This sermon was delivered on the Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 26, 2007 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
As you know, I love music and the movies, and one of my favorite movies is “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” “Dr. Strangelove” begins as the story of a U.S. Army General who decides that it is better to start a nuclear war than it is to wait for a nuclear war to start because he fears fluoridation of water is a Communist conspiracy causing him to loose the purity of his essence. As the threat of nuclear war reaches its zenith, Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky is summoned to a meeting deep in the darkest bowels of the Pentagon where the Generals and Admirals are assembled with the President. Suddenly the ambassador is caught taking pictures with a camera hidden in a fake pack of cigarettes by Army General ‘Buck’ Turgidson. General Turgidson fights to get the camera from Ambassador Sadesky who fights back. The voice of reason, President Merkin Muffley, brings the donnybrook to a close saying, “Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.”[1]
Now tell me, if you can’t fight in the war room where can you fight?
You know, I can just hear the leader of the synagogue saying, “Lady, you can’t get healed in the synagogue! It’s the Sabbath!”
Now tell me, if you can’t get healed…never mind, you get my point.
Folks who have studied these things longer than I have say that healing stories fall into three types, miracle stories, controversy stories, and teaching stories. This account falls into two, if not all three of these categories.[2] It’s a miracle story, as much as every one of Jesus’ healings is miraculous. It is a controversy story, as I just pointed out from the reaction of the head of the temple. And it’s a teaching story, as Jesus makes clear in the end of the reading.
But now I ask which deserves our attention today? As for the miraculous aspects of the story, I could spend the next twenty minutes or the next twenty weeks talking about the miracles of Jesus and their effects on our lives. It’s a wonderful sermon series with one overriding message, the miracles point to Jesus’ father. Jesus says on more than one occasion what he does he does for the glory of the Father. I could focus on the miraculous aspects of the healings, but this is a well traveled road.
The controversy is pretty obvious, but it deserves attention. Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. So far, so good, in fact, there would have been more controversy if Jesus had not been in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up.
Jesus was sympathetic. Being fully divine does not prevent Jesus from feeling pain. As a fully human carpenter, he knew what it was like to have a sore back. TV ads for pain relievers tell me carpenters get sore, I figure it’s the same two thousand years ago. He saw this woman crippled up and bent over and knew what she needed. She needed healing…and more.
So when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” Set free, pardoned, released, the woman is separated from her pain and her shame by the most wonderful of Rabbis with the most wonderful of phrases, “you are set free.” How we all long to hear those words. We are all crippled by one thing or another. And while we may not be bent physically for all to see, we are bent. We all long to hear those wonderful words, “you are set free.”
This act is not without controversy though, Jesus heals her on the Sabbath and the head of the synagogue is indignant. “There are six days on which work ought to be done.” This begins sounding like the head of the synagogue is about to tear into Jesus for healing, but then he doesn’t. He finishes his diatribe on work with, “come on those days to be cured, and not on the Sabbath.” The head of the synagogue doesn’t say he’s upset with Jesus for healing the bent woman; instead he shows he is ticked off at the woman for coming on the Sabbath. Honey, you were in the right place, but it’s the wrong time. The controversy is ripe, and focused on someone who is weakened by years of oppression, someone who is separated from the community of her birth.
The woman is reprimanded by the head of the synagogue, but it’s Jesus who comes to rescue her from this controversy. He answers her critics with words that ring out, “if you’re going to take on this injured soul, this Satan-bound woman, this daughter of Abraham, you’d better be ready to take me on too.” “You hypocrites!” he cries. You posers! You fakers! Jesus calls the head of the synagogue and all who agree with him frauds. Jesus reminds these fine upstanding keepers of the faith that they too work on the Sabbath; they feed and water their livestock. So Jesus asks them if they will care for their own flocks on the Sabbath, isn’t it better to bring a daughter of Abraham back into the flock of the great shepherd anytime, including on the Sabbath? Jesus reminds them that Satan had bound this woman for eighteen long years, so this woman ought to be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day.
This story’s controversy takes us into its teaching. This is the teaching we find in this story can be summed up saying that it is always good to do what is right, regardless of the time and place. Making this point, scripture tells us his opponents were put to shame and the entire crowd rejoiced at the things he was doing.
For Jesus, there’s no such thing as “right place—wrong time.” It’s always the right place and it’s always the right time to do the right thing.
Mac Rebennack, Jr. is a blues rock and boogie-woogie piano player from New Orleans. Calling himself Dr. John, he had a hit in 1973 with “Right Place, Wrong Time.”[3] I think the second chorus is fitting with today’s reading.
I was in the wrong place, but it must have been the right time
I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong song
I was in the right thing, but it seemed like a wrong wrong
'Cause I was in the right world, but it seemed like a wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong
I believe the head of the synagogue is telling the woman she was in the right place, but needing to be healed, she was singing the wrong song. And I also believe that the head of the synagogue was telling her that she was in the right place to come for healing, but it was the wrong time. As long as you are orthodox, you’re fine. Keep with the program and you’ll be fine, but if you don’t then to paraphrase Dr. John, it’s like being in the right world, but it seems like a wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
The head of the synagogue knows his rules and his regulations. He knows “work” is not to be done on the Sabbath. He knows healing is work. He surely knows healing is a work of God, whether miraculous healing or not. He knows his purity laws. He knows an ailing woman should not be in the holy place on the holy day. And he surely knew Jesus should not have laid hands on her.
Touching a woman…on the Sabbath…in the synagogue…to heal her…Jesus just racked up a four-bagger of sins in one fell swoop. Controversy is thick in this little tale of ours. But I ask, in the head of the synagogue’s indignity in this story, isn’t he trying to maintain the right and proper worship in the synagogue? I believe he is. He isn’t a bad guy; he’s just doing his job.
This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about people just doing their jobs. Another example comes from a few weeks ago with the story of the Good Samaritan.[4] The priest and the Levite weren’t merciful toward the injured and bleeding man of Luke 10:30, but they weren’t evil either. They were just doing their jobs. The ritual purity aspects of the man’s injury and the woman’s ailment even have the same ring to holy men in these pieces. And as in that story, in this story Jesus wants more from his followers. Jesus harkens to open our minds to new activities and our souls to new neighbors. This is where the real controversy comes into the story.
This reminds us that Jesus is willing to go out on a limb compared to what others are willing to do. The head of the synagogue wanted to keep the orthodoxy orthodox. He wanted to do the right things the right way, the way they have been done for thousands of years. The way they are done in the scriptures as given to Moses. But Jesus wants more. Jesus demands more.
A few weeks ago I said that the story of the Good Samaritan doesn’t ask us “Who is my neighbor?” as much as it asks, “Am I a neighbor?”[5] Here Jesus asks us about work. If the question is “when is it right to do the reconciling work of God?” The answer can only be “Always.”
Jesus demonstrates the word when he brings her back into the community. Jesus does this by healing, this is for sure. He also does it by returning her to the community. Jesus restores the woman and Jesus restores us. Jesus will have us in the assembly on the Sabbath to share and participate in the worship of Almighty God for the restoration of ourselves, our community, and the world just as he did with this daughter of Abraham. Jesus will have us accept all who come bent and broken because none of us are pure and flawless.
Jesus is doing what a prophet should be doing on the Sabbath, he is teaching. Yet for Jesus teaching is more than an academic enterprise. Without response, without doing something with the teaching, it’s just words, gone like smoke in the breeze. The word becomes truth when we take it and use it to point to God and help bring in the Kingdom of Heaven. He is doing what a prophet does. He doesn’t just preach the word, he demonstrates it.
Who do you know that suffers from separation from Christ and the body of Christ? In our own bent and broken ways, we are all separated from the Love of God. Yet we give thanks and praise to the Messiah who calls us while we are bent and broken into the family of God. We give thanks and praise to the Messiah who has calls us into the family of God while we are still bent and broken.
This is the miracle, new life in Jesus Christ. This is the controversy; his new life is for everyone, especially the bent and broken. This it the teaching, we are always in the right place and it is always the right time to do the right thing. This is a variation of the teaching that comes from the end of the Good Samaritan, go and do likewise.
[1] George, Peter, “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Hawk Films, Ltd, 1964.
[2] Cousar, Charles B., Gaventa, Beverly R., McCann, Jr., J. Clinton, Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV, YEAR C. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994, page 484.
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Rebennack, accessed August 25, 2007.
[4] Luke 10:25-37 in “Visions and Revisions,” http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2007/07/visions-and-revisions.html, preached on July 15, 2007, accessed August 25, 2007.
[5] Halverson, Richard C., Animating Illustrations section from “Adlet and Blink,” Commentary section, from Homiletics Online, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?installment_id=930000347, accessed June 10, 2007. as presented in “Visions and Revisions,” http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2007/07/visions-and-revisions.html, accessed August 25, 2007.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Making a Difference
This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 19, 2007.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
After hearing this reading from Luke, one reaction comes to mind, “Is this the same Jesus we find in the Bible?” Yes, this is the same Jesus, and the same bible for that matter. But this surely isn’t the Jesus we’re used to reading about. Honestly, if it weren’t for the lectionary, the weekly schedule of readings for worship, I don’t think I would have chosen this one. That’s the reason for the lectionary, tough decisions need to be made, and the people who put together the lectionary chose to take this higher road.
This still leaves me with choices; I can always base this sermon on one of the other readings, or go off the board completely. Either way, there are choices to make. Fish or cut bait, it’s a moment of Truth, Truth with a capital “T.”
John’s gospel says Jesus is the crisis of the world.[1] By crisis he didn’t mean emergency, but a moment of truth where a decision has to be made.[2] Our reading today makes the point that where there are choices to make, Jesus makes a difference in what and how we choose. Luke’s reading is particularly focused on the fact that Jesus brings the crisis to the world, and the moment of truth can be very difficult.
First, Jesus makes a difference.
According to the Associated Press last week, Roman Catholic Bishop Tiny Muskens from the Netherlands suggested that “people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding.”[3] Usually, I am a fan of compromise. In a time and place of agreements and disagreements compromise is a road which often makes navigating this whole wide world a lot easier. I can see where his point is coming from; this seems to be a case where the Bishop hopes to bring grease to the squeaky wheel. But I disagree with the Bishop.
Bishop Muskens says, “Allah is a very beautiful word for God.” I can’t argue with him if all that’s at stake is a matter of taste. If the only thing that matters here is language and the words we use to name the “Power greater than ourselves”, then why not call God “Allah?” It’s an Arabic word meaning God, so in that case it would be valid. But if all that’s important here is human language, why don’t we use “Dios” instead? Or “Dieu?” Perhaps “Dominus” or “Theos” would be an acceptable compromise? Why not Spanish or French or Latin or even Greek instead of English or Arabic? For the sake of argument, the Hebrew “Adonai” would be a lovely choice, but I don’t think millions of Muslims would agree with me. On top of that, I believe that the effect of using Adonai as a substitute word for God would very quickly be the opposite of what the Bishop is intending. Looking for words that would seem accurate yet inoffensive might be as easy as using an Alcoholics Anonymous term to describe “a Power greater than ourselves.” In the words of AA, we are “to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.”[4]
Bishop Muskens then makes a point that God knows who he is and is emotionally secure about it. So “what does God care what we call him?” the Bishop asks, “It is our problem.” This too is true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough for Christians. One of the oldest of Christian beliefs is that God always exists and continues to live as one God in three persons. This is as old as the church itself and affirmed by our oldest creeds and affirmations of the faith. Some of the oldest and most common words used to describe this Trinity are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Believing this, simply calling God “Allah” is not enough.
Here’s what we know, here’s what we testify; Jesus is God. We say that Jesus is God. We testify God came to earth and walked amongst his good creation for over thirty years before he was executed. We testify that his executioners believed their motives were political; they were preserving the existing power structure for the good of the Empire, the Temple, and the people. Unknowingly, they put the finishing touches on a series of events as old as life itself, where death was conquered once and forever. Muslims don’t say that. They do not say Jesus is God. They believe Allah alone is God and Mohammed is his prophet. The Jews don’t believe the Messiah has yet to come, so they don’t say Jesus is God either.
So let me fully disagree with the Bishop. The names we use for God do make a difference. The most basic, fundamental, and important difference is that as Christians we believe Jesus is God. We do not say Jesus is Allah, or Allah is Jesus for that matter. In this way, Jesus makes a difference.
Worshipping Jesus makes a difference too. Many examples of these differences are found in what are called martyr stories. Martyr means witness, and witnesses of the faith to the world often face fates which make us shudder. One of the oldest collections of these martyr stories is “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.” From the 1560’s, Foxe’s book contains stories of many who suffered for their faith and the church. Foxe’s book also has the distinction of being very anti-Roman Catholic. All of Foxe’s martyrs were Protestants fighting the Church of Rome. History teaches that many of these martyrs may just have been revolutionaries fighting the reign of Mary Tudor in England.[5]
The Voice of the Martyrs with the Christian Rock band dc Talk published a book called, “Jesus Freaks, Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus: The Ultimate Jesus Freaks.”[6] Their stories deal with those who have spread the gospel through out the ages beginning with Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith,[7] to Cassie Bernall, the Columbine high school student whose assailant shot her after she said yes to his question, “Do you believe in God?” These martyrs have paid the heaviest price they could. They lost their lives before they denied their faith was in things unseen. This puts them in esteemed company, including the heroes of the faith mentioned in our reading from Hebrews.
But not all martyrs’ stories end in such a way, and others are still being written. About a month ago, the Carroll County News had an article from the Baptist Press about [name removed].[8] A foreign exchange student from Uzbekistan, [name removed]was a member of the Class of 2007 at the Jacksonville, Arkansas High School who was planning on staying in the United States to attend college. As is the case with 88% of Uzbek’s, he was Muslim. He prayed five times daily. He studied his Koran, keeping it with him all of the time. At a high school basketball game, he met a sixteen year old girl from Scott, Arkansas named [name removed] who told him about her pending baptism. The young man was put off. The article in the paper quotes him as saying, “I didn’t believe in Christianity. So I used to get mad all the time when she spoke about that.”
Over time, their friendship and her witness to Jesus Christ began to have an effect on [name removed] until he made the most important decision of his life, he accepted Christ as his Lord and savior. Under the guidance of Brother Jerry Terrell of Grace Baptist Church in Scott, [name removed] decided to make the second most important decision of his life, he told his family of his choice to leave Islam and follow Christ. He called his home, on his father’s birthday to share his decision. He began the conversation saying, “'Dad, I have to tell you, something very important. It's very important to me and it's a big change, and I hope you are not going to get mad or upset with me.” Have you ever heard that conversation introduction like that before? When you do, you know something is coming down the pike. His father told him he could never be angry at anything he did.
[name removed] told his father, “I accepted Christ and I'm getting ready to get baptized.” Then in a moment that came straight out of a cell phone ad, there were a couple of minutes of silence on the phone line. When [name removed] finally asked, “Dad, are you OK?” his father said, “[name removed], I don't think the thing you are doing is right, and I didn't really expect that from you. If you are sure the thing you are doing is right, and if you are not going to follow Islam, there is no hope for you to come to Uzbekistan. If you ever come to Uzbekistan, don't ever come to my house. I don't want you to talk to your brother or sister or to Mom or to any other relatives,” and with that [name removed] father hung up the phone.
[name removed] has come to know that Jesus has made a difference in his life. He has chosen to leave Islam. Islam is an Arabic word meaning “submission to God.” But he no longer submits to the faith of his fathers and chosen to submit himself to Jesus Christ. Doing so has cost him. [name removed] has been legally disowned by his father; the papers are being drawn up in Uzbekistan. His father emptied his US bank account, and arranged to cancel his son’s sponsorship and college scholarship. This may not be the stoning of Stephen, but cutting off family, legal status, and cash is close enough in 21st Century America.
Worshipping Jesus makes a difference, which begs the question how can we make a difference? Grace Baptist Church in Scott, Arkansas has chosen to make a difference by sponsoring [name removed]. [name removed] was accepted to the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, but without his Uzbek sponsorship and scholarship he would be unable to stay. The church estimates it will cost $20,000 per year to keep [name removed] in school. Grace Baptist took a special offering the day they chose to sponsor him. That day, they collected $2,000 toward that goal. They also calculate that if “100 other churches or individuals can put up $200 each they would collect $20,000,” enough to take care of him for one year.[9]
Your session has chosen to make a difference in the life of [name removed]. Next week and the following week, the Session has authorized the taking of a special offering to support the college education of [name removed]. With these offerings, the session will send a minimum of $200 to support his educational needs. On behalf of the Session, I ask you to donate to help meet the educational needs of [name removed]. Let us be one of the churches that supports [name removed].
Jesus has received a baptism of water, as have we. We are called to remember our baptism into life together as the body of Christ. Jesus tells his disciples he will be baptized again, we know that this baptism is one of rejection and pain and humiliation on the cross. We are told that his life and work will not bring peace, but division. And we see that this is true from what we read in scripture and what we see in our lives.
Because of this we are called to interpret the signs of the present time the same way we look to the skies to forecast the weather. Together we can interpret the signs while singing songs to the one who redeems us. And we can know that in life and in death we belong to God. And together we can testify that we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.
[1] John 12:31
[2] Craddock, Fred B., Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1990, page 166.
[3] The Associated Press, “Bishop: Call God ‘Allah’ to ease relations, Roman Catholic leader stokes already heated debate on religion.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20279326/?GTI=10252, accessed August 15, 2007.
[4] “A Brief Guide to Alcoholics Anonymous.” New York: AA World Service, Inc., 1972, page 13.
[5] Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxe%27s_Book_of_Martyrs, accessed August
18, 2007
[6] The Voice of the Martyrs and dc Talk, Jesus Freaks, Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus: The Ultimate Jesus Freaks. Tulsa, OK: Albury Publishing, 1999.
[7] Acts 6-7
[8] Warren, Charlie, “Uzbekistan Christian Stranded in Arkansas.” Carroll County News, Baptist Press, original source found at http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=26048.
[9] Ibid.
If you care to contribute to the [name removed] Scholarship fund, contributions can be made to: Grace Baptist Church, 408 N. Walkers Corner Road, Scott, AR 72142. Please write “Scholarship Fund” in your check’s memo. I spoke with people from Grace Baptist and the University of Central Arkansas, this is a legitimate request.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
After hearing this reading from Luke, one reaction comes to mind, “Is this the same Jesus we find in the Bible?” Yes, this is the same Jesus, and the same bible for that matter. But this surely isn’t the Jesus we’re used to reading about. Honestly, if it weren’t for the lectionary, the weekly schedule of readings for worship, I don’t think I would have chosen this one. That’s the reason for the lectionary, tough decisions need to be made, and the people who put together the lectionary chose to take this higher road.
This still leaves me with choices; I can always base this sermon on one of the other readings, or go off the board completely. Either way, there are choices to make. Fish or cut bait, it’s a moment of Truth, Truth with a capital “T.”
John’s gospel says Jesus is the crisis of the world.[1] By crisis he didn’t mean emergency, but a moment of truth where a decision has to be made.[2] Our reading today makes the point that where there are choices to make, Jesus makes a difference in what and how we choose. Luke’s reading is particularly focused on the fact that Jesus brings the crisis to the world, and the moment of truth can be very difficult.
First, Jesus makes a difference.
According to the Associated Press last week, Roman Catholic Bishop Tiny Muskens from the Netherlands suggested that “people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding.”[3] Usually, I am a fan of compromise. In a time and place of agreements and disagreements compromise is a road which often makes navigating this whole wide world a lot easier. I can see where his point is coming from; this seems to be a case where the Bishop hopes to bring grease to the squeaky wheel. But I disagree with the Bishop.
Bishop Muskens says, “Allah is a very beautiful word for God.” I can’t argue with him if all that’s at stake is a matter of taste. If the only thing that matters here is language and the words we use to name the “Power greater than ourselves”, then why not call God “Allah?” It’s an Arabic word meaning God, so in that case it would be valid. But if all that’s important here is human language, why don’t we use “Dios” instead? Or “Dieu?” Perhaps “Dominus” or “Theos” would be an acceptable compromise? Why not Spanish or French or Latin or even Greek instead of English or Arabic? For the sake of argument, the Hebrew “Adonai” would be a lovely choice, but I don’t think millions of Muslims would agree with me. On top of that, I believe that the effect of using Adonai as a substitute word for God would very quickly be the opposite of what the Bishop is intending. Looking for words that would seem accurate yet inoffensive might be as easy as using an Alcoholics Anonymous term to describe “a Power greater than ourselves.” In the words of AA, we are “to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.”[4]
Bishop Muskens then makes a point that God knows who he is and is emotionally secure about it. So “what does God care what we call him?” the Bishop asks, “It is our problem.” This too is true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough for Christians. One of the oldest of Christian beliefs is that God always exists and continues to live as one God in three persons. This is as old as the church itself and affirmed by our oldest creeds and affirmations of the faith. Some of the oldest and most common words used to describe this Trinity are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Believing this, simply calling God “Allah” is not enough.
Here’s what we know, here’s what we testify; Jesus is God. We say that Jesus is God. We testify God came to earth and walked amongst his good creation for over thirty years before he was executed. We testify that his executioners believed their motives were political; they were preserving the existing power structure for the good of the Empire, the Temple, and the people. Unknowingly, they put the finishing touches on a series of events as old as life itself, where death was conquered once and forever. Muslims don’t say that. They do not say Jesus is God. They believe Allah alone is God and Mohammed is his prophet. The Jews don’t believe the Messiah has yet to come, so they don’t say Jesus is God either.
So let me fully disagree with the Bishop. The names we use for God do make a difference. The most basic, fundamental, and important difference is that as Christians we believe Jesus is God. We do not say Jesus is Allah, or Allah is Jesus for that matter. In this way, Jesus makes a difference.
Worshipping Jesus makes a difference too. Many examples of these differences are found in what are called martyr stories. Martyr means witness, and witnesses of the faith to the world often face fates which make us shudder. One of the oldest collections of these martyr stories is “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.” From the 1560’s, Foxe’s book contains stories of many who suffered for their faith and the church. Foxe’s book also has the distinction of being very anti-Roman Catholic. All of Foxe’s martyrs were Protestants fighting the Church of Rome. History teaches that many of these martyrs may just have been revolutionaries fighting the reign of Mary Tudor in England.[5]
The Voice of the Martyrs with the Christian Rock band dc Talk published a book called, “Jesus Freaks, Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus: The Ultimate Jesus Freaks.”[6] Their stories deal with those who have spread the gospel through out the ages beginning with Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith,[7] to Cassie Bernall, the Columbine high school student whose assailant shot her after she said yes to his question, “Do you believe in God?” These martyrs have paid the heaviest price they could. They lost their lives before they denied their faith was in things unseen. This puts them in esteemed company, including the heroes of the faith mentioned in our reading from Hebrews.
But not all martyrs’ stories end in such a way, and others are still being written. About a month ago, the Carroll County News had an article from the Baptist Press about [name removed].[8] A foreign exchange student from Uzbekistan, [name removed]was a member of the Class of 2007 at the Jacksonville, Arkansas High School who was planning on staying in the United States to attend college. As is the case with 88% of Uzbek’s, he was Muslim. He prayed five times daily. He studied his Koran, keeping it with him all of the time. At a high school basketball game, he met a sixteen year old girl from Scott, Arkansas named [name removed] who told him about her pending baptism. The young man was put off. The article in the paper quotes him as saying, “I didn’t believe in Christianity. So I used to get mad all the time when she spoke about that.”
Over time, their friendship and her witness to Jesus Christ began to have an effect on [name removed] until he made the most important decision of his life, he accepted Christ as his Lord and savior. Under the guidance of Brother Jerry Terrell of Grace Baptist Church in Scott, [name removed] decided to make the second most important decision of his life, he told his family of his choice to leave Islam and follow Christ. He called his home, on his father’s birthday to share his decision. He began the conversation saying, “'Dad, I have to tell you, something very important. It's very important to me and it's a big change, and I hope you are not going to get mad or upset with me.” Have you ever heard that conversation introduction like that before? When you do, you know something is coming down the pike. His father told him he could never be angry at anything he did.
[name removed] told his father, “I accepted Christ and I'm getting ready to get baptized.” Then in a moment that came straight out of a cell phone ad, there were a couple of minutes of silence on the phone line. When [name removed] finally asked, “Dad, are you OK?” his father said, “[name removed], I don't think the thing you are doing is right, and I didn't really expect that from you. If you are sure the thing you are doing is right, and if you are not going to follow Islam, there is no hope for you to come to Uzbekistan. If you ever come to Uzbekistan, don't ever come to my house. I don't want you to talk to your brother or sister or to Mom or to any other relatives,” and with that [name removed] father hung up the phone.
[name removed] has come to know that Jesus has made a difference in his life. He has chosen to leave Islam. Islam is an Arabic word meaning “submission to God.” But he no longer submits to the faith of his fathers and chosen to submit himself to Jesus Christ. Doing so has cost him. [name removed] has been legally disowned by his father; the papers are being drawn up in Uzbekistan. His father emptied his US bank account, and arranged to cancel his son’s sponsorship and college scholarship. This may not be the stoning of Stephen, but cutting off family, legal status, and cash is close enough in 21st Century America.
Worshipping Jesus makes a difference, which begs the question how can we make a difference? Grace Baptist Church in Scott, Arkansas has chosen to make a difference by sponsoring [name removed]. [name removed] was accepted to the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, but without his Uzbek sponsorship and scholarship he would be unable to stay. The church estimates it will cost $20,000 per year to keep [name removed] in school. Grace Baptist took a special offering the day they chose to sponsor him. That day, they collected $2,000 toward that goal. They also calculate that if “100 other churches or individuals can put up $200 each they would collect $20,000,” enough to take care of him for one year.[9]
Your session has chosen to make a difference in the life of [name removed]. Next week and the following week, the Session has authorized the taking of a special offering to support the college education of [name removed]. With these offerings, the session will send a minimum of $200 to support his educational needs. On behalf of the Session, I ask you to donate to help meet the educational needs of [name removed]. Let us be one of the churches that supports [name removed].
Jesus has received a baptism of water, as have we. We are called to remember our baptism into life together as the body of Christ. Jesus tells his disciples he will be baptized again, we know that this baptism is one of rejection and pain and humiliation on the cross. We are told that his life and work will not bring peace, but division. And we see that this is true from what we read in scripture and what we see in our lives.
Because of this we are called to interpret the signs of the present time the same way we look to the skies to forecast the weather. Together we can interpret the signs while singing songs to the one who redeems us. And we can know that in life and in death we belong to God. And together we can testify that we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.
[1] John 12:31
[2] Craddock, Fred B., Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1990, page 166.
[3] The Associated Press, “Bishop: Call God ‘Allah’ to ease relations, Roman Catholic leader stokes already heated debate on religion.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20279326/?GTI=10252, accessed August 15, 2007.
[4] “A Brief Guide to Alcoholics Anonymous.” New York: AA World Service, Inc., 1972, page 13.
[5] Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxe%27s_Book_of_Martyrs, accessed August
18, 2007
[6] The Voice of the Martyrs and dc Talk, Jesus Freaks, Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus: The Ultimate Jesus Freaks. Tulsa, OK: Albury Publishing, 1999.
[7] Acts 6-7
[8] Warren, Charlie, “Uzbekistan Christian Stranded in Arkansas.” Carroll County News, Baptist Press, original source found at http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=26048.
[9] Ibid.
If you care to contribute to the [name removed] Scholarship fund, contributions can be made to: Grace Baptist Church, 408 N. Walkers Corner Road, Scott, AR 72142. Please write “Scholarship Fund” in your check’s memo. I spoke with people from Grace Baptist and the University of Central Arkansas, this is a legitimate request.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Parallel Lines
This sermon was delivered on the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 12, 2007 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-13
Luke 12:32-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Euclid is the father of geometry. Euclidian Geometry[1] is based on five axioms or rules. From these rules, hundreds of proofs follow which help mathematicians deal with space. The fifth of these rules is called the Parallel Postulate. To make a jargon loaded sentence simpler, parallel lines are lines on a plane that never meet. The distance between the two of them never changes, they are always equidistant. They run together never to converge. The word parallel has been adopted by other fields of study to describe similarities in shape and structure. I want to use it today to talk about the first two verses from our gospel reading.
When I was looking at these verses, I was drawn to one thought; as the Father has given to us, we are to give to others. To me, this is the parallel. The Father gives to us; we give to others. “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” is followed with the call to “Sell your possessions and give alms.” The similarity between these two is daunting; so I have come to think of this in three ways.
The first is that the father gives to us so we give to others. A good word for this is reciprocity, a direct relationship of giving and receiving. In this case, we receive, so we give. “In international relations and treaties, the principle of reciprocity states that favors, benefits, or penalties that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another, should be returned in kind. For example, reciprocity has been used in the reduction of tariffs, the grant of copyrights to foreign authors, the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, and the relaxation of travel restrictions and visa requirements. The principle of reciprocity also governs agreements on extradition.”[2]
But this kind of giving and receiving has some snags, particularly in extradition. There are nations that will not extradite people accused of capital crimes to the United States in fear that, if convicted, the accused will be executed. Nations that behave this way believe that capital punishment, the death penalty, is not appropriate, regardless of the crime. So while capital punishment may be “in kind,” a basic element of reciprocity, it is considered barbaric by nations who believe capital punishment is too harsh, so they will not extradite people accused of capital crimes to the US. Human reciprocity hits a snag because even where there is significant agreement between the two parties there are limits.
I thank God that if reciprocity is one of the pieces of this parallel, the Father wants to give us the kingdom while all I have to give is my possessions. Frankly, in my opinion, I’m getting the better end of this deal. What do I have that could compare with the kingdom? If you think of the Father’s kingdom as the territory,[3] that’s one thing. For all of my stuff, I get the Father’s land. That’s cool. But if you think of the kingdom as the Father’s rule, power, and authority,[4] then we come out even further ahead. If it is the Father’s good pleasure that we receive his rule, power, and authority and we are expected to give our miniscule possessions in reciprocity, sign me up.
Frankly though, as true as this may be, this doesn’t strike me as filled with grace. Yes, it’s true the Father wants to give first and gives more than we ever could; yet it seems harsh to think of this giving in simple economic terms. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe that’s the point of such radical grace; nothing we could ever give would ever match what the Father gives us.
Another way to think of this is to think of the extravagance, how the Father gives is how the Father wants us to give. Fear not, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom![5] So fear not, have faith. Easier said than done, eh? It is for me. Hebrews tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen and by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called, and the Lord sent him from his home even though he was not told where he was going. By faith he left his home and lived in tents in a foreign land, even when his household numbered seventy people. By faith, he received the Lord’s many extravagant blessings, but it was not until generations after his death that the Lord’s ultimate promise to Abraham was fulfilled when he was made a great nation.
The Father is able to give extravagantly; it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. And by faith, we are to give extravagantly too. We are called to sell our possessions and give alms to the poor. The next verse gives us a warning worthy of following: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” But here’s another warning worth heeding, our treasure is more than our possessions.
Perhaps our most valuable, most limited commodity is time. On Thursday, I went to the Nursing Home. I don’t go as often as I should, and with Marie in the hospital it was tough finding the time. But since Thursday was Elizabeth Beck’s ninety-ninth birthday,[6] I knew I had to make the time. So I went to the home, down her hall, and saw her sitting and waiting; for what I don’t know, but she was waiting. I walked up to her and said, “Miss Elizabeth, it is so wonderful to see you, happy birthday!” She was overjoyed to see me. I took her hand and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to get a card off to you, but I knew I had to drop by today.” Lifting my hand in hers she said, “I’ll take this over a card anytime.” Her joy made my heart swell.
In the grand scheme of life, how important was this? It didn’t bring peace to the Middle-East. The stock market kept falling. It didn’t even help Marie’s anemia or migraine. But in the work of the Father’s kingdom, when Elizabeth told me she would rather hold my hand than receive a card, I knew what I was doing was important. I didn’t cure cancer that day, but for thirty minutes, the loneliness of a widow whose world is slowly slipping away with age and Alzheimer’s was held back. On a one-hundred degree day, I was able to bring warmth to a woman dressed in compression bandages and covered in a quilt. This is the sort of treasure of heaven that no thief can take nor any moth destroy.
The final parallel is that to give to others is to give to the Father. As we begin to peel away the veneer from creation, the one thing we know is that all creation is a gift of God. What we do in almsgiving is a way of furthering the Father’s kingdom on earth. There’s a sort of a symbiotic, yin-and-yang effect going on when we give to those who need. Hebrews 13 reminds us that when we help strangers it is very possible that we have unknowingly helped angels, messengers of God. When we give to one another we return to creation what has been created, for the glory of the one who creates it.
Last week, we read about a rich man who trusted his wealth instead of the things that are greater than wealth. So when giving alms to those who are in need, what is at stake, at the most basic level, is how we use things to proclaim our understanding of God and God’s plans. The rich man from Luke 12:13-21 takes no account of God in his plans, he trusts in his wealth instead of the Lord, and is led by his greed.[7] What good is it to hoard? Like all of our possessions, we are a part of the Father’s good creation. When we take the things which are from the Father to hoard, we hide creation from creation. We act like the rich man from last week’s reading, trusting in the possessions provided by the Lord instead of the Lord. As disciples of Jesus, we are liberated from the peril of possessions and enabled to reorder our lives to care for the needy.[8]
Giving alms is a conversion in how we understand God and how God’s practices lead us into transformed practices related to…possessions, social relations, and more.”[9] Isaiah teaches us that as we give alms, we make ourselves clean. We cease to do evil and learn to do good. In almsgiving we seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow. In giving to others, we return to God what God has given to us, not only in terms of physical treasure, but in terms of dignity.
There is a wonderful parallel quality in these verses. To give us the kingdom pleases the Father, and likewise, our almsgiving to neighbors in need pleases the Father. We do not give alms or do any kind of work to earn our salvation. We are to give alms in thanksgiving for what the Father has all ready done. We are to give alms for the glory of God, to show gratitude to God, and for the benefit of others.[10]
But now, it’s time for me to come clean. There is more to this story than the parallelism I am talking about. There is more to Geometry than Euclid, and more to our story than a simple parallel construction. There is an entire field of Non-Euclidian Geometry, a field that exists because the world, and the universe for that matter, is not flat. In Non-Euclidian geometry there are two choices. One of the choices is that in an elliptical universe, parallel lines always meet.[11] It’s counter-intuitive for those of us who grew up on Euclid in high school geometry, but it does help explain a lot of things in higher math and physics.
The non-Euclidean parallel, so to speak, is that the Father intersects us at every point in our lives. There is no time that we are ever distant from God, much less equidistant, never to meet in the ways Euclid teaches. Our courses do not travel never to converge. Our lives are constantly intersected by the Lord, even at times when we do not expect it or hope that it is possible.
It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom while all we have to give is our possessions; this is hardly a good trade for the Father. The Father wants to give us his power and his glory, much in the same way the bride groom wants to serve his servants. Our call, our vocation is first to be Christian, to read and pray and follow the Lord our God. At the same time, our call, our vocation is to serve God by serving what God has created and ordained. For this purpose, God has given the Son, Jesus who is the Christ. We have been called to give our treasure, our time, and our talents that we may benefit those who have not received such abundance. It’s not much of a trade, and for this, let us give alms and let us give thanks.
[1] Euclidean Geometry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_geometry, accessed August 11, 2007.
[2] Reciprocity—International Relations, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_%28international_relations%29, accessed August 11, 2007.
[3] “Basileia” entry, Bauer, Walter, Greek—English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd Edition. Editor Danker, Frederick William. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000
[4] Ibid.
[5] Yes, it’s true, “Do not be afraid” is the more accurate translation than “fear not,” but I can’t help it. In the Greek Old Testament this phrase is used more than forty times meaning “fear not.” “Fear not” just has more of a “King James” feel, and more oomph to it than “do not be afraid.”
[6] Happy birthday Elizabeth!
[7] Note for Luke 12:13-34, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha. Harrelson, Walter J., General Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003. Electronic Version, 2003.
[8] Ibid, notes for verses Luke 12:1-13:9.
[9] Ibid Luke 12:13-34.
[10] Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.), Office of the General Assembly, The Book of Confessions. Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Distribution Service, 2003, section 5.123.
[11] Non-Euclidean Geometry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Euclidean_geometry, accessed August 12, 2007.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-13
Luke 12:32-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Euclid is the father of geometry. Euclidian Geometry[1] is based on five axioms or rules. From these rules, hundreds of proofs follow which help mathematicians deal with space. The fifth of these rules is called the Parallel Postulate. To make a jargon loaded sentence simpler, parallel lines are lines on a plane that never meet. The distance between the two of them never changes, they are always equidistant. They run together never to converge. The word parallel has been adopted by other fields of study to describe similarities in shape and structure. I want to use it today to talk about the first two verses from our gospel reading.
When I was looking at these verses, I was drawn to one thought; as the Father has given to us, we are to give to others. To me, this is the parallel. The Father gives to us; we give to others. “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” is followed with the call to “Sell your possessions and give alms.” The similarity between these two is daunting; so I have come to think of this in three ways.
The first is that the father gives to us so we give to others. A good word for this is reciprocity, a direct relationship of giving and receiving. In this case, we receive, so we give. “In international relations and treaties, the principle of reciprocity states that favors, benefits, or penalties that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another, should be returned in kind. For example, reciprocity has been used in the reduction of tariffs, the grant of copyrights to foreign authors, the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, and the relaxation of travel restrictions and visa requirements. The principle of reciprocity also governs agreements on extradition.”[2]
But this kind of giving and receiving has some snags, particularly in extradition. There are nations that will not extradite people accused of capital crimes to the United States in fear that, if convicted, the accused will be executed. Nations that behave this way believe that capital punishment, the death penalty, is not appropriate, regardless of the crime. So while capital punishment may be “in kind,” a basic element of reciprocity, it is considered barbaric by nations who believe capital punishment is too harsh, so they will not extradite people accused of capital crimes to the US. Human reciprocity hits a snag because even where there is significant agreement between the two parties there are limits.
I thank God that if reciprocity is one of the pieces of this parallel, the Father wants to give us the kingdom while all I have to give is my possessions. Frankly, in my opinion, I’m getting the better end of this deal. What do I have that could compare with the kingdom? If you think of the Father’s kingdom as the territory,[3] that’s one thing. For all of my stuff, I get the Father’s land. That’s cool. But if you think of the kingdom as the Father’s rule, power, and authority,[4] then we come out even further ahead. If it is the Father’s good pleasure that we receive his rule, power, and authority and we are expected to give our miniscule possessions in reciprocity, sign me up.
Frankly though, as true as this may be, this doesn’t strike me as filled with grace. Yes, it’s true the Father wants to give first and gives more than we ever could; yet it seems harsh to think of this giving in simple economic terms. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe that’s the point of such radical grace; nothing we could ever give would ever match what the Father gives us.
Another way to think of this is to think of the extravagance, how the Father gives is how the Father wants us to give. Fear not, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom![5] So fear not, have faith. Easier said than done, eh? It is for me. Hebrews tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen and by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called, and the Lord sent him from his home even though he was not told where he was going. By faith he left his home and lived in tents in a foreign land, even when his household numbered seventy people. By faith, he received the Lord’s many extravagant blessings, but it was not until generations after his death that the Lord’s ultimate promise to Abraham was fulfilled when he was made a great nation.
The Father is able to give extravagantly; it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. And by faith, we are to give extravagantly too. We are called to sell our possessions and give alms to the poor. The next verse gives us a warning worthy of following: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” But here’s another warning worth heeding, our treasure is more than our possessions.
Perhaps our most valuable, most limited commodity is time. On Thursday, I went to the Nursing Home. I don’t go as often as I should, and with Marie in the hospital it was tough finding the time. But since Thursday was Elizabeth Beck’s ninety-ninth birthday,[6] I knew I had to make the time. So I went to the home, down her hall, and saw her sitting and waiting; for what I don’t know, but she was waiting. I walked up to her and said, “Miss Elizabeth, it is so wonderful to see you, happy birthday!” She was overjoyed to see me. I took her hand and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to get a card off to you, but I knew I had to drop by today.” Lifting my hand in hers she said, “I’ll take this over a card anytime.” Her joy made my heart swell.
In the grand scheme of life, how important was this? It didn’t bring peace to the Middle-East. The stock market kept falling. It didn’t even help Marie’s anemia or migraine. But in the work of the Father’s kingdom, when Elizabeth told me she would rather hold my hand than receive a card, I knew what I was doing was important. I didn’t cure cancer that day, but for thirty minutes, the loneliness of a widow whose world is slowly slipping away with age and Alzheimer’s was held back. On a one-hundred degree day, I was able to bring warmth to a woman dressed in compression bandages and covered in a quilt. This is the sort of treasure of heaven that no thief can take nor any moth destroy.
The final parallel is that to give to others is to give to the Father. As we begin to peel away the veneer from creation, the one thing we know is that all creation is a gift of God. What we do in almsgiving is a way of furthering the Father’s kingdom on earth. There’s a sort of a symbiotic, yin-and-yang effect going on when we give to those who need. Hebrews 13 reminds us that when we help strangers it is very possible that we have unknowingly helped angels, messengers of God. When we give to one another we return to creation what has been created, for the glory of the one who creates it.
Last week, we read about a rich man who trusted his wealth instead of the things that are greater than wealth. So when giving alms to those who are in need, what is at stake, at the most basic level, is how we use things to proclaim our understanding of God and God’s plans. The rich man from Luke 12:13-21 takes no account of God in his plans, he trusts in his wealth instead of the Lord, and is led by his greed.[7] What good is it to hoard? Like all of our possessions, we are a part of the Father’s good creation. When we take the things which are from the Father to hoard, we hide creation from creation. We act like the rich man from last week’s reading, trusting in the possessions provided by the Lord instead of the Lord. As disciples of Jesus, we are liberated from the peril of possessions and enabled to reorder our lives to care for the needy.[8]
Giving alms is a conversion in how we understand God and how God’s practices lead us into transformed practices related to…possessions, social relations, and more.”[9] Isaiah teaches us that as we give alms, we make ourselves clean. We cease to do evil and learn to do good. In almsgiving we seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow. In giving to others, we return to God what God has given to us, not only in terms of physical treasure, but in terms of dignity.
There is a wonderful parallel quality in these verses. To give us the kingdom pleases the Father, and likewise, our almsgiving to neighbors in need pleases the Father. We do not give alms or do any kind of work to earn our salvation. We are to give alms in thanksgiving for what the Father has all ready done. We are to give alms for the glory of God, to show gratitude to God, and for the benefit of others.[10]
But now, it’s time for me to come clean. There is more to this story than the parallelism I am talking about. There is more to Geometry than Euclid, and more to our story than a simple parallel construction. There is an entire field of Non-Euclidian Geometry, a field that exists because the world, and the universe for that matter, is not flat. In Non-Euclidian geometry there are two choices. One of the choices is that in an elliptical universe, parallel lines always meet.[11] It’s counter-intuitive for those of us who grew up on Euclid in high school geometry, but it does help explain a lot of things in higher math and physics.
The non-Euclidean parallel, so to speak, is that the Father intersects us at every point in our lives. There is no time that we are ever distant from God, much less equidistant, never to meet in the ways Euclid teaches. Our courses do not travel never to converge. Our lives are constantly intersected by the Lord, even at times when we do not expect it or hope that it is possible.
It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom while all we have to give is our possessions; this is hardly a good trade for the Father. The Father wants to give us his power and his glory, much in the same way the bride groom wants to serve his servants. Our call, our vocation is first to be Christian, to read and pray and follow the Lord our God. At the same time, our call, our vocation is to serve God by serving what God has created and ordained. For this purpose, God has given the Son, Jesus who is the Christ. We have been called to give our treasure, our time, and our talents that we may benefit those who have not received such abundance. It’s not much of a trade, and for this, let us give alms and let us give thanks.
[1] Euclidean Geometry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_geometry, accessed August 11, 2007.
[2] Reciprocity—International Relations, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_%28international_relations%29, accessed August 11, 2007.
[3] “Basileia” entry, Bauer, Walter, Greek—English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd Edition. Editor Danker, Frederick William. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000
[4] Ibid.
[5] Yes, it’s true, “Do not be afraid” is the more accurate translation than “fear not,” but I can’t help it. In the Greek Old Testament this phrase is used more than forty times meaning “fear not.” “Fear not” just has more of a “King James” feel, and more oomph to it than “do not be afraid.”
[6] Happy birthday Elizabeth!
[7] Note for Luke 12:13-34, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha. Harrelson, Walter J., General Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003. Electronic Version, 2003.
[8] Ibid, notes for verses Luke 12:1-13:9.
[9] Ibid Luke 12:13-34.
[10] Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.), Office of the General Assembly, The Book of Confessions. Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Distribution Service, 2003, section 5.123.
[11] Non-Euclidean Geometry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Euclidean_geometry, accessed August 12, 2007.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
The Value of Wealth-The Wealth of Value
Hosea 11:1-11
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
The study of Economics is a social science, just like Political Science or the Humanities. Like any good social science, lingo and jargon go a long way to help Economists understand each other. A difference between Economics and many other social sciences is that we participate in Economics every day. We don’t participate in Geography or Information Science on a daily basis, but economics happens every time we fill up the gas tank or go to the store. While we may not be very familiar with the jargon of Law or Architecture, we are familiar with some of the jargon of Economics.
The first and most important example is money. We know what money is, but Economists have a more complex view of it. To an economist, money is a medium of exchange. We receive money in exchange for providing goods and services and pay money to receive goods and services. When purchasing something, it’s easier to exchange something that has a standard value instead of a box of chicken. When we gave to the “Two-Cents-a-Meal” Offering[1] we gave cash. Could we have given a box of chicken? Yes, but in a large economy, the barter system is too inefficient to transact business; money makes the system much easier. For example, it would be inefficient for Tyson to pay its employees in nuggets and just as inefficient for the employees to receive their pay that way too.
So in Economics, money is worthless until it is spent on something. The bills and coins we carry do not inherently have the value their faces claim. Gold coins went out of production in the 1930’s and silver in 1964. The metal and production costs of coins today are worth less than their face value. The most common piece of paper money in the US, the twenty dollar bill, contains twenty dollars worth of nothing. But we have faith that when we go to the store, we can make our purchases using the green back dollar, the fin, and the sawbuck. Since going off of the Gold Standard in 1933 in favor of the Federal Reserve System, our financial faith is faith in the Federal Government which tells us that “this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.”[2]
It is a common belief that scripture tells us that money is the root of all evil. But that’s not quite right; Paul’s letter to Timothy[3] says that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. Money, in and of itself is not evil. It’s not good either. At that, a C-note isn’t worth $100.00 of anything, especially while it’s just sitting in the bank. It’s just a medium of exchange, what we think about it and how we use it makes the difference.
Jesus is a trusted teacher, a Rabbi whose judgment is trusted by the people, and in our reading he is suddenly accosted by someone who wants to him to mediate a property dispute. “Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Again, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Probate, the legal process of settling the finances of someone’s estate, is as old as death and lawyers. Jesus doesn’t take the bait; he has bigger fish to fry. He warns those who will listen to guard against all kinds of greed, “Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Life is found somewhere else.
Jesus makes his point in the parable of the rich fool. As for me, I don’t like this editor’s title for this parable. In my opinion, this man isn’t foolish because he’s rich. It looks like he’s very industrious and pretty savvy. This farmer is on a plot of land that produces abundantly. He’s able to grow more crops than he has places to store it. We are told he has extensive holdings, so much that he needs bigger barns to contain it all. He must have been a shrewd businessman to accumulate the land and the tools he needed to become such a successful farmer/rancher/entrepreneur. Jesus does not say he is foolish because he is able to produce an abundance of earthly wealth. This is important: having riches is not what makes him a fool.
What follows, his plan of safety and security, is what’s foolish. His plan is simple, tear down the old, build up the new! This way he will be able to keep his riches and live off of them for years to come. Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. I’ll make a new place for my stuff and I’ll be on easy street. That’s a plan, a foolish plan.
Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. As in Ecclesiastes and Isaiah,[4] this quartet isn’t a blessing; it’s a foreboding of impending doom. Resting on his laurels, watching the world go by as he sits on the veranda in his porch swing, this is not the life we are called to live with the blessings we receive from God. As I said before, I do not think the man is a fool for being rich, but he is foolish by how he trusts in his wealth.
When we trust our lives to the security of our finances, we trust in something that is fleeting. As the rich man learns, life can be over in a flash. Our lives can be demanded of us in any given moment. When this happens, Jesus asks, who will receive the blessings that have been trusted to us? I ask, isn’t it better to develop a relationship with a brother than with the father’s property? One will last; the other will become dust in the wind. We have received so many blessings, and so often they are squandered on things that don’t last until the next season.
To me, Monday October 19, 1987 is one of those days that will live in infamy, it is known as “Black Monday,” or at least 1987’s version of “Black Monday,” the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average took the second largest one day decline in its history. The Dow lost 22.6% of its value, in the neighborhood of $500 billion. The drop was not as devastating as “Black Thursday” or the following “Black Tuesday” of 1929 which precipitated the Great Depression, but it was still scary. In a time of excess and greed, “Black Monday” was a sobering reminder to Yuppies everywhere that faith in wealth could be even more fleeting than the paper it was printed on.
I remember hearing about an interview with Sam Walton about the blood bath on Wall Street that day. When asked how he felt about the sudden loss of wealth when Wal-Mart stock took a perilous drop along with the rest of the market, he asked the interviewer, “Did I lose any stores? Did I lose any inventory? I’m no poorer than I was yesterday. That wasn’t real money.”
Sam had a point. He and the company he founded were invested in more than paper. They were and still are invested in land and stores and inventory and people, and the local community and any perceived loss of wealth from the stock drop wasn’t going to matter in the long run as long as people shopped at Wal-Mart. Sam didn’t put his trust in Wall Street wealth. That wealth was just a paper tiger. Sam placed his faith in people, people who still shop at Wal-Mart.
So if Sam is right, if the value of paper wealth is little more than nothing, then where does true wealth lie? One answer comes from our reading in Colossians. Colossians reminds us to “Set our minds on things that are above, not on things on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is in your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.” When we set our minds on the value of wealth from the earth, we trust in what will one day be dust. When Christ is revealed through our lives, wealth lies in the values we accept from his life and the example we are to follow.
We receive—so that we might give to others.
We are blessed—so that we might be a blessing to others.
We are loved—so that we might love others.
We are reconciled—so that we might reconcile.
We are forgiven—so that we might forgive.[5]
God doesn’t have a problem with wealth, or with industriousness, or the Protestant Work Ethic; but when we place our trust in the stuff that is created instead of the word of God there’s a problem. Especially when we forget that the blessings we receive aren’t for our personal use and enjoyment; they are for the work the Lord has put us to in God’s good creation.
John Wesley, the leader of the Methodist movement, has a simple thesis about wealth. He said, “Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” This simple treatment is a blueprint for how we should handle wealth. As Christians, we are called to greater things. We are called to increase wealth not for our own comfort, but so that we may be a blessing to others. These ideals give our money true value.
As I said, monetary wealth is worthless until it is spent. As long as it is in my pocket, this dollar is just so much linen-paper and ink. When I put it in the plate, it gains value by what it can do for the work of the Kingdom of the Lord while we are here on earth. This will buy school supplies so that young children can go to school with the materials they need. This dollar will be used to purchase rice for the Arkansas Rice Co-op to help fight hunger in this state. This dollar will go toward the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank to help local people fight hunger. When we spend our money in reflection of our God given priorities, then our wealth has value.
[1] The “Two-Cents-a-Meal” offering is taken by the Presbytery of Arkansas. Its proceeds go toward three hunger relief agencies annually, one state-wide, one national, and one global.
[2] All paper money in the US carries this statement.
[3] 1Timothy 6:7-10
[4] Ecclesiastes 8:15, Isaiah 2:13
[5] Rich Fools, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?installment_id=93000344 accessed June 11, 2007.
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
The study of Economics is a social science, just like Political Science or the Humanities. Like any good social science, lingo and jargon go a long way to help Economists understand each other. A difference between Economics and many other social sciences is that we participate in Economics every day. We don’t participate in Geography or Information Science on a daily basis, but economics happens every time we fill up the gas tank or go to the store. While we may not be very familiar with the jargon of Law or Architecture, we are familiar with some of the jargon of Economics.
The first and most important example is money. We know what money is, but Economists have a more complex view of it. To an economist, money is a medium of exchange. We receive money in exchange for providing goods and services and pay money to receive goods and services. When purchasing something, it’s easier to exchange something that has a standard value instead of a box of chicken. When we gave to the “Two-Cents-a-Meal” Offering[1] we gave cash. Could we have given a box of chicken? Yes, but in a large economy, the barter system is too inefficient to transact business; money makes the system much easier. For example, it would be inefficient for Tyson to pay its employees in nuggets and just as inefficient for the employees to receive their pay that way too.
So in Economics, money is worthless until it is spent on something. The bills and coins we carry do not inherently have the value their faces claim. Gold coins went out of production in the 1930’s and silver in 1964. The metal and production costs of coins today are worth less than their face value. The most common piece of paper money in the US, the twenty dollar bill, contains twenty dollars worth of nothing. But we have faith that when we go to the store, we can make our purchases using the green back dollar, the fin, and the sawbuck. Since going off of the Gold Standard in 1933 in favor of the Federal Reserve System, our financial faith is faith in the Federal Government which tells us that “this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.”[2]
It is a common belief that scripture tells us that money is the root of all evil. But that’s not quite right; Paul’s letter to Timothy[3] says that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. Money, in and of itself is not evil. It’s not good either. At that, a C-note isn’t worth $100.00 of anything, especially while it’s just sitting in the bank. It’s just a medium of exchange, what we think about it and how we use it makes the difference.
Jesus is a trusted teacher, a Rabbi whose judgment is trusted by the people, and in our reading he is suddenly accosted by someone who wants to him to mediate a property dispute. “Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Again, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Probate, the legal process of settling the finances of someone’s estate, is as old as death and lawyers. Jesus doesn’t take the bait; he has bigger fish to fry. He warns those who will listen to guard against all kinds of greed, “Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Life is found somewhere else.
Jesus makes his point in the parable of the rich fool. As for me, I don’t like this editor’s title for this parable. In my opinion, this man isn’t foolish because he’s rich. It looks like he’s very industrious and pretty savvy. This farmer is on a plot of land that produces abundantly. He’s able to grow more crops than he has places to store it. We are told he has extensive holdings, so much that he needs bigger barns to contain it all. He must have been a shrewd businessman to accumulate the land and the tools he needed to become such a successful farmer/rancher/entrepreneur. Jesus does not say he is foolish because he is able to produce an abundance of earthly wealth. This is important: having riches is not what makes him a fool.
What follows, his plan of safety and security, is what’s foolish. His plan is simple, tear down the old, build up the new! This way he will be able to keep his riches and live off of them for years to come. Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. I’ll make a new place for my stuff and I’ll be on easy street. That’s a plan, a foolish plan.
Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. As in Ecclesiastes and Isaiah,[4] this quartet isn’t a blessing; it’s a foreboding of impending doom. Resting on his laurels, watching the world go by as he sits on the veranda in his porch swing, this is not the life we are called to live with the blessings we receive from God. As I said before, I do not think the man is a fool for being rich, but he is foolish by how he trusts in his wealth.
When we trust our lives to the security of our finances, we trust in something that is fleeting. As the rich man learns, life can be over in a flash. Our lives can be demanded of us in any given moment. When this happens, Jesus asks, who will receive the blessings that have been trusted to us? I ask, isn’t it better to develop a relationship with a brother than with the father’s property? One will last; the other will become dust in the wind. We have received so many blessings, and so often they are squandered on things that don’t last until the next season.
To me, Monday October 19, 1987 is one of those days that will live in infamy, it is known as “Black Monday,” or at least 1987’s version of “Black Monday,” the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average took the second largest one day decline in its history. The Dow lost 22.6% of its value, in the neighborhood of $500 billion. The drop was not as devastating as “Black Thursday” or the following “Black Tuesday” of 1929 which precipitated the Great Depression, but it was still scary. In a time of excess and greed, “Black Monday” was a sobering reminder to Yuppies everywhere that faith in wealth could be even more fleeting than the paper it was printed on.
I remember hearing about an interview with Sam Walton about the blood bath on Wall Street that day. When asked how he felt about the sudden loss of wealth when Wal-Mart stock took a perilous drop along with the rest of the market, he asked the interviewer, “Did I lose any stores? Did I lose any inventory? I’m no poorer than I was yesterday. That wasn’t real money.”
Sam had a point. He and the company he founded were invested in more than paper. They were and still are invested in land and stores and inventory and people, and the local community and any perceived loss of wealth from the stock drop wasn’t going to matter in the long run as long as people shopped at Wal-Mart. Sam didn’t put his trust in Wall Street wealth. That wealth was just a paper tiger. Sam placed his faith in people, people who still shop at Wal-Mart.
So if Sam is right, if the value of paper wealth is little more than nothing, then where does true wealth lie? One answer comes from our reading in Colossians. Colossians reminds us to “Set our minds on things that are above, not on things on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is in your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.” When we set our minds on the value of wealth from the earth, we trust in what will one day be dust. When Christ is revealed through our lives, wealth lies in the values we accept from his life and the example we are to follow.
We receive—so that we might give to others.
We are blessed—so that we might be a blessing to others.
We are loved—so that we might love others.
We are reconciled—so that we might reconcile.
We are forgiven—so that we might forgive.[5]
God doesn’t have a problem with wealth, or with industriousness, or the Protestant Work Ethic; but when we place our trust in the stuff that is created instead of the word of God there’s a problem. Especially when we forget that the blessings we receive aren’t for our personal use and enjoyment; they are for the work the Lord has put us to in God’s good creation.
John Wesley, the leader of the Methodist movement, has a simple thesis about wealth. He said, “Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” This simple treatment is a blueprint for how we should handle wealth. As Christians, we are called to greater things. We are called to increase wealth not for our own comfort, but so that we may be a blessing to others. These ideals give our money true value.
As I said, monetary wealth is worthless until it is spent. As long as it is in my pocket, this dollar is just so much linen-paper and ink. When I put it in the plate, it gains value by what it can do for the work of the Kingdom of the Lord while we are here on earth. This will buy school supplies so that young children can go to school with the materials they need. This dollar will be used to purchase rice for the Arkansas Rice Co-op to help fight hunger in this state. This dollar will go toward the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank to help local people fight hunger. When we spend our money in reflection of our God given priorities, then our wealth has value.
[1] The “Two-Cents-a-Meal” offering is taken by the Presbytery of Arkansas. Its proceeds go toward three hunger relief agencies annually, one state-wide, one national, and one global.
[2] All paper money in the US carries this statement.
[3] 1Timothy 6:7-10
[4] Ecclesiastes 8:15, Isaiah 2:13
[5] Rich Fools, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?installment_id=93000344 accessed June 11, 2007.
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