One Father

One Father

Luke 7:36-8:3

The life we live is a story continually written by our decisions.  We face difficulties and challenges and we respond.  We have victories and successes and we respond.  We plod through mundane routine and we respond. All of that and so much more, from our birth to our death, is the story of our earthly life. 

This could be said of all creatures everywhere whether human or animal. 

My Bow:  Specialized to transfer as much energy from the tension of the bow to the flight of the arrow as possible.  Left handed to suit me.

My decision to nock an arrow and draw the string aim it at a deer, and let the arrow fly not only adds another event to the story of my life but possibly ends the story of that deer. 

I have never actually bow hunted.  That is an event that has never been written in the story of my life, but it could be if I choose it.

Nurturing our little ones is part of God's design.

I could choose to just use it for target shooting.  You ever see the story of Robin Hood as told by Disney?  It is animated with the characters being all sorts of different animals.  In it Robin Hood enters an archery competition where he not only gets a bull’s eye but splits the arrow of his competitor the full length of the shaft who got a bull’s eye before him.

Archery has been used as a way of describing sin.  That sin is, “missing the mark.” Sure if I were to have a target, which in this metaphor is the perfect will of God for humanity, and I turn away from that target and loose my arrow in some other direction.  That could be catastrophic.  Someone could get hurt or killed.  That would be negligent, that would be irresponsible, and we could even call it evil. 

But what if I turned 90 degrees? That is a little closer to aiming at the target, right?  It’s a little better that turning fully away from the target or God’s will.  Right? 

What if I fully face the target?  What if I try with all my effort to hit the target; to train and to practice my archery skills to be the best archer I can possibly be? Have I done all that God requires of me?

Unfortunately, no.

To live as God would have us live would require, in this metaphor, to hit the target exactly in the center of the bull’s eye with the arrow exactly perpendicular to the target and to have entered the target and just the precise depth.  Not only would we have to achieve this perfection but we would have to achieve it over and over again.  We would have to split the previous arrow every time.  If we were off even a fraction of an inch, even once, we would be missing the mark.

I was watching an episode of myth busters once.  They tried to duplicate the splitting of the arrow the full length of the shaft like in Robin Hood.  They used precise equipment and as much knowledge of physics they could muster.  And they determined that it was physically impossible to do.  Even the best earthly shot at the mark that happened to go the right depth and land perpendicular to the center dot cannot be duplicated by the second shot.

This is how it is with sin.  We cannot live in such a way that we are pleasing to God. 

That is why Christ came.  That is why Christ gave his life, so that our imperfect shot at life can be made perfect in him; So that, in him, we can live and grow in this life and enter into perfection in the next life. He died to take on all of our imperfections and failures. Every time we tried in earnest to make that perfect shot and failed, Jesus took it and made it work for him.  Every time we turned away and fired in another direction, Jesus took that and made it work for him as well. All those missed shots are still imperfections; they all still can cause harm. That all can damage. None of our shots are the perfect will of God but God uses them all and forgives us for our failure.

If hitting the mark could be gained though our own efforts, Christ died for nothing.

In The scripture today we read about a dinner party that Jesus was invited to. 

Jesus was there.  Jesus the son of God was at a dinner party with a bunch of sinners. 

Isn’t that how it always is?

Jesus was the only perfect one! Everyone else fell short of the perfection of God!

Jesus came to give his perfection.  Jesus came to take away the sin of the world.  Jesus offers forgiveness for missing the mark.  Jesus offers forgiveness of sin. 

Jesus was at a party with a bunch of sinners.  All of the sinners at that party had access to the forgiveness that Jesus was offering.  Only one accepted this great gift, in fact only one recognized the need to accept it. 

It just happens that it was a woman whose circumstances and decisions lead to a place in her life story where she was making a living as a prostitute.  In Jesus she found new life.  In Jesus she found forgiveness.  In Jesus she found the perfection of God. 

She came and found Jesus and anointed his feet. She honored Jesus while the host of the dinner party was still living in sin.  She was redeemed.  Her relationship with God had been restored while the Pharisee was still separated from God. 

To human eyes it may look like the Pharisee was in better spiritual health, being a “man of God” after all. Granted his life was stent carefully aiming and trying in earnest to hit the mark while the woman’s life appeared to be facing a different direction all together.  But in this moment of worship, this woman is in right relationship with God.  Jesus forgave and she accepted that forgiveness. The Pharisee had not.

My bow could be used for target shooting and for hunting; formerly used as a weapon of war. Not only can we turn our back on god and loose an arrow and do great damage, we can also be wounded.

When we are wounded by the actions of others, we can get caught up in the injustice of it.  We can dwell on the offence.  Here is a little parable not from the Christian tradition but a good one about life together.

This parable is from the Buddhist
tradition. 

"It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a languor, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him."

— Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya" (MN 63), Majjhima Nikaya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_arrow

We can spend our time diagnosing our problems and lose sight of getting healthy.  Part of a healthy spiritual life is forgiving those who have wounded us.  All of our brothers and sisters, even though they may have the best of intentions will miss the mark to one degree or another.  God forgives them through Jesus Christ and we are called to do the same. 

Ahab and Jezebel were responsible for the death of Naboth. They wanted his garden. They were deceitful and Naboth was stoned to death. What they did can never be undone.  It has been written in the story of their lives and in the pages of Holy Scripture.  But Ahab later understood his sin and felt the pain of it. He was spared punishment from God, but scripture says that sin affected his sons.  His story, all of our stories have an impact on those around us, especially on our children. 

On this Father’s Day know that the greatest gift we can give our children is an example of humble acceptance of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. When we can admit that we need forgiveness we don’t have to pretend that we are better than we are.  We won’t be blinded like the Pharisee who presumed to be better than the woman who anointed Jesus feet with perfume and washed them with her tears.  We would instead see her and the Pharisee as a sister and a brother in need of forgiveness because we have the same father. 

So how is it with you today?  Is there someone in your life who needs to hear about our loving Father who wants to perfect us in his love through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ?

The Story Continues

This is my friend Jeff Bollman.
His earthly life came to an end this week. I look forward
to the day when we will meet again in eternity.  

Luke 7:11-17

I’m about to tell you a foolish story.  It’s a good story filled with good news but it will sound foolish to those who do not believe.  I’m going to give you the end first.  We are going to skip to the end and I am going to spoil the surprise for you.  Here it is: Jesus is the Lord of life!
Amen.
You know we say “amen,” At the end of prayers?  It seems that the word “amen” has become synonymous with “The end.”  Like, “okay, God, that’s it. I’m done talking now…the end.” Or perhaps it’s often like, “okay, I’m done asking for God’s blessing, we can start the potluck.
But the word “amen” means, verily, or truly.  You can say it anytime with anything that you agree with. Amen?
You can even start a sentence with the word amen. “Amen, truly I say to you that this is a loving congregation.” Or, “Amen, Jesus is the Lord of life.”
Amen is not a period.  It’s not the end word of a prayer.  It is a statement of ascent. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say Amen at the end we are saying that all that we prayed is truth.
I’m about to tell you a foolish story of faith.  It’s foolish because we say that the death of our bodies is not the end of us.  When we experience death in the flesh our story continues.  If our life were a movie there wouldn’t be a “The end” after our death.  Credits would not roll after our last breath. Because the foolish story that we tell, as Christians, is that because Jesus is the Lord of our life and we trust in him, the “The end” has been transformed into and Amen, because we will see in that moment the author of our salvation.  We will see the light of eternity and the light of truth. We will say “Truly, you are my Lord and my God.” “Amen, Amen death has lost its sting!”
You see it’s a foolish story that we tell because the story we tell has no ending.   The story continues.  No matter what the story continues.
In the two scripture reading this morning we read of two different widows from two different times in history from two different cities.  Both of them were facing the reality of death.  The widow fro Zarephath was collecting sticks to cook her last bit of food before she and her son would slowly starve to death.  The widow in the village of Nain was experiencing death in that she was going to bury her only son.  She no longer had anyone to take care of her.  Her future looked pretty bleak as well.  It looked like death.  But both women had an encounter with God.  The widow of Zarephath met the Prophet Elijah and the widow of Nain met Jesus.
What the two widows though was the end of their lives was not to be.  In fact the Story continued. The widow did not starve to death, but just when she thought things were going to be okay, her son got sick and died.  But that wasn’t the end of the story either, because the prophet Elijah prayed to God and God brought life back to her son.
Further down the road of history, in the village of Nain, Jesus also brought back life to a widow’s son. Jesus is the Lord of life.  Jesus is the embodiment of the God of creation; he can do that sort of thing.  But before Jesus was born in Bethlehem he was the Logos, the Word, and the Eternal Christ.  He was there at the dawn of creation.  And he was there when Elijah prayed for the restoration of the widow’s son.  You see Jesus is the Lord of Life, of all life.  Christ is eternal.  He was in Zarephath, He was in Nain he is in Scottville, he is in Ludington and he is in Pentwater.
There are things in our lives that seem like it’s the end.  Like it is a period, like there will be no more. It might be death or illness.  But the loss of a job can feel like an end.  Children moving out of the house can feel like an end.  Stagnation in your career or in a relationship can feel like the end.  But Jesus is the Lord of Life.  Where we think there is a “The End,” Jesus puts an “Amen” and says, truly, truly this story of yours is not done, and this story of yours, in fact has no end.
The two widows who though that life was coming to an end both had an encounter with God.  Did you notice where they first made contact?  The widow from Zarephath was collecting sticks at the gate of the town when Elijah met her.  When Jesus met the widow of Nain she was at the gate of the town and they were heading to bury her son. Both widows encountered God in some sense at the gate of their respective towns.
What is the purpose of Gates?  In a walled village…to keep people out.  A gate is for security.   If not for security, a gate is the main entrance into a village. It is sort of main street.  On one side of the gate you are in the village and on the other side you are outside the village.  It is a transition point, a boundary.  The widows were between their village and the wilderness.  They were at the gate. They were in a place between life and death in their lives. They were at a transition point which looked like the end and they encountered God.
Tabernacle: Gates: outer court, altar, holy place, curtain, most holy place
Sometimes it feels like there are too many barriers between us and God.  Sometimes it feels like God is distant.  You are not alone in feeling this way.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And when some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling of Elijah…Let’s see if Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
Period?
The end?
Nope. Just then the temple curtain was torn into, from top to bottom.
The temple curtain the barrier, the gate, that divided the holy place from the most holy place in the Temple was destroyed.  The gate was gone. At Jesus’ death the barrier to the Most Holy God was removed.
You see gates when they are closed keep people out.  But those same gates when they are open or even removed. They are a way of letting people in.   Jesus told a story about some sheep and a gate.
Parable of the sheep/I am the gate: John 10:1-10
The gate was the ungodliness of humanity that could not be joined to the holiness of God
The gate is now Jesus.  Not a gate to keep people out but to let people in. he has taken on our sin. He has taken on our unworthiness and has given us his righteousness.
The road is wide but narrow is the gate.  You have to choose to go through the gate.  It’s open for everybody but not everybody will use it.  Many will pass on by.
How about you?   How is it with you today?  Are you able to see past the period at the end of the sentence that is your life?  The story continues.  It continues because the Jesus is the Lord of Life and wants to give it abundantly.  

Amazing Faith

Luke 7:1-10

Astounding Faith

We launched some a sky lantern a few nights ago. We were a little
concerned that it would get into the wind Turbine, but it didn't.  

We know that Israel, during Jesus life time, was occupied by the Romans.  The roman army probably had garrisons and outposts at various places to project the power of Rome.  The soldiers in these places needed commanders.  A Centurion was such a commander.  In the Gospel lesson today we read of one of those commanders. You can imagine that the presence of Roman soldiers was not the most welcome thing. In fact it was probably pretty terrible to live under the rule of a foreign government.  An invading nation obviously does not respect your sovereignty; it probably does not respect your customs, your faith, or your traditions. They are there to exert power and control to their benefit.

The Centurion in today’s reading was different. This centurion had a faith that amazed Jesus.  That’s pretty good! If you can amaze Jesus you must be doing something right.  So let’s take a look at what he did. 

Well we know that he is a soldier that probably came up through the ranks.  That means that he probably did what soldiers are called on to do.  The army has a phrase that sanitizes the sound of what happens in battle.  They say the mission is to destroy personnel and equipment of the enemy.  That is what they do but it doesn’t come close to describing what happens on a battle field. And that is the modern military. Now imagine the world before bullets when battles were fought with swords. That means the centurion in this story has a history of battle. This centurion has probably witnessed some pretty horrific things and may have even participated in some pretty horrific things.  We can pretend that since this man was from a different time in history that the soldier’s life didn’t adversely affect him. We can pretend that the wounds he inflicted didn’t, in turn wound him spiritually.  But I think we know better.  Getting through this human life without wounds is impossible.  The great majority of us have never experienced a battle field.  But all of us have experienced loss.  We have all done things we wish we would have done differently.  So this battle hardened soldier has come to this day when he heard that Jesus was in Capernaum.

 You see, the centurion had a slave.  We gloss over the fact that he had a slave.  The notion of slavery is abhorrent to our modern ears. The fact that one human can own another human is something that we rail against.  But we gloss over it because in the culture of that time it was common and so Jesus does not speak out against it, instead, Jesus continually points toward God and knows that the transforming power of a life lived by faith will, person by person; bring about a world that is just. Where there is no slavery not of individuals, and not of whole peoples. This Centurion had a slave and that slave was deathly sick.

 This traveling Rabbi; this teacher of the people of whom the centurion’s  soldiers are charged with keeping subdued; This itinerant preacher and healer has come to the town where his outpost was.  It was a good thing he came.  Because this centurion’s servant was sick and needed help desperately.  The Centurion knew that Jesus could help.  What happened next left Jesus amazed.

So what was so amazing about the centurion? What can we learn from him?  How can we have a faith like him?

1.       Surround yourself with good people.  “He sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.”  When I say ‘he surrounded himself with good people.  I don’t mean that he was an elitist.  He may have been, I don’t know. He surrounded himself with good people by the nature of his actions.  If he were cruel, calloused and indifferent, who would be there by his side to be sent out with a message for Jesus?  This centurion gained the help of the elders of Capernaum to help him.  You can tell a lot about a person by the people who are willing to speak for them and on their behalf.

“When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “he is worthy of having you do this for him…” I wonder here: Do these Jewish elders speak out of knowledge of who Jesus is, when they say speak of worthiness, or is it out of love for the centurion? 

2.       Be charitable. The elders continued, “He loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” Long before Jesus came to the village, long before his slave got sick.  This centurion built a synagogue.  Was it with the money and resources that was taken from the Jewish people in the first place?  Probably.  It was good for him to build the synagogue but it still would have been better for the people of the romans were not there.  Under imperfect circumstances the centurion did something good.  It didn’t fix any underlying problems, it didn’t make the occupation any more just but it was a thing. 

3.       Care for those who depend on you.  He had a slave, it’s true.  But he cared deeply for him. When his slave became ill, he called in favors from the elders, he sent for Jesus, the one that can heal by the power of God.  He didn’t cast those aside that were no longer useful to him.  He spent all the more energy on caring for them. 

4.       Learn humility. I imagine he was in his home caring for his ailing slave when he looked out his window and saw Jesus with his whole entourage approaching.  “When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof therefore I did not presume to come to you.”  The centurion knew Jesus could help but never intended for Jesus to come. But Jesus came anyway. Have you ever had that happen? You ask for a little help and you get more than you could ever ask for?

5.       Trust Jesus. The Centurion had his friends say to Jesus “But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” The centurion trusted that Jesus had the authority to heal his slave.  If he understood Jesus to have this authority he must have understood that that authority comes only from God.  And so this Centurion, having never had a face to face encounter with Jesus saw Jesus for who he was, better than many of Jesus own disciples.  That’s amazing.

Jesus came, and Jesus healed.  That’s what Jesus does.  But Jesus didn’t intend to be a healthcare plan.  Jesus came and Jesus heals only to point our attention to God.  Jesus came at the centurions request but did not need to speak to him because he understood that the centurion already had his mind set on God.  He knew that the centurion adequately understood where the healing comes from and knew he needed no further teaching.  Jesus healing of the slave was immediate and lasting.  Jesus healing was a miracle that pointed attention to God.  But would have Jesus known about the sick slave if the centurion’s friends and the elders have not gone and told him? Would the centurion have had those friends and the admiration of the elders had he not built the synagogue and shown the people love.  Would the slave have even survived if he did not have someone like the centurion to care for him?

Jesus healing was immediate and lasting.  Jesus said of the Centurion “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”  Yes it was his faith that impressed Jesus. But it was his faithfulness in life that brought all the elements of this story together.  It was his friends, his charity, his care, his humility and his trust in Jesus that brought about the circumstances where Jesus offered healing.

St. Paul Outpost:

So how is it with you today?  No matter what our past holds.  No matter how broken we are or how many mistakes we have made.  We can have a faith that amazes Jesus.  It’s a faith that says that all good things are from God and we as God’s people give God all the Glory.  How can you give God the glory today?