1 Samuel 1:1-20; Acts 1:1-14; Luke 20:9-19

Rejection may not be a pretty concept.  But it is part of the story.  Our story as Christians is one that takes a dark turn – a very dark turn.

After Jesus cleanses the temple and throws out the moneychangers, things change.  Jesus goes on the offense.  Jesus’ adversaries also ramp it up, asking insincere questions in the hope of trapping him or simple ridiculing him.

Jesus fires back with the Parable of the Wicked Tenants.  A man plants a vineyard and then leases it to tenants and leaves the country.  After a long time, he sends a slave to get a share of the produce (in our language, he goes to collect rent).  They beat him and throw him out empty-handed.  This happens again and again, until finally the owner sends his son.  They threw him out and killed him.

Then Jesus turns to the crowd and quotes a psalm, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”  As soon as he does this, things change.  This is no longer a cute little story about “being a better person”.  Jesus is fighting back, with words.

I often warn people not to analyze parables through analogy, simply assigning parts to this, that, or the other character in the story.  This may be one of those exceptions.  While he may not be making allusions to his crucifixion and death, he is clearly speaking of the division between the people and those who have been in charge for some time.

It is difficult not to see that the slaves that were beaten and thrown out are very much like the prophet and apostles.  They came with authority but were rejected by those in charge.  No one followed their advice, and they paid the price.  Then along comes the owner’s son, and they kill him.

If you thought Jesus came to be meek and mild, you are in for a rude awakening.  He came for a fight.

Jesus is ready for the rejection.  He knows the people are plotting against him.  He also doesn’t seem all that worried.  I mean, at the end of the day, what is really going on?  He is still teaching by parable, just as he had been.  His tone may have changed, but no one is going to derail that which he came to do.

Of course, he came not only to teach, but to offer his life for the salvation of many.  This is what is often lost on many of my liberal friends.  It is not just a cute story about a good teacher.  He came to fulfill that psalm he quoted.  He came to be the cornerstone.  He came to die.

It is gruesome.  It is disarming.  It is bizarre, to say the least.  He came, not simply to identify with the beaten down of society and walk with them in their pain, but to captivate the whole world, and transform their pain into victory – to lift up the brokenhearted, to bless those who have no power and give them all the power, to side with those who have been rejected like him and give them the power instead.  This is where the conservatives start to get nervous.  For when you really come to understand the story you realize it is not just a cute, little story of a personal savior, but a radical story of love that transforms the entire world and the way it works.

For all the stumbling and judgment that he speaks of, the grace of God shines through.  We who stand on the other side of the resurrection know how this story ends.  We do not end in fear or rejection, but in a place of comfort and plenty.

What I gather from this parable is Jesus saying to me, “Keep on keepin’ on.”  My job is to move forward into God’s grace.  Amidst the struggle and pain of this life, I am not called to be consumed by it, but to be transformed by the love of God in Christ, and to allow that to be my guide. 

-Matt

Ecclus. 44:19-45:5; 2 Cor. 12:1-10; Luke 19:28-40

Have you ever been to New Orleans?  Have you been there long enough to encounter a funeral procession?  It usually includes a marching band, often a horse and carriage with the coffin, a jazz band, and a HUGE party dressed in white following behind.  When the band starts When the Saints Go Marching In, I always feel like joining in too.  It is jolting to those familiar with stark, all black dressed, solemn affairs.

Today we get a party – a parade – a triumphal entrance into Jerusalem.  It is Palm Sunday all over again.

If you have been hanging out with me with Morning Reflections for some time, you know that sometimes the lectionary can bounce around quite a bit.  Today we get Luke’s reading of Jesus triumphantly riding into Jerusalem.  It may seem like an odd time to encounter this story again, but the daily lectionary is naturally flowing through the gospel of Luke.

So Jesus enters on a colt that has never been ridden.  Those who own the colt are told “The Lord needs it.”  People spread cloaks.  Down the path from the Mount of Olives, people shout, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Luke is a wonderful gospel.  He even states in his purpose that he is looking for accuracy, and in the process he provides us with a story that is done with extreme care.  I love his details.  And I love the sweep of Jesus’ history that he gives. (For that reason I like that the lectionary is just marching through Luke, and NOT bouncing around like it sometimes does!)

Luke’s style is so different from the other writers.  For him, Jesus is often the object of the story.  Sometimes he is a pawn in the story, being swept by the powers and corruption at work.  The whole gospel, in many ways, becomes a sweep from the Galilee to Jerusalem – a journey, if you will – a journey that is God-led, the Spirit of God sweeping into our lives and providing us with a Savior who goes to his death on a cross.

By this time in the story, the winds have gathered.  What began in the 10^th Chapter is now a journey that has brought people from near and far, knowing the Savior of the World is about to enter through the Golden Gate, and sweep Rome from the earth.

Well, we know that doesn’t happen.  God has other plans with what people need – they need to be SAVED FROM THEMSELVES, not from Rome.

In many ways, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem has more to do with us than it does with Jesus.  Where do our allegiances lie?  How far will we follow Jesus?  Who is our Savior?  How will we choose to be part of the parade? 

You see, there are people who simple watch the parade, and there are others, who after the last colt goes by, become part of the parade.  Will we be joining the march to Golgotha?  What is our Golgotha in these days?  How will we be salt, and light, and take ourselves on a journey out of our comfort zone?

They are big questions, and they require big answers.

-Matt

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Deut. 31:30-32:14; 2 Cor. 11:21b-33; Luke 19:11-27

Today Luke tells the troubling parable of the Ten Pounds.

If you don’t remember the Parable of Ten Pounds: one slave gets one pound, and makes 10 pounds (By the way, a “pound” is a heck of a lot of money).  Another slave gets one pound and turns it into 5 while the master is away.  The final slave gets a pound as well, but wraps it in a cloth and returns it.  He is reprimanded.

This has been perhaps the most troubling of all parables for me.  Greed is rewarded?  Earning 10 fold was not something proud of attainment, like it would be today.  That kind of profit was strictly forbidden by Old Testament codes.  If you exploit others, you are forbidden from business.  So what exactly is Jesus saying?

This is a parable.  So from this story we are meant to learn something else – some deeper spiritual secret.  The context was a bunch of folks who expected the kingdom of God to appear immediately.  And Jesus ends by talking about “these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them – bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.”

That is even more frightening talk!  Jesus wants those who disagree with him to be slaughtered in his presence?  I thought Jesus was meek and mild!  No.  That’s the case only if you read the fictional version in many Americans’ minds.

So what is going on?  It appears Jesus is much concerned with this: to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

It appears Jesus is inciting us into action.  He wants us to DO something.  We have gifts.  We have skills.  We have money.  Many of us have all three.  We are to use them for the sake of the gospel.  We are to claim our calling, and not hide our gifts.

As a boy, I remember my fear of playing the piano for church.  I had become quite the pianist for an 8^th grader, but I was nervous and hesitant to play for church.  My perfectionism had reared its ugly head.  Unless I could offer “something that was perfect to God” I didn’t want to offer at all.  My pastor at the time, a compassionate but firm Lutheran pastor, pulled me aside on a Saturday afternoon during my practice time at church to inquire about this.  I remember Pastor Mike’s response to this day: “God has given you the gift of music.  And while you may feel it is bad to offer something less than perfect to God, it is a far greater sin to NOT OFFER IT AT ALL.  You must play.  Whatever it is you got in you, you must play.”

That was the best advice I could have gotten.  It was telling me that if I was going to wait to offer something that was perfect, I would be waiting a long time.

Despite the church being a place full of broken people, the fact is that we offer our gifts anyway.  With all our warts, we are called to offer our best.  But the key is: we are called to offer them no matter what.  No excuses!

-Matt

Deut. 30:11-20; 2 Cor. 11:1-21a; Luke 19:1-10

Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man, A Wee Little Man Was He.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.

Perhaps you started singing along.  Many of us learned this song as children.  Maybe we taught them to our children.

But, by and large, we turned our back on the Zacchaeus story as USAmerica adults.  We try to avoid talking about the story itself.  It is simply too scandalous for a capitalistic/consumer-based society – too challenging.  Instead we focus on what Jesus does, going to Zaccaeus’ house, not the gauntlet challenge throw down that ensues.

Every child is taught to share, but then we grow up.  Share?  No thanks.

“Come down from that sycamore tree!”  Do you remember what happens next?  Zacchaeus was rich.  He was a chief tax collector.  “Hurry, come down; for I must stay at your house today,” says Jesus.  And the crowd grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner!”  Zacchaeus, still standing with the crowd, says “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house….”

Economic revolution was a part of Jesus ministry.  He believed the rich should give all their money to the poor.  He felt that until that happened the kingdom of God could not be realized.  The rich, young ruler was told until he gave away what he had to follow Jesus he would be unable to enter that kingdom.

Here we are again: and the theme of socialism is strong in this one we call Lord.  What are we to do with that, as the chief among capitalists?   Really folks, what are we going to do?  Because now is not the time to dismiss large swaths of Jesus’ ministry, and large swaths of the Bible.  Now is not the time for defensiveness or talk of the status quo.

Now is the time to take a serious account of our lives.  Now is the time to suspend our political presuppositions at least long enough to hear God speak to us anew.  Now is the time to stop loving our church buildings so much, and start loving ministry again.  Now is the time to invest in changing people’s lives, not hording millions of dollars for a rainy day fund, in order to keep people just the same as we have always been.  Folks, it is raining.

And the rain is washing away our false exterior and revealing something about our mission.  What we have invested in…that is not the Church.  The Church is about changing people’s lives.  It is about discipleship. It is about radical Kingdom Building with Jesus at the center of our lives, tearing down those anxieties about budgets, and money, and worldly possessions.

Jesus’ economic revolution missed many of our churches – instead taken over by the devil, who adores greed and selfishness.

Really folks, what are we going to do?

Are we ready to lose our lives in order to gain them?  I hope so.  For our sake.

-Matt

Deut. 30:1-10; 2 Cor. 10:1-18; Luke 18:31-43

It is good to be back in the Morning Reflection saddle again.  It was a glorious week off – vacation in St. Louis and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  I come back refreshed and ready to tackle a challenging month for the presbytery.  Well, let’s turn to our scripture:

One of the most dramatic healings of Jesus’ ministry occurs today in Luke.  A blind beggar calls for Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  People ordered him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more.  He gets Jesus’ attention and ordered the man be brought to him, when he asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?”  He responds, “Lord, let me see again.”

He is healed – Jesus declaring his faith has made him well.

This all occurs on the heels of the Rich Young Ruler, who could not enter into eternal life with his worldview of money.  This is also on the heels of the Pharisee’s lack of faith.

Here is a blind beggar.  He is obviously unclean by his condition, and most certainly doubly unclean by his begging.  Here, Jesus lifts him up as the example of faith.  He believes!  He KNOWS that Jesus can heal him.  He knows that he only has to ask, because he knows who this is and the power he has.

I pray for this kind of trust every day.  Am I courageous enough to trust that God can get me back on track?  My Church?  My life?  How can I muster up the courage and the faith to seek out help when I need it?

This is the daily struggle, isn’t it?  We are a prideful people, we Americans.  We are industrious and independent.  “Help?  No thanks, I can do it myself.”

I pray for trust and courage and faith every day.

-Matt

Ezek. 18:1-4,19-32; Heb. 7:18-28; Luke 10:25-37

One of my Jewish professors at the Hebrew University helped me think about Jesus’ parables in a whole new way.  He explained to the whole class something I had never heard before: “Jesus’ stories are nothing new.  These were the same old recycled stories that all the rabbis of the time were telling.  What made Jesus’ parables unique – and what made him a GREAT rabbi – was that Jesus kept changing the endings!”

No doubt, some of the time thought that Jesus ended his stories WRONG.  My professor, a great rabbi himself, thought that Jesus’ parables were breathtakingly insightful and showed a command of scripture not seen until that day.

Jesus’ parables had a unique twist – a surprising ending – that shook people up.  And this is what made him a great teacher.

Take the parable of the Good Samaritan, for instance.  The man at the side of the road, who had been stripped and beaten…he is passed by a priest, and then a Levite.  Each comes to him and passes by on the other side of the road.  Then a Samaritan comes by, and moved with pity, bandages his wounds and cares for him.

So who did right?  “Well naturally the first two!!!!” would the socially accepted response at the time.  By passing by on the other side, they were remaining ritually pure for Temple worship.  Both were heading to Jerusalem, not to pray, but to lead in worship.  So the people in that day would have had this thought in their mind: “The greatest good for the greatest number of people.”  This would have been the expected ending.

Jesus shocks the crowd when he changes the end of the story, stating the third person did right: the Samaritan.  Perhaps there were people in the crowd scratching their heads.  Maybe there was even a gasp.  “OMG! Jesus forgot the ending!  Oh wait….”  Or “Jesus, come on, this poor stupid Samaritan aces himself out of worship by doing this act.  He becomes ritually unclean and has to remain outside of the community for 30 days for this daring feat of helping one person.  What an idiot!  And now Jesus is saying he did RIGHT?  What is going on here!?”

Jesus says no to the traditional interpretation..

When the lawyer answers Jesus’ question of “Who did right?” by saying “The one who showed mercy,” Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”  I can almost hear a murmur in the crowd – “Idiot, lawyer doesn’t know this one.”  And then a gasp when Jesus agrees.

Those of us who know the Jesus’ story, know that it is not just his parables that “end wrong.”  Our entire story has a wacky ending!!!!  Our King doesn’t ride triumphantly into Jerusalem and lead an army to destroy the Romans, as everyone hoped the Messiah would.  Instead, he rides into Jerusalem, gets himself arrested, gets crucified, and dies on a cross.

Oh wait, that is not how our story ends.  Jesus shocks the crowd again.  Instead he shows mercy to the crowd, and dies on their behalf, conquers sin and death, and on the third day rises again.

I am starting to like these wacky endings!

-Matt