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David Orendorff    Luke 13:1-9   March 7, 2010

Once upon a time a Jerusalemite was reading the Jerusalem Times and saw an article that puzzled him. Knowing that a wise man named Jesus was in town, he went to Jesus for an answer. It seems that some Galileans were on a holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem and, on the way to the temple to make a sacrifice Pilate, the Rome-appointed governor of Judea took umbrage and had the Galileans killed. The reader’s question was, “Were the Galileans killed because they were bad people?”

This is our old friend “blessings theology” (God blesses good people and curses bad people) sticking its ugly head up yet one more time. If you get killed by a power -mad tyrant, you must have done something bad to deserve it.

Jesus answers with what I can only imagine was an incredulous tone: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such?” followed by an emphatic, “I tell you, NO!”

Then Jesus takes the Jerusalem Times and points to another article. Eighteen construction workers in the Siloam tunnel, which is the main supply of water to Jerusalem, were killed when a tower in the tunnel fell. Jesus asks, “Do you think those who were killed were worse folks than all the others who dwell in Jerusalem?” And again he answers, “I tell you, NO!”

Note, for clarity, that the tragedies which struck were in no way the result of the behavior of those who died. That is, they weren’t smokers who died of lung cancer. They were victims of someone else’s decisions and actions-in  one case the vicious power of Pilate and, in the other, faulty construction.

We could take today’s Seattle Times, find an article about a tragedy and ask the same question, “Did this happen because this was a bad person, a person worse than other people in King County?” Blessings theology just doesn’t hold water; it doesn’t make sense. Very bad things like car wrecks, earthquakes, the holocaust, famine, poverty, and fatal illnesses happen to very good and very innocent people.

Jesus doesn’t just deny that God operates by blessings theology, he also says, twice, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” What is that about? It sounds pretty threatening and a little confusing. Repent from what? Perish like the Galileans, like the construction workers? What is Jesus talking about?

A refresher course on “repent” will help. When someone tells us to repent, we usually think of the bad stuff we do and our need to stop doing it, with an added “I am sorry.” While this is hopefully the consequence of repentance, it is not the heart of repentance. The word we translate as repent literally means “to change one’s mind or opinion.”  Saying I am sorry and trying to change behavior is not repentance, it is the consequence of repentance, of a changed mind. We have all known and been folks who are sorry and say sorry and then do it again. Why? Because the same old mind generates the same old behavior. Only when we have a true transformation of mind do we actually quit doing it or do it differently, whatever it is.

But what about the “likewise perish” part of “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Folks who spend their time thinking about how the blessings and curses of life come from a power greater than themselves have what we now call a victim mentality. Why? Because those with a “blessings theology” mind don’t believe they have power over their lives, but that they are most generally at the mercy of some powerful other, be it a god or a person.

Barbara Baker, in a psychological article discussing victim mentality, writes: A victim mentality is one where you blame everyone else for what happens in your world… If you do not get the promotion it is because Mr. Johnson was out to get you. Not because he found you playing on the Internet every day. Your best friend called and said she could not have dinner with you. She is always doing that to you; not showing. You’ll show her. You won’t invite her when you go out again! Instead of remembering she has just started school and you did call her at the last minute. Victim mentality.[1]

And those who live as victims, Jesus says, perish. Barbara Baker says they become resentful, angry, trapped in their circumstances, both physically and emotionally ill and often abusive of others. And further, folks with a victim mentality will sometimes actually set themselves up to be the victim.[2]

I love that AA calls this old thinking “stinking thinking.”

Jesus wants a new way of thinking, and that new way of thinking is in the parable of verses 13:6-9. In the new way of thinking life is a vineyard, a garden. The garden, in Judaism’s literary use, is both the creation and the community of the loving faithful by which we have been blessed.

And in this wonderful garden, we are the plants. A garden is a garden because, though there are a great variety of plants, all of the plants are meant to be fruitful, be it a fruit, a vegetable, a medicine or a flower.

What will get the fig tree (or any other plant) yanked out of the garden is being barren. If the fig tree doesn’t grow figs, it is gone. If the lilac doesn’t bloom, it is gone.

But in this garden, in God’s garden, there is a gardener who loves even the barren fig tree, and who will dig about its roots and haul manure that the fig tree might bear fruit and be saved. In God’s garden there is hope for the fig tree because there is a gardener who loves it. What matters in the new way of thinking is that the owner of the garden and the gardener not only want us to be fruitful, they suspend judgment and come to our aid. God and Jesus not only want us to succeed, to live and not perish, they suspend judgment and come to our aid.

For Luke and his congregation, being fruitful has a very specific understanding. It is to do justice as the prophets, especially Jesus, did. The prophet Micah sums it up well when he writes, “…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”[3]

Whenever we find the word “repent” in Luke’s Gospel, it leads the reader to think new thoughts about God (Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit); to think of God as the one who cares for us and serves us that we might care for and serve others; to think new thoughts about how to live a just and kind life which blesses the outsider and the oppressed just as we have been blessed.

To put the mind shift in blunt terms: When we read in the newspaper of the earthquakes of Haiti and Chile, the thing we are to think about is not, “I wonder what they did to deserve this,” but to think about “How can I/we help?” So let’s practice this new thinking just to make sure we have it. I will set up a scenario and then give you a choice of either “a” or “b.”

You see a 13-year-old boy crumpled next to his skateboard in the parking lot. What do you think?

a.       Stupid skater. Maybe next time he will be more careful.

b.      How I can help?

And who will help you help?

Another one: You hear that a couple is getting a divorce. What will you think?

a.       Good people have good marriages. What’s wrong with them?

b.      How can I help?

And who will help you help?

Here is one more question just to make sure we have it. You hear that someone is HIV/AIDS positive. What will you think?

a.          They must be sleeping around a lot.

b.         How can I help?

You get the idea, right?

During Lent we are asked to make an honest self examination of our minds and hearts. And should stinking thinking lead us off the trail, we pray for the power of God’s mind changing and healing love to enter us and change us to be more like God’s love as known in Jesus. The new thinking of our repentance is that we live in a wonderful garden and are tended by a loving gardener that we might forever bear the fruit of lovingkindness.

Shalom and Amen.

My wish for you[4]
I wish you not a path devoid of clouds, nor a life on a bed of roses,
Not that you might never need regret,
nor that you should never feel pain.
No, that is not my wish for you.
My wish for you is:
That you might be brave in times of trial,
when others lay crosses upon your shoulders.
When mountains must be climbed and chasms are to be crossed,
When hope can scarce shine through.
That every gift God gave you might grow with you
and let you give your gift of joy to all who care for you.
That you may always have a friend who is worth that name,
whom you can trust and who helps you in times of sadness,
Who will defy the storms of daily life at your side.
One more wish I have for you:
That in every hour of joy and pain you may feel God close to you.
This is my wish for you and for all who care for you.
This is my hope for you now and forever.

– anonymous Irish blessing

[2] ibid

[3] Micah 6:8

[4] video - http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en

text - http://musings-in-a-strange-land.blogspot.com/2008/02/this-week-my-dad-was-told-about-awesome.html

 

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David Orendorff       Philippians 3:17-4:1      February 28, 2010

This is my translation and it attempts to stay close to the Greek both in words and sense.  Any errors are mine.

^3:17Brothers and sisters, come with me my companion followers and observe how those who are walking about are an example to us.  ¹⁸For many of those walking about of whom I have often spoken, even now weeping I tell you, are hostile to the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their final outcome is destruction, their god is the belly and the essence of their presence is shame, thinking about the things of earth.  ²⁰For our common wellbeing exists in heaven out of which we expect a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body according to the power which enables him and subjects all things to him.  ^4:1Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love as a servant and for whom I long, you who are my joy and my reward, in times like these persevere in the Lord, my beloved.

So far my Lenten thoughts are about choices.  Last week it was the choices Jesus made following his baptism.[1] Today it is the choice Paul is challenging the congregation in Philippi to make.  The challenge is particularly urgent because Paul is in prison and rightly expects that his death is near.

To better understand Paul’s plea it is helpful to understand Paul’s target audience.  Early in his ministry Paul chose to be a pastor and apostle to God fearers.  God fearers are gentiles (non-Jews) who attend synagogue but have not converted to Judaism; that is, though they worship with Jews they have not been circumcised nor do they practice kosher food laws.  They are folks who are culturally Roman with religious inclinations toward Judaism.

Paul pleads with these God fearers to get off the fence and choose to build their lives around the faith of Jesus in God not around faith in themselves.  He pleads that they be fully committed to the power of Jesus working in them, even if they, like Jesus, must die.

John Wesley makes a similar plea to the first Methodists. In his sermon “Almost a Christian” [2] he calls his listeners to be “Altogether Christian” rather than “Almost Christian.” Wesley describes “almost a Christian” as those who:

• Don’t murder, don’t oppress the poor, don’t cheat or defraud anyone and manage debt well. They value truth and justice. And, quoting Wesley, “There (is) a sort of love and assistance which they (expect) one from another.” “Almost a Christian” folks have…the outside of a real Christian. They don’t curse. They go to church, avoid adultery, fornication, and uncleanness and so forth.

In other words the “almost a Christian” is a pretty good person and someone we would be glad to have as a neighbor or friend.  Wesley contrasts the “Almost a Christian” with “The Altogether a Christian.” He says the “Altogether a Christian” is one whose life is based in a faith built around Jesus’ “Great Commandment.”  They are both internally convicted and externally active in love of God, neighbor and self.  Wesley writes, “Whosoever has this faith, thus working by love, is not almost only, but altogether, a Christian.”[3]

Today the Book Study Group will finish reading and discussing George Barna’s “The Seven Faith Tribes.”[4] You might want to join them since they are having a lively debate with Barna on this very topic.  Those Wesley calls “Almost a Christian” Barna calls “Casual Christians.”  In an interview Barna says;

A Casual Christian can be all the things that they esteem: a nice human being, a family person, religious, an exemplary citizen, a reliable employee - and never have to publicly defend or represent difficult moral or social positions or even lose much sleep over their private choices as long as they mean well and generally do their best. …To them, Casual Christianity is the best of all worlds; it encourages them to be a better person than if they had been irreligious, yet it is not a faith into which they feel compelled to heavily invest themselves.

Barna defines “Captive Christians” thusly:

The lives of Captive Christians are defined by their faith; their worldview is built around their core spiritual beliefs and resultant values.

In contrasting casual and captive Christians he says: The big difference between these is how they define a successful life. For Captives, success is obedience to God, as demonstrated by consistently serving Christ and carrying out His commands and principles. For Casuals, success is balancing everything just right so that they are able to maximize their opportunities and joys in life without undermining their perceived relationship with God and others.[5]

I would debate with Barna on what he means by Christ commands, but never-the-less Wesley’s and Barna’s definitions pretty much describe the choice Paul (who, remember, is in prison about to be executed) is asking the Philippians to make.  Paul, Wesley and Barna are asking their listeners to choose to make faith not just a part of their lives, but the center of their lives.

Now stop and check your thinking.  I suspect that many of us are making the same judgment right now; “Am I a casual Christian or a captive Christian? Is Bear Creek made up of almost Christians or altogether Christians?”  I beg you to stop this thinking and to suspend either self judgment or judgment of Bear Creek.  It is the wrong question.  To those of you who have graduated from the Amazing Grace Seminar, I say you should know better than to fall into the trap of Judicial Salvation.  If God is first of all the judge then we all fail and are condemned.  Even the best captive Christian has a long way to go to be an altogether Christian like Jesus.

This is Paul’s point exactly when just a few verses earlier in Philippians 3:9 he writes, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.” It is not about what we have accomplished or chosen, but about our faith, our trust in the power of God to work in us and through us.

Because we are here worshipping together all of us have chosen, albeit in diverse ways, to follow Jesus.  Among us there are varying degrees of commitment and experience.  But all of us, who pray for it, are in the process of being transformed by the love of God from casual to captive Christians.  All of us, who pray for divine transformation, are almost Christians becoming altogether Christians.

I don’t know about Barna’s intent, but the question Paul, Wesley and I want to pose is this: Do I, do you, do we daily pray to be transformed into Jesus like divine servant love? Do we want to be more holy in the best sense of the word? Are we individually and congregationally folks who want the Holy Spirit to continually “transform our lowly body to be like (Christ’s) glorious body?”  Do we feel with our heart and know with our head that to resist this transformation is to be an enemy of Christ who died on the cross to reveal the love of God for us?  Do we feel with our heart and understand with our head that our common wellbeing depends on the miracles God can work in us and through us when we build our lives on the faith of Jesus?  The question is not whether I am an almost casual Christian or an altogether captive Christian.  The question is do I desire God to make me a “more like Jesus” Christian who lives ever more faithfully the Great Commandment to love God, neighbor and self?

I was looking for something else on the internet this week and found by chance (another word for God’s grace) the history behind one of Bear Creek’s favorite praise songs, “Now is the time to worship” by Brian Doerksen. I think it is a good example of the transformation process that heals us and the world.  On a blog site called “Grays Matter” Larry Gray writes:

In the summer of 1997, Brian and a team of investors lost more than $1 million dollars in a failed ministry project. His family lost their home and he fell into deep depression. He moved to England to start over as a worship pastor. He soon learned after the move that 3 of his 6 children had a form of mental retardation called Fragile X Syndrome.

(In Today’s Christian, 2005, Brian wrote) “One morning, I went for a prayer walk, to pour out my heart to God.” … As I was walking, I heard as clear as a bell, ‘Come, now is the time to worship … ‘ I thought, Wow! The call of worship is being sounded all of the time and in all kinds of ways. I was sweating, and walking, and singing that line over and over again, just sensing God’s nearness.” [6]

Like all of us, Brian’s first choice was to make the faith of Jesus a part of his life.  In his own words Brian writes, “The call to music ministry came in my teens. I was excelling in sports, following hard in my older brother’s footsteps when one night I had a life changing experience alone in my bedroom. A presence of love and power came into the room and seemed to ask me this simple question, “Will you give me your life to serve me?” After saying yes, I found that the desire to be involved in sports was gone, and in its place was a desire to play music for God.”[7]

Over time faith moved closer and closer to the center of Brian’s being and living until, by Wesley’ and Barna’s definitions Brian Doerksen was probably well toward the altogether captive Christian end of the continuum.  But though Brian follows Jesus he is no Jesus and is weighed down by his failures and his care for his children.  In a crisis of faith Brian talks to God and God replies, “Come, now is the time to worship.  Come, now is the time to give your heart…”  And by the gift of a song Brian is transformed from despair to hope.

Shortly after this Brian and his family left England to return to Abbortsford, B.C., his home town.  Faith in God became even more fully the center of his life and music ever more completely his expression of faith.  Eventually he was even able to buy back his family home.

So it comes to us.  One of the choices of Lent is whether we will pray that God continue to transform us so that the faith of Jesus becomes ever more fully that upon which our lives are built and hence that by which the world is healed.  I pray that we are continually remade by divine grace into ever more Jesus like Christians whose inner self and outer self live in love of God, neighbor and self.  Shalom and Amen.

[2] You can read Wesley’s “Almost a Christian” sermon at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/2/

[3] John Wesley, John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, Sermon II: The Almost Christian (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1983), Ed. Edward H. Sugden, p. 36

[4] George Barna, The Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe and Why They Matter

[5] http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/13-culture/268-casual-christians-and-the-future-of-america

[6] http://larrygrays.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-this-good-time-to-worship.html

[7] http://briandoerksen.com/

 

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Luke 4:1-13       David Orendorff         February 21, 2010

We are a culture that loves choices.  To be able to choose is perceived as freedom.  We have more freedom of choice than anyone in history. I have more choices in the first hour of being awake than 98% of the world has for a month or more.  Without a good plan and a list walking into Safeway can cause a paralysis of choice.

All of these wonderful choices boil down to one fundamental choice, how will we spend our lives?  Make no mistake; living life is a spending of precious minutes, talents, materials and opportunities.  And it is we who, for the most part, choose the spending.  Today’s passage relates directly to the choices we must make for a life well spent.

The setting is important. Jesus is led by the Spirit to the wilderness.  It is a place of chaos where he is vulnerable to the weather, to beasts and to robbers.  In the wilderness only God stands between Jesus and destruction.  Secondly, Jesus chooses to fast, to voluntarily put off life’s comforts and to take on life’s suffering.  By going to the wilderness and fasting Jesus has chosen to make himself reliant solely on the mercy of God.  That is when the devil comes.

The devil observes that Jesus must be pretty hungry after a long fast, and since he is the Son of God couldn’t he use his privilege to turn some nearby stones into bread.  It seems an innocent enough choice when you’re really hungry.  Jesus’ answer to the devil recognizes the fundamental need for bread to live, “People do not live by bread alone” implicitly acknowledges that bread is needed.  However, the complete passage from Deuteronomy that Jesus is quoting goes, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”[1] Our real life is not in bread but in what God has to say to us.  And Jesus speaks for God when he answers the attorney saying God’s commandment is this, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”[2]

We have this same choice. We too are God’s children and the Holy Spirit is in us as well, giving us power to turn the stones of our labor into bread.  And that is a good thing.  The bad news is that we live in a culture obsessed with making and keeping as much bread as possible.  We live in a time and place that chooses to eat the whole loaf at every meal, often without even saying thank you.  In fact, among the world’s population we are God’s very blessed children being in the top 2% for bread, education, and income.  You name it and we are at the top.  The test the devil offers is “What are we going to do from up here?”  Will we use the power in us to feed our tummies and desires first and then, maybe, with the leftovers, if there are any leftovers, feed others?  How will we use the power God has given us?

The devil poses a second choice Jesus must make for the spending of his life saying, “I have power and glory over all the kingdoms of the world.  I will give you power and glory if you worship me.” Jesus’ response is simple and direct.  Again quoting Deuteronomy he says, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”[3]

Like having a lot of bread, our culture is also obsessed with “authority and glory” or alternatively translated, “power and prestige” or “the need to be looking good.”  How else do we explain the size and price of our homes and cars?  Doing cross cultural training I learned that a first question we ask (or wonder) when meeting each other is, “What do you do for a living?” whereas many other cultures ask questions about family.

But to spend life trying to look good is a trap.  It is the promise of a false security which a fall in the shower ends. Yet folks around us persist in climbing a bad ladder. I don’t know how many times people have said to me how hard it is to do their job. Their jobs steal excessive time which could be spent with family, friends, as a volunteer.  Sometimes they are fearful of losing their job and so serve the necessity of amassing greater kingdoms.  Some feel trapped by an internal need for a promotion that gives more money and greater security (or so they think).  There are ethical choices some must make and sometimes the choice Jesus would make is not an option.  All this could be solved by a job that paid less, a smaller home and an old car but they persist.

Our choice, having been baptized, is whether we will spend our life for looking good or for serving God.  Will we serve the devil to gain authority and glory with its false security or will we only worship and serve the God of amazing grace, of extravagant servanthood and generosity?

The devil poses the third choice Jesus must make for the spending of his life this way:  Taking Jesus to the highest tower in Jerusalem, which happens to be on the temple, he asks Jesus to test God’s love for him by throwing himself down onto the stone terrace below.  He even quotes scripture, “God will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,” and “on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” [4] Jesus will face this same choice again at his death when he is challenged to call upon God and save himself from the cross.[5]

The first two tests of choice have to do with how Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will spend his material life.  This third test of choice is the question of how Jesus will spend his spiritual life.  Is his faith about what God can do to make his life easier, healthier, and safer or is it about what God can do through him to make life easier, healthier and safer for others?

Jesus again makes a clear choice.  He says, “You shall not tempt/test the Lord your God.”  That is, for Jesus trusting God is not about getting God and God’s angels to take care of him.  Jesus uses the power of God in him, the power of the Holy Spirit, his spiritual capital, not for himself, but for all of those about him who are outcasts, ill, broken, and lost and simply trusts God’s eternal love and care.

Those of us who choose to follow the way of Jesus have chosen to at least try to be generous and not greedy with our daily bread.  We have chosen to live not by the false security of power and prestige but by the word of God which is love. And we have chosen to use the power of God within us not for ourselves but for others in humble service.

Our lives have been blessed with many who have chosen the way of Jesus.  Many of them like Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Saint Francis and Saint Clare and Albert Schweitzer we have met in books and movies.  I met a new one on YouTube this week, her name is Alexandra Scott.

Play video http://www.alexslemonade.org/about

With great compassion God has placed among us those who whose humble faith and service can inspire us.  There are, of course, our various family and friends who love us with forgiveness and generosity beyond our deserving.  But there are also many of you Bearcreekians that witness how to spend a life for God.  There are the Wilsons who in response to Nick’s brush with cancer spend a portion of their lives serving other families facing cancer at Children’s Hospital. And there are Andy and Joan Pierce who, over the years, have had fun with a variety of medical issues and become the proud owners of a number of medical gadgets. Assisted by the contributions of others, like George Best, they have turned a garage full of equipment into a sharing ministry for those who now need particular medical equipment. And further, Joan, with the witness and talent of others, has turned her considerable and growing faith in prayer into our Prayer Shawl ministry.

By these and more we witness to each other how to spend our lives in the way of Jesus.  So far 29 folks have responded to my request for their volunteer hours beyond Bear Creek, naming 44 ways they make a difference in the world with 5225 hours which is 218 24 hour days.  I am inspired by you.

By the choices Jesus made we are moved to choose to spend life not for more unneeded bread but to serve the poor who need daily bread.  By our witness to each other we are inspired to choose to spend our time not for the false security of looking good, but to worship and serve God by serving God’s word of love.  And by our shared life of compassion and prayer we are enthused to faith not for its personal gain, but because of what God as Holy Spirit can do in and through us for the healing of the world.  And by our choices to spend our lives for God and others, eternal life finds us.  Shalom and Amen.

[2] Luke 10:27

[3] Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20

[4] Psalm 91:11-12

[5] Luke 23:39 and parallels