Luke 19:1-10 Shake you up

The gospel of Luke is full of ironies. Those who seek their lives lose them. Those who refuse to give away their money walk away sad. The one who gives away his money rejoices. Those who sacrifice their dignity receive recognition.


Which brings us to today’s text: A short tax collector climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus. But there is no way to receive the full meaning of the story without reading the chapter that comes before. There was a rich man in chapter 18. He asked Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to give away his riches and he went away sad, for he was rich.

In a HUGE contrast, we stumble onto the story of Zacchaues, the short tax collector who climbs the sycamore tree. He doesn’t even ask Jesus what he must DO to inherit eternal life. It seems to be nothing but his encounter with Jesus that inspires him to give away his wealth.

There is a system in our world. It screams, “There is not enough for everyone, so we must hoard what we have.” If you have ever watched the show "Hoarders" you know what damage this idea can bring when taken to its extreme. Have you ever tried to pry someone’s hand open? I remember trying to get little dangerous choke hazard-like objects out of my toddler’s hands. Their little fingers can hold tight. It takes some skill to pry without hurting, doesn’t it?

Then there is the system called the Kingdom of God. This system screams, “There is enough for everyone, so share what we have.” The fingers do not need to be pried, because when one embraces this system, the wealth comes flying out the door.

There are two ways you can open a soda can. One is without shaking and one is with shaking. Without shaking you get a calm, cool drink. With shaking you get an explosion that cannot be predicted. Jesus shook up the soda can of Zaccheaus life. And when it was opened, there was no end of the spraying of joy to the entire community.

Let Jesus shake you up. Embrace the Kingdom of Abundance, let go the Kingdom of Scarcity. Enter into the Kingdom of God where the short become tall and the rich become poor.

Ordinary 28A Matthew 22:1-14 Violent Kingdom Parables AGAIN!

"Many are called but few are chosen" used to scare me to death as a kid. I had been called to preach at 10 but feared I would not be worthy of the call. I was scared that because I had been called that God held me up to some kind of impossible standard. Nothing I did was ever good enough. I was the first at the altar at every revival. I had to be the most spiritual. I had to be perfect. And I never was.
But let's go back to the beginning of the passage. The king invites everyone to a wedding banquet. They do not come. So he kills them. Then he invites the society's outcasts to the banquet. One does not have a wedding garment so he is killed too.
Power and violence thrown around in another parable.
Barbara Brown Taylor calls this parable one of the 'biblical tales of terror'
http://web.archive.org/web/20030211005052/http:/www.theotherside.org/archive/mar-apr00/taylor.html
She talks about the real terror of obeying God and not knowing how it will turn out. Like Jesus heading to the Cross not knowing what would come on the other side.
Ugh. I don't like this passage AT ALL. As stated before, I don't like tales of violence. I can't watch violent movies because I feel the pain of every gunshot, gutpunch, or even dogbite.
Why do we have tales of a violent God included in the Bible? This is something I intend to explore this week.

Epiphany 8A Matthew 6:24-34 On Anxiety

Note: note this is a full formal exegetical paper and not a sermon.

LITERARY/HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

"Do not be anxious," sounds easier than it is. The following is a detailed outline of Matthew 6:25-34

I. Do not worry about your life.

A. Do not worry about what you might eat.
B. Do not worry about what you might drink.
C. Do not worry about what you might wear.

II. Consider the birds of the air.

A. They do not sow.
B. They do not harvest crops.
C. The heavenly Father feeds them.
D. Are you not more valuable than the birds?

III. Can any of you by worrying add to his or her life a single hour?

IV. And why do you worry about clothing?

A. Consider the lilies of the field. They don't work.
B. But not even Solomon could match their clothing.
C. Now since God clothes the grass will he not clothe you?

V. Do not worry

A. Do not say "What are we to eat?'
B. Do not say "What are we to drink?"
C. Do not say "What are we to wear?"
D. For the people of the world are the ones who seek these things.

VI. You keep seeking the Kingdom and his righteousness and all these will be yours.

VII. So do not be filled with anxiety for tomorrow.

A. For tomorrow will have its own worries.
B. For each day has its own supply of evil.




Matthew the tax collector mentioned in the book is traditionally attributed with writing this gospel. However, some scholars say that a later Jewish Christian living in Antioch penned the book. He wrote for a church that was made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. (Hare, 2). Most scholars think the writer of Matthew used the Gospel of Mark and a source called "Q" that many believe all the Synoptic Gospel writers used. (Anchor, 622)
The theme of this passage is quite obvious. If only all biblical passages had such an apparent theme. "Do not worry." This is pretty simple to say, but almost impossible to practice.
Throughout the Old Testament, there seems to be anxiety over the pressures of everyday life in mostly agricultural land. Drought and famines do come. Yet Jesus seems to preach that those in the Kingdom have the power to keep from this normal angst. (Craddock, 155)
The overall genre for this passage is Gospel. The passage is a teaching straight from the mouth of Jesus. Red-lettered authority, my friend. There are poetic elements to it, as Jesus taught using poetry. Some call this section of Matthew's Gospel "Jesus demands on Israel."
Matthew and the other Gospels are an extension of the keryma about the fulfillment of the kingdom brought by Jesus. Matthew and the other Gospels are an extension of the kerygma about the fulfillment brought by Jesus. This fulfillment is described as especially the death and resurrection. The saying "sufficient to the day as its evil" has a proverbial ring to it. There have been no exact parallels found to this "proverb" but Proverbs 27:5 is similar. (Hagner, 166).
Geographically, this is the "Sermon on the Mount." In Matthew 5:1, Jesus climbs to the top of a mountain to preach this message. In Luke the same passage is the "Sermon on the Plain." Does it matter where he preached it? I'm not sure. I think the mountaintop preaching may have been connecting him with Moses and the Jewish people in Matthew's audience will appreciate the connection.
The overall theme of Matthew is that Jesus preaches and brings the Kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount is a large portion of the Gospel. This passage is included in that Sermon on the Mount. The passage shows the thoughts of Jesus on committing all worries to God. Jesus shows that even in his death he commits all to God and trust God to bring victory even out of his own death. (Hare, 3-5).
Matthew 6 is a message of Jesus that he preached at the beginning of his ministry. The storyline of the New Testament begins with Jesus' birth, continues with brief remarks on his childhood (Matthew 2:23, Luke 2:41-52). The story of Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, continues with his being baptized by his cousin, John, known as the "Baptist." (Matthew 3:1-17).
Jesus then enters the wilderness to be tempted. (Matthew 4:1-11). The first preaching of Jesus is recorded in Matthew as "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17). He then calls his first disciples. In Matthew he calls two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew. They are fishing and Jesus tells them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people" or in older translations, "I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:20). He then calls James and John, who also leave their fishing nets to follow Jesus.
Jesus begins healing in Matthew 4:23-25. It is a general statement about his healing. He heals the diseased, those in pain, and the paralyzed. This is all seen as signs of the Kingdom of God come to earth.
Matthew 5 begins with the Beatitudes. Jesus then gives a lengthy ethical discourse. Jesus discusses fasting, loving enemies, lust, and all kinds of practical instructions. Matthew 6:25-34 comes right in the middle of this long discourse. After he finishes this statement on worry, he goes into a statement on "Do not judge."
The Gospel continues with more accounts of sermons, healings, and finally ends with Jesus going "up to Jerusalem" to be crucified. He is buried in a borrowed tomb, but praise God he rises on the third day. The resurrection is the central event of the New Testament.

The economic conditions in Palestine in the first century were not good. Almost all of the famines that Josephus mentioned are in the first century. There were several natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, drought, and famine. (Theissen, 37-38) Herod had taken over much of the land through confiscation. Some in the world today, yes even still in Palestine, struggle with the same issues. Personally I don't fear drought and famine because even when Oklahoma had a horrible drought in 1998, other people in the country brought in water and crops. Telling people not to worry about food and water is one thing when they are well-fed such as those in my church. Telling a homeless person who is glad to get one meal a day at the City Rescue Mission not to worry seems almost callous. Is it callous or is it asking them to seek something higher than food and clothing? But how can one say such things when their children are hungry? I don't fully understand, but I am trying. I talk to people who have lived in Africa who tell of Nazarene pastors' families who eat only once every four days. They are not bitter of ungrateful to God or the church. They are simply grateful that God has provided food every four days. I think those families understand and believe this passage. I'm not sure I do. I don't really want to worry about it. I will say there have been times in my life when there was very little food in my house as a child. We never went hungry. God did provide in the form of Christian friends who brought food or let my parents know of jobs.




Theological Analysis
Matthew uses the word basileia (Greek for "Kingdom) more frequently than any other of the Gospel writers, nearly three times as many as Mark. Everything in the Gospel somehow relates to this theme of the Kingdom (Hagner, 1x, 1xi, 1xiii). Matthew also uses the term dikaiosouna (righteousness) which is common only to this Gospel. The righteousness which Jesus teaches his disciples is a higher righteousness.
In Matthew, the ones who know God as their Father are the ones for whom the best in life is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom's righteousness. To strive after the Kingdom means to strive after the righteousness of God (Matthew 6:33); and by receiving the Kingdom we receive the righteousness that comes with the Kingdom. Righteousness, the way the Jews perceived it, was a human activity. The rabbis taught the people that righteousness had to be a human work, including obedience to the Law and doing acts of mercy.
Jesus taught the people that righteousness was both God's demand and God's gift. Only a person whose righteousness exceeded those of the scribes and Pharisees was allowed entrance into the Kingdom. "Here is the very heart of Jesus' teaching, the renunciation of self-attained righteousness and the willingness to become like children who have nothing and must receive everything." (Ladd, 65, 79).
God is at work in the text through his own Son, Jesus Christ, come to earth to not only tell us that God loves us, but to show us. Jesus preaches that those who live inside this Kingdom of God do not need to worry about everyday things like food, clothing, and lifespan. Why is this so? There are Christians who go hungry. There are Christians who die young. The ultimate answer to these questions will not be found in this passage, but at the end of the Gospel when Jesus rises from the dead. If a follower of Jesus dies of starvation or of persecution, their hope is in the Resurrection, never in physical survival.
This passage seems full of grace. God is giving the gift of peace of mind. However, the passage immediately following says, "Do not judge lest you be judged." Biblical themes of trust, hope, and faith are also present. The birds and the lilies are not symbols of prosperity, but testimonies of God's care. The passage also assures that God cares for the poor and values them. He takes care of those the world abandons. Throughout the Old Testament, God condemns his people for abandoning the poor, the widow, the orphan and the sojourner. Jesus reminds the people of the same thing. (Hare, 74)
The human condition is all over this passage. We all worry. Some have more reasons than others. If one doesn't have the money for basic necessities one usually worries. Those in Christ long to live this way. We don't want to worry about our needs. Yet we do. Somehow Jesus wants us to get this message that the Kingdom of God is all that matters. How do we as humans even begin to grasp that? When we have empty bellies and our children go hungry? When disease, famine, and natural disasters threaten our existence? What really matters? Jesus says to human beings that the only thing that matters is faith in God. Being human means one has needs of food, shelter, clothing…basic, yes, but necessary for life. Jesus wants us to rise above that and trust in his resurrection hope.
As mentioned above, there is an indirect quote to Proverbs 27:5. Jesus refers to the Torah all over the Sermon on the Mount. He assumes his Jewish audience will know the Torah. Boys were required to memorize the Torah starting at the age of five.




Hermeneutical Analysis

"Anxiety and wordy need not govern the disciple who has known the grace of the Kingdom. This is not just sovereign care about the Father that should be trusted, but his fatherly grace and love." (Hagner, 167) When we read this passage, deep questions are brought to mind, including: "Droughts and many other catastrophes can shorten the lives of birds and flowers as well as that of humans who trust in God." (Hare, 74). We also ask, "Are we not supposed to care if we eat or have proper clothes to wear?" We ask, "Does this give permission to people to be lazy, and not work, since we are not supposed to be concerned about material possessions?"
These are difficult questions to answer. In a land filled with oppression and poverty the Galileans knew the harsh reality of wondering if they or their children would have enough to eat or proper clothing for the weather. The Romans controlled the economy with their own, and not the Jewish peoples' interests in mind. The Jews who had money usually got it by cheating other Jews, such as tax collectors.
How do we get away from everyday life to "seek the Kingdom?" Is it even possible?
Somehow, Jesus seems to be saying that worrying will not change things. He does not say, "Do not work so that you will not have enough food or clothing." He seems to be saying for us not to be so consumed by everyday living that we leave the Kingdom of God out of our thoughts.
It is easy to get caught up with everyday living. We don't leave time for the kingdom. Just yesterday I was faced with the dilemma of getting this paper done, grading done, housework finished, taking my kids to the orthodontist, and I had an opportunity to serve food to the homeless down at OKC Compassion.
Living as a part of the Kingdom requires strategy. We must give up some things. Greed. Desire to be the best, climb the corporate ladder, getting ahead, keeping up with the Joneses. We must leave some things in God's hands. We must do our best to feed and clothe ourselves and our children, but do we need as mush as we Americans think we do? We consume way too much of the world's resources. Perhaps one of the messages we must learn from this passage is "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle."
"Live simply so that others may simply live." Ouch.
In the Beatitudes, anxiety is simply a natural reaction to poverty, hunger, and the pressures of everyday life. Yet the Kingdom has the power to change natural reactions. The lilies Jesus mentions are probably not lilies at all, but a certain type of wildflower that blooms in the spring on the hills of Palestine. (Crawford, 562). Since they are wild, God is seen to be caretaker of them. Are we like the wildflowers, depending upon God for our needs? Growing where planted? Being content where we thrive? Or are we hothouse flowers that must have constant incoming worldly goods?
One of my colleagues is known for saying this at the beginning of every sermon. "I hate this passage." He always hates his passages. Because when we start "digging in" to the Word of God, we find it rips us up, convicts us, and makes us look at everyone around us as real people needing love and attention. How are we supposed to live in our own little safe places if Jesus keeps throwing these words at us? How are we supposed to seek to get rich if he tells us to quit worrying about money? How in the world will I ever get that new house if I am moved with compassion towards those who have no place to live?
The Kingdom enters our lives violently. The Kingdom changes the very reason for our existence. Instead of being concerned for food, drink, and clothing as the "nations of the world" are, we are concerned for the Kingdom. The Kingdom is our life.

Works Cited
Craddock, Fred B. Luke. Interpretation Commentary. Louisville, KY: John Knox, 1990. 155-65.
Crawford, Patricia. "Lilies." Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. 1 vols. San Francisco, CA: Harpers, 1985. 562.
Hagner, Donald. Matthew 1-13. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word P, 1993.
Hare, Douglas R. Matthew. Interpretation Commentary. New York: John Knox, 1993. 1-86.
Ladd, George E. A Theology of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991.
Markquart, Edward F. "Thanksgiving: anxiety about money, food and clothing. A Gospel Analysis." Sermons from Seattle. 1 June 2007. 3 Oct. 2008 .
Tashjian, Jirair S. "Tax Collectors and Sinners." Christian Resource Institute: The Voice. 1 Jan. 2006. Christian Resource Institute. 3 Oct. 2008 .
Theissen, Gerd. Sociology of Early Palestinian Christianity. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress P, 1979.
Waldrup, Jody. Holman Bible Dictionary. Ed. Trent C. Butler. New York: B&H Group, 1991.

Ordinary 21A Matthew 16:13-20 Who is this guy anyway?

Well, I've said that many times. Who is this Jesus anyway? What in the world does he expect of me and how does his life lived 2000 years ago relate to mine.

In a class I've been teaching recently, my students decided that Jesus must have been killed because he was just too good. I agreed. That was one reason. As Plato said hundreds of years before Jesus, the world could not handle a truly righteous (good) man. We couldn't. What happens when we meet someone whose behavior makes ours look bad? We usually hate them.
When someOne came to earth long ago and behaved in a way that made everyone around him look bad, many around him decided he must die.

In this passage known as Peter's Confession at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples "Who do the people say that I am?" If Jesus was living today, he could just simply Google his name like the politicians do to see what people think of them. However, he asked for hearsay...didn't he? Or was he probing to see if his disciples had "gotten it" yet that he was more than just a good buddy to take fishing.

Peter's confession echoes throughout history: through the Basilicas to the Camp Meetings...from the priests to the baptized babies...from the mountains to the waters...from the prisons to the palaces..."YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD."

No other words have shaken the foundations of the world as these did. Yet if they shook the world and continue to shake them, then why is our world not changed?

Believing Thomas John 20:19-31 Easter 2A

So why isn't he called "Believing Thomas" rather than "Doubting Thomas?"
He believed in the end, right? Yet we remember the poor guy only for his doubts.

I am embarassed to say this: but for the first time I am preaching at an urban mission. I am not embarassed to be preaching there...only embarassed at the age of 35 after 15 years of ministry I have not done this yet.



Yes, I have this passage listed on this site already. I know I am to preach it to this crowd. Yes, it's not the lectionary passage for the week.

I read over what I have preached on this passage before...and now I am faced with listeners who absolutely are at their end of hope...and isn't that what the Gospel is for?

Talk about no hope: your best friend has been crucified and you think you are next and you are hiding in fear...and then Jesus appears and offers peace. I need to give this message. Help me, God. Help me to preach the hope of Christ.

Palm Sunday/Liturgy of the Passion Year A Matthew 21:1-11, Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 50-4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16

Today Jesus comes in riding on a donkey.


We waved our palm branches and sang our songs. We welcomed our king. Any king, senator, or prince who comes into Jerusalem gets the same welcome. Only VIPS. It’s like rolling out the red carpet for the president. It’s like being on your best behavior when the principal comes to visit your classroom. It’s like wearing your best suit to meet your boss. It’s common behavior, meant to impress and welcome the king. But is Jesus a king? All he has done up to now is hang around with poor folks and sinners. He sleeps in fields and doesn’t even own his own home. He is a homeless wanderer, sweaty and dirty.

Today I proclaim the liberation of the captives and the coming of the peace of Christ

Passing the Peace means just that. When we greet each other in the name of Christ we spread his peace. Peace is not simply the absence of war. Peace is all of your children safe under one roof, with fresh clothes, clean sheets, open windows, full bellies, and the hope of a safe tomorrow. Peace is knowing you can take your kids to church in the morning without risking arrest. Peace is being right with God, no guilt, Romans says There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.


What does the story of holy week mean to me?
It means that I must be willing to be a servant. We have lost the meaning of this word. A servant is low, the bottom of the totem pole, the one everyone either spits on or ignores. Instead of understanding servants we go to fast food joints and expect great service. A fast food employee would probably be the closest we understand to a servant. Wash tables, minimum wage, scrub toilets, fry burgers, drop fries in grease, and deal with people all day who could care less who you are and what kind of person you are deep inside.
Jesus is asking me to be like that?
He is showing by example, riding on a donkey when he has every right to ride on a stallion…he’s driving a sputtering, stalling ford escort when he has every right to be driven in a luxury limousine. He’s refusing to place himself above anyone else.
He’s the last one home when the church has a potluck because he’s sweeping up the food on the floor and washing dishes at the sink, and carrying out trash. Jesus is mopping floors at the church when he has every right to sit in the new recliner watching TV on his new big screen. Jesus is the one who takes food to his neighbor who is laid up with a broken leg and may even be late to work because of his stop. Jesus is the one who invites people over after church and cooks a meal for them when he’d rather be eating out, being served, rather than serving, and then heading to bed for a nap.

Riding into Fayetteville, Arkansas, in a sputtering old car, leaving his limo behind, Jesus stops at every corner to give money to the homeless beggars with signs that say, “Will work for food.”

But while he’s driving that sputtering, stalling vehicle people get the idea that he is the presidential material and not just an average joe. So they start screaming out, “Jesus for President” “Run for office, we’ll elect you!” Jesus only smiles, the sweat pouring down his back because the air conditioner is broken. They get out their checkbooks and tell Jesus if he’ll just run for president, they’ll finance his campaign. If he could just straighten out this country that’s going you-know-where in a handbasket, and make these streets safe again, then everything would be a-ok. They’ve seen his power, they know he has healed that woman who had breast cancer, and that man who had colon cancer. They know Jesus has been hanging around the homosexuals with aids and curing them left and right. They know Jesus has even raised a child from the dead whose single mother was on welfare and didn’t have the money to take him to the hospital. And just before driving into Fayetteville, Jesus was in Pea Ridge at the little league field healing a child whose face was swollen from being slapped around by his stepfather. Day before yesterday he was at the Benton County women’s shelter healing all the bruises and the broken bones left by angry men.

So if Jesus will just become president then everything will be ok again. He’ll put prayer back in schools and give every teacher a copy of the Ten commandments to hang on the wall. He’ll make every principal go to Bible college and teach Sunday school lessons in the cafeteria. Why Jesus will make the hospitals stop fighting the insurance companies and give everyone better care. Why if Jesus has his way when he becomes president he will make science teachers teach creation instead of evolution. Why when Jesus becomes president all the violence will be taken off of TV and instead good, wholesome family entertainment will be shown every hour. Lassie will come home and leave it to beaver will say Yes, sir.

When Jesus comes driving into town in his sputtering, stalling car we will get out our checkbooks and finance his campaign. We will knock on every door with flyers and open voting booths at every church. We’ll get him out of the ripped up pair of ancient jeans and old ratty t-shirt and we’ll put Jesus in a 3 piece suit with a shirt and matching tie.

But the night of the national convention Jesus doesn’t show up in this three piece suit and Regis shirt and matching tie. We are all ready with our campaign posters waving and NBC, CBS, CNN, ABC cameras all fired up and waiting.
The crowd grew impatient and the leaders tried to calm them down but all of a sudden they started crying “assassinate him”
One of the messenger boys comes running in with a report that they’ve found him.
He’s down in a trailer in beaver hollow road
What those people don’t go to church. What’s he doing hanging around them. They got in their cars and ran down there…
They found the escort in the driveway. Jesus was in the trailer with a single mother. Her four children had the flu in various stages. Jesus sat next to the little girl’s bed and held her hand.
“What are you doing here when you could be out making a difference?” Asked his campaign leader. These people don’t vote! That child can’t even reach the voting booth.
I am making a difference Jesus replied.
Where’s the suit and tie? Where’s the clean shaven image? Jesus we told you to get rid of that beard!

By now all the reporters had crammed into the tiny room.

Why aren’t you at the convention?
I’m doing the work for which I was sent.

The child whimpered. Jesus reached for the cold cloth for her head.

One of the more hot-headed men began screeching! Give us back our campaign money.
This guy is a fraud!

The crowd crammed into the tiny trailer. It began to shake on its rusty rims.

Someone ran back to his fancy pickup and got the shotgun off the rack
He took aim through the tiny window.
How dare he take my campaign money and not show up to be nominated to my political party! He was going to take evolution out of the schools and put the 10 commandments back into the curriculum.

The kick of the gun knocked the man back into the ditch behind the trailer. The bullet went wild and hit the ceiling of the tiny trailer.

Jesus fell over the child. The bullet hit him instead.

Lent 2A John 3:1-17 Ask a question and get a sermon

Dontcha love it when you ask a question and get a sermon?

Nicodemus was probably coming to talk theology with another rabbi. Instead of a nice intellectually stimulating theological conversation he gets a challenge to live a changed life.

He finds that Jesus is more than a teacher and Nicodemus needed to believe in more than signs and more than his religion. You see the Pharisees had constructed a system so precise that one didn’t really need God. He just needed to follow the laws, the rules, in order to be religious slash righteous. The Pharisees formed about 400 years before the opening of the NT. They decided that they need to make this Jewish religion something that could be practiced without a Jewish country or king since they lost all of that. So they constructed a system that could be followed whereever a Jew lived. They also accepted the prophetic writings as Scripture, something their Sadducee counterparts did not. The Pharisees are actually the open-minded ones of the day. They believed in miracles, angels, resurrection. The Sadduccees believed in none of the above, only the law, the first five books of the Bible.

Nicodemus has been living this lifestyle all of his life. He is so righteous, so squeaky clean, no one could find a thing wrong in his past to use against him. He could have run for president. He has worked hard to get to be where he is: one of the leading teachers of the Jews…and hear he finds this guy who has come from no where (Nazareth) and has flocks of followers and performs miracles! It’s like if you were a famous concert pianist and had worked all of your life to be the best and ran into a guy from the back woods who could play and charm audiences with no music training at all. How would you feel?

Nicodemus tells Jesus there is no way he could do what he does without God. A good observation…but see Nicodemus thinks Jesus is just a fine teacher. He doesn’t realize he’s sitting there talking to God himself. It didn’t even cross his mind.

Signs become quite the negative issue in John. Those who seek after signs have a serious lack of faith.
we think we have all the pieces put together and then we find someone like Jesus. He is unlearned, untrained and we have studied all of our lives to know the answers. How in the world does God use someone like him? And what about me?

If Nicodemus is not good enough for the kingdom of God, then who is?
It’s not enough. Then what is?
All of my righteousness is as filthy rags. It’s being born again. What in the world is that? You ask, like Nicodemus did. How can a person enter his mother’s womb and be born? Wesley said this of being born again, “Inwardly being changed from all sinfulness to all holiness.”

Easter 3C John 21 What Jesus does with failure

That night of arrest started out well for Peter. He cut off the guard's ear in defense of Jesus and then followed at a distance even after the others went away. But when he got to the courtyard where the soldiers were abusing his friend, he lost his nerve. When questioned about his association with this alleged criminal, in the heat of the moment, he chose the answers that would save his skin. According to the Gospel of John, this story is the 3rd appearance Jesus had to his disciples. Peter has seen Jesus. Yet obviously Jesus thinks Peter needs some reassurance that he is forgiven. So Jesus comes to meet Peter where he had first met him. On the shore of the lake.

Seven of the disciples have traveled the 2 day journey back home…back to Galilee, back to familiar faces and familiar smells of the sea. Peter says, "Let's go fishing." I don't know if any of you have ever been criticized for going fishing, but poor Peter and six have been torn apart for that fishing trip for 2000 years. Poor guys. Probably they just wanted the familiar…after the worst week of their life, why should they not do something to keep busy? But many, many people have said this is a sign those 7 gave up after Jesus died. He told them to fish for people but instead they go back to the fish. But really, I think it is ok, Peter, it's ok that you wanted to go fishing. Don't grief counselors advise that we return to our comforting routines after loss? It's ok. Go fishing. Even if they were trying to run from their assignment to do Jesus' work, guess what? Jesus found them where they were.

When we return to the familiar after living so long at the forefront of life…Jesus will find us there.


When are you going to stop looking at your failures and look at me instead? When are you going to feed my sheep?

When are you going to stop looking around at what the others are doing and do what I ask you, Peter?

So what did Peter do?
1. Preached message at Pentecost
2. Went to jail for healing a crippled man and was flogged
3. Arrested again and rescued by an angel
4. Baptized the first non-Jewish believers.
5. Led the council at Jerusalem where it was decided that we didn't need to be Jewish to be Christian.
6. Wrote 2 New Testament books
7. Is credited with being the "rock" of the church.


Jesus sits across the table from you. You have failed. Whether it was simply a test or a serious sin or betrayal, his response will always e the same as that of the one he gave Peter. Feed my sheep. Get back to work. It's not over. You are not going back to what you did before. I have called you. I have given you a purpose greater than you ever dreamed possible. You are valued, skilled, and you are just what I need for this task. You will put aside your insecurities and go forward, doing my work and you will be remembered as one who did not let their failure stop them.

When I was a senior, I encountered my most difficult class to date. Church History Raise your hand if you have taken that class. I studied until my eyes were about to drop out of my head for the crazy tests and would make a barely passing D. After making A's and B's in all of my classes until I reached this one, my self esteem began to suffer and I began to question whether I was cut out for this thing we call college. Yet one day one of my other professors said, "We don't hold it personally against you when you make low grades." I had realized I was ashamed of my low grades…and I was trying…but I kept going and even though I never brought that grade up as high as I wanted it, I kept going.

Jesus wants us to give people the same chances he gives to them. We don't want to do this, usually, until we experience failure ourselves and want forgiveness.

I used to judge people who claimed depression and their reason for not working. A friend of mine lost his job and became seriously depressed to the point he would spend days doing nothing. In my counseling with him, I encouraged him to keep trying and to feel better….but in my heart of hearts I judge saying, why don't you get off your backside and go find another job?

Until one day depression struck me. I found myself on the floor in a fetal position unable to work. I had managed to get 2 college degrees by the age of 23, become ordained at 24, married, had 2 children, and was pastoring a church. I was superwoman. Yet I could not work. I felt I had failed. I hated myself and what I had become. I tried a long time to simply hide it. I only broke down when alone. And I remembered judging someone else for the same thing and I did not want to be judged. I sat in front of my therapist and told her the same. She said you are in school to learn how to respond to people who feel the same way you do.

And as I walked along the shore of Galilee with Jesus after eating that fish and bread in the cool morning fog, I heard him say, do you love me?
Yes
"Feed my sheep."
But I have failed you, Jesus.
I am not worthy of feeding your sheep or anyone else's.

Do you love me?Yes, of course.
Feed my sheep.

I have failed.
Do you love Jesus?Only you know the answer to the question.
Jesus asks DO YOU LOVE ME? DO YOU LOVE ME? DO YOU LOVE ME?
If your heart is crying out right now YES
Then he is asking you to move forward. Keep going. Finish the semester. Finish the year. Finish the course. Keep the faith. Leave behind the failure. Think of it only as a bump in the road that drew you closer to him. Get to work.

On April 21, 2004, Jennifer Hudson stood before the judges and world on American Idol. She saw the score and realized she was voted off the show, finishing seventh out of twelve. I don't know how she felt but I can only imagine how her heart sank all the way to her shoes and she may have wondered if she would ever face success.

But most of you know but to Jennifer Hudson that was a small bump in the road. In December 2005 she landed the role of Effie White the smash hit movie Dreamgirls and recorded the famous song "And I'm telling you I'm not going, which hit the top 20." She received 29 awards for that role including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

I can hear Peter singing to the disciples after that conversation with Jesus.
"And I'm telling you I'm not going."
But Peter let's go fishing
"And I'm telling you I’m not going"
But Peter let's forget about this discipleship stuff. It may get us killed.
"And I'm telling you I'm not going."
I'm staying in this faith. I'm staying as a disciple
. I'm staying in relationship with this Jesus I betrayed.

He could only say this to that group that knew what he had done in the courtyard when faced with the question did he know Jesus?
Only because of what Jesus had said to him that day at dawn by the Sea of Galilee and what he says to us.

Tear down the mountains,Yell, scream and shout.You can say what you want,I'm not
walkin' out.Stop all the rivers,Push, strike, and kill.I'm not gonna leave
you,There's no way I will.

(From And I'm telling you I'm not going Written by Tom Eyen and Music by Henry Krieger)

And I'm telling you
Jesus will never give up on you.

Ordinary 15C Luke 10: 25-37 Small Town Social Justice

Monday, Sept. 24, my 2 daughters & I took a road trip to a state park. After we swam for a while, we drove to a small SW OK town where I went to high school. I only lived there 2 years, but graduated from HS there....had not been back for over 10 years and neither one of my children had ever been there. It is a town of less than 2000, so there is not much site-seeing to be done...


After a brief hike cut short by the sound of a rattler in the grass, we got in the car and drove the 10 miles to M------. If you have never driven in SW Oklahoma or West Texas you cannot imagine what it is like to drive where the land is flat, flat, flat, and you see so much sky you wonder why God made hills. We are about to M----- with the music cranked as high as it will go and my 7-year-old says, "Mommy, I just heard a pop." I said, "So." She said, "Mommy the car is shaking." I still didn't notice anything...then I heard this awful sound...and well, turned off the radio. Blowout. We are in the middle of NOWHERE. M---- is about 2 miles away...so I drove at 25 with blinkers on until we got to town. Pulled off in a parking lot and got out to look at my shredded tire. I started digging in the back of the station wagon for the jack and spare. A loud, old 68 Ford pickup with 2 guys in the truckbed rattles by. I see them turn around. The 2 guys in back jump out before the truck stops. They almost have the tire off the car before the hit the ground.

"Need some help?"

"Sure. But my jack is sorely lacking."
"Don't worry. We can lift the car if we can't get the jack to work. We ain't afraid of work."
The two guys bent over the tire are 20-somethings...wiry, tall, heads shaved, wearing nothing but boots and jeans. Tattoos cover their heads, faces, backs, chests, arms, hands....Their dad and older brother stood back and watched If this had been the city I might have been scared, but I figure if I started talking we'd figure out we went to high school together.
"I'm Kelly."

"We're the _______." They say in unison. I vaguely remember the family name. I ask them if the remember my brother.
The guy behind the truck. "Yeah I remember him."
They have the tire changed by now, and tell me where I can get a decent used tire for a fair price. They jump back in the pickup and tell me to follow them to the tire shop. So I do. Tattoed arms waving, they point to a tiny auto shop.

I don't know how you remember high school, but there are certain families that are labeled in small towns as losers. I don't know how it started with this family, but they had a certain label. It may have been something their great-grandpa did...but teachers and kids at school have a certain idea of a kid with a certain last name. Sometimes the kid chooses to live up to it, sometimes they try hard to overcome it.

Here I am in a tiny farming town in southwest Oklahoma living inside the parable of the Good Samaritan. Believe me, no one would have guessed the dust covered 90 Ford Taurus I drive is the car of a college professor. At the moment I looked like an Okie (I do say it proud, Vince Gill, but I did look like one). My station wagon is loaded down with junk cause we have been on a day trip at the lake. My 2 kids & I have just been swimming and digging clay. I had my hatch up and junk spread around on the gravel, just trying to dig for the spare tire. Did cars drive by and see my distress? Oh yes. Who was it that stopped? The guys that got beat up in school because their family was labeled. I have never seen myself in the parable as the one on the side of the road....

Ordinary 24C Luke 15:1-10 Welcoming Sinners

"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

I recall a scene from the movie The Man in Black. Johnny Cash has just been through detox hell. He has had a "come to Jesus" crisis with the aid of June Carter and her parents. He goes to his record company and says he wants to do a concert in Folsom Prison.

Record Company Executive says, "Your fans are church folk, Johnny. Christians.
They don't want to hear you singing to a bunch of murderers and rapists...
trying to cheer them up."
Johnny Cash replies, "Well, they're not Christians, then."
Record Company Executive: "I'm fine with you doing a live record. Just not at a prison. That's my compromise."
Johnny: "January 13th, I'll be at Folsom Prison with June and the boys. You listen to the tapes. You don't like 'em... you can toss 'em."

I can't tell you how many times I have heard complaints of the same thing. Growing up in the parsonage I heard good "Christian" people's constant complaints about "those kind" not being wanted in church. Apparently many think church is a club for people just like me.

I don't like it either. Why do I want God to rejoice over one sinner rather than the ninety-nine righteous people? It seems we spend most of our time as pastors taking care of the righteous, right? Perhaps we are looking at it all wrong.

Brennan Manning has shaped a lot of my thoughts along this line...after reading his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. He is a monk/alchoholic. Yes, both. He goes sober for a while and then hits the bottle again. He speaks of his journey in the book.. Evangelicals have a hard time accepting that a man can be a Christian and an alcoholic???? Can God use a ragged ol' monk who can't stay sober? So when does one of the fold become one of the sought after lost? Will Jesus leave the fold and go and seek an ol' preacher who gives into addictions over and over? Does he ever give up? Does he ever write us off and give us over to the evil one? These parables he tells us remind us that he can't let go.

Most of us don't like having sinners invade the church because they remind us of our own sin. Shutting out people who "shack up" make us feel better when we indulge in any type of sexual sin.

Ask friends who have known me since high school and they will tell you I pointed fingers and judged all the time. I preached at people constantly. It was a serious bout with temptation in my early 20s that taught me a lesson. We are all capable of sin. When we can confess that in honesty and say we are all just trying to seek God in the best way we know how we forget to judge people.

A youth pastor intern I had once started bringing in all kinds of kids to church. One of the older ladies whispered to me as I joyfully watched a huge group of kids playing basketball in the church yard, "That kid does dope." I looked at her and said, "Praise God he's here."

Perhaps we can all learn a lesson from the Man in Black.

______________________________________________________

Ordinary 19 C Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 What is a hero?

My perspective on heroes changed as I lay flat on my back once again looking at the ceiling of an ambulance. One hero inserted an IV into my left hand as the other hero attached the heart monitor. The first hero kept assuring me I was stable now and to try to relax as I shook with horrific shock. I knew I must be stable when I did not hear the sirens as we drove down the country road at 70 miles an hour. Yes, they were speeding, but I must be ok. I'm breathing, my heart is beating, I must be OK.

Earlier that evening as I worked at church camp on the Oklahoma/Texas border I had made the stupid mistake of wearing flip-flops in the grass. I KNEW I was allergic to fire ant stings since I had another ambulance ride 3 years previous due to a tiny sting. Why had I done something so idiotic???

As I felt my heart race and my face swell, my daughter saying, "Mommy, use your shot!" (EpiPen), she & I ran to the camp nurse instead. Let's just say there was a horrible mistake and the EpiPen did not go into my leg. I fell on the floor and told Lisa (a close friend) to call 911. Someone ran to get my husband.

Everything is foggy from then on until I got in the ambulance. For 10 minutes I faded in and out...never quite losing consciousness but "zoning" and not able to speak or move. Lisa and her husband, Doug, took control and found an inhaler and a nebulizer to try to keep me breathing.

Lisa and Doug are heroes. Dwight, the camp director and a long time friend, is a hero. I heard his voice through the haze...and he drove my husband to the hospital and drove us both back to camp...I heard the prayers of the camp director through the haze as 200 campers were in chapel and knew what was going on in the back of the room....Yes, a little ant can cause such a fiasco.

Hebrews 11 is about heroes of the faith. When Abraham set out on his journey he was simply obeying God and not planning to be a hero. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac she simply did what mothers do...love their sons. None of these biblical heroes set out to be famous. They did the task in front--sometimes with protests (Moses)...yet finally obeying God...and the community of faith remembers the journey they took.

Lisa, Doug, Dwight, Chris, Shane, you are heroes.

Lent 1C Luke 4:1-13

First Sunday of Lent, Year C
Luke 4:1-11

“Just this once”

When I was in college, I had a few friends who influenced me to skip class. The conversation usually started like this, “Did you study?”
“No. Did you?”
“No.”
“Do you really want to go to class?”
"Let’s go to the bookstores!” That was our temptation (When I preached this on Sunday, Feb. 25, a room full of college students/grads yelled this at me, NERD!)
So James & I got in his little Honda Civic & drove to pick up David who as usual was late for class. We threw David in the backseat as he knew where all the best bookstores were. We drove away to David’s wife screaming, “David, don’t you spend all the grocery money!”

I gave in to temptation this morning. A quilt magazine advertising… (for my blog on quilts see my likes to the right of this post) it’s like they knew me…quilts, shortcuts to making quilts, lots of bright colors, glossy pictures and oooh stickers! So I stuck the stickers on the little cute card & popped it in the mail counting the days to getting my first magazine & oooh free book! Forget the 24.95 plus 5.97 shipping. That’s way off in the future.
Last night I was walking through Wal-Mart and just tried to step back and see what temptation had to do with walking down action alley the center aisle…Everything screamed "buy me buy me" and with a credit card that is not maxed in my purse, well, that is temptation. There is a blanket softer than mine there is a new DVD I don’t have in my collection and oooh look at that new sweater than would just match my eyes…. You know most people call this advertising but the Bible calls it temptation.
We get a wrong picture of this scene with Jesus if we think he is out in the wilderness & an ugly devil in a red suit with a face like an Orc and a voice like Vader. That is not how temptation works. In the book of proverbs temptation is a sexy woman seeking to devour. As much as I hate to refer to this because it makes women look bad, I can’t get away from what Proverbs really says.
How is Jesus tempted? First it is about feeding his own hunger. Turn these stones into bread. Anything wrong with this? How about using your power for selfish gain just this once. Just this once. It’s like one drink won’t hurt you or one indulgence in porn or just one affair one little lunch
Jesus resists because he knows human nature even his own human nature….and there is no such thing as just one lay potato chip or krispy kreme…whatever you gave up for lent in the blank…just one just one.
The next temptation is about bowing down to the authority of the world. Just this once the devil says play the game and step on the other on the way to the top. Google your homework subject and turn in someone else’s paper as your own. Just this once it won’t matter.
Annie had been married a year when she meets the man she thinks was meant for her. Now this is what she thought of her current husband before she married him and found him not quite as romantic as he was when they were dating. He squeezed the toothpaste in the middle and he always hogged the remote and he was too busy to pay attention to any kind of romance. They both got busy with their jobs and then Annie met Gary. Gary was attentive when George, her husband was distracted. Gary was poetic when George was matter of fact. Gary complimented her when George didn’t see a new outfit…and George never meant any harm and neither did Gary. But suddenly she found herself seeking Gary’s attention more than George’s and wishing she had waited one more year to get married…if only she had waited then she would have met Gary first and her life would not be miserable. Gary was single and perhaps naïve and perhaps he didn’t know what his attention was doing to Annie or maybe he did. She did not know. But one night when George was out of town and Annie and Gary had a late night business meeting she found herself walking out of her office building with him. He was being gallant and offered to walk her to her car and when she got there she realized she was shaking. If only he wouldn’t leave. Suddenly she remembered feeling this way about George. She remembered all the times they had shared together and thought of their dreams and wondered what would happen to them if she just asked Gary to get in the car with her. And then she knew. She could not do this. She could end her marriage for one night with Gary. She could not destroy the future of her community with just one night. She said good-bye to Gary and got in the car and drove home to an empty house. Maybe she could catch George on the phone before he went to sleep.
Sadly many stories similar to this do not end this way. Soaps and movies tell us that we are unable to resist temptation because we are just made this way. For some reason people begin to think that there is “nothing wrong with love” and destroy homes with just one time. But what would have happened if Jesus had bowed to the authority of Satan? I can’t imagine it.
Then we have the final temptation of falling off the pinnacle of the temple. Letting angels catch him fame fame fame everyone would know his power and there would be no doubts about who he was. Kingdom come and kingship and overthrowing Caesar would be nothing. Lightning bolts flashing he could ride into Rome on the back of a white stallion with the whole Jewish nation behind him….
I was trying to picture a temptation scene & this is what came to mind (I showed a clip of the movie Cars where Lightning McQueen is imagining what fame will be like) perhaps because it is watched over and over at my house. What is the temptation here and why is it similar to Jesus’ temptation? Fame. Glory. No road to the cross and no Pharisees harassing him because they could not deny his power if they saw it, right?
Later when Jesus performs miracles even in front of the Pharisees, a leading religions group, they still deny who he is. They see him heal with their own eyes and THEY STILL DON’T believe. Have you ever met someone in complete denial of their own problems? Nothing you can do will change their minds.
What is the end of fame? Usually a lonely death of a drug overdose, plane crash, or huge scandal that the media sets up for you. We may even think Jesus would have been better off doing it this way…but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the famous usually end up last weeks’s news when something bigger and better comes along.
So what does Jesus do? He refuses the devil’s offers now matter how attractive. He knows charging up a load of stuff at Wal-Mart on the credit cards will eventually land you a huge bill in the mail, turning in a copied paper will get you a poor academic record and you cheat yourself out of your own education, breaking a home in the name of love will only get you broken pieces after a huge adrenaline rush and fame will get you perhaps a reality TV show where you share a house or an island with a bunch of other stinky has beens wishing for a way to climb to the top—usually by voting you off the island.
So why do we give in when Jesus didn’t? He is supposed to be our example, right? Most say well of course he did not give in he was God. Orthodox Christianity affirms that Jesus is fully human. Temptation means nothing if isn’t possible for us to give in…or for Jesus to give in for that matter.
Someone said to me yesterday that evil people don’t bother him and good people don’t bother him but someone who is both good and evil do bother him. I think that is because we don’t want to admit that we are fully capable of evil.

But those capable of evil are fully capable of accepting the grace offered to us. The grace offered to us by the one who could have given in but did not and who stands with open arms waiting for us at the table…because we need this strength if we are going to resist the voices screaming at us when we walk out of this room…to give in to the things our bodies are craving but that will bring chaos and pain to the community if we give in. So join me here at the table as we together beg the one who resisted evil to give us the strength to unite and to resist as well.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.