Jesus and His Bible, Part 18

 Generosity and the Poor

Following his apocalyptic sermon, Jesus told his followers that they would need to stay alert because no one except God knows when the end of all things will occur.  Despite this clear statement, Christians through the ages have speculated and predicted the end of the age to the day and hour. What Jesus did know was that his own days were numbered because the religious leaders were looking for ways to seize him in order to kill him.  

Jesus was in Bethany at dinner when a woman with an alabaster vial of costly perfume came in, broke it and poured it over his head.  By itself, this was a remarkable act of generosity, but to some it was wasteful.  “She should have sold it and given the money to the poor,” they said to each other.  

However, Jesus commended the woman who poured perfume over him and defended her action to those critical of it.  “She has anointed my body for burial,” he said, “and her gift will be spoken of in the whole world.” Despite Jesus’s advice to stay alert and his clearly stated expectation that he would die soon, their concern was to disparage the woman’s gift because of “the poor.” It appears that only the woman took Jesus seriously and “she has done what she could.”

But Jesus did address their concern for the poor: “For the poor you always have with you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good; but you do not always have me” (Mark 14:7). This comment immediately turned the spotlight onto the critics: what had they done for the poor lately? 

Jesus’s comment alludes to a passage in the Torah: “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land’” (Deut. 15:11). 

The text commends generosity toward the poor, but not just handing out money to them. The context of this verse in Deuteronomy is the requirement to remit all debts every seven years. This requirement, if observed, would go a long way to lessening poverty, particularly generational poverty.  Every seven years, a family would have a chance to live and work without indebtedness, a chance to start over. Specifically, the Deuteronomy text goes on to insist that every Hebrew who must sell himself or herself into slavery must be freed in the seventh year, and must be sent away with supplies, always remembering the years of slavery in Egypt, and how the Lord set Israel free and furnished them with the goods of Egypt in their escape.

Once again Jesus rebuked the religious elite of the day for observing jots and tittles of the law but ignoring the law of love for neighbor. By including this quotation, Jesus reminded all his hearers of the requirements of Mosaic law that go to mitigating poverty, a law that each of them is responsible to fulfill. These requirements are with them and us daily. I’m reminded of the times I have heard “the poor are always with you” as an excuse for apathy, but instead Jesus and the Law make this persistence of poverty the reason for practical compassion.  Remit their debts. Give them access to your extra. Help them make a new start.

Slavery, Freedom, and Friendship

Preached by Becky Ankeny
Silverton Friends
2/12/2012

Framing Scripture
Ephesians 4:1-6 (NRSV throughout, except as noted)
I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Back when my children were little, my two-year-old (or maybe three-year-old) daughter came home singing the chorus “Learn To Be the Servant of All” for the benefit and education of her parents. We tenderly and gently explained that it applied to her also, and was not the magic formula to get parents to do whatever the child wants. The other truth is that serving children in God’s economy is not the same thing as giving them what they want or doing everything for them. It’s more about challenging them appropriately to grow and leading them into authentic relationship with Jesus. Teaching them to be “servants of all,” like our Lord. Teaching them, like Paul, to be prisoners in the Lord—engrafted in Christ, united with Him, enclosed in conscious fellowship with Jesus. Paul, who was in a physical prison, embraced with exuberance the idea of being imprisoned in Jesus. This highlights the paradox of gospel freedom—we are most free when we are most enslaved to God. We are least free when we serve ourselves.

One consistent teaching of the Bible is this: “People are slaves to whatever masters them” (2 Peter 2:19 ).

I’m not a Greek scholar, so I use Strong’s Concordance to look up words that interest me. The great thing is that I can then see where else that word is used and how it is variously translated. Another great thing is that Strong’s concordance is on line and is super easy to use.

The words I investigated were prisoner, servant and slave, and I found these three words: desmios—a captive in chains, a prisoner; doulos—a slave, captured, advancing another’s interests above one’s own; and diakonos—one who carries out the commands of another, a runner. Just for good measure I also looked up Lord/Master and discovered it can be more vividly translated “owner.” So right away I can see the flaw in translating Jesus’s parables about our relationship with God into employer/employee relationships. Those are way too flexible and dependent on employee choice. And in the words for prisoner/slave/servant, I discover a sense of urgency (runner) to do what someone else (or some compelling desire) wants done.

And I have to say that this sermon is challenging to me. I have to be reminded by Jesus on nearly a daily basis to check in—Who (or what) am I a slave to? What has mastered me and is calling the shots? Here are some possibilities.

Greatness/Importance: The desire to be the greatest—the most important—what if I am enslaved to this?

Several times, Jesus discovered his disciples arguing about who was the greatest, the most important.

“Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be the last of all and servant of all’” (Mark 9:33-35)

“A dispute also arose among the disciples as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the unbelievers lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves’”(Luke 22:24-27).

The prescription for those of us who want to be important is to become the slave of those we want to boss around: Radical surgery for the ego. In other words, we put the good of others ahead of our own preferences. In this, as in so much else, it is necessary to pay close attention to how Jesus served others and what informed his actions. Jesus first listened to God and did what he saw God doing and what God told him to do. And one of the clear ways God is active in the world is that God gives us what we need, what is good for us. Give us this day our daily bread, we ask.

Celebrity/Recognition: The desire to be recognized as special or to be in a position considered to be special—to be the favorites, in the innermost circle—what if we are enslaved to this?

“James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? ‘They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ When the ten heard this they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the unbelievers those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you: but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many’” (Mark 10:35-45; see also Matthew 20 where their mother asks for this favor).

C.S. Lewis gave an address to students at the University of London in 1944 called “The Inner Ring.” Among other wise things he says, partly out of knowledge of his own soul, he says: “I believe that in all men’s lives at certain periods, and in many men’s lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside.” I know for a personal fact that the desire to be an insider rather than an outsider has caused me to behave disloyally to true friends and to myself and to bury my own true gifts and truth.

The prescription for those of us who long to be insiders, one of the chosen few, is to follow Jesus to the cross, to drink of the cup he drank of at Gethsemane, and to be baptized with him into being God’s beloved children filled with the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, we give our lives to inviting other people into their own closeness with God over which we have no control.

Fair Treatment/Reward: The desire to be rewarded for hard work—God owes us something for all we’ve done for the church or for God—what if we are enslaved to this?

In this story, the word for laborers is not the word for slaves, but for day-laborers, people who hired themselves out for a fixed term, negotiating for their wages. These folks were likely in more need than actual household slaves because they lived on daily wages. (We have people in our towns who live the same way. Employers who take advantage of the dire neediness of such people to underpay them or take no care for their safety or well-being are often the subject of prophetic ire in the Old Testament and a cause for God’s judgment,) In the parable that follows, however, God goes looking for day-laborers; how does it work?

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them out into his vineyard. When he went out about one o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came the owner said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last’“(Matthew 20:1-16).

The prescription for those of us who demand to be treated fairly, to get as much reward as others who have worked comparably, and to get more than those who haven’t worked as long or hard is to be grateful for having our needs met and to celebrate God’s generosity to others.

So three queries we can use to check in on our enslavements:

How am I working for the best interests, the true good of those I want to boss around?
How am I giving my energy to clearing away barriers between other people and God?
How am I giving thanks that God’s generosity extends to those who don’t work for it in the same way I do?

Here is a very famous example of how Jesus acted out the principle of service: “After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them’”(John 13:12-19).

Listen also to the advice of Paul: “So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil… Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 4:25-5:2).

“[Jesus] called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross [daily, Luke 9:23] and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life (Luke: “forfeit themselves”)? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?’” (Mark 8:34-37).

What Jesus has to offer us for all our desires is himself—companionship with Jesus, working with Jesus, learning from Jesus—Jesus is our master, we are his slaves, and he says, “’From now on, I will not call you slaves, for slaves don’t know what their master is doing; but I will call you my friends, because I’ve told you everything God has told me. . . . You are my friends if you do what I command you . . . This is my command, that you love one another’” (John 15: 14, 15, 17).

“As slaves of God, live as free people.”(1 Peter 2:16).

Jesus says: “’Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Perfection in Humans: What Is It?

Sunday School from May 17, 2009
Perfection in Humans: What is it?

Other meanings of the words translated “perfect” from Strong’s concordance: complete, safe, peaceful, perfect, whole, full, at peace, complete, lacking nothing in strength, beauty, sound, wholesome, ordinary, quiet, complete, morally innocent, having integrity, brought to end, finished, complete, having integrity and virtue, mature, completed, mended, equipped, put in order, made ethical, Make complete, make perfect, achieve goal

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the entire earth, to strengthen those whose heart is true to him. (NRSV)

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (KJV)

1 Kings 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God 430, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. (KJV)

Therefore devote yourselves completely to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day (NRSV)

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect; be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect

Luke 6:36 Be merciful as your father in heaven is merciful

Matthew 19:21 If you wish to be perfect (rich young ruler)

Luke 6:40 (blind leading blind, mote in eye)
A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. (fully qualified->perfect)

Hebrews 2:10 Jesus made perfect through suffering

“It is finished”—it is completed, it is perfect

What does perfection mean with reference to Job?

Complete, lacking nothing in strength, beauty, sound, wholesome, ordinary, quiet, complete, morally innocent, having integrity

Job 1:1, 1:8, 2:3
Job blameless and upright, feared God, turned away from evil

First response to losing everything: Job 1:20-21: Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Second response to personal illness: Job 2:10 “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?”

Job humbly takes both good and bad as from God’s hand and worships God in his sorrow.

Job describes his life of integrity (sounds a lot like Sermon on the Mount, James, parable of the sheep and goats):
Chapter 29:12ff, 30:24ff, 31:1ff
Righteous
governed his eyes with regard to women, not adulterous
told truth, not deceitful
did not abuse the earth
did not conceal his transgressions
Just
made unrighteous people behave themselves
did not exercise his power to the harm of the powerless
responsive to complaints of slaves
did not rejoice when enemies failed
did not curse his enemies
Actively compassionate, generous
delivered the poor and the orphan who had no helper
gave to poor, shared with orphans, upheld the widow
eyes to blind, feet to lame
father to needy, championed cause of stranger (immigrant)
did not turn against the needy
wept for those whose days were hard
grieved for the poor
gave clothing to the needy, opened doors to the traveler
Nothing above God
did not trust in gold
did not worship sun or moon



God refers to him in 42 as “my servant Job” who has “spoken of me what is right” and says that he will have mercy on Job’s friends when Job prays for them, despite the fact that they said wrong things about God

Jesus—also referred to as perfect in the NT (see Hebrews reference above): what does perfect mean with reference to Jesus?

Obedience, God comes first

John 4:34 My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete (perfect) his work

John 5:36 the works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth by finishing (perfecting) the work you gave me to do

John 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one (made perfect)

John 19:28—fulfilled (perfected) the scripture; John 19:30 “It is finished” “It is perfect, it is perfected” “Perfect” “Teleo”

Hebrews 5:9
Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

The temptation of Jesus reveals where he was perfect:

He responds to the temptations with quotations from Deuteronomy. In context, these reveal important aspects of his perfection.

Humility, dependence on God, obedience to God, focused attention on what God wants
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

God comes first, no attempt to coerce or manipulate God, obedience to God
Deuteronomy 6:14, 16-18
Do not follow other gods because God who is present with you is a jealous God
Do not put the Lord your God to the test
You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees
Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you

God comes first, God isthe source of all
Deuteronomy 6:12-14
God gives good things you did not earn, take care you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of slavery; The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear

The Perfection of Humans
Remember God who gives you all pleasant things; fear God, serve God, put nothing ahead of God, do what God has said to do, what is right and good, what God tells you to do every day

When suffering comes, remember God, worship God, submit to God, serve God, put nothing ahead of God, do what God says to do

Learn from suffering to be obedient, complete the work God has given you to do

This is human perfection

Judgment Day, Part 2

Freedom in the Son

Framing Scriptures
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.

Christmas represents our chance to reflect on the astonishing gift Jesus is to us—fully God and fully human, Jesus brought us the truth about God—Jesus is what God is and God is what Jesus is. Jesus is also what we are so that we can be what Jesus is—people who pay attention to our father in heaven and do what we see our father doing. Jesus completely understands what it means to be human—the Bible says he was tempted in all ways as we are—in all ways—yet was never enslaved by sin. He loved the earth and the people in it, and he loved them so much that their refusal to see God in him frustrated him, particularly because they hid behind religious law in order to avoid real relationship with God. That real relationship is where human beings are really free—paradoxically, we are God’s slaves in order to be completely free.

Suppose you are living in a dark jail cell awaiting your trial. Your worst fear is of the day when someone will show up at your cell and haul you before the judge. Deep in your heart you know there are countless offenses that have given the judge the right to have you imprisoned for life or even executed. Yet you complain about the cell and your cellmates and insist you did nothing to merit this imprisonment.

Then one day, a guard shows up and calls your name. Trembling, you follow the guard down the long hall. Your hands are manacled, and you are wearing prison orange. You enter the courtroom. The judge is all you feared—imposing, high above you; you cannot meet his eyes. Your guilt is written all over you. The judge says to the prosecutor: “What are the charges?”

The prosecutor begins a long list of all the things you thought were secret, all the things you did to get ahead of other people, every time you lied, every time you acted out of malice, every time you hoarded your stuff rather than sharing, the ways you dismissed and disrespected others. And it goes on and on. Before the list can end, you drop to your knees and cry out, “Have mercy on me. I’ll do better, I promise. I’m a different person now. I’ll be good.”

Unbelievably, you hear the judge say, “It’s obvious this person will never be able to pay for these wrongs. Let’s try this: freedom.”

You cannot believe it, and you still don’t dare look up from the ground. You leave the courtroom; you are given civilian clothes. You step out onto the street, your own voice ringing in your ears. “I’ll be good.” You get in line at the burger bar to buy a meal, and someone pushes ahead of you. Without a thought, you throw that person to the ground and start kicking. No one is going to take what’s yours, including your place in line.

The girl behind the counter dials 911, and when the police show up, you have your hands around the neck of the person who cut in front of you, and you are closing your fingers as tightly together as you can. The police yank your hands off and behind you, handcuff you, and take you back to the courtroom you just left.

The judge says, “Didn’t I just set you free? Why are you enforcing all the rules I let you out of? You don’t understand freedom, so you will remain in prison.” As you walk down the hallway, you are weeping and grinding your teeth together. Even as messed up as you made it, you loved being out of jail. But you had never really been free.

This is my version of the parable Jesus told in Matthew 18. I want to be sure that this point comes across: The freed prisoner didn’t get thrown back into jail because she wasn’t good enough. She ended up in jail because she didn’t listen. The judge had set her free. Nothing she had done was held against her. But she didn’t live as if she were free of those crimes and laws and rules. She was still insisting that she would pay for her crimes by being good

When Jesus came, Jesus brought freedom for us poor sinners. Jesus said to so many people: you are free. Be alive in that freedom. Let’s pay attention to scriptures that describe what Jesus means to us:

God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son; whoever has confidence in Jesus will not perish but have life that never ends. I am come that you might have life, and not just a pinched little life, but one filled with abundance, where you understand finally the overwhelming generosity of God. I saw Satan fall from heaven—but this isn’t why you rejoice; instead, rejoice that your names are written in the book of life. I do not condemn you—go and live freed from sin. Adam brought death into the world, and now all die; Jesus brought life in order to make everyone completely alive. You have not received a spirit of fear and slavery and imprisonment, but a spirit of adoption into God’s own family as God’s children; you are free to think of God as your own “papa” or “daddy” no matter what your earthly father was like. You have the freedom of a son or daughter. When you realize you have been set free, don’t be entangled again in a net of rules and don’t let sin tell you what to do. Don’t use freedom as license to do wrong, but live free. If Jesus, God’s Son, has set you free, you are in fact free. Who is your judge? The same one who gave himself to set you free. Confess everything you are ashamed of to him, and he will erase your record and you will be innocent. Walk in love toward others, love that is embodied in action, and you do not need to fear a guilty conscience.

Be abundant.

Abide in Jesus, let fruit happen, accept the pruning of God which increases the amount and quality of fruit, the fruit that grows naturally from being connected to Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit access to your whole self. Obeying God’s Holy Spirit results in a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. No one makes laws against these things. You can tell if you’re slipping if you start becoming conceited, competing with other people, or envying someone else. Get out of that jail as soon as you can by confessing and having confidence in God’s love for you.

Bear with one another. Bear each other’s burdens. If you see someone slipping out of God’s freedom, gently approach that person with the truth, always remembering you too are likely to slip on occasion. Anyone who says he or she doesn’t slip into conceit, competition, or envy is likely to be self-deceiving, so be merciful to each other, just as God has been merciful to you. Don’t judge, so you won’t be judged. Don’t be like the folks who missed the freedom Jesus brought in his life on earth, who said to him, “You should be more careful to observe Sabbath, you should fast, you should pay temple tax, you should accept our authority”; he said about them that they tied burdens on other people they were too good to help carry.

Jesus is not too good to help us carry our burdens. He says, “I will be yoked with you—come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden; be my partner, my yoke-fellow, and learn from me, for I am tenderhearted; you will find that your souls have rest.”

Suppose a different end to the parable: Suppose that you looked into the judge’s face and saw his eyes. After that encounter with love, you walk out of the courtroom a free soul, and you notice a new holy light on everyone and everything you see. You sense that love is at the heart of things. You are standing in line at the burger bar, and someone pushes in front of you, and you are filled with light and love, and you say to that person, “I see you are hungrier than I am—do you have enough money for what you want to eat? I have a little extra because the judge was so generous when he let me go this morning.”

You live free, you live abundantly, you share yourself and your God-given abilities with everyone, never once worrying about whether you are getting it right, meeting expectations, following the rules adequately. When you get even a hint of measuring yourself against others, you say, “O God, I am so prone to do this. I confess that for a moment I lost sight of your eyes and your love, and I was wrong. I will never be able to keep from this unless you help me, and I want that help.” Then you go on your way rejoicing.

And when you die, and you come before the last judgment, you look up, and whose face do you see? You see the face of Jesus, God’s Son and your own brother. When he speaks, you hear the same voice you have been listening for and obeying for your whole lifetime.

It is just possible that people reading this have not yet understood or lived into the love of God. If you want to, you can start today. What is God saying to you?

Gratitude, Generosity, and the Gospel

Gratitude, Generosity, and the Gospel
Preached Sept. 28, 2008

We ended up the last posting with generosity as evidence of having confidence in God.

A lot of what Jesus has to teach us has to do with being generous.

Remember that God loves us so much individually and as a church that Jesus poured out his love and his life to show us that love; Generosity is a characteristic of God.

Let’s look at generosity in Mark, and we’ll start with this puzzling little passage in chapter 8. “Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And Jesus warned them, ‘Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’” Unsurprisingly, they were baffled. Huh? What does he mean? Don’t buy bread from Pharisees or from Herod? They muttered to each other, “Is he saying this because we forgot to buy bread? Who was in charge of that, anyway?” Now this is very funny; it reminds me of when I was teaching my students in one class how to write papers, and then in the next class they took they said, “Oh, you want us to do that in this class, too?” NOOO, I said, just start over like you know nothing. Which is approximately what Jesus said, too. I find it hard to read what he said without hearing a tiny bit of sarcasm:

“What’s up with you? Why are you talking about literal bread? Where were you when I fed five thousand men and their wives and children with five loaves, and four thousand with seven loaves? Think I can’t make one loaf go for 13 people? Don’t you understand? Are you blind? Are you deaf? What is wrong with your memory? Is your heart closed to what I’ve been saying and doing right before your eyes?”

So what has Jesus been saying and doing right before their eyes? He has been illustrating how God takes the little we can give to him and makes it go far enough to meet the needs we are responding to. Our offering plus God’s blessing can satisfy the spiritually and physically needy.

Let’s look more closely at these stories. In Mark 6, Jesus is taking his disciples on a retreat. His cousin John the Baptist has died and the disciples have just returned from their first preaching mission. He wants to go away and rest awhile. It isn’t hard to see an analogy to church. We come to church partly to support each other through hard times and partly to debrief from our work for Jesus in the world. And when Jesus shows up at his retreat, there are crowds of needy people waiting for him. And his heart is moved with compassion because they are so hungry and lost. The disciples, practical folks, say, “Send them away so they can get something to eat.” Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.”

Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy says that Jesus is the smartest person ever, so we can take what Jesus says as serious and good advice about how to live. I think Willard is right, so let’s pay attention to what Jesus says to do: “You give them something to eat.”

God is all-powerful and can do anything, and in the Old Testament, God rained down food on the wandering Israelites in the wilderness. But here, in the Kingdom, God’s Son says, “You give them something to eat.” “What?!” They say. “It will take several years’ worth of wages to buy food for this mob.” Jesus says, “Well, what do you have? Go and see.” Turns out they have five loaves and a couple of fish. Other gospels tell us a little child brought this to Jesus. Here in Mark, we have just the essentials. Jesus had the disciples get people to sit down in orderly groups, and he took the teeny tiny bit of food, thanked God for it, blessed it, passed it out, and everyone was satisfied. In fact, there were twelve baskets of leftovers.

This story teaches us a lot about generosity. One, God wants us to be generous. After all, God never stops giving, and his Son gave everything also. Two, pour out what you have, even if it’s small. God’s love is infinite, and it multiplies our gifts beyond our imagination. God can take the little bit we feel qualified to give and with it feed the hungry and save the lost.

It isn’t long until Jesus and his disciples replay the whole drama in the land of Gentiles. Mark 8 has them again with a large crowd with nothing to eat. This crowd has been hanging out with Jesus for three days, so if they had food, they’ve eaten it. Again Jesus is moved with compassion. He says, “I can’t send them home without food; they may faint on the way.” His disciples say, “This is the desert; what are we supposed to do about it?” (They may have thought, “We’re hungry, too, you know.”) Jesus says, again, “Well, what do you have?” Turns out they have seven loaves and a few small fish. Same thing happens as before. Orderly groups sitting down, Jesus blessing the food, disciples passing it around, lots of leftovers.

Last story I’ll tell: A rich young man shows up and asks Jesus what he can do to inherit eternal life. Jesus says to him, “You know the rules.” The young man says, “I’ve kept them since I was a kid.” Jesus looks at him and, Mark 10:21 says, “He loved him.” This is the same compassionate response Jesus had to the hungry crowds. When God sees hungry people, God wants to fill them up, whether the hunger is physical or spiritual. In this case, Jesus says, “you need to give away what you own.” Why might Jesus say that to him? I think it is because when we have things we call our own, whether those are abilities or things, we do not throw ourselves into God’s love wholeheartedly. Instead, God has to work very hard to push through the cares we have for our stuff in order for us to know God’s love.

I grew up in Burundi, Africa, and they do the offering differently there. People were living on about $31 per year on average, most on subsistence farms, and a lot was done on the barter system. The middle class was growing and were undoubtedly providing the main financial backing for the churches, but the working poor still dominated the numbers of attenders in church. Every Sunday, we took our offerings down to the plate in the front of the church, men, women, and children, and we put it in the plate. In the old days, offerings included chickens or produce, which is biblical, by the way. I always participated as a little kid; I liked having something to give to God and I liked being a part of the parade.

I was at the church business meeting this month, and it turns out First Friends here is spending more money than is being contributed in offerings. I’m working on earning an M.B.A., and this isn’t a good business model. I just mention it so that if you have been wondering whether the church needs your giving, the answer is yes, we do. The time-worn model is giving one/tenth of your income. And I like tithing because it is a discipline that helps us remember that God has given us everything we have and has plenty to meet our needs if we pry our sticky fingers off some of it and contribute it. Giving also helps us remember that God’s love for us is absolutely enough. We don’t give money to make God love us more; we give money because Jesus has asked us, “What do you have to give?” and some of us have money.

To the rich young man, Jesus asks, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God.” Then he asks for everything the young man calls his own. Do you believe God is good? If God is good, you can put everything you “own” into his hands. If God is good, you can give away yourself, your gifts, your money, your reputation, your rights—pour yourself out. Your generosity demonstrates that you believe God is good.

What Jesus praises

What Jesus praises in humans
Preached 9/21/2008

Framing Scripture:
Mark 1:14, 35-38 (NRSV, modified by me as noted)
“Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”
Or, to put it another way:
This is the time you’ve been waiting for: the kingdom of God is here; turn your soul around and trust in these glad tidings.

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’

We celebrate the love of God embodied in Jesus who came to tell us glad tidings, good news.

God has been looking for lost human beings ever since they turned and ran away, and God is looking for anyone reading this who feels lost. Jesus came to make clear that God’s intention is reconciliation; that God wants human beings to turn around and see the love God expressed by sending Jesus. Jesus also made it clear that it is not ok with God to prevent people from knowing that God loves them and welcomes them home.

So this is good news, glad tidings, the gospel. In fact, it is what we are supposed to share with others. Jesus said to a man he rescued from demons, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.” That’s what we are doing when we do evangelism, which is a fancy Greek word for telling the good news. If you’re not already in the habit of telling people what God has done for you, try doing so: share how God has shown you mercy with one person this week.

Mark is the writer preoccupied with good news; the term occurs more times in Mark than any of the other gospels. Check it out. Mark was excited about what Jesus came to tell us and do for us.

Last posting, we looked at incidents which made Jesus unhappy with people—Pharisees, his disciples, Peter specifically. This posting, we are looking at incidents where Jesus praised people. The stories are in Mark 5, Mark 7, Mark 10, Mark 12, and Mark 14. We are going to see that Jesus praises people who show that they have confidence in God’s love, a confidence that results in persistence and generosity, even when things look bleak.

Confidence
Mark 5:24-34
Jesus is on his way to heal the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue leader. A large crowd presses in on him as he walks, and in that crowd is a woman who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years. “She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.” She was also ritually unclean and could not have attended synagogue or gone to temple during those 12 years. Anything or anyone she touched was unclean, too. She had heard about Jesus and she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”

Stop and consider that confidence. What was it based on? Probably some of it was desperation, and God is always available to the desperate. In fact, Jesus sensed her presence and her touch in the middle of the crowd, and he called her out. She knew what had happened to her, and she came in fear and trembling, fell down before him and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed.”

Think about your own lives. Can you recall in your life when you were without any other hope and you turned to God? A place where Jesus said to you, Daughter or son, your faith has made you well, go in peace, be healed. If you are in a place today where if you could, you would just reach out and touch Jesus’s clothing, knowing that would bring you peace and healing, you can do it here and now.

The kingdom of God is right here and right now, and you are welcome to enter it and to live in the love of God.

Mark 10:46-52
Jesus is on his way out of Jericho and a blind begger, Bartimaeus, hears that the crowd contains Jesus of Nazareth. He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” over and over, louder and louder. People around him try to shut him up, but Jesus says, “Call him here.” They tell him, “Take heart, get up, he is calling you.” Jesus says to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus says to him, “Go, your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regains his sight and follows Jesus.

Think about your own lives. Can you recall in your life where you asked Jesus to help you see clearly, and Jesus did so? Jesus says to you, “Go, your faith, your confidence in God, has made it possible for you to see clearly again.” If you are in a place today where if you could, you would shout out to Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” you can do that here and now, and Jesus will have mercy on you.

Notice that both these people were pushy in their efforts to get close to Jesus; one of the signs you have faith, i.e., you have confidence in God, is that you won’t let anything stand in the way of getting to God—you are persistent. Jesus said in another place, “The good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed and people are pressing into it” (Luke 16:16).

Persistence
Mark 7:24-30
In this story, Jesus leaves Galilee and goes among Gentiles, or non-Jews. He doesn’t really want anyone to know he is there, but a Gentile woman with a disturbed daughter hears about him and comes to see him. She bows before him, showing him respect, and begs him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He says to her, in one of the more puzzling responses of Jesus to a needy person, “The children have to eat first; it isn’t fair to feed the children’s food to the dogs.” Think about this: he has suggested to her that the good news is limited to Jews, “the children” and she’ll have to wait to see if there is anything left over. It is shocking, really, because it is clear that Jesus came to make the truth of God’s love for human beings clear, and that this love is for all human beings. So this is a huge test for the Gentile woman. Is she just grabbing at straws in desperation, or does she have confidence that God can help her? Her reply reveals that she has that confidence, when she says, “But the dogs can always eat the crumbs when they drop from the table,” and Jesus says, according to Matthew’s gospel, “Woman, great is your faith. You may go, the demon has left your daughter.”

Think about your own lives: have you wondered whether you are eligible for God’s love and mercy? If you have been discouraged and felt hopeless, and you have still held on to confidence in the sufficiency of God’s love, Jesus says to you, great is your faith. Even today, you can say to Jesus, I’ll take the crumbs of God’s love, infinite crumbs of an infinite love, and that will be enough for me. I believe in the sufficiency of God’s love for all human beings.

Generosity
The effect of believing that God’s love is sufficient and universal, as well as deeply personal and relevant to your everyday life, is to make people generous, and Jesus points that out in two additional incidents. One is in Mark 12, when Jesus praises the impoverished widow who gives all she has to God, which is a sign that she believes God will take care of her; and he praises the woman who pours perfume on him, saying “She has performed a good service for me” in her generosity. When we understand how God loves us, we understand that we can afford to be generous and pour ourselves out in gratitude to God.

So there are three characteristics that, when acted on, call forth praise from Jesus in the Gospel of Mark:

Confidence that God’s love is sufficient and universal, personal and relevant;

Persistence in seeking for God and God’s help as a sign of confidence in God;

Generosity as a sign of confidence in God.