All Saints - Except maybe you in the third row

Luke 6:20–31
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
"Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
"Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
"But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

I sometimes think that preaching on All Saints is strangely mundane.
“You are all saints...” Doh!
Of course, it is true. Priesthood of all believers and all that.
And, I guess, if I paid close attention, I could find all sorts of preaching possibilities in these texts. . .
hmmmm
Here’s some good stuff from a sermon by F Dean Lueking

Here Jesus addresses his followers-who-would-be-saints. It is not a template for how society works. It is the pattern of life where saints are in the making.

. . . Taking his place in the midst of that brawling crowd, Jesus "looked up" at the disciples. Apparently they were bystanders, as I would have been too. They were not with Jesus, kneeling down in the wretched thick of it, but off to the side as onlookers.
Saints are sideline onlookers who are moved to "come down" with Jesus to where the needs are raw and the realities untidy. Saints are not always serene, dauntless and inexhaustible. But those pronounced blessed by Jesus are able to stay with him in the thick of it because that is where he is continually found. The saintly ones remember that the kingdom belongs to the impoverished before God, who hunger for his fullness and weep when his righteousness is spurned. The harsh kickback of reviling and defaming goes with the territory; saints are tough-skinned and can’t be taken completely off guard.
Saints are given a clarity about what passes for the good life but is phony at the core. They can hear Jesus’ pronouncement on those who would appear to have anything but woes: "you who are rich. . . who are full now. . . who laugh now. . . who are well spoken of by all." Why woes on these? The good life portrayed here is detached from its foundation in God. These ideals of life have become idols, ends in themselves which finally bring not blessing but blight.

Well, blessings on ya.
We have first communion on Sunday, and my oldest receives her first communon. WOOO HOOOO!

Reform? There's nothing wrong with my form!

John 8:31-36
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Reformation Sunday!!!
Sometimes I will read stuff by this or that guy (almost always a guy) and he will be saying something about how “the Church NEEDS to go through another reformation!”
There are often 2 things that attend that call for reformation
1. They have a specific idea of exactly how that reformation needs to take place - and the attendant wrong-ness of the Church as is.
2. They irritate the crap out of me.

I suspect that - as often as not - it is the certitude (and often self righteousness) that goes with this that annoys me.

But is there not also a part of me that wants to respond...

“We are heirs of Martin Luther! Heirs of THE Reformation! Reformation is our middle name. I don’t need a new anything, (unless it is a new pair of shoes)”

or some variation.

I’m not sure what any of that means but that is my blog entry for Reformation Sunday, and I think you can see that I need more help than usual so please weigh in on this.

One more thing. Why do a good many of the folks who talk about Christian freedom give me the willies?

Waiting for Justice

Luke 18:1–8
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

I wonder... This story seems sorta - . . . negative.
Where is God in this parable? While I’ve heard it suggested that God is like - not the judge, but the widow - it seems to me, that is sorta a stretch.
I doubt any allegorical reading will help.
But, this parable makes me think.
A man is dying.
Much too young.
He signed up for Hospice. So he can get the care he needs. . . So he can seek to live his final days with his eyes wide open to whatever blessings these days will hold.
His wife got him to quit Hospice.
She figures they need to keep hoping for a miracle.
That’s the sort of idiotic piety that has been nurtured here for 20 years.
Lotta good it’s doing them.
Might this parable remind us - that the answers to our prayers sometimes are not what we want - that the faith that waits for justice sometimes waits and waits? And that the faith that the Son of Man will find is a faith that waits on what God does, and not on the prescribed path of healing and prosperity that we have laid out for God?
I don’t know.
I’m mostly just sad for these folks, and thankful to those who have pointed me to the theology of the cross. God is here. Not in the way we hoped. But in the God who hides Godself in suffering and death.

Servants with Puny Faith

Luke 17: 5 – 10
"5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 7Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? 8Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? 9Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

“Increase our faith !” After what the disciples have been hearing and learning about the demands of discipleship and the trials and pitfalls of living faithfully amidst their context – they felt puny of faith…that their faith was sorely inadequate. Is Jesus trying to "pump up their faith ?" He seems to be saying that puny faith is faith enough. Eugene Peterson (The Message) puts it this way, “There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith.” The parable in verses 7-10 speaks to the disciple’s attitude about serving. The example employed here is the one of slave & master. Simply put, the slaves’s (servant's) time and labor belong to the master. The slave has no claim on the master for duties rendered.

If we put these streams of thought together in this Gospel (faith/servanthood) we could say that the call to discipleship is a call to be "servants with puny faith." The hymn quoted in Paul's letter to the Philippians comes to mind (Phil. 2: 5- 11.) Christ emptied self, served and died. Might we say that what God has exalted is self denying service for others to the point of death....with no eye upon a reward ? Yet, we are stuck on rewards for our efforts. Puny faith...worthless slaves.. Puny of faith and worthless slaves are not ways/attitudes which we would choose to describe ourselves in relationship towards God. Yet they seem to be lifted up here. Puny faith is enough faith. Faith enough to do mighty deeds for God. Our time and labor all belong to God (master). We slaves/servants have no claim on the master for duties rendered. Now, where is the good news here ?