Challenged to Grow

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 30, 2011
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Second Sunday in Stewardship
Luke 7:36-8:3
 “Challenged to Grow”

            If you walk from the village of Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee you have to walk down a valley passageway.  This valley is known as the valley of the doves.  At the base of the valley of the doves is a town with a synagogue that would have seated about 200 people.  Also at the base of the town there has been found a treasure trove of jars for ointment for what is now thought to be an ancient spa.  That town is known as Magdala. 

            Why is geographical and archeological information important?  It is important because, in the two thousand years since the time of Jesus, his followers have been perpetuating some half truths and even outright lies.  What do I mean?  Well, if you look at the heading to our scripture passage, in most bibles it says something about, “the harlot.”  And, if you ask most people about Mary Magdala’s profession before following Jesus the answer is, prostitute.  It is simply assumed those are correct interpretations.  If you believe that to be true, I only ask one thing.  Please find that in the scriptures.  And the headings do not count because in the original language there are no headings.  They are added later.

            There is no mention that the woman’s sin in this passage has anything to do with sex.  And nowhere in the bible is Mary Magdalene said to be a prostitute.  In fact, she was probably a woman of industry who ran a business at the base of the valley of the doves.  And, it is by her generosity and financial support that Jesus and the male disciples are able to do ministry without having to find another job.  Why do these interpretations continue to thrive?  Historian Justo Gonzales says in his commentary on Luke that, “This may well be the result of a history of interpretation  dominated by men – and by men who tended to see women almost exclusively as sexual objects, and their sins as mostly sexual in nature.”  But the problem with this interpretation goes deeper.

            As long as these passages are about sinful women of ill repute or sinners in general, religious people can stand at a distance and feel secretly self-righteous.  After all, we are not as bad as someone who would do that!  And when the passage focuses on this we miss that these women are the model for discipleship.  What this woman and others find out is that God has not divided the world into sinners and saved.  In Jesus they found out God is not out to get them and as a result they are willing to commit their whole lives to God. 

            When we sexualize the women in this passage we miss out that it is the religious community which comes under condemnation.  The Pharisee who invited Jesus into his home believes he is doing him a favor.  In fact, he feels so self-righteous he does not bother to offer Jesus the standard hospitality.  The religious community is the barrier to God’s love.  The religious person is the one who knows more than Jesus.  But before we beat up on the Pharisee too much I think it is important to remember they are really an important warning to the modern church.  We are the Pharisees who want to follow the rules and make sure others do the same. 

            The hardest thing for the Pharisee to see is not that this woman is welcomed and is responding to the love of God.  The hardest thing to see is his worldview being turned upside down.  If God will accept these sinners why bother?  If God is not going to punish and reward then what is the point?  The number of sermons on stewardship and giving affirm this theology.  If you tithe, God will reward you in amazing ways!  If you give, God will give back to you!  It is a very simple business transaction.  You give something in order to get something in return.  But in this encounter, and many others, Jesus blows up the notion of insider and outsider as well as the notion that God can be bought off.

            That is a hard notion with which to wrestle.  What if by giving you get nothing in return?  What if the time and energy you put into something does not yield the results you expect.  Faith in Jesus Christ is not about trying to stay out of hell after death.  It is not about living your best life right now and it is not about enlarging the territory of your bank account.  The woman in this story knows and understands this and the Pharisee does not. 

Because she truly understands the power of Jesus’ message, this woman gives Jesus a spa treatment out of the depth of her joy.  She uses what she has, the finest of what she has, to give thanks, not to gain favor with Jesus.  She does not do this out of guilt either.  Instead it is a witness to a gift given in joy without strings, without guilt, and without expectation.  That is a radical message.

That is the message of stewardship.  The focus is helping us grow our own sense of gratitude.  While the use of guilt, fear and even hope of reward is a successful strategy for raising funds, it is not the way of Jesus Christ.  Jesus preached the kingdom of God.  And it was a kingdom that did not act like the kingdoms of the world.  The values of God’s kingdom were based on generosity without reciprocity, the breakdown of hierarchy and the expectation that women would lead the community just like the men.  The values of God’s kingdom mean the poor; the widow and the orphan would not just be helped but have a place in the decision making of the community.  Stewardship is about asking ourselves about how we will respond to the gifts of God’s grace, not how we might court God’s favor.  When the Pharisee saw the transformative power of Jesus’ message he had two choices.  He too could have praised God and given his whole life to the message of a new world.  But it was simply too much.  

In this season of Stewardship we are invited to think where we stand.  Where in our hearts do we desire the kind of acceptance offered by Jesus?  Where are we so hungry to give of our finest gifts and abilities so that others might know that sort of love?  And, because we are complex people, we must also ask where we are holding back?  Or, where are we hiding behind our religious practice or certainties?  Where do the places of judgment in our hearts hold us back?  We are being invited to, and challenged to grow deeper.  This is not an invitation based on guilt or manipulation but on love for us to live more authentic and loving lives.  The challenge is really to accept that God’s love actually includes everyone.  And when we do, we will follow, like the women, in sharing the message.  Amen?  Amen!

Called to Follow

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 23, 2011
Rev. Mark R. Miller
First Sunday in Stewardship
Luke 5:1-11
 “Called to Follow”

            This is a sermon on stewardship that is not about money.  Stewardship is not about money.  It is about commitment.  All the money in the world cannot replicate the power of Jesus’ followers when they heed the call to move into deep waters.  So, that is the last I will say about money.  This is a sermon, this sermon on stewardship, is about commitment.
            Jesus is quite a preacher, though not always popular.  In the beginning of Luke’s gospel Jesus begins his ministry with these words: 
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
And these words of good news are met with a desire to throw him off a cliff.  The good news is that when Jesus leaves his hometown, this message is well received.  Around the Sea of Galilee or as Luke calls it, the lake of Gennesaret, there are so many people hungry for what Jesus is teaching he has to get out on to a boat to get away from the pressing crowds.
            It is clear that people are interested and even hungry for the message of Jesus.  As he began his ministry in the Galilee region he has been living with Peter.  In fact, Peter seems pretty committed to following Jesus already.  However, it also appears that Peter has not realized the depth of commitment Jesus desires.  But note that Jesus only invites deep commitment, he never coerces or demands.
            While Jesus is busy preaching and healing, Peter and the others were busy doing real world work all night.  As Jesus is teaching, they are cleaning the nets and the boats, after a full night’s shift.  And along comes this teacher and starts telling them how to fish.  It must have been maddening.  After all, he may have healed and preached, but what does this carpenter know about fishing.  They did not say this but they had to be thinking it. 
Peter speaks for the group.  He says, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.  Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” This is not a statement of faith.  It is a statement of resignation.  Peter is not committed to what he believes is a failed enterprise.  Notice that he is not willing to commit to this work.  If you say so, I will let down the nets.  Peter will not commit his whole fleet, his whole workforce, or even his whole person to the work.  Peter is being polite while expecting failure.  Peter is an interested follower but not committed.
            But the good news is that Peter does not have to have faith.  He is not expected to commit himself.  All Peter has to do is make a half hearted attempt and show up.  And the unexpected happens.  More fish than he can handle and he finally has to commit himself fully.  All his fishermen, all his boats and all his nets are needed for this surprise lurking in the deep waters.  It is a joyful and terrifying moment.
               When Peter sees what happens he is overtaken by fear.  What he says to Jesus is not feigned humility.  Peter is not basking in some strange self hatred or pious humility.  What Peter actually says is GO AWAY.  Get out of my neighborhood, is what it says in the Greek.  Peter does not like the implications of what has happened.  Peter is faced with a choice now that he has seen this first hand.  He can either commit himself fully or he can walk away, but half hearted discipleship is no longer an option.
                 Will Willamon tells a story of a time he heard a lecture by Jim Wallis on “The Renewal of the Inner City Church.”  He says,
"Wallis told a group of pastors true stories of declining inner-city churches that had, by the grace of God, rediscovered their mission and begun to thrive. I was inspired, but in the conversation afterwards one pastor after another criticized Wallis’s speech. They accused him of looking at the church through rose-colored glasses. One even implied that he had lied.  That evening I told Wallis that I was appalled by the group’s reaction. "I wasn’t," he said. "That’s the reaction I always get from mainline, liberal pastors. They are amazed when God wins and scared to death that Easter just might, after all, be true."
           The power of our scripture in Luke is lost on those of us who are good at deconstruction.  We are good at taking things apart.  We are good at doubting the factual reality of these stories.  We have spent so much time doing this we have squeezed the hope out of them and reduced our Easter faith to only what can be quantified and verified.  In doing so, we take the edge of stories which call for the full commitment of our lives. 
            Over the last few years some pretty amazing things have happed at Westminster.  We have experienced growth and change in our church with very little effort or risk.  When once we saw no life, new life began to show up in surprising ways.  But the truth is that we have experienced growth by remaining in the shallow water.  And now it is time to move out of the shallow water and into the depths.  We are being called to follow Jesus into the deep waters where there are a lot of uncertainties.  And deep down we each probably harbor the desire to repeat Peter’s words, GET OUT OF HERE JESUS!  WE ARE NOT READY FOR THAT.
            When Peter tells Jesus he is not the person for this work Jesus’ response is not to say you are forgiven or that you have special gifts and enough money to make it happen.  What Jesus says is, stop being afraid, stop being afraid. Just when we want to say, we have been fishing for forty years, or thirty years, or twenty years, or ten years, or two years, Jesus says it is time to go deeper.  It is time to move into that place, that deep water which means we might just end up facing the same decision as Peter:  become fully committed or walk away.
            I think those mainline liberal pastors who got defensive and angry about stories of resurrection are a lot like Peter.  When faced with stories we cannot deconstruct it reveals our human desire that prefer the death and fear we know than come to terms with what our resurrection faith is teaching us right now.  We are being called to follow Jesus by casting our nets into the deep water.  And I am convinced we do not fully know what or where the deep water is located.  But I am sure that now is the time to start looking.  Or maybe we do and simply cannot name it yet.  The only way for us to find out is to show up, to be willing to cast the nest one more time into deep water not knowing what will happen.  But, when we do there will come a day when we will be compelled to, commit our whole selves, our whole hearts and finally stop hedging our bets.  That is the calling for each one of us, and for our church.  Anyone wish now that I had just preached about money instead?  Amen.

Faith and the Marketplace

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 9, 2011
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Matthew 22:1-14; Exodus 32:1-14
“Faith and the Marketplace”

Before I can talk about anything I have to directly address what I believe are difficult and troubling places in each passage. The first passage from Matthew has the story of a king throwing a banquet where people come and refuse. Those who refuse are slaughtered. Then when this king can find people who will come to the party it turns out he is angry that one of the guests has ignored the dress code so he gets thrown out. The story is disturbing because it is an allegory for the way God works. If we are not disturbed by it, we are not listening. Taken out of context it can be an easy step to judging not only who will be saved but open war on our enemies in the name of God. If we take this as God is the king and Jesus as the son, it is not long before we come face to face with a vindictive and petty God. Traditional interpretations have moved the church to accept this and quickly skip over the difficult parts. However, what is going on here is not a one to one comparison but a contrast. The kingdom of heaven may be contrasted to a king who acts in this way. How do we know? When Jesus finally stands in the halls of power, without the proper robe, he remains silent. He is then taken out where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth at Golgotha. Jesus tells this parable against the religious and political leadership who act in such ways. It is a warning that God does not act in this way. So Jesus is challenging the ways of the world with the way of God. In God’s world, if you do not have the right clothes for the party, you are in good company with Jesus. Unfortunately, not all biblical passages can be so easily redeemed through closer and more accurate scrutiny. Our second scripture is a case in point. While it is a passage about idolatry (and I will get to that soon) it is also a passage where Moses has to reason with God to save the lives of all the people. We cannot simply walk away from the hard reality of this passage. We are forced to ask some serious questions about God. Or, we have to ask how faithful Moses is in telling the story. God is ready to wipe out all of the people whom he saved from slavery because they make a God out of gold and say this is the image of God. It goes well beyond our sensibilities but there is still much to learn from this passage if we do not get stuck on this violence or believe that God has to be talked off the cliff of genocide by Moses. So, with those things, extremely important things, cleared up, let me say a couple of things about idolatry. The sin of idolatry is not simply the making of images for God. The problem with idolatry is when we fashion images of God they become static, fixed, and easily controllable. Idolatry is also the sin of allowing something else to reside in the one place where God belongs. God belongs at the center of our lives. But, it seems, the first impulse to sin following the covenant at Mount Sinai was that of idolatry. It is out of their anxiety over Moses’ absence that leads them to idolatry. Idolatry is placing something or someone ahead of God and that includes our favorite way of perceiving God. It is for this reason that the reformed tradition places such a high value on the freedom of God. God is God and God can do whatever God wants. And, it means we cannot use God for our pet projects. God is not on our side, God is not for us, and God does not join our causes. God is not to be used. However, we have made plenty of mistakes about this one. We have been certain about God’s intentions and desires often acting out on them. This is also why the reformed tradition has been leery of any organization, way of thought, or government that claims totality over all areas of our lives. I can think of no force that exerts more control and more power over all of our lives these days than what we refer to as “the market.” This is not a new phenomenon. The economic forces that have allowed for great advances in our time have also come to control most, if not all of them as well. Most of the language used with the market is inherently religious language. People no longer have faith and trust in the dollar. Markets will not like it if you act in a certain way. If you raise taxes on the rich the markets will not respond favorably. And if you increase domestic spending the markets will respond adversely. I once heard my preacher claim from the pulpit that Adam Smith believed the invisible hand of the market was God’s hand. We once lived in a time when the free market was seen as an extension of our faithfulness and God’s blessing. Much of the language around our current economic troubles is far too close to language which should be reserved for God alone. And the use of a bull to represent the market should serve as a stark reminder of how we have lost our bearings. While there is much that can and should be said about our current economic troubles it is that we need to think carefully about where we place our hope and trust. Whether we are shaping images of God or creating gods of our own making, we will find those Gods not worth the paper they are printed upon. Eventually they will fall. The gold cannot speak. The paper cannot be eaten. Despite promises from the priests of Wall Street the market gods actually need input and direction from the people. It is my hope that this time of crisis, when faith in the almighty market has been shaken, we will remember that it is simply an economic system. The market is not God or the hand of God. Let us never, in our anxiety or pride, confuse the tools of enterprise and other golden calves for the embodiment of God on earth. Amen.