Don’t Worry, Be Happy? Matthew 6:24-34, Epiphany 7 A

| No Comments

Click here to listen!

“No one 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.”  One of my friends in ministry shared with me the blessings and woes of working with his congregation’s mission committee.  Their annual budget for mission was $500.  The mission committee always saw this as a defeat.  They assumed that there wasn’t much they could do to serve the kingdom, yet they went ahead with the normal seasonal missions.  For Thanksgiving they cooked a meal for those who were hungry.  They collected toys for children in the area for Christmas.  They held bought plastic eggs and candy for the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  Well, one day someone willed their committee $1,500 upon her passing, so the next year they had $2,000 in the mission account.  Now the sky was the limit for this community.  They started brainstorming as to how they could use the money.  They decided to collect food for the food bank, so each member went to the store and gathered an extra item or two and they donated several hundred pounds of food.  Later they decided to write get well cards to people in the hospital.  They also decided to go out into the neighborhood and pick up trash that lined the streets and ditches.  For Easter they decided to have a special worship service where they would gather and play all the old favorite hymns about triumph and glory.  They offered some pretty remarkable things.  When the mission committee gathered at the end of the season they experienced and interesting miracle.  They discovered that there was still $2,000 in the account.

Money is powerful!  Before they received their gift, they viewed their $500 as a burden, or at least a failure.  When they had a large sum to work with, they began brainstorming some wonderful ideas.  It’s like this new sum offered them possibility.  In actuality they had been asking money’s permission to do the things of the kingdom, and when they were no longer worried about running out of money, they hit the streets with service that hardly cost a thing.  I said on facebook earlier this week, “If we cannot serve God and money, why are both chairpersons of our committees?”  Money is powerful, but it is only as powerful as the power we allow it to have.  But stewardship season is not until late October/early November, so I guess we’re not supposed to talk about it now.

Jesus goes on to say, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

A couple of years ago I went to a two day meditation workshop.  One of the first things the instructor asked us to do was eat a tangerine (I thought, I could get used to this kind of workshop).  I peeled the tangerine and took a segment and quickly ate it, and while I was eating I started to pull another segment.  While I was chewing, the next segment was already in hand, so that I couldn’t even get a breath in between slices.  This is how I eat.  You know, at a party I go and gather lots of chips in one hand and then I sit and watch the game and when my hand is empty I go and get another handful.  I mean, it’s rude to pull up a chair to the chip and dip table, right?  Anyway, after we finished the tangerine the teacher asked us what it was like.  I didn’t really know what to say.  It was . . . like . . . eating a tangerine.  The teacher noticed that before I had finished a segment, I had the next segment ready to go in my hand.  He asked me why.  I don’t know.  It’s just how I eat.  He said, “No, there’s something inside of you telling you that if you don’t quickly eat the tangerine, something’s going to happen causing you not to be able to finish.  This is a metaphor for our lives,” he said.  “When we begin a task, we complete the task for the simple reason to have the time to go to the next task.”  I think that’s true, at least, it is for me.  In the morning I drink coffee so I can entertain the girls, so I can put them down to make breakfast, so I can get them dressed for school, so I can get them to school, so I can go to work, so I can come home from work, so I can play with the girls, so I can wear them out for bed, so I can watch Gray’s Anatomy, so I can take a shower, so I can go to bed.  The teacher went on to say, “When we do things so that we can move on to the next thing, we aren’t actually doing anything.” 

This is a terrible way to live.  Can you imagine living for the next task?  I realized that I had been living like this, well, all of my life, and according to this thought, my life was spent doing, well, nothing.  He handed us another tangerine and this time we were to simply eat it.  We are not to eat it so that we can go on to the next exercise.  We are to eat it, slowly.  Finish a section before grabbing the next piece.  Simply enjoy eating the tangerine, and when we finished we sat in silence. 

Don’t worry, Jesus says.  It doesn’t add a single moment to your life.  In fact, it can shorten your life.  What do you worry about?  Can you balance the checkbook?  Are your children going to get into a good school?  Will he come home tonight?  Worrying always looks to the future, but for the wrong reason.  As far as I am aware, no one is worried about FDR’s administration, or the Spanish American War.  Worrying looks to an uncertain future and makes it certain with the worst possible outcome.  Jesus says, “Consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin, and even Solomon in all his splendor was not clothed like one of these.”  Sounds easy enough, but it’s not.  Worrying is easy.  Coming to a point where you aren’t worried, now that’s hard work.

Earlier this week, I was at a clergy retreat about the future of the church, and it was quite fascinating.  It would be a disservice to you for me to paraphrase a three day workshop poorly, but he began by saying that every 500 years the church goes through a dramatic shift.  In the first 500 years of the church, the church was transitioning from persecution to empire.  500 years later the church split into Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholicism.  500 years after that was the Protestant Reformation.  500 years after that is . . . well . . . today.  The church is walking into a period of wilderness.  Thumb wrestle . . .  As I said, to paraphrase a three day gathering into one sermon isn’t fair, but all of this to say, when the future is not certain it causes great anxiety and this worrying fills in the gaps of the story, usually with a terrible outcome.

It seems that coming to a place of not worrying is easy.  It’s like your boss coming to you and asking you to put together a presentation for the board next week on which your job hangs in the balance.  And then he says, “Don’t worry about it.”  What does that mean?  Does that mean we just show up for the presentation with nothing to say?  No, it means we work diligently, we do our homework so that when the time comes for the presentation, then we are no longer worried because we are prepared. 

Letting go of worry it tough work.  It means that we listen to what God is calling us to accomplish today.  Jesus says, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of it’s own.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.”  This goes in the category of things I wish Jesus hadn’t said, or at least, things I wish Jesus had said differently.  Jesus didn’t say not to worry about tomorrow because there will not be any problems tomorrow.  No, he said that today is enough.  Don’t you see?  Worrying projects us into the future with no concern of the “now.”  Today is enough.

The church which had only $500 for mission felt trapped and confined, not because they had $500, but because they felt like they didn’t have enough.  It seems silly for me to tell someone who is starving, “Don’t worry about what you’re going to eat.  Look at the birds.  God provides for them and God will provide for you,” until I realize that I usually eat five times a day.  God does provide enough.  It’s just that I try to take as much as I can, I try to eat the tangerine as quickly as I can, because deep down, I think it will run out.  I won’t have enough.  You see, when the church felt that they had enough they began to do some remarkable things, which hardly cost them anything.  In essence they no longer asked money its permission to do the work of God.  When they felt like they had enough, they started listening to God, and what God says over and over again, and what Jesus is saying today, there is enough.  Don’t worry.  When I take my gifts and offer them to my neighbor, there is enough.  When I stop doing for the sake of doing, I begin to realize there is enough time because I’m no longer wasting time. 

Jesus concludes by saying, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you.”  The “These things,” is not money and food and clothing, it is a life without worry because we have shared our money and food and clothing.  Consider the lilies of the field.  They bloom in all their beauty and splendor not for themselves, but so that another flower may receive life giving pollen.  God provides enough and when we open up and bloom with all the gifts and beauty and splendor God has given we will see that there is enough.  We will see the kingdom after which we seek.  Don’t worry.  May the peace and love and grace of Christ be with you always.  Amen.

You've Heard It Said–Matthew 5:38-48 Epiphany 7 A

| No Comments

          

Click here to listen!

        Luke settles down with the boys at a Georgia road prison camp for a game of poker.  After all the cards are dealt the men make their wagers in nickels and dimes, but Luke throws in a dollar.  A few men fold as they go around the circle.  When they get back to Luke he bets another dollar.  When the man sitting next to him asks, “What are you doing,” Luke replies, “It’s only money,” throwing in another dollar.  They go around the circle again and everyone folds less one brave soul.  Luke puts up another dollar.  Finally, Luke’s opponent folds.  They take a look at his cards.  No full house.  No flush.  No pairs.  He has absolutely nothing, to which Luke replies, “Sometimes ‘nothing’ is a mighty cool hand.”  The name “Cool Hand Luke” is born.  After that night, Paul Newman as Cool Hand Luke gains respect and authority among his fellow inmates.

            Later in the movie the men are asked to pave a long stretch of highway.  One by one they woefully pick up their shovels and start throwing gravel onto the tar.  Luke is shoveling quickly with joy.  Dragline, who at first was Luke’s enemy, says, “You better slow down.  That’s a long road.”  Luke responds, “The boss wants it done fast?  We’ll give him fast,” and he shovels with more fervor.  The rest of the men follow suit, quickly shoveling as if it’s a competition.  Before they know it, the job is done.  They stand around the end of the road while someone asks, “Well, what do we do now?”  “Nothing!” Luke says with a grin.  The police officers don’t know what to do.

            Sometimes nothing is a pretty cool hand.  When Jesus renarrates the Law, “You’ve heard it said, but I say unto you,” he’s speaking to a crowd who knows what nothingness is.  Jesus doesn’t say, “When you strike someone, offer your cheek.”  Several scholars have suggested as to why the right cheek is specifically mentioned.  Most have said, and I think this is right, is that this “turn the other cheek” concerns the relationship between a slave owner and his slave.  In order to shame a slave, the owner would take him out into the public sphere and strike him with the back of his hand across the right cheek.  Now, if the slave offers his left cheek, the slave owner has a decision to make.  To slap him with the left hand would suggest that the slave owner is unclean.  In first century Palestine, you didn’t so much as gesture with the left hand.  Would the slave owner admit unrighteousness?  The other option is to strike the slave with a closed fist, which is only reserved for those of the same social status.  So, what will the slave owner decide—that he is unclean or that his slave is his equal.  Either, for some, is too hard to stomach.

          Jesus says, “When someone strikes you.”  Jesus doesn’t say, “When you sue someone;” rather “When someone sues you.”  It is not when you force someone to walk a mile.  It is when someone forces labor onto you.  Jesus is talking to the oppressed, those who know violence, those who knows what it’s like for someone to strike, to force, and to take.  He is talking to people whose identity is given to them rather than accepted and honored.  Not only is Jesus preaching on what it’s like to live as a Christian, he is reclaiming a desperate people’s identity.  In the words of an anonymous poet: “To do evil, to strike, to force, to take, does not my identity make.”

            Jesus seems foolish to ask his followers to not resist evil doers.  Evil is nearly ubiquitous.  Persecution, disease, scarcity, especially scarcity—the idea that there’s not enough to go around.  We are so attracted to scarcity.  It is an innocent as the marketplace which tells us, “for a limited time,” and “Your life will be complete if you only had a Snuggie,” to the forced famine humanity imposes through greed.  The problem with evil is that it provides for us a false identity.  It tells us that we are not worthy.  It tells us there’s not enough.  It tells us that we are nothing, and this is the mystery underneath Christ’s most difficult commandment, to love our enemies because in so doing, we discover who we are, we discover our identity as a blessed child of God.

            This week during “Open Space,” our college and Young Adult worship service, I asked them if there was a time when you can confidently say, “I know who I am.”  One of them gave a great answer saying, “I’ve known who I was several times, it’s just that it keeps changing.”  What we began to figure out is that we have a tough time understanding who we are, and yet we have a pretty good idea of who everyone else is.  This is not a means of discerning identity, yet it is the cornerstone of the campaign.  Vote for me and I will oppose everything my opponent proposes.  Frankly, we can train a dolphin to do as much.  If we are simply not the other, we seem to be nothing at all.  When we are invested in maintaining an enemy, living against the other, we are not living for anything.  There was a reading from our Tuesday night Christian Believer class which said something to the effect of, “The Devil likes to present false dichotomies so that we are forced into choosing the lesser of two evils.”  When we cannot live without an enemy, we might not be as good as we imagine ourselves to be.  When we live our lives in an “us vs them” model, when “them” is defeated, we find that there is actually no “us.”

            Love your enemies, Jesus tells us.  Why?  So that things will be good?  So that nations will never learn war?  So that there will be peace?  These are holy and righteous goals, but no, not necessarily.  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”  In other words, letting go of our penchant for having an enemy reveals to us our true identity as heirs of God’s promise.  By loving our enemy we begin to let go of the things in the world which tell us we are nothing.  We begin to participate in the life of God who looked at the nothingness of the earth and said, “Let there be light.”  We begin to participate in the life of God who gave the Israelites, a people without a story, God’s story, born on mountain top tablets.  We begin to participate in the life of God who took on flesh and walked in humanity’s shoes, who looked out at the crowd of thousands and said, “If you think this lunch of fives loaves and two fish is nothing, then give it to me, let me bless it, so that they will have their fill.”  We begin to participate in the life of God who, when he had nearly nothing left, looked down at his enemies and said, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing,” a God who took the nothingness of death and despair and met it with an empty tomb.

            When we love our enemies we cultivate a church in which people who think they are nothing discover that they are someone for whom God loves enough to die and be resurrected.  When we love our enemies there is nothing that can stand between us and the life of God offered to us in our baptism.  When we love our enemies we discover who we are, children of a God, who takes our nothingness and transforms it into abundant life because with God, sometimes nothing is a mighty cool hand.  To do evil, to strike, to force, to take, does not my identity make.  May you be blessed with the peace and grace and identity of Christ.  Amen and amen.

You’ve Heard It Said–Matthew 5:38-48 Epiphany 7 A

| No Comments

          

Click here to listen!

        Luke settles down with the boys at a Georgia road prison camp for a game of poker.  After all the cards are dealt the men make their wagers in nickels and dimes, but Luke throws in a dollar.  A few men fold as they go around the circle.  When they get back to Luke he bets another dollar.  When the man sitting next to him asks, “What are you doing,” Luke replies, “It’s only money,” throwing in another dollar.  They go around the circle again and everyone folds less one brave soul.  Luke puts up another dollar.  Finally, Luke’s opponent folds.  They take a look at his cards.  No full house.  No flush.  No pairs.  He has absolutely nothing, to which Luke replies, “Sometimes ‘nothing’ is a mighty cool hand.”  The name “Cool Hand Luke” is born.  After that night, Paul Newman as Cool Hand Luke gains respect and authority among his fellow inmates.

            Later in the movie the men are asked to pave a long stretch of highway.  One by one they woefully pick up their shovels and start throwing gravel onto the tar.  Luke is shoveling quickly with joy.  Dragline, who at first was Luke’s enemy, says, “You better slow down.  That’s a long road.”  Luke responds, “The boss wants it done fast?  We’ll give him fast,” and he shovels with more fervor.  The rest of the men follow suit, quickly shoveling as if it’s a competition.  Before they know it, the job is done.  They stand around the end of the road while someone asks, “Well, what do we do now?”  “Nothing!” Luke says with a grin.  The police officers don’t know what to do.

            Sometimes nothing is a pretty cool hand.  When Jesus renarrates the Law, “You’ve heard it said, but I say unto you,” he’s speaking to a crowd who knows what nothingness is.  Jesus doesn’t say, “When you strike someone, offer your cheek.”  Several scholars have suggested as to why the right cheek is specifically mentioned.  Most have said, and I think this is right, is that this “turn the other cheek” concerns the relationship between a slave owner and his slave.  In order to shame a slave, the owner would take him out into the public sphere and strike him with the back of his hand across the right cheek.  Now, if the slave offers his left cheek, the slave owner has a decision to make.  To slap him with the left hand would suggest that the slave owner is unclean.  In first century Palestine, you didn’t so much as gesture with the left hand.  Would the slave owner admit unrighteousness?  The other option is to strike the slave with a closed fist, which is only reserved for those of the same social status.  So, what will the slave owner decide—that he is unclean or that his slave is his equal.  Either, for some, is too hard to stomach.

          Jesus says, “When someone strikes you.”  Jesus doesn’t say, “When you sue someone;” rather “When someone sues you.”  It is not when you force someone to walk a mile.  It is when someone forces labor onto you.  Jesus is talking to the oppressed, those who know violence, those who knows what it’s like for someone to strike, to force, and to take.  He is talking to people whose identity is given to them rather than accepted and honored.  Not only is Jesus preaching on what it’s like to live as a Christian, he is reclaiming a desperate people’s identity.  In the words of an anonymous poet: “To do evil, to strike, to force, to take, does not my identity make.”

            Jesus seems foolish to ask his followers to not resist evil doers.  Evil is nearly ubiquitous.  Persecution, disease, scarcity, especially scarcity—the idea that there’s not enough to go around.  We are so attracted to scarcity.  It is an innocent as the marketplace which tells us, “for a limited time,” and “Your life will be complete if you only had a Snuggie,” to the forced famine humanity imposes through greed.  The problem with evil is that it provides for us a false identity.  It tells us that we are not worthy.  It tells us there’s not enough.  It tells us that we are nothing, and this is the mystery underneath Christ’s most difficult commandment, to love our enemies because in so doing, we discover who we are, we discover our identity as a blessed child of God.

            This week during “Open Space,” our college and Young Adult worship service, I asked them if there was a time when you can confidently say, “I know who I am.”  One of them gave a great answer saying, “I’ve known who I was several times, it’s just that it keeps changing.”  What we began to figure out is that we have a tough time understanding who we are, and yet we have a pretty good idea of who everyone else is.  This is not a means of discerning identity, yet it is the cornerstone of the campaign.  Vote for me and I will oppose everything my opponent proposes.  Frankly, we can train a dolphin to do as much.  If we are simply not the other, we seem to be nothing at all.  When we are invested in maintaining an enemy, living against the other, we are not living for anything.  There was a reading from our Tuesday night Christian Believer class which said something to the effect of, “The Devil likes to present false dichotomies so that we are forced into choosing the lesser of two evils.”  When we cannot live without an enemy, we might not be as good as we imagine ourselves to be.  When we live our lives in an “us vs them” model, when “them” is defeated, we find that there is actually no “us.”

            Love your enemies, Jesus tells us.  Why?  So that things will be good?  So that nations will never learn war?  So that there will be peace?  These are holy and righteous goals, but no, not necessarily.  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”  In other words, letting go of our penchant for having an enemy reveals to us our true identity as heirs of God’s promise.  By loving our enemy we begin to let go of the things in the world which tell us we are nothing.  We begin to participate in the life of God who looked at the nothingness of the earth and said, “Let there be light.”  We begin to participate in the life of God who gave the Israelites, a people without a story, God’s story, born on mountain top tablets.  We begin to participate in the life of God who took on flesh and walked in humanity’s shoes, who looked out at the crowd of thousands and said, “If you think this lunch of fives loaves and two fish is nothing, then give it to me, let me bless it, so that they will have their fill.”  We begin to participate in the life of God who, when he had nearly nothing left, looked down at his enemies and said, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing,” a God who took the nothingness of death and despair and met it with an empty tomb.

            When we love our enemies we cultivate a church in which people who think they are nothing discover that they are someone for whom God loves enough to die and be resurrected.  When we love our enemies there is nothing that can stand between us and the life of God offered to us in our baptism.  When we love our enemies we discover who we are, children of a God, who takes our nothingness and transforms it into abundant life because with God, sometimes nothing is a mighty cool hand.  To do evil, to strike, to force, to take, does not my identity make.  May you be blessed with the peace and grace and identity of Christ.  Amen and amen.

O Holy Night

| No Comments

Here is a video from a little over a year ago of me and Dallas singing “O Holy Night.”  I know it’s not Christmas, but enjoy anyway!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V1PacjZJ9Q]

Homosexuality and The Retired Bishops of The United Methodist Church

| One Comment

Here is the recent statement from several retired United Methodist Bishops:

Out of concern for the welfare of all God’s people, and, out of special concern for the people of The United Methodist Church, we, United Methodist Bishops – retired, believe The United Methodist Church should remove the following statement from The Book of Discipline (2008): “…The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.” ¶304.3 Our lives and ministries over the years have included prayerful, thoughtful consideration of our Holy Bible, our Wesleyan heritage, reflection on our experience of the church and world, and our conviction of God’s intention for a world transformed.

With this statement of conviction and counsel we seek:

      •To affirm that the historic tests of “gifts and evidence of God’s grace” for ordained ministry override any past or present temporal restrictions such as race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

      •To urge the Church, ecumenical and denominational, to change the manner in which it relates to gay, lesbian and transgendered persons in official statements, judicial proceedings, and in congregational life.

      •To declare our conviction that the current disciplinary position of The United Methodist Church, a part of our historical development, need not, and should not, be embraced as the faithful position for the future.

      •To make known our names and shared personal conviction on this matter and to encourage other church and Episcopal leaders to do the same. With increasing frequency we observe and experience the following disturbing realities and know them to be detrimental to the mission of a Church of Jesus Christ:

      •Laity and clergy, gay and straight, withdrawing membership or absenting themselves from the support of congregational and denominational Church life in order to maintain personal integrity. •Young adults, especially, embarrassed to invite friends and expressing dismay at the unwillingness of our United Methodist Church to alter its 39-year exclusionary stance.

       •Closeted pastors, currently called and ordained in our church, living divided lives while offering effective appreciated ministry.

       •Bishops being drained of energy by upholding Church Discipline while regarding it as contrary to their convictions.

       •Bishops caught between care for the Church by reappointing an effective gay or lesbian pastor and care for the Discipline by charging them under current legislation.

       •Seminary leaders desiring greater flexibility and openness from the church in order to advance their mission of identifying, recruiting, enrolling, educating and spiritually forming Christian leaders.

       •Christian gay men and women understanding themselves called of God to seek ministry opportunities within their United Methodist family Church home, but having to decide between: ◦leaving to go to accepting denominations, or ◦staying and praying for change, or ◦challenging Church law and accepting punitive actions. Our United Methodist Church, ashamed and repentant in the past, ended official and unofficial restrictions on candidacy, ordination and appointment for reason of race, gender and ethnicity. We believe the God we know in Jesus is leading us to issue this counsel and call – a call to transform our church life and our world.

United Methodist Episcopal Leaders-Retired Sharon Z. Rader Donald A. Ott Beverly Shamana C. Joseph Sprague Melvin G. Talbert S. Clifton Ives Joe A. Wilson William Lewis Forrest Stith Susan Morrison Susan Hassinger Judy Craig Dale White William Boyd Grove C. P. Minnick Kenneth L. Carder Roy I. Sano Joe Yeakel Kenneth Hicks Joseph Humper Monk Bryan Jesse DeWitt Jack Tuell J. Lloyd Knox Charles W. Jordan J. Lawrence McCleskey Marshall L. Meadors, Jr. Franz Schafer Sheldon Duecker Fritz Mutti Cal McConnell Leontine T. C. Kelly

"Blessed Are the Cheesemakers" Matthew 5:1-12–Epiphany 4 A

| No Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLUEMj6cwA]

In Monty Python’s The Life of Brian a group of bystanders is trying to hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from behind a large gathering on onlookers. “What did he say?” someone asked. “I think he said, ‘Blessed are the cheese makers.’” A woman nearby said, “What’s so special about cheese makers,” to which her husband responded, “It’s not meant to be taken literally. Cheese makers obviously refers to all makers of dairy products.” This debate is still alive today. Well, not the status of cheese makers necessarily, but what did Jesus mean when he proclaimed that the poor in spirit, the mournful, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted will receive their reward in the Kingdom of Heaven? Some translations even read, “Happy are you who are persecuted.” Happy?

Last year the Louisiana United Methodist clergy gathered for a two day workshop led by Sociologist Rick Foster who discussed the nine habits of happy people. Rick traveled across the globe to find the happiest people on the planet. He would go into a community and simply ask anyone he could find, “Who’s the happiest person you know.” Some were rich. Some were poor. Some were healthy. Some weren’t. He was becoming discouraged because these folks didn’t seem to have all that much in common, which is unfortunate if you’re writing a book about how to find happiness. The more and more he interviewed people there were some commonalities appearing. Eventually he found one overarching attribute of happy people. The number one reason people are happy? They choose to be.

Simple enough, right. Just choose to be happy. Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. It seems simple enough. Just be poor in spirit and you will receive great reward. Happy are those who mourn, for they will receive comfort. Simple enough. Just go be mournful and God will make his face to shine upon you. So, go and be persecuted and you will receive the kingdom. Well, my wife often says to me, “Matt, I know that you are willing to take a bullet for Jesus, but you shouldn’t go out looking for one. . .” I think she’s right.

I’m not sure this is what Jesus had in mind. The times I have heard this text, my ears seem to stop in the first half of each saying. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn, thirst, make peace, and so on. My heart seems to meditate on those in the kingdom instead of the kingdom itself. At worst, these sayings have been used to legitimize poverty and the like—Don’t worry about fighting for rights for the poor . . . they will get their reward. Don’t change the system to help those who are suffering. God will reward them in the great by and by. At worst, the eschatological hope of God’s kingdom is abused so that the powerful and the wealthy may keep their status, which seems to resonate with Luke in his account of the Beatitudes because with the blessing of the poor, he adds a woe to the rich. It is certainly not wrong for our hearts and minds to meditate on poverty, peace, the mournful, and the persecuted, but when we memorize these traits alone, they seem to be prerequisites for earning the kingdom; as if we earn God’s salvific favor through auto persecution.

In essence Jesus is describing the Kingdom. The beatitudes are not necessarily asking us to do anything other than to see what the Kingdom is. It’s almost as if these Beatitudes are ananyms, words which take on different meanings depending upon which direction they are read, like Evian water being Naïve backwards and Oprah’s production company being Harpo and the magician Yensid in Disney’s rendition of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Fantasia. If we read them one way, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” seems to suggest that mourning is a means of earning the Kingdom; however if we reverse the saying, simply beginning with the Kingdom it reads something like, “the kingdom is a place of comfort for those who mourn.” It is not reserved only for the mournful; rather it is a place where the mournful are incorporated and cared for. It is a place where the poor in spirit have eternal value, meaning that those who know they are in need of God will inherit the kingdom. Again, Jesus isn’t saying, “Go and be in need;” rather when we live into the Kingdom of heaven which is at hand we realize that we are not complete without God revealed through Christ in the power of the Spirit. The kingdom is a place of comfort for those who are mourning. In the earthly kingdom, mourning can be seen as a sign of weakness, but when we live into the Kingdom which is at hand we see that it is not the mournful who are weak, but those who can’t bring themselves to comfort the other who are lacking. It is a kingdom where righteousness and mercy and peace abound.

Stanley Hauerwas, in The Peaceable Kingdom, writes:

       “We can only act within the world we can envision, and we can envision the world rightly only as we are trained to see. We do not come to see merely by looking, but most develop disciplined skills through initiation into that community that attempts to live faithful to the story of God. Furthermore, we cannot see the world rightly unless we are changed, for as sinners we do not desire to see truthfully. Therefore Christians must assert that by learning to be faithful disciples, we are more able to see the world as it is, namely God’s creation.”

To say that Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything is not entirely true. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and when we live into that kingdom we find that we can’t help but be at peace with one another. We can’t help but comfort those who are suffering. We can’t help but show mercy to those seeking forgiveness. We are not called to earn the kingdom; however as a result of God’s grace received, we cultivate a community of faith in which we can, with confidence, say, “Blessed are you for the kingdom is at hand.” You see, every time the kingdom is mentioned; it is in the present tense. There will be comfort, there will be inheritance, they will see God, but theirs IS the kingdom. The kingdom is God’s gift, the fruit of which we have already seen in the risen Lord. The kingdom is; however inclusion of the poor in spirit, comforting the mournful, being at peace with one another will be because this is the role we are to play. We cannot earn the kingdom, yet God is calling us to be stewards of it. The kingdom of heaven is at hand; therefore let us be happy in the work Christ is calling us to do. May this community of faith be a place where the cheese makers, peace makers will be called the children of God. Amen and Amen.

“Blessed Are the Cheesemakers” Matthew 5:1-12–Epiphany 4 A

| No Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLUEMj6cwA]

In Monty Python’s The Life of Brian a group of bystanders is trying to hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from behind a large gathering on onlookers. “What did he say?” someone asked. “I think he said, ‘Blessed are the cheese makers.’” A woman nearby said, “What’s so special about cheese makers,” to which her husband responded, “It’s not meant to be taken literally. Cheese makers obviously refers to all makers of dairy products.” This debate is still alive today. Well, not the status of cheese makers necessarily, but what did Jesus mean when he proclaimed that the poor in spirit, the mournful, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted will receive their reward in the Kingdom of Heaven? Some translations even read, “Happy are you who are persecuted.” Happy?

Last year the Louisiana United Methodist clergy gathered for a two day workshop led by Sociologist Rick Foster who discussed the nine habits of happy people. Rick traveled across the globe to find the happiest people on the planet. He would go into a community and simply ask anyone he could find, “Who’s the happiest person you know.” Some were rich. Some were poor. Some were healthy. Some weren’t. He was becoming discouraged because these folks didn’t seem to have all that much in common, which is unfortunate if you’re writing a book about how to find happiness. The more and more he interviewed people there were some commonalities appearing. Eventually he found one overarching attribute of happy people. The number one reason people are happy? They choose to be.

Simple enough, right. Just choose to be happy. Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. It seems simple enough. Just be poor in spirit and you will receive great reward. Happy are those who mourn, for they will receive comfort. Simple enough. Just go be mournful and God will make his face to shine upon you. So, go and be persecuted and you will receive the kingdom. Well, my wife often says to me, “Matt, I know that you are willing to take a bullet for Jesus, but you shouldn’t go out looking for one. . .” I think she’s right.

I’m not sure this is what Jesus had in mind. The times I have heard this text, my ears seem to stop in the first half of each saying. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn, thirst, make peace, and so on. My heart seems to meditate on those in the kingdom instead of the kingdom itself. At worst, these sayings have been used to legitimize poverty and the like—Don’t worry about fighting for rights for the poor . . . they will get their reward. Don’t change the system to help those who are suffering. God will reward them in the great by and by. At worst, the eschatological hope of God’s kingdom is abused so that the powerful and the wealthy may keep their status, which seems to resonate with Luke in his account of the Beatitudes because with the blessing of the poor, he adds a woe to the rich. It is certainly not wrong for our hearts and minds to meditate on poverty, peace, the mournful, and the persecuted, but when we memorize these traits alone, they seem to be prerequisites for earning the kingdom; as if we earn God’s salvific favor through auto persecution.

In essence Jesus is describing the Kingdom. The beatitudes are not necessarily asking us to do anything other than to see what the Kingdom is. It’s almost as if these Beatitudes are ananyms, words which take on different meanings depending upon which direction they are read, like Evian water being Naïve backwards and Oprah’s production company being Harpo and the magician Yensid in Disney’s rendition of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Fantasia. If we read them one way, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” seems to suggest that mourning is a means of earning the Kingdom; however if we reverse the saying, simply beginning with the Kingdom it reads something like, “the kingdom is a place of comfort for those who mourn.” It is not reserved only for the mournful; rather it is a place where the mournful are incorporated and cared for. It is a place where the poor in spirit have eternal value, meaning that those who know they are in need of God will inherit the kingdom. Again, Jesus isn’t saying, “Go and be in need;” rather when we live into the Kingdom of heaven which is at hand we realize that we are not complete without God revealed through Christ in the power of the Spirit. The kingdom is a place of comfort for those who are mourning. In the earthly kingdom, mourning can be seen as a sign of weakness, but when we live into the Kingdom which is at hand we see that it is not the mournful who are weak, but those who can’t bring themselves to comfort the other who are lacking. It is a kingdom where righteousness and mercy and peace abound.

Stanley Hauerwas, in The Peaceable Kingdom, writes:

       “We can only act within the world we can envision, and we can envision the world rightly only as we are trained to see. We do not come to see merely by looking, but most develop disciplined skills through initiation into that community that attempts to live faithful to the story of God. Furthermore, we cannot see the world rightly unless we are changed, for as sinners we do not desire to see truthfully. Therefore Christians must assert that by learning to be faithful disciples, we are more able to see the world as it is, namely God’s creation.”

To say that Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything is not entirely true. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and when we live into that kingdom we find that we can’t help but be at peace with one another. We can’t help but comfort those who are suffering. We can’t help but show mercy to those seeking forgiveness. We are not called to earn the kingdom; however as a result of God’s grace received, we cultivate a community of faith in which we can, with confidence, say, “Blessed are you for the kingdom is at hand.” You see, every time the kingdom is mentioned; it is in the present tense. There will be comfort, there will be inheritance, they will see God, but theirs IS the kingdom. The kingdom is God’s gift, the fruit of which we have already seen in the risen Lord. The kingdom is; however inclusion of the poor in spirit, comforting the mournful, being at peace with one another will be because this is the role we are to play. We cannot earn the kingdom, yet God is calling us to be stewards of it. The kingdom of heaven is at hand; therefore let us be happy in the work Christ is calling us to do. May this community of faith be a place where the cheese makers, peace makers will be called the children of God. Amen and Amen.

Have You Lost Your Mind?

| 2 Comments

I love that parish ministry is never boring, but sometimes I pray for an uneventful day.  I heard a story from a congregation I’m calling “Second Church.”  Second Church just celebrated their “Women’s Sunday” with bulletin inserts and special speakers from their women’s group within the worship services.  It was a beautiful and energetic worship service.  At some point during the worship service someone went into the women’s restroom, all of the women’s restrooms throughout the entire campus, and posted biblical verses out of context on seemingly official letterhead. 

Posting Bible verses in the restroom is of little concern to me, I mean, I guess if you have time on your hands, it’s never a bad idea to read the Word of the Lord; however the verses posted were single verses about how women should remain silent in church and those violating the word of God should be put to death.  Making matters worse, the signs were taken down following the worship service, yet they were put back up and torn back down two additional times throughout the afternoon activities.

What are we to do with such a cowerdly and hateful act?  This is not rhetorical.  I would love to hear your comments.  Peace be with you.

What Am I To Do With Zebedee? Matthew 4:12-23 Epiphany 3 A

| No Comments

Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, and he called out to Peter, Andrew, James, and John saying, “Drop your nets and follow me.”  So they dropped their nets and followed.  So, the message today is, “Drop your nets and follow.”  Amen.  As we go to God in prayer today, I’d like to share the joys and concerns of the community . . . Ok, I’m kidding.  “Drop your nets and follow,” is not much of a sermon, but how can a sermon compare to Jesus, who with one question, changes the lives of those simple fisherman.  Amazing charisma.  Jesus seems to be the pied piper of Galilee, who with a few notes from his divine flute, mesmerizes the people  into following him.  If it was only that easy.

Now, I’m going to say a word that many find offensive.  It’s a word you don’t use in polite society, so I want you to be forewarned.  Please send all of your comments to Rev. Ken Irby, that’s ken@broadmoorumc.org.  I asked the youth Saturday morning to see if they can guess the word.  It’s ten letters and it starts with an “E,” and for good or ill, Kaylee Flowers is the one who guessed it.  The word is: Evangelism.  It’s a dirty word, so to speak, because it is often associated with the midnight television preacher who offers eloquent teleprompted prayers, asking that if you just sow a $1,000 seed God will fruitfully bless you, or it is the street corner prophet warning that the end of the world is nigh.  Or evangelism is associated with that guy in the office who has everything together and if people would just accept Jesus into their lives, they would be as cool and together as he.  Evangelism becomes a bad word when the metaphor of our text this morning is taken too far.

Jesus’ mission begins with “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” that the reign of God is breaking in, the kingdom of God is not far off in the future, but it is now.  Jesus comes to the lakeshore and calls out to fishermen saying, “Follow me and you fishermen will be fishers of men,” and they drop their nets and follow.  We miss the message when evangelism and fishing are married beyond the context of our story.  Now, fishing does involve patience and time and intentional planning, but it also involves bait and a hook.  When Jesus calls out to the disciples saying that they will be fishers of men, he is not asking them to coerce, or bait a hook, or drag unsuspecting people with a net against their will.  Evangelism is not a means of selling the gospel as a commodity; it is meeting people where they are for who they are so that the story of God can transform the world.

Jesus isn’t yelling or chastising or handing out guilt.  He calls out to them and says, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.”  In other words, he is meeting them where they are for who they are, speaking to them in a language they can understand—(Duke Chapel Story)  A language I could understand.

He says follow me and I will give your lives eternal value. You don’t have to stop fishing, you’re good at it, but the kind of fishing you will now do will be for the glory of God.  Christ isn’t calling us to go out into the world and bait our hooks with tantalizing programs; rather Christ is calling us to go out into the world, into people’s lives to meet them where they are for who they are.  Jesus not only called fishermen, but tax collectors and zealots and to one who would betray him.  Look around you.  Do you know what the people around do Monday through Friday?  Don’t miss this opportunity to find out.  Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.  Amen.

. . . But wait. The story’s not over. After calling Peter and Andrew, Jesus goes to the second boat holding James, John, and their father Zebedee.  He called out to them and James and John leave their boat and their father and follow Jesus.  Jesus called out to five people that day, and only four dropped their net.  What are we to do with Zebedee?  Is he rejecting Christ by staying in the boat?  Is Jesus not offering; it’s not even clear that Jesus called for Zebedee to follow; the text simply says “He called out to them and they left the boat and their father.”  Maybe both?  Maybe neither.  To some Jesus says, “Follow me, let the dead bury the dead.”  To others he says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  I came to call sinners, not the righteous.”

What are we to do with Zebedee?  I don’t know.  It seems to me that following Christ for some means they will drop their net; whether the net is a career or addiction or something from the past which needs redeeming.  For others being a disciple means to pick up the net, to try something new, go to new places, experience new contexts.  For others still, they may ask to follow and they hear, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.  Well done my good and faithful servant.  Keep fishing for the Kingdom.”  So, could it be that all five who hear the Christ that day because disciples?  So, drop your net and follow.  Pick up your net and follow.  Keep on fishing and follow.  The point?  To do the work of the kingdom.  Go from this place meeting people where they are for who they are so that the story of God may transform the world.  Go in peace.  Amen.

The Fast I Choose . . . Elephants and Donkeys

| No Comments

Lack of faith in government is nothing new.  Even though I think political rhetoric has grown to toxic levels in many cases, I have trouble searching my meager volumes of American History to pinpoint when politics were fundamentally civil and polite.  I figure if Democrats can rally together to pass Health Care reform into law, and Republicans can, with a simple majority upon the next election, repeal said law, then why don’t we as citizens of this great nation, simply agree on a political fast?  Here’s my plan.  It’s simple, really.

1. Elect people to represent us in Washington.

2. Let them do as they wish.

3. After two years we ask for a “State of the Congress” report.

4. If we like what they’ve done, we reelect them.  If not, we vote for someone else.

This is much more effective in my opinion, at least, it’s more effective then spending a year passing health care legislation, then spending a week to repeal it, even though the repeal is not going to pass the Senate, nor will the President sign such a repeal.  This is the American Way, I suppose, but what I’m suggesting is that we allow this process to happen behind closed doors.  I am in favor of speaking via vote, but I’m also tired of politicians monopolizing the morning news with adolescent name calling and truth-spinning to the point of absurdity.  If they want to waste their time shooting spit balls at each other . . . fine, but . . . I’m think I’m done with it.

I wouldn’t be so opposed to daily congressional updates if the name calling weren’t so unimaginative.  We have Republicans calling the President a Socialist.  That’s lame, boring, and uneducated.  We have Democrats claiming that Republicans are using Nazi tactics.  Overdone.  I mean, we always jump to using Hitler’s name.  We don’t always have to go for the jugular.  Why don’t we throw in Stalin or Baby Doc, now that’s a cool name that’s underutilized when talking about State-sponsored oppression.

My point is that why don’t we as a society give it up for a while?  The law of supply and demand suggests that if we don’t demand our politicians to burn bridges, crucify the opponent, and stalemate the process for the sake of competing ideologies, then the supply will run out.  There will no longer be a market for hatred, just an opportunity to do good work.

The new testament text this week seems to suggest the same.  Paul writes, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

So why don’t we take a break from partisanship for a while?  Let us be of the same mind so that we can proclaim the Good News.  There is a time to debate and discuss policy, but the debate itself has become the idol after which we order our lives.  The fast is choose . . . elephants and donkeys.  Peace be with you . . . no, really, I pray that you find peace this day.