2016-C-Pentecost 15 Luke 14:1, 7-14

Humans alone in the created realm have the ability to take what is a necessary and perfectly ordinary experience and make something else of it entirely.

In this case there is a meal. Everyone has to eat. Eating is the way God designed us to get fuel into us so that we can do the things that keep us alive. More often than not eating a meal is a communal experience.

Communities are dynamic experiences and there is an ordering in them. Jesus observes this. People who understand their position and status in relation to the host are taking their places of honor, meaning they are taking their assigned seats in relation to the host.

I don't think it is any different today.

When I was a boy, we would go to Grandpa and Grandma's house for the holidays. There was an unspoken assigned seating. No one sat in Grandpa's chair or Grandma's chair by the kitchen. The adults sat in birth order at the table. The little ones sat at a table nearby.

If we have ever been at a wedding dinner or other sit down parties, we are well aware that only certain people sit at the head table. And, often seating at the other tables is assigned.

This being the political season, we have opportunity to go to fundraising dinners. Those who contribute the most sit closest to the candidate. In our way of doing things, money often commands attention and brings influence.

My point in all of this is that what Jesus is observing is not all that different from what happens now. He is commenting on what simply is.

But there is a spiritual lesson here. Jesus becomes the host and sets the agenda at every meal that he is a part of. It is more than Machiavellian politics or false humility that Jesus is offering when he recommends that one not presume their place.

This Sabbath meal provides an opportunity to speak of God's grace. This meal also provides an opportunity to speak of the contrast between the Kingdom of God and how the world operates.

God's vision for humanity is that we have the humility to not worry about social ordering or places of honor. The only thing that matters is that the host of every meal, Jesus, looks upon us and invites us to his table of fellowship. Jesus will place us around the table. He will assign us to his understanding of our appropriate place of honor.

Jesus is the one who was exalted in the cross. Jesus will exalt, he will lift us up to our place at the table by means of his grace, not by anything we do to earn our place.

In the kingdom of God, the meal is for everyone. He extends his grace to all of us who cannot possibly repay him in kind. For in the kingdom of God, none of us deserve a place of honor at God's banquet table. We are sinners who regularly fall short of God's expectations. We miss the mark that He sets for us. We settle far too easily for the holiness and righteousness that God calls us to. We are called upon to have the humility to recognize our place before God.

In our humility, with our contrite hearts, we receive the gift of grace. We are invited to God's banquet table. We are blessed with the forgiveness of sins. We are fed with God's presence. We are assured of God's knowledge and love of us.

In response to this vision of how things are in God's kingdom, we do our very best to do as Jesus says. We provide meals and sustenance to those who can never repay us.

As ever, Jesus calls us into a grander vision. To see beyond what is to what is happening in God's realm. We as the church strive to grow into God's Kingdom way of living.

All God's people say...Amen.

​2016-C-Pentecost 14  - Luke 13:10-17
 
The reaction to the miracle that happened before their eyes is all wrong.  When some dear lady who has suffered with a bent over posture for 18 years is healed, the appropriate response is “Praise the Lord.”  But the leader of the synagogue scowls and snarls instead.  We are left scratching our heads and wondering why this good man who clearly loves God and is obedient to Him is so upset that there has been a healing in the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath? 
 
What we have stumbled into is an ongoing argument about how to interpret the Holy Scriptures.  Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Old Testament.  It retells the story of Israel receiving God’s Covenant and commands after they leave the slavery of Egypt.  One of those commands is to observe the Sabbath. In Exodus 20, we are told to observe the Sabbath because God rested on the seventh day and we should imitate God and rest too. But in Deuteronomy 5 an additional reason for observing the Sabbath is given. Remember that you were slaves once and that your life, your time, and your energy, was not your own, and you could not rest. The Lord says through Moses in Deuteronomy 5:12-15
 
“12 Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13For six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
 
At the conclusion of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:32-33
 
“32You must therefore be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left. 33You must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess.”
 
So, in the Synagogue leader’s mind Jesus has engaged in work.  Healing is doctoring. Doctoring is work.  Jesus is not following exactly the path that the Lord God has commanded him.  It matters not who got healed or what suffering was alleviated.  You just don’t work on the Sabbath; And, certainly not in a place of worship for crying out loud.
 
All good things must be guarded.  One of the ways in which we guard things is by putting rules in place.  The Sabbath, the gift of time for worship, visiting with family and friends, the rest and renewal, all of this must be guarded and so rules are put up to save us from ourselves.  And, the rules are given extra force because “God said…”
Unfortunately, sometimes when we set about being obedient and putting rules in place we lose the essence of what we are guarding.  The Sabbath is about people and it is about freedom. Observing the Sabbath means that people are free to worship God.  We are free to be with our community.  We are free to be restored by God.
 
As people began to miss God’s point, God sent prophets to speak Truth. The prophets are sent to God’s people to remind them of what is most important to God is people and that we demonstrate love and compassion and mercy to one another. 
 
Jesus is our Priest, king and prophet.  When he heals this dear woman with the bent over back he is serving as her priest.  He shows her mercy, God’s mercy. She is cleansed of what bears down on her.  When he rebukes the synagogue leader, he speaks prophetically about what the Sabbath is really about.  The Sabbath is for people and people’s benefit.  The Sabbath is about freedom.  This dear woman is set free of 18 years of limitations and pain and all manner of suffering.
 
Isn’t this why we come together in this Sabbath time?  We come because the Lord commands us and because we sense that as we gather around God’s Word and Sacraments we are getting a taste of freedom.  We meet God’s Mercy and Compassion in the remembrance of our Baptism.  We are known and loved by God.  We hear the Good News that Jesus lives among us and that he has died on the cross and risen from the dead for us so that through Jesus we may experience Compassion and Mercy.  The sins that bear down on us are taken away. We are healed.
 
Is not this the promise of the Lord’s Supper, that we may receive God’s forgiveness as we receive our Lord? 
 
In wonder at God’s Compassion and Mercy with us, we join the Church throughout the ages in rejoicing at all the wonderful things God is doing. 
 
All God’s people say…Amen.   

Joy Williams. Ninety-Nine Stories of GOD. Portland, OR: Tin House Books, 2016.

The stories are brief. Some are one, two, or three pages long. Others are no more than a paragraph. Each story concludes with a final phrase or word that is the heart of the story.

Many of the stories are about God directly. God is on the margins in many of these stories. God is often invited to events, but does not come. God appears among all manner of created entities, and speaks with His creation. But, he does not always speak with or accompany the humans in these stories.

The stories are easily read, but they lead the reader into a deeper pondering. The ponderings may not lead to pleasant thoughts. For those of us who simply assume that God is always with us AND God always hears our prayers, would God choose not to be present at our banquet? Does God really prefer the company of humans? Does God cause suffering? Does God care about our suffering? Is the result of sin that we are nearly completely adrift from one another? Who is Jesus and how is he connected to Christ and the Father?

For those who need a catechism, this is not for you. But for those who are willing to wonder, these ninety-nine stories will launch you onto paths you did not know were before you.

Rumsey, Abby Smith.  When We Are No More: How Digital Memory is Shaping our Future.  Bloomsbury Press, 2016.
 
Rumsey observes that humans are unique among the species of this world.  Humans alone have the ability to extend their memories and presence.  Humans learned to use other instruments in order to increase memories: Images on the walls of caves, pottery, written images on clay tablets, words on papyrus and paper, and the capturing of sound and images through the phonograph and photography.   Now, we have entered into the age of digital memory. 
 
Rumsey takes us through the monumental changes that earlier forms of recording created.  Each new way of recording stories, ideas, impressions, business, sounds, led to a time of chaos and transition.  We are in the midst of new ways of recording sights and sounds and impressions through the growth of digitization.   Things are changing fast. Within a short time, we have moved from floppy discs, to “not floppy” discs, to thumb drives, to ever-smaller ways of storing digital information. Some parts of the population are alarmed by what will be lost because of our use of digitization. 
 
Rumsey notes that because we are in the midst of this tidal wave of change we do not know yet what its impact will be.  Hard to imagine now that people once distrusted writing and books. Now, the written word is such a part of our culture that no one blinks at its presence. As we go further down the digital path, Rumsey is hopeful.  Just as the codex became a significant component in preserving culture, language, ideas, etc., so will our new digital opportunities.
 
In her discussion of a digital memory, she reminds us of the challenges we face right now with digitization.  Electricity and storage facilities and air conditioning are essential.  There is an ongoing argument about data mining and the need for awareness and consent.  The questions of access and private vs. public are not settled.  But then she goes on to lay out some of the possibilities of what we can learn, store, remember, access, etc.
 
When We Are No More will be a fascinating read for those who wonder about the role of the computer and Internet in our lives now and in the future.   

(Dear kind Reader, I have been away on holiday and far away from good Internet service.  Thank you for your patience. Pastor Zell)

Sunday July 24, 2016
Lesser Festival of Mary Magdalene, Apostle                                  John 20:1-2, 11-18
 
Today we observe the lesser festival of Mary Magdalene.
 
There is a certain level of intrigue that surrounds Mary.  Since the 5th century she has been associated with the prostitute who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair.  For centuries, people have speculated about her relationship with Jesus.  The novelist Dan Brown, wrote The Da Vinci Code a few years ago.  It was subsequently made into a movie.  The Da Vinci Code furthers the speculation.  Someone other than Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross of Calvary.  Jesus and Mary ran off to the south of France where they had children and grandchildren. 
 
None of the speculation in the above paragraph is Biblical.  The prostitute who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair is unnamed.  And, Jesus really did suffer, die on the cross, and rise from the dead on the third day.
 
What the Bible tells us about Mary Magdalene is this:
 

1. Whenever the women who follow Jesus are listed in the gospels, Mary Magdalene is listed first, except for John 19:25.
2. According to Luke 8:2, Jesus removed 7 demons from Mary.
3. Mary saw Jesus die, witnessed his burial, and was the first to see him again after the resurrection.
4. As Bernard of Clairvaux has said, she is the Apostle to the Apostles.  She told the Apostles of Jesus’ resurrection.

 
As we give thanks to God for Mary Magdalene, we rejoice that when Jesus rescued her from the deepest darkness of demonic possession; she was blessed to respond to Jesus with faith.  She followed Jesus.  She provided the necessary hospitality for Jesus and the others.  She heard Jesus’ words.  She was faithful.  She stayed when the others fled out of grief or fear.  She witnessed the  brilliant resurrection light of Jesus fresh from the grave.
 
In the St. John’s Bible, there is an image of Mary Magdalene seeing the resurrected Jesus.  We, the viewer of this image are behind Jesus and we see Mary as she is enfolded in the radiant light of God.  She is always burnt because of her proximity to the one who is the Word of Life itself and who holds all things together.
 
The fire of redemption burns upon Mary as she is sent to proclaim the core of Christian proclamation: Christ has died, He is Risen!
 
This is how we should remember Mary Magdalene: 
 

• She is one who knows despair and is brought into the light of God everlasting loving embrace through the words of Jesus.
• She is the first to see the resurrected Jesus.
• She is the first to proclaim, He is Risen!

 
Amen. 

Last night David Brooks used J.D. Vance's book Hillbilly Elegy as an illustration during his conversation with Charlie Rose.  David thinks that book helps him understand the attraction of a candidate like Donald Trump. 

Rod Dreher from the American Conservative read this book and then interviewed Vance for his publication.  He highly recommended Vance's book to help explain the unfathomable (to Dreher) attraction that Donald Trump has for a segment of the population as a candidate for President. 

In the interview, Vance says that he knows many Trump supporters and he is related to a bunch of them too.  It is about social class and the deep frustration about how folks are not getting ahead as they should be.

Vance tells his own story.  He is only 31 as he writes his memoir but several people have encouraged him to put his story out there for the general public.  One of those is the Tiger Mother herself, Amy Chua. 

Vance grew up amidst a culture and family of relationship dysfunction, addictions, and conflicting messages.  He is now a lawyer with a law degree from Yale but he almost didn't graduate high school.  He tells the Hillbilly story of transplanting for work, the importance of family and pride, and how his culture continues to self-destruct in many ways. In order to get to the point where Vance could get a lawyer job he had unlearn a lot of assumptions and see the world in a different way.  

He was saved by his mother's insistence that he continue his education, the public library, the love and stability of his grandparents (in their admittedly dysfunctional way), the Marines, and several teachers and other significant figures along the way.  

Vance shows us why many of his people will find Donald Trump appealing.  Vance also shows us that the destructive lessons that are being passed on from generation to generation are not easy to change.  Throwing money at the problem will not necessarily help.  Government programs may help a bit.  The problems and issues that Vance describes from his childhood will not go away on their own.  In fact they continue to spread.  

Vance is a good story teller.  He is honest about himself and his people.  What I liked most though was how much love he has for those around him.  His family and "people" are what they are, but he loves them. He is not bitter about his past. While he is critical of behaviors and ways of thinking and habits, he also shows that he cares deeply for the people he comes from.