Book of Faith - Luke 12:13-34 - Lilies of the Field

"Who lives like that in our community?"  So our conversation about this passage began.  "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear."  God will provide.  Consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.  These thoughts all sound good, but what role do they play in the real world?  Should we fire our financial planners?  Are we to be irresponsible?  Our conversation moved to a discussion about worry.  The truth is that we can be consumed with worry.  How much is enough?  Is money a priority?  How can finances and worry about money divide a family?  One of the real concerns with aging parents can often revolve around finances.  Parents work their whole life to create a nest egg to provide for their future, but when the future arrives, they do not want to touch that nest egg for any reason.  They are so worried about having enough and not wanting to be a burden.  Too many families have become deeply divided over an inheritance.  That money was to provide for a better tomorrow for everyone, but become the occasion for a bleaker one.  Everyone in the group agreed how worrying about finances has impacted their lives and family.  And the kicker is that worry accomplishes nothing.    Being anxious does not improve the situation.  

This focus on worry also lead to another point.  In reading the words of Jesus, everyone in the group felt indicted.  However, the point of Jesus is not to have us feel bad.  The point of Jesus is to hold up a mirror.  The truth is that we do worry too much.  That truth becomes a part of my confession.  Left to our own devises, we tend to worry.  We need to lift up those worries to God and turn them over.  We need to be reassured that God knows our worries, and still cares for us, holds us, and will provide for us.  

All of this being said, Jesus is not encouraging irresponsibility.  Jesus was not addressing someone who was doing nothing, but someone who was overly worried.  Jesus calls us to be engaged in the world, however, we are to keep our focus on God.  If we keep our focus on God, everything else will fall into place.  The truth is that we can do Kingdom work wherever we find ourselves.  We lifted up example after example of people we know whose focus has been on caring for others, on being a person of integrity, of  making a difference, rather than the paycheck or status.  In other words, they have been doing Kingdom business and guess what, God has provided.  These people have been very successful without focusing on success.  They have been great providers while being people of God. 

Finally,  we talked about the ways God provides within the life of our own congregation.  These are scary times for many people.  We have watched as people have lost their jobs.  How do we see God providing at those times?  The truth is that we have watched the church spring into action.  The church has been their for people.  The church has been as expression of God's providing.  We are not alone.  

Peace,

Pastor  Summer   

Book of Faith - Luke 12:1-12 - The Unforgivable Sin

The idea of an unforgivable sin caught the attention of many in the class.  What does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit?  How can any sin be unforgivable?  Putting the passage in context, these words of Jesus follow people suggesting that Jesus is able to cast out demons because he is working for the devil.  Initially, Jesus argues that a kingdom divided cannot stand.  In chapter 12, Jesus pushes the point farther.  If someone sees the work of God i.e. the work of the Holy Spirit, and calls that work evil, there is no hope for them.  They have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.  Their blindness keeps them outside of God's grace.  However, this blindness need not be permanent.  Jesus is being descriptive of the moment, not for all times.  Someone may be deaf and blind to my expressions of love, in fact, they may brand everything I do as an act against them.  In such a case, our relationship is broken.  There is a divide.  This is not so much a judgment as a description of where our relationship stands, but it does not mean that the relationship cannot be reconciled.  There is always room for repentance.   Jesus' intent is to open the eyes and ears of people that they might be reconciled.

Someone in the class also pointed out that the passage speaks of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as unforgivable, not blaspheming against the Son of Man.  We had a long conversation about the implication of this passage.  In contemporary terms, we can see this at work when people attack an individual rather than what they have to say.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was often attacked for his character, rather the the content of his message.  Jesus separates the two.  He said it was forgivable to attack him i.e. can anything good come out of Nazareth, but it was unforgivable to attack the truth of his words and call that truth the words of the devil.  

All of this discussion led to a deeper discussion about hearing the word of God.  What do you say to people who believe that God has spoken directly to them or believe their interpretation of the Bible is the only correct one?  The Bible makes is clear that there are many spirits i.e. voices in the world.  It was agreed that the discernment of God's purpose and direction is never easy.  Discernment is to take place within the community of faith.  From the time I was a boy, I always wanted to be a pastor.  I believed God had called me to parish ministry.  However, I deeply appreciated all those along the way who helped me discern that call and encourage me to follow that voice of God.  As far as scripture, we Lutherans believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ governs all our interpretation.  No one passage can be taken out of that context.  Saying that, the Bible is uneven.  The gospel of Jesus Christ would not have me stone my child for disobedience, even though the Bible would allow me to do so.  Again, discernment is critical and the community of faith is the best place for that discernment.  Within the conversation of people of faith, the Holy Spirit is at work and the voice of God can be heard.

Peace,

Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 11:37-54 - Woe to you Pharisees

We just finished the class on Luke 11:37-54.  As always, this blog lifts up only a part of our time together in class.  The intention is to get others involved by sharing some of what we discovered.  The invitation is always there for you to join us on Wednesday or to follow this blog.  Our group on Wednesday is growing and we hope that our blog followers will do the same.

As so, what did we discuss?  The conversation swirled around who were the Pharisees.  We learned that the Pharisees were individuals who self selected a way of life.  They would follow the law, both written and oral.  To become a Pharisee, you would declare yourself one in the presence of three other brothers, who would then hold you accountable.  Pharisees, unlike the Sadducces, resisted the Greek world,  they followed not only the written law, but also the oral law (The Mishnah).  They believed in the resurrection and were not convinced of the legitimacy of the second temple.  In the gospels, they are a represented as a singular group and, in many ways, unfairly portrayed.  They were well respected and honored by most people for their righteous lives.  Jesus' challenge is on target for those who sweated the details and missed the broader implications of the law.  This would have been true for some, but not all, Pharisees.  In Jesus' raising questions, he would have stood with other Pharisees and some have argued that Jesus himself was a Pharisee.  Raising questions was not a crime, in fact, it was expected.  The Mishnah was and is a living conversation of noted rabbis arguing about the law.  In many ways, their debate is like the debate around our Constitution.  The constitution is continually being debated and discussed.  The thought is that out of that discussion, the truth will emerge.  So it with the Law in Judaism.  Out of the discussion of what it means, the voice of God can be heard.

It this passage, Jesus sounds very much like the prophets.  Jesus echos the prophetic voice of the Old Testament.  In many ways, he does not cover any new ground.  The Pharisees strive for righteousness, but miss the mark.  They are focused on the wrong things.  They pay attention to the details and miss the broader themes of justice.  Jesus' words are strong, but they speak the truth.  Striving for righteousness is a losing proposition.  We will always fall short.  The illusion is that, at some point, we can achieve this goal of righteousness on our own.  The truth is that we can't.  Even when the evidence is before us, we never fully learn our lessons.  For example, the Civil Rights movement pointed out some painful truths that were hard to hear both as individuals and as a nation.  Looking back, we may celebrate that moment in history as being a game changer, but the game is still being played.  The face of racism is still a part of our lives.  Facing this truth and others, however, does not lead us to despair as Christians.  All of this leads us to the cross.  We need to be saved and the good news is that Jesus saves us.  Jesus is able to speak the hard truths of our lives because he is the one who brings the truth of God's grace.  Because of God's grace, I can hear the truth and not be undone.  I can hear the truth and, by God's grace, change my life.  I can live into the righteous life God intends for me. 

Finally, we were struck by the fact that we are still battling the issues presented in scripture.  The story of the Pharisees and the Scribes is also our story.  We still strive to defend our righteousness rather that own our brokenness.  The beauty of the gospel writer is that, as he tells the story of Jesus, he invites us to face ourselves, warts and all.  Right now, in the 11th chapter, we're feeling the tension that comes from the truth.  We wonder what will happen in the final chapter.  Of course, what awaits us is the power of the cross and the wonder that is Easter.  The gospel winds up telling our story and our salvation.

Peace,
Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 11:33-36 - Your eye is the lamp

This passage was not immediately clear to the group.  The passage spoke of the eye being the lamp to the body and if it was healthy, the body was filled with light, but if it was not healthy, the body was filled with darkness.  The group's conversation began to focus on perspective.  The passage seems to suggest that how you perceive the world determines how you both understand and act in the world.  Someone pointed out that this has actually been tested for people who have a positive perception of the world and those who have a negative perception.  The data seems to suggest that the way you look at that world is hardwired to a large degree many.  If you have a healthy perception, that is reflected in your life.  If you do not, that unhealthy perception is reflected in your life.  Of course, the observation was made that all perception is filtered to one degree or another.  You never truly see things the way they are, but you can convince yourself that you are seeing things clearly and everyone else is wrong.  This is more easy to do as a group than as an individual.  We see this in the political process on both sides of the fence.  The group began to see the wisdom of Luke placing this passage before Jesus' attacks on the Pharisees and scribes.  They had a blind spot that distorted their perception of the world and of the faith.  That blind spot was deadly to them and those they taught. 

As a group, we also read the translation of this passage from The Message.  This translation was surprisingly helpful for many in the group.  "If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, you body fills up with light.  If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar."  We loved the image of living wide-eyed in wonder and belief.  We find the wide-eyed living so often in children and that wonder seems to disappear as we get older.  We also liked the image of squnity-eyed living.  If you look at the world in fear and distrust, your world gets smaller and smaller.  Jesus intends us to live wide-eyed.  In doing so, we give up our certainty about our perception and open ourselves the vision and understanding that God has for us.  All in all, not a bad way to view the world.

Peace,
Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 11:14-26 - Casting out demons, Luke 11:27-36 - Looking for signs

The past two weeks have been both exiting and challenging in our discussion of the 11th chapter of Luke.  Verses 14-26 always create conversation because we are talking about casting out demons.  In this case, Jesus is challenged that he is casting out demons because he is working for the devil.  Jesus response is that the same argument could be applied to his challengers' associates who are casting out demons, but those who challenge Jesus don't seem to be raising the issue with their associates.  The second response is even stronger.  How can a kingdom divided stand?  If Satan is divided, how can his kingdom stand? 

The group recognized the famous verse about a divided kingdom and how it has been used down through the years by politicians, notably Lincoln.  This led to a discussion of how passages from the Bible have been used appropriately or inappropriately.  Taking a verse from the Bible out of context is always dangerous.  The deeper concern for the the group was the business of casting out a demon only to have that demon and seven stronger ones return.  What was the meaning of that verse?  The discussion focused on the idea that you can't simply have something removed and not fill the void.  If the void is not filled, you are vulnerable.  A person can't just run from something, they need to be running towards something.  If a person overeats to fill a void in their life and they develop health concerns, they may choose to eat in a more healthy way, but that void in their life needs to be addressed or it will be filled with another form of addiction.  The grace of God not only takes away our sin, but fills us with new life.  

Verses 27-36 speak of looking for signs.  Looking for signs is a very human response.  Prove to me that you are what you say you are Jesus.  Jesus argues that all we need to know and see is before us.  The problem is that we don't have the eyes to hear or the eyes to see.  This is a repeated theme throughout the gospel.  In the end, no one can see Jesus, not even his disciples.  This certainly is a judgment of the people who gathered around Jesus, but also his disciples, including you and me.  Left on our own, we never truly see Jesus or understand him.  If we could, we would not need to be saved.  The cross puts an end to the game we play that we can win the game of life and faith on our own.  We can be in control.   We can punch our own ticket into the Kingdom of God.  It's like the addict who believes they can master their addiction on their own.  It's a tempting game.  I have the willpower.  I have the control.  I needed help to begin, but now I'm in charge.  It's a game they will lose ever time.  The starting point in AA is the admission that you are helpless and need a power greater than yourself.  For us as Christians, we begin with the understanding that we are sinners and that we cannot save ourselves.  We need to be saved and, if the cross puts an end to the game we play, the cross is also that sign of our salvation.  God's love cannot be denied even when we said "No" to God's son.  God says "Yes" to us.  As we Lutherans love to say, we are saved by grace.

Peace,

Pastor Summer 

Book of Faith - Luke 11:5-13 - Ask, and it will be given to you

This text was covered before Christmas and so there was little time to enter a blog, but now is a new year.  The Wednesday group had an exciting conversation about this text and what happens in prayer.  The story in Luke has a friend who comes to your house in the middle of the night and asks for bread.  Even though you are annoyed, you get up and give him bread just so he will go away.  The point being that if you know how to respond to the needs of another because they are persistent, how much more will God respond to our requests. 

This all sounds straightforward and wonderful, but not every prayer we offer seems to be answered.  I pray for someone to be healed, and the healing never happens.  The Bible makes it sound so easy, ask, and it will be given you, seek, and you will find.  Our experience tells us that's not always the case.  What to we say about this dilema?

If we say that God answers every prayer, then maybe God answers in ways that are not always obvious.  I may not be healed of a disease, but I am given the strength to face my disease.  My disease doesn't have to define or limit me. 

If I pray for someone else and what I request doesn't happen, maybe my prayer puts me is a different place and opens me to God in a surprising way.  The psalms give a witness to that shift.  In some of the psalms, the writer is angry or disappointed in God.  God has not delivered what they expected.  The writer gives full voice to their being upset.  And then something amazing happens.  As the psalm unfolds, the writer is moved from anger to praise, disappointment to joy.  How that happens, we are not told, however, that it happens is clear by the end of the psalm.  God invites us to bring everything in our prayers.  We are not to hold back one thought or emotion.  By praying, we open ourselves to the grace of God that can move us to a different and better place in the living of our lives.  Our prayers are answered, but not in ways we expected.

Finally, God has a different perspective on our lives that we do.  Sometimes the worse things that happen in our lives become the occasion for surprising blessings.  As I prayed for my father's battle with diabetes to end, he was brought back to life hrough the intervention of the hospital.  I was very upset that my prayer was not answered.  I do not believe that God wanted my father to suffer any longer, but God used that extra time given to have my father and I reconciled in a way that I had not imagined possible.  My father and I reconnected, and I will always be grateful for that gracious gift that was given, even if I had prayed for something different.

This covers our conversation about prayer.  We move on this week in the gospel of Luke.  Join the conversation, either the class on Wednesday at noon at the CEB or the blog on our website.   

Peace,

Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 10:38-42 - Mary and Martha, Luke 11:1-4 - The Lord's Prayer

This blog will cover two Wednesdays of study.  I'll begin with the first passage from Luke, which is the story of how Martha was upset with Mary, because she was not helping provide hospitality for Jesus and was simple sitting listening to him.  Martha is reprimanded by Jesus saying that Mary chose the better portion.  The group as a whole felt that Martha was unfairly scolded.  Mary wasn't helping.  What lessons can be learned from this encounter?

One observation was that Martha was going beyond the simple need of hospitality.  We can be excessive.  The story was told of a grandmother who spent all her time in the kitchen when the family visited.  When asked to join the family in conversation, she insisted that she could hear perfectly well from the kitchen and that the family enjoyed their time together.  Of course, the reason the family was together was to visit with grandmother, not each other.

Another observation was that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.  He wanted to spend time with those he loved.  Martha missed the point of the visit.  The story was told of visiting someone as they are dying and people talking about everything else than what they need to talk about.  What is really important.  How to say goodbye and bring closure.

The final observation was that it was Martha's house.  She was obligated to provide hospitality, not Mary.  In addition, her activity was not one of joy in serving, but simple obligation.  She was anxious, rather than joyful.  Stories were told of doing what is right grudgingly.

The lesson from Luke is the Lord's Prayer.  The question was asked.  Since John was referenced as giving a prayer to his disciples, what was his prayer?  There have been some suggestions:

"Father, show me you son.  Son, show me your spirit.  Holy Spirit grant me wisdom through your strength."

"Holy Father, consecrate me through your strength and make known the glory of your excellence and show me your son and fill me with your spirit which has received light through your knowledge."

Holy Father, guard your strength and show us your glory and make your son known to us and fill us, my Lord, with your spirit which gives light through your knowledge."

It was noted that there were those who continued to follow John the Baptist and rejected Jesus.  One of those groups was the Mandaeans.  They were/are a branch of gnostic thinking.  Gnostic believe in general believe in a radical dualism between good and evil.  They reject the God of the Old Testament and not a pure expression of the true God.  They hold only to parts of the New Testament.  They reject a human Jesus.  The position of Gnostics was rejected by the early church and is reflected in the creeds that became the center of Christian theology.  

There was conversation around "your kingdom come".  This seems to echo the theme of Advent with Jesus coming again.  An event, for which we would prayer.  There is also the thought about God's kingdom breaking into our lives today.  There was conversation about liberation theology, which argues that the church should be at work bringing in the kingdom of God through social justice.  There was conversation that wherever and whenever God's will is being done, there is the kingdom of God.

Finally, there was a great deal of conversation about this prayer not really being a Christian prayer.  It was a prayer offered by Jesus to his disciples that is truly a Jewish prayer that reflects Jesus' faith.  It is a prayer that could be offered in any synagogue today and be accepted.  All the themes and petitions are found in Judaism.  All of this begs the question of rediscovering and incorporating our Jewish roots.

You are now caught up with our Wednesday conversations.  Keep following this blog or join us some Wednesday at noon at the Christian Education Building.  We are continuing in the 11th chapter of the gospel of Luke.

Peace,

Pastor Summer