September 21
Matthew 20 1-16
Justice, fairness, concepts that we all believe in, that we all want,just as long as it is our own definition of justice and fairness that is used. The workers who had slaved all day in the hot sun, felt cheated, they had calculated their wages based on what the manager had paid the late comers. You know I suspect that most of us want everyone to be treated fairly, as long as they deserve it – by our definition -- as long as they have worked as long and as hard as we have. But admit it, we don’t like to see those individuals standing on the corners with the signs declaring they need work, or those long lines in front of the church on Thursdays. You wonder why they don’t get a real job like we did. The ones who had worked all day felt the same way, that are jealous and angry that those who had spent most of the day in the marketplace waiting to be hired were paid the same wage.
But I ask you, is it really better to be hired late in the day, to spend the greatest part of the day, or of your life waiting fruitlessly? Is doing backbreaking work through the heat of the day, really harder than standing on the corner losing hope with each passing hour of being able to provide for your families evening meal? Is it really better to live most of one’s life without faith – without prayer – without hope, finding Christ only in one’s last days? We have all heard of the stories of those who repent in their final days and even in their final moments, the so-called death bed conversion. To imagine that those who find Christ on their deathbed have struck a better "deal" suggests that we do not really value our relationship to Christ –– that we value the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow rather than the joy of welcoming Jesus as a companion on our journey through life.
This parable promises that God will treat us all equally, that whenever we come to Christ, early or late, that no matter how many or few hours we work in the vineyard we will all be given God’s mercy. Is that fair, is it just, no? Aren’t you glad that God does not judge us one against the other, that God does not give us what we deserve, that God’s love brings mercy and not justice. This parable should remind us that we will see lots of unexpected folks in heaven, folks that we don’t find deserving. We’ll see the prodigal son who wasted his inheritance partying and carousing and then came crawling back to his father. We’ll see the addicted person who never quite succeeded in recovery, we’ll see the poor who stand on corners with their signs – or in front of the church on Thursdays and we’ll see others, people just like us, who are there not based on fairness or justice, but because of God’s mercy.
And that is the good news for sinners like you and me, we aren’t treated fairly, we are not measured by the scales of justice, we don’t get what we deserve, we get God’s grace, love and mercy.
Mike+
Justice, fairness, concepts that we all believe in, that we all want,just as long as it is our own definition of justice and fairness that is used. The workers who had slaved all day in the hot sun, felt cheated, they had calculated their wages based on what the manager had paid the late comers. You know I suspect that most of us want everyone to be treated fairly, as long as they deserve it – by our definition -- as long as they have worked as long and as hard as we have. But admit it, we don’t like to see those individuals standing on the corners with the signs declaring they need work, or those long lines in front of the church on Thursdays. You wonder why they don’t get a real job like we did. The ones who had worked all day felt the same way, that are jealous and angry that those who had spent most of the day in the marketplace waiting to be hired were paid the same wage.
But I ask you, is it really better to be hired late in the day, to spend the greatest part of the day, or of your life waiting fruitlessly? Is doing backbreaking work through the heat of the day, really harder than standing on the corner losing hope with each passing hour of being able to provide for your families evening meal? Is it really better to live most of one’s life without faith – without prayer – without hope, finding Christ only in one’s last days? We have all heard of the stories of those who repent in their final days and even in their final moments, the so-called death bed conversion. To imagine that those who find Christ on their deathbed have struck a better "deal" suggests that we do not really value our relationship to Christ –– that we value the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow rather than the joy of welcoming Jesus as a companion on our journey through life.
This parable promises that God will treat us all equally, that whenever we come to Christ, early or late, that no matter how many or few hours we work in the vineyard we will all be given God’s mercy. Is that fair, is it just, no? Aren’t you glad that God does not judge us one against the other, that God does not give us what we deserve, that God’s love brings mercy and not justice. This parable should remind us that we will see lots of unexpected folks in heaven, folks that we don’t find deserving. We’ll see the prodigal son who wasted his inheritance partying and carousing and then came crawling back to his father. We’ll see the addicted person who never quite succeeded in recovery, we’ll see the poor who stand on corners with their signs – or in front of the church on Thursdays and we’ll see others, people just like us, who are there not based on fairness or justice, but because of God’s mercy.
And that is the good news for sinners like you and me, we aren’t treated fairly, we are not measured by the scales of justice, we don’t get what we deserve, we get God’s grace, love and mercy.
Mike+
September 14
How often should I forgive?
David Lose, a Lutheran Professor and Pastor I admire says, “Forgiveness is ultimately a decision about the past, a decision to admit that you cannot change the past and acknowledging that the past does not have to hold you captive.”
Forgiveness is letting go of the past, refusing to let a hurt from the past define our future. Forgiveness is not easy; we need to offer the pain to God through prayer. We can pray for the ability to forgive, to forgive those who have hurt us and to forgive ourselves for the hurt we have caused others.
Jesus tells us that we must forgive from out heart. If we forgive our brother or sister from our heart, how can we keep tabs to justify getting even later? If we forgive our brother or sister from the heart, how can we claim to forgive but not forget? If we forgive our brother or sister from the heart, how can we demand recompense for that which we have forgiven? If we forgive our brother or sister from the heart, how can we do anything other than to love them and to find pleasure in the reconciliation that our forgiveness has made possible?
I invite you to think of a person who you are struggling to forgive, ask God to help you lay your pain and anger on the altar so that healing and reconciliation can begin.
Mike+
David Lose, a Lutheran Professor and Pastor I admire says, “Forgiveness is ultimately a decision about the past, a decision to admit that you cannot change the past and acknowledging that the past does not have to hold you captive.”
Forgiveness is letting go of the past, refusing to let a hurt from the past define our future. Forgiveness is not easy; we need to offer the pain to God through prayer. We can pray for the ability to forgive, to forgive those who have hurt us and to forgive ourselves for the hurt we have caused others.
Jesus tells us that we must forgive from out heart. If we forgive our brother or sister from our heart, how can we keep tabs to justify getting even later? If we forgive our brother or sister from the heart, how can we claim to forgive but not forget? If we forgive our brother or sister from the heart, how can we demand recompense for that which we have forgiven? If we forgive our brother or sister from the heart, how can we do anything other than to love them and to find pleasure in the reconciliation that our forgiveness has made possible?
I invite you to think of a person who you are struggling to forgive, ask God to help you lay your pain and anger on the altar so that healing and reconciliation can begin.
Mike+
September 7
“Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Dear Friends,
Does this Gospel lesson leave you uncomfortable? Is it all about one member of the church sinning against another, and if there is no repentance, harsh punishment for the sinner? Or is there something more in this lesson, something deeper than sin, and punishment by expulsion from the community?
I wonder if Jesus isn’t teaching us that relationships take work. Maintaining relationships requires asking for forgiveness and forgiving, it requires staying in community with those who have hurt you. They require you to break bread with tax collectors and sinners. I invite you to ask yourself, who do you need to forgive, who needs to forgive you, what relationships need to be restored before you can be all that God created you to be? It is relationships that enable our church community to do so much good. Our relationships make St. James strong, and healing, and a wonderful witness to God’s love.
There is so much challenging our world today– hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, climate change, war, displays of hate, injustice, intolerance – that the world desperately needs us to be the Body of Christ. And when we grow weary, or overwhelmed, we need to remind ourselves of Jesus’ promise, that every time we try, he is with us, teaching us the ways of love, urging us on, forgiving us, and sending us out to be his agents of peace and reconciliation.
Mike+
Dear Friends,
Does this Gospel lesson leave you uncomfortable? Is it all about one member of the church sinning against another, and if there is no repentance, harsh punishment for the sinner? Or is there something more in this lesson, something deeper than sin, and punishment by expulsion from the community?
I wonder if Jesus isn’t teaching us that relationships take work. Maintaining relationships requires asking for forgiveness and forgiving, it requires staying in community with those who have hurt you. They require you to break bread with tax collectors and sinners. I invite you to ask yourself, who do you need to forgive, who needs to forgive you, what relationships need to be restored before you can be all that God created you to be? It is relationships that enable our church community to do so much good. Our relationships make St. James strong, and healing, and a wonderful witness to God’s love.
There is so much challenging our world today– hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, climate change, war, displays of hate, injustice, intolerance – that the world desperately needs us to be the Body of Christ. And when we grow weary, or overwhelmed, we need to remind ourselves of Jesus’ promise, that every time we try, he is with us, teaching us the ways of love, urging us on, forgiving us, and sending us out to be his agents of peace and reconciliation.
Mike+
August 31
Get behind me Satan!
Jesus told the disciples that he was on the way to Jerusalem to be killed. Peter just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The savior of the world suffer? God’s son, the Messiah killed? Impossible! Peter, like so many of us wanted someone to deliver them from the oppression and bondage of the day. Peter just knew that the Messiah came to restore the kingdom to a place of peace and freedom. We, like Peter, want a God who will lead us into a better and brighter future – a future without pain, suffering, illness, or distress. What we get is not the Messiah Peter longs for, or the God or our desires, we get Jesus. Jesus who proclaims a kingdom where losers are blessed, the poor are honored, and those who are considered the least by the world, are accorded the greatest honor.
Jesus doesn’t just rebuke Peter, he rebukes a world that believes that might makes right, and that those who have the most power and wealth win. This passage demands a complete reversal of almost everything we think honor and power and blessing are. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that is the opposite of the kingdom of the world. And Jesus not only proclaims the Kingdom of God, He invites us into it. Jesus’ life and ministry invite us to imagine a life that finds meaning and purpose in sharing the abundance of our lives and the world with our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in God.
Jesus commands Peter, “get behind me, Satan”, you are setting your mind on human things, not divine things. Peter wanted to lead Jesus away from the road to Jerusalem and the Cross. Peter forgot for the moment, that we are supposed to follow Jesus, not lead him to where we want to go. Jesus will not follow us as we walk on the path of power, wealth and self-sufficiency that our culture tells us to follow; it is on that path where we learn to turn a blind eye to injustice, hunger and hate. Jesus’ path challenges us to overcome hate with love, to replace fear with courage, and to defeat death with resurrection life. Jesus doesn’t promise us the God we want, he promises us the God we need, A God who is present and available if we just open our hearts, lay down our selfish desires and pick up our Cross as we follow Jesus to bring the Kingdom of God to the here and the now.
Mike +
Jesus told the disciples that he was on the way to Jerusalem to be killed. Peter just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The savior of the world suffer? God’s son, the Messiah killed? Impossible! Peter, like so many of us wanted someone to deliver them from the oppression and bondage of the day. Peter just knew that the Messiah came to restore the kingdom to a place of peace and freedom. We, like Peter, want a God who will lead us into a better and brighter future – a future without pain, suffering, illness, or distress. What we get is not the Messiah Peter longs for, or the God or our desires, we get Jesus. Jesus who proclaims a kingdom where losers are blessed, the poor are honored, and those who are considered the least by the world, are accorded the greatest honor.
Jesus doesn’t just rebuke Peter, he rebukes a world that believes that might makes right, and that those who have the most power and wealth win. This passage demands a complete reversal of almost everything we think honor and power and blessing are. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that is the opposite of the kingdom of the world. And Jesus not only proclaims the Kingdom of God, He invites us into it. Jesus’ life and ministry invite us to imagine a life that finds meaning and purpose in sharing the abundance of our lives and the world with our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in God.
Jesus commands Peter, “get behind me, Satan”, you are setting your mind on human things, not divine things. Peter wanted to lead Jesus away from the road to Jerusalem and the Cross. Peter forgot for the moment, that we are supposed to follow Jesus, not lead him to where we want to go. Jesus will not follow us as we walk on the path of power, wealth and self-sufficiency that our culture tells us to follow; it is on that path where we learn to turn a blind eye to injustice, hunger and hate. Jesus’ path challenges us to overcome hate with love, to replace fear with courage, and to defeat death with resurrection life. Jesus doesn’t promise us the God we want, he promises us the God we need, A God who is present and available if we just open our hearts, lay down our selfish desires and pick up our Cross as we follow Jesus to bring the Kingdom of God to the here and the now.
Mike +