St. Francis' Call to Action

Dearest e-votees,

Saint Francis of Assissi is quoted as having said:  "Preach the gospel, use words if necessary."  What he seems to be saying is that actions speak louder than words.  What he seems to be saying is that if you have to choose between action and words--go for action.  What he seems to be saying is that words aren't always necessary.

Saint Francis leads well into the parable in this Sunday's appointed gospel reading:  Matthew 21:28-32.

Peace,

Karl

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Jesus speaks, in the hearing of the chief priests and the elders and the crowds that he had been teaching, a parable of a man and his two sons.

He tells one of his sons to go in the field and work.  His son says "I will not" but then changes his mind and goes to work after all.  His words say "no" but his actions say "yes".

He tells the other one of his sons to go in the field and work.  This son says "I will go" but then changes his mind and doesn't go to work after all.  His words say "yes" but his inaction says "no".

Jesus pulls it all together with the question:  "Which of these two sons did the will of his father?"  The answer is the first.  The answer affirms that actions are more important with words.  

This parable leads Jesus to praise prostitutes and tax collectors who have come to a place of repentance (like the first son initially saying no with their actions and presumably their words, but the changing his mind ending with proper actions and hopefully their words).

This parable leaves religious leaders (chief priests and the elders) at the wrong end of the story.  They initially said yes with their words (and presumably their actions) but drifted away in a fashion that left them self-righteous, hypocritical and nasty.  Beyond all that, even when they saw the first sons (the tax collectors and the prostitutes) turn in repentance and change their actions they couldn't be bothered.  

This all reminds me of another story of a father and his two sons.  The elder son (the second son in the above parable) does what he should but has a hard and callous heart towards his younger brother.  He does the right things but says things that are ill-considered.  His actions started well but fell apart and it took his soul along with them.

The younger son (the first son in the above parable) doesn't do what he should.  He speaks horribly telling his dad he's as good as dead to him and makes his way off with his part of the inheritance.  While away he has a change of heart.  He comes to a place of repentance.

The father (cipher for God) loves both sons (in both parables) but is truly pleased by those whose actions come around as they live into repentance.  God runs in the Luke 15 story (not what dignified patriarchs do).  He wants the elder brother to rejoice with him.  But his heart is in too hard a place--for now at least.

Dear God, help us live lives that bring glory to you and joy to people we encounter.  Help us rejoice in repentance and refrain from hypocritical judgment of others.  Help us preach the gospel with actions.  Help us speak words that match those actions and offer others hope as well.  Amen.

Gotcha Moments and Driving Authority

 Dearest e-votees-  

I don't know if you noticed (probably have) but there is a rather vicious political climate with adversaries seeking to take down one another with ensnaring questions, sound bites and slanted coverage.  The closer we get to the election, towards milestone numbers of deaths due to COVID-19 and to sorting out what to do with a recently vacated Supreme Court seat the more vicious and devolved the interactions become.  What we need is level-heads, selfless and courageous discerning and communication and efforts that transcend the party and state lines.  What we have seems to be markedly different if not diametrically opposed.

If only we were back in the good old days of Jesus' time--a kindler simpler time when folks didn't resort to such chicanery--oh wait, that's not how it was.

Peace,

Karl

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In this Sunday's appointed Gospel text the chief priests and elders approach Jesus and ask:  "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"  (see Matthew 21:23)  Their authority is being threatened by Jesus and his ministry of healing, restoration and the ushering in of the reign of heaven.  Perhaps they are trying to find out the exact nature of the authority that empowers Jesus and threatens them.  Perhaps they're hoping to find a point of accusation or an Achilles' heel by which to take down Jesus.  If they can catch Jesus with an incriminating sound bite perhaps they can put him aside.  

Jesus is well aware of the games that are at play.  His ministry seemed full of people trying to catch him in a trap of one sort or another:  “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (The Scribes and the Pharisees in John 8:4-5)  “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?" (collectors of the Temple tax in Matthew 17:24)  "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.  Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”  (Pharisees and Herodians in Matthew 22:16-17).

Jesus manages, as he often does, to turn around the moment of decision onto those seeking to entrap him.  In the case of the woman taken in adultery he forces those present to figure out who is sufficiently sinless to cast the first stone (spoiler alert:  none of them).  In the case of paying taxes to the emperor or not he forces them to consider what ultimately belongs to God and what ultimately belongs to Caesar.  In the case of the temple tax Jesus seems to give them a break and simply (well, not so simply) has Peter pay the tax for each of them with a 4 drachma coin drawn miraculously from the mouth of a fish drawn out of the nearby lake.  In this Sunday's case he forces those questioning him to answer where did the authority come from in the baptisms John performed:  from human origin or divine origin?  He stymies the chief priests and elders.

Maybe the better thought is to stop trying to trap Jesus and instead question and examine ourselves.  Where does our authority come from?  To what are we called?  Who gives us this calling?  How are we to live out that calling in a way that is loving, helpful and truthful and brings glory to God?  

The world around us may call out our lives and how we carry ourselves in the world.  We can engage in fruitless debates or we can rest in the assurance that the call on our lives comes from our God and through our baptisms.  We can seek to entrap others in our own "gotcha!" moments or we can allow our lives to be captivated by the love and grace of God.  We can struggle against God (and do about as well as those who tangled with Jesus) or we can pray and trust that God will equip us to engage in important struggles in the world against powers and principalities, injustices and bigotries.  What do you think?

God, help us learn from and trust in you.  Help us be loving and gracious to a world that often is not.  Stir us to live into the callings you have placed on our lives.  Amen.

Living into the Community of Romans 8:28

Dearest e-votees,  

This Sunday's appointed Old Testament text is the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers.  Joseph, as you will recall, was the favored son of the dozen of Jacob's brood(s).  He was lavished with a coat of many colors.  He had dreams of his brothers and parents falling down in adoration of him.  

At some point the brothers decided to push him down a pit rather than fall at his feet.  The left him in a pit to perish until they saw another way.  They sold him into slavery (one connection with this week's gospel text).  

After many years there came a time of reckoning (another connection with this week's gospel text).  The brothers find themselves needing to go and seek assistance during a time of famine.  They find themselves in the very presence of the brother they sold off as a slave.  They were worried about retribution (still yet another connection with this week's gospel text).  Joseph speaks a gospel word when he says "Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good..."  I wonder how we might treat long-lost siblings who pawned us off for some spending money and some peace and quiet.  

Peace,  

Karl 

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Romans 8:28 says "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." (NRSV)

This doesn't say that all things that happen to us are good.  Clearly things beset us and we also bring things upon us that aren't good.  Traumas, afflictions and sins and their harmful consequences aren't good.

This doesn't say that all things that happen to us originate from God.  Free will, quantum probabilities and powers and principalities not aligned with God can cause all manner of events and consequences in our lives.

What this does say is that God is able to work towards good all things.  For those who love God--for those called according to God's purpose.

Let us assert that we are called according to God's purpose.  In baptism we are set aside with a calling to abide by God's purpose.  When we are in touch with who God has made us to be there is a purpose and a calling at work.  When others inspire us with glimpses of the divine there is a calling on us according to God's purpose.  We are called.  God's purposes are at work in the world.

So that leaves the question do we love God?  And if so, does that mean that things will always work out for good.  And if not, is it our fault that bad things happen to us and that they can't get resolved to a good end?  In other words, do we buy into a world where our love for God is the coinage and happy endings and good results are what is purchased through the vending machine?

This transactional approach with God is broken on so many levels.  If we love God it is only because God loved us first.  Even on our best days we can't love God the way God deserves to be loved.  Jesus affirms that to fulfill the Law and the Prophets we need to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind--and also to love our neighbors are we love ourselves.  An honest look in the mirror leads us to affirm that we can't love ourselves very well.  Consequently loving our neighbors as ourselves is exceedingly problematic.  And loving God, who we cannot see, is a dicey proposition.

Rather than focusing on what we do or don't do let's train our eyes and our hope on what God does.  In this account with Joseph and his brothers God softens Joseph's heart.  He is able to move past betrayal towards reconciliation.  He is able to lift his brothers and his father out of the hit they dug for themselves.  He is able to return blessing for curse, kiss for deathblow, hope for being cast into despair.

God can and will do that work in us too.  God loves us and so we grow, haltingly and falteringly, into loving God.  God calls us and gives us purpose and so we learn to trust and to lean into the future into which God beckons us.  God will bring good--even when we inflict harm on ourselves and others.  Jesus' prayers from the cross betray God's heart in the midst of us betraying Jesus.

Help us, dear Lord, be a people who live, claim and enflesh Romans 8:28.  Work your good in us and through us.  Help us be more like Joseph, more like Jesus, more like Stephen, more like you created us to be--all to your glory.  Amen.

Are We Unforgiving Servants?

Dear e-votees,  

This Sunday's appointed gospel text is Matthew 28:21-34. It is Jesus teaching about the unforgiving slave.  There are two amounts of money that are at play in this teaching.

The first amount is the astronomical amount that the first slave owed his master.  The amount in the Greek is 10,000 talents.  A talent is an amount of matter.  There were a variety of talents in the ancient world but 33 kg is a reasonable amount for us to use for the sake of this conversation.

10,000 talents x 33 kg/talent x 2.2 lbs/kg (assuming at the surface of the earth) x 16 oz/lb x $1,936.25/oz (from jmbullion.com) = $22,491,480,000.

100 denarii * 1 day's wage/1 denarius * 8 hours/work day (assumption) * $25.12 (average hourly wage in US in April 2020 according to tradingeconomics.com = $20,096.

In other words the first servant owed to the master 1,119,202 (rounded) times the amount that the second servant owed to him.

Peace,

Karl

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Thank you for letting me channel my former mathlete self in the calculations above.  The point of the parable is not exact numbers.  The point is that the amount the first servant owed to the master is astronomically huge in comparison to the relative trifle that was owed to him.  If you remember your PSAT/SAT/GRE type comparison questions the point is this:

[amount owed to master]:[amount owed from other servant]::[amount that God has forgiven us]:[amount that others could possibly owe us] 

We have perhaps been exceedingly forgiving towards others who have wronged us.  We may have forgiven what seems like an enormous amount.  We may not have been forgiving at all.  Probably somewhere more in the middle.  

Regardless of what we have forgiven it pales in comparison to what God has freely (free to us anyway, costly to God) forgiven us.  Until we can square up the cost of what God has forgiven us then we shouldn't worry about turning our attention towards what others owe us.  If we are tracking with this parable, however, we quickly realize that is a fool's errand.  We can never fully repay God. Therefore all we can do is strive to live in a way that blesses others in response to how much God has blessed us.  How did Paul say it last week at the end of our epistle lesson?  As yes, "Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8)

God shape us into people who are so aware and appreciative of the great measure of forgiveness and grace you have lavished on us that we spend our days learning to do that to others.  We pray this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

The Debt to Love One Another

Dearest e-votees,

Our appointed epistle lesson for this coming Sunday comes from Romans 13:8-14.  

Paul writes that we should owe no one anything except to love one another.  Maybe I'll send this text along with my next payments to Discover, Chase, student loan servicing, etc., etc. and see what they say about wiping out my debts.  Then again maybe that's not really what Paul is getting at.  

Peace,

Karl

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This text seems to have three strands:  

1.  Focus on what we owe others, not what they owe us.

It is understandable that we might want to make sure that we get our share--that we get at least as much as we give.  Since early childhood we have been steeped in what is fair.  We know that one sibling splits the cake and the other chooses which piece they want--make sure it is fair.  We know to watch what we get and watch what others get--make sure it is fair.  We know to watch and make sure that the rules aren't applied to our disadvantage (not always so vigilant in our advocacy when things are tilted in our favor).  But Paul, in this passage and in his life, is less worried about what he receives for himself but rather focused on those around him and if they are getting what they need.  Our baptismal call is to follow after Jesus.  Jesus spent his giving life to others while giving his life away--ultimately on the cross.  We are called to join in that journey.

2.  What we should seek to give to others is love.

There are all sorts of things we might give others.  Sometimes in is to satisfy some sense of justice in us.  Sometimes it is in hopes to making them beholden to us.  Sometimes it is to bring joy and delight into their lives.  Sometimes it is in the hope of stirring up friendly affections (perhaps with obligations, the Greek word for love fie-le-oh has some of those connotations).  Sometimes it is in hope of stirring up more passionate, sexual affections (the Greek word for love ehr-ohs has those connotations).  But the love we are called to give is ah-gah-pay (the Greek word for love that connotes a sacrificial love; a word more descriptive of the one doing the loving than the worthiness of the recipient of that love).  John 3:16:  For God so ah-gah-pay-ed the world...  There may be times, desires and needs to give gifts of all manner to those we care for but the ultimate thing we are called to give is ourselves in sacrificial love.  We give because it is life-giving and salutary to the recipient not because there might be anything or any return in it for us.

3.  The love God gives and wants us to give is not license for self-gratification but rather a call to take up our cross and lay down our lives for the sake of others.  

We have limited time and resources in this life.  We are called to use our freedoms, our privileges, our time, our talents and our treasures not in merely gratifying ourselves and our fleshly, turned-in impulses but rather to live into the salvation we have been given.  We are called to grow into the likeness of Christ and to offer hope, healing and love to all around us.  Jesus spent 3 short years in public ministry.  The disciples had relatively little time to do their work as well before 11 of the 12 died premature, human-caused deaths.  What are we doing with our comparatively lengthy and problem-free ministry contexts?  How are we helping to live into eternal life and help shape eternity for others as well?

God, help us know and live into your love.  Help us pour ourselves out in love to the world.  Help us pay our debt to Jesus, who paid our debts on the cross, by living out the calling and obligation to love others.  Amen.