Matthew 9:2-8 Easier Said Than Done

 

Observation: In the first century mindset, sin and sickness were connected. So were forgiveness and healing. But in the second-temple religious system, the only way to be "sure" God has forgiven your sins was to go to Jerusalem and have a priest offer a sacrifice for you in the temple. For Jesus to just forgive a man his sins in someone's house would have been seen as totally illegitimate and blasphemous. But Jesus doesn't back down. To show this paralyzed man his sins are forgiven, he commands him to stand and walk. Therein lies the proof of Jesus' authority. 

Application: Christians (especially Lutherans) talk a whole lot about grace. We talk a lot about forgiveness. I know I do. But we talk a lot less about how that grace should change us. How should I think and speak differently, now that I've been relieved of an unbearable burden of sin? How should I move differently through this world? I may not be like the man in the story, with one single dramatic moment of coming into contact with God's grace, and going from paralysis to movement. Not many of us are like that. But I have moments every day, and certainly every week, where I encounter Jesus. And if I don't act any different at all before and after--if not even one little part of my soul starts to "get up and walk"--then maybe it's time to head back to Jesus and try it again. That's what a real encounter with forgiveness is all about. 

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me. Forgive me for not making full use of my forgiveness. For not getting up and walking freely, using my voice and my mind freely to praise you and to be your hands and feet in the world. The next time you say my sins are forgiven, help me to be more ready to get up. Amen.   

Daniel 10:10-14, 12:1-3 Our Better Angels

Observation: The prophet Daniel, an Israelite in exile in Babylon, receives a vision from a man clothed in linen, wearing a golden belt, with eyes like flaming fire and legs like burnished bronze. It's no accident that, centuries later, John of Patmos meets a man with that exact description, who reveals himself to be the Risen Jesus. To Daniel, this man reveals a word of comfort. He has nothing to fear. His prayers have been answered, and he is going to receive a message about the end times. The vision revealed to Daniel is of clashing kingdoms and arrogant kings who raise themselves above any ruler, or even above God. But at the right time, Michael, an angel of the Lord, will rise up. The dead will rise, and those who are wise will "shine like the brightness of the sky." Through all the chaos and suffering, God is in control. 

Application: Today is the only "saint day" I know of which celebrates one who is not human. It is the festival of Saint Michael and all angels. Michael is known as a protector of God's people. Most angels are simply tasked with relaying messages from God, but in the few times we encounter Michael, he is one who actively fights against evil on our behalf. 

It's a beautiful thought, to believe that God's power is manifest in real, palpable spiritual forces who fight in our defense. It's a helpful way of envisioning God's care for us. But also, I have to admit, I have to wonder where Michael has been, or why he has chosen to sit on the sidelines, at a time like this. Today, we have officially passed one million global deaths to COVID-19. It certainly feels like the "time of anguish" Daniel foresaw, and yet we do not see bright angels taking up fortifications just yet. At a time like this, I wonder if God's angels are here among us, less as burly soldiers bearing flaming swords, but more as a whisper deep within our hearts, with the same words that came to Daniel: "Greatly beloved, pay attention. Do not fear. your words have been heard." Maybe those angels are the "better angels of our nature" that Abraham Lincoln described in his first inaugural address. The angels who gently (and maybe less gently at times) steer us in the direction of love and unity, of placing others' interests before our own, to grieve with the grieving, to hold out hope for those just beginning their journey, and to do the next right thing, in our own lives, today, that together across the world will defend them from evil as well as any archangel ever could.

Prayer: God, thank you for the protection of your angels. Into your hands, today, I commend myself: my body, my soul, and all that is mine. May your holy angel protect me and guide my thoughts today, so that the wicked foe would have no power over me. Amen.    

 

Acts 13:32-41 Not Raised to Power, Raised to Life

 Acts 13:32-41 (NRSV)

³²And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors ³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm,
'You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.'

³⁴As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
'I will give you the holy promises made to David.'
³⁵Therefore he has also said in another psalm,
'You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.'

³⁶For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; ³⁷but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. ³⁸Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; ³⁹by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you:
⁴¹'Look, you scoffers!
Be amazed and perish,
for in your days I am doing a work,
a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.'"

Observation: This is the second half of a sermon Paul preaches to a synagogue in Perga, a city in Pamphylia (modern Turkey). Using verses from the Hebrew Bible, Paul compares and contrasts the story of King David with the story of Jesus. Though David had a great deal of political power and served God's purpose for him in his time, like all human beings, he eventually died. But Paul's point is that though Jesus may not have had the same kind of political clout that David had, he had done something David could never do. He was raised from the dead.

Application: Resurrection is a whole other kind of power. It is an affirmation of life. God loves us, not just as spirits, but as human beings with bodies. It is an affirmation of Jesus' way of life. Jesus never commanded an army, stormed an enemy outpost, or sat on a throne in Jerusalem, the way his ancestor, King David, had. His followers kept waiting for that--that was what they thought the word "Messiah," anointed ruler of Israel, meant--but that day never came. Instead, Jesus spoke unflinching truth to those who had that kind of power, and paid for it with his life. But he was raised. This is God's check mate to death, and by extension, to any Empire that wields death as a weapon. This lays low the hollowness of any ruler, no matter how just or unjust they may be: if the worst they can do is kill you, resurrection renders them powerless. If their own rule is brought to a close at the mouth of the grave, then there is only one conclusion: Jesus is Lord, because his grave is empty.

I guess I haven't really "applied" the text yet. Sorry. Here it is. If Jesus is Risen, he is Lord. Not just today but forever. No person in power, and no way of thinking about power, no ideology, no policy, no army of lobbyists or legislators or pundits, is worth even a fraction of an inch of my soul's territory, because they are all going to crumble and decompose with the passage of time. If Jesus is Lord, it makes zero sense for me to walk any other way than Jesus' way of love, mercy and justice, and let the chips fall where they may. If Jesus is Lord, that doesn't mean what I do, what I say, and how I conduct myself in this world doesn't matter. It means it matters even more, because I don't have to waste my time trying to play some sort of temporary game. Blessing the meek, the mourners, the peacemakers, actually works. Forgiving seventy times seven actually works. Preaching liberty to captives and good news to the poor actually works. It doesn't matter what it looks like to system of power that are rotting from the inside out. If resurrection is on our side, I want to be on the side of Jesus, no matter what.

Prayer: Jesus, help me be on your side, come what may. Amen.

James 4:11-16 "If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say..."

 

Observation: Although the letter of James only says to be from "James, servant of God", Christian tradition claims it was from the hand of Jesus' younger brother, who led the church in Jerusalem for almost thirty years before being martyred. Maybe it's my imagination, but in his discussion about judgment in this passage, I can see the "family resemblance" in its similarity to Jesus' sermon on the mount. James' letter makes the interesting claim that if you speak evil against anyone, you are speaking evil against God's law and judging the law.   

Application: There's a very important theological reason why Jesus, James and others caution against judging others. To judge another person is to put ourselves in the place of God, which is to break the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me." It's an important reminder to be humble. I'm not God. I'm a mortal. My perspective is limited, and my own "rap sheet" with regard to sin is far from clean. 

Still, at the risk of complicating things (I am great at that!), we sometimes reduce these weighty commands into simple and strict rules of etiquette. We've all heard "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." This can cause us to clam up and never speak out, never hold fellow believers accountable when their behavior is harmful to us and others. "Well, I'm not one to judge..."

There's a difference between judging someone, and holding them to account to live what they believe. Especially when we are in close enough of a relationship with them where we think they will listen, sometimes it is our duty to say, "Hey, have you thought about how what you said/did back there may have affected others? Have you prayed about how that squares with your faith?" This is more an art than a science, of course, and it's never a comfortable conversation. But to grow in faith, sometimes we have to leave the black and white world of "never ever say anything negative", into the gray world of mutual accountability, especially among people who profess to follow Jesus. 

Prayer: God, forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Keep me humble and grounded. And help me humbly speak the truth to those who need to hear it, even when they don't want to. Amen.   

Psalm 106:1-12 It's Nothing Personal

 

Observation: Psalm 106 is a historical psalm that uses poetry to retell the story of Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea. This feels like home, because I've spent all summer preaching on this story. But what grabs me is the introduction, "Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise? / Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times." 

Application: I'll bet one of the top words you would hear from people in a Western country when you ask them about their faith is, "it's personal." We know that talking about faith with people you don't know well, or even some people you do, can lead to big problems. Best to keep it private. Between you and God. It's become so highly individualized that even some Lutherans, who may have never heard this phrase in a sermon (nor read it in their Bibles because it's not there) believe the thing they should value more than anything is "a personal relationship with Jesus." 

Don't get me wrong. I don't think it's bad to have a relationship with Jesus, or with God as you understand God to be, that's all your own, based on your individual experience and spirituality. That's fine. But when we get to a psalm like 106, that says you really shouldn't be "uttering the mighty deeds of the Lord" until you "observe justice" and "do righteousness at all times," you may realize that faith was never meant to be a total secret or even private. Faith should lead to justice on behalf of others, and justice is not a private phenomenon. Dr. Cornel West famously said, "Justice is what love looks like in public." If we want to speak about God, we should also be willing to speak on behalf of our most vulnerable neighbors. Some aspects of faith should be personal, but if it all is, then we've got a problem. 

Prayer: God, help me take my faith public in support of justice. Amen.       

Nahum 2:3-13 More Harsh Words for Nineveh

 

Observation: More harsh, violent words from the Lord about the overthrow of Nineveh. This seat of an ancient and powerful empire is bound for destruction. 

Application: If you spend any amount of time digging into the Bible, especially outside the bounds of the short snippets often picked for worship services, you will find some pretty violent content. I sometimes worry as I'm handing off Bibles to parents of new readers, "Are they aware of what all is in here? This thing does not come with parental controls." There are a lot of reasons you can give for the violent imagery, depending on where it comes from. Ancient times were violent times in general, and some of the language of the Bible reflects that historical context. In fact, some of the things God says and does in the Old Testament are tame compared to what tribal chieftans, kings and emperors were up to. 

But the book of Nahum specifically reminds me of a theme you find throughout the Bible. Often God's fiercest anger and harshest threats are leveled at empires who exalt themselves as divine, and oppress their neighbors. To the conquerors, the plunderers, the bullies, who see themselves as the apex of all power, God warns: you are going down, and it's going to be bad. This is an important wake-up call to all of us who live in nations with a lot of power and wealth. The power we have now is fleeting, and it's insignificant compared to the power of God. We may think that our own nation is special, and divinely ordained to rule forever. Guess what? So did the Assyrians. the Babylonians. The Persians. The Greeks. The Romans. and a hundred empires since. If we behave like the empires of old, I don't see why God would treat us any differently. But what is different today about any other time in history is that each and every citizen has the power to use our voice for the cause of justice. The Ninevites had no such right. So how shall we use our voices today? 

Prayer: God, for those in the seats of power, I pray for guidance and wisdom today. May their choices benefit all your children. May all our voices together stand under your word, and advocate for your will. Amen.       

Nahum 1:1, 14-2:2 "Oh Here They Come"

 

Observation: The prophet Nahum encourages the people to celebrate the fall of Nineveh, a capital city of the oppressive Assyrian Empire, which has been dominating the region. What jumps out at me is the joyful greeting of "the one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace." 

Application:  Would you try a thought experiment with me? I'm going to write a declarative statement, with no punctuation and no indication of a tone of voice, and you tell me how you hear it. Here goes: 

Oh here come the Christians

First, what context were you picturing? The site of a natural disaster? A local food pantry? A protest on a hot-button issue? Your favorite brunch restaurant? The comments section of a local news story? Does it sound different depending on the context you imagine, or about the same? Let's try it again...

Oh here come the Christians

This time, let me ask the pointed question: in the context you imagine, is this statement good news? And hearing this statement, would you expect the words and actions of those Christians to be good news? Would you expect the environment to become more peaceful? More loving? Would you expect those held captive to experience freedom? Would you expect those who are sick in some way to experience healing? Would you expect whatever is said or done at that point to be good news to the poor? 

Yes? Terrific, I would love to meet your friends. 

No? Then I think we've got a problem. 

And it's not a skin-deep PR type problem. I think it's a discipleship problem. Because Christians are good news people, and we follow a Lord who announced everything I just wrote to be fulfilled in his presence. As I read in Nahum about "the one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace," I think, "that should be us, because of who we follow." And if not, that's not a Jesus problem. And it's not a "those Christians over there who we disagree with" problem. It's an us problem. 

Prayer: Change my heart, oh God. Help me tp turn to you in faith, and let your good news soak into my life, my heart, my behavior, my words, so that my arrival actually is good news for the world. Amen.  

  

Mark 11:20-25 Figs, Faith and Forgiveness

 

Observation: Jesus and his disciples are walking into Jerusalem for the day and they pass a fig tree that Jesus cursed the previous day. It has withered. Jesus uses this as an object lesson, that if you ask for something in prayer, and believe you have received it, God will grant it to you. As Jesus continues to talk about prayer, he also includes forgiveness alongside faith as an essential ingredient. God forgives us when we are able to forgive. 

Application: Whew, there's a lot to unpack here. What troubles me about this passage is not so much the bold assertion about the power of faith, but the object lesson Jesus uses. In the previous passage, the fig tree was not in the wrong...Jesus was hungry, and wanted figs, but it wasn't fig season! The tree was living the natural course of its life, and Jesus struck it down! Even though the words about forgiveness seem to be tacked onto the end of this passage about prayer and faith, maybe they're more connected than I realized. Maybe Jesus' action, which is shocking and hard to understand for me, is a lesson about forgiveness. I will never understand exactly why others do what they do. If I had to understand them to forgive them, I wouldn't forgive often. It's strange, and a little uncomfortable, to think that I would have to "forgive" Jesus, who has forgiven me of so much. But in the short term, while his behavior is a mystery, that's where I have to start. I may have to let go of this story for a while, to speak to me some other day. 

Prayer: Jesus, I don't get it. I don't know why you cursed that poor tree, and it makes me mad. It sounds presumptuous to say "I forgive you," but if I don't say it, this will just bounce around in my brain for too long. So let me just say it. I forgive you. I want to let go of this story until you show me what it means. Help me, Lord. Amen.  

Psalm 133: Living Together

 

Observation: Psalm 133 is one of the shortest and simplest. It compares the unity and love of a family living together to the holiest and most precious substance known to ancient Israel: the oil of anointing, which consecrated Moses' brother Aaron as a priest of the Lord. 

Application: It's been a very intense time for "kindred living together." Half a year into the coronavirus crisis, I don't need to tell you that for many families, "unity" sometimes feels more like an aspirational goal than an everyday reality. I don't have any magic bullets from the Bible to make a stressed, snippy family into a happy and unified one. I would guess we all know a few tricks, like getting sleep and exercise, eating nutritious food, taking quiet time alone each day, giving hugs, etc... I think we know what we can do, even if we don't always do it. But from Psalm 133, one thing I get is that when the unity happens, when things are clicking, and your family is working well together as a team, you should stop and take a mental snapshot. How good and pleasant it is! Maybe it feels rare. But I promise you it will feel a lot less rare if you make a note of it when it does happen. A favorite weekly ritual for our family, which started as a Lenten discipline, is that Tuesday night is "screen free night". After dinner, we turn off the TV and computers, stow the phones, and play board games, ask trivia questions, take walks, and just unplug. It makes me feel a little more human after a day of being tied to machines. That's worked for us. How good and pleasant it is!

Prayer: God, help us remember the unity, the good and the pleasant, the times when it's working. Use those moments to sustain us when life is stressful and hard. Amen. 

   

Romans 10:15-21 Don't Know What You've Got Til It's Gone

 Observation: In this section of his letter to the Romans, Paul is trying to make sense of why his message about Jesus has been embraced by many Gentiles, but has not been universally embraced by his fellow Jews. His argument, based on his reading of the Hebrew scriptures, is that God must intend to make God's chosen people jealous by embracing people from other backgrounds, in order to win back the children of Israel. But later Paul makes clear his belief that, however long it takes, reconciliation will eventually happen.   

Application: Romans 10 hits home for me because, like many of Paul's Jewish readers, I grew up in a religiously devout household. Faith was kind of something I took for granted for much of my childhood. There were certainly bumps, twists and forks in the road for me as a teenager and as a young adult. I've been fortunate enough to learn about many other faiths and philosophies of life, but the ultimate result for me has been a return "home" to reclaim the faith I grew up with. I sometimes wonder if that doesn't make me a little complacent when it comes to really examining my assumptions about life. What would it take to force me to really change my perspective? What would a conversion experience look like for me? Sometimes, I'll admit, I get a bit envious when I talk with someone who became a Christian on their own, through some sort of dramatic conversion. I have noticed that often they make terrific evangelists, because they know what it's like to have God's love revealed to them for the very first time. Maybe it's a little bit of the 'grass is always greener' phenomenon. I'm not ashamed of my story, but hearing the stories of others definitely does help my perspective, and helps me appreciate my inherited and reclaimed faith more. 

Prayer: God, thank you for raising me in faith. Thank you for the gift of my baptism and for the many people who formed me in faith. Help me never to take any of it for granted. Help me use my unique story to witness to you.     

Matthew 12:22-32 If Satan Casts Out Satan

 ²²Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see. ²³All the crowds were amazed and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out the demons." ²⁵He knew what they were thinking and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁸But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. ²⁹Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his property, without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered. ³⁰Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ³¹Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³²Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Observation: Jesus' words here have always been a little confusing to me. Essentially, he is trying to argue that he is not casting out demons by a demonic power, but in the name of God, as a sign of God's Reign being near. For this reason, it is one of the worst sins a person can commit, to see God's work and attribute it to demonic forces.

But the tricky thing is Jesus' argument (famously quoted VERY out of context by Abe Lincoln) is, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Jesus' point is that if he is casting out one demon in the name of another demon, then the realm of demons is divided against itself, and should be falling. But since the realm of demons is clearly very much alive and well, therefore it must still be unified. Therefore, Jesus must be on God's side.

Application: Evil is very much alive in our world today. I don't think there's any denying that. If Jesus' words hold true, that "a house divided against itself cannot stand," then it makes sense to see the evil in the world as very much united...maybe more united than Jesus' disciples. But it's easy to unite around a goal of dividing and destroying. It's much harder to unite around a goal of surrendering ourselves to the will of a loving God. What I take from this passage is less about fighting evil around me than fighting evil within me. Maybe I need to spend less time worrying about how well the spiritual house I built for myself is standing, and just let it fall, and let God rebuild what needs to be there.

Prayer: God, your will be done, not mine. Strengthen that in me which belongs to you. By your Spirit's power, help me build that up in others, too, rather than trying to knock it down out of envy. And anything in me that doesn't belong to you, Lord, let it fall.

Psalm 17: Avoiding the Ways of the Violent

Observation: Psalm 17 is a cry for help from God, attributed to King David. The writer lifts up his own virtue and faithfulness, saying "By your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent," but asks God to deliver him from deadly and violent enemies. If this psalm came from the pen of David, I have to admit some doubts about David's perspective here. Based on David's story in 1 and 2 Samuel, while he certainly had violent persecutors like King Saul, David himself was not totally free from any violence or deceit. 

Application: A major reason why I like the psalms is they are so human. They are unapologetically from a certain person's perspective at a certain time. From this person's perspective, they are being violently persecuted by an enemy and have done nothing wrong. Maybe they're not morally perfect, but whatever the crisis is, the writer didn't instigate it, and needs God's protection to get out of it. 

It's way too easy to divide the world into "good guys" and "bad guys." And people are capable of doing some pretty awful things. What I appreciate in the psalm's perspective is that the writer doesn't ask for the strength to take matters into his own hands, and slay the "bad guys." Consistent throughout scripture is the cry for God to execute justice. Even when we feel another party is very much in the wrong, the judgment is in God's hands, not our own. And it's a good thing too, because I have been in the wrong many times, and I'm grateful that, though what I say and do has consequences, God's grace and mercy are unswerving. 

Prayer:   God, deliver us from violent ways. Establish justice in our land, in our world, and in our own hearts. Amen.