BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

Welcome to the Great Three Days.

Tonight begins this time together that we turn our attention to the central story of our faith — the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The three days are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter which begins Saturday night and continues thru Sunday morning. Tonight’s portion of the story includes the betrayal of Jesus and his final meal with the disciples.

Here’s the thing, though: we do not come to Maundy Thursday as a reenactment of the Last Supper. If you think of, for example, Civil War reenactments — they aren’t actually battles. They help dramatacize events from long ago. They bring the events to life in our minds. They don’t actually bring the events to life.

Christians don’t reenact the Last Supper. We enact it. After all, it’s our commandment.

At the first Last Supper, Jesus is preparing the disciples — and really the church — for the event and the aftermath of the crucifixion and resurrection. He gives them and us a new commandment: “to love one another.” As simple, and as radical as that. This is The Way. This is how the disciples will live after Jesus is gone.

Jesus sets an example of The Way, the standard for Christian life. And Jesus sets the bar really really low.

…

As the disciples share in the passover meal with their teacher, Jesus affirms that the disciples are right to call him Lord and teacher. Disciples have that kind of relationship with their teacher…they look up to their teacher, they are not greater than their teacher. You might think that Jesus, as Lord, would set the bar high. Because Jesus is Savior and Lord of the universe, it stands to reason that his followers, his proteges, would get a pretty high place.

Instead, Jesus sets the bar so low, it’s literally on the floor. He, the master, takes the feet, the lowest part, of his own disciples and lowers himself to wash them.

So much for raising the bar. If this is where the master is — at foot level — where do the servants belong?

Whatever else happens, whatever events go down in the next few days for the disciples, Jesus has shown them where Love is to be found. It’s down on the ground. Under the table. At the disciples’ feet.

Although people will soon stand up in the crowds and look down on Jesus…although people in high places will judge Jesus and condemn him to die. The real power, the real home for Christ’s followers is down among the dirty, aching feet under the table. Love lives there.

Throughout Lent, we at LMIC have been thinking and talking and praying about wholeness and healing. There’s a temptation there, to think and act like Jesus is our own personal in-house doctor. Whose main focus is making each of us feel better. But that image does not fit well with the Jesus that commands his followers to love one another at foot level.

What kind of healing and wholeness do we expect to find under the table? How could we hope to find health amid unwashed feet, stale crumbs, and a distinct lack of hand sanitizer? If Jesus wants us to live a life of wholeness, why are we called to live like lowly servants?

…

Around that table that night for Passover was Judas, the disciple who would betray Jesus. His feet were washed by Jesus. He shared bread with Jesus. He was entrusted with their shared money. All the while, Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart. It seems crazy that he should even be at the table at all — but he was.

Judas is known as the disciple who betrayed Jesus, but he won’t be last one to do it. Just a quick survey of the Gospels reveals quite a few shortcomings amongst the disciples. And to this day, Christ’s followers also enact this betrayal portion of the Last Supper in our own lives, don’t we?

That’s why this commandment, this Way of life, ‘love others as Jesus has loved you’ begins with forgiveness. Crazy forgiveness. The way that Jesus has forgiven us. Even the Judas parts of us. Even the betray-our-friend parts of us. Even the ignore-God-and-do-things-our-own-way parts of us. The parts of us that totally fail at being even adequate disciples of Christ.

The forgiveness of Christ heals our broken relationships, heals our disconnections from one another by placing our feet into our neighbors hands, and theirs into ours — forgiving our neighbors and asking their forgiveness we are brought back into wholeness. Not our own personal wholeness, but God’s wholeness.

The healing that we long for in our lives is found as we are drawn into the body of Christ: the bread and wine of God’s forgiveness, and the circle of servants around it, loving and forgiving each other.

This is God’s healing and wholeness — and it’s so much bigger than we thought. It calls the church to humbly reach out to each and every foot of God’s kingdom. Our wholeness is God’s wholeness.

On Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, Christians emphasize confession and receive ashes to remind us of our mortality. Tonight we emphasize our absolution, our forgiveness as it comes to each and every one of us. Instead of ashes, we receive oil as a sign of that healing, that restoration we have in Christ Jesus.

Tonight we enact love. We enact forgiveness. Not historical, but real bread, real wine, real forgiveness … right here on ground level.

John the Baptist is out there causing a stir again. He has gathered disciples (followers) around him and intrigued the Pharisees (who are the religion experts) enough to have them come out and question him. At this point in history, many faithful Jews expected a Messiah to come and save the Jewish people. Not just metaphorically, but in a very real way.

John assures he is not the Messiah, but says that “Among you stands one whom you do not know.” One who is greater than John. One who is more than a prophet. The Messiah is already here.

This is a word of hope and judgment. On the one hand, this must mean the Messiah is here now, in our midst. On the other hand…apparently we’ve been too blind to even notice. If they even believed him, they must have wondered if they’d even know what to look for if the Messiah was already there.

John knows what to look for. John has been called by God to point to the Messiah.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).” (1 Corinthians 1.9; John 1.29–42 NRSV)

John recognized God’s anointed One by the spirit. And not just any spirit, but the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, and marking, or claiming Jesus as a particular kind of Messiah: not the Rambo of God who blows away the enemies from the world… not the Politician of God who wheels and deals with the leaders of the world but … the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This is the Messiah that John recognizes in Jesus. And when John recognizes him, so do others who know John and trust John. They must have realized that John wasn’t in it for the money. It certainly didn’t do much for his health.

When John’s disciples recognized the Lamb of God, they followed him. And when Jesus, who apparently up to this point in the Gospel has nothing better to do than to walk up and down the banks of the Jordan river … when Jesus notices these followers he engages them and tells them to “come and see.”

Come and see. If those disciples had any sense of propriety or safety they would have ran away as fast as they could. Instead they encountered God in a way that they had never known before. One of the disciples, Andrew, had to share this encounter with his brother Peter. Yes, that Peter. And when Peter was brought to Jesus, he found that the Messiah already knew him and had named him.

Come and see. Would that still work? Seems pretty simple. Especially with all the church’s more recent attempts at Evangelism: from Campus Crusade to the actual Crusades, to our former neighbor D James Kennedy’s Evangelism Explosion … “come and see” seems a little trite. Not only that, but many have a growing feeling that Evangelism has become embarrassing for everyone involved… at best annoying people, and at worst colonizing them for their money, or land, or power.

We get into the habit of thinking our faith is just about ‘me and God.’ Which is usually a code word for a religion of ‘me.’ And from that perspective, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would ever invite anyone else to come and see anything at all. Religion of ‘me’ is pretty terrible. There’s lots of bickering, and anxiety, and fear. Religion of ‘me’ is in no condition to invite folks to come and see.

From that perspective, we’ve lost sight of the anointed One in our world. Among us stands one whom we do not know. The bad news is that we often fail to recognize Christ among us. But the good news is that we know where to look.

Come and see the words of God that promise forgiveness to all who believe. Come and see a place we gather around these beloved words of forgiveness, not as faith haves and faith have nots, but as people who all need their faith restored.

Come and see and hear and taste around a table where we are fed with certainty, that though all other questions may remain, we know that God loves us.

Come and see a church that is not just about ‘me and God’ but has been given courage to follow Jesus on marches for freedom, into dangerous places for the sake of the Gospel, and in the face of hate, speaking words of love alongside saints like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Come and see.

Come and see a community of believers who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit in baptism, marked with the cross of the Lamb of God. Who are not just the sum total of what they’ve done, or how good they think they’ve been, but who are who God says they are.

Come and see … and when you recognize Jesus, the one who saves your life not by being strong and not by being right, but by loving and forgiving you — you can’t help but to share it with those you know.

And your evangelism (which just means the Good News) will not be about annoying someone or controlling someone or being right. It will be a word of love spoken from one forgiven person to another.

Come and see … and Christ will be there.

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31.31–34 NRSV)

Sounds nice, right? God’s Word will be so apparent that Sunday School teachers and pastors will be unemployed!

Well, we still have teachers and preachers and confirmation classes, so what went wrong? This new covenant that God entered into with God’s people of faith was supposed to be different.

If we hear the words of God thru the prophet Jeremiah, it sounds like a Reformation is taking place. There is a change taking place. There is an old covenant. In fact, there are many old covenants. And in our infinite capacity for creativity, we humans have been able to destroy all of them. Like for example: God’s people were bound in captivity to the Egyptians. God brought us out of captivity, promised to sustain us, literally parted the waters, and a few days into it, we were complaining. Why didn’t we stay in Egypt? God delivered food. We complained. God provided helpful rules for life together. We broke all ten. God did everything for us, doted on us like a spouse according to the Bible. God looked forward to anniversaries to celebrate our relationship. Put a roof over our heads. Celebrated with us. Mourned with us. So of course, we built ridiculous statues of cows and thanked them instead.

This is a one-sided relationship. Good time for a Reformation. Essentially, this was the same issue in Martin Luther’s time. Except then, God’s people had built so many rules and traditions and techniques for receiving God’s love that we had pretty much written God out of the equation. Who needs God when we can manufacture our own grace?

Time for some honesty.

“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8.31–36 NRSV)

Ah, how the truth sets us free. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that truth is easy. It’s especially difficult with our short memories. If you wonder why our relationship with God is so one sided, listen to God’s people tell Jesus that they have never been slaves to anyone. Even though it’s the central story of God’s people.

This is like in a relationship when you might say, but I always do the dishes! And you never bring me flowers! I always have to wait for you. And as soon as you say it, you know it’s a lie.

As in any good relationship, the truth is not the easy way out, but it’s the only way out. God’s truth for us is simple: we have not held up our end of the covenant. We cannot hold up our end of the covenant. We can’t save ourselves, we can’t save our relationship with God or with anyone else on our own. We can’t figure this one out with golden cow statues, more resources, or any other of lies we tell ourselves.

We’ve busted our end of the promise of God so many times, that there’s really only one thing left. God.

And Jeremiah tells us that God is doing something new. That God’s Word will be so close to us that it would be part of us. That it would be written on our hearts. That it would go from being an external thing to an internal thing. Could Jeremiah know that God would take that more literally that anyone previously imagined? That God’s Word would come so close to us that it would wear our skin, eat food with us, suffer with us?

That God’s Word would not only be written on our hearts, but would have a human heart that would pull ours into God’s?

For the past year, young people in Confirmation class have been pondering the heart of God and God’s promises by studying the scriptures and searching their own hearts for the Reformation that is going on there.

…

They’ll declare their faith — not once and for all, but with God’s help, they’ll declare the faith that comes from always being made new. From getting to the heart of our relationship with God which is God. From admitting that we can’t do it on our own. And it’s fitting that they’ll affirm this faith on Reformation Sunday.

…

Reformation church is always being made new. Continually being made new. Reformation isn’t a gold star that Lutherans can wear on their caps to pray, “I thank you Lord, that I am not like those other Christians who couldn’t find their way out of the dark ages of the church.”

In fact, if we think about the Lutheran Reformation as something that “we” Lutherans did to finally get things back on track…we’ve missed the entire point. Reformation does not belong to Lutherans. Reformation belongs to God. It’s God’s constant work in us. On us. In Christ we are a new Creation.

God is not done with us yet. God has taken care of the Covenant thing. God even took care of our part. So remember all that creativity we used in breaking our end? Now it’s time to set that loose on the world. The faith in which were baptized and confirmed — the faith that we live in, and the faith that we die in — our faith in God sets us free.

Free to live among God’s faithful people. Free to feast of God’s word and meal at the table. Free to share with others the good news that we’ve received. Free to serve and to love like Jesus, even when it’s so hard. Free to strive for peace and justice in all the earth.

Free to live in an honest relationship with God and our neighbors, where we admit when we need Reformation, and celebrate when God unleashes it upon us and the world.

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

A young person asked me the other night why we never really talk about the bible book of Revelation much in church. Ouch…good question. I think part of the reason is that it uses symbols and images and metaphors that often need to be unpacked before they make much sense to modern readers. [Just like a comic book…] But in today’s text from Revelation, there is an image that most people understand. A battle. [maybe that’s why Martin Luther used it for A Mighty Fortress…]

For this battle in Revelation, the stage has been set between the (real!) forces of good and evil. This is the real showdown between goodness in the world, and those things that make you say “life isn’t fair.” This is vindication time for those questions that you’ve been asking since you were 6 years old…why do bad things happen to good people? This is health versus sickness. This is love versus hate; honesty vs. cheating. Finally, God is taking evil to task for all this stuff.

And when this battle is fought, it’s good to be on God’s side, because God has a team of angels. Of course most of us think of angels as sweet holy things with wings…possibly playing a harp. Some angels… do not play the harp. In the Bible, the word angel simply means ‘messenger.’ And there are are all kinds of messengers.

In Revelation, God’s got a message for Satan, the leader of all that is evil, and that message is a beat down. God’s sent his warrior angels to deliver this beat down to Satan. And the general among these warriors is the great messenger Michael, for whom this day is named, who leads these angel/messengers against the forces of the Devil.

And the announcer takes the microphone in heaven and proclaims the entrance of our commander and chief God whose forces have prevailed in battle, and who has succeeded in throwing down this enemy that stood against us:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his chosen One,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.

We’ve won. Evil has lost. And the announcer introduces on center stage the secret weapon X that won the day. The answer to our prayers. The hero:

An innocent and bloody lamb.

The announcer reveals that the battle was won not with the strength of arms, but with the sacrifice of a trusting little lamb. The warriors prevailed not with better weapons of destruction, but simply the words of testimony. The story of Jesus Christ.

This story of a boy born basically homeless to an unmarried couple. This young man who was called by some ‘savior’…but who not only didn’t help his people rise up against their oppressors, but who didn’t even save himself from the Roman crucifixion.

This is our hero?

Do you remember what happened when Jesus sent out the seventy disciples into the nearby towns and villages?

In the 10th chapter of Luke, Jesus sends out 70 messengers in his name. They are to go out, in pairs, and they are to announce that God’s Kingdom is near, that goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate. And they are to do this without money, without even sandals, without bags, without home field advantage. And just in case you thought Jesus was sugar coating this ridiculous appointment, he told them, “I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.” God’s unlikely angels.

These little lambs are sent out in the midst of wolves and they’re not even carrying pepper spray. This battle seems to be lost before it even begins — the disciples have some real enemies. In their efforts to share the Good News, the disciples that Jesus sends out encounter many demons. Even though most folks don’t really believe there are demons running around — it’s hard to deny the chaos and pain that gets stirred up in life. Everyone knows there’s some nasty stuff out there. If we’re honest, we know there is some nasty stuff in here, too.

But, here’s the report from Luke, Chapter 10:

“The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” [Jesus] said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”” (Luke 10.17–20 NRSV)

No weapons. No armor. No real training. No liability insurance. But even so, the disciples were successful. Sick people were healed. Tired people found hope. Lonely people found each other. All because of one little word. The disciples told Jesus excitedly, “in your name,” the demons submit to us. All it took was a passing of the peace. The peace of Christ be with you.

Every time that I sing the great hymn “A Mighty Fortress,” roughly the same pattern happens. The organ begins booming and I think, this is kind of a heavy handed tune. And the first stanza begins with ‘a mighty fortress’ and swords and shields and why does it have to be so violent? Why is it always war? But then, as the song goes on, I get wrapped up in its confident language. We sing that God wins and that God even fights right by our side. And just as I feel pretty good about this hymn, I get to the final verse, and I have to confess that about 50% of the time, I cannot finish. I get choked up. Do you know what it says? Speaking about God’s foes, it says:

Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse

Surely you’ve had some goods, some thing taken from you. Probably you know someone who has lost a spouse. Maybe you have. Perhaps you know someone who has lost a child. When that hymn forces me to think about losing the most important people in my life, I cannot deny that the power of death is real in this world. If you’ve ever lost sleep worrying about someone you love, then you know it, too.

No weapon can stop it… no strength of ours can match its might. What weapon can you use against old age? What armor can you wear when your trust has been abused by someone else?

But the one little word. Just a word of peace from that one little lamb. Jesus, who fights with forgiveness. Who repays evil with love. Jesus has chosen you because you are exactly the kind of disciple that he likes: flawed, unprepared, and a little banged up. And Jesus sends you out, not because you have the greatest weapons, but because you have him. You have the one little word. And it has you. With the peace of Christ you’ll subdue the demons you encounter in your life and the world around you.

Though life be wrenched away,
They cannot win the day.
The Kingdom’s ours forever!

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

Tell the truth: did you ever find yourself in an office by yourself, and since no one was looking, took your seat in the boss’s chair? Just to imagine what it would feel like?

Especially in corporate settings, the desks are designed to intimidate. You can almost feel the power of sitting in that chair just by sitting in it.

We have all these cultural signals to tell us who’s in charge, or how to behave in particular settings. In an office, the big desk and high chair is a pretty good symbol that its owner is in charge and that everyone must listen.

If you go against the mostly unwritten cultural rules we live by…things can get awkward.

Can’t think of any? Imagine yourself in a public restroom. Guys, if you’re standing at one of, say, ten urinals, and another comes up and uses the one right next to you, and starts asking you for restaurant recommendations…that’s against the rules, right?

Students, if you’re in a small huddle of friends giggling about something someone did in the last class and the new kid steps into the middle of your circle and asks what your favorite book is…awkward!

There’s nothing wrong with asking for restaurant recommendations, or someone’s favorite book, but who, what, when, where, and how it happens…that makes a big difference in our comfort level.

Well this was even more true in Jesus’ time. Something as simple as a dinner with friends was loaded with all kinds of cultural rules and regulations and chances to make a social fool of yourself. And the risk was much greater. Your reputation was everything then, so if you messed up your social status, you risked losing your friends and even family.

… And into this delicate system of honor and shame and subtle cultural maneuvering walks Jesus.

“On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”” (Luke 14.1, 7–14 NRSV)

Just getting invited to this meal with the Pharisees is kind of a big deal. It means that this leader of the Pharisees is willing to consider Jesus as being at the same social level. Jesus should feel lucky to even get an invitation. Everything that happens at this meal is supposed to affirm his social identity. So naturally, everyone there is watching him very closely.

Now, put this in a bit of context…in the Gospel of Luke, which we’ve been reading from recently, Jesus has been making what the Middle Schoolers would call some sick burns on the religious leaders of his day. Just last week, we read that Jesus made a fool of the synagogue leaders in front of the crowd. You wonder what the Pharisees could be thinking, except…we know that Jesus was a bad guest of the synagogue, but maybe, if we invite him into this tricky situation on our home turf, maybe, we can put him in his place.

Ha, not likely. From the moment that Jesus arrives at this meal, he is just about the worst guest possible.

Just like he did in the synagogue, he uses scripture to criticize the actions of the Pharisees. The Pharisees who are supposed to be the experts of following scripture. Like he did in the synagogue, Jesus heals someone — even though it was the sabbath — and then dares the Pharisees to challenge him. As if that wasn’t rude, Jesus then paraphrases from an old Proverbs verse which says,

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” (Proverbs 25.6–7 NRSV)

Of course, Jesus would say this right as the guests were choosing their seats. Awkward. Why would anyone invite Jesus to anything?

“Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest,
and turn this meal into a mess.”

Now, we know Jesus by now. And we know that Jesus is up to something. We know that he didn’t give his entire life and being just so we could remember these clever pieces of wisdom like, “it’s better to be moved up, than to be moved down.” So what is Jesus doing by ruining this dinner party?

When get another hint when Jesus really goes off the rails and starts talking about who should have been invited: not the social regulars, but the social outcasts. The poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, he says. This would have been outrageous.

Jesus is talking about how things are in the Kingdom of God.

It’s a bit different than the world of the Pharisees, and our world, too. Remember those social cues? Everybody has their place. The king’s chair, or the boss’s chair is the best seat in the house, and everyone has their own spot, too. The trick in the way the world works is find your seat not too high and not too low, but just where you belong. You know, like Goldilocks. And if you’re lucky, and the person above you makes a mistake…maybe you can move up a seat.

Not so in the Kingdom of God. As Jesus describes it, everything is reversed. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. The meek shall inherit the earth. God’s not about the ‘most.’ God is with the ‘least.’

Now at first, this sounds like bad news. The Pharisees sure heard it this way. When it comes to our own lives, most of us want to be in the boss’s seat. I want to be in control. I want to sit behind the big desk of my life. I want to be in charge. You see, I’ve sneaked into the office, and taken the boss’s chair when I thought no one was looking. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

It does until you and I realize that the best seat, the boss’s chair, the in-charge seat, is not really the best seat. The longer we spend pretending we belong in the boss’s chair, the more likely we are to push the boss — God — out of our lives.

And that’s when we realize that what Jesus is saying is the best news we could ever hear. We are not in charge. God is in charge.

And the most amazing thing…the hardest thing to believe…the thing that makes Christians Christians…is that Jesus tells us, and then shows us on the cross, that the best seat is the lowest. It’s with the least of these.

With the poor, the pathetic, the pushed out people. Even people like you and me.

If you want to find Jesus, look among the least of these. Look in the last place you’d expect to find the boss.

[cartoon I like:]

Why is it that whenever I ask Jesus to come into my life he always brings his friends?

Though we will find it awkward and out of our comfort zone, Jesus calls us into relationships with his friends. All of them. Until we realize that each of us, also, is among the least of these. And we, too, are his friends.

Maybe our prayer should be:

“Come, Lord Jesus, bring your guests,
and let us all as one be blessed.”

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

Have you ever heard of imposter syndrome? It’s this psychological phenomenon where a person feels like they don’t deserve the success that they have. That they’re in a position where people look up to them and depend on them, but that they’ve just managed to get there through luck or deceit. No matter how well they do or what good things others say about them…they feel like a fraud.

It’s not true, of course, that person isn’t any more of a fraud than anyone else. But the feeling is real.

I wonder if anyone has ever felt like that while sitting in worship. I wonder if any of the disciples felt like that while sitting before Jesus.

Jesus said to the disciples:

““Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”” (Luke 12.32–40 NRSV)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We are often tempted to think about it the other way. If there’s a problem in where we want to be in our faith journey…in our process of spiritual renewal…we often try to fix it from the heart side of the equation. Ex. “I’ve just got to get my heart in the right place.” “My heart just wasn’t in it.”

…and sometimes that works. You know, a moving offertory piece, or mind-opening bible study, or (heaven forbid) an excellent sermon might reawaken something in us that brings us back and gives us new faith.

But, what about when that doesn’t happen? You’re certainly not alone if you admit to sometimes ‘going through the motions.’ When your heart just isn’t connecting, when your faith life or prayer life or spiritual journey or whatever you want to call it is just not what you want it to be.

If you’re at all like me and most of the people I know, there are times when your heart just isn’t into church. One response would be to blame the church. Maybe you’re right, who knows? I’ll try not to take it personally. But much, much worse: another response would be to blame your heart. To think: I’m just not good enough. I haven’t done enough. I’m just not really a church-type of person.

I talk with people all the time […]

That line of thinking often ends up being something like this: God’s gifts and promises are for people who are better than me. I’m just not sure if I really belong.

The thing is, though, this is how our Gospel lesson begins today:

Don’t worry friends. It’s God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

It’s been God’s plan all along for you to have a faithful and full life. Here we were making it about us, and whether we could have enough heart to win God’s favor. No! It’s because God wants to give us the kingdom.

You see, who we are, and whether we’re good enough — that’s already been taken care of. God claimed you in the waters of Baptism, you already got the keys to the Kingdom!

And once you realize that: everything that comes after sounds different. Once you know that the Kingdom is already yours, when Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give to those in need,” that no longer sounds like a burden or something to feel guilty about — it’s part of living in the Kingdom that we can do because God has freed us to be able to do it. God has freed us from needing to being measured by how much we have. We are free to do God’s will.

In fact, all of God’s commands change from a list of reasons to feel bad about ourselves, to the steps to living into the kingdom that we’ve already been promised.

So remember this?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Now that we know that the kingdom is ours, we can hear this the right way. This is no longer an indictment of our greed. This is just some good advice. Do you want your heart to be in the right place?, it says, Put a little treasure in the right place.

Feel like your heart’s not in it? Put a little more of yourself into the right place and see if your heart follows. This is why Worship and Participation are practices of Spiritual Renewal. God is giving us a way to a new heart, a new mind, to being a new creation.

By worshiping, by participating in the fellowship of believers, we are putting ourselves, putting our treasures into God’s hands…and our hearts will follow.

Worship is not for professionals or for those who’ve got everything figured out. There will be times when you come to worship and your heart is not in it. There will be times when you get to the end of the Lord’s Prayer before you even knew what you were saying. Those are the times that I thank God for the person next to me, who was praying on my behalf. We worship because we are being molded into God’s people. We are living into the promise that God has made to us.

As we come together as one body…
As we listen to God’s Word…
As we share the peace with one another, no matter who they are…
As we pray for people near and far…
As we join for a simple meal in which no one goes hungry…
… it’s like we’re acting as if the Kingdom of God has already begun.

And while we’re acting as if … the Kingdom of God has begun. Don’t be afraid. It is God’s good pleasure to give it to us.

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

2013-08-04 11th Sunday after Pentecost C

“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

• and thus begins a long and current tradition of people trying to use God as an excuse for greed.
• and Jesus is smart, because sometimes the way we do this is subtle.

Someone from the crowd comes to Jesus and calls him teacher, master. O Wise One. Decider of what’s right. Please tell my brother to do the right thing, which is to share the inheritance with the family. And the family, of course, you know, happens to include me.

OK, so maybe it’s not so subtle… you gotta give him points for trying. Jesus, of course, sees right through this. Jesus does not give a teaching on the proper way to divide a family inheritance. Jesus says,

Man, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?

And if this was a couple hundred years later, the man would have said, well…it says right here in the Apostle’s Creed, “…he will come again to judge the living and the dead…”

And Jesus would say, “No, No,… who said that you could use my name to obtain wealth?”

Jesus knows what this is about, and it’s not the proper administration of a family estate. Jesus does use this as a teachable moment, though, and he gets to the heart of the matter with the use of a parable.

You know how sometimes Jesus uses parables that are so cryptic that you need a decoder ring to figure out who’s who and what the point is after all?

This is not one of those parables! Jesus tells us right from the start what the issue is here. The issue is greed. Jesus says, “beware of all kinds of greed. Your life is so much more than ‘what you have.’”

Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

We’ve done this before…do you hear a theme going on here? …I, I, I, … my, my, my…

The rich man is so intent on being the only person in the world that matters that it’s downright comical. I mean, even when he has discussions: they’re with himself!

His total independence, though, is really only in his imagination. The bible text reminds us, it was the land that produced abundantly. We can safely assume that the rich man himself didn’t harvest all these crops. There were surely others who helped in this endeavor. Yet, the man can only think of himself. There’s no room for God or anyone else in his plans for himself.

Now…we can be honest. When you hear these plans of the rich man (replace his current savings with a larger savings so that he can have better financial security) do you think, “Hey, that guy sounds like a wise person.”? I do. Is it so bad to have a nest egg? Should I stop funding my 401K?

Remember: this is not a parable about investment advice. Greed is the name of the game…that’s what Jesus says is the problem here. At least for the purposes of this parable, the problem is not being wealthy, owning land, or saving for the future…the problem is greed. Greed is the relationship that the rich man has with his possessions. They are only his. He has built them as a fortress around his soul. They have drawn his attention so inwardly, that they’ve replaced God in his life.

And when the truth finally hits him — when he finally sees his soul in the hands of God — I imagine he realized just how poor he was.

So, let’s just say that the truth has finally hit you. Maybe your life isn’t being demanded of you this very night, but maybe you have that moment of clarity to see your soul, your life in God’s hands.

You might notice, as I do, that some of the stupid stuff that I worry about — that I pay time and energy and concern into, are actually more important in my imagination, that they are in reality.

You might notice, as I do, the successes and failures that I consider to be my own are actually shared.

You might notice that you’ve been investing the least in the things that are most important.

So, what’s the opposite of greed? Is it just being poor? Is it making unwise or foolish financial decisions? Is Jesus saying we should just not care about money, or property, or work?

Actually, the parable ends with the same word that it begins with: rich. It started with the rich man, but it ends with ‘being rich towards God.’

Don’t let those words pass by without noticing them. Being rich towards God. Can you believe Jesus calls us to do that? It’s not just paying our dues. It’s not ‘paying the God tax’ so that we can stay in good graces.

God entrusts us with gifts & asks us to be rich in their use.

Being rich towards God involves our attitude and use of the blessings that we have already been given. It means constantly repenting our tendency to think in terms of me, me, me. And to turn towards our neighbors and think of us, us, us, as God’s Kingdom.

This is why our call to faithfulness says Tithe Thankfully. It’s not a painful requirement of being a good person. It’s a grateful response. We’ll talk more specifically in the coming weeks about what this word tithing means — how you can do it, and how you can do it thankfully. For now, in its most basic sense, tithing means to give back to God what we have been entrusted with: our selves, our time, and our possessions. All of which belong to God.

It’s the response you have from the perspective of the rich man in the parable when his life was demanded of him.

I read an anecdote this week of a seasoned pastor who said, “I have heard many different regrets expressed by people nearing the end of life, but there is one regret I have never heard expressed. I have never heard anyone say, ‘I wish I hadn’t given so much away. I wish I had kept more for myself.’”

Here’s the deal: you don’t have to wait for the end of your life to have that perspective. You don’t have to wait til the last moment to realize that your whole life and being have been in God’s hands all along.

That perspective is for now. That’s faith.

“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

• is Jesus mean? well; he’s certainly not nice here
• but we know he’s compassionate
  • just a couple weeks ago we heard that Jesus felt compassion for the widow who had lost her Son

So what’s going on in this story? Where has Jesus been, and where is he going?

This is the pivotal moment. Jesus has a mission, and he knows (and we know) it ends in Jerusalem. […]

The mission, though, is a little less clear to the disciples and followers of Jesus. They know now that he has ‘turned his face’ to Jerusalem. This, by the way, is a characteristic of the old school prophets of the Old Testament. When a prophet’s face was turned against a city, it usually meant that they were about to call down fire and brimstone from the sky.

Which is probably why the disciples James and John quickly jump to fire and brimstone as the solution to some unhelpful Samaritans.

Did you catch that part of the story? […]

But Jesus rebukes them. Although it would make for a great Summer blockbuster…this is not how Jesus does things. But as we listen to how Jesus responds to the disciples and these followers, we’re stating to get a picture of what following Jesus is really like.

First of all, it ain’t easy: along the way, a certain person said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you anywhere!” I don’t know if he was expecting a high five, or what, but Jesus responds:

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

Following Jesus is not about seeing the world. It’s not about obtaining a higher standard of living. In some cases, following Jesus may lead to homelessness. Following Jesus ain’t easy.

Then, Jesus himself invites someone else to follow. This follower seems ready, he answers the call, but just stipulates, “Please, Lord, let me go bury my father, and then I’ll be on board.” I don’t know if he was expecting condolences, or what, but Jesus responds:

Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

Following Jesus takes 100% commitment.

Someone else said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” I don’t know if he was expecting a “World’s Greatest Son” mug, or what, but Jesus responds:

No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Following Jesus is an all encompassing calling that takes all of you — body, mind, and soul; it can’t be done half way. Even, it seems, to the detriment of one’s compassion and love for family.

Since we know Jesus is compassionate, and we know that he isn’t anti-family, what are we supposed to learn from these interactions? Can following Jesus… can being a disciple really have to be so drastic?

Well, let me ask you: have you ever had to make an all-or-nothing decision? I’m guessing you have. [family story…] When you take a job that requires you and maybe your family across the country…you can’t do that half way, can you?

Marriage? You can’t be married part-time.

And now, I can say for sure: you can’t have half of a baby.

Somethings, you can do half-heartedly. You can be a Heat fan last week, and a Marlins fan this week, but Jesus seems to be saying you can’t be half of a disciple. Why not?

I want you to hear closely what each of these potential followers of Jesus actually says when invited to follow:

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

“First, let me go bury my father.”

“Let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

Ahhh. The first and most common mistake in following Jesus is making it all about me. Because I will give up when I get sick of having no place to lay my head; I will get stuck worrying about the dead instead of the living. I will drive that plow right into a tree, because I can’t keep from looking back. When discipleship puts me first, it’s frustrating and futile.

But the Good News is that discipleship is not about me putting me first, or you putting you first, but about us putting God first. It might sound like a simple change, but it makes all the difference.

One of the tools that Pastor Weitzel provided to us for our process of Spiritual Renewal is an essay called Does our language follow our prayer? In that essay, and in person, he has challenged us to think about the way we talk about these pivotal moments in our lives. What is the difference in asking just, “what do you think?” or “what’s your opinion,” and “how is God leading us,” and “what is God’s will?”

This is not just semantics.

This is discipleship in our own lives, e.g. “how is God calling me to make decisions about my work,” or “what is God’s will in my marriage?”

And it’s also discipleship in our lives together as church, “what is God calling us to do as the Body of Christ?” and “what is God’s will for our mission and ministry in this place?”

I know you can’t go back, but I wonder, what would have been Jesus’ response if the followers has said, “Yes, I’ll follow you, and how would you have me grieve the loss of my father.” “Yes, I’ll follow you, and what is your will for my family?”

Those are the questions of disciples. Those are questions of followers who know the mission of Jesus. Those are questions that put God first.

Putting God first means that it doesn’t matter that I don’t have the strength to give 100%. That I cannot completely let go of my own stubbornness. It doesn’t matter that I’m afraid to make the drastic leap of faith. Because the Lord that we follow … the God that we put first is the One with his face set on Jerusalem. And when he gets there, the leader we follow gives it all, 100%, for us.

In the pivotal moments — and every moment — of our lives: God calls us to follow and God leads us with 100% love, all encompassing grace, and drastic mercy.

Where is God leading us together next?

5th Sunday after Pentecost 2013

Gospel of Luke

“Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:26–39 NRSV)

TT

Life does not sound good for the man with the demons. He lives in the tombs, the cemetery, because there is no where else for him to go. Back at the town, with his people, he gets locked in chains.

But I don’t want to judge the other folks too unfairly: they have probably locked him up for his own good.

Unfortunately, the demoniac seems to have a lose-lose situation in front of him: he can either be tied up by people who are scared, or he can be wandering scared by himself.

• demons are the real deal; they recognize Jesus
• when they are released the drive those poor pigs to their death
• nasty demons

The role that the townspeople play here is interesting. Everyone knows that it’s the man with the demons who has the problem, right? Right? Well, of course, they had a good reason to be afraid of the demons…and they really probably chained him up for his own good as well as their own. But still, I wonder if they’re not missing something…

We end up with an ironic turn of events…listen to this part of the passage after the man is healed:

Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

Healing >>> Fear?

Even though the folks had a good reason to be scared. And even though they chained the poor man up for his own good…they are still bound at the end of this story. They are still fearful, and they chase Jesus away.

Their fear is what intrigues me.

Out of every emotion…I think I would have picked anger. This is a small little place, and having a whole herd of pigs get cursed and drowned has to leave a dent in their whole economy.

Sure, be angry about the pigs…but real, miraculous healing? Why be afraid? Could it be…that they were afraid because they had gotten used to their own demons?

Could it be that the townspeople were scared of Jesus because they each had their own pet demons that bound them together? Demons that weren’t as obvious as in the man whom Jesus healed…but demons that slowly reduced their lives to a certain comfortable dull fear?

TW

Have any of your own demons like that?

Ever held a grudge? You know, someone or some group did something bad to me. For some reason, sometimes, it’s hard to get over that, right? There’s no question that I could have found the strength to forgive this person or this group for what they’ve done. But I don’t. I just kind of nurse this little piece of self-righteousness.

That, my friends, is a little demon that I have grown a little too comfortable with.

Or maybe your demons are more that those of the man that Jesus healed. Maybe they’ve left you with a painful choice between two bad options: fall in with a bunch of folks that are a little afraid, and who hold you back; or be resigned to life without others, but also a little lonely.

? Ever felt like your choices were getting stuck with people who disappoint you, or being disappointed on your own?

People, can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em, am I right? It’s like a stand-up routine, or one of my favorite lines from Seinfeld. “I will never understand people.” “They’re the worst.”

And if you’ve ever had your freedom stepped on my a group of people — even if they were well meaning — you probably know what Jerry is talking about.

The hardest thing to admit, though, is that we’re all bound to something. Whether we’re held captive by the jerks around us, or by our own little demons, we are captive.

We’re fooling ourselves if we think we aren’t captivated by the constant barrage of advertisements, or limited by the economy and debt, or peer pressured by what others think about us, or addicted to a substance, or tortured by our own psychology. And as we confess each time we worship: we are in bondage to sin, and we cannot free ourselves.

It would be so much easier if we could just slide these demons under the rug, wouldn’t it?

But at the end of this story from the Gospel…these townspeople … the ‘normal’ people still find themselves afraid (and missing a bunch of pigs.)

But the man who cried out… the man whom Jesus healed: he is free.

GT

He is freed from both needing to be bound by his neighbors, and from the despair of his own demons. He won’t be living in the cemetery anymore.

It’s important that the man does not have to heal himself. He does not even have to put his best foot forward: remember, when Jesus confronts him, he’s speaking with the demons, not the man himself. Yet, Jesus has mercy on him, and allows the person who really exists to come out and be free.

When the possibility for change and healing presents itself, this man who was outcast, who was stuck between a rock and a hard place, is given a new option. A new mission: to be free and to know God.

GW

The good news for us is that when God is involved, there is always the possibility for change and renewal. Whatever demons — whatever things bind you — God can heal them.

That possibility and openness to renewal has a name: it’s Repentance.

Repentance opens up mercy and grace. It’s a chance for a new option, not the rock nor the hard place, but it’s the God option. It’s a freedom from the demons big or small, terrifying or comfortable that inhabit our lives.

There is a lot of fear in this Gospel story, and there is a lot of fear in our lives. The man with the demons has fear… those around us suffering terrible loss and violence know fear… the people around the man with the demons have fear… we have fear for those are different from us…who have threatened to hurt us…who have hurt us… in the Gospel text, even the demons themselves are afraid!

But when these demons are confronted, when our sin comes before God, then the person that God created is allowed to thrive: the fear is gone.

The only thing left to do is to proclaim what God has done. It’s the whole pattern of baptism. Martin Luther described baptism as a daily washing of our sins, a daily dying to the old selves that get bound in fear and guilt, and a daily rising to life. If it were up to us, we’d spend all our time afraid in the cemetery, too. But God puts an end to every fear and failure to our name, and invites us to proclaim this to everyone who will listen:

“Do not be afraid. Return to the Lord.”

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2
TEXTS: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10; 12:13-15, Psalm 32, Galatians 2:15-21 (First Reading), Luke 7:36-8:3 (Preaching text)
THEME: Love is not another tool in the tool belt. It is a radically different way of being: Christ lives in us. Forgiven, we are free to love.

Let’s add our reading from Galatians to the list of nice scripture passages that Christians like to hear but hardly ever actually believe. It starts out easy enough for most people nowadays to get: If you’ve read much of Paul’s writing in the NT, then you already kinda know his shtick…Yes, the Jews have the law, but following the law is ultimately not what gets you into a right relationship with God; it’s God’s grace that does that.

Ok, that’s easy enough to believe because a) it’s kind of a simplification of Paul’s argument, and b) because we’re not Jews.

But even if you gloss over this part…what happens when you just pause at verses 19—20.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.

How often do we go about our business with this reality in mind: that we have been crucified with Christ; that our old selves die, and that Christ lives in us?

I imagine we’re a little more comfortable with this when it’s just words on a page.

In the same way, our Renewal theme for the day is really great to talk about. Loving and serving others is a hallmark of every church. We talk about it every time we worship. We write it in mission statements. We teach it to our kids. If we had to choose one word to describe ourselves to the world, it would be love.

But what does it actually look like in real life? Do we really believe in it?

Fortunately, God is sensitive to our needs for real life examples, and so we have Jesus.

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.

I love it when the real life examples have to do with food. And anytime you have a meal, you have all these cultural norms and expectations and codes that into play. You can see a hint: it says Jesus took his place at the table. In the cultural rules of the Pharisee, Jesus was on the same social level and could eat at the cool kids table.

And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.

Well, so much for rules, because Jesus just broke like 14 of them. And just in case you weren’t sure, the Gospel text makes sure that you know that Jesus didn’t just bump into this person deemed unclean. This person very intimately interacted with Jesus, to the surprise and disgust of the other guests.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.”

Well…the Pharisee is not wrong here. And remember, although we like to pick on the Pharisees (especially around Holy Week) … the Pharisees were not bad people, or perverters of God’s truth. The Pharisees were leaders of the religion. They also knew about Deuteronomy which says love God and love your neighbor. And yet, you can see where it starts to go wrong. Because for all of the codes and rules and teachings and norms that Simon followed, he was not loving his neighbor.

Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Jesus is being crafty here. You see, Simon just got busted. We don’t know whether Simon grumbled a little too loud or whether Jesus just read his mind, but either way, Simon gets schooled by Jesus.

• Simon has holier than thou attitude; prejudiced
• Jesus subtracts that part of the equation […]
• Helps Simon put himself into the situation a little differently

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

And now that Jesus has asked Simon to think about a hypothetical situation a little differently, now he asks Simon to think about real life a little differently; to put himself in the situation of the woman whom he had dismissed. Jesus asks Simon to walk a mile in her shoes.

And from that perspective, Simon (and maybe we too) can see how real love and service happens in this world. It is courageous. It crosses boundaries. It can be uncomfortable. It is not about the giver, but the one being loved and served.

At Simon’s table, it wasn’t teaching that showed love; it wasn’t a code about hospitality which loved and served the neighbor. There was a code of hospitality [Simon should have ..], but Simon (like all of us at times) just apparently just neglected it.

And more: even if Jesus had followed the ‘code of hospitality’ he still wouldn’t have loved and served this woman who had the nerve to show up.

It is not code or convention or religion which is doing the love and service here. Not in the case of Simon, and not in the case of the woman. It is something else.

Jesus tells us.

Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

See, something different happens. Jesus is no longer talking to Simon, the Pharisee. Jesus is no longer talking about the woman. Jesus is talking to the woman.

Up to this point, this woman has just functioned as a set piece in this story, but Jesus breaks through, as if he goes off the script to look right at this unnamed, silent person and says, “You are forgiven. Your faith has saved you.”

For her, for Simon, for us: it is no longer our past we defines us. It is no longer our own accomplishments or own failures. Our own strengths and weaknesses which make us who we really are. We have been crucified with Christ, we have been forgiven. It is Christ who lives in us.

But just when you thought the Gospel was over…

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.”

• What happens to those whose sins are forgiven?
  • Love and Service
  • When Jesus breaks into your life; when Jesus forgives and heals you; when Christ lives in you everything changes
  • If you doubt the importance of these former nobodies… (At least two of) These women end up as the first witnesses to the resurrection. These women literally followed Jesus to the grave.

Yes, I fail at trusting God to provide at all times. Yes, I still feebly try to do things my way. I’m guessing you do too — every once in a while. But. I also belong to collection of people who, like me, have been forgiven much. Who can’t help but follow this God who forgives us. It’s a collection of people so intentionally put together by God that we call it the Body of Christ. And together, we can say that we believe it is no longer we who love and serve others, but it is Christ who lives in us.