February 1, 2015: Treasure in Heaven

Matthew 6:7-21

⁷ [Jesus said:] ”When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. ⁸ Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask. ⁹ Pray like this:

Our Father who is in heaven,

uphold the holiness of your name.

¹⁰ Bring in your kingdom

so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.

¹¹ Give us the bread we need for today.

¹² Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,

just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.

¹³ And don’t lead us into temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

¹⁴ “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. ¹⁷ When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁹ “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. ²⁰ Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. ²¹ Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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“What’s my motivation?” This is one of the stereotypical questions you might hear an actor say to themselves as they prepare to portray a character.  I haven’t been around enough actual actors to know if this sort of question is used often, but I believe it there is really something to it.  When an actor knows their character’s motivation, it changes how that character will speak, react to events, or even walk down the street.  In other words, a character’s motivation changes EVERYTHING.

This is very true for followers of Jesus as well.  Why do we do the things we do?  Why do we pray out loud, why do we fast, or attend bible studies, or help the poor, or sing worship songs, or…well, just about anything?  What’s out motivation?

When we pray are we attempting to impress God with plenty of eloquent words, in the way Jesus describes in verses 7 and 8?  When we practice other types of piety, like the fasting mentioned in verse 16, do we do it in order to be noticed by others in a way that will gain the approval and envy of others?  Or is does our “motivation” lead us to something else?  An authentic relationship with God that gives God glory and gives us the strength that we need to live our lives in the way they were intended to be lived. 

“Okay, okay,” you might reply, “Now I just have one more thing to do, one more thing to worry about, one more thing to check off on the gargantuan list of things I need to be a good person. It’s exhausting!” If you are starting to feel this way, I have good news.  Jesus doesn’t want to give you “one more thing to do.” Instead, Jesus wants to change your life.  Instead of adding weight to your already weighty load, Jesus wants you to put that load down.  Jesus is offering us a new way of life, where things don’t own us, where we aren’t always striving to make the grade, where we can look toward heaven and not all around us. The prayer he teaches us fits into this.

Here’s an example:

I’ve finally reached the age where my parents are giving me all of the boxes of my STUFF that had been sitting in their basement for years.  I’m talking about toys, school papers, and countless other mementos.  Now that my wife and I own our own home and aren’t living in seminary housing or a small Boston apartment, I suppose my parents (quite rightly) assume that these things are better off with me.  It’s been a lot of fun to go through my old papers, show my daughters some of my old Star Wars toys and shake my head at the “souvenirs” that I thought were important to keep from a trip to England many years ago (hello, British Airways in-flight menu).

All of that was wonderful, but it was soon clear that all of this STUFF was starting to mount up. It began to weigh on us.  Finally, my wife and I decided to begin clearing the house.  With every box that was thrown away or donated, my heart lifted a bit. We didn’t throw everything away (the Star Wars Ewok Village is packed away in our basement), but we were able to say that “stuff” doesn’t rule us.  Collecting treasures on earth can be exhausting and nerve-wracking. Letting that urge go is liberating.  I believe this this is what Jesus is talking about here. Storing up treasures in heaven isn't "one more thing to do" or some "transaction that we had better get right or else..." it's an invitation to freedom.

It’s not easy, and it certainly isn’t possible without his help.  But through prayer (especially the one he taught us) transformation is possible. 

What’s my motivation?  A new life, freedom, and significance, all found in the name of Jesus.

January 25, 2015: The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-20

¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. ² He taught them, saying:

³ “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

⁴ “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.

⁵ “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.

⁷ “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.

⁹ “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.

¹⁰ “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

¹¹ “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. ¹² Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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It’s possible that you’ve run into someone like me while you are shopping.  With the help of headphones and an iPhone I am accompanied by music or a good podcast when I venture out into the world. Of course I don’t do this if I’m with my wife, kids or other companion, but if I’m by myself I like shopping with my own personal soundtrack blaring in my ears.  Normally this doesn’t cause many funny looks, but if I’m listening to an especially awesome song where the beat, or the chorus, or the lyrics particularly grab me, I’ve been known to sing along....rather loudly. 

The people around me can’t hear the song that’s inspired my impromptu jam session.  All they get are my words, my voice and my wacky behavior that doesn’t fit the situation.  I am literally marching to the beat of a different drummer.  It goes without saying that a situation like this can cause some embarrassment and surprised expressions from my fellow shoppers.  

I bring all of this up today because the Beatitudes can have this effect on an audience.  If the proper technology had been available in first century Galilee, you could be excused for wondering if Jesus was wearing headphones with a rather strange song playing in his ears as he spoke. Jesus’ words seem to be in stark contradiction with our experience of life around the globe and this starts with the first words out of his mouth. "Happy are WHO?!?!?"

The word makarios that Jesus uses to describe these nine different classifications of people is often translated at “blessed” or “happy.”  It can also mean “fortunate,” “favored” or “well off.”  That’s all fine and good, but it’s hard to imagine the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, etc. as being particularly happy or blessed.  We know what happens to people like this in our big, tough world.  They get pushed around, oppressed or ignored.  As one character in the Monty Python film Life of Brian, “Blessed are the meek! Oh that’s nice, isn’t it? I’m glad they’re getting something because they have a hell of a time…”

"Happy are WHO?!?!?"

It seems like a rather unlikely group of candidates for blessedness or happiness…unless you are privy to the underlying music that has this message rocking.  If you want to hear those beats, you'll have to travel back a couple of chapters in Matthew's Gospel.  John the Baptist has already said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” before his arrest (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus has taken up the same message a chapter later (Matthew 4:17).   

John Dominic Crossan has described the kingdom of Heaven (or the “kingdom of God” depending on the particular Gospel) as “Extreme Home Makeover: Cosmic Edition.” Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock, in their book The People’s New Testament Commentary say, “The ‘kingdom of God’ refers to God’s ruling, God’s assertion of kingly power over creation. In the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done” (Matt. 6:10) is two ways of saying the same thing.”

This is the kingdom and, what is more, John and Jesus both proclaim that it is near.   Things are beginning to change and they will look different when it arrives fully. In the meantime, people who connect themselves with the kingdom will look as strange as those who sing to a song only they can hear on their headphones.

With this in mind there are two different ways to look at the Beatitudes. They can either be seen as:

1)     Standards of good behavior that line up with “kingdom values,” (for instance, the ‘poor in spirit’ are not proud and recognize their need of God.)

OR…

2)     They can be seen as a promise of coming goodness that will arrive with the kingdom that is near.  This goodness for those who have found little good here in this life, but whose fortunes are about to change.

In either case, the coming kingdom is the key to these Beatitudes.

The first view is quite common and you can find many different descriptions out there. I’m going to say more about the second view, first introduced to me by my New Testament Professor Mark Allan Powell, during a lecture on the Sermon on the Mount. 

According to this second view the first four “blessings” (hopeless, grieving, humble, those hungering and thirsting for righteousness), are for people who have been pushed around and oppressed by the world.  The second four (merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, those who are harassed for righteousness sake) are for the people who help the first group and, consequently, find themselves oppressed in the same way. Powell has said that the ‘powers that be’ have a way of punishing those who try to help the oppressed and history has shown this to be the case.  The ninth and final “blessing” speaks directly at Jesus’ followers. Notice that this is not an “if” it’s a “when.” 

The blessing and happiness that these groups receive is possible because the kingdom is near.  Without that, these seem like some very silly statements indeed. With our awareness of God’s coming kingdom, and the picture of the character of God that Jesus shows us, these Beatitudes become wonderful news for the down-and-out and those who help them.

As followers of Jesus today, we are called to live our lives oriented around this good news.  By doing so we will certainly seem out of step with the powers that be.  We’ll look even stranger, even more embarrassing, than a person singing along to a song no one else can here, but we will be connected with and inspired by the kingdom.  Our actions, in line with something many around us have not experienced, will be the light shining before others (see verse 16) that helps the world experience our father in heaven. 

January 18, 2015: Tempted in the Wilderness

Matthew 4:1-17

Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. ² After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.”

⁵ After that the devil brought him into the holy city and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, ⁶ “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, I will command my angels concerning you, and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”

⁷ Jesus replied, “Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.”

⁸ Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ He said, “I’ll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus responded, “Go away, Satan, because it’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” ¹¹ The devil left him, and angels came and took care of him.

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John was arrested, he went to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, which lies alongside the sea in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet said:

¹⁵ Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
        alongside the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,
¹⁶     the people who lived in the dark have seen a great light,
        and a light has come upon those who lived in the region and in shadow of death.

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to announce, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”

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When I was a kid I watched the Chicago Cubs on WGN in a quasi-religious way.  I had a little schedule with all of the game times and locations.  I’d tune in, yell at the TV, sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame with Harry Carey,” and jump up and down when they won (which never happened as often as I’d like).  My favorite player, hands down, was second baseman Ryne Sandberg. He won Gold Glove after Gold Glove, he could hit and he always had a good attitude.  After watching a game I’d go outside and bounce a ball off of the garage wall, attempting to imitate his back-handed catching method with a quick throw to first base.  I got pretty good at it…mostly. There were a few broken windows here and there.

These memories came to my mind as I read our Gospel lesson for this week. There are many ways to look at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness: you could look at what Jesus is able to do and say, “Wow, glad he could do that because I never could.”  Or you could look at these verses and say “Wow, Jesus is showing us how we can face temptation and fight the devil in our own lives.” Both have advantages, and pitfalls.

Let’s start with the pitfalls.  Much like my attempted emulation of Ryne Sandberg, if I try to measure up to Jesus Christ the Son of God, I will only come away with discouragement and failure…broken windows if you will. That’s one problem, but there are dangers on the other side of things.  To just say "Well, Jesus does it for us and aren't we glad he does?" And leave it at that is okay, but will leave me a little less than excited. It could also lead me to think, “Hey it doesn't really matter what I do, it's all cool.” I might not think this consciously, but these sorts of thoughts have a way of boring into our subconscious and resurface as we live our lives.

What can we gain from this story about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness?  Plenty! We actually can learn from Jesus’ here:

·        He turns to Scripture, which keeps him connected with his Father, in-line with his Father’s will. We can do the same. God has provided us with a wonderful gift in the Bible.  Having a few verses “on call” won’t go amiss at all!

·        He refuses to use his power, privilege and abilities for selfish gain. The first two temptations (creating food, being saved by God in times of trouble) are GOOD THINGS.  In fact, Jesus will make sure thousands of people are given bread in the wilderness in just eleven chapters.  The devil is working hard to convince Jesus to be selfish…the same can happen to us too.

·        Jesus is not afraid to tell Satan to get lost.  I believe that we have the same ability.  James tells us to “…resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7b) 

We also learn a few things about the devil:

·        He appears to Jesus only AFTER Jesus has gone forty days and forty nights without eating.  I bet he didn’t get much quality sleep either. The Tempter will wait for our low points too, before striking.

·        The devil appears to be very, VERY reasonable in his initial “recommendations.” What’s wrong with a little bread?  What would be so bad for Jesus to be saved if he fell from the Temple? It’s only later that the devil will try to get Jesus to serve him.  The devil is sneaky: we see it here.

·        The devil knows scripture too, and he can use it in a very savvy way.  I imagine that the devil knows the Bible much better than you or I do.  (I suppose he’s had much more time to learn it). 

So we’ve learned a few very useful things for our own life here.  Much like my time spent watching Ryne Sandberg field groundballs, these verses allow us to watch the master at work.  That’s a good thing!

But at the same time we can breathe a sigh of relief and say (quite literally) “Thank God for Jesus Christ!” Frankly I could not measure up to what Jesus has done. If I could there would be little need for him to have come into our world.  As Christians we follow Jesus, we love others as he has loved us and we sit up and listen when he is speaking…but in the end he’s the Savior, the Shepherd, the Pioneer and Perfecter (Hebrews 12 anyone?).