The Miracle is...

Matthew 14:13-21 is the lectionary text for next Sunday, August 2.

After John was beheaded and Jesus heard of it, He went to a deserted place by Himself, presumably to grieve and perhaps to consider the next part of God's Mission through Him.

But the crowds followed.  The needs continued.
Jesus made people complete and whole again out of compassion for them.

When it was evening and time to eat after a long day, the church wanted to send the people who were coming to Jesus away.
Jesus commanded them to feed them saying, "You give them something to eat."
The church claimed it did not have the resources to help so many.
Jesus took the meager resources and commanded the crowd to sit down.
Jesus took what they had, gave thanks for it, gave it to the leaders and they gave it to the people.
All of them ate.  All 5,000 men, plus women and children, from five loaves and two fish, were filled.
And they collected what was left, 12 baskets from the disciples, tribes... more than they had when they started.

Was the miracle the same as the one told by Marcia Brown in STONE SOUP?
Was it some supernatural intervention in order to meet needs?

I think the miracle was obedient generosity out of Agape Love.
Jesus had compassion on the crowd.  The church and its leaders couldn't be bothered. They weren't "feeling it."  Preservation of self over others was what they valued.
Jesus commanded them to feed the people.
They obeyed.
It was Jesus' Agape Love that met the needs of the people.
It was obedience to Jesus that made it possible.

What was the miracle, I believe, is the transformative power of obeying Jesus' Way of Agape.
Perhaps when the disciples coughed up what little they had at the command of Jesus, it inspired others in the crowd to share their meager provisions for the sake of one another.
The disciples modeled obedience to Jesus in Agape and compassion.
The crowd perhaps followed the example of the disciples in that obedience and living of Agape.

We do not always want to live Agape Love, folks.
Empire would have us believe it is contrary to logic, fairness and faithfulness to self.
But Agape (committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable) is Jesus' Way and Kingdom values.
Empire separates, divides, hoards, withholds, ignores, threatens and destroys community and life.
Agape unites, gathers, shares, engages, responds, lifts up and builds up community and life.

The miracle is the becoming of community through the living of Agape Love.
It is the sustainable well-being of all because of the sharing of all in unity of heart and mind.
It is the saying, "No" to empire values that tear down, and saying, "Yes" to Kingdom values that build up.

Sometimes the action of Agape comes before the compassion and empathy therein contained.
Sometimes obedience to Jesus comes before we "feel it."

Have you experienced the miracle for yourself yet?
Have you witnessed people obeying Jesus in the living of Agape and were lifted up by it?
Did it touch you in a powerful way?  Did it move you in your heart, mind and spirit?
Did you see the wisdom and faithfulness in the living of Agape with others because of it?
Did it then compel you to be a part of Shalom Community in Agape and live that yourself?

If so, you have experienced the miracle of Agape Love, lived out in the body of Christ.
If not, I truly hope that you will have your miracle of transformation soon.

The crowd has come to Jesus because what they got from those in collusion with empire left them desolate.
It is time for the church and its leaders to obey Jesus' teachings, commands and examples on the living of Agape Love in the world.
Miracles do happen.  Transformation happens.  Shalom can happen.  When Agape happens.
The program works if you work it.

Pastor Jamie

The Kingdom of heaven is like...

Matthew 13:31-33; 44-52 is the text in next Sunday's lectionary...

Everything in EMPIRE has to be grand, the biggest, the best - just huuuuge.
It is all about opulent wealth, absolute power and undeniable status above all others.
What gets folk to that is the despair, the disenfranchisement and destruction of others' lives.

The Kingdom of God calls us to live differently.

In the Kingdom, it is the smallest, seemingly most insignificant thing that has great value.  The smallest seed of promise that grows and sustains life for some of the most insignificant creatures on earth is what is valued in the Kingdom.

The spreading of good things throughout, that grows and produces life sustaining stuff is what is valued in the Kingdom.

The treasure of Agape and Grace, when stumbled upon in the midst of the crap of the world, is obtained at whatever cost of worldly values, in the Kingdom.

The treasure of Agape and Grace, when recognized in others and thus valued because of what one has seen, is sought after intentionally and obtained at whatever cost of worldly values, in the Kingdom.

The reckoning comes by God in the end, when those things of Kingdom value are sorted from those things of worldly value, separated and relegated to very different fates. 

The true servants of God go to the storeroom of heaven to bring out the best, the consistent, the (Agape) Loving, Merciful and Gracious of the Old (covenant) and the New (covenant), and apply it to the living of life in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.

If you value the things of this world, of EMPIRE (Greed, Hatred, lust for Power, desire for Status), you will not understand or value the things of the Kingdom.

The values of Empire destroy many lives for the sake of a few.
The values of the Kingdom sustain lives of Shalom (completeness, wholeness, well-being) for ALL.

The Kingdom is different.
The values of the Kingdom are different.
We are taught and commanded by Jesus to live them here and now.

So, in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now, which do you value?

Pastor Jamie

Bearing good fruit in spite of...

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 is the lectionary text for next Sunday, July 19.

So, here it is VERY intentional - the evil, that is.  It is actively, insidiously sown in the world, according to Jesus in Matthew.

The Kingdom is not just heaven, folks.  We live in this part of the Kingdom, here and now, as it ALL belongs to God.  Life in this part is different, to be sure, but we are called, taught and commanded to live the same values in this part of the Kingdom that are lived in that part, focusing on HERE and NOW, rather than "pie in the sky when we die."  Being only heavenly minded means that we are only SELF oriented, and the commandment of Jesus to live Agape Love does not allow for that.  Instead, it drives us to the living of "active commitment on behalf of the other - even stranger and enemy - especially the most vulnerable among us", here and now.  It is just that we do that work of Agape while fighting the powers and principalities that would prevent it and devalue the living of Agape - the forces of empire values (greed, hatred, lust for power, desire for personal status above others).

So, Jesus posits this parable as a vision of how it is like in the Kingdom, here and now.  There is no talk about worshiping Him, praising, tithing or being self-righteous here.  It is about Agape - committed ACTION on behalf of others, out of a faithful heart to Jesus, to God.

Jesus is the giver of the Good News of Agape and Grace - our command on how to live faithfully.
Jesus sows the seeds of Agape and Grace in the world, and now we are drawn to, guided to and driven to the living of that Good News and Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God, who is relentless in doing so.

The field is the world, in which the seed is sown and in which the growth of the fruit is to happen.
The good seed growing into good fruit are those children faithful to Jesus and that Good News of Agape.
The weeds are the children faithful to empire, to the evil values of greed, hatred, lust for power and desire for personal status above others.
The angels of the Lord reap the crops, sorting out and destroying the evil and keeping the good fruit.
It is where this part of the Kingdom and how we live Kingdom values here and now meets that part of the Kingdom.

God makes it right in the end.  God does the sorting of good fruit from evil.
And the promise is that the good fruit born by the Agape Love of Jesus will shine in the Kingdom, and the evil fruit born of empire will be horrendously destroyed.

Matthew attributes Jesus with very vivid images of the end.  Nets with fish, Sower and Seed, Weeds and Wheat, Sheep and Goats.  Either, Or... Good or Evil... Faithful or Unfaithful... we cannot say that Jesus in Matthew is not very clear.

So, here and now, what kind of fruit are we/you bearing?
Is it good fruit born of Agape and Grace that feeds others, sustains others and builds healthy communities?
Is it evil fruit born of Empire that divides, tears down lives and destroys healthy communities?
It is either... or.
We cannot serve two Masters, also according to Jesus in Matthew.
Kingdom or Empire?
In which will you live?  With which values will you participate?
In which will you produce fruit in the world around you?
In which will you invest your life?
In which will you cast your fate for the end?
It cannot be both.
You are either weeds or good fruit, depending on which you produce in the world around you, according to Jesus.

Do/Will you produce the things that make for Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being) for ALL in Agape and Grace?
Or do/will you produce the things that destroy Shalom for MANY out of greed, hatred, lust for power and desire for personal status?

I do not believe that we choose to believe.  Faith is a gift of God, faithfulness driven by the Holy Spirit.
I do believe that we choose to follow Jesus and be faithful in the living of what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  I believe THAT is faithfulness to God.

That choice is yours.  Here and Now.  Kingdom or Empire?

Pastor Jamie

In what kind of soil does the Word grow?

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 is the Gospel text for the lectionary on July 12.

Jesus used “comparison” (parable in Greek) to teach about the Kingdom of God.  Here it was aimed at those who struggled to survive under the oppressive yoke of Rome as they grew crops on which to survive, though many of them were taken to feed the Roman Military machine.  They knew about survival through fishing, growing and herding, so Jesus taught them about their survival under and resistance to empire through comparisons.

The sower indiscriminately spreads the seed.  Perhaps in desperation to have enough, people who desperately needed everything they could grow may have done this to get at least SOME crops, even out of bad soil.  They knew this all too well.

The path is the well-worn place where the dirt becomes like concrete over time, due to the foot traffic, rain and constant packing down.  It had a low probability of producing grain, as others, desperately competing for their own survival would come and eat the seed meant for planting, rather than wait for it to grow.

The rocky soil was a low yield endeavor because there was no depth of rich soil left after overgrowing, and it is hard to grow crops on stones.  The harsh conditions did not help, and the soil may have started to grow, but could not be sustained on the few nutrients available, like many of the people under empire, and it died.

The thorns competed for whatever nutrients were left in the soil.  Like the weeds in the wheat, they sucked up what little was left for themselves and choked out the good crops, and they died.

The good soil produces.  It has enough richness left to produce for others to benefit.  Perhaps few had such good soil available to them, but because of them multitudes of desperate people could at least survive under empire.

Verses 10-17 include a teaching by Jesus on why parables are used in teaching.  Jesus wanted the truth of the Kingdom to be conveyed to those who would listen and understand.  There would be others who would not do so.  Jesus wanted people to see the true picture of what was going on in the world, under empire, and some would just go along with its ideologies and unjust systems, even embracing them in order to get whatever they could for themselves, rather than resist empire and its values for the sake of God’s children around them, who were also suffering under empire’s yoke. 

The seed is the Word of Liberation in the Gospels.  The Sower here is Jesus, in our time, the Holy Spirit pointing to Jesus in the Good News of Jesus.

The evil one snatches the Word from those who are well-worn and hard headed, who have such strong embedded beliefs, attitudes and ideologies (economic, political, social, theological) that they are in collusion with empire and its values, and cannot comprehend the message of the Gospel.  They do not understand their need for and ability to resist empire in their lives, because they are so inundated with its values.

The rocky soil receives the Word of liberation at first with joy and enthusiasm, but when the resistance becomes too difficult or dangerous, gives it up and returns to participation in the unjust system.  They are not willing to make the sacrifice toward justice, and prefer the sacrifice of life under empire.

The thorny soil receives the Word and rejects it because they have whole-heartedly bought into the empire values, and believe somehow that they can benefit from participation in the ideologies and practices of empire.  Their personal greed chokes out any concern for others and justice.  As long as they can get more for themselves, even whatever little they can under empire, they don’t care about the liberation of anyone else, and even falsely believe themselves to be "liberated."

The good soil, of course, hears the Word of Liberation, understands it and applies it to how they live.  They resist empire out of Agape Love and Grace, and produce life sustaining things in the lives of the whole community.  They give hope for the oppressed and speak truth to power, resist the evils of empire and live the values of the Kingdom of God, which brings Shalom in sustainable life for all.

There is Grace in this.  The seed (WORD OF LIBERATION – GOOD NEWS OF JESUS) is given indiscriminately, even on those who would not be good soil and produce good fruits.  It is a shame that some folk are too hard-headed, some too afraid and some too greedy for personal gain to be good soil that produces Shalom in this part of God’s Kingdom, here and now, but that is the truth.

Those who resist empire now, especially those who heed the Good News of Jesus in doing so through the living of Agape Love and Grace, are relatively few, but they make a huge difference.

Some are so used to the well-worn path of empire and cannot get it into their thick skulls that there is another way, so evil snatches any hope of them being good soil for God.

Some get a bit of it, but they are fair weather advocates of the Kingdom, and when they meet resistance to their faithful words and actions, they back down and buckle under, in fear of personal distress.

Some are hard-core, empire loving, koolaid drinking folk who believe that the values of empire are prevalent and therefore must be of God, though they are not, and they kill Agape and Grace at every turn with their normalized greed, hatred, lust for power and desire for status above others.

But what we are seeing in action right now is the work of God’s Word, the Good News of Jesus.  Out of Agape Love (committed action on behalf of the other), millions are standing up to empire and demanding justice on behalf of those who have been disenfranchised and marginalized, victimized by the oppressive injustice of empire.  These are the good soil who GET IT.  Are you one of them?

“Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!”

Pastor Jamie