Reflection on Matthew 5:1-12

 

A lot of people stay away from this Sunday; this Sunday being All Saints Sunday.  I get that.  Today we remember the people to whom our hearts have clung, who have died, and are now with God as a part of the church triumphant.  This can be a rough Sunday. 

This is my first All Saints Sunday without my dad, and I too get the grief-filled opportunity to suffer once again the loss of the man who loved me dearly and called me from his van every week while my mom was at choir practice.  As I said, it is not easy.   

Do you know what makes it a little easier?  I bring to mind the fact that All Saints Sunday is less a funeral revisited every single year, and more a family reunion of those who love one another. 

It is the gathering of the saints of God feasting together at the table of the Lord.  And, it does not matter if a person is entering the reunion through the door from this life or through the door that leads to the resurrected one.  We are together to feast and celebrate this day at the table of God where the feasting never ends.   

Just in case hearing the word “saint” sends a small twinge of fear down your body, and you secretly fear that this celebration could not possibly include you, I would like to remind you that in the Bible, a saint is not a morally perfect person, nor are they a person of superman-like faith. 

In the Bible Paul calls all the members of the church “saints.”  Remember that in Ephesians 1:1 he writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus”.  See?  Saints are everyday Christians who have been claimed by Christ. 

Christ has claimed as you his own.  That baptismal claim cannot be wiped away with any towel.  So, welcome to the family reunion, O saint of God. 

How about we sit down and swap some old pictures from the scrapbook of Christianity during our family reunion, and take a look at some of those saints, some of those everyday Christians, whom Jesus brought into the family through grace. 

You can see snapshots of what they might look like when you read Matthew, Chapter 5.   

Immediately you see the undeniable image of the poor in Spirit.  Right away you realize that being a part of the family has nothing to do with perfection, and seeing the poor in spirit at the Lord’s family reunion makes you feel like you just might very well be a permanent part of the family of God after-all. 

Seeing the poor in spirit at the reunion is like the day I was feeling really, really down and my dad revealed to me that most of my family is on anti-depression medication.  That sort of knowledge just makes you feel like you are not alone when you just cannot make your spirit look on the bright side.  That sort of knowledge just makes you want to shout, “Look, every one of us here is one french-fry short of a happy meal!  It’s OK!”  That was one of my father’s favorite sayings. 

On another page you see a picture of the meek.  In fact, it is a picture of a humble grandma.  She is one of those grandmas who is not in charge of the family and does not say a word, but who quietly cleans up the messes in which the family finds themselves.  She brushes away the hair, cleans the wound, and puts on the Band-Aid.  Every family absolutely requires those who are meek.

Of course, there are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… who hunger and thirst for justice.  These children of God care deeply for those who have been stepped on and trampled by others in life.  You know who this person is.  She is the aunt who has to mark “convicted felon” on her McDonalds application, not because she did anything morally wrong, but because she stood up for what is morally right in the face of a heartless and cold world. 

Sitting behind you, you hear the unmistakable words of the merciful one, who just deflects the anger that others fling her way, and gives everyone a second chance.  You would tell her to stand up for herself if she did not seem so confident that forgiveness is always the right option, and sometimes the only option. 

You have a chuckle when you pass on the much hated and slightly burned green bean casserole, and your pure-hearted brother takes it, smiles genuinely, and says thank you so much.  He cannot see a fault in anything or anyone.  He has never grown old.  His heart is still the heart of a child, and it is a beautiful thing to see. 

A moment is taken in the gathering to remember Father Joe.  It is said that in the middle of war, with only his prayer book in hard, the good priest convinced the enemy at gunpoint to put down their arms.  “These are you brothers and sisters.  You cannot harm your brothers and sisters, can you?”  That day he saved both sides from losing life.  Instead, an exchange of candy and cigarettes ruled the day.  No one knows if this peacemaker’s story is true, but we all hope that it is.  Until we can ask him directly, the story will continue to be shared.  After-all, if it is not true, it ought to be.

We also take a moment of prayer to remember those who are persecuted for their Christian faith.  They cannot gather with us, but we know they are out there, held hostage for loving the world, just as Jesus was taken captive and hung on a cross for the same cause.  Their lives and Jesus’ life are so intertwined that we cannot even conceive of forgetting to pray for them. 

As we look around the feasting and laughing, we see saints from the rest of Jesus’ ministry also.  As the Reverend Ralph Jacobson puts it, we see “sinners who are forgiven, handicapped who are healed, the rejected who are received, the cursed who are blessed, the unclean who are purified, the salt of the earth, the light of the world. That’s our family.” https://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5461

Today, we give thanks to God for them all...for us all.  For the Lord called each one of us, bathing us with the waters of grace, feeding us with the delicious meal of love, and wrapping us with a warm blanket of eternity.   

Rejoice and be glad you people, for you are children of heaven; you are the saints of God.

 

Reflection on Romans 3:19-28

 

 

“I need God’s grace.  Grace is all I have.” 

The man’s eyes swelled lightly with moisture as his sincere words trickled out.  It was obvious that his words were not some sort of self-righteous, religious pontificating from a man who was full of himself.  We have enough of that in society, don’t we?  This man was as opposite from that as you can possibly get. 

You see, this man held a secret.  It was a sin from the past so personally abhorrent that it continued to haunt the man’s thoughts in the middle of the night years and years later. 

The man had killed a dear old woman, but it was not what you might think.  It was not done out of hatred or malice; nor was it done to gain an inheritance or any personal gain.  Still, she was dead, and the law of God, “Thou shall not kill” taunted him daily.

That is what the law does, of course.  It taunts us and tries to convince us to do different and be different, which is precisely what is good about God’s law. 

When we see the lights flashing behind us, because we were driving too fast, too wrapped up in our own agenda for the day, and too intent on getting to our destination, we are reminded by the law that we are to drive safe not only for the sake of ourselves, but also for the sake of others.  The hope is that the law will change our ways.  The hope of the law is that, in the future, we will care enough to drive safe so that we can save ourselves and others.

The problem for the man was that there is no law he could look to, no recipe that he could follow, no deed that he could commit that would save that gentle, old soul from dying.  She was gone.  For the man, the law was not a road ahead to a better future, but a daily taunt of his sin and unworthiness.

When the Apostle Paul first penned the words, “through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” his intent was to convince people who thought they were great and righteous, that if you look too closely at any of our lives you will find that, in Paul’s own words, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Jews have sinned.  Gentiles have sinned.  We are all in the same boat. 

But, the man needed no convincing.  As Psalm 51:3 cries out, “I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.”  He knew where he belonged.  When he attempted to located himself somewhere in the biblical story, he constantly found himself right there in Golgotha, the place outside of Jerusalem where the trash was thrown and burned, and where convicts were hung to be derided.  I saw himself there, before the crosses, and before the redemption of that one particular cross.

His family and friends knew him as a loving man and perfect father.  But, his family and friends did not know the truth.  He was the only one alive who knew the truth. 

Only he knew that all those years ago he was feeling guilty for not visiting his elderly Aunt.  She would call him up while he was on his way to work and ask if he could stop by.  She lived along the way.  His nieces, who lived out of town, would call and ask if he had a chance to drop in and see if she was being cared for well. 

He had not, of course.  Life was busy.  He had to get to work, and the children needed to get to school.  We all know that.  Plus, on this particular day, he was coming down with something.  His throat was scratchy. 

Despite all that, on his way home from work, the traffic was not as bad as usual, so as he passed the highway exit that led to his Aunt’s house, he jolted the car toward the exit at the last minute.  He found himself safely arriving in front of her house just minutes later.

It was a short visit, but his Aunt seemed to appreciate it.  He felt better much about himself as he was leaving, and he prayed that everyone would now be off of his back. 

He found out a few days later as he blew his congested nose and picked up the ringing telephone that his Aunt was in the hospital.  Somehow, though her caretakers were extremely careful, his Aunt had caught the flu.  In just days she was gone, and his inability to forgive himself had begun. 

The family considered it bad luck.  “It was probably the mailman,” they concluded, but he knew the truth.  He had been so worried about himself and what others thought of him.  How could he be so thoughtless as to make her so sick…to the point of death?  He belonged in that trash heap outside of Jerusalem, where the refuse is thrown and the criminals left to rot.

Little did he know that the voices in his head, which condemned him and reminded him regularly of his failures and selfish tendencies, are not voices from God.  Little did he know that there are other voices, competing with God’s voice, trying to convince us that we are not good enough, or smart enough, or selfless enough, or thin enough, or put together enough.  These voices point to the law…to God’s expectations…and tell us that we are losers.  But, they are not words that come from God’s lips.  These evil voices use God’s holy words, twisting them and contorting them so that we might be convinced that we are not worthy of love.

In the ancient Jewish world, there was this celebration called the day of atonement for people just like him.  It was the one day out of the year that the priest would walk into the center of the Jewish temple, the holy of holies, and sprinkle some blood as a sacrifice for everyone’s sin.  On this day, forgiveness came. 

The Apostle Paul makes a surprising move in the book of Romans and shifts the place of this sacrificial sprinkling from the center of the temple and drops it right on top of the man, right on top of Golgotha, the trash heap.  Jesus’ blood rains down on the trash, on the man, and brings forgiveness.

Perhaps, the man cannot ever forgive himself, but the book of Romans wants him to know and trust that Jesus forgives him. “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed.” 

In others words, we are saved by God’s grace.  We are not defined by our past, rather we are defined by the one who forgives us, Jesus Christ.

As Delaney, one of this year’s confirmation students puts it, “God’s grace saves us no matter what we do or do not do.” 

Another student, Kynlee adds, “God gave his son so that we could be forgiven and blessed with his grace even if we do make mistakes.” 

Abby reminds us that “no matter what we do, no matter how much we sin, and no matter how bad we are God will save us,” and that “it doesn't matter how we dress, what we look like, what we are going through, or who we hang out with God will always answer our prayers.” 

Jennifer, yet another student assures us that “God sees us as fit for His love,” and reminds us that Jesus forgives “our sins before we even commit them.”

Kate would likely want the man to remember that “when we are going through a hard time,” that God can use that hard time “as a tool to strengthen us in the end.”

And, the man is stronger now, years later.  He is stronger with a faith that does not place trust in himself, but rather, trusts in the one who is genuinely good, forgiving, and full of grace. 

“I need God’s grace.  Grace is all I have.”  The man’s eyes swelled lightly with moisture as his sincere words trickled out.  It was obvious that his words were not some sort of self-righteous, religious pontificating from a man who was full of himself.  Rather, he was a man who trusted in a loving God who could save a wretch, even like him. 

Did he believe it every day?  No.  But, when the voices would start to condemn him in the middle of the night, he would go into the bathroom, wash his face, and remember to whom he belonged.  In the waters of baptism he was made a child of the God of grace.  And, that reminder is able to put him back to sleep.

You too have been saved by the one whose heart is full of grace, who puts his own faith into you, Jesus Christ our Lord.  He is the Lord of love to whom we belong.

Reflection on Matthew 22:15-22

 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (NRSV, Matthew 6:21).  The echo of Jesus’ words from chapter 6 in Matthew continues to reverberate through the end of Matthew’s gospel story. 

Now, most of us get this saying all wrong.  We tend to hear, “Where your heart is, that is where your treasure will be.”  In other words, if you desire your feet to look good, you will fill your closet with shoes.  Who has a closet of shoes?  Guys, you do not get off that easy.  Who has a dedicated cabinet full of guns?  Kids, who has a homescreen full of games?  See? 

Though all of that might be true, that is not what Jesus is talking about.  He is talking about something much deeper, and it has to do with who you are. 

Jesus says that where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be found.  In other words, your heart does not collect treasure, rather treasure collects your heart. 

For example, let us say that you buy a house because your family is suddenly growing.  Very soon, you will see the house overtake your life.  It requires repairs.  It requires adjustments and additions.  It gets painted your favorite colors.  It gets filled with your favorite things.  It smells of your favorite smells.  It becomes “home.”  It is where you belong.  It is where the world is right.  It defines you.  It overtakes you.  It takes your heart. 

You do not believe me?  If your home’s ability to claim you was not so strong, why then does God have to try to persuade you in the gospel of John that your true home is a heavenly home?  Why does Jesus have to try to persuade you that there is a room for you in his house? 

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Another way to say this is: “Who has your wallet?”  “Who or what has laid claim to you?”  “Who or what controls you?” 

Those who have dealt with addiction understand these questions well.  When all of your resources go toward your drug of choice rather than paying for your child’s food or clothing, it is easy to see how your treasure controls your heart.

In a way, the Pharisees (who have set themselves against Jesus’ ministry) are trying to take Jesus down by asking the sort of questions. 

“Jesus, who has your wallet?”  “Who controls you?” 

The Pharisees send their disciples to ask Jesus about paying taxes to Rome.  Understand, that these disciples hate the violence tinted peace, power, and blatant idolatry of Rome.  But, the Pharisees also send the Herodians to join in the conversation.  The Herodians actually yearn for the influence of Rome.  These are strange discussion partners, but you will understand why they were sent in a second. 

You see, if Jesus says that taxes should be paid to Rome, everyone will know that Rome has Jesus’ wallet…that Rome controls him.  He can, therefore, be dealt with as a traitor to God.  If Jesus says that taxes should not be paid to Rome, though Jesus may have established that God controls his wallet, the Herodians are standing right there to hear of his treason against Rome.  Either way, Jesus loses.

The Pharisees do not actually care about who has Jesus’ wallet.  They just care that he loses.  I wonder who has their wallet?  I wonder who controls them?

Jesus wonders the same thing.  Jesus makes a request, “Show me the coin used for the tax." The disciples of the Pharisees bring him a denarius.  This actually means something.  Rather than saying, “Sorry, all we have are shekels because we can’t carry a denarius since it blatantly states that Caesar is God,” they reach in their pockets and bring out the blasphemous coin. 

Sometimes, someone has your wallet and you do not even realize it.  Sometimes our devotion toward a false god is so sinister that we do not even see that it has happened.  How many of us have placed more trust in political leaders and their political parties than we have placed in God, without even realizing that we have done so? 

“Whose head and whose title” is inscribed on the coin? Jesus asks.

Of course, it is Caesars.

“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." Jesus answers.

You may have noticed that Jesus does not actually straight out answer the question about paying taxes.  He does not actually care to give a clear answer because Jesus is a lot more interested in questions like these: Do you give to God all that is God’s?  “Who has control of your life?”  “Who has your wallet?” 

I cannot answer those questions for you.  Those questions are for your own reflection.  Those questions are intended to guide your own faith struggle.  But, there is one thing that I can answer for you: I know to whom you belong.

The Roman coin may have had Caesar’s head inscribed on it, it may have belonged to Caesar, but I know who is inscribed upon you, and I do know to whom you belong. 

In your baptism, a cross was inscribed on your forehead.  As the holy waters ran down your head and covered your soul, you were claimed as a sibling with Christ and you were made to belong to him. 

Caesar may own some worthless coins, but you are owned by the creator and savoir of the world.  You belong to Christ, in him you have been baptized.  Alleluia!

And, if you belong to Christ, so does your wallet, and so does your clothes, and your food, and your home, and your lawn mower, and your dance shoes, and your paint brushes and even your chocolate. 

You are Jesus’ treasure, and Jesus is yours. 

“Where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be found.” 

We are Jesus’ beloved treasure, and his heart has clung to us, caring about us and loving us even to the point of dying for us on a cross. 

Who does that?  Who gives their life for others? 

Jesus did, and he is our treasure.  Our hearts and every aspect of our lives belong to him.  May we never forget to whom we belong.  May we never forget our treasure, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Reflection on Philippians 4:1-9

 

The Apostle Paul urges Euodia and urges Syntyche to think the same way.  Now, full disclosure, biblical scholars have no idea who these two leaders in the church were.  Nor do we have any idea what their disagreement was about, or even if they had a major disagreement.  The Bible does not tell us.  All we know is that Paul wants these two women to be of the same mind…to think the same way.

Now, most of us come at this idea thinking that in order to get anything done well we have to agree on most everything. 

How many farmers have insisted to their children that there is only one right way to get the crop into and out of the ground? 

How many seamstresses have insisted that there is a right way to get those stitches in correctly and looking nice? 

One of the downfalls of knowledge is that if you know that something will work well if done one way, you will expect that it be done that way.  Wisdom is knowing that there may be multiple ways to achieve the same goal.

This seems to be the wisdom that Paul is imparting, because Paul does not say, “I urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree.”  He could have said that.  Nor does he give his own answer to whatever their issue happens to be.  Rather than trying to lump both of these church leaders into one agreement, Paul instead urges Euodia, and then, separately, also urges Syntyche to be of one mind in the Lord.  They are two separate minds, two separate people, and two separate opinions who are urged, not to have one plan, but to have one goal: the Lord and all that the Lord cares about.

In the theatre, it takes a lot of different people to pull a show together.  The director, the individual actors, the scenic designer, the lighting designer, the choreographer, the sound designer, the conductor, the painter, the guy working the ropes; they all contribute to putting together a fine show.  But, the power and magic that happens on the stage has nothing to do with their agreement on any one thing. 

The scenic designer, herself, might have painted her scenery with a different brush stroke or different brush than the scenic painter, but the point of any production is not that the brush strokes are done in the way that the scenic designer views as the “right” way to paint. 

Instead, the point (or the goal) of the production is to create something larger than any one person on the creative team, which will transport the audience into someplace new, engage them with new characters, and make them think about a certain subject matter. 

Getting in a fist fight over the type of brush stroke used is pointless.  The audience is over 20 feet away.  They cannot see brush strokes.  And, if a fight erupts over all of this small stuff, we never get to the show.  In that case, everyone loses. 

Be of the same mind.  Have the same goal.

In the same way as putting together a theatrical piece of art, which aims toward a certain vision that audience should experience (but with multiple ways to get there), so too, Paul encourages the faithful to focus on the goal of our spiritual lives; not the details. 

Do not rejoice in yourself, but rejoice in the Lord, always, Paul says.  The Lord is the focus.  Go to the Lord in prayer.  Seek the vision of the Lord.  Make your requests made known to the Lord.  After-all, it is the vision that the Lord has for all of creation which is important. 

It is not the vision that you have for creation that is important.  It is not any politician’s vision for creation that is important.  It is not the vision that society puts on you that is important.  Be of the same mind in the Lord.  Care about what the Lord cares about. 

Just as there are many different ways to put a production of the Wizard of OZ onto the stage, and to tell the story effectively, there are many ways to live out this kingdom life of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So, rather than focusing on specific actions that we must take to live a kingdom life, Paul lists a whole bunch of attributes that contributes to life in the kingdom.  He encourages us all:

“…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

You might not choose to march on Washington DC in order to press for the cause of upholding the life of the vulnerable, (protest might not be your thing) but does that mean that the action is not just and pure?  Another way to question this is to ask, “Does the marching and protesting move towards the goal of upholding and preserving the life that God has created?”  If so, then, as Jesus says, “whoever is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50). 

This does not mean that you cannot also uphold the life of the vulnerable in your own way (like volunteering at a local shelter); just as long as you are acting out of the life-giving mind of Christ.

Do you see what the Apostle Paul is getting at here?  If you and those around you are focusing on all that is good and loving and Godly, then there will be nothing but joy to go around.  And the peace of God will be with you.

May the peace of God be with you.  You may not always agree, but may you always be of one mind in the Lord…focusing on all that Christ cares about.