SCRIPTURE: Luke 19:1-10
TEXT: 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” THEME: When we see Jesus Jesus sees us. INTRODUCTION The Stories in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament are vehicles for truth about God. They were not written down as the events unfolded but were repeated as stories and passed down from one generation to another as an oral tradition. In 700 B.C. during Israel’s captivity in Babylon, a written language was developing. This was the opportunity for their stories of the Old Testament to be written down. Their children were learning the Babylonian stories, so the Hebrews took some of these stories and retold them instilling their values, perspective and knowledge of God in them. The details of these stories may have changed, but the Hebrew themes have been preserved in them as they have been passed down through the generations as vehicles of God’s truth. SCRIPTURE If we pay attention to the details in this story, we may come out with different conclusions about Zacchaeus than what we have assumed. Jesus is very near to Jerusalem. His wandering around in the Judean countryside is finally coming to an end, as he nears his destination through the city of Jericho. This city, with its wall coming down was the entrance way for the people of God to make their way back to their ancestral home from Egypt. They had a new leader Joshua, who was leading them home for something new. In the Gospel of Luke, the previous rich people in the were not named, but Zacchaeus is. His name means innocent or clean. But he is not just any old tax collector, he is the Chief tax collector, meaning that he has many other tax collectors under him making him rich. Our assumption is that he has chosen money over relationship, making him unsympathetic and separating himself from the religious community. Until he hears that Jesus is coming to town and has just got to see him. Maybe he has heard from the other tax collectors who sat at a meal with Jesus. The Stories of Jesus healing, helping, teaching must have been on people’s lips. His portrayal of God is not as judge but more as parent. He had to see what Jesus looked like. We are like that, we want to look into his eyes, see his smile, see how he is dressed, watch him as he walks, hear his voice, see the color of his hair and the complexion of his skin. Here is another detail we get about Zacchaeus, he is short. He can’t see through the crown lining the street, so he has to runs up ahead and climb a sycamore tree, taller than the heads in the street to see Jesus as he passes by. Then Jesus sees him, calls him out and honors him by staying with him. “Hui Zacchaeus, I spock you, up there. Hayaku! I going Kau-kau your house today.” Zacchaeus pledges to give half of his wealth away to the poor and to repay anyone he had cheated by 4 times, But here’s the thing. What if this was not the defining moment for Zacchaeus? What if Zacchaeus has had his ‘Aha’ moment about who Jesus was already because of all of the things he has heard about Jesus? And what if Zacchaeus was already living a life of belief in Jesus as the Son of Man? Zacchaeus could have made the switch from greed to humanity, the switch from wealth to choosing the religious community. He’s made the economic shift that Jesus was talking about where masters prepare the meals for their servants after a long day of plowing the fields, with appreciation and respect for each other they sit down to eat together. There is an interesting Greek tense called ‘aorist present future’ where they talk about something that will happen in the future, even though it has already taken place in the present. So, the giving of half his wealth to the poor is something he has already done. The pay back of anyone by 4 times, has already been done. But Jesus raises this up as a recognition of a changed life so he can be accepted back into the religious community that has been stereotyped out of. We can think this, because the detail that is missing from this story, is the woeful expression of guilt that needed to be forgiven like that the Pharisee in the previous passage witnessed from a tax collector in the temple. APPLICATION What does the community of those who have the honor of having Jesus dine in their homes look like? How should we treat each other in community? If Jesus has come to save the lost, who are the people Jesus has been gathering in the Gospel of Luke? Samaritans, a crippled woman he healed on the Sabbath, Pharisees, a man with dropsy, the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, inattentive shepherds, people who lose things, children, those with fake friends, Children of light, children of this age, beggars, Abraham descendants, those with a mustard seed faith, a Samaritan leper, a nagging widow, thieves, rogues, adulterers and tax collectors, are valuable to God and welcomed at Jesus’ table. The details of this story begin to change our view of the residents of heaven, it will be made up of sinners who are human like us. When we look at the world, we can think that it is in trouble, with wars, climate change, environmental challenges, global warming, sea levels rising, the declining forest, extreme weather, our political divide, gun violence, racial inequalities. We are just a heartbeat from destruction. But this is not how God sees us. God sees us as good. Redeemable, loved and sends Jesus not to judge us, but to love us. We see God the way we want to see God but Jesus reveals to us how God is. God come to us. In flesh and blood, in the incarnation, to create with us again, life, community, relationships, faith, covenant, a people of God. This is salvation. New worship beyond the temple into the church. CONCLUSION The nature of a good story is that we can think about it and see different things in it each time. At first glance we might have thought the Good news of the story of Zacchaeus is that God loves short people, but there is more to it than that. Of how we can believe in Jesus even before seeing Jesus face to face, Just by what others tell us about, or by what we read about Jesus in the Bible 2000 years later. Sometimes, we fail to see with our own eyes what is before us because of our stereotypes, our prejudice, our privilege, or our assumptions. We like to grumble about what others are doing instead of discovering what really is going on. One last detail I couldn’t figure out was the sycamore tree. It is a symbol of change and transformation because of its association with Zacchaeus. What was significant about it? Then I saw a picture of a Sycamore tree in Jericho that has been designated as the tree Zacchaeus climbed. It has low hanging branches, that reach out and welcome us to climb up to get a better view and sturdy enough to bear our weight. For no other reason than being the right kind of tree a short rich man could climb easily. Maybe coming to see Jesus is not as hard as we make it out to be.
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SCRIPTURE: Luke 18:9-14
TEXT: 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ THEME: Close your eyes, fold your hands and bow your head. INTRODUCTION At Preschool Chapel time, when we pray, I ask the children to close their Eyes, fold their hands and bow their heads. We close our eyes, so we don’t get distracted by what other people are doing. We fold our hands as a physical way to center ourselves so we can center ourselves with God. Then we bow our heads as a way for us to be humble before God. SCRIPTURE Today’s story from the Gospel of Luke is about two people who have gone to the Temple in Jerusalem to be right with God. One of them was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. Pharisees were known for how seriously they took their belief in God and practiced it following what the Commandments of God require us to do, Tax Collectors are also known, but not for their practices of faith. Instead, they are known for taking away our money to give it to the Roman Empire oppressors. They are members of our heritage who were betraying us to our enemy, by taxing what we have to live on, to support the Roman Empire and then by keeping a portion for themselves. They seem to get richer while the rest of us have gotten poorer. At the temple, these two people have come to seek God and to make things right in their relationship with God. But the Pharisee did not close his eyes and got distracted by all of the other people who have come to the temple to pray. His prayer takes a turn as he begins to compare himself to those who were there: thieves, rogues, adulterers, and a tax collector, thanking God that he was not like them. This is where, the folding of his hands to center himself would have helped, so that he could be more reflective about his life and his relationship with God. Fasting is a good discipline, for allowing ourselves to be tender to God, transferring our desire to eat with a desire for God, not just as something to do for God to appreciate us. Giving a tenth of our income is a noble discipline, but it means nothing if it is not done as an act of worship that brings gratitude into our heart for what God is doing in our lives. A tithe helps us to be a steward of God’s gifts in our lives, to be generous towards others and to depend upon a loving God to provide what we need, it is not a paid admission. He did not bow his head before God but saw himself as one who had done all of the right things and was in no need of any kind of change, improvement or transformation in his relationship with God. And left his temple experience unchanged. While the Tax Collector, placing himself in the Temple of God, could not even look towards heaven, He beats his breast, feeling his humanity and the pain that he had inflicted upon others. He considered his relationship with God and felt a chasm, so wide and unbreachable that all he could do was to cry out for mercy. God who listens to our prayers, who is loving and merciful, answers with what we pray for according to what is best for us. In Jesus, we see God not pulling away from sinners, but moving towards them and including them in the fellowship at his table. APPLICATION The humble tax collector is a justified citizen of the community of God’s people. This gives us a glimpse of what the People of God here and in heaven might look like. A whole bunch of people seeking God, in process, some self-righteous, others contending with deep seated sin, milling around in the community of God, finding lots of love and mercy. How are the People of God Jesus is creating, though love and mercy, living into rich relationships? This passage gives us a bird’s eye view of the temple in Jerusalem. It is almost like a “Where’s Waldo?” picture with square concentric circles, filled with a crowd of people, each doing their own thing, seeking justification in their relationship with God. In the midst of all of the people, are two diametrically opposite characters that God sees, the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Almost to say that the diversity of the people found in the Kingdom of God is wide and varied. From proud and standing, to whimpering and sorrowful. Multi-cultural ancestry. Multi linguistic, Broad theological perspectives. All being informed by with new revelations of God, changing attitudes and being transformed by God’s ways. Loved and cared for by God. Less uniformed than the Pharisee may like but filled with compassion for a tax collector to feel loved and accepted on a journey towards God. We are all welcomed as good in the community of God’s people. This is how God sees us, in relationship with God’s self and unfolding relationships with each other. CONCLUSION When my family sits down to have supper, we say a prayer before we eat that starts out like this: Dear Jesus, Thank you for this day And thank you for this food. Amen. Sometimes I say it, sometimes my grandson says it, sometimes my other grandson says it, sometimes my son says it. But something always gets added to that prayer. A good day, exciting time, Fun things. And often times, concerns get added; For those who are sick, those who have pain, people we miss, even our dogs. Anyone can add to the prayer, it doesn’t matter who is praying. God hears everything. God is listening to everyone. God likes to hear what we are Thankful for, as well as what is going on in our lives. Close our eyes, fold our hands and bow our heads. SCRIPTURE: Luke 18:1-8
TEXT: 1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. THEME: Pray always and in any kine ways. INTRODUCTION In 1866, after the American Civil War, and a year after the assignation of the 16th President Abraham Lincoln, on October 10th, Wailuku Union Church filed papers of incorporation. Bringing to life an English language church, to serve new immigrants to Hawaii who have come to work in the bourgeoning sugar industry. The Hawaiian nation was conquered by King Kamehameha and has been unified for years. The missionaries who arrived in 1820 have been working diligently for almost half a century to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the residence of Hawaii and now to English speaking immigrants. The Rev. Thomas Gardner Thurston was our first pastor but after 2 years he left for the mainland. The Rev. William Alexander, of the Wailuku Mission filled the pulpit for many years. After his death the church was serviced by a number of pastors, sometimes from Makawao Union. There was a 10-year span when the doors of the church were closed with only one member Edward H. Bailey, until 1905 when The Rev. Rowland Dodge was engaged to hold services at Wailuku Union Church. Former members followed. But in 1910 the County of Maui condemned the Church’s property for Government use and the Church purchased and built on its current location. In each generation, our members have persevered with persistent faith that carried them through each challenge, relying on the promises of God, compelled by a calling to mission and praying to a loving God. SCRIPTURE In last week’s lectionary text, the prayer that Jesus answered was from 10 people with leprosy who cried out to Jesus for mercy. They were healed, on the way, following Jesus’ instructions to show themselves to a priest. Only one of them, a foreigner turned back to Jesus, recognizing God as the author of their healing, with praise. In today’s pericope, Jesus encourages his disciples to always be in prayer. Then he told them the story of a persistent widow, who had learned to speak up and use her voice in advocating what was rightfully hers. In many cases, we approach God in prayer as we would a judge, crying out for what we need, for what seems to be just, we argue, cajole, plead, beg and nag God, who’s hands hold the balance of life and death. But what if God is not a judge that needs to be convinced by some selfish motive to answer our prayers? What if God, who loves us, desires the very best for us, even more than what we can conceive of and answers every prayer, even the unspoken prayer too great for words? Then when we prayer, God is not judging us. Sometimes prayer’s answer will mean a change by us for the better. Sometimes God’s answer will cause a change in others for the better. Sometimes our persistent prayer can be a change in our situation. And in other times it can change our perceived future for what God has in mind. Working our way through the Gospel of Luke, it could mean a change of the social economic system that abolishes slavery and has fair and equal pay. It could be a change from the Roman Empire where a people could be free from oppression. It could mean a new way for the People of God to be the People of God different from the Worship in the temple in Jerusalem. It could be having the people in power, doing the job they are supposed to be doing serving the people under their care instead of having them serve them. It could mean a change in focus away from selfish greed and to a compassionate humanity. APPLICATION “Pray to God so we don’t lose heart”, is not praying to a judge but to a God who journeys with us. Prayer then becomes an ongoing conversation of constant discovery, revelation, change, insight, creativity, expansiveness, help, joy and hope. How do we prayer so we don’t lose heart? Here are 4 things we can do to pray so we don’t lose hope.
CONCLUSION ‘A praying caring church’ is our church’s motto. It is challenging being 156-year-old church today. Gauging success by the amount of people who come, or by the amount of money we collect is not an accurate way to measure our faithfulness to participating in God’s mission. Our spiritual heritage creates the foundation for us to follow God into the future. Our Affordable Housing Project will be built on the Mission Grounds. Our neighbors will see a church that does not only do things for themselves but lives and practice their faith in being real in the community. We are sitting in the present, poised for the something different that God will bring as the church of the future. Proclaiming the living of God and shaped by God’s constant and extraordinary love continues to shape us and our world. This answers the question at the end of this parable; “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” If we are praying God will. SCRIPTURE: Luke 17:5-10
TEXT: 7“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? THEME: Faith lived through us can change our world for God. INTRODUCTION This is the Third story in which Jesus is talking against the present-day economic structure to shift the focus from money to humanity. The Story, a couple of weeks ago. of the rich person and the dishonest manager drew a modern-day picture of fake relationships, fake friends of obligations and lesions of threats, fears and favors. Deal making is prized in creating this network of manipulation and intimidation that keeps the few in power. Last week we looked at the story of the rich person who did not have compassion in the stewardship of the resources available. In death the rich person is looking through the chasm at Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. This apocalyptic vision of the future reminds us of the one Scrooge has in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The story of Jesus for today, deals with those who have become rich in an economic system that depends on the slavery of many to benefit the few. An increase of faith becomes the vehicle for this discussion and a view of something new. SCRIPTURE The biblical passages from the gospel of Luke during this season of Pentecost began with Jesus’ ministry in Samaria. He is outside of the confines of Judea and ministering along the outer boarders of his neighbors. The Kingdom of God that he envisions expands the ‘Peace of God’ to include these Neighbors. Jesus discovers shards of God’s light in these people and in these events. God hears the prayers of these people as well as all people with love. Jesus is laying the seeds for a vision, of a religion for the people of God that will emerge out of the temple worship in Jerusalem into something that is more inclusive and expansive. The Church will be an open table, where all will find a seat with Jesus and commune with God and each other, as children of light, forming real relationships grounded in love. It is from these rich experiences with Jesus, that the apostles come and tell him to increase their faith. Faith cannot be quantified. Either you have faith, or you don’t. It is all or nothing. Jesus uses the smallest quantifiable measurement as if to say, it doesn’t matter. If your faith is the size of a mustard seed, that is enough to do the impossible. The goal is not to increase the mustard seed faith, to a pea, then to a date and eventually to a coconut, but to have faith that enables us to participate in the movement of God. You either have it, or you don’t. Then Jesus talks about how faith can work a change in us by painting a picture of a fantasy. Imagine you, saying to your slave who has come in from plowing the field or tending your sheep, “Come here at once and take your place at the table.” The Slaves who hear this story feel like they just got an upgrade. But then reality sets in as Jesus says “Rather”. All illusions fade away, as Jesus repeats what they have heard too many times, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may have your meal.” With no appreciation of their service, or empathy towards how tired or sore they may be. Just do what our economic station in life requires of us. The fading of the dream, of being treated compassionately is a sad ending to this story, until this troubling image of the Master sitting down to the table with the servants to share a meal becomes the reality, because this is exactly what Jesus is doing. This is an image of the incarnation of God who comes to be with us in flesh and blood. Who values us as beloved. God who has come to serve and not to be served. Then faith is birth in us, all or nothing, to change the economic system that we have inherited and perpetuated, to create more humane working conditions of respect, thanksgiving, value and redemption. It has taken us a civil war to move away from a slave driven economy for the fair treatment of human beings. We are still moving towards the setting of a table that includes all with the work of Civil Right leaders during the 60’s like Martian Luther King Jr. and we continue to refine that work in the bringing to light of the Law Enforcement practices that try to keep slavery models in place by unfairly incarcerating certain segments of our population, or inhumanly use excessive force or guns. A slave in Jesus’ day could never imagine a world where slavery did not exist. It takes faith to move over the decades to make that change. Our faith moves us to participate in bringing this down and the closing of sweat shops, the paying of a livable wage, and Free and fair trade. Even the outsourcing of particular jobs comes under some scrutiny in taking advantage of those who live in impoverished communities. APPLICATION If faith is all or nothing, and we have faith, then why would we say to the Mulberry Bush ‘Pull yourself out and plant yourself in the sea’? We would not, because faith is not about power, as some have come to think. Faith helps us to see God, so we can participate in what God is doing. Not to believe or wish hard enough to get God to do what we want. If we pray for healing and are not, it is not because we did not have faith. It is a faithful God who hears our prayers and answers them. God is writing a different story than the one we imagine. Faith in God helps us to see God’s grace, compassion, wisdom, love, presence with us and grace in the way a prayer is answered. Having faith does not mean that we don’t wrestle with doubt. It is faith that helps us to have hope when we doubt and joy in those days when we don’t. Faith is relational. It has more to do with trust, intimacy, commitment, and journeying together. Faith is not something that we have, but something that we do. It takes what we believe, what we know and what we trust and goes for it. We don’t doubt that God will be with us when we do, but we don’t know exactly how God will help us. CONCLUSION We live, having faith in a God who is with us and loves us. This continues to shape who we are and how we chose to live our lives. We carry with us doubt that in no way diminishes our faith but is what makes our faith real. As Modern-day Theologian Rachel Evans says, “Someday I believe in God; other days, I want to believe in God.” This is a real faith. It does not need to be increased, just lived. Faith that can change the economic systems of our day to become fair and equitable, leveling out the playing field so we can see the humanity of each other at an open table. As well as giving birth to a new inclusive People of God, who are not marked by an adherence to the legal following of statutes, but a tangible incarnation of love for others. |
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April 2024
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