Book of Faith - Luke 21:7-38 - The End Times

Since we are in the season of Advent, these passages seem appropriate for the season.  They speak of the end times.  As we discussed in our group, the language of the apocalypse tends to scare us, but that was not the real purpose when the passages were written.  The language was intended to encourage people of faith, who were facing difficult times in the world, that God had already secured the future and they need not fear.  In the end, God will have the final word.  In the end, God will be victorious.  Luke was writing his gospel after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  Everyone was trying to make sense of what was happening.  With the community of faith, they were facing their own persecution.  Luke, places on the lips of Jesus, words of hope that, whatever is happening in the world, we are not to be undone, but to look up and raise our heads for our redemption is near.  Our hope in God is what sustains us as individuals, as a community, as the church.  

That word of hope still resonates today.  We talked a great deal about the tragedy in Newtown, CT.  We can become undone by what took place.  We all were shattered by the loss of life, particularly  the 20 young  children.  In the aftermath, there are some people who have shut down and cannot face the reality of what happened.  There are some who are overwhelmed with anger and do not know where to take that anger.  There are some who overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.  As a community of faith living in the promises of God, as Christians, we can face the reality of what happened in Newtown.  We understand that we live in a broken world where terrible can happen and the innocent can suffer.  We can face the truth, but we are not undone.  We believe in a loving and present God who is with us and holds us in our sorrow and pain.  We believe that God has the final word in all things no matter what happens in the world.  We believe in a God who sent His son to save this broken world.  We live in hope and not fear, and dedicate ourselves in serving others and making a difference in thus world.  We believe in the light and will not let the darkness overcome it.

Peace,

Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 20:19-26 - Paying Taxes

This week, our conversation returned to the practice of baptism.  What was the practice in the early church?  Baptism began as a rite of ritual cleaning in Judaism and moved to a rite of entry into Judaism by those outside the faith.  John would bring a new understanding with baptism being the washing away of sin which was beyond being ritually unclean.  In the early years, baptisms were held once a year at Easter and people would go through a three year time of preparation.  All of this would change with Constantine.  When he made Christianity the official religion of the empire, the doors opened to everyone being able to be baptized publicly.  Up until that time, with the persecutions, it was very dangerous.  Augustine would bring in the idea that one had to be baptized.  The debate about the necessity of baptism, baptizing infants, and believers baptism has continued down through the ages.  Luther, while understanding baptism as a sacrament within the life of the church, left the final determination (Can someone be saved who is not baptized?) with God.  In the end, Luther always differed to a gracious God.  

We moved from baptism to paying taxes and Jesus' great line to the question of paying taxes, "Render unto Caesar the things that our Caesar's, and render unto Got the things that our God's".  This was a clever response to the trap being set for Jesus by the Pharisees.  Having him come out against taxes, which would get him into trouble with the Romans.  Having him be in favor of taxes, which would get him into trouble with the people.  However, the answer is more than clever.  The answer really has us wrestle with what it means to be a disciple in this world.  How can we be in the world, but not of it?  There are no clear guidelines.  Each day, we have to face the challenge of being God's person at work, at school, and within the community.  Each day, we have to ask for God's guidance.  For example, we cannot abandon politics because we say politics is corrupt.  Christians need to be engaged in the political process and walk that line between Caesar and God.  That is true with every aspect of our life.  The good news is that God understands our struggle and walks with us as we discern and live out his call.

Peace,
Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 19:45-48, 20:1-8 - Cleansing the Temple

As we recover from Hurricane Sandy, it was good to return to a more normal routine including Book of Faith.  Everyone in the group has their power restored and we resumed our exploration of Luke.  Jesus has entered Jerusalem for the final week leading to the cross.  In the text, we found him clearing the temple of the sellers, which is a well known story.  The group found that Luke's account was so different than their memory of the events.  Luke is much shorter than Mark and not as detailed as John.  In John, we have an angry Jesus who makes a whip of cords and overturns the tables of the money changers.  John also has the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry rather that at the end.  In Luke and Mark, the cleansing of the temple sets in motion the reaction from the Sanhedrin.  They have to deal with Jesus.  In John, the raising of Lazarus has the same affect.  In both cases, the Sanhedrin has to make a decision about Jesus.  He forces their hand.  They cannot sit safely on the fence.  This becomes apparent in opening of chapter 20 in Luke.  They want to give Jesus enough rope to hang himself.  They ask by what authority is he acting.  Jesus turns the question around and asks them by what authority did John baptize.  He knows the chief priests and elders are caught.  If they say John received his authority from God, the question is why didn't they follow him.  If they say John received his authority from men, then the people would rise against them.  The chief priests and elders play it safe and do not answer and so Jesus will not answer their question.  Again, Jesus is pushing them to make a choice.  He is forcing their hand to take action.  Jesus knows the game he is playing will lead to his death.  He knows they will choose against him in the end.  Jesus is a victim, but he is not innocent as though he did not see the rejection of the authorities coming.  Jesus was setting their rejection in motion beginning with his cleansing of the temple.

The rest of the time was spent in a conversation about baptism.  The group was surprised that baptism was a part of Judaism.  People outside the Jewish faith are baptized into the community.  John the Baptist would change the understanding of baptism by insisting that his own people be baptized, not just for ritual cleaning, but for the forgiveness of sins.  John also recognized that a different kind of baptism was coming.  Jesus becomes the occasion for this new baptism, but Jesus did not baptize anyone though he instructs his disciples to go out  and make disciples of all people baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The question is the group was whether these were Jesus' words or were they the words of the early church placed on the lips of Jesus?  It was also noted that Paul rarely baptized people and says that he did not come to baptize but to proclaim the Gospel.  This raised some interesting questions about baptism.  What is the history of baptism?  When did baptism become a central act in the life of the church?  When did infant baptism begin?  Is the requirement of baptism counter to the gift of grace as declared by Paul?  Is baptism needed for salvation?  We will be exploring these question at our next class.  Please join us on Wednesday at noon to be part of the conversation or continue to follow this blog.  Your feedback is always welcome.

Peace,

Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 19:11-44 - The Parable of the Pounds and Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem

The Parable of the Pounds is well known.  A nobleman leaves for a far country, but before he goes, he calls ten servants and gives them a pound (a week's wage) each and tells them to trade with the money until he returns.  When he returns, the nobleman wants an accounting.  The first has made ten pounds and is rewarded with 10 cities.  The second has made five pounds and is given five cities.  The last servant in the story simply hides his pound and makes no money.  The nobleman is not pleased and gives the one pound to the first servant who made ten. 

The first thing the group noticed was how different Luke's version was from the one in Matthew.  In Matthew, the servants are given different amounts and the amounts are much higher.  In Mathew, the amount is  a talent (many years of income) rather than a pound.  This is another example of the gospels telling the story differently for different reasons.

In Luke, everyone gets the same amount, which speaks to God giving each person gifts that may be different, but of equal value.  Our being called to use those gifts is implied.  One person in our group pointed out that the return was exceptional.  We had a long discussion about how using the gifts that God has given you can grow exponentially.  One of the blessings of starting my ministry outside of Hagerstown, MD is that I had the opportunity to walk in the fields my father had planted.  He began his ministry in Christ Lutheran Church in Hagerstown.  Even though he was there only five years, the impact of his ministry was amazing.  The number of people I encountered whose lives were touched by him far exceeds what you might imagine.  People were still being impacted because their parents or grandparents were influenced by my father.  The ripple effect from our sharing God's gifts with others is extraordinary.

From the parable, we moved to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.  At the end, Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem that would take place in 70 AD.  This seems to be an addition by Luke or the early church which is put on Jesus' lips to give the words authority, but seems to reflect the early church's indictment of Judaism rather than Jesus' own sorrow over the city the would not repent.  Luke's gospel was written after the destruction of Jerusalem and the works Luke puts on Jesus' lips seems to give a reason for the destruction of Jerusalem.  

The group also noted that the crowd that greeted Jesus was not as large as the gospel seems to suggest.  Jerusalem would swell to 250,000 people during the Passover.  Even if there were 3,000 people gathered to greet Jesus, that would still be only be a drop in the bucket.  The gospels make clear that Jesus entered as the Messiah, as the King come in peace (Riding on a donkey).   However, the majority of the city did not see his entry that way.

Again, this week's conversation was rich and meaningful.  Please join us next Wednesday at noon as we enter into Holy Week through the words of Luke.  If you are unable to attend, keep following on the blog.

Peace,
Pastor Summer

 

Book of Faith - Luke 19:1-10 - Zacchaeus

The group agreed that we all love the story of Zacchaeus, the short tax collector, who climbs a tree to be able to see Jesus as Jesus made his way through Jericho.  We love the story because of the curious details. The tree was a sycamore tree.  We love the humor.  We have this image of this small man, who was hated by all, sitting up in a tree.  Everyone could see him in that tree.  There's no doubt people had a great time seeing him make a fool of himself.  And Zacchaeus was willing to make a fool of himself.  Finally, we love the wonderful sense of grace that concludes the story.  Jesus tells Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and that Jesus will go to his house (a huge honor) and have dinner with Zacchaeus.

The note of grace is striking in the story.  Rabbis would not have had dinner with a person like Zacchaeus.  As a tax collector, particularly the chief tax collector, Zacchaeus would have been placed on the outside of the community.  He would have been shunned.  He was working for the Romans, the occupying army.  Zacchaeus would have been viewed as a traitor.  Zacchaeus response to Jesus coming to his house was one of joy and repentance.  In that encounter, Zacchaeus was a changed man.  If he had cheated anyone, he would repay  them four times (Roman law for theft) and give 1/2 of all he had to the poor.  This is in contrast to the rich man in the last chapter, who was a righteous man, who would not consider giving all he had to the poor and walked away from Jesus.  Jesus tells the crowd that he has come to seek and save the lost.

Beyond Jesus having dinner with Zacchaeus, Jesus also invites and challenges the larger community to take Zacchaeus back into the fold.  This is a pattern throughout the gospel.  Jesus has those cured of leprosy showing themselves to the priests so that they might be welcomed back into the community.  Jesus tells those who are gathered that Zacchaeus is also a son of Abraham.  This can be  a powerful moment of grace.  A contemporary example would be an individual, who is released from prison (in other words having paid their debt to society) and being welcomed with open arms into the local community.  When this happens, lives are changed, lives are redeemed.  This is the gospel at work.

Peace,

Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 18:18-30 - Giving Up Everything

These verses are difficult because they speak of giving up what we treasure.  The ruler comes to Jesus and asks what he has to do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus asks him if he knows the commandments.  Do not commit adultery, do not kill, and so on. The man replies that that he has observed the commandments since he was a boy.  Jesus tells him he lacks one thing.  The ruler is to sell all that he has and give the money to the poor.  The man becomes sad because he is rich.  Jesus then speaks to him directly (In Mark, Jesus speaks to the disciples), and says "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When the ruler leaves, Peter indicates the he and the other disciples have left everything to follow Jesus.  Jesus goes on to say that those who have left their house or wife or brothers or parents of children, for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive even more in this time and in the age to come.  

These words are challenging.  How can you give up everything for God?  How can God make such a demand?  How to you leave your spouse and children?  These were the central question for the group on Wednesday.  For us, part of the answer is found in verses 26-27.  The truth is that we cannot give up what we treasure on our own.  If that was the requirement, no one would be saved.  However, what is impossible for us is possible with God.  If the ruler had simply confessed that he could not give up his riches, that would have opened the door for God to act.  It is human nature to present ourselves, even to God, in the best light.  We find it difficult to admit our weakness and failings, but that it precisely when God in God's grace meets us.  In the scriptures, Peter falls on his knees when he realizes who Jesus is and says, "Depart from me for I am a sinful man."  And Jesus tells Peter to get up and he will make him a fisher of people.  What is impossible for us is possible for God.

Another part of the answer is the seeming contradiction of giving something up in order to truly gain it.  Scripture speaks of giving up your life in order to gain your life.  We offer, by the grace of God, everything we have because God is the only center (and we always have something in the center of our life - our job, our children, our ambition, etc.) that does not consume us.  By giving myself to God, I do not disappear.  I am made a better spouse, a better parent, a better worker, and a better person.  If my offering of myself, I have gained so much in  return.  I do not count my sacrifice as loss, but as gain.  It is the mystery of baptism, of death and resurrection.  From the outside, it makes no sense, but when it happens, when the grace of God intersects your life and you place you life in God's hands, and your life is given back to you transformed, it makes all the sense in the world.  You can't explain the miracle to another.  You can only witness to the wonder.

Peace,

Pastor Summer       

Book of Faith - Luke 18 - Unexpected People

The 18th chapter of Luke begins with Jesus telling the parable of a judge who neither feared God nor thought highly of people.  However, a widow, who wants justice, will not leave him alone.  And so, the judge becomes annoyed and grants the woman justice.  This "unrighteous" judge is lifted up by Jesus as an example of how God will be even more willing to vindicate us.  The story is shocking, but this is a pattern throughout scripture.  Jesus uses the most unlikely characters to make his points.  Even in our favorite parables, the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, we see this pattern.  Samaritans were hated.  How could there be a "good" Samaritan?  They were viewed as traitors to their faith and people.  And the prodigal son, how dare a younger son demand his share of the inheritance.  By rights, everything should have gone to the elder son. The younger son was out of line from the very beginning.   

If we look closely, we see that this theme in the parables is repeated in the whole story of scripture.  God uses the most unlikely people.  Jacob was a scoundrel.  Moses was a murderer.  David was the youngest son.  In the New Testament, who does Jesus call to be his disciples?  The practice was that only the best of the best would even be considered to be a disciples of a Rabbi.  You would have dedicated your life to the study of the Torah and to living a righteous life.  But Jesus calls fishermen, zealots, and a tax collector.  He hangs our with all the wrong people.  He speaks of the good news extending beyond his own people.  No one expected the Messiah to act that way.  Paul, by his own admission, was better in letters than in person. Hollywood always seems to depict the great witnesses of scripture as a Charlton Heston character, when the truth is closer to a Danny Devito.  The Bible is filled with unexpected characters.

What wonderful is that God's calling and using the most unexpected people is really good news.  In mans that God can use people like you and me.  The parables and scripture have a way of reminding us of that truth.  We may not like what we see in the mirror, but God sees someone special, someone who God loves, and someone who God has called to serve His purpose.  That is good news indeed.

Peace,

Pastor Summer