Author: Chip Salzgeber

Matthew 25:14-30

Today’s parable commends a watchfulness like last week’s parable of the ten bridesmaids.

• In the parable of the talents…
• The slave who is given one talent is incredibly careful and watchful with it.
• A talent is a lot of money.
• It would take a laborer some 15 years to earn a talent.
• And this man is given one.

 

Imagine that Elon Musk stops by your office with a briefcase full of money.

• He says:
• ” There is five million dollars here.
• Would you look after it until I can pick it up in a few months?”
• Now what?
• Five million dollars!

 

You are the sort of person who does not normally withdraw more than $100 from an ATM at any given time.

• Mostly because you do not want to be mugged for more than you can afford to lose.
• And so…you agree to watch the money.

 

When you are alone in your office again you practice walking.

• Carrying the briefcase.
• You are nonchalant.
• You look natural.
• And you decide you can make it to your car just fine.

 

Eventually…you get all that money home…

• The people you have dinner with know that you are distracted.
• But it’s not unusual for you because you are a careful…watchful person.
• So…it raises no questions.

 

Long after everyone else is asleep you are staring at the ceiling.

• Considering your options.
• Running scenarios.
• Did you lock the front door?

 

So…you tiptoe downstairs.

• Yes…it’s locked.
• You go back upstairs.
• You lie down again…your mind running non-stop.
• When you were checking the lock on the front door did you accidentally unlock it?

 

Sometime in the middle of the night it is clear that you cannot go on like this.

• You know that no investment is entirely secure.

 

If you hand the money over to somebody.

• A bank?
• Anything could happen!
• You think of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse a few months ago.

 

And if you lost that money?

• You could never…for the whole rest of your life…earn enough to get it back?
• What were you thinking when you said you would do this?
• And shortly before sunup…
• You are in the backyard with a flashlight…
• And a shovel…
• And lots of huge zip lock bags full of money.

 

At what point…exactly…did carefulness and watchfulness turn into cowardice?

• When does carefulness and watchfulness come to inspire the scolding?
• ” You wicked and lazy slave!”

 

How is it that even our virtues turn on us?

• And our good intentions land us in outer darkness?

 

The servant explains his actions by saying:

• “I was afraid…
• I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground.”

 

Well…fear is not always a bad thing.

• When Jesus is preparing the disciples for their mission…
• He dismisses one kind of fear…
• And commends another to them:
• “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul…
• Rather be afraid of God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

 

It is right for the servant to be afraid of one who has the power to say:

• “As for this worthless slave…throw him into the outer darkness…
• Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…”

 

It is right to be afraid of such a one…

• All the way up until that one stands before you…
• In the person of His Son…Jesus…
• Risen from the dead…and says:
• ” Do not be afraid…
• Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee…
• There they will see me…”

 

Those brothers…would be the ever so careful and watchful.

• And cowardly disciples.
• After all…they all ran and hid when Jesus’ was arrested.

In the end…things are different than stories of the end might have led us to expect.

• The grace of reversals.
• The cowardly disciples move from brokenness to wholeness.

 

Jesus said: “Not a single stone here will be left in its place…every one of them will be thrown down.”

• But these stones are not the final stones.
• The final stone to be thrown down is the one that stands at the entrance of what has become an empty tomb.

 

And instead of being cast into outer darkness…

• The ones who were afraid and hid…
• Are cast out into all nations…
• To make disciples.

 

They are called and sent…and accompanied by the Holy Spirit.

• “Low…I am with you always” …Jesus says…
• ” To the close of the age.”

 

It’s a miracle really.

• The God who raised Jesus from the dead…will raise us up with him.
• Not even our fear and cowardice can foil the mission of the one who is God with us.
• “Do not be afraid…
• He is going on ahead of you…
• To Galilee…
• There you will see him.”

Matthew 25: 1-13

The word “preparedness” usually does not cause smiles.

• It is commonly understood to mean “being ready for the worst”.
• And is often coupled with the word “disaster” …as in “disaster preparedness.”

 

If you Google “preparedness” the first things that come up are places that sell assorted emergency kits:

• The FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) website and blogs about how to stockpile supplies to survive a disaster.

 

But preparedness can also refer to being ready for something good to happen.

• Like if you are out of work and you learn that a certain company will be hiring in a couple of weeks.
• And buffing up your resume.
• Learning more about the company so you can explain to the interviewer how your skills can be an asset.
• And…of course…taking down unflattering pictures of yourself on Facebook.

 

The parable in our reading today is about preparedness.

• It concerns a wedding…but its point is obscured for we moderns because it refers to marriage practices different from our own.

 

The Jewish marriage of the first century was a two-step affair.

• The first was a marriage contract… called a betrothal.
• Arranged by the parents of the bride and groom.
• Once that contract was settled…the couple was legally married.
• They did not live together yet…but the contract could only be ended by a divorce.
• This step often lasted as long as a year.
• Mary and Joseph were in this stage when the angel announced to Mary that she was to have a child.
• That is why Joseph considered a divorce when he learned Mary was pregnant.

 

The second step was the celebration of the marriage itself.

• The marriage feast could last several days.
• And that’s why Jesus had to turn 150 gallons of water into wine.
• That is…to keep the party going.

 

The wedding ceremony involved separate processions by both the bride and the groom.

• Heading to the groom’s parents’ house for the wedding and celebration.
• And on the way they would stop at friends and family’s homes to toast…with wine…the bride and groom’s wedding.

 

In the parable…ten bridesmaids are waiting to meet the groom’s procession.

• Escort him to his parents’ house.
• And go with him to the feast.
• The bridesmaids…expecting the procession to take place after dark… have brought lamps with them.
• But the groom’s procession does not arrive until midnight.
• Because of so many stops and toasts along the way.
• OK…a bachelor party!!

 

When they hear the procession is near…

• Five bridesmaids realize they do not have enough oil for their lamps.
• The others have brought extra flasks of oil.
• But when the first five ask for some of it…
• The second five tell them…no…fearing that they would run out before the procession was over.
• So…the first five must run to oil dealers to purchase oil.

 

Now…the problem is…while they are out buying oil…the groom’s procession arrives.

• The bridesmaids who have brought extra oil meet the procession and escort it into the place of the banquet.
• The other five show up too late.
• And when they arrive at the banquet…the gatekeeper will not let them in.
• Because they were not part of the procession.
• As far as the groom knows…they are party crashers.
• He says: “I do not know you” and turns them away.

 

Well…we now know what happened to the other five bridesmaids in the parable.

• They ran out of oil.
• But…what happens to us when we run out of oil.
• What fills us up spiritually when we run dry? We all run out of oil.
• And when we do run dry…we cannot be a light to anybody.
• We all know the airplane safety speech.
• Put your oxygen mask on first.
• We must refill our own lamps if we want to have light for anyone else.

 

I am a husband and a father and a grandfather and a pastor and I know what it is to run out of oil.

• And so do you.

 

Your spouse or child walks into the kitchen at 6 pm and says:

• “What’s for dinner?”
• And you say “meatloaf.”
• And your spouse or child says: “What…that again?”
• And you morph into the Tasmanian devil…right there…in the kitchen.
• And when you have finished ranting…those near you say:
• “What…are you out of oil?”

 

When the arrow on the gas tank points to empty…we are going to have to stop the car.

• If a two-year-old doesn’t get a nap she is going to crash.
• If we have not had a conversation with our significant other in our life for three or four weeks our relationship is running dry.

 

There are some kinds of oil that we just cannot borrow from anyone else.

• We can borrow someone else’s homework.
• But we cannot borrow the hours that the other student put in preparation for the test or for the writing of the paper.
• We cannot borrow someone else’s peace of mind.
• Or their passion for God.
• Or someone else’s good marriage.
• Or someone else’s friendship.
• It doesn’t work.
• We must find it for ourselves.

 

We have to figure out what fills us up spiritually.

• And then make sure we have some to carry with us every single minute of the day.
• Because here’s the thing.
• We do run out.

 

The hour gets late…and one gets sleepy.

• And we doze and put it off and say:
• “One of these days I am going to quit working so hard…
• And I will begin to live with healthier boundaries.”

 

One of these days I am going to start painting again like I did in high school…I always loved it.

• And then the shout comes:
• “He’s coming…it’s time!”
• And one of these days is over.

 

That’s the hardest thing about this parable…

• The time will come…
• When we must draw upon the oil we have right there in our flask.

 

And it is not going to come from our pension or savings or 401K.

• It is not going to come from our good intensions.
• It is not going to come from our long-range plans.
• It is going to come from what fuels us spiritually right now.
• It is going to come from our relationship with Jesus.

 

That is where we get filled up.

• Nurturing our relationship with Jesus’ spiritual fruits.
• Love…joy…peace…patients…

kindness…generosity…faithfulness…gentleness…self-control.

• All those things we cannot check out of the library.
• And you cannot go to the person next door and borrow it like a cup of sugar.
• It is just there for us…to gather…anytime we want.

 

We don’t fill up our lamp because we are afraid we will get locked out of the kingdom.

• We fill our flask out of joy.
• We fill it so that we are ready to meet Jesus.
• In our spouse…in our children…in our grandchildren.
• In the hungry…in the thirsty…in the stranger…in the sick…in the imprisoned…
• Just the desire to meet him…when he comes…Oh…the joy!
• And he is coming…soon.

Matthew 5:1-12

A favorite passage of mine in the New Testament is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel.

• A number of years ago when in Israel…
• I remember fondly sitting on the Mount of Beatitudes on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

 

I was thinking that day about how it can be easy to view the beatitudes…

• The “blessed ares” we just heard…
• As Jesus’ command for us to try really hard to be meeker…to be poorer and to be more mournful.
• In order that we might be blessed in the eyes of God.
• The Beatitudes are always the Gospel reading on All Saints Sunday.
• And each year we set aside this day to honor and remember the saints.

 

Well…it can be easy to look at a saint like Mother Teresa and think:

• She is a saint because she was meek.
• And so…if I too want to be blessed…I should try and be meek like her.
• Don’t get me wrong…we could use a few more people trying to be like Mother Teresa.
• I just do not think that Jesus blessed her because she was meek.

 

OK then…the beatitudes are not about a list of conditions we should try and meet to be blessed.

• They are not really virtues we should aspire to.
• But instead…the pronouncement of blessing that grants the blessing itself.
• That is…Jesus…in the preaching of these beatitudes…is lavishing blessings on the world around him.
• Especially those whom society does not seem to have much time for.
• Especially the people who never seem to receive blessings otherwise.
• I mean…does not that just sound like something Jesus would do?
• Profligately…extravagantly throwing around blessings as though they grew on trees?

 

So…for this All-Saints Sunday…

• A time when we remember and celebrate the lives of those who have gone before us…
• Those who Jesus would bless.
• I like to imagine Jesus standing among us saying:

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• Blessed are they who doubt.
• Blessed are those who are not sure.
• Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished…
• And not very certain about anything.
• Blessed are those who feel they have nothing to offer.
• Blessed are they for whom nothing seems to be working.

 

Blessed are those who mourn…for they will be comforted.

• Blessed are they for whom death is not just an idea.
• Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones…for whom tears are as real as an ocean.
• Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like.

 

Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried.

• Blessed are they who do not have the luxury of taking things for granted any more.
• Blessed are they who cannot fall apart because they must keep it together for everyone else.
• Blessed are the motherless…the alone…the ones from whom so much has been taken.
• Blessed are those who still are not over it yet.
• Blessed are they who laugh again when for so long they thought they never would.

 

Blessed are the meek…for they will inherit the earth.

• Blessed are those who no one else notices.
• The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch tables.
• The laundry guys at the hospital.
• The gig workers and those who pick up our garbage.
• Blessed are the losers and those who are made fun of.
• Blessed are those who do not want to make eye contact with a world that only loves a winner.
• Blessed are the forgotten.
• Blessed are the unemployed…the unimpressive…the under-represented.
• Blessed are the teens who must figure out ways to hide the cuts on their arms.

 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…for they will be filled.

• Blessed are the wrongly accused.
• The ones who never catch a break.
• The ones for whom life is hard.
• For they are those with whom Jesus chose to surround himself.
• Blessed are those without documentation.
• Blessed are the ones without lobbyists.
• Blessed are foster kids and trophy kids and special ed kids.
• And every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved and never does.

 

“Blessed are the merciful…for they will receive mercy.

• Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of others.
• Blessed are the burnt-out social workers.
• And the overworked teachers and the pro-bono case workers.
• Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak.
• Blessed are they who delete hateful…homophobic comments off their friend’s Facebook page.
• Blessed are the ones who have received such real grace that they intuitively know who the deserving poor are.
• Blessed is everyone who has ever forgiven me when I did not deserve it.

 

Jesus says…you may admire strength and might…but I am blessing all human weakness.

• You may seek power…but I am blessing all human vulnerability.

 

This Jesus whom we follow cried at the tomb of his friend.

• And turned the other cheek and forgave those who hung him on a cross.
• Jesus was God’s Beatitude.
• God’s blessing to the weak in a world that only admires the strong.
• It is not your strength and virtue that qualify you to be called a saint.
• But your need for a God who makes beautiful things out of dust and ashes.

 

And as we ponder the blessings Jesus pronounced on the mount so long ago…

• Know that it is here that we become what we receive.
• Those who are loved.
• Those who are forgiven.

Matthew 22:34-46

Today I would like to talk a little about the Bible. Why?

• Because this is Reformation Sunday and it was Martin Luther who made it possible for the average person to read scripture in its everyday language.
• And the Church of Luther’s day did not like it one bit.

 

OK then…the Bible is a whole library in one volume.

• Large portions of the Bible are stories…many of which relate to God’s ongoing covenant relationship with the people of faith…which forms us as a people of God.
• The Bible is also a history book…as in Joshua and Acts.
• A hymnbook…as in Psalms.
• It is a practical manual for living…especially in books like Proverbs and James.
• It is a guide for living a godly life…as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s letters emphasize.

 

The Bible is also a lawbook.

• There are hundreds of laws in the Bible…from the Ten Commandments to the holiness code of Leviticus.
• To rules covering ceremonial behavior and daily conduct in a semi-nomadic society with no central government.
• Some laws…like the Ten Commandments are still revered today.
• Others…not so much.

 

For example…think about this law:

• If a man should suddenly die…leaving his wife childless…it is the duty of the man’s brother to marry his former sister-in-law.
• Deuteronomy…chapter 25…commands him to do this even if he has a wife already.
• Then…if a son is born from that union…the child is considered the heir of the deceased brother.
• There you go…now you can see why the pre-reformation church did not want folks reading the Bible.
• I Wonder if they banned the Bible from their libraries.

 

OK then…so what if the surviving brother does not want to take on a second wife? (smart guy).

• Well then…the widow has the right to go to the elders of the village and demand that they pressure him into doing it.
• If the stubborn man still does not yield to that moral persuasion…
• The widow has the right to go up to him…pull one of his sandals off his feet…
• Spit in his face and declare: “This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house!”
• Well…the book of Deuteronomy concludes: “Throughout Israel his family shall be known as ‘the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.”’
• Well…should our state legislature adopt this forthwith?

 

Thankfully…when it comes to the Old Testament…there is some guidance from thinkers in the past who influenced the growing church.

• Thomas Aquinas (13^th century) explained that there are three types of biblical laws:
• Moral…ceremonial and judicial…and that of the three…only the moral laws…including the Ten Commandments…are permanent.
• Aquinas held that the precepts of moral law were part of the law of nature.

 

The ceremonial laws were those dealing with forms of worshiping God and with ritual cleanliness.

• Aquinas said they were ordained to the divine worship for that time and to foreshadow the coming of Christ.
• So that when Christ arrived…those laws ceased to bind.

 

Judicial precepts…such as rules for how long a Hebrew slave can be kept…

• How cases of accidental manslaughter should be handled.
• And rules about who’s responsible if an ox kills someone…
• Came into existence only with the Law of Moses and were only intended to be temporary…Aquinas said.
• Most Christian denominations today draw similar conclusions.

 

Well…what about the New Testament?

• There is a place in First Corinthians when Paul says women ought to cover their heads in church.
• Not exactly a law…but it was a rule that Paul wanted to impose on the church.
• And for many centuries it was expected that women would cover their heads.
• That is still the case within a few Christian groups…but no longer required in most denominations.
• Biblical scholars have helped us understand how the rule was part of the cultural understanding of Paul’s time.
• Bible scholar William Barclay begins his commentary on this passage by saying:
• “This is one of those passages which have a purely local and temporary significance.”

 

Go figure…this can seem like the beginning of a slippery slope.

• You can see the sort of dilemma we are in.
• How’s an ordinary Christian to decide what the Bible is really saying about one ethical issue or another?
• There is an ancient rule that goes back to St. Augustine (4^th century) and other leaders of the early church.
• That principle is: “Let scripture interpret scripture.”

 

It was this let-scripture-interpret-scripture principle that ultimately led to the tremendous change in Christian ethics in the 19^th century…resulting in the abolition of slavery.

• For centuries…people in favor of slavery had pointed to the existence of that “peculiar institution” in biblical times.
• The more Christians became familiar with the overall message of the Bible.
• The great number of passages about loving and caring for one another.
• The fact that we are all created in God’s image and God’s fundamental justice…
• The more they came to conclude that the biblical evidence was much stronger against slavery than for it.

 

Another principle is one we see Jesus himself using…in our Gospel for today.

• A Pharisee asks him which is the greatest commandment.
• Jesus gives the textbook answer…reciting the Old Testament declaration known as the Shema:
• “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…and with all your soul…and with all your mind.”
• That would have been enough to get an “A” but Jesus goes on.
• There is a second great commandment…he says:
• “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Love and obey God: the hallmark of classical Judaism.

• Yet…in elevating love of neighbor to an equally high level…Jesus is breaking new ground.
• Jesus made it so much a part of everything he said and did that his followers came to be noted for it.
• The church father Tertullian remarked on how many pagans in the Roman empire marveled at the Christians they met…saying:
• “See, how they love one another!”

 

This hallmark of the faith has been adapted into a principle of biblical interpretation known as “the rule of love.”

• We may ask the question then:
• “Is this interpretation consistent with love of God and love of neighbor?”
• If we truly reflect on the meaning of this greatest commandment of Jesus…
• And hold it up as a yardstick…
• It is remarkable how well it cuts through the confusion and helps us decide what the Spirit is truly saying to us.

 

Martin Luther said:

• We need to hear the Gospel every day…because we forget it every day.
• The whole being of any Christian is faith and love. Faith brings the person to God…love brings the person to people.

Matthew 22:1-14

In his book…David Brinkley: A Memoir…David Brinkley tells about coming to work for NBC in the 1940s.

• At that time…NBC considered itself the elegant network.
• The rule was that after 6:00 pm…radio newscasters were required to read the news wearing tuxedos.
• Imagine that?
• Their radio audience could not see the newscasters.
• But NBC management believed their attitude and presentation skills improved dramatically when they were properly attired.

A friend of mine is employed by the human‑development department of a corporation in the Midwest.

• Her job is to train employees in proper dress codes and etiquette.
• One day as she was stepping onto the elevator…
• A man dressed in jeans and a golf shirt got on the elevator with her.
• Thinking of her responsibilities…she said.
• “Dressed a little casually today…aren’t we?”
• The man replied: “That’s one benefit of owning the company.”

 

Anyway…Jesus tells a parable about a wedding guest who was not appropriately attired.

• His behavior is deliberately disrespectful.
• Showing that he has misinterpreted the king’s gracious generosity.

 

Now…Jesus’ audience would have understood that a “proper wedding garment” was simply one that was clean.

• It did not need to be new or fancy.
• This guest was not a poor man who did not own decent clothes.
• He was someone who was acting in a manner that was deliberately disrespectful.

 

OK then…this man represents a person who walks through a flower garden with work boots on…stepping all over the flowers.

• Who wipes his mouth on a clean tablecloth.
• Who crashes a wedding reception to get free drinks.

 

So…He’s the one who attends the wedding party without going to the church to witness the sacred vows spoken by the bride and groom.

• There was no excuse for this guest to be dressed inappropriately except for either hypocrisy and stubbornness.

 

This man is like some of those

individuals that Paul labored with so desperately in the early church who could not understand why they should give up drunkenness and gluttony.

• Since God had already forgiven them their sins and opened the kingdom to them.

 

And so…the man knew better than to be dressed as he was…but he evidently did not care.

• The king did not cut him any slack.
• He said to his attendants:
• “Tie him hand and foot and throw him outside…into the darkness…where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• For many are invited…but few are chosen.
• (So Jesus bursts out with Semitic hyperbole or exaggeration).

 

We want to hear a nice story about God’s throwing a party open to everyone.

• We do not want to hear about judgment on hypocrisy and stubbornness.
• Or about demanding standards of holiness.
• Or about weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• Jesus’ love reached those who were invited to the feast where they were.
• But his love refused to let them stay as they were.
• Love desired the best for those who were invited.

 

God loves ruthless felons.

• God loves criminal and arrogant businessmen and businessswomen.
• God loves manipulative fathers and mothers that damage their children’s emotions for life.
• But the point of God’s love is that he wants them to change.
• He hates what they are doing and the effects it has on everyone else…including themselves.
• If God is a good God…he cannot allow that sort of behavior to remain at the party he’s throwing for his son.

 

God’s kingdom is a kingdom in which love…justice…truth…mercy and holiness reign unhindered.

• They are the clothes we need to wear for the wedding.
• And if we refuse to put them on…we are saying we do not want to stay at the party.
• God loves us as we are…but God expects us to clothe ourselves in the robe of Christ.
• Where Jesus love and goodwill are the rule instead of the exception.
• In Jesus…forgiveness and understanding are the order of the day.

 

I’m paraphrasing CS Lewis here…but he pretty much put it this way:

• We think God is going to come into our house…look around…and see that we just need a new floor or better furniture and that everything needs just a little cleaning.
• Then you look out the window one day and see that there’s a wrecking ball outside.
• It turns out that God thinks our whole foundation is shot and we are going to have to start from scratch.

 

Jesus was not saying that “sinners” are barred from the kingdom.

• Sinners…in fact…are all that are welcome in the kingdom.
• And we are all invited!
• But this guest does not see himself as a sinner.
• And that’s how he comes to stand out so severely at the feast.

 

Paul puts it best in Colossians:

• “Cloth yourselves with compassion.
• And patience.

Matthew 22:15-22

Does anyone flip a coin anymore?

• Let’s flip for it.
• The problem is we don’t carry change and a lot of stores don’t want to deal with it.
• Storekeepers leave out a cup filled with pennies…so things come out even.
• “See a penny…pick it up…and all day you’ll have good luck” don’t make much sense anymore because you can’t buy anything for a penny.
• But there was a time…when coins were made of precious metals.
• And scammers would shave slivers off the metal and then spend the underweight coins as if they were worth full value.
• Or they would cut out a circle of metal in the middle…and replace it with a plug of metal of lesser value.
• “Not worth a plugged nickel” comes from that practice.

 

Just about the only time a coin is flipped nowadays for something of real value is at a football game.

• The question of who gets the ball first in overtime at the Super Bowl could change the outcome and even lives.
• But one coin that has changed more lives than any football game is featured in today’s Gospel.
• It was held not by Jesus…but by someone who came to test him.

 

Coins played an interesting role during the ministry of Jesus.

• He told a parable about a woman who lost a coin…and when…after turning her house upside down she found it…she invited all her friends over to celebrate with her.
• Another time Jesus saw some who threw large coins into the offering trumpet at the temple so that others would be impressed by the thunderous noise it made.
• And then Jesus pointed to a woman whose two lepton…the lightest of coins imaginable…barely whispered when they were thrown in…and said her coins were worth far more
• Today’s scripture passage involves a coin…but it is not the loss or the weight of the coin…but the face and inscription on the coin that matters.

 

Though the passage is not about a coin flip…the religious authorities who come to trap Jesus intend to do so with a classic “Heads I win…tails you lose” kind of bet.

• And Jesus flipped the situation as easily as we could flip a coin.
• By answering a question with a question.
• It is not that Jesus did not have an answer.
• It is that he did not want his options to be limited to two bad choices.

 

Matthew tells us that “… the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.”

• Most Pharisees probably didn’t feel threatened by Jesus.
• But this group in Jerusalem allied themselves with a group called the Herodians.
• These were the people who sought to preserve the political power of the descendants of Herod the Great.
• Pharisees and Herodians made odd bedfellows.
• But both felt threatened by the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
• Because of the praise accorded to him by the people and the attention he drew in Jerusalem at the start of the week before Passover.
• A time when the population of Jerusalem quadrupled with all the pilgrims who came for the event.

 

They began with flattery putting Jesus on his guard.

• He was not fooled by their words when they said to him:
• “You teach the way of God in accordance with truth…”
• Before springing their trap: “Tell us…then…what you think.
• Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor…or not?”

 

A dangerous question. The poll tax was unpopular because it was used to pay for the occupation of the oppressive Roman legionnaires.

• Their presence was a constant reminder that God’s promise of a descendant of King David on the throne would remain unfulfilled.
• In Jesus’ day…there was no Jewish throne and no Davidic descendant to sit on it.

But there were those who had hopeful ideas about an Anointed One…a Messiah…

• Who would somehow drive the Roman government into the sea and institute a kingdom fulfilling God’s promise and the nation’s glorious destiny.
• Which is why the question asked after the bit of flattery was brilliant.
• Because either answer would discredit Jesus.
• If he advocated paying the tax the people might turn on him for good.
• And if he spoke out against the tax…he could end up dead.
• So…Jesus says: “You got a coin on you?

 

Of course…they do.

• Money is power and these are powerful people.
• Their coins featured the face of the emperor.
• Well…Jesus says: Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s…and to God the things that are God’s.”

 

What do we learn from this?

• That we do not need to let the world…or the Bible trolls…control the conversation.
• Jesus is changing the world through the Sermon on the Mount.
• His parables and the victory from the cross to the empty tomb.
• And we are asked to be a part of it.
• It is not a “Heads I win…tails you lose” deal.
• It is not an either-or-world.
• We live in a both-and-world.
• We are both saints and sinners.

 

We are not being asked here to simply give the emperor what belongs to the emperor.

• We are being asked…as well…to give to:
• Family…friends…strangers…co-workers…employees…and all who make a claim on our love and generosity.
• We are charged here with the creative and challenging task of transforming our diverse and divided loyalties…
• Into a unified life governed and directed by God alone.

 

And so…when we give ourselves wholly to God…

• Then amazingly…we are free to give to others in ways that are gracious and life-giving.
• Rather than distorted and destructive.
• No longer are our loyalties divided.
• Instead…we recognize how…deep down…they are in harmony.
• For each is an invitation from God.

Matthew 21:33-46

Once there was a man who owned a piece of property.

• He felt it would make a fine grape vineyard.
• He planted a vineyard on the property and enclosed it with a wall.
• Within the wall he dug a winepress.
• A vat where the grapes could be pressed and the juice extracted.
• He built a watchtower to protect his vineyard because you never knew what vandals might do.
• Then…he rented it to some tenants and moved to another part of the country…
• Feeling good about his investment.

 

 

When the harvest time approached…this man sent some of his associates to the vineyard to collect his produce.

• Now it’s always difficult to be an absentee landlord.
• Because…when the man’s associates came to collect the produce due him…
• The tenants seized them…beat them… stoned them…and even killed one of them.
• At this point…you would think it would be time to call in the sheriff.

 

Instead…the vineyard owner sent a second group of associates…a larger group this time.

• But again…they treated these new associates the same way.
• Robbing…beating…even killing some of them.

 

Now…I would be ready to cut my losses.

• But not this vineyard owner.
• You see…the vineyard meant a great deal to him.
• So…he turned to desperate measures.

 

He sent his son to carry out the mission.

• “They will respect my son” he thought.
• But the tenants saw the son and they robbed and killed him.
• A horrific act of defiance.
• And now the owner of the vineyard would surely crush them.
• Sending his minions to destroy them.

 

But this is not how the story ends.

• It’s the way it should have turned out.
• The vineyard owner should have sent an army and thoroughly destroyed these criminals.
• But this is a parable of Jesus.
• After telling it…he turns to his listeners and asks a simple question:
• “Therefore…when the owner of the vineyard comes…what will he do to those tenants?”

 

 

His listeners are ready to take up arms.

• “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end” they reply.
• “And he will rent the vineyard to other tenants…who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

 

 

Then Jesus drops the bomb:

• “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
• ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…
• The Lord has done this…and it is marvelous in our eyes?’”

 

 

Robinson Crusoe salvaged some things off his wrecked ship:

• Clothing
• Weapons
• Tools
• Three chests of food
• Razors
• Two cats
• A dog
• Scissors

 

Crusoe did not start out his life on that island empty-handed.

• In Deuteronomy Moses reminds the people that they did not start out life in their new land empty handed either:
• “The Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors.
• A land with fine…large cities that you did not build.
• Houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill.
• Hewn cisterns that you did not hew.
• Vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.”
• Neither do we begin life empty handed.
• We are gifted with this marvelous cornerstone.
• We are given life…family…progeny…breath…

brain…heart.

• Without these gifts we have no life.
• Then Jesus said: “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
• ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…
• The Lord has done this…and it is marvelous in our eyes?’”

 

Imagine that just before a soul begins his or her earthly journey…

• God takes the soul by the hand and points out a certain place on earth.
• God then explains to the about-to-be-conceived:

 

“This is going to be your piece of the vineyard.

• It will be yours to make of it whatever you are able.
• All I ask is that you work it as best you can and get the most out of the soil and the shoots I give you.
• If you produce grapes that become the choice wine of reconciliation and justice…great.
• If you only have enough water and nutrients to produce a few grapes that make a small amount of the wine of humility and kindness…good.
• If you only have enough time to plant a few seeds or start a few vines that others can bring to a full harvest…you will have done well.”

 

But God cautions:

• “Just don’t make the mistake that too many of my tenants make.
• They get too caught up in the number of grapes that they can coax from the vines.
• My vineyard is about harvesting good grapes…not amassing profits.

 

“Remember…too…that you are responsible for the part of the vineyard I give you.

• Do not exhaust the grapes you harvest for yourself alone and then leave nothing behind but a dried…hollow tangle of dead vines for the next grower.
• I will demand a price for what you produce…and what you squander.

 

“Keep in mind” …God the vineyard owner continues… “that everyone has his or her own piece of the vineyard.

• But there are no dividing lines.
• No fences…no property markers.
• Your part of the vineyard is joined to your neighbor’s.
• So…you can do neither good nor evil in your vineyard without affecting the folks next to you and the vines around you.”

 

Finally…God says:

• “One more thing. And I don’t mean to harp on this…but it is my vineyard. Not yours.
• I am giving you a piece of it because that is what being God is all about.
• An occasional thank you would be nice.
• But the moment you think this vineyard is yours or that you deserve more and better…
• Your vineyard will become a very unhappy and unproductive place.
• So…go to it.”
• And then God breathes that soul into a human embryo…and another adventure begins.

Philippians 2:1-13

At the beginning of his book…Just Like Jesus…Max Lucado makes this statement:

• “God loves you just the way you are…
• But he refuses to leave you that way.
• He wants you to be just like Jesus.”
• Now there is a statement we can take home with us.

 

We usually hear only the first of those words:

• “God loves you just the way you are.”
• And that suits us just fine.
• We want God to accept us just as we are.
• And then leave us alone.
• As long as God loves us just as we are…we’ve got it made.

 

But I suspect Max Lucado is closer to the truth.

• Here is the whole Gospel:
• “God loves us just the way we are…but he refuses to leave us that way.
• He wants us to be just like Jesus.”
• This is St. Paul’s message to the church at Philippi.

 

Paul is encouraging the church at Philippi to live in harmony and humility following the example of Christ.

• Be like Jesus…he is saying to them.
• Humble yourselves as he humbled himself…
• Be a servant as he became a servant.
• Have the same love.
• Paul’s words here characterize a healthy church…we humble ourselves and serve one another.

 

A number of years ago…I was visiting a church on a weekday evening to give a talk on Faith Development.

• When I pulled into the parking lot of the church…a funeral was concluding.
• People were moving to their automobiles.
• The hearse was still there.

 

The minister saw me…recognized me…and motioned for me to come over.

• I did not want to intrude.
• I was just waiting for the funeral to be over.
• The pastor introduced me to the widow of her diseased husband.
• And I felt awkward.
• I said to her:
• “This is no time for you to be meeting strangers.
• I am really sorry for your loss.”

 

Her husband had been killed in a car crash and left her with four children.

• I said: “I know this is a very difficult time for you.”
• She said: “It is.
• But I’ll be here Sunday morning to hear you preach.”
• I was to be their guest preacher on Sunday.

 

I said: “Oh…you don’t need to.”

• “Yes…I do” she said.
• I said: “Well…what I meant was…I know it’s a very hard time for you.”
• And she said: “I know it’s hard.
• It’s already hard…but you see…this is my church…
• And my church is going to see to it that my children and I are okay.”

 

That is the way a church is to function.

• That’s the kind of church we are always trying to become.

 

What is the quickest way to identify a great city?

• Everyone knows that Paris is the home of the Eiffel Tower.
• Rome has its Coliseum and St Peter’s.
• London has Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.
• Orlando has the Parks.
• Anyone have any idea what Tampa Bay is known for? Gasparilla? The St. Petersburg Pier? Clearwater Beach?
• Around the world most cities have landmarks by which they are recognized.

 

Other cities are famous for what happens there.

• Los Angeles makes movies.
• Cannes has its annual film festival.
• New Orleans has Mardi Gras.
• Even if it is only the maple syrup festival or the Autum Leaf Festival.
• Communities identify themselves in distinctive ways.

 

So…what is it that identifies the Christian community…the church…as such?

• What is the landmark that makes us recognizable to the world?
• It is our loyalty to Christ…of course.
• Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples…if you love one another.”
• Therefore…the identifying landmark in the church is love.

 

“Have the same love” says Paul…

• “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
• Rather…in humility value others above yourselves…not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

 

There is an interesting phrase that has entered our common vernacular in recent years.

• It is the phrase: “I’ve got your back.”
• “I’ve got your six.”
• It means I’ll be there for you…look out for you…help you out if you’re in trouble.

 

The testimony of the Bible is that God has our back.

• And we are to have one another’s back.
• Our church may not be the largest.
• We may never give an extraordinary amount to missions.
• But this is an extraordinary church because we are there for one another.

 

Consider a flock of geese:

• As each goose flaps its wings…it creates an uplift for the birds that follow.
• By flying in a V formation…the flock adds 71% more flying range.
• In the same way we who share a sense of community can help each other get where we are going more easily.
• Because we hold one another up.

 

When a goose falls out of formation…it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone.

• So…it quickly moves back to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front.
• If we are as wise as geese…we will also stay in formation with those headed where we want to go.
• We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

 

But when the lead goose tires…it drops back in the formation and another flies to the point position.

• This is how the leadership of a church works.
• We take turns doing the heavy lifting.
• We respect and protect each other’s unique gifts and skills.

 

The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

• We do a lot of honking in the church.
• We need to make sure our honking is positive and encouraging.
• Where there is encouragement…production is greater.

 

When a goose gets sick…two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it.

• They have this goose’s back…the goose’s six.
• They stand by each other in difficult times.

 

“Have the same love…being one in spirit and of one mind.

• Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
• Rather…in humility value others above yourselves.
• Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Matthew 18:21-35

Today…Jesus tells the disciple Peter…that forgiveness…in the kingdom of God… must be generous beyond limits.

• We should not forgive our offenders a skimpy seven times…but seventy-seven…or seventy times seven.
• That is…forgiveness should be our way of life…our default mode.
• Why?  Because we are a forgiven people…generously and lavishly forgiven by God.
• Considering this abundant grace…what possible response can we have…
• But to pay the wealth of God’s forgiveness forward?

 

But first of all…what is forgiveness not?

• Forgiveness is not pretending that an offense does not matter.
• Or that a wound does not hurt.
• Or that Christianity requires us to forget past harms and let bygones be bygones.
• Forgiveness is not acting as if things do not have to change.
• Or assuming that because God is merciful…God is not grieved and angered by injustice.

 

OK then…the starting line of forgiveness is the acknowledgement of wrongdoing…of harm.

• Of real and profound violation.
• Whenever we talk about the need for forgiveness…
• We must begin by recognizing and naming the extent of the brokenness.
• Why?  Because we were created for good.
• We were created for love…equality and tenderness.
• Having been created in God’s image…
• We were made for a just and nurturing world that honors our dignity.

A great gift of Christianity is that it takes sin and sin’s consequences dead seriously.

• Sin wounds.  Sin breaks.  Sin lingers.
• The same Bible that calls us to forgive also calls us to mourn…
• To lament…and to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Forgiveness always works together with the hard work of repentance and transformation.
• As theologian and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned:
• We must never allow forgiveness to degenerate into “cheap grace.”
• That is…the preaching of forgiveness without repentance…grace without the Cross.

 

OK…forgiveness is not quick and easy. 

• Not for us humans…not if we are honest.
• Forgiveness is a messy and often thorny process that can leave us feeling whole and liberated one minute.
• And bleeding out of every vein the next.
• No one who says the words “I forgive you” gets a pass from this messy process.

 

Of course…yes…there are times when forgiveness happens dramatically and instantly.

• But most of the time…there is no cleansing altar call moment when the hurts of the past simply slip off our backs and roll away.
• There is only the daily business of forgiveness as a slow…sustained way of life.

 

OK then…what is Jesus asking of us when he tells us to forgive each other again and again and again and again?

• In her popular memoir…Traveling Mercies…Anne Lamott writes that withholding forgiveness is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.
• Nora Gallagher writes: “Forgiveness is a way to unburden oneself from the constant pressure of rewriting the past.”
• Henri Nouwen writes: “Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly.
• The hard truth is that all people love poorly…and so we need to forgive and be forgiven every day…every hour increasingly.
• Forgiveness is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.”

If these writers are correct…then I think forgiveness is choosing to front love instead of resentment.

• If I am consumed with my own pain…if I have made injury my identity…
• If I insist on weaponizing my well-deserved anger in every interaction I have with people who hurt me…
• Then I’m drinking poison…
• And the poison will kill me long before it does anything to my abusers.
• To choose forgiveness is to release myself from the tyranny of my bitterness.
• To trust that my longing for justice is known to God.
• To cast my hunger for healing deep into Christ’s heart.
• Because healing belongs to him…
• And he is the only one powerful enough to secure it.

 

Retaliation or holding onto anger about the harm done to us does not combat evil…it feeds it.

• Because in the end…if we are not careful…we can absorb the worst of our enemy…and start to become them.
• So then…forgiveness is a way of wielding bolt-cutters…
• And snapping the chains that shackle us?
• Forgiveness is saying: “What you did was so not okay…I refuse to be connected to it anymore.”

 

Forgiveness is about being a freedom fighter.

• Free people are not controlled by the past.
• Free people laugh more than others.
• Free people see beauty where others do not.
• Free people are not easily offended.
• Free people are not afraid to speak the truth.
• Free people are not chained to resentments.
• Free people are released to practice love…joy…peace…patience…
• Kindness…goodness…faithfulness…gentleness and self-control.