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July 28, 2013 + Pastor Fred Kinsey Sermon

7/29/2013

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Readings for Sunday July 28, 2013
Pentecost 10/Proper 12(C)/Ordinary 17
     
  • Genesis 18:20-32 
  • Psalm 138 
  • Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19) 
  • Luke 11:1-13

Daily Bread Tomorrow
When Rabbi Goldstein confessed on Thursday evening that his biggest obstacle in understanding God, and living out his faith, was his persistence in thinking he was in charge of his life, including his spiritual life, that he was in ‘control’ – I could relate!  Although I’m not a type-A personality, like he surely must be, still I take a measure of my success by being pride-fully in control of my busy-ness!

But in the mysticism and spirituality of the Kabbalah, the first thing to learn, Rabbi Goldstein said, was the term Mekubal, Hebrew for, “one who receives,” or, is prepared to accept.  This, is ‘something other’ than taking charge, and being in control!  The mekubal, therefore, does not petition God in order to get the right stuff: a certain prosperous career, a nice house, or a dependable bank account, as if God is a slot machine, and provides whatever we ask. 

And so, right away, this made me retrace my steps back to the first little parable Jesus tells us today, in explanation of the Lord’s Prayer, and re-evaluate.  And suddenly, I understand the mis-translation of the word, persistence, that scholars admit to today. 

In the parable, two friends, who are neighbors, have a midnight encounter. The first has just received some guests unexpectedly and rushes to his next-door friend’s house to ask to borrow three loaves of bread – there are no stores open!  But the friend, of course, is already in bed, the children too, presumably sound asleep, and to get up and find some bread to share, would surely wake them, as the kitchen and bedroom are really one room together. 

And Jesus sums up:  I tell you, even though the friend will not get up and give him anything… at least because of his “shamelessness,” mistranslated here as, “persistence,” the friend will get up and give him whatever he needs. 

In the tradition of western Christianity, translating this word incorrectly stems from the fact that, until recently, we didn’t pay attention or understand 1st Century Palestine’s culture of “honor-shame” values.  And so it was completely missed that the friend next-door will get up, not because the first friend is persistent, that he tries harder and won’t give up – an important western value. But because the sleeping friend knows, if he doesn’t answer the door and “be a friend,” when he gets up the next morning, his name will be mud in the town square.  His reputation will be publically tarnished, and he will bring ‘shame’ on himself.  But by rising up – even though it’s not nice of his neighbor to make him do it – he brings honor to himself, and, his friend from next-door.  This is the radical nature of the giving and receiving of our prayer life, Jesus says. 

Jesus taught his disciples to pray: Give us each day our daily bread.  Right after the importance of asking for God’s kingdom and realm to come among us, the very next petition is about, bread.  The early Christian theologian Origen believed “daily” bread, was a word that was likely made-up by Luke, and never used before.  And daily bread can be translated: 1) necessary for our existence; 2) that which is needed for each day, 3) that which is needed for the following day, and, 4) that which is needed for the indefinite future!  And so, based on that, you could translate it this way, in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us today the bread we need today, not hoarding tomorrow's bread, too.” (Paul Neuchterlein)

So, is prayer about asking?  Or, is prayer about receiving?  Certainly prayer is about our spirituality!?  Or, is it about bread, and debts, and the trials of everyday life?  Are we in ‘control’ of this spiritual discipline, and these everyday life concerns?  Or are we, like Mekubal, receivers, who prepare ourselves to accept?  Isn’t prayer itself the central means by which we listen to God's desire and learn to imitate God!?

Right now our elected leaders, who go to Washington on our behalf, to create legislation that will care for our ‘daily’ and ‘future’ needs, are instead messing with our daily bread, in the Farm bill.  The Farm bill has been the home to a rather nifty government compromise for some 50 years.  Farmers get subsides to grow basic crops that all Americans depend on, and rural folk and urbanites who don’t have enough bread on their table, get temporary SNAP benefits, known as food stamps, to help supplement family budgets.  But as our economy in recent years lurches more and more towards rewarding the rich and demonizing the poor, despite the extra punishment of the Great Recession we’re in – now, even the daily bread so many pray for in the Farm bill, is on the chopping block.  The House has turned down the traditional win-win, ‘honor’ to all, version of this bill, in favor of defunding SNAP altogether. Yet, they would continue to fund the farm subsidies, which overwhelmingly in these times, go for “farmers” who are really large and wealthy corporations! 

And what does it mean when, many of these legislators who crafted this bill, will be praying Jesus’ Prayer with us this morning, Give us today our daily bread?! 

I hate to admit it, but, I am old enough to have known, and listened to people, who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  Don Lappala, who graduated from college in those days, never failed to tell me how wonderful the CCC’s were, the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he got his first job as a surveyor.  A very quiet, intense and smart guy – what we call today, a nerd or a geek – knew how he was indebted to this Depression-era jobs program.  In his retirement, Don told me the story over and over again.  And, not because he was going senile, but because he, and most everyone back then, were so proud of what their country did.  Most every family was poor in the depression.  They were all in the same boat together. They prayed together for their daily bread, and many brought ‘honor’ to themselves and those they shared their daily bread with!  Where Mr. Lappala lived, the sturdy wooden shelters and picnic benches made of white pines that CCC workers constructed, still stand today.  I sat in those pavilions and on those picnic tables with Don, when our church gathered for potluck meals, and we broke, and shared daily bread together, praying and receiving ‘communion.’ 

Who are we, if we can pray for God’s kingdom and realm to come on earth, to ask for daily bread each day for all, and yet deny our next-door neighbor the smallest concession of bread, to live just one more day?!  Have we not been called and empowered to be the disciples of Jesus, the embodiment of love, and the instruments of justice? Who will rouse us from our midnight slumber?  What will inspire us to rise from our beds of inaction, that we can bring ‘honor’ to a friend, and, ‘our neighbor as ourselves?’ 

In answer to the question - "Is prayer the central means by which we listen to God's desire and learn to imitate God? - I would suggest it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem?  Are we receivers or doers, as disciples? Which comes first?  I don’t actually care to answer that for now.  But I think we can say this.  It is Jesus’ example – the anointed one who becomes a servant of all, the master and teacher who gets down on his hands and knees to wash his followers feet, the King of the Jews who carries his own cross – this is the model that teaches us, to pray… And, this is the model that teaches us to follow, in service.  

Jesus, was the one who prayed a prayer of blessing, as he lifted the Passover loaf of bread, and then broke it, saying, this is my body, given for you – take and eat. 

Let us come to our picnic table of Holy Communion and receive the bread of life.  That being  filled today, we may share this gift with the world, and bring honor to all. 
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July 21, 2013 Pastor Fred Kinsey sermon

7/24/2013

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Pentecost 9, Proper 11(C), Ordinary 16 Readings:
  • Genesis 18:1-10a 
  • Psalm 15 
  • Colossians 1:15-28  
  • Luke 10:38-42

We Are Martha
Martha!  What are you doing?  Whoa, Martha is standing her ground!  Are you sure that’s what you want to do Martha?  Stand up to Jesus?!  Look at her go!  You go girl!  “Lord,” she says, right to Jesus’ face, “do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to lend me a hand.” (NRSV/The Message)

Most people, seem to take Martha’s side these days, even though Mary “chose the better part,” according to Jesus.  Martha’s just doing the service that she was supposed to do, it is pointed out.  But, how do we know Martha didn’t want to sit at Jesus’ feet too, like her sister Mary?  After all, Martha was the one, quite commendably, and with a fashionable hospitality, to “welcome” Jesus, into “her” home.  Maybe she just wants some attention and support from Jesus, in order to get some help with the chores that were equally Mary’s.  Maybe Martha was just trying to get Mary to get off her, ‘you-know-what’ – so she could come sit at the feet of their Rabbi too! 

What’s more, service to others is something Jesus himself continually advocates for, so why would he want to criticize that?  I have to admit, working hard and accomplishing things, is a high priority for me too!  On the other hand, a life of prayer is often a low priority, for us Protestants, in general.  Next to Benedictine Catholics and many Orthodox communities, not to mention the traditions of Native peoples and many Eastern religions, we don’t prioritize prayer, contemplation, or listening skills, as highly.  Probably none of us, reading this story, however, get it right when we pit Mary and Martha against each other, especially when we see the dynamic between them as one of listening vs. doing.  Jesus, in Luke’s gospel, much more consistently compares listening and prayer, with, a worrying distractive-ness. 

Jesus often goes away by himself to pray and center himself, as he does right after leaving Martha and Mary’s house.  And he famously tells the disciples, a bit later in Luke, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear… can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”

And so what strikes me about Martha, who clearly starts out her day as the champion of hospitality, yet ends up venting her anger, on the one she has welcomed, is “her stand,” her willingness to “stand her ground,” on principle.  And, to learn from it.  Listening and contemplating the Word of God, is our bigger picture, says Jesus.  But surely he is not rejecting Martha, or her well intentioned service and food preparations –– outright.  Martha, “stands her ground” – but in principle, and in dialog – no one is ‘shooting anyone down.’  “All of us are Martha,” and we can learn from her. 

The President, surprised the nation this week, making an unannounced, and unscripted, speech, in the White House Press Room.  He began by identifying himself, once again, with Treyvon Martin, saying he could have been him 35 years ago, and how he was familiar with, and experienced the discrimination and racism all African-American young men do growing up in our culture.  In effect, he was saying, “I am Treyvon!” 

He also noted towards the end of his remarks, that, “I think it’s going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching… at least you [can] ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can; am I judging people, as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin but the content of their character? (An obvious quote from Dr. King’s, I Have A Dream speech.) That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy,” said the President.

As a moral imperative, I agree, this is a deeply needed value.  But as a practical exercise, it too often misses the mark.  I know far too many white folks who have asked themselves this question, and just as quickly answered it in the affirmative, without understanding its often surprising implications.  They say, ‘I am not racist. I am wringing as much bias out of myself as I can. I would never judge people based on the color of their skin. But, I am against affirmative action. I don’t think we need the voting rights act anymore in this day and age. And, I think we should pass a law against wearing baggy pants too low!”  That last part actually happened in Green Bay, WI this week!  I know, for myself, the more I learn about the ways my privilege is complicit in furthering racism in our society, the more I answer the President’s question with “it ain’t enough, especially for a people unfamiliar and untrained in prayer and contemplation.  Soul-searching is a beginning, a starting place which needs to be combined with open and honest conversation and dialog.” 

When Abraham and Sarah welcome the three men who suddenly appear by their tent – welcoming them to drink some cool water, to rest in the shade, wash their feet, and have a bite to eat – they show the hospitality that not only was expected of them, but they go even further than required.  And, of course, it turned out to be a very good move!  The men were messengers, angels, from the LORD God. And after their rest and refreshment, and receiving this hospitality, then they deliver their news.  Asking for Sarah, they tell her husband that she will have their son, in due season.  And so the promise of a chosen people through Abraham and Sarah, is reiterated in a very dramatic way.  And it’s the NT writer of Hebrews that lifts them up for us, ever after, as models of how we are to treat our neighbors.  “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (13:2)

When I think of the tragedy of Treyvon Martin’s death at the hands of George Zimmerman, the grief his mother and father carry with them, the unjust “Stand Your Ground” law that enables this nightmare to go, as yet, unpunished – I can’t help but think of the divide between us.  Racial, yes, but also ethical and moral, one based on the love of neighbor – inherent in most religions – which is a much needed ethic of, ‘standing your ground’ on the principle of: hospitality before profiling, and on faith and dialog with our fellow humans, before solving problems with guns. 

When Jesus talks about who our neighbor is and what they look like, he offers the picture of the enemy-Samaritan, the one who acts, toward us, with the grace and love of God, even in risking his reputation.  And when the Hebrew writers offered up a picture of hospitality, they remembered the self-giving and vulnerable welcome that Abraham and Sarah risked, with three strangers, when they walked onto their property unannounced.  When we live-out these examples, then they will know we are a people of faith, as we ‘stand our ground’ on hospitality and trust, for the justice and peace for all, in the realm and Kingdom of God! 

If we forsake a life of theological contemplation and prayer, and are worried about things to the point of distraction and anger, we may miss the better part – like, the living word-of-life, a parable or story of hospitality, and an opportunity to give of ourselves and make the world a more hallowed ground. 

Mr. Zimmerman, when he profiled an unarmed teenager as a criminal, and when he got out of his vehicle to take matters into his own hands against the express wishes of his superiors, this is the new “worried distracted-ness” of our time.  And to hide behind an unjust “stand your ground” law, is really at best a cowardly ethic, which risks only the true moral and ethical underpinnings of our society, based on our life of faith.  Citizens, and people of peace and hospitality, expect much better than that, and demand change.  We ‘stand our ground,’ in conversation with Jesus, un-armed, and anxious to learn from the Rabbi, our Lord.  We are Martha! 

Even through the tears of mourning and loss that wash over us in these days of deep moral soul-searching, we pray that it will lead us to the dream that one day [our children] will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Are we ready to have that conversation?  I’m not sure our “souls” have been that “searchable” up to now!  But we have the tools already, in our tradition and our scriptures.  Let us find a way then, to stand our ground on the ethic and practice of hospitality, where loving our neighbor as our self, is understood as equally as its twin – that is, ‘speaking truth to power, speaking as Martha.’  
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Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (C)         Pastor John Roberts

7/19/2013

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Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25:1-10
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Do Something
I would suggest that, if you know anything about the New Testament,
you would be able to tell the story of the Good Samaritan without even looking at the text. 
But, like any other piece of Holy Scripture, there is always something more in this
living Word of God than we learned in Sunday School –
just because we are listening to it with today’s ears;
sifted through the various experiences we’ve had in our own lives.

By this time in Luke’s narrative, the Jewish officials have already begun to worry about Jesus and his teachings. 
They haven’t finalized a plot to do away with him yet. 
But they’ve begun to gather information that they are sure will be helpful when that time comes. 
And so, in today’s Gospel, a lawyer stands up to test Jesus.
This is not the attorney we think of today. 
He’s not standing up to question Jesus. 
This is a lawyer in what we would call today Canon Law, not Civil or Criminal law. 
He was adept at arguing cases based upon the Scriptures. 
And what we, at first glance, hear as a question; Luke tells us is a TEST! 
What must I do to inherit eternal life? 
Literally, the Greek wording is:  “Teacher, I will inherit eternal life having done or acquired what?”

Jesus, turning the question on the lawyer asks TWO questions:
“What is written in the Law,” and “What do YOU read there?” 
This reminds us that the Word of God is a LIVING Word. 
Yes, there are words written down which do not change. 
But, we all know that every time we read the scriptures, they say
something to us NOW that they may not have said before. 
And every person of faith who reads the scriptures,
because of their own experiences of faith and life, will hear the Word as it applies to their own life;
and that may be very different from how another hears it.

The lawyer answers Jesus the way any Jewish person from the time of Moses to today would answer.  
"Sh'ma Israel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echod."  
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 
You shall love the Lord your God out of all your heart
and with all your soul; with all your strength; and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 
To which Jesus says, “Yep!  That’s the right answer! 
Do this, and you will live.

The lawyer could have ended the discussion there. 
But remember, he’s there to test Jesus and also, Luke tells us, to justify himself. 
So, assuming that he has always loved his neighbor as much as he’s loved himself,
he asks Jesus, “So who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replies with a story. 
Now, if you visit the Holy Land today and take one of the official Bible tours,
your tour guide will most likely take you to a spot I visited on my tour. 
On the road today from Jerusalem to Jericho, there is a building marked “The Samaritan’s Inn.” 
It was just an empty mud-brick building when I was there. 
But it was also the place where you could get your picture taken riding a Bedouin’s camel. 
The significance is that the story Jesus told has become so real that some place had to be built
to remember the story. 
But the story might have just as well began, “Once upon a time…….a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho.”

Jerusalem is at a higher elevation.  Jerusalem is built on a series of hills. 
And the road to Jericho, not that far away, yet in the desert, does actually go “down.”  
This is Jewish territory, in the province of Judea. 
It’s only logical that a priest and a Levite could, “by chance,” be travelling on that road. 
But there were just as obviously robbers who would be on that road taking advantage of
rich people who were travelling alone. 
So, “the man” (assume here Jesus is talking about a Jewish man) fell into
the hands of robbers who stripped him of anything valuable, beat him so that he
could not follow them, and left him there half-dead. 
This would have been a familiar story to the lawyer so far. 
What comes next is a surprise.

First came the priest and the Levite. 
Now all priests were descendants of the tribe of Levi but not all Levites were priests.
Levites of Jesus’ day assisted the priests in the temple. 
The one thing they had in common was that they were not to be landowners. 
They were to depend on the tithes paid by all the other tribes to support
the Temple and the Temple’s caretakers. 
If you think about the incident where Jesus upset the tables of the
moneychangers in the Temple, you get the idea that both the priests and the
Levites (who were probably some of the moneychangers) didn’t have a hard life. 
They were not only looked up to by the public as learned men, they were probably some of the wealthiest.  

One of the many ritual laws was that a bloody person was unclean. 
And so, it’s not at all unreasonable that the priest and the Levite passed the man by
on the other side of the road. 
It’s not that they didn’t notice him. 
Jesus makes it clear in the story that “THEY SAW HIM.” 
They just didn’t do anything for him. 
It’s almost as though Jesus is treating them as no better than the robbers.

Then comes the Samaritan. 
When the Samaritan sees the man, Jesus tells us, “he was filled with compassion.” 
(A much better translation than “pity.”) 
In fact, the Gospels only use this word in two other cases. 
When Jesus sees a mother about to bury her only son, he has compassion. 
And, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, when the father sees his son returning, the father has compassion.  
Having compassion on the man, the Samaritan treats his wounds with wine and oil;
bandaging his wounds, he puts him on his own animal and takes him to an inn
where he takes care of him and gives the innkeeper money with a promise of more money on his return trip.

Remember that this whole discussion started when the lawyer asked Jesus, “who is my neighbor.” 
Once again, Jesus turns the discussion around and asks the lawyer,
“who was neighbor to the man who was beaten and robbed?” 
And when the lawyer identifies the Samaritan,
Jesus answers his first question, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life,”
with the instruction to the lawyer, “go and do what the Samaritan did.

I am sure that the lawyer was disappointed. 
Jesus had given him a clear answer to his questions. 
On the one hand, it was obvious even to him that it was the Samaritan who loved his neighbor as himself. 
But, darn it, why did it have to be a Samaritan? 
Samaritan were half-breeds. 
They didn’t acknowledge the Temple in Jerusalem.  



 
In the chapel of my seminary, there was a beautiful triptych. 
The center panel was of the crucifixion. 
The two side panels told the story of the Good Samaritan. 
The painter’s intention was to tell the worshipper that Jesus identifies with the Samaritan,
not only because the Samaritan had compassion, but also because Jesus, like all of the Samaritans,
was despised by his own people, his own family. 
Jesus identifies with the outcast, the sinner and the Samaritan
because they have known what it is like to be judged punished. 
They know what it is like to be “them” and not “us.”  
It is through a lowly young girl that the Messiah is born. 
It is through a bunch of rough fishermen and a tax collector that the Gospel will be spread. 
It is through a condemned criminal that the whole world will be changed.  
 
A Samaritan was the last person a Jew would ask for help. 
In fact, the Mishnah stated: “He that eats the bread of the Samaritans is like the one who eats the flesh of swine.” 
Yet Jesus tells the lawyer to be like a Samaritan when his life’s road
crosses the roads of the beaten and bruised ones of life.

There are two things we must do now in light of this Gospel reading. 
First, we must admit to God that there have been plenty of times in our lives when we,
like the priest and the Levite, have not had compassion on the needy. 
Whether out of fear or the busyness of life or just keeping our eyes and
ears to focused on our cell phones and ipads;
there have been many times we have not stopped and done something for those in need. 
And for this, we must ask God’s forgiveness.

The second thing we must do is oh so much more important. 
We must take time to love our neighbors as ourselves. 
Each and every one of us have to take the time to commit ourselves to be like the Samaritan, like Jesus himself.  Yes, in small ways as those opportunities come to us day by day. 
But today, each one of us needs to pledge to God that we will take the first step to work for justice. 
Begin to research how I can help the poor, the hungry, the homeless;
those in prison; the illiterate; women in Afganistan; children suffering from
Malaria in Africa; gay people being imprisoned in Russia and in Uganda;
Palestinians who are cut off from their livelihood by walls and checkpoints;
children in hospitals and parents who mourn their children taken away from them by drug addiction. 
Find a PASSION.  And then, be compassionate. 
And you will find life becomes so much closer to eternal life when you do. 
 


     
 


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July 7, 2013 + "To Go Ahead of Jesus" + Pastor Kinsey

7/8/2013

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Reading for Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 9(C)/Lectionary 14 
  • Isaiah 66:10-14
  • Psalm 66:1-9
  • Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16
  • Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

To Go Ahead of Jesus, A Sermon by Pastor Fred
I have to say, I love traveling by car, on vacation.  Not just because I am apprehensive about flying, which I kind of am, but because, cars are the ultimate in personal freedom, which is sort of appropriate during this 4th of July break – don’t you think?!  Even with just the 2 of us in our modest VW diesel Jetta, Kim and I have more than enough room to bring along whatever we want.  It takes me half as much time to pack for a week’s vacation by car, even though I take 3 or 4 times as much luggage, as it does to pack for a week’s vacation by plane, with only a carry-on.  Paring down takes such incredible preparation and planning!  But in the car, I can bring every pair of shoes I own, if I want, and decide which ones to wear later!  I can bring every tie I’ve worn in the last 20 years, and it hardly takes up any extra room at all!  Not sure about which shorts and t-shirts to wear – throw ‘em all in! 

But I wondered, was the Lord sending us on this trip to the south, or were we on vacation from God?  Personally, I don’t mind a Good Shepherd along for the ride!  God can see everything, right?!

In our gospel, Jesus sent out 70 of his followers, or Disciples, as Apostles, meaning “the Sent ones,” on a trip “ahead of him,” giving them instructions on proper hospitality.  Hospitality isn’t just a nice smile and a warm handshake – though surely it is that – but hospitality is about living without much of what we are used to, outside our normal routines – and being totally focused on living within the world offered by the other, with all its possible surprises – that we might find the fissures in our own personal universe where the Spirit wants to enter in. 

“…the Lord appointed seventy… and sent them on ahead of him… to every town and place where he himself intended to go,” says Luke.  “Go on your way.… Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' ... Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, … cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'” 

Here in this place, this place called Sanctuary, we provide hospitality as best we can, beginning with a generous gathering area to welcome first time guests, or old familiar faces; to offer peace and a cold drink of water; to hear or tell a story of concern or joy, as we fill this Sanctuary with laughter and tears, song and praise. We hear God’s word, listening attentively, and through the blowing of the Holy Spirit, discover its fresh and new message washing over us, changing and bathing us from above.  In the Prayer Area here, we receive prayer and anointing for healing and wholeness, and at the table we are offered the real presence of Christ’s body and blood, sharing a meal of sacrifice and love, communion and forgiveness, health and nourishment.  This gracious and life-giving hospitality, however, is only birthed here, generated by Our Lord’s motherly and fatherly parent by a blessing and with peace.  Which only comes to fruition, then, in the Final Act of our weekly Good News Drama, as we are Sent out to be a blessing and sign of peace in our neighborhoods and community.  Just as Jesus asked of the 70 Apostles when he sent them out, he still asks now of us as well, that we go on ahead of him… to where he himself intends to go. 

Jesus comes after us to bridge the gap between the diverse, and as yet, un-reconciled communities we live in.  Fear not, you don’t have to be Jesus – only, wherever you go, you go ahead of him with a welcome and healing, in the sharing of peace or a meal – and there the presence of Christ will follow.

Are we able to go ahead of Jesus?  What do we need to bring?  How much depends on us?  When are we Disciples, the followers of Jesus, and when are we Apostles, the Sent ones? 

In Jesus time, indeed even to this day, Palestinian hospitality is legendary.  Here in Chicago, I know of no pastor who would send his people out to knock on doors if it was dangerous out there – and increasingly, you can’t enter a secure high-rise building even if you want to, or find very many single family dwellings willing to open their door to you.  But arriving at a Palestinian home, then or now, you can depend on a warm and hospitable reception, a cold glass of water and something to eat, a sharing and welcome, even for a complete stranger. 

We enact this kind of hospitality today, I think you could say, with Mission Trips.  Our Youth who went to the ELCA Youth Gathering a year ago, found such a welcome in homes and even in the streets of New Orleans, as they offered a helping hand in rebuilding, and even when they just met a stranger on the way.  It was partly the mission, I guess, and partly just the charm and hospitality of New Orleans! 

In the “Leisure and Hospitality Industry,” as it is called – which include, arts and entertainment jobs, as well as, hotel and food service jobs, employment grew in June, helping to lead the decrease in the unemployment rate.  Of course, this is nothing new.  These “hospitality” type jobs have been leading job creation all during this recovery period.  High paying jobs, like construction jobs that include benefits, declined again.  As we get closer to the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act, and the requirement that those whose jobs average 30 hours/week or more be given health insurance, the work week of the “hospitality sector” now averages 26.5 hours a week, not enough for health coverage.  The rest of us, of course, end up paying for health care for them one way or another, which isn’t much of a burden for the executives who design and control our economy, and whose salaries have been rising at some 16% a year.  The upshot is, society as a whole cannot avoid the consequences of our collective failure to offer, in a hospitable way, the basics we all deserve, some simply pay for it in very unjust ways, poor health for the poor, declining services, and higher premiums for those lucky enough to have health insurance! 

As Kim and I arrived in Columbia, SC, by car, last week, we were invited to the wedding couple’s rehearsal dinner party, even though we hadn’t been part of the rehearsal itself.  And what a gracious offer it was!  Arriving at the friends’ of the wedding couple’s home, we didn’t have to worry that street parking was as jammed as it sometimes gets around here, because Valet Parking attendants jumped out to greet us.  And as we walked into Jim and Randy’s home, we were astounded at the transformation of their old brick house, so tastefully decorated, walls adorned with original paintings, antique furniture refinished, gentle fans blowing in the Carolina heat.  The party was outside, though.  And in the back yard a beautiful garden gave way to a secluded pool now filled with gleeful children splashing and diving in the cool waters.  And there on the west side of the house a huge tent covered a lush green lawn surrounded on all sides by more gardens.  As we entered, tables of food, adorned with the southern classic, Beaufort Stew, greeted us, while on the far end a funky live swing band from Asheville was playing, and sounded to me like a mixture of Klezmer and New Orleans Jazz, but what they called, Gypsy music. 

We were fashionably late, and the wedding couple, Shauna and Jennifer, were just beginning their welcome and instructions for eating – which, I thought, was perfect timing!

At such occasions, it’s difficult to determine who’s the host and who is the guest!  Hospitality was flowing back and forth from wedding couple to friends and family, from the hosts to the party goers, and back again. 

Jesus sends us out ahead of him to where he intends to show up himself!  We are emissaries, hosts, and at the same time, we are guests and honorary family and friends.  Gifts are given to and from the wedding party.  And surely this is how it is for us as givers and receivers of hospitality in the places we are, the places we are sent to, the places where Jesus himself intends to go. 

As apostles today, appointed to go ahead of Jesus, hospitality is about being totally focused on living within the world offered by the other, and the Spirit’s surprises – not just about our freedom, but about what is just and makes for peace for all, what makes for healing and reconciliation.  Jesus says, in most cases that will mean, not coming by car expecting Valet Parking, though that’s always nice, but paring down, planning and preparing.  We come in the spirit of hospitality, to depend on the hospitality of others.  We don’t bring our culture and “baggage” to “them”, as much as we let ourselves be ministered to and cared for, and in doing so, learn about what God is up to.  This is a preparation we live out daily, knowing that Jesus follows us – a kind of preparation of the soil for seeds to be scattered, the formation of a safe place, in the Lord’s name, who in following, completes the fullness of healing, we have broached, and who accomplishes peace and salvation, in the creation and strengthening of our communities, the nearness of the kingdom and realm of God. 

The good news is that we are not, and do not have to be, Jesus, but wherever we go, we have the privilege of going ahead of him, where he himself is about to go.  And so, wherever we find the sharing of peace, the welcome of water and meal, the gift of healing, then, the kingdom of God has come near.  And, we can rejoice – that this great commission is love’s true measure – and that our names are written in heaven.

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Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

7/2/2013

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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (C)
1 Kings 19:16-16,19-21
Luke 9:51-62

Why It Is Important To Look Forward - Pastor John Roberts

First a few notes about the details of today’s readings. 
In the first reading, we hear about certain responsibilities Jewish prophets had. 
Although the prophets appear in scripture at the same time as the political leaders of the Jewish nation – both
the judges and the kings – it is the job of the prophet to speak on God’s behalf, not the politicians. 
In fact, the prophets had the job of anointing the judges and the kings. 
This also meant that when there were false prophets, very often there were also evil kings. 
And it was also the job of the prophet to choose and train the prophet who would come after. 
That’s what’s happening in the first reading today.

Some notes about the second reading may also help us. 
This is a discussion about freedom, law, slavery, spirit and love. 
These days, we often define freedom as the ability to make our own decisions; our own choices. 
We even have a theological term which seems to back this up. 
We talk about “freedom of the will.” 
But Paul ties the freedom of the Christian to our response to one single commandment;
a single “commitment” if you will – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 
Living in freedom means living as God intends all of humanity to live –
in loving relationship with one another. 
Living in the Spirit of Christ means love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  
 
Finally, some notes on the Gospel reading. 
This story takes place when Jesus decides to leave his ministry in Galilee and move on to his final destination. 
He sets his face to go to Jerusalem. 
To do this, he and his followers must travel through Samaria. 
You may remember that Jesus’ home in Nazareth as well as the “home base”
of his ministry in Capernaum is in the northern part of the Holy Land commonly known as Galilee. 
The southern part of the Holy Land is known as Judea. 
But in-between the two, there is this area called Samaria. 
Samaria, the city, had at one time been the capitol of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the home of the 10 tribes, which had been “lost” when it was conquered by the Assyrians. 
But the Samaritans, who had married non-Jews, had their own scriptures which were different from the scriptures of the Jews and they claimed that the true House of God was in Samaria, not Jerusalem. 
This is why the Jews hated the Samaritans.  
 
You may also remember that in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has good things to say about Samaritans. 
When Jesus heals 10 lepers, Luke points out that the only one who gives thanks is the Samaritan leper. 
And in Luke, Jesus tells the parable about the Good Samaritan. 
In today’s Gospel, James and John, the “sons of thunder” want to call down fire from heaven (lightening)
to destroy the Samaritan town which had not welcomed them. 
They thought, because of their Jewishness, that the Samaritans had rejected Jesus. 
But Jesus dismisses this because his face is set toward Jerusalem.

All of this is interesting and somewhat important to understanding what God wants us to hear today. 
But more than all of this, God wants us to consider what it means to be a disciple. 
And to get you thinking about this central theme, I want to ask you a question I once saw on a bumper sticker: 
“If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

When Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha, Elisha wanted to first kiss his parents goodbye. 
Listen to what Elijah answered him, “Go back again - - what have I done to you?”
What have I done to you?  Think about what you're about to do, Elisha. 
Elijah was giving Elisha the freedom to make a commitment. 
And Elisha made his commitment in a very distinct way. 
He went and slaughtered the oxen he had been using to support his former
life, gave the boiled meat to the people, and followed Elijah. 
There was no turning back now. 
His former means of making a living were gone. 
He could only go forward from that point on.

When someone approached Jesus saying, “I will follow you wherever you go,” Jesus, like Elijah
had to point out that there would be no looking back for a disciple.
“The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head,” he said. 
And he might as well have said, “you won’t have a comfortable home either, if you want to follow me.”  
To another who wanted to bury his father; and to another who wanted to return home to say his goodbyes,
Jesus briskly tells them to let go of their past for the sake of the kingdom of God.  
After all, if one is plowing a field looking backwards, the furrows will all be crooked.

Jesus is telling all those disciples that from that moment on, they will be pilgrims;
no, more than pilgrims, they will be nomads. 
They will have no idea what lies ahead. But forward they must go.

Whether it is in our own lives or in the institutions we create,
constantly looking at the past instead of moving forward with determination, can only lead to worry,
fear and depression. 
Companies that are constantly looking at last quarter’s profits instead
of looking forward to the next new product or the next new medical breakthrough
or the next new innovation will always end up going under. 
Apple succeeds because they look forward.

An individual who drives a car or rides a bicycle or even walks forward while looking backward…..
well, you know what will happen. 
And when our own congregation constantly remembers the “good old days” of the past instead of looking forward to the new opportunities to live out the Gospel for the sake of others,
we will only keep wondering why no one comes anymore.

When we look to the past, we can either remember the good things (which we often attribute to our own work)
or the bad things; and forget that God has already forgiven us for those mistakes. 
 
When we hear Jesus talk about being “fit for the Kingdom of God,” we are so tempted
to wonder just what we need to do to make ourselves good disciples. 
What rules should we live by? 
What choices should we make to make the Kingdom of God happen in our midst? 
When in reality, there is nothing we can do to make the kingdom of God emerge among us - -
that’s what Jesus accomplished in his death and resurrection. 
This discipleship is not about gaining God’s favor, it is about living out the love which we have
found so fully in that death and resurrection of Jesus. 
We live forward. 
We live in the confidence that our own place in the Kingdom of God has already been accomplished. 
Now we live to love, just as God has loved us in Jesus. 
God’s way moves forward towards new life rather than looking backward for self-justification or for regret. 
We have become God’s own children through our baptism. 
God’s children are forgiven and forgiving. 
God’s children have been won through Jesus’ sacrifice and therefore, we freely sacrifice and give for others. 
God’s children do not fear death but see beyond death. 
Just as the ancient farmer who plows looking backward is rewarded with bent furrows and poor harvests,
when we live our lives looking backward, we also have poor results in our lives.

God has given us the gift of living forward, without regret,
to find new ways, to look for new possibilities, to touch new lives, and to love new loves. 
It’s time to live like we hope. 
It’s time to live in Christ’s freedom.  It’s time to say
yes to God, yes to ourselves, and yes to our future.  
 


 
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