Preached on August 26, 2007 at The First Congregational Church of Tallmadge, Ohio UCC
Luke 13:10-17
Dedicated to Betsy, my wife, who teaches me compassion;
and always to the glory of God.
The fourth of the ten commandments, which are the basis of Biblical law, reads like this:
“Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work: you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
Jesus comes into conflict with his fellow Jews over and over again in the gospels when he heals on the Sabbath, and lets his disciples pick grain from a field when they are hungry. Jesus gets into arguments about the fourth commandment. But we need to remember what the argument is about. It’s not about whether to honor the Sabbath, but how to honor the Sabbath. And the larger question is this: What does it mean to be good? What are the ethics of the kingdom of God?
What we have here are two ways of understanding God’s commandments as we read them in scripture, and these two are argued by the synagogue leader and Jesus. But even as they argue, both Jesus and the synagogue leader believe that we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that this love is shown in our actions and choices. Their disagreement is about what actions and what choices?
The first way of understanding God’s commandments, the way that the synagogue leader understood them, is that we honor God by obeying God’s commandments. God is the one who deserves our absolute loyalty and service. And so we honor God by obeying the rules. Don’t work on the Sabbath. The woman has been afflicted for years - one more day won’t hurt. The synagogue leader is not opposed to healing; he just wants to be good by obeying God. His view is logical and consistent. But it is not the only idea of goodness.
Contrast his view with the way Jesus understands God’s commandments, and what it means to honor God. Jesus teaches us that God’s chief concern is not being obeyed. What is most important to God is to love and care for people and for the entire creation. The commandments, rules, and principles of scripture are all ways for God’s people to love and care for one another and for the world in their lives. When someone asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment he answered “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” And it’s important to remember what he says next: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
If God is primarily concerned with love and care for people, then to heal a long-suffering woman is to honor God’s commandments. And look what happens. The woman who is healed stands upright for the first time in years, and she praises God. And the people who were there celebrated with her and praised God together. Doesn’t that sound like a way to honor the Sabbath?
When we understand that God’s commandments are not tests of obedience, but are for our care, then we remember that the Sabbath is for us, a day when we need rest and time with God. God knows we need Sabbath, or else we will suffer exhaustion and will never benefit from any of the things we work so hard to accomplish on the other six days. We should honor the Sabbath, but we should do it as a way to honor God’s love and care for us, and not simply to obey the rule.
This is advanced ethics. It’s easier to be good if there are black and white rules and loving God is just a matter of obeying the rules as written. Like when we are young and we learn that it is wrong to walk out into the street. That’s black and white, and easy to know the right thing to do, even if we don’t always do it. But then one day your little dog is off the leash and out in the road and limping. There are no cars coming, but you know the dog is in danger and needs to be moved. But you’re not supposed to go out there. Suddenly you are in advanced ethics.
There’s a movie called The Village, made by M. Night Shyamalan after his big hit with The Sixth Sense. It’s billed as a scary thriller, but at its heart it is a movie about right and wrong. The setting is a small village isolated in a vast woods, which is completely self-sustaining. The people have isolated themselves away from the corruption and dangerous influences of “the town” or any other human contact. There isn’t even a path from the town, and the rules against leaving the village are strict, so that everyone may be kept safe. But then, a councilman’s son is wounded and becomes badly infected. A few of the elders know that out in the town there is medicine that would save his life, but most are willing to accept his death as the price they pay for keeping their town safe and holy and kept apart.
But what does the rule of compassion say? Compassion does not allow us to hold ourselves apart as holy observers of the law while people are in need. The commandments of God should lead to love for our neighbors, or they have been misused. The commandment to observe the Sabbath is for giving us rest, that we may have more strength and energy to love, and that we may have time to remember how much we are loved by God, how sacred is each life, and how holy is this world. Observing the Sabbath should increase our love.
When Jesus Christ healed the crippled woman on the Sabbath, he evaluated the word of God according to the greatest commandment, and now you and I must do the same. That is what we are called to, for we are followers of Christ, we are the people of “the way” as they were first named, which is the way of Christ, and later named Christians, because we seek to be Christ-like, and being Christ-like leads us to being ruled by compassion.
The rule of compassion is the final decision maker in advanced ethics. Sometimes it is difficult to know how to be compassionate. Does it mean giving someone yet another loan we never expect to be paid back or is it helping them to find a job or get treatment? Does it mean spending more on affordable housing and programs like head start and food stamps, or does it mean cutting taxes so that the upper class to stimulate the economy with their investment in jobs and demand for services? These are difficult questions, but my hope is that all of us who face hard questions will make the compassion of Jesus our rule, and follow the direction that it leads.
God knows there are enough people who are like this woman, bent over and weighed down. God knows that sometimes that woman stands for you and for me, when we are weighed down by hurt, trapped by our circumstances, bent over in pain and loss, and we do not need to find a God who will make us obedient; we need to meet a God of love and care who will heal us and change our lives. We need our lives to be changed by love that we may love back. As Christ has loved us, may we love one another.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sermon - The Problem with Having Too Much
Preached on August 5, 2007 at First Congregational Church of Tallmadge
Dedicated to my Grandparents Nelson and Donna; and always to the glory of God.
Luke 12:13-21
A man becomes rich, and stores wealth far in excess of what he will ever need, and considers himself secure and happy for many years to come. But suppose, Jesus says, that his life is demanded of him, and suddenly all that wealth becomes as worthless to him as losing lottery tickets. So, you can’t take it with you? Is that the message of Jesus. The hearse never has a trailer? But we already know that. We know that one day this life will end, although we don’t often think about it, and then the things we have stored away will become someone else’s problem.
But we also know that we want people to have a home that is safe and secure, there’s surely nothing excessive about that. We want people to be clothed well, to have enough to eat. That’s why we send out mission tours, and give our resources so that people can have what they need. Last week this congregation supported the building of an addition for a family’s home in southern Kentucky. We didn’t go down there and say, well, they might die tomorrow, so there’s no sense spending our time and money to house them. Of course we didn’t say that, because while life is not a guarantee, long life is what we hope and plan for, and we want people to live with dignity.
The problem with the man in the parable is not that he was well housed and fed - that’s our hope for everyone. The problem is that he was rich to excess, and his riches stood in the way of being rich toward God. Jesus says it over and over again, and our experience tells us the same thing: material riches stand in the way of being rich toward God. That’s the problem with having too much.
Charles Dickens knew that this was true. He wrote about Ebenezer Scrooge, the richest man in town, and about Bob Cratchit, who worked for him even on Christmas Eve for barely enough money to feed his family. And yet, on that fateful night when Scrooge was forced to look clearly at his own life, and then to look at the life of the Cratchit family, he found that Bob was a much richer man.
Or think of that other Christmas classic, the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey, watches as his childhood friends and younger brother move away from Bedford Falls to become successful and rich, while he remains at home, giving everything he has to make a modest living with the Bailey Building and Loan, ever on the watch for rich man Potter, who threatens to buy up the whole town. But in the end it is not Potter who prevails. When a mistake puts George in danger of losing his business and being sent to jail, he discovers just how rich he is, not in material wealth, but in relationships and good will with all of Bedford Falls. His brother returns and gives the toast “to George Bailey, the richest man in town.”
These two stories are ways that we remind ourselves about the difference between being rich and being rich toward God. And we need reminding, because there are enough reminders in the world about what it means to be rich. We also need perspective, because most of the time we do not think that we are rich. No matter who it is, everyone compares themselves up, and never down. “You think I’m well off, you ought to see what so-and-so is making. You should see their house.” The reality is that if you take a global perspective, we then recognize that half of the world’s people live on less than one dollar per day. We then recognize that to have enough money to put $10 in a savings account, or even extra change in a bowl, means that we are among the wealthiest people in the world. We always compare up. And so we need reminding and perspective.
I want to suggest three ways to be rich toward God, and perhaps you will identify others.
Firstly, those who are rich toward God are be rich in relationships. Instead of storing up more for themselves, they will add extra seats at the dinner table, they will invite someone who may be alone to the Thanksgiving meal. They will open their homes to foster children, exchange students, and homeless animals. They will plan a vacation, and invite other people to come with them. We have a number of vacation organizers in this church.
Tony Campolo tells the story of a very successful businessman he knew who was getting ready to buy a new car once, and really liked these high end BMWs. But then he asked himself, would Jesus spend that kind of money on a new car? And so he made a different decision. He bought a used car, and he took that money and signed up to send monthly payments to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic to house and feed a number of children. And now he goes to visit this orphanage, and he has gotten to know the children he is supporting, and it means so much more to him than a great car ever could.
We need to listen to the psychologists. There’s a book in our church library called Stumbling on Happiness by Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert. It doesn’t mention Jesus or his parable about the rich man. But it tells us about the difference between shallow happiness and deeper, lasting happiness. Gilbert reminds us that things like a new car, new clothes or cd’s, all bring us a short-lived happiness. It’s great when they are new, but very soon what was new becomes what is expected. Our expectations change rapidly. At the end of World War II it was exotic to have strawberries in winter, and only the elite could afford it. Now it is expected. The shine of material riches fades fast. Lasting happiness, psychologists say, comes from our relationships with others. The more connected we are in relationships, the greater our riches toward God.
Secondly, those who are rich toward God are rich in meaningful work. Whether it is the work we are paid for, or the volunteer work given to ministries in the church, in our community, or in the world, when we are working for something that is important, that seeks to promote good in the world, then we will be rich toward God. I find that usually meaningful work has a way of choosing us. I remember attending the funeral of a young man who had been mentally ill and, tragically, had ended his own life. His mother was a retired teacher, and she told me that she had found her work for the next part of her life, to work for the care and support of those who suffer mental illness.
I think of the man I met in Atlanta, who was homeless and spent many years living at a shelter called the Open Door, and now he’s living in his own home, and working, but when he has a day off he comes back to this homeless shelter, and he stands at the pot of soup for over an hour at lunch time, filling the bowls one at a time, smiling and joking and meeting new friends. He says he needs to give back.
I want to tell a personal story about my grandparents. They were active in church, singing in choirs and volunteering in other ways. They volunteered at a hospital in retirement, just like so many in this church. And when they learned that three of their four grown children were gay, they helped to begin a group in their city for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and they would meet on the front porch with other parents, and they would give each other support, and they would work together to build bridges of understanding and an end to violence and hate toward their children. They are two of my greatest role models.
I think of all the business owners I have met who feel called to ignore the bottom line when someone can’t afford the supplies to repair their home, or needs groceries, or is unable to pay for the burial of a parent. And these people say “here, do me the honor of accepting a gift. Let me do this for you.”
Meaningful work has a way of choosing us, and it makes us rich toward God.
Finally, those who rich toward God will be rich with time. Sometimes we operate on the principle that time is money, and that every minute should be producing wealth. But what about the hour we spend here? What about the minutes that pass as we wait to receive the bread and cup? I believe that there is a richness in time that is set aside from doing, and is merely for being. We need time to simply be in the company of our spouses, our children, and our neighbors. We need time to simply be with God. That’s why we are here. We are not going to let our wealth get in the way of being rich toward God.
Dedicated to my Grandparents Nelson and Donna; and always to the glory of God.
Luke 12:13-21
A man becomes rich, and stores wealth far in excess of what he will ever need, and considers himself secure and happy for many years to come. But suppose, Jesus says, that his life is demanded of him, and suddenly all that wealth becomes as worthless to him as losing lottery tickets. So, you can’t take it with you? Is that the message of Jesus. The hearse never has a trailer? But we already know that. We know that one day this life will end, although we don’t often think about it, and then the things we have stored away will become someone else’s problem.
But we also know that we want people to have a home that is safe and secure, there’s surely nothing excessive about that. We want people to be clothed well, to have enough to eat. That’s why we send out mission tours, and give our resources so that people can have what they need. Last week this congregation supported the building of an addition for a family’s home in southern Kentucky. We didn’t go down there and say, well, they might die tomorrow, so there’s no sense spending our time and money to house them. Of course we didn’t say that, because while life is not a guarantee, long life is what we hope and plan for, and we want people to live with dignity.
The problem with the man in the parable is not that he was well housed and fed - that’s our hope for everyone. The problem is that he was rich to excess, and his riches stood in the way of being rich toward God. Jesus says it over and over again, and our experience tells us the same thing: material riches stand in the way of being rich toward God. That’s the problem with having too much.
Charles Dickens knew that this was true. He wrote about Ebenezer Scrooge, the richest man in town, and about Bob Cratchit, who worked for him even on Christmas Eve for barely enough money to feed his family. And yet, on that fateful night when Scrooge was forced to look clearly at his own life, and then to look at the life of the Cratchit family, he found that Bob was a much richer man.
Or think of that other Christmas classic, the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey, watches as his childhood friends and younger brother move away from Bedford Falls to become successful and rich, while he remains at home, giving everything he has to make a modest living with the Bailey Building and Loan, ever on the watch for rich man Potter, who threatens to buy up the whole town. But in the end it is not Potter who prevails. When a mistake puts George in danger of losing his business and being sent to jail, he discovers just how rich he is, not in material wealth, but in relationships and good will with all of Bedford Falls. His brother returns and gives the toast “to George Bailey, the richest man in town.”
These two stories are ways that we remind ourselves about the difference between being rich and being rich toward God. And we need reminding, because there are enough reminders in the world about what it means to be rich. We also need perspective, because most of the time we do not think that we are rich. No matter who it is, everyone compares themselves up, and never down. “You think I’m well off, you ought to see what so-and-so is making. You should see their house.” The reality is that if you take a global perspective, we then recognize that half of the world’s people live on less than one dollar per day. We then recognize that to have enough money to put $10 in a savings account, or even extra change in a bowl, means that we are among the wealthiest people in the world. We always compare up. And so we need reminding and perspective.
I want to suggest three ways to be rich toward God, and perhaps you will identify others.
Firstly, those who are rich toward God are be rich in relationships. Instead of storing up more for themselves, they will add extra seats at the dinner table, they will invite someone who may be alone to the Thanksgiving meal. They will open their homes to foster children, exchange students, and homeless animals. They will plan a vacation, and invite other people to come with them. We have a number of vacation organizers in this church.
Tony Campolo tells the story of a very successful businessman he knew who was getting ready to buy a new car once, and really liked these high end BMWs. But then he asked himself, would Jesus spend that kind of money on a new car? And so he made a different decision. He bought a used car, and he took that money and signed up to send monthly payments to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic to house and feed a number of children. And now he goes to visit this orphanage, and he has gotten to know the children he is supporting, and it means so much more to him than a great car ever could.
We need to listen to the psychologists. There’s a book in our church library called Stumbling on Happiness by Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert. It doesn’t mention Jesus or his parable about the rich man. But it tells us about the difference between shallow happiness and deeper, lasting happiness. Gilbert reminds us that things like a new car, new clothes or cd’s, all bring us a short-lived happiness. It’s great when they are new, but very soon what was new becomes what is expected. Our expectations change rapidly. At the end of World War II it was exotic to have strawberries in winter, and only the elite could afford it. Now it is expected. The shine of material riches fades fast. Lasting happiness, psychologists say, comes from our relationships with others. The more connected we are in relationships, the greater our riches toward God.
Secondly, those who are rich toward God are rich in meaningful work. Whether it is the work we are paid for, or the volunteer work given to ministries in the church, in our community, or in the world, when we are working for something that is important, that seeks to promote good in the world, then we will be rich toward God. I find that usually meaningful work has a way of choosing us. I remember attending the funeral of a young man who had been mentally ill and, tragically, had ended his own life. His mother was a retired teacher, and she told me that she had found her work for the next part of her life, to work for the care and support of those who suffer mental illness.
I think of the man I met in Atlanta, who was homeless and spent many years living at a shelter called the Open Door, and now he’s living in his own home, and working, but when he has a day off he comes back to this homeless shelter, and he stands at the pot of soup for over an hour at lunch time, filling the bowls one at a time, smiling and joking and meeting new friends. He says he needs to give back.
I want to tell a personal story about my grandparents. They were active in church, singing in choirs and volunteering in other ways. They volunteered at a hospital in retirement, just like so many in this church. And when they learned that three of their four grown children were gay, they helped to begin a group in their city for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and they would meet on the front porch with other parents, and they would give each other support, and they would work together to build bridges of understanding and an end to violence and hate toward their children. They are two of my greatest role models.
I think of all the business owners I have met who feel called to ignore the bottom line when someone can’t afford the supplies to repair their home, or needs groceries, or is unable to pay for the burial of a parent. And these people say “here, do me the honor of accepting a gift. Let me do this for you.”
Meaningful work has a way of choosing us, and it makes us rich toward God.
Finally, those who rich toward God will be rich with time. Sometimes we operate on the principle that time is money, and that every minute should be producing wealth. But what about the hour we spend here? What about the minutes that pass as we wait to receive the bread and cup? I believe that there is a richness in time that is set aside from doing, and is merely for being. We need time to simply be in the company of our spouses, our children, and our neighbors. We need time to simply be with God. That’s why we are here. We are not going to let our wealth get in the way of being rich toward God.
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