Finding a Place of Welcome

Luke 9:51-56

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.56 Then he and his disciples went to another village. (NIV from www.biblegateway.com)

It is that time.  Jesus has been preparing his disciple for the trip they will begin today.  He has sent them out on their own, he has now twice warned them of his impending departure, he has corrected them when they haven't gotten it.  Now it is time to begin that walk to Jerusalem, the center of it all.  He set's out resolutely with a mission in mind, nothing will deter him.  He wants to go straight there.  He chooses to go through Samaria.  Typically when one travels to Jerusalem they will go around Samaria because Samaria and Jerusalem are enemies.  They do not get along.  To go through Samaria to Jerusalem is to risk ones life but Jesus does not let this deter him.  He will meet with the enemy.  His choice to go through Samaria signals to us an example that we are all part of the Kingdom of God and we need to learn to erase the borders, to live at peace with one another.  Jesus, however does not just show up.  He makes preparations by sending 2 messengers ahead to prepare a way for him.  He sends messengers to let the Samaritans know they are coming through, to get permission for the journey.  This village didn't accept that.  They said he was not welcome.  What did Jesus do?  He respected that they were not ready.  James and John wanted to "call fire down from heaven."  Jesus rebuked them.  Violence was not the answer.  One translation goes further to say that Jesus told them he didn't come to destroy life but to save it.  So, instead of forcing their way into and through a Samaritan Village that did not welcome them and were not ready for them, they chose a different village to go through and a different Village welcomed them.  

Who is not welcoming you?  We read everyday about different places that are not welcoming to this group or that group.  The example Jesus gives us is one of diplomacy.  It's not effective to force your way in with "guns a blazing."  It is not transformative to "rain down fire from heaven."  Earlier Jesus had instructed his disciples about people who did not welcome them.  He said  "If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”  (Luke 9:5-6, NIV at www.biblegateway.com)  Jesus here sets the example.  He moves on.  If you are not welcome in one place, rest assured you will be welcome in another.  Find that place of welcome for you and pray for the transformation of hearts in the places that do not welcome.  Be a bringer of peace.  Make preparations for Peace.  

Thanks be to God.  

Welcoming the Vulnerable-Welcoming Christ

Luke 9:43-50

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him.48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”
49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (NIV)

As we continue our journey with Christ toward Jerusalem today, we pick up where we left off yesterday.  Jesus has just performed a miracle, one that the disciples had been unable to do and all were amazed.  Jesus again, continuing to try to prepare his disciples for his departure, takes the disciples aside and again tells them of his pending death and departure.  Yet, they still do not get it but they really don't want to know more about it.  They are afraid, they are in denial.  They want to continue on with Jesus in their midst.  Then, as they are walking along toward their next destination they begin to argue about who is the greatest among them and Jesus again turns things upside down on them by telling them that whoever welcomes a child, welcomes him.  That is who the greatest is.  The Greatest are those who humble themselves in service to those that are most vulnerable.  Who are the most vulnerable in your circle of influence.  What are you doing to welcome the most vulnerable among you?  

Think on these things today and as your Lenten Practice today commit to doing something for the most vulnerable among you.  

Thanks be to God.  

Faith and Prayer

Luke 9:37-43

How often do you pray?  How often do you spend time in the word, reading the words and lessons of Jesus?  How often throughout the day do you think about God?  If you are like me, when things are going good it is very easy to neglect these things.  It's very easy to wake up in the morning and start your day without a thought in the world of your faith, of your relationship with God.  It's easy to reach for the phone and read the latest facebook posts, play your lives in the latest game you're playing, check your emails and then realize you barely have time to take a shower and jump in the car to make it to work or school on time.  You get to your destination and you immediately jump into the busyness of the day and so the story goes.  Many times it's not until something stops us in our tracks that we remember to pray, that we remember to seek God (who by the way never leaves us, we shouldn't have to seek very far.)

Today our journey takes us to the beginning of a series of stories of the disciples messing up and Jesus continuing to teach them the lessons of life they need to know and embrace before he departs from them.  This story occurs right after they come down from the mountain.  A man with a sick child (demon possessed we are told) comes to Jesus and says I asked your disciples to do this but they couldn't.  Jesus becomes angry with the disciples and says: “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied,“how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? " (vs. 41 NIV)  If we read Matthew and Mark's version of this stories we learn that after Jesus healed the boy and is back in private with the disciples they ask him why they were unable to cast out the demon.  Jesus tells them because they didn't believe they could and because they didn't pray.  

We can not do this thing called life on our own.  We particularly can't follow Christ and do the things disciples of Christ should be about the business of doing without faith and without prayer.  During this Lenten Season make a point to start a habit of prayer and a habit of seeking God.  Next time you wake up and reach for your phone first thing to check facebook, play a game or check email how about checking in with God first.  As my Uncle Dwight used to say when teaching my 8th grade Sunday school class:  "When I point to you, I have four fingers pointing back to myself."  

Luke 9:28-36

Today our Journey takes us to a place where Jesus is praying with Peter James and John.  Peter, James and John had fallen asleep, as they often do when they are praying.  While they were sleeping an unbelievable thing occurs.  Jesus' appearance changes.  The story depicts him being radiated by bright light and suddenly Moses and Elijah, forefathers of the faith who have been long departed from this earth, appear with him.  It's as if they are having a heavenly meeting of the minds as they talked about "his departure" soon to be fulfilled.  Peter, James and John awaken to see this sight.  Can you imagine.  They must have thought they were still asleep and dreaming.  I can imagine them rubbing the sleep from their eyes, pinching themselves to see if they were awake, or even alive.  It was in this moment that they fully understood and knew who Jesus was.  There was no doubt.  A cloud covered them and they were afraid and a voice came from the cloud:  "This is my son, listen to him."  Then Moses and Elijah were gone as quickly as they came.  This portion of the story ends with Peter, James and John not telling anyone about this "at this time."

What it must have been like to meet God in such an intimate and personal way.  I'm reminded of Moses' encounter with God in the burning bush.  There are moments we too are standing on Holy Ground.  For me there are two times in life that I know without a doubt I am standing on Holy ground.  One is when I have witnessed the birth of a child.  The other is when I have sat by the bedside of a dying person.  Those are moments when any doubts I might have about the existence of the divine are completely washed away and I am in Awe.  "I Stand Amazed in the Presence."

I'm also reminded of my own "words from God" when I read this story.  A direct, clear, voice of God message has only happened once in my lifetime.  Once is enough.  I shall never forget it and it will always be a part of my story.  It was when I woke up in the middle of the night with the words Revelation 2:3 in my mind.  It was quite bizarre as I had not recently read revelation, I had never committed that verse to memory.  Why am I waking up in the middle of the night with that reference on my mind.  Here is what it said:  "Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God."  (NIV) This night began my journey back to answering the call into ministry that I had first answered at the age of 13.  There have been many other ways that I have encountered God in my life.  I encounter God in scripture, in song, in other people but this was the most direct encounter I have had and it was awesome, scary, and amazing.

What about you.  In what ways have you encountered God in your life?  In what ways has God revealed God's self to you.  When do you feel as though you are standing on Holy Ground?

Carrying our Cross

Luke 9:18-27

As we continue walking with Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem we encounter his revelation to the disciples of who he is.  He is with the disciples praying with them in private and asks them who they think he is.  Peter says You are God's Messiah.  He tells them not to yet tell this to anyone.  It is at this time that Jesus reveals to them that he must die.  He then goes on to tell them what this means for them as followers and students of his.  This text can seem to be a riddle, mysterious and hard to decypher.

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of themwhen he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”  

What does all that mean?  What does it mean to take up your cross.  What does it mean to save your life by losing it?  To save your life by losing it can actually be seen as an interpretation or further explanation of what is meant by "take up your cross."  In the first century the cross represented death.  Think of it as the electric chair or the needle.  When I think of being required to carry a cross to your own execution it reminds me of a parent having a child go get the belt for their "spanking."  It is a walk of shame, of dread, of fear.  This was what the cross represented for those hearing Jesus's words in the first century.  To carry a cross meant to die.  So how do we die to self?  We must remember that Jesus came to establish a new kind of Kingdom.  The type of King the world expected was a military conqueror.  Jesus was the opposite.  He came teaching a different kind of ruling.  He came teaching love for all.  He came teaching peace.  He came teaching love not only for friends but for enemies as well.  To carry ones cross is to die to the old ways of ruling and to take on the characteristics of Christ.  We must remember this daily.  It what ways do we still seek the old ways of ruling the old definition of Kingdom.  We are reminded here in verse 27 that we don't have to die to experience the Kingdom of God.  As Jesus says in the model prayers "thy kingdom come.......on EARTH as it is in heaven."  

There is yet another mystery in this passage.  In the midst of talking about losing yourself, dying to self, Jesus says "what good is it for someone to gain the whole wold, and let lose or forfeit their very self?"  That seems a contradiction to the rest of the passage.  Perhaps what needs to die is all the pretensions we put forth in order to fit into this world.  I recall sitting outside one day about 21 years ago in the pits of depression coming to this very revelation.  I was living the way others expected me to live.  I was "religious."  I was "following all the rules."  but I was not fully being who God created me to be.   I was living into others' expectations of what it meant for me to be a Christian, to follow Christ."  I was denying who God created me to be and in the process I was slowly and literally dying.  I weighed 105 pounds, you could see every rib in my body, I couldn't eat and my therapist had told me she was going to see me in a hospital bed soon.  That day, sitting out in the son I committed to be me.  If not I would literally die.  It was time for me to live into God's expectations of me and no one else's.  With all this in mind I would suggest that the cross represents putting to death all other expectations of you except the expectations of God.  Live into who God created you to be!  Follow the lessons of Christ, not the lessons of the world.  In doing so you might just get a glimpse of Heaven without even tasting death.

Welcoming the Interruptions

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.  Luke 9:10-11

The disciples have just returned from their first solo mission.  They must be full of excitement and anxious to see Jesus and tell him of all they have encountered.  As I read this I am reminded of times in my career when I have had an exciting day at work.  Perhaps I had a major breakthrough with a family I'm working with.  Perhaps I've come across something very disturbing that I didn't quite know how to handle.  I immediately would want my supervisor's attention.  I yearned to tell my stories.  This must have been how the disciples felt.  Jesus recognizes their need and takes them off by themselves to retreat and debrief.  They were interrupted however.  The crowds learned where they were and demanded attention.  In that situation I would want my boss to protect our time together, to tell the crowds they must wait their turn.  I would be angry about the interruption.  I would be angry with the crowd.  I would be angry with my boss.  What did Jesus do?  He WELCOMED them!  He Spoke to them about the kingdom of God.  He healed those who needed healing.  Who is your life today?  Who needs to hear the good news of the kingdom?  Who needs to hear some words of healing?  We are on a journey to Jerusalem with our Savior.  Let's follow his example.  Let's welcome interruptions into our daily lives.  Let's share the good news.  Let's be the healing hands and feet of Jesus. 

What Should I Do?

^{What Should I Do?}

^{Luke 12-13-21}

^{Biblical Text}

 

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But

He said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” ¹⁶ Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷ And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”  (NRSV accessed through www.biblegateway.com)

 

            When I first read the text listed in the lectionary for this morning, I became afraid.  Money, wealth, riches……really?  I can’t go into a church as a guest pastor and talk to the people about money.  I’ll never be asked back again.  Finances are a very personal thing.  It’s one of those things along with religion, politics and a person’s age or weight that you are not supposed to ask others about.  It is uncomfortable.  Yet, the bible devotes 250+ verses to the subject of money.  Add to that scripture about possessions in general and there is no telling how many verses take up the issue of money/finances.  Holy Scripture tells us that the topic of finance and possessions is important.  My temptation to run away from the text told me that is precisely why I needed to wrestle with the text. 

            Our text today begins with an interruption.  The text is set in the time period we often refer to as the Journey to Jerusalem or to the Cross.  Jesus is in the final days of his earthly ministry and he takes every opportunity he can to teach his disciples what they need to know prior to his being with them no longer.  Also, during this time the Pharisees are in hot pursuit of Jesus, trying everything in their power to trip him up, to find things wrong with his ministry.  Our text picks up today following Jesus being invited to dine in the home of a Pharisee.  This dinner provided an intimate setting in which the Pharisees could further interrogate Jesus.  The subject at this dinner had been about hand-washing and Jesus not following the rituals of hand washing before dining.  Jesus uses the question as a teachable moment and tells them that they can wash their dishes on the outside as much as they like but it is what is on the inside that matters. He tells them that feeding the poor what is on the inside of the dish is what matters. I believe he was talking both literally and figuratively.  He is not only talking about the dishes with food in them but also about their own bodies.  Washing hands doesn’t clean the inside.  Our spirits, who we are, is what needs to be kept clean and we need to share that with the poor.

            While Jesus is dining a crowd gathers.  A very large crowd.  Jesus goes out to address them but before he addresses the crowd, he gathers his disciples around him and teaches them.  This is where our text interrupts.  It is interrupted by a man in the crowd who hollers out to Jesus.  Jesus, make my brother give me my part of my inheritance.  The man has been treated unjustly and in his mind this injustice done to him by his older brother is worthy of Jesus’ attention.   Jesus responds differently, however, he responds by asking “Who made me the arbitrator and judge between you and your brother?”  This is puzzling.as we know that we are supposed to bring all of our cares and concerns before God.  Isn’t God the ultimate judge and arbitrator?  I wonder if Jesus wasn’t saying.  This is not important; you have all that you need, why get into conflict over this inheritance.  We all know or have heard of families who have almost irreconcilable differences over inheritances or other forms of financial disputes. Perhaps by refusing to assist in this matter Jesus is saying there are much bigger things to be concerned with.

            Jesus uses this interruption as another teachable moment for the disciples.  He starts out by telling them to Watch Out!   Be on high alert against all kinds of greed.  “What do you mean greed?”  Wasn’t this inheritance due this man, how do you call that greed?  That is a question that comes to mind.  However, scripture teaches us over and over and over again that greed is having more than we need while others go without.  Greed keeps us from trusting God for our daily provisions.  Notice in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches; give us this day our daily bread, what we need for today.  God provided only a day’s worth of manna to the Israelites when they were in the desert.  If they tried to collect more, it spoiled.  We need to trust God to provide what we need.  We don’t need more.  So, Jesus tells the Disciples Watch Out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.  Why?  Because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

            Stuff, we all think we need more stuff.  When I graduated from college my first home was a one room apartment over the nursing home my then husband worked in as the third shift supervisor.  We had a tiny closet, a bedroom, and a bathroom.  We had to eat the food prepared in the nursing home kitchen or go out to eat.  Given we were just out of college we couldn’t afford to eat out very much so we ate a lot of nursing home food.  We couldn’t wait to move onto seminary where we would have a one bedroom apartment with a living room, a dining area to eat in and a kitchen to cook our meal in.  If I just had a place with a kitchen, that is all I need but I need that kitchen.  Well guess what?  It didn’t take long until I was saying: “This is nice but I sure wish we had one extra room where I could be alone to study or where we could have overnight guest.”  My next home was a trailer that I bought after my divorce.  It was a three bedroom, 2 bath trailer and it was mine.  Surely this is all I could ever need or want……..But guess what?  I adopted my son and he quickly filled up two bedrooms of the home.  I just want a house, if only I could have a house on property that I own, surely that is all I could ever want or need.  Yes, it keeps going.  I now live in a 3 bedroom house and it is full of “stuff.  There is more I think I need.  We’re driven to work for more money to pay for more stuff.  Right now my home has 4 televisions, 4 laptops, an ipad, and 3 data capable telephones in it.  That doesn’t mention all the other stuff. In his book Abundant Community, John McKnight talks about the United States as going from a society of citizens to a society of consumers.  He states that “THE ESSENTIAL PROMISE of a consumer society is that satisfaction can be purchased. This promise runs so deep in us that we have come to take our identity from our capacity to purchase.” (McKnight and Block 2010)  Jesus here warns the disciples that is absolutely not who you want to be, that is not your identity. 

            To drive this point home Jesus tells the Disciples a story.  He tells the disciples about a man who had come into unexpected wealth in the form of his crop.  His crop yielded so much that the barns he already had for storing crops were full.  He didn’t know what to do.  He asked himself “What am I to do.”  Then he says to himself:  “I know I will tear down my existing barns and make bigger barns, and then I can retire and never have to work again.  I can eat, drink and be merry for the rest of my days. 

            Well okay, so what?  The man worked hard, his hard work paid off and now he can enjoy life.  Isn’t that what we all aim for?  We work toward retirement, we have our 401 Ks and our pension plans so that when we get old we don’t have to worry about it.  We can retire before we are too old to enjoy retirement.  What is wrong with that?  Listen to the rest of the Parable.  God addresses the man.  “You fool. this very night your life is going to be taken from you, then who is going to get what you have prepared for yourself.” (NIV)

            Aren’t we supposed to prepare for retirement?  Aren’t we supposed to make sure our loved ones are provided for when we leave this earth? Aren’t we taught that saving is an essential part of financial responsibility?  Looking at other scripture lessons I believe that we will find evidence that it is prudent to save.  In the times of Joseph leading in Egypt there was a famine predicted to come across the land.  Joseph instructed the Egyptians to build extra storehouses and to store enough grain for 7 years.  His preparedness ended up saving his family.  When Israel was wandering in the desert the Lord instructed them on the day before the Sabbath to gather enough manna for two days as there would be no gathering of manna on the Sabbath.  The instructions in Leviticus and Deuteronomy regarding land and harvest instructs a period of time when land is given a year’s rest.  Extra crops are to be put up to last through the winter.

            Jesus is not suggesting we be irresponsible.  He is suggesting that we not be greedy.  That we not continue to obtain and store up possessions and wealth that we do not need when there are so many among us in need.  He is suggesting that we do not let our identity be defined by our possessions.  No, our identity should be defined by our richness toward God. 

            What does it mean to be rich toward God?  It means to follow the way of Jesus Christ.  We heard read in Colossians 3 this morning what is not being rich toward God and in that list was included Greed.  Paul states that Greed is idolatry.  If we read beyond verse 11 into vs. 12-17 we read what Paul says is being rich in God.  “It is As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. ¹³ Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord^] has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

            In his book From Brokenness to Community, Jean Vanier writes, “Those with whom -Jesus identifies himself are regarded by society as misfits. And yet -Jesus is that person who is hungry; -Jesus is that woman who is confused and naked. Wouldn’t it be extraordinary if we all discovered that? The face of the world would be changed. We would then no longer want to compete in going up the ladder to meet God in the light, in the sun and in beauty, to be honored because of our theological knowledge. Or if we did want knowledge, it would be because we believe that our knowledge and theology are important only so long as they are used to serve and honor the poor.(accessed August 2, 2013 @www.commonprayer.net)

 

The question the Farmer in the parable asks himself is what should I do?  I challenge you today to ask what you should do in response to this parable.  In what ways can you be on guard against greed?    What kind of changes do you need to make to simplify your life and live rich in God, clothed with compassion, seeing Jesus in the hungry and the naked; in the mentally ill and the sick, in the orphan and the widowed? What can you do to be Jesus to those you come in contact with?  What can you do to bring Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven?

Bibliography:

 

McKnight, John, and Peter Block. Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods. Berrett-Koehler Publishers-Kindle Edition, 2010.

www.commonprayer.net accessed August 2^nd, 2013.

 

www.biblegateway.com accessed August 2, 2013