Devotion - Tuesday, November 25

Thanksgiving Break starts today at Clemson.  While I will be in town and at the church most days, this offering will be my last of the week.  So it seems appropriate that today would be the day for me to address Thanksgiving, and its promise for us as God's people.

You are likely to hear some of the chatter about whether Thanksgiving is truly a religious observance or secular.  Its roots clearly are spiritual - pausing to give thanks for all that we have received.  As with so many other good ideas, Thanksgiving can get rolled over by other interest (as in the official start of the Christmas shopping season.)  It is tough to turn back the tide, but we don't have to ride its crest.  So I encourage you to give these days the attention they need as a time to give thanks, as a time to remember and appreciate all that we have received.

It is way too easy, in our world and culture, to focus on what we don't have.  The growth of the economy depends upon us continually acquiring more and more and more.  Everything is invested in convincing each of us that having that which is just beyond our reach will make life more complete and meaningful.

This may be the test of faith for us 21st century North American Christians.  Can we trust that all we need has been provided?  Can we respond to the craziness by saying "God's grace is sufficient for me"?

Be thankful these days.  Express your thanks openly and regularly.  Every time you speak of something that you would want to acquire, list three things you already have.  Issue that same challenge to your family and friends.  

God's goodness has provided richly for us.  While there may be opportunity to add some trimmings around the edges, that is all they could ever be.

Devotion - Monday, November 24

The year is almost over.  While this is true with regard to the academic calendar, and the football season, and even the countdown to 2015 - I am speaking of the Liturgical Year.  Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday - the last Sunday of the Church Year.

All of the events of Jesus' life have been recapped during the previous 51 weeks.  All of the sayings and healings and parables have been reviewed.  The final Sunday of the year is devoted to the question, "What does all this mean for you?"  There exists the opportunity to respond by affirming Christ as King.

The sermon I preached yesterday addressed the nature of this Kingship.  It is not one of force or domination.  The Kingship of Christ is one in which the "least among us" is seen, acknowledged, and attended to.  This is the Kingdom over which Christ reigns.

One final description of that Kingdom asks us whether we are prepared to affirm Christ as our King, whether we are ready to become loyal subjects in the Kingdom where self-sacrifice is the way.

As you bring your semester to a close and as you find yourself being sucked into the vortex of secular Christmas observances - take a moment to answer the question for yourself, and to commit yourself to the King and the Kingdom in which care and compassion and gentleness and graciousness are the defining traits.

Sermon - Christ the King Sunday

Christ the King - Year A

November 23, 2014

Matthew 25:31-46

                                             Christ is King-A different King 

            Some passages of scripture are difficult to understand.  Sometimes we don't understand because the imagery doesn't make sense to us.  We always have a bit of that problem when the passage contains a reference to sheep or goats.  Few (if any) of us understand the nature of sheep and goats.  Few (if any) of us understand why it would be important to a shepherd that the sheep and the goats be separated.  Sometimes the imagery makes no sense; there is no connection to our lives.  So, the passage is difficult for us to understand.

 

            Other passages are difficult for us because they are ambiguous.  You know the type - like when St. Paul writes:  The good that I would do I cannot do, but I do the very thing that I hate.  I can work my way through the grammatical structure of that sentence and figure out what he is trying to say, but it is a bit of a tongue twister and is devoid of the clarity I would prefer when reading the Word of God.  Internal ambiguity sometimes renders a passage difficult for us to understand.

            Ambiguity, imagery from a different time or place - these can make it uncomfortable for us to encounter a passage of scripture.  But these difficulties are minor when compared to the difficulties presented by a passage of scripture which just doesn't fit with the rest of our experience of God.  Ambiguity, imagery from a different time or place - these are nothing compared to a passage in which Jesus simply tells us that some are going to enter the kingdom while others are to be banished into the eternal fire.  Today's Gospel Lesson is difficult for me because I really don't like what it is saying.

            Jesus is terribly harsh in this passage.  He is so cut and dry.  His words place us in one category or the other:  we are considered either sheep or goats; on God's right hand or on God’s left.  For those who are on the right - things couldn't be better.  If you are on the left – too bad for you.  Sheep and goats.  It is that simple, it is that harsh.  I find this passage difficult.  It isn’t consistent with a God whose grace is so deep He would send his only Son to die for us.  It doesn’t fit with my experience of the “love of God which passes all understanding.”

            The line which is the kicker is the one which says:  As you did it (or did not do it) to one of the least of these, you did it (or did not do it) to me.  I read it and find myself considering exactly who would be the least of these, and I find myself worrying about the way I have interacted with them.

            What about the hungry?  I don't mean to minimize this congregation's efforts in the annual CROP Walk or to overlook the gifts represented by the Operation Christmas Child boxes we dedicate today.  Many good works are offered.  But can it be said of us that we have never allowed a hungry person to pass before our eyes?  Do we offer food wherever and whenever it is needed?  Or do we wait for a few special programs, offered at particular times of the year?

 

But Jesus’ demand doesn‘t end there.  This passage says we not only need to feed them, we must also welcome the stranger into our own homes.

 

            I think you all know how much I love to take afternoon naps.  I was enjoying one such nap, when there came a knock on my back door.  I stumbled over, opened it and invited the guy in.  It was only after he started to tell me his story that I had I realized what I had done.  I had invited into my house someone I didn’t know at all.   I noticed that as he spoke, he was also looking around.  He may not have wanted to look me in the face out of nervousness or embarrassment, but as he talked about needing money to provide for his family all I could think of was whether he was really wanting me to know his story or if he was really casing the house to decide if it was worth a burglary.  

 

            When Eunice gave a temple talk, encouraging us to become involved in Family Promise she acknowledged that inviting a homeless person to live with us isn’t something we are inclined to do.  Family Promise arranges for them to have a safe place, provided one of us will give up the comforts of our own bed to sleep on a cot.  This congregation has made a great commitment to Family Promise.  But I think we still have trouble getting folks to volunteer to give up one night in order that the homeless might be welcomed.

 

            "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."  

 

            The list goes on:  thirsty, naked, sick, in prison.  I barely know where the city jail is located.  I have no idea how many inmates are kept at our county facility or where persons are sent for longer terms of incarceration.  One of my Facebook friends left campus ministry to become a prison chaplain.  He makes rather regular posts about the great things that are happening at the prison he serves and asking for our prayerful support.  I am thankful that Randy responded to that call.  I fear that I am like the goats in Jesus’ parable, that I most often put out of mind those who truly are out of sight.

 

            This passage of scripture is very difficult for me because it speaks a legalism which is alien to so much of what I experience God to be.  This passage is difficult because it lifts up a way of life that I know I am far from achieving.  This passage is difficult because it reminds me that what I do with my life really does matter.  It matters a lot.  It makes all the difference.

 

            It is not accidental that this passage of scripture would be read on the day that the church celebrates Christ the King Sunday.  This passage correctly identifies the focal point of Christ's Kingship.  When the Son of Man comes in his glory...he will sit on the throne of his glory...and he will separate people one from another.  The separation will fall along the line which divides those who have lived for themselves from those who have lived for others.  Living for others is the kind of King Christ is; it is the kind of kingdom over which he reigns.  It wasn't so much what he said or encouraged us to believe.  The thing which makes the difference is the way in which Christ lived his life:  welcoming the stranger, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry.  He did not consider equity with God a thing to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, and yet he is the very one whom we gather in this place to honor as King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

            I am, from the very core of my being, a Lutheran.  I do not believe that I can ever merit God's gift.  The absurdity of such a belief system is exposed in today's passage, in the acknowledgement that those who were being invited into the eternal kingdom had no idea why they would be considered worthy of such an honor.  They ask, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry...thirsty...a stranger...or in prison?"  They had not worked in order to merit God's favor.  Neither can we acquire the Kingdom by our own good deeds.   This passage isn’t holding up a list of qualifications for entering the Kingdom of Christ.  Christ is not saying that we have to measure up on each one of these before we can have any part in God's eternal domain.  Jesus is reminding us that until we look less to ourselves and more toward others we will never share in the wonderful blessings God has to offer.

 

            It isn't a test - it is more of a reflection of where it is that you will be found.  Will you reside among those who are self-absorbed – or - amid those who know the joy of Christ's self-giving love?

 

Amen.

 

Devotion - Thursday, November 20

It does seem as if the appointed readings conspire to bring us back to a common theme.  Having written yesterday about Micah's insistence that we "walk" in the way of the Lord, I was prepared this morning to turn to another theme - only to open my devotional guide and see the the next lesson in our gospel readings is the story of the young man who comes to ask Jesus "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

You know the answer.  The young man did too.

When Jesus asks him, "What is written in the law?  How do you read?"  The young man replies with "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."  He knows the answer.  We know the answer, too.

But in the story (Luke 10:25-37) the young man isn't ready to live the answer.  So he attempts to get around the answer by asking, "Who is my neighbor?"  and Jesus replies by telling the story of the Good Samaritan - the stranger who picks up the wounded traveler, bandages his wounds, and pays for his continued care.

We know the answer.  Applying the answer to our lives is the difficult part.

At our gathering last night, Bishop Herman Yoos spoke of the group assigned to notice strangers in the shopping mall who seemed to be in need of prayer.  "Pray for them," silently, without calling attention to your act, was the assignment.  He told a story of how that simple assignment grew into a meaningful and significant exchange.  I was glad to hear of that one example of what happened when prayers were offered for a neighbor - but I hope that one outcome did not detract us from seeing the outcome in all the other instances.  What a powerful assignment.  It is one that you could carry into your day, today, on campus.  Look at the faces of others.  Notice the stresses and strains.  Pray - not for the hundreds of nameless classmates but for the one sitting two rows over who shows signs of needing a neighbor's prayers.

We know the answer.  We know what God has given us and what God asks us to share.  In small ways, and in seemingly insignificant ways, we begin to apply the answer to our lives.  Seemingly insignificant - but far from insignificant.

Devotion - Wednesday, November 19

Over the past couple of weeks, several of these morning offerings referred to Hosea.  My read through the Bible has moved from one of the so-called "minor prophets" to another.  This morning I read from Micah.

These prophets are referred to as "minor" not because of the content of their writings, but rather due to their brevity and limited historical content.

Most are concerned with how the people of God are living out their call to be the people of God.  A concern that ought to concern all of us.

Micah 4:5 reads:  "For all peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we walk in name of the LORD our God forever and ever."  Micah knew that is it easy to talk the talk, but walking the walk is a much different matter.

We do need to talk.  We must tell the story of Jesus and it is essential (in our academic community) that we share the deep thought and reasoning that under girds our faith tradition.  

But waking in the way of our God cannot be ignored.  

The way we walk, the things we do in the world, reveals to the world the god we follow.

This same chapter of Micah talks about beating our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks.  Lutherans are not (typically) referred to as one of the "peace churches," but as a denomination we have repeatedly expressed our conviction that violence rarely brings peace.

"But we walk in the name of the LORD our God."  May it be so; and might each step bring us closer to the place were our prime concerns are made visible to all.

Devotion - Thursday, November 13

In Acts 27, Paul is on a boat, bound for Rome.  He has appeared before Agrippa, and asked to be tried before Caesar.  The boat sails late in the year.  Too late.  They encounter bad weather and it becomes obvious they will not make land.

Paul steps into command; sharing the assurance he has from God that so long as everyone remains on the boat and of one mind, no one will be lost.

Toward the end of Chapter 27, the boat runs aground and breaks up.  Then comes a line which served as the text for a sermon I heard at a local Baptist Church.  Those who could swim, jumped clear of the boat and made for shore.  Those who could not swim waiting for the ship to break into pieces, then grabbed a plank and held on.  

The preacher admitted that he could not swim.  He then shared his emotions at reading this passage and knowing that he would be one of those who had to watch the others swim to safety, while he waited and watched and hoped.  

Too often it seems as if everyone else can swim; that they are moving through life and facing obstacles with a fuller set of skills or tools.  Too often it seems as if we are the one who has to wait and watch and hope.  Waiting and watching and hoping are scary.  Especially when the ship is breaking apart all around us.

They all make it.  They listened to the word from God.  And not a one of them was lost.  They went through a horrible ordeal; but they were saved.

This is what I am remembering this day.  This is what I remember every day.  And this is the story I repeat every time there is a ship breaking apart and a deep fear coming over us.  It may be naive or too simple, but it enables me to wait and watch and hope.  And my hope does not break apart.

Devotion - Wedneday, November 12

There are very few of Jesus' life events recorded in all four of the Gospel accounts.  One of them is the feeding of the 5,000.  This story is also widely known; even among non-followers.  Too often, we gloss over this story; failing to grasp its significance and message.

I cannot do the story justice in a few short lines, but allow me to address some of the reasons this story is so significant.

There is nothing more pressing than our need for food.  Other urges/desires/drives come and go.  They are experienced by some and easily set aside by others.  But the need for food is constant and universal.  Jesus responds to the most pressing of our needs.  The story assures us that if he provides for this one, then we have reason to hope he will provide for the others.  It is with a full belly that we can idle our way through the afternoon, reflecting on our fate in old age or death.

The version of the story I read this morning is from Luke 9.  In this version we have the reference to the place where all this occurred as "a lonely place."  Following Jesus has made my life full and rich and meaningful; but it has also resulted in my being lead to some places that are frightening.  I don't really want to go to the bedside of a friend whose illness reminds me that we are mortal; but Jesus leads me there.  In this "lonely place," Jesus provides.  Following Jesus might seem illogical at times; but it is the path which brings us to the place where our dependence upon God is exposed and then met with God's greatest act.

One other aspect of the story worthy of quick note.  We too often act out of a fear of scarcity.  We think there isn't going to be enough.  There is plenty!  Don't forget that from the few loaves and fish, all are fed and twelve baskets of leftovers are collected.  There is enough; we need not fear sharing.

Experience this day the assurance that God will provide for you.  Live your life wiling to follow where Jesus might lead.  And know that there is plenty to go around.

No wonder this story is so popular.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 11

I referred to the verses from Hosea when my lectionary had me reading from the early chapters.  The story contained there is of God's instructions to the prophet to marry a cult prostitute, in the hopes that his faithfulness to her would result in her faithfulness.  The analogy is to God's faithfulness to the chosen people; and their repeated unfaithfulness to God.  While the story is of painful events, the nature of a good story is we enjoy reading it and find pleasure in it.  We are also left open to thinking the story is about someone else, not us.

I am now in the latter chapters of Hosea.  Here, we read of the accusations being made against those whom God has invited to become His people.  These chapters are less enjoyable, particularly when we make the links between the unfaithfulness of the immediate hears of the prophesy and those who are open to receiving the prophet's words in our own day.

The transgressions with which God confronts his chosen people are those which turn a blind eye to the plight of others.  The transgressions which God delineates are those in which the privileged fail to recognize their privilege.  

When we hear talk about "living a Christian life," we most often think of morality.  We think about lying, drinking, sex.  Surely, following Jesus means we won't deceive our neighbor, or abuse the body God has given us, or exploit another for our own pleasure.  But the life to which God calls us is also concerned with feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, setting free the captive.  Like the latter chapters of Hosea, understanding our role in these types of issues requires more work than telling a few simple stories.

Our First Lesson from this past Sunday spoke of God's desire that justice would roll like a mighty river.  Those same verses acknowledged that is it simpler for God's people to engage in dramatic and impressive "worship."  But that the worship God asks is to do mercy.  

I have a few more verses from Hosea to read over the next couple of days.  I may return here.  Not because I enjoy such difficult questions, but precisely because it is way too easy to avoid them.  Israel ignored them; and God sent Hosea to speak of God's displeasure.

Devotion - Monday, November 10

In Luke 8 there is an interesting encounter between Jesus and a man "possessed."  Let me start by saying that my sensitivities regarding mental illnesses makes it difficult for me to gloss over a reference to someone being "possessed," because of my commitment to bringing mental illness and those who suffer mental illnesses out of the shadows and into the light.

We don't know that this man suffered from a mental illness; but the characteristics he displays tend to suggest he may have.  

Having said that, it may be difficult (but I ask you to try) to move back into the encounter and discuss what is going on here.

Maybe you know the story.  When this man, and the demons which possess him, confront Jesus they ask, not to be sent "into the abyss."  Rather, they ask to be sent into a herd of nearby pigs.  Jesus grants their request.  The demon possessed pigs promptly run down the hill and into the lake and drown.  They die.

So what is this "abyss" which the demons so feared that they would choose instead to drown?

Sometimes we acknowledge a fear of something which isn't as fearful as that which lies behind or beyond the freely spoken of fear.  We worry about not doing well in class; perhaps what lies behind and beyond is the fear that we won't be in a position to build the life we envision for ourselves.  We worry about being at the right event or gathering; failing to acknowledge our fear of being left out and being left alone.

We fear so many things, things which Christ has conquered.  Moving beyond the fears which are socially acceptable to admit, we can speak of the fears which lie behind and beyond - and we can be assured that Christ has addressed those fears and given us the confidence we need.

Devotion - Thursday, November 6

It is said that every preacher has one sermon, and just finds differing ways to preach it.  As I grow older, I have taken to borrowing the quote from a retiring seminary professor who said, "I believe fewer things now than I did before, but I believe them more passionately."

My one sermon, something I believe very passionately, is that we have misconstrued our understanding of "faith."  I talked about this last Wednesday, during the devotion time at dinner.

Today's reading from Luke 7:1-17 brought me back to this theme.  Here we read the story of the centurion with a sick slave. He sends word to Jesus to ask him to come.  While Jesus is still a way off the centurion sends word that he is not worthy to have Jesus enter his home; all he asks is that Jesus say the word and he knows the slave will be made well.  Jesus commends his faith - "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

There is no mention of what the centurion believes.  There is no record of what he has confessed.  What we have is a man who trusts in Jesus. His "faith" was his confidence that Jesus would do the compassionate thing.

One of the problems in believing fewer things is that I don't have the answers I had when I was younger.  Yesterday's discussion regarding what happens to us when we die might have been met (in my younger years) with confident statements about the afterlife.  Yesterday, all I could say is that "God has been so good to me, I have confidence God will also be gracious to me after my death."  I have fewer answers; I have a great deal more trust.

When you spend your days learning and discovering, it is difficult not to seek answers in your spiritual life as well.  I understand that. I don't want to ignore how difficult it can be to switch gears when you gather as God's children. But if my one sermon could find a finger-hold in your heart, it might begin a transition from faith as believing that which others find it impossible to believe, to faith as a deep trust and confidence in God's goodness.  If I can begin that in you, then my life and my ministry would have met a worthy goal.

Devotion - Wednesday, November 5

Hopefully you were in worship this Sunday for the Church's observance of All Saints Sunday.  I was the guest of the congregation my in-laws helped to organize in Griffin, GA.  This congregation has returned to the tradition of having bibles in the pew racks, thus allowing folks to read the appointed lessons from the bible rather than from the back of the bulletin.

Taking advantage of this, I noticed the footnote associated with the appointed Gospel lesson -  Matthew 5:11.  The verse reads, "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely."  There is a footnote which acknowledges "Other ancient authorities lack falsely."

Sometimes, the followers of Jesus are reviled, and persecuted, and evil is uttered against us - not as a result of false accusations, but because we are being faithful to the one whom we follow.  

When we insist that the poor have health insurance we are reviled.

When we seek marriage equality, we are persecuted.

When we ask why a full-time employee cannot afford food for their family evil is uttered against us.

The people of God may have many false things said about us; but there it is when we speak the truth that we are most often criticized.  That is how the world silences our witness.  That is how false gods are allowed to reign.