Blessed All Saints Day Eve to you and yours

Dearest e-votees,

For those of you who observe Halloween--happy Halloween!  I hope you have a safe and good time making memories with those you love.

Tomorrow is All Saints Sunday.  It is a day set aside in the church year to commemorate our blessed dead.

Peace,

Karl

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Here is our appointed 2nd reading in the Revised Common Lectionary (aka RCL) comes from 1st John 3:1-3:

1See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (NRSV)

God has called us God's children.  We have been adopted, welcomed and grafted into the family of God.  In baptism we are reborn as children of God.  

Part of the work of family is to commemorate and celebrate our blessed dead.  We got to where we are today (successes and wrinkles both) through the legacy of our families.  Our forefathers and foremothers have shaped us into our very selves.  Everything we have comes as gift from the hands of a gracious God and often conveyed through our family members.

If we have had great success we do well to paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton:  If we have seen further it is because we have stood on the shoulders of giants (read giants as our foremothers and forefathers).

As you remember, celebrate, commemorate, grieve and however else recognize those who have gone before you, biologically and spiritually, I invite you to light a candle, ring a bell and say a prayer of thanks for who they were and how they've helped you to become.

God, thank you for all those who have preceded us.  Help us never forget them and look forward to when we will be reunited with them again.  In the strong name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Eve of Reformation: Justified by Grace

 Dearest e-votees, 

I hope and pray that this e-vo finds you happy and well.  It is the night before Reformation Sunday.  I have been looking forward to this worship service for a while now.  It is a festive day for our expression of faith and it will be good to gather in the parking lot once again with the saints of Messiah.  I hope and pray you have somewhere good to gather in worship.  If you are so inclined we will be streaming a version of this service on Facebook at a watch party this coming Thursday (October 29, 7:00 EST).  You are welcome to join us if you are free and so inclined.  

Peace, 

Karl 

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One of the key insights that was perhaps re-discovered and certainly lifted up by Martin Luther and the other reformers is the central concept that we are saved by grace (pure gift from God) and not by the works we do.  For those of you who watch "The Good Place" this concept would certainly undo one of the underlying drivers of the show.

We believe that there isn't a running odometer ticking off our good deeds.  Neither is their a sin-o-meter tracking our demerits.  The truth is that we can't begin to do enough good and shun enough evil to save ourselves.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God as Paul wrote in the 3rd chapter of Romans.  And even if we could do enough good--which we can't--if we're doing it merely to save our sorry skins than it isn't such an altruistic endeavor after all.  Our old Adams and old Eves are always quick to do something for our own sake and to point an accusing finger at a nearby snake or spouse or whoever else falls into our crosshairs. "The Good Place" really is an interesting look into some of our more primal and self-serving motivations.  You might want to give it a watch some time. 

This isn't to say that good works don't matter.  How we respond to God is crucially important.  How we respond to neighbor is crucially important.  Jesus says the whole law and the prophets can be fulfilled  by loving God and loving neighbor.  At one point in scripture it even includes the psalms (Luke 24:44) among the things fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus.

We couldn't do what was required--Jesus could and did.  We can't do what is required today on our own (we are still sinners and fall short of the glory of God) without God's help.  We do good works not to earn God's favor--not attainable--but rather as a way to thank God and serve neighbor in response to God.

My wife has a Bonhoeffer quote in her pastor's study--"Salvation is free but discipleship will cost you everything" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  We can't earn the healing.  We can't earn the right standing.  We can't earn God's favor.  It comes to us as a free gift (which cost Jesus everything).  But we can learn and grow in following in the ways of Jesus.  We can become disciples.  We can take up our crosses and follow after Jesus.  If we do it will cost us everything.  That's what it means to grow in the likeness of Jesus.

I hope and pray you have a blessed celebration of the Reformation.  May God's grace and free salvation bless you again and again.  Blessings as you allow God to grow you in the likeness of Christ.  That is, after all, what it means to be a Christian.

Dear God, have your way in our lives.  Teach us to stop trying to please you in order for a reward.  Help us to accept the give and learn to do as you please as our humble way of saying "Thank you.".  Amen.

Jesus the master of Kobayashi Maru

Dearest e-votees,

This Sunday's gospel lesson sure seems like the world hasn't advanced very far in the last two millennia.

Jesus is approached by Pharisees and Herodians (a very unholy alliance) and they seek to capture him in his words with yet another "Gotcha!" question.  

They simply ask if it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not.  If he says "yes" then the religious leaders can point out Jesus supporting the occupying force of the Romans and write him off as one who sides with the enemy.  If he says "no" then he can be turned over to the Romans as one undermining the "Pax Romana" (see meditation in 10-14 Taize worship service).  No matter how Jesus answers he is trapped.  For you Trekkies is is really a Kobayashi Maru.  Yet Jesus, aware of their malice, channels his inner James T. Kirk and escapes the inescapable.

Peace,

Karl

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The trap of the Pharisees and the Herodians is that implied in their question are two competing human loyalties--the emperor and to one's people.  By forcing Jesus to pick one they were trying to force him to antagonize the other.  

Jesus rewrites the question by taking out of the human realm (are you loyal to the person of the emperor or the people of your heritage?) and elevating to a higher authority (are you remembering a Hebrew National ad campaign just about now?).  

He essentially says do whatever you will in terms of your questions about loyalty to people.  But never forget loyalty to God.  Whatever is God's (and what isn't?) ought to be rendered to God.  Neither the Pharisees nor the Herodians would ever suggest withholding from God what is God's.  Check mate.

Jesus has danced out of their snare and got to the crux of the matter.  Soon, in the gospel of Matthew, he will get to the crux of the crux.  Good Friday is looming.  He will have other opportunities to bow to Herod and Pontius Pilate coming soon but he will defer his loyalty to God.  He will give to God what is God's which will release that to us too.

What things of human origin seek to unduly distract and ensnare us?  What "emperors" are coming after us wanting their fare share?  Can we learn a little something from Jesus here?  For God's sake I hope so. 

Dear God, rescue us from the snares set in our paths.  Give us focus and courage to put you above others.  Thank you for all you give us.  Help us return to you with faith and gratitude.    Amen.

Philippians 3:10-11

Dearest e-votees,  

Our appointed epistle lesson from this Sunday comes from Paul's letter to the community of  believers in Philippi.  In a letter that is full of powerful, deep and resonant themes and quotations is the following verse:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul is at a place in his life and ministry where his imminent death is certainly becoming more apparent.  He doesn't shy away from that fate but rather embraces it.

When we are facing a literal or metaphorical death in our own lives, our work, our relationships, our vocations and our avocations, our social, political or religious contexts how do we respond?  Might Paul have something to teach us? 

Peace,

Karl 

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Jesus calls on his followers to take up their crosses and follow after them.  That is not a call to comfort, wealth and undisturbed existence despite the turmoil and woundedness in the world.

Jesus came to do a work in the world.  It required confronting religious and political leaders.  It required seeking justice and healing for those who had been neglected, dismissed and ostracized.  It required calling out hypocrisy and holding up a mirror to those around him then and to us to this very day.

When we abide the call to take up our crosses and follow after Jesus we are called to come and die (as was brilliantly expounded upon by Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship).  In baptism our old Adams and our old Eves are brought to be drowned so that our new Adams and our new Eves could be raised.  In our daily lives of faith and discipleship we are called to repentance (to allow that which must to die in order to bring to life that which should come to life).  Our concern is not for our own welfare alone but for our neighbor as well.  We can't love God fully if we ignore neighbor.  We can't fully love ourselves if we ignore neighbor.  If we want to grow into Jesus' work of fulfilling the law, the prophets and the psalms we have to love God more fully and loving our neighbor and ourselves more fully.

Jesus laid down his life fully and completely for the sake of the world, for the sake of his friends and for the sake of all--those in the mainstream and those on the fringes.  We are called to engage in this work as well.  And in doing so we just may see Jesus' resurrection power at work in us--literally and metaphorically.

Lord of life, bring us to the deaths that we must endure.  Work your resurrection power in us that we might have life and be bearers of that life and resurrection hope in the world.  Thank you for the call towards the cross.  Amen.

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.