Meet John the Baptist today and he would probably creep you out. You might even think he was crazy and in need of medication. Really strong medication.

But not to the people who were flocking to see him in the first century along the river Jordan.

He was a standard issue, first century prophet. He drank no strong drink or wine and lived in the tradition of Elijah as described in 2 Kings 1. That made him a rather hairy fellow because prophets didn’t cut their hair. Eating locusts and wild honey out in the desert, he was totally dependent on God and living off the land.

Prophets didn’t talk about the future. They recalled the past and spoke in the present. They have been described as “truth tellers of the present and past.” And John was out in the wilderness continually prophesying, continually telling the truth.

This was what people were coming out in the desert to see, in the wilderness.

His message was simple, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The word “repent” is interesting in what doesn’t get translated in the Bible. The word is that in Greek is continuous action.  “Repent.” (and keep on repenting),  not “one and done.”

Commas and punctuation matters, except in the Greek where they didn’t have punctuation much less spaces between words and everything was written in capital letters for many of the books.

Depending upon where you place the punctuation, it can be as we have it, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord” OR if you go back to Isiah 40:3 where John quotes this from it is punctuated differently. “The voice of one crying: In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness.

And the rest of the verse: make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

It is in the desert that we find John. It is in the wilderness where Jesus goes toe-to-toe with the devil in preparation for his ministry. It is the wilderness where things get worked out.

It is in the wilderness where our God is not afraid to meet us and work things out and prepare us for ministry.

Think about the wilderness times in your life. How has God met you there? How did things get worked out? How where you prepared for ministry?

The image of the threshing floor is an interesting analogy for preparation for ministry. It is a concept that we don’t understand because of our urban base of understanding and let’s face it, how many threshing floors will you find in the United States?

Wheat grows on a stem and the grain is in the head. The grain needs to be separated from the rest of the plant. This would be done on a threshing floor.

A threshing floor is a three sided structure that is built in the side of a rise where air comes over it.

So the wheat is put on this floor and beaten. It is the process that separates the wheat grains from the chaff, which would be everything else. But wheat grains are significantly smaller than the rest of the chaff.

So the farmer takes the winnowing fork, which is two pronged fork. The thresher will scoop up the wheat and chaff and throw it up in the air, where the breeze comes over the structure and blows the chaff away and the wheat falls to the floor. It is then collected and made into bread.

Jesus is standing at the threshing floor. There are times when we feel so beaten down, that we too, lay broken on the floor. It is Jesus who picks up – our good parts and our bad parts – and gently throws all of into the air.

And with his holy breath, his ruach, his Holy Spirit, that gently blows our chaff away. This spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. The same words spoken at our baptisms and confirmations.

It is this spirit that blows our chaff into the fire and Jesus gathers the good part of us, which he puts into his granary and uses for his purposes.

The bad parts, the disappointing parts of us are burned with unquenchable fire and destroyed.

And we are prepared for repentance. Continual repentance.

Repentance is much more than saying, “I’m sorry and I won’t do it again.” It is a literal turning around. Do a u-turn. Go in the other direction.

So it is not so much of what we are doing wrong but rather, what do we need to do differently.

God uses the wilderness times in our lives to point out that our way is not the way that God would have us to go and it’s time to change course.

Imagine just what direction God could be pointing us in? Ask ourselves the question what does God want us to do and be in this time and this place.

God has a dream. We hear about it in Isaiah. It is a Peaceable Kingdom. That is the product of God’s judgement. A place where once there was animosity and hate is now harmony. Wolves and lambs. Leopard and baby goats. Calves and lions. All getting along. Lions become vegetarians and share meals with oxen. Children play with snakes and don’t get bitten. All are  righteousness and faithfulness.

A place of justice and mercy. A place of hope. A place of wholeness. A place of peace.

God has a dream. The God who can raise up children of Abraham out of stones, will raise up a child out of a manger who grows up to be a man on a cross for the sake of all people.  This man’s life, death and resurrection will be for the salvation of all.

So we are called by God to repentance, to change directions, to imagine, to hope, to be a part of God’s dream where the kingdom of heaven is so very near.

Even if it’s in the middle of our personal wilderness. A voice is crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord.

God is indeed doing a new thing! This is the time to dream.

This is a question posed in the lyrics of a song performed by the musical group “Chicago.”  Ask a child this question right now and they’ll probably tell you… it’s Christmas time!! Not only that, they just might be able to tell you how many days, hours, minutes AND seconds until the “big day.” Just so you know, there IS an app for that complete with the sung reminder that “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” so you better be good, not shout, pout, cry or pick on your brother or sister because he’s going to find out just who’s naughty or nice!

In the scripture assigned for this past Sunday, Jesus is already in Jerusalem, Palm Sunday has passed and Jesus is in the temple teaching. By the time we get to Matthew 24, Jesus’ fate is sealed as the powers and principalities plot against him.

Jesus begins talking about another “big day” – the day when the temple will be leveled. And so the disciples have their own “come to Jesus” moment and ask him, “When is the Son of Man coming? What will be the signs?” In other words, what time is it?

People do like to predict the end of the world – even back in the 1^st century. It frightened the disciples then. And it frightens people today.  This second coming language has been used to scare the bejeebers out of people and coerce them into behaving the way a church has decided they should.  These verses have been used to falsely convey what a certain sect of the church thinks it knows and exactly what going to happen, who’s good or bad (naughty or nice) and who gets a present or just a lump of coal.

It is easy to get hung up on all this end of the world, apocalyptic words and miss the words of promise  — and because we don’t read vs. 31 where Jesus says that the son of man, with a loud trumpet call, will send out his angels to “gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

And then Jesus gets to the heart of the matter – what it is that scares us and it’s the unexpectedness and unpredictability of life – what scares you? Health concerns, illnesses, loss of a parent or child, loss of a job, catastrophic weather… what’s your list?

And we want to protect ourselves from these things in life that we can’t control – we want to insulate ourselves from the fear and pain and the shear unpredictability of life.

So we seek to control that unpredictability with life insurance, medical insurance, disability, travel, house, phone, car, malpractice – you name it insurance. And understand, I am not saying throw these insurances to the wind – but it does speak to our need to feel safe and secure.

And we would do well to keep repeating vs. 36, “But about that day and hour NO ONE KNOWS, not the angels who get sent by the son, not the son who sends the angels but only the Father, God.

We don’t know when we’ll need any of the insurances that we pay for – there is no way of knowing what medical calamities will befall us, when we will utilize that car insurance.

And we know of way too many instances of where one is taken while the other is left behind – that happens today, in our time, now – 911, Sandy Hook, right here in our community. Was anyone prepared for these disasters?

That’s what Jesus is saying in vs. 37-39, when he compares his return to the flood and Noah’s family. First thing to notice is that there is no moral judgment passed upon these people who fell victim to the massive flooding.

They were going about their lives – eating and drinking – we all do that; and marrying and giving in marriage – we all do that, too. It’s what people do. But the people of Noah’s day were not prepared for what was coming their way. Noah was – and keep in mind – he and his family were those left behind, to do God’s work, to carry on God’s story and promise.

Jesus uses this instance to show the sudden and unexpected act of God. Likewise the pairs of people out doing what they are supposed to be doing – living their lives, working hard in the fields and grinding wheat – all is peaceful, people going about their business – not suspecting a thing, not knowing that something is about to happen.

Have you walked through your neighborhood at night? What do you notice? Street lights? What about that yard light? Are your neighbors home? Perhaps out of town for a few days? When you’re gone, do you have lights on timers, motion-sensor lights on your porch.

All is calm in the neighborhood.

We are vigilant even when we’re gone – we makes sure the mail is taken in, the papers are not left out to advertise our absence, less a robber comes to invade our home, our lives, our property, stealing our peace and security.

We’re ready – just in case… We’re diligent – just in case…

And yet, we’re called to live lives, not in fear, but in faith. That’s the way God made us! We have the promise of the future hope, God calls his elect. We have the promises made to us in our baptisms. God has promised us Emmanuel – to be the “with us God.”

Therefore, we must be ready – as scripture implores us this day. Emmanuel doesn’t insulate us from all that scares us but he does promise that we don’t face it alone.  This preparation for God takes place – as we go about our business – as we eat and drink, marry and give in marriage, as we plant in our fields and grind our wheat – in the living of life.

The promise of the presence of Emmanuel and the hope of Emmanuel to come allows us to think about the possibilities. What can we dare to do?

Living in the sure and present hope of the future yet to come, what can we dare to do now?

The invitation of Advent implores us to explore a different kind of living in daily life. What do we dare to change right now in our lives that reflects who and whose we are – that reflect that we are children of God, wonderful made to live in his image, in faith and not fear?

And even if we fail, we have the promise of healing. We have the promise of Emmanuel, who came such a long time ago, who comes to us now, in the waters of baptism and the bread and the wine and who has promised to come again.

What can we dare to do? What possibilities can we imagine? Because Jesus came, Jesus comes to us now and Jesus comes again – and God’s glory is to be praised! Do you really know what time it is? We really do care that it’s Jesus’ time!

How are you doing? I ask this because there are some who are happy with the election results and there are some who are very sad with the election results. What I do know is that the vast majority of us are Just. Plain. Tired.

The reality is that no matter which candidate lost, we were going to deal with an incredible amount of change. There would be grief, deep grief coupled with anxiety. That has certainly come true.

I don’t think anyone anticipated just how deep the grief has gone. I don’t think that anyone anticipated what the result would unleash in this country.

The election has brought out anxiety and tension, and caused trauma among those who are the most vulnerable in our society. It has brought out the worst that this country has to offer. There are people who are scared. To. Death. The fear is real. The grief is real. The pain is real. The anger is real.

Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the ELCA, said in her post-election reflection: “all human beings are created in the image of God, even the ones who didn’t vote for your candidate.” I commend her one-minute youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw2-f82fklc

What is so very important to do, especially in our communities of faith, is to compassionately hold space for those who are grieving.

The majority of the people who voted for Trump did so because they were angry and worried and hopeful that he would fix a system that is not working for them either economically or politically. They voted for significant change to a system that only benefits a small percentage of Americans. They didn’t feel listened to.

No matter which side of the aisle you voted, we all want some of the same things. There is common ground somewhere in there. We all want to be heard, we all want an equitable system that will benefit ALL people, not just the few at the top.

It is at these times especially, that it is important to listen to what God is speaking to us through scripture, how it connects with our lives and informs us.

I’ll digress for a few paragraphs and revisit the All Saints readings from Luke, chapter 6 which included the blessings and the woes, the realities and the reversals.

It was also near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

People met Jesus on the level place. They came from all over – Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon, to listen to Jesus.

They came because they were hurting, they were afraid, the present economic and political system was not only NOT working for them but exploiting them as well. They came to hear a word of hope in a hopeless world.

Sound familiar?

Then Jesus says, “But I say to you that listen…”.
“I say, YOU listen.”

Jesus got very personal in this address. Not “all y’all” but YOU singular. This is how you get through all this yucky stuff that’s going to happen to you.

Love and keep on loving.

Do good and keep on doing good.

Bless and keep on blessing.

Pray and keep on praying.

Give and keep on giving.

And then Jesus punctuates all of this with the Golden Rule.

This week’s scripture takes place at the very end of Jesus’ ministry, in the temple, after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we commemorate every year as Palm Sunday.

It’s the last time that he will be in the temple. He’s told his last parable. He’s driven out the money changers. And people were getting up early every day to come listen to him.

Jesus and his disciples are sitting in this grand and opulent place. The disciples SEE all the really cool things that are there and are just blown away. And Jesus must have seen their eyes bug out. And so he brings them back down to earth and to reality with the gravity of the situation.

It’s not going to last. You SEE only this temple.

The struggles of life will still go on. Nothing will change in that regard.

But an interesting opportunity will arise – right after they arrest you and persecute you and throw you in prison and drag you before the oppositional leadership simply because you uttered the name of Jesus —

“THIS will give you an opportunity to testify.”

Testify! Now, there is a word that strikes fear in the heart of just about any self-respecting Lutheran. We avoid that word like the “plague.” It’s not that we don’t do it – we just prefer to call it by another name – “temple talk.”

When we get up and give a “temple talk” about where we SEE God at work through us and how that affects others people’s lives or even our own life and how God was a part of that difference – we are indeed TESTIFYING to the mighty acts of the Father.

The question is what will our testimony be in this time and in this place? The answer lies in what we SEE.

SEEING is very important in the Gospel of Luke – one of the repeated themes. And what we see determines what we choose to see.

And whatever we see we will testify.

If we choose to see God as judge and jury, then we will testify to a vengeful God and will others as deserving of punishment.

If we chose to see hope in God then we will testify to that hope.

Do we see like Jesus? Do we see who he sees? Do we see the least, the last, the lonely, the lost and the left-behind?

Do we see God’s love in it all?

Hope, grace, love and mercy is our testimony. We are God’s hand and feet as well as God’s eyes in this world. It is only through God that we can begin to replace fear with faith.

Now is the time to testify – that is what we must do. And we do it by living out our baptismal covenant – especially that part about working for justice and peace in the all the earth.

In fact we are COMMANDED to do just that.

We are to stand with ALL those who are being persecuted – our persons of color, gay, Muslim, immigrant brothers and sisters. When we see injustice against any brother or sister, we are to call it out. Our silence will only condone the acts and is just as dangerous.

And we need not worry about what we are going to say because the Holy Spirit has our back on that one. Not only will we have words but we will have wisdom as well.

May the wounds begin to heal, may the hatred turn to tolerance, may the distance between each other shorten, may the grief turn to joy.

May our God be praised in all that we do and say and sing, sing to the Lord a new song filled with love, hope and joy!

I knew that this blog would be a challenge to write even before November 8. In every election there is a winner and a loser.  And I would like to think that no matter who won, it wouldn’t change how I wrote this article. I must confess this is not the blog post that I was thinking that I would be writing today.

Just about everyone thought that Clinton would win. She had even planned a fireworks display (which the Coast Guard nixed – good thing) to celebrate her victory. To prove my point, I share a quote from a publication generated by the financial institution that handles our kids’ college funds. Clearly for it to have been delivered in early November, it had to be printed in late October with the articles written by mid-October.  It read, “Following the Nov 8 election…responding favorably to the balance of a Democratic president and Republican congress.”  Wow.

As I sat bleary-eyed in the wee morning hours of November 9 with my entire family glued to the television, I heard a stunned Chuck Todd of “Meet the Press” say, “We just got it wrong. We all just got it wrong.” And I wish I knew who said this: “Donald Trump heard a voice that no one else heard.”

And then the scripture from All Saints’ Sunday, November 6 started to speak to me.

Luke 6:27-31 (excerpted, emphasis my own…) ²⁷ “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹ If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰ Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.”¹

“To you that listen” And that is what I set out to do. Shut up and listen. For me, that means reading articles by colleagues that are leaders in the field and write with integrity and respect. And asking about colleagues, parishioners, friends, family.

What I heard was, “What do we tell the children?” “My daughter cried.” And from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network facebook page, multiple postings from youth workers describing in painful detail what their young people experienced in school on November 9.

I share the post of Cathryn Hewitt, St. Phillip Lutheran Church of Raleigh, NC, here: School was a battleground. A Trump supporter was scared to go to school for fear of being attacked and hated, this is a good kid! A young lady got on the bus and some boys starting laughing at her and telling her they guessed they didn’t have to respect women anymore. An American born, dark haired, olive skinned young man was approached and told that since he was clearly Mexican that he best start packing and get out of here. A young white boy was repeatedly told that he is what’s wrong with America, “obviously” being a Trump supporter. He is 15 and never said a word about politics at school. A young lady spent a good deal of her day comforting gay and lesbian friends who were being aggressively approached and told that they won’t ever be getting married now, deal with it! One young lady has a friend who is black and muslim, and this person did not even speak yesterday. Other comments that were shared included being told that, “ha, we got you and now you just have to get over it,” “our family is going to move out of the US,” “my muslim friend was told to pack her bags.”²

My heart broke for these kids. My heart just broke. And I grieve for the loss of innocence and safety that I believe that we all want for our children, regardless of how we voted.

I realized the prophetic in the words from Sunday’s sermon, “be the embodiment of God’s love to a hurting world.”

And Jesus tells us how to do it in Luke.

The blessings and woes in this passage in Luke call on us to stand in solidarity, not with the wealthy, but with the least, the last, the lost, the lonely and the left-behind.

We are called to speak up, just as Jesus spoke up for those around him. That’s why he was surrounded by all those people that day on the plain, which is the setting for Luke 6. People came to listen and to hear a word of hope and to feel loved.

And he tells us how to embody the God’s love in this world: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you… Give to everyone who begs from you…” Interestingly enough, the imperatives used don’t completely reflect the Greek from which they are translated, in that we are to do and keep on doing – not a one-and-done- but a continuous action, don’t stop.

Just don’t stop. And say something. Martin Luther King, Jr did. Ghandi did. Silence is dangerous. When we are silent we send the message that what is going on around us is OK and we know that it’s not. Bigotry, racism, sexism, xenophobia, white-privilege, intimidation, misogyny, it’s all NOT ok.

And that’s one thing that I plan to do – speak up and be silent no more. That’s going to take a whole lot of courage from me. I don’t like to ruffle feathers but when something’s not OK, I’m going to say so. I will start right here by saying that while I understand the anger on the part of those who do not want to accept Trump as president, protesting, defacing public property, and intimidation are not appropriate. Period.

An after-election poll by Channel 4 revealed in this area that 42% are scared, 27% are concerned, 16% are optimistic and 15% are excited about the outcome. Understand that this is a time of deep grief for many. And I don’t believe that if the winner and loser exchanged places the grief would have been any less.

The passage from Luke 6 ended with the Golden Rule. So as you come to church this coming Sunday, and I hope that you do, be kind to those who are feeling this grief. No triumphant jeers. And no blaming Trump supporters, either.

A colleague reminded his students about what happened the day after the crucifixion, when the women went to the tomb and “did something that we need to do. They showed up.” The faithful showed up.

That’s what we are called to do as well. Show up. Be faithful.

I sent both of my college young adults out of the door on Wednesday with these words, “God is still King, Jesus is still Lord and the Holy Spirit has got our backs.” I am amending this to “The Holy Spirit is blowing us in new directions.”

The Holy Spirit is reminding us that we are to be God’s hands and feet in this world. The Holy Spirit is reminding us that God is in control and we, as well as ANY president of any nation, are not.

Finally, borrowing from John Wesley’s General Rules (he’s the 18^th century reformer and the founder of the Methodists) “Do no harm, do good, stay in love with God.” Stay in love with God.

I share this prayer with you from Brian McLaren, a 21^st century theologian, pastor and author that he shared on his facebook page yesterday:

Lord, please make us instruments of Your transforming love.

Where hostile voices yell in fearful anger, help us sing loud songs of courageous friendship.

Where people trapped in bigotry send out their shrill dogwhistles of fear, let us form a resounding multi-faith choir of generous inclusion.

Where bulldozers of greed roar in to plunder all that is green and alive, Empower us overcome their noise with our hymn of praise for this beautiful earth.

Where cynicism echoes in the broken hearts of struggling idealists, Let us crescendo with a new song of resilient hope.

O, Holy One, may we seek less to silence our opponents and more to teach them to love your music and join the choir.

Oh God of all beauty, may we be instruments of your transforming love, and may your holy melody rise in us again, more sweet, loud, and strong than ever before, starting now. Amen.

We will all be OK, no matter who we voted for, we will be OK.

Show up, stay faithful, stay in love with God, who is still king, Jesus who is still Lord and the Holy Spirit, who has our backs, and is doing a new thing, blowing us in new directions. We will be OK.

Blessings on your week and peace be with you!

Pastor Heidi

¹New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

²https://www.facebook.com/groups/elcaymnet/

Getting the God that we need…

We celebrate Reformation once a year but re-formation is a continual process. We celebrate Reformation once a year but re-formation is a continual process. Word and sacrament –and the Jesus we find there — continually reforms us.

The conversation between Jesus and “the Jews who had believed in him” in John 8 which Jesus tells us that we “will know the truth and the truth will make [us] free” poignantly shows how true that is.

Those who were listening didn’t understand the phrase “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

And we share so much kinship with Jews of long ago. We respond to the word “freedom” much like they did.

The Jews said that we are descendants of Abraham, slaves to no one. Ok, so they seem to have forgotten the reason behind that little 40-year excursion in the desert.

They were so caught up in their righteousness that they lost sight of the need for justification, for the Word, for the truth.

But as Lutherans are we any different?

Do we get so caught up in our righteousness that we loose sight of the need and free gift of justification?

In other words, does our work on the Word get in the way of the Word’s work on us?

That’s what was happening to Martin Luther. He was so caught up in all the doing and doing it right, that he lost sight of the Truth. In his own words, he was worshiping the wrong God.

I believe it accurate to say that up until that point Martin lived a tortured spiritual life.  He was worshiping a god that scared him to death. This was a god who expected righteousness – strict adherence to the law – and punished ruthlessly those who couldn’t get it right, which is of course everyone.

And when God comes out looking like a tyrant who must be appeased, who is all about the justice, then Jesus becomes nothing more than a “whipping boy” – the one who stood in for us and took the merciless beating we deserve. The one who had to die to make God a forgiving God.¹

And then Luther met Jesus, the Word, the Logos, the Truth and went to work on Martin.

And he found freedom in the Word – freedom from the God that scared him to death².  And met through Jesus a God that was all about love.

It was a God that Martin didn’t expect to meet.

That is what was going on in John 8 – the Jews were meeting the unexpected God, a God of loving and forgiving. A God that didn’t care if they were righteous. A God that wanted to take away their fear.

A God of freedom – from sin, from death, from the devil.

A God of salvation. A God that sees us, seeks us out and brings us home, safe to his bosom, holding us in a close relationship.

And we have just as hard time believing it now as they did then.

A colleague shared this story about a member of a youth group who asked her friends what they imagined Jesus thought of them².

So take a few moments and imagine what Jesus thinks of you.

Is Jesus shaking his head? Perhaps burying his face in his hands? Face palm? Glancing over at God and saying, with outstretched arms, “Hey, I tried…”

The overwhelming answer that the young woman received? Disappointment. They assumed that Jesus and God was disappointed with them.

Yeah, I get that picture, too sometimes, ok, a lot of the times.

How easy it is to forget that we have a God who loves us no matter what and that there is nothing that we can do to make God love us more or make God love us less.

It has to do with how we define and see God. If we see a God that is angry, wants absolute and impeccable righteousness, that is waiting to zap us for every single sin, then of course God is going to be disappointed with us.

It’s because that’s the kind of God that I expect to show up.

And the good news is that I don’t get the God that I expect but rather the one that I need. And that is true for everyone.

What we get is God who shows up when no one and nothing else does.

A God who looks for the least, the lost, the lonely, the last and the left behind.

A God who likes to surprise us with unexpected salvation and grace.

A God who loves us, seeks us out, sees us, runs to us, embraces us, and brings us home – no matter what and without exception.

The son, the Word, the Logos, the truth has made us free and we are free indeed. The Word is re forming us as his disciples. May the Word burn in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls.  And may our response be…

To God’s glory…the Son has made us free!

¹ http://www.workingpreacher.org/

²Thank you, Mike Geyser, for sharing your wonderful insight with me after the service on Sunday – “for me freedom is freedom from fear.”

I’ve said that line more than once. And when I do, I’m always comparing myself to something much worse than what I am experiencing, have done, will do, have to contend with, you name it. And thanking God that I didn’t have to deal with “that”, whatever “that” might be. I confess to feeling a sense of pride. I believe that I am on safe ground when I say that I’m not alone.

There has been at least one individual in history who has shared my plight – the one in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18. The Pharisee goes to the temple to pray, tells God how great he is and looks over to the tax collector and says, “thank you for not making me like him.” In other words, “there but for the grace of God go I…”

“Comparison is the thief of joy¹.” Teddy Roosevelt said that. It took a bit of a google search to find out to whom it is attributed but it is quoted a lot and many articles begin it with it. I don’t know if the Pharisee was feeling particularly joyful or if he was actually complaining as he compared himself to others…I tithe EVERYTHING, I fast TWICE a week…and I am NOT a sinner, like HIM.

And the Pharisee is very aware that he ranks high above the tax collector. After all, the Pharisee is standing IN the temple and the tax collector can’t even cross the threshold. But what we don’t get to know about is how joyous the Pharisee feels in his self-proclaimed righteousness.

The reality is that as humans we are hard-wired to compare ourselves to others. Facebook and just about every other social media outlet bear this out. We get the “photo-shopped” version of other people’s lives that seem to be going so much better than our own, are filled with fun when ours is not, whose kids are doing so much better than ours, whose jobs are fabulous when ours are drudgery and on and on.

And the comparison thief has done its job. We’re left without joy and filled with despair.  OR the opposite happens, “but for the grace of God go I…”

Oh snap! Not a trendy saying but the sound of the parable’s trap. It gets us coming and going. We draw lines of comparison and find God on the other side. Every. Single. Time. When the truth is that God wants to us to be on God’s side. And not the other way around.

And the way that God wants us to be on God’s side is to trust in God’s ENDLESS grace and mercy rather than in our limited view of the comparative world. The good news is that God ranks no one. God makes no one stand outside of the temple. God says to everyone, you are enough, come inside.

And leave the human ranking system at the curb. Because what God gives us is justification, not righteousness. Love, not hate. Mercy, not judgment. Faith, not fear.

God already knows the hateful and dark thoughts that we hold inside and reaches right past them to touch our very hearts with God’s love. It is God who redeems, not our own actions. There is nothing that we can do to make God love us more or less. God just loves. That makes all the difference in your life, in my life, in our lives together as church in this place and at this time. And say, “There because of the grace of God go I.”

¹http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/comparing

The Pharisees have asked Jesus a question, “When is the kingdom of God coming?” Jesus answers them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”

In other words, you are looking for something in the future that is here and now – present reality. And with these words, Jesus has set the stage for understanding the parable of the unjust judge and persistent widow. And a direct question from Jesus.

A judge who is afraid of no one, nothing and not even God. And a widow who would not take no for an answer.

Widows – in ancient times were vulnerable, regularly listed with the orphans and aliens who deserved special attention. Without a husband, widows were left to the care of the closest male relative and were seen as a liability.

In this remarkable scene, she is standing before the judge – and a system that would not have trifled with her. The best that she could  expect was the shaft. The significant absence of makes it possible that the closest relative is not doing his job and that the problem is financially based.

But she keeps coming back. She will not be deterred.  This woman is beginning to make him look bad. She is pestering him to the point that he fears personal injury if he doesn’t get her off his back. Contextual notes include “so that she may not finally come and slap me in the face” or literally in the Greek: “to strike under the eye.” – a black eye.

Jesus holds up the unjust judge as the antithesis of God – the complete opposite of God.

Bad judge; moved by neither mercy or justice, just fear. Representative of the powers and principalities that do not care and yet can be compelled to do what is right.

Good God: acts out of unqualified mercy and justice. Whose kingdom is filled with grace. Who will stop at nothing to save the ones he loves. Who never gives up in his relentless pursuit!  

Are we giving up?

The call committee prepares to review its third slate of candidates. Just when we think we’ve found a candidate, the candidate slips right through our fingers. Stuck with an interim for God knows how long.

Are we in danger of losing our heart?

Was it difficult to fill out the pledge cards? Is it difficult to come to worship more often than not? Are we holding back? Are we scared?

Jesus tells us to pray always and not loose heart.

Right.

This is all well and good when things are going so well and good. But when things are falling apart? When I loose heart and can’t even pray? Then what?

Because that is the reality – I pray and sometimes God seems so far away and things are getting scary and I loose heart. All. The. Time.

Jesus says not to but I do. The silence frustrates me. And I long to hear something, anything. But there is only silence. Perhaps I am not alone in this particular longing.

In the face of all this, why shouldn’t we just throw in the towel and walk away? Because there is kingdom work to be done right here in Leesburg and God says we’re not finished yet.

Just keep praying…

Jesus asks us a direct question: when the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?

YES! Just don’t give up…

Remember that faith is the opposite of fear. Jesus is wondering when he comes back will he find a world filled with fear. And let’s face it, this election has been filled with fear-mongering.

Because just like the persistent widow who keeps pestering the judge so too does the kingdom of God keep pestering us to what is right. Faith conquers fear every time.

Jesus said, the kingdom of God is here, it is now even though it is not yet.

And the kingdom of God is pestering us to do the right thing, to live out our baptismal covenant, to work for peace and justice in all the world.

We can’t give up because the kingdom of God won’t give up. We have no choice.

Justice for all is a sign of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. And we are to be striving always, advocating on behalf of those who cannot advocate for themselves.

We are to take seriously the issues of discrimination and honestly ask ourselves where we have been guilty of contributing to the pain of others.

This is what we are called to faithfully do now, in the days leading up to November 8 and on November 9 and everyday afterward. No matter the outcome of this election. It’s time to give fear the black eye! Pray unceasingly. Worship weekly. Give generously.

Will Jesus find faith on earth? You better believe it!

As long as we together strive for justice, pray unceasingly and never stop, you better believe he’ll find faith on earth! And he’ll find it right here in Leesburg, VA!

Last week, you were invited to take out a dollar to think about what is written on it. “In God we trust…” Is that really true? Do we trust in God? Do we take to heart God’s calling of us to have compassion on our neighbors? Are we able to see God’s face on the face of our neighbor’s need?

And then you were invited to think about what you will do with that dollar. How will you spend it? Does it reflect our trust in God? Do our choices make a difference in the wellbeing of others?

Thank you to those who shared your personal dollar stories publicly with the assembly this past Sunday. We heard your struggles as some of you talked about the difficulties of deciding what to do with that dollar.

Make no mistake – all of this is hard to do. Some of you might be sitting here thinking…uh, oh … I forgot to do that. Perhaps even feeling a bit of shame. Put it back in your pocket, went on with life and didn’t think any more about it. Like I said – this faith stuff all is hard to do.

The disciples were finding that to be true as well.  They are walking with Jesus to Jerusalem and the walk is getting more challenging because the talk is getting harder.

Jesus had just finished talking about the forgiving as many times as it takes and that it is better to drown yourself than to cause someone to stumble. That was enough for fear to creep in and to send the disciples running to Jesus.

“Increase our faith!” The disciples have begun to think, “we can’t do this, we don’t have enough faith, add to what we have, please…”

In other words, Jesus, we don’t have enough faith to handle all of this forgiving and anything else that is coming our way. We just can’t do this.

As we endure yet another week of school shootings that injure and claim lives, violence perpetrated against law enforcement as well as by law enforcement, senseless accidents that injure hundreds, terrorism threats both real and imagined, racial unrest, and the list goes on and on.

And the same plea falls from our lips, too:  Jesus, increase our faith…we just can’t do this…we don’t have enough… it’s not going to be enough, add to what we have.

Fear has crept in again… fear that is opposite of faith.

Perhaps this request surprises Jesus a bit. Perhaps he’s taken aback by both the disciples and us.

The original Greek isn’t always the easiest to translate and convey meaning into English, but there is a conditional clause here. Scholars dispute just how to translate it. …if you had the faith of a mustard seed…and you do! And. You. Do.

It might be the size of this tiny mustard seed but you do have faith. And it is enough.

Mustard wasn’t a welcome addition to any Jewish garden. It was considered a weed, useless and even forbidden to plant – but prolific just the same. So you would find these weeds outside of the acceptable 1^st century garden gate.

This is the kind of faith that Jesus is saying is enough, it will get us through.

Faith doesn’t have to be huge or flashy or prominent. It just has to be.

Look at whom Jesus commends for having faith –those outside of the “acceptable” garden gate of the time – a Roman centurion concerned about a sick servant, a diseased woman who knows that just a touch will heal her.

Looking ahead in Luke, a leper will turn back to give thanks and a blind beggar will receive sight. Again all people who would have been found outside of the “acceptable” gate.

And here’s why it’s enough.

Jesus talks about a servant who does what is expected of him, just going about his job and not expecting any great rewards for doing. The servant is simply doing what has to be done, the mundane work that is right in front of him. The ordinary, everyday tasks of being a servant. Just doing the job.

Faith isn’t a commodity that can be added to, saved, or spent, used only when we think we need to. It is a prolific, humble gift to be passed along, shared, nurtured. Faith is found in the mundane, in the doing of what needs to be done. That is what Jesus is saying is faithful.

Nothing flashy, just going to work and doing a good job; listening when someone needs to talk, even if it’s about the weather; sitting with someone at lunch and being a friend to the friendless; cooking breakfast, feeding the dog, letting someone in front of you on the highway, writing a letter of thanks.

These are indeed acts of faith.

And what if, tomorrow, you didn’t do any of this stuff, and the next day, and the next day… What might the world look like?

Bleak to say the least.

This week there will be more gun violence, there will be hatred, there will be more computer hackings, there will be more of this contentious election.

And yet among all of this there will be signs of hope. Because God will continue to love and care for this world – using our hands, and hearts and voices, and time, and treasure and talents.

God will use all those mundane, simple, ordinary, everyday tasks that we do to help spread that love and hope and grace and joy in this world.

So you might think that you are not enough, but Jesus thinks that you are enough. You do have faith and at the end of our days it will be Jesus that will be saying to us,

Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.

Make friends by means of dishonest wealth, learn prudence from your corrupt neighbor…did Jesus really say that? I don’t know about you, but this is really confusing to me!

One of many focus of Jesus in Luke involves “seeing” the least, the lost, the lonely, the left-behind, the last. And many times these people were in these predicaments because of people just like the ones described in the parable.

A parable is a story that is not necessarily true but reveals truth about the kingdom of God, Jesus or about us. Because they are closely tied to the ancient setting it is helpful to listen to them with 1^st century ears.

There are scholars among us who believe that through the centuries of transmission that there is missing text that helps to contextualize it. Others speculate that 1^st century sarcasm might be at play as well. I can believe that Jesus has a dry sense of humor, especially when you consider his post-Resurrection conversations with the disciples on the shore and on the road to Emmaus.

That Jesus uses wealth as a frequent example should come as no surprise to us. It is the second most talked about subject in the Bible and the writer of Luke does most of that talking!

The powers sought to separate the illiterate peasants from their family lands by charging incredible amounts of interest (forbidden in Deuteronomy and Leviticus) and hidden fees. A 21^st equivalent is the predatory pay-day loan companies that have sprung up all over the country. Simply put, the land-sharks of the day were getting rich at the expense of the poor. That is NOT what a disciple of Christ does.

Also at play is the patronage system of “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” Everyone owed something to someone. As explained three weeks ago when Jesus challenged the Pharisees to invite those to dinner who cannot repay the favor, a disciple of Christ does not look to be repaid here on earth but rather celebrates the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. There is no need to court favors with God and he owes us nothing.

So what are we to do with these statements by Jesus, especially as we begin our annual stewardship focus at Holy Trinity? Let the scriptures speak to us, especially about our wealth. The children of the light have a lot to learn. Could it be that this parable turns on this statement of Jesus: “If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?”

Could it be that Jesus was in fact commending the dishonest manager for the lesson that he has painfully learned? That wealth is a blessing and a responsibility. That it is more important to amass relationships rather than money. In the end, the manager learned that you love people and use money and not the other way around.

What about learning prudence from the corrupt neighbor? Jesus recognized that while we are not of this world that we are definitely in it. However, it is very hard not to get caught up in it, especially when it comes to the economy of the world vs. the economy of God. We need to know how the economy of God works, what living in the kingdom right now looks like and that it won’t look like what is going on in the rest of the world. God’s love and care are constant and eternal. When money is your god is fleeting, unpredictable and temporary.

And finally, the realization is that everything that we are is not our own but of God. And as such we are to be “faithful with what belongs to another” and that we are to love God, love people—God’s people – and make disciples.

Throughout Luke, God shows up exactly where we don’t expect him to – in the faces of the least, the last, the lonely, the left-behind, all children of God. These are the ones God loves. We are to be faithful and to care for our neighbor and love them rather than to use our status to separate ourselves from them. What is true for them is also true for us. We too are the least, the last, the lonely and the left-behind.

Following our baptismal covenant let us “…live among God’s faithful people; hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper; proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; serve all people following the example of Jesus; and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”

We are freed in Christ to do just that.