On the Way to Wonder

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

¹Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. ²Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
 ⁸But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. ¹³But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
 ^15a-cThen he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”

Psalm: Psalm 111

 ¹Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
  in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
 ²Great are your works, O Lord,
  pondered by all who delight in them.
 ³Majesty and splendor mark your deeds,
  and your righteousness endures forever.
 ⁴You cause your wonders to be remembered;
  you are gracious and full of compassion.
 ⁵You give food to those who fear you,
  remembering forever your covenant.
 ⁶You have shown your people the power of your works
  in giving them the lands of the nations.
 ⁷The works of your hands are faithfulness and justice;
  all of your precepts are sure.
 ⁸They stand fast forever and ever,
  because they are done in truth and equity.
 ⁹You sent redemption to your people and commanded your covenant     forever; holy and awesome is your name.
 ¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
  all who practice this have a good understanding. God’s praise          endures forever.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, ⁹for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. ¹¹The saying is sure:
 If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
 ¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him;
 if we deny him, he will also deny us;
 ¹³if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
 for he cannot deny himself.

 ¹⁴Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Today we talk about borders.  I found on the Internet statistics about people coming to the United States.  Refugees to the USA in 2021 came from Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. Afghanastan is not included. Which group do you think has the most people fleeing?  Share with your neighbor.

Answer:

 (“The top 5 countries of origin for recent refugees coming to the U.S.?

#5: Ukraine (7% of refugees), #4: Burma (7.5% of refugees), #3: Sudan (8.5% of refugees), #2: Syria (23% of refugees),#1: Democratic Republic of the Congo (25% of refugees)The Afghans who recently evacuated to the U.S. aren’t classified as refugees because most don’t have permanent status.”)

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON:  The Borderlands

In our text today, Jesus is on the move.  He is on his way south to Jerusalem with his disciples…and us.  To get from Galilee to Jerusalem, they must pass through Samaria.  During Pentecost we talk about life in the borderlands, that space between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven, or how those two worlds overlap and impact our lives.  Luke is taking us on a journey through this borderland time in our lives.  We live between worlds and like the ten lepers, we have an incurable disease, sin.  Our only hope is to cry for mercy from God.  The appropriate response is praise and thanksgiving.

“Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee”

         Borderlands are interesting places.  We think of the southern border between Mexico and the United States.  Refugees from all over the world flee to borders, hoping for a future they know is not possible in their homes. Last Saturday, after the hurricane here in Florida, I went from visiting my husband at the nursing home to Walmart for food.  I walked in and the whole fresh vegetable section was void of food!  Empty!  No milk.  No eggs.  Shelves were stripped bare and boxes were stacked around for restocking.   We were not hit directly by the hurricane but we were in a borderland impacted by the anxiety of that unknown.  I next went to the gas station where prices had dropped from $3.29 per gallon to $3.03.  I was not on empty but under a half tank.  I entered to find all the nozzles covered with plastic bags.  My debit card was of no avail.  I am in a borderland.  Resources are impacted.  My ability to function is impacted.  Sunday I returned to visit my husband who has Parkinsons only to meet the nurse who had the phone in her hand to call me to tell me that he had fallen.  Not hurt but definitely humbled.  Perhaps your borderland is not a hurricane or the impact of disease that leaves you compromised.  Maybe you live in the mortgage shadow of owning but not quite.  Perhaps you have most of that college degree done but the job market is dicey.  Borderlands are not just geographical between Galilee and Judah or ethnic between Samaritans and Jews.  We know this journey and need to open our ears this morning.  Luke is not talking about the line in the sand between Hades and Abraham’s Bosom.  He is now talking about those areas in our life where our feet straddle two worlds. We today walk in borderlands with Jesus!

         Jesus was going through.  Please note that Jesus was not just riding through in his 4WD jeep like a tourist with a camera around his neck to record his impressions of humanity.  Incarnation was not about observation, it was about traveling through.   I think we often suspect that God is up in the heavens caring about the major disasters and troubles in our world and that he has little empathy with our dilemma. How many times does the evil one whisper in our ear that our concern is so tiny compared to the issues of the universe that we best not bother God with it?  We forget what a powerful tool prayer is in the borderlands. 

         Borderlands are also similar to what we call “thin spaces.”  These are places where the spiritual can cross over into the physical and we have spiritual experiences.  These thin places or borderlands are permeable.  Interactions can take place in these places like between the lepers and Jesus.  We forget that the Holy Spirit is walking through our day, right beside us, not off in the heavenlies. 

         Jesus went through but he also entered a village.  He did not avoid people, the Samaritans.  He did not stick to the bypass or detour to go around.  I wonder how many times we think of prayer and faith as ways to go around the messes of life.  Last week our text said that with the faith of a mustard seed we can tell a mulberry tree to be planted in the ocean.  We are tempted to hear that faith resolves discomfort.  Our commercials convince us that if we take the right pill, use the right goop, see the right doctor, go to the right school or vote for the right politicians then we will return to glory and life will be comfortable.  I see no promise like that in the Bible.  Jesus walked with the disciples in the borderlands and through villages with all their problems.  Jesus walks with us today.

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

         Sure enough, in the towns of life we meet the ugliness of life.  Ten lepers approach Jesus but stand at a distance and cry, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Lepers were social outcasts with no social capital and no “right to be heard.”  We may not admit we have leprosy but perhaps we can identify with those moments of despair when we feel worthless and undeserving of whatever goodies this life is refusing us.  We sometimes call it a “moment of truth.”  What we are doing is not going to get us where we want to go.  That line in the sand just seems to keep moving out of reach.  Not all prayers are like that but when we are in the borderlands of life, that sense of struggling between two worlds impacts us.  For our ten men, it was leprosy that defined their limitations.  But other factors make us desperate too.  We stand at a distance and cry “Jesus.”

         The men cry out, “Jesus, Master.”  Hmmmm.  I suspect we are more comfortable with titles like “father,” “savior,” or “Lord.”  These men name the reality with no sugar coating or hint of relationship. There is a level of honesty in this interaction that does not sound like a formal prayer said at bedtime or mealtime.  This is a heart to heart with the God of the universe between nobodies, outcasts and their creator.  There is an approachability and transparency here that does not sound like an angry judge condemning his creation but a God who is open to relationship.

         The men did not ask for healing but mercy.  Mercy is defined on the Internet dictionary as “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.”  I suspect that often when we pray, we have decided just how God ought to answer.  These men leave the solution in Jesus’ hands.  They don’t ask for healing but for mercy.  This story is interesting also because Jesus tells the men to go to the priest as required by the law and as they are on the way, they are healed.  What!  Before the miracle occurred, the men started their journey and obeyed Jesus.  Borderlands work to grow our faith.

         We are told to forgive before the other has asked for forgiveness only because God has forgiven us.  We are told to turn the other cheek.  We are told to love our enemy.  We are told to tithe before we know we have enough money to make it through the month.  Moses stepped into the Red Sea and then it parted.  These men started to the priest and then were healed.  Friends, we are to live out our Christianity because Jesus said so, while we still have leprosy, in the midst of the borderland before we reach Jerusalem.  Calling on God’s compassion and forgiveness because he has the power, we don’t, is always a powerful prayer.  Today we pray, “Lord, have mercy on our world and on our lives!”  Did I hear an “amen!”? 

“Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

         The Jewish law from the Old Testament required that anyone with a skin disease must go to the priests who decided if they were contagious and needed to quarantine.  In the same way, the law required a return to the priests to be declared clean, cured.  Jesus tells them to do what the law required, return to the priests.  It was on the journey to the priests that the men were healed. The declaration of the priest would free these men from the geographic isolation but it would also return then to society. 

         Luther in his small catechism called this forgiveness, the Office of Keys and Confession. Catholics go to “confession” and a priest assigns a certain number of repentant acts.  Luther would say that we can go to any fellow Christian and unburden the issues weighing our hearts down.  We have the ability to tell another their sin is forgiven.  I suspect this is a forgotten aspect of modern Christianity.  We have the power to forgive or retain sin.  We pray this in the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday – forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  At the opening of our service we have a time of confession and the pastor says, “As an appointed minister of the church, I declare unto you the full forgiveness of your sins.”  At communion we kneel at the altar and receive forgiveness.  I suspect we often breeze by this but those are powerful and true words that we need to hear because we live in the borderlands between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth.

         Perhaps we need to do a skin test today like when we go to our annual dermatology inspection.  Do we have a spot of leprosy that needs to be frozen?  But perhaps more seriously we need to scan our memory banks to ask if we are holding someone else’s sin against them and denying them forgiveness.  As the ten men started the journey to the priest, they were lepers seeking mercy.  They did not get healed and then go to the priest.  They first asked Jesus for mercy, obeyed and were healed enroute. Is there a sickness you need to deal with today?  Jesus is the source of mercy!

“your faith has made you well”

         Luke does not end the story here.  Ten men were healed as they went but only one returned to fall at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving.  It is indeed surprising that the man was a Samaritan but I don’t think that is the point to focus on.  God works outside our boxes.  But maybe because this Samaritan was outside the religious system, he had eyes to see.  Ten men were healed but this man was declared “well” or “whole” in some translations.  To me this man went from calling Jesus “Master” to calling him “Lord.”  He asked for mercy because of his disease and not only was he healed but he was made whole as he praised God.  He had not gone to the priest yet to be declared clean but he had seen past the law the priest represented to the giver of grace, Jesus.

         So where are we today?  We are all journeying in the borderlands between the kingdoms of heaven and earth, struggling with the diseases that plague each of us, that make us stand at a distance, separated from God and each other.  All of us are in need of mercy from God, the Master and Creator, and from each other.  We all need to step out in faith to obey Jesus’ commands for dealing with our situations.  As we help each other see and praise the hand of God on our journey, we are made well.

Let the people of God say, “Amen” Let it be so Lord!

We want to be whole, Lord!

 

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

¹The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

 ²O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
  and you will not listen?
 Or cry to you “Violence!”
  and you will not save?
 ³Why do you make me see wrongdoing
  and look at trouble?
 Destruction and violence are before me;
  strife and contention arise.
 ⁴So the law becomes slack
  and justice never prevails.
 The wicked surround the righteous—
  therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

 ^2:1I will stand at my watchpost,
  and station myself on the rampart;
 I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
  and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
 ²Then the Lord answered me and said:
 Write the vision;
  make it plain on tablets,
  so that a runner may read it.
 ³For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
  it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
 If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
  it will surely come, it will not delay.
 ⁴Look at the proud!
  Their spirit is not right in them,
  but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm: Psalm 37:1-9

 ¹Do not be provoked by evildoers;
  do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
 ²For they shall soon wither like the grass,
  and like the green grass fade away.
 ³Put your trust in the Lord and do good;
  dwell in the land and find safe pasture.
 ⁴Take delight in the Lord,
  who shall give you your heart’s desire.
 ⁵Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in the Lord,
  and see what God will do.
 ⁶The Lord will make your vindication as clear as the light
  and the justice of your case like the noonday sun.
 ⁷Be still before the Lord and wait patiently.
  Do not be provoked by the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
 ⁸Refrain from anger, leave rage alone;
  do not be provoked; it leads only to evil.
 ⁹For evildoers shall be cut off,
  but those who hope in the Lord shall possess the land.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
 ²To Timothy, my beloved child:
  Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

 ³I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. ⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
 ⁸Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, ⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, ¹²and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. ¹³Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

calls his disciples to adopt the attitude of servants whose actions are responses to their identity rather than works seeking reward.

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
 ⁷“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

CHILDREN’S SERMON

         I love the story of a little child who spent a lot of time making a boat.  With great pride the boat was set a float in the river.  To the child’s dismay the boat floated away and disappeared.  One day the child saw the boat sitting in the window of a thrift store.  The child immediately ran for his piggy bank and returned and redeemed his beloved creation.  We are God’s beloved creation.  Turn to your neighbor and say, “You are God’s beloved creation!”

Let us pray:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Our text opens with a request from the disciples to Jesus. “Increase our faith!”  Now where did that request come from?  When I think of requests made of Jesus I think of the disciples asking to be taught to pray probably because they saw the effects of prayer in Jesus’ life.  I think of James and John asking to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand when he comes into his glory.  Probably because they were listening to the parables about the coming kingdom and wanted to be there in the leadership.  I think of the multitudes coming with their sick and broken family and friends.  I think of the father who goes to Jesus after the Mount of Transfiguration for his son, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”  Luke is now shifting from focusing on the parables about the Kingdom of God.  Last week in our text, Jesus drew a “line in the sand.”  There may be gates in the kingdom of this world that we try to work our way through but once we die there is a chasm between Lazarus and the rich man, between those in the bosom of Abraham and those in Hades and that chasm cannot be crossed.  The disciples plea, “Increase our faith!”  They do not want to end up with the rich man in Hades.  Nor do we.

It’s not a matter of size!

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,…”

         The kingdom of this world asks if we want small, medium, or large.  Do we want to supersize or a combo meal?  A house on an acre of land obviously is more valuable than a shack on the wrong side of town.  We believe there should not be areas of poverty in the United States.  We hear the news of protests and bills and know in our gut it is true.  To “downsize” is a sign of aging and signifies loss somewhere in the depths of our soul.  TV evangelists encourage us to lay our hand on the TV while they pray and just believe.  If we just have faith the size of a mustard seed then we could pray in a miracle and step across that line in the sand.  But reality does not match the promise.  We pray, the miracle does not happen and we doubt that our faith is the right size.

         Not only are we convinced our faith is inadequate, but we are tempted to believe that the people up front have better faith and talents so we abdicate and don’t even try to pray.  We begin to believe we are those of little faith and become grasshoppers in our own eyes.  The kingdom of this world convinces us that the talented, the highly educated, the politically powerful are the movers and shakers of reality.  We could return our country to its former glory if only we…. You name it and armies march for it.  And for sure we do not have the goodies of life we deserve because the other country is selfish, colonialist, invading, more powerful. Not only is our faith too small, the other guys faith is enormous.

         The verbiage about size is very toxic and corrosive.  It has been twisted and corrupted!  Jesus did not say that with more faith we could accomplish more and be happier getting our wants fulfilled!  Only the tiniest of faith works miracles.  Why?  Because it is not our faith that works the miracle but God’s power.  Faith is like the key fob that turns on the engine of the car.  The size is not the issue.  We carry the fob in our pocket or heart and it activates the engine in the car.  Our faith communicates with God but does not control God.   The key does not tell the car where to go.  The example has flaws but challenges us to question if we are looking at our faith or at God’s power and wisdom.  We may not get what we want when we pray but we will always get God’s best.

         Paul said it this way in Hebrews 11  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. …”  Faith is trusting that God is listening and acting on the concerns of my heart even if I do not see the mulberry bush uprooted and planted in the sea.

It’s not a matter of reward!

^“9Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?” 

         Jesus then gives an example of a slave coming in from field-work.  The master does not reward him by telling him to sit and rest so the master can serve the slave.  The slave washes, puts on the apron and serves the master.  The worker is a slave! God does not owe us because we believe in him and our blessings are not rewards for our faith.  Many truly believe we have the right to freedom, liberty, clean water, pampers, schooling, a garage with two cars and a chicken in the pot.  Blessings from God come from God as love, not as rewards for good works by us. 

         “Slave” is a word our whole culture, the kingdom of this world, rebels against.  We prefer to see ourselves as a “child of God” and not as a slave.  Using that analogy, though, I can testify that I did not change diapers, I did not pay college bills, and I did not give Christmas gifts because my children had earned clean diapers, college, or gifts as a reward for good behavior.  Faith does not guarantee a life without trouble.  Bad things happen to good people.  Hebrews 11 tells of all the heroes and martyrs of the faith for whom “the world was not worthy.”  Again, the request to increase our faith is not what motivates us to obey God.  We accept that God is God and his way is right or we struggle.  More faith does not make more obedience.  We understand that he is God and doing what is best for us or we struggle in our relationship with him.  I do not think greater faith erases times of doubt and struggle. We believe, we trust, we have faith or we do not.  Faith puts God first, not our own desires.

It’s a matter of grace and love

‘We are worthless slaves;

we have done only what we ought to have done!’ 

         Faith does not come in many sizes.  It is not something we increase.  As we get older we have more examples to draw on as we trust God in faith but we do not necessarily have more faith.  Secondly, answers to faith are not rewards for our good deeds and our service to God.  The rich man did not go to Hades because of his wealth nor did Lazarus go to the bosom of Abraham because of his poverty.  So where does that leave us?  We are the creatures and God is our creator and redeemer.  We fall on our face and marvel at his grace.  In the final analysis we confess that we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ our Lord or come to him but the Holy Spirit has called us through the Gospel, enlightened us and led us because of his grace and love.

         We look back over the parables about the kingdom of heaven.  We are invited to the banquet by a God who desires all to be saved and enter his banquet hall.  He does not just prepare for the “right people.” He will send his servants to the highways and byways to make sure his hall is full.  He knows the seat of honor we deserve.  He gives the banquet not to impress us and win our love but because he is love.  He is also like a shepherd who goes looking for his lost sheep, realizing we cannot find our way home by ourselves.   He rescues us and puts us on his shoulders and carries us to his kingdom.  As sheep in his flock, we are not sent back to earth to earn our wings or to do good deeds as someone else’s request.  We are secure in his love.  The trick is not to have more faith but to keep our eyes and hearts and ears focused on God who hears our prayers and acts for our best.

         In the children’s sermon, the child redeemed the boat, not because of the great faith of the boat but because of the child’s love for his creation.  We are save by grace and that not of ourselves.  It is a gift of God and not of works.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”

 

First Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7

 ^1aAlas for those who are at ease in Zion,
  and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,

 ⁴Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
  and lounge on their couches,
 and eat lambs from the flock,
  and calves from the stall;
 ⁵who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
  and like David improvise on instruments of music;
 ⁶who drink wine from bowls,
  and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
  but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
 ⁷Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
  and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.

Psalm: Psalm 146

 ¹Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!
 ²I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
  I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
 ³Put not your trust in rulers,
  in mortals in whom there is no help.
 ⁴When they breathe their last, they return to earth,
  and in that day their thoughts perish. 
 ⁵Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help,
  whose hope is in the Lord their God;
 ⁶who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;
  who keeps promises forever;
 ⁷who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who    hunger.  The Lord sets the captive free.
 ⁸The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
 ⁹The Lord cares for the stranger; the Lord sustains the orphan and  widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked.
 ¹⁰The Lord shall reign forever,
  your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah! 

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19

⁶Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; ⁷for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; ⁸but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. ⁹But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

 ¹¹But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
 ¹⁷As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, ¹⁹thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

 [Jesus said:] ¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ ²⁷He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house—²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ ³⁰He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  We have an idiom that we use today, “I drew a line in the sand.”  What do you think it means?

         Historically in the States it goes back to Col. Travis at the Alamo after receiving a letter from Santa Anna leading the Mexican charge, demanding his surrender.  The Alamo was surrounded and outnumbered.  Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword and asked for people who were willing to fight to the death to cross the line and stand with him.  All, including Jim Bowie, Davie Crocket and Daniel Boone fought to the death.  Jesus draws some lines today that differentiate the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven.

Let us pray.  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Sermon

Life is Unfair

“There was a rich man.”  This opening to a parable is beginning to sound uncomfortably familiar.  Last week the rich man, was calling his manager to account for squandering the master’s wealth.  This week the rich man is enjoying life, eating, and dressed royally.  Perhaps none of us would say we are “rich” but likewise we are not in the war zones, neither struggling with the refugees at our border nor sitting in the hospital waiting for a bed to open or medicines to arrive.  Most of us lead a comfortable, perhaps even “blessed life.”  This man is unnamed.  I suspect he is “every man” for we are all better off that someone else

         Meanwhile Lazarus sits at the gate, on the other side of the line, covered with sores, begging, eating the scraps of life, visited by the dogs that licked his sores.  There seems to be a gate, a line in the sand that divides the haves from the have-nots in the kingdom of this world.  The parable does not give context that assigns blame or responsibility.  Rather it is a statement about the facts of life.  Some are born into wealth and talent while others are born into poverty and struggle.  Some battle with addictions that seem biologically based while others deal with challenges that are socially or geographically based.  Luke is just giving the facts, nothing but the facts.  Some have and some don’t.  In the kingdom of this world there are lines that divide and label people.

         Perhaps at this point we start to squirm.  We don’t want to leave today feeling guilty for our blessings.  The problems are so big and we are so small.  We hear on the news daily about the inequities of life.  But this parable does not teach that the haves are to change the lives of the have-nots.  Jesus did not praise the folks last week who had their debts lightened rather he praised the shrewdness of the manager.  These parables are teaching us about the kingdom of heaven and how different it is from the kingdom of this world.  The kingdoms of this world are made up of haves and have-nots.  There are many dividing lines we trip over all the time.  There are the rich and the poor.  There are gates that divide people.  Not everyone is invited to the banquet hall.  The rich do not go out to the highways and byways to invite anyone and everyone to their banquets.  On the other hand, a God who wants all to be saved and enter his kingdom characterizes the kingdom of God.  Christ died for all sin, not just the sins of the rich and chosen.

         In this world, we convince ourselves that if we work hard enough, amass enough of the stuff of life; we can ooch our way to the “good side” of the gate, the good side of the line.  We believe our works will somehow change reality.  We believe the gates will open and close and are somehow moveable.  I heard news interviews this week lamenting.  People in the United States have the right to clean water and there is a crisis to provide mothers with pampers.  If only we can get to the others side of the gate, life will be like the rich man.  But the reality is that life is unfair. The parable continues. We all face another reality.

We all Die

         Both men die.  Death is not picky.  Wealth does not save the rich man from death.  Now there is no longer a negotiable line.  There is a chasm.  I do note that angels to the bosom of Abraham carry Lazarus.  After death there is not a gate between our two men but a chasm.  The rich man is in Hades seemingly without someone to appeal to and Lazarus is in the Bosom of Abraham.  No explanation is given. The parable does not say the rich man is being punished for his meanness or that Lazarus dies because of his poverty. This fact of death faces all of us and once we pass, the chasm between the two kingdoms cannot not be bridged.  It is “a line in the sand.” We no longer have a swinging gate but a chasm that cannot be crossed.

          The rich man calls to Abraham, even calls him “father.”  Perhaps he thinks his ethnicity, his church membership, his status in society has made him privileged.  He still sees that he is deserving of God’s blessings.  He is not humble.  He does not cry about the injustice of his situation.  He does not object to Lazarus being with Abraham but wants Lazarus to leave his blessing to comfort him.  He wants Abraham to treat Lazarus like a slave.

Abraham refuses.

         In the beloved Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, the hero George Bailey played by Jimmy Stewart misplaces money and is about to commit suicide when an angel second class, Clarence Odbody, is offered the opportunity to earn his wings if he can stop the suicide.  A darling movie, beloved by many, but Biblical truth does not support it.  We are humans and we do not become angels.  God does not send us back to earth to earn our wings, to earn our place in eternity.  Abraham does not see Lazarus as a servant to do tasks.

The Ripple Affect

Many would say not all parts of a parable have a message for us but I find it interesting that our rich man now thinks of his brothers who are still alive and asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to witness to his brothers.  He somehow thinks the line between life and death can be crossed. He somehow knows that his life has touched others.  He reasons that surely if someone rises from the dead then his brothers will believe.  This prefigures the resurrection of Christ.  Christ does not rise to die again but rises to eternal life.  The chasm is a divide for eternity that is not crossable.   The parable now points to us today.  We have the testimony of Christ’s death and resurrection and yet many still work to get through the worldly gates to the better life even as we realize that all die.

         So why does the parable mention Moses and the prophets? We today have the Old Testament, in fact the whole Bible.  We have those testimonies. Yet many sing the song, “I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow, I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum, please hold me excused, I cannot come.”  I think we have come to the crux of the parable worth a thought.

         When we think of Moses, we think of the “law,” the Ten Commandments.  We say the law drives us to the Gospel for we cannot keep the law perfectly and work ourselves to God.  We can’t be good enough to get to the other side of the line.  We hope our goodness is enough because after all, we don’t kill, steal or cheat.  We hope in ourselves.  Many cannot humble themselves and admit they need God’s gift, Jesus.  We need grace.  We must accept God’s grace or we will keep trying to get through a gate that keeps moving away from us.  The cross breaches the gap between God and his creation.   We are saved hot because we are good and share our wealth but because he is good and shares his mercy. No amount of stories about ghosts or people risen from the dead will touch our hearts if we have not come to the point of wanting to do it God’s way.  The kingdom of this world is different from the kingdom of heaven.

         Let us close our sermon today with the last part of the Psalm for today:

³Put not your trust in rulers,
  in mortals in whom there is no help.
 ⁴When they breathe their last, they return to earth,
  and in that day their thoughts perish. 
 ⁵Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help,
  whose hope is in the Lord their God;
 ⁶who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;
  who keeps promises forever;
 ⁷who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who    hunger.  The Lord sets the captive free.
 ⁸The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
 ⁹The Lord cares for the stranger; the Lord sustains the orphan and  widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked.
 ¹⁰The Lord shall reign forever,
  your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah! 

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Amos 8:4-7

 ⁴Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
  and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
 ⁵saying, “When will the new moon be over
  so that we may sell grain;
 and the sabbath,
  so that we may offer wheat for sale?
 We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
  and practice deceit with false balances,
 ⁶buying the poor for silver
  and the needy for a pair of sandals,
  and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”
 ⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
 Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Psalm: Psalm 113

 ¹Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the Lord;
  praise the name of the Lord.
 ²Let the name of the Lord be blessed,
  from this time forth forevermore.
 ³From the rising of the sun to its going down
  let the name of the Lord be praised.
 ⁴The Lord is high above all nations;
  God’s glory above the heavens.
 ⁵Who is like the Lord our God,
  who sits enthroned on high,
 ⁶but stoops to behold
  the heavens and the earth?
 ⁷The Lord takes up the weak out of the dust
  and lifts up the poor from the ashes,
 ⁸enthroning them with the rulers,
  with the rulers of the people.
 ⁹The Lord makes the woman of a childless house
  to be a joyful mother of children. Hallelujah!

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-7

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. ³This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For
 there is one God;
  there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
 Christ Jesus, himself human,
  ⁶who gave himself a ransom for all
—this was attested at the right time.⁷For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

¹Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ²So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
 ¹⁰“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON;  Shrewd

Today’s parable is about a shrewd manager who got himself in trouble. As I tried to think of stories that we know about shrewdness, I remembered the story of two shrewd men told by Hans Christian Anderson.  Once upon a time there was an emperor who loved his clothes more than anything.  Two men came to him and claimed they could weave material so beautiful and so colorful the emperor would be admired by all.  AND the beauty of the material could only be seen by his honest and trustworthy people, not by fools.  The two men started weaving, and measuring, and cutting, and sewing.  The emperor’s officials came in but could not see the material but dared not confess so to the emperor who would think them foolish.  When finished, the emperor organized a great parade to show off his outfit.  As he swaggered along, a child watching shouted out, “The Emperor has no clothes on!”

         Turn to your neighbor and share what you think was so shrewd about the two men’s scheme.

Let us pray.  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

CONTEXT

         Let’s get our context straight as we delve into this very interesting parable.  We are in Pentecost and reflecting on how our God who incarnated, died and rose, impacts our lives.  Do we hear these parables as old familiar history tales or are these parables impacting our lives as we make history? Luke is sharing a series of parables about the kingdom of heaven.  He is not just sharing fables like Aesop and making moral pronouncements.  Luke is reporting parables Jesus shared with his followers to teach them and us about the kingdom of heaven.  Are we listening?

         The kingdom of heaven is like being invited to a banquet at the king’s palace but we will be tempted to be distracted by family (a wife), possessions (a cow), and fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum.  We will be tempted to think we can put off till tomorrow our relationship with God.  “Please hold me excused, I cannot come.”  Jesus also advises us to wait on God to reveal our seat at the banquet table and not grab the best seats only to be embarrassed when others are given that seat.  Humility is the attitude to learn.  As we give banquets are we investing in a future when we will be repaid or just trying to impress others and pay back social debts?  Last week Jesus compared God to a good shepherd who goes after his sheep who are lost or like a woman searching for a lost coin.  We are invited, we are sought after, and we are rejoiced over when we turn to God.  Today we skip the parable of the prodigal son and turn to the following text that challenges us because it is counter intuitive.  I would suggest that our text today is a direct counter comparison to the preceding parables.

         A rich man hears rumors that his manager is misappropriating funds and so calls him to account.  Did your heart skip a beat at this picture?  Some groups of Christians picture meeting God as a court room scenario where the angry judge is accusing us of all our sins.  We are only saved because Jesus steps in and says he has paid the price on the cross.  Like the man in the parable we know our future is a bit unknown and potentially disastrous.  We cannot work.  We cannot work our way into God’s favor.  Our failures threaten unemployment and rejection. 

         The fear of unemployment is a fear we all know.  Having to regroup lives because of the pandemic is affecting many Americans today.  Having to regroup lives because of war is affecting many all over the world.  Having to regroup lives because of environment as in Pakistan’s floods or droughts or famine is the reality of many.  Having to regroup lives because of sickness touches my life.  We know the despair the manager in our story grappled with.  He is too old to work and too proud to beg.  It does not sound like he could turn to his wise investments, but was turning to “social” security, the security that comes from developing relationship with the social system at the time.   Friends, we know this man.  He is us.

         In direct contrast to this scene that is so familiar to us are the preceding parables picturing a God who invites us to a banquet regardless of our social class, regardless of our accomplishments, regardless of our ethnicity or language. Our sins need not be held against us.  The Shepherd goes out and looks for us if we are lost.  The woman lights a lamp to dispel darkness and sweeps away the cobwebs that hide us in a corner.  There was no sense of judgment last week.  We need not scramble to make friends who will stand up for us when we meet the judge.  Our social security is not with other people but with Jesus, God incarnate.

         Need I remind us of our confirmation verse:  Ephesians 2:8-9.  Let’s say it together.  “⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”  We are saved by grace, not works.  We are saved through faith, not by our works.  Salvation is a gift of God.

Shrewdness vs. Humility

         Knowing that he is being called to account by the master, creates a crisis for the manager.  He has a moment of truth.  He must make a “course correction.”  What he is doing is not getting him where he wants to go.  He develops a plan.  He cuts the debts of the tenants.  Perhaps he eliminated his share of the profit.  Often the manager, like the tax collector, would add a percentage to the cost and the extra went into his pocket.  The plan also makes the owner look forgiving and generous.  This guy was shrewd!

            ^“8And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” The world praises shrewdness, cleverness, education, power, wealth and talent.  Those are the values of this world.  In the parable of the banquet Jesus values humility.  The guests are told to be humble and allow the host to seat them.  The hosts of heaven are rejoicing over the lost sheep found, the lost coin found. They are not praising a shrewd sheep!  The kingdom of heaven does not value what the kingdom of earth values.

And so…

         We know the anxiety of being called to account for our actions, the doubts and fears that plague our thinking.  We know that someday we will all die and face the God of the universe.  Jesus’ parable of the banquet paints a very different picture than this parable.  Like the emperor, we want to look good and be considered worthy of eternity.  The world suggests that shrewdness and cleverness is the road to success.  If only we had clothes that made us appear wonderful, clothes that the world offers – clothes, houses, degrees, medicine or beauty products.  Unfortunately these earthly accomplishments are “invisible clothes” that wear out and fade and do not impress God.  Faithfulness and trustworthiness in little matters we are given tell the true story of how we might handle bigger tasks.

         Jesus advises us to “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.”  What is Jesus advising?  May I suggest that Jesus is advising us to use our wealth, that is not really ours but a gift from God, use our wealth to build God’s kingdom.  Creating spiritual relationships now with whatever wealth the Lord entrusts to us, creates eternal relationships that will greet us when we enter the banquet hall.  How we handle our trusts here on earth reflects our eternal values. The text ultimately challenges us to have a moment of truth about what kingdom we serve.     “¹³No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one         and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The kingdom of earth calls us to account on how we handle the talents we are entrusted with and threatens us with unemployment, rejection, if we have failed the standard.  God’s kingdom is ruled by grace and forgiveness based on relationship with the host, the owner, the God of the universe.  We need only accept his invitation. 

The kingdom of earth admires shrewdness and cleverly developed plans to protect ourselves and ours.  God’s kingdom, the kingdom of light, values using our wealth not for self-protection but for developing friendships that will last into eternity.  Jesus advises humility.

The kingdom of earth sees us as slaves to bosses who evaluate our worth by our faithfulness in small matters.  The kingdom of heaven sees us as “friends,” as “servants,” and as God’s sheep.

We cannot serve two masters.  We must choose between God and mammon.  Who do you serve today?

First Reading: Exodus 32:7-14

⁷The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; ⁸they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” ⁹The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. ¹⁰Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
 ¹¹But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” ¹⁴And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-10

 ¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
  in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
 ²Wash me through and through from my wickedness,
  and cleanse me from my sin.
 ³For I know my offenses,
  and my sin is ever before me.
 ⁴Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
  so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment. 
 ⁵Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness,
  a sinner from my mother’s womb.
 ⁶Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me,
  and would have me know wisdom deep within.
 ⁷Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
  wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.
 ⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
  that the body you have broken may rejoice.
 ⁹Hide your face from my sins,
  and blot out all my wickedness.
 ¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,
  and renew a right spirit within me. 

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

¹²I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, ¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

¹Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.] ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
 ³So he told them this parable: ⁴“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
 ⁸“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON

According to the Internet, “When asked which items they misplace at least once a week, the most common lost items (in order) is revealed as – TV remotes (45%), phones (33%), car & keys (28%), glasses (27%), shoes (24%) and wallets/purses (20%) Americans are spending 2.5 days a year looking for lost items.”  Turn to your neighbor and share which item you are most likely to misplace?  Where do you usually find it?

Let us pray, Lord, May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and Redeemer.

SERMON:   Lost and Found

Last week, Jesus was pretty blunt with us.  “Whoever,” and that includes you and me, wants to be his disciple must prioritize God over family, prioritize God’s values in how we carry our burdens, and we must count the cost as we set our hearts to fight with someone rather than forgive. Those were heavy words.  We don’t like the word “hate” and have trouble internalizing that truth.  In today’s text, that directly follows last week, Luke says that crowds of tax collectors and sinners are gathering around Jesus as he speaks.  I bet they know what it means to be hated!  That message hit home.  The Pharisees and teachers of the law are muttering.  They are struggling, perhaps convicted, by this series of parables and are uncomfortable with the people they are having to associate with to hear Jesus.  Hmmm.  Jesus continues today with two more parables.  Let’s ponder them.

Lost

Last week we talked about building towers or waging wars with others that we think are attacking us.  I proposed that the modern day term might be “defriending.”  We stop connection with others either willfully ignoring or willfully attacking. Today Jesus presents a different picture.  He is looking not through our eyes of being offended and so cutting off relationship but through God’s eyes.  Remember all are invited to the banquet.  Now he shares about a shepherd who has lost a sheep and a woman who has lost a coin.  We see that the connection between lover and beloved has broken down.   This is not a story of a shepherd who cut off communication with a disobedient sheep but a shepherd who is trying to get his sheep to respond but the phone lines seem to be down.  The sheep is lost, out of communication.

         We know the picture.  The sheep who has gone astray may be entangled in a bush so cannot respond when the shepherd calls it to follow.  The sheep may have fallen over a cliff as in that famous picture.  The sheep may be hurt and can’t walk.  It is not necessarily true that the sheep is trying to get lost but life happens! Connection is broken.

         I should like to add to this scenario with my insight from this week.  My husband went into a memory care facility because he needs more care than I am able to give.  I’m not trained as a nurse and he is, or was, 6 foot 6 inches.  He has Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia so standing up and sitting down is very difficult.  Doing it from a normal chair is impossible because he is so tall.  Walking from point A to point B, making his legs move smoothly is almost impossible.  They call it frozen gait.  He has forgotten how to use a cell phone so I cannot call in and he cannot call out nor does he know how to answer.  Communication as we have known it for 46 years has been broken.  The disease has disrupted the nerve communication between brain and body. 

         I wonder if sin is not like that.  I believe we struggle from birth because we are sinners, born disconnected from God.  The spiritual dopamine in our spiritual brain is not working right and so communication with the Good Shepherd is a challenge.  It may mean we have strayed due to our own willful stubbornness and have turned our back on the shepherd.  It may mean we are captives to addictions that blind us.  But it may mean we have a disease that disrupts communication with God.  We call it sin.

         I find comfort in this parable that the shepherd and the woman know whom theirs is.  The shepherd knows one sheep is missing even if the sheep does not know and the woman knows a coin is lost.  The burden of care lies in the heart of God.

Leave

Neither the shepherd nor the woman sigh and say “Ho hum, I’ll have to make due with what I have.”  The host of the banquet is not happy that all who were invited did not come but sent servants out to seek guests.  God invests in our salvation.  He is not passive.  He does not sit off in the sky and wait for us to work our way back to him or meditate our character into an acceptable shape to be admitted.  The Shepherd and the woman actively seek the lost.

         The word “leave” implies process to me and I find that comforting.  Often in testimonials, it feels to me like the person shares the moment when the light bulb turns on and they believe, “accept Jesus as their Savior.”  Some immediately turn from their “sin” and feel welcome in the arms of God.  We can picture the lamb on the shoulders of the shepherd.  But leaving can also be a process.  As we labor in prayer for someone we care about who seems lost, let us never cease praying and may we never doubt that God is seeking our loved one.  No one is beyond God’s power to find.  I have told you that I love the picture of a handshake.  In that mysterious relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep that can be pictured as a handshake, when we don’t remember who we are, when we are blinded by diseases like Alzheimer’s, when we are despairing and suicidal, when we have Down’s syndrome and don’t understand as many do…in all those situations that are so hard to grasp, God’s hand holds on to us in our darkness.

         Now for those of us who think we are the 99 who feel sometimes God has left us to be present with refugees caught in war, girls sold into human trafficking, people crying from jails…all those scenarios that we are sure God cares about more then us, I would suggest leaving does not mean abandoning.  The evil one loves to sit on our shoulder and whisper words of doubt that God is not in our neighborhood.  Evil loves to discourage us from prayer, from sharing our faith yet again, from singing hymns or turning on the radio or going for a walk.  We are not abandoned.  Jesus in the incarnation was visible and in a location but remember how he cured the Centurion’s servant from a distance?  God is not like us but the parable speaks of a Shepherd to comfort us that he knows where we are, when we suffer and he care about us and our loved ones.  He comes to us.

         Perhaps the question that we see in this text that we read during Pentecost is to ask if we are willing to leave the security of the flock to reach out to a “lost sheep.”  We are not the Good Shepherd but we are his servants responsible for caring for his sheep, even the lost ones!  Perhaps there is someone you could reach out to this week.

Lays it on his shoulders

God or the woman are aware when a lost connection has broken communiation and a sheep or a coin is lost.  They leave and begin searching for the lost.  Thirdly the Shepherd lays the sheep on his shoulder.  Having been lost, healing may take time.  Are we willing to lay the recovering on our shoulders and carry them until they are strong again?  As I get older I find I have less flex with the ups and downs of youth, the immature understanding of how faith works.  It all seems so logical to me because I have had years to grow in faith.  Tradition is such a good support when we are discouraged but it can also create walls as we expect others Christians, the young and the hurt, to live their faith in the same way we do.  Laying on the shoulders of Jesus is the process of discipleship, of growth, of learning to walk the walk and talk the talk.  When we are weak, we lean on Jesus!

         How broad are our shoulders today?  Again we must ask ourselves if we are willing to forgive the immaturity of those younger in faith or do we demand their faith look like ours?  It is a fair question.  I sometimes suspect that the popularity of media church, be that streaming or TV evangelists or zooming, which served us so well during the pandemic also helps the differently challenged, the old, and the insecure who feel inadequate to appear in our churches.   Our text challenges us to be aware of the woundedness of those returning from being lost.

Celebrate

The woman does not leave the lost coin in the dark corner or under the couch but picks it up, brushes it off, and calls her neighbors to rejoice with her.  The Shepherd returns the lost sheep to the flock and the angels rejoice.  Jesus concludes,  “¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  And so we come full circle.  Are we standing with the tax collectors and sinners rejoicing that we are welcome because we know our sin and it is ever before us and we know what it is like to be hated and lost or are we grumbling with the Pharisees and scribes, feeling forgotten and a bit miffed that Jesus is not patting us on the back for trying so hard to be faithful? 

         American misplace at least once a week,

• TV remotes (45%) – our connection with news and entertainment
• phones (33%) – our connection to family and friends
• car & keys (28%), – our connection with transport
• glasses (27%) – our connection to seeing clearly
• shoes (24%) – our connection with exercise and travel outside
• and wallets/purses (20%) – our connection with financial independence.

May we never loose our connection with the compassion for the lost, with the willingness to reach out and share, and with our tolerance of the immaturity of others as they heal and return to the flock.  We cannot see the angels rejoicing over the fruits of our efforts but they are.  May we follow the Good Shepherd and be good servants imitating him this week.  May we not be found muttering about the people God puts on our pathway!

The people of God said “Amen!”

First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

¹⁵See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. ¹⁶If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Psalm: Psalm 1

 ¹Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
  nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats ^| of the scornful!
 ²Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
  and they meditate on God’s teaching day and night.
 ³They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
  everything they do shall prosper.
 ⁴It is not so with the wicked;
  they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
 ⁵Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
  nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
 ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
  but the way of the wicked shall be destroyed.

Second Reading: Philemon 1-21

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
  To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, ²to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
 ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 ⁴When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God ⁵because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. ⁶I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. ⁷I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

 ⁸For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, ⁹yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. ¹⁰I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. ¹²I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. ¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. ¹⁵Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
 ¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33

Jesus speaks frankly about the costs of discipleship.

²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with [Jesus;] and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON: How many of you remember the lyrics to the chorus of this old youth song?

I cannot come,
I cannot come to the banquet,
Don’t trouble me now,
I have married a wife,
I have bought me a cow,
I have fields and commitments,
That cost a pretty sum,
Pray hold me excused
I cannot come.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Last week we stood with Jesus as guests at a meal in a prominent Pharisee’s home.  We were admonished by Jesus to be humble and not grab the best seats but wait for the host to seat us and exalt us.  The Pharisee hosting was questioned about his motives too.  Was he inviting people for what he would get in return, whom he might impress, or was he looking for whom he would be blessing.  Was the host willing also to wait until God rewarded him at God’s banquet?  Waiting for God is tough stuff!

         Following those verses Jesus tells another parable about a great banquet where again all are invited but those invited begin to make excuses.  They are preoccupied with a new wife, a new cow, and fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum so cannot accept the invitation to the banquet.  We sang that song about our excuses for not obeying God’s word.  The host is not defeated, though, and sends his servants to the highways and byways to invite people.  Again we understand the host to be God, the banquet is our welcome into his kingdom, and the guests are you and me.  Luke continues to focus on this theme of our invitation to a banquet.  All are invited BUT…

         Jesus expands on the parable in our text today and is quite blunt.  Jesus can see into our futures and he warns us that discipleship is not about health, wealth, and prosperity even though the banquet is.  He is not calling us to be successful members of the kingdom of this world.  He is calling us to a heavenly banquet that is in the future.  As followers of Christ we look at family, fame and forgiveness differently and it is a challenge that can only be met with faith.  Jesus concludes, ^{“ 33}So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”  Ouch. Let’s ponder this.

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother…

“Whoever.”  Some of us who had abusive, absent or horrible fathers might say, “No prob, Bob,” but for most of us this is a challenge.  Assumed family relationships offend me. I feel uncomfortable when in the presence of people who call me “sister Collins” as it feels like an invasion of privacy.  I have probably told the story of being in Kenya where first names are never used because names carry power, so sharing your name opens up the ability to be cursed.  I was “the wife of Collins,” or “teacher.”  Returning to the States and going to the bank where the teller not only called me by my first name but also shortened it to a nickname was mouth dropping and offensive.  Whom I include as “family” is a highly cultural and personal experience.  To hate family is not usually natural.

         Jesus tells us these parables about the banquet we are invited to but he also sees the journey we will go through to come to the eternal banquet.  We are going to be tempted to ask to be excused for “we have married us a wife.”  The importance of family is huge and can undermine our devotion to God.  We love to breeze past the genealogies in the Bible that define who was related to who because they mean nothing to us.  Jesus knew his followers would soon be dispersed all over the world and the definition of family would shift from biological to faith parameters. 

         Family knows us – our past and our present, those embarrassing moments, our failures, our weak points they can pressure.  Family implies a certain transparency that we usually do not find in churches.  We like to keep our public faces on when in public.  A modern day example that we can identify with – kinda – is how the refugees fled from Ukraine and Christians were challenged to broaden their definition of family and to include new members into their homes and deal with all the complications that brought.

         Faith not only challenges us to broaden our definition of father, mother, sister, or brother but it also challenges us about our priorities.  Jesus is telling us that we will be challenged to value faith over family.  Ouch.  Back in the first century that may have meant the difference between the arena and a small lie.  Today the temptation is still there to compromise our integrity for the sake of the security of our families.  Was there not a case recently where the mother cheated on the college application to get her child into the college she thought would give the child a better future?  Compromising faith for family challenges us daily.

         Today’s text addresses “whoever” to evaluate their priority of faith over family.  Do we hesitate to share our faith for fear of offending?  It could be we do not reach out to the “other” because we are not biologically or socially connected.  Do we “bend the truth” to help those we love?  These are serious questions Jesus asks you and me today!  Do we love God more than family and friends?  Will we stand up for God if family might be compromised?

²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me

            Here is another “whoever.”  The first “whoever” challenged our beliefs about family.  This “whoever” challenges the values that drive our life.  As far as we know, Simon of Cyrene was the only person who helped Jesus carry “the cross” and so we have to ponder what this phrase means.  The cross is mostly found on a necklace today!  Matthew 11:28-30 shares Jesus saying,

         ²⁸ ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy   burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn    from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for        your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Let’s take our two pointer fingers and form a cross infront of ourselves for a moment.  Perhaps you have heard the explanation of the cross as the horizontal beam representing our relationships with each other, with those we encounter daily.  The vertical, up and down, post represents our relationship with God, with the divine.  The cross of Christ makes holy all our relationships with fellow people and our relationship with God.  It is the crossroad where the holy meets the ordinary in our lives.

         The phrase does not end with the “carry your cross,” though.  We all have burdens, crosses, we carry for others as we seek to honor the divine as we know it.  All religions deal with moral and social dynamics.  But Jesus continues to say, “and follow me.”  It is not just about being spiritual about being religious.  It is not that all roads lead to God.  This challenge asks me if I am living in the light of what I know about Jesus.  It challenges me to know Jesus better that I might be his disciple better – not to earn salvation because Christ did that on the cross, but because I believe Jesus teaches us the best way to live.  Loving God and loving others fulfills the Golden Rule but also will challenges me on all fronts.  This challenge goes beyond who I associate with as family to what are the values that will govern my actions.

         So stop for a moment and reflect on some of the top values and priorities in your personal life.  Do we want to be famous for who we are or for living a life that demonstrates loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves?  Perhaps there are some course corrections we are challenged to make today.

         Lastly Jesus says,

²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower,

does not first sit down and estimate the cost,

to see whether he has enough to complete it? 

Jesus confronts us about our relationships and who we call “family.”  He asks us about our values and what drives our lives.  Now he comes to the arena of conflict.  He zeroes in on the offenses that often consume our attention.  How do we deal with people who offend us?  Jesus presents two possibilities, building towers to protect ourselves or like a king actively go to war against our offender.  Jesus advises, “Count the cost!” 

         We may never build a tower or wage a war, but we have other ways we defend ourselves and attack others.  I think a popular technique today is to “defriend” someone on social media.  We use to call it a “cut off.”  We stop communication on any platform so the person cannot enter our castle.  When we cannot hear their words we think we are protecting ourselves from being hurt.  Words are like arrows shot into our lives.  I would say “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words often hurt me.”

         Keeping gossip alive is a real danger as we pass “news” about what we heard in the market place of life.  As we age and are less occupied with childcare or vocations and our social world narrows, it is easy to fall into sharing hearsay.  It is easy to ruminate on who said what, old grievances, and perceived slights.  One way we can defend ourselves is with silence or sharing the story with another hoping that person will affirm our worth.

Jesus does not say to not protect ourselves from enemies.  Some people or situations are toxic.  Alcoholics do not just go into a bar because they will go to AA afterwards.  The setting and the people will lead to a problem.  Playing with fire, we can be burned.  Jesus does say to count the cost. 

         For me this raises the question of forgiveness. As we evaluate the potential threat of hurt from another because we have experienced them as “the enemy,” it seems to me we are faced with a choice.  The Christian method of dealing with offense is through forgiveness, through turning the other cheek, or through kindness.  We do have options for how we decide to deal with offenses.  We have alternatives.  Counting the cost of carrying a grudge that cuts others out of our lives will cost as we look down the road of life.  Others like our children are watching and will be impacted as we walk through an offense.  We do face problems daily.  We feel wronged. We defend ourselves and unfortunately we attack others.  Conflict has a price and we need to evaluate in light of the Gospel whenever we are involved in conflict.

³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

Jesus concludes that we must give up our possessions.  What do we “possess”?  What do we hold on to?  We hold on to family, to our relationships that so much inform us about who we are.  We hold on to our choices, the burdens we carry when our lives with others cross the values we are taught by God.  And we possess our ability to forgive and forget rather than wage war with others when others offend us.  Discipleship, following Jesus, will challenge us to trust God.  It is not easy but as we are invited to the banquet we do not want to be found guilty of refusing because “we have married a wife, we have bought a new cow, because of fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum.” May we not ask to be excused but be willing to hold God as most important.  I look forward to meeting you at that banquet.  The cost of admission is faith!

And the people of God said, “Amen!”

First Reading: Proverbs 25:6-7

 ⁶Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
  or stand in the place of the great;
 ⁷for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
  than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

Psalm: Psalm 112

 ¹Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the Lord
  and have great delight in God’s commandments!
 ²Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
  the generation of the upright will be blessed.
 ³Wealth and riches will be in their house,
  and their righteousness will last forever.
 ⁴Light shines in the darkness for the upright;
  the righteous are merciful and full ^| of compassion.
 ⁵It is good for them to be generous in lending
  and to manage their affairs with justice.
 ⁶For they will never be shaken;
  the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance.
 ⁷They will not be afraid of any evil rumors;
  their heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
 ⁸Their heart is established and will not shrink,
  until they see their desire upon their enemies.
 ⁹They have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness stands fast          forever; they will hold up their head with honor.
 ¹⁰The wicked will see it and be angry; they will gnash their teeth   and pine away; the desires of the wicked will perish.

Second Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

¹Let mutual love continue. ²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. ⁴Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. ⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” ⁶So we can say with confidence,
 “The Lord is my helper;
  I will not be afraid.
 What can anyone do to me?”
 ⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ¹⁵Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. ¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14

¹On 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.
 ⁷When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸“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; ⁹and 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. ¹⁰But 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. ¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
 ¹²He 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. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Cinderella

Here is a short summary of one of our favorite children’s tales, Cinderella.  A wicked stepmother and her two jealous daughters treat Cinderella, the daughter of the missing father as a servant. They make sure Cinderella will not be able to attend the royal ball. But Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears and magically transforms Cinderella with a gown, coach and glass slippers. Cinderella enchants the handsome Prince Charming at the ball, but there is a catch.  At midnight she returns to her everyday life.  We all cheer when the Prince finds Cinderella by using the glass slipper.  They live happy ever after.  Oh sigh.  Ah if only life were like that.

         So which character grabs your imagination today, the step-mother, the step-sisters, Cinderella, the fairy Godmother, or Prince Charming?  Share with your neighbor which one you like.

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

We love the story of Cinderella and keep reinventing it in various film versions.  The basic plot is common to stories in many cultures around the world.  In fact today our text tells of a parable told by Jesus at a meal on the Sabbath at a Pharisee’s home.  Jesus notices the guests trying to get the best seats.  Not too dissimilar to being invited to the Prince’s ball.

         Jesus tells a parable about another banquet but interestingly he describes the banquet in the second person, “you,” and invites even us to identify directly with the characters in the parable.  Not only are we personally invited into this parable, into this banquet, but Jesus is setting the parable in a greater discussion he is having with followers about the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven.  During Pentecost we are asking ourselves how the truths of Jesus impact our lives so a  “you” invite is appropriate.  We are invited to the banquet in the Kingdom of Heaven.   I would suggest today that the story of Cinderella pulls the truth of the parable Jesus shares into our current life stories that in a way we understand.  Who do you identify with in the Cinderella story?

         The film Ever After sets Cinderella in France and gives a bit of context to the stepmother.  Cinderella’s father is never mentioned possibly because he died after remarrying, leaving Cinderella to be raised by her stepmother. Some of us know the disappointment of marriage that did not turn out as we anticipated, of relationship dreams never fulfilled, of carrying burdens of stepchildren.  It is so easy to scapegoat, to take out our disappointment on those around us.  Life after the death, disappearance of a spouse or loss of a father is hard.  Perhaps we choose the stepmother because we understand her pain and frustration.

         Some of us are like the stepsisters, number two, second class citizens.  We feel like the extra baggage that came as the result of another’s choice.  We too want to be invited to a banquet where we might feel important and seen.  We want someone to replace our lost birthfather.  We want a handsome prince.  We dream of the day when we will be valued and can sit at a place of honor at a banquet.

         Cinderella could represent a person enslaved by the injustices of life.  I’m sure refugees, victims of war, maybe the poor are tempted to sit by the fire and sigh about their life and the hopelessness of it.  Perhaps today you identify as someone at the meal watching other people scramble for seats of honor and realizing you don’t fit in that group.  The Pharisees would never invite you to their home.  Life has put you at the fringes.

         Let us not forget Prince Charming.  He is the one everyone wants to be aligned with.  Popularity is a double edged deal.  Is he popular because of his looks?  Because of his money?  Because of his connections?  Finding a friend, or a wife, that “sticks closer than a brother” is a hard task our prince is facing.  Proverbs 31 would affirm this, “A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.”  Perhaps you are looking for that special someone today.

         Then there is the fairy godmother.  Few of us identify with her power to give hope to Cinderella nor do we possess the magic to change mice into horses, a pumpkin into a coach.  But as grandparents we can bless grandchildren with stories and affirmation that opens new worlds to them. We are friends and we have the magic of listening others back into life when they are discouraged and need a shoulder to cry on.  Perhaps you are a boss who helps an employee stand a little bit taller with words of affirmation and recognition.  We all have the power to give life and hope to others so you might identify with the fairy godmother today as you seek to bless another.

         Perhaps I am stretching this children’s fable a bit but there are certain things I notice.  God’s kingdom is often compared to a wedding feast and the invitation is open to all.  He invites not just all the women but he invites all of us.  Christ died for all!  He died for the stepmothers, the stepsisters, the Cinderellas, the Prince Charmings, the missing father, and the fairy godmothers.  We are all invited.  And like the disciples and like the guests in the parable, we would love a seat of honor.  Reading the parable as a moral story about being humble without putting ourselves in the story, sells the story short.  We are those guests invited to a banquet and are challenged to reflect today on our attitude about that invitation.  Are we scrambling for seats of honor or too busy to respond to the invite or taking our invite for granted and not properly clothed..  Jesus addresses us, “When you are invited to a wedding banquet…”

Words To the Guests

Humility: a modest or low view of one’s own importance

         Jesus first addresses the guests, “…do not sit down at the place of honor.”  Running through the Gospels is this theme of reversals.  The road to ultimate happiness is not through putting ourselves forward but through “a modest or low view of our own importance.” Humility and trust in God is important.  Honor does not come through works but through grace.  Cinderella has no hope to be chosen and elevated and she knows it. Disney would have us believe it is because Cinderella is beautiful, blessed with a dazzling countenance, has an empowering godmother and of course is oh so humble.  None of us possess those qualities. Humility calls us to acknowledge our humanness, our sinfulness.  We do not get to the eternal banquet without kneeling at the communion table banquet where we acknowledge sinfulness and our need for God’s grace. 

         Our dreams have us scramble for seats of honor.  Humility is realizing that it is the host who determines who sits where at the banquet.  Waiting for the host to show us where to sit is hard. We are tempted to focus on the flaws of the others and falsely flatter our own attributes as we seek high seats. We are not realistic in evaluating our worth.   Humility is looking to the host for seating, for value.  All the guests are flawed.  We do not know their stories.  Our value does not lie within us but within the eyes of the host who invited us.  God is the only true, honest, impartial judge of who sits where.

           We are all invited and we are all flawed.  And the truth is that the magic fades at midnight and we are left with our sinful selves.  We all need the magic, the forgiveness of Jesus.  The journey with aging certainly makes us realize that our value is fading.  Life is unfair.  Disease seems sometimes to be an arbitrary enemy attacking the rich and the poor, the young and the old, and the talented and ordinary.  Economic and environmental factors affect and threaten everyone at the banquet.  The banquets of this world can disappear but it is the eternal banquet in the heavenly kingdom whose invitation we need to seek. God’s grace not only throws the banquet to which all are invited but also God’s grace rewards us all appropriately and knows the right seat for us.  God is the one who will exalt us. Jesus reminds us, you and me, “¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

         Jesus’ word to us today:  we are all invited, God knows where we will sit, and God exalts us.  It is grace and not works.

Words To the host

Invite those who cannot repay

Jesus now addresses the host of the meal.  Now we have another reversal of logic.  Let us think about who gets invited to banquets.  We can pull up several current examples.  A fund raising meal invites those whom the host hopes will participate in the cause the meal represents or at least the guest will pay a large price to be invited.  Money is speaking!  We often call it a benefit.  Each plate benefits the host or the cause.  Then there is the list for the wedding meal after the wedding.  The bride’s family can invite so many and the groom’s family can invite so many because each meal costs the host.  Each plate represents a social obligation of the host.  Another current example would be the Thanksgiving meal or some other family gathering.  Be honest!  We reflect first on who came last year and who we are socially obligated to include along with our favorite peeps.  Who to invite is always a question we think about.

         It seems to me that Jesus is saying that who we invite to a banquet reflects on the character of the host.  Hosts often invite based on what they can get rather than on what they can give, on appearances, and on social connectedness.  That is not the character of God.  He is not obligated and he is not trying to impress us. Again we see that God invites all of us to the banqueting table and “his banner over us is love.”  Jesus himself was criticized for eating with sinners and tax collectors.  Jesus stops his journey to tell Zacchaeus up in a tree that he would eat at his house.  God invites unlikely people like you and me to his eternal banquet.  The doctor treats the sick that need healing.

         Hosting is not about obligation but about who we desire to bless.  But hosting is also an investment in the future.  We hear the phrase now, “pay forward.”  Blessing someone today who can never repay us is an investment in the future and a statement of our faith that there is a God who sees and cares.  “¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The unseen reality

         Jesus is teaching us about the kingdom of heaven.  He speaks to the guests and to the host at a Pharisees’ meal by telling a parable to them and us about banquet behavior.  The parable resonates with our fable of Cinderella.  In the Cinderella fable, all the women are invited to a ball where the prince will choose a bride.  All want to attend but are flawed by the scars of life.  All want to be chosen, blessed.  It is the intervention of the fairy godmother that makes it possible for Cinderella to be chosen.  It is the intervention of Christ on the cross that makes it possible for us to approach God.

         But let me make one more point.  Jesus is a host and a guest in this world.  He created us and is one with the King but comes down to earth to dance with us through our lives.  It is his grace that blesses and it is his grace that touches our lives.  Jesus is the ultimate guest and the best host! Jesus can transform the disappointment of the stepmother, the jealousy of the stepsisters, and the poverty of Cinderella in our life.  It’s not magic.  It is grace and we say thank you.

Let the people of God say, “Amen!”

First Reading: Isaiah 58:9b-14

 ^9bIf you remove the yoke from among you,
  the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
 ¹⁰if you offer your food to the hungry
  and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
 then your light shall rise in the darkness
  and your gloom be like the noonday.
 ¹¹The Lord will guide you continually,
  and satisfy your needs in parched places,
  and make your bones strong;
 and you shall be like a watered garden,
  like a spring of water,
  whose waters never fail.
 ¹²Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
  you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
 you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
  the restorer of streets to live in.

 ¹³If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
  from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
 if you call the sabbath a delight
  and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
 if you honor it, not going your own ways,
  serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
 ¹⁴then you shall take delight in the Lord,
  and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
 I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
  for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Psalm: Psalm 103:1-8

The Lord crowns you with mercy and steadfast love. (Ps. 103:4)

 ¹Bless the Lord, O my soul,
  and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.
 ²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
  and forget not all God’s benefits—
 ³who forgives all your sins
  and heals all your diseases;
 ⁴who redeems your life from the grave
  and crowns you with steadfast love mercy;
 ⁵who satisfies your desires with good things
  so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
 ⁶O Lord, you provide vindication
  and justice for all who are oppressed.
 ⁷You made known your ways to Moses
  and your works to the children of Israel.
 ⁸Lord, you are full of compassion and mercy,
  slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

¹⁸You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, ¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. ²⁰(For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” ²¹Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) ²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
 ²⁵See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” ²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; ²⁹for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17

¹⁰Now [Jesus] was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. ¹¹And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” ¹³When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. ¹⁴But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” ¹⁵But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” ¹⁷When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  The Lion and the Mouse

A Lion lay asleep in the forest. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her. “Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you.”

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, in the forest, the Lion was caught in a hunter’s net. He filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

So quickly share with your neighbor:  What bound the mouse?  What bound the lion?

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

As I have read and reread our text for today, I decided this must be the chiropractor’s favorite story in the Bible.  I have gone to a chiropractor for years and lower back pain is the name of my game.  Walking bent over seems far too common these days.  Compression fracture of L1 is the exray’s opinion, “Old” and “ugly” are some of the words being whispered in my ear daily, and the chiropractor says to go to a doctor who will do an MRI to tell us if it is an old fracture or new.  I start the day pretty well but by the end, I creep into bed and am beaten down by the pain and the constant reminders of my aging.  The lady in this story has my ears.

         Maybe lower back pain in not your challenge.  It may be poor eye sight or perhaps a different diagnosis.  Or maybe you have carried a burden in your heart for someone, an aging parent or spouse, a wayward child, or even a debt.  Remember those days when we agonized over finding a spouse or a job or the right house?  Many things burden us and we walk around bent over if not physically, then emotionally.  Like the woman in the text, we come to church as the walking wounded.  Like the woman in the text, the problem is physical and spiritual.  Young people are not exempt from carrying burdens.  Our woman has been like this for 18 years, perhaps half her life.

         So take a moment and reflect on the burden you carry and the message that is whispered in your ear by the evil one.  I won’t ask you to share with a neighbor for most often our burdens are private and we try to be strong.  But be honest with yourself this morning and don’t point to the other guy or the person in the other pew.  What cripples you?

         Our woman did the right thing.  She went to the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Perhaps her bent over image had become routine and accepted so it did not bother her or others.  In fact her condition may have become part of the scenery.  Maybe she could not stand up to see that her hair was frazzled and wrinkles were forming.  Maybe she didn’t have a mirror and no one cared anymore, not even her.  But she went to the synagogue because it was the Sabbath.  Good choice.

         Our woman was not one of the ones who so often cried out to Jesus to deliver them from their demise.  She was not seeking healing.  It is possible to become oblivious to our dilemma.  We are like the frog in the pan of water that is gradually warming and we have given up hope that we can be rescued.  Like the woman we can be resigned to our burdens.  Coming to church is still a good choice even if it is 18 years without a miracle.

         She comes not asking and not expecting but Jesus sees her.  He calls her over. “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”  Do we need to read that again?  “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”  It probably was not a dramatic Pentecostal healing service for there is nothing in our text to indicate that type of scene.  I do not read about a preacher calling to the congregation for people with burdens to come forward.  I do not read about an animated congregation praying loudly or in tongues over her demise.  I DO read about a God who sees us when we are bent over, crippled, and besieged by spirits that would cripple us.  I do hear God say, “You are set free!”  Please hear those words for the unseen burden you carry today.  Jesus says, “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will set you free.”

Stand Up Straight

         Jesus did not deliver the woman from having a back.  He removed the burden.  Perhaps like the chiropractor, he did an adjustment and suddenly her spine was straight and the nerves were back in line.  Perhaps like the mouse, the lion’s paw was lifted and she was no longer a snack.  Or perhaps like the lion, a chord snapped and the net fell off.  Jesus declared “You are free,” and commanded her to “stand up straight.”   What does that mean to us, to stand up straight?

         When we are seen, we do stand taller.  The hospice nurse visited our home and brought the doctor with her.  They asked my husband to stand up.  He got to his feet and straightened his back and was suddenly 6 foot 6 again.  I had forgotten.  I’m sure our son in the army stands straight when a higher authority comes and calls his name. To stand up straight is to acknowledge personhood and responsibility.  Jesus has taken the burden and now the woman can stand up straight and be a significant part of the community, not a piece of the background poor.  Accepting that Jesus is here, carrying our burdens, even in the worst of times, allows us to face life with hope. Our lady praised God and gave God the credit that was due.  The chiropractor is the agent of hope but God is the object of our praise!

Sabbath

         Our lion sets the mouse free but there are still hunters in the forest of his life.  Jesus sets the woman free but the leaders of the synagogue are watching with their expectations and explanations of reality.  Not everyone likes the chiropractor.  The leaders complain that Jesus has broken the Sabbath.  And even so our churches splinter over how the Sabbath or Sunday should be observed.  Let us hang our head in shame and pray, “Lord, have mercy.”  Even we have probably at some point defended our Lutheran traditions.  Jesus points out the incongruity.  On the Sabbath, the leaders untie their ox or donkey, not honoring all the multitude of rules established in faith tradition.  Likewise God works outside our boxes and our definitions.  He even heals on the Sabbath, a day of rest!

         “Untie” to me means that God releases us from guilt, from shame, from expectations.  Freedom is the opposite of being tied.  Freedom is not getting everything I want, that I think will make me happy.  Our lady will still live in reality and have to face challenges but she will face those challenges knowing in the depth of her soul that God has and does see her and is capable of helping her deal with her problem.

         The leaders not only untie the oxen and donkey, the leaders take them to water.  Being untied and left in the stall, hungry and thirsty is not what benefits the animal.  The animals are led to water.  Jesus not only unties us but he also feeds us.  The woman chose to be in the synagogue even as you chose to come to church this morning. The sermon is spiritual food, delving in his word, enlightening our lives.  Communion reminds us that we are forgiven.  The prayers of the congregation release those things that concern us and place them squarely in God’s hands.  The woman’s choice to be in the synagogue was a good choice.  That day she was untied and she was watered.

         Jesus concludes, ¹⁶And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”  Please do not slip over her title, “daughter of Abraham.”  She has gone from “a woman bent over” at the beginning of the text to “a daughter of Abraham.”  She is untied, watered and owned.  When we step into church on the Sabbath, we leave behind our “one of the masses” anonymity, we leave the freeway of life, and we step into the presence of God as his child, seen and cared about.  We come tied and thirsty but God unties and offers us water.  The woman made a good choice to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath and you made a good choice to be here today.

         The lion had mercy on the mouse.  The mouse was bound by the lion’s paw and bound by fear but the lion had mercy.  Later the lion is caught in a hunter’s net, bound by ropes and the fear of the hunter but the mouse has mercy.  We come to church today as the bent over ones, caught by the lions of life that would devour us or by the nets of systems that bind us.  We come bent over and often we are not even looking for healing for we feel helpless.  But God sees us when we don’t see ourselves.  We can stand up straight as we leave here.  God unties us and waters us even on the Sabbath, surprising others…especially on the Sabbath…for we are his children and the praise goes to him.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Genesis 15:1-6

¹After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ²But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” ⁴But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” ⁵He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Psalm: Psalm 33:12-22

 ¹²Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord!
  Happy the people chosen to be God’s heritage!
 ¹³The Lord looks down from heaven,
  and sees all humankind.
 ¹⁴God sits firmly enthroned and watches
  all who dwell on the earth.
 ¹⁵God fashions all their hearts
  and observes all their deeds. 
 ¹⁶A king is not saved by the size of the army,
  nor are warriors rescued by their great strength.
 ¹⁷The horse gives vain hope for victory;
  despite its great strength it cannot save.
 ¹⁸Truly, your eye is upon those who fear you, O Lord,
  upon those who wait for your steadfast love,
 ¹⁹to deliver their lives from death,
  and to keep them alive in ^|time of famine. 
 ²⁰Our innermost being waits for you, O Lord,
  our helper and our shield.
 ²¹Surely, our heart rejoices in you,
  for in your holy name we put our trust.
 ²²Let your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
  even as we place our hope in you. 

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
 ⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
 ¹³All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, ¹⁴for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

 [Jesus said:] ³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell 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. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 ³⁵“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶be 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. ³⁷Blessed 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. ³⁸If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
 ³⁹“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. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON   Here is a new Aesop’s Fable.  You fishermen may not agree with it but it helps with our text today, I hope.

The Fisherman & the Little Fish

A poor Fisherman, who lived on the fish he caught, had bad luck one day and caught nothing but a very small fry. The Fisherman was about to put it in his basket when the little Fish said:  “Please spare me, Mr. Fisherman! I am so small it is not worth while to carry me home. When I am bigger, I shall make you a much better meal.”

But the Fisherman quickly put the fish into his basket.  “How foolish I should be,” he said, “to throw you back. However small you may be, you are better than nothing at all.”

Let us pray:  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Last Sunday we pondered Jesus’ parable of “The Rich Fool” given in response to the plea from a person asking Jesus to create a just division of the family’s inheritance.  Jesus tells of a rich fool who had such a bumper crop that he was going to build bigger barns.  Perhaps in line with today’s fable, we would say the fisherman who had such a haul of fish, he decided to buy a bigger boat!  Today the fisherman is at the other end of life. The fisherman had only a tiny catch.  Jesus continues to teach the crowd.  In the verses between last week and this, Jesus encourages the people not to worry about the injustices of life, about the size of our barns or the size of the fish we catch but Jesus points our eyes to the birds.  God gave them no barns but they thrive. Flowers are so fragile and they thrive.  We are reminded that God knows our needs. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you.”  It sounds good but the bills come in the mail tomorrow, grocery prices climb, and we will listen to the news tonight.  In the face of reality, how do we keep from worrying?  Our text for today speaks into this tension.

God’s Game Plan

         ³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Our text opens today with a statement of the goal.  God is leading us, guiding us, giving us a kingdom!  Jesus opens by saying, “Do not be afraid!”  My heart always pays attention when I read those words “Do not be afraid,” because I am a fearling.  Whether I am writing a sermon, cooking a meal, or trying to be artistic, I can always hear that little voice telling me, it won’t be good enough.  My deaconess friend said that her family use to sit with a map and with eyes closed put their finger on some spot and find a road that seemed to lead to nowhere.  They packed their camper to go and see what was at the end of the road!  Unthinkable for my family.  A pastor friend agreed and shared how in his youth, he and his friend got in a car and drove trying not to cross any major highways, just to see where they would end up.  Heading out with no destination feels overwhelming and very scary for me.  Maybe you are adventuresome but for those today who struggle with fear, Jesus is saying, “Don’t be afraid!”  God has a plan and we are going to be given a kingdom.  Like the man who met Jesus when he came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, I pray, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”

Generosity

         So how is that faith lived in reality?  “Declutter” is the word I am hearing for my generation that is approaching retirement and the move to downsize.  I love the book, Repacking Your Bags by David Shapiro and Richard Leiden, professors of aging at the University of Minnesota.  They encourage us to take time periodically to inventory what we are carrying in the suitcases, briefcases, overnight bags, and knapsacks of our life.  We need different tools for different phases of life and knowing the task we are facing allows us to get rid of unnecessary luggage that burdens us, slows us down and then we can better enjoy the phase we are in.  A little ole lady acting like a teenager is foolish.  Jesus is giving us very similar advice.  We are headed to a kingdom with God.  The skills that prepare us for God’s kingdom are not the skills we use to navigate our life now.  We need to be developing new skills.

         Jesus focuses on generosity and sharing of worldly wealth.  We do not need all the possessions that fill our houses and garages.  We can hold our worldly goods in open hands, ready to share, because we know this world is not our home.  We can share with the poor, with the church, and with those in need.  We know this philosophy for we often will sacrifice so our children can go to college or we might take a second job to make ends meet.  We work to bless those we love but how often does our perspective include “the other”?  I have been so impressed with the generosity poured out on the fleeing Ukrainians not just in sending money and goods but also in opening borders and schools and homes.  The news is testifying to the community spirit of compassion in Kentucky in the face of floods right now.  Bethany Gardens and the Day Care are other examples.  Trouble has a way of challenging us and making us dig deeper into ourselves for the sake of others.  The foolish farmer wanted to build bigger barns for himself.  Jesus, as always, is counter-intuitive and says to share.  The fisherman did not distain the little fish because it was not a huge, picture snapping big guy.  He accepted what God gave him and was prepared to make a meal.

         Generosity is a direct indicator of our eternal wealth and of our earthly values.  Eternal wealth has no moths.  The wealth is not tucked away in some drawer for a rainy day as we do not have that fear.  In a heavenly perspective there are no rainy days.

Be Prepared to Act

         Remember that Girl Scout or Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared”?  Jesus says, ““Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”  I understand that to be a reminder that actions, the deeds we do, are as important as our theological expertise and having all our theories right about baptism or faith experiences.  We spend so much wasteful energy critiquing others.

         I feel compelled to speak into those of us who are entering that phase of life when our ability to act seems to be diminishing.  Of course sharing wealth is one way but it is also true that prayers are important and a smile costs nothing.  I would challenge us to think of five people we would like to encourage this week.  Try to pick someone that perhaps is a growing edge for you.  The lady who helps by cleaning my house once a month, helped me make the bed and lift that heavy mattress.  I was so appreciative.  I believe that it was on a news broadcast this week that they were reporting the impact of gratitude.  They concluded that even if we cannot solve a problem, just being there to encourage means a lot to people.  If God has us alive, God has a purpose for us and we are important.

         Jesus says to be dressed for action.  Kindness may be something we have to work at, like getting dressed.  It does not always come naturally to turn the other cheek or to do a good deed.  Let’s experiment.  Turn to your neighbor and say, “Thank you for …”  or some other compliment.

Who serves whom?

         Jesus gives an example.  The servant waits to serve the master when the master comes home, whatever the hour and whatever the master’s attitude.  That servant has to be generous and have a kind attitude no matter how tired the servant is.  The master could be returning from an exhausting day at work, at war, or from a journey.  The servant’s attitude is not dependent on the master’s attitude.  We most often understand life as tit for tat.  You be nice to me and I be nice to you.  You smile at me and I smile back.  Jesus is challenging us to take the lead position and set the positive atmosphere regardless of the other’s attitude.  This feels very familiar but again I would challenge us to look, not at how we treat friends but how we treat the irritating guy who cuts us off in traffic or slows us down at the grocery story.  It is also true that I can be nice to stranger but I may be more snarky with my loved one.  The knife seems to cut both ways.

         Now the reversal!  An attitude of gratitude impacts the other and the master now serves the servants.  God’s heart is touched by our attitudes, our alertness, our desire to serve and God is so pleased to see us responding to him so well that he blesses us.  Now that is a very revolutionary picture of God!  We think of God as a severe judge, bringing justice. Perhaps for the unbeliever it will be so, but for those of us seeking to do the best with the resources we have, the picture of an appreciative master is a beautiful picture.

         Let’s take a moment and think of the titles and pictures we have of Jesus in our mind.  We like the Good Shepherd holding his sheep.  We like Jesus welcoming the children.  My parents had the picture of Jesus standing behind the young guy at the helm of a boat in a storm.  Perhaps God is that pillar of fire leading Israel or the cloud of smoke surrounding Moses’ tent.  Jesus washing the disciples feet at the last supper and the Garden of Gethsemane are familiar also.  This story pictures God as delighted and anxious to respond to our attitude of gratitude.  Nice!

Be diligent

Jesus closes by warning us to not only be generous and grateful with whatever we have, not only to be alert and helpful in all we do, but also to be diligent.  We do not know when Christ will return. We do not need to fear because, as Jesus reminds us today, God’s plan is to give us a kingdom, to give us life abundant.  He delights in our service.

         Returning to our foolish farmer and our hungry fisherman, it is so easy to focus on the blessing of the moment and loose sight of the big picture. The events and people in our lives may look like small “frys,” little fish, no big thing to make a fuss about but it is while dealing in generosity and integrity, being active as we are able that the Master may return.  Many will choose to wait till the fish gets bigger, till the “right” opportunity comes along but Jesus again encourages us to faithfully focus on serving the Lord now in all situations we find ourselves in.  Lord, give us the strength to be generous, to be alert to opportunities to serve you, and guard us from all fear!

The people of God said, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Genesis 18:20-32

²⁰Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! ²¹I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.”
 ²²So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³²Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

Psalm: Psalm 138

 ¹I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with ^| my whole heart;
  before the gods I will sing your praise.
 ²I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name,   because of your steadfast love and faithfulness;
  for you have glorified your name and your word above all things. 
 ³When I called, you answered me;
  you increased my strength within me.
 ⁴All the rulers of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
  when they have heard the words of your mouth.
 ⁵They will sing of the ways of the Lord,
  that great is the glory of the Lord.
 ⁶The Lord is high, yet cares for the lowly,
  perceiving the haughty from afar. 
 ⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe;
  you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your         right hand shall save me.
 ⁸You will make good your purpose for me;
  O Lord, your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon the      works of your hands. 

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 [16-19]

⁶As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

 ⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; ¹²when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
 ¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. ¹⁷These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, ¹⁹and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.]

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

.

¹[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”²He said to them, “When you pray, say:
 Father, hallowed be your name.
  Your kingdom come.
  ³Give us each day our daily bread.
  ⁴And forgive us our sins,
   for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
  And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
 ⁵And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
 ⁹“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ¹²Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Share with your neighbor.  If you could learn anything new at this point in your life, what would you want to be taught?

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Teach us to pray!

We ended last week’s sermon with Jesus’ affirmation of Mary’s choice to sit at his feet.  ⁴¹ “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  What had Mary chosen?  Did she chose a lecture or a relationship?

         The disciples listened as Jesus affirmed Mary.  Luke then goes directly to another scenario that is our text today.  The disciples now observe Jesus praying and it seems they have also observed the disciples of John the Baptist.  I wonder what they observed that led to the thirst to be taught to pray.

“Lord, teach us to pray”   

Being a teacher myself, I find this a catching introduction to the text.  Teaching for me means not just lecturing like a professor or listening like Mary.  I can come to church every Sunday and I can walk away exactly as I entered, perhaps intellectually challenged and entertained but untouched in my soul.  I hear but it doesn’t change my life.  Sundays may not impact our lives because faith at its core is relational, not instructional. The disciples must have seen something happening in John’s disciples and in Mary and in Jesus himself.  Could it be that the disciples saw people being transformed through prayer?

         Perhaps our first challenge is to ask ourselves when we last wanted to really be taught, really be transformed?  Our culture has become so performance and entertainment focused that for many learning and teaching is thought of as an academic skill acquired at a school from someone who knows more than us.  My adult ESL students needed English to cope with life in the USA and to get citizenship.  They wanted to be taught so they could function and be successful.  I might take a cooking class to improve my entertaining skills.  I want to be taught so I can impress others. Then there are the paint classes where I can go and sip a glass of wine while learning how to reproduce a picture.  I want to learn and I feel better about myself.  These are examples of fun learning experiences but not the teaching that I suspect is being talked about in our passage.

Prayer as relationship

         Jesus answers the disciples request by presenting a pattern for prayer.  Jesus does not open a devotional book to read or a favorite prayer book.  He does not go to Scripture.  He says to pray like this, “Our Father.”  You have probably heard it said how revolutionary this opening is.  We approach the God of the universe on the basis of communal relationship, not authority.  I suspect we often think of God as having all power and so our request is a small task for him to grant…if he wishes.  Prayer subtly shifts to a power paradigm.  Likewise we read that if we have enough faith, then we have the power to move a mountain, heal a sick friend, do the miracles that Jesus did.  If the request is not granted then we feel rejected and a failure.  Prayers can be an intercession and request for God to use his power to end the war in Ukraine, to heal my friend with cancer, or to bring relief for those suffering in the heat in Europe.  These are legitimate prayers of intercession but I would like us today to look at the relational aspect of the Lord’s Prayer as recorded in Luke.

         We approach God as family (I would add – with all the respect due our elders) requesting his kingdom to come.  We want to be in his kingdom, a citizen, not a foreigner or refugee.  We want “daily” bread, not a monthly paycheck but a daily check in.  We want forgiveness that is two-way, that re-establishes relationship and two-way communication.  And he closes with a request for no trials, no misunderstanding and strained relationships. The Lord’s Prayer is very interactional and intimate.

         Some of us have had abusive fathers or absent fathers and so approaching God as “Father” is not a very cozy idea because of our experiences.  I hear ways to get around this emotional block by addressing God as Mother or as Eternal One or Jehovah Jirah/Provider but all these variations are the cry of our heart for relationship with the One we cannot see but know is real and whom we believe cares.  Prayer is not approaching the Congress of heaven and asking for a new amendment to the constitution to protect the rights we feel are endangered by life.  Prayer is communicating with a being who cares, who relates to us individually and as a group for the good of all concerned.  It is not saying “I want” but opening a discussion with a being we want to be in relationship with.

         This week I asked my friend whom I knew came from a very abusive childhood how she navigated the Lord’s Prayer.  She replied that at first she had understood Jesus’ death as taking care of her sins, her debts, kind of like a tax write-off.  So for many years she felt God saw her as a tax write-off until she had one of those impacting dreams where she was handed a check, “Paid in full.”  Suddenly she realized she was not a write-off still on the records but a child embraced and loved.  Prayer is personal and relational, foundational to the functioning of our lives.

Prayer as Persistent Relationship

Jesus gave us a pattern in the Lord’s Prayer that followers of Jesus have prayed through the ages.  It is probably one of the first prayers we learned and in times of crisis it often comes to our hearts and lips giving words to our struggle. Jesus goes on, though, to give us not only a pattern but also a parable to flesh out the meaning of prayer.  Jesus presents two men.  One is content, in bed with his children.  The other has met with an unexpected event, a late night guest, and he is unprepared to “welcome” the guest properly.  Note we are now tied back to Martha working so hard to welcome Jesus as Mary sits devotedly at his feet.  The needy man goes to his contented neighbor, not as peasant to king but as friend to friend.  Jesus again frames prayer in the context of friendship, relationship.

         God has no need to get out of bed and help the needy person.  Prayer again is reiterated not as a power relationship but a friendship.  So what does persistence on the part of the needy friend tell us today?  I would suggest that persistence means there is no fear in the relationship.  The needy friend is not afraid of offending the contented friend by persisting in his request.  The request is open to discussion.  I think of Abraham bargaining with God in our Old Testament reading over the fate of Gomorrah.  I think of Moses responding to the burning bush about his own perceived imperfections for the task God is asking of him.  I think of the woman with the daughter with the evil spirit who was unwilling to accept a “no” from Jesus.  I think of the woman at the well.  There is a long line of Biblical heroes who were “persistent” with God and who stood on relationship, not authority.

         I suspect we think of persistence as pestering but Jesus seems to be seeing prayer as conversational.  The Lord’s Prayer invites us into relationship about the future – God’s kingdom, about our needs – daily bread, about our pains – forgiveness, and about our fears – trials.  We are invited to stay in relationship and conversation with God about the concerns of our hearts for he is our “Abba.”

Prayer as Quest

The Lord’s Prayer is a pattern for prayerful relationship.  The story is a parable about persistent prayerful relationship.  The third part of the text today presents prayer as a quest for relationship that allows us to ask, to seek, and to knock.

         When we have a need where do we turn? Who can we ask for help? 

• Prayer is asking, turning to the God of the universe who is our father, our friend, and who is in relationship with us.  It is not standing in line to fill out a form.  It is not a legal relationship, getting good advice on how to do life right.  Prayer is conversation about anything and everything that is on our mind.  God is not tricky, giving us a snake instead of a fish.  He does not play games with us.  God invites us to ask.
• Prayer is seeking, continuing conversation in a relationship that grows and evolves.  God is not an answering machine.  Searching requires persistence like the woman with the lost coin or the shepherd with the lost sheep.  Jesus says if we search, we will find.  I suspect we may not find the answer we are looking for but we will find peace knowing that God is working on the situation we are concerned about.  His goal is not a scorpion but an egg, the birth of something that will be worth the search.
• Prayer is knocking on a door that appears shut.  We are free to take our doubts, our fears, and our concerns – all those things that block our relationships with God and with others – to God.  When we knock on those doors that seem to divide us from the other side, Jesus says the door will open.

So let us go back to our original question.  If we could learn anything today from God, what would we like to learn?  Learning factors me into the equation of life’s problems.  I am not asking God to solve my problem for me but asking how I can enter into a persistent, meaningful, transforming relationship with him as I face my everyday challenges.  God is longing to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us navigate life.  I don’t know about you, but I need that help.

And the people of God said, “Amen!”