Proper Wonder

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath…- Isaiah 51:6”

Every landscape has its own features that if you look at them – see them – cause you to fall into wonder about time and distance, about how short and small are yours and how long and far is the earth. As a child of the Midwest being able to stare into the distance and see all the way to the horizon. Growing up on the Mississippi, and having known a kid swept away by the river, its power unknowable. The age of the Allegheny mountains worn down and centuries of mines that haven’t come close to exhausting the supply. And when moving out to Arizona, seeing actual mountains for the first time gave new meaning to the call for the mountains to fall on us. I remember the feeling driving through them up to Las Vegas for a baseball tournament. How the mountains, if they even noticed the cars traveling like ants through them, must be chuckling at all the hustle. They were there before anything and would outlast everything. And then you lift up your eyes to the heavens and consider the time span it took for the light of many of the stars to reach us, lengths so long that you have to make up words – light-years, parsecs – such that you can fool yourself that you comprehend what you are thinking about.

God tells his people to look at these things. Feel those feelings. And then He says, “for the heavens will vanish like smoke, and they earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in a like manner (Isaiah 51:6).” As magnificent and eternal as the material world looks, to God is it temporal. Nothing more than smoke that blows away. A favorite garment that eventually becomes threadbare and hole-y. That is not only the way of all flesh, but of all matter. It is here for a time. But that time is nothing compared to its purpose.

The purpose of the material is so that we might understand the glory and righteousness of God. “My salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed (Isaiah 51: 6).” Our souls which are still able to be struck by the time and distance of the heavens above and the earth beneath are able to learn through them about the one who supports them all. We are able to know that God is just and his law has gone out from him, and that his law is a light to the peoples. (Isaiah 51:4). We are also able to know, because He took on our flesh, He entered our material, that His salvation has gone out. And that salvation reaches as far as the coastlands (Isaiah 51:5). The coastlands, which to the hill people of Judea were Tarshish, the unimaginable ends of the earth, hope in the LORD. The coastlands are part of the covenant.

It is the last Sunday of the Church year. The long green season is at its end. The colors go blue or purple next week. Another cycle of fast and feast begins. In the midst of the hustle of the next month, take a minute to lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look – see – the earth beneath. Let the natural wonder come. But then let that wonder attach to what it all gives witness to. The one who made it all. While thus they sing your Monarch, Those bright angelic bands, Rejoice, O vales and mountains, and oceans clap your hands.

Keeping Track

One of the things I put together for congregational meetings is a summary of attendance and giving. If you’ve been to a congregational meeting you’ve seen my slide. I often joke with those close that the reason I do it is that I need more reasons to be depressed. Although that failed when I put it together for our June meeting. All the numbers were up. I could tell a glory story.

But that leads to some of the real reasons. I’d like to tell a glory story, but the glory story only belongs to Christ. As Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Cor. 3:6-7)” If the numbers are good, praise be to Christ who has blessed us. When things are good, thanksgiving is always a good response.

Another reason I put together such numbers is to give a moment for contemplation if they are bad. Call it a first use of the law – the curb – reason. I’d rather hit a curb than a wall. And the longer you put off some contemplations the taller the curb gets. Looking at numbers at least twice a year is the opportunity to ask “has something changed that needs repentance?” Repentance is always an appropriate response of faith.

But even if the top line numbers are down, that might be hiding a different type of growth. A growth that is not easy to measure or put a number on. Part of that contemplation is thinking about ways that we might have experienced Spiritual growth. Spiritual growth often comes about through a season of pruning (John 15:2). We tend to equate Spiritual growth with mountain top experiences. But you got to the mountain through the pain of climbing. The path Jesus often wants us to walk in through the valley to the cross (Luke 9:51). In this world the saving story is not the glory story, but the story of the cross. Adam’s curse was that all growth would come through hardship (Genesis 3:19). The world does not recognize God on the cross, but to we who believe this is the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthian 1:24).

Which I suppose leads to the final reason which is part of our Epistle lesson this week. “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” That reason is encouragement. We are united in our belief. We have been united in our baptisms. We are united around the body and blood of Christ. This is our confession. These are the promises of Christ. That wherever two or three are so gathered, there Christ will be. He promised to be present in Word and Sacrament. You might meet him elsewhere. We can’t bind God. But He has bound Himself there. And He is faithful to his promises. Do not neglect the gathering. Don’t let it become a habit. We so easily fall into bad habits. But take encouragement, for the Day is certainly drawing near. And taking encouragement, a renewing of faith in the one who is faithful, is the necessary response.

Saints of the World Series

So the World Series is over. I didn’t think anything could make me feel sorry for the Yankees, but that game did. I used to root for Gerritt Cole when he was a Pirate. It is inexcusable not getting over to first base for the last out. The last out before the Dodgers would score five in the inning to tie it. Five unearned runs, but also in a strange way completely earned, as the pitcher didn’t cover the bag. And Rizzo. As a Cubs fan, I will always love Rizzo. But seeing him field the ball and just hold it, as there was no one there to toss it too, painful. Then Judge dropping an easy line drive. He hasn’t dropped that one since he was 12 years old. And he was building such a redemption arc at the plate in the game. And it all dribbled out of the glove. Unlike most Yankees who are great heels (Wrestling terminology), Judge, Cole and Rizzo are babyfaces.

And the series was strangely anti-climactic. It was Yankees-Dodgers. That is the stuff of Americana. Those series are legendary. And it started off with that feel. Freddie Freeman with a walk-off grand slam in the 10^th inning. Are you kidding me? And Yamamoto pitched a gem. But then you had a bullpen game…in the World Series? What would Koufax, Gibson or even Maddux think. I’m sure they could stutter something about how the game has changed. But in their hearts aren’t they a bit judgmental? Are you kidding me, give me the ball, it’s the World Series. And then it ends 4-1. One game so it isn’t a sweep, but no grand comeback. No last flight to LA. No winning at home. Just a crisp NY evening and a celebration in front of cameras.

One of the famous lines from the movie Moneyball is “how can you not be romantic about baseball?” Cue James Earl Jones and the army of steamrollers, but the one thing that has remained constant is baseball. But Yankees-Dodgers didn’t live up to the Romance. And if Yankees-Dodgers can’t live up to it, what about any of us toiling away in the minors?

The Feast of All Saints is that day for all of us. It is that day for those of us still in the church militant. Still toiling in the minors? We feebly struggle. Even the mighty Judges. But maybe it is even more to remind us that we are part of a great Romance. The story of Christ and the church. And whether one is a saint that has their own day on the calendar, one known only to a handful, or one forgotten by the world; they are all remembered and held dear by God.

Whether represented by the mystical 144,000 (12x12x1000 or the full number of the saints of all times and places) or by the more realistic number “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages (Revelation 7:9).” All of us will in glory shine.

Today we might come out of the great tribulation. Much of that tribulation caused like those 5 runs by ourselves, because of sin not covering the bag. But our salvation, the salvation of all saints, is not by our works. “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and the lamb (Revelation 7:10),” God looked upon us and would not let the sinner die, but he had compassion. And the drops, and the missed covers and disappointments that pile up? “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Revelation 7:17).” We are part of a great Romance. So let the distant song steal on your ear.

Reformation Slogans

I think it is inevitable. Any great movement eventually gets reduced to a slogan. And for a while the slogan works, and then the movement gets institutionalized. And institutions can’t work on slogans. And people forget what the slogan meant. And people try to add to the slogan. And it becomes trite.

The slogan of the Reformation is or was “The Solas”. As late as the 20^th Century people were still trying to add solas to the list. The Reformation really boiled down to two: Grace Alone and Faith Alone. Somewhere along the way Word Alone was added. Three points always rolls easier. Leave it to the Reformed to try and push 3 to 5. I think they wanted a Reformation parallel to TULIP, the Calvinist summary. But the two they added in the 20^th century just address later arguments that aren’t really the beating heart of the Reformation. So I stick with three: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Word Alone.

Grace Alone. Nobody really disagrees with this. The problem that Christianity addresses is sin. You might ask what is sin? At least I think moderns do. And there are different answers. You can lean into the legalistic, breaking a commandment. You can be more general, missing the mark. That is the allusion buried in the Hebrew word translated sin. I appreciate the definition the Novelist Francis Spufford used in his work of apologetics and confession: The Human Propensity to *Mess* Things Up. Although he didn’t use *Mess*. We can’t seem to avoid it. We mess things up. Even when we don’t want to, we do. As Paul would cry from the heart, “who will save me from this body of death?” Other religions don’t all have sin as their fundamental problem, but they usually will offer some type of solution. And that solution always comes in some type of law like the Buddhist 8 fold path or the Islamic 5 Pillars or the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants. Christ says something completely different. It is by grace alone. You can’t fix it. God has. And everything worthy of the name of Christ agrees that it is by grace alone.

The first dividing point is the 2^nd Sola: Faith Alone. As Mumford and Sons once sang, “How does this grace thing work?” One answer is that it works like medicine. God grants grace. If we respond to the medicine with good works, He supplies more grace. And so there is a cycle of grace and works. And boy did Luther try the works. It was later reformation Roman polemic that would smear Luther, but all the early accounts of everyone who knew Luther would have described him as Super-Monk. He lived it. It didn’t work. How does this grace thing work? Absolute trust in God: Father, Son and Spirit. Faith Alone. The grace of God given to us freely creates faith. Non-Reformed Christianity will still talk about the process as medicinal, a steady infusion of grace to the extent that works are done. The Reformation proclaims faith alone that God’s grace is enough to cover even me.

Eventually everyone asks the question “How do you know?” One answer would be authority. The Pope or Prince says so. Another answer would be tradition. This is how it has always been, or this is how we do it. The Reformation added its third Sola for this question. How do you know? Word Alone. This often gets taken as Scripture Alone. Which is not terrible, because the Scriptures are the Word of God for Christians of all times and places. The Scriptures are the Norming Norm of our life together. But Word Alone was always bigger. The simplification to the Scriptures I think is what caused so much of the late 19^th and 20^th century angst. As critical movements and the enlightenment attacked the Scriptures themselves, for many it felt like everything was lost. But the Reformation slogan is deeper. Word Alone. The Word of the Lord Endures Forever is something of another Reformation slogan – VDMA. When you’ve heard the Word of God, you know. It is self-revealing. It does not return empty. It is not without power. How do you know? Word Alone.

Reformation Day is a banner waving day, but also a good day to understand what those banners are about beyond hooray for my side. They are about Grace. They are about how Faith holds onto that Grace. They are about How we know. The Word of God has come to us today.

A Note on Stewardship

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ – Ephesians 4:11-15

This week’s corner has a very practical purpose. We are passing out pledge cards for the coming year 2025. They should be stuffed in your worship folder this week. They will also be available the next couple of weeks. Due to a variety of reasons I am having to write this very early, but I also expect that in this package we will have a one page summary of the council approved budget for 2025. This all has a purpose and part of that purpose is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ.”

It has long been a slogan of the Lutheran church that Article 4 of the Augsburg Confession on Justification is the article on which the church stands or falls. We cannot be justified before God by our own strength, merits or works. We are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith in His work for us. Now I suppose if nobody else was found to proclaim that good news the rocks would cry out. But instead of the actual rocks, God in his wisdom has chosen the living stones, us. And from these living stones He has built his church. It is through the church, in the preached word and the sacraments, that the Holy Spirit works to call, gather, enlighten, sanctify and keep a people for God. The saving word always comes from outside of ourselves. Evangelism and the mission of the church is not some heroic one-time thing, but it is the ongoing work of every congregation. In the Spirit, we keep each other evangelized sharing the word of our salvation in Christ and witnessing to His work in our lives.

That is the fundamental purpose of every congregation. Our council and elders have put together a budget that they believe is necessary and appropriate for that work here at Mt. Zion. You the congregation will have the chance to vote on this budget on November 17^th. And this is why we are passing out the pledge cards at the same time. The support of this work comes from you. While justification is God’s free gift, the life of sanctification is always a partnership with God in faith. A partnership in walking the good works that God has laid out in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). This is equipping you to build up the body of Christ and to mature in that faith instead of being tossed to and fro by every change of inflation.

We are asking you to take these pledge cards home and over the next couple of weeks “decide in your heart how much to give (2 Cor 9:7).” The card has two lines. The first line is for a flat number. This can be a yearly, monthly or weekly number. It is your pledge for the work of Mt. Zion. The second line asks you to state that number as a percentage of your expected income. Tithing, a tenth, was an old testament practice that has often been imported into the church. Old Testament practices are good examples, although in the gospel the tithe is no longer a legal demand. Instead the intention of this like is likewise the building up of the body of Christ. That tithe is one of the few Old Testament examples where God says “test me” in this (Malachi 3:10). The purpose of this line is to encourage such intentional planned stewardship. All that we have is but ours temporarily. It is all from God and we are merely stewards of it. Do we bury it in this earth, or do we put it to work for the kingdom?

Final practicalities. First, nobody besides you and the treasurer will see your pledge. Second, we will collect pledges in service on November 10^th. For a couple weeks after we will leave a collection box in the Narthex. We hope that running the budget at the same time as the pledge both demonstrates the need and offers you the solid opportunity to respond in faith.

Acute and Chronic

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. – Luke 13:3

In my former congregation there was a nurse manager who also was a teacher/trainer at the local college. One of her observations was the difference in how people and institutions reacted to acute and chronic problems. Acute is happening right now. Getting shot is an acute condition. Chronic is ongoing. High blood pressure is chronic. Her observation and complaint was that all the money went to acute. All the trainees wanted to be in the ER. Those positions always had higher salary and status. But it was the chronic conditions that needed the most help. Uncontrolled chronic conditions rolled down the hill further and faster, and you tend not to climb back up slippery slopes. Yes, acute could kill you now, but chronic could steal all the life from your life. Yet the entire system is set up to treat the acute and rely on the individual to manage the chronic. The individual who has already proven not up to that task. I find the model of care at the place where my wife works to be a fascinating experiment. The practice gets paid on trying to keep people with chronic conditions healthier. On managing them well. I believe it is one of the experiments enabled by the Medicare tweaks in the Affordable Care Act, but google fails me in confirming my memory. The old MBA in me was always fascinated by business model experiments.

But back to the main thought, I was thinking about acute and chronic because of the Hurricanes. Hurricanes are at first very acute. They are happening now. But as we see in North Carolina, they become Chronic. Some of those hollows of Appalachia will just never be restored. Or maybe if you are a radical environmentalist you are saying “no, they are being restored, to nature.” By the time Milton sweeps across Florida, Helene will be a distant memory. Just another chronic condition.

When Hurricanes or natural disasters come around or the most recent acute trouble gets its 15 minutes, I often turn to Luke 13:1-5. Acute disasters terrify us. We think they are God’s judgement. You must have done something to deserve that. Karma’s a b. You saw that in online responses to Helene. “Stupid Trump voters deserve it.” In Luke Jesus gets asked about “some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1).” Part of Jesus’ reply is to bring up a prior 15 mins, “what about those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell?” Acute disasters. Why did they happen? Maybe more pruriently, “what did they do to deserve that?” Jesus, who could read hearts, apparently thinks that is what they were thinking. “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans?…do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem (Luke 13:2,4)?”

Jesus takes the acute and the natural human fascination with the acute and turns it to the chronic. Blasphemous sacrifices and falling towers demand immediate attention. But Jesus says, “No, I tell you (they were not worse sinners for suffering in this way), but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3).” Sin, the cause of death and decay, is the ultimate chronic condition. And occasionally the fallen powers and principalities throw up a horror that makes us pay attention. But per Jesus there is nothing special about such horror or tragedy. We should not assume “they deserve it” and the corollary that we get to play little Jack Horner sitting in a corner thinking what good boys we are. The acute should force our gaze to the chronic. We are all sinners. And we cannot save ourselves from our sinful condition. Leaving the chronic to the individual just winds up with everyone dead.

But there is a balm in Gilead. Our Chronic condition has been treated by the great physician. Repent and believe. The blood of Christ, sacrificed under Pilate, is the cure for the sin sick soul. His resurrection shall be ours bringing to an end the reign of bodily death. And those powers and principalities that occasionally rear up? Their time is short.

Lessor and Greater

The New Testament Book of Hebrews has an interesting argument. Coming off of St. Michael and All Angels it is fitting. In the intertestamental period, the time between the Old Testament and the appearance of Jesus, Jewish religion became infatuated with angels. If you wanted to see an example you could read an apocryphal work by the name of 1^st Enoch. (Just google it and you’ll find multiple copies on the internet. Our age is not so different. Both ages that felt something in the air that wasn’t quite there yet.) The Jews had named a bunch of angels. They had created entire celestial hierarchies. They had job descriptions for all of those hierarchies. The closest analogy for the role these angels played in that time frame might be the role of Saints in the medieval church. You sought them out and asked for their assistance. The first argument of the book of Hebrews is the many ways that Jesus, the Son of God, is higher or better than the angels. These angels you so admire and fixate upon? Turn your eyes and prayers and worship to the greater one – Jesus. That kind of argument – from the lessor to the greater – will continue throughout the entire book. The author of Hebrews, who we don’t really know, starts off with angels, but proceeds with Moses, the Priesthood, the offerings and many of the staples of Jewish religious life. All of these have been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus.

The church and the world around is always drifting off into these esoteric and gnostic forms. Now I’d bet that you might not understand those terms – esoteric and gnostic – but if I described them the lightbulb would go on immediately. Esoteric means slightly hidden. Agent Mulder in the X-files had his poster “the truth is out there.” That is an esoteric belief. There is truth. You must find or uncover the way to have it. And that search usually leads to all kinds of practices we might call witchcraft or similar: tarot cards, amulets, psychics, horoscopes. These are all esoteric ways to knowledge. The gnostic usually pairs with the esoteric. The gnostic is someone who believes in a spiritual reality, but it requires knowledge to access it. The most modern Gnostics might be those who are using ayahuasca, ketamine or other psychedelics, like QB Aaron Rodgers or most of Silicon Valley. They take part in shamanic rituals. They hire spirit guides. All in the pursuit of some greater knowledge. Esoteric or hidden practices lead to gnosis or knowledge. And the church and the world are both always drifting off into things like this because who doesn’t want to know. And God can always seem so frustrating in not giving us knowledge. He doesn’t answer the why too often. The intertestamental Jew would summon the angels. The modern Christian goes on a vision quest retreat.

The author of Hebrews tells us, “we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it (Hebrews 2:1).” We might desire that esoteric knowledge, but the true stuff has already been given to us. God in his wisdom has chosen to reveal himself in His son Jesus. And Jesus has been proclaimed by the apostles, the church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Proclaimed freely and openly. Why would we “neglect so great a salvation? (Hebrews 2:3)” Why would we turn away from this deep and true knowledge which God “bore witness by signs and wonders and miracles? (Hebrews 2:4)” Why would we neglect Christ proclaimed to play with trinkets? Why would we accept a lessor knowledge, when the greater has been given to us?

While right now we might feel lessor. And that lack makes us chase everything that promises knowledge now. Jesus himself was “for a little while made lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9)” but through his suffering and death was crowned with glory. So also us. Our salvation is made perfect in Christ and the sharing of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10). “This is why he is not ashamed to call us brothers (Hebrews 2:11).” Now we might feel lessor because we walk by faith, not by knowledge. But salvation only comes by faith through the one who is not ashamed to call us brother.

Feasts and Festivals

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. – Romans. 14:5

Of the Worship of Saints they teach that the memory of saints may be set before us, that we may follow their faith and good works, according to our calling – Augsburg Confession Article 21

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. – Colossians. 2:16-17

Christians have been arguing about calendars since Apostolic times. And those arguments never really stopped. Hence the two opening quotes. And when you argue about calendars you are arguing about piety, practice and remembrance. You are arguing about what people think is important. Many such arguments can simply be settled “you respect yours, I respect mine.” You can hear that argument in the Apostle Paul. But calendar arguments, because it is hard to keep your own calendar, often become group defining. “We are going to remember this date.”

The very first of those definitional dates would be over the Sabbath. The Apostles, being Jews, kept the Sabbath, on Saturday. They then met together on “the Lord’s Day” or Sunday, the day of resurrection. For example Paul is searching for the local Jewish gathering “on the Sabbath day” (Acts 16:13), but at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 there is no mention of telling the gentiles to keep the Sabbath. And by the time of John’s visions in Revelation, they come to him as “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10).” You can hear those arguments in that third quote at the start. Paul telling his gentile audiences that Sabbaths are a shadow of the substance of Christ. Meeting on Sunday is good and proper.

I’m talking about Calendars for two reasons. The first is that this Sunday gets a special name – St. Michael and All Angels. The church calendar that we follow has a general structure – the large seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. For half the year we follow the life of Christ, and for the other half we emphasize the life in the Spirit. We gather on the “the Lord’s Day”. We are the people of the resurrection. We remember that substance of Christ weekly. Within that general calendar there the “feasts and festivals.” The actual dates never change. All Saints is always November 1^st. But some of them, like All Saints, we move their observance to the nearest Sunday. We have deemed their witness and memory too important to skip, yet we do not feel compelled to gather on the odd Tuesday Nov 1^st. Most of those festivals we observe occasionally, which means when their day falls on a Sunday naturally, so due to leap years every 6-14 years. St. Michael and all Angels is one of those days. It is always September 29^th. When September 29^th is a Sunday, we remember the angels. There are also some feasts that honestly, we just don’t remember. When I served St. Mark’s in West Henrietta, I tried to observe April 25^th, the feast day of St. Mark. At Mt. Zion there is no such special connection.

And that gets into the second reason I’m talking about calendars. I tend to think that our everyday lives and most of what takes place in them is designed to flatten everything. The World does this in two ways. If anyone saw the original Pixar Incredibles movie, it has one of the most subversive lines I can remember. “And when everyone is super, no one is.” There is something about our age that reacts against “the memory of the saints being set before us.” Our world wants equality or even equity. The acknowledgement that someone – a saint – lived it better is subversive. So it levels all days, and days it can’t level it elevates everything to obscure the remembrance of the saint. But I just don’t think that is either reality or the needs of true humanity.

We need things to strive for. Every Olympic athlete ponders how can I break the world record. The memory of the saints is so that we may follow their faith and good works. We need feast days like we need fast days, and ordinary time (another name for the season of Pentecost). Because life is not flat. We need days to remember St. Michael and the angels, because we need to ponder that creation includes “things visible and invisible”. And that those invisible things do impact our existence. When the world wants to flatten everything, the Christian needs to hear the distant triumph song. There are things the world wants us to forget that we need to remember.

Wisdom of James

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. – James 3:13

We’ve been reading through the book of James – our Epistle readings in September – in Sunday morning Bible Study. And the book of James is a unique book within the New Testament, although I would argue not within the entire bible. The word I’m going to be talking about is genre. What is a genre? In film you would talk about Westerns or Action or Horror. In novels: mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, literary. A genre is a recognizable grouping that usually has the same characters, plot or conventions. Westerns have dry towns, citizens, guns, horses, outlaws, savages and sheriffs. The story is always the sheriff or the man who stands between the citizens and the outlaws or savages. The man who is on the border of each belonging to neither. And the tools are the tools of violence and transportation. Which is why the Western Genre can capture things like Space Westerns. The books of the bible largely fall into recognizable genres. The gospels are ancient biographies. Paul’s works are philosophical essays attached to letters dealing with specific instances of living the philosophy often called casuistry or case history. Acts is a work of ancient history, a narrative of people, places, acts and speeches. Revelation is an apocalypse, a work of unveiling the deep meaning of reality. James may look like one of Paul’s letters, but it’s arguments are not long enough to be essays, nor are its cases real events in a real life (like the Corinthians getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper), but they are generic examples (where do fights come from). James is unique in the New Testament, but if you read it alongside the Old Testament book of Proverbs, I think you find its genre. James is a wisdom book.

And what is the genre of wisdom book? I come up with four key things. 1) Wisdom books are typically written by the mature for the naïve. You could say by the old for the young, but that isn’t universal. Timothy at 20, as the son of Eunice and grandson of Lois, was a third generation Christian from the cradle. Paul was constantly reminding the young Timothy that he was the one mature in the faith compared to many of his older flock. 2) Wisdom books are written for those who believe. This is why Luther didn’t much like James. Wisdom books assume the gospel. They are speaking to the person living a life of sanctification. 3) Wisdom books are descriptive and not prescriptive. Prescriptive would be the 10 Commandments. You must do this. You must not do that. Descriptive describes how things usually work. The mature person has enough store of experience to say “this is how the world usually works.” Does it always work that way? No. Your particular experience may be outside the realm of this wisdom. But, it is always good to ask, “am I really the exception?” They are words a man might live by if he is not so foolish as to think himself special. 4) Wisdom books are meant to be pondered. As no experience is ever really repeated, how does this wisdom apply to me and my situation?

And this is the great weakness of wisdom and also its strength. It is meek. It invites instead of commands. It desires not your compliance, but for you to make it your own. Mom wants the 3 year old’s compliance about not sticking things in the power outlet, but 3 years olds typically need at least one zap to make that wisdom their own. Lady Wisdom desires that you might learn from her by means of words, but more often those words are things remembered after the fact. After we get zapped we might turn to Lady Wisdom for the other nuggets she has.

One nugget buried in the middle of our epistle today (James 3:13-4:10) is about quarrels. James rightly points out quarrels come from our uncontrolled and unmet desires. It is almost Buddhist in its recognition. You suffer because you want. But the wisdom of James is not to kill the want. The wisdom of James is to ask, and to ask rightly. “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. (James 4:2-3)” Oh Lord, won’t you buy me, a Mercedes-Benz? Probably not. But why do you want a Benz? What passion is unfulfilled? How better would that passion be turned? Those are the mature questions of wisdom.

Talking About Money

Talking about money in church is always an interesting conversation, interesting used in the ancient Chinese curse sense. It is not that Jesus doesn’t have some pointed and meaningful things to say about money. Things like “and I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (Lk. 16:9 ESV)” Neither is it that our use of money isn’t an expression of Spiritual values. For it explicitly is. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:21 ESV)” The interesting part is that talking about money in church feels like making public what we’d rather be private. It is shining the light of the gospel into areas that we’d rather keep in darkness (John 2:19, 12:46). The apostle Paul’s final direction in regards to money is that each one must decide in his heart how much to give. And not to give reluctantly or in response to pressure, but cheerfully (2 Cor 9:7). But doing so means that our giving has to be intentional. You don’t decide in your heart on a moment’s notice. And it is that prayerful consideration that shines the light on our own hearts. It is that prayerful consideration that we are attempting to form this year.

Pastor’s Corner in the coming weeks is not going to be given over completely to monetary things, but over the next couple of months there will be at least a couple of stewardship related meditations. From what I’ve been told, the pastoral office at Mt. Zion has never talked about stewardship, nor has there ever been some of the practices (pledges) that we intend to introduce this year. What the rest of this Pastor’s Corner is going to run through is some information, a calendar on important dates, and a start on the spiritual purpose.

Some information. The numbers I am using all come from our treasurer and have been accepted by the church council. Over the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 the church income (mostly from offerings) has been between $221K – $246K. The expenses for those years have been between $246k – $279k. Mt. Zion has run a consistent $24k deficit. Mt. Zion was able to do this because of a generous bequest. And my understanding is that this pattern has been typical in prior years as well, with refinancing of the mortgage occasionally being used. The trouble is the current year. Our deficit for 2024 is already at $34K. And this deficit is not caused by running over budget. Expense wise we approved a budget of $268k. Over the prior 12 months (Sept 23 – Sept 24, not the budget timeframe but a full year) we have only spent $248k. The trouble is that our offerings over those same 12 months have only been $204K. There are some concrete reasons for that. There are also some understandable background reasons. But the light that is shining I believe is two-fold. We as a congregation can’t operate with that type of deficit indefinitely. The timing on such a deficit would be a couple of years maximum. And what that brings up is a question. Do we want to be a congregation? Or maybe more specifically, do we want to be a congregation that looks roughly like what Mt. Zion has historically?

With that question, I’m going to turn to the calendar. The council has reviewed a proposed budget and on Oct 10^th will meet to give its final collective approval to present it to the congregation. The Congregational budget meeting will be on Nov 17^th. We will publish some form of that budget well prior for your consideration. But as the council agrees, there are no gold bricks hiding the budget. Nobody is vacationing in Tahiti. It represents the costs for the utilities, insurance, upkeep, the mortgage, and your Pastor. Over that same timeframe that we as a congregation are setting aside to think about the proposed budget, we are going to pass out pledge cards on Oct 20^th and collect them starting Nov 10^th for three weeks.

Finally, a bit about spiritual purpose. The big question stated above is do we want to be a congregation that looks roughly like we do? A vote for such a budget should also come with a pledge to support that budget. But following the apostle’s advice, I do not want your pledge given in response to pressure. If you read the fullness of 2 Corinthians 9, the context of Paul’s advice, he is putting forward the collection for the Jerusalem church. The opportunity to support the work of the gospel done by Mt. Zion is what is being presented. Maybe your heart’s answer is that Mt. Zion should look substantially different. Maybe the answer in your heart is your current support is what you can give. Maybe you can cheerfully support at a higher level. We the council hope that enough of you might answer yes.

I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but Mt. Zion monetarily has been something of a minor. It has been graced with a building and substantial contributions from those largely taught the way elsewhere and from those maybe little known to the current congregation. I don’t think I am trespassing on anything recognizing the generosity of Gene Ockrassa, but there are others. But all minors must eventually become adults. And that is the question of this budget and pledge call. Are we collectively willing to come into our inheritance as a congregation of Christ? Are we willing to accept both the gifts of his grace and the responsibilities? And are we able to take them on cheerfully? The Kingdom of God will certainly come without our help, but in this we are being offered it amongst us in a bountiful way (2 Cor 9:6).