The Present Time - 3rd Sunday of Lent 2019

24 March 2019 – 3^rd Sunday of Lent

1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

Our Gospel reading seems to involve two different and completely disconnected portions, but I think there is probably more than what we can see only on the surface.  In the previous chapter, Jesus had said, “You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Luke 12:56)

However, as we attempt to “interpret the present time”, it must be done within the biblical context because our “present time” is all kinds of messed up in a fruitless culture that does not seem to know if it’s coming or going; what’s in and what’s out, what’s good and what’s bad.  Even we of the Eternal Covenant seem much more aware of, and more willing to respond to, what is right in front of us than of what is beyond what the eye can see. 

It also should not escape our notice that as Mainline Protestantism is on the decline (lack of fruitfulness), hatred and greed and contempt for one another are horrific and getting worse (rotted fruit)!  This is our own “present time”, yet there are only modest differences between “then” and “now”.

When Jesus refers to the “present time”, I think it is safe to say He is referring to that time, His time on the earth.  Yet within the context of both portions of this brief passage, there is much we can glean for our own “present time” if we are willing to look closely and heed His words.  The reason?  We are still in the Messianic Age.  The Lord’s return will mark the end of that age.

The text is not clear about exactly what had happened with Pilate and the mixed blood.  Early Church fathers had speculated the Galileans had been caught performing an illegal sacrifice (illegal according to Roman law).  Maybe to put others on notice who might be also tempted, Pilate ordered the execution of those who were performing the sacrifice and had allowed their blood to be mixed with the blood of the sacrificed animals. 

We might even think of this as a sort of cultural assimilation.  From a strictly religious point of view, that would be horrifying to those who had witnessed it – and perhaps even more terrifying to those who had only heard about it.  And given that ancient Jewish belief equated suffering with the measure of one’s sinfulness, they seemed to think those who were executed had been harshly judged by The Lord.  So when this crowd reported to Jesus what had happened, our Shepherd turned them away from that narrative and toward the Greater Narrative; the manner of death is of no consequence.  

The matter of death, on the other hand, is what is facing us all; “but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did” (Luke 13:3,5).  That, our Lord seems to say, is worthy of our utmost respect.  As Jesus had also taught, “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear The One who can cast both body and soul into hell” (Matthew 10:28).

Repentance, then, is key to the first portion of this passage and leads us into the second portion.  Jesus is downplaying how the Galileans had met their end.  As He said, “These were not ‘worse’ sinners than any others – but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did”. 

Not necessarily by the same means, but our Lord is telling us something we prefer not to think about … and even sometimes attempt to deny: that we are mortals, and time as we know it will absolutely come to an end.  Sooner or later (and we do always hope for later!), our mortality will catch up to us one way or another.  Young and old.  Rich and poor.  Black and white.  Good and evil.

Then we move to the second portion of this passage, the three unfruitful years of the fig tree.  The land owner wanted the tree removed since it was “wasting good soil” not doing what it was created to do, not doing what he planted it to do – “bear fruit”.  Three years.  Why three? 

St. Augustine had this idea.  “The tree is the human race.  The Lord visited this tree in the time of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), as if for the first year.  He visited the human race in the time of the law and the prophets, as if for the second year.  Now here we are in the dawning of the third year, the time of the Gospel, the time of Messiah.”

Now given that the Third Year is still seeing no fruit, the tree failing to live up to its full potential according to why it was planted, the “Gardener” nevertheless intercedes.  Of course we can see the Land Owner as The Father and the Gardener as the Messiah.  Just one more year, the Son (the Gardener) pleads: “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.  If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, You can cut it down”.

The Merciful Father allows the Merciful Shepherd His due.  His intercession is accepted, and He is given until the end of His season to give the tree all it needs to grow into what it was created to be.  The manure, Augustine believed, represented humility.  Rather than a determination to stand on its own and try to go its own way or merely exist, the tree would need help.  More to the point, the tree (representing the human race) would need to admit its need for help and allow itself to be assisted and given all it needs to thrive rather than merely survive.

The message is simple and must be taken to heart.  We are in the “third year”, but that season will one day come to a close.  The “Gardener” seems to be saying this season, this “third year” is His time for intercession – not the end of the Age but in the big middle of it.  He has intervened in our behalf and has been granted the time – and the authority – needed to help the tree to not only grow but to bear fruit, to reproduce.

St. Paul said as much in his letter to the Corinthians: “These things (the examples of the past) were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come (the third “year”, the third season of redemption)” (1 Cor 10:11). 

Clearly Jesus is not physically with us, but He leaves us His Body The Church to tend the soil and nurture – not merely comfort - the human race.  We cannot simply leave things as they are and hope for the best.  Like our Shepherd, who is Lord of the Church, we have been given to the end of the “season” to do all which is necessary to help our charges to not only thrive but to reproduce as well – to “make disciples who are equipped to make disciples”.

The tree existed and was not hurting anyone.  As our common cultural mantra goes – that the Church allows to go unanswered - it was a “good” tree only because it wasn’t a “bad” tree.  Yet the tree is under Divine judgment which, at the end of the “season”, will be rendered according to its ability and willingness to reproduce.  And that will depend on the care offered by the “gardener”, the Church, the Body of Christ, which must serve as the Light in a sea of darkness.

We are now in the midst of Grace itself.  We are given the time and the spiritual gifts needed to nurture and to build up the human race, and each “eye”, “hand”, “arm”, and “leg” – each member of the Whole Body – has a part to play, a role to fulfill according to our gifts.  Let us not squander the good soil – or the time – placed under our authority.  Amen.

Memory as Virtue; Distraction as Vice - 2nd Sunday of Lent 2019

17 March 2019 – 2^nd Sunday of Lent

Philippians 3:17-4:1; Revelation 2:2-7

Virtue is the habitual disposition to do good, and this virtue depends on memory.  St. Thomas Aquinas believed memory plays an important role in our capacity to truly repent from the many distractions of the modern culture.  “Experience”, he wrote, “is the result of many memories … therefore prudence requires the memory of many things” (Summa Theologiae).  So to repent – to “turn about” – requires a memory of where we must return.

I’ll grant there are some memories we might prefer to let go of; “leave the past in the past” – especially when it comes to remembering when we’ve been so deeply – and in some cases, permanently - hurt.  Yet Aquinas thought of memory as an ‘intellectual virtue’ that allows us to make moral choices.  For good or bad, past experiences are a huge part of who we are now, who we will become.  Part of this memory necessarily includes the stories of the Bible because there can be no useful memories in biblical illiteracy.  It’s about remembering that “First Love”.

Judging by the writings of some of the early Church fathers who believed memorization of Scripture and meditation to be synonymous, the reason so many think “progressivism” is such a good thing may be because there is nothing to remember.  Distractions from these memories have captured our attention and our imagination to the point that we have fooled ourselves into believing we can effectively pray “on the go” and learn about The Lord and the Scriptures from “bumper sticker theology” (cheesy, often unbiblical sayings) or “feel good” books about the Scriptures rather than from real time devoted to study of the Scriptures.

The entire book of Deuteronomy is a book of remembrance, of recollection.  It is a necessary review of the Exodus journey from Egypt to the border of the Promised Land.  Moses exhorted the people of Israel to remember “The Lord who brought you … out of the house of slavery” … “who led you these forty years in the wilderness” (Dt 6:12; Dt 8:2).  Moses did not leave out those parts in which Israel got a little too full of itself to the point of judgment and death in the wilderness.

The contemporary distractions they faced – and will face - disconnected them from their past and would lead them to Exile when they would lose everything – including their very identity as the People of The Lord.  The recovery time of Ezra/Nehemiah was not about picking up where they left off; it was about going back to where they went wrong and picking up the pieces of their brokenness.  They had to remember.

Memory restored Israel.  Remembrance of the past helped Israel to get back on their feet.  They remembered the Covenant, they remembered the Commandments, and they remembered where they went wrong – and by those remembrances, they were able to make prudent choices for their future.  It wasn’t easy by any means, but it was necessary.  Each broken piece they picked up was a reminder of their failure, their forgetfulness, and their faithlessness.

Liturgy may be too formal and stiff for some, but the liturgy (the order of worship) of the Church is the Story of The Lord’s people and where we come from.  It is from that context we derive our next steps.  Any sermon must draw from that context, from The Story and a remembrance of the past, before worship can even have real meaning.  We must always remember who we are before we can faithfully consider who we can become.

The Lord seems to agree.  In His letter to the Church at Ephesus, our Lord commends the faithfulness of the Church and their ability to see past the deceptions of “false apostles”.  He even commends their patience and willingness to remember His Holy Name.  Yet there is a profound memory which had apparently been lost to them – and may be lost to us: our First Love – what we could only describe as “Amazing Grace”. 

It is easy to carry a banner; but unless we remember why we were carrying a banner in the first place, all we’re doing is carrying a banner.  We can easily become distracted, set the banner down, and forget why we were carrying it in the first place.  The season of Lent is entirely about picking up that banner yet again – and remembering why we must. 

It is not enough to consider oneself a “good Methodist” or even a “good Christian”.  These will never be enough if we march apart from our “First Love”.  These labels will never be enough if we carry a name (like Methodist or even Christian as the culture demands) but not The Name which is above all names.  And in that Holy Name must be the remembrances of His Holy Law and what He requires of His people – by that Law, to be uniquely distinguished from the culture’s people.

The failure of the General Conference is entirely about lost memory and the futile attempt at creating new memories.  Whether conservative or progressive, the “First Love” never played a significant enough role.  As a result, everyone – EVERYONE – left the Conference bewildered and exhausted rather than excited about the future together in Christ.

Lent is a Gift because it seeks to recall.  It demands of us a recounting of the past within the context of the Scriptures so we can remember our “First Love”, why Grace is so “Amazing”, and how deeply we are truly loved.  In the Father, in the Son, in the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Passing the Test - 1st Sunday of Lent 2019

10 March 2019 – 1^st Sunday of Lent

Deuteronomy 13:1-4; Luke 4:1-13

Speaking recently to a member of a church I used to serve and hearing about the challenges they are currently facing, Jesus’ statement to His disciples after His encounter with the rich man asking what he must do to gain eternal life came to mind.  Recall the Commandments Jesus affirmed, to which the man said he had been faithful.  Jesus, however, raised the bar of faithfulness – and apparently raised the stakes as well. 

In addition to faithfulness to the Law, our Lord told the rich man he must sell all he has and give the money to the poor.  Then, Jesus said, “You will have treasure in heaven”.  Of course the man walked away grieving because that level of faithfulness was more than he could bear, he having many possessions (Matthew 19:16-26).  He was incapable of imagining a life without these possessions because his life was defined by this wealth.

Though the disciples didn’t have that measure of wealth between them, they were nevertheless perplexed and maybe more than a little disturbed with Jesus’ “camel through the eye of a needle” statement.  They asked Him, “Then who can be saved?”  Our Teacher’s response?  “With mortals, it is impossible; but for the The Father, all things are possible”.

Though I’ve heard this passage preached dozens of times in different ways, it occurs to me Jesus is talking about much more than a rich person’s possessions.  It is not material wealth in itself that stands in our way because the value of material wealth is relative to what we choose to do with it and how it affects our decision-making.  Even a poor person can make wrong choices based on his or her possessions.

Some have suggested Jesus was downplaying the importance of the Commandments and works of mercy in favor of “salvation by faith alone”, but I think that’s quite a stretch.  Jesus affirms the importance of the Commandments while, at the same time, He is raising the bar of faithfulness.  In addition to “thou shalt not”, our Teacher has added, “You must”.

Yet, “for mortals, this is impossible”.  No truer words were ever spoken.  Faithfulness and due diligence toward a life of faith are not impossible, but they ask more of us than many are willing to give.  In that I also cannot help but to think the current climate in the Church universal – all denominations to one extent or another – is one big, cosmic “test”; the kind of test Israel had to endure in the wilderness on their Journey and the kind of test our Shepherd had to endure in His own wilderness before He could begin His public ministry.

So the question is, “How’re we doin’ so far??”

Church membership is in decline.  Worship attendance is in decline.  Bible study and Sunday school are in decline or have all but flat-lined, having been deemed unimportant.  But what is in abundance?  Political activism in all forms.  Hatefulness.  Contempt.  Slander.  Idolatry.  Scorn.

But what makes all these increases so shocking are the latest polls which still indicate a vague “belief” in God by some 90% of the American population.  Yet there is a profound difference between a belief in the existence of a “god” and a full trust in The Almighty God whose Word is paramount to living the kind of life He ordains for His people.  It isn’t about being “chosen”; it is about making choices.

It is the choice Israel faced in the wilderness, it is the choice Jesus faced after His baptism, and it is no less the choice we face as well; that test to determine whether we “love The Lord our God with all our heart and soul” (Dt 13:3).  In each of the biblical instances, that choice was not about a mere profession of faith.  It is not about baptism or circumcision as the mark of the Covenant; it was about the direction each would go.  That choice is no less for us than it was for Israel or for Jesus.

The season of Lent is an invitation to enter into the “wilderness”, to remove ourselves from the corruption and the temptations of what we only think is “civilization”, to remove ourselves from the deafening noise of a culture wandering aimlessly in darkness to discover for ourselves who we really are.

These tests were not about potential failure as if the tests themselves are the end.  Rather, these tests are means to a greater end.  These tests, as much for Israel and Jesus as well as for us, are about what comes next.  They are about preparedness; and, like it or not, they are as much about Divine Love as about anything else.

Our parents, and we as parents ourselves, understand the need for and importance of discipline for children.  Discipline – not “punishment” – is about order; to “train them in the way they should go” (Proverbs 22:6).  It is about teaching our children about the life we all must face, the “tests” we must endure, and which way we must go. 

None of this is easy.  In today’s “easy discipleship” climate of “cheap grace” that asks nothing of us and yet gives us everything, it has become virtually impossible to imagine our God and Father deliberately putting us to a test we may be unable to endure.  Yet He subjected Israel, Job, Jesus, and the rich man to such a test - not to spite them but to guide them, to direct them, to strengthen them.

I assure you a child who is not disciplined and corrected by his or her parents as they grow will one day face a judge who will tell them where they went wrong and where they will go from that moment!  And it is no less so for any one of us who is too heavily invested in this world; we will also live and die according to where we are most invested.  We will live and die according to which “god” we choose to follow.  And let’s be clear: our God, THE God of gods, is not following us anywhere; for He alone is The Way.

Lent is also about preparedness, for the challenges we face are enormous.  The temptations we face are overwhelming.  Yet our Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, “bids us come and die” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) to a world under the sentence of death so we may live.  So we must “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) in the wilderness, enduring these “tests”, and finding Life at the end.  For it is The Way of our Father, His Son, His Holy Spirit.  Amen.