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
Sunday, July 28, 2019
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
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
Sunday, July 21, 2019
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
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
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
choosing the better part
Luke 10:38-42 from the lectionary for July 21st
It was not because she was a woman.
The rich young man "lack(ed) one thing."
We lose sight of what is important, often. All of us do it. We fail just to BE.
We get all caught up in the activities of the day and forget to just BE with God, to just learn from Jesus, to just experience the love of God and give our love to God.
We are human doings. No. We are human beings.
We are to be in relationship with God. Sometimes that means not DOING at all, but just BEING.
We need to take the time to BE with God in prayer, worship, the word and meditation.
It helps us with the DOING of Agape Love in the world. It prepares us, inspires us and moves us.
Lots of folk in the church are about the doing.
Followers of Jesus are about the being. We ARE Agape Love in time, as what we do is an expression of it, but also is our very BEING.
Sometimes, the better part is just being.
There is a time to do and a time to be. We need both.
To quote the apostle Sinatra - "do be do be do"
OK, sorry.
We need only one thing - to listen to Jesus. It is the better part of everything.
Then we can DO as Jesus commanded - live Agape Love - active commitment on behalf of other.
Just for the record, I am a strong critic of those who worship, praise and tithe and think that is an end to their requirement for their only real concern - their personal salvation.
I believe that Jesus commands those who would follow Him to live Agape Love in the world, actively committed to committed action on behalf of even the stranger, enemy and most vulnerable in the world. (see last week's blog)
We are commanded to DO.
But first we must sit at Jesus' feet and BE his followers, especially to learn what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.
Then, at times we must just BE with Jesus and one another in the body to lift up ourselves and each other, and BE lifted up by God.
BE DO BE DO BE DO...
Pastor Jamie
It was not because she was a woman.
The rich young man "lack(ed) one thing."
We lose sight of what is important, often. All of us do it. We fail just to BE.
We get all caught up in the activities of the day and forget to just BE with God, to just learn from Jesus, to just experience the love of God and give our love to God.
We are human doings. No. We are human beings.
We are to be in relationship with God. Sometimes that means not DOING at all, but just BEING.
We need to take the time to BE with God in prayer, worship, the word and meditation.
It helps us with the DOING of Agape Love in the world. It prepares us, inspires us and moves us.
Lots of folk in the church are about the doing.
Followers of Jesus are about the being. We ARE Agape Love in time, as what we do is an expression of it, but also is our very BEING.
Sometimes, the better part is just being.
There is a time to do and a time to be. We need both.
To quote the apostle Sinatra - "do be do be do"
OK, sorry.
We need only one thing - to listen to Jesus. It is the better part of everything.
Then we can DO as Jesus commanded - live Agape Love - active commitment on behalf of other.
Just for the record, I am a strong critic of those who worship, praise and tithe and think that is an end to their requirement for their only real concern - their personal salvation.
I believe that Jesus commands those who would follow Him to live Agape Love in the world, actively committed to committed action on behalf of even the stranger, enemy and most vulnerable in the world. (see last week's blog)
We are commanded to DO.
But first we must sit at Jesus' feet and BE his followers, especially to learn what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.
Then, at times we must just BE with Jesus and one another in the body to lift up ourselves and each other, and BE lifted up by God.
BE DO BE DO BE DO...
Pastor Jamie
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
at the center of it all
Luke 10:25-37.
It is as old as Leviticus (19:18) and Deuteronomy (6:4-5). God intends for it all to be based on love.
If we will love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, we will love our neighbor as ourselves.
It is simple to understand.
It is AGAPE love, here.
Agape is not a feeling. It is committed action.
Agape is not about the recipient, but about the giver giving. The focus is not on the object of the action, but the one giving it.
Agape is therefore committed action on behalf of the other.
But Jesus took it further. Jesus always took it further.
When the lawyer wanted to justify hating someone, he asked, "Who is my neighbor?"
And Jesus taught him who neighbor is with the story of the Good Samaritan.
The neighbor is not necessarily a person of one's own faith.
The neighbor is not necessarily one who is accomplished in society.
The neighbor may well be a stranger, even enemy who lives Agape Love.
The neighbor is also the vulnerable one who needed the neighbor. The stranger made him a neighbor.
The sharing of Agape Love makes us neighbors.
The mutual sharing of Agape Love makes community flourish and thrive.
We are meant to be neighbors in the Kingdom of God.
Agape is therefore COMMITTED ACTION ON BEHALF OF THE OTHER,
EVEN STRANGER OR ENEMY, AND ESPECIALLY THE
MOST VULNERABLE.
Jesus' teaching in the parable is followed by an IMPERATIVE... A COMMAND -
"Go and DO likewise."
Agape Love is COMMITTED ACTION on behalf of the other.
This is at the center of it all. This, according to the Gospel writers of Jesus' words, is that upon which rests all the law and prophets.
Neighbors love neighbors as themselves, if they follow Jesus.
It is a part of loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind.
It is the command of Jesus for those who would follow Him.
It is not about good feelings toward someone or the worthiness of the other to receive our commitment toward their well-being. It is about the character of the person who lives that love. It is action out of their commitment to God and the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us.
Agape Love is required for followers of Jesus. Active Commitment/Committed Action on behalf of the other is our standard for how we follow Jesus.
It's easy to understand. It's just hard to live.
And then Jesus made it harder, according to the writer of John's Gospel, in further defining what that means by saying, "Love one another as I have loved you."
So, there is no excuse for not actively committing to the well-being of others around us.
There is every reason to heed Jesus' command, for the sake of the whole world.
Agape Love is at the center of it all.
As Jesus taught and commanded, and as Jesus did, YOU - GO AND DO LIKEWISE.
Pastor Jamie
It is as old as Leviticus (19:18) and Deuteronomy (6:4-5). God intends for it all to be based on love.
If we will love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, we will love our neighbor as ourselves.
It is simple to understand.
It is AGAPE love, here.
Agape is not a feeling. It is committed action.
Agape is not about the recipient, but about the giver giving. The focus is not on the object of the action, but the one giving it.
Agape is therefore committed action on behalf of the other.
But Jesus took it further. Jesus always took it further.
When the lawyer wanted to justify hating someone, he asked, "Who is my neighbor?"
And Jesus taught him who neighbor is with the story of the Good Samaritan.
The neighbor is not necessarily a person of one's own faith.
The neighbor is not necessarily one who is accomplished in society.
The neighbor may well be a stranger, even enemy who lives Agape Love.
The neighbor is also the vulnerable one who needed the neighbor. The stranger made him a neighbor.
The sharing of Agape Love makes us neighbors.
The mutual sharing of Agape Love makes community flourish and thrive.
We are meant to be neighbors in the Kingdom of God.
Agape is therefore COMMITTED ACTION ON BEHALF OF THE OTHER,
EVEN STRANGER OR ENEMY, AND ESPECIALLY THE
MOST VULNERABLE.
Jesus' teaching in the parable is followed by an IMPERATIVE... A COMMAND -
"Go and DO likewise."
Agape Love is COMMITTED ACTION on behalf of the other.
This is at the center of it all. This, according to the Gospel writers of Jesus' words, is that upon which rests all the law and prophets.
Neighbors love neighbors as themselves, if they follow Jesus.
It is a part of loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind.
It is the command of Jesus for those who would follow Him.
It is not about good feelings toward someone or the worthiness of the other to receive our commitment toward their well-being. It is about the character of the person who lives that love. It is action out of their commitment to God and the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us.
Agape Love is required for followers of Jesus. Active Commitment/Committed Action on behalf of the other is our standard for how we follow Jesus.
It's easy to understand. It's just hard to live.
And then Jesus made it harder, according to the writer of John's Gospel, in further defining what that means by saying, "Love one another as I have loved you."
So, there is no excuse for not actively committing to the well-being of others around us.
There is every reason to heed Jesus' command, for the sake of the whole world.
Agape Love is at the center of it all.
As Jesus taught and commanded, and as Jesus did, YOU - GO AND DO LIKEWISE.
Pastor Jamie
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