LIVING AS FORGIVEN SINNERS

Someone noted that, if we want to find a person’s god, we should follow the money- their checkbook will tell us whom they are worshiping. But it’s not all about the love of money, we can also find our god... when we find what or whom we turn to for comfort, whom we run to when we’re scared, that person or thing that most fulfills us, or gives us the greatest joy! There was a time when I couldn’t conceive of a “good time” without alcohol. Other people don’t feel complete unless they’re “in love” with something, and still others hoard stuff to feel complete.

Who or what… makes life worth living? Who or what “turns you on”? In whom or what do you trust? This question is at the core of God’s case in the 2^nd chapter of Jeremiah, where God indicts Israel for two interrelated sins: 1) replacing a loving and living God with lesser gods who cannot love, respond, or save; and 2) trusting in broken cisterns for the water of life. Trusting in something or someone else as our source of fulfillment and joy… is the source of our sins… and it is a shame because God is so very near to us.

Chances are you haven’t thought much about sin lately because it’s a term that seems outdated. It's passe. Biblically speaking it means “missing the mark,” which includes sins of commission and sins of omission. In practice, however, we don’t count the things we didn’t do- like welcoming strangers, feeding the hungry, sharing our talent and treasure- as sin because our focus is on specific behaviors that we did do. In recent poll of Christians, 81% said that adultery a sin,  and it was followed by racism, hard drugs, keeping the money when a cashier gives us too much change, abortion, homosexuality, falsifying income tax returns, pornography, gossip, and swearing. In contrast, 100% of Evangelical Christians considered adultery to be a sin, and that was followed by: gossip, swearing, racism, income tax evasion, keep excess change, abortion, porn, pre-marital sex, getting drunk, having sexual thoughts (other than spouse), marijuana, having homosexual thoughts, telling white lies, harming the environment, smoking, R-rated movies, playing the lottery, not attending church…. spanking children, dancing, and being rich!

Well, what do you think? Has the "net of sins" gathered you in as a sinner yet? If not, we could add, not worshiping God with all of your heart, not honoring our mother and father, stealing, coveting, pride, anger, judging others, envy, sloth, and many more. We love to list and prioritize sin, but listing sins in this way is just a way of judging others and ourselves. It is also a way of getting well off track because our traditional list of sins is not accurate, complete, or definable. What does it mean, for instance, to honor our mother and father? What can we do about sexual thoughts, other than not acting on them? Getting drunk and telling white lies would pretty much guarantee that we are a gathering of sinners here today, as would going to R-rated movies, playing the lottery, not attending church (every Sunday), and dancing. Yes, it’s true, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We are a gathering of sinners… who have been forgiven and renewed in Christ! We are a gathering of forgiven sinners who are living in community as a people who know themselves to be forgiven!

We should quit obsessing on the sins of others and live each day as a glorious opportunity for ministry. We should have mile-wide smiles and boundless energy to love one another, welcome strangers, and serve Christ in our community… because He has given us new life. We are new creations in Christ and, with that in mind, we are encouraged to throw our scorecards away and to love others in the same way and to the same degree that we love ourselves. Our fundamental sin is our inability (and unwillingness) to let go and trust God. We are tempted to talk about grace, transformation, and acceptance on Sundays, knowing that we will be trusting in our nest eggs and our connections… come Monday. This doesn’t make us bad people, only good people who are unable (or unwilling) to let God make us better and more fulfilled. Coming and going to church, without surrendering to God, is not the worse thing in the world, but it’s not the best either because we can trust God and embrace each day without worry or fear.

We can live and love as a carefree Christian community and we can do so in many ways. But today, rather than dwelling on sin, I will conclude by lifting up the ways that we can please God, which the author of the book of Hebrews noted centuries ago. Instead of focusing on a list of sins, let us claim our baptisms. Let us trust God and live as God's people. Let us continue to love one another as brothers and sisters, as a chosen family, because in Christ, that’s what we are; 2) let us continue to show hospitality to strangers- to those who are new to us and not like us, and as a More Light church, we’ve already taken a stand; 3) let us identify with those who are imprisoned (in all the ways we get chained) and with those who are suffering… in a deep and powerful way, as if we are suffering ourselves; 4) loving God and God’s people is enough. Let us pray that we will never fall in love with our money; 5) let us be content with what God has given us. There’s nothing out there or across the road that going to make us any happier than serving God; 6) Ideas change over time. We know that the color of our skin and the people we choose to love are gifts from God, for instance. But God does not change- so let us resist the temptation to chase every fad that comes our way; 7) Life is short. Tomorrow is not ours. So, let us seize the moments that are given to us in which we can do good and share what we have with others. 

Let us rejoice in our forgiveness and meet each day with courage, contentment  and grace. May we live as if we live in Christ. May we love, welcome, forgive, and serve others. As the good Book says, God is pleased with sacrifices such as these! Amen!

CHRISTIANS MUST FEED THE POOR AND WELCOME THE STRANGER

From the beginning, Israel was called to Mishpat and Sedeqah. Throughout the Bible, God’s people were expected to treat others “justly” and “compassionately. They were expected to worship God appropriately, no doubt, to honor the Sabbath, give tithes, and so forth… but they were judged on the way they lived and how they treated others. Mishpat (justice), and Sedeqah, (righteousness), defined their love for God and neighbors.

They were expected to behave themselves, for sure, but their faithfulness was measured by the way they lived and treated others. And so, throughout both Testaments, similar questions are asked: did you leave some of your field untouched and some of your vineyards unpicked… so that the poor and the vulnerable, the orphans and the widows, could survive? Did you feed the hungry? Did you welcome the stranger? Did you keep your thumbs off the scale in the market? Did you offer merciful justice? Was your justice mixed with mercy and kindness? Were you able to recall when you were a stranger, when you were down and out, when you needed a little help to get on your feet? Are you able to see that some of those among you are especially vulnerable and that, for them, justice will require an act of kindness and empowerment? Sedeqah- merciful justice- doing the right thing- is a big part of what it means to be faithful!

In today’s passage we join Isaiah as he sings a song for God. It’s about His people, His vineyard, His disappointment, and it goes like this. God makes the case that He had done all that He could do for his people. He placed them in paradise to begin with. He started over with Noah, freed his people when they were slaves in Egypt, gave them a land of "milk and honey," called them to faithfulness through his prophets, and forgave them again and again. He had protected them, nurtured them, comforted them, and now he cries, “What more could I have done?” I gave my all to these people and I expected anavim (delicious grapes), but instead I see beusim (wild grapes that are good for nothing). I looked for mishpat (justice) but found mispah (oppression). I expected righteousness (sedeqah), but heard cries for help (seaqah). My people, God seems to be saying, have not lived as my people. They have not been just or righteous and these are the very things I long to see. 

In today’s world, taking care of those who are hungry and naked is seen through a political lens, as is leaving some of your profit for the poor and welcoming strangers into your community. This is unfortunate because mishpat and sedeqah are not political issues. They are matters of faithfulness, obedience, and kindness. Sharing what we have, walking across the street to help our neighbor, welcoming people who don't look like us or live like us, and making sure that everybody is treated as if they are somebody in Christ... has long been at the heart of our faith! Indeed, it is much of what it means to be a Christian and it frustrates me when either party tries to claim it social justice and righteousness for itself. 

Jesus didn't talk about things like guaranteed incomes and trickle down economics, but he did hold these truths close to his heart: 1) everybody is somebody in God’s eyes; 2) no one should be discriminated against for "superficial" differences; and 3) blessings, like wealth, time, and attentiveness, must be shared with those who need them! In his Sermon of the Mount, Jesus noted that citizens of the kingdom mourn for a broken world, do what they can to "repair" it, give to the needy, love their enemies, and store up their treasures in heaven. The Hebrews didn’t have government programs for the poor, but God’s people have always been expected to welcome strangers, feed the hungry, and set the oppressed free. Indeed, this is what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves!

In the 25^th chapter of Matthew, we join the passage just as Jesus announces who "is in" and who "is out." Come on in, he will say, to those who are assembled on his right side. Come on in… “for I was was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me”’ Wow. It's an open-book test and we have the answer! It’s as simple as this. Christians see Christ in the least among them... and they feed him when he is hungry, clothe him when he is naked, lift him up when he lies along the roadside, visit him when he is lying in a hospital bed, a hospice bed, or his death bed, liberate him when he is imprisoned by one of the destructive forces that get a hold of us, and accept him in whatever form he appears to us. 

All Christians do these things, no matter where or how they worship and with no account for their political views. There are all sorts of things we can quibble about in our time, but loving others as we love ourselves is not one of them! Amen!

FAITH IS AN ACTION WORD

Faith is the assurance of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Faith is seeing what we believe. It is knowing that the very best things in the world- like love, forgiveness, honor, and shalom- cannot be seen, studied, or measured. Faith is living AS IF God’s promises are true, even if they may never be true for you. Faith is seeing things through the lens of God’s Word and the eyes of God’s Son.

The Christian journey is walked by faith and it cannot be walked without it. It has nothing much to do with catechisms and even less to do with denominations. It has nothing to do with perfection and it is not defined by church titles or attendance. It is simply this: Christians believe that God’s Word is true and they live AS IF it is true for them. Christians, then, are called to embrace God’s people in all of their shapes and colors because there is no male or female, no black or white, no gay or straight… in Christ. Christians, for no other reason than they are Christians, must forgive and forgive, to the point of appearing foolish, because they know themselves to have been forgiven. If they are living as if God’s promises are true, Christians will draw large and permeable circles of grace… because their Lord does, and Christians will have a special place in their hearts for those who are vulnerable because God has a special place in His heart for widows, orphans, foreigners, and those who are shut-in, shut-away, shut-up, and/or shut-down.

If they are living by faith, Christians will be generous  because they know where their treasure is stored. In short, faith is part believing, part trusting in our beliefs, and part living in ways that show the world who we are betting our lives on. Faith solidifies our hope, but it is NOT magical, pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking. Faith is not pretending that things are okay. It is not denying the pain and the struggles that are common to all of us. Faith is living AS IF God is present in the midst of a storm or in the heat of a battle.

People of faith are not assured a perfect and pain-free life, nor are they assured of fame and comfort. Faith will not relieve the pain we feel when a loved one dies or the fear that fills us when danger seems near, but it will assure us that God is with us because God has promised that He will be. Faith will not stop our tears from falling when love and loss demand it, but it will assure us that God’s heart is breaking with ours and that our broken world is in God’s hands. It is faith, believing in a place called heaven that we have never seen, that assures us that our loved ones are home when they die. People of faith see the world’s pain and sin just as plainly as anyone else does. They see injustice and discrimination. They hear the cries and they feel the rumblings of a world that is unsettled. They don’t deny it, BUT they don’t surrender to it either… because they believe that God is with us in the storm and that this world is in His hands.

People of faith do not give up in despair. They don’t live in denial, but they don’t sit on the laurels either. They don’t simply gather and sing Kum by Yah because faith is a way of living. It demands action or, as James noted, it is dead. Christians are called to action! We are called to get involved in a world that needs both justice and mercy. We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, preach good news to the poor, share their resources others, walk with those who are walking alone, pick up those who have fallen, love one another so obviously that it bears witness to the world, and drag despots off of their thrones… because Jesus Christ is their Lord.

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Christians are not perfect. They are not sinless. They don't have all the answers. They are not better than other people. They are simply those who live as if God can be trusted. Christians have problems, sometimes serious problems. They despair, sin, and doubt. They give in to the world’s demands. They even hide their faith and they are tempted to live as if money, power, or pleasure is Lord. This is all true… but if they are mature, they believe in things that they cannot see and live as if God’s promises are true!

I was with Jeff Arduser just before he died and I can tell you that he was certain that he would soon be with Christ- and this assurance gave him the freedom to talk to his family about their faith journeys. When Coy Bullard was dying, he told me that he was looking forward to it because he could see his Mary and his Lord, standing together and waiting for him. He saw this so intensely, so plainly, that he was almost reaching out. When I last visited Will Miner on his hospice bed, he said, “We will meet again!” These were his last words to me and he wasn’t kidding!

Faith is not something for which we are tested- it is something we live out. It is something that affects what we do and say and how we prioritize our lives. It gives us the courage to carry our own crosses and the empathy to heal and empower others as we follow Christ along the way. Amen!.