A Season of Harvest: Contrasts and Reversals

The gospel reading for this Sunday, Luke 16: 19-31, is full of contrasts and reversals. As we continue our Fall series, "A Season of Harvest," we know that there are also sharp contrasts between autumn and its counterpart, spring. Although these seasons are somewhat "opposite" of each other, they also complement each other: there can be no spring without autumn, and vice versa (same goes for summer and winter).


Spring happens between the seasons of winter and summer (it begins on March 20 for us in the Northern Hemisphere). The temperature lies in between the winter cold and gradually heats up towards the beginning of summer. In the spring trees, flowers and plants can be seen in full bloom. This is also the time of year that many baby animals appear, and spring is known as the season of new beginnings.

Autumn happens between the seasons of summer and winter (it beings on September 22 for us in the Northern Hemisphere). The temperature in the beginning starts out rather warm and gradually cools off to get ready for winter. In the autumn, plants begin to die, leaves change colors and fall off of trees, plants begin to wilt and many animals prepare for winter hibernation. Autumn is known as the cooling-off season.

Temperature, time of year, length of day, the physical appearance of plants, and the name(s) of these seasons are in contrast---in reverse of each other, so to speak.

In this passage, the names of these individuals are also in contrast: the poor man and the rich man. The reversal is such a surprise here: the poor name is named: he is Lazarus (not to be confused with another Lazarus, the one who was raised from the dead by Jesus in John 11). The rich man is not named. This is very significant: saying someone's name is an acknowledgement of who they are; it's as if this parable is putting the spotlight on Lazarus, rather than the rich man.

As these seasons are "dressed" differently, with their varying outfits of blooming or turning plants, so too are the rich man, dressed in purple, and Lazarus, "dressed" in sores.

The rich man feasts sumptuously, while Lazarus, looking up, longs to be satisfied with what falls from the table.

What happens next after these seasons is different: after spring there is summer, and winter follows autumns. So is the case with the rich and Lazarus: the rich man has a proper burial, while Lazarus is carried away by the angels.

By the end of the story, Lazarus is looking down from heaven, and the rich man is the one looking up, begging. This a reversal from their earthly life.


Human beings have a knack for comparing experiences. If you are feeling "good" one day, it's because you have felt "bad" before. Whatever "season" of life you are going through, you naturally relate that to another time in your life. I have felt hope before, because I have felt despair. I have felt joy because at a different time I have felt pain. They are seasons, similar to the ones we find in nature.

Right now, in our time and place in the world, it is the season of Fall, of autumn. It is a time for harvest. It is a time to gather our "crops," that is, to take notice of all that God has given us, in order to keep on our spiritual journey with God. Consider this parable as a crop to be gathered in. Take it, learn from it, and let it be sown in your life. The lesson that I am hearing from this parable is that the Kingdom of God looks a little "backwards." It is not those with extravagant clothing or other riches that inherit this Kingdom (this doesn't mean that they are exempt from the Kingdom, but that this is not what "seals the deal"). What Jesus is looking for is for people who would love their neighbor, no matter how they are "dressed."

Prayer*:

O Lord,
  open my eyes that I may see the needs of others;
  open my ears that I may hear their cries;
  open my heart so that I may help others;
let me not be afraid to defend and serve the weak or the poor.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
  and use me to bring them to those places.
And so open my eyes and my ears
  that I may be able to some work of peace for You. Amen

*United Methodist Hymnal, 456, adapted.


In Christ,

Jack

A Time of Harvest:Learning through Dissatisfaction

Luke 16: 1-13 tells a story of a dishonest manager. At the end of this parable, the scoundrel wins. I am left dissatisfied with how things turn out, even if there are lessons to glean from it. His clever plan succeeds, and his former boss, the one whose estate he has previously mismanaged, now praises him for being ingenious. If your like me, you sigh in disbelief that the manager does not get his due.

This parable screams "LIFE ISN'T FAIR." I'm not OK with that being the lesson of this parable; there has to be more to it! The lesson Jesus is trying to teach is explained in the last 4 verses of this selection:

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. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,[d] who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No 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.”

But how in the world does Jesus go from "scoundrel winning" to "no slave can serve 2 masters"?? I don't have an answer to that except that it's a good question. There are more lessons to glean from this parable, though, even if Jesus does not state them explicitly here. 

True Dishonesty

This parable is called " The Parable of the Dishonest Manager" (in the NRSV, at least) because of the phrase "And his master commended the dishonest manager" in verse 8. However, when Jesus talks about dishonesty here, he may be doing so tongue in cheek. In Jesus' context (time and place), there was hardly any middle class; the vast majority were either very wealthy or very poor. The very poor were oftentimes at the mercy of their wealthy landlords who required the best of their crops and the powerful (Roman) government who demanded unreasonably high taxes from them every chance they got. The landlord in this parable accuses his manager of wrongdoing on mere hearsay. So, knowing he is going to be fired, the manager acts "dishonestly," or "shrewdly" (or "cleverly") by reducing the debts owed to the landlord. By describing this situation, Jesus may be pointing out the harsh reality that there is no way to be honest in a system that is inherently dishonest and unjust. Telling this parable may in fact be Jesus' clever way to unveil this crude system of people who robs and cheats the poor on a daily basis. The manager acted shrewdly by showing judgment of a system that would have left him out in the cold had he not been so clever. His master praises him not for being dishonest, but clever. The manager in the story received no monetary gain from his dishonesty, so Jesus' comment in verse 9 is directed to the wealthy in the crowd listening to him. This approach and lesson of the parable begs the question: how do our economic systems make life difficult for some people (both for the poor, and for those who want to act ethically)?

The Master's Tools

In this parable, the manager forgives the amount of the debts by diminishing them, an action that would be unthinkable to the landlord. In some way, the manager is not only watching out for himself and his family, but he is also at the same time tearing to shreds the system the landlord operates in for gaining wealth. By reducing the debts, he is exposing the fact that the existing payment structure is unjust. He uses ehtically questionable methods to help break down a system built to receive debts by diminishing them and making friends and allies for himself. "He separates himself from a system of repression by cleverly undoing the system in a Robin Hood-like fashion" (Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4, p. 95). 

Many of Jesus' parables are written in order to portray what the Kingdom of God is like. In this realm, "tools" of oppressive systems are proven to be ineffective and flipped upside down. In this realm, debts are forgiven and slaves are set free. 

Resources and Relationships

In this parable, we are given an inside peek to the manger's motivation. He is attempting to make allies and friends, so that if and when he is fired or otherwise becomes unemployed, someone else will take him in. One theologian, Christine Prohl, puts it this way: "Jesus does not commend the manager's practices, but rather his insight into the connection between resources and relationships. When we consider our wealth and economic practices---even the means we employ to accomplish good ends--- as peripheral to the kingdom, we are ignoring Jesus' warning that it is impossible to serve God and mammon (money)." 

Loving and serving God, following Jesus ways, means that loving people is always the bottom line, So, Jesus' final words in this passage are fitting: you cannot serve God and money at the same time, for love of wealth has the potential to put loving others aside. 

Prayer:

O God, just as the disciples heard Christ's words of promise and began to eat the bread and drink the wine in the suffering of a long remembrance and in the joy of a hope, grant that we may hear your words, spoken in each thing of everyday affairs:

Coffee, on our table in the morning;

the simple gesture of opening a door to go out, free;

the shouts of children in parks;

a friendly tree that has not yet been cut down.

May simple things speak to us of your mercy, and tell us that life can be good. And may we remember those who do not receive as much as we do:

who have their lives cut every day, in the bread absent from the table;

in the door of the hospital, the prison, the welfare home that does not open;

in sad children, feet without shoes, eyes without hope;

in deserts where once there was life.

Christ was also sacrificed; and may we learn that we participate in the saving sacrifice of Christ when we participate in the suffering of his little ones, the children of God, our neighbors. Amen.

from The United Methodist Hymnal, 639, slightly adapted. 

In Christ, 

Jack

A Season of Harvest: Losing to Gain

As the month of September comes upon us, that means that the season of Autumn is also (almost) here! OK, so technically the Fall Equinox is September 22nd this year. That is the date when the "Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s Equator – from north to south...On the equinox, night and day are nearly exactly the same length – 12 hours – all over the world" (http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html). So, this day has not quite to us, but the season of fall is also marked by other things: Labor day (this coming Monday), the beginning of the school year, the college football season, and the slight change in weather from the kind of heat that requires 3 shirts a day, to maybe not such an unbearable level. We can at least say together that the season of Fall is upon us.

Fall is a season of harvest. Some etymology (where the word comes from) says that the term "harvest" is a noun meaning, in Old English, literally "autumn" or "season of gathering crops." This includes the activity of reaping (to cut a crop for harvest; to obtain a reward), gathering, and storing grain and other crops.

In our spiritual lives, we go through seasons, too. There are times when life seems to be getting the better of us; where we suffer the chilling winter or scathing summer. There are also times in our lives where things are going well: we benefit from our hard labor in ways that prove our efforts worthy of the sacrifice. We heal from things that pain us; we learn from struggles that life gives us; we reap what we sow. We benefit from the challenges of life, and this gives us hope to continue along life's topsy-turvy journey.

Fall is a season of harvest, where the grueling heat gives way to a bountiful harvest.

During this season of Fall, we will be exploring this theme as we worship together, learn together, and grow together. Our first message "Losing to Gain," will focus on Luke 14: 25-33.

In this passage in the gospel of Luke, Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship, even going as far to say that whoever does not hate their family, carry their cross, or give up their possessions, can follow him as a disciple. It is my opinion that Jesus does use hyperbole here, speaking to a mass crowd, admonishing them to take his words seriously and examine what it means to follow him. There are costs to discipleship. While our allegiances and loyalties most of the time do balance out, in times of crisis, certain relationships take precedent. When a family member becomes ill, sometimes other friendships take a back seat, as our attention is devoted to them, for example. That does not mean that the person does not love their friends, but that we are only human beings with limited time and attention; we have to choose when crises come about.

This passage from Luke tells us that in order to follow Jesus into a life of discipleship, it must take precedent. There are costs to it, and most of them relate to the idea of security. The road of discipleship is bumpy, dirty, there are turns and hills and climbs...and it takes sacrifice.

In order for crops to harvest in the season of Fall, they must withstand the bitter cold of winter and the grueling heat of summer. They must sacrifice. Trees must lose their leaves in order to prepare for the upcoming cold weather. Sometimes weak plants will wither and fade away. Sometimes they keep their roots in the ground and see the harvest of the Fall, staying true to the process of growth. Will you? Will you remain faithful to God, trusting the process of discipleship and growing in Christ? That is your invitation. May we all walk faithfully together.

We Believe in Resurrection and Life Everlasting

This Sunday, continuing with our "We Believe" sermon series, which explores the Apostles' Creed, we come to the Scripture readings Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Luke 24:36-49. Ezekiel tells the story of the valley of the dry bones, and Luke tells us about one of Jesus' appearances to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. The final statement of the Apostles' Creed is "(I believe in) the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting." Both of these passages, I believe, relate to this statement.

Both the resurrection of the bones in Ezekiel 37 and the resurrection of  Jesus demonstrates that death does not have the last word. That last word belongs to God, who continues to redeem and shape this world to the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed.

Ezekiel 37: 1-14 tells a remarkable story:

One day, Ezekiel is by a river in Babylon when he sees a remarkable vision that reveals the glory of God.  He hears God’s voice speak to him.  God tells Ezekiel that he will speak God’s Word to his fellow exiles, fellow Israelites (they were in the foreign land of Babylon).  God says, “You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear.” And then, the most bazaar thing happens.  God hands Ezekiel a scroll with the Word of God on it.  And God tells Ezekiel to eat the scroll; to literally consume it; to put it in his mouth and swallow it.  Then God says, “Go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them.” What an image, huh?  It is as if Ezekiel will be regurgitating God’s Word for his fellow exiles/Israelites.  Friends, God’s word was never intended to lay dormant on a page.  God’s Word needs to get inside of us; we can consume it. Why?  Because they are words of life; words that bring life.

That’s what Ezekiel experiences in the valley of the dry bones.  God tells Ezekiel, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” Ezekiel preaches the Word of God to a valley filled with nothing but dry bones (talk about a tough audience).  But that Word has an immediate effect.  Something happens: bones join together; muscle and tissue and flesh form around those bones. They have been resurrected.

And Jesus, as told in Luke 24: 36-49, is also raised from the dead, making appearances to his friends. He offers them peace, proves that he's not a ghost (by showing them his wounds and eating fish with them). After this, he tells them that they are witnesses to these things. That he died and was raised and came to be with them. And we are, too. Though Jesus hasn't shown up in bodily form for us, his presence through the Holy Spirit is with us. God has provided a way for us to have eternal life through him. God has given us new life, showing us that death does not have the final word.

And its not just death that we worry about, its the things that death represents. It's the evil in this world. I'ts the injustice, the fear, hate, prejudice, racism, poverty, sickness, and negativity. There is no doubt that these are powerful forces in this world. And they matter. They really matter. These things hurt people, contributing to the state that our world is in. All this means that we are in need of a savior, a loving God that would do something as drastic as provide a way out. And that is Jesus. That is embracing God's love and grace for you. These dry bones will cry out. We are witnesses to these things, and what God has done.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to accept your invitation to live a new life, full of grace and peace. When life gets most difficult, help me to keep seeking you. Stay close to me, O God, for you are my comfort. In you, I receive life everlasting. Thank you for laying down your life for me, so that I can live life abundantly with you. In your Son's name I pray, Amen.


In Christ,

Jack

We Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins

Last week, I jokingly called the last paragraph of the Apostles' Creed a "junk drawer." You know, that drawer in your kitchen or bedroom that you just throw everything that doesn't fit anywhere else in. The first two paragraphs talk about God and Jesus in excellent detail and description, but the last paragraph simply "throws in" a bunch of other beliefs:

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic (universal) church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

This past Sunday, though, we determined together that this is not just the junk drawer of the Apostles' Creed. These last few sentences contain such rich beliefs, though, that they deserve some more attention.

So, this week, we come to the statement "(we believe in) the forgiveness of sins." Not coincidentally, we focused on forgiveness as we explored the Lord's Prayer as well. And here it is again. Forgiveness is so essential to our Christian values and beliefs, that it shows up in almost every statement of belief we have (we confess our sins and seek pardon from God, too, when we gather for Holy Communion).

God is not the only one doing the forgiving; we could be forgiving each other, too.

To help guide our focus on forgiveness, read  Romans 5: 12-21 and Matthew 5: 38-48

And remember, the Lord's Prayer says:

Forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us

Likewise, if we believe in the forgiveness of sins, we have the opportunity to treat one another as forgiven people. God uses us to be the hands and feet of God in the world; God could be using you to forgive someone else!

I like to look at this last paragraph of the Apostles' Creed as a sort of staircase. The Holy Spirit has given birth to the Church, so the Church can be the entity in which we commune, receive forgiveness, and ultimately have our lives transformed and receive eternal life. All of these beliefs work together that way, and the Church is where/how it happens.

Now I don't mean the physical church building, but we receive things from God through the Holy Spirit. This happens relationally with God and others as we seek God together.

And forgiveness has so much to do with this. We are not perfect, and God loves us anyway. We can treat each other that way, too. Let's be the Church, practicing forgiveness...with God's help,

To read my previous post on Forgiveness, click here

In Christ,

Jack

Prayer*:

You who are over us,
You who was one of us,
You who are:
    Give me a pure heart, that I may see you;
             a humble heart, that I may hear you;
             a heart of love, that I may serve you;
             and a heart of faith, that I may abide in you. Amen.

* Adapted from the United Methodist Hymnal, 392.

We Believe in the Holy Spirit

Through the first two weeks, we have focused on what we mean when we say "I believe in God" and "I believe in Jesus Christ." This week, we turn our focus to the Holy Spirit. This hymn, "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine," is a great one of praise and prayer to the Holy Spirit. Take a moment to consider and reflect on the words of this hymn

Holy Spirit, Truth divine,
dawn upon this soul of mine;
Word of God and inward light,
wake my spirit, clear my sight.

Holy Spirit, Love divine,
glow within this heart of mine;
kindle every high desire;
perish self in thy pure fire.

Holy Spirit, Power divine,
fill and nerve this will of mine;
grant that I may strongly live,
bravely bear, and nobly strive.

Holy Spirit, Right divine,
King within my conscience reign;
be my Lord, and I shall be
firmly bound, forever free

I love this hymn because it talks about who the Holy Spirit is (Word of God and inward light, King within my conscience) and it prays to the Holy Spirit (wake my spirit, clear my sight, kindle every high desire, fill and nerve this will of mine, be my Lord). Finally, it declares our relationship to God through the Holy Spirit...that we may be firmly bound forever.

Another hymn that I love is "Sweet, Sweet Spirit," which says: There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord." This is a popular hymn in United Methodist Churches, and its writer was Doris Mae Akers. She was a choir director, and here is some of her story, as told by author Lindsay Terry:

"[S]he related to me that one Sunday morning in 1962, while directing the Sky Pilot Choir, she said to her singers, 'You are not ready to go in.' She didn’t believe they had prayed enough! They were accustomed to spending time with her in prayer before the service, asking God to bless their songs. She said, 'I feel that prayer is more important than great voices.' They had already prayed, but this particular morning she asked them to pray again, and they did so with renewed fervor.

"As they prayed, Doris began to wonder how she could stop this wonderful prayer meeting. She said, 'I sent word to the pastor letting him know what was happening. He was waiting in the auditorium, wanting to start the service. Finally, I was compelled to say to the choir, We have to go. I hate to leave this room and I know you hate to leave, but you know we do have to go to the service. But there is such a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place.'"

May this sweet, sweet Spirit, who lights your path, kindles your passions, fills you, and is your Lord, be with you now and always.

In Christ,

Jack

"Holy Spirit, Truth Divine, United Methodist Hymnal, 465

Doris Mae Akers, http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-sweet-sweet-spirit

We Believe In Jesus

This week, we continue our focus in worship on the Apostles' Creed by considering the second statement: "I believe in Jesus Christ..." John 1:1-14 can certainly be read alongside this statement, and it will be on Sunday as we worship God together (but really, you could read it now if you wanted, of course).

On the website for the United Methodist Church, under the "What We Believe" section, it is explained what we mean we say "We believe in Jesus..." I have found this to be a helpful way to think about it, because saying this can be really confusing. Jesus was and is so awesome and so complex, that I find that I need all the help I can get when trying to share about what this means. I mean, for crying out loud, how in the world can someone be fully divine AND fully human. Doesn't that make Jesus 200%? Not quite...

Here is what our website says about what it means to say "We believe in Jesus..."*

Jesus is...

Son of God
We believe in Jesus as God's special child. We call this the Incarnation, meaning that God was in the world in the actual person of Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospel writers explain this in different ways. In Mark, Jesus seems to be adopted as God's Son at his baptism. In Matthew and Luke, Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit. In John, Jesus is God's pre-existing Word who "became flesh and lived among us" (1:14). However this mystery occurred, we affirm that God is wholly present in Jesus Christ.

Son of man
Paradoxically, we also believe that Jesus was fully human. One of the church's first heresies claimed that Jesus only seemed to be human, that he was really a divine figure in disguise. But the early church rejected this. It affirmed that Jesus was a person in every sense that we are. He was tempted. He grew weary. He wept. He expressed his anger. In fact, Jesus is God's picture of what it means to be a mature human being.

Christ
We say "Jesus Christ" easily, almost as if "Christ" were Jesus' surname. Yet this name is another way of expressing who we believe Jesus to be. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, which means God's Anointed One. For years before Jesus' time the Jews had been expecting a new king, a descendant of the revered King David, who would restore the nation of Israel to glory. Like kings of old, this one would be anointed on the head with oil, signifying God's election; hence, the Chosen One = the Anointed One = the Messiah = the Christ. The early Jewish Christians proclaimed that Jesus was, indeed, this Chosen One. Thus, in calling him our Christ today, we affirm that he was and is the fulfillment of the ancient hope and God's Chosen One to bring salvation to all peoples, for all time.

Lord
We also proclaim Jesus as our Lord, the one to whom we give our devoted allegiance. The word Lord had a more powerful meaning for people of medieval times, because they actually lived under the authority of lords and monarchs. Today some of us may find it difficult to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of our lives. We're used to being independent and self-sufficient. We have not bowed down to authority. To claim Jesus as Lord is to freely submit our will to his, to humbly profess that it is he who is in charge of this world.

Savior
Perhaps best of all, we believe in Jesus as Savior, as the one through whom God has freed us of our sin and has given us the gift of whole life, eternal life, and salvation. We speak of this gift as the atonement, our "at-oneness" or reconciliation with God. We believe that in ways we cannot fully explain, God has done this through the mystery of Jesus' self-giving sacrifice on the cross and his victory over sin and death in the Resurrection.

As you consider who Jesus is, I hope that this helps. Still, words may fall short...if you have a relationship with Jesus, you have known Jesus to be a part of your life, even though you might not be able to put it into words (Jesus' nature is a mystery, after all). Trust your heart, your experience, and your relationship with Jesus, as you ponder what it means to believe in him.

**Prayer:

O Word of God incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky:
we praise you for the radiance
that from the hallowed page,
a lantern to our footsteps,
shines on from age to age.

* http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/our-christian-roots-jesus

**"O Word of God Incarnate," United Methodist Hymnal, 598.