Introspection: A Year of Gratitude

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

A Year of Gratitude

Give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (CEB)

Just open your eyes

Just open your eyes

And see that life is beautiful

From "Life Is Beautiful" by Sixx:A.M.

I've started making it a practice, at the end of each year, to look back over the past twelve months and to close out my year by writing one last introspection.  At the end of last year, I noted that I tend to lose sight of the good things in my life because I'm preoccupied with what's less than ideal.  With that in mind, I decided to make a New Year's resolution to become more grateful.  My first step, which turned out to be my only step, was to record, at the end of each day, at least one thing for which I was grateful.  My hope was that, if I practiced gratitude as if I was working out a muscle, I would become more inclined to be grateful and happier in general.

I am proud to say that, for the first time in my life, I actually kept a New Year's resolution!  Gratitude is something that must be practiced.  Because I started practicing gratitude at the beginning of the year and continued to do so throughout the year, I think is safe to say that I have become more grateful.  I think my daily practice has made a difference in my life, for I often take notice of things for which I should be grateful.  I have found my daily practice of gratitude so rewarding that I have decided to carry it into the new year, though my focus for the year will be something else.

Back in January, I noted a few lessons I had already learned about gratitude, and I continued to learn about gratitude throughout the year.  For example, at the beginning of the year, I was reminded of how important it is to be grateful for the ordinary things of life and to not take them for granted.  I have since learned that, in order to learn to be grateful for some things in my life, I have to get a taste of life without them.

One such thing I had taken for granted was a reliable car.  In the latter part of 2017, I began having a lot of problems with my car, and, because this particular model is a known lemon, I decided not to invest any more money into it.  In February, I had to buy a new car, and suddenly I was grateful to have a car I could trust to go when I pressed the gas pedal and to stop when I pressed the brake pedal.  I actually found myself grateful when I was stuck in traffic or stopped at a traffic light, because I didn't have to worry that my car might stall.  Getting a new car eliminated a lot of stress from my life.

St. Paul, in one of his letters, encourages his readers to "give thanks in every situation."  Several years ago, I heard Ed Dobson, who suffered from ALS, point out that Paul instructs us to give thanks in all things and not for all things.¹  In other words, there are things in life for which we should not be grateful, but we can still find reasons to be grateful in the midst of them.  Recently, I heard Diana Butler Bass point out that this nuance actually holds true in the original Greek text, meaning that it was not introduced by the letter's translation into English.²

Remembering these things has helped me to look on the proverbial bright side when things aren't going my way.  For example, when I recently picked up some breakfast at a restaurant, I was given the wrong order, and I did not know until it was too late to return it.  Though I was not grateful for the mistake, I was still grateful that I had the opportunity to taste something new.  I've also found that, though my alarm clock snoozes for nine minutes, I often snooze a lot longer.  Though I'm not grateful when I oversleep, I'm still grateful for the extra rest I get as a result.

On a more serious note, sometimes I go through bouts of depression, most of which result from feeling stuck in life.  I went through one such bout back in April, and, when I started taking St. John's Wort, an herbal supplement that increases levels of the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin, I started feeling better.  Again, though I was not grateful for the depression or for the situations that contributed to it, I was very grateful when I began to feel relief from it, and I was grateful for the things that give relief.

As I practiced gratitude daily, I learned a few things about transformational practices in general.  First, such practices require intentionality.  If I was to become more grateful by taking time to record the things for which I was grateful, then I needed to put some thought into what I wrote.  There were days when what I wrote was more of an afterthought.  Still, an afterthought is better than no thought at all, because transformation requires consistency, and just making the effort to write something helped the habit to solidify.  Lastly, transformational practices require grace.  There were days when I neglected to write anything, but, when I missed a day, I gave myself some grace and started again the next day.

I've learned that gratitude warrants action.  If one is grateful for something, then one should act as if one is grateful.  For example, if one is grateful for good weather, then one should find some way to enjoy it.  I have been working at my current job for over nine years, and I'm still grateful that I have this job, especially when I remember the job I had previously.  That said, I've recently realized that I have not been working as if I'm particularly grateful for my job.  I really need to remedy this.

My practice of daily gratitude revealed some other issues in my life.  Looking back, I realized that I was often grateful for things related to whatever was occupying my mind at the moment.  I had a rather large project at work this year, and I often noted that I was grateful whenever I made progress on it or whenever a demo of the project went well.  This perhaps reveals some unnecessary anxiety in my life.  Very rarely do things go as horribly as I fear.

I also noticed throughout the year that far too often I wrote that I was grateful that I made good choices, that I was productive at work, that I accomplished something, or that I managed not to screw something up.  In other words, I was grateful for reasons not to feel bad about myself.  I suspect that, if I want to be truly grateful, I need to get my mind off myself and what I do or don't do and to instead focus on the true gifts of life - things like quality time with family and friends, the kindness of other people, good food and drink, good music, good stories (be they fact, fiction, filmed, written, or spoken), the colors of a sunset, the singing of birds, cool breezes on muggy days, the smell of flowers, restful days, opportunities to learn something new, moments of inspiration, moments of clarity, and the occasional cup of coffee on the house.

My daily practice of gratitude unexpectedly shed light on my anxiety, my insecurity, and my feelings of inadequacy.  I suspect that such things might be at least part of what's keeping me stuck.  With that in mind, I've decided to focus on cultivating a sense of self-worth in the new year.

I think that maybe there are some intersections between gratitude and self-worth.  In July, a friend of mine referred to me as "a great friend" on Facebook.  When people say such things about me, I tend to recoil mentally because I don't feel that I deserve them.  Immediately the tapes begin playing in my head, repeating, "Not enough."  Around that same time, my grandmother said one evening, as I was leaving her house, that she was proud of me.  My first impulse was to say something snide, but I resisted that urge and simply thanked her.  When people offer me words of affirmation, I need to simply receive them with gratitude, trusting that they know what they're talking about and that they're not just "being nice."

I encourage you, the reader, to develop your own regular practice of gratitude, if you do not already have one.  As I noted previously, gratitude probably won't change what is wrong with your life, but it will help you to see that there is more to your life than what is wrong with it.  May you journey into the new year with gratitude and with courage, trusting that you are enough.


Notes:

1. Kent Dobson and Ed Dobson.  "Thanks: 2."  Mars Hill Bible Church, 11/17/2013.
2. Jon Scott and Diana Butler Bass.  "GRATEFUL TEASER with Dr. Diana Butler Bass."  The Holy Heretics Podcast, 11/02/2018.

The photograph of the sky at sunset was taken by me in the parking lot of a local shopping mall.

Christmas Perspective: Unlikely Messengers

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Unlikely Messengers

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."  So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.  When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

Luke 2:8-18 (NRSV)

He came down to earth from heaven

who is God and Lord of all,

and His shelter was a stable,

and His cradle was a stall:

with the poor, and meek, and lowly

lived on earth our Savior holy.

From "Once in Royal David's City" by Cecil Frances Alexander

"The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world," so begins Barbara Robinson's classic children's novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  The six Herdman children - Ralph, Imogene, Leroy, Claude, Ollie, and Gladys - wreaked havoc in their town, doing awful things like burning down a tool shed with a stolen chemistry set, bringing their feral pet cat to show-and-tell, and blackmailing other students.  They lived above a garage, and their favorite pastime was banging the garage door up and down, trying to pin each other beneath it.  "We figured they were headed straight for hell, by way of the state penitentiary," the young narrator of the story reports.

A closer look reveals that poverty and absent parents were at the root of the Herdman children's behavioral problems.  Their father had apparently abandoned them, and their mother had to work two shifts at a shoe factory every day to make ends meet, leaving the children to raise themselves.  Their teachers were not helping matters, for they would keep promoting them to the next grade despite their poor performance, because they could not bear the thought of having more than one Herdman in the same class.

For all the students who had to put up with the Herdmans every day at school, church had been a refuge, until one Sunday morning when the Herdmans decided to pay a visit.  That day, the pastor announced the auditions for the yearly Christmas pageant.  One week later, the Herdman hellions were cast in all the lead roles - Mary, Joseph, the Angel of the Lord, and the three Wise Men - because, for one reason or another, none of the other children in the church auditioned.  When other parishioners started voicing their concerns about a Christmas pageant starring the Herdmans, the narrator's mother, who was stuck directing the pageant, declared, "I'm going to make this the very best Christmas pageant anybody ever saw, and I'm going to do it with the Herdmans too."

During what was supposed to be the first rehearsal, the narrator's mother ended up teaching on the Christmas story, because the Herdmans, who hadn't stepped into a church until recently, were unfamiliar with the very story they would be performing.  Their irreverent yet honest questions, which quite possibly revealed a spiritual hunger, forced the narrator's mother to think seriously about the story, which had become a little too familiar to her.  She began to see the good in the Herdman children, whom nearly all of the other parishioners had written off.  The Herdmans were outraged that there was no place for Jesus to be born besides a stable, and they were enraged that King Herod sought to kill Him.

Having just learned about the Christmas story, the Herdman children played their parts in the ways that came natural for them, but, instead of ruining the pageant as the church folk had feared, they really did make it the best Christmas pageant the church had ever seen.

According to the narrator, Imogene and Ralph, who played Mary and Joseph, entered the sanctuary looking confused and out of place like refugees, reminding the congregation that the real Holy Couple were far from home with nowhere to go.

Imogene burped the doll that represented the Christ Child before laying it in the manger, reminding the congregation that, in Christ, the Almighty Creator of the universe took on flesh and became a baby - a real baby who needed to be burped.

Gladys, who played the Angel of the Lord screamed, "Hey!  Unto you a child is born!" like it was "the best news in the world," reminding the congregation that the angel's message to the shepherds was indeed "the best news in the world."

Leroy, Claude, and Ollie, who played the Wise Men, pitched their pretend gold, frankincense, and myrrh and instead brought forward the ham from the food box that the church's charitable works committee had taken to the Herdman family, reminding the congregation that Christ deserves our best.

The church folk who were concerned about the Herdmans' participation in the Christmas pageant had treated the Christmas story like a toy that must be kept in mint condition in its original packaging, lest it depreciate in value.  When the Herdmans took the proverbial toy out of the box and started playing with it, the same church folk began to appreciate it in a whole new way.

The Herdman hellions became unlikely messengers of the birth of Christ.

When I was a child, my third grade teacher read this novel to my class.  When I had the opportunity to read this story two years ago, one thing that stood out to me was that the children's last name Herdman is very similar to the word shepherd.  Shepherds are, after all, herdsmen of sheep.

In the Gospel of Luke, we read that, when Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem, there were some shepherds nearby who were guarding their sheep during the night.  Suddenly, an angel appeared in their midst, and the glory of God shone around them.  Naturally, the shepherds were frightened out of their minds.  I imagine they thought that Judgment Day had come, at least for them, and that they did not expect to fare well, since they weren't exactly upstanding religious folk.  Instead of judgment, the angel brought them "good news of great joy for all the people" that their long awaited Messiah had been born.  The angel told them that they would find their newborn Savior lying in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem.

The shepherds ran into Bethlehem and found the Christ Child in the stable with His parents, and then they went out to spread the news of the birth of their Messiah to everyone who would listen.  These shepherds had been chosen by God to be the very first messengers to announce the birth of Christ to the people.

Like the Herdman children, the shepherds were the poor, unkempt, uncouth kind of people one probably would not want to see around the manger, but, like the Herdmans, they became unlikely messengers of the birth of Christ.  Throughout the biblical narrative, we can see that God has a tendency to choose unlikely messengers - the kind of messengers most people are all too ready to write off.  I suspect that God still likes to choose unlikely people to speak for God.

This Christmas season, may we consider the unlikely messengers in our midst whom we readily dismiss, and may we be willing to listen to what God might be saying to us through them.

But as far as I'm concerned, Mary is always going to look a lot like Imogene Herdman - sort of nervous and bewildered, but ready to cobber anyone who laid a hand on her baby.  And the Wise Men are always going to be Leroy and his brothers, bearing ham.

The copyright of the cover of the first edition of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is most likely owned by either author Barbara Robinson or publisher Harper & Row.  It is believed that its use to illustrate a blog post that discusses the same work qualifies as fair use.  The image was taken from the Wikipedia article about the work.

Advent Perspective: Be the Voice

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Be the Voice

A voice cries out:

"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain.

Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all people shall see it together,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)

Go, tell it on the mountain

Over the hills and everywhere

Go, tell it on the mountain

That Jesus Christ is born

From "Go, Tell It on the Mountain,"

an African-American Spiritual

As I noted previously, during the season of Advent, churches read the words of ancient prophets that are thought to point to the Messiah, the leader who will bring liberation and peace to God's people.  Some of these prophecies point to the one who will prepare the way for the Messiah.  One prophet spoke of a voice that cried out, demanding that that a straight and level highway be constructed in the wilderness, so that the Lord may come to the people.

The Gospels identify this voice as John the Baptist.  On the day he was born, his father proclaimed that he would "be called the prophet of the Most High" and that he would "go before the Lord to prepare his ways."¹  John grew up to become an rather eccentric prophet, and many people journeyed to the wilderness to hear him speak.  He called the people to change their ways, and he gave them the opportunity to undergo the ritual of baptism as a sign of their penitence.  John gave the people practical instructions for living differently.  He encouraged those in authority not to abuse their power, and he encouraged those with excess to share with those in need.²

When people began to wonder if John was their long awaited Messiah, he spoke of someone yet to come who was greater than he.³  Christians believe that the One of whom John spoke was Jesus.

John the Baptist was not the only voice who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus.  According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus once sent out as many as seventy-two messengers in pairs to all of the places He was planning to visit.  He instructed these messengers to cure people who were sick in the places they visited and to proclaim to all who would hear, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."⁴

Perhaps it is the task of everyone who follows Jesus to be a voice who prepares the way for Him by challenging people to do what is right, starting with the person in the mirror, by being an agent of healing, and by bearing good news to all who will hear.  During Advent, we look back to Christ's coming to earth as an infant two thousand years ago, and we look forward to the return of Christ at the end of this age.  I think it is important that, as we remember the past and future actions of God in Christ, we do not forget that God is always at work.  One of the morning prayers I pray acknowledges that "all day long [God] is working for good in the world."⁵

This Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ two thousand years ago, may we not forget that God is at work today.  As we remember the voice who prepared the way in the wilderness, may we be voices who prepare the way wherever we find ourselves.


Notes:

1. Luke 1:76 (NRSV)
2. Luke 3:1-14
3. Luke 3:15-17
4. Luke 10:1-9 (NRSV)
5. This prayer is part of "An Order for Morning Praise and Prayer" in the United Methodist Book of Worship.

St. John the Baptist Preaching was painted by Mattia Preti in the 17th century.

Advent Perspective: Wolves and Lambs

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Wolves and Lambs

The wolf will live with the lamb,

and the leopard will lie down with the young goat;

the calf and the young lion will feed together,

and a little child will lead them.

The cow and the bear will graze.

Their young will lie down together,

and a lion will eat straw like an ox.

A nursing child will play over the snake's hole;

toddlers will reach right over the serpent's den.

They won't harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain.

The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the Lord,

just as the water covers the sea.

Isaiah 11:6-9 (CEB)

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the new-born King!

Peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled"

From "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!"

by Charles Wesley and George Whitefield

Once again, Advent is upon us.  This is the season on the Christian calendar in which we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Christmas.  During this time, churches typically read the words of ancient prophets that are believed to point to the coming of the Messiah, the leader who would be anointed by God to liberate God's people from oppression and usher in a long awaited age of peace.

One such prophecy that has been on my mind recently is a proclamation by the prophet Isaiah, which describes life in the messianic age of peace.  Isaiah describes a kingdom where wolves live with lambs, where leopards rest with young goats, where calves and lions eat together, where cows and bears graze together, where lions eat straw with oxen, and where infants and toddlers play with snakes.  The thread running throughout Isaiah's vision is that creatures that are known to be predators peacefully coexist with the creatures that tend to be their prey.  Sometimes the place of peace described by Isaiah is called the Peaceable Kingdom.

I do not think that the prophet is speaking about literal animals that change their instincts.  Instead, I believe he is speaking about human beings who change their ways.  He is describing a kingdom in which people who were once exploited and victimized live together in peace with the people who once mistreated them.

For such a vision to become a reality, at least two things are necessary, both of which were promoted by Jesus and His contemporaries.

Firstly, a kingdom in which "wolves" and "lambs" can live together in peace requires penitence on the part of the "wolves."  Make no mistake, the Peaceable Kingdom Isaiah describes is not a fox-guarded henhouse.  The predatory creatures in the prophet's vision have undergone a fundamental change.  "A lion," for example, "will eat straw like an ox."  In other words, carnivores have become herbivores, so that they no longer "harm or destroy" other creatures.  If the "wolves" do not change their ways, the "lambs" will be in danger around them, and, if the "wolves" do not demonstrate a commitment to change, the "lambs" will not feel safe around them.

John the Baptist, the prophet who preceded Jesus, commanded the "wolves" who came to him in the wilderness to "bear fruits worthy of repentance" - in other words, to demonstrate a commitment to change.  He instructed everyone in the crowd to share their excess with people who did not have enough.  He instructed the tax collectors in the crowd to collect no more than they were required to collect, and he instructed the Roman soldiers in the crowd not to abuse their authority for their own gain.¹

Secondly, a peaceable kingdom of "wolves" and "lambs" requires forgiveness on the part of the "lambs."  Unless the "lambs" forgive, they will never associate with the "wolves," and they will not get to participate in the kingdom.  Jesus instructed the people who came to Him to be open to reconciliation with those who have wronged them, saying, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."²  He modeled forgiveness most starkly on the cross, where He prayed for His abusers, saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."³

Please note that I am not suggesting that people who have been abused leave themselves open to continued abuse.  I am instead suggesting that they work through their pain and their trauma and somehow find it in their hearts to forgive their abusers so that, in the event that their abusers truly repent, reconciliation may be possible.

Perhaps it seems as if I am making a distinction between two kinds of people and recommending a different course of action for each.  I would actually suggest that all of us need to practice both penitence and forgiveness, for a wolf and a lamb lives within each of us.  All of us have the potential to be abused by others, and all of us have the capacity to abuse others.  I would suggest that it is even possible for a person to be simultaneously one person's "wolf" and another person's "lamb."  Russian historian Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes, "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them.  But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.  And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Advent is a season of preparation.  Not only do we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Savior on Christmas, we also prepare ourselves for the Kingdom we pray that He brings.  May we practice both penitence and forgiveness as part of our preparation this season.


Notes:

1. Luke 3:7-14 (NRSV)
2. Luke 6:27-28 (NRSV)
3. Luke 23:34 (NRSV)

Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch was painted by Edward Hicks in the early 1800s.

Sermon: Not of This World (2018)

Originally delivered at Bethel United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on November 25, 2012, Christ the King Sunday

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Not of This World

Audio Version

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I?  Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.  What have you done?”  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world.  If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.  But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”  Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”  Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.  For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18:33-37 (NRSV)

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

From “Hosanna” by Brooke Fraser

Church congregations around the world order worship around the liturgical calendar.  By observing the various seasons and holy days of the liturgical calendar, we essentially reenact the entire Biblical history of the Church over the course of a year.

During the season of Advent, we look around us and see that the world is not as it should be, and we remember that we, like the ancient Israelites, are waiting for our Messiah to come into the world to set things right.  At Christmas, we join with the shepherds and heavenly choirs in welcoming Jesus Christ, our newborn King, into the world.  On Epiphany Sunday, we watch as astrologers from the East arrive to pay homage to a young Jesus, presenting Him with extravagant offerings of myrrh, incense, and gold.

After Epiphany, we remember the Baptism of the Lord, and travel with Jesus to the Jordan River.  We see the heavens open; we hear a loud voice call out, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased”; and we see the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of dove.  On Transfiguration Sunday, we hike up a mountain with Peter, James, and John, and we fall to the ground as we watch a glowing, radiant Jesus speak with Moses and Elijah.

During the season of Lent, we follow Jesus into the wilderness where, over the course of forty days, we confront our own weaknesses, temptations, and demons, all the while knowing what lies ahead of us.

On Palm Sunday, we follow Jesus as He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, greeted with the accolades of the people.  We see palm branches waving in the air, and we hear shouts of “Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

On Maundy Thursday, we sit around the table with Jesus and watch as He takes some bread, breaks it, and gives it to us, saying, “This is my body.”  Then we watch as He passes a cup of wine to us, saying, “This is my blood.”  Throughout the meal, we feel the weight of the bag of silver in our pockets.  Afterward, we watch as Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.  On Good Friday, we watch the man who was supposed to be our Messiah languish on a cross, crying out, “My God!  My God!  Why have you forsaken me?”  We see the sky turn black and feel the earth shake beneath our feet as we watch Him breathe His last breath.

On Easter Sunday, we run with Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene to Jesus' tomb and find it opened and empty, and, just when we least expect it, our eyes are opened, and we see that Christ our Lord is risen and that not even death could stop Him.  On Ascension Sunday, we watch our Lord disappear into the clouds as He tells us that we will be His messengers to the whole world.  On Pentecost, we hear a mighty rushing wind and then watch as the Disciples are baptized by tongues of fire, and we remember that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we carry the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Throughout the rest of the year, we stand with Peter, James, John, Paul, and others, trying to figure out what it means to be the Church, the Body of Christ.

On All Saints Sunday, we remember all the saints who have come and gone before us, the “great cloud of witnesses,” the great multitude who have come out of the great tribulation that is this life and have washed their robes clean.

Today, on Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar, we come full circle.  Again we look around us and see that the world is not as it should be, and we remember that we are waiting for our Messiah to come back into the world to set things right.  We await the day when heaven and earth are made new and when the new holy city comes down from heaven like a bride walking down the aisle toward her groom.  We await the day when God's home is among humans and when God brings healing to all nations and wipes the tears from our eyes.

---

Today we return briefly to a scene from Good Friday.  During the night, Jesus had been betrayed by one of His own disciples, arrested in a garden by soldiers and temple guards, and taken before the high priest for questioning.  Now it is early in the morning, and Jesus has been taken to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.¹  Pilate asks Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus responds, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

Pilate fires back, “I am not a Jew, am I?  Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.  What have you done?”

Jesus then says to Pilate, “My kingdom is not from this world.”

It is this statement I want to examine today.  What does Jesus mean when He says that His kingdom is not of this world?

Jesus continues, “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.  But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”  At first, it might sound as if Jesus is saying that, because His kingdom is not from this world, He has nobody to fight for Him.  On Good Friday, we criticize the Disciples for running away with their tails between their legs when Jesus is arrested, but, if we read the stories of Jesus' arrest carefully, we will see that the Disciples' first impulse is to draw their swords and strike.²  Peter even attacks one of Jesus' captors, cutting off his ear.  The Disciples are ready, willing, and able to fight – but Jesus says to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath.”³

Earlier in the Gospel story, Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and somehow the Disciples manage to collect twelve baskets of leftovers.  When the people see this feat, they begin to think that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the prophets.  Jesus has to get away from the people because He knows that they intend to “take him by force to make him king.”⁴  Not only does Jesus have disciples who are willing to fight to protect Him, He also has followers who are willing to take on the Roman Empire to make Him king!

When Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world, I believe He means that His kingdom is fundamentally different from the kingdoms of this world.  Jesus once said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.”⁵  All we have to do is to open the newspaper or turn on the news to be reminded that the kingdoms of this world operate on violence.  Historically, the kingdoms of this world have worked out their disputes by going to war.  Maybe Jesus refuses to let people fight for Him because His kingdom operates differently from the kingdoms of this world.

In Jesus' day, there was within the hearts of the Jewish people a hope for a messianic age of peace.  The Greek phrase often used in the New Testament to refer to life in this coming age is zoe aionios, which literally means life of the age.  This phrase is typically translated into English as eternal life.  To the Jewish people, the “present age” was marked with suffering, oppression, and violence, but the “age to come” would be an age of peace, justice, and healing.⁶  When Jesus performs miracles – feeding five thousand people with a sack lunch, for example – people begin to suspect that He is the Messiah who will usher in the coming age of peace.

Jesus has people who are willing to fight for Him, but He has nobody who is willing to suffer with Him.  The Messiah is expected to be a great warrior king who will ride into town on a white horse and liberate the people from the oppression of the Roman Empire.  Jesus, on the other hand, is a humble rabbi who rides into town on a modest donkey and is executed on a Roman cross.

We sometimes call the week preceding Easter Passion Week.  The word passion literally means “suffering,” but, in our day and time, we typically associate passion with love.  These two meanings are not unrelated, for it is only by love that one is able to suffer for another person.  Jesus' kingdom, the Kingdom of God, could not be brought into the world through violence, but only through God's love and Christ's suffering.  Christ did not fight political oppression; He fought the oppression of sin and death.  Christ drank the cup of sin and death when He suffered and died on the cross, and He triumphed over them when He left behind an empty tomb.

When we celebrate Holy Communion, we “declare the mystery of faith” that “Christ has died,” that “Christ is risen,” and that “Christ will come again.”  Today, on Christ the King Sunday, we focus on the last part of this mystery.  Like the ancient Israelites, we realize that our present age is plagued with violence, poverty, oppression, and suffering, and, like the ancient Israelites, we look forward to the day when our Messiah comes “in final victory” to usher in the age of peace foretold by the prophets.⁷

The prophet Isaiah proclaims the following about the messianic age of peace:

In days to come

the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.

Many peoples shall come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob;

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,

and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.⁸

The reign of Christ will mean the end of the injustice that is so prevalent in this present age.  If you pay attention to the news, you will see story after story of people being victimized and exploited.  Isaiah says that, in the age to come, God will be judge and arbitrator.  Gone will be all injustice and all perversions of justice.  The reign of Christ will also mean the end of all violence.  Isaiah prophesies that people will no longer go to war with each other, nor will they even learn how to fight.  Swords and spears will be turned into plowshares and pruning-hooks.  To speak in modern terms, tanks, guns, and drones will be dismantled, melted down, and recycled to make tractors.

Isaiah also offers this description of the world when the Messiah reigns:

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.⁹

The reign of Christ will mean the end of oppression.  Isaiah envisions creatures that are normally in predator-prey relationships eating and resting together.  The strong will no longer take advantage of the week, nor will the wealthy take advantage of the poor.  Former politicians and business tycoons will befriend people who were formerly homeless.  Former CEOs will sit down to dinner with the former assembly line workers who once made them rich.

St. John the Revelator had a vision of the age to come when heaven and earth are made new.¹⁰  In the midst of this vision he heard a loud voice saying,

See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.¹¹

The reign of Christ will mean the end of death, sadness, and pain.

When we look at the world around us, the reign of Christ seems far, far away, but, then again, maybe it is closer than we think.  Jesus once said, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!'  For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is among you.”¹²  The Kingdom of God is sometimes described as both “already” and “not yet.”  Though it can be understood as a time in the future when God reigns on the earth, having done away with injustice, oppression, violence, and death, it can also be understood as simply the place where God reigns.  John Wesley once defined the Kingdom of God as the “happiness and holiness” that is “the immediate fruit of God's reigning in the soul.”¹³  If God reigns in our hearts, then we are the citizens of the Kingdom of God.

---

When Christians speak of the end times, the conversation sometimes turns to the subject of readiness.  Some have used the books of Revelation and Daniel and various teaching of Jesus and St. Paul to piece together a timeline of events that will precede the return and reign of Christ.  Some believe that, at some point, all true followers of Christ will be spontaneously taken to heaven in an event called the “Rapture.”  Those who remain will face a seven-year period of hell on earth called the “Great Tribulation,” during which the world will be under the dominion of an evil ruler called the “Antichrist” or the “Beast.”  This period of time will end with the Battle of Armageddon, after which Christ will return to reign on the earth.

People who strongly believe in this framework take great measures to make sure that people are ready for the end times.  In the 90s, two authors started writing a popular fiction series to educate people about end-time events.  Some look to current events as signs that the end times are near, and some try to figure out who the Antichrist might be.  Some have even made videos to instruct the people who will be "left behind" after the Rapture.  Several years ago, one man thought he had found a formula in Scripture to calculate the exact date of the Rapture, and he determined that it would occur on May 21, 2011.  Many people believed him, and they left everything behind and devoted their lives to warning people.  This date came and went, and the Rapture did not happen.¹⁴  This man was not the first person to make such a mistake: years earlier someone else wrote a book titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.

I don't believe that such measures are the best ways to prepare for the reign of Christ.  First of all, it is important to remember that the popular framework of end-times events is simply a theory based on a particular interpretation of Scripture.  The truth is that we really do not know what will happen between now and the day Christ returns.  Second, it is pointless to try to figure out when Christ will return.  Jesus said that even He, the Son of God, does not know when that day will come.¹⁵

Perhaps there is a better way to prepare for the reign of Christ.

When Jesus began His public ministry, one of His first messages was, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”¹⁶  The Greek word metanoia, which is translated into English as repentance, literally means a change mind.¹⁷  The Kingdom of God is fundamentally different from the kingdoms of this world.  When Christ reigns, the world will operate very differently from the way it operates now, so we need to be willing to change the way we think about everything.  St. Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”¹⁸

I think that the best way to be ready for the reign of Christ on earth is to let Christ reign in our lives right now.  The words we pray so often – “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done [on] earth, as it is in heaven”¹⁹ – should be for us not a wish for the future, but rather a mission statement that guides everything we do today.  We must show other people what it means to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

One day, some parents bring their children to Jesus.  The Disciples try to send them away, but Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”²⁰  In Jesus' time, children had low status in society, but in the Kingdom of God, social status does not matter.  I believe that children are actually more ready for the Kingdom of God than the rest of us.  When we are young, we are idealistic, but the grown-ups around us scoff at our innocence, saying that someday we'll understand how the world really works.  Inevitably, the world squishes the spirit out of us, and idealism gives way to cynicism.  Little children have not yet conformed to the patterns of this world, and, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we must reclaim the childlike hope, wonder, joy, and love we once knew.

Today, on Christ the King Sunday, we remember that the present age will someday come to an end and that Christ will someday return to reign on the earth in an age of peace.  May we let Christ reign in our hearts today, that we may be ready for Christ to reign over the whole earth.  May we live as children of the Kingdom of God.

Christ says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

“Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!”²¹


Notes:

1. John 18:1-32
2. Luke 22:49
3. John 18:10-11 (NRSV)
4. John 6:1-15 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 24:6 (NRSV)
6. N.T. Wright.  “Going to Heaven?”  Published in The Love Wins Companion.  2011, HarperOne.  pp. 33-35
7. Quoted phrases are taken from Holy Communion liturgy.
8. Isaiah 2:2-4 (NRSV)
9. Isaiah 11:6-9 (NRSV)
10. Revelation 21:1-22:5
11. Revelation 21:3-4 (NRSV)
12. Luke 17:20-21 (NRSV)
13. John Wesley.  Sermon 7: “The Way to the Kingdom.”  part I, paragraph 12
14. Tiffany Stanley.  “No Rapture, Just Judgment.”  NPR's The New Republic, May 23, 2011.
15. Matthew 24:36
16. Matthew 4:17 (NRSV)
17. Wikipedia: “Metanoia (Theology)”
18. Romans 12:2 (NRSV)
19. Matthew 6:10 (KJV)
20. Matthew 19:13-15 (NRSV)
21. Revelation 22:20 (NRSV)

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem was painted by Benjamin Haydon in the nineteenth century.  Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was painted by Viktor Vasnetsov in the nineteenth century.

Introspection: Gone Fishing

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Gone Fishing

Simon Peter told them, "I'm going fishing."

They said, "We'll go with you."  They set out in a boat, but throughout the night they caught nothing.

John 21:3 (CEB)

Hey you

Out there beyond the wall

Breaking bottles in the hall

Can you help me?

From "Hey You" by Pink Floyd

For the last few weeks, the pastors of my church have been preaching a series of sermons based on the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero.¹  Reading the book for myself and discussing the sermons with my small group have helped me to gain a new perspective on some things in my life.

In one chapter of the book, Scazzero describes what he calls the "Wall."  The Wall is what St. John of the Cross called the "Dark Night of the Soul."  It is a season in one's life marked by doubt and spiritual dryness.  This season is often brought on by some sort of crisis or disappointment.  During this time, God might seem distant, and one's faith might not seem to work as it once did.  When we reach the Wall, we need to somehow make our way through it, but we will need God's help.  Many people find themselves stuck at the Wall, while others bounce off the wall more entrenched in their ways.²

As for me, I feel like I hit a Wall back in 2013.

A couple of my friends from my small group, both of whom are retired pastors, seem to think that I ought to go into the ministry.  December 28 of this year will be the tenth anniversary of the day I delivered my very first sermon, so the idea of going into the ministry is not new to me.  For a while, I thought I might actually be headed in that direction.  To dip my toe into the water, I started preaching at my home church.  Later on, I started taking classes with Lay Servant Ministries so that I could fill in as preacher at other churches within my denomination.

A series of events starting in 2013 showed me that I just don't love people enough to be a pastor.  I realized that I tend to bail out on people when I feel that they want too much from me.  There is simply no point in trying to be a minister if I'm too selfish to minister to people.  I did feel as though a rift had opened between myself and God, not because I felt that God had disappointed me but because I felt that I had disappointed God.

What Scazzero calls the Wall, my pastor Jonathan calls the "Wilderness."  In his sermon on the subject, he referenced a number of people in the Bible who went through a Wilderness of some sort.  At God's call, Abraham and Sarah journeyed through the wilderness into the unknown.  After leaving Egypt, Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years before they finally reached the Promised Land.  Elijah fled into the wilderness when the queen threatened his life.  The Israelites walked again through the wilderness into exile when their homeland was conquered.  Even Jesus himself wandered the wilderness for forty days, where He faced temptation.  Jonathan encouraged the congregation to consider which of these stories parallel our own.³

When it comes to my own experience at the Wall, the Biblical story that resonates the most with me is that of Peter.  Once known as Simon, Peter left behind his job as a fisherman to become a student of Jesus.  Always the most brash and most eager of the Disciples, Peter once declared that he was willing to die for Jesus.  Jesus, who knew that trouble was coming, warned Peter that he would deny knowing Him three times by morning.⁴  A few hours later, after Jesus was arrested, Peter denied that he knew Jesus, just as Jesus had predicted.⁵

I suspect that Peter hit a Wall of his own when he denied Jesus.  One night, after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, Peter told some of the other Disciples that he was going fishing.  The others went with him, and they spent the night catching nothing.  There are various interpretations regarding the significance of this fishing trip.  Personally, I suspect that Peter must have felt like a failure and that, by going fishing, he basically tendered his resignation as a disciple and returned to his former line of work.

When I hit my Wall, I too "went fishing," so to speak.  I gave up on ever becoming a pastor, and I kept doing what I was doing as a layperson.  I kept writing, teaching Sunday school, and preaching on occasion.  After years of taking classes, I was finally certified as a Lay Speaker, and I even started teaching one of the classes I had taken.

Peter might have resigned as a disciple, but Jesus reached out to him once again.  Three times, Peter had denied knowing Jesus.  Three times Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?"  Three times Peter said yes, and three times Jesus called him to feed His sheep.⁶  Peter was still a "rock" on whom Jesus would build His church.

The journey through the Wall is a time of learning and growth.  According to Scazzero, people who make it through the Wall become less judgmental, more comfortable with mystery, more patient, and more detached from their circumstances.  Scazzero said that, when he made it through his own Wall, he was more free from the opinions of others, more clear about who he is, and more assured of God's love for him.⁷

I'm not sure I've fully made it through the Wall, but I feel like I have been changed by my experience.  Looking back, I think that, if I gone into the ministry years ago, I would have been eaten alive.  People expect pastors to be all things to all people, and I have no doubt that I would have expected the same of myself.  I did not have clarity about what is mine to do and what is not mine to do.  I did not think realistically about what others should expect of me and what I should expect of myself.  I did not see a difference between being selfish and doing what is right for myself.  My experience at the Wall has forced me to reconsider such things.  I'm starting to see that neither selfishness nor selflessness is really a good way of life.  The world doesn't revolve around me, but I still matter.

I've never been very good at predicting my own future.  I suppose it's still possible that someday I'll find myself in pastoral ministry, but, for the time being, I'll keep on "fishing" by serving as a layperson.  Whatever happens, I think I'm better off having hit the Wall several years ago, because it showed me that, regardless of what I do, I have to be myself and not what everyone wants me to be.  If we could see the difficulties that obstruct the path ahead of us, we would doubtlessly take detours, but, when we look back on the trials we've faced, we can see how they've made us stronger.


Notes:

1. Peter Scazzero.  Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It's Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature.  2017, Zondervan.
2. Scazzero, ch. 4
3. Jonathan Tompkins.  "In the Wilderness."  Travelers Rest United Methodist Church, 10/28/2018.
4. John 13:36-38
5. John 18:15-18, 25-27
6. John 21:15-17
7. Scazzero, ch. 4

The photograph of the fishermen was taken by Francis Hannaway and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Sermon: Two Cents on Justice

Delivered at McBee Chapel United Methodist Church in Conestee, South Carolina and at St. John United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on November 11, 2018

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Two Cents on Justice

Audio Version

As [Jesus] taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!  They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.  They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury.  Many rich people put in large sums.  A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.  Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:38-44 (NRSV)

Stopped at a red light, looked out my window

I saw a cardboard sign, said, “Help this homeless widow”

Just above this sign was the face of a human

I thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?”

From “My Own Little World” by Matthew West

In early 2012, Jefferson Bethke stirred up a bit of controversy when he released a video in which he recites a poem he titled “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus.”  He begins his poem by asking, “What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?”  He goes on to raise what I consider some very valid concerns, including the relationship between religion and partisan politics in our country, the tendency of religious people to be judgmental and hypocritical, and the reality that there have been numerous religiously motivated wars.¹  Bethke echoes the sentiments of many who argue that true Christianity is not a religion but rather a relationship with Christ.  Though I think I understand what they're trying to say, I suspect that they might have misunderstood the meaning of the word religion, for religion is the way we have a relationship with Christ.

---

Jesus had been shaking things up ever since He entered Jerusalem.  On the first day of the week, He rode into town on a donkey, as if He was in a royal procession, while the crowds shouted, “Hosanna!”  On the next day, He stormed into the temple, turned over the tables where people were doing business, drove out the money changers and animal sellers, and blocked the door, effectively closing the temple for business.  On the third day of the week, the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and supporters of King Herod struck back, asking Jesus loaded questions about authority, taxes, and resurrection, hoping to trap Him in His own words.  Fully aware of their intentions, He skillfully responded to all of their questions without getting caught in their snares.²

Jesus returned to the temple, having silenced His detractors, and He sat down near the treasury and watched as people gave monetary offerings.  A number of wealthy people came into the temple and gave large sums of money.  While Jesus was still watching, a poor widow came into a temple and gave two copper coins, which St. Mark tells us are worth a penny.  These two pennies were apparently all the money the widow had to her name.  Jesus called the Disciples over and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

This story is often told by preachers to encourage their congregations to be generous.  If this poor widow was willing to give her last two pennies to God, then how can we, who most likely have more than two pennies to rub together, be unwilling to give at least a tenth of our earnings?  Today, I would like to suggest maybe this story should deeply trouble us or even make us angry.

Before Jesus returned to the temple and watched people put money into the treasury, He issued an indictment against the scribes.  The scribes were essentially scholars of the Jewish Law.  They helped people to apply the Law to their everyday lives; they passed along the rules and regulations that were not put into writing; and, when necessary, they interpreted the Law in regards to specific situations people brought them.  Especially great scribes were given the title Rabbi.³  Jesus said that the scribes wore long robes, said lengthy prayers, relished being greeted with respect in public, and loved sitting in seats of prominence at gatherings.  Simply put, the scribes were showy, and they loved attention.

The most damning charge Jesus leveled against the scribes was that they “devour widow's houses.”  There are a number of interpretations regarding what Jesus meant.  William Barclay suggests that, because the scribes were forbidden from receiving payment for their work, some might have preyed on widows by convincing them that supporting them financially would earn them favor with God.⁴  Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan suggest that, as a literate and educated class of people, some scribes might have acted as predatory lenders, loaning large sums of money to widows and then foreclosing on their houses when they were unable to repay.⁵  Some have suggested that scribes might have managed the property of widows for a fee.⁶  In one Gospel, Jesus said, amid a litany of woes upon both the scribes and the Pharisees, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.”⁷

When it comes to the Jewish Law, we cannot discuss matters like justice and mercy without addressing the treatment of widows and other vulnerable persons, like orphans and immigrants.  When we read the books of the Law, we see that God has a special concern for such groups of people.  The Book of Deuteronomy describes God as an impartial Judge “who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.”⁸  According to the Law, widows and other vulnerable populations were to be protected.  In Exodus we read, “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.  You shall not abuse any widow or orphan.  If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry...”⁹  Exploitative practices like predatory lending were strictly forbidden.  Again, in Deuteronomy we read, “You shall not take a widow's garment in pledge.”¹⁰

The Jewish Law even provided a social safety net for widows and other people in need.  Every three years, farmers were required to give a tenth – or a “tithe” – of their crops for the year, so that people who could not provide for themselves would have something to eat.¹¹  Farmers were also forbidden from picking their fields clean, so that widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor could glean from what was left.¹²  You might remember a story about a widow named Ruth, who survived because a farmer named Boaz obeyed the Law and allowed her to gather grain from his field.¹³

When the people failed to extend justice and mercy to widows and other vulnerable persons, God sent the prophets to remind them of what God had called them to do.  For example, at a time when national leaders were acting unjustly, the prophet Isaiah reminded the people to “seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, [and] plead for the widow.”¹⁴  Like Jesus, the prophet Jeremiah went to the temple to protest injustice, and he went so far as to suggest that God no longer dwelt in the temple.¹⁵  He said,
If you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.¹⁶

The story of the widow at the temple should upset us because the very fact that she had only two pennies on which to live shows us that something had gone horribly wrong within the religious establishment of Jesus' day.  A case in point is that the scribes, the very same people who were trusted to make sure that the Jewish people knew the Law – which mandated that they take care of widows and other vulnerable persons – were financially exploiting widows.  It is quite possible that the widow gave her last two pennies to the very same dysfunctional system that had already robbed her of everything else!

---

After entering Jerusalem, Jesus began raging against the religious machine headquartered within the city, pronouncing Judgment upon it for all the ways it had neglected to do what it was established to do.

Before Jesus caused a ruckus at the temple, He spotted a leafing fig tree and started looking for figs.  Finding none, He cursed the tree, saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”¹⁷  The next day, when Jesus and the Disciples passed by the fig tree again, they saw that it had withered.¹⁸  Jesus' cursing the fig tree was a symbolic act of protest against the religious establishment.¹⁹  Jesus was suggesting that, in the same way that the fig tree left Him hungry, the religious system was leaving people spiritually and physically hungry, and that, as the fig tree quickly withered, so the days of the religious system were numbered.

When Jesus barged into the temple and drove out the animal sellers and money changers, He proclaimed, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?  But you have made it a den of robbers.”²⁰  We might be tempted to think that Jesus was angry about the apparent commercialism in a house of worship or that He was angry that people were being cheated there.  Both the animal sellers and money changers had legitimate purposes in the temple.  It would be difficult to travel long distances and arrive in Jerusalem with an animal still fit for sacrifice, and it would not be right to buy one in the Temple of the Lord with currency that exalts the Roman emperor.  It is important to note that a “den of robbers” is not the place where robbery happens but is rather the place to which robbers flee after they commit their crimes.  Jesus was basically saying that the temple was harboring perpetrators of injustice.²¹

When the Disciples expressed amazement that the fig tree Jesus cursed actually withered, Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.”²²  Jesus was not just making a commentary about the power of prayer.  When He said “this mountain,” He was referring not to some random mountain in the distance but to Mt. Zion, on which the temple was built.²³

When Jesus and the Disciples left the temple, having just watched the widow give her last two pennies, the Disciples marveled over the large buildings.  Jesus chillingly said, “Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”  He went on to describe the future destruction of the temple.²⁴

In Jesus' eyes, the religious system had failed.  Not only had it failed to uphold Scriptural justice, it had even become a perpetrator of injustice.  I am not suggesting, like Jefferson Bethke, that “Jesus came to abolish religion.”  The word religion is derived from Latin word ligare, from which we also get the word ligament.  A ligament, as you probably know, is the tissue that connects two bones at a joint.  Religion, as its name implies, exists to reconnect us to God and to one another.²⁵  I cannot imagine that Jesus would want to abolish anything that effectively draws people closer to God and closer to one another.  What I am suggesting is that Jesus is not very fond of dead, fruitless religion and that He views any religious system that exists primarily for its own preservation and glorification as disposable.

As a first-century Jew, Jesus had a lot of problems with the religious establishment of His day.  As twenty-first century Christians, we need to realize that no religious system of any era is immune to corruption and that our own is no exception.  We need to be willing to take a good, hard look at our own religious structures and to consider honestly whether or not they are doing what they were established to do.

Among the people who asked Jesus questions that day was a sincere scribe who actually wanted to know what Jesus thought about a particular matter.  Impressed with how Jesus answered all the other questions, he asked, “Which commandment is the first of all?”  Jesus replied, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’”  He continued, “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Impressed with Jesus' answer, the scribe affirmed that loving God and one's neighbor is more important than offering sacrifices at the temple.  Jesus told the scribe that he was “not far from the kingdom of God.”²⁶

Notice that, even though the scribe only wanted to know what Jesus considered the most important commandment, Jesus offered him the most important and, for some reason, went on to offer him the second most important as well.  I think that maybe Jesus couldn't tell the scribe the most important commandment without also telling him the second.  Maybe loving God cannot be divorced from loving one's neighbor.  To paraphrase St. John, we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the neighbors we can see,²⁷ and we cannot love the Parent if we do not love the children.²⁸  We cannot love the Creator unless we love those made in the Creator's image.  In other words, our practices of piety must be accompanied by acts of justice and mercy.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we read about the first community that formed around the way of Jesus.  The first Christians did not abandon the Jewish imperative to serve and protect vulnerable populations.  Landowners within the community sold their property and laid the proceeds at the Disciples' feet, and the money was used to ensure that nobody in the community was in need.²⁹  They understood that, as Jesus taught, “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.”³⁰  At one point, a group of servants was appointed to ensure that food was delivered to widows.³¹  The Church began as a community of love for God and love for one another.

As time goes by, people have a tendency to lose sight of what really matters.  At the beginning of the Book of Revelation, the writer describes a vision of Jesus.  Jesus stands in the midst of seven lampstands, each of which represents a church in the region that is now modern-day Turkey, and Jesus dictates a letter to each of the seven churches.³²  In the letter to the church in Ephesus, He acknowledges the church's hard work, endurance, and discernment, but He goes on to say, “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.  If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”³³  A church that has lost its love has lost its light... and its reason to exist.

Many Christians today are concerned that Christianity seems to be in decline in our country.  Maybe, instead of deflecting the blame onto the secular culture, we need to take a good hard, look at ourselves.  As the Church, are we doing what we have been called together to do?  Are we, to borrow a phrase from the prophet Micah, doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God?³⁴  Have we forgotten that our God is a God of the oppressed and the downtrodden?  Are we reaching out to people and meeting their needs, or are we leaving them spiritually and physically hungry?  Are we promoting justice, or are we harboring injustice?  Do justice and mercy accompany our piety?  May we be willing to look critically at ourselves and at our institutions; may we be honest about what we see; and may we repent of the ways we have gone astray.

Amen.


Notes:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY
2. Mark 11:1-12:37
3. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  pp. 35-36
4. Barclay, pp. 350
5. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.  The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem.  2006, HarperOne.  p. 74
6. Chris Spearman, et al.  “The Widow's Last Dime.”  The Loft LA, 09/20/2014.
7. Matthew 23:23 (NRSV)
8. Deuteronomy 10:17-18 (NRSV)
9. Exodus 22:21-23 (NRSV)
10. Deuteronomy 24:17 (NRSV)
11. Deuteronomy 14:28-29
12. Deuteronomy 24:19-22, Leviticus 23:22
13. Ruth 2
14. Isaiah 1:17 (NRSV)
15. Jeremiah 7:1-4
16. Jeremiah 7:5-7 (NRSV)
17. Mark 11:12-14 (NRSV)
18. Mark 11:20-21
19. Borg and Crossan, p. 56
20. Mark 11:15-17 (NRSV)
21. Borg and Crossan, pp. 58-59
22. Mark 11:20-22 (NRSV)
23. Borg and Crossan, p. 56
24. Mark 13:1-23 (NRSV)
25. Kent Dobson.  “Religion, Rites + Rituals: Rebind.”  Mars Hill Bible Church, 04/07/2013.
26. Mark 12:28-34 (NRSV)
27. 1 John 4:20
28. 1 John 5:1
29. Acts 4:34-35
30. Luke 12:48 (NRSV)
31. Acts 6:1-6
32. Revelation 1:9-20
33. Rev 2:1-7 (NRSV)
34. Micah 6:8

The Pennies of the Poor Widow was painted by Paulus Lesire in the 1600s.

Perspective: Treasure in Heaven

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Treasure in Heaven

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NRSV)

Ruin my life, the plans I have made

Ruin desires for my own selfish gain

Destroy the idols that have taken Your place

Till it's You alone I live for

You alone I live for

From "Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson

One day, a rich man approached Jesus, and kneeling before Him, asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus referred him to the Ten Commandments, and the man insisted that he had kept all of the Commandments ever since he was young.  Jesus looked at him, smiled warmly, and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."  The rich man walked away dejected, because he did not want to part with his many possessions.¹

If you have been following this blog for a long period of time, then you might have noticed that I've written about the encounter between Jesus and the man commonly known as the Rich Young Ruler numerous times over the years, and you might be wondering why I'm writing about it yet again.  A friend of mine, who is a pastor, was scheduled to participate in the Kairos Prison Ministry² two weeks ago, and I had volunteered to fill in for him at the two churches he serves.  The Gospel passage for the week just happened to be story of the Rich Young Ruler, so I started preparing to write a sermon on it.  I later learned that the Kairos weekend was postponed and that my services would not be needed on that particular Sunday.

Two weeks ago, as I read the passage yet again, I thought about what I might have preached that day.  I knew I wanted to avoid the "obvious" messages.  I wanted to avoid the ever popular message that Jesus does not really expect all of us to part with our possessions, as He was speaking to a particular person.  I also wanted to avoid the less popular message that, as Christians, we need to take the words of Jesus seriously, actually do what He said, and give up our possessions.  I wanted to the congregation to do the hard work of looking at their own lives and deciding for themselves what they need to do with their possessions.

One thing I know I wanted to explore in my sermon was what Jesus meant when He spoke of "treasure in heaven."  Jesus uses the phrase only a few times.  Probably the instance that best explains the concept is in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus encourages His audience not to accumulate "treasures on earth," which wear out, break, and get stolen, but to instead collect "treasures in heaven," which one cannot lose.

Jesus then says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

This concluding thought is, I think, the key to unlocking why Jesus told the rich man to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor that he might have "treasure in heaven."  I think that maybe his problem was not that he was wealthy but that he was attached to his wealth.

I had also planned to explore in my sermon a phrase used by the rich man.  Consider again what he asked Jesus: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  The Greek phrase translated into English as "eternal life" is zoe aionios.  According to scholar N.T. Wright, this phrase is more accurately translated "life of the age," referring to the coming age of peace and prosperity to be ushered in by the Messiah.  "Eternal life" then is life in the messianic age of peace.³  Perhaps we could also think of "eternal life" as life in the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus returned to civilization after spending forty days in the wilderness, He started proclaiming, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."⁴  I'm starting to think that maybe this proclamation is not merely His first message but rather a summary of everything He ever taught.  The Kingdom of God is, as the prayer Jesus taught His followers suggests, heaven's coming down to earth so that God's will is done on earth as it is done in heaven now.⁵  The coming of the Kingdom of God will be a reordering of the entire world.  What is valued now will not be valued then.

Jesus urged His audience to repent because the Kingdom of God has come near.  To repent is not to simply feel sorry because of the bad things one has done.  As I have noted on this blog countless times, the Greek word translated into English as "repentance" is metanoia, which literally means a change of mind.  Repentance is a change of mind and heart that results in a change in the way one lives.⁶  For the rich man, repentance in anticipation of the Kingdom of God would mean changing what he valued.  As Jesus said, one's heart accompanies what one treasures.  The rich man needed to let go of the worldly wealth he treasured so that he could learn to treasure heavenly things.

After the rich man walked away, Jesus said to His disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."  Some speculate that there may have been a particularly narrow gate in Jerusalem that was compared to the eye of a needle.  A person could negotiate his camel through this gate, but he would have to first unload the camel.⁷  Similarly the rich man would have to unburden himself of his attachment to worldly wealth in order to experience the Kingdom of God.

The encounter between Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler is a reminder that God's grace is free but not cheap.  Any gift God offers us is free of charge, but taking hold of it just might cost us something.  I cannot tell you whether or not Jesus would ask you to part with your possessions.  What I can tell you is that you need to examine your relationship to your possessions for yourself to determine whether or not they are distracting you from more important things.

In two weeks, while my friend is participating in the Kairos Prison Ministry, I will be filling in at his churches.  I will not preach on a story about a rich man who cannot bring himself to part with his many possessions.  I will instead preach on a story about a poor widow who parts with her last two pennies.


Notes:

1. Mark 10:17-22 (NRSV)
2. http://www.kairosprisonministry.org/
3. N.T. Wright.  "Going to Heaven?"  Published in The Love Wins Companion.  2011, HarperOne.  pp. 33-35
4. Mark 1:12-15 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 6:10
6. Wikipedia: "Metanoia (Theology)"
7. Kent Dobson.  Bitten by a Camel: Leaving Church, Finding God.  2017, Fortress Press.  pp. 35-36

Christ and the Rich Young Ruler was painted by Heinrich Hofmann in 1889.