"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness (will) not overcome it."

John 1:1-18 in anticipation of Sunday, Christmas II on January 5:

The Logos was with God.  The Word was God.
God is the Word.  Jesus is the Word made Flesh.
Full of Grace and Truth.
Giving Grace upon Grace to us all.
The result is that THE LIGHT OF THIS GRACE AND TRUTH SHINES IN THE DARKNESS,
    AND THE DARKNESS DID (WILL) NOT OVERCOME IT.

While it is true that the world, those of empire in Jesus' time, did not know Him and ignored or refuted His truth, even His own people, those who claimed to love God and who should have followed Him, yet those who believed in His name (here Logos) - the Word - are children of God.

Jesus is my authority.
I believe that Jesus is the Word made Flesh, the fulfiller of Law and Prophets, Savior and Lord.
I believe that I must look at Jesus' Word as my authority in scripture.
I look at all scripture through the eyes of the Gospel of Jesus - what Jesus is witnessed in the Gospels as teaching, commanded and modeling as God's Will for us.
In this same Gospel, Jesus repeatedly OWNED the Word and commanded those who would be His disciples to abide in it, live it, heed it as how they fulfill the command to love (Agape) Him.

I believe that Jesus' Way, what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as God's Way for us, is the best way in order for humankind to sustain Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being toward peace) in life for all people.
I believe that Jesus' Way, is God's Way for us to live Kingdom Values instead of the empire values of the world that create the darkness that must be overcome.
I believe that Jesus' Way is the Way of God for us.  It is all about living the Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us (active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable - see Luke 10:25-37 and Matthew 25:31-46).

Grace and Truth expose the darkness for what it is - unsustainable as a way for all people to live.
The empire values of greed, lust for power and desire for status divide, create despair and thus destroy Shalom.
The Truth of Jesus' Way and the Grace that is shared in the living of it shed light that destroys the darkness.
It is a Truth, that when lived sustains life and Shalom in life, and the darkness does not overcome it because those who live in the Shalom of Agape Love and Grace spread its light.

This has NOTHING to do with personal salvation.
It has everything to do with sustaining life in Shalom for the most vulnerable, community and the world.  What is saved is that Shalom by the living of Kingdom values in this part of the Kingdom of God, here and now.
In that, every valley is exalted, every mountain and hill made low, the uneven is leveled and the rough places made a plain.
In that, Kingdom Values are lived and it brings about Shalom for all.

The Word has been from the beginning.  No manner of twisting or spinning, selective usage or ignorance of the Word will change it.
The question is, will we live within the Word?
Will we follow Jesus, the Logos made Flesh?
Will we live His Truth in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now?
Or will we continue to be subject to, occupied by and oppressed by the false teachings of empire that lift up the wealthy, powerful and "statused" at the expense of God's children?
Will we continue to live in its darkness?

No.  If we are people of the Word, the light of God's Truth shines in our lives.  The darkness cannot overcome that.  The darkness of greed, wealth, status and hatred cannot overcome the light of the Word, unless of course we desire to live in the darkness, rather than the light.

Pastor Jamie

The Word made Flesh, Refugees and The Flesh made Word

John 1:1-14 is too beautiful not to reference this Sunday.

Matthew 2:13-23 offers the picture of the Messiah, Son of God, born in humility, forced to be a refugee in a foreign land in order to save his life, not unlike those generations before who went into Egypt during famine in order to survive... also a time when the first born male children were killed by those threatened by their power.

Children rounded up and separated from their parents, living in caged in areas is nothing new by abusers of power who are threatened by the presence of children of God.

These children of God must be saved, by whatever means necessary - crossing rivers (in a basket) and/or crossing borders.

Survival is resistance to empire.  Empire abuses power for the sake of its own wealth and status over others.  Survival is the first step in standing up to and speaking truth to power.  Both Moses and Jesus found themselves in Egypt, struggling to survive.  Both Moses and Jesus were sent by God to speak truth to power and deliver God's children from the oppression (and occupation) of empire.  Now, those who are followers of Jesus, who know Moses, are called to do the same.

People advocated on their behalf.  They were sheltered from the injustice.

It is time for children of God to advocate for refugees (facing starvation or violence) and resist empire in doing so.  Speak truth to power.  Stand up for those who need to be sheltered from the oppressive injustice of this age.  It's time to take the side of the Kingdom of God.

You cannot follow Jesus, who was a refugee, if you ignore the refugees at our border or in our neighborhoods.  You are either on the side of Jesus or on the side of empire.  It is your choice.

The Word made Flesh calls us to be Flesh made Word in how we live the Good News of Agape Love and Grace that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in how to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  If we are unwilling to live that Good News, we are not followers of Jesus.
It really is that simple.

You either will follow Jesus, or you will not.
You will be The Flesh made Word or not.

Pastor Jamie

power and light in love

Luke 2:1-14 (in anticipation of the Christ Mass on Wednesday)

"Love came down at Christmas."
God reached into the world, into our lives and touched us, giving us hope in despair and light in the darkness of oppression, corruption and longsuffering.

It was not without scandal.
They were engaged and not married, but with child.
They were not wealthy enough to bribe an innkeeper.

But God reached into common lives.
The shepherds were the lowest roughnecks, LIVING in the fields nights with the sheep.
They were not the owners.  An angel came to them!  God's glory shown around them!
The announcement was made to them!

Thus, the Son of God, all power and majesty, was born of commoners.
The Son of God, all glory and light, was born in a barn, not a palace or temple, in the darkness.
The Son of God, all purity and holiness, was born in blood and pain and tears, and in filth.
The Son of God, all wonder and awe, was covered with strips of cloth and not a robe.

To common people.
For common people.
Not kings or religious leaders, not the elite of society or landowners.
A lowly maiden with no status or power or wealth.
A common laborer with not enough means to bribe someone to get a room.
The night shift of shepherds.
The world that had suffered despair, oppression and corruption for so long.

This new hope was Word made Flesh, indeed.
He would bring the Good News of Great Joy for ALL the people, indeed was that Good News!
And for any who would follow, it would mean life, life abundant and life forever.
Life according to a new set of rules in Agape Love and Grace that would counter the established
     corruptions of empire based on wealth, power and status.
Life lived in Kingdom of God values that lift all up, rather than tearing down the many for the
     sake of the few.
Life fulfilled as people live within the Will of God that brings Shalom to themselves and
     everyone around them in the world.

In humility, lowliness, scandal and filth, was born the Son of God who would identify with
     common humanity.
God reaches into our lives powerfully, lovingly and intimately to bring us Good News.

All Power expressed in powerlessness.
Great Worth shared in poverty.
Highest Status found in humility.

This Good News of Great Joy is born to turn things around - to show us a different, better and
    faithful way to live with God and one another - God's Way.
So that we may live in Light, in Love.

That's a God with whom I can (and do) identify!

Pastor Jamie

Matthew's Joseph was a faithful man

Matthew 1:18-25 - the lectionary text for next Sunday...

Whatever you think about the circumstance around the birth of Jesus, I believe that the message of God identifying with the lowly by incarnation is a powerful one.  To go a little further is the scandal in which this took place.

Joseph's desire to dismiss her has a nice spin on it in Matthew, that it was for HER sake, though I would note that Matthew refers to him as "husband" already in the text.  The Angel told him not to "be afraid" to take her as his wife.  It was the better Angel of God's nature that convinced Joseph to stick with this vulnerable young woman, who would not have only been vulnerable, but more scandalized and stigmatized by his dismissing her.  Joseph did the right thing.  Ignoring patriarchal pride, he even humbled himself to do the right thing.

I think that it is significant, especially for the writer of Matthew, in that time and place, to then relegate Joseph to relative obscurity and NOT make him the hero of the story.  This writer, and even more so in Luke's Gospel, kept Mary as the blessed and highly favored one of God - a poor, insignificant woman.  That went against every social norm until the writing of the Synoptic Gospels.
God lifts up the lowly, even or especially vulnerable women.

When I look at the model God has for us in this, I see a God coming to us in humility, being born in scandal and in abject poverty, being announced to the lowest, night shift shepherds and being swaddled in a barn, laid in a feeding trough.  I see a family who had to flee their own land because of political oppression, and for their own survival crossed the border into another land as refugees.  I see a father who raises this child of God in relative obscurity while the child's mother is lifted up and adored.  I can identify with this God.  God has identified with me, with you and with the most lowly among us.

Should we not be humbled by God's wonderful, loving, even scandalous intervention in our lives?
Should we not treat the most vulnerable among us with the same honor, dignity and favor?
I believe that the example of God is lost on us if we do not.
I believe that we cannot follow Jesus if we do not.
I believe that we fail to live the Agape Love Jesus commanded us to live if we do not.
Is it just a nice, quaint, wholesome story to you, a historic event to remembered, or do you see the real world, the real message and the real call and mission in it?

Pastor Jamie

The case for Ezekiel in Advent...

Matthew 4:12-23 is the text for Epiphany 3... and it is beautiful, to be sure.
I would submit that with Ezekiel 37:1-14, Matthew 4:12-23 offers a powerful Advent message for those under the occupation of Rome in the days of the Jesus of the Gospels.
Sure, Isaiah 9:2-7, the lectionary text for Nativity of our Lord, is beautiful about a people walking in the darkness of exile into a foreign, hostile land from their land, also annexed by the Assyrian Empire.

In Matthew 4, it is that the people who SAT in darkness now see the light of hope.
They were under the occupation of Rome for a long time.  They were oppressed by Rome's imperial brutality, exploitation of their economy and outright enslavement of their people, with the corruption of their own political and religious leaders.  They were barely surviving.  It seemed hopeless for a LONG time as they SAT in their despair in this darkness.
Of course, Ezekiel 37 is all about the hope of life being restored to a long dead nation of people who had been exiled from their land into Babylon and had sat in it for a long, long time, so that their bones were long dry... so, why not include Ezekiel's vision of restoration (with resurrection implications) during Advent, especially in the lectionary year of Matthew?

And perhaps the message for us is that we, or many of those among us, have been sitting in the darkness and despair of this empire.  Maybe this Advent is a time to look at the brutality of empire that still marginalizes, exploits and destroys life for many within this nation and across the world.  Maybe this Advent is a time to look at our sitting in darkness again, and need for the intervention of God with God's presence, the power of the Good News of a different and faithful way of living, and the love upon which it is founded.  Certainly there are parallels with the corrupt political leaders who have sat with corporate execs to promote their economic imperialism and its exploitation of cheap labor here and abroad, and who have used our military to occupy other nations on their behalf, to take the resources that provide cheap goods for those with means in our nation and provide great wealth for the few elites at the top of empire here, who enjoy the fruits of empire by promoting its values of greed, power and status as faithfulness to (a) god.

Perhaps for us, the Word made Flesh needs to be re-examined in light of our time and circumstance.  Perhaps we need to invoke the God who reached into this existence with Agape Love and Grace as a response and resistance to the greed, power and status of empire.  Perhaps we need to have these long dry bones of hopelessness for so many lifted up, put back together and breathed on by the breath of God to give us new life.  How many people have struggled to survive under this empire and need this Good News of Hope in God?  How many have sat under the false teachers who have promoted the evils of empire - the (imperial) church growth, prosperity theology and blessed/highly favored personal salvation theology that have kept them under the thumb of imperial occupation for so long?
How many have suffered under the corrupt political leaders, even neo-liberal ones who have promised change and have instead continued their collusion with imperial systems that have held them down, back and out from sustainable livings, justice, equitable treatment and breathable air, potable water and viable, clean land?  For how long have they been occupied by empire?  Thirty-eight years is a long time.  Their bones are quite dry.  Their hopes have been dead for quite long enough.  Perhaps the Good News of Jesus and the Agape Love and Grace of Kingdom Values have a place here and now, in giving hope to millions, even billions across the world who have suffered under the insidious evil of empire for so long.

Yes, I believe Ezekiel 37:1-14 would be a great text with Matthew 4:12-23 in the Advent season of Year 1 of the Lectionary.

Matthew 11:2-11 and Isaiah 35:1-10 are very nice for December 15, but I advocate Ezekiel and chapter 4 of Matthew for the living of these days in the light of the Good News of Jesus.

What do YOU think?

Pastor Jamie

Changing minds so direction will follow

Matthew 3:1-12 (lectionary for Advent II)

Repentance is transformational
Metanoia means a change of one's mind so that one's direction will be changed, turn around...

John the Baptist, Elijah sent to usher in Messiah, came dressed as a prophet of old, wild and untamed like the truth he brought.  He called for repentance in PREPARATION for the coming of Messiah.  He called for repentance because the Kingdom of Heaven is immanent, to make way for the Lord.

Indeed, in order to receive the Lord and the Kingdom Values Jesus would teach, command and model, there would have to be a lot of direction changing.  The Temple Cult leaders of that time and place were in collusion with Rome and were very corrupt.  They put out the appearance of piety, but took the people to a very different place than Kingdom Values.  That is why when they came to be baptized by the prophet, they were called out by the prophet.  Their heritage could not save them.  Their positions, status, wealth and power could not save them. These were things of empire and not the Kingdom.  They, above all, would have to repent.  The one who was coming was above them in every way, the real deal of God.  They were in trouble.  Their only hope was to bear fruit worthy of repentance.  In other words, they would have to undergo a complete and genuine transformation that would produce good fruit in the world around them, rather than the destructive empire evil that they had been producing while using God's name.  

The people who were duped into following them would have to repent as well, in order to receive Jesus.  Their thinking and direction were all wrong according to Kingdom Values, because they followed the corrupt religious leaders who were in collusion with empire values.  The people would have to receive Jesus with hearts ready to re-think and change direction, not just in how they thought and felt, but in how they ACTED in the world around them.  The faithfulness of Jesus was centered on Agape Love (active commitment to the other), and not selfish, self-centered conceit.  Faithfulness in Jesus would therefore have to be an expression of that same Agape Love in how one would live in the world destroyed by empire.  This was to be a movement of faithfulness to God and Kingdom Values, which meant a movement in resistance to evil and empire values.  Empty, outward signs meant to show everyone one's piety and position were not in order.  This baptism was to be of true repentance, of the transformation of one's will and thinking and direction in living.  It was the beginning of God's Kingdom Come and God's Will being done on earth as in heaven.  They weren't ready for that.  They had to repent in order to be ready for that.

Jesus is coming to you.
Are you ready to put away the false teachings that have eclipsed the teachings of Jesus in your life?
Are you ready to receive Jesus' teachings, commands and examples in how you will live your life?
Are you ready to give up devotion to personal wealth, power and status - the values of empire?
Are you ready to follow Jesus in how you live the Agape Love Jesus commanded?
Are you ready?
Take some time to change your thinking so that your direction will follow.
Read the Gospels and what the Jesus in those Gospels is witnessed as having taught, commanded and modeled for us.
Learn more about the living of Agape Love in the world as resistance to the evils of empire.

Change your thinking and direction, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!
Live like you believe that.

Pastor Jamie

Advent THIS time: Of What is this the Advent for YOU?

Matthew 24:36-44 (lectionary for Advent I on December 1):

Advent is under-rated.
The hymns are not well known or popular, at least most of them.
The culture has moved on to Christmas (some since Halloween or before).
Preparation for Christmas does not mean preparation of hearts and minds much, if it ever did.

I have always believed it to be vital.
The preparation of hearts and minds to God's coming in human form is vital, especially now.
God promised to send one to deliver us.
God promised to turn things upside down, straighten the crooked and level the playing field for the lowly.
God promised to be with us.
We need to prepare our hearts and minds for that.

I am reminded that we know not the day or hour, we are reminded that this coming to us will catch us off-guard.
It will not only not come WHEN we think (December 25th being an arbitrary date at best), but it will not come in a FORM in which we will be looking - poverty, lowliness, humility and vulnerability.
So, we must be ready.
To be ready, we must be prepared.
To be prepared, we must believe and act as though we believe.

God comes to us.
This year.
In a time we will not expect.
In a form for which we will not be looking.
God comes differently now than ever before in our lives, and it is needed more now than ever before.
And it will change our lives, transform the world in which we live.

Or, we'll buy and bake, decorate and clean, cook and gather presents for a nice party.
We'll Read the Good News, Worship, Listen to Carols or Cantatas about the event, attend reenactments and think about what this means for us,
     or we'll treat it like any other year of gatherings, parties and presents.
We can prepare for God's reaching into our lives here and now,
     or treat it like a historic event we just remember every year.
Perhaps, this year we can prepare ourselves to be the hands and feet, the will and mouth of God
     in making the rough for so many smooth, the crooked that hurts so many straight,
     the lows for so many higher...
 
Here comes Emmanuel.
Emmanuel is comin' to town.

Why?
To relate to us AS WE ARE and bring us HOPE in who God is.
To identify with us so that we can understand God's Love and Grace.
To give Good News to the most lowly and turn things upside down toward Justice.
To make for Peace in the World and bring Joy because of it.

The Word made Flesh will arrive in your life to make you the Flesh made Word in the world.

Do you believe that Jesus is Emmanuel?  Word made Flesh who dwells among us?
Are you ready to have your life changed?  The world transformed?  To be the Flesh made Word?

For something like THAT, we must prepare our hearts and minds!

Pastor Jamie

Fundamentalism destroys Shalom

We have seen the dangers of religious extremism across the world.  It has led to the subjugation of huge parts of societies, the oppression of millions and horrible violence and death.  There are more, subtle dangers present as well, especially to our souls and the soul of our nation.

The intolerance of other beliefs and social mores comes from a dark place.  It is not of the light of God, for it judges, divides and may ultimately destroy people.

Extremist views come from extreme thinking for some and from the extreme of lack of critical thinking for those who would follow them, a prerequisite for belonging to extremist cults.  Adherents are required to turn off their brains and blindly obey those who have convinced them that they are true believers, even while ignoring the sacred texts that they claim to be dear to their hearts.

When, for instance, people who claim to follow Jesus are convinced that faithfulness to God means being more pure and holy than others, they abandon the teachings of Jesus altogether to cling to ideologies born of false Christian theology.  Making all faithfulness about being more "righteous" than others leads to judging, something Jesus commanded against.  Embracing ideologies of purity and holiness as one's justification before God lead people to walk away from Jesus, rather than follow Jesus, who likened faithfulness to the living of unconditional love and active commitment for "sinners" and "the least" among us.

Ideologies born of bad Christian Theology have led to the ideas that a "righteousness" born of purity and holiness, ecstatic worship and praise and tithing necessarily bring adherents to favor with God and material blessings.  They further lead practitioners to the necessity of "saving" others to this ideology and confronting anyone not on board with it.  They lead to folk being intolerant of others who do not believe in or adhere to their extremist views.

Ideologies born of bad Christian Theology lead folk to look to the magical thinking of supernatural interventions or deliverance, rather than faithful use of the "spirit of power, love (agapeis) and self-control" (II Timothy 1:7) that God gave us in order to live healthy practices, practice good stewardship of the creation, endure struggles and pain, and build sustainable lives and communities.  The belief is that if we are (self) righteous, God will deliver us from all calamities.  The belief is also that God will absolve us from any responsibility in the destruction of our own lives, the lives of those around us and the planet.  These are patently false notions.

They may also lead to people disassociating their faith from how they live in the world, justifying their exploitation of others economically and/or abuse of power over others politically.  Worse, they may lead people to believe that their value for Democracy is at odds with their extreme religious and social views, causing them to embrace instead a theocratic fascism as political ideology.

This all begins with blind loyalty to and belief in unscrupulous, false preachers, teachers and their devotees rather than belief in the fulfiller of Law and Prophets, the giver of the Good News, and the teachings, commands and examples of the one they claim to follow.

Because of that blind devotion to them and their false theologies, they are easily manipulated by the leaders of these false strains of the faith into supporting the ideology for the gain of those who have gained status as leaders, providing them with more power and more wealth.  Among the many problems with this are the divisions caused within society and family, the breakdown of critical thinking ability and the killing of their souls and the potential death of the soul of the nation in which they live.

For some, it is a false Christianity based on purity and holiness.  For others it is American Civil Religion.  For yet others it is a religious devotion to White or Male or Anglo or Straight Supremacy, Laissez-faire Capitalism and/or Bigotry.  Blind loyalty to these destroys critical thinking, the celebration of others, the ability to love unconditionally and actively commit to others' well-being and therefore the willingness to follow Jesus in how one lives.  It leads to love for wealth, power and status for oneself above love for our sisters and brothers.  It leads to the death of community and the soul.  It destroys Shalom.

I have loved ones who break my heart regularly.  They claim to believe in and follow Jesus, but their hearts are far from what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as we have that in the Gospel witnesses, because they have been influenced by false teachers over the years and have adopted extreme religious (and political/economic) ideologies rather than follow Jesus.  Because of this, they are at odds within themselves and with God, and naturally with others around them.

I am often at odds with people around me as well.  I resist the evils of empire and strive to live the Agape Love Way that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for those who would be Disciples of Jesus in the world.  I am much more pugilistic than I ought to be in my desperate attempts to confront the lies with the truth, which in itself does not help to create Shalom.  So, I strive to find a different, better "package" for the Gospel I share, though there is none better than the words of Jesus in the Gospels, for any who would engage their minds, hearts and souls in loving God and Neighbor.

"Love (agapeiseis) the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind .  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and Prophets."  Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew (22:34-40)

It is all about the living of Agape Love - "active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable", which produces Shalom - "completeness, wholeness and well-being" for ALL in the world.  THAT is God's Will and our only Mission.

Pastor Jamie

Moses

We saw "Harriet" tonight.
It was truly amazing.
Always a hero to my wife and me, the story of this remarkable woman is inspiring today, even as it was for generations before us.
After escaping to freedom in 1849, she brought 70 people out of slavery by 1860 and led a raid with an African-American unit of the union army at Combahee Ferry to free more than 700 more in June of 1863.
She was a woman of faith.  She believed that the Lord spoke to her and led her.

I am always inspired by folk who stand up to evil, who speak truth to abusive power and who work to abolish inequities among us out of an active faith.
This little, 5' tall woman who was born a slave, towered over others around her and did so in order to bring freedom to human beings who should never have been enslaved.
It was God's justice.

No wonder they called her "Moses."
Faith over fear and faithfulness to God and Neighbor over self drove her to do remarkable things.
She will always be remembered for it.

We are in a time in which we need people of faith to stand and move in faithfulness.
We need folk to stand up to evil systems that hold the many down, back and out for the sake of the few.
We need folk to speak truth to power and demand equal justice for all.
We need folk to work to abolish inequities and the systems that promote them.
We need a movement committed to the living of Jesus' Agape Love in the world, this world, here and now.
We need reform or revolution.

Until everyone has the same opportunities in wages, employment, education, housing, healthcare, transportation, civil and human rights, we must demand that from our leaders and each other.

It took a civil war to break an economic system based on racism, and it was costly.
I pray that we will willingly adopt an economic system that demands equal opportunity for all now.

All strains of American Civil Religion, masking as "Christianity" need to be brought to their end, for they are a product of and support to the evils of empire.
We must embrace the justice, the sustainability, the peace and Shalom of the teachings of Jesus and live them, in order to be followers of Jesus.

Until we do, we are ALL subject to an oppressive, unjust, corrupt system based on hatred, greed, lust for power and desire for status.  Both oppressors and the oppressed are trapped under a system that kills souls and the soul of our nation.

People of faith, faithful to Jesus' Way, need to stand and speak, demonstrate and exemplify Jesus' Way.

For the sake of Pharaoh and the people under Pharaoh, for the sake of those trapped under an unjust system that destroys their lives and holds them down, back and out, for the sake of the soul of  our nation, we must find our path to freedom from this insidious abomination and be courageous and faithful enough to take it, and then work toward the liberation of others from their bondage to the evils of empire.

Thank you, Harriet, for your most faithful example.
You, along with Gandhi, Bonhoeffer, King, Malcolm, Romero and numerous others are my heroes for your faithfulness to the ideals that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled regarding liberation from evil oppression, particularly through the living of Agape Love.

Pastor Jamie

Get On Course and Stay on Course

Luke 21:5-19 (text for lectionary on November 17)

Looking for signs regarding the future, or any focus on the future takes us out of striving in our present.

Regarding the forecast of the Temple being destroyed by Rome in the near future, the Gospel of Luke portrays a message of Jesus regarding staying on course in the present.

As the Jesus of Luke points out, false teachers will come and manipulate believers over their fear of the future, and particularly over their fear of the end.  Books have been written, bold statements made and predictions offered by false teachers for generations.  Their intent has always been and is to lead astray, to pique fears and take control over believers for their own ends.

When disasters come, and they will, we are instructed to remain calm.
When we are persecuted for following Jesus, we are called to trust and persevere in our faith.

In other words, live in the now.
Be fully present now.
Get on course with what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as God's way for us to be faithful.
Live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled everyday in the world, regardless of what is going
    on in the world around us, particularly BECAUSE of what is going on in the world around us.
Focus on the living of Agape Love that Jesus commanded.
Focus on resisting the values of empire as you live the Kingdom values given by Jesus.

With regard to Climate Change... yes, I am going there... stay focused on the stewardship of the Creation to which we are entrusted... ending the waste, destruction and pollution of God's creation.
With regard to Elections... stay focused on voting for candidates who would most exemplify the values taught by Jesus, and getting others to see the wisdom of doing so.
With regard to Economics... stay focused on your ethical work, being good stewards of what you have and the sharing of your abundance with others around who are not so fortunate.
With regard to Wars... stay focused on teaching and demanding Agape Love and the building of Shalom in the world around you.

In order to do that, it will take great Faith in Jesus and Jesus' Way as a better way for the world, here and now.
In order to do that, it will take great Focus on Jesus and what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for how to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.

The end will come.
What we have is right now.
Right now is what matters.
How are we following Jesus in how we live our lives right now?
Let that be our focus and concern.
Regardless of what is going on in the world around you, get on course and stay on course.
If the course you have chosen is following Jesus in how you live, then you will most positively affect the things in the world around you.

Above all, live the Agape Love and Grace given by God to you, in the world around you.
It will make the right now of others in the world better, and help establish and sustain Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being) in the world around you, the world in which you live.

Pastor Jamie

Living... HERE AND NOW... get with it

Luke 20:27-38 (the November 10 lectionary text)

Resurrection... Heaven... just a few thoughts...

As a Hospice Chaplain of 12 years, I can tell you that it is true - "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but don't nobody want to die."

The church has been led to believe that this faith is all about "pie in the sky when you die" through personal salvation gained by any number of works, merit and self-righteousness.  It has done that, since the days of Jesus and after, in order to have power and control over God's children and manipulate them with false promises.

According to the Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, that is ALL WRONG.

Even the Sadducees, who don't believe in resurrection, tried to get Jesus to focus on resurrection and life in heaven.

Jesus' answer?
A description of life now, and how people need to be focused on how they are living with God HERE AND NOW.
God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.
The God who promises life after death considers them ALL alive.
So, this is about the living, HERE AND NOW.

If our goal is just resurrection and life in heaven, then our goal is ALL WRONG.
If our goal is how we live in faithfulness to God and Neighbor HERE AND NOW, then we are people of the Way of Jesus.

Karma (yes, it is Christian) demands that we do the right thing, but also for the right reasons.
We are not, according to Jesus (and Paul), supposed to believe that this life is about earning, meriting or deserving heaven.  That is WAY TOO SELF FOCUSED for the living of Agape Love and Grace.
It is about being faithful to what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as God's Will for how we live HERE AND NOW in this part of God's Kingdom.
It is about how we give of ourselves for God and Neighbor, without concern for ourselves.

Being heaven minded corrupts our hearts, our motives, our purpose and our walk with God.
It allows false teachers to manipulate us for the sake of their own power, status and wealth.
(see here Luke 20:45-47... not in the lectionary for some reason)

Agape Love and Grace in heaven are a given.
Living Agape Love and Grace in this part of God's Kingdom are our challenge, our call, our mission, and our only purpose, at least according to the Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels.
There is too much work to be done in Agape Love and Grace, for us to be focused on "rewards," when salvation is given "by Grace through Faith, apart from works."
There are too many who are considered "the least of these", for us to be worried about ourselves.
There is too much injustice for us to be concerned about our own privilege above others.
There is too much hatred and apathy for us to be only concerned about US being lifted up.
There is too much need among the most vulnerable around us for us to be worried about our own entitlements, blessings, favor and wealth.

Jesus says, in effect, "Get over the resurrection thing and do what I told you to do."
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I tell you?"  Luke 6:46

We do the right thing, according to what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as faithfulness in the living of Agape Love and Grace HERE AND NOW, as a RESPONSE to the Agape Love and Grace that God has given us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus has already taken care of redemption, salvation, resurrection and life in heaven.
Get over it.  Get with it.

Pastor Jamie

There is hope for those heaped in Empire

Luke 19:1-10 (for the lectionary on November 3)

Zacchaeus was a product of empire.
He turned his back on his own community in order to represent empire and exploit them for empire and his own, personal gain.
He gained status with Rome, wealth off the backs of his own community and power over others.
He had it good... very good.

So people of all sides grumbled when Jesus recognized Zacchaeus.
He was a sinner to those of his community.
He was a mere servant to those of empire.
He was potential to Jesus.

Zacchaeus encountered Jesus and repented.
He changed his thinking, his values and his direction.
Zacchaeus promised Jesus to give away half of his possessions, specifically for the poor, many of whom he perhaps helped create.
I can hear the snickers and see Jesus' raised eyebrow when he said, "IF I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."  IF?  That was his business.  It was the norm for tax collectors to use their power, position and status from Rome to exploit others.  I am not sure Zacchaeus knew what he was saying.  I trust he found out quickly.

Salvation.  Restoration to rightness with God.  Perhaps restoration to his community.  He found wholeness, completeness and well-being in Jesus' Way.  He found Shalom, which was something Rome had destroyed for him and all those hurt by him.

There is hope.
For the wealthy who believe they are entitled to wealth by any means and at the expense of anyone else necessary.
For the powerful who abuse their power to control others for their own gain and position.
For those of high status who flaunt their entitlement and seek more of it for their own recognition.

Repent.
Laissez-faire Capitalism is empire.
   Any economic system built on the few having much while the many struggle to survive is empire.
   Any system that reserves healthcare for the few while the many die is empire.
   Any system that exercises two justice systems, one for the white and wealthy and the other for the
      poor and minority, is empire.
   Any system that exploits its own people and people around the world is empire.
   Any system that lavishes good education on the few and de-funds education for the rest is empire.
   Any system that rewards the elites with wealth and works the rest to death for subsistence level
      income is empire.
The Military Industrial Complex is empire.  The occupation of other nations and presence of
      destructive armaments across the world is empire.  The exorbitant spending on military power
      at the expense of people's needs is empire.  Corporate Imperialism is empire, as companies move
      into lands to exploit the workers, waste their resources and destroy their environments.
Government that only represents the powerful and wealthy is empire.
Giving credibility to the famous for just being famous is empire, or to athletes over scholars, or to
      billionaires over servants of humanity.
The pilfering of natural resources, polluting the environment and use of toxic substances for our
      convenience that is killing people for the profit of a few, is empire.
The denial of equal rights, equitable treatment and equal justice for all is empire.

There is hope.
Resist.  Do not participate in empire's normative values.  Promote Kingdom values instead.
Repent.  Re-think.  Re-direct.
If Zacchaeus, who gained much from his life under empire could do it, so can you.
Salvation came to him because of it.
There is hope.

Be restored to a faithful relationship with God and Neighbor.
Be restored to community and work toward the good of all, instead of the isolation of personal gain.
Be renewed in a hope for a different way, a better way, a sustainable way - Jesus' Way of Agape
    Love and Grace.

Encounter Jesus - Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace.  Be transformed because of it.
Perhaps salvation will come to your house.

Pastor Jamie

Reform-ation

When the Roman Empire made Christianity the Empire's Religion, it institutionalized the faith and made it an apologist for the Roman Empire.  The movement of the followers of Jesus' Way all but died because of it, as the movement of servants of Jesus became institution to be served.  Christianity was born in opposition to empire.  Kingdom values do not include wealth, power and status, but are born of Agape Love and Grace, Humility and Community.

When the Roman Catholic church as "Holy Roman Empire" was at its height, Luther among others challenged the empire values manifested in the sale of indulgences for personal salvation, the veneration of relics as an expression of faith, the buying of bishoprics and the church itself as the authority to be revered, rather than Christ Jesus and Jesus' Good News as the center of the movement and the living of Agape Love and Grace as its doctrine.

Since 1981, the church has fallen back into the corruptions of false leaders who have captivated believers with false theologies around personal salvation through praise and tithes, prosperity and church growth as the only mission of the church.  It has ignored Jesus' mandates as we have them in the Gospels and living of Kingdom values.  It has adopted empire values around wealth, power and status yet again.

Where are the Reformers?
Where are the Prophets who are teaching Jesus' Way of resistance to empire?
Where are the true teachers of Jesus' Way of being children of God?

Not in the media.
Not visibly in the world.
Not visibly in THE Church universal.

The ones who have spoken have been silenced.
The ones who do stand in the light of the Gospel of Jesus are in isolated conclaves.
The ones who do resist empire are rejected in our laissez-faire, Capitalistic society.
The ones who speak truth to power are fired or discredited as being "too radical."

Where are you?

genuine hubris

Luke 18:9-14 (for the lectionary on October 27)

So much of the Gospel messages of Jesus - the Good News for God's children - is how NOT to participate in empire, how to resist empire's values, norms and ideologies.  Empire divides, disenfranchises, marginalizes and destroys the lives of many for the sake of the very few.  God's Kingdom values lift up everyone, equally and unites people in Shalom community.  The Good News for children of God is that they can RESIST participation and thus hasten the end of empire systems that are not sustainable for the good of all.

Here, a Pharisee, one of the Temple Cult Leaders who benefitted from collusion with Rome, came to value hubris over humility because empire values status.  Being all about appearances in his position, he had to go to the Temple to give lip service to God and had to appear to be "righteous".  Always seeking to be seen as "better than" someone else, this promoter of empire values gave thanks for being "superior" to a tax collector who was hated by the masses for representing Rome and empire through dishonest practices in collecting taxes.  The Pharisee touted his legalistic and pietistic practices and contrasted himself with others less "righteous" in attempt to make himself appear to be superior.  His status depended on it.

Re-defining morality and "righteousness" is necessary for people who give lip service to God but give their true devotion to empire.  Purity and holiness, strict pietistic practices and spectacular displays of faith practice are offered in the place of true devotion to God.  Pointing out the sins of others, particularly sexual sins, in order to obscure one's own greed, lust for power and desire for personal status help toward the justification of unconscionable practices that hurt others and help establish immorality as the new norm of acceptable behavior.  It was quite effective then, and is quite effective now.  Prosperity preachers, church growth leaders and personal salvation purveyors have re-defined faithfulness so as to benefit from the perks of empire in the last thirty-eight years or more.  Shaming folk over purity and holiness, and lifting up the values of worship and praise with tithes over building community in justice has effectively re-defined "Christianity" in America.

On the other hand, Jesus lifted up the tax collector who stood in the margins and humbly acknowledged his sin of collusion with Rome and empire.  The tax collector recognized the damage of it and asked for mercy.  Jesus recognized him as the faithful one, the justified one.  In this genuine expression of repentance regarding empire, the tax collector rejected the value of personal status, gave up his abusive power over others and certainly gave up ill-gotten wealth gained at their expense.  This Jesus lifted up as faithfulness.  It would restore the tax collector to equal standing in the community and thus restore the tax collector to a genuine, loving relationship with God.

Those who embrace the empire values of more wealth, more power and more status than others, thus exalting themselves over others, shall be humbled, says Jesus.  Hubris is an empire value.  Humility is a Kingdom one.  Those who reject empire values for humble and equal, loving relationship with others in community shall be exalted in the Kingdom of God, because it builds Shalom for all.

Pastor Jamie

the injustice system

Luke 18:1-8 (lectionary text for Oct. 20)

Along with a lesson to persistently pester God for what one needs, I believe there is a lesson here about faith and how to approach a judge - both just and unjust.

The judge had no fear of God and no respect for people.  There were many judges like that in the time of empire, for how they judged worked to promote empire and themselves, rather than working to make justice thrive in the lives of those under empire.  People understood this story well, for there were many judges who feared only a loss of wealth, power or status for themselves and who had no love or respect for anyone else and ignored God.  I believe we live in such an age now, under empire.

What one can do in the face of such an unjust judge, is to demand justice - persistently, consistently, constantly, publicly - to pester the judge in public and expose the works of injustice, call it what it is and thus demand justice.  Like a widow, you may feel powerless over an unjust system.  You are not. Exposing, shaming and demanding that justice be restored are powerful actions, especially when sisters and brothers come together to face the unjust powers.  Do the right thing for the right reasons - that ALL may have justice and thus have Shalom.

Rest assured, God is the God of justice.  Cry out to God persistently.  Pester God when suffering because of injustice.  Lift it up.  Actively address the judge(s) publicly and ask God for help in the face of injustice.  Invoke God's name on those who would like to forget what God (in Jesus) has commanded, taught and modeled for us.

And remember, when the Son of Man comes back, He will judge the living and the dead.  The Son will judge and the judgment given will be just.  There will be justice and with it there will be accountability.  And will the Son of Man find people of faith who have been active in the pursuit of justice under unjust systems, faithful to the resistance that Jesus modeled and taught?

Do not suffer injustice silently.  Actively address the injustice, publicly.
Do not give up, but persistently and publicly expose the injustice.
Lift it up to the judge of all the living and dead, the judge of all things, who is just.

Empire is unjust.
If we are to be a just people, we must be people of the Kingdom of God and its values.
Resist the ways of empire and even the benefits you may receive from them, for the sake if justice and peace - Shalom.
Demand justice, publicly.  And not just for yourself - stand with others who are suffering injustice -
loudly, proudly and regularly... it is the ONLY way to challenge the injustices of empire.
And Pray to the God of justice and peace, who provides Shalom, and who will listen and walk with you in that resistance. 

Pastor Jamie

genuine gratitude in Agape

Luke 17:11-19 (text for October 13 lectionary)

The Samaritan, whose visit to a priest would make no sense, realized he was healed and went back to thank the one who thanked him.  It did not matter that they were of a different faith, that they were rivals/enemies because of their history of faith practice and heritage or that this Rabbi had commanded him to go to see the priest so that he could be restored to life within his community.  He first had to express his gratitude.

He would be considered the lowest of the low.  He was not only a Samaritan, but a leper, which meant, in the wrong thinking of the time, that he was cursed by God.  He could not be around other people, out of fear that his "unrighteousness" might rub off on them, or worse, their "righteousness" might be tainted by contact with him.  He had to announce his presence as a warning to anyone who might come close, even to Jesus.

None of that mattered to Jesus.  He healed the man like the other nine, Israelite lepers.  He had a need and Jesus, consistent with His command to live Agape Love, actively committed on his behalf to restore him to Shalom.

The other nine Israelites, who practiced the established, majority faith, took the gift and went to get their restoration to their lives from the priest.  They followed instructions.  The Samaritan, who had no natural or chosen connection to Jesus, other than their common humanity, was healed by Jesus and went back to give thanks out of gratitude.  THIS ONE Jesus made an example of faith.  He paused to give thanks to God for the healing and restoration of his life. Jesus noticed that this one acted out of genuine gratitude and that the other nine did not.

Genuine relationship with God requires genuine gratitude.  Following the law has its place, certainly, but what we have is a relationship with God built on Agape Love and Grace.  It is not a mechanism.  It is not a formula.  It is not a piety.  It is not a series of canonical actions.  It is a relationship based on Agape Love.  The Samaritan Leper disobeyed Jesus, but also did not disobey.  The Samaritan Leper alone recognized Jesus as his Great High Priest, showed himself to the priest, expressed His praise and thanks and was restored to Shalom.  What he gained was not only healing from his leprosy, but Shalom in life because of his connection with Jesus, all because he expressed his Agape for Jesus in doing the right thing out of genuine gratitude in genuine relationship.

Note that the other nine lepers did not lose their gift of healing or restoration to their communities according to the Law of Moses.  It was not taken away.  Agape is unconditional.  What they lost was a connection with the fulfiller of Law and Prophets, a genuine relationship and not just the gift of a benefactor.  They missed the Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being) that they could have had in genuine relationship with Jesus in Agape Love and Grace.

The Samaritan Leper, deemed stranger and enemy, even unrighteous among those who practiced the established, majority faith, found a connection with God through the living of Agape Love with Jesus.  In the next verses (20-21: for some reason not included in this lectionary text), we find that the Kingdom is within/among us.  It is in the living of genuine Agape Love that we are in participation with the Kingdom of God, here and now.  Not found in tangible things that can be observed (like the Law), or diminished to be a thing of Law or practice of piety, it is in the living of Agape Love within and among us as commanded by Jesus that we find the Kingdom of God.  It is in genuine relationship built on the living of Agape Love and Grace with one another that we encounter God and find Shalom.

Acknowledging the Agape Love and Grace of God in our lives calls for a genuine response of gratitude in the same Agape Love, with God and with one another.  It is in this relationship based on Agape and Grace that we truly find Shalom.

Pastor Jamie

The easy way out

Luke 17:5-10 (the text for next Sunday, October 6)

Jesus never said that it would be easy to follow Him - to live what He commanded.
It takes great faith to believe that Jesus' Way is a better way for us and the world than is empire.
It takes great faith to believe that God will provide enough, and that humanity will not again live by greed, lust for power and status.
It takes a great deal of faith to believe that we CAN love one another with Agape Love, and because of it:
    make sure that ALL have enough of what they need in order to live a life of well-being,
    consider that equally shared power is a better, sustainable way than a few abusing power, and
    live in humility and find the equal value in ALL people around us.
Empire divides and destroys the lives of some for the sake of the abundance of the few.
The Kingdom lifts all up and provides sustainable community values toward the Shalom of ALL.

It takes great faith to believe in that way of living and it takes great courage to work toward it.

His disciples wanted the easy way out.
They wanted their faith to be increased by Jesus and not through their own striving.
They had been given faith as a gift from God, but according to Jesus had not exercised it so that it would grow and allow them to do incredible things.

Jesus taught them a strong lesson about their role and about humility in it.

We are not servants so that we can call down supernatural interventions that enhance our own lives.
We are not servants so that we can give imperatives to the one we call "Lord" of our lives.
We are not servants so that we can imagine that we are, ourselves Lords.

As a friend of mine used to say to his adolescent son when he thought he should make decisions for himself, apart from his parents: "That is a decision for management, and you are not management."

Empire would make me believe that it is all about me and that I am to be lifted up with more wealth, power and status than others around me.
The Kingdom of God and Jesus teach me humility in service.  I do not command the Lord to increase my faith.  I do not ask the Lord to supernaturally intervene on my behalf, rather than make me learn the lessons of faith that come from exercising my faith in the world.
I serve.
I approach this Lord of my life, who has at great cost given me redemption and salvation out of Agape, and humbly ask how I may serve.  It is a response to that gift of the Cross.  It is out of gratitude for Grace and the Love of God, and it is an acknowledgement of who God is and who I am, who God ain't and who I ain't.

I may not like the service God has relegated to me.
It may be hard and require struggle and challenge and even pain.
It may not look like some ministry that rewards me personally, gives me more wealth or power or status.
It may not be that which makes me feel good all the time.
It is my service to God.  It is that to which God has called me and for which God has prepared me.

I know who and what I am.
I know who God is.
"I know what I deserve.  Don't give me what I deserve, please. Give me Grace, baby.  I need Grace!" (Tony Campolo)

God lifts me up so that I may lift others up.
That is putting Agape Love out in the world around us.
Being God's little "special ones" separates, divides and destroys lives, ultimately.
It may make it easier for the few, but always makes it harder then for the many.

I don't want the easy way.  I want the faithful way.
Following Jesus in the living of Agape Love toward the Shalom of all is not easy.
It is faithful.

Pastor Jamie

Ignorance

I remember hearing a story from Jim Wallis of Sojourners, that the subway that brought congressional leaders to the Capitol building dropped them where they would have to literally step over homeless folk to get to work.  I do not believe that they ignored the homeless.  I am quite certain that they had them removed in time.

The unnamed rich man had it good.  He had benefitted from the system of empire that rewarded the ruthless and unscrupulous.  He was living the life.

Lazarus, the poor man, had nothing.  It had all been stripped away by the ruthless and unscrupulous for themselves.  But Lazarus did have a name.  It is derived from the Hebrew name, Eleazar - God has helped.  And His NAME was in the book of life.

So, as is the case for all of us, regardless of our economic standing, they both died.  Lazarus was carried by the Angels to be with Abraham.  The unnamed rich man died and went to be tormented in Hades.  Here, the rich man knew his place with Abraham, because status is huge in empire and Abraham had a great deal of it.  What he did not know, is that in heaven, there is no status.  That was his hell.  He tried to use his entitlement even to get Lazarus to be subservient to him for his own comfort and benefit.  Abraham had to educate him on his lack of status now - a gut punch to have to look around and see where he really was, who he really was, what he really was.  To his credit, the rich man had concern for his entitled brothers who had also given their souls to empire.  But he still did not get that his status and entitlement in empire got him NOTHING in the Kingdom.  He wanted them to be warned that the prophets who they ignored were right, along with the expectation in the law that children of God take care of one another, and especially the most vulnerable.  Abraham pointed out that they had been given the Good News of God in the Law and Prophets, a good news for the most vulnerable among us, that God takes sides.

Alright kids, what do we learn from the story?

We have the Good News of Jesus, which fulfills the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:34-40).
It commands us to live Kingdom of God, rather than empire values.
It commands us to actively commit on behalf of the stranger, even enemy and especially the most vulnerable (Luke 10:25-37).
It commands us to be satisfied with enough and to share from any abundance we may have.
It commands us to advocate on behalf of those who are most vulnerable.
It lifts up humility and not hubris, community and not individual status.
It lifts up generosity and not greed, enough for all and not an obscene abundance for a few while others go without what they need and struggle to survive.
It lifts up sharing power in mutual respect, and not gaining more in order to victimize others.
It bases our salvation on how we treat the most vulnerable (Matthew 25:31-46).
There is a heaven.
There is a hell.
Individuals, corporations, ideological groups and nations are ALL subject to them, in the end.
And, ignorance is NOT bliss in the Kingdom.

And the big lesson...

Ultimately, your well-being is tied to the well-being of all others around you.
Abuse, exploit or ignore them at your own peril.

Pastor Jamie

shrewd as a snake... unmixed as a dove

Jesus taught, using the parable of the Dishonest Steward (Luke 16:1-13), that we must learn the lessons of the faithless because they are shrewd.
The punchline, however, is about being faithful with dishonest wealth so that God will entrust us with true riches.

The dishonest steward collected debts owed the rich man.  He cut the bill to 50% for one and to 80% for another.  It did two things.  It settled accounts that were unsettled, thereby getting his boss some of what was owed instead of nothing, and it put the steward and the boss in good with those whose debts he discounted.  From a worldly viewpoint, it might not have been a great move economically, but it did bring an outcome in some ways favorable for the debtors, boss and steward.

Favorable outcomes are measured according to our values.  If profit is ALL we value, then only getting ALL of it would be favorable for the boss, the only one who counts in the scenario.  Only the boss wins in that case, as Capitalists would have it.

If the well-being of humanity is valued, then this was a great outcome.  Debtors, struggling under Roman occupation to survive, let alone thrive, would benefit greatly from this relief and would more highly value the steward and his boss.  The boss, knowing that some is better than none and also knowing the value of human relationships (and not just with money), would see the value in a gesture that could build a relationship which might benefit him in the future and see the value to his soul of forgiving a portion of the debt toward the well being of the debtor.  The steward was shrewd, in worldly terms, but perhaps in spiritual values as well.

Not allowing us to get on the praise train too quickly over the steward, Jesus in Luke then talks about being faithful or being dishonest, and de-values dishonest wealth while lifting up true riches.

We cannot serve God and wealth.  We cannot value our own profit over the well-being of God's children and be followers of Jesus.  God commands Agape Love toward the Shalom of others around us, loving neighbor as self.  The rich man in Jesus' (Luke's) parable found some wisdom in valuing forgiveness, and did not only see the value of monetary profit.  The debtors certainly experienced gratitude for the forgiven debts.  The steward knew the value of relationships, even perhaps facilitating the economic well-being of debtors and future relationships based on (even limited) grace.

"The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."  I Timothy 6:10  (philarguria - love of money, is the opposite of philanthropia - love for humanity)
Why?  Because we are supposed to actively commit our lives to the well-being of our neighbor, according to Jesus.  Love does not belong to money, but rather to God and to God's children - all of them.

So, the punchline is to be faithful over money and everything else, more highly valuing God and neighbor than mere money.

The stark reminder follows, that we cannot give lip service to God while loving money, or try to straddle the Kingdom and the world in our values.  We cannot serve both with our hearts or minds or lives.  We must choose either Kingdom values or worldly ones.  We are called to love ENOUGH FOR ALL over an abundance of personal wealth.  We are commanded to give our love to God and Neighbor and NOT to money.

Pastor Jamie

The Valued and the Lost

What or who do we value?
The Pharisees and Scribes did not value the tax collectors and sinners who came to listen to Jesus.
They did not value Jesus, either.

Those who judge others do not value them.  They de-value them.
God values all of us.

The examples were especially contextual, as occupied peoples under empire had very little.  Everything was taken by the oppressors, who took what they had to fuel the power machine that fed the wealth machine of the elites who were in control.  One coin out of ten meant survival for the oppressed.  One sheep out of a hundred meant feeding one's family or not.  Tax collectors were especially hated, because they lined their own pockets through the over-charging of others on their taxes.  That meant survival for them, or using the corrupt system to benefit themselves at the expense of others - an empire value.  "Sinners" were targets of a people who had everything stripped away from them, including their self-worth, so the low hanging fruit for the judging of others in the spirit of "at least I'm not like them," were those who survived through practices that according to some social mores were clearly "wrong."  Empire establishes horrendous and insidious hierarchies in society, dividing and eventually destroying community through them.

The Kingdom of God values everyone having enough, and thus living in Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being).

The irony, of course, is that the Pharisees and Scribes were the WRONG ones, the SINFUL ones here, for judging and promoting the unfaithful, destructive hierarchies.  These highly "religious" folk, who had the status and position of appearing to be upright and godly, above moral reproach and the epitome of proper society, had bought into the empire values of Rome and lived them.  They were a part of the problem.  Yes, God even values these sinners.  They should be thankful that Jesus welcomed and ate with sinners - LIKE THEM.

God does not like losing those who God values.
God goes after the one in a hundred, the one out of ten, because God values them.
There is great celebration in heaven when the lost are found.
There would be great celebration in heaven for the one lost Pharisee or Scribe that was found and restored to relationship with God, as well as the tax collectors and "other" sinners.

I wonder how much celebrating is going on in heaven now.
I wonder.

Pastor Jamie

me and Jesus

Empire would have us believe that it is all about number one - that having more wealth, power and status for oneself is what life with Jesus is all about.

The teachings, commands and examples of Jesus show us that Agape Love, which Jesus commanded, requires us to be about the well-being of community, of those around us in the world.
Healings were about restoring people to Shalom, a big part of which was being restored to acceptance in community.
Teachings on Kingdom values regarding having enough material sustenance, sharing power equally and having dignified, mutual respect with one another are about being whole within community.

Empire devotees, many of whom claim Jesus as Personal Savior, would have us believe that though we use Jesus' name and claim Jesus, still we can and should value wealth, power and status for ourselves.
These are the folk who, since 1981 joined together to reshape American Christianity.  Prosperity Theology, Church Growth and Purpose Theology are what they have spawned out of their devotion to empire while claiming love for Jesus.
They have exploited the faith for their own gain and have duped millions into believing that it is faithfulness to God in Jesus.
They have represented empire and have victimized millions because of their greed, lust for power and desire for status.  They have sided with those who have taken what others have for themselves, abused their power over others and have gained notoriety and status for doing so.
They call themselves "Christians", but they are not followers of Jesus - the Jesus of the Gospels.

The Good News of Jesus is not about personal salvation alone.
It is certainly not about personal wealth or power or status, at least it is not about promoting them.
It is about every individual and thus the whole community, having enough material sustenance, shared power and mutual respect and equal standing in society for all to have Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being) in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.
It is about the living of Agape (committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable), as commanded by Jesus.

Jesus' Good News is not about personal salvation.  It is not about trying to get "saved" by "saving" others and thus objectifying them for one's own gain.
It is not about offering worship, praise and tithes as a cosmic priming of the personal ATM God, who will give one a comfortable, profitable life, especially because a person worships at a huge church cult and follows a certain personality who leads it, and submits to him or her.
It is not about living a false piety based on one's own false purity or holiness, thus believing one is "better than" others and deserves to be more blessed and highly favored, or is thus justified in judging others in order to elevate one's own status within false "Christian" communities.
It is not about using one's status to abuse any power it provides by hating, discriminating against, marginalizing, disenfranchising and dehumanizing others who do not share one's own race, ethnicity, faith, economic class, sexuality, gender or nationality.
Those are the things that the Temple Cult leaders, King and Romans did in Jesus' time - the things that Jesus rebuked, as we have Jesus' teachings, commands and examples in the Gospels.
It is not all about some direct communication about one's individual life purpose, designed to lift privileged persons above other persons in wealth, power and/or status.
In other words, "It is about you sweetheart, just not ALL about you."

Jesus' teachings, commands and examples, as we have them in the Gospels, lead us to offer active commitment on behalf of others, even strangers and enemies, and especially the most vulnerable.
They lead us to accept others, receive them and join with them to make sure that all have enough material sustenance, shared power and mutual respect.
They lead us to work toward the well-being, completeness and wholeness of all around us as servants.
They lead us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus in the living of Agape.
They lead us to shalom for all, equally in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.
Those are the Kingdom values that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, and they are to be lived here and now among those who claim to be followers of God in Jesus.

Empire teaches us otherwise, and plenty of false teachers teach us that we can give lip service to Jesus and our devotion to empire and its values.
They teach us that Jesus was about our own prosperity, the church's own numerical and financial growth and status, and about our own, special purpose that lifts us up above others in privilege.

When I follow Jesus, I cannot value greed, power over others or status above others.
In fact, doing so puts me at odds with Jesus and my Neighbor.  It destroys community and the well-being of many in it.  That is not God's will as we have it in Jesus' teachings in the Gospels.
I cannot serve two masters.  I will either follow Kingdom values as I have them in Jesus, based on Agape Love and Grace, or I will devote myself to myself in the empire values of Greed, lust for Power and desire for Status.
I cannot value empire AND follow Jesus.  If I choose empire, I walk away from Jesus, very sad.
I do not want to gain the world, especially at the price of my soul and my neighbor's well-being.

It is not all about me and Jesus.
It is all about Jesus and us, together.
I am not following Jesus if I am not Agape loving (actively committed toward the well-being) of my Neighbor, even stranger, enemy and especially the most vulnerable.
I will strive, out of Agape, toward the Shalom of all those in the world around me, and thus find my own Shalom, not in order to be saved, but because I know the Grace of God that HAS SAVED ME.
I have been given much more than I have ever deserved, and for that I am thankful.  If God provides not one more thing for me but the Grace with which I am covered and the Agape within which I live, I will be satisfied.
Following Jesus is my response in faith to Jesus and Jesus' Way of Agape for the world.
How I live with Neighbor is my response of love for God in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.
Loving neighbor as I love myself is my way of following Jesus and loving God.

Pastor Jamie

humility as Jesus' Way

Luke 14:1, 7-14... Lectionary for September 1.

Leaders of the Pharisees in Jesus' time were at the height of power and status, and working on their wealth by whatever means possible.
Jesus was invited to eat at this one's home, which was an intimate sharing, but he was being watched at this large gathering of folk vying for status according to Empire values.

Jesus was not buying it.
As often is the case, the Jesus of Luke took the opportunity to teach Kingdom of God values in the face of what was being lived in empire.

Every person has enough status.  If you have a healthy concept of and love for self, you have enough esteem for self to feel comfortable among other people.  You have enough power to feel secure.  You have enough self-respect to feel equal to others.  You do not need to be elevated "above" others in order to feel good about yourself.  If you do need that, then you are compensating for a lack of self love, self-esteem, power and/or self-respect.

Empire tears down.  It sets up falsehoods in community in order to destroy it.  It starts with the belief that people who "would be someone" should have more wealth, power and status than others.  It divides and destroys healthy community by separating out and pitting against.  The natural result is that those who are most neurotically in need of elevating themselves become the most ruthless in community and elevate themselves by whatever means necessary.  They set up a scenario in which some get much more than they need and others go without, in which some believe they are superior because they are desperate to believe that, and in which some ruthlessly control others around them in order to hold onto the delusion that it is best for some to have and leave others without what they need.  They set up a religious community which mirrors empire, considering some to be more blessed and highly favored than others and ignoring the immorality of greed, lust for power and desire for status, ultimately making those within it to focus on personal gain, rather than community of faith well-being as God's Will.

The Kingdom builds up, not just individuals but also community.  It comes from a belief that each has shalom when ALL have shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being).  It is all about sharing the wealth, having a collective power that elevates all equally and lifting up healthy selves so that there need not be any status "above" others, because each feels secure so all can feel secure.  It is based on all, equally having ENOUGH of what they need and not everything they want.  It rejects the values of greed, lust for power and desire for status upon which empire is built.  It is built, not on neurotic personal deficit, but healthy self and community awareness.  It is built on agape (active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable).  It lifts up, brings up, helps up and builds up the whole community and not just some.  It unites instead of dividing.  It is sustainable and not destructive.  This is Jesus' Way.  Throughout the Gospels, this is Jesus' Way.

So, Jesus went into the midst of those who promote, promulgate and profit from empire, and taught them a different perspective.  It must start with individuals understanding that humility is a better than hubris.  It must start with individuals deciding to elevate those around them by humbling themselves, and in so doing, finding their safety and security in being a part of community in love.  It must start by recognizing that Kingdom values are healthy, uplifting and sustainable for living in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now, and making the choice to adopt, heed and live them in the world around you.

Want to be a follower of Jesus?
Follow Jesus.

Pastor Jamie

The Prophet of God

Jeremiah will be in the lectionary in coming weeks.

There are true prophets who speak the will of God, and false prophets who speak the will of those who do not care about the will of God.  They all claim to be true prophets of God.

We live in an age between Jeremiah (with gathering forces who threaten us) and Amos (a time of military strength and economic prosperity).  In both those times, God raised prophets who would speak the will of God - the truth - to a people who did not want to hear it.

Jeremiah loved the nation, but was given a word of Exile, that his nation would fall because of its unfaithfulness to God.  Hananiah, the false prophet, went to great lengths to proclaim that God's favor and blessings would be given.  Jeremiah went to very dramatic lengths to show that they nation would fall to the gathering forces and that the people would be exiled, but there would be hope in the future if they returned to faithfulness.

Amos faced a nation that relied on its present military might and economic growth.  The nation was corrupt and hurt many within the nation and outside of it with their unjust dealings and false, patriotic beliefs and pieties.  Amos did not mince words or hold back in any way, but condemned the nation for its immorality and injustice due to greed, lust for power and false status.

It's more comforting to believe the false prophets of prosperity, growth, blessings and favor.
It's easier to believe the lies than face the truth.
But the truth will come.

True prophets share the harsh word.
In our day and age, they are spun in the media as being unpatriotic (as if their love for God is or should be synonymous with love for country), they are taken off the air, silenced, criticized by believers and non-believers, discredited, de-valued, vilified, de-humanized and disregarded.
It does not make their message any less timely or true.

False prophets and teachers twist the Word to suit their own interests and gain.
True prophets weigh the social, political, economic and spiritual climate against God's Word.
Jesus warned against the following of false teachers and prophets.
The Temple Cult leaders of Jesus' time and place were corrupt for personal gain in wealth, power
    and status, having succumbed to the values of empire, so Jesus confronted them as a true Prophet.

The true prophets of our age, Wright, West and others, are misrepresented, silenced and/or disregarded.  It does not mean that their messages are not true and the will of God.

In this time of relative ease, military strength and prosperity, do you not see how we have been corrupted by our love for wealth, power and status?  Do you not see how we have treated our own people and others around us shamefully for our own gain?  Do you not see the political, economic, social and spiritual forces growing that would destroy us?

Or are you listening to the Hananiah's among us?  Are you believing the false messages of God's unending favor and blessings because you give praise, tithe and worship with prayer?

When people are/a nation is filled with Greed, lust for Power and desire for Status, hatefulness and ignorance, they are not being faithful to God. Period.  Such a nation will implode or be conquered, as we have seen in history.  Call it a natural consequence or act of God, it happens.  It is happening to us because of us, now.

Our hope, as is always the hope, is REPENTANCE (metanoia - changing our thinking so that our direction changes).  We must turn around and go in a direction faithful to God.  Of course, those who most benefit from empire and the living of its values, will not allow that.  Of course, the false prophets will tell you everything with empire values is just fine.  If we do not come together to supplant the leaders and their false prophets, the nation will fall.  It is that clear.  It is that simple.  It is that true.  Again.  Still.

Pastor Jamie

division...

Luke 12:49-56     lectionary text for August 18

Jesus brought a baptism of immersion into God's Kingdom values of living Agape Love.
It demands that we live not only for ourselves but for others, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable among us.
It requires dedication to God and neighbor.  It requires humility and a heart of the other, compassion and empathy.  It requires that we be grateful for having enough and that we give from our abundance for others to have enough.  It requires that we share power with others so that all may have what they need.  It requires that we not only look to our own desires, needs and well-being, but that we must look to the well-being of all around us.

Aye, there's the rub.

We live within empire that requires dedication to wealth, power and status.
It requires that we put ourselves over everyone else around us.
It requires that we get all we can for ourselves and our own.
It requires that we gain and exercise more power to pull ourselves over others and take all we can, even at their expense.
It requires that we seek to promote ourselves as being better than, more entitled than and more elite than others around us.

Thus we have the division.

The Gospel of Jesus produces division in this environment, because even those who confess a faith in Jesus have done so while embracing Empire values.  Their prosperity theology, church growth initiatives and intolerance of others while seeking notoriety are all indications of where their hearts lie and what they truly treasure.
It puts many who claim the name of Jesus at odds with Jesus and His Good News of Agape Love -
active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable, toward their well-being, completeness and wholeness (Shalom).
It has divided the church.
It has divided the nation.
It has divided families and friends.

Those who would claim Jesus as Savior must follow Jesus as Lord of their lives.
One cannot serve two masters (God and Mammon).
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Jesus calls you to deny yourself, take up the Cross and follow Jesus.

Forget pie in the sky when you die.  This is about here and now.
Jesus takes sides.  So must we.  Live Jesus' Way of Agape Love or live empire values.
    There is no middle path here, at least none that is faithful to God.

There are those who follow Jesus and Jesus' Way of Agape Love and those who follow empire.  Period.
Which way do you go?

And,
You who are always looking for signs - of God's presence, of God's favor, of God's blessings -
     signs of others' sins being punished, condemnation on those who are not like you -
     signs of the vision of the end that you have concocted in order to manipulate with fear -

You are MISSING the SIGNS,
    of what it means to suffer the consequences of following Empire ways and living its values,
    rather than living Agape love for God and Neighbor as commanded by God.

You are looking for supernatural interventions to save you, benefit you and promote you in the future,
    but are MISSING the SIGNS that you are walking away from God in how you live NOW.

Jesus' Way is the way of love for all, respect for all, equality for all, value for all, power for all,
   enough for all -  Shalom (well-being, completeness, wholeness) for ALL.
If that is not your way, see the signs that you are giving your devotion to empire, which is NOT God's
    Way.

With all this division and signs of a harsh future, in what is your hope?
Repentance - change your mind in order to turn to a different direction in your life.  Read the Gospel of Jesus and pay attention to what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for how to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  If you want to be with Jesus, follow Jesus here and now.  Choose the right side of Agape Love and Grace, for the sake of God and Neighbor, here and now.

Choose wisely.

Pastor Jamie

Jesus on Greed and Rich Fools

Luke 12:13-21   Lectionary text for August 4

Greed means always wanting more, no matter how much one has.
There is no satisfaction in it, no contentment and no thankfulness.
It drives people apart because there is a finite amount of everything, so
   when some are always about getting more, it leaves others with less.
Greed is central in empire values.
It is all about the self - getting more for me, taking care of number one -
   making sure that me and mine are taken care of.
It is the drive behind competition, success and achievement for many,
   because the real object for them is getting more, always more, even
   or especially at the expense of others around them.
Some will play word games and twist the logic around to make others
   believe that this is patriotic, natural or even godly.  They will talk
   about all they can do with what they gain above what they need, but
   it comes at the expense of others and what is shared is at best
   a negligible amount, because it is about GETTING and KEEPING
   more for oneself and one's own.

Greed is NOT a Kingdom Value.  Regardless of what your prosperity
  preaching pastor or bishop may say, Jesus who fulfills the Law and
  Prophets has no value for Greed in the Gospels.

In the Kingdom, the value is for ENOUGH - for ALL having ENOUGH.
In the Kingdom, the value is on Thankfulness for what we already have.
In the Kingdom, the value is in sharing from our abundance - anything
   over enough that we have, so that others may have enough.

So, Jesus warns, "Take care!  Be on your guard against all kinds of Greed;
for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
And then Jesus offered the parable of "The Rich Fool."

The fool had a lot.
The fool did not think about giving of his abundance.
The fool devised a plan for hoarding more for himself.
The fool died.

In the meantime, those who were exploited so that the fool might have more
suffered.
In the meantime, many went without what they needed as the fool sat on an
abundance.
In the meantime, others adopted the fool's values, believing it to be wisdom
and even godly providence.

Some folk are working themselves to death to get more, always more, though
they already have an abundance above what they need.
Some folk exploit the laws, tax codes, workers and whoever else they can to
get more for themselves at the expense of the poor and middle class, against whom
the laws, tax codes and lack of workers' rights were designed to work.
Some folk are true believers in the lie that if you work hard enough you can
be wealthy, and the lie that you should aspire to be wealthy.
Some folk are manipulators of those who believe the lie because they benefit
from its perpetration in our society, and believe they are justified in doing so.
Some folk are blamed, scapegoated when the wealthy and powerful exploit and destroy the
lives of those without enough, and those exploited masses believe it to be the
fault of anyone but the wealthy and powerful who did it to them, but who they aspire to be someday.

Greed divides.  It destroys.
The Rich Fool was rich at the expense of others, who he exploited and/or ignored.

The Kingdom of God is about community, about Shalom - about everyone having
enough for completeness, wholeness and well-being, and not about some having
much more than they need while others struggle to survive (that would be empire).

So, what do you treasure?
Having and getting more material wealth, power and/or status?
Or being rich toward God in having healthy community, well-being and thankfulness with
   contentment?

Are you rich in wisdom?
Or are you simply a rich fool?  (or a rich fool wannabe?)

Pastor Jamie

putting it in order - aug 11

Luke 12:32-40

It's about putting your life in order.
It's about priorities right here and now.
Yes, Jesus will come again.  Yes, we must be ready.
What does that mean?

It means, at least according to Jesus, if you believe Jesus (as Luke tells it)...

Putting our heart in the right place, with what we treasure.
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  (see Matthew 6:19-21)

In the Kingdom, and according to Kingdom values,
   knowing that it gives God pleasure to give us the Kingdom,
   we value that above all else - the Love of God, the Grace of God.

In the Kingdom, living according to Kingdom values,
   anything above what we need is not treasured as much as that love
   and our love for Neighbor, so we give it away in alms for those in need.

In the Kingdom, we keep our priorities straight by
   treasuring those things that really matter,
   by putting in our heart those who God loves.

In the Kingdom, we humble ourselves willingly before our Lord,
   submitting to the Lord in how we live and serve in this part of the Kingdom,
   here and now, to be pleasing to our Lord now and when the Lord returns.

In THAT, we are ready for Jesus' return.

Empire values would have us take all we can for ourselves and ignore others or exploit them for it.
Empire values would have us gain and abuse power over others for our own benefit.
Empire values would have us make a name for ourselves at the expense of others.

Kingdom values demand that we give generously to those who are victims of empire.
Kingdom values require that we share power to raise the powerless victimized by empire.
Kingdom values lead us to know we are called to be servants and humbly serve those God loves.

What do you treasure?
Where is your heart?
Are you in alignment with the values of the Kingdom or the values of Empire?

Don't be afraid.  It gives God pleasure to give you the Kingdom,
so put it in order, get with the program, live Kingdom values, resist empire,
treasure what God treasures, put your heart with God's heart.

Pastor Jamie

relationship

Luke 11:1-13, in anticipation of the lectionary text for July 28.

It is all about relationship.
Acknowledgement, Respect, Belonging, Giving, Receiving, Healthy Influence, Advocacy.

They were in a bad place.
Spiritually, the Temple Cult Leaders had been so corrupt for so long that any genuine practice among the people would be a struggle to establish in any pure way.
The local government was corrupt at best, and at worst in collusion with empire in exploiting and destroying the people.
The Roman Empire had been the shadow over them for generations and it seemed that that would continue forever.
The people were occupied, oppressed and desperate for deliverance from their plight.
Doomsday scenarios, some religiously apocalyptic and some politically so (some elided, of course), would be floating around as an expression of the deep-seeded anxiety of those already in their trauma producing circumstance for generations.

In came Jesus with a new way - a way of Agape Love and Grace - flying in the face of empire and providing some hope that God had not altogether walked away from them and was bringing in the Kingdom to deliver the people.  At the writing of this Gospel (ca. 90 A.D.), Jesus was gone but this and other Gospel writings reinforced what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for the believers who still followed Jesus' way of Agape Love.

Relationships had to be healed.
A genuine relationship with God had to be re-established.
A restoration of individual lives and bolstering of community for the continued resistance to empire had to be brought to bear on life.

It started with prayer.
It started with prayer to Creator, acknowledging who God is and how God is different from Rome.
It continued with asking God to bring in the Kingdom values that Jesus taught to replace the empire values of greed, lust for power and desire for status.
It included a request for ENOUGH, because they had gone without enough for so long, because empire took what little they had for the gain of those who already had more than enough.
It focused on forgiveness of the debts that had kept the people down for so long, and a healing of the relationships based on indebtedness (and taking what another has) created by empire.
It finished with a request that no further trials be levied on the people, so that they would no longer be held down, back and out by empire... perhaps also a request that the end not come before healthy life be restored.

Jesus then gave a powerful example of living Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other), and thus doing the right thing, not necessarily out of warm feelings but because we need to respond to the needs of others and thus do the right thing.
Jesus then explains God's Agape Love for us, emphasizing that it is our example for how to live with one another.

It is about relationship.
Ours with God and ours with one another.
In the Kingdom, they are the same.
In the Kingdom, they are based on Agape Love and Grace.
And the Kingdom, we pray will come, so that we live those values HERE AND NOW, within the Kingdom.
THAT is our prayer, especially in times of occupation by the hateful and greedy, especially in times of the oppression and exploitation of the many for the sake of the few.
We are to prayerfully RESIST participation in those values and live within the Kingdom here and now.

Pray.  In acknowledgement of your relationship with God AND one another.
Learn.  What Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as Kingdom values in Agape and Grace.
Meditate. Consider being within Kingdom, here and now, and look at what that means.
Repent. Change your thinking to be in alignment with Jesus' Way of Agape, so that your words and actions reflect that in the world around you.
Act.  The Commanded Agape Love is committed ACTION on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us.

By this, Jesus and His followers changed the world that had suffered under empire.
By this, Jesus and His followers could change life in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.

With God and others around you -
On what are your relationships based?
Greed, power and status or Agape Love and Grace?

The world has already been changed by empire's greed, lust for power and desire for status.
Now, we need to pray and WORK that the KINGDOM COME so that we live out of Agape and Grace with God and with one another.
There is no other sustainable, life affirming way.

It's all about relationship.

Pastor Jamie