An Opportunity

An Opportunity
Luke 21:5-19
November 18, 2007
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

© 2007 by Christopher D. Drew

Sermon Focus: As the church moves to the conclusion of the liturgical year, our gospel texts for this week take on a more apocalyptic tone. This week, Jesus tells his disciples and others of the destruction that will come to the temple, and the persecutions and disasters that foretell the end of things. In this midst of this, Jesus offers words of astonishing reassurance. Jesus assures us that he himself will give us words (literally “a mouth”) to testify to the truth of the gospel, and that by our endurance we will gain our souls.

Sermon Function: To instruct listeners about Jesus’ presence in the midst of our own tumult and chaos, and that Jesus’ promises for the events to come translate into a present assurance in a world which is right now filled with war, famine, and pestilence.

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Introduction

In theological and liturgical circles, Jesus is understood to hold three simultaneous offices: Prophet, Priest, and King. Next week is Christ the King Sunday, and my wife Sara will explore the Kingship office of Jesus. We celebrate the Priestly office of Christ when we remember his self-sacrifice on the cross on behalf of sinful humanity. This week, we get a specific look at the prophetic character of Jesus. In our text, Jesus announces the forthcoming destruction of the temple, and event that would actually happen about 40 years after the discussion recorded here by Saint Luke, and he offers us some startling reassurance.

Let us listen now to God’s Word to us.

[Read Scripture - Luke 21:5-19]

Opening Comments

Many people wonder how long it takes to come up with a sermon to preach on Sunday. The simple answer is: It depends. Pastors each have their own process for structuring a sermon. In my case, I usually sit with the text over a week in advance and give it a first reading. Then, I usually do some comparisons between English texts, and then I do my own translation from the Greek or Hebrew, depending on the text for the week.

Then the fun begins. Friday is my designated sermon-writing day. In addition to the language work, I also check a commentary or two for other interpretive guidance. Then I look for helpful illustrative material, from the news of from my life experience of from the events of the week at the church. Then, and only then, do I sit down, say a prayer, and begin to write. The actual writing process only takes about three hours, the rest of the preparation time varies according to the week.

This week, much of the preparation time has been addressing the question: How do I preach a sermon about wars, rebellion, famine, disease and pestilence, destruction, false prophets, betrayal by family and friends, and persecution unto death on the same week that we’re celebrating our national day of Thanksgiving, and on a particular Sunday when we will, following the offering, respond to the Word read and proclaimed with a wedding?

After a very brief fantasy consisting of me running away from Portland in a panic, I then thought about changing the text at the last minute. And the Holy Spirit intervened, and I was reminded of the Apostle Paul’s advice to Timothy:

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17 NRSV)

One of the ways scripture works is to equip us for all manner of obligations in life, including giving thanks for God’s manifest blessings and the gift of Christian marriage. Therefore, this scripture, while it seems to dwell on devastation and destruction to come, is nonetheless profitable for us because it gives us the opportunity, once again, to witness to the gospel. We talk a lot about God’s attempts to reach out to humanity, and that God is always the one who moves first, as we are caught in the nets of our sin. In worship, we respond to God’s Word in a variety of ways – thanksgiving, offering, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Marriage is also a response to the gospel, because we understanding Christian marriage as a covenant that resembles the kind of commitment that God makes to humanity.

Exposition

What does this text say to us today? Well, first off, it tells us something about ourselves. Did you notice how the reading began? It began with people, likely disciples and other interested parties, commenting on the beautiful stones of the temple, and the offerings that adorned it with fantastic beauty. These are worldly preoccupations of proud humans wondering at the achievements of other humans, especially the Roman puppet king at that time, Herod, who made it a point of transforming the temple into a spectacle of wonder. Jesus, the anointed one, Emmanuel, Christ-With-Us, is standing there with them, and the people are commenting on what a wonderful building the temple is! We do the same thing. We are all the time drawn to things we think point to God, but really point to ourselves or to the supposed magnificence of purely human creation. We’re drawn to our own preoccupations even in moments of personal prayer. I know that personal worries and distractions plague me in my own prayer life, and it take deliberate effort to quash these so that we can actually listen to what God may be saying to us.

Jesus seems to respond to this by saying, rather bluntly, enjoy these things while they last, because in a short time they’ll be torn to shreds. The seemingly solid things of life, the things that give us a sense of stability and safety, these can be swept away in a moment, can’t they? Anyone who has ever visited an older bank building will notice that the architecture of the building, with massive columns and huge granite stones, are meant to make the psychological impression on customers that their money was safe, and not subject to theft or destruction. But we know in our hearts, I think, that any building can be felled. All it takes is a big enough fire, a big enough earthquake, and the most solidly constructed building can be broken. And that is, in fact, what happened to the temple. Herod’s restored temple, it is thought, had stones that measured as large as 44 feet by 11 feet and weighing about 628 tons.¹ Most of the structure was laid to waste within a few decades of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Western Wall in Jerusalem is all that remains.

Give Us a Sign!

After making his pronouncement about the future of the temple, the disciples and others present then ask Jesus for clues as to when the forthcoming destruction will take place. There will be, as Jesus says, lots of political and natural chaos: Warfare and earthquakes. False messiahs will come forth proclaiming that they know the answer. Don’t believe them, Jesus says.

Jesus gives them some pointers, but if you’re like me you will almost miss the reassurance in this part of our text. In the middle of all this chaos, Jesus tells those with ears to hear: “Do not be terrified” (Luke 21:9). In the midst of what is to come, do not be terrified. Jesus gives us words of peace and assurance, even in the worst of times, even in the midst of family struggles and personal uncertainty, even when times are tough financially, even when death is near. “Do not be terrified,” Jesus explains. For those God has called, the uncertainties and destructions of life are not the final answer.

But even before the natural disasters and political tumult to come, Jesus tells those listening, including us today, that we will be subject to persecution and betrayal, and brought before the authorities for the sake of the name of Jesus.

We live at a time when our cultural elites are intensely worried about those to profess deep religious belief. We live, for example, in a time when a Governor has been panned in the press for having the ridiculous audacity to ask citizens of his state to pray to God for rain in the drought-ridden state of Georgia. Ridicule is one thing, but persecution and betrayal by friends and family? That’s huge, but that’s part of living our fully our lives of discipleship. We live in a country were it’s common to be made fun of for our faith in Jesus, but at least we don’t face possible death, like many other Christians do even as I stand hear preaching to you in the safe town of Portland, Texas. Last week, seven men and two women were arrested as spies in North Korea for the crime of being disciples of Jesus Christ? Three members of a Christian group in Egypt were arrested last week for investigating the death of another Christian.² The threat is real.

But even under these conditions, there is reason to have joy. Jesus tells us that persecution and imprisonment will give us the “opportunity to testify.” The Greek word for "testify" is μαρτύριον, from which we get the English word martyr. Many folks, when they year this word, think of being martyred, which means being put to death for what one believes. But there is more to the word than that. We are all, in fact, martyrs for the faith. We witness to our faith in Jesus Christ each week in worship, when we celebrate the sacraments, when we give back our offering, when we pledge to the church, when we sing, when we pray. In all of these activities, we witness to all present the grace and wonderful gifts we have received from our heavenly Father.

Today, we will witness to the goodness of God in another way, through the marriage of Ray Rodriguez and Amy Yaffe. In our culture, most people think of marriage as an act particular to a given couple. And it is that. But in Christian marriage, we witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ. Marriage for us symbolizes the love Jesus has for the church. And in Christian marriage, the couple making the covenant promises to each other remind us of the covenant promises make to us by God. So yes, even the act of Christian marriage in worship is an opportunity for us to be martyrs, witnesses, for the faith and hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Called to Witness

We are called by Jesus to be witnesses to the good news, and not just during the good times, but also during troubling, challenging, disturbing times. The good news for us today is that we always have the opportunity to witness to what God has done for us, in our family lives, in our work lives, in our political lives, and in our faith lives. We may, as Jesus says, be hated for this. But we have the blessed assurance that Jesus Himself will be present with us:

“For I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict” (Luke 21:15 NRSV). Literally, this Greek phrase can be translated as “I will give you a mouth.” When the demand is made for an accounting of our faith, we’ll be able to witness to the power of God with words that aren’t just our own, but the words of Christ. The context may be the wonderful occasion of Christian marriage, but it also might be a tense thing, during a time of suffering or even pending death. But do not be afraid! “[N]ot a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls” (Luke 21:18-19 NRSV). I believe this with all of my heart. Even now, Jesus may be calling upon you to witness to the greatness of God. If you suspect that this is the case, I invite you to approach me or one of the Elders of this church to discuss more fully how this witness may take shape. Perhaps such a witness might be being baptism, or the reaffirmation of your baptism, or through becoming a member of the church, or through a public profession of your faith, or by changing your job, or by working for a Christian charitable organization, or by becoming a missionary, or by publicly witnessing to faith in Christian marriage. However you are called to witness to the faith, do not be afraid! “[N]ot a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls (Luke 21:18-19 NRSV)”

Let us pray.

Lord God of all the ages, the One who is, who was, and who is to come, stir up within us a longing for your kingdom, steady our hearts in time of trial, and grant us patient endurance until the sun of justice dawns. We make our prayer through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.³

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Portland, Texas.

¹See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod's_Temple for additional details. ↩

²Christian Post, November 13, 2007, here and here. ↩

³Theology and Worship Ministry Unit. Book of Common Worship. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993, p. 393. ↩

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Gotcha… Not!

Gotcha… Not!
Luke 20:27-38
November 11, 2007
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

© 2007 by Christopher D. Drew

Sermon Focus: The Sadducees attempt to trap Jesus through their inquiry about a woman marrying each of seven brothers? At the resurrection, they ask, who will be the wife’s husband? The absurdity of the question is intended by the Sadducees to illustrate the absurdity of Jesus’ apparent belief in the resurrection. Jesus, however, neatly eviscerates the premise of their question. The age to come will not be characterized by the social or even the biological functions we attribute to our earthly, fallen, existence. The people of God, at the resurrection, will be immortal, like the angels, and have no need for institutions like marriage. Creation will be, transformed when the Kingdom of God comes.

Sermon Function: To illustrate how, in this season approaching Lent, our lives should be marked by the objective understanding that the world to come will be, in many ways, fundamentally different from what we understand now, and that the common characteristics of humanity, when perfected by God, will also be transformed in ways we cannot completely understand. Once this is known, it makes it much easier to see how this-worldly our society is, and how it will, in the divine plan, be overturned by God.

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Introduction

Our busy life at the church continues. Our worship team met to begin the formal preparations for Advent, which is just three Sunday’s away. We also continue to prepare for the coming year, and the financial and non-financial demands that we face as we continue our journey of faith together. This week is our pledge dedication Sunday, and during the offering you will be invited to share your pledge card for the year along with your offering for the day here at the table.

Speaking of the table, you probably notice that it is set this week. As a result of our successful class on the sacraments of the church, it was determined that it might be nice to have a more visible reminder of what our table is for, which is to celebrate the shared feast given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each week in worship, we’ll be reminded of our baptisms when, at the beginning of each service, water is poured visibly and loudly into the font. And we’ll be reminded of the Lord’s Supper each week by the bread that sits in readiness on our banquet table.

We’ve also been in the midst of our annual stewardship sermon series. We’ve spoken about giving in the church. We talked about giving with a humble, confessional disposition, about giving generously in response to Jesus entering our lives unexpectedly, as happened to Zacchaeus in last week’s reading. This week, our topic is the resurrection. Many people might not connect the resurrection of the dead with our giving today, but there is a connection, and we’ll explore it together today.

We have been following Jesus’ path to Jerusalem through to his stopping to see Zacchaeus in Jericho, and now Jesus has reached the City of David – Jerusalem. Here in chapter twenty of Luke’s gospel, Jesus encounters several groups of people who attempt to trip him up with questions about the law. First, there’s the group that questions Jesus his authority. Jesus responds with a question, and asks them if John’s baptism was from heaven or from men. Realizing that they have stepped into a trap, they respond that they don’t know. Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (Luke 20:8 NRSV).

Luke then recounts Jesus telling the parable of the tenants. After that, he is questioned about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus tells them to “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25 NRSV).

They became silent after this second attempt at gotcha. But then there’s a third attempt to catch Jesus on a point of doctrine. And that’s our text for today.

[Read Scripture - Luke 20:27-38]

Opening Comments

After the attempt to get Jesus in trouble with the Roman authorities with the question about paying taxes to Caesar, Luke now recounts one additional attempt to play “gotcha” with Jesus. The Sadducees were one of the Jewish sects of some note at the time of our story. Other groups included the Pharisees and the Zealots, a party in which John the Baptizer might have been a member. As you can imagine, these different groups had varied interpretations of the complexities of the Jewish law, the Torah, the major potion of which was called the Pentateuch, that is, the first five books of the our bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The Sadducees are a group that has a definitive view of the resurrection of the dead. When we talk about the doctrines of the church, we often throw language around without having a clear understanding of exactly what it is we’re referring to. People today have divergent views of resurrection. I once heard an extraordinary version of what happens when the body is raised from the dead to be reunited with the soul. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body, which we profess to believe each time we read the great creeds of the church, and a doctrine I completely believe, is next to impossible for us to understand. Accordingly, we try to come up with fanciful ways of describing exactly how the resurrection of the dead will be accomplished.

The fact of the matter is this: We cannot possibly ever understand the full nature of God, at least on this side of the cross, so how can we possibly understand the details of the resurrection, that great hope and promise we have from God that our embodied souls will one day be joined with all the heavenly host, singing and praising God forevermore.

I would suggest to you, in fact, that anyone who tells you he or she has the details of the resurrection of the body all worked out is not working from the same playbook as the rest of Christendom. The fact of the matter is this: We don’t know how it will happen, or when. We do know this: For God, nothing is impossible.

But we constantly try to reduce God and God’s works into terms we are familiar with. And that is exactly what is happening here. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the body. It’s wasn’t canonical for them, it didn’t fall into line with what Moses had taught, therefore it must not be real. You know that old joke, right? The reason they have the name Sadducee is because they don’t believe in the dead, which makes them sad, you see?

Translating Heaven Using Earthly Terms

But the Sadducees aren’t all that different from us. We like to have a carefully defined God that meets all of our expectations and needs. Same with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a divine mystery, however, and not subject entirely to human reason. And that is precisely the point the just irritates the heck out of those people who view human reason as the ultimate arbiter of everything, including ethics and morals. But if we accept the fact that human beings are depraved, and that their tendency is, despite what they might “will,” that they will persist in sin, then I’m reluctant to join with those who think that, through the power of human reason, we can figure out life, the body, and the mystery of the universe.

But the Sadducees think they’ve figured out what the resurrection means, and so they think they’ve identified the perfect absurd example that will illustrate the absurdity of resurrection belief. They ask Jesus their question because they know, through means not fully disclosed to us in scripture that Jesus believes in the resurrection. They hope to put his belief to ridicule by using an example straight from the Mosaic Law, the Pentateuch, the Torah. They describe how a woman marries one of seven brothers. When the brother dies, leaving the widow childless, Hebrew law required that the man’s brother take the woman as his wife and have children with here, thereby keeping the family name alive in the nation of Israel.¹ This happens until the woman has married all seven brothers. And then she dies.

The Sadducees, thinking they’ve clearly illustrated the absurdity of the resurrection, ask Jesus a pretty straightforward question: “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her” (Luke 20:33 NRSV). They were probably proud at their cleverness, having taken this earthly estate of marriage to demonstrate how utterly ridiculous, how mind-numbingly stupid Jesus was for believing in the resurrection of the dead. Whatcha going to say to that, Jesus! Huh? We gotcha!

Surprise Surprise! God is Bigger than You Thought

And it is at this point we get a peak at just how amazing Jesus is. He could have gotten into the mix with the Sadducees and started a wide-ranging debate on the Torah and the example they provided. But he doesn’t do that. And what Jesus does is a model for all of us: He takes the Sadducees into much deeper spiritual territory than they probably expected. Jesus does this by neatly taking apart their argument.

Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36 NRSV)

In this age, with the preoccupations of our lives and the necessity of the biological perpetuation of the human race, things like marriage are commonplace. But Jesus then tells us that in “that” age, the age of the resurrection, the resurrection people with neither marry nor be given in marriage. The reason is very straightforward: Things in the resurrection won’t be as they are now.

And that is the terrific hope of the gospel, and the awesome gift of the Father in his Son Jesus Christ. It is in the resurrected Jesus that we ourselves are made dead to sin and to the ways of the world and made alive in the kingdom, inaugurated with the first coming of Jesus way back in Nazareth, and brought to fullness when God responds to our intercession for the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. The resurrected people of God are like the angels of heaven, incorruptible and immortal. I’ve always wanted to see an angel, but I cannot imagine being like one. What must that be like? What will we be like? These are unimaginable things for us to consider, but this is the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What Jesus is saying to the Sadducees is that they need to think much bigger about God and about humanity, because humanity is made in the image of God. We ought to remember this, because the remnant of God’s image in us is what makes us precious and distinctive in all of God’s creation. Having been accorded the gift of being made in God’s very image, our response should be one of awe, wonder, gratitude, and repentance, because we oftentimes abuse that image, either by abusing our bodies with extensive and abusive habits, or by abusing others with our behavior.

We are destined for a redemption that exceeds our wildest expectations.

And the reason we have this Hope is that the God we worship is the God of salvation, the God who seeks us out when we screw it all up. He is the God of the living. As Jesus so aptly notes, “The fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive” (Luke 20:37-38 NRSV). In the Hebrew text of Exodus 3:6, where God discloses His name to Moses, God declares, very clearly, that he is the God of the Fathers of the Bible. God is a God of presence. There is a present-tenseness of God in all things and across all time. God’s time isn’t our own, and God’s redemption is nothing that we can logically determine or discover.

And if we sit for a moment, and reflect on this fact, that the eternal God of Presence, here right now with us as we worship Him, gave his Son Jesus to the world to illustrate how clearly he wants to be with us, to the point where he will resurrect those who are worthy from the dead, means that death itself is nothing to God, and that the transformative power of the Holy Spirit can transform you into a new, amazing creature beyond your wildest expectations.

For us, that means right now, right now, nothing should be as it was before. The old-self is dead and gone. The present newness of life in Christ is all that matters. And that objective fact should change how we live, how we relate, and how we exercise our dominion and stewardship over the gifts we have been given.

On this dedication Sunday, I implore you to remember that you are citizens of a resurrection kingdom, a kingdom of Grace and Love and Peace that transcends all our understanding, but nonetheless causes us to responds. Ponder this fact as we prepare to move forward together in the coming year.

Let us pray.

God of all the living, in the resurrection of Christ Jesus you have given us the promise of life which death itself cannot destroy. In the strength of this unshakable promise give us a new heart to live, even now, as your new creation. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.²

Given at First Presbyterian Church, Portland, Texas.

¹See Deuteronomy 25:5ff. ↩

²Theology and Worship Ministry Unit. Book of Common Worship. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993, p. 392. ↩

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Do Pastors Really Work Only One Hour Per Week?

This video confirms everything we already knew.

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Responding to Jesus

Responding to Jesus
Luke 19:1-10
November 4, 2007
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

© 2007 by Christopher D. Drew

Sermon Focus: Zacchaeus, a big-time tax collector, knows how to live large. But he himself is small in spiritual stature. Upon encountering the resurrected One, Zacchaeus’ view of the earth is transformed. He gained great wealth in his capacity as an agent for the state (Rome), but know he was an agent for hospitality, generosity, and justice – all as a result of the self-invitation of Jesus.

Sermon Function: To illustrate how critically important it is to make stewardship a fiscal discipline, particularly if there are larger amounts for which one has made responsible. And to demonstrate how our management of possessions is utterly transformed when Jesus finds us amongst the shrubs and calls us into service.

[Click to Show/Hide Sermon Text]

Introduction

Well I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween this year. At our home over in the Pavilions, we had not a single trick-or-treater. Sara and I both lament the fact that we will now have to each consumed our respective quantities of mini-Snickers and bubble gum.

Actually, when it became apparent that we weren’t going to get any scary visitors, we decided to go out for a walk to catch the last bit of the action. We were pleased to see all of the costumes. We even saw one youngster on stilts! He probably stood about eight feet tall. In today’s scripture passage, we learn about Zacchaeus, a character who is renowned because of his height. He likely could have used some of the stilts that our treat-or-treat friend employed to scare the neighbors into giving him a treat.

Whether or not this story is familiar to you, I invite you to consider some questions before we begin. Reflect a bit on these as I read the text.

First: Who invites whom in the story?

Second: What happens to Zacchaeus?

Third: What does this story tell you about the responsible use of money and possessions?

Let's listen now to God's Word.

[Read Scripture - Luke 19:1-10]

Opening Remarks

We are in a season of discernment and planning and stewardship here at the church. We spoke last week about another tax collector, one who out of his knowledge that he was a sinner pled with God for mercy and left the temple justified. The tax collector stood in start contrast with the Pharisee, who loudly proclaimed his self-righteousness in prayer before the assembled people of God. We were taught a few important lessons in that sermon. First, when it comes to giving, we ought to give with a prayerful and confessional disposition. Second, our giving is in response to something wonderful that God has done for us through the incredible gift of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This week, we have another tax collector to talk about. His name is Zacchaeus, a word that is derived from a term that means “pure” or “innocent.” Zacchaeus likely didn’t live up to his name. Zacchaeus was a “chief tax collector” and was, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, very wealthy. Like other tax collectors at that time, others would have viewed him as a traitor to his nation, ripping off the people with his abusive tax practices. He lives in Jericho, a town that could be considered the Las Vegas of the day. Jericho was favored by the Herods, the Roman-approved Jewish “kings” who reportedly built lavish satellite palaces there along with various sports arenas, theaters, and other pleasure-oriented venues. It was an interesting place for Jesus to stop, but Jesus always seems to stop in interesting places, fascinating places, risky places. One writer put it this way, “What Happens in Jericho stays in Jericho.”¹

The narrow street of Jericho would have already been crowded, but you can imagine that people where also gathering to view this man about whom they have heard very interesting stories. Profound stories about his man’s teaching and feeding and healing acts, many times with the undesirables, prostitutes, disease ridden and leprous beggars, and even tax collectors. We don’t get a thorough accounting of what was going on in Zacchaeus’ mind as Jesus approached, but we can imagine a few scenarios. He might have simply been curious to see what all the buzz was about. He might have wanted to just see what Jesus looked like. He might have heard about other encounters with other tax collectors. And if that was the case, perhaps Zacchaeus was a bit worried about his situation. He was flush with riches, an official of the Roman government who was living high of the backs of the people. He is identified, in the last verse of our text, as a Son of Abraham. Maybe, just maybe, he had climbed to the top of the self-achievement ladder and now found himself wondering what many of us wonder in this society: Is this it? I’ve gotten everything I want in life. I’ve checked off all the boxes of self-sufficiency and have built an almost impregnable financial empire out of which I can relax and enjoy life. Many people have made it, but then they realize that there is something missing. Something fundamental.

Perhaps Zacchaeus is one of these people. He climbs up the tree to see what is going on because, as our text humorously notes, he is short in stature. Long on wealth and prosperity, but a bit short perhaps on spiritual maturity. It’s remarkably easy to judge Zacchaeus harshly, and many did.

Luke tells us that Zacchaeus climbs a sycamore tree to get a better view. A straightforward explanation. But there might have been another reason, and I hadn’t thought of this one until I read an interesting article on this passage. Perhaps he went up there to get a good view, but one can also imagine that, amongst the leaves of the tree, Zacchaeus might have actually been hiding from Jesus, and from the crowds.² It’s rather, well, embarrassing for someone of incredible means to climb a tree just to see some interesting rabbi pass by. But maybe the social and spiritual situation was such that Zacchaeus really didn’t want to be seen, to be called out for the person he was, and wanted to avoid embarrassment.

So there he is, perched and perhaps safely hidden away. Jesus comes down the road, through the crowds. He arrives at the place where the tree is. He stops. Perhaps he’s seen something that tipped him off, and he looks up into the tree. He looks right up, and sees a man there. He knows his name, and calls out to him. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5 NRSV).

“Oh boy,” Zacchaeus might have though, “this man found me up here. And now he wants to come to my house.” Interesting, isn’t it? Zacchaeus didn’t even get a chance. Jesus has invited himself to this wealthy man’s home. Now he has to come out of the tree.

Our Lives Today

And aren’t we just like Zacchaeus, in a way? We may or may not be wealthy, but we frequently, in our sin, act in ways that we would prefer, many times, for other people not to know about. This is particularly the case in our modern society, when so many deeply sinful behaviors can, through the wonders of technology, be engaged in without anyone else even knowing. But God knows the secrets of our hearts. And despite our best efforts to stay hidden and not be found out, here is this man, Jesus, who comes to the place where we hide and calls us out!

Jesus, then, reaches out to Zacchaeus first. He calls out to him, and Zacchaeus responds. He responds “joyfully.”

Others talked. Our text says, “Grumbled.” This is a common feature in the gospels. Jesus attends to those who are sinners, and others take note. And we should take note as well. In Luke’s Gospel, the rich don’t necessary make out well. But here is Jesus who, having just healed a blind beggar outside of Jericho (in the nine verses just prior to today’s story), Jesus is now hanging out with another cultural outcast, the mega-wealthy. Poor man and rich, it seems that there isn’t a sinner that Jesus won’t speak with. Notwithstanding the balances in their respective bank accounts, they are both poor in Spirit.

Extending the hospitality of his home, Zacchaeus is suddenly prompted to come clean while in the presence of the Savior of the World, whose light is now shining down brightly on Zacchaeus, so much so that nothing can remain hidden. Nothing. One can imagine Zacchaeus perhaps remembering, in some far off corner of his mind, the words of Psalm 139:

O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven [or into the tree?], you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Ps 139:1-12 NRSV)

Nowhere to Hide

Zacchaeus has been, in a word, “busted” by our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s been found out, discovered, and called by Jesus. There is nowhere to hide. No tree high enough. No valley low enough. Nothing will keep Jesus from Zacchaeus.

And here, in the text, we see what happens. Jesus makes the first move, and after being exposed by the Light of the World, Zacchaeus realizes that everything has changed. The world has shifted out from under him. The desires of this world have slipped away. Zacchaeus has slipped out of his earlier, curious mood, and now wants to respond. Even though Jesus has invited himself to Zacchaeus’ home, Zacchaeus is now moved to give, to show mercy, and to do justice.

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” (Luke 19:8 NRSV)

Zacchaeus, realizing that nothing was as it was before he was discovered up in that Sycamore tree, is now compelled to respond in some fashion, in some way that draws him closer in his relationship with this man who he has never before met, and who he will likely not see again on this side of the Cross.

At this point, it is very important to note Jesus’ response. He says, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10 NRSV). Isn’t this what we actually fret about? Has Zacchaeus actually “purchased” salvation through his generosity and mercy? No. Remember, Jesus approached Zacchaeus first. And in response, Zacchaeus’ worldview is transformed. The Son of Man came to save the lost of those sons who count themselves descendants of Abraham. And we know, too, that by his death on the cross, death itself was defeated, and the curtain that separated God from humanity was torn asunder.

What We Now Know

The pattern of God calling and humanity responding is pervasive throughout scripture. Time and time again God calls. Many times, God calls those whom we might not. David was an adulterer. His predecessor Saul was mentally unstable. Paul, formerly Saul, persecuted the followers of Jesus. Jesus Christ comes to those who are lost, to those who, despite following all of our society’s rules for success, nonetheless find their lives a spiritual dessert. Jesus comes to those who are up in the tree, or behind their bedroom door, and asks if He can join us in our homes. He might as well ask to come inside us, because that’s what he seems to do here. The danger, of course, is that everything we think we know about ourselves is put at risk. Why? Because when Jesus comes in, we end up finding out who we really are, and it’s always not what we thought.

Is Jesus knocking at your door today? Is your life filled with worldly things? Are you feeling like you’re in a spiritual dessert, and that despite all of the goods that you have gathered something is still missing? You’re here in church today, and for me that means you’ve climbed the tree and are perhaps interested in seeing who this Jesus guy is. Or perhaps you’re already up in that tree, believing yourself to be nicely concealed, but now you feel His eyes upon you, asking if He can come in to your home. And if you let him in, and he transforms your life, how will you respond? That’s the question that must underlie any thinking we do during this time of increased emphasis on stewardship, planning, and the future of this particular church and how it serves the community.

Paul Scherer, in his exposition on this passage in the Interpreter’s Bible, makes this excellent observation:

There are times when we talk about finding God in Christ. Infinitely truer is it that in him God finds us. And when we’re found, nothing stays the same. Everything is transformed, we turn our lives over to him, and we end up finding out who we really are, the beloved ones of God.³ [Emphasis added]

In just a minute, we’ll be celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The basic reason for celebrating this sacrament is this: We know, by faith, that Jesus Christ is present with us during the meal. While we dine together, be on watch. Jesus may just be looking at you, calling you out from sin and the world, so that you might truly know who you are.

Let us pray.

Merciful God, righteous judge of all, you send Jesus among us to seek and to save those who are lost. Grant that we, like Zacchaeus of Jericho, may eagerly seek the Savior, joyfully welcome him into our homes and lives, and gladly do what is pleasing in his sight. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, how and forever. Amen.⁴

Given at First Presbyterian Church, Portland, Texas

¹This material is taken from Calvin’s Seminary’s wonderful Center for Excellence in Preaching website here. ↩

²Ibid. ↩

³Scherer, Paul. “The Gospel According to St. Luke.” Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. VIII. New York: Abingdon Press, 1953, p. 323. ↩

⁴Theology and Worship Ministry Unit. Book of Common Worship. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993, p. 384. ↩

Technorati Tags: Presbyterian Church USA, PCUSA, Sermon, Luke, Year C, Zacchaeus, Tax Collector, Giving, Stewardship, Justification

Happy 490th!

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther famously posted his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, setting in motion a multitude of events which collectively are referred to as The Reformation.

The image on the right is from one of the very few early printings of Luther's hymn: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." There are no known first edition printings left. This book is a second edition, and extremely rare. It is in the holdings of the Lutherhaus museum in Wittenberg, Germany. Photograph by Paul T. McCain. June 2006. Wittenberg, Germany.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Eph 2:8 NRSV)

Technorati Tags: PCUSA, Presbyterian Church USA, Reformation Day, Martin Luther, Wittenberg, Germany

SoCal Fires - Witness to the Resurrection

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; (1 Pet 3:15 NRSV).

Keep that verse in mind as you read this interview of The Reverend Gregory Hughes (Malibu Presbyterian Church). All pastors should be ready for just such a press event [via Hannity and Colmes].

COLMES: Pastor Hughes, let's talk about what happened at your church, a 60-year-old church, [that's] been around for a long time, not the first time you've experienced this kind of thing, but this was devastating for you. What did you go through over the weekend?

FATHER GREG HUGHES, LOST CHURCH IN FIRES: Well, it has been devastating. We were preparing for worship services on Sunday morning. And to turn around and see the church demolished by the fire was devastating. It felt like the wind got knocked out of us. But our congregation is resilient. We'll rebuild. We'll regroup.

COLMES: As I understand it, you were called to the church and went to the church. You thought things would be OK. At a certain point, you had to evacuate. Tell us about that moment where you knew you had to leave.

HUGHES: Yeah, we got there about 6:30. The flames were not yet approaching the church. We thought it was safe. A fire truck said we were safe, so we went in, retrieved computers, hard drives, papers. And then when the police vehicle came through and said we needed to evacuate, and by the time we got out, there were embers that were flying over our heads. So we knew it was a desperate situation. Things and winds had changed.

OLIVER NORTH, GUEST CO-HOST: Reverend Hughes, let me — a quick question for you. Is there any materials that could have been used or might be used in the rebuilding of your church that would make it less likely that this kind of thing happens in the future?

HUGHES: Oh, I'm sure. You know, I don't know what those are. I'm not a builder or an architect, but I'm sure we'll rebuild it differently. It's a 60-year-old structure, you know, things have changed.

NORTH: What are you going to do in the interim?

HUGHES: Well, you know, we're an Easter Faith people, so you know on Friday, it looked like things were bleak for Jesus, but we saw that Jesus rose again. And our church is a resurrection church. We'll gather again. We're going to regroup again. We're right now in the process of finding an appropriate location for us to meet where we can all gather together.

The community here in Malibu has been tremendous. The synagogue has offered help, Pepperdine [University], everywhere, I mean, all of the other churches. So we're going to find a place where we can meet, and we'll regroup and re gather. And we believe that we'll be stronger as a result of this.

Rev. Hughes obviously knows what a church is, and it's not the building wherein the church meets for worship.

Technorati Tags: Southern California Fires, PCUSA, Presbyterian Church USA, Resurrection, Hope

A Humble Gift

A Humble Gift
Luke 18:9-14
October 28, 2007
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

© 2007 by Christopher D. Drew

Sermon Focus: This is a rich and fascinating passage. Are we justified in the eyes of God through the declaration of our own righteousness, or by acknowledging honestly that we are sinners in need of redemption? In this parable, Jesus uses a stark contrast to demonstrate how justification works. The passage also tells us that the proper way to give is in humility, in the recognition that we don’t even deserve that which we give.

Sermon Function: To teach listeners the importance of giving with the right frame of mine. We do not give because we are capable and others are not, or because we are declaring our own righteousness. We give out of the deep gratitude we feel for the grace we have received in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

[Click to Show/Hide Sermon Text]

Introduction

We’re very close to November, now. The cooler air has invaded our tropical climate, and I can’t help but reflect on the fall season and the coming turn of the Christian year with the beginning of Advent.

In the church, fall represents a time of anticipation and planning, both for the liturgical year to come, and also for the mission life of the church. And as fall progresses, your session is preparing to enter into a planning and budgeting phase for the forthcoming year.

That means that this is the time to reflect on the future, and to pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit, so that we all might discern what it is God wants us to do. When a pastor mentions the word “stewardship” from the pulpit, many people immediately think about fundraising and making financial commitments to the church. Now, I’m not going to discourage that kind of thinking; it’s entirely appropriate and necessary. But there are other ways of thinking about stewardship. I talk about this in the latest issue of our church newsletter, Tidings. On the front page, I ask all of us (me included) to reflect on two key questions as we formally begin the planning and pledging cycle for the coming year:

Question one: “Am I fully using the talents and skills God has given me for the benefit of His Kingdom?”

Question two: “Am I demonstrating my faithful commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ with the monetary resources for which God has made me responsible?”

Both the scripture passage for this week and the one for next week can help us find answers to these two questions.

Listen now for God’s word to us.

[Read Scripture - Luke 18:9-14]

Opening Illustration

Sara and I had the pleasure of attending the Corpus Christi Metro Ministries annual Poor Man’s Supper at the American Bank Center just over the Harbor Bridge. A member of Sara’s church invited us. Upon our arrival, we were introduced to those we’d be dining with, and we were also introduced to the prominent Corpus Christi couple that sponsored our table for the evening.

We were surprised to find ourselves sitting at one of the tables closest to the stage. Sitting at the table next to us was the Mayor of Corpus Christi, Henry Garrett, and his wife, and Bishop Edmond Carmody whose see is the Diocese Of Corpus Christi, along with both the President and the CEO of Corpus Christi Metro Ministries. I was shocked. Also sitting at the table next to us was the keynote speaker for the evening, Rudy Ruettiger, the man who became the inspiration for the wonderful movie Rudy, which is often called a sports movie, but really is much more than that. Mr. Ruettiger made a name for himself with his pure perseverance. After serving in the United States Navy, he spent ten years at Notre Dame, working incredibly hard to graduate, as well as to play for the Fighting Irish football team. He realized his lifelong dream to play on the team when, in the last game of the year, he was put in at the very end of the game and, with seven seconds left on the clock, sacked the Georgia Tech quarterback. It would be the only game he would play in, and in the history of Notre Dame football, Rudy is the only player to have been carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates.

Make no mistake about it: I love the movie Rudy and I really liked the genuine article. However, Rudy gave what could only be described as an “overlong” address to a group that had just been dining and drinking and hobnobbing. There were lots of funny anecdotes and some good basic advise, but for those of us who knew what the event was for – to raise much-needed money – there was a palatable sense in the crowd of “let’s get on with things.” In the interest of time this morning, I’ll only repeat what was the crux of Mr. Ruettiger’s speech – “You can do it!”

If you just set your mind on your dreams, you can do whatever it is you want to do. You can be an astronaut, and architect, a welder, a President, a pastor, etc. Whatever you can imagine can become reality. You just need persistent, patience, character, etc.

You can do it. The sports paraphernalia manufacturer Nike has also traded on a similar phrase – “Just do it!” And so we do. We do whatever we can to get ahead, to move ahead, to make progress, to achieve the fullest sense of self-fulfillment imaginable. The fat bank account is of particular importance because of the economic security it provides in the event of a layoff, as well as for the prospects of a happy retirement, a time of life reserved for pure relaxation, recreation, vacation, and travel, when nothing of particular importance needs completion. What? Retirement isn’t like that? Oh, yes. I know, I know! But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Our lives are governed by a pretty interesting set of expectations, motivated in specific ways by our need for mastery over our lives and rewards for making the right decisions for ourselves, our families, and for our future. It’s for me, for us, and for our future.

The Pharisee

You will likely not be surprised, then, when I share with you the reality that life isn’t that simple, and that frankly some if not all of those ideas aren’t particularly biblical, by which I mean they normally don’t make the best recipe for a life of faithful discipleship.

Jesus’ parable features two men. One a Pharisee, the other, a hated and despised tax collector. You may be interested to know that not all Pharisees were like the one in today’s account. The Interpreter’s Bible tells us that the Talmudic literature contains many examples of instances where Pharisee’s display extraordinary humility.¹ But in this story, we get the picture of a man who is secure in his own future, in his own righteousness, a righteousness he imputes to himself because he has made all of the right decisions, and because he has taken steps beyond what was required in order to be righteous in his own eyes. He has, for all intents and purposes, responded fully and robustly to the admonition that, when it comes to righteousness and salvation, “you can do it!”

The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ (Luke 18:11-12 NRSV)

You will notice in this brief prayer that the word “I” appears throughout. This is a prayer about the self and what the self has accomplished to make the self righteous and therefore somehow pleasing to God.

And we are not immune to such temptations ourselves, are we? I sometimes make fun of myself in the office by literally giving myself a pat on the back for a job that I’m particularly proud of. The Pharisee in our story is doing something remarkably similar here, through he’s not looking for laughs. He’s serious. He is addressing God as one who has accorded righteousness to himself by doing all the right things. The term for this in Protestant Reformed Presbyterian theology is “works righteousness.” It is the view that says we can buy our way into heaven just by doing all of what we think God requires. Faith, in this way, is reduced to completing the simple items on the salvation checklist:

Pray every day. Check.

Get baptized. Check.

Volunteer at the local charity. Check.

Attend worship every week. Check.

Give money at the offering each week. Check.

Ahh, giving money at the offering each week, or promising to do so each year during our annual stewardship campaign. Hmm. That strikes a bit close for comfort, given that the pastor has and will be talking about giving to the church.

Giving, Tithing, and Faith

Rather than the declaration of self-righteousness recorded on the part of the Pharisee, our giving is expected to be out of faith, a faith borne of the knowledge and full acceptance of the basic truth that we cannot save ourselves and declare ourselves righteous. Any righteousness we have is a gift of God, a gift made possible by the precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is in Jesus that we receive salvation, not through the transactions we conduct each day in the hope that we will have built up enough “street cred” to buy entrance into the God’s kingdom.

Our giving should be, in a way, confessional prayer. We should give in humility, using a voice similar to that of our friend the tax collector. He stood away from the crowd, ashamed of the life he had been living, a life of ripping off the people by grossly overcharging them tax on behalf of Rome and pocketing the balance. The ancient tax collector lived large off the people and was considered a traitor, complicit with the occupying Roman Empire. Rather than declare himself righteous by completing the appropriate tasks, the tax collector instead throws himself upon the mercy of God, beating his breast in anguish, ashamed even to look up to heaven (a common prayer practice at the time). “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” he cries. The danger here, then, is that our giving can be considered a payoff, which is yet another way of saving ourselves through righteous acts. The tax collector left the temple justified by his humble faith. The Pharisee already received his reward, the knowledge of self-justification and self-righteousness that meant he was better than everyone else.

How Do We Give?

When we consider where we are as a church, and what we, in hope, envision for the future, we need to remember that our gifts of talents, time, and money are not works we do to earn salvation, nor are they divine payoff to avoid condemnation. For us, gifts of time and money are given in utter gratitude, in the knowledge that what we give isn’t really ours to begin with. Everything we have is from God, and we are charged to be good stewards of what we have been given. So, in this season of stewardship, we should, in humility and gratitude, consider the two questions I mentioned to you earlier:

“Am I fully using the talents and skills God has given me for the benefit of His Kingdom?” And,

“Am I demonstrating my faithful commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ with the monetary resources for which God has made me responsible?”

And as we consider these things, we need to remember that life isn’t a “just do it” kind of experience. Our steps are ordered instead by the Holy Spirit. In this season of giving, let the Holy Spirit in to your life, so that when you consider the two big questions of faithful stewardship, you may respond like the tax collector, in gratitude and humility.

“Am I fully using the talents and skills God has given me for the benefit of His Kingdom?” And,

“Am I demonstrating my faithful commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ with the monetary resources for which God has made me responsible?”

After telling this parable, Luke then tells us about Jesus’ encounter with another tax collector named Zacchaeus. And if you’d like to know what’s next, we’ll see you next week in church.

Let us pray.

Oh God, who alone can probe the depths of the heart, you hear the prayer of the humble and justify the repentant sinner. Grand us the gift of humility, that we may see our own sins clearly and refrain from judging our neighbor. We make our prayer to you through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Given at First Presbyterian Church, Portland, Texas.

¹Gilmour, S. MacLean. “The Gospel According to St. Luke.” Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. VIII. New York: Abingdon Press, 1953, p. 308. ↩

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