Something to Eat

Biblical Text: Mark 6:30-44

The feeding of the 5000 is one of the few episodes that is in all 4 gospels. And I think each one of them has their own theological understanding of the event. Mark’s to me emphasizes the providence of Jesus in the Spiritual Life. We all tend to think we can do it ourselves. And then we end up hungry in a desolate place. This sermon walks through both how we find ourselves in those places, and how Jesus restores to us life by giving himself.

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Everybody

There are two “everybody” statements that I firmly believe in, but it has been my experience most people reject. They might even get mad when I say them. First, everybody worships. Second, everybody has a liturgy of worship.

The first one: everybody worships is easier to prove. Luther’s explanation of the first commandment is that “we should fear, love and trust in God above all things.” He expands on that in the large catechism explaining that whatever we fear, love or trust in above anything else is our God. The number of idols is almost endless, but Luther in his jokey way, I think correctly recognizes that most people have their own stomach as their God. Whatever the gut wants is where they are lead to worship. Although there are several other common gods: money, power, fame are the usually the negatives, but you could also add family, land or tradition as normal positive things that can become idols. And if you don’t believe me on those, listen to Jesus in Matthew 10:37 or Matthew 15:3. Most of his arguments with the Pharisees were over idolatry of good things. The righteousness of the Pharisees wasn’t slight, see Matthew 5:20. It was just nowhere close to the perfection required for salvation. The purpose of “everybody worships” is a reminder to be conscious of who or what you worship. Most people slip through life not knowing. Hence Luther’s being led around by their belly. But The One God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. You can worship him.

The second “everybody” is something of the answer to: Well, how do I worship? And even more than people not realizing who their God is, the vast majority do not understand how they worship. And in not understanding they don’t realize the power of everyday liturgies. What is a liturgy? A liturgy is formalized order of worship that incarnates belief. Now that worship and belief doesn’t have to be of ultimate importance. There is a liturgy of going to a football game. You enter through the tailgate. Everyone rises and lines up. The colors are presented. Sometimes a prayer is said – like at my son’s Valley Lutheran Games, but always the National Anthem is sung. On High Holy Days, like a championship game, you will have an airplane flyover. On the highest of holy days you get a Stealth Bomber. The Kick-off lines up. Everyone chants “seven nation army” or whatever the kickoff song is. And then the liturgy is over when the ball flies. What does that liturgy worship? Basically everything America and American. And when you break liturgies, like by kneeling for the anthem, people get upset. There are liturgies big and small that fill our days. The purpose of “everybody has a liturgy of worship” is knowing what yours are. Because those liturgies tell you what you actually believe; what you believe deep enough to make real in time and space.

I want to occasionally highlight elements of our liturgy. Today I want to take a minute to look at the Introit. What the heck is an Introit? It is simply the Latin word for entry. Now we usually staple on in front of it a hymn and corporate confession. We’ll leave that for another day. But the original start of the worship of Father, Son and Spirit was the invocation of the God being worshipped. Christianity is clear. The idols usually try and hide that part. But you started with the invocation and some entry words about what we are going to be making real in time and space. Those words change week to week as the meditation of the church upon Christ focuses on different things He has done for us. Those words are typically taken from the psalms, the prayer book of the bible. So what we have in the Introit, which we at Mt. Zion recite responsively, is the theme of our worship for the day in the words that God has given us.

Today, the words of the Introit give us the theme of God providence (Psalm 147:7-11, Psalm 145:16). “He makes the grass grow on the hills.” But that material providence that falls on the just and the unjust alike points at God’s greater providence. “You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” And what is that desire? To rest secure in the love of your creator. “The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” You who join in this liturgy, in making real in time and space our beliefs, shall see that steadfast love of God for you. That love of God that forgives sins, provides us our daily bread, and most importantly promises us that we shall dwell securely in his land (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

On Providence (1st Article)

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This is the 2nd of the Midweek Lenten series where we are walking our way through the “Word” portion of the catechism. Last week we took the law. This week the 1st article of the Creed is our basis. This is usually taken as simply the doctrine of creation, but I don’t think that goes far enough. It is better to say it is about the Providence of God. The sermon is a meditation on moving from creation, which any God of the Philosophers does, to Providence.

Theological Ghosts

I’m sorry, don’t know why I’ve had ghost stories on my mind. But, I ran across an essay that talked about the differences between US or Western ghost stories and Japanese. (Here is the link, although it is really geeky. http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/the-ghost-did-what-translation-exposing-providentialist-thinking/) The summary is to say that US ghost stories tend to reward the virtuous and punish the evil. That essay calls this providential, although that is a terrible definition of providence, which biblically is “the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.” The providence of God is not that he’s the galactic scorekeeper, but that he is gracious and merciful, not visiting upon sinners their due rewards. Japanese ghost stories have a different morality that can be shocking to Westerners. In the Western sense, complete innocents can die. People who do nothing to help but heed warnings can live. Victory, if you want to call it that, can simply be diverting the ghost out of your house somewhere else.

I find ghost stories and maybe horror stories in general interesting because they are almost always theological. They reveal more clearly than almost anything else what we actually believe about “God, the universe and everything.” I also think that is why the horror genre is a niche. Most people don’t actually want to think about theology. Which makes the pastoral job interesting. Because part of the job is not just getting people to think about such things, but to maybe make corrections to their thinking. And maybe even make changes in their lives to bring them into closer alignment with good theology. And it is part of the job not because any pastors really want to be the morality police. We don’t. It is part of the job because it is part of equipping the saints. We all enter the crucible. You don’t want to be putting on the armor while you are already being tested. You want to have it girded prior. So part of the job is Pastor as haunting ghost to get you to think about these things.

The Western ghost story, with its embedded works righteousness, is a fable of the law. And that law has three purposes: 1) The Curb, 2) The Mirror and 3) The rule. Watching a US ghost story where the evil and promiscuous die functions as a curb in that the innocent viewer might see where punishment is given and not follow that path. It functions as a mirror in that we might see what is due to us in certain characters. It functions as a rule in that it holds up – via the hero and heroine – a still more excellent way. The biggest problem with that fable is that it also lies. It holds out hope that by following the hero’s path we might live. By the law, we all die.

This is where I think the Japanese ghost story is a nice correction. It is a world of at best disinterested spirits, and at worst malevolent spirits. The disinterested do their jobs with varying levels of competence. It is interesting to me pondering a hurricane as the result of the weather power taking a day off. And I don’t think that is far off the biblical picture of “the powers that be.” (Luke 21:26, Romans 8:38, Eph 6:12, 1 Pet 3:22). And of course “Satan prowls like a roaring lion.” Stealing from Sci Fi/Fantasy, we live in a dark forest. Oh, we think we know everything because of our recent mastery of matter. But maybe we don’t have the mastery we think we do. We think we have clear cut the forest, but have we?

The secret to many Japanese ghost stories is “the wise old man or woman.” This character is usually a minor one, but they haunt the story. They show up usually after some deaths when the main characters are desperate. They tell the characters what is happening. And they tell the characters how to avoid it. And then they leave. What happens in the Japanese film is not about personal holiness. Did you follow the law? What happens is did you hear and take heed? The characters that are open to wisdom’s word are saved. Those who have ears to hear are not always those we think deserve it.

This is the advent of the gospel. The star has appeared. The light shines in the darkness. Are we willing to set aside worldly wisdom and follow the star? Or do we insist upon our own knowledge unto salvation? At least in the Japanese ghost story, the one who listens to the Word makes it out of the dark forest and lives.

Kingdom Priorities and Hard Realities

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” – 1 Samuel. 16:1

In our Wednesday morning Bible Study (The 52 Necessary Bible Stories) we are up to David, just anointed King, but far from being the reigning King. A major theme emerging is one I wish to pick up here for a different purpose. In living the Christian life there are two types of problems encountered. There are the problems that I categorize as Kingdom Priorities. In that Bible study this type of problem was displayed in the verse quoted above. God has decided or ordained certain things and it is the disciple’s role to get with the program. This type of problem is often addressed by the most pungent sayings of Jesus, like “let the dead bury their dead, but you go proclaim the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:60, also Matthew 8:22).” Or like the gospel lesson last week, “do not think I have come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).” The Christian Life always has its challenges over our priorities. And what Yahweh in the Old Testament or Jesus (same God) in the New Testament always says is get your priorities straight. The Kingdom of Heaven is of first priority. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).”

Your mileage might vary. I certainly know people who have agonized over decisions and over the will of God. But my experience in general is that we know more about the will of God than we often let on. Like the old hymn, “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.” We often continue with forfeit peace and needless pain because we have that answer and we do not like it. The Rich Young Man in Mark 10/Matthew 19 goes away troubled because he did not like Jesus’ answer. Which answer was simply seek first the Kingdom. There are things that must be done for the Kingdom. And the choice is faithfulness, or not.

The second problem that comes up in the Christian life is what I’ll call “hard realities”. David may have been anointed King, but Saul still lived. Now we usually take these types of problems as much bigger problems. We see lack of resources or skills or knowledge or any of the list of things that constitute our excuses. We even have a favorite bible verse from Jesus we might quote, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luke 14:28ff).” But Jesus’ point with that story doesn’t end with a summary like, “don’t be stupid, count first, and if you don’t have enough don’t start.” That would be our human wisdom. And don’t take this as downplaying that wisdom completely. But Jesus’ summary of that is “any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Things that are hard realities to us are laughably easy to God. And if we have our Kingdom priorities correct, God provides. Maybe not how we’d envision, but God provides. I’m sure David would have preferred an Army after being anointed, instead God arranged for him to play the lyre for Saul. When we depend upon ourselves, we always see lack. When we depend upon God, we have a surprising abundance. If we have our Kingdom priorities straight.

We have a congregational meeting scheduled for next week. In one sense, there is no emergency. Things are good. This should not be an anxiety producing note. (Sure Pastor, but just saying that raises my anxiety. Yeah, I hear you. But I’m being honest.) But the leadership of Mt. Zion is going to be putting forward something that prayerfully starts to align us with Kingdom priorities and seeks some help with those “hard realities.” We are seeking the Kingdom, and depending upon God and his people.

Are You Satisfied?

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Biblical Text: Mark 6:30-44

Blame it on reading a little Boethius recently, but in reading the feeding of the 5000 two things jumped out at me. The first was the repetition of “a desolate place.” Jesus wanted to bring the disciples to a desolate place, and when the action starts the disciples mention that they are in a desolate place. The second phrase that jumped out is the summary that “all ate and were satisfied.” What does it mean to be satisfied? This sermon looks at the ways we typically answer that, or how we look for satisfaction. And then it puts forward one more. Call it the foolish, the wise and the gospel. Only one truly gives satisfaction in a desolate place.

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Fresh Courage Take

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Biblical Text: Matthew 14:22-33

The miracles of Jesus are not just random events. God is not capricious, handing out bennies to some while stiffing others. The miracles have a purpose. This sermon sorts through a couple of different ways of thinking about those purposes. And then it focuses on how we often receive miracles, especially epiphany type. The disciples seeing Jesus walking on the water in quick succession go through the key ones. And Jesus is quick reply answers them. This is for us that we might understand and take courage. The New Creation is already ours.

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Provident Compassion

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Biblical Text: Matthew 14:13-21

The feeding of the 5000 is an easy jump to the Lord’s Supper, but in pondering it this week I wanted to focus on something a bit different. I’m still greatly worried about all of those online and the supper, so I wished to downplay that a bit. The latch for me was the specific situation in Jesus’ life. This is what happens immediately after the death of John the Baptist. Matthew is very clear about what Jesus wanted to do, and then what happened which is about 100% the opposite. It tells us something about the God we have, the inconvenience of compassion, and how God provides. Yes, part of how God provides is the specifics of the Lord’s Supper, but he provides so much more than that.

I’m convinced that more than a very OS daemons operate in the technology. It figures on a day that I hoped to address the online group a bit more explicitly the tech betrays us in a stupid way. But if I’m listening to my own sermon, out of meager loaves, the Lord provides.

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All the Treasures of the Kingdom

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Biblical Text: Luke 12:22-34

This is really part two from last week. Jesus is teaching about covetousness and how to avoid it. Last week we under the parable of the Rich Fool we elaborated on two parts: 1) have faith in the providence of the Father and 2) be busy putting what is given to you to work for the kingdom. The third part rests on the character of the Father. And that is what Jesus bids us to ponder – just who The Father is and how he acts. There are potential God’s where covetousness would be justified. But that is not The Father who for a day clothes the lilies in such riotous beauty to make Solomon blush. You think he’s going to do that and not clothe you with the resurrection body? C’mon. He wants to give you all the treasures of the Kingdom. And he does this because he is our Good Father.

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Thanksgiving Homily

Text: Luke 6:27-36, Psalm 34, Fifth Petition & Explanation

If I say prisoner’s dilemma or game theory, I hope you have some understanding of what I’m talking about. It is usually represented as a 2 x 2 grid. The Prisoner part is the standard cliché of cop shows. Two criminals in separate rooms. Each one issued demands. Tell us what happened. First one to open up gets the deal. The other guy gets the book. If the prisoners follow the code of omerta – they can’t be touched. But is your criminal buddy in the box next door going to talk? Do you risk a dime upstate to get away scot-free, or do you take the two-year stretch and talk? Prisoner’s dilemma is the negative framing. I always appreciated the more positive one. Think of the binary win/lose. There is a variable pot of money. If you both pick win, usually co-operation, you both get 7 units. If you both pick lose, usually hostility, you both get 2 units. But if one picks win and the other lose – the one who picks lose or hostility gets 9 units and the one who picks co-operation gets nothing. There is a clear world nobody wants to live in. Lose-lose only has 4 units. Its shelves are North Korea. There is also a clear world where we all want to live in. Win-win has 14 units. It’s the local Sam’s club of worlds. But those other two worlds are tempting. I could have 9 units. It is a much poorer world overall, but I’ve got it all.

As a kid and not so kid – I often found myself in lose-lose. Lose-lose can have a roguish charm. I can take this longer that you can. It’s the position captured in: Born to Run, Against the Wind, Rebel without a Cause, and more recently Breaking Bad. Walter White, a guy tired of choosing win and being paired with lose, sets it on permanent lose. “I’m in the empire business”. It’s all mine.

But even Bob Segar claiming he’s still running against the wind, finds himself searching for shelter. The Stones would end gimme shelter turning from rape, murder to love, It’s just a kiss away. The romance of lose-lose wears off with deadlines and commitments. Or with enough blood.
But the problem is not lose-lose, the problem is lose-win. How do you avoid a conflict with those who want a fight? Or maybe more troubling, how do you avoid making your own separate peace. I’ve got mine, go find someone else to get yours from.

Every real-politick expert and all the best research will tell you lose-lose is necessary sometimes to maintain win-win. When they put one of yours into the hospital, you put one of theirs into the ground. And that is true. It is not called real-politick for nothing.
But here comes Jesus saying essentially rip out your lose option and stick it permanently on win. Do good to those who hate you. The one who strikes you, give him the other cheek. Love you enemies. Completely unrealistic. Dangerously unreal.

And for us maybe it is. Although as a law – notice that the golden rule is embedded here. As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. As a law I think it tells us how far from righteousness we are. Just how impossible righteousness by the law is.

But if we hear this only as a law, I think we miss its purpose. “You will be sons of the most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” Yes, it is a call to live the Christian life. But it is more a statement of how God himself acts. In Christ, God has ripped out his lose button. He’s declared peace and put down the conflict. We are the ones who insist upon conflict. And the only way to avoid conflict is to accept personal loss. To not withhold your tunic, as they gamble for it at the base of the cross. To accept the beating and the lash. To forgive those nailing you to the tree. To be merciful, as the Father is merciful.
Yes, it’s a call to the cross. One that even the best of disciples often run from. But it is also a statement of shelter. God always welcomes the prodigal. He always invites the older son in to the feast, when he’s willing to put down his accounting.

We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them…but God gives them to us by grace.

Thanksgiving can be about thanks for many things. But the wellspring of it should be we have this kind of God. One who is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. One who redeems the life of his servants. One that none who seek shelter in him will be condemned. One who loves his enemies and does good. Lending and expecting nothing in return.

And the best way to show that thanks? Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. Sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. Be conformed to the likeness of our God. Amen.