Category: Homilies

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.

Matthew 16:21-28

There is a sport called orienteering that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and unfamiliar terrain while moving at speed.

• My version of orienteering is to paddle my kayak through the Everglades…and get myself lost.
• And try to find my way back with my compass.
• Oh boy! I always keep a GPS in my dry bag…to keep me on course…in case I really go missing.
• Being off course even one degree would…depending on the distance I was paddling…
• Take me far away from my intended homecoming.

 

Well…Jesus often presented his followers new paths…new courses…to follow.

• And new ways to look at the people and the world around them.
• It was…and is…important to listen to Jesus.
• Following and doing what he says while we travel through unfamiliar terrain and while moving at speed.

 

To better understand…it is important to remember Jesus’ follow-up question several verses back:

• “But who do you say that I am?”
• Simon Peter answered: “You are the Messiah…the Son of the Living God.”

 

I believe that when Peter made this statement he had in mind a warrior-king like David.

• A king who would defeat the Romans and make Israel a free state.
• A king who would drive the occupiers from this beloved land.

 

The problem with Peter’s expectation is not that it’s unreasonable.

• But that it does not change anything.
• Rome is there by force and by violence.
• Even if Jesus uses greater force and violence to drive them out…
• Eventually…someone with even more force…will take over yet again.
• It’s a vicious cycle.

 

At this point Jesus said to Peter:

• “Blessed are you Simon…son of Jonah! And I tell you…you are Peter…and on this rock I will build my church…and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Now…it is unlikely that Peter realized the immensity of what Jesus had just said to him.

• While Peter was probably imagining a warrior-king…Jesus was certainly not thinking that.
• Jesus was leading his followers to a new reality…a new course…that did not depend on violence and force.
• Instead…it relied on forgiveness and sacrifice and mercy and love.

 

Our passage for today says:

• “From that time on…Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes…and be killed…and on the third day be raised.”
• Well…Peter took Jesus aside and blurted out: “God forbid it…Lord!
• This must never happen to you.”

 

We can understand Peter’s rebuke.

• What would we say if someone we loved…who was in good health…told us:
• “I am planning to suffer and die”?
• Certainly…Peter’s rebuke was spurred by love for his master.
• If Peter was…indeed…expecting Jesus to be the promised warrior-king.
• Then what Jesus just said made little sense to Peter.
• How could Jesus endure suffering and death and still be victorious?

 

But Jesus responded sharply:

• “Get behind me…Satan! You are a stumbling block to me…for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
• Jesus had just affirmed Peter for his statement that Jesus was the Messiah.
• But now…Jesus calls Peter Satan and describes him as a stumbling block!
• Imagine how painful that was for Peter.

 

Jesus’ response suggests that he was being tempted once again to turn from the plan of his Father.

• Just as Satan had tempted him in the wilderness.
• There Jesus said: “Away with you Satan!”
• Here he said the same thing: “Get behind me…Satan!”

 

Did Jesus suddenly stop loving Peter? No.

• Did he no longer want him as a disciple? No.
• But we can also understand that Jesus was demanding a course correction from Peter.

 

Jesus’ message that day…of course…was directed at all his disciples…not just Peter.

• So…he continued talking with them and showing them what it means to be his follower.
• Jesus said: “If any wish to come after me…let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
• Jesus said that those whose greatest goal was to “save their life will lose it.
• And those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
• These are hard words.

 

I have…at one time or another…have had a better plan than God for how things ought to be in this world we live in.

• I think: “If God would just listen to…and act…on my plan…things would be so much better.”
• And I mean it.

 

But would things really be better?

• Even taking everything…I have ever learned in life and giving it my best shot.
• I see only a tiny portion of the big picture God sees.
• While I could map out a scenario that would probably suit me well.
• I cannot see how that would affect someone else.

 

When I have experienced tragedy in my life…I am still asked to remain a person of faith.

• When I tell God that he has everything all messed up.
• He may very well need to do a “course correction” in my thinking and in my faith.

 

Sometimes that may be in the form of a gentle nudge from a trusted friend.

• Sometimes that may be a hard word spoken to us through God’s word.
• Through a confessor or prayer partner.
• Through circumstances.

 

But when that happens…I have Peter to look to.

• Remembering how he questioned everything.
• But Jesus stuck with him…and he stuck with Jesus.
• It is fitting to hear these words of Peter himself…from the first epistle of Peter:
• “Come to Jesus…a living stone…rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight…and like living stones…let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…to be a holy priesthood…to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

 

It is hard to imagine that these powerful words of faith come to us from the same man to whom Jesus said:

• “Get behind me…Satan.”
• But that’s what happens when we are open to Jesus’ loving course corrections in our lives.

Matthew 16:13-20

Years ago…on a bright Tuesday in March I was driving over to the seminary…and I parked my car.

• Sitting there I stared up into the clear blue Minnesota sky and thought:
• “What in the world am I doing?  I don’t believe a word of this Jesus stuff. I mean…It’s a fairy tale”.
• But then in the very next moment I thought:
• “Except…throughout my life…I have experienced it to be true.”
• I experience the gospel to be true even when I cannot believe it.
• And honestly…I believe the gospel even when I do not experience it.
• And I suggest to you today that this is why we have and even why we need Word and Sacrament.
• Because you see…we are a forgetful people.

 

So…if asked if your pastor is prepared to hold the office of Word and Sacrament the only answer is:

• Of course not.
• Do not be ridiculous.
• So…if you are worrying that your pastor might not have what it takes to lead the church you should stop worrying.
• Of course…your pastor does not have what it takes to lead the church.
• But fortunately…your pastor does have the God it takes to lead the church.
• And fortunately…we have the God it takes to lead the church.

 

I think Jesus meant for church leader types to keep this in mind.

• That it is God who makes us worthy of our calling.
• And that God’s people are forgetful and perhaps that is exactly why Jesus chose Peter.

 

Jesus chose Peter…of all people.

• I started wondering what in the world would a Synod Candidacy Committee think of the guy…Peter.
• Peter was not exactly a winner.
• He seems to always be over-reaching.
• Or totally falling short.

 

Jesus could have picked one of the nice…pious…righteous apostles.

• One a bit less embarrassing.
• Who does not blurt out the wrong answers in class all day.
• But instead…he chose Peter who was kind of a buffoon.
• And that’s when he was not being a total sycophant.
• You know…a groupie.

 

OK then…I have a theory about this text where Peter is named the rock.

• I think it must have been redacted.
• Edited out.
• I think what really happened is that Jesus said:
• “You are Peter…dumb as a rock…on which I will build my church” and that is our legacy to this day.

 

The thing to remember is that it is not that Jesus had the guy it took to lead the church.

• It is that Peter had the God it took to lead the church…and that’s different.

So…I would like to suggest that Jesus did not choose Peter because he was the first to confess Christ.

• After all…Peter’s moment of glory lasted about 10 seconds before he said something stupid enough for Jesus to say get behind me Satan.

 

I do not think that Jesus chose Peter because Peter understood everything.

• Or because Peter was clever.
• Or because Peter had the best prayer life.
• Or because Peter had the mildest personality.
• And he just “seemed” like a pastor.
• And Peter was not exactly chosen because of his loyalty.
• Lest we forget…it was Peter who denied Jesus.
• Three times.

 

And here’s the real kicker:

• I believe Jesus chose Peter because Peter would deny him.
• Jesus knew that only a forgiven sinner could really preach the Gospel.
• Only forgiven sinners can preach the Gospel.

 

It has always been that way…so I am not sure at what point the church decided its leaders were to be sinless examples of perfect piety.

• I might not give them the keys to my house.
• But only a forgiven sinner can be really trusted with the keys of the kingdom.

 

What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

• Which sounds like we get to judge people.
• Like we get to decide what God thinks of folks.
• But that is not it.
• We are to be…as the text says…a steward of the mysteries of Christ.
• And for all his faults…it is those mysteries that Peter actually understood.

 

Peter knew what it meant to really screw things up and be given grace.

• That is to say…he knew about binding and loosing.
• It’s called Baptism.
• Pouring water on God’s children in baptism binding unto them the promises of God.
• Being mark with the cross of Christ.
• That is a binding.
• Being reminded of God’s grace and forgiveness often.
• Because we are a forgetful people.

And to be sure…there is loosing to be done in this work.

• It is called confession and absolution.
• It’s called forgiveness of sins.
• Loose from God’s people that which weighs us down.
• Our sin…our shame…our despair.
• Loose from us our pride…our anger…our resentment…our guilt.
• For not being able to live up to even our own values.
• Reminding us that God is gracious and merciful…slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
• We are loosed.

 

Now this is job security for the preacher.

• Because this binding and loosing needs to be done again and again and again.
• Never assume that just because we leave on Sunday believing the gospel that when we return a week later that we still believe it.
• Never assume that if we experienced this thing to be true that we still do.
• That’s why we put Jesus in our ears and mouths and do not stop.
• Because we Christians are a forgetful people.

 

So…we are charged with none other than putting Jesus in our ears and mouths so that we might believe the good news and continue to share it with others.

• That we might experience this thing to be true.
• God will do this.

Matthew 15: 21-28

We do not have to look far these days for stories about borders.

• Whether its boat people rescued in the Mediterranean from leaky vessels.
• Or lines of asylum applicants trying to pass from Mexico to the United States.
• Borders loom large in our awareness.
• Borders are where two cultures rub against each other.
• At times the friction generates a certain heat…as cultures clash.

 

Borders played a role in the time of Jesus as well.

• There were no such things as checkpoints or border guards.
• But there was an awareness among travelers when they were passing from one country into another.

 

In the border regions there were certain villages where people of one ethnicity…or one religion…predominated.

• Everyone knew this.
• Sometimes you only had to walk a few miles before suddenly finding yourself in a different world.
• This is what happens to Jesus and his disciples when they cross into a certain village in the district of Tyre and Sidon.
• Jesus has left behind the lands he knows best and has crossed into the country we now know as Lebanon.

 

A Canaanite woman…a native of that region…calls out to him for help:

• “Have mercy on me…Lord…Son of David…my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
• But Jesus ignores the woman’s desperate plea.
• And his annoyed disciples say:
• “Send her away. She keeps shouting after us.”
• And if that wasn’t enough…Jesus says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But here’s the thing…this woman will not take no for an answer.

• She’s got a daughter who’s very sick.
• She kneels and repeats her plea.
• And holy cats…the next words from Jesus are:
• “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

 

O My Gosh!

• Jesus does not just brush her off.
• He does not just mumble some bureaucratic excuse and move on.
• For cry-in out loud…he insults the woman.
• To call someone a dog…in that culture…was harsh.
• No one kept dogs as pets.
• But dogs kept the rat population down.
• So…they were tolerated and allowed to hang around and forage for food.

 

Now you must admire the Canaanite woman…she is so cool!

• Even after enduring the insult…she keeps it up.
• She turns the slur around and spins it into a virtue:
• “Yes…Lord…yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
• Darn good theology!
• Even Jesus leftovers are enough.
• To heal and to save.
• It’s a startling moment.
• And then something changes in him:
• “Woman…great is your faith!
• Let it be done for you as you wish.”
• And with that…the daughter is healed.

 

OK then…what a relief.

• To remember that Jesus was both fully God and fully human.
• No dualism here.
• And the Canaanite woman’s quick wit exposes Jesus’ humanness.

 

Martin Luther says this:

“She catches Christ with his own words. He compares her to a dog…she concedes it…and asks nothing more than that he let her be a dog…as he himself judged her to be.

• Where will Jesus now take refuge?
• He is caught.”

 

Well…what can we learn here.

• We learn that Jesus does not let his off-the-cuff answer…the typical…expected answer for a person of his place and time…stand.
• He pivots…acting in a deeply merciful and loving way.
• Jesus quickly recognizes his error and corrects it.

OK then…let’s consider a story that all too often happens at the border.

• It’s a 2004 Israeli film called The Syrian Bride.
• It’s a fictional story…but it is based on real-life situations that have happened.
• And still happen…in the borderlands between Israel and Syria.

 

It is the story of a young woman named Mona…a member of the Druze people.

• The Druze are an ethnic minority who have lived in the three nations of Israel…Syria and Lebanon for centuries.
• They have their own language and their own religion.
• They are grudgingly tolerated by the larger nations within whose borders they live.

 

Mona and her family live in a Druze village in the Golan Heights…

• That strategic region Israel captured from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967.
• The border between those two nations is among the most heavily fortified in the world.
• And one of the most difficult to cross.

 

The problem is that Mona is engaged to marry a man…one of her own Druze people…

• Who happens to live across the border in Syria.
• The two families know and respect each other.
• But she is sad at the expectation of leaving her family.
• What makes the parting even sadder is the harsh fact that…
• Once Mona crosses that border…the Israelis will never let her return.
• The only way Mona will ever see her family again is if they can contrive to meet in some neutral country.
• What a world.
• No wonder we are going to Mars…there is no peace here.

Her wedding celebration is an odd one…because of the border that runs straight through the middle of it.

• First there’s a lavish wedding feast…put on by Mona’s parents…for all the people of their village.
• The groom is not present…he has not been given permission to enter Israel.
• As soon as the party’s over…Mona and her family drive to the border for the tearful farewell…
• She crosses through the chain-link and barbed-wire fences alone…to meet her new husband and his family.
• The actual wedding ceremony will take place on the Syrian side…with no members of the bride’s family present.

It has taken months to obtain the necessary visas from the two governments.

• The Israeli border officer stamps Mona’s passport.
• Then a female officer of the Norwegian army…a member of the U.N. peacekeeping force.
• Escorts her through the fence into no-man’s land.

It is there that a perfect storm of bureaucracy arises.

• It seems the Israelis have just changed the type of rubber stamp they use on the passports of travelers leaving the Golan Heights.
• The new stamp declares that Mona is leaving Israel.
• This is not okay with the Syrian border guards…because their nation has never given up its claim to the Golan Heights.
• If they let Mona into their country…
• Does that mean Syria is giving up its claim to the Heights?
• Mona…wilting in the hot sun in her wedding dress…has become a symbol of everything that’s dysfunctional between those two nations.
• Even though she…as a member of the stateless Druze people…does not belong to either one.

Tense negotiations ensue.

• Phone calls are made to Jerusalem and Damascus.
• Jeanne…the sympathetic Norwegian officer…borrows a metal folding chair from the Israelis and carries it over for Mona to sit on.
• And…also gives her a couple bottles of cold water.
• Jeanne practices a kind of shuttle diplomacy…
• Driving her U.N. jeep back and forth from one immigration-control booth to the other.

Both families are looking on in astonishment and horror.

• From opposite sides of the border… they can see each other…and they can see Mona…
• Forlornly sitting there…surrounded by barbed wire.
• Her fiancée is on the scene as well…pacing nervously on the Syrian side…helpless to do anything.
• Because the Syrians will not let him cross into no-man’s-land to sit with his bride.

Negotiations drag on…hour after hour.

• Finally…the Norwegian liaison officer gains a small concession from the Israelis.
• The Israeli immigration officer agrees to cover over the offending rubber-stamp image with White-Out.
• But the Syrians decide this is still not good enough.
• It appears that the wedding will be delayed by weeks…even months…if it can happen at all.

But wait! Mona…who has been sitting there all this time…the picture of composure…takes matters into her own hands.

• She gets up without a word…and begins walking…with great determination…towards the Syrian border.
• She has no passport…it’s still in the hands of the Israeli immigration people.
• She has no luggage…and she’s wearing a wedding dress.
• Will the Syrian border guards shoot her?

Everyone is so completely dumbfounded by her decision to cut the bureaucratic red tape and just walk across that no one stops her.

• Mona walks right through the Syrian checkpoint unchallenged…and into the arms of her new family.
• Despite all the assaults of racism and sheer bureaucracy…love wins.

 

The same happens with Jesus and the Canaanite woman.

• The same can happen in the borderlands of our own lives…if we let it!

Matthew 14: 22-33

The Sunday supplement magazine…USA Weekend…ran a cover story sometime back titled:

• “Fear: What Americans Are Afraid of Today.”
• In a scientific poll…the magazine uncovered the things Americans fear most:
• A car crash.
• Inadequate Social Security.
• Not having enough money for retirement.
• Getting Alzheimer’s.
• Being a victim of violence.
• Being unable to pay current debts.
• Well…fear is a powerful force in our lives.

 

That’s why today’s lesson from Matthew’s Gospel is important.

• In last week’s Gospel Jesus had fed five thousand men and their wives and children.
• And now the Master needed some time alone.
• He sent the crowds home and the disciples out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee…
• While he went to a mountain to pray.

 

The Sea of Galilee is a large body of water.

• It is nearly eight miles wide at its widest point…and more than 12 miles long from north to south.
• Set in the hills of northern Israel…the Sea of Galilee is nearly 700 feet below sea level.
• In places…the sea plunges to depths of 200 feet.
• The sea’s location makes it subject to sudden and violent storms as the wind comes over the eastern mountains and drops suddenly onto the sea.
• Storms are especially likely when an east wind blows cool air over the warm air that covers the sea.
• The cold air (being heavier) drops as the warm air rises.
• This sudden change can produce surprisingly furious storms in a short time…as it did in Jesus’ day.

 

Of the twelve disciples…Peter… Andrew…James and John were all fishermen.

• They knew the Sea of Galilee very well.
• They knew that at this time of year…mid-spring…
• The Sea of Galilee was subject to strong gusts of wind.
• The late afternoon and evening were not a good time to be out in the middle of the lake.
• The four fishermen must have been wondering why their Lord was sending them out in the lake during this time.
• They must have been thinking:
• “Jesus must be up to something.”

 

The boat was being buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

• And shortly before dawn Jesus went out to the boat.
• Walking on the water.
• The rough wind was whipping the surface and large waves were forming.
• And when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the lake…they were terrified.
• “It’s a ghost” …they cried out in fear.
• But Jesus immediately said to them:
• “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 

Then…during it all…

• Simon Peter says:
• “Lord…if it is you tell me to come to you on the water.”
• “Come on” Jesus said.
• Then Peter got down out of the boat…
• Walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
• But when he saw the wind…
• Peter became afraid and began to sink…and he cried out:
• “Lord…save me!”
• Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
• “You of little faith…why did you doubt?”

 

On December 1, 1941…a now deceased friend of mine…Carl Nordin…

• Was sent to the southern Philippine Island of Mindanao to establish an air base with his unit.
• Less than six months later Sergeant Nordin was captured by the Japanese…
• Becoming a POW.
• For two years he was imprisoned on Mindanao before boarding a Japanese hell-ship destined for Moji, Japan.
• He spent the remainder of the war working on the railroad in Yokkaichi.

 

Throughout his time in captivity Carl detailed his imprisonment and conditions and his thoughts on the camps in a secret diary that became the basis of his book:

• “We Were Next to Nothing”.
• He wrote his words on the wrappers that packs of cigarettes came in.
• Carl recounts the horrors of the prison camps…
• The torturous journey on the hell-ship…
• His journey through fear…death…guilt and pain…
• That brought his mind and soul to joy…life…forgiveness and peace.
• And his faith in the Christ of God that provided him the strength to survive.

 

Carl’s homecoming back to the United States was shaded by a disease that he returned with…schistosomiasis…

• Bugs on the brain.
• This led to post-war brain surgery.
• And learning how to walk…talk and read and write again.
• He eventually became a postmaster.

 

What I want to recount to you is this:

• Carl Nordin stepped out of the boat.
• In fear and trembling.
• With his eyes on Jesus the entire time of his incarceration and torture.
• And when fear overwhelmed him.
• When he felt he was about to go under.
• When he felt he was about to sink.
• When he felt he was about to hit bottom.
• Jesus was there to catch him.
• To hold him up.
• To carry him.

 

Carl…my friend…taught me this:

• Let go of our faith…and we will surely sink.
• Just hold on and look for Jesus’ hand reaching out to us.
• We can make it through any storm.

 

Matthew concludes by writing:

• “When they climbed into the boat…the wind died down.
• Then those who were in the boat worshiped him…saying:
• ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

 

Here is a true key to life:

• We may be in the safest of places…but if Christ is not with us…it is the worst of places.
• And we may be in the worst of places…the most horrendous storms…sinking…and if Christ is with us…we are in the safest of places.
• It is in the storms of life we are most likely to discover who Christ is.

 

Jesus said:

“Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.”