Reflection on Luke 13:1-9

 

Texts from a Russian soldier to his mother have been haunting me ever since I read them a week or so ago.  The Russian soldier was in complete shock that he was being asked to attack civilians.  The texts were sparse on words, but the silence between the words said everything as the soldier asked the one who raised him, the one who taught him right from wrong, his mother, about what he should be doing.  The only reason that we know of this soldier’s dilemma is because his phone was found on his fallen body by Ukrainian soldiers. 

The world has long absolved ground soldiers for immoral actions they are forced to do under command.  After-all, the ground soldier has no power to influence the affairs of powers well beyond their reach.  None of us have the power or ability to change the horrors of the world.  

But, the world’s absolution does nothing to help a soul that feels twisted and torn by the conflict raging within.  These soldiers’ souls are torn between the things that they can and cannot control.  For some, it can be absolutely paralyzing.

I wonder if the soldiers who carried out Pontius Pilate’s orders to kill innocent civilians during a holy ritual were deeply affected?  I wonder if seeing these innocent people’s blood splattered across the blood of the animals they sacrificed was paralyzing for the souls of the soldiers?  I wonder if the lives of those innocent people’s mothers became paralyzed in the same way that the Russian soldier’s mother’s had?  She cannot bring herself to touch anything in her son’s room.  She does not want to lose him, even though she already has.  Maybe she will never touch anything in his room and it will become a museum to the dead and a shrine watered by the tears of the spiritually despondent?  I wonder if the mothers of those innocent lives were ever able to find a way to move forward?

At the time, nearly 2,000 years ago, people wondered if those innocent Galileans had done anything to deserve what had happened to them at the hand of those soldiers.  Was there a divine reason behind the horrid slaughter? 

Looking back at history as we moderns have the luxury of doing, we can clearly see that the tragic events in Galilee were likely just the unfortunate consequence of having a power hungry and bloody ruler like Pontius Pilate.  But, when you are closer to the event…and closer to the people…it is a lot harder to see things that way.

Why do bad things happen to those we love?  Is God punishing us?  Is there a purpose for all of this?  Is this horrid event deserved?

We actually have the precise quote in the Bible that Jesus shares as thoughts from the people of the time: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?”  In other words, “Did they deserve it?”

“Or,” the questions continue, “[what about] those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?”  “Did they deserve it?”

Within seconds Jesus answers these deep and troubling questions quite simply: “No, I tell you…”  Do good people who suffer horrible things somehow deserve it?  “No,” Is tragedy a heavenly punishment?  “No, I tell you…” Jesus reiterates.

Can we just pause right there and let that sink in?  So many people get stuck in their lives and in their faith because they do not understand that Jesus’ answer is “No.”  How many people cannot move on in life because they somehow feel like the loss of a loved one is somehow their fault?  How many people cannot look up toward heaven for the remainder of their lives because they have never been told that it was not their fault?  Jesus says so. 

“Was my child taken from me because I am being divinely punished?” 

“No.” 

“Did I lose my sight because I needed to be taught a heavenly lesson?” 

“No.” 

Did I grow a gut because I ate way too many Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? 

“Well…Yes, yes that is the reason.  But, as for the reason you ate all of that comfort food?  The death of someone you love,” Jesus would say to me, “is not in any way your fault, nor is their absence in any way a divine punishment.”

I think that I just needed to say that, just to speak that truth out loud.  Maybe, you needed to hear it.  I know that some of you, or someone you know, just cannot move forward in life or look upward because Jesus’ answer to tragedy has never been shared.  You see, it just is not in Jesus’ nature to teach us through torture or punishment.  The world may work that way, but Jesus just does not work that way. 

With that in mind, recall that I said that we were only going to pause, pondering on Jesus’ glorious “No,” but Jesus has more to say.  This was Jesus’ full answer: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

You see, getting stuck in life does not allow you to look up to heaven nor does it allow you to move forward in life.  Ask anyone who has gotten stuck in addiction.  It is just the same story again and again.  Get high,  feel good, then soon after feel guilty, resolve to change, try being sober for a few days, get tempted, get high feel good, then soon after feel guilty, resolve to change, try being sober for a few days, get tempted, get high…well you see how this works.  Life just becomes a big cycle that revolves around substances, but fails to revolve around the important things, like those who love you. 

And such a trapped life certainly does not revolve around the one who created us and loves us eternally. 

Getting stuck in life keeps us from look up to heaven, and it does not allow us to move forward in life.  I know a soldier who was forced to kill in the battlefield.  The enemy he saw approaching was so very young.  But, those young faces held guns.  So, the trigger had to be pulled. 

The guilt of such a traumatic event started to torture the soldier’s soul so much that daily functions of just showering and eating started to become impossible.  He dropped out of the faith.  He just could not contend with the eternal questions pressing on his soul. 

I understand that his example is extreme, but I think that most of us have been brought to feel that way at one time or another.  The guilt or anxiety of a situation just leaves us unable to move, and sometimes is bad enough that it creates a chasm between us and God.  That is just the truth.  Getting stuck in life does not allow us to look up to heaven nor does it allow us to move forward in life.

To this “stuckness” Jesus urges us to, “repent,” because nothing good can come out of getting stuck in life. 

Remember now that repentance in the Christian scriptures does not mean “feeling really, really bad” about something.  What “repentance” actually means is: “thinking the way that God thinks.”  Like it says in Philippians 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”  Start thinking the way that Jesus thinks, because nothing good comes when you are unable to move forward or look upward.  Jesus means that literally.  Good things do not come out of stuck individuals.

Jesus tells this parable about a fig tree that is unable to produce any figs.  The owner of the tree has never been able to enjoy the tree because it has never given any enjoyable fruit.  The owner wants to just cut the thing down because it is not any good in its current, unfruitful state.  And, when we are stuck in life, we do not bear fruit either.

Now, before we start listing in our heads all the useless and stuck people in our lives and imagining them being eliminated, the gardener has an idea.  “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.”  So, just to be clear, the gardener intervenes and suggests that he try to care deeply for the poor fig tree.

This sounds kind of familiar.  It kind of sounds like a man who intervenes in the world, with a deep, deep love for those of us who are stuck…stuck in sin, stuck in death, stuck in depression, stuck in bad health, stuck with no path forward, stuck in our relationships, stuck with an inability to forgive, stuck in our old ways…and goes to the cross to put to death all of that “stuckness.”  On the third day, that man rises to new life, offering new possibilities.  He rises with a “resurrection mindset.”  Jesus Christ intervenes in our lives with a deep, deep love so that we can look up and look forward.

“Looking up and looking forward” is the resurrection mindset.  It does not focus on what we do not have, but on what we do.  It does not focus on what once was, but on what God is doing now.  It does not get tripped up by the faults of the past, but moves us forward in love.  The resurrection mindset is a mindset of looking up to God and looking forward with God.

But, notice that sometimes, it takes a gardener to pull us out of the mud and plant us in better soil.  Sometimes, it takes someone who does not live inside our stuck minds to show us a resurrection mindset.  If we were to pay attention, we would see that Jesus sends us special people who help us to look up, and look forward. 

I hope and pray that is exactly what we can be for each other as members of the body of Christ.  I pray that we can have the mind of Christ, which is the mind of the gardener.  I pray that Christ will lead us, like the gardener, to take the time and the effort to help others look up, and look forward, that they too can get caught up in the resurrection mindset. 

After-all, tragedies and struggles are like weeds that grow up and threaten to choke us out.  But, the mind of Christ seeks to clear out the weeds trapping one another, so that we all have the chance to grow in some good, divine soil, so that we can grow to be the people that God created us to be. 

We are a people who have been created by God to look up and look forward in life.  And, we are a people who have been created by God to care deeply that others have the chance to look up and look forward, having a resurrection mindset…the same mind of care and love that was in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Lenten Sermon for Luke 6:37

 

Luke 6:37:

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;

 

We continue this week, exploring the values that we hold as followers of Jesus Christ.  One of the most striking values that Jesus lived out in his own life was his acceptance of others.  “Accepting Relationships” is a value that we hold high because Jesus himself held it high. 

One day, while Jesus was passing through Samaria, he met a Samaritan woman at a well.  While at that well, Jesus and the Samaritan woman engage in a discussion about life and God. 

This simple act of sitting and discussing such things with a Samaritan would be enough to cock the head of an ancient Jew sideways.  But, on top of it, Jesus was having a theological debate with a woman who was not his wife.  That just did not happen.  And, even still more amazing, we find out that the woman’s life situation is murky at best.  She has had five husbands, and she is now with a man who is not her husband.  We do not know the circumstances behind all of this, but suffice it to say that it is would be enough to elicit conversation behind her back or maybe even reproach to her face. 

Yet, none of this bothers Jesus.  To Jesus, she is a child of God who needs some living water, and he is more than willing to provide.  This is what “accepting relationships” is all about.

On another day, Jesus stepped out of a boat and was immediately confronted by a man with an unclean spirit.  Mark 5:3-5 tells it the best.  The man “lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones.” 

This man sounds terrifying.  He is troubled.  He is misunderstood.  He is not someone with whom you could relate.  He is a man who is outside of all expectations of normalcy and civility.  And yet, he is accepted by Jesus. 

Jesus does not fear the man.  Quite to the contrary, Jesus approaches the man.  Jesus engages the troubled man in a relationship.  And, Jesus heals the man.  This is what “accepting relationships” is all about.

Then there is that thief, dying next to Jesus on the cross who admits openly that he deserves all the punishment that he is getting, and who has nothing left in life except to plead for mercy.  “Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom,” the man pleads.  And using healing words of forgiveness, Jesus replies, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  This forgiveness is what accepting relationships is all about.

And, then there is you.  You, just as you are.  You, just as weird, or normal, or exciting, or boring, or frail, or strong, or sinful, or wonderful, or loving, or guilty as you are.  Jesus looks at you and welcomes you too. 

It is not only Jesus who welcomes you, but also others who Jesus also sends to you.  If you really think about it, at some point in your life, Jesus sent someone into your life who loved you for you.  Who loved you despite your weirdness and despite your guilt and shame?  Jesus sent someone to accept you, and develop a relationship with you.  This is what “accepting relationships” is all about.

We are a people of God who have been accepted by Jesus.  Because of that love, we too strive to create “accepting relationships.”  We strive to engage in “accepting relationships” that do not judge, that do not condemn, and are full of God’s forgiveness.

Reflection on Luke 13:31-35

 

As we stepped through the doorway into the night, the old woman stopped on the sidewalk, looked up, took a deep…almost cleansing sort of breath…and said softly to herself, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.”

“Psalm 27?” I asked.

“When I was battling cancer,” she explained, “I was in the part of the hospital that faced other buildings.  A brick wall was the view from my window.  But, on clear nights, whenever I was in pain and feeling alone, I would look out the window and see the stars above that brick wall.  The stars would remind me of Psalm 27.  “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.”  The stars reminded me that I was not alone in my fear.  The stars made me feel better.  They made me feel like God had not forgotten me.  I don’t know.  Maybe I’m just a crazy old lady, but it helped me.”

If she was crazy, she was no crazier than the Lord.  After-all, it is God who brings the patriarch of our faith, Abram, outside and shows him the stars.  Abram too had been in distress because he had no children of his own.  He and Sarai were getting old, and it was disheartening.   To whom would he pass on his legacy?  Would a distant relative be heir to all that he had worked so hard to build? 

God heard Abram’s distress, took him outside, and then directed him to look at the stars.  “’Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’  And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Sometimes, there is nothing elaborate about the faith at all.  Sometimes, God paints the sky with bright specks in order to remind us that we are not alone.  Whatever tragedy or struggle has befallen our life, it cannot possibly compete with an entire universe wrapped around us like a blanket, making us feel remembered and safe.

In a similar way, just yesterday, God painted our March world with snow.  Before the winds picked up and made it unbearable, there was a short stretch of time where God wrapped us in a white blanket of compete stillness, peace, and beauty.  “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” a friend remarked as pictures of the peaceful scene were shared.  Though the snow caused some of us to share uncharitable words, God used the peaceful scene and the snow to cleanse this friend’s heart and to revive her soul.

God does that you know.  God uses the ordinary to deliver the extraordinary all of the time.  Jesus talks about tiny seeds being like the kingdom of God.  “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed” (Matthew 13:31).  And when I see a seed, I think about this seed of faith that the Lord grows within us.

Beautiful, juicy, and cherished apples are used to denote God’s love and devotion.  “Keep me as the apple of your eye” (Psalm 17:8).  And, when I see an apple I am reminded that I am cherished by God.

And, as any faithful follower of Jesus knows, simple bread and wine are given the honor of carrying the grace of God through Jesus Christ.  “Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’  And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:19-20).  And, when I taste the goodness of the Lord, I also taste the grace of the one who would die for me.

As I said, God uses the ordinary to deliver God’s extraordinary message all of the time.  The Bible even refers to God as a chicken.  That one, I have to admit, took me a little off guard the first time I heard it.  Whenever I have heard Psalm 17: 8 talk about God hiding us under the shadow of God’s wing, I have always pictured a majestic bird such as an eagle.  And, maybe, the Psalmist was thinking about a majestic creature such as an eagle, but apparently Jesus was thinking more along the lines of a chicken. 

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Jesus declares.

One strongest images Jesus can think up in order to describe his deep desire that Jerusalem and all humanity fall under his protection is the image of a chicken.  Specifically, he describes a hen gathering her chicks under the shelter of her wings. 

I readily admit that I did not really understand the power of this chicken image until I saw a photograph from India that shows a hen doing this exact thing.  The photo shows the rains of the monsoon season completely soaking the area, including a mother hen.  But, in the middle of this rain soaked scene you see five or six young chicks sheltering under the warmth and dry protection of their mother’s wing.  The mother bears it all for her young. 

It gets me to thinking about Jesus and the journey he is taking to the cross.  Already journeying his way to his cross in Jerusalem, Jesus will soon open wide his own arms and bear it all in order to shelter and protect a sinful world, including you and me.  “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

The mother chick looks miserable, yet she does what it takes to protect her young.  On the cross, Jesus is well beyond miserable as he gasps his last breaths, yet he does what it takes to protect his own.  He is the embodiment of God’s promise in Isaiah 41:  “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Is 41:10).

I guess I will never look at a chicken in the same way.  Like the stars of the sky and the pure, white snow; like the tiny seeds and the apple of the Lord’s eye; like the bread and the wine being the body and the blood all lead me to remember the Lord, so too will the mother hen who protects her young.  After-all, God uses the ordinary to deliver God’s extraordinary message all of the time. 

And, quite frankly, we need such down to earth reminders of the goodness of the Lord.  In the same way that Jesus complains about Jerusalem not listening to the prophets and not taking the Lord seriously, we too find it all too easy to forget.  The daily struggles of life makes it so easy to forget the promises of the Lord.  Just as Abram kept forgetting the Lord’s promise to give him an heir, we too forget the Lord’s promises and presence. 

Sometimes, I wonder if sin is nothing more than forgetting; forgetting God’s laws; forgetting God’s love; forgetting to love; forgetting that we are not alone; forgetting that we do not need to make something great of ourselves…we are already created great and good.  Sometimes, I wonder if sin is nothing more than forgetting, and if sin is forgetting, then the daily salvation that the Lord provides is the opportunity to remember.

Look at the stars and remember that “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.”  Look at the hen and remember how Jesus desires to gather you and me together.  Look, and see, and remember that the Lord is good.

Lenten Reflection on Philippians 2:1-11

 

What you just in Philippians 2:1-11 was a hymn.  It was sung by ancient Christians almost 2,000 years ago as they gathered in homes, feasting on a meal that remembered Jesus Christ.  And, though it was almost 2,000 years ago, we still hear the essence of that song. 

They raised their voices to the night to celebrate Christ, who refused to use his divine powers to control, but rather gave his life up for our sake...for the sake of the lowly.  Christ is the king who chooses to be a slave and serve the peasant.  Christ is the superintendent who chooses to be a teacher’s aide for the sake of the student.  Christ is the general who chooses to sludge through the mud in order to be there to take a bullet for the private.

It is because of that superior love, a love which does not forget even the lowliest of us, that those voices from long, long ago sang out into the night sky.  It is because of that amazing grace that we still gather and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Like those ancient Christians, we too gather around the name of Jesus Christ.  Christian worship in the ancient world was “Christ centered worship,” and so is ours.

Though it may seem obvious, one of the most important values that we as a people who follow Jesus Christ hold, both when we gather together and as we live out our lives, is “Christ centered worship.” 

Christ is at the center of our devotion.  We sing songs to God.  We raise our voices celebrating Christ.  Though there is a lot of great, meaningful music out in the world, our song is always about the one who created us, and loves us, and redeems us.  And, as we focus on Christ, and raise our voices together, we are reminding ourselves again and again that our very lives belong to Christ.

We are a people who belong to Jesus Christ.  We do not belong to politicians, nor do we follow them.  We do not belong to cultural warriors, nor do we follow them.  We do not belong to social influencers or public personalities, nor do we follow them.  Our song reminds us again and again that we belong to the one who loved us all the way to the cross: Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul encourages us to, “Let the same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus.”  

Christ is at the center of our devotion and celebration.  

Christ is at the center of our decisions.  

Christ is the voice to which we listen.  

Christ is the personality that we follow.  

We hold central the value of “Christ centered worship” because Christ’s love holds us central.  It is a love that can overcome anything that we throw at it, including sin and death.  It is a love that is worth being a part.  It is a love worth emulating.  It is a love worth living.  Christ is our center.  We strongly value, “Christ centered worship.”

Reflection on Luke 4:1-13

 

The temptation, of course, would be to retreat to the safety of neighboring countries.  And, no one would fault any one of God’s faithful servants in Ukrainian churches for doing so.  Protecting your family’s lives is definitely seen as a noble, holy, and loving act.  But, as you may have seen on the news, many faithful followers of Jesus Christ are staying within their nation as bombings and artillery shells rain down.  The pictures are inspiring as we watch people gathering around the word and meal of Jesus Christ while in underground shelters.  There hope remains in Jesus.

Just as impressive, are the stories of the faithful followers of Jesus Christ who risk their lives each day by opening their churches to shelter the weak, and then head out into the dangerous streets in order to secure medicines and food for those who cannot venture out themselves. 

In these faithful people’s actions we can see the unshakable hope that they find in Jesus Christ and his gospel.  In these people we can see the love of God and neighbor in ways that we rarely see otherwise.  In these people we can see the work of God’s Holy Spirit.  It is present, sowing the seeds of good news in even the poorest of war-torn soils.

Never forget that he Holy Spirit is always there; present wherever the world cries out in pain and suffering.  The Holy Spirit is always there, filling the lives of God’s people, and then leading them through the murky wildernesses of life. 

The Holy Spirit was even present during those forty days when the Bible says that Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.  Specifically, the Bible says:

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.”

There is this clear sense in the scriptures that Jesus would not have been prepared to face the trials of the wilderness and the devil had it not been for the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Bible says that he was “full of the Holy Spirit” and that it was the Spirit that led him during his time of struggle and temptation. 

Can we just stop right there and take a moment to let that soak in?  When I face times of trial, struggle, and temptation, I usually react one of two ways. 

The first, and most common reaction for myself, is the think it to death method of facing hardship.  If there was a saber tooth tiger outside my tent back when our ancestors had to worry about such things, I definitely would have set my mind to thinking about a solution.  If the tiger was kind enough to oblige, I would have definitely tried to face him with some really good, solid thinking.  The tiger would have run in fear of all my thinking.  Heck, I can take all night, thinking about a problem and still not have a solution in the morning…that is how devoted I am to thinking it through. 

As you can guess, I would have been eaten by the tiger a long, long time ago. 

And, in the case of the devil, he could have done his evil work and been on to something else by the time I finished thinking and developing a solution.

The second way I react in times of trial, struggle, and temptation is actually the complete opposite of the first.  Sometimes, I just simply react without putting forth any effort of thought.  When I drank a little too much the night before a very important theatrical contest, I am absolutely certain that I put zero thought into it beforehand.  Trying to give the performance of your life on stage, while fighting off nausea because of the night before, simply was not thought through will at all.

As you can see, both these ways of reacting during times of trial, struggle, and temptation can have equally disastrous results, allowing the devil to have his way. 

All that said, there is one approach that I often fail to try, but it is the one that Jesus used over and over again in his ministry and life.  When faced with struggle and temptation, Jesus always relied of God’s Holy Spirit.  I do not mean this to sound too holy and unreachable for the normal person.  After-all, the Holy Spirit speaks to Jesus in a way that the Spirit still speaks to us today.

When completely famished and tempted to turn a stone into bread by the devil, Jesus clings to what the Spirit of God has to say through scripture.  “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

Do you see what the Holy Spirit did there? The Spirit made certain that there was a word of scripture present during the temptation. There was a word of hope right on Jesus’ tongue, as Jesus faced his trials. The Spirit was there for Jesus and filled him.

The Spirit was still present when Jesus was tempted to use his power for selfish reasons.  He was told that he could have power over all the kingdoms of the world if only he would worship the devil. 

Unfortunately, we are seeing real-time the destruction that this particular temptation of worldly power can tragically wield.  Of course, we know that Jesus does not fall for this temptation, but have you ever realized that the Holy Spirit once again used scripture to keep Jesus away from the wrong path?  “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

And, as before during the two previous times, Jesus refuses to fall for the devil’s temptation to have his heavenly Father save him from a deadly fall.  After-all, does not scripture say that, “He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you.”  You see, the devil can use scripture also.  Beware; evil knows how to twist all that is good into something less than holy, righteous, and loving. 

The Spirit’s guidance for Jesus during this particular temptation is quite striking when you look deeper.  Jesus was placed on top of the Holy of Holies in the temple, and below what Jesus would have seen was the stone upon which the priests offered sacrifices.  The smell of the sacrifices would have been wafting up to his hunger-wracked body.  But, beyond the tempting smell of food, Jesus was tempted to force God to save him from smashing into the altar of sacrifice after a heavenly game of “Trust Fall.” 

The devil assures Jesus that God will send angels to catch him so that his foot will not dash against the stone of sacrifice.  Jesus is tempted to walk away from his own act of self-sacrifice on the cross.  In other words, the devil tempts Jesus to back out of the life he is about to lead, and the tragic and painful end that it entails.  “God will save you from the pain of the cross,” the devil is practically tempting.

Here is the reality.  Sometimes the purpose that God provides will not be the peaceful existence for which we dream.  Sometimes, it will include crosses, and it will include helping neighbors in war zones, and it will include walking with people until their last breath, and it will include giving up the good job for the sake of a little one, and God’s purpose for you will include so many other uncomfortable and potentially painful things, that we will constantly be tempted to not be a part of God’s work because the sacrifice is just too much.  Would it not be better to drink iced teas while floating in a pool?

But, like Jesus who did not give into temptation, we too have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We too have been filled with the knowledge of who we are and what we are about.  We are children of God who seek, above all, to love God and neighbor.  We are children of God who have been saved by the one who refused to walk away from our pain and hardship and sin. 

And, we are children of God who have been given the gift of scripture.  The Spirit will use scripture to lead us through the wildernesses into the heart of God.  Filled with the Holy Spirit and guided by the scriptures, hopefully God will use us to reflect the same kind of self-sacrificial love shown clearly by the one who died on the cross so that we might live: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sermon for Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (Ash Wednesday)

 

This thing that we call “the faith” is not about you.  It also is not about me.  It is not about us. 

I know, it is common to say things like, “Without my faith, I do not know what I would do.”  When people say that, most people mean, “Without God, I do not know what I would do,” and that is just fine.  But, some people actually mean what they are saying.  Some people mean that without “their” faith they do not know what they would do…as if faith were something they accomplished over the years…as if it were some sort of badge of holiness that they now get to wear.

But, this thing that we call “the faith” is not about us.

Jesus was once asked about the most important part of this thing that we call “the faith,” and Jesus’ answer was:

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

This thing that we call “the faith” is first and foremost all about God.  We love God because God first loved us.  We love God because God created us.  We love God because Jesus was sent to die for us and to raise us up to new life.  We would not be here worshiping if it were not for God.  It is not about us.  It is about God.

Secondly, this thing that we call “the faith” is about loving those around us.  When God was walking around, in the flesh, he loved, and taught, and healed, and fed his neighbors.  His life was about caring for those around him. 

So, as followers of Jesus Christ, our life of faith is similarly about loving our neighbors.  It is about using the gift of time that we have been given by God for loving and caring for our neighbors in some way.  It is not about us.  It is about our neighbors.

Lent, then, is a time when we try to refocus our lives toward love of God and love of neighbor.  And, we need this time of focus because, quite frankly, it is easy to get wrapped up in ourselves. 

It is easy to become proud about what we donate or who we help.  It is human nature to want a plaque commemorating our gifts. 

I once visited a church where there was a plaque commemorating the gift of a phone right on the telephone receiver.  I noticed it because the corner of the metal plaque dug into my hand!  Ouch!  Really?  Did someone really need to be recognized for eternity because they gifted a $35 phone to the church?

It is not about us.  This thing we call “the faith” is about God and neighbor.

Some people pray long, long, long prayers using very holy language.  But, one of the most honest prayers I have ever heard was, “God, please help.”  And, Jesus responded to little more than, “Lord, have mercy on me” before giving healing.  The long, eloquent prayers, of course, are about how holy the person sounds to those around, and not about God at all.

It is not about us.  This thing we call “the faith” is about God and neighbor.

Just this week, I read a post on social media in which someone was complaining both about the rising gas prices and the anxiety that the war in Ukraine was causing the person.  “I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”

Someone with immediate family in Ukraine responded:

“Though I can understand how the gas prices and the war might cause people in the west some discomfort, I fear that such discomfort distracts from the very real threat to the life and existence of my family members still in Ukraine.”

It is not about us.  It is about God and neighbor.

As we receive the ashes today, we hear the words, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  It is an acknowledgment that without God the dust that makes up our very being would have no life breathed into it, and without our neighbors that dust would have no purpose.

I, therefore, encourage all of us, myself included, to choose a Lenten discipline which focuses on either showing love to God or love to our neighbor…or both! 

Take a moment right now to consider what might lead you to focus less on yourself and to focus more on God and your neighbor. 

This is not about making you a great Christian in the end.  It is not about succeeding or failing at a Lenten discipline.  It is not about you at all.  It is about finding something that we lead you away from that sort of thinking altogether, so that God gets the praise, and your neighbor gets the love.

After-all, this thing we call “the faith” is about God and neighbor.