More Than Duty Calls
It’s tempting, in the age of consumerism, to think of religion as a kind of spiritual superstore, selling everything from theology and philosophy to morality and ethics to inner peace and contentment. A kind of “Soul Depot” for the do-it-yourself seeker:
“Lord, here’s my religious duty for the month…now, increase my faith!”
But Jesus calls us to something far deeper and greater than fulfillment of religious duty. Jesus invites us into a relationship, longing for us to fall in love with God whom he calls Father. Commandments and spiritual disciplines have their place in a life of faith, to be sure, and obedience to God’s will is the surest and swiftest way to learn God’s will. But if we limit ourselves to duties and disciplines only, instead of seeing the relationship behind them, we have missed the best part. For Christians everywhere, it is much more than fulfillment of a solemn duty to which Christ beckons us. It is is love calling.
Believing is Seeing
Many of the surrounding cultures In Jesus’ day had stories about the wealthy and the poor, and what might happen to each in the afterlife. Jesus once told a parable from this rich collection of afterlife stories, about a miserable beggar named Lazarus and a rich man who lived lavishly and never noticed Lazarus at all. In time both died, and in the afterlife experienced a grand reversal of fortunes. For the first time the rich man discovered the immensity of the gulf between himself and Lazarus…a huge gap in their experience of one another that the rich man simply never noticed in this world.
Jesus reminds us that the time to begin following the lifestyle of his Kingdom—indeed for keeping all of the law and the prophets— is now. For in eternity, God will make perfect in us whatever we have practiced in this life, be it the sharing of Christ’s spirit and compassion with others or the practiced indifference of those who see themselves as better than others. When we choose to believe in Christ, to follow him, our eyes are opened, walls come down, distances between us are bridged, and we see the Kingdom coming to life all around us.
The Importance of Unimportant Things
Whether we are conscious of them or not, we make thousands of choices each day…and execute tens of thousands of task each week. Some choices and tasks are so perfunctory, so routinized, so seemingly insignificant that we hardly even think about them even as we are doing them (think brushing our teeth or tying our shoes or pushing the ground floor button on the elevator). Others are great big decisions and actions that can leave us paralyzed with doubts and uncertainty (think of professing love toward someone, or moving across country, or changing careers, or taking a stand for God’s justice on behalf of others).
Jesus told his disciples a parable about a thoroughly unjust steward who was aboutto fired. It was crisis time, and he had some serious choices to make. In the end, as Jesus tells us, the steward kept right on doing and being the same person that had always been: unjust, scheming, and untrustworthy. His “big moment” hadn’t changed him, it only revealed who was more clearly. And so with each of us…we are empowered to make life’s biggest choices for God by the care we take to follow his way in the everyday, unimportant things.
Relentless Love
There’s a story told of a child who, upon finding himself separated from his parents in a large shopping mall during the holidays, walked up to a security guard and began to cry? “What’s the matter, little one?” asked the guard. The child looked up and said “my mommy and daddy are lost.”
Small children tend to orient the whole world in relation to themselves; wherever they currently find themselves is the center of the universe as far as they are concerned (as if to say, “I’m not lost, the rest of the world is”). We chuckle at this trait in small children, but the same phenomena occurs in adults whose faith is still maturing in Christ. Rather than seeing through God’s eyes, we see through the narrow lens of our own personal notions of right and wrong, justice and mercy.
When Jesus was celebrating with newfound friends and some disapproving religious leaders were murmuring against him, he told the critics a couple of parables about the joy of lost things being found. The critics, of course, were sure he was talking about someone else…
A Costly Choice
A mountaineer preparing to climb a tall peak sits with a friend in his garage, going over checklists of equipment and provisions and reviewing the months of training they've just endured. “We’re ready”, he says. A middle aged couple sits with their financial planner at the kitchen table. They’ve been disciplined and diligent, and have saved over the years wherever they could. Retirement is coming soon, and because they planned well there’ll be enough to sustain their hopes and dreams in the golden years—even if something unforeseen should happen. A developer stands looking over a large tract of land. In his mind he can see it all—the mall, the parks, the homes and apartments, the small businesses, and the schools. His business manager speaks next: “It’s a great vision, but we simply can’t do it right now. We don’t have the resources.”
When it comes to “big things”, like buying a house or taking a trip or starting a large project or influencing others on a large scale, most people are careful to cross every t and dot every i. We know that careful plans and calculations lead to right choices. So why do you suppose, that when it comes following Christ as his disciple, so many are content to live with a choice base solely on emotions and feelings? And why are so many surprised to learn afterward that following Jesus is a rather costly choice?
Jesus' Advice for Guests and Hosts
Fast food…junk food…restaurant chains…microwavable meals…”nutrition bars”…processed food…tv trays…even airport vending machines. America in the 21st century has so many ways to feed the cravings of our taste buds, but with every new “convenience” we drift further and further from the kind of table fellowship that Jesus so often enjoyed.
To be invited to dinner in Jesus’ day meant so much more than an occasion for grabbing a bite of food. The table was a place where people gathered together. To dine at table was to know one another communally— to give and receive through, dialogue, sharing, thanksgiving, celebration, confession, and expressions of care and hospitality. The dinner table was a place for religious leaders, philosophers and teachers to give instruction, and a place for social, religious and economic norms were affirmed.
And so with Jesus, the table also became a place where the values of his Kingdom could be shared and demonstrated again and again. Jesus has a word in today’s lesson for both those hosts and guests — and for all us — at the heavenly banquet: it's time to learn some new table manners.
Practically Faithful
Luke 13:10-17
This week’s Gospel lesson tells of a woman who, for 18 long years, suffered from an affliction that left her bent over, unable to stand. Her ailment was visibly manifest in her body, but Luke tells us that hers was also a spiritual condition. Jesus met her when sabbath as he went to teach in a synagogue in her town.
Standing in the midst of a community that for 18 years hardly even noticed her condition, bent low as she was by the pressures and circumstances of her life, Jesus saw immediately an opportunity for grace. Without her even asking, he called her over, pronounced her “clean”, and laid his hands upon her. With a word and touch from Jesus she stood—tall and strong and whole—and began to wholeheartedly praise God.
Like so many other times, some in the crowd who saw it rejoiced. They rejoiced in God’s goodness, her wholeness, and Jesus power and authority. But, as before, there were also some who became indignant (it was the Sabbath and all “work”, even healing, was forbidden).
After 18 years, she was healed on the wrong day! And we are left to decide which half of the crowd we'll follow home after worship...the "religious cops and rule-keepers", or those whose practical faith leads to healing praise.
Got a Match?
Luke 12:49-56
When Jesus was only eight days old, an elderly citizen of Jerusalem prophesied over him, saying that Jesus "was destined for the rising and falling of many." True to the word spoken about him, throughout his ministry Jesus continually created a kind of crisis - a moment of truth and an occasion for choosing. To encounter Jesus is to set before oneself both life and death, both blessing and judgement; his very presence reveals evidence of God's grace that demands a verdict.
When Jesus tells his followers that he brings division rather than peace, or that people who profess faith in God but are in love with the world are only "play actors," he does so with the utmost love in his heart. Standing between his earthly mission and his crown of glory looms a cross, its shadows growing closer every day. Likewise, between the people Jesus loves and their salvation and peace lies a world of weeds, clutter, and detritus. With regard to all that keeps us from loving God wholeheartedly, to our false idols and worldly preoccupations, Jesus has but one question. "Got a match?"