Reflection on Luke 16:1-13

All the guy is worried about is his own survival.  But, at least that is better than what he was worried about just moments before: money. 

What are you worried about? 

I only ask because it is your worry that will control your life.  The dishonest manager is a clear example of what I am talking about.

At one time all the dishonest manager worried about was making money.  The man had been entrusted with keeping a rich man’s estate, and I assume that he was paid well for such a role.  However, the money that he earned must have still left him craving and desiring more because the manager started to squander the rich man’s estate.  The worry and desire for more led the man to take what was not his.

It is kind of like the church secretary and her husband who just a few years back were entrusted with a church’s money.  The couple stole from that church to the tune of thousands of dollars in order to fund their vacations to the Caribbean as well as other luxuries such as all terrain vehicles to drive around their home. 

On the outside, the couple appeared to be the epitome of great church members.  They would be the ones to greet people at the door with welcoming smiles.  They would be the ones who would encourage other people to get involved with things like Sunday School and the church’s soup kitchen.  They would be the ones to enthusiastically run the stewardship program.  Wait a minute.  That should have been the first clue.  No one enthusiastically runs a church stewardship program. 

In the end, the church discovered that the church secretary, who wrote out the checks for the church, was easily able to redirect investment money into her personal account because the church president and chair of finances who oversaw all of the money just happened to be…wait for it…her husband.

The dishonest manager is like them.  At one time, money and all that money can buy was what controlled the manager’s life and his actions.  What controls your actions?  What are you worried about?

I only ask because the punch line to Jesus’ whole story is, “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."  In other words, everyone has something that controls their life. 

Everyone has some desire or ideal that is ultimately in control of everything.  Maybe, it is being a people pleaser, and everything that you decide has everything to do with what makes family and friends happy rather than what is good or right.  Maybe, it is children, and everything that you do revolves around what the children want in life and all other considerations have been left out of the equation.  Maybe, it is your career, and all of life’s decisions revolve around what your job dictates. 

Theologian Paul Tillich calls this having an “ultimate concern.”  Each one of us is controlled by some sort of “ultimate concern” whether you are religious or not.  And, these ultimate concerns direct all of our actions and decisions in very specific ways.  The dishonest manager’s previous ultimate concern, money, caused him to squander the estate entrusted to him.  But, once he was caught in his dishonesty and the money was taken away, his ultimate concern quickly shifted to “survival.”

“What will I do now?”  The soon to be former manager asks himself in his last hours of employment.  “I’m a weakling so I can’t go and dig ditches, but I’m also above begging.”  “You know what I will do?  I will make people happy so that they will love me and want to help me out once I am thrown to the streets!” 

That is exactly what he did.  During his last hours of employment the dishonest manager continued his dishonesty and squandered his master’s property even more by forgiving those who were in debt to the master part of their indebtedness.  So, the one guy who owed the master 100 jugs of oil had his debt reduced in the books to 50.  And, the guy who owned 100 containers of wheat, with the stroke of some ink, now only owed 80.  Soon, both the manager and the rich man were viewed as gracious and merciful people by those in the community because of the guy’s dishonesty.

Listen.  Let’s be clear here.  The dishonest, former manager is not gracious and merciful.  He only cares about his own survival.  But, at least his concern about his own survival caused him to do something good.  At least his ultimate concern was no longer money because money was no longer an option.

Money can be so corrupting.  It can lead people to think that they are self-made and make them feel self-righteous. 

“I’m rich, you’re not, and you must be doing something wrong if you also are not rich.  Work harder, care about money more, and you can be rich too.” 

I know that is portrayed quite crassly, but that is how it works, right?  Money and wealth is so powerful of an ultimate concern.  I once talked with a struggling single mother who lamented, “I don’t want to care about money.  I don’t want to focus on money.  But, when you are trying to keep your children safe and fed, I am forced to focus on money all the time.  How do I get more?  How do I spend it wiser?  Where did the kids put my purse?  I don’t want money to be my god, but it is anyway.”

I get it.  I understand.  Even when you do not want to sin, you sin even more.  The Apostle Paul has a lot to say about that in Romans, chapter 7, “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do…I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.”

But, do not forget that the dishonest manager is commended for at least choosing to help someone through his dishonesty rather than hurt someone.  What I mean to say is: Jesus is able to take your less than honorable concerns and turn them in a way that serves him.  The man’s desire for survival was used to relieve other people’s burdens in ways that his pursuit of money never did.  I guess it all comes down to who you serve.  Who do your serve? 

Serving money never leads to God.  Jesus is clear about that.  But, serving your own need to survive?  Jesus might be able to work with that and transform it.  Serving your need to keep your children safe?  Jesus might be able to work with that and transform it.  Serving your need to make others happy?  Jesus might be able to work with that also and transform that too.  Jesus is able to transform your weakness into something merciful and compassionate and good.  Jesus is able and willing to transform you.

As Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21:  “Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.”

Jesus was a guy with no money who healed, fed, and forgave everywhere he went.  Ultimately, he gave his life on the cross to show mercy to the whole world.  His focus was in no way on money.  He never accounted for how much money his ministry of mercy needed.  Jesus just did it.  He just showed love and served those who needed him.  Jesus’ focus was entirely on God’s love.

How is that for an ultimate concern?  What if God’s love directed your every action?  What if God’s love was the final factor in your thoughts and decisions in life?  What if God’s love was the final factor in the church’s thoughts and decisions? 

Maybe, just maybe, people would find relief when they encounter you rather than stress.  Maybe, just maybe, people would find love when they encounter you rather than deception and false motivations.  Maybe, just maybe, people would find God’s love, because you have actually allowed God to fill you with that love.

Be devoted to the one who is devoted to you, even to the point of death; Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reflection on Luke 15:1-10

"All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, 'This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.'"

My grandma once taught me, “You are known by who you hang out with.”  The implication of this was, of course, if you ate your school lunch with good and proper people, you also will be known as good and proper.  Then there are the people with whom she would not have me eat lunch: the sinners. 

Yes, of course, we are all sinners and need the forgiveness of God, but this was not the classification of sin that she was talking about.  She was talking about cheats and turncoats and drug users.  You do not sit at the lunch table with them, because if you do, you are considered one of them.

Jesus appears to be making the simple lunchroom error that every Jr. High student of any worth inherently knows to avoid: sitting with the wrong crowd.  “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  You can almost hear the accusations dripping from their lips.  It is as if Jesus were a criminal himself.  It is as if Jesus himself were to come to no good.  It is as if Jesus might be hauled away by the authorities and executed.  If only the Pharisees and the scribes knew the end of the story.  But, they do not know the end of the story.  They only know that Jesus eats with bad people…with sinners; “tisk, tisk.”  Yes, my grandmother actually said, “tisk, tisk.”

The Pharisees and scribes see the world as good and bad.  They see the world as black and white.  They see the world just as my grandma had taught: good people…sit with them; bad people…do not sit with them.  My grandma also taught that you can marry a rich woman as easily as a poor one.  I did not listen to that gem of advice, but I think that the former lesson sank in a little deeper than I would like to admit.  I think that sometimes I do look out on the world and throw people into the categories of good and bad.

For example, once at a church picnic, I saw a young couple drive up in an old pickup truck with their four young children.  Did you catch what I said?  A couple was driving all of their children around, stuffed into the front seat of an old pickup truck.  Those children wore no seatbelts, and certainly did not sit in age appropriate (required by law) car seats.  I shook my head in disbelief as they got out of the truck to go play in the park, and continued eating my turkey and mustard sandwich with all of the other good people of the church. 

A little later I looked up to see that the parents had gone off on their own to play basketball while their children were…well…they did not even know where their children were, they were not watching!  Terrible people.  I settled into conversation with those who knew better and promptly forgot about those sinners until in the middle of the night when my mind wandered to them once again causing me to jump awake and realized with horror one simple truth: Jesus invites sinners to eat.

I am a pastor!  How could I be so stupid?  I am a Christian!  How could I be so dumb and inconsiderate?  How could it be that I did not invite this sinful family over to eat with us?  The answer is easy really: it is because I saw them simply as that: sinful, hopeless people.  Jesus, on the other hand, did not categorize people this way.  Jesus simply asked, “Are these people lost?”

"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who [is found and turns his life around] than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who is found and [turns her life around.]"

The question I ask when I see people is: are they good or bad? 

The question Jesus asks when he sees people is: “Are they lost?”  And, if they are, then they need to be found.

I should have gone and found those children.  I should have gone and found those parents.  I should have invited them to eat with us.  Maybe I did not because I, like the Pharisees and scribes, also am lost. 

Being lost can do that.  It can cause you to forget that everyone is precious to God. It can cause us to forget that Christ somehow does not feel complete unless Christ finds everyone who is lost.  

Just like a shepherd is no shepherd at all if he loses his master’s sheep.  Christ is not who he promises to be if he fails to search for the lost.

Just like the woman frantically searches the house to find her lost coin; the piece of dowry that fell away from her headscarf or hip scarf that shows her worth in the ancient world; Christ frantically searches for us, the lost.

Shepherds are not complete without all of their sheep.  Women of the ancient world were not complete without their entire dowry. Parents are not complete without all of their children. Siblings are not complete without their brother or sister. God is not complete as long as God’s children are lost.

God definitely recognizes when a child is missing from the dinner table. Just as our own parents would be devastated if we did not show up at the table when we were young, God too is devastated when we fail to show up.

In fact, God is so passionate about finding us that God sent God’s only son to the earth, to risk his life to find us; to save us from the darkness; and to bring us out of the blackness of sin into the light of resurrection.

So, I guess that means that we are a once lost but now found people.  We are the people who once wandered away from God. But, that is not the important part of our story.  The important part of the story is the part where we are found.  The important part of the whole story is that Christ came to find us, grab us by the hand, and raise us up.  We are a found people who are loved by God.  That makes us a finding people who have the heart of Christ.  We are a once lost but finding people who search and search and search until all are found.

Reflection on Luke 14:25-33

Am I a “hearer” or am I a “follower?”

Do I just come to church and listen to Christ's words, or do I allow those words to enter my soul, and allow them to push me into action?

This question is especially poignant when we hear Jesus' words, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

I guarantee that this family hating text probably is not a part of the mission statement of any Christian family values ministry.

Here are some family values for you: "Hate each other…that’s the way families work!"  Of course, I have seen many family reunions that looked like they took this bible text literally, so maybe this is not quite as shocking as I first thought.

Seriously, we know that Jesus is exaggerating here to make a point: even family should not get in the way of following Christ. And, in the ancient world where the father was the head of all decisions in the family, fathers were getting in the way of new, young believers who had heard the call to follow Jesus. 

But, that is not just an ancient problem.  I once read about a teenager who defied her parents every Sunday morning to go to the youth Sunday school and worship service with a friend, rather than do her family’s usual Sunday morning activities (which did not include church). Her parents grounded the teen every week for defying them, and every Sunday morning she would choose to defy them again by getting up, leaving the house through their protests, and going to church to be with the Lord. She sacrificed her social life throughout the week so that she could have a life in the Lord. For her, following Christ was the number one priority in life, and everything else fell in to place under that.

But, those are dangerous ideas for today’s world, right? Exactly, how often do people choose Christ over and above anything else and make a sacrifice for the sake of Christ? Do we even know what sacrifice is?

Actually, sacrifice is not something that is foreign to our world today. How many families sacrifice time together or even sacrifice a family vacation for the demand of a sport? How many grandparents sacrifice their own desires to engage in hobbies or live in Florida for the sake of being near grandchildren? How many mothers sacrifice their entire social lives to care for their little ones? How many men sacrifice their bonds with friends and family to fulfill the requirements of their jobs? How many people sacrifice at work throughout the week so that they can buy a new dress or eat at a nice restaurant on the weekend? We are not a society devoid of sacrifice, quite the opposite. We intentionally make sacrifices all the time.

Now, I am not going to criticize those who sacrifice for their children’s sports, or sacrifice for the wellbeing of their families through their jobs. We all set our priorities in life.

Bringing Jesus’ words into today’s language, theologian David Lose tells it this way, “What parent wouldn’t count the cost before signing up for the traveling soccer team and what new employee wouldn’t consider whether she is willing to work every weekend her first year of employment?”

We all know how to consider the cost of sacrifice. But, what Jesus is doing here is asking us to do the same for him. When Jesus says, "Follow me." he is saying, “sacrifice all else for the sake of my kingdom.”

What would this sacrifice look like?  For one, it would look like sacrificing other parts of your life for the sake of the lowly and the sinner…just like Jesus did.  “Take up the cross and follow me,” Jesus says, “because those who do not take up the cross cannot be my disciples.”

Just to be absolutely clear, I would just like to point out that I am not talking about earning your salvation here. Salvation, like the healing Jesus provides to the blind man who reaches out to him, is given as a gift. God’s Grace is not earned through sacrifice. God clearly says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” The amount of people that are loved by Jesus and are saved through his name is not small by any means.

There is one thing I would like to point out though: Jesus performs his life saving act of salvation on the cross alone. How many of those who were saved by Jesus on the road to Jerusalem ended up taking up their crosses and following him to the bitter end? The reality is that no followers hung on the cross to his right and to his left.

All I am saying is that being saved by Jesus is not the same as following him. Today, I am not talking about salvation, I am talking about discipleship.

That was my first question: “Am I a hearer of Jesus, or am I a follower?”

One of the most common responses I get for a lack of participation in the faith life is, “I believe is Jesus and God. I know that I’m saved. I really don’t have to hear it over and over again every week. I can be a Christian on the golf course just as well as I can in church.” That is all well and good, but as a seminary professor of mine once responded, “Sure, you can stop and worship Jesus, reading the scripture together with your buddies, and be inspired into action just as easily on the golf course as you can in church on Sunday morning, but you won’t.” 

That being said, it seems to me that Jesus has called us to do something a little more than simply hearing God’s words of salvation. Yes, they are important. Yes, they are powerful. Yes, you may have them memorized, but being a follower of Jesus Christ is more than hearing.  Being a follower of Jesus Christ is a way of being; it is a way of doing; it is a way of living in Christ.

As the number one priority in life, it affects what we sacrifice our money on: a $3 morning coffee for ourselves or a loaf of bread for the poor? You can make a different choice in the morning. 

As the number one priority in life, it affects what we sacrifice our time for: a vacation in a rental cabin or time spent helping our neighbor. You can make a different choice. 

But, it is even more than just choosing one thing over another. Being a follower of Christ frames how we spend our time no matter where we are.

I was blown away by two men at a volleyball game a few years ago as I (not quite so accidentally) overheard their entire conversation in the bleachers. One of the men was talking about his struggles as he and his wife went through a messy divorce. The friend listened carefully as volleyballs went whizzing by, and a child spilled popcorn.

Just then, in the middle of the game, in the middle of the crowd, in the middle of the community, the friend stopped the man in the middle of his misery by grabbing his hand, and saying, "We need to pray." Quietly, yet confidentially, he prayed for his friend and his struggles.

I watched that evening as a sporting event suddenly turned into church, and the social politeness that keeps faith out of the public view suddenly became second priority as Jesus came down into that place through that prayer.

On that day, in those bleachers, Jesus was not found alone on his cross. Christ is still able to lead his followers to take up the cross and put discipleship first.  May Christ lead you, and may you follow.

Reflection on Luke 14:1, 7-14

Jesus actually cares. 

When Jesus told a rich guy to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” to the feasts he throws instead of inviting good friends and family Jesus was not just spouting off some ideal to make himself look compassionate and wise. 

In no way would Jesus tweet messages out to the world about caring for the poor while walking past those same people on the street. 

Jesus actually cares. 

Jesus actually seeks out and spends time with those who are poor.  He actually touches the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and brings healing while doing it.  Jesus actually goes out of his way to care.

Jesus does not hold a thousand dollar per plate feast for the elite, the proceeds of which go to help the poor, but to which the poor are not invited to eat.  Instead Jesus throws a feast of bread and fish for well over 5,000 people who have desperately sought him out.  Jesus does not just appear to care, Jesus actually cares.

Jesus does go and sit on a throne while he instruct us, his followers, to sit at the lowest spot at the table (at the least prestigious spot) instead of the place of honor next to the host.  Absolutely not! 

As Philippians 2:5-8 clearly teaches: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.” 

The cross is the spot at the table of humanity that Jesus chooses to take.  This place of horror, shame, and torture is Jesus’ throne.   And, he does it not because it looks good.  Nothing about Roman torture looks good.  Rather, Jesus does it in order to save the world, that we might be raised with him on the third day.

Jesus could not care less about what others think.  Jesus could not care less about presenting himself well.  Jesus only cares about doing works of grace and being an agent of God’s grace. 

In Jesus, we find a sort of authenticity that we yearn to have.  Jesus is who he is.  Jesus does what he says.  Jesus loves because Jesus is love.  Jesus actually cares.

I want that.  I want that kind of life.  I want that sort of unreserved, selfless, caring sort of life.  I want a life of showing authentic love that does not have to worry about dressing things up or creating a good looking mask. 

In other words, I do not want to have to mow my lawn.  Right?  I do not want to have to wash my car.  Right?  I do not want to have to put on an hour’s worth of makeup just to go out for the evening.  Right?  Now, I know what many of you are thinking, “Pastor, you don’t really mow your lawn now.”  But, there is this very real pressure to present yourself in a certain way.  Presenting yourself well to the world can take a lot of time and, some cases, a lot of money. 

Deep down, I do not want to waste my time looking good.  I would rather use my time being good. 

I do not want people to just think that I am loving.  I want people to be loved.  I want that authentic life that Jesus has!  I want to step into that life into which Jesus is inviting us to live.

One of the first steps that Jesus lays out for us to live this sort of authentic life is to live blessed.  But, that may not mean what you think it means.

When I scroll through social media, I see a lot of people who say they are blessed.  I see pictures of people standing in front of their new home and underneath it I see the words “Blessed.”  I see celebrities relaxing on the white sands of a private island beach and nearby are the words, “Blessed.”  I see people sitting at feasts with family and friends with the word “Blessed” drawn graciously in those swoops and swirls of fine calligraphy. 

Now, there is no doubt that each of these people feels blessed.  I do not doubt their authenticity in this.  If you were to plop me on the white sands of a private beach and I would feel blessed also.  But, Jesus is clear that this is not what blessing is about.

Notice in the story that the man who throws the feast for his friends, family, and social movers and shakers is not blessed because of his ability to throw a feast.  Just because the guy has lots of money and food does not mean that he is “blessed” in Jesus’ mind. 

Rather than calling him “blessed,” I guess that we should more appropriately call that guy “privileged.” 

Maybe that guy could throw that feast because he had rich parents.  Maybe, he could throw that feast because he was at the right place at the right time to make lots of money.  Maybe, he could throw that feast because he worked hard for what he got and saved well. 

It does not matter how he got to his place of privilege in the world, his ability to throw a feast for his family and friends is not what makes him blessed.  Read close Luke 14:13, “…when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  And you will be blessed.”  In Jesus’ world, it is not what you have that makes you blessed, it is what you do that makes you blessed. 

Just consider, in the matter of material things, Jesus had nothing.  He was as poor as the people that he healed.  But, we would never say that Jesus somehow lacked blessing, because, again, it is not what you have that makes you blessed.  Having a lot of things and wealth just makes you privileged.  In order to join the ranks of the “blessed” we join Jesus in doing the loving things that Jesus does and care about those who Jesus cares about. 

Do you want to live a blessed life?  Jesus has an answer for you: invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to a banquet.  Do not feel blessed, rather, be a blessing to others.

A church in North Dakota decided to take Jesus literally here.  Instead, of having potlucks where members essentially serve each other, they decided to throw banquets for the poor.  And, banquets they are.  The people who come may have dirty clothes and unshaven faces, but they sit at tables with white tablecloths, eating off of fine china.  They are served by the church members as if they have stumbled into a fine French restaurant, and after everyone invited to the banquet are served, they are joined at the tables by those who did the serving.  Together, they eat.  And, the whole thing is Jesus’ literal picture of blessing.

Jesus actually cares.  Jesus does not just look like a blessing, Jesus is a blessing.  And, through his grace, he has brought us into that blessed life.  Be bold, and be blessed.  Walk with Jesus and be a blessing to others.