Scripture:  Matthew 21:33-46

               For non-native speakers English is often considered one of the hardest languages to learn.   One of the challenges for learning English is that it uses so many idioms.  These are statements or phrases where the meaning is not the literal meaning.   All languages use idioms, but English has more than most, and it is estimated that there are 25,000 idiomatic phrases used in English.   Sometimes when I hear an idiom, I will understand the meaning but then I will start wondering why on earth does that phrase mean that?  

               A couple of months ago that happened, when I heard someone mention that they had been read the riot act.  Read the riot act means to deliver a stern reprimand or a warning with a clear threat of consequence if it happens again.   So, I got curious, why we say this and I looked it up.  I discovered this phrase traces back to 1714.   This was a time of political unrest in England, so a law was passed so that officials could disperse any gathering of people.  However, to do so it required a public pronouncement.  To disperse any gathering of 12 or more people an official had to literally read the riot act to them, ordering them to disperse.  The riot act is one of the reasons why the right to assemble is enshrined in our bill of rights.   So, in the United States it has been a really long time since anyone has literally been read the riot act, but the phrase stuck around, morphed, and took on a new meaning so that more than 300 years later people are still metaphorically read the riot act. 
               I was thinking about that phrase this week, because it could be stated that the chief priests and pharisees were read the riot act by Jesus in this morning’s scripture.  Throughout the gospels, Jesus and the religious leaders butt heads.   However, in this morning’s scripture things get a little more heated, a little more personal, and a lot more direct.  Jesus read the riot act to the religious leaders of his day.  As followers of Jesus today, we should consider just why Jesus did this and if Jesus’ reprimand is still relevant for us today? 

               This morning’s scripture picks up in the middle a little bit.  If we view the final week of Jesus’ earthly life as one narrative arc that begins with the triumphal entry and reaches the climax with the crucifixion and resurrection, then this morning’s scripture is very much the rising action part of the story.  After the triumphal entry and overturning the tables of the money changers, Jesus already clashed with the chief priests.   We read about that encounter last week.  In a parable about two sons, where one claims they will do the will of the father but then does not, Jesus calls the religious leaders out for being like that son.   Instead of stopping there, Jesus doubles down and tells the second parable from this morning’s scripture. 

Verse 45 of this morning’s scripture states, “when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’s parables they knew he was talking about them.”   This is a brilliant detail for Matthew to include in his gospel as a literary device, because it gives us as readers the ability to instantly gain an interpretation of the parable. 

               Knowing that the parable is about the religious rulers of Jesus’ day allows it all to fall into place.  The landowner represents God.   The vineyard and all the tools represent the law.  The idea being that God had given all the tools needed to live in right relationship with God and bear good, godly fruit.   The tenants in the story represent the Jewish leaders.   It is important to distinguish that the tenants are not representing all Jewish people, but rather the religious leaders alone.  The ones who were entrusted with using the tools of the law to lead the people into the covenant they had mad with God.   The servants that are seized and killed are commonly thought to represent the prophets who often were met with opposition.  The son who is then sent to the rebelling tenants is clearly Jesus himself as he essentially uses the parable to once again foretell his own death. 

               One of the things that is interesting in telling this story, is that at first the religious leaders do not realize that Jesus is talking about them.   In verse 40 Jesus asks, “When the owner of the vineyard comes what will he do with those tenants?”  The    religious leaders reply that the landowner will bring it to an end and rent out the vineyard to better tenants.  The religious leaders even call these tenants “wretches”.  However, then Jesus fully reads them the riot act. He makes it very direct that this parable is directed at them in verse 43 where Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

               This morning’s parable is directed specifically at the religious leaders of Jesus day.  Jesus lets them know in no uncertain terms that they have really dropped the ball.   As a modern-day reader and follower of Jesus, I try to appreciate this morning’s scripture in its appropriate context, but I also ask questions of how it applies to me, to us, today.   As I ponder this morning’s parable there are two questions that really rise to the top to me.  Collectively, do Christians today still drop the ball in a way similar to the chief priests and pharisees of Jesus day?  And what exactly are the fruit of the kingdom of God that Jesus mentions? 

I think it is best to consider the second question first, in the context of this parable what the fruit of God’s kingdom is.  Again, if the unruly tenants are representative of the Jewish religious leaders, then the fruit they should be cultivating is people in right relationship with God.  The point of the Jewish law was to give people the tools they needed to do that, and the point of the cross was to fulfill the law by reconciling us to God once and for all.  The fruit of the kingdom of God are changed hearts and saved souls.  In other words, the fruit of the kingdom of God is seen in discipleship and making new discipleships.   We see this from Jesus himself, because if this parable had a direct correlation to Jesus’ present time and the religious leaders were the unruly tenants, then Jesus’ original followers were the new tenants.  The original disciples were the ones entrusted by Jesus to share the good news and make new disciples.  The last commission that Jesus gives them is how to tend the vineyard and make it fruitful.  He tells them in Matthew 28: “go and make disciples of all the nations.” 

               I have to wonder if collectively as the American church if we are in one of those phases where we are not doing a great job at cultivating the vineyard to make disciples.   The growing evidence seems to be all around us.  The vast majority of churches are not growing, and for those that are growing, the vast majority of the growth comes from people just switching churches.  In their book Hero Maker, Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird estimate that only 4% of churches in the United States are reproducing or multiplying.   Another way to put it is that 96% of American churches are not actively making disciples.   We are not doing the best job at fulfilling Jesus’ final commission.  Collectively, American Christianity is not tending the vineyard, it is not producing fruit like it should.
 
I know our knee jerk reaction is to blame a lot of extenuating factors.  We can point to an American culture that has moved to being post-Christian.  We can blame traveling sports leagues for pulling families out of church, we can point a finger at what we perceive as a lack of morality.   We can place the blame on a lot of places, and while those may have been contributing factors, none of them are to blame.  Perhaps, one of the places that we should collectively look to blame is not outside influences.

 In the parable Jesus told, the evil tenants lost sight of their primary job.  They were to tend the vineyard for the owner, not seize it for themselves.  They lost sight of their purpose and did not have the right motives at heart.   In the same way, perhaps American Christianity has gotten a little fuzzy on our purpose and what our motives should be.   Perhaps, we have become a little too institutional because it seems so much of the focus on effort is either on survival: just keeping the lights on to keep the lights on; Or the focus is on growth and just getting bigger because bigger is better.   Preserving our institutions and buildings cannot be our primary purpose.  We should not be building our own little kingdoms, but rather we are building for the Kingdom of God.  The primary purposes of the church, the primary passion of the church, any church regardless of denominational affiliation, should be sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  Our primary motivation for existence is seeing people saved and disciples made. 

I think most of us would say we are passionate about the good news of Jesus Christ, we do want people to be saved, and we do think making new disciples is important.   I also think that we do not realize that all of us have all we need to help make that happen.   It is common for people think that they do not know enough to share their beliefs with others,  or they are not gifted at teaching so they could not possibly teach anyone else how to be a disciple.   While education and being a life long learner is important, discipleship is not just about education, it is about transformation.  Discipleship is not just learning about Jesus, it is about becoming like Jesus. 
            To be good at discipleship we do not need to be a gifted evangelists who can convict people to an altar call, we do not need to be a learned academic who can debate skeptics into silence, and we do not need to be a brilliant teacher who can break down complex doctrine into simple points to remember.    No, to be good at discipleship we need to only be able to do one thing; and it is something that all of us can do from the youngest among us to the oldest we are capable of this one thing.   The one thing needed to be good at discipleship is to love Jesus.  To be good at discipleship we should have one pure and holy passion.  Our lives should have one magnificent obsession:  To love and follow Jesus. 

The “and” in that sentence is important, because our love for Jesus should lead us to follow Jesus.   For the love of Christ to make a real difference in our lives, we have to put it into action.   These are not actions of grand gestures but actions of daily consistency.   Many of you are incredible gardeners, and not this better than I do.   For a garden to grow and produce fruit it needs to be tended to, and it needs to be cared for.  It requires a daily commitment to water, weed, and provide the best possible conditions for fruit to grow.   In the same way, discipleship is tended in our lives when we take the message of Jesus seriously.  Discipleship is tended in our loves when we daily make small choices in our lives to forgive, to love, to be compassionate, and to serve the needs of others.   Discipleship is tended in our lives when out of an immense love for Jesus we try to follow Jesus in all that we do. 

            I believe that if we are disciples of Jesus who are striving to live like Jesus consistently, then we will become disciples who make disciples.   Because the world needs Jesus, and when we live like him, when we love him and follow him then we show the world Christ.   The most effective evangelism we can ever do is to live like Jesus, because when we do then we will naturally attract people who want to meet Jesus, know Jesus, and be transformed by Jesus.  

In this morning’s scripture Jesus read the pharisees the riot act because they had dropped the ball, they had lost sight of their purpose and passion to lead the people into righteousness.   It is my prayer and hope that Jesus would not find cause to read us the riot act because we too have lost sight of our purpose and passion.    Our passion should be to love the Lord with all our being.    Our purpose should be to follow Jesus so that lives are transformed, souls are saved, and disciples are made.  May that holy passion burn like a fire within us.   May it fuel a glorious purpose.  As individuals may we be committed to faithful, small, daily acts that consistently seek to follow Christ so that as a faith community, as a church we make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. 
 

  Scripture:  Matthew 21:23-32
             
On September 10th, 1822, a group of about 70 colonists left the shores of England and set off to immigrate to the Central American country of Poyais, a small republic but thriving republic that emerged from the collapse of the American Spanish Empire.  Poyais had a flag, official institutions, printed currency, and a representative in England, a Scotsman named Gregor McGregor, the appointed Cazique of Poyais.  McGregor had come to England as an official representative of Poyais for the coronation of King George IV and to encourage investment and immigration to the land he now represented.  The colonists who left in 1822 had bought official land grants from McGregor and exchanged British pounds for Poyais currency.  

               There was only one problem.  There was no such place as Poyais.  McGregor, who was a soldier of fortune,  had invented the whole thing.    The boat delivered these colonists to a completely undeveloped and wild stretch of land along the Honduras coast.   While McGregor had been able to convince a local official to give him land along this coast.  He had invented all the details and incredibly official looking documents to sell the story of the imaginary country out of thin air.  Over the next couple of months, two more vessels delivered more people to this wild coastline.  All told, 250 people bought into the lie of Poyais and 10 months after the first boat left, less than fifty made it home.  McGregor’s con had made him a lot of money and led to the death of 180 people.  Unfortunately, McGregor got away with it, eventually fleeing back to Venezuela where he had served as a mercenary, where he lived comfortably until his death.   Even to this day, the part of Honduras where Poyais was supposedly located is still undeveloped wilderness.
               Poyais is often considered one of the most audacious and successful con jobs ever pulled off.  It had plausible believability, a bunch of details that could not be easily fact checked, and it was backed up by the appearance of looking real.   It was all of the documentation and highly developed details that   McGregor developed that sold the lie.  He successfully managed to create the appearance of a country that did not exist.   It could be argued that Jesus was making the point in this morning’s scripture that the chief priests had done something similar with righteousness.  They had put a lot of effort into creating the illusion of following God, without always doing it.  They had an outward appearance right, but their hearts were not truly in it.  The interaction with the chief priests and the short parable illustrates once again that salvation is not earned and it is not based on actions.   Salvation happens because of and is evidenced by a changed heart.

               I think to fully appreciate this scripture we need to put it into the context of when it is happening.   This morning’s scripture takes place during Holy week, and Jesus has already made a scene.  In the timeline that Matthew’s gospel establishes, Jesus had made his triumphal entry into the temple, and the crowd shouted Hosanna, a phrase full of messianic expectation.   Upon arriving at the temple, Jesus then overturns the tables of the money changers and makes a scene driving out those who were selling doves.   This morning’s scripture is the morning after all of that.   When the chief priests and elders came to him and asked by what authority are you doing these things?”  The triumphal entry and flipping tables are some of the things in question.  

               The answer Jesus gives though betrays the fact that these religious authorities were not asking a good faith question, but instead they were looking for a way to discredit Jesus.  They knew he did not have any civil authority to do something like flip over the money changers tables, so if he claimed he did they could hold him accountable to that.   In the same way, if he claimed he did it with divine authority then they would use that as basis to try to discredit him and bring charges of blasphemy against him.   Jesus knowing they are disingenuous in their question turns it back on them by asking their own question.  

               The motivations of the religious authorities was not a desire for truth but by political considerations, and their deliberation over the question Jesus asked points this out.  The religious leaders had initially refused to believe John the Baptist because he challenged the status quo, he called out king Herod and tried to hold the leaders of the Jewish people to a higher standard.  Supporting this would have changed a power dynamic that the religious leaders were comfortable with.  However, they will not declare that John was not sent by God because they are concerned less with truth and more with public opinion.   We get the idea that the religious leaders would have been well-versed in the type of politician double-speak we are used to, where a lot of words are said to not say much, and every sentence is carefully crafted to not offend or challenge anyone too much.  Jesus avoids their trap, by trapping the religious leaders in their own hypocrisy that elevates political considerations above faithfully seeking God.  

               The religious leaders had rejected John the Baptist because he disrupted a power arrangement that made them comfortable, and they were seeking ways to silence Jesus because he directly threatened to upend the status quo.   In both instances, the religious leaders questioning Jesus missed the work of God that was right in front of them.  Unfortunately, humanity seems to collectively be a slow learner in this regard. Throughout history, time after time, elements of Christians have found themselves on the wrong side of history seeking to uphold a status quo instead of faithfully seeking God.  This started fairly early on, when Christianity was legitimized by the Roman Empire a few hundred years after the resurrection.  Theologians N.T. Wright and Michael Bird point this out in their book Jesus and the Powers, where they wrote: “At it’s worse the Church then became an instrument of empire, offering Christ’s insignia to the decrees of  solider-emperors who continued to do what empires always do: conquer, enslave, and exploit.  The church came to exchange the cross of Christ for the sword of Rome.”

               Unforutnatly, the church has had some responsibility is some truly horrible things throughout history, and nearly always it is because there was a choice to protect the status quo align with the powers of the time instead of seeking to more faithfully follow God. 

The reality is the kind of decisions that leads to these unfortunate decisions happen in circles well above any of our pay grades.   However, we can consider this question on a personal level.  We should be willing to honestly ask ourselves, if like the chief priests and elders we are ever guilty of seeking to maintain a status quo that makes us comfortable instead of seeking to faithfully follow God?   If our motivation for anything is based more on what we are comfortable with or maintaining what currently is, instead of following God then we should challenge that in ourselves.  I believe if we are truly seeking God, then we will find places in our thoughts and attitudes where our motivations are not yet in the right place.   This is because truly following God, will change our hearts and a changed heart should lead to a changed mind. 
After trapping the Pharisees in their own trap, Jesus then points out the importance of a changed heart with the parable he tells.  For anyone who has ever been a parent, this parable of two sons is highly relatable.   There is some comfort, I suppose, in knowing that a a child saying they will do something and then not doing it is such a universal human experience that it was just as relevant then as it is now.  This parable is a little more pointed than the stories Jesus normally told. Because in this parable that has two sons, one who refused to do what the father asked but then eventually did it and the other who said they would do the thing, but then never did, Jesus directly correlates us this to how people who responded to his message.   The tax collectors and prostitutes who did not live righteous lives but responded to the message of repentance that Jesus brought, are like the first son.   The clear implication is that the religious leaders and the teachers of the law are then like the second son, who claimed to do the will of the Father but then never actually do it. 

The religious leaders had built up an image of what it looked like to live righteously, they had a façade of holiness and a veneer of godliness but so much of it was a show.   It was all sound bites.  It was all on the surface.  It did not come from a changed heart.   Unfortunately, people presenting an exterior of being a Christian, but not having a heart changed to be more like Christ still happens.   Unfortunately, there are still people who put up the appearance of following Jesus, they listen to the right music; they look the look and they talk the talk.    Yet, there is no real substance, no real changed heart or transformed mind behind it. 

Like every other con job in history, the truth will always make its way to the surface.  This is why there is such an enduring and popular quote often misattributed to Mahatma Gandhi.  It is incorrectly stated as “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians.”  The actual quote comes from a lesser-known Indian philosopher named Bara Dada and from about  a century ago he is recorded as saying, “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians, you are not like him.”  Unfortunately, this hundred year old critique still has a lot of validity.

When we seek to be like Jesus, then it will change our hearts, and we will be more like him.   As an example, Jesus lifted up that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, and he demonstrated this through how we had compassion on the crowds and ate with sinners.   If we are going to be like Jesus, then we also must love our neighbors.  Jesus did not qualify which neighbors we are supposed to love.  We should love the neighbors we get along with great, but to be like Jesus we also love neighbors we find more difficult.  We love our neighbors who struggle with addiction.  We love our neighbors who live with mental illness or disability.  We love our neighbors with identities different than our own, and we love our neighbors who are not from here. To be like Jesus, we love all of our neighbors.

That may be difficult.  We might be like the first son in the parable and say “I will not”, but if we are truly seeking to follow Jesus then eventually like the son in that parable we will change our mind and go because we have allowed Jesus to change our heart.  We are imperfect people following a perfect savior, so we will not always get it right.  We will drop ball, we will say no when we should say yes, and we will fall short.  However, if we are truly seeking to follow Jesus then our hearts can be softened, they can be transformed and a changed heart can even lead to a changed mind.   Jesus is ideal and wonderful, and by the grace of God we may even come to more fully be like him. 

In this morning’s scripture Jesus comes into a greater level of conflict with the religious leaders.   Through his clever maneuvering and pointed storytelling, Jesus reveals that the religious leaders were more concerned with maintain a status quo and keeping up appearance then they were with following God.   Unfortunately, this has been a struggle that has plagued religious institutions ever since.  It is not appearing righteous that saves us, it is a heart changed by grace.  It is an acceptance of an amazing love and forgiveness that is transformative.   So may we aways be willing to question if our motivations are truly from a place of following God, and may we be willing to change our minds as Jesus changes our hearts.   In responding to this amazing grace, may we be able to show the world what it looks like when the blind can now see and the lost are found. 
                 

Scripture:  Matthew 20:1-16

 During most of the summers while I was in college, I came home and worked at Pizza Hut over the summer.  For about 3 months each year I would usually put in more than 40 hours a week making pizzas.  As far as summer jobs go, it was a good one.  The managers were fair and the people I worked with were fun.  Even though that was a long time ago, I still know exactly how many pepperonis go on a pizza.  The final summer I worked there, I was in my first week back when I learned that new hires were getting paid more per hour than I was.   This is because the company hiring policy had changed, and I had been hired under a different policy.  However, it was kind of annoying to learn that the person who I was training was actually getting paid a little more than I was.  So, upon learning this after closing I went to the general manager and informed him I quit.  Which he took as quite a surprise, but he was even more surprised when I then handed him a filled-out application.  I told him I knew they happened to have a recent opening, and I was applying for this job because it paid a little more than the one, I just quit.  As I said, the managers were fair, so they got the message and I did get the pay increase. 

 This is a place where my story has some echoes of the bible’s story because I can completely understand the feelings of the workers in this story who felt slighted because they got paid the same as those who did less work.   This apparent unfairness in the story is 100% intentional on Jesus’ part.    This morning’s scripture is a story that Jesus told in order to perfectly illustrate how the grace of God is more than fair. 

In Matthew 13:44, the gospel writer makes this observation: “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.”  Because the crowds gathered around Jesus to be healed, he had a reputation as a healer but he must have also been known as a storyteller.   Often the stories Jesus told begin with something that is relatable.   He uses real life places or situations to set the scene.  That happens in this morning’s scripture.   Day laborers gathering early in the morning looking to get hired for an honest day’s work was a common practice.  This is something that all of the people Jesus was talking to would have been familiar with.  After setting a familiar scene, Jesus will then add peculiarities to these stories.  The parables of Jesus have details that diverge from the normal and into the odd.  This morning’s story has several details that the original hearers would have found to be most peculiar. 

 In this parable the landowner comes back for workers multiple times showing he must have quite the vast vineyard, but what is unusual is that the landowner would come themselves repeatedly instead of sending an underling.   The next odd detail is not only did the landowner keep coming back, but he kept finding people to hire.  This especially would have struck the original hearers as odd, why would a day laborer hoping to get hired still be waiting around at 5:00PM to get started? 

The next odd details come at the end.  Verse 8 specifically states that the landowner begins paying the workers with the ones hired last and ends with the ones hired first.  This is an odd detail to call specific attention to, and then the final oddity comes that all were paid the same.  Those who put in a twelve-hour day got the same payment as those who worked for an hour.   Just like it does today, this detail would have immediately stuck the original hearers as unfair. 

 Often these odd details that stick out in the stories Jesus told are the clues to the stories deeper meaning.  The parable begins with the “kingdom of heaven is like”, so this very quickly associates the landowner with God.  It was the cultural expectation at the time that the landowners did not associate with the lowly workers, they sent out underlings to do that.  However, unlike the cultural standard of the time, the landowner in this story is hands on with the workers.  He goes to hire and find them himself.   This communicates that our God is not a distant God.  That our God is a God who is hands on and who is involved in the world.  

               The next detail, odd details are the workers sticking around late into the day hoping for some kind of work.   For these people to still be there with only an hour left in the working day, they must have been desperate for the chance to earn anything no matter how small or meager.  As the day goes on the people left to hire would have been the latecomers, the stragglers, the ones who either had a lot of difficulties or were routinely overlooked.  With only an hour left of work to do, we get the sense that the landowner hired this last lot not because he needed the extra workers but because he wanted them.  The fact that those who started working last got paid first, reiterates this.   Jesus actually tells us in verse 16 that this parable shows that the last will be first and the first will be last.  This reinforces a point throughout scripture that God has special care for those most in need.  It drives home the point that in the kingdom of God, late is always better than never and those who are late to the party are still fully included. 

               This gets to the final oddity, the one that might annoy us the most, and the fact that everyone gets paid the same.  Yet, the parable itself makes the point that those working a full day and getting paid what they agreed to is not unfair.  Modern translations render verse 15 as “Or are you envious because I am generous?”    But that is not what the actual text states.  The actual text uses an idiom of the time, and a literal translation of verse 15 would be “is your eye evil because I am good?”  

               I kind of like that better, because of the implications.   The actions of the landowner are good, and it is only our faulty perceptions that see it as anything but good.  The landowner is not being unfair in this story, he is being more than fair.   That is the main point that this story seeks to illustrate: Grace is more than fair.   Good deeds and faithful living do not earn us more heavenly perks.   Our salvation is not based on paying our dues, it is based on the deep and abiding love of God.   This is a love that is intensely for us whether we have known it from the beginning or come to it in the final hour.  

One of the things that this parable illustrates is that our concept of fairness does not quite apply in the kingdom of heaven.  Our understanding of Fair is the first should go first and the last should go last, but Jesus says, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”  The kingdom of heaven is not based on merit; it is based on grace. It is not fair; it is more than fair.  And thank God it is.   None of us could work or earn our way to heaven.   We all fall short.   If we had to rely on our own merits and deeds, then we would be like if the workers at the end never got hired.  We would find ourselves without a home in God’s kingdom, but out of boundless love Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place for us.  Even though we did not rightfully earn it, we are forgiven, we are reconciled with our creator, and we have a place in God’s kingdom that has been graciously given to us.  For those who claim salvation and eternal life in Christ Jesus, we can claim that because the kingdom of heaven is one that is based in grace.

This morning’s scripture is a story Jesus told that wonderfully illustrates that grace is more than fair.  As those who have received God’s amazing grace and benefit immensely from a grace that is more than fair.  I wonder how we could also apply this kind of more than fair grace in our own lives.  Because as I look around the world, we live in it seems that grace is in short supply.  Instead of grace I see a lot of cruel indifference disguised as tough love. I see this in statements that are often referred to as a “realty check.”  It is not uncommon to see people proclaim a lack of grace as wisdom. This reality checks includes items like “the world owes you nothing” and “life’s not fair, get over it.”  

 Yes, I understand there is some truth to those statements.  I know that the world is unfair, but that does not mean we should just accept it the way it is.   Because friends, we know better than that. We can be better than that. If we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we have experienced grace and we know that grace is more than fair.  Because we know this broken, unfair world is not the final word.  We know that light breaks through the darkness.  Friends, I peaked at the last chapter of the book, and I know how it all ends.  Spoiler alert: Love and goodness wins over fear and evil. Grace triumphs and God reigns forever and ever.   This morning’s parable reminds us that the kingdom of heaven is not fair.  It is more than fair.  It is a place where love is given, not earned.  And even though we may not be owed anything, it is a place that starts with grace first.

As followers of Jesus, we should seek to put grace first and show what more than fair grace looks like. Fortunately, there are examples of this happening.   Homelessness has been a persistent problem for a while, and in rural areas it has actually increased considerably.   For years, study after study into how to lower homelessness has shown that the most effective way to combat homelessness is with housing first initiatives.  Essentially, the best way to get people out of homelessness is to provide them with housing, because once they have a place to live, they are able to start addressing some of the other issues that contribute to homelessness.  Despite all of the research showing the effectiveness of an approach it often gets a lot of push back.  This push back is nearly always framed with the language of fairness.   In following Jesus, we should be asking better questions than “is it fair?”   We should be asking what is the most grace-filled way that we can meet the need. 

This is exactly what Lynhurst Baptist Church in Indianapolis is doing.   They are currently in the process of building six tiny homes on property adjacent to the church that will be used to house homeless people. They are doing this in partnership with others through a non-profit ministry called Sanctuary Indy.  While there are rules that will need to be agreed to and followed, individuals and married couples will be able to live in these homes for as long as they need to without paying for them. This is a housing first initiative that is designed to lift people out of poverty.  Our brothers and sisters in Christ from that congregation are putting “the more than fair” mentality of heaven into practice on earth.   They are responding to a real need in their community in the most grace-filled way they can. 

As Jesus himself stated he told the parable in this morning’s scripture to give us a glimpse as to what the kingdom of heaven is like.   It also points us in the right direction if we want to join God in realizing the kingdom of heaven on earth.   To make our world more like God’s kingdom we should lead with grace.  We can do this in our own lives, and we do it by showing more grace than the world around us.   God has treated every single one of us more than fair.   So may we in turn treat others the same.   Yes, this world is not fair but may we not just accept that.  May we work to build a better world that is defined les by how fair it is and more by how grace-filled it is.  May our thoughts, may our words, and most of all may our actions lead with grace, because it is upon the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we stand.  
 

Scripture:  Romans 14:1-13

               Traveling entertainers date back centuries and have been a part of numerous human cultures, but in the United States a new, grander version of traveling entertainment took place.   In the late 1700’s Englishman Philip Astley, who was gifted at training horses, took his traveling horses on the road.  His innovation was instead of performing in common areas, he would perform his shows in theaters, and most English theaters at this time were circular in design so he called his traveling horse show a circus.  Circuses with different acts grew in popularity, but when circuses came to the newly formed United States, they began to take on a new life.  In 1828 entrepreneur Joshuah Purdy Brown had the idea to take the circus out of the theaters and bring a traveling venue.  He started staging his circus in a large tent that traveled with his acts.   In the latter half of the 19th century, as railroads expanded across the country, P.T. Barnum super-sized this concept.  Often traveling circuses were built around a specific act, but for his “greatest show on earth”, Barnum introduced the 3-Ring circus.  The 3-Ring circus had a huge variety of acts; to fit it all and the large crowds also required a really big tent.   The big top, as it came to be known, was so popular that it more or less became synonymous with circus. 

               In the late 19th century and early 20th century the circus would often be the event of the year in American towns.   It was the event that everyone was excited about and people flocked to be under the big top.  Under the big top there was something for everyone.   Not only did the show have a wide appeal, but the big top was also a show for everyone.   Rich and poor, young and old; for people of all walks of life there was a place for them under the big top.   I believe this morning’s scripture makes a strong case that the church should also be a big tent.  We are to be a place that has something for everyone, that has a place for everyone, and that is not confined to a building.   When we are at our best, then we are a big tent that people are excited about coming to and being part of.
               This morning’s scripture shows that tension around diversity in the body of Christ was an issue in the early church.   In fact, it was one of the more pressing issues, because it comes up again and again throughout the letters written to young churches in the New Testament.   For the most part, Paul’s letter to the Romans is focused on general concepts.  It puts worth doctrinal ideas like grace, and it lifts up general advice for living as followers of Christ.  However, here in chapter 14 it takes a turn to something much more specific because it seems that Paul is no longer talking about following Jesus in general but is addressing a very specific situation within the Roman church.    It seems that a majority group was not being very welcoming and perhaps even looking down on a minority group within the faith community. 

               The specific issues that are creating this division are related to dietary practices and the observation of specific days.   While the exact details are not made explicit in this scripture, biblical scholars have made some logical, best guesses as to what was going on in the Roman church and what this source of division was.  Biblical scholars tend to agree that the church in Rome that Paul was writing to was a faith community that was made up of believers who came from both a Jewish background and a Gentile, or non-Jewish background.   The conflict here seems to relate to Jewish dietary laws.  We know from Acts and several of the other epistles that when the early church gathered it was often around a meal together.  The issue appears to be that, at least in Rome, the protein options were not terribly kosher.  This could be because the right type of animals were not readily available or it could be that it was a common practice that nearly all the meat offered in the marketplace had been part of some sort of pagan sacrifice.  In a place like Rome, it would have been almost impossible to avoid this.  From a Jewish perspective either of these would have made the meat unclean which is why they stuck with vegetables.  Paul actually states his perspective in verse 14: “I am convinced, being fully persuaded, in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.” 

               It was Paul’s belief that being saved by grace through faith, meant that following certain dietary restrictions was not necessary for following God.  However, for these new Jewish believers who had grown up firmly planted in a tradition that adhered to strict dietary restriction this was a bit much.  It was too drastic of a change from what they had always been used to doing, so they kept doing what felt comfortable for them.  Apparently, this difference in eating habits was causing some friction in the Roman church.  It was leading to the different groups to look at each other with contempt.  It especially seems the majority group, the ones who did not see a need to restrict their diet, were judging and treating the minority group as a lesser type of believer. 
 
               Paul wrote this morning’s scripture to appeal to the Roman church to not judge one another and cause division over a trivial matter.   While we do not know how this issue ended up resolving in the first century church of Rome, we do know that followers of Jesus judging one another and having division over trivial matters has not stopped.   In this morning’s scripture we see the food one eats being used as a litmus test for the strength and authenticity of one’s faith.  Unfortunately, such litmus tests are still used today.  It is all too common to find people making statements that a “true Christian” would never believe a certain way, support a specific cause, or vote for the “wrong” party. 

               These kinds of statements are actually a logical fallacy known as the “no true Scotsman” fallacy.  It gets this name from a 1966 philosophy book which in part seeks to define this fallacy.  Strictly defined this is when someone attempts to protect a generalized statement from an example that shows the statement was false by excluding the counterexample.  A simple example is often given to illustrate how this works.  One person states: “No Scotsman put sugar on his porridge”, to which someone replies, “but my uncle Angus is a Scotsman and he puts sugar on his porridge”, so the first person comes back with “but no true Scotsman put sugar on his porridge.” 

            The No True Scotsman fallacy is an attempt to define who belongs and who does not belong to a specific group by a completely subjective set of criteria.  When someone employs this fallacy, it is to say that those who agree with the person belong and those who do not agree do not belong.  This is a fallacy, because the criteria that is being used is not what actually decides who belongs or does not.  This is true for our faith as well.   Conforming to a specific set of criteria is not what makes someone a true Christian.   Earlier in Romans Paul defines what makes someone a true Christian.  In chapter 10 verse 9 he wrote: “If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   That’s it.  The standard for being a Christian is loving Jesus. Nothing else.  When we add to that standard, when we complicate it with extra criteria to determine who is a true Christian, all we do is put up stumbling blocks.  We get in the way of people loving Jesus.     What makes some a true Christian is Jesus Christ.  This is Paul’s main point in this morning’s scripture where he wrote: “We belong to the Lord.  For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” 

            It is the grace of Jesus Christ that makes someone a true Christian.   This grace is available to all, and how people come to it are different.   Some are faithfully raised in a church and greatly value the tradition and legacy of living into the faith of their parents and grandparents.  Others came to know Jesus because they hit rock bottom and discovered that there are second chances even for people like them.  Still others found acceptance and love for the first time in their lives at the foot of the cross.   It is in the beauty of grace that these people found the freedom to be the person God made them to be for the first time.  Then there are others who found an answer to the brokenness in the world and found the grace of Jesus because they wanted to join in the work of spreading that grace so that the world can find the healing it needs.   There is not a right way to come to know Jesus.   There is beautiful diversity in the body of Christ, for God has accepted us all.  
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            Now I understand there are real differences in beliefs and sometimes those differences mean we work better apart.  For instance, there are very real and very strong reasons why I am in this pulpit this morning as opposed to preaching next door to the Presbyterians or serving mass one block down to the Catholics.   There are valid reasons why we fit better in one faith community or another, but I do think that Christian communities are at their best when they seek to be a big tent and value the diversity in one another.   This is one of the aspects I treasure about our United Methodist tradition.   By design the United Methodist Church is meant to be a big tent.  At it’s best the United Methodist church is a diverse faith community that welcomes people with different theological, social, and political views.  Even if we disagree on certain issues, we share a common bond in Christ.  Being a big tent church means that even if we may have sharp disagreements about the state of our country, we can still worship in the same pew, we can serve the community standing side by side, and we can call each other a brother or sister in Christ.   Being a big tent church means that even though we may not think alike, we can still love alike.  

            Like a three-ring circus, striving to be a big tent church can be a little chaotic sometimes.  It can be a little messy.  However, there are distinct advantages to being a big tent. At our best, in a big tent church there is a place for everyone.   When we do it correctly, then there is always another chair that can be added around the table.  Everyone is not just welcome; they are affirmed for who they are and who God has made them to be.  In Christ there is grace enough for us all, so there should be space for all of us under the big tent. 

 Because under a big tent everyone is welcome and included, there is also something for everyone.  God has made us all uniquely, gifted us each differently, and called us to make a difference in a way we are best suited for.  At our best then under the big tent, everyone should be able to pursue the calling that God has placed in their life, because we recognize and celebrate that God has a plan for each of us. 

            The innovation of the big top is that it allowed the circus to leave the building and go to where more people are.  In the same way, a big tent church is more than just a building.   We are not a country club that exists for the luxury and comfort of our members.  At our best, a big tent church is not a building, it is the people.  It is the community of faith brought together in unity by the love and grace of Jesus Christ.  That love, that forgiveness, that amazing grace is too big to be contained in any building, so a big tent church is one that goes beyond the walls, to where the people all, reaching out to all so that no one stands alone, and standing side by side we draw the circle wide.

            May we be a big tent church.   May we not pass judgment on one another and be a stumbling block that keeps others from better knowing Christ.  May we accept all of those who God has already accepted.   May we always be big enough to ensure there is always space for one more and may we celebrate the diversity of God’s creation as we celebrate the diversity in each other.   May the big tent of the church truly be the greatest show of love on earth. 
            

Scripture:  Romans 13:8-14

               It probably is not your imagination, or in the very least you are not alone in your perception.  Last year Pew Research released the results of a study that showed that almost 50% of American adults believe that people have gotten ruder since the pandemic.  Because it is a sensational headline many media outlets latched on to reporting on this study by calling it a rudeness epidemic.  These articles try to pull reasons out of the research for why there is a perception of an increased rudeness.  One of the reasons is related to technology, and the research showed that many see listening to videos on phones in public without headphones as a rude behavior.  Of course, a slim majority also saw always having headphones on in public as rude behavior as well.   Another reason offered up was that since the pandemic, people in general have experienced higher levels of stress, which decreases patience, and leads to rude behavior. 

               One of the things the study concluded is that a general shift in society and culture has been underway post-pandemic, and this shift contributes a lot to the perception of increased rudeness.  In some ways, this shift is not entirely bad.  For instance, in previous eras there was immense societal pressure in the form of guilt and shame to keep in line with what was considered polite.  Guilt and shame is not as powerful as a motivator today, and less guilt, less shame is probably an overall good thing.  However, it does seem that many people today are less likely to think about how their actions might impact the people around them, and that sort of carelessness for others is not such a good thing.   The end result of all this is that about half of us have a strong sense that a lot of people today just don’t know how to act right. 

               This is also nothing new.   For instance, after WWI there was a lot of commentary about the end of manners and increased rudeness as Victorian manners faded away in the post-war world.   We go all the way back to the third chapter of Genesis, the bible makes the point that people not knowing how to act right has been a problem since the very beginning.  It has always been a problem, and it was a problem when Paul wrote his epistles.  In a world that doesn’t know how to act right, this morning’s scripture gives us direction on how to live like no one else. 

               We have spent a lot of time in Romans this year.  In fact, this is the ninth time that our scripture reading on a Sunday morning (spoiler alert: next Sunday will be the tenth time).  Most of Paul’s letter to Romans is focused on these large theological points of grace, forgiveness, and salvation.  After completing his main points, Paul shifts gears for the last couple of chapters of Romans and focuses on how to act right.   He writes to the Christian community of Rome about how they should live as followers of Jesus.   Last week we looked at a scripture from Romans chapter 12, where in quick succession Paul gives 18 different directives.   By time we get to this morning’s scripture in chapter 13, Paul has slowed down a bit.  He is taking more time to elaborate, but the point is the same.  When it comes to living our daily life, followers of Jesus should live in a way that might be different than the culture around them.  In this morning’s scripture we see two specific ways to do that. 

We find the first way put forth in verse 9, where Paul quotes Jesus, who is quoting Leviticus:   “Love your neighbor as yourself.”   Jesus stated that this is one of the two great commandments, upon which all of the others and the prophets hang.   Paul says something similar.  He states several of the big commandments from the ten commandments and then states that all of these plus whatever other commands there may be summed up on love your neighbor as yourself.  I do not think we need to overcomplicate this.   John Lenon was right in 1967 when he sang, “All you need is love, love.  Love is all you need.” 

               Despite the simplicity of the command, we have an unfortunate tendency to try to add exceptions, exemptions, qualifiers, and justifications about who we do or do not have to love.   That is true now, and it was true in the first century when Paul wrote this scripture, so Paul tries to cut through the excuses not to love that we might offer up with a couple of points.   

               The first of these points is found in verse 8: “Let no doubt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.”  This is an odd statement because it puts love in economic terms.  It is odd because economics is by definition transactional.  This creates an issue, because love by definition can not be transactional.   Love is not a commodity that can be bartered, exchanged, or sold.   So, what does it mean to have a continuing debt to love one another?  

               To answer this question, we must look back at Paul wrote elsewhere in Romans.  Because we do not owe a debt to each other.  The idea is not that because someone did us a good turn, we are now obligated to reciprocate because that would be transactional and that would not be love.   No we do not owe a debt to each other, we owe a debt to a much greater source.   As Paul wrote, in Romans chapter 5, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . .God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

  The price that God paid for us is a debt that we can never repay.  Thanks be to God, that we do not have to for salvation and eternal life is a free gift offered to all.   It is not something that we can earn, it is not something that we deserve, and it is not something that we can ever repay.    This is why in the third verse of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing Robert Robinson wrote, “O to grace how great a debtor I’m constrained to be.” 

In Paul’s writing it is not that we owe each other a debt of love.  It is that God’s love for us made known through Jesus Christ, the love of God that saves us, and transforms us is a gift that we could never repay-but we can respond to.   Our response to the extravagant love of God is to pay it forward in how we love others.  This is idea that Paul is putting in the terms of a debt to love one another.   A different apostle, John, put it a little differently, in 1 John he wrote: “We love because, he first loved us.”  We have been shown such an amazing love by God, that we should seek to share that love with others, and even if we radically love every person we come into contact with the depth of our actions will still measure as mere drops in the vast ocean that is God’s love. 

As followers of Christ the most effective way that we can respond to the love of Christ that saves us is to pay it forward and pass it on.  It really should not be hard, but because we do tend to overcomplicate it Paul also gives us some direction on how to make it less complicated in verse 10 where he wrote, “Love does no harm to a neighbor.”   Doing no harm is the first step to loving action.  There is a prevalent modern-day example of how we end up causing harm under the guise of loving our neighbor.   There is a really good chance you have heard the saying “love the sinner, hate the sin.”   This phrase which is not anywhere in the bible, is common today and it causes harm.   The argument is that we should hate sin, and I do not disagree- but the sin we should hate is our own.  When people say love the sinner, hate the sin, they are nearly always talking about someone else’s sin. I can say from my study of Christian history, and from the observations made during my lifetime Christians are not very capable at making the distinction between sin and sinner.  If we devote any energy to hating anything about someone else, I am not sure how well we can love them at the same time.  

There is story after story of people who have been hurt by the church, and a lot of these stories start with this attitude.  Where good church people were judgmental, cruel, and rude.  Often this was done under the guise of supposedly loving the person but hating their sin.   But if someone tells us our words and actions have caused them harm, we do not get to tell them that they are wrong.  Friends, Love the sinner, hate the sin, should not be our motto.   Let’s drop the last five words or so and just focus on love.  

The second major point that Paul offers up is one of integrity and authenticity, which we find expressed in verse “Let us behave decently as in the daytime.”  Paul is utilizing a motif that was common in first century moralistic writings, and it is also one present in the gospel of John.   Day and night language was used to distinguish between good and evil behavior.   As my grandfather often said, “Nothing good happen after midnight.” 

 There is a lot of truth to this both literally and metaphorically.  Often the worst of human behavior happens in secret and darkness away from the eyes of others. The challenge this scripture puts forth is that we put aside the deeds of darkness and instead focus on living like Christ.  There is no off season for this, it is not like we clothe ourselves in Christ on Sunday morning but then shed those clothes the rest of the week.   Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.   Authenticity is being the same person at all times.   That is what this scripture is pushing us towards.  

Unfortunately, integrity and authenticity is sometimes lacking in people who claim to follow Jesus.  It seems weekly we find a news story of a pastor or church leader who is caught up in a scandal of some sort of misdeed.   Almost always in these cases it is revealed that the person caught and being held accountable was living a double life.   They presented themselves publicly and then in darkness and secret lived another.   Catholic writer Brennan Manning once pointed out, “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips but then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”   

 Friends, he wrote that 36 years ago so it is not like this is a new problem, but it is one that is magnified in our modern context.  With social media, constant access through cell phones, and everything being recorded on the Internet it is a lot easier to see when Christians behave badly.   As Christians we should be seeking to be like Christ.  When we greet one another on Sunday morning, then people should see Christ. On Monday morning and Thursday afternoon people should still see Christ.   When the ref makes a bad call then in our response people should still see Christ.  When we are stuck in traffic behind someone who does not use their turn signal, then people should still be able to see Christ in us.  When we post online and interact on social media our words should reflect Christ.   An unbelieving world finds it unbelievable when our faith does not influence our actions, and the only way to correct that is we have to act right.   We seek to act like Christ and love like Christ, even when no one else is watching.   

It may be true.  People may be ruder today, and it may be that a lot of people do not know how to act right.   But may we not be among them, because this morning’s scripture and the whole of scripture tells us how to act right.  We love.  We love our neighbors as ourselves.  No exceptions, no qualifications.  All means all.   We love our neighbors and to the best of our ability we live likes of authenticity and integrity where we seek to be as Christ like as possible even when no one is looking.   May we love and may we show unbelieving world what it means for a Christian to act right.    

Scripture: Romans 12:9-21

 For a lot of people music is a big motivator when it comes to working out.  The type of music that people favor though depends on the workout.   While all lists are subjective, I found a list of workout songs for running on the website Marathon Handbook while Muscle and Fitness put out a list of the best weightlifting songs.  These lists were very different.  The running list tended to feature high energy songs with a fast beat count while the lifting songs tended to feature hard rock with guitar power riffs.  However, there was one song that appeared on both lists: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.  Even if you are not familiar with the song by name, you have heard it because this song was made popular by the Rocky movies, and it is the ultimate training montage song.  

 Training montages are a movie trope that was perfected in 80’s sports movies but have shown up in just about every genre of movie since then.   These sequences cut from training scene to training scene, always set to a catchy song of some sort.  At the beginning of the montage the people training are hopeless and unskilled, but by the end of a 2–3-minute song they have gone from zero to hero.  Training montages are effective storytelling in cinema, but they have the detriment of making improvement look easy.   A well-done training montage can make the viewer feel like I too could do this, but the reality is that learning a new skill, especially to an expert level, takes longer than one power ballad.

 The reality is that before we can get to the level that is shown at the end of a training montage, we first have to learn the nuts-and-bolts basics of the skill.  Often learning the fundamentals feels a long way from where we see ourselves being, but learning a new skill is not possible without first learning and struggling through the basics.  This is true of sports, it is true of artistic endeavors like playing musical instruments, and it is true of professional skills.  It is also true of our faith.   This morning’s scripture gives us the nuts and bolts fundamentals of how we live as a disciple of Christ. 

Sometimes what keeps us away from trying new skills is that it is intimidating to learn because there is so much to remember.   It can be intimidating because there are so many steps, so many things to keep straight, and so many individual aspects to the skill that we do not even know where to start.   I know this is how I felt with golf when I attempted that.  I just wanted the ball down the fairway, but there were so many instructions about how to stand, how to hold the club, how to swing, how to follow through, that I would be so focused on trying to remember all of this at once that I would often miss the ball all together.  This morning’s scripture has a bit of the same problem. 

It comes from the end of Romans where Paul has finished his big theological points, and he has moved on to more practical points about how to live daily life as Christians.   Paul gives a rabid fire list of directives in this short scripture, to the point it can be intimidating.  In this scripture he tells us that we should 1) be devoted to one another in love 2) honor one another 3) not lack in zeal but keep spiritual fervor serving the Lord  4) by joyful in hope 5) patient in affliction  6) faithful in prayer  7)  share and practice hospitality  8) Bless those who persecute 9) do not curse 10) Rejoice with those who rejoice 11) Mourn with those who mourn  12) Live in harmony  13) do not be proud  14) do not be conceited  15) do not repay evil for evil  16) live at peace with everyone  17)  do not take revenge and 18) overcome evil with good.  That is eighteen directives in just 11 verses!   There is so much that it can be hard to know where to start, and it can feel overwhelming.  

One of the skills that the best coaches and teachers have is that they are able to break down a more complex subject and then teach it in sections.   A similar approach can be taken to this scripture.  This list of directives can be broken down into three categories: 1) Our daily attitude 2) how we relate to each other  3) how we relate to others.  In each category there are multiple verses.  Again, to try and tackle all of them it can feel overwhelming but we can focus on a couple of points from each. 

               When it comes to how we should approach each day this scripture gives some practical advice.   Verse 11, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”  I do not know if you have ever had the opportunity to take part on a mission trip, but they are amazing experiences because they give hands on experience of living this scripture out.  From my experience, by day three of a mission trip most people have some aches and pains, and they are more tired than normal, but zeal is not lacking.  This is because everyone wakes up with purpose and intention to serve the Lord.  Knowing that the work of the day is making a difference, building God’s kingdom, and tangibly making the love of God known goes long way to keeping up one’s spiritual fervor and zeal.   Perhaps, we could keep that same approach to our daily lives.  Because every day is a gift from God and every day is an opportunity to serve the Lord and make a difference in the world.   How we are to do that is not as clear cut in daily lives as it is on a mission trip but everyday provides the opportunity.   Perhaps instead of approaching every day as another one to grind through, we could see the day as a new adventure to discover how we can encounter God in the ordinary. 

               Paul summarizes the viewpoint of how we should relate to each other as fellow followers of Christ in verse 10: “Be devoted to one another in love.  Honor one another above yourselves.”    Throughout this morning’s scripture he then gives three directives about how we do this.  The first is we share with those in need.  That sounds easy enough, but often we inadvertently trip each other up on actually doing this.  I have full confidence that all of you would be willing to put this scripture into practice.   If another member of this congregation came to you with a need, and you could meet it, then you absolutely would.   I am also fairly confident that most of us would much prefer to keep our needs to ourselves.   Often, we do not give our siblings in Christ the opportunity to practice this scripture, because we do not want to admit that we need help, we want to handle it ourselves.   This is why in this scripture Paul also tells us do not be proud and do not be conceited.  If our desire to be self sufficient and not rely on anyone else is born out of pride and conceit, then it is not a virtue. 

               By God’s design, it is in the Christian community of the church that we grow in God’s love because we practice loving one another with the very love of God.   We cannot practice if we do not give each other the opportunity.  Again, I truly believe that you all would be quick to help a brother or sister in Christ out in love, but this only happens if all of are willing to accept the help of each other.  

               Sometimes doing this can be easier than we think.  The second two directives related to how we do this are to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.   To do this, often all we have to do is show up.  I am reminded of a story that Mark Hall, the lead singer of Casting Crowns, tells about Steven.   Steven was a big, football player, in the small Alabama town where Mark Hall was working as a youth minister.   Steven’s father was killed in a tragic work accident.  Several of the teens in Mark’s youth group were friends with Steven and they wanted to help him, but they did not know what to do, they did not know what to say, they did not know what scriptures to quote.  Mark encouraged them just to be there with them.   In the book Lifestories he writes about what happened next, “As I pulled in [the funeral home parking lot], I noticed a truck parked to my right.  It was Steven’s. . . He sat slumped on his tailgate, looking down.  And there, all around him, were my guys.  They weren’t flipping through their Bibles.  They weren’t trying to explain away everything.  The more I watched them and the closer I got to them, I saw that they were simply sitting there with him.  Nobody was talking.  They were just there for him.”     
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               The way that we rejoice with another, mourn with another, and honor one another above ourselves is just to be present.   We do not have to have the answers, we do not have to fix anything.  Often the most powerful act of love that we can do is to be present for one another.   Much like developing a skill requires practice, being present requires taking the time to show up for one another.  We do not love by accident; it requires intentionality and an investment of time on our part.  It is only through that intentionally and investment that we can be devoted to one another in love. 
               The final category is how we relate to others.  Paul states how to do this in verse 18:  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  Even in this verse Paul acknowledges that living at peace with everyone is easier said than done. This is in part because peace is only possible if all people are willing to pursue it, which is why Paul put the disclaimer as far as it depends on you.  But even with that caveat, it is still easier said than done.   This is because there are times when other people are just plain mean to us.  They are unkind, and they do us wrong.  There are times, if we are being honest with ourselves, we do not want to live at peace with everyone because we would rather start something and pick a fight.   It is for those times that Paul wrote this morning’s scripture where we are encouraged to bless those who persecute us, not repay evil for evil, and to overcome evil with good. 

 In the face of other people being terrible, the most powerful thing we can do is be good.  When others go low, we go high.   The way that we can witness to the goodness of God in the world is through how we respond to the evil of others.   The way we overcome evil is not by getting even, it is by loving care.  I remember seeing this illustrated from a non-Christian source years ago.   In 2017 Ohio Chapel United Methodist Church outside of Columbus, IN was severely vandalized.  On Sunday they could not use the building because it was taped off and still a crime scene under investigation, so they had their worship service outside.  Right as the service was getting ready to start a floral delivery truck drove up and dropped off flowers expressing sympathy.  This token of love was not from the church down the street or even another United Methodist church.  The flowers were sent by the Columbus Islamic Association.  In this particular case it was Muslims who actually took the most Christ like act.  They responded to an evil in their community with an act of goodness and loving care.  This token of love helped with the healing of a hurt and grieving congregation. 

This morning’s scripture gives us a lot of nuts and bolts fundamentals on how to live as a Christian.  The reality is even when we try to live it out, we will not always get it right.  There will still be times when our zeal wavers, when we fail to practice hospitality, or we prefer to hang on to the idea of getting even.   We will not get it right all the time, and there will be times when our honest attempts do not quite pan out.   But we should do it anyway.  English author and Christian apologist GK Chesterton once wrote, “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.”   We will not get it perfect out of the gate, but if it is worth doing then we should still do it even if our best is not that great.  Because this is the only way we get better.  Practice makes progress, and living out our faith, living like Jesus is always worth doing.   So may we put our faith into practice, and may we practice our faith, as we strive to live a life of sincere love that overcomes all with good. 
 

Scripture:  Matthew 15:10-20

               June 6th, 1944, is a day that is forever cemented in history.  Even if history is not really your thing, there is a decent chance that the date at least sounds familiar because it was D-Day, the day of the allied invasion of Europe.   To this day, this remains the largest seaborne invasion in history.  The invasion utilized over 7,000 ships and put 156,000 allied soldiers on the beaches of France.   The D-Day invasion was a strategic and logistical achievement, but a lesser known and perhaps greater achievement was Operation Fortitude which made the landings possible.  Operation Fortitude was the massive undertaking that convinced German High Command that the invasion was not going to happen at Normandy.  This was done by creating fake armies.   The allies created a fake paper trail of non-existent divisions of soldiers, they sent out radio transmissions from bases that did not really exist, they attacked enemy radar stations nowhere near the actual invasion site, and they actually created fake landing craft which generals spent time touring and inspecting.  

               Operation Fortitude required mass coordination among multiple entities and absolute secrecy.  Amazingly it worked.   German high command communication indicates that on the eve of the invasion, they knew at attack was imminent, but they believed the main invasion was a diversion so that German forces did not end up concentrating in Normandy.   Operation Fortitude worked because it created the outward appearance of an army, when there was not anything actually behind it.  This morning’s scripture reveals that sometimes people attempt to do this with faith.   A lot of energy is put into creating the outward appearance of righteousness, but much like the fake armies created by Operation Fortitude there is a little real faith at the center.   We get the impression from this morning’s scripture that this type of performative religion that is all about outward appearances is something that Jesus has little patience for.   This morning’s scripture is a reminder that faith is not about our outward actions, it is about a changed heart at the center of our being. 

This morning’s scripture picks up in the middle of a story.  This morning, we kind of jumped to the really good part.   Jesus was traveling around the Sea of Galilee teaching in the various villages.   His reputation must have been spreading because Matthew 15:1 records that some Pharisees and teachers of the law had come up all the way from Jerusalem.   I think we have to read between the lines a little bit here to really capture what is going on.  We started at verse 10 which states Jesus addressed the crowd.  This implies that Jesus was surrounded by a crowd of people that he was teaching, and it is in this very public venue the Pharisees and teachers of the law interrupt to ask Jesus a question, which we find it 15:2, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

In our modern-day context with all that we know about germs that honestly comes across as a reasonable issue to address, but that is not quite what the Pharisees and teachers of the law were talking about.  The clue here is the phrase the “tradition of the elders”.   The Pharisees and the teachers of the law took following the law, the conduct for living found in the first five books of the bible, really seriously.  They took it so seriously that starting after the Jewish people returned from exile, they began meticulously creating extra rules around the rules found in the bible just to ensure that they would not be broken.  It is these extra rules that they refer to as the “tradition of the elders.”  The Old Testament law does some rules about food that can be unclean as well as other occurrences that can make someone ceremonially unclean.   It seems to be that this hand washing the Pharisees are trying to call the disciples out on, is some sort of ritualistic washing of the hands that was undertaken to ensure that someone did not accidently make themselves unclean because they had some sort of incidental contact with something ceremonially unclean throughout the day.  

So that is the issue that the Pharisees are addressing, they are upset that Jesus’ disciples are not following the tradition of the elders, the extra rules they made up for ensuring purity.  Remember, this is not a private conversation over coffee between Jesus and a couple of Pharisees.  There is a crowd.  This is a public argument.  The Pharisees were not asking the question in good faith.  They were asking the question to discredit Jesus.  They were trying to pull a quick “gotcha” to discredit Jesus by showing his disciples were not really that righteous.  In verses 3-9 of chapter 15, Jesus points out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees because they are being incredible literal on tradition while interpreting the actual scripture, the law they are supposedly protecting, in a far less strict way.  That culminates with the start of this morning’s scripture reading in verse 10, where Jesus addressed the crowd and specifically answers the Pharisees question with the profound wisdom “what goes in someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” 

In verse 12 the scripture seems to jump ahead a few hours, because now Jesus is alone with the disciples, and apparently the Pharisees left in a huff, upset at what Jesus had said.  I imagine what happens next, caused Jesus to make a big sigh.  Because he was in the place that just about every teacher has found themselves where they have taught something, and the teacher thought it was easy to understand.  The initial reaction of the students seems to imply they got it, but then one well-meaning student asks a question that makes it clear, that nope the lesson really did not connect. That is what Peter does here, by asking Jesus to explain the parable.  While Jesus is exasperated, he does anyway and makes the point he had hoped the disciples would get very explicit.  What makes someone unclean is not on the outside, it is on the inside.  It is not a person’s hands that need to be cleaned, it is a person’s heart.  In other words, it does not matter how it looks on the outside, it is what is in their center that matters. 

            When his disciples did not immediately get this, Jesus did ask them “are you still so dull?”  I have to wonder how many times over the centuries Jesus has shaken his head and had the same thoughts about his followers.  From generation to generation of Christians this is still a scripture that we get tripped up on.  We still get so drawn to the outside appearances of righteousness.  Just like the Pharisees of Jesus day, we like coming up with and emphasizing little rules about how followers of Jesus should dress or act.  We like to create molds of what a righteous person looks like and then expect everyone to fit that mold.   Just like the Pharisees these molds tend to emphasize outward, observable behavior and ignore what is really at the person’s center. 

We see this same pattern repeatedly today.   In 2022 journalist Brandon Flannery published the results of research he conducted as to why people have walked away from Christianity.   One of the very top reasons was the behavior of Christians.  These people who stepped away from Christianity because they observed outward behavior that did not match the harsher language and attitudes of the people they worshipped with. 

 One of the examples that the research pointed to was the online behavior of Christians. I know not all of you spend a lot of time online, but one of the cardinal rules of being on the internet is don’t read the comments because usually the comments are on a big news article, popular video, or viral post are generally hateful, toxic, and awful.  Unfortunately, people who identify as Christians make more than their fair share of toxic and hurtful comments.  It is often not a surprise to find the most offensive hateful comments have been left by someone who is quoting bible verses in their profile.    It seems that when given the anonymity that comes from being hidden behind a screen a lot of people who profess following Jesus let the evil thoughts of their heart come out in absolutely vitriolic and hurtful comments or posts.  In our modern era this bad behavior is pushing people away from Jesus. 

Unfortunately, this sort of behavior is not new.  We can go back several decades and find people making the same observation about a disconnect between the outward appearance of Christians compared to what seems to come out from within them.  Author and Hosier Sheldon Vanauken wrote about this in a letter to C.S. Lewis when Vanauken was contemplating with converting to Christianity.  Vanauken wrote: “the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians — when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.”

We can go back even further to find this has been a pattern repeated time and time again.  It is a pattern we see in our collective history.  John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement learned this firsthand.  Early in his adult life Wesley was committed to spiritual disciplines.  His daily practices of prayer, scripture reading, and fasting would be even the most pious of us to shame.  He had a lot to say at that time about the importance of these disciplines, but much like the Pharisees of Jesus day it was all about the outward focus.  It was about the actions that were done and not about internal motivation.   When John Wesley fully accepted his need for grace and the salvation that Jesus offered, he described it as his heart being strangely warmed.  His faith went from being focused on his outward actions to an internal transformation in the center of his being that was brought about by amazing grace. 

 A heart changed by grace is the most fundamental basis of our United Methodist expression.  It is our historic perspective that religion is not just about the actions we take to honor God, it is a religion of the heart.   Being a Christian is fundamentally being transformed from the inside out to being a more loving person.   This emphasis on a transformation in the center of our being is clearly evident in John Wesley’s 1742 pamphlet “The Character of a Methodist”.  He begins that work with: “A Methodist is one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart.”  Wesley continues on that “[a Methodist’s] heart is lifted up to God at all times in all places.”  And he also wrote, “[A Methodist] is pure in heart.  Love has purified his heart from envy, malice, wrath, and every unkind temper.”

A Methodist is one who’s heart has been changed by grace. We are to be a people who do not have evil thoughts coming from our heart, because our heart- the center of who we are- has been made clean by the love of God, the grace of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  As we consider how we live out the character of a Methodist in our modern world, let us reconsider those internet comments.   Chances are most of us here are not the ones making the rude or mean off-handed comments.   Chances are most of us are not saying anything at all.  We think being silent is being polite and nice, but we should do better than that.  We should be kind.  If the actions of some have Christians a bad rap for being unkind in their words and behavior, then may our words and behavior be the counterbalance.   May we be quick to comment in ways that build up and not tear down.  May our words convey grace, love, acceptance, empathy, and a desire to care for others.  We as a single church cannot change the perception of our entire culture, but we can ensure that when people interact with us they do not encounter more bad behavior from believers, but instead may they know we are Christians by our love. 

In this morning’s scripture Jesus reserves his harshest criticism for the religious leaders because faith is not about doing the right things, it is about having a changed heart in the center of our being.  May we all be less concerned with how righteous we appear on the outside and may we be obsessed with what is going on within us.   May we pursue making Jesus our center, may the beat of our heart, may the essence of our life to be as Christlike as possible.  May we constantly keep pursing Jesus, and may we seek to have the character that John Wesley believed is possible for us.  May we love God, in all times and places with all of our heart, and by the power of Christ may what we all have in the center of our being be a truly pure heart.  

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33

               Perhaps it is because we need water to live, but people as a whole love to be close to, on, or in the water.  Often one of the reasons why so many people look forward to summer is because it is a chance to get back on the river, visit the lake, jump into a pool, or lay on a beach next to the ocean.  Water is something most people seem to love, but it is also something we should be respectful of because water can be dangerous.  This is one of the reasons why we build boats after all.  Boats allow us to venture into deeper water safely, and several years ago I learned the value of staying in the boat.

 It was the final day of a youth mission trip.   We spent the week in the Appalachian region of Kentucky helping with roofing houses and building accessibility ramps. Before we left to come home though, the plan was to spend the morning and early afternoon white water rafting on a local river.  When we got to the rafting place, the owner/operator pulled me aside and explained the situation.   The stretch of river we were on normally had class 2 to 3 rapids.   However, the water was way up and the rapids were class 3s to one strong class 4.  For reference, the scale ends at six, and class four is considered advanced with a high risk if you fall into the water.  He asked me if we still wanted to proceed.   I had a group of teens and adventurous adults who had waited all week for this moment, so of course I said yes.   After we got through the first strong class three rapid with two boats flipped over, I began to wonder if this was a mistake.
  Then, about halfway through the trip, the raft I was in was navigating around a rock.   I went to paddle while a bump pushed the boat up.   I was expecting to meet the resistance of the water, instead the paddle hit nothing, and I was off the balance so that the next bump put me straight into the water.   Luckily, we had to wear helmets because mine had a newly made scratch in it as I was pushed over a rock.   Fortunately, the guide of the raft was very skilled, and he managed to pull the thing around and pull me out of the water very quickly.   I had a life vest on and there were plenty of people who knew what they were doing so I was never in huge danger.  Yet, that unexpected plunge gave me a new appreciation for the power and potential danger of water. 

  I tell this story because my experience in some small way helps me appreciate what Peter might have been experiencing in this morning’s scripture, because water can be scary.  This story is often taught to Peter’s detriment.  One of the common takeaways from this story that Peter only began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. The tendency is to focus on what Peter did wrong, and how he messed it up.  However, what we take away from this morning’s scripture should not be about what Peter did wrong, it should be about what he did right because he shows us that faith is one small step after another. 

I think this morning’s scripture is one where it benefits us to read it in a way where we try to really step into the story, and we try to understand things form the disciples’ point of view, because by the time Jesus comes strolling up walking on water, they had already had a bit of a whirlwind of a day.  The gospels of Mark, Matthew, and John all record these events but emphasize different details.  The morning started with Jesus telling the disciples that they needed to get away for a bit and they set off to a more isolated place around the lake, and as buzz about Jesus spread around the villages and towns that dotted the lakeshore, they discovered a crowd waiting for them.  This incident led to one of Jesus’ other well-known miracles, the feeding of the five thousand where five loaves and two fish manage to feed everyone.  At this point the sun was probably getting low in the sky, and the disciples had already had a long day. 

               However, their day was not done.  The gospel of John records that after Jesus performed the miracle of fishes and loaves the crowd got a little rowdy and wanted to make Jesus a king.   This morning’s scripture starts with “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead.”   In the Greek the word translated “made” has the connotation of “to compel”.  We get the sense that Jesus saw where this thing was going and so he wrapped it up before it got out of hand.   So the disciples were in the boat, out in the lake, crossing over to the other side but it was not going well.  The wind was against them, so they were putting in a lot of effort to go nowhere fast.   The scripture specifies that Jesus came walking on water during the “fourth watch” which would be between 3 am- and 6 am.

Even though the Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake, the attitude in that boat was probably a little salty. The disciples had been struggling in the boat with uncooperative weather for at least six hours and likely several more than that.   This was on top of an already long and somewhat emotional day.  The disciples would have been tired, they would have been cold, and they would have been wetter than they wanted to be.  It was likely a boat full of twelve grumpy men.   This is the scene when Jesus appeared walking on water and scared the disciples.   This is the mindset that Peter would have been in when Jesus said, “come.”

               Again, I do not think we give Peter enough credit here.  Remember, there were eleven other followers of Jesus in that boat, but only Peter took a step out of the boat.  He did that despite having a long day, despite being tired, and despite not being his best.  I imagine that the first step out of the boat was a hesitant, small step, but we have to acknowledge just how big of a step it was Peter. 

It is worth remembering Peter was a fisherman.  He had grown up on the lake.  He had seen his share of rough storm, and he may even have known someone who suffered a mishap on the water.  He would have known and appreciated the danger the water posed.  He would have known how much safer the boat was, but despite that he took one small step out into the water anyway, because Jesus had told him, “Come.” 

               Even though Peter was worn out and common sense was telling him to stay in the boat, he still attempted to step closer to Jesus, and I think there is a lesson there for us.   We may not find ourselves in a boat looking out at Jesus walking on water, but we will often find ourselves in a situation where we are tired, where we are grumpy, and where we would rather stay right where we are.  It is often in those times in our lives where, if we are listening, we can Jesus saying “come.”  Just like Peter, we can be invited by our Lord and Savior to take a step into the unknown, to be more like him, and to do the impossible.  However, unlike Peter we may not be as willing to take that one small step.  

               At the point Jesus showed up Peter and the rest of the disciples had been going through a rough few hours after an exhausting day.  In the same, we all have exhausting days.  Sometimes we have several of them in a row.  We can find ourselves worn out by the daily expectations and stresses of life.  We can find ourselves worn down by the seemingly endless supply of something else that needs to be done.  We can get to the point where we just feel so tired in the depths of our soul all the time.   During those times it becomes easy to ignore the voice of Jesus telling us to “come.” 

 We tend to tell ourselves that we will do the thing that is on our hearts, we will take the step in faith, we will be more serious about following Jesus, when things calm down.  Friends, I know most of you have lived enough life to know that is not how life works.   Yes, whatever our current struggle is might pass, whatever our current major worry is might be resolved, but that does not mean things are going to calm down.  It seems that something else, some other struggle, some other unexpected event, will come along.   Life can be beautiful and joyful, but it is also unpredictable and more chaotic than we want.   If we decide that we are going to wait until the seas are calm, the wind isn’t blowing, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky before we take a step out then we are never, ever getting out of the boat.  If we truly want to follow Jesus then at some point, we have to walk where Jesus is walking, we have to move with purpose when Jesus says come, and we have to get out of the boat-even if we are tired, even if we are grumpy, and even if the conditions are less than ideal.

This is what Peter does in this morning’s scripture, and he does the impossible.  He does what Jesus is doing, Peter walks on water.   At least to start.  He does eventually sink and we get a glimpse to why he sinks in verse 31: “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.  ‘You of little faith, he said, ‘Why did you doubt?” My immediate question to this verse is what did peter doubt?   More than once I have asked this question in a youth group or in a young person Sunday school class, and inevitably the immediate response is “Jesus”.  That is not a surprise because often the takeaway of this story is Peter took his eyes of Jesus, and that is why he began to sink.  However, I am not convinced that Jesus is the right answer to the question what did Peter doubt.  Peter was not doubting Jesus.  As soon as he started to sink, he cries out Lord save me!    Peter had full confidence and faith in Jesus.    Who Peter doubted was himself.  The wind and the waves were a reminder that he was doing something that he never thought possible, and that led him to doubt that he was truly capable of what he was already doing.   Peter doubted that he could be like Jesus.  He doubted that he could do what Jesus was doing, that is why he began to sink. 

What sticks out to me is even though Peter doubted he could be like Jesus, Jesus did not.  Jesus told Peter to come because he knew that Peter could do it.   He knew that Peter could do what he was doing.  In the same way, Jesus knows we can do it too.  Whatever we are called to do, we can do.   So that passion to change the world, the way that you just know you could make a real difference, the step of faith that you have been holding yourself back from taking- why do you doubt?   Because our savior does not.   God does not call us to something as a test.   We do not take holy risks because it is sink or swim, because Jesus already knows that we can walk.   We can be like him, through Christ who strengthens us we can do all things, and through him we can transform this world.

Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, “faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the staircase.”   Living out our faith is taking one small step after another.   It is taking one small step, even when we are tired, even when we are busy, and even when we are not sure we can do it.   We might doubt that we can do what Jesus did and making a real difference, but our savior does not doubt us.  Jesus says come, so may we go.   May we get out of the boat.  May we get our feet wet, and make we take one small step, and then another, because in doing so is how we will make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. 
 
 

Scripture:  Romans 8:1-11

Almost fifty-seven years ago on July 20th, we accomplished the seemingly impossible.   It was on this date in 1969 that Neil Armstrong took one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind by setting foot on the moon.  The whole Apollo project was an absolute engineering marvel.  The navigation required to travel across the vast distance of space to reach the moon required the help of a computer, and the astronauts had one on board that weighed 70 pounds.   By today’s standards the Apollo Guidance Computer is startingly limited.  The Apollo Guidance Computer went into space with 36kilobytes of memory.   To put that in perspective, the average smartphone today has 8gigabytes which is a little under 8 million times more memory than the lunar lander had.  The processor on Apollo 11 ran at 0.043 MHz, where the processing power of an iPhone is 2490 MHz, which is about 100,000 times the processing power.  The reality is that a smart toaster today has more raw processing ability than the computer that took astronauts to the moon.   The way that computers have evolved is truly amazing.   It is remarkable that most of us have little computer in our pocket that is more powerful than a desktop personal computer from less than twenty years ago.  That says nothing about where the cutting-edge of computer technology is at.   Today the world’s fastest super computers in the world can run around 200,000 trillion calculations per second, which is a number that is honestly beyond comprehension.  

               Despite having such remarkable raw processing speed, even the highest end super computers in the world cannot yet match the best computer we know: the human brain.  Computers can run mathematical computations faster than we ever could but even though we cannot process as fast what we are able to do with data is beyond the scope of computers.   For instance, there are simple pattern recognition tests that young children can compete without difficulty that a supercomputer will struggle with.   Super computers cannot solve the answers to even simple riddles unless the answer happens to be in their database.  They are unable to process the creative thought it takes to come up with a solution.  Even though there has been a lot of development in recent years attempts at artificial intelligence, AI, still struggles to actually show any intelligence.   A data center, no matter how large, still does not get close to the actual potential of just one person.  Despite the amazing progress in computers made over the last several decades it still cannot match what is already inside of us.  I think there is a lesson there, and I think it is the same one that this scripture is getting at.  Sometimes the power we are looking for is already within us.   

               As we continue looking at scripture from Romans, it is worth repeating that the book of Romans is one that can be a little more difficult than others.  In Romans Paul is systematically and methodically making a few different big arguments and linking them all together.  This makes Romans a great candidate for a deep dive Bible study, but it also makes it hard to pick out just a couple of verses because it is all connected.  This morning’s scripture is no different.   You might have noticed it began with therefore, meaning it connects back to the scripture that came before it.  In fact, this morning’s scripture is the conclusion of a greater thought that began back in Romans 5.  Starting in the fifth chapter of Romans Paul begins making his case for grace.  Paul argues how the mighty acts of Jesus on the cross reconcile us to God and Paul works through the relationship between grace, the Old Testament law, and sin.   This morning’s scripture is the conclusion of the thought.   Paul’s verdict is found in verse one of this morning’s scripture: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Paul offers up evidence to back up this bold claim, and the evidence he gives is the Holy Spirit.  The conclusion to Paul’s greater point on grace is that it is the Spirit that allows us to fully live into amazing grace in our lives.  

               As we consider this scripture we find that much like computer science is chasing what is already in us, much of what we desire in life is already in those who have found new life in Christ.  We go through life often harboring deep emotional and spiritual yearnings.  Often we struggle to articulate what it is we are even looking for, but we have a deep-seated angst because we know we still haven’t found what we are looking for.  One of the assertions we can extrapolate from this morning’s scripture is that these desires of the human soul are fully met through grace.   This grace flows from the never-ending love of God, was made available to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and is tangibly felt in our lives through the workings of the Holy Spirit.   This scripture claims that in Christ, we have found what we are looking for, that Jesus is the remedy for that which ails us, that Jesus fulfills the greatest desires of hearts and souls.   It is through the Spirit that we find these longings fulfilled.  In this morning’s scripture we find three of the great longings of the human heart addressed and we find that it is through the Spirit we feel these longings being met. 

               Many of you know this better than I do: getting old hurts. Often, it’s not the years, it’s the mileage.   As we use our bodies that repeated wear and tear adds up, and before we know it the simple act of getting out of bed hurts a lot more than we really think it should.   This happens to our bodies, but it also happens in our souls.   We fall short of what we know is right, we act in pride, we lash out in anger.   We say the words we wish we could take back, and we regret the things we should never have done.   Guilt is to our souls like pain is to our bodies.   It adds up, it hurts, and it holds us back. One of the great longings of the human heart is to be free of pain.   While the Holy Spirit does not remove the pain we feel in our backs in the morning, it does remove the pain of guilt.   There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.   As this morning’s scripture says Jesus already paid the price.   The eternal stain of all of guilt and all of our regrets has been erased.  For those who are in Christ Jesus, our ledger in the book of life is free and clear.  If we are in Christ, then God is not going to hold our feet over the coals or beat us up for our sins, so why do we keep doing it to ourselves?  

               This does not mean we get a blank check to gratify all our sinful desires, but rather it means we have been set free.  The burden of guilt and shame no longer holds us down.  We are no longer tethered by the eternal consequences of our sins and as this morning’s scripture states we are now free to stop living according to the flesh, but we are free to live according to the Spirit.     

               Living according to the Spirit is how we meet another of the great longings of our hearts.   Life feels chaotic, and that is especially true today.  I imagine most of you are like me and are desperate to stop living in “unprecedented times.”   When I make the mistake of doom scrolling news articles it really can feel like the chaos of this world is out of control.   When I feel that way, I remind myself of the truth that “It’s always something.”  We could go back thirty years, or fifty years, or eighty, or hundred, or two hundred and it would feel much the same.   The circumstances would of course be different, but we would still sense and feel the chaos.   This is because one of the great longings of humanity is a sense of peace.  This morning’s scripture plainly states, “but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace.”

  A mind governed by the Spirit is one that seeks to love God with all of our being, love our neighbor as ourselves, and follow God’s will in all our actions.  A mind governed by the Spirit is one that focuses on God’s heavenly kingdom and not the chaos of the all the earthly ones.   When we allow grace to be our rock and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be our sure footing, then it does not matter what the world does around us, because our hope is built on nothing less that Jesus blood and righteousness.    Living with a mind governed by the Spirit will not stop all that is going on right now, because it’s always something.   The storm will rage around us, but on Christ the solid rock we will stand.   No matter what happens when we are steadied on such a firm foundation, then we will be a beacon of life and peace in a turbulent and chaotic world. 

               There is one more deep longing of the human heart that the Spirit of God meets.   I think children instinctively get this longing, because life has not worn it out of them yet.  When you ask a young child what they want to do in life, they do not say they want to be a shift manager, or an accountant, or a lawyer.   They do not name good paying jobs.  Unlike adults, kids have not forgotten how to dream big.   Kids want to be princesses; they want to be knights that slay literal dragons.  They want to be superheroes or astronauts that explore strange new worlds.   Kids dream big, they want to go places, and they want to make a difference in the world.   Sadly, the reality of bills, clocking in/clocking out, and the grind of life mutes that desire in us when we get older.   Most days we feel like we barely have enough energy to get through the day (and that is only after we have coffee), much less have enough energy to change the world.   However, this morning’s scripture states we already have the power to change the world within us.   Verse 11 of this morning’s scripture states, “The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you.”

Much like it is hard for us to really wrap are heads around how much computers have advanced, I think it is hard for us to grasp the profoundness of this statement.   As Christians we rightfully see the resurrection of Jesus as the single most remarkable and powerful event that has ever happened and ever will happen.   The Holy Spirit that powered that miracle of miracles is the very same Spirit that all followers of Jesus are indwelled with.    Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we truly believed that, if we truly lived that then just like Jesus said we would be able to move mountains.  

               Most of our smart phones are 100,000 times more powerful than the computer that sent astronauts to the moon and we mostly use them to argue with strangers on Facebook and look at cat videos.   The supercomputers in pockets are capable of so much more than we use them for, and the Spirit is the same way.   The power to transform this world, the power that brought life out of death, is already in us.  We can look at needs that need to be met, we can see people lost, we can see injustice happening and say wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something.  But friends, we can.   The power is already within.   If we submit to God’s law, if we live with a mind governed by the Spirit, then through us God can do miracles.  

               There are deep longings in every human heart, and I fully submit to you the truth of this morning’s scripture is that Jesus has met our every longing.    The greatest desires of our soul have already been met.   May we look within and find what we have always been looking for. May we know there is no condemnation for those in Christ, may we be centered upon the rock of Christ to find peace, and may we claim the holy power to transform the world.   May we seek to live according to the Spirit and may we have a mind governed by the Spirit.  May we be able to live and life abundantly a true life because his Spirit lives within us.  

Scripture:  Romans 7:14-25

               The American Revolution often conjures up images of large troop formations marching and firing in lines at each other.   We often associate famous battles with the conflict, like the one at Bunker Hill or the Siege of Yorktown that won the war.  The war was fought for more than six years and during that time there were hundreds of engagements both on land and at sea.   Most of these happened on a much smaller scale.  A good example of this is the skirmish that occurred on November 14th, 1782, at Avant’s Ferry in South Carolina.   There a division of American militia under the command Captain William Capers clashed with their opposition.  This too place in an isolated rural area with little strategic significance and it is likely that a hundred or less men were involved in the fighting.  The only reason why the battle is even known is because of a couple of lines from an obscure 19th century biography.      

The battle of Avant’s Ferry is a fun tidbit for people who like forgotten history, but the most notable aspect of the fight is just who the American militia fought.   Captain Capers’ militia division did not face off against British regulars.  They fought loyalist militia.  At the battle of Avant’s Ferry American patriots fighting for independence clashed with American colonists fighting to defend the honor of the crown.   Today we celebrate American independence each year and we by and large believe this was the right action in the course of history.  It is easy for us to forget that in the late 1700’s American Independence was not so widely celebrated.  Historians estimate that at least 20% of colonial Americans were loyalists and opposed the concept of revolution.     The American Revolution was in fact revolutionary.  It is consistent that in human history any struggle for liberation, equal rights, and freedom has been met with opposition.  This is because an expansion of freedom and liberty will always bring about significant change, and change tends to always garner opposition.   Human history has shown this to be the case, but this morning’s scripture also speaks to this truth.   As this morning’s scripture points out, we find opposition to change on a personal level.  Following Jesus as Lord and Savior, seeking the guidance of the Spirit, and walking humbly with God the Father should create profound change in our life.   This scripture makes it clear that even though we seek and choose this change we paradoxically oppose it.  This scripture makes the case that living a life of faith is a spiritual struggle for true freedom. 

This morning’s scripture picks up in the middle of a highly technical argument that Paul is making.  This happens a lot when looking at scripture from the book of Romans.  Romans was written using a philosophical style where it continually builds on itself. One of the major points that Paul is seeking to make in Romans is that the grace of Jesus does not completely make the Old Testament law given to the Israelites worthless.  Before this morning’s reading Paul addresses this by stating the value of the Old Testament law is that it makes plain what is sinful.   Paul declares in Romans 7:12 “So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.”  In this morning’s scripture Paul tries to explain why, even though the law clearly spells out what sin is, why then he (and by extension his audience) continue to sin.  

               In making this argument Paul introduces an idea that at face value can seem somewhat problematic.   In verse 17 Paul wrote, “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.”   This idea of being indwelt with sin is only really found right here in the bible, and it is problematic because it creates an easy excuse to fall into.   It gives us an excuse for our poor decisions and bad behavior.   Much like claiming the devil made me do it, claiming the sin living in me made me do it, seeks to release us from accountability.   This morning’s scripture is not seeking to give us a ready excuse to get out of our sinful actions.  Rather it is naming the reality we face.  When we seek to make a positive change, when we seek to follow what is holy and good, when we seek to revolt against evil in our own actions then even though we want to do good, evil is right there with us. 

               This evil, this sinful nature, is not necessarily an external force influencing us.  Instead, it is a trap of our own creation.   You have likely heard the phrase of being stuck in a rut, and metaphorically that is what happens with us and our sin.   A rut is caused by wagon wheels in the dirt.   As heavy wagons travel across the land they leave an impression.  Over time these impressions become deeper and deeper and turn into proper ruts.   This repetition of repeating the same action is powerful.  For instance, outside of Guernsey, Wyoming there are still ruts from the famed Oregon Trail.  These ruts will last for centuries as hundreds of wagons crossing a bluff carved the ruts into the limestone.  Being stuck in a rut does not mean we are trapped and cannot move.  On the contrary.  Being stuck in a rut means we keep going the same way because since our wheels are in a rut it is easier to keep going where the ruts lead.   In the same way, before we yield areas of our life to Christ and seek that which is holy righteous and good we carve ruts in our lives through our sinful actions.  The more we engage in selfish, prideful, or unkind behavior the easier it gets to continue doing that.    Ongoing sinful behavior digs deep ruts into our hearts and souls.  

This can lead a lot of us to really feel Paul’s words in verse 15.  “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do, I do not do but what I hate I do.”   We can be so stuck in the rut of our sin that it almost feels predictable.  We can feel so trapped by a prison of our own creation that it does feel as if there is this entire part of us that is out of our control. Given this it is no wonder that Paul wrote in verse 24 of this morning’s scripture, “What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”   The good news is that there is an answer to that question. 

   The good news is that God has already done the work to bring about true freedom.   In the struggle against sin, Jesus has already won the victory.  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  That proves God loves for us, and it is what enable us to make the change.  The power of God that loves us enough to save us is powerful enough to free us from the ruts of sin.   It is what enables us to go from doing what we do not want to do, to doing what God has called us to do.   For most people this often is not as simple as flipping a switch.   For most of us it is a process and it can still feel like a struggle, but thanks to Jesus Christ it is a struggle that we can find victory in.   I appreciate how Christian rock band Tenth Avenue North put it in their song The Struggle released several years ago.  The band sang, “Hallelujah!  We are free to struggle, we are not struggling to be free.”  As we consider this morning’s scripture, there are two critical steps we can take in our own struggle. 

  First, we must be willing to admit that we are sinners.  We tend trying to sugar coat sin.  We try to make downplay what it really is.  We might call sin a mistake, a bad choice, an indiscretion.   We need to be clear about this, often sin is willful disobedience against God.   Sin is often a purposeful decision to do what we know is not right.    As uncomfortable as it is, we must claim that we are sinners.  We have to claim that we have been wrecked by the Fall, and like Paul describes in verse 21 we have to admit that although we want to do good, evil is right there beside me.   It is our kneejerk reaction to rationalize our own actions, we tend to be good with coming up with justifications why our actions are the exceptions.  However, to get out of the rut, we need to be honest enough with ourselves to declare what the sinful problems of our hearts are, and we need to be willing to declare that Jesus is the answer.   

One of the things I really appreciate about 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous is the insistence that those who participate never stop being alcoholics.  An AA member could be sober for decades, but they still understand themselves as an alcoholic.   In the same way, even though followers of Jesus are redeemed, even though our sins have been separated from us as far as the East is from the West, we should understand ourselves as still being sinners.   No matter how righteously we live, no matter how often we get it right, we should still understand ourselves as people in need of grace and in need of a savior. 

Being willing to admit that we are sinners is important so that we can fulfill the second step, which is we must be willing to confess our sins and repent.   If we are not willing to name how we have turned away from God, then we are unable to seek reconciliation.   In order to seek forgiveness for our sins, we must be willing to confess them.    We must be willing to tell God what we have done wrong, ask for forgiveness, and then repent.   Repent means to turn away from, to leave behind, to “go and sin no more.”   One of the hard lessons to learn in our faith is that repentance, true repentance, is a process.   I wish it wasn’t.   I wish it was as simple as saying a prayer, making a firm decision, and then never falling into a certain temptation again.   To turn away from our sinful nature and delight in God’s law is a change, and remember we naturally resist change.  

  The reality is, that even if we truly desire to live like Jesus, even if it is our goal to live a life where we love God with our whole being, love our neighbor as ourselves, and willfully do not sin then there will be times when we still miss the mark.   Instead of following the path of Christ to new life, we will fall back into the same old ruts we are used to.   What makes grace so amazing is each time we fall, then God will still be there.  Each time, God will forgive again, and each time through the grace of Christ we will step back on the road to repentance.  When faced with this sinful nature, we are not helpless.  The same struggles that plagued us then might plague us still, but not all of them.  All of us have who are in Christ probably have sinful behaviors and sinful desires, which we have truly repented from.  That we have turned our back on and never gone back to.    It might have taken awhile, but by the grace of God we did it.   This is a reason to have great hope, because with God all things possible, and we can have hope because we know repentance is possible.  We can celebrate because in our life and faith there have been victories in Jesus.  There are sinful attitudes and desires we have been freed from, and we have experience in some measure true freedom in Christ. 

As followers of Jesus, we celebrate that we are free to struggle, and we are not struggling to be free.  We celebrate that our Lord and savior Jesus Christ has already made freedom possible.  So, may we continue to fight the good fight.   If you feel like you are losing the battle within you and you feel like you keep doing what you do not want to do, then may you claim the truth of this morning’s scripture, that the power of God is greater than the power of sin.  May we all confess that we are great sinners but Jesus is a greater savior.   May we all be willing to confess our sins and may we seek repentance. May we be willing to fully trust in Jesus, who has proven himself over and over.   May God grant us the grace to trust him more as we claim the full freedom he offers each of us.