I wonder what would happen if...

Matthew 18:15-20 is the lectionary text for Sunday, September 6

I wonder what would happen if this were practiced.

Individuals do not seem to have a stomach for it.  Instead of confronting that which is hurtful or harmful, folk gather forces and talk ABOUT the person who did it to them, rather than talk to them.

Churches don't get involved in disputes among their members, sometimes to their demise.  Pastors generally play politics and side with those who represent power for them, or try to be "Switzerland", and thus maintain their "friend to all" image, again benefitting from their "neutrality."  And churches often live in underlying tension over factions, and sometimes divide over them or dwindle down to a few folk who are "like minded", until they turn on each other and dissolve.

What would happen if people who are treated unfairly in society addressed it in church with the folk sitting in the pews and breathing in the sanctuary air, soaking in the holy atmosphere who have helped to perpetrate injustices against them?  What would happen if pastors encouraged those in politics in their churches to follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, and confronted them when they did not?  What would happen if pastors and church leaders encouraged those in business in their churches to follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us regarding the poor, and confronted folk when they did not?  What would  happen if pastors, church leaders and parishioners directly confronted folk in the church who live out their hatred, greed, lust for power and desire for status at the expense of other folk in the same sanctuary?  What would happen if we actually followed what Jesus taught us regarding conflict, justice, Shalom, Agape Love and Grace?  Hmmm... I wonder.  I guess because I am left to wonder what if...

Instead of straddling the fence, trying to serve two masters, giving lip service to God while giving devotion to empire, I wonder what would happen?

The problem, you see, is that Jesus directs folk to confront the person who oppresses them directly, then take another person with them and then take it to the church.  The problem is that the church often represents the oppressors, those who have exploited, marginalized and disenfranchised the people.  The problem is that the pastors and church leaders often support them, because they know where their power, wealth and status comes from in their devotion to empire.

Jesus said, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  This is for us both a promise and a warning, I believe.

Jesus said, "What you give is what you will get."  That too, is promise and warning.

Jesus said, "Do to others as you would have them do to you."  That is Agape and Grace.

Jesus is with those who are gathered, even two or three, a true witness, IN HIS NAME.
Jesus is with those who are gathered, even two or three, a true witness, who are faithful to Jesus, Jesus' teachings, commands and examples for living Agape and Grace.

I wonder what would happen if those in the church would put out in the world what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us?  I wonder what would happen if...

Pastor Jamie

Setting our minds on the divine things, or on human things?

Matthew 16:21-28 is the lectionary text for next Sunday.  I offer it for your consideration in preparation of next Sunday's Worship.

Jesus announced what being Messiah/the Christ meant, after Peter rightly identified Jesus as that.
It meant suffering and sacrificial death for the sake of others, even at the hands of the leaders of the church in that time and place, who were in collusion with empire.

Peter wanted the glory for Jesus (and, ultimately for himself, I believe).
We all want a long life, prosperity, power and status in the world, don't we?
We've been taught that as the "American Way" all our lives.  It is about getting more for ourselves and our own.  It is about more wealth, more power and more status.  It is empire's way.
Achievement, acquiring more things, monetary security beyond any doubt, having control over our own lives and those "under" us, being recognized as a cut above the rest is hammered into our hearts and minds from youth.  That is empire.  It is what empire would have us pursue as values for life in these here United States of 'muriKKKa.

For Jesus, and given Jesus' rebuke of Peter, for the followers of Jesus, it is about fulfilling what God wants for humanity, even if that means the sacrifice of some to change the status of the many.

Empire values a few over the many.
Kingdom values the sacrifice of the many for each other.

Empire values the extreme wealth, power and status of a few at the expense of the many.
Kingdom values enough for all people.

Empire values division, exploitation, ruthlessness, exclusion, oppression in its devotion to its gods of Wealth, Power and Status.
Kingdom values unity, community, generosity, advocacy, the empowerment of all equally, inclusion and solidarity out of Agape Love and Grace.

Peter was rebuked for putting selfish desires above the needs of all.
So are we being rebuked by God for our collusion with empire values.

Jesus then makes it very clear in Matthew's Gospel about what Discipleship means -
Denying self, sacrificing self as Jesus did.
Where empire values the arrogant indulgence of self above or at the expense of others, Jesus calls for humble self denial in order that all may have enough of what they need for Shalom in their lives.

"You put down your money, you take your choice, and then you live with it."
Jesus informs us in this Gospel message, that for any who live under empire -
If you want to preserve your own life, save the life of obtaining the perks of empire, you will lose your life with God.
If you lose your life heaped in the values of empire for Jesus' sake, because of your belief in Jesus' Good News way of living of Agape Love and Grace being God's Way for you and a more sustainable way for the world, then you will gain life with God, now and forever.
That's pretty clear, right?

We are not supposed to gain the whole world for ourselves out of greed, lust for power or desire for status.  If we do that, we have lost our souls.
We are called by Jesus to have our lives restored in the living of Agape Love and Grace, in loving neighbor as self, in denying ourselves and even sacrificing for the sake of ALL people.

So, gain the world empire has to offer and lose your soul, the soul of our nation?
Live in advocacy and even sacrifice for the sake of ALL people around us, including ourselves, in order that ALL may have ENOUGH of what they need for SHALOM (completeness, wholeness, well-being) in their lives out of real justice and toward peace?

Jesus promises to return and repay us all for what we have done in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.
That is either a promise or a threat.
Which is it for you?

Who is Jesus to you?

 Matthew 16:13-20 is the lectionary text for next Sunday, August 23.

Peter got it!  Even before the transfiguration of Jesus, recorded in the next Chapter, Peter got that Jesus is the one sent, the deliverer from sin and death, occupation and oppression.

Some thought it was still about the old way, the old prophets and the Old Covenant.  Peter got that Jesus is the fulfiller of Law and Prophets with the promised Messiah.

Jesus is the one sent to deliver us from empire rules and values, and Jesus offered the Kingdom values of the New Covenant in response, to counter those of empire.

Jesus is the one sent to bring God's Kingdom values to life among a people who have been marginalized, exploited, disenfranchised, tortured and killed for the greed, lust for power and desire for status of a few.  Jesus is the one who calls for New Rules based on Agape and Grace, so that Shalom may be re-established and maintained in the world.  Jesus is the one who teaches, commands and models Kingdom values in the face of empire values, Kingdom of God Law in the face of the laws of empire.  Jesus still does.

There are people who are again (still) held down, back and out by our political and economic systems.

There are people who are again (still) marginalized, disenfranchised and exploited by empire.

There are people who are again (still) misled by corrupt religious and political leaders.

There are people who are again (still) occupied and oppressed by powers and principalities.

The rampant greed, lust for power and desire for status above others has again dominated the political, economic and social systems in the world, and particularly in this nation.  The Gospel has been ignored and false teachings designed to normalize the greed, lust for power and desire for personal status above others have replaced the Kingdom values of Agape and Grace.  Empire values are pervasive in every aspect of life today.

It is time, as in the days of Josiah, for us to unbury the Word from the church coffers and apply the Gospel of Jesus to the mission of the church in the world.

It is time, as in the days of Luther, for us to recognized the abject corruption of this age in the church and strive to repent toward faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus.

It is time, as in the days of Jesus, for us to stop worrying about our own, personal salvation and live the Kingdom values of Agape and Grace in every aspect of our society.  The church's mission is to follow Jesus - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have that in the Gospels, in every aspect of of life, in the face of empire values.

We cannot serve two masters.

Jesus, Jesus is Savior.  But Jesus is also Messiah, the one sent, Christ, to deliver us from sin and death, and the occupation and oppression of empire values, here and now in this part of God's Kingdom.  It is time to proclaim Jesus as deliverer from empire and follow Jesus.  Now.  Clearly, now.

Pastor Jamie

What defiles you?

 Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 is the lectionary text for next Sunday.

After a pointed rebuke of the Pharisees whose theology of purity and holiness falsified God's will, in which Jesus also took a shot at empire's value of status over others, Jesus taught his disciples a further lesson about worthiness and God's Grace.

Pietistic rituals that offer appearances of uprightness, purity and holiness are based on a belief in self-righteousness or earned merit for those who practice them.  Jesus' message is about Agape Love and Grace.

Jesus in particularly graphic terms, destroyed any notion of ritualistic purity by pointing out that it is what is in one's heart, soul and mind that is pure or impure, and that it is in bringing out impure motives, attitudes, ideologies and beliefs through our words and actions that we are defiled.

Agape Love does not allow us to hide our greed, lust for power, desire for status or hatred through pietistic practices.  Those rituals do not cleanse us from evil intentions or actions.  Agape Love transcends our impurities because it is ACTION, COMMITTED ACTION on behalf of the other.  Grace is in it.  The Grace of undeserved loving mercy for the object of the Agape Love and the Grace of undeserved loving mercy for the one living Agape Love.  Make no mistake, we are not working our way to salvation through the living of Agape Love, either.  No.  Quite to the contrary, we live Agape Love as a response to receiving it, live Grace out of gratitude for being recipients of it, as a response to the originator of it in our lives.  Furthermore, we are transformed in the living of Agape Love and Grace, so that what defiles from within us is challenged and then neutralized by the obedient living of Agape Love toward the Shalom of others around us.  Sanctification is happening, by the Holy Spirit of God who drives us to the living of what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace, as we have witness in the Gospels.  The sanctification is not completed until we return to God or Jesus returns to us.  Until then, the living of Agape counters the things that defile within us, and helps to transform the world, this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.

Collusion by religious leaders with empire leads to false beliefs in prosperity, church power, superiority, purity and holiness and the like.  Empire is built on the few above the many, and counts on the many aspiring to be the few.  False piety elevates some over others in the eyes of believers.  A false sense of being more worthy than others of blessing and favor, of being entitled to monetary wealth as a blessing of God, of the church's mission being to grow in influence, power or wealth and of being more pure or holy than others in the Kingdom come directly from empire and not Kingdom values.  Jesus rebuked pietistic rituals, blessed the most marginalized and disenfranchised, taught that having enough is enough and made the mission of His followers self-sacrifice in humility.  Jesus taught, commanded and modeled committed action on behalf of stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable in the world as the practice of true believers.  Jesus' Kingdom values unified and built community.  Empire values divide and destroy individual lives and community.

The application of Jesus' teaching regarding what defiles or what is considered "unclean" came swiftly in Matthew's Gospel.  The Syrophoenician woman represented what was unclean in ethnicity, religion and culture.  She represented the enemy and not just stranger, and she and her daughter were most vulnerable.  Jesus, in baiting her, was baiting his disciples who were watching the encounter and encouraging Jesus to abandon her in her distress.  Jesus said what He knew His disciples wanted to hear about "us vs. them" and being among the "chosen."  Jesus insulted her with an air of superiority, thus pointing out her unworthiness.  But she persisted.  Even recognizing her "place" in the hierarchy presented her, she acknowledged her need and Jesus' ability to make her and her daughter more complete and whole.  And Jesus, in front of His disciples, claims her as an example of real faith.  Let me be clear - Jesus, for the benefit of His disciples and their learning, declared this "unclean" woman to be faithful.  Matthew set the drama up beautifully.  Did they get it?

Do we get it?

Worthiness is for God to decide.  Blessings are for God to decide.

God does not value wealth, power or status.  God does not call us to live those empire values and thus be divided and hateful with one another.  Instead, God calls us to be beneficiaries of Agape and Grace, and benefactors of it with one another. 

God does not call us to strive for self-righteousness through pietistic rituals or practices, and does not call us to try and merit or earn our salvation through works, even works of Agape Love.  God is not concerned with purity or holiness on our part.  God wants obedient faithfulness in the living of Agape Love and Grace.  Just as God has given us that Agape and Grace, as we have witness in the Gospels, so as a response in gratitude, faithfulness to God is the living of that Agape and Grace with those in the world around us, this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  

So, what actually defiles us?  Our attitudes, ideologies, beliefs, words and actions that run contrary to the living of Agape and Grace in the world.  Empire defiles, and the embrace of empire values defiles us.  And who can save us, wretched fools that we are?  Not our own merit or status, pietistic rituals and practices, purity or holiness, power or wealth.   Out of Agape and Grace, Jesus.  

Want to be faithful?  Follow Jesus - Jesus' teachings, commands and examples for how to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.

Pastor Jamie

 

We are in the Storm... how far have we sunk?

Matthew 14:22-33 is the lectionary text for next Sunday, August 9.

So, they were in the boat, in the storm.

They were battered by the waves and had a great distance yet to go.

The wind was against them.

When Jesus came, they thought they now faced supernatural threats.

Peter, full of "himself", boldly requested permission to face it by himself,

     to do what Jesus was doing.

Peter, losing sight of Jesus and what Jesus was doing, focused on the

     power of the chaos and started to lose faith and sink.

Jesus saved him and called for a deeper faith in Jesus' Way of facing the

     storm.

I always wonder if the disciples who cowered in the boat ever learned the

     lesson, or even if Peter did.

The church (boat image in scripture) is in the storm.

Many in the church have helped fuel the storms of chaos in the world today.

Many in the church ignore the storm, as if it has nothing to do with them.

But many in the church are afraid, seeing the reality, striving against the storm,

    and being battered by the waves of hatefulness, greed, abuses of power and

    focus on status/superiority over others, which are empire values.

The wind of national will, of empire values, of hateful ignorance are against

    them.  The winds of doctrine that support empire values (prosperity theology,

    personal salvation theology, church growth, purity/holiness beliefs and

    theocratic ideologies) are blowing hard right now, and have been for over

    39 years.

And Jesus comes, but some don't recognize Him because they are looking

    for supernatural powers and principalities to present themselves.

They don't see Jesus for who Jesus is, because in their magical thinking, 

    they expect supernatural events.

They sit in the boat, in the storm, and do nothing to strive against it, because

    in their fear, they expect supernatural interventions to save them, instead of

    striving to walk with Jesus, in Jesus' Way, even in the storm.

And those who do see what Jesus is doing, recognizing the power of the

    chaotic world storm but not giving into it in how they walk, may try the

    same - to walk with Jesus in the storm.

But it is easy to lose sight of the better way - Jesus' Way.

We can get all caught up in the hatefulness, ignorance, lust for power and

    desire for status ourselves, as if that will quell the storm or allow us to

    walk through it and be faithful to Jesus.  We can't.

We lose sight of Jesus and Jesus' Way, and only see the chaos of the storm

    in the world.

To his credit, Peter knew that he needed to be saved by Jesus from it.

For some, the sinking into empire values and ways seems to be natural

    and inevitable.

Jesus will save us from sinking into the chaos of the world's storm, if we know

    that we need to be saved from it.  Jesus will admonish us to have more faith in

    Jesus' Way of facing the world's chaotic storm of hatefulness, greed, lust for

    power and desire for status, but will save us and teach us His, better Way.

Jesus' Way of walking through the storm - the Way of not giving into it or allowing

    it to have power over us or stopping us from our mission, and not being swallowed 

    up by its chaos, blowing in its winds of false doctrines, pushed by its waves of 

    empire values, is the only real, healthy and sane way of facing this storm for any

    who claim to be followers of Jesus.

We can either be battered by it and in pathetic inactivity expect supernatural

    intervention because of the false doctrines of magical thinking we've been taught,

    or strive to walk with Jesus through it and not give into the storm, but stay focused on

    Jesus and our mission of living Agape Love and Grace in the world with Jesus.

We are in the middle of this storm.

The winds of doctrines that support the waves of anti-Christ empire values are battering

   the church in it.

Jesus is showing us how to walk in this.

Will we cower in the boat and cry out for supernatural intervention,

   or will we WALK WITH JESUS, IN JESUS' WAY through it?

If we walk with Jesus in it, we will find out just how far in the storm we have sunk.

Pastor Jamie