Dinner Invitation

Matthew 21:33-46
Dinner invitation
We tend to complicate things.  But this is a complex world.  We have words to communicate but words are imperfect. To be able to deeply understand each other requires deep trust and intimacy but that just isn’t possible all the time. Even those to whom we are closest can misinterpret and misunderstand us.
Only God knows your heart. Only God knows you motivation. Only God knows exactly what you need and sometimes we let God use others to be the blessing he intends for us.
A long time ago in another season of life I experienced a radical act of hospitality. It was a simple invitation to dinner. I was throwing darts at a local place where I was introduced to a friend of a friend. I don’t remember his name but I remember he was from the Bahamas. He, like me, was a student at Ferris State University. I never met anyone like him before. He spoke with a thick accent. He was from another place. He didn’t look like me or any of my friends, yet he seemed friendly.
He invited my friend and me to his apartment for dinner.  He lived in married housing on campus. It seemed odd that this older man would want my friend and me to come to his apartment for dinner. If this were a movie we would be screaming at the screen to not go.
We went. He made chicken Souse. Not Chicken “sauce” but Souse. A simple meal of chicken wings boiled with potatoes and carrots and other simple ingredients. It was delicious. We chatted and went back to our dorm.   He didn’t ask anything from us. He offered and provided a meal for which I was inadequately grateful.
I didn’t see his act for the generous one that it was. That is one of those places in life that I could have a “re-do.” I actually have lots of those.
His Chicken Souse wasn’t what I expected. I don’t know what I expected going in to that situation but it wasn’t a simple recipe prepared in generosity.
Today we are going to have a meal that is very simple indeed. Bread and Juice. There is some disagreement about the nature of this meal between groups of Christians –about how God is involved. But let’s talk about what’s in this meal.
[The sun and rain that watered the grain of wheat, the grass and alfalfa that fed the cow that produced the milk that made the butter, the salt from the earth and the sugar from the beat grown in the earth and the human hands that were in the entire process right down to the hands that combined the ingredients and carried them to church today] Psalm 139:7-9
In the scripture Jesus told a parable about a vineyard and tenant farmers. The land owner put a fence around the vineyard. The land owner set aside this piece of land and specified it as a place for the vineyard. The land all around may be no different but this piece of land has now been given a special purpose. This can be compared to God setting aside the Hebrew people to be his people. The parable goes on to say that the landowner sent servants to collect rent and they were all put out or killed including the son of the landowner.
It can be said that this refers to the prophets of God and finally to Jesus prediction of his own death.
Jesus asks the question, “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”
Those listening to Jesus respond in a way that we would expect and in a way that we may respond, “41 They said, “He will totally destroy those wicked farmers and rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruit when it’s ready.”
And if we don’t read carefully we may think that this is the right answer. We may be so conditioned to the earthly response that we may miss what Jesus actually says. He does not say “You are right.”
He says, “Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes?[a] 43  Therefore, I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit.” Not that he will destroy anybody but that what they have been entrusted with will be given to those who will produce fruit.
I believe that the responsibility for the Kingdom of God on earth has been given to the Christian church. That we are the ones who are expected to produce fruit.
The thing is, in the parable the owner of the vineyard built a fence around it. When Jesus empowered his disciples to go into the world, baptizing all nations, he removed that fence. In effect the vineyard is to cover the whole earth to produce fruit not only in a particular place as in the parable but where ever one finds oneself. He has not called one people to be his. He has called all peoples to be his adopted children.
There is no longer us and them.  The divisions that we understood before are no longer valid. The fence is down and the vineyard is growing!
We can narrowly look at the parable and see that the original tenants are the Israelites and the new tenants are Christians. Or we can widen our view and see that we are both the wicked tenants and the ones who will produce fruit.  How many of us have perfectly incorporated Jesus into our lives and produce the fruit that Jesus expects? None of us.
Not one of us has been perfected in this life.  The good news is that when God looks at us he only sees his beloved Son living in us. And can’t help but love us unconditionally.
So Jesus has invited us to dinner. On the menu are only two things: Bread and juice, common earthly, universal foods. We are going to pray that these common foods will be for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We know that God’s glory fills the whole earth. We know that God is everywhere. This is the presence of Christ in everything.  Richard Rohr writes in his daily meditation, “If we deny that the spiritual can enter the material world, then we are in trouble, since we hope to be just that -spiritual and fully material human beings.”
We are invited to this very simple meal with the most radical gift of love and hospitality ever offered in all of human history. God is everywhere but for a few moments we are going to try to recognize God in this meal.
If we can gather, time and again, and recognize God in this meal then we can bring that knowledge out and recognize God in the world.  When the lines dissolve between “God’s here,” and “God’s not here,” we become more Christ like. Because Jesus saw God in places where others did not: in sinners, in outsiders and in enemies.
So, how is it with you today?  Can you see God even in those other things? Fortunately God is patient.  God is forgiving. And God invites us to have a simple meal of bread and juice with him so that we can have a glimpse and a foretaste of the banquet that we will have in the kingdom of God.

Lifelong Learning

In a former career I started off as a baker.  I baked bread. Lots and lots of bread.  I trained others how to bake bread.  I took pride in my bread because my bread rose the highest. By bread had to most consistency. My bread looked and tasted the best. 

Did I ever tell you I am a terrible cook?  I made a dish 5 years ago that was so bad my family still brings it up.

Do you know the difference between cooking and baking? In cooking you have to know flavor, and consistency. You have to know how to make food taste and feel right.  In baking you have to follow the directions precisely. 

Now I know good cooks who are terrible bakers. People who don’t attend to the details may have a hard time with baking.

I’m sure that many of you are good cooks as well as good bakers. I’m sure that some of you are no good at either. But we don’t all need to be, do we? I was set on a path of food service when I was living in Big Rapids trying to pay my way through college.  Back then I thought I was going to be a journalist when I grew up. The twists and turns of life happened and I ended up as a restaurant owner. 

Are you familiar with Proverbs 22:6? Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.

Well, being a restaurant owner was NOT the way I should go and I thought I would never be able to depart from it.

But my friend Mike loved that work. He also opened a restaurant. Then he opened another.  And he is very happy in his life.  Before opening his own restaurant he was an employee of mine.  For a couple of years we worked side-by-side learning from each other and growing together. It looked a little like a worldly form of discipleship.

 For the last 4 weeks, actually over the last several months we have been talking about discipleship.  And I have heard that some of you are getting a little weary of it.  “We’ve got it! ‘Stages, blah, blah, blah’” okay so you understand.  That’s good. If you come to church consistently I understand that it was probably a little redundant. But this is so important that those that only come once and while should hear it. It was worth being a little redundant. 

Discipleship, in a nutshell is the process of becoming more Christ like.  Or to put it the way John the Baptist did “He [Jesus] must increase and I must decrease.” 

In the gospel lesson today Jesus is in the background baptizing and we are hearing from John the Baptist. John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing before Jesus began his public ministry.  If John were of a mindset that was about his own fame and notoriety he had reason to be upset about Jesus coming. People who were listening to John were now flocking to Jesus. John’s reaction to this was a great example and lesson to us.

He teaches us at least three things:

1.       Others serving is not a threat to you

a.       The groom is the one who is getting married. The friend of the groom stands close by and, when he hears him, is overjoyed at the groom’s voice. Therefore, my joy is now complete. 

2.       You should Know your call and live it

a.       “No one can receive anything unless it is given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I’m not the Christ but that I’m the one sent before him. 

3.       In everything, Point to Christ

a.       ³⁰ He must increase and I must decrease. ³¹ The one who comes from above is above all things. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all things. 

Christ is ever present. Christ is calling us to come to him and lean on and trust in him. Next week, next, year, in ten years Jesus will still be calling this congregation to faithfulness. The thing we do today will become that thing we did back then and God will call us into something new.  That doesn’t mean that the things we are doing today are wrong, but it’s about being faithful to our call in the here and now. 

St. Paul UMC has a long history of faithful people of God listening for his voice.  It would be a mistake to think that God only moved through the congregation sometime in the past was done with us. God did not make a mistake in calling leaders who brought His church to where it is.  But God will continue to call men and women and young people to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world through St. Paul UMC.

So, how is it with you today?  How is God calling you to live today?  It may not be the same call you had 5, 10 or 50 years ago, but when you keep you face pointed toward Christ he will lead you in the way you should go. 

God's Thunderous Love

Luke 9 “⁵¹ As the time approached when Jesus was to be taken up into heaven, he determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² He sent messengers on ahead of him. Along the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival, ⁵³ but the Samaritan villagers refused to welcome him because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and spoke sternly to them, ⁵⁶ and they went on to another village.”

Last night I woke up to the sound of the wind.  It came up so suddenly that it was surprising. I listened for a while and it didn’t seem to subside.  In fact I fell back asleep before it did.  I woke this morning to find a warning of severe weather for our area on my phone for our area.  I watched he radar and yep, about 2:30 last night a storm rolled through.

I find the weather interesting in that though there are things we can do to prepare for what is coming there is nothing we can do to change what is coming.

It is a force that is greater than our ability to affect it. 

God’s love is like that.

God loves you and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.

My nephew was in Michigan over the course of this past week. He lives in San Diego. He’s 28 years old and I just met him for the first time. He’s 28 and he saw his grandma, my mother-in-law for the first time. He is her first grandchild. She has loved him since the day he was born but was never able to be face to face with him until this week. It was a tearful first meeting and a tearful goodbye when they left. She loves him and there’s not a thing that he can do about it.

They spent the last two days here in Ludington with us. We took them out to the break water to see the lighthouse.  The waves were high enough that there were several places where we were getting wet from the spray when they crashed into the wall. I was a little on guard because Eli was having way too much fun running around while all I was seeing was the dangerous churning cold Lake Michigan water.  My experience tells me that there are forces of nature that can easily be too much for us to handle.

When I think of God and what God does I start with psalm 23 “he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Those times when my spirit is at peace I am indeed thankful. When I walk through the valleys of life the promise of God is that he will be with us. For that I am thankful.

God gives us what we need to get through this life. But God has more for us than just getting through doesn’t he?

God has a thunderous love that cannot be stopped.  We cannot convince God to stop loving us. We cannot stop the wind or the thunder or the waves but God so loved the world that he gave his only son who could. 

Jesus can calm the storms of life. When Jesus came and taught his disciples what it means to follow him did he let them stay where the waters were calm? Did he make life easy for them? Or did he challenge them to grow; to go and do. When the people needed food Jesus told the disciples to feed them.

When Peter wanted to do the impossible Jesus invited him to step out of the boat. When Jesus was leaving the work of the Kingdom to his disciples he did say go and rest in the pasture he said go and make disciples. Why?  Because he loves us with an unstoppable love. 

I don’t think Jesus was interested in starting and growing a new religion. Jesus was interested in going to great lengths to demonstrate God’s unstoppable love.

When Jesus said that he would have to suffer. Peter protested.

To this Jesus said “Get behind me Satan.” Because Peter lost sight, or didn’t understand the lengths Jesus was willing to go to demonstrate the unstoppable love of God.

Jesus mission was unstoppable.  He came because God loved the world and wanted to save it. To be a part of that mission is a powerful thing. It feels good and right even though it may not be easy or comfortable at times.

In the scripture lesson today James and John whom Jesus nicknamed “Sons of Thunder” in a different portion of scripture were with Jesus as he was headed to Jerusalem to face great suffering. They were going through Samaria, a land that was a rival to the Jews of that day. They did not support or appreciate religious pilgrims traveling through their land on their way to Jerusalem. So when James and John went to make preparations for Jesus in a Samaritan village it was not surprising that they were not met with warm hospitality.

James and John were the sons of thunder for a reason. It probably wasn’t because they were timid. They were likely very confident fellows to begin with then add on the fact that they are now following a very powerful and convincing man who happens to be the son of god.  

These sons of thunder with all their confidence were rejected by people in the Samaritan village. How dare they?

“Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?”

They misunderstood, or perhaps they forgot that God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

When we isolate ourselves, we miss out on the cross check of ideas that prevents extreme and unhealthy thinking.

James and John were probably by nature bold and aggressive guys. It was a sort of natural reaction for them to say what they said. But it took the intentional teaching and mentoring by Jesus to bring them into an appropriate understanding of God’s will.

We don’t know if they came to that understanding at that moment or they just learned that they ought not to say things like that in front of Jesus. Either way it was learning and a growth moment for the brothers called “sons of Thunder.” These sons of thunder, Jesus called to be his disciples.  He knew their temperaments. He knew their personalities. He knew their weaknesses but he knew that he could use them and he can use anyone because he can and does love anyone and everyone.

Last week we talked about recognizing that the same spirit is in you is also in me when we are in the family of God through Jesus Christ. And with all of our earthly wisdom and the wisdom God has granted us individually, it still is only a fraction of the wisdom that God grants when we are gathered together sharing our spiritual gifts.  

When we place our trust in Jesus and believe that he is the son of God. God doesn't love us anymore because he already loved us enough to die for us.  But when we do believe and trust we start to remove the barriers that are in our lives that prevent us from fully experiencing God’s love. That process of removing barriers will inevitably make us more and more Christ-like in our nature.

I knew my nephews great grandmother.  She died in 1999. She is an example for me of how much Christ can shape a life. She demonstrated the fruit of the sprit not though effort but by being transformed by Christ’s presence her whole life. It is unfortunate that my nephew was never able to meet her. Her direct influence will never be felt.  But there are others that will love him and there are many that he can share that love with. This is the mission of Jesus, to share the love of God as far and as wide as possible.

Letting God’s thunderous love in to transform you is your path of discipleship.

So how is it with you today? Will you seek out and allow the transformation into Christ-likeness into your life.