Agape Love is not a feeling.
What Jesus COMMANDED is active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially those considered "the least" among us...
Jesus shared that He must offer His ultimate expression of Agape and Peter could not handle it. Self-sacrifice is a part of Agape, and worse, unconditional self-sacrifice. Those who are recipients of this commanded love need not merit, earn or deserve it. It is given freely to the undeserved... related to Grace - undeserved loving mercy given freely.
We don't like that. We want to believe that we deserve what we get, unless of course we have done something wrong, at which time we prefer mercy. But with anyone else, we want THEM to get what they deserve, especially if they have done something wrong. It is our nature. I remember a youth pastor telling a thousand teens at a gathering of America's Pride in Pittsburgh some years ago, that "we tend to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions." I believe that is true. We readily think the worst of others who do the same wrong things that we do, while not thinking the worst of ourselves, because we know what was in our hearts and minds.
Thus, Jesus makes it about Grace and Agape, not because we deserve them, but because we NEED them.
"I know what I deserve. Don't give me what I deserve. Give me Grace, baby. Give me Grace."
Tony Campolo, years ago at a S.C.U.P.E. Conference in Chicago.
So when Peter would discourage Jesus from the ultimate self-sacrificing, unconditional act of Agape Love, fulfilling what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the world, Jesus had to rebuke Peter for not "getting it." We live Agape Love and Grace unconditionally, because others NEED it, even the stranger, enemy and "the least" among us. It is commanded by the one we call Lord of our lives.
It is not about being the best or having the most, having the "magic" act done to us or "magic" words come out of mouths. It is not even about working out our own salvation, according to Jesus. If we are about saving ourselves, we are missing the mark. It is about losing self and a life that is different from the Gospel of Agape Love that Jesus gave us that we are to be about in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now. It is not about promoting self with more wealth or power, or even about our salvation as a motive - personal salvation, prosperity and greatness be damned, but rather about denying self and taking up the Cross in order to follow Jesus. If we are followers of Jesus, after all, we must go where Jesus went - Agape Love, Grace and the Cross. It is about how we live with the other children of God in this part of the Kingdom, here and now. What good is it to gain all the wealth and power, prestige and status in the world, and forfeit life with Jesus? How can we repay Jesus for the life Jesus has given us?
What we DO will be repaid. Agape Love is action, not words or feelings. Refusing to actively commit to the other is an action of indifference, apathy, complacency or hatred. Elsewhere in this Gospel of Matthew, Jesus put it this way - "The measure you give will be the measure you get." (7:2)
Jesus encouraged giving to all who beg, giving alms, giving something to eat, giving good gifts, giving pay to the laborers, money to the poor and commanded the giving of active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially "the least of these." It is upon this giving of Agape in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and imprisoned on which Jesus gauges the judgment of repayment for WHAT HAS BEEN DONE (25:31-46) in Matthew's Gospel.
So, what have you been giving lately? What have you done?
Pastor Jamie
Monday, August 28, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Who is Jesus to you? Matthew 16:13-20
For some, Jesus is a messenger from God, telling the world to repent.
For some, Jesus is a rabble-rouser whose message flies in the face of our established norms.
For others, Jesus is a teacher of wisdom.
For some, Jesus is a prophet, telling God's Will to God's people.
For others, Jesus is personal Savior.
For Peter, Jesus is the promised one of God and Son of God, come into this world to deliver the people of God from their darkness.
Their darkness was the dark oppression created by Empire - theirs, the Roman empire. It had occupied the land of their ancestors for many years, coopted their lands, their resources, their labor, their young men, their freedom, their faith and their dignity. Jesus represented a spiritual, political and economic deliverer of a people who had had their Shalom (well-being, peace, completeness and wholeness) taken from them by those whose devotion was given to greed, lust for power and prestige/position/status.
It was spiritual. It had rendered them poor in spirit. It broke their spirit. Their religious leaders had colluded and twisted the faith into something that would bring the people in line with the values of the occupiers, believing that it was right and natural that some should live in luxury while the masses should barely survive in order to give it to them. The Temple cult leaders of the time created theologies around justifying the inequities of the Empire, making it seem normal that a few should have most and the many should have little, and justifying the cruel, oppressive force that kept that unjust and ungodly system in place.
It was political. The king was in collusion with the Empire in order to maintain some semblance of superiority above the rest, some wealth kept in the royal family and court, and some control over the masses "below" him.
It was economic. The Empire, King and Temple Cult leaders used their positions to fleece the people of God out of what they once owned, taking their livelihoods and any resources they had in order to feed the few according to their accustomed standard of living, and feeding a military industrial machine that kept things in that order necessary to promote the few. The many barely made it. Their lands were taken away, the earnings from their labors taken away and their children taken away into the slavery to Empire that their religious leaders maintained was God's Will.
Does this at all sound familiar? Those with ears, let them hear...
Into this quagmire of corruption, inequity, injustice, greed, abuse of power and false superiority came Jesus with a message of God's Kingdom values based on Agape Love and Grace. It called those who were considered "first" in the society, "last" in the Kingdom. It broke the Sabbath and dietary codes that were used to keep the people beaten into submission. It raised up the lowly and downplayed the importance of the great, in worldly standards. It was a message about humility instead of the hubris that drives some to seek status and prestige above others. It was a message about generosity and sharing instead of exploiting and even destroying others in order to gain more for oneself. It was a message about shared, community power and what can be done in unity and a power that elevates all equally, rather than a few having power "over" others.
Some thought it was only spiritual, and they expected Jesus to provide some supernatural intervention. That remains true today.
Some thought it meant only political liberation. That remains true today.
Some thought it was only about being on top economically, instead of on the bottom. That remains true today.
Some got it and followed Jesus. They lived what Jesus taught in the First Century world, right up until 325 A.D. or so, when the institution of those who claimed Jesus took importance over the message of Jesus' Way for us in the world. By living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, the early followers of Jesus changed the known world, because many came to believe that it was a better way for the world.
And today it is the same. As we face the inequities, corruption and injustice of the greed, lust for power and desire for prestige/position/status above others under our Empire, people react differently.
Some politicians embrace the Empire values and normalize the greed, lust for power and prestige.
Many citizens do the same, even those not from among the few elites, hoping someday to be among them. They have bought the message of normalized greed, power and prestige as even godly values, even though many of them continue to be the victims of it.
Some religious leaders continue to develop empire justifying theologies of prosperity and church growth, hoping to cash in on their collusion in wealth and/or power, prestige and status in the society.
They twist even the Good News of the Messiah in order to do so as did their pharisaic predecessors.
And the spiritual, political and economic corruption, injustice and inequity continues.
And in the face of it still flies Jesus and His Good News teachings, commands and examples of what God's Will truly is in the living of Agape Love (self-less, unconditional active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially "the least" among us).
Who is Jesus to you?
Is Jesus a rabble-rouser, whose message flies in the face of all that you deem normal?
Is Jesus a messenger, a teacher or prophet?
Is Jesus Personal Savior, on whose name you call, who you worship and praise and tithe?
Or is Jesus the Messiah, the one sent to deliver all of us from a corrupt, unjust and inequitable way of believing, thinking and living that damages our souls and our nation's soul because it hurts those who God loves, putting us at enmity with others and ultimately with God?
Is Jesus the Messiah, Son of God and Lord of your life?
If so,
What does it mean for YOU to follow Jesus?
Pastor Jamie
For some, Jesus is a rabble-rouser whose message flies in the face of our established norms.
For others, Jesus is a teacher of wisdom.
For some, Jesus is a prophet, telling God's Will to God's people.
For others, Jesus is personal Savior.
For Peter, Jesus is the promised one of God and Son of God, come into this world to deliver the people of God from their darkness.
Their darkness was the dark oppression created by Empire - theirs, the Roman empire. It had occupied the land of their ancestors for many years, coopted their lands, their resources, their labor, their young men, their freedom, their faith and their dignity. Jesus represented a spiritual, political and economic deliverer of a people who had had their Shalom (well-being, peace, completeness and wholeness) taken from them by those whose devotion was given to greed, lust for power and prestige/position/status.
It was spiritual. It had rendered them poor in spirit. It broke their spirit. Their religious leaders had colluded and twisted the faith into something that would bring the people in line with the values of the occupiers, believing that it was right and natural that some should live in luxury while the masses should barely survive in order to give it to them. The Temple cult leaders of the time created theologies around justifying the inequities of the Empire, making it seem normal that a few should have most and the many should have little, and justifying the cruel, oppressive force that kept that unjust and ungodly system in place.
It was political. The king was in collusion with the Empire in order to maintain some semblance of superiority above the rest, some wealth kept in the royal family and court, and some control over the masses "below" him.
It was economic. The Empire, King and Temple Cult leaders used their positions to fleece the people of God out of what they once owned, taking their livelihoods and any resources they had in order to feed the few according to their accustomed standard of living, and feeding a military industrial machine that kept things in that order necessary to promote the few. The many barely made it. Their lands were taken away, the earnings from their labors taken away and their children taken away into the slavery to Empire that their religious leaders maintained was God's Will.
Does this at all sound familiar? Those with ears, let them hear...
Into this quagmire of corruption, inequity, injustice, greed, abuse of power and false superiority came Jesus with a message of God's Kingdom values based on Agape Love and Grace. It called those who were considered "first" in the society, "last" in the Kingdom. It broke the Sabbath and dietary codes that were used to keep the people beaten into submission. It raised up the lowly and downplayed the importance of the great, in worldly standards. It was a message about humility instead of the hubris that drives some to seek status and prestige above others. It was a message about generosity and sharing instead of exploiting and even destroying others in order to gain more for oneself. It was a message about shared, community power and what can be done in unity and a power that elevates all equally, rather than a few having power "over" others.
Some thought it was only spiritual, and they expected Jesus to provide some supernatural intervention. That remains true today.
Some thought it meant only political liberation. That remains true today.
Some thought it was only about being on top economically, instead of on the bottom. That remains true today.
Some got it and followed Jesus. They lived what Jesus taught in the First Century world, right up until 325 A.D. or so, when the institution of those who claimed Jesus took importance over the message of Jesus' Way for us in the world. By living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, the early followers of Jesus changed the known world, because many came to believe that it was a better way for the world.
And today it is the same. As we face the inequities, corruption and injustice of the greed, lust for power and desire for prestige/position/status above others under our Empire, people react differently.
Some politicians embrace the Empire values and normalize the greed, lust for power and prestige.
Many citizens do the same, even those not from among the few elites, hoping someday to be among them. They have bought the message of normalized greed, power and prestige as even godly values, even though many of them continue to be the victims of it.
Some religious leaders continue to develop empire justifying theologies of prosperity and church growth, hoping to cash in on their collusion in wealth and/or power, prestige and status in the society.
They twist even the Good News of the Messiah in order to do so as did their pharisaic predecessors.
And the spiritual, political and economic corruption, injustice and inequity continues.
And in the face of it still flies Jesus and His Good News teachings, commands and examples of what God's Will truly is in the living of Agape Love (self-less, unconditional active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially "the least" among us).
Who is Jesus to you?
Is Jesus a rabble-rouser, whose message flies in the face of all that you deem normal?
Is Jesus a messenger, a teacher or prophet?
Is Jesus Personal Savior, on whose name you call, who you worship and praise and tithe?
Or is Jesus the Messiah, the one sent to deliver all of us from a corrupt, unjust and inequitable way of believing, thinking and living that damages our souls and our nation's soul because it hurts those who God loves, putting us at enmity with others and ultimately with God?
Is Jesus the Messiah, Son of God and Lord of your life?
If so,
What does it mean for YOU to follow Jesus?
Pastor Jamie
Saturday, August 19, 2017
The people who sat in darkness… Matthew 4:16 (bonus blog on Saturday)
We are in the middle of one of the darkest periods of our political, economic and spiritual history.
The 2 minute, 38 second eclipse of our source of light will (hopefully) end in restored light.
The thirty-six year slide (yes, 1981) into this moral and spiritual darkness may render us permanently blinded by our darkness.
We have been sitting in it for thirty-six years: the normalization of
greed and the exploitation and lack of compassion that comes with it, even a
prosperity theology by those in collusion with Empire to justify it; the
outright embrace of corrupt power over others in order to gain more wealth and
prestige or position that Wall Street Washington and the ruthless religious “right”
made normal in our culture– even to the dehumanizing and vilifying scapegoating
of others because they are different; and the desire for status and personal
position that our culture has promoted through sycophantic fervor in the media,
social media and even the church growth movement.
This partial eclipse of light by darkness has been thirty-six years in
the making, but it is fittingly culminating now with a total eclipse.
Will we exit this period of political, economic and spiritual darkness with
restored light, or remain in the darkness?
Will we find our compassion, empathy and generosity as a nation, or
continue along the path of self- acquisition at the expense and to the
destruction of others around us, with no concern for anyone else as long as we
get what we want, and hatred from fear for those we have scapegoated because
they are different?
Will we find the value for power over self (desires, urges) in
self-control, and find the value of shared power and thus enhanced power in
order to do good things in the world around us, or go on defining power in
terms of our ability to exploit, dominate, marginalize and destroy others
around us?Will we learn the value of humility and lifting others up in order to lift us all up, or will we continue to promote our own self-interests above some or all others around us, thus threatening all of us?
Will we see the light… again? Ever?
On Monday, we will enter a unique darkness while living in an all-to common one.
On Monday, we will emerge from that darkness (hopefully), while most probably staying in the political, economic and spiritual darkness we have created for ourselves and others in the world around us for thirty-six years.
Or will we? Will we perhaps walk
out of it? Pastor Jamie
Sunday, August 13, 2017
What comes out of you? Matthew 15:10-28
The context is a lesson on superficial lip service verses love.
Yes, they were talking about dietary codes and what a person ingests. But what Jesus taught about was the depth of a person, verses the superficiality of verbal claims, empty pieties and outward practices that do not reflect THE DEPTH OF A PERSON.
So, Jesus continued the teaching, and then gave an example...
First, the teaching...
The human body takes in what you put in the mouth, and it passes through the other end.
It does not shape who a person is, or transform a person's character, essence or nature.
What comes out of the mouth REFLECTS what is in a person's true nature.
Likewise, who a person loves is different from what they express in that love. Sex is sex. But the real nature of a loving relationship is how people express what lies within their hearts for one another. The plumbing is superficial at best. It is the love that matters.
If one claims to be upright and "lawful", pure and holy, but hurts or destroys the lives of others in any way, they are unclean, defiled, according to Jesus. It is all about genuinely loving relationship.
Likewise, in community, it does not matter what differences lie on the outside or what is visible, but rather what the character is of the people within the community and how they share their integrity, trustworthiness, kindness, generosity (see Galatians 5:22,23) and compassion. People can practice different faiths, come from different ethnicities, love different music and food, have different tastes in clothing, art and the like but still come together to be a lively, loving community, if that is within their character as members of the community. On the other hand, folk can claim whatever they want about who they follow and what principles they live by, but if what comes out of them is judgment, intolerance, hatred and ungraciousness with anyone - ANYONE else, what they claim is a lie. Those were the folk Jesus was speaking to, and still is speaking to through the Gospels. Those who get all caught up in everyone else's purity and holiness while ignoring their own unwillingness or inability to live Agape Love have lost Jesus. Jesus' commandment is the living of Agape Love.
Now, the example...
Jesus set up His disciples. Jesus did not answer her plea until the disciples arrived. He did not address her until they urged Jesus to send this foreign woman of a different faith away, rejecting her because of who she was.
Jesus, in front of the disciples, addressed her as they would have liked at first. He said everything that was in their hearts and on their minds. She was not "one of our own." She was unclean, according to the Law of Moses, a dog. He did not mince words with her in front of them. But she was determined and knew who Jesus was. She acknowledged the prevailing bigotries of the time, which the disciples were expressing, but went to the true nature of Jesus - Agape Love and Grace. She got the Agape Love and Grace thing, while His disciples did not. In front of them, Jesus made HER an example of faith and healed her daughter. I often wonder if the disciples "got it" after that, having been set up and slammed by Jesus in front of the Canaanite woman. I often lament that WE have not learned that lesson as people who claim the name of Jesus.
People claim great faith and do not follow in words and actions the one in whom they claim to have great faith.
People claim great patriotism and then express in words and actions disloyalty to others in their own nation.
People claim great love for Democracy and then in their words and actions demonstrate a desire to destroy democracy for the sake of capitalism or fascism, or both.
People claim not to be racist, homophobic, classist, sexist, intolerant of other faiths and the like - usually right after something comes out in their words and/or actions that demonstrates their bigotry.
The superficial things, differences and claims do not matter - they are superficial.
What matters is what is in your heart and mind, and what is reflected from them out in the world around you.
If we want to be followers of Jesus, then we must follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us on how to live, as we have that in the Gospels. If we want to follow Jesus, we must go where Jesus went in the world - to the marginalized, exploited and "least of these" in Agape Love and Grace, to foreigners and people of other faiths, strangers and even enemies. If we are not living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled on how to live with those around us in the world, then we only honor Jesus with our lips and our hearts are far from Him. If we do not live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, we are just superficial stuff that passes through the world and ends up in the sewer. Yes, that is what I mean.
What comes out of you?
Pastor Jamie
Yes, they were talking about dietary codes and what a person ingests. But what Jesus taught about was the depth of a person, verses the superficiality of verbal claims, empty pieties and outward practices that do not reflect THE DEPTH OF A PERSON.
So, Jesus continued the teaching, and then gave an example...
First, the teaching...
The human body takes in what you put in the mouth, and it passes through the other end.
It does not shape who a person is, or transform a person's character, essence or nature.
What comes out of the mouth REFLECTS what is in a person's true nature.
Likewise, who a person loves is different from what they express in that love. Sex is sex. But the real nature of a loving relationship is how people express what lies within their hearts for one another. The plumbing is superficial at best. It is the love that matters.
If one claims to be upright and "lawful", pure and holy, but hurts or destroys the lives of others in any way, they are unclean, defiled, according to Jesus. It is all about genuinely loving relationship.
Likewise, in community, it does not matter what differences lie on the outside or what is visible, but rather what the character is of the people within the community and how they share their integrity, trustworthiness, kindness, generosity (see Galatians 5:22,23) and compassion. People can practice different faiths, come from different ethnicities, love different music and food, have different tastes in clothing, art and the like but still come together to be a lively, loving community, if that is within their character as members of the community. On the other hand, folk can claim whatever they want about who they follow and what principles they live by, but if what comes out of them is judgment, intolerance, hatred and ungraciousness with anyone - ANYONE else, what they claim is a lie. Those were the folk Jesus was speaking to, and still is speaking to through the Gospels. Those who get all caught up in everyone else's purity and holiness while ignoring their own unwillingness or inability to live Agape Love have lost Jesus. Jesus' commandment is the living of Agape Love.
Now, the example...
Jesus set up His disciples. Jesus did not answer her plea until the disciples arrived. He did not address her until they urged Jesus to send this foreign woman of a different faith away, rejecting her because of who she was.
Jesus, in front of the disciples, addressed her as they would have liked at first. He said everything that was in their hearts and on their minds. She was not "one of our own." She was unclean, according to the Law of Moses, a dog. He did not mince words with her in front of them. But she was determined and knew who Jesus was. She acknowledged the prevailing bigotries of the time, which the disciples were expressing, but went to the true nature of Jesus - Agape Love and Grace. She got the Agape Love and Grace thing, while His disciples did not. In front of them, Jesus made HER an example of faith and healed her daughter. I often wonder if the disciples "got it" after that, having been set up and slammed by Jesus in front of the Canaanite woman. I often lament that WE have not learned that lesson as people who claim the name of Jesus.
People claim great faith and do not follow in words and actions the one in whom they claim to have great faith.
People claim great patriotism and then express in words and actions disloyalty to others in their own nation.
People claim great love for Democracy and then in their words and actions demonstrate a desire to destroy democracy for the sake of capitalism or fascism, or both.
People claim not to be racist, homophobic, classist, sexist, intolerant of other faiths and the like - usually right after something comes out in their words and/or actions that demonstrates their bigotry.
The superficial things, differences and claims do not matter - they are superficial.
What matters is what is in your heart and mind, and what is reflected from them out in the world around you.
If we want to be followers of Jesus, then we must follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us on how to live, as we have that in the Gospels. If we want to follow Jesus, we must go where Jesus went in the world - to the marginalized, exploited and "least of these" in Agape Love and Grace, to foreigners and people of other faiths, strangers and even enemies. If we are not living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled on how to live with those around us in the world, then we only honor Jesus with our lips and our hearts are far from Him. If we do not live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, we are just superficial stuff that passes through the world and ends up in the sewer. Yes, that is what I mean.
What comes out of you?
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Facing the Storm head-on... Matthew 14:22-33
The boat has always been a symbol considered to represent the church in the Gospels. The disciples were in the boat and without the Lord, interestingly here. They were in a storm. The chaos of the world blows all around the church. They were battered and losing ground, as the wind of the storm was against them. Jesus came walking toward them. THAT made them afraid. The storms they were used to, it would seem, but the Lord transcending the effects of the storm was something different.
Peter, being Peter, was eager to please the Lord and prove himself. He made a bold move to ask the Lord to command him to do the impossible. He was willing to risk it for the sake of being with the Lord. When he started strolling on the water, in the storm, however, Peter noticed the force of the chaos around him and he stopped facing it and started submitting to it. He cried out, Jesus saved him and then chided him for not having enough faith. When Peter rejoined the other disciples in the boat, and Jesus with him, the storm ceased. THEN they called Jesus "Son of God."
I am often focused on the other disciples in this account. They did not follow Peter in his zealous attempt to face the storm that raging all around them, but stayed huddled in the boat. I can imagine them saying what they would about Peter - perhaps that he was a suck-up or had an inflated opinion of himself to think that he could do the miraculous, and perhaps one or two thought, "This could be interesting. Watch." The Gospel writer has them staying in the boat in the face of the storm.
Matthew's Gospel begs interpretation within the context of the readers and listeners to it. I will humbly offer my interpretation here, in the hopes that it may bring a faithful perspective on what this Gospel story has to say about our age.
The church has been battered for about 36 years with bad theology (yes, Reagan and Falwell).
It has also been battered by the political and economic practices put in place that batter the people of God and hold them down, back and out. The bad theology has been used to justify and normalize the practice of marginalization, discrimination and exploitation of masses of people, and the church, cowering within its organizations, protocols and cultural contexts has not faced or addressed the storm that has raged all around her, but has in fact "blown by the winds of (doctrine)" the storm in the world. Church growth was all about finding a way for the church to benefit from the new expressions of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism that was being pushed politically, and Prosperity Theology was born to allow the church to cash in on the normalized greed of the culture, even ascribing its values to God by twisting the Word to suit "itching ears". The result was that the church has not addressed the prevailing winds of culture that have threatened the people of God, but has gone with it in some cases and in others, has cowered and cloistered itself within itself so as not to face it. The effect of this has meant that the church has become irrelevant to a generation of people who have been battered by the storm and have not had disciples who are willing to step out of the boat and face it.
The Gospel of Jesus addressed political and economic injustice. It addressed the forces of evil that create chaos and force their way on the people of God. It addresses the storm of popular opinion and the waves of normalized greed, hatred, lust for power and ideologies of self-indulgence at the expense of others. The church has not always addressed these forces with the Gospel of Jesus, but has stayed in the boat, either content to ride with the storm wherever it took them, or cowering from the force of it all and afraid to address it, themselves self-absorbed in their insulated church culture, either hoping to benefit from where the storm took them or concerned only to preserve themselves and their existence. Their "me and Jesus", personal salvation-focused theology has allowed them to ignore the pain of God's children, their sisters and brothers, in self-absorbed comfort.
Peter recognized the need to face the storm. He saw Jesus doing it and knew that he belonged with Jesus and was compelled to do what Jesus did in the world. His motives may have been self-serving or out of some deep-seeded need for validation, but Peter got up out of the boat and defied the storm. He failed because Peter did not understand in that moment the power of God in the chaos of the world. Jesus did not fail. And when Peter stayed focused on Jesus, Peter was doing what he set out to do in facing the storm head-on. It was when Peter believed that the raging wind and waves were greater than His Lord and Peter's ability to face them with his Lord, that he let fear overtake him in the storm.
We, the church, to date have done the same thing. We have not faced the storm head-on. We have given the Gospel over to the false teachers and prophets who have exploited it for their own greed, power and prestige or status in society. We have not applied the Gospel to the storm of greedy practices, abuses of power and a culture that is increasingly more self-absorbed. We have not said, "No", to those who have twisted God's Word. We have given it over to them. We sat in the boat, either raking in the benefits of status and wealth that came with the prevailing winds of idolatry, or we have cowered within the church culture and have ignored them. When someone has stepped out of the boat to walk with Jesus in facing the storm, the church has rejected them, wondering who they thought they were to do something so against the prevailing winds of doctrine and waves of practice. Sometimes the church has ignored the teachers and prophets who have sought to follow Jesus, and have stayed huddled together within their practices of piety and cultural faith expression, hoping the storm would pass. In the meantime, the rest of the world struggled in the storm and the church ignored them. In the meantime, their children looked around and learned what church does from them. For 36 years that has been happening.
The storm is raging. The boat is battered by the waves and the wind is against us. Jesus is coming to us still. The Gospel still addresses the unjust and unfaithful practices of those who claim to be followers of Jesus but who do anything but follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in the world. The Gospel addresses the greed, lust for power and self-centeredness that leads our society to normalize hatred, exploitation and inequity in the world. What will we do? Will we ride the wind and waves of prevailing doctrine and ideology that are in direct conflict with Jesus, hoping to benefit from them? Will we cower in the church culture and render ourselves and the Gospel of Jesus irrelevant to the world around us and the people who struggle in the storm? Will we get out of the boat and walk with Jesus? If we do, will we believe in Jesus' way of facing the storm head-on and follow Jesus in doing so, or believe more in the power of the storm itself to prevail in the world?
The storm is clearly not subsiding, but rather getting stronger in this context of time and place.
What will we do?
What will I do?
What will you do?
Pastor Jamie
Peter, being Peter, was eager to please the Lord and prove himself. He made a bold move to ask the Lord to command him to do the impossible. He was willing to risk it for the sake of being with the Lord. When he started strolling on the water, in the storm, however, Peter noticed the force of the chaos around him and he stopped facing it and started submitting to it. He cried out, Jesus saved him and then chided him for not having enough faith. When Peter rejoined the other disciples in the boat, and Jesus with him, the storm ceased. THEN they called Jesus "Son of God."
I am often focused on the other disciples in this account. They did not follow Peter in his zealous attempt to face the storm that raging all around them, but stayed huddled in the boat. I can imagine them saying what they would about Peter - perhaps that he was a suck-up or had an inflated opinion of himself to think that he could do the miraculous, and perhaps one or two thought, "This could be interesting. Watch." The Gospel writer has them staying in the boat in the face of the storm.
Matthew's Gospel begs interpretation within the context of the readers and listeners to it. I will humbly offer my interpretation here, in the hopes that it may bring a faithful perspective on what this Gospel story has to say about our age.
The church has been battered for about 36 years with bad theology (yes, Reagan and Falwell).
It has also been battered by the political and economic practices put in place that batter the people of God and hold them down, back and out. The bad theology has been used to justify and normalize the practice of marginalization, discrimination and exploitation of masses of people, and the church, cowering within its organizations, protocols and cultural contexts has not faced or addressed the storm that has raged all around her, but has in fact "blown by the winds of (doctrine)" the storm in the world. Church growth was all about finding a way for the church to benefit from the new expressions of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism that was being pushed politically, and Prosperity Theology was born to allow the church to cash in on the normalized greed of the culture, even ascribing its values to God by twisting the Word to suit "itching ears". The result was that the church has not addressed the prevailing winds of culture that have threatened the people of God, but has gone with it in some cases and in others, has cowered and cloistered itself within itself so as not to face it. The effect of this has meant that the church has become irrelevant to a generation of people who have been battered by the storm and have not had disciples who are willing to step out of the boat and face it.
The Gospel of Jesus addressed political and economic injustice. It addressed the forces of evil that create chaos and force their way on the people of God. It addresses the storm of popular opinion and the waves of normalized greed, hatred, lust for power and ideologies of self-indulgence at the expense of others. The church has not always addressed these forces with the Gospel of Jesus, but has stayed in the boat, either content to ride with the storm wherever it took them, or cowering from the force of it all and afraid to address it, themselves self-absorbed in their insulated church culture, either hoping to benefit from where the storm took them or concerned only to preserve themselves and their existence. Their "me and Jesus", personal salvation-focused theology has allowed them to ignore the pain of God's children, their sisters and brothers, in self-absorbed comfort.
Peter recognized the need to face the storm. He saw Jesus doing it and knew that he belonged with Jesus and was compelled to do what Jesus did in the world. His motives may have been self-serving or out of some deep-seeded need for validation, but Peter got up out of the boat and defied the storm. He failed because Peter did not understand in that moment the power of God in the chaos of the world. Jesus did not fail. And when Peter stayed focused on Jesus, Peter was doing what he set out to do in facing the storm head-on. It was when Peter believed that the raging wind and waves were greater than His Lord and Peter's ability to face them with his Lord, that he let fear overtake him in the storm.
We, the church, to date have done the same thing. We have not faced the storm head-on. We have given the Gospel over to the false teachers and prophets who have exploited it for their own greed, power and prestige or status in society. We have not applied the Gospel to the storm of greedy practices, abuses of power and a culture that is increasingly more self-absorbed. We have not said, "No", to those who have twisted God's Word. We have given it over to them. We sat in the boat, either raking in the benefits of status and wealth that came with the prevailing winds of idolatry, or we have cowered within the church culture and have ignored them. When someone has stepped out of the boat to walk with Jesus in facing the storm, the church has rejected them, wondering who they thought they were to do something so against the prevailing winds of doctrine and waves of practice. Sometimes the church has ignored the teachers and prophets who have sought to follow Jesus, and have stayed huddled together within their practices of piety and cultural faith expression, hoping the storm would pass. In the meantime, the rest of the world struggled in the storm and the church ignored them. In the meantime, their children looked around and learned what church does from them. For 36 years that has been happening.
The storm is raging. The boat is battered by the waves and the wind is against us. Jesus is coming to us still. The Gospel still addresses the unjust and unfaithful practices of those who claim to be followers of Jesus but who do anything but follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in the world. The Gospel addresses the greed, lust for power and self-centeredness that leads our society to normalize hatred, exploitation and inequity in the world. What will we do? Will we ride the wind and waves of prevailing doctrine and ideology that are in direct conflict with Jesus, hoping to benefit from them? Will we cower in the church culture and render ourselves and the Gospel of Jesus irrelevant to the world around us and the people who struggle in the storm? Will we get out of the boat and walk with Jesus? If we do, will we believe in Jesus' way of facing the storm head-on and follow Jesus in doing so, or believe more in the power of the storm itself to prevail in the world?
The storm is clearly not subsiding, but rather getting stronger in this context of time and place.
What will we do?
What will I do?
What will you do?
Pastor Jamie
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