"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 | |||
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Promise or Performance? | |||
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Some legal contracts include the phrase "promise or
performance." When you join a book club and receive their
"special offer" of 10 books for $10 or whatever, you offer
either an actual performance (like buying 5 more books at the regular
price) or a contractual promise to do so (like buying those 5 books
sometime in the next 2 years). Either buying all the books at once or
promising to do so satisfies the "contract." Ultimately,
however, promise is meant to be satisfied with performance. Our text for this week, Matthew 21:23-32, is about promise versus performance in spiritual life. It begins with the chief priests and elders questioning Jesus about His authority. Jesus' response feels non-responsive. He poses a counter-question about John the Baptist, which on the surface merely evades the inquiry about authority. But Jesus' question is designed to show that the question of the leaders is insincere. Even if He provides His heavenly credentials, they will not follow through, they will not believe. The promise of their question will not be satisfied with an actual performance of trust in Him. Jesus' question about John the Baptist is revealing of the leaders' lack of faith because as they say themselves in their discussion in verse 25, they did not believe John. So with regard to John the Baptist, Jesus is telling the leaders, in the words of a Charlie Daniels song, "If you don't like him, you won't like me neither." On the gap between their question and their willingness to receive the answer, in verses 28-31 Jesus offers a parable with wider application regarding the gap between spiritual promise and performance. For us the question starts with our supposed acceptance of Jesus' authority, but failure to follow through by allowing that authority to change the way we live and behave. Have our promises to Jesus been satisfied with performance? Your comments are always welcome. | |||
Wednesday, 17 September 2008 | |||
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Fair Math | |||
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"Equal pay for equal work," has been one of the
rallying cries of a healthy feminism that wants to see an end of
exploitation by employers who fail to pay women salaries equivalent to
men doing the same jobs. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus seems to turn the feminist slogan on its head by picturing God as an employer offering equal pay for unequal work. It's hard enough to know quite what to make of this story just in straightforward terms about fairness in labor practice. We have laws about minimum wage and non-discrimination, but is there any legal sanction on an employer who decides to pay an employee for hours that have not been worked, while simply paying others fairly for what they have actually done? Klyne Snodgrass's new book on the parables, Stories with Intent, has caused me to take a fresh look at this parable. As I began the week I was seeing it as I always had, as an image of the incredible grace and generosity of God. But Snodgrass argues that stupendous grace is not the focus of the parable. The wage paid is merely ordinary, a denarius a day was common wages for laborers. It's not that generous. And it's not grace. Everyone worked for what he got; none of it was a completely free gift. Instead it might be better to see the parable focused on envy, justice and the need to do good to everyone among the Lord's disciples. The immediate preceding context is the end of chapter 19, with Peter asking about rewards for the disciples, who "have left everything," seemingly in contrast with the rich young man who refused to leave everything for Jesus. Then it's followed pretty quickly by James and John and their mom coming to ask for the best places in the kingdom. So this parable is more focused on how we view each other in relationship to the gifts of God than on just how incredible and large are those gifts. This is a lesson in learning to rejoice in the blessings that others receive, without envy or resentment. It's a hard lesson for us white males who've lived through an age of affirmative action. It's a hard lesson for us baby boomers who competed against a much wider field than our parents did for achievement, recognition and success. It's a hard lesson for the American church as we watch God reap huge spiritual harvests in places like Africa and South America. It's hard for a small church struggling to be faithful, biblical and genuine, as large crowds flock to congregations where (we suppose) the message is more superficial and less challenging and the worship is more about producing a feeling than about expressing a faith that has content. So I'm trying to listen carefully to verse 15, and hear God saying to me, "Don't I have the right to do what want with my own [blessings]? Or are you envious because I am generous?" What do you hear God saying in this parable? | |||
Thursday, 11 September 2008 | |||
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Forgiveness Math | |||
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This Sunday's text,
Matthew 18:21-35, brings us to one of the most difficult aspects of
living out our Christian faith. Yet the business of forgiving others is
at the heart of who we are and what we are about. Throughout Jesus' teaching, from the Lord's Prayer to this parable there runs a thread which inextricably ties the experience of God's forgiveness to the practical act of offering forgiveness to others. To receive divine forgiveness is meant to spur and make possible the forgiving of those who have offended us. Robert Roberts has an excellent analysis of forgiveness in Taking the Word to Heart. He maintains that genuine forgiveness is the management of and eventual relinquishing of anger with the offender. In forgiveness one regards and treats an offender with love rather than anger. But Roberts argues that real forgiveness has two conditions: we can neither exonerate nor condone the offender. That is, we cannot simply offer ourselves an excuse for the offender (he had a bad upbringing, she can't help herself, etc.). If there is an excuse, there is no real blame, and thus nothing really to forgive. Nor can we simply condone the offense, convincing ourselves that nothing wrong was really done. Again when offense is condoned there is nor real wrong and thus no real forgiveness. Roberts then says that Christians forgive for four sorts of reasons: 1) In response to the other person's repentance. 2) Out of compassion, a willingness to relinquish anger for the other's sake. 3) For the sake of relationship (family, friend, etc.). 4) Through recognition of one's own sinfulness (as in our parable for this week). I'll be thinking about what Roberts has said as I develop the sermon for Sunday and thinking about just how hard I personally find this work of forgiveness to be. | |||
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Profile |
I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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