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

Book of Faith - Matthew 25:14-30 - The Parable of the Talents

Our intention on Wednesday was to continue to the Gospel of Luke, but we couldn't get past the gospel reading on Sunday.  The reading was the Parable of the Talents from the Gospel of Matthew.  What are we to make of the master who is harsh and reaps where he does not sow?  Can we blame the third servant who hides his talent?  Is the master supposed to represent God?

The discussion was exciting and rich.  The parables do not come across as analogies where one person or thing clearly represents another, in this case, the master representing God.  The parables invite us into a story where we discover not just one truth, but many.  Each time we enter the story, there are new possibilities.  The parables open us up to allow God to speak through the Holy Spirit.  

Certainly, the parable holds a word of judgment, but is it an ultimate judgment?  The third servant is cast out into the darkness, but, as we discussed the last time, does that mean that the judgment in permanent?  This parable, during the last week of Jesus, is one of many parables and statements of judgment, but all of them are tempered because they occur this side of the cross.  In them I confront the hard truths of my life, but then comes God's response of the cross.  I am guilty, but I am also forgiven.  Such is the wonder of God's grace.

The man who received the one talent and buried it was aware of the expectations of the master.  The servant was not given a small sum of money.  One talent represented two years of wages.  He was entrusted with a great deal of money and knew what he was supposed to do.  He could have simply put the money in the bank.  It's curious that he throws the guilt back on the master rather than owning his own failings.  It has the same feel as a child accusing a parent of being mean when they don't do their homework.  

This brought the discussion to verse 29 where it seems as though the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  Is this a justification for the prosperity gospel?  Again, the parable invites us to explore.  What if the point is that when we share the talents we have been given, the world opens up to us in wondrous ways and when we bury those talents, the world closes in on us?  How many people do we know whose world has grown smaller when they bury their talents?  How many churches have literally gotten smaller when they have circled the wagons, guarded what they have, and tried to simply survive?

Going in another direction, what if the verse is about perspective?  How do we view what we have been given?  Do we see it as abundance or scarcity?  We live in a wealthy community, yet we can hear people speak of their scarcity.  We can find ourselves doing the same thing.  "I do not have what some other people have..."  How we view what has been given makes all the difference in the world.  If we believe we have been blessed abundantly, we will live abundant lives.  If we believe we live with scarcity, we will live lives of scarcity.  The world would have us focus on our scarcity.  The Gospel would have us focus on our abundance.

At the end of the class, we marveled at all the roads we traveled during the discussion.  The parables do not lead to one answer only.  We are meant to explore with others all the possibilities.  We are meant to ask questions, struggle, and debate.  We are meant to be open to hearing God's voice.  And the wonder and promise is that the Holy Spirit is in our midst and we are blessed each and every time.  

Peace,
Pastor Summer    

Book of Faith - Luke 10:21-23 - Keeping the Light On

This week, the comment at the end of our Book of Faith discussion was that we only covered three verses.  However, the consensus was that our conversation was worth slowing down.  In reading this passage, what struck the group was that these three verses don't sound like Luke, they sound like John.  "No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."  A layer of interpretation seems to have been added.  Was this addition the original words of Jesus or did the interpretation come later in the life of the early church? 

Jesus speaks of things hidden from the wise and intelligent.  There were certainly those individuals who took those words and ran with them in the early church.  People began to speak of secret knowledge given only to those in the inner circle.  Those people were called Gnostics and the church viewed them as going too far down the road suggested by Jesus' words.  We always seem to get into trouble when we think we have figured God or Jesus out.  If the Eastern Church has taught us anything, it is to celebrate the wonder and mystery of God.  Rather than saying Jesus has secret knowledge that is passed on to his disciples, say that the Gospel is so surprising, so unexpected, so wondrous, that even the smartest people will not be able to understand or accept it.  In fact, even the disciples who knew Jesus, were taught by Jesus, traveled with Jesus, in the end, didn't understand.  And they, in the language of the passage, had the opportunity to see and hear what prophets and kings would have loved to see and hear.  In the end, their inside knowledge could not save them.  In the end, only the cross could save.  Secret knowledge does not open the gates of the Kingdom for us, only Christ. 

These observatons led to a discussion about being chosen, another wonder and mystery of God.  The logical step is to say that if God ultimately chooses some, then God ultimately rejects others.  Again, our temptation is to create a logical system.  Luther rejected a systematic approach.  For Luther, God always chooses us through grace.  If people stand outside the Kingdom, that is their action, not God's.  Luther's understanding is not wholly logical, but Luther argued it was the truth.  Again, the Eastern Church would declare that grace is a holy mystery to be embraced and celebrated rather than logically understood. 

This conversation led us back to the passage in Matthew where the one individual is tossed out to the marriage banquet because he is not wearing a wedding garment.  He chose not to wear a garment and is therefore responsible for being on the outside, but the passage does not say that he needs to remain outside forever.  The doors still stand open to him.  The invitation is still given.  The light remains on for him to return.  This is the note of God's grace. 

If the "light always stays on" with God, then we talked as a group about the ultimate meaning of the Kingdom of God.  Does the light stay on after death?  C.S. Lewis suggests such an idea in the Great Divorce.  Hell is a spreading metropolis, with everyone trying to get as far away from each other as they can.  Eventually, some people grow tired of Hell.  In the center of the city is a bus station and every day there is a bus to Heaven.  Every day there are people who make the trip (the light stays on) and every day there are people who get back on the bus, once they've been to heaven, and return to Hell.  C.S. Lewis' book is worth reading.  There is something powerful about the image of a gracious God who always keeping the light on, the door open.    

For those following this blog, the next one will be in two weeks.  At that time, we'll pick up where we left off.  Keep the conversation going.  Keep asking questions.  And keep reading the Bible.

Peace,
Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 10:1-20

We're back in the gospel of Luke after an excursion into Matthew the past two weeks.  Today's text was the sending out of the 70.  We noted in class that there was a change in the message. Up to this point the message has been one of repentance and forgiveness.  "Repent for the kingdom of God has drawn near."  Now the message is prepare to receive the coming of the promised one, Jesus.  The group of 70 seems to just appear in the story and after they return to report their good news, they disappear.  Several observations were made.

Do the 70 represent the 70 nations that encompassed the whole world at that time?  Certainly, Luke’s understanding of the gospel is universal.  Is this a foretaste of what will happen in Acts?  Do the 70 represent the elders appointed by Moses?

The 70, or rather the 35 pairs, seem to give the towns one shot to receive Jesus before they move on to the next town.  Was this the feeling of urgency in the early church the result of their feeling that Jesus was coming in the near future and there wasn't time to linger?  In the places that did not receive Jesus, was there the surprising reversal found elsewhere in the gospel where the faith is stronger outside the people of Israel?  Is Luke making a point that would have people who believe they are on the inside take a closer look at themselves?  What does that have to say to us as the churchgoing people who can come to believe that we are on the inside?

The words of taking back the peace that is given and brushing off the dust if the community is not willing to receive Jesus seem harsh.  Is Luke being descriptive of what literally happened before the gospel was written or is Luke anticipating what would happen in the future?  Jesus makes the statement that he would come again before this generation passed away.  Does that mean that he was wrong about the timetable?  Does his being wrong take away from his being the Messiah?  Does his being wrong take away from our own understanding of Jesus?

There are passages that do not sit easily with us, particularly passages of judgment.  What do we do with such passages?  Certainly there is judgment that we need to hear.  The promises of the gospel always start in the truth of our lives.  I own that I am a sinner and this becomes the occasion of my being graced.  Beyond needing to hear the truth, are some passages not reconcilable with the gospel of Jesus Christ?  In the Old Testament, God is given credit for leading the armies of Israel to victory.  Does God lead armies or did the people of Israel, at that time, simply give God credit as an expression of their understanding of God who has not been completely revealed?  Does the cross change that understanding?  An example we discussed was when someone survives a terrible event like 9/11 and gives thanks to God for saving them.  Without taking away from their experience of gratitude, what does it say about those who did not survive?  Did God choose not to act to save the rest?  What does the cross say to that situation?  Somehow, who God is and how God acts lies beyond our ability to put into words.  Our efforts always fall short.  Does the Bible, at times, fail to capture all that God is and all that God does?  Luther spoke of the Bible as being uneven.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ shone more brightly in some places than in others.  How does that understanding help us as we read the Bible?

These are some of the observations made and questions asked this week.  Again, I invite others to join the conversation.  Please feel free to make a comment or join us on Wednesday at noon at the CEB.  A similar experience is also taking place at the Adult Forum on Sunday during Sunday School at the CEB.  Until next week, keep reading the Bible.    

Peace,

Pastor Summer