Matthew 20:1-16 - Balancing the Book (9-21-08)

I never could balance my checkbook down to the penny. Like many of you I usually balance it down to close to a penny so that I wouldn’t bounce a check. Well maybe a bounce a couple. However, once Microsoft money software was available, I balanced the checkbook down to the penny. I keep track on line of our debit card expenses and keep every penny accounted for on a monthly basis. There isn’t a month that goes by that I know what the balance is in the account. I know the upcoming expenses that chart them for me in the software and pay them on time without delay. It’s important to be responsible in balancing income to expenses.

This image of balancing the books comes from the image of the ledger that listed income in the front and the expenses in the back. If things weren’t balanced, that wasn’t good. It seems as if our government is trying to balance the books of the economy of whatever it takes to make a quick buck.

While everyone else this week is balancing the books of the economy, we are called to balance the book of faith as we focus again on the book of faith initiative of the ELCA. We are called to open the Bible and join the conversation. So how is their balance in this book? Well we look at how we understand the Bible today. First of all, Jesus is the living word of God as revealed in scriptures. Secondly, and the focus today, we Lutheran-Christian view the Bible as law and Gospel. Law and Gospel; but it is not a balancing act between one and the other.

So I ask you to open your Bibles under the chairs to the table of contents. You see that there is the Old Testament and the New Testament. Many times people believe the Old Testament is the Law and the New Testament is the Gospel. God is mean in the Old Testament and God is finally nice in the New Testament. Yet the Bible is unified in expressing law and gospel everywhere. When you read Genesis 1 and it says that God created everything, you can get a deep sense of grace in the smelling of a flower like this one I hold in my hand. This is good news. But you could hear this as law if you hear it like this, “God made it all and you didn’t, you can’t take anything with you when you die.” That same passage can be heard as law as well. Yet take the 23^rd Psalm when you read “Even if you walk through the valley of the shadow of death I am with you.”

So when we talk about the law, it is a way that God says you shall do this for yourself. The law is created to deal with the sin in which we are born into and give order to the chaos of life. There are two uses of the law. It provides good order (civil) and convicts us of sin (like a mirror).

The Gospel is what God says God will do this for us since we can’t do it for ourselves. God has been trying to balance the books of our sin since creation. We sometimes think that we have to keep track of the good and the bad we’ve done so we are rewarded appropriately. Many see the law in the scales of good and bad that have to be balanced more toward the good or you will not make it to heaven. You see there has been an accounting problem in our relationship with God. God is inviting us to see the imbalance in our accounting and receive grace.

Martin Luther said, “These, then, are the two works of God, praised many times in Scripture; God kills and gives life; God wounds and heals; God destroys and helps; God condemns and saves; God humbles and elevates; God disgraces and honors.” [1]

So we find ourselves tipped toward grace today. Jesus tells a story about grace in the story of the Vineyard Owner Seeking Workers. The workday is from sunrise to sunset. The harvest was ready and in prime condition for harvesting. The investments made all season are ripe for picking. So the owner of the vineyard started going out and finding workers in the marketplace where people who had no farms would seek day labor. It was the monster.com place or more like the walmart or home depot where migrant workers seek work.

When the day was over, they were all paid the agreed upon amount. They were then all paid what they all agreed upon, which was a denarii, a day’s wages. So the person who just started got one coin like this Eisenhower Dollar; the person who worked half a day and then the person who worked the whole day. Some people complained about how gracious God is to those who didn’t follow Jesus as long as others. Perhaps we don’t like it when others receive more recognition than we have been serving longer or invested longer.

Then Jesus said, “Are you envious because I am generous?” To paraphrase this statement, “is your eye evil because I am generous”. Then the vineyard owner said, “Take what belong to you and go” – this is a statement of no relationship and bitterness. If you want to still justify yourself by the law, Jesus is bidding us good luck doing that on your own without grace. If you want to hold onto how unfair it is that God treats people with grace, then leave and work your way into heaven.

A Lutheran campus pastor was teaching a college course on the life and teachings of Jesus. As the date for the final exam approached, the class spent several hours reviewing the material. Some students requested extra individualized time with the pastor. Other students met in peer study groups, cramming for the test. One student, realizing she had to be gone the day of the exam, arranged for a make-up exam, only to be told that the make-up test would be much more difficult. The day of the exam arrived; students sleepily filed into the room, obviously tired from a night of little sleep and lots of study. The campus pastor walked in, looking very serious. “Before we begin, I would like to read a passage from the Gospel of Matthew.” The parable of the laborers in the vineyard was read. The pastor closed the Bible and said, “This reading says that it’s all a gift – it’s all grace. So you’ve all made an A on your exam, and you’re free to go.” The students sat, stunned, for a moment; and then something unexpected began to happen. A murmur arose from the class – a murmur of discontent. “You mean we studied all this time for nothing, and those who didn’t study or even show up today get an A too? You’ve got to be kidding! It’s just not fair!” [2]

“Life is not fair, which is why it seems all that much more important that God should be”.[3] But if grace were deserved, it wouldn't be grace. Grace deserved is called a reward. We gather to ask God to bring healing and peace to that kind of resentment.

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[1] Martin Luther, Volume 39, page 188

[2] Daily Discipleship Written by John and Robin McCullough-Bade Copyright © 2005

[3]Barbara B. Taylor, “Beginning at The End” - Prof. Thomas Long handout

Matthew 18:21-35 - Book of Forgiveness (9-14-08)

This past week I read the One Minute Apology by Ken Blanchard. In it I found some very useful tools to understanding the need to apologize and some steps in dealing with broken mistrust. It was a very good book to listen to and only two discs. Apologizing is about you going and declaring that you were in the wrong. It was a good book about apologizing regardless of the NATO – Not About The Outcome! This book is about the Outcome of apologizing, which is forgiveness. This book relates to many different topics but forgiveness runs throughout.
God created us to live in relational harmony with God and others. Sin breaks that relationship and it causes separation, alienation, and estrangement. Barriers arise. Oneness is lost. The good news is that we are first to receive forgiveness from God through Christ and then we are called to forgive others. Forgiveness removes the barriers between persons caused by wrongdoing, real or imagined. The main word for forgiveness means to let go, send away and pardon. In forgiveness, barriers are removed as sins are sent away and persons are drawn together in relationships.
Joseph’s brothers didn’t deserve to be forgiven. Do I sit in the place of God? Revenge is not ours. Then Joseph said, “What you intended for evil God has turned for good. Good comes out of forgiveness. Healing and mutual peace is found in this act. Perhaps we are more comfortable with Christ in print than in practice. Forgiveness is the heart of this book while unforgiveness is a book we have all written that has many pages full of stuff that we haven’t surrendered.
Peter asked Jesus another question: “If another member of the community sins against me” – sounds like this is going to happen. Jesus already said earlier in Matthew how to deal with someone who needs to be forgiven. This isn’t about allowing someone to abuse you or not confronting with love those who refuse to apologize. We have received a page of the book while God holds the entire book of life. We have words written down that we ask God today to wipe the slate clean.
WHY FORGIVE? The words jumped off the face of Time magazine, January 9, 1984, even as the cover picture shocked the world. With his left arm in fatherly fashion around Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who had attempted to take the Pontiff’s life, Pope John Paul II tenderly embraced the right hand that had aimed and fired a near deadly round into his person on May 13, 1981. Whispering words of pardon, the Pope forgave his would-be assassin.

"Burdens, Thorns & Crosses" - Matthew 16:13-20 (8-31-08)

Former U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. William Bennett, was asked this question by a seventh grader: “How can you tell a good country from a bad one?” Secretary Bennett replied, “I apply the ‘gate’ test. When the gates of a country are open, watch which way the people run. Do they run into the country or out of the country?” Gates open and close; they protect or imprison.
The disciples had seen Jesus setting people free from the prison of sin, illness and disease. Now JESUS was asking the disciple who people thought Jesus was? Many were uncertain about it and so they gave all kinds of answers. The people could tell that Jesus had a heart that was open and people were being set free from their internal prisons of sins to a life of freedom.
Then Jesus asked the disciple who they thought Jesus was? Peter was inspired by God to answer, “You are the Messiah”. Correct answer! Peter, CEPHAS, Petros. Then Jesus said, “I will build my church” upon this confession of faith. Jesus will build his community of believers! Wherever the church has gathered, this confession of faith has prevailed. The Greek word was ekklesia, which meant the calling out group or a people gathered with a purpose.
Jesus said to Peter, “Not even the gates of hell shall prevail. Nothing is going to stop this message of freedom! This image of gates demonstrates that the gates of hell are closed because don’t want to let people go free. Gates are entry and exits of areas. Gates of a city was the place of funneling people for business and leadership. The gate was the place the elders met to discuss important issues. In business, gate keepers are people who guard and also prevent movement and activities. The gate was also the weakest place of attack for a city. In this passage, gates of hell refer to the "power" of the evil one; it designates the dark side of the force, the world of the dead and demonic powers. Even if deathly strength tried to crush the Church, even if the church is persecuted for our beliefs, the seed of corruption would not prevent the CHURCH from accomplishing form accomplishing this mission of salvation.
What is interesting about gates is that they are not offensive. A gate is not an offensive weapon. It guards and keeps people either protected or imprisoned. Notice that there is no two week cooling off period before one can purchase a gate. Police don’t pack loaded gates. Hostages are not held at gate point. There are no weapons inspectors to discover ‘gates of mass destruction”. Gates are not a threat for they are defensive and they hold back something inside. The church and our confession is sometimes held hostage at gate point because we are afraid & intimidated by those gates. The disciples saw how Jesus had set people from the prison of sin, illness, disease and death.
The Message and confession of the church is an assertive statement of belief. It would offend the powers of darkness. The message of grace which the church proclaims is an offensive and sometimes offensive because we have the message of faith that nothing in all creation shall separate us from God’s love. Nothing shall get in the way, not even the gates of hell! We sometimes say at the end of our time together, the worship has ended and the service begins. We leave to charge the gates doing 98 saying let my go.
In a book by C. M. Clowe, the author makes the distinction between burdens, thorns and crosses . All human beings have burdens. You cannot be born and not go through all the burdens in life. Every person here went through the pain of childbirth. To begin this life was not easy either for the mother or the child. You go through all the painful experiences of childhood and you become a teenager – want to repeat that experience? Time goes by and you have to pay all your taxes and you find yourself caring for aging parents; your own body starts to fall apart; accidents happen; illnesses arrive uninvited. When you are a human being, you carry the plain old burdens of life.
Then there is a second experience in life that we call thorns. The Apostle Paul said that he had a thorn in his flesh that he had to learn to live with. Many students of the Bible believe that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was epilepsy, and Paul had to learn to live with epilepsy, epileptic seizures, or epileptic spasms. Many people have thorns. Some people get diabetes and become blind and they have to live with blindness. Yes, many people in this life have thorns. Thorns are those basic handicaps and limitations of life. For some, it is a heart disease. For others, it is a back ache or spinal deformity.
Nobody chooses their burdens and nobody chooses their thorns. You don’t choose thorns. You do not choose burdens. That is just the way it is. These things just happen to you. A person learns to live in dignity with those burdens and those thorns.
And then there are crosses.
Today we are called to choose to pick up the cross. Picking up the cross is quite different than picking up burdens or living with thorns. Picking up the cross is something that you choose to do. We have crosses made by Cliff Launius that we give to people to remind them that Christ is with them in their burdens and thorns. To pick up a cross is to choose to pick up the thorns and burdens of other people’s lives. When other people are in need, due to their burdens and disasters, you chose to go and love them and help them with their lives. To pick up the cross is to choose to serve the needs of others and thereby to serve God. It is to join in the struggle against evil. To pick up the cross of Christ is to pick up the burdens, thorns and pain of other people.
John Napolii was returning with his catch of fish one foggy morning in 1955. He piloted his boat beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, into San Francisco harbor. What he saw next horrified him. There were people everywhere in the water. A hospital ship, The Netherlands, had collided with an oil tanker. People were shouting, “Help me! Save me! I’m drowning!” John Napolii carefully guided his fishing vessel to a cluster of drowning men. Quickly he began to pull them aboard one by one. Soon the small fishing boat was overcrowded. And John Napolii made one of the hardest decisions of his life. He knew that the lives of those men were far more important than his small fortune of fish. Within minutes he dumped his entire cargo of 2,000 pounds of fish, worth thousands of dollars, into the waters of San Francisco Bay and pulled more than 70 people aboard his boat.
We are saved by Grace alone in believing like Peter that Jesus is the MESSIAH, the one who saves us from sin and death! We are saved with a purpose! Purpose – to help other people navigate away from those gates and to Crash the gate doing 98 saying let those truckers role! We’ve got a great big convoy trucking through the night; we’ve got a great big convoy, ain’t she a beautiful site; come on join our convoy ain’t nothing but heading our way; we have joined the Christian convoy, across the earth! God is leading this convoy of people in this journey to set people free to live and love in the power of the cross.
Let us pray, Gracious God, we praise you for the rock of our life that is our strong foundation. You have formed us in community to be your people who are unafraid to proclaim to the world your goodness. You call us to minister to all those we encounter and to not be afraid. Guide us in sharing this good news, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Luke 24:25-35 - "Language of Faith" (09-07-08)

School has started and the excitement is in the air. Children come running into the house or off the bus or into the cars with such a world of new experiences. Some can’t wait to tell you what they’ve learned and others need a little coaxing to share what they have experienced. It all started with the A,B,C’s with children. Then they learn to put the sounds together with the letter and then the letter sounds together to form a word. Then the words start to form sentences and before you know it, kids start to read. But what is so important is that the parent demonstrates the importance of learning the language by reading to their children. So now that school has started, my son has actually been reading to me these books about Biscuit and now cars. Words on a page open up the mind to learning a story which generates excitement and language comes alive.
This is the goal of the book of faith initiative of the ELCA, for all of us to focus more attention on knowing the language of our faith. To have our minds opened, our hearts burning and our lives sharing this good news with those who are walking alone, like with this graphic. This child is walking alone on this road and we are called to speak a word of life on the roads of life.
There were these two men taking about a 2-3 hour walk toward the town of Emmaus, east of Jerusalem after the death of Jesus. There is nothing like walking and talking. There is something about not facing one another and facing the road ahead that allows people to share the joys and struggles of life. It is a long walk that includes a stranger. Why are you so sad Jesus asked them? They explain. Then Jesus tells them, “Oh how foolish and slow of heart…” Then Jesus explains by opening scriptures, a quick Bible 101 overview of why the messiah come to suffer and not take over the Roman Empire. After their minds were opened on the journey, Jesus is about to go ahead of them and walk on. Jesus doesn’t force himself upon them Faith doesn’t get forced upon us. Jesus was going to go ahead and leave but something in these two disciples prompted them to invite him into their home, their hearts were burning for more. Our language of faith should not be forced upon people but it should prick the heart that the person would want to learn more. There are moments of discernment when people will open the door to you and share their disappointments and we are called to share a good word so that they would say, “Were not our hearts burning inside us?
Then Jesus joined them for the meal where he was there and then he was gone. Jesus appeared to them when he began to eat a common meal with them. Then when they have seen Jesus, when they understood what the entire story is all about as their hearts were burning with this good news, they run the seven miles back to Jerusalem and tell the disciples what they had seen.
There are so many people walking the road to Emmaus alone. I remember September 2000 when the congregation walked with us on the first of two roads of miscarriages. Pastor Arthur Bergren preached the next Sunday and this lesson was used as a reminder that we are to walk with others in the faith journey. We are called to share the language of faith with one another so that no one need walk alone. Whether that is Cliff Launius or the many children around us that need to know, hear and see the language of faith come alive in, with and under the word.
There is nothing like the AHA when people are studying the Bible on their own or in a group. Something from Genesis helps to understand that God is the one who created it all and then to look at Revelation and to see that God will bring healing completely one day, for it says in Revelation that every tear will be wiped from their eye. At the end of this vision in Revelation, the author hears Jesus saying “Surely I am coming soon” and those words encourage the Christians who are suffering to hold on. Then John says, “Amen, Come Lord Jesus”. One day, there will be no need for these prayer shawls that I will bring to Cliff today, there will be no more cancer. Until then, we say words of good news, our language of faith to those around us so that Jesus Christ moves our hearts and fills our minds, and encourage us to walk beside others along the roads of life.
Let us pray, Gracious God we ask you to open our minds and hearts to hear and speak your words of grace and mercy. Guide us today along the roads of life to walk with others as we share the language of faith, in Christ name we pray, Amen.