiveness. That of course negates the cross of Christ and means payment is still required by adherence to the law, even if it is the law of love. Or in other words, same tune different verse. On the other hand those who count on the cross to forgive them and yet withhold mercy from others live in a prison of their own design from which they can never escape. Truth is if we apply this parable to ourselves we too cannot escape the sentence of torture. None of us are innocent. The reason we don’t forgive is because like the wicked slave we don’t value being forgiven. But if we are finally and fully convicted of our hopeless situation we will stop pleading for more time to make good on promises we cannot keep and stop requiring others to do what we cannot. Or in other (and better) words, “The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”  William Shakespeare - The Merchant of Venice

Pentecost 13a - Romans 14:1-12

Romans 14:1-12

I think vegetarian and former Calvary intern turned Pittsburgh Pastor Tara Lynn might have a quarrel or two with the apostle Paul over who is weak. It takes no small measure of chutzpah to eat vegetarian at a Texas BBQ joint. Thank God for pickles! Of course vegetarians take a little bit of ribbing in Texas and other red meat states as well but maybe not the same as in the early church where “you are what you eat” were fighting words. Centuries of animosity between Jew and Gentile did not disappear overnight. If anything the differences that could be largely avoided through segregation were now inescapable. So Paul reminds them that they are no longer defined by their personal piety for they belong to Lord who welcomes Jew and Gentile alike no matter what they eat or which day they observe. On a more personal note this passage took on new meaning for me some years ago when my mother called from Chicago to say my father was being taken back into surgery because his bypass was leaking. At the end of what you can imagine was an emotional conversation she quoted this passage from Paul as the source of her strength, and my father’s as well.  “Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s,” That is why you memorize scripture and sacred song so that when life itself hangs in the balance the words that have informed your life come to mind and are more than able to give confidence to a father, courage to a wife and comfort to a son.