WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH LAZARUS?

 

     There was a certain rich man who wore purple linen clothes everyday- not just for special occasions, but everyday. Purple was a sign of wealth and this man, who later became known as “Dives,” wore it every single day. He lived like a king and dined on the best of food. In a time when people struggled to afford meat, this rich man ate pheasant, dormice, boar, and lamb on a regular basis, along with the best fruit and wine that money could buy.  There was a certain poor man (who was every bit as poor as the rich man was rich) named Lazarus who laid near the rich man’s gate. Instead of purple clothes, Lazarus was covered in sores, that dogs licked as they roamed the streets, and he longed for nothing more than a few crumbs from the rich man’s table. But they never came. Not a scrap, not a drink… because Dives didn’t seem to see him. Day after day, the rich man would come and go without acknowledging the poor man who laid at his gate in any way. In the course of time, both men died. Lazarus was taken by angels and placed in the bosom of Father Abraham. Dives, on the other hand, ended up in hell, where he experienced great emotional and physical agony. According to Jesus’ parable, the rich man was suffering when he lifted his eyes and saw both Abraham and Lazarus. Have mercy on me, he cried out to Abraham, and send Lazarus to give me a drop of water to quench my thirst. Abraham said, ‘My son, do not forget that when you were living you had your good things. Lazarus had bad things.” And more than all this, no one from here can get to you! (see Luke 16:19ff)

      A certain rich man’s land produced a bountiful crop. Its abundance caught him by surprise and he wondered what he should do with his abundance. Then he thought, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I will be on easy street for the rest of my life. I will rest, eat, drink, and throw parties without a care in the world. But God said to him, “You fool,” you should’ve stored up your riches in heaven because this is your last day on earth. (see Luke 12:13ff) There was a man who came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, what can I do to gain eternal life?" Obey the commandments, Jesus stated. I have, the man replied. “Then,” Jesus said, “sell what you own, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad because he was very rich. (Matt. 19:16ff) And so what are we to make of all of this, especially those of us who are rich by the world’s standards? 

      There is no reason to think that Dives insulted or abused Lazarus… but he was blind to Lazarus’ needs. He didn’t see him. There’s no reason to think that the rich "fool" should have felt guilty because he received a bountiful crop, or that he should not have carefully considered what to do with it….but it’s clear that he didn’t see his connection with those in need, and didn’t see that the future is God’s time! Likewise, it doesn’t seem that the rich ruler was corrupt or evil, but it is clear that he just couldn’t bring himself to let go of his riches because he had fallen in love with them. To me, these passages are personal. They are not indictments against riches as such- Abraham, for instance, was extremely rich. They warn us about misusing riches, but they do not condemn them or celebrate poverty. They are not about economic systems or a redistribution of wealth, but they do ask two very important questions to me: 1) am I generous with what I have, and 2) what am I doing with Lazarus? Do I wear my riches well and share generously as God leads me... and what am I doing with Lazarus? What am I doing with Jesus when he appears to me as a beggar on the street, as an unwelcome intruder cleaning my windshield, as a lonely figure in an alley, as a young woman whose life has gone all wrong, as someone who is simply hard to like, or a Lazarus, who is dying under my watch?

      To me, Christianity revolves around two questions: 1) what am I doing with the gifts and opportunities God has given me, and 2) what am I doing with His Son? Do I even see him? Am I willing to go out of my way to be of assistance? I would like to think that I would’ve paid for Lazarus’ medical care, fed him lavishly, and given him a place to call home… or at least looked him in the eye and given him a few crumbs from my table, but my track record would tell a different story. O Lord, give me eyes that see you when you appear to me, a heart that breaks with yours, and enough courage to get involved. Amen! 

 

TAKE A PLUMB LINE, CHRISTIAN! WHAT DO YOU SEE?

 

TAKE A PLUMB LINE, CHRISTIAN! WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Amos was a shepherd in Tekoa, a small village, south of Jerusalem, in the southern kingdom of Judah. He lived in a time of relative peace and things were going well, especially in the northern kingdom of Israel… where many of the people drank the best of wines and lived in big stone houses. They were also a religious people who gathered for their festivals and joyfully presented their offerings to God… but (and this is a big but) they had built their “good life” on the backs of the poor and vulnerable who lived in their midst.

They were filled with a sense of entitlement. They were drunk on their own wine. They had come to believe that God blessings were all designed for them… and they had ignored the justice (mishpat) and righteousness (sedeqah) that God demanded from the very beginning.  Amos was neither a prophet nor a son of a prophet. He was a shepherd, but after he received his call from God, he traveled north to present God’s case against the way in which the poor and marginalized were being treated. He condemned those who had winter homes and summer homes, while others were struggling, and he singled out the entitled women of Bashan, whom he called “fat cows” because they oppressed the poor and crushed the needy.

Speaking for God, he criticized the wealthy for worshiping God on their own terms and for being more filled with self-righteousness than righteousness. “There are those among you,” Amos noted, again speaking for God, “who hate the one who upholds justice and detest the one who tells the truth.” Not only do you avoid both justice and the truth, but you persecute those who try to help and get attention for the poor and disadvantaged. According to Amos,there were those who “levied a straw tax on the poor” and who “oppressed the innocent by taking bribes,” while they build stone mansions for themselves. “I hate, I despise, your festivals.” God said. “I will not listen to your harps”... until justice rolls down like a river and righteousness like a near falling stream. I will not attend your events and I will not listen to your organ music until you practice mishpat and sedeqah in your land and show my love in the way you treat others. “Your beds are adorned with ivory and you drink wine by the bowlful,” but you “do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.”

Israel was a religious people, but they were not faithful. They did not love their neighbors as themselves. They were not their brothers' or sisters' keeper, and they didn’t keep their thumbs off the the scales in the marketplace. Their religion had become part of their self-serving and dismissive lifestyle. SO… God showed a plumb line to Amos… and asked, “What do you see?” What do you see? Are things okay, or are they out of plumb? 

Are things okay or are they out of plumb in our world, our country, our town, our church, our families, in our own lives? Or are they straight and lined up with God’s will, to the best of our ability? What do you see, dear Christian? Are things plumb or have they gone awry? Are there safety nets and helping hands for those who are vulnerable? Are strangers welcomed when they show up at our door? Are the circles of grace and acceptance that we draw… as big and as permeable as God’s? Do we see other people, near and far, the same and different, as bearers of God’s image or as people who can serve us and be of some use? Are we rearing our children in the way of the Lord? Have we tamed our tribal tendencies? Are we doing better at knowing and trusting our neighbors? Have we broken the cycle of violence in our towns and in our homes? Do we leave some of our crops for the poor and the strangers? Are we, as a people, in good shape morally and spiritually? Do we really walk hand in hand? Do we even try? Do people really know us by our love? Do those who have two coats give one to the person who has none? Do we speak for those whose voices have been silenced? Do we speak truth to power, even if it costs us something? Does Abel’s blood cry out to us, for the taking of his life, as it did to God so many years ago? Do we embrace the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable? When we look into the eyes of a person who may be next to us in a line somewhere, or at table with us, who may or may not look like us; who may be, or not be, in agreement with us- do we see a child of God?  Or is our vision blinded by stereotypes and our own self interests?

      Take a plumb line, Christian (you and me) and see if things are plumb… in the world, in the church, in your family, and in your heart? Amen.

Posted by RevKen at 6:15 PM No comments:

PENIEL AND JACOB’S NEW NAME

 

         When I think of “wrestling,” I think of Yukon Eric, Gorgeous George, and Saturday nights at my grandmother’s house, or two of my cousins who were noted wrestlers for U.N.I., or a boy named Sue, who wrestled with his dad in the “ mud and the blood and the beer.” And I think of my own wrestling matches with my past, my sins, my addictions, with the essence of who I am, and with my God! If I could go back in time, I would change many things and even now, I would change some things. I wrestled with alcohol, everyone knows that, but I also wrestled with the truth, and acceptance, and surrender. Once God got my attention, right away He started leaning on me to trust and let go, to give up my efforts to direct everyone else in my world and let the Holy Spirit have His way with me.

      And through the years I’ve know many people who have struggled with relationships, sins, addictions, health, dying, surrender, real discipleship, authenticity, and God’s call in their lives. Maybe this is why I embrace Peniel and Jacob’s struggle for a new name. Jacob was the youngest of Isaac's and Rebekah’s twins, and it seems that he was his mother's favorite. He wasn’t the hunter his brother, Esau was, but he knew how to get what he wanted. So he and his mother plotted to cheat Esau out of his birthright and his father’s blessing, and they succeeded. But Esau swore to kill Jacob and Jacob ran to his uncle Laban’s house for protection.

      By all accounts, Jacob was a good shepherd and between his insightful work and an ongoing scenario in which he and Laban tried to out-maneuver each other, Jacob acquired immense wealth. He also acquired Laban’s two daughters as wives- one who he was tricked into marrying and one who he loved to his dying day. Jacob had children by both women (and their handmaids), but in time, he decided to go home. He had to go back home and face what he had done to his brother. So, when Laban was preoccupied, Jacob took everything he considered his and headed back home.

      He was getting close to home when he received word that his brother was approaching him with 400 men. His hour of reckoning was at hand. So Jacob divided his wives and other property into two groups and sent them off by different routes. Then... he laid down to ponder things and sleep by the wadi Jabbok. It was pitch dark and he was completely alone, as alone as he had been since he said goodbye to his mother years before. He had acquired wealth. He had two wives and several sons. He had a birthright and a blessing... but he didn't have peace! Not peace of mind, not peace with his brother, not peace with his God, not peace with himself. He knew how to scheme, but of shalom he knew nothing at all. He didn't know who he was and who he ought to become. So he laid in the darkness and took stock of it all... when suddenly, he was blind-sided by an intruder... and the wrestling match was on!

      It must have been quite a sight- two men rolling around on the desert floor, grabbing, punching, kicking, in an effort to win the match. And it went on... until daybreak. Finally, Jacob's assailant struck him in the hip and threw it out of place. The outcome of the match was no longer in doubt. Jacob would not win... but he would NOT let go. Exalted and beaten, he refused to let go. "I will not let go until you give me a blessing," he cried. I insist on a blessing! You are able to bless me and I will cling to you until you do. That's what he said, and he was given a blessing!

      A new name! A new identity. From now on, the intruder noted, you will be known as Israel... because you have striven with God and humans. You have done business with the living God, and within that struggle... you have found your own identity. Come morning, Jacob knew that he had struggled with God... and lived. So, he named the place "Peniel,"... and he limped across the wadi with a new name, moving toward a new relationship with his brother and a deeper understanding of himself and his God!  

      Peniel means “face of God.” Do we ever know ourselves until we've wrestled with the Living God? Can we ever get a new name unless we receive it in this struggle? How far can we run? How long can we hide? How long will we settle with just getting by, when God offers a life of purpose, authenticity... and a new name? Coming to grips with our deepest self will require a struggle with the Giver of New Names. We'll never find shalom by running, hiding and living by our wits.  Let those who have ears, hear!

 

HOW DOES THE CREATURE SAY THANKS?

We have a host of positive emotions- joy, wonder, serenity, love, hope, and happiness among them- but our passage today urges us to focus on Gratitude. According to Luke (17:11-19), as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he entered a village where ten lepers were gathered to meet him. They stood a safe distance away and cried out for "mercy." Well, Jesus did not ignore them. He saw them and he told them to go and show themselves to their priests as men who no longer had leprosy, which would free them to engage in community life once again. The lepers did what they were told to do and as they were walking, they were healed. I suspect that nine of them began to run to their priests when they saw that their skin was free of imperfections.

 

Nine of the lepers returned to the lives they had lived in the past. They went back home. They cuddled their children. They got back to work... but one of the lepers returned to Jesus when he saw that he was being healed on the road. He recognized that he had been healed by God and he saw that he need to express his gratitude to Jesus. So he turned around with praise on his lips, and when he met Jesus he fell upon his face and thanked him! He knew who had healed him. He knew whom he needed to thank and according to Luke, he was a Samaritan, an alien, a man who Jews at that time would have ordinarily shunned.

 

The Samaritan saw that God had manifested his grace and his power in Christ Jesus, and he was overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude comes from knowing that God is with us (Immanuel) and that God never forsakes us. How many of you have seen God at work in your own lives? How many of you believe that God sent friends and mentors your way? How many of you believe that God is behind your current relationships, or your new jobs, or your spiritual growth, or your long walk out of the valleys of grief and death? Perhaps it's because I strayed so badly, but I can see God's finger prints all over my life. It was God who held me together before I left home and it was God who arranged my first meeting with Sherry, when I needed a friend more than I have ever needed a friend. It was God who sent mentors to me and opened doors that I didn't even know about.

 

How about you? Where has God healed you, provided for you, walked with you, forgiven you, listened to you, or sent angels your way? Surely we need to follow the Samaritan's lead and give thanks. You know, one of my favorite hymns is entitled, "God of the Sparrow," and in part, it goes like this:

 

God of the sparrow, God of the whale, God of the swirling stars,

How does the creature say awe? How does the creature say

praise?

God of the rainbow, God of the cross, God of the empty grave,

How does the creature say grace? How does the creature say

"thanks"?

 

In many ways, no doubt, but these ways are among them. We thank God with our tongues, when we pray, when we forgive others, when we treat others as we would treat Christ, when we try our very best to know him better and to grow as His servant, when we pass the love and grace that we have received forward, and when we fall to our knees and cry out, "Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for loving me.Thank you for walking with me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Amen!

 

  

THE LOVING FATHER!

 

    Today, I want to reflect on the parable of the “Prodigal Son,” which I think of as the parable of the “Loving Father.”

      We join Jesus as he teaches a gathering of people about the ways of God. A father, Jesus said, had two sons. His first-born son was dedicated and responsible (as eldest siblings often are), but his youngest son was impatient, impulsive, and self-indulgent. Well, the younger son, it seems, was bored on the farm and demanded his share of the family estate right away. In Jesus’ time, a request to cash-in and settle-up early, was unthinkable, but for reasons of his own, the father gave this youngest son what he wanted, and the young man left the farm for far-away places, where he squandered his inheritance

on wine, women, and song. We aren’t given details… but we know that things went really bad for the youngest son because he ended up slopping hogs for a gentile master, who paid him next to nothing. We also know that  he was so hungry that the pods which were being fed to the pigs… looked good to him. In short, he had “hit bottom,” and the jolt of hitting bottom brought him to his “right mind.” So, he started toward home, hoping that his father would hire him as a hired hand!

      However, his father had been spending a lot of time waiting for the moment when he would see his son coming home, and when he saw him, he threw protocol to the side and ran to embrace his son! He ran as fast as he could and hugged his youngest son, without any form of judgment or hesitation. In fact, he showered his son with love and decided to throw a party in his honor. Indulgent and foolish young men are a dime a dozen, but unfettered forgiveness and new beginnings are not. Grace- radical grace and not just kindness- is rare and amazing! It is also irritating to rule-abiding and score-keeping people everywhere… and the loving father’s eldest son was no exception! When he arrived home from a day’s work in the field and learned that his father was throwing a party for his no-account brother, the eldest son was enraged! He had worked faithfully his entire life and never once complained. He had given everything he had to his father’s estate and his father had never thrown a party  for him.

      It was all terribly unfair and he refused to have any part in it! He would not attend the party! His father assured him that he loved him too. His His father told him that he had to celebrate because what was lost was found and what was gone had come back home!  Grace doesn’t make sense and it never will. Grace is unearned and it has to be!

      Grace is the only hope we have, but the question for us is this “would we attend the party?” Our son got out on parole early- will you come and celebrate with us? Our unwed daughter has given birth to an interracial baby. Will you come to her Baby Shower? Our son is getting married to a really nice man. We hope you will stop by and dance to the early morning hours.  Are we, pray tell, more like the loving father or the older brother? Amen!

A DIFFERENT DRUMMER

 

It was many years ago now, but I remember it well. One of our church members had died and he wanted to be cremated. There was nothing unusual about that, but his wife- also a church member- wanted to be present when her husband’s body went through the fire. She believed that fire cleanses us and prepares us to meet our Lord. So, we gathered at the oven and she pushed the rectangular box that contained her husband’s body down the chute and into the fire. Fire is a powerful thing, which can protect us from wild beasts, forge helpful tools… and consume us if we toy with it. Fire- physical, emotional, and spiritual- can inspire us and lift us to greater heights… or it can disfigure us or consume us entirely! And Luke tells us that Jesus said, “I have come to bring fire on the earth. Do not think,” he went on to say, “that I came to bring peace on earth. No, I tell you, but division.” (Luke 12:50-51)

      I’ve come to save your souls and to call you unto myself. I’ve come to lay down a choice, and in just making †he choice, you will be in conflict. In a person’s own family, there will be those who lay up their treasure in heaven and those who don’t; there will be those who go out of their way to welcome a stranger, and those who won’t. There will be those who see Christ in the ordinary and in the least among them, and those who don’t even try! There will be those who seek to know God day-by-day, and those who think such a thing is foolish! There will be those who insist on a small Jesus who will give them what they want and there will the those who trust in a BIG God. Mother Mary put it well in her song- “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty”. Christ did not come to please everyone, but to invite everyone into a new world order where values and importance and success are turned upside down. And those who say “yes,” will be in conflict with the rest.

      Choosing Jesus put people at odds with the culture in which they lived. Christians didn’t trust in money and if they had it, they shared it generously. Christians didn’t judge or shun others, and they forgave to the point of being foolish. Christians- men and women who embraced the Holy Spirit- simply marched to a different drummer than others did. They sought different goals, they valued different things, and they measured life by a different standard. In short, they were at odds with the world, their own family members, their friends, and even their own former selves… at the very moment they emerged from their baptismal water!.        

 

A friend of mine in the Quad Cities was fond of saying that every man’s temptation is…  sex, but I suspect that every person’s greatest temptation is to worship God on their own terms, and to ask God for more than they are willing to give! We are tempted to believe that much of what Jesus said was hyperbole and that he totally understands why our careers and families are more important than He is. BUT Christ did not die so that he could understand us. He died to save our souls and comes to us with a choice- Him or them. He asked Peter plainly, “Do you love me more than these?” and He asks us the same question today.       Jesus said to his disciples: I have not come to bring peace but division. I’ve come to bring fire in the belly and fire in the soul. I’ve come to offer a way of life that will bring you joy and purpose and also empower you to be of use to the world. I’ve come to draw a line in the sand- on the one side of the line will be those who have rejected my message, or have watered it down to suit themselves- and on the other side of the line will be those who have trusted in me as their Savior and surrendered to me as their Lord. Heaven awaits these fortunate ones, not because they are “perfect,” but because they are faithful.

 

UECKER'S SEAT

 

^{DON’T END UP IN EUCKER’S SEAT}

        Our passage today encourages us to be humble and to see that we are no better/worse and no more/less important than all of the others whom God has created and blessed with grace. It reminds us that we are not at the center of all things and it urges us to quit judging who should be welcomed and who should be avoided. According to Luke, Jesus was a guest at the home of a Pharisee and when he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, He told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, don’t take the place of honor, for you may be told to move if a more distinguished person shows up.¹⁰ Instead, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say, ‘Friend, move up to a better seat. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your rich neighbors, or others who may repay you, but invite the poor, and the lame, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed.” (Luke 14:7-14)

      This passage ranges from social strategy tips to the toxic effects of judging and scorekeeping, and it says at least this much to me.

1.      It is not about us! We are not the directors in some sort of play in which we are the star. We have an illusion of control, but it’s only an illusion! We are not in charge! God is in charge and we are blessed to assist to the extent that our gifts and talents allow! We are saved by grace and called to service by our Lord! If we hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” we ought to praise God for that too.

2.      We should be wise enough to stay out of “Uecker’s seat.” I am old enough to recall the Miller Lite commercials in which the Milwaukee Brewers announcer, Bob Uecker, is preparing to watch a baseball game. He is sitting near the field, pretty much by himself, when an usher informs him that he is in the wrong seat and needs to move! And Uecker pompously replies, “I must be in the front row!" A man of my ilk must be in the front row. Then, we see Uecker sitting in the farthest corner of the upper deck. Uecker’s seat was a cheap seat in the “nosebleed section,” and for years, cheap seats were called "Uecker seats." Be careful where you sit because you may be asked to move to one of "Uecker’s seats.”

3.      We should follow our Lord’s lead and walk humbly through life. Not considering divinity worth clinging to if God’s people were lost, Jesus chose to leave heaven and come down, down, down to earth in the form of a servant. He spent his life ministering to people in need, preaching good news to the poor, and equipping disciples who were slow to learn. In the end, he took his seat in the middle of two thieves … and saved our souls by dying on Calvary’s cross! Let this be our standard and our calling!

4.      We need to let go of the notion that love we live in a world where some people deserve to be invited and included… and others don’t! I recently read a sermon in which a pastor in Atlanta confessed that, in her heart of hearts, she had a list of people whom she would not invite to a special event. She had an unwritten list of people whom she didn’t want in her world. She noted that anyone who abused women and children would not be welcome, nor would any person who thought they knew… who was going to heaven and who wasn’t. She went on to say people who “know it all,” holocaust deniers, and people who blame victims for their situation in life would not be invited to any gathering of hers. But the more important point is this: who is on your list of people who would not be welcome in your world? And why are they on your list? Could they be on God’s list? Could anyone be?
    cI will close with some of the reflective words of Michael Coffey: “she entered the party room like a caped queen. Her heels lifted herself up to thinner air, almost to where she wanted to be. On the far end of the gathering she saw the out-of-fashioned, the rough-handed, and the wrong spoken. (A motley crew of misfits and neer-do-wells) On the near end she saw well-labeled suits, handbags with leather and metal clasps, wine for every occasion, and the look of confidence in the eyes of the highly educated. (There was one empty chair) so she sat and mingled, and sipped wine. She showed that she knew which fork to us for the appetizers, and she laughed controllably. Then the host came over and thanked her for taking the seat she took, and assured her that someday, she too could join him at the other end! Amen!