My brothers and sisters, God is both forgiving and just. This may not make since to us but it is a genuine blessing.
In our reading from Exodus we see the people of Israel turn to sin wile waiting at the foot of Mount Sinai. They enrage God but Moses convinces God to relent and forgive. This image of God as wrathful is common in the Old Testament but we also have the reminder that people can move God to relent.
In our reading from First Timothy the author has reminded us to believe fully that God came into our world to offer salvation to sinners. The Gospels testify to it and Paul’s own-lived example dramatizes it. Mercy and forgiveness are real!
Earlier the author has warned against false teachers who indulge in elaborations on, and deviations from, the faith. Love should be the basis for Christian conduct – lived through personal integrity. Now the author promotes the simple doctrine that Christ came into the world to save sinners.
In today’s gospel God welcomes the repentant. Jesus depicts God as not merely accepting the repentant sinner but actively seeking them out.
The Pharisees and Scribes have chastised Jesus for keeping company with “tax collectors and sinners.” Apparently godly people like the Pharisees avoided and despised such people. Their complaint begs the question: are any beyond God’s mercy? Jesus’ answer is a resounding NO! He defends associating with these people, using parables. He also explains these two parables: God is the shepherd or housewife. The lost sheep or coin represent people who repent. God not only accepts them but seeks them out and rejoices when they are found.
This gospel image of God is strikingly different from the Old Testament image. In Jesus’ teaching God does not express wrath at the sinner but seeks opportunity for reconciliation. In other passages Jesus also teaches that there will be judgment and consequences for those who do not repent and return to doing good. However, there are no New Testament threats to destroy a whole nation and start over.
Jesus presents to us a tender God who can be approached by all of us, not just by a Moses. When we have done wrong and need to make a fresh start we will find God waiting for our return. All of us have experienced forgiveness in some manner. Some of us have seen the unrepentant punished. Some few of us may have even been around when God mysteriously dealt out both in the same situation . . . I once ministered to a man who both accepted judicial punishment for his crimes and God’s forgiveness for his sins. Though it was truly hard on him, he went on to be a much better man because of it.
My sisters and brothers, let us not shy away from God when we need forgiveness and the blessing of a fresh start. Instead, let us take God up on the offer Jesus presents before us today!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Prayer by Richard Foster, Taken from "Prayer"
In his book simply titled “Prayer” Richard Foster gives us a wonderful and simple prayer that is the perfect thing for us to take home with us today. I’ll put this on my blog for anyone who wants to look it up form home and there are a few paper copies in the back of church for those who don’t care for using the Internet.
Dear Lord Jesus, in my better moments I want nothing more than to be like you. But there are other moments. . . Help me to see how good conformity to your way really is. In my seeking for you may I be found by you. Amen.
Dear Lord Jesus, in my better moments I want nothing more than to be like you. But there are other moments. . . Help me to see how good conformity to your way really is. In my seeking for you may I be found by you. Amen.
Homily for Proper 18 C - September 5, 2010
My brothers and sisters, the most difficult piece of our being Disciples of Christ is often the simplest; allowing Jesus to change us!
In our reading from Jeremiah we hear that God forgives those who repent! This comes through the imagery of God’s people being like vessels shaped on a potter’s wheel. Some of us may be more cooperative than others but we are all being shaped. The idea being that we should strive to cooperate with God’s shaping of our lives.
A potter’s wheel is a round flat stone (like a table) that spins as the potter works. The potter controls the speed of the wheel and places a lump of clay on the top. Then the potter begins forming the vessel with his hands as the wheel is turned. If the vessel distorted during turning, the potter collapsed the clay back into a lump and simply began again. Jeremiah explains the symbolism as God being the potter and humanity the clay.
Our second reading is from a personal letter from Paul to Philemon, a slave owner, but it is also addressed to “the church in your house.” In the first century, the Christian community gathered at a member’s house. It is likely that the letter was read during worship.
“Onesimus,” is a slave who has run away from Philemon’s house. While visiting Paul, he has been converted to Christianity, making him Paul’s spiritual child. A common penalty for salve leaving a master was death, so Paul is in a delicate position, pleading for the man’s life. Paul urges Philemon take him “back forever” as a slave and as a “beloved brother” in Christ. He is asking Philemon to treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul himself.
In our selection from Luke’s Gospel we see Jesus talking about the cost or demands of being a disciple. In the early days, being a Christian could very well cost you all you had (confiscated by civil authorities) and even your life (you could be executed for being a Christian).
This story follows immediately after Jesus telling the dinner guests that even sick and the poor are welcome in God’s Kingdom. Now he describes what is required of his followers. The word “hate” is used as an exaggeration; a method of speaking and writing that we still use today. It was a common linguistic trait in Hebrew. Jesus uses it here to make the dramatic point that one must be less attached to their possessions, even their life, than to Jesus himself. The disciple must find his prime security and meaning in Jesus. Not in family, property or in one’s own life. One must be prepared to suffer, as Jesus did on the “cross.”
Today, we don’t run the risk of capital criminal charges for being a Christian as did our predecessors. Nor do we experience the prejudice here in the US that other must live within far flung parts of the globe. We could lose friends, business opportunities and the like but generally we don’t have to pay much of a price for being Disciples of Jesus. However, there is one “cost of discipleship” that we do have in common with all Christians. And it can be intimidating.
It is the demand of Jesus that each of his followers allow themselves to genuinely be changed by his Gospel and grace. Sadly, being willing to personally be changed is one of the hardest things we can confront as human beings. Yet, that is the call. To be transformed or remolded by the Gospel into the people God calls us to be. Although giving up some of our self determination and be transformed into a better person by God’s grace is intimidating. It is actually one of Jesus’ most precious, beautiful and joyful gifts.
In his book simply titled “Prayer” Richard Foster gives us a wonderful and simple prayer that is the perfect thing for us to take home with us today. I’ll put this on my blog for anyone who wants to look it up form home and there are a few paper copies in the back of church for those who don’t care for using the Internet.
Dear Lord Jesus, in my better moments I want nothing more than to be like you. But there are other moments. . . Help me to see how good conformity to your way really is. In my seeking for you may I be found by you. Amen.
In our reading from Jeremiah we hear that God forgives those who repent! This comes through the imagery of God’s people being like vessels shaped on a potter’s wheel. Some of us may be more cooperative than others but we are all being shaped. The idea being that we should strive to cooperate with God’s shaping of our lives.
A potter’s wheel is a round flat stone (like a table) that spins as the potter works. The potter controls the speed of the wheel and places a lump of clay on the top. Then the potter begins forming the vessel with his hands as the wheel is turned. If the vessel distorted during turning, the potter collapsed the clay back into a lump and simply began again. Jeremiah explains the symbolism as God being the potter and humanity the clay.
Our second reading is from a personal letter from Paul to Philemon, a slave owner, but it is also addressed to “the church in your house.” In the first century, the Christian community gathered at a member’s house. It is likely that the letter was read during worship.
“Onesimus,” is a slave who has run away from Philemon’s house. While visiting Paul, he has been converted to Christianity, making him Paul’s spiritual child. A common penalty for salve leaving a master was death, so Paul is in a delicate position, pleading for the man’s life. Paul urges Philemon take him “back forever” as a slave and as a “beloved brother” in Christ. He is asking Philemon to treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul himself.
In our selection from Luke’s Gospel we see Jesus talking about the cost or demands of being a disciple. In the early days, being a Christian could very well cost you all you had (confiscated by civil authorities) and even your life (you could be executed for being a Christian).
This story follows immediately after Jesus telling the dinner guests that even sick and the poor are welcome in God’s Kingdom. Now he describes what is required of his followers. The word “hate” is used as an exaggeration; a method of speaking and writing that we still use today. It was a common linguistic trait in Hebrew. Jesus uses it here to make the dramatic point that one must be less attached to their possessions, even their life, than to Jesus himself. The disciple must find his prime security and meaning in Jesus. Not in family, property or in one’s own life. One must be prepared to suffer, as Jesus did on the “cross.”
Today, we don’t run the risk of capital criminal charges for being a Christian as did our predecessors. Nor do we experience the prejudice here in the US that other must live within far flung parts of the globe. We could lose friends, business opportunities and the like but generally we don’t have to pay much of a price for being Disciples of Jesus. However, there is one “cost of discipleship” that we do have in common with all Christians. And it can be intimidating.
It is the demand of Jesus that each of his followers allow themselves to genuinely be changed by his Gospel and grace. Sadly, being willing to personally be changed is one of the hardest things we can confront as human beings. Yet, that is the call. To be transformed or remolded by the Gospel into the people God calls us to be. Although giving up some of our self determination and be transformed into a better person by God’s grace is intimidating. It is actually one of Jesus’ most precious, beautiful and joyful gifts.
In his book simply titled “Prayer” Richard Foster gives us a wonderful and simple prayer that is the perfect thing for us to take home with us today. I’ll put this on my blog for anyone who wants to look it up form home and there are a few paper copies in the back of church for those who don’t care for using the Internet.
Dear Lord Jesus, in my better moments I want nothing more than to be like you. But there are other moments. . . Help me to see how good conformity to your way really is. In my seeking for you may I be found by you. Amen.
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