What We Believe: forgiveness

28 July 2019

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Luke 11:1-13

It has been said, “We are most like beasts when we kill.  We are most like humans when we judge.  We are most like God when we forgive”.  (William Arthur Ward)

We Christians are fond of saying forgiveness is the core of Christianity.  While forgiveness is an essential component of the Christian faith, the greater Truth is forgiveness is the core – and the heart - of our Father in heaven.  Whether in the First Testament or the New, the heart of The Father is steadfast.  More than anything, He wants a dynamic, ongoing relationship with His people, but there is also great purpose in that relationship; He means for us to live into our calling and our gifts so others can also become all they are created to be.  It is about the Fullness of Life – in this world and the next.

Yet we must also come to know this: if we are not forgiven, we cannot be of a mind and a heart to offer forgiveness.  Jesus does teach that if we will not forgive the offense of those who have harmed us, “neither will your Father forgive you”.  So it would seem that in order for us to be forgiven, we must first learn to forgive.  Given the depth of pain and the extent of harm many have experienced, that is a pretty tall order AND a very bitter pill to swallow.

A few years ago I found an old rosary I had long forgotten about.  One afternoon when all was quiet, I went into the sanctuary to pray.  Trying to remember the proper rosary order, I finally came to The Lord’s Prayer which, like the Hail Mary, is repeated several times. 

At first I was just mechanically reciting the Prayer.  After a few recitations, I began to replace “thou”, “thee”, and “art” with the language I am more familiar with.  Soon it became my own prayer rather than the Church’s.  Once I was able to make the prayer my own expression and in my own language, I began to recite it more slowly, more thoughtfully. 

Verse by verse, line by line, I began to see some elements of that Prayer take on a whole new meaning – or maybe it was the clarity I needed at the time; the clarity we all need.  Especially the part about asking forgiveness “as we forgive those who trespass against us”.

Rather than, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, it became, “Forgive my sins, Father, so I may be freed to forgive those who have hurt me”.  It didn’t come easily at first because I kept trying to remember the Prayer in its proper order.  Sort of like trying to sort things alphabetically, you get somewhere in the middle and have to stop and say, “ABCDEFGHIJK …” until you come to the letter you’re looking at.  I know I’m not the only one!

At any rate, the order became less important.  “Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive others”.  And as Luke’s version expresses, “Forgive us our sins, for (because) we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us”.  The first one expresses a simultaneous thing happening; that AS we forgive others, we are forgiven in that moment.  But Luke’s version seems to presume we have already forgiven someone; and because “we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us”, we may expect to be forgiven our own offenses – that is, if we have truly repented.

Carrying the burden of past mistakes, sins we hope will never be discovered, sins we cannot escape because of our own consciences, is an overwhelming albatross about the neck that weighs us down.  We cannot function as we should, as we must, because something is holding us back.  And this is why it matters: until that weight is lifted, we cannot – we CANNOT – be free to become what we are created to be.

We are often more consciously aware of what we’ve done than of who we really are (the price of conscience), and it is the same principle which applies to those who have hurt us.  We are more aware of the harm they’ve done, perhaps the things they still do, than we are aware of who they really are.  I get that there is some wisdom in believing one acts like a jerk because one really is a jerk, but I also think this can be a more shallow glance than a good, long, hard look.  There must be more to that person – just as there is more to us.

It seems to be the whole point and purpose of forgiveness to aid us to self-discovery, becoming more aware of who we are created to be rather than what we choose to do.  If the very essence of our being is found only in the One who created us, we must come to know why we were created to begin with.  As I have long held, there is no such thing as an accidental or incidental life.  There can, of course, be an unintended pregnancy, but that biological thing does not diminish the sacred value of that life which is called forth.

The psalmist expresses the depth of this concept: “It was You who formed my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are Your works!” (139:13-14).

Do we see it?  Can we see the praise of the “wonderful works” wrought by His mighty Hand?  Our very being as the “wonderful works”?  No, we don’t see that often enough.  Not if we are not fully aware of who we really are, who we were created to be from the beginning.  Not if we are unwilling to see even our enemies as His “wonderful works”.  

It is true enough that forgiveness relieves us of the burden of pain and anguish we have suffered in the past.  It is also true that our willingness to forgive is directly connected to the forgiveness we seek and need.  More than this, however, is the reality that until we break completely free from our own misdeeds and the misdeeds of others, we cannot live into what The Lord had in mind when He breathed His Life into us.

We believe in forgiveness – but not simply forgiveness for its own sake or even for our own sakes.  There is a calling found in forgiveness which can never be fully realized until we repent, turn away from our past, and let go of our misdeeds and the misdeeds of others and pay more attention to souls – the better part of our being, the essence of God With Us – because that is who we really are, and it is the Life we are called into. 

Always to the Glory of The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Connections: the heart of ministry

21 July 2019

Amos 8:1-12; Luke 10:38-42

The late Mother Teresa (now St. Teresa of Calcutta) once said, “The poverty of being unloved, unwanted, and uncared for is the greatest poverty”.  In her extensive and well-renowned ministry to the poor of India she began in 1948, she obviously dealt with a great deal of hunger and disease, but what she found most heart-wrenching and distressing in all she dealt with was that poverty of loneliness.  Her entire ministry, indeed her very life, was devoted from the beginning not only to the sick and the hungry - but to those unwanted, those uncared for, those unloved.    

Pope Francis spoke about Mother Teresa’s life of service in declaring her sainthood in 2016: ”Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her hospitality and her defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded. She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity."

St. Teresa of Calcutta (as she is now known in the Roman Catholic Church) is an exception to almost anything we can speak of to those who devote their lives to the care of others, but therein lies also the indictment and judgment of Amos.  What she offered to her “neighbor” as Jesus defined “neighbor” should be the rule for the whole Church rather than the exception for only a few - given that our Lord and Shepherd affirmed that Great Commandment to “love one’s neighbor as oneself”.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel was under judgment but unlike other prophets, Amos’ call to Israel was not one of repentance.  The judgment had already been rendered because the cry of those “unwanted, uncared for, and unloved” had reached the ears and the heart of The Lord.  Having been already called to task by other prophets, Amos was The Lord’s final word to the Northern Kingdom before the fall. 

As The Lord spoke, “I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the Word of The Lord … they shall run to and fro, seeking the Word of The Lord, but they shall not find it” (Amos 8:11-12).

That utter disconnect would be Israel’s undoing because their meaning as a “holy people”, their very existence as a “nations of priests” had long ceased.  It may be said that complete disconnect would not only diminish, but eliminate completely, their sacred worth because they were no longer a people with a mind and a heart for The Lord and His Word; they were a bunch of persons living for whatever cultural meaning and wealth they could gain for themselves – often at the expense of others.  They were Jews in name only.

I have long maintained that people are pretty much the same today as in ancient times, the difference being technology.  Ancient people hated, ancient people cursed, ancient people ignored those whom they deemed beneath them … as do we today.  Yet surely compassion, empathy, and sympathy existed then as much as today.  Not all were of the same heart and mind of those who had been judged by The Lord.  So what happened? 

Israel got what they had been asking for, living for.  The disconnect between the Northern Kingdom and the Eternal Word was the very same disconnect between the prosperous and the poor.  Yet the Northern Kingdom was not being judged for having been prosperous.  They had been judged for “trampling on the needy and bringing ruin to the poor of the land” (Amos 8:4).

Accumulating wealth cannot be said to be a curse in and of itself because “wealth” is relative, and defining “wealth” is subjective.  Working and saving to own a home or buy a car and even saving for one’s retirement all fall under the heading of “accumulating wealth”.  But when that effort becomes one’s sole focus and purpose, there begins a profound disconnect not only between ourselves and the Holy Word; there also begins our disconnect from one another. 

Oh, we will still have our families and our chosen, like-minded, economically, and culturally equal friends … but over time our “neighbors” (again, defined by Jesus the Living Word) will seem more a bother (not even a burden which we often freely choose to bear – but only for those whom we prefer to love). 

Once that deterioration begins, it is only a matter of time before the “neighbor” whom we are commanded to love becomes … subhuman, a story-book character from Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, not real, and thus lacking sacred worth (in our own eyes).  When they become dehumanized, they become much easier to ignore and cast aside with a clear conscience.  Worst of all, they become easier to exploit for personal gain.

In our Gospel reading, Martha seems to be getting her hand slapped by Jesus for working instead of following Mary’s lead “who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him” (Luke 10:39).  Our Lord, however, is not saying our work need not be done.  Rather, our work must not become our sole focus to the exclusion of all else – most especially our Shepherd and His Church, His people, His congregation.  As it is written in Ecclesiastes, there is a time and a place for everything.

It is not unlike that great Gift of Sabbath we are often neglectful of.  The Lord knows there is work to be done, necessary work, work that does in itself have meaning and purpose.  Yet we cannot become so busy with our work or even our leisure that we lose sight of that which is most important, that which gives everything we do and everything we are real meaning – worship of our Lord, study of His Word, and looking out for one another … all means of experiential grace.  At the risk of repeating myself, we as a people are no better than the worst among us, no stronger than the weakest among us, and no healthier than the sickest among us.

So let us be about our work and our leisure, but let us also be about our “neighbor”.  Above and before all else, let us be about our Lord.  As a baptized people, we are not only about Him and with Him – we ARE Him in a world filled with darkness and loneliness.  Let this be our truth, and it will be enough for today.  Amen.

Wrong Side of the Road

14 July 2019

Amos 7:7-17; Luke 10:25-37

The power outage this past week was an odd duck.  While we were without power, we decided to go out to eat.  We had no idea the extent of the power outage, but we were hopeful we would find some place open for a meal.  As we drove past the EZ-Mart, I was hoping we wouldn’t have to settle for gas station corn dogs since they had power.

Reflecting on this oddity made me think of what is written in Ecclesiastes: “The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left” (10:2 NRSV).  Going east, the right side of the road had power, thus “light”.  Of course, going west changed everything.  Still, I began to think about the choices we are often compelled to make.  Light vs. darkness.  Good vs. evil.  Often, however, we may fool ourselves into believing life is not that black & white, that we don’t deliberately choose the “dark side” … but we don’t choose the “light”, either. 

This is the parallel I saw between our reading from Amos and Luke’s version of the Good Samaritan.  Each recounts careless or blind choices and the consequences.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite did not choose to do good; but it is unlikely they deliberately chose evil when they passed by the victim.  They probably believed they were being prudent when it seemed clear there were robbers in the area.

Amos seems a little darker in that the prophet is not calling Israel to repentance more than he is pronouncing The Lord’s judgment on a people who should have been more consciously aware of the choices they make; and because they consistently chose poorly, the consequences of their actions would soon bear down on them.

The prophets are hard for Christians to read because the profile of this seemingly angry God is incompatible with our loving, compassionate, New Testament Father of Jesus the Messiah.  However, the first mistake we make is assuming there is such a contrast; the second mistake we make is convincing ourselves that because of Jesus, our Holy Father is more inclined to look the other way – especially if we call ourselves “saved”.

When it comes to expectations our Holy Father has for His people, Jesus dispels any notion that there is a different standard - not only with His teaching in the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) but also His further teaching in Luke 12:48 in which our Lord says, “To whom much is given, much more is required”. 

The Holy God we worship and celebrate in Christ is the very same One who pronounced judgment against His own people; and even the dark, foreboding words of the prophets attest to this reality.  The trick is to read more deeply than the words on the pages and, as I have said consistently, learn to read contextually and get past the idea that memorizing a few key verses constitutes biblical knowledge.

Although justice is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures, Amos is unique in that justice (or the profound lack thereof) seems to be The Lord’s sole focus in His indictment against the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Judah in the south).  What may be worst is that Amos is not so much calling Israel to repentance more than he is relaying The Lord’s judgment which is coming – especially after Amos was told to go back home to Judah (7:12) by the high priest.

In the Northern Kingdom during this period was unusual prosperity, but the people were not being judged for being prosperous.  It was how they became exceedingly prosperous that got The Lord’s attention.  This “how” created a whole class of victims who actually lost more than the prosperous gained. 

It could be said these prosperous folks were not deliberately choosing to deceive the people who lost so much more than they were only more aware of gaining more and more wealth.  Whether such a mindset is likely, however, is beside the point.  The fundamental Commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself does not come into play.  The Commandments are the terms of the Covenant, and these are supposed to be Covenant people.  As are we.

The priest and the Levite who passed by the victim in Jesus’ parable AND the high priest who demanded Amos go back to where he came from are in the same spiritual boat.  And each represents many more than just themselves.  They represent an entire class of people who are more aware of their own well-being than they are aware of the plight of those less fortunate; those who are stuck in the margins of society, those who are victimized through no fault of their own, those who are down-and-out.

The Holy God was about to turn the Northern Kingdom over to the Assyrians, and all that was gained by those who were so prosperous would soon be lost – and Israel would never see that level of prosperity again because it was clear they could not handle it.  And those who had lost what little they had before it was stolen from them will actually fare a little better in Exile because the playing field will soon be leveled.

Whether we are talking about the deliberate pursuit of wealth or simply taking precautions and being prudent about our personal well-being, the spiritual risk in either is about how much more we are aware of our Lord and His Commandments.  In being more aware of our own station in life or pursuing our own piece of the so-called “American Dream”, we do not believe we are doing evil.  Yet the good we may think we are doing is directed solely on our own personal gain.

If we are not deliberately pursuing the good, which always involves others who are not as well off, there is nothing left but evil.  Just as Jesus teaches that “those who are not against Me are with Me” (Luke 11:23), there is no spiritual ambivalence or ambiguity in Christianity nor in Judaism. 

The same God who punished Israel and Judah and brought them back Home after their Exile is the same God who brought Light into the world in Christ Jesus.  In doing so, our Holy Father did not negate His Holy Commandments, and Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan affirms this.  Indeed, Jesus’ entire ministry affirms this.

We are all under judgment, for our Shepherd has so declared: “This is the judgment, that Light has come into the world” (John 3:19).  By His Presence and His ministry and His giving so fully of Himself, we have been judged worthy of this profound Love.  Yet by this same declaration, our Lord has also said we must still choose to be in that Light or abide in darkness “so our deeds may not be exposed” (John 3:20).

We who are baptized and confirmed into the Holy Covenant have been entrusted with much.  Let us be about the business of our Father – because this is the existence of the entire Church.  As our Shepherd has taught us: “let your Light shine before others so they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  It is the deliberate choice we must make in every waking moment.  Done faithfully, it will be enough for now.  Amen.

Scythe & Sickle

7 July 2019

Galatians 6:7-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

I’ve shared before that the Bible must not be read only by verse but within a much broader context.  One verse, even a whole chapter, can often lack meaning if not read with a mind toward other passages, even other books, First Testament or New.

For instance, Jesus speaks of the “plentiful harvest” and the apparent lack of laborers (Luke 10:2).  However, the Lord does not tell everyone to pick up “scythe & sickle” and hit the fields; instead, He says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”.  Far from letting any baptized member of the Church off the hook, we are invited to look more closely and evaluate more carefully what is being asked of The Lord’s Church.

Even if we believe we’re supposed to reap and gather, there is a word of caution found in Matthew’s Gospel.  In the parable of the wheat and the weeds (13:24-30), the master’s slaves had noticed weeds growing among the good wheat.  When they inquired of the master whether he wanted them to go and pull the weeds, the master said no.  “Let both [wheat and weeds] grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into the barns’ …”

We may think of “harvest” in terms of Christian conversion (i.e., getting people baptized).  This is not an unreasonable assumption because it speaks directly to the mission of the Church to “make disciples and baptize them”.  However, it may also be reasonable to ask whether one can be a disciple (a student) of Jesus and not be baptized immediately.  We’re not talking about being “saved” or “justified”.  We’re talking about someone merely interested in learning more about Jesus and the New Covenant before they fully commit. 

Some may say it is possible to be a disciple before baptism because of Jesus’ lesson in Luke’s Gospel (14:25-34); one must first consider the “cost” of discipleship because that cost is steep.  “Whoever comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes even life itself, cannot be My disciple … None of you can become My disciple if you do not give up all your possessions”.

In our modern vernacular, “hate” is a strong word; and it very difficult to reconcile “hating” anyone, let alone one’s parents since Jesus affirms the Holy Commandment to “honor mother and father”.  Again, context is everything.  When Jesus speaks of the impossibility of serving two masters, He says, "No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).  For our Shepherd, there is no middle ground.

Long story made short, we all have some work to do on ourselves before we worry about discerning between good wheat and bad weeds – those worthy of Eternal Life and those condemned.  That call has not yet been made, and even the “reapers” of Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds do not make that call.  They “reap” according to the Master’s Word.

So Jesus sends His disciples out not as “harvesters” even though the “the harvest is plentiful” (Luke 10:2), and He does not refer to them as “reapers”.  Going back to the parable of the wheat and the weeds, what do the laborers do?  Though they think they can clearly see the difference between the wheat and the weeds – and even the Master acknowledges the presence of weeds among the good wheat – he clearly instructs the laborers to leave the crop to the “reapers”.  For he says, “In gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them”.  Put another way, the laborers, in their zeal to destroy the weeds, could put the wheat at risk.

No.  The disciples whom Jesus sent out were sent as messengers, “sending them on in pairs ahead of Him” (Luke 10:1).  That is, where Jesus intended to go, the “laborers” were sent ahead to prepare the soil, to sow the Seed that is the Good News that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Luke 10:11).  And as long as there is “peace” to be shared, there is useful work to be done in that place; “Do not move from house to house”, our Lord says. 

However, “if you are not welcome, go out into the streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you’.”   And notice this: whether in peace or in rejection, the Message, the labor, is the same: “The kingdom of God has come near”.

The soil may be bad and will not tolerate the Good Seed (the Message) and it could be this report will be sent back to Jesus who may decide not to go to that place, but the “reaping” is not to be done.  Those who will not welcome even the Good News are simply warned that something wonderful had come their way, and they would not even listen.  And the disciples are instructed; do not waste your time arguing and trying to “prove” your case, and don’t try to convince them how wrong they are.  Just move on to the next town.

That takes an awful lot of pressure off, doesn’t it?  All that is being asked of the disciples – then and now – is to engage in relationships!  Get to know people, and tell them “the kingdom of God has come near”.  That’s it!  No more and no less.  And the judgment, such as it is left to us, is simply this: they will listen, or they won’t.  What The Lord may choose to do beyond that moment is not our call to make.

It could be that the turmoil within the whole Church today (not just the UMC) is brought on by too many who are not biblically clear on the task and mission of the Church as the Body of Christ.  Though some may think otherwise, we are not “reapers”; we are “laborers”, messengers.  We can tend the soil and we can even sow Good Seed into that prepared soil, but the Seed we introduce to that prepared soil must be pure.  That is, the Seed is not our opinion and does not need our denominational “spin”!  We are not being supplied with “scythe and sickle”; we are given Seed.

So let us be about the labor of the Church, and let that be enough for now.  Faithful and diligent to the task to which we are called, we may all be surprised at the “harvest” we may witness!  Amen.