Homily on Luke 7: 36-50 Part 2

            The Pharisee did not understand.  How could Jesus let this woman touch him?  Did he not know who she was? Jesus seeing his confusion told a parable. In this parable, there are two people who owe money.  The text gives the debt in terms of the ancient coinage the denarius.  I saw one of these the other day.  It is a rather small coin.  It was what soldiers would have been paid for a day’s wage.  In the terms of today, one of the men in this parable owed about two months’ worth of wages, and the other owed about two years’ worth of wages.  Think of this in terms of credit card debt.  If one owed two months’ worth of wages in credit card debt would be difficult to pay off, but it could be done.  Imagine what it would be like if someone owed two years’ worth of wages on a high interest credit card.  Imagine the constant calls from creditors.  Imagine trying to pay it off, but feeling like you are making no progress.  It feels like the debt will always be there and there is nothing that you can do about it.  Imagine if some corporate raider came to you and said that he is forgiving the debt, no questions asked.  This would be totally out of character.  You would be immensely grateful.

            After telling this story, Jesus asked which would be more grateful, the one who owed little or the one that owed a lot.  I think that we would agree with the Pharisee that the one who owed two years wages would be more grateful for having his debt dismissed.  But this was a trick question.

            One of my favorite stories from the early desert fathers, the very first monks in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries is about a group of monks who came to Abbot Moses.  Abbot Moses was a great spiritual teacher.  On day, several monks came to Abbot Moses complaining about the sins of another monk.  The monks demanded that the abbot should punish the wayward brother.  The wise abbot asked for some time to think about this request.  He returned to his little room, shut the door and remained there for a good while.  Finally he cane running out with a long rope tied to is waist and dragging for many feet behind him.  The monks called out Abbot Moses, what are you doing.  He replied, I am coming to you as fast as I can, but my sins are trailing behind me.

            This reminds me of a popular story from the life of G.K. Chesterton.  Chesterton was a famous writer who died in the early 20^th century.  He was immensely popular during his day and was a huge influence on C. S. Lewis.  According to the story a reporter for the London Times wrote an article reflecting on some of the problems of his time.  He ended his article with the statement, “What’s wrong with the world?”  Chesterton wrote the editor, “Dear editor, what’s wrong with the world? I am. Faithfully yours, G.K. Chesterton.”

            What Chesterton and Abbot Moses both realized is that the real sin problem is with us.  The answer to the trick question is that there are no debtors who only owe a little: in other words there are no little sinners.  St Augustine, commenting on this passage said, “You love but little, because you really think that you are only forgiven of a little.  It’s not because little really is forgiven you, but because you think that what you have been forgiven of is only a little.”^[1]We all have more sin in us than we realize.  In fact, I think that most of us walk around in oblivion to this fact.   C. S. Lewis once wrote that it is easy to be good when things are going our way.  Augustine continues to say that the reason that we have not committed as many sins as we could have is that the place and time were just not right to allow the sin to ripen.

Some may find themselves  saying, “I know that I have sins but they are not really that bad.”  Let’s face it; it is all too easy to grow comfortable with our own sins.  This next story is a little embarrassing, but it illustrates this point well.   When I was a young man just out of college, I lived in the back corner of a large apartment complex.  The dumpster for my complex was in the front nearly a quarter of a mile away.  I hated schlepping the garbage all that way, so I often procrastinated. Occasionally, I waited a day too long, and my apartment became rather odoriferous.  That is a polite way of saying that it stank.  Usually, I would take it out at that moment, but I often found that if I didn't the next day it didn't smell anymore.  At least not until a friend walked in. Fortunately, I have learned to become a little better housekeeper.  In many ways it is the same with our sins.  What may be a minor inconvenience to us may be intolerable to another.  In reality, it is even our smallest sins that are responsible for the torturous death of Christ.  We all stand guilty of crucifying Jesus.

To be continued

---

^[1] Augustine of Hippo. (1888). Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament R. G. MacMullen, Trans.). In P. Schaff (Ed.), A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series, Volume VI: Saint Augustin: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels (P. Schaff, Ed.) (417). New York: Christian Literature Company.

Homily on Luke 7: 36-50 Part 3

Too often, we may become like the Pharisee focusing on how better we are than others.  Every generation has its favorite sins to protest.  This is often as a response to real moral threats but the temptation is to see those who participate in those sins as “those over there.”  At its worst we see televangelists making outrageous claims that natural disasters are God’s judgment on the sins of a particular group or community.  This is just another way of saying that,"it is not me it’s you."  Every good thing that we do is by the grace of God, and every bad thing that we do not do is also by the grace of God.  If I see someone committing a sin that is not a temptation to me, I am in no place to judge.  If I struggle so much with what I think are small sins, what makes me think that I could do better than another if I had their temptations.

            The power of the gospel is that, although we are born into a fallen humanity, and although we often have done exactly opposite of what God requires of us, God did not abandon us to ourselves.  The sinless Christ became sin for us, so that we may be conformed to his holy likeness.  We are new creatures. The old has passed away and all things are new.

            Because of this, we are driven to the feet of Jesus.  It is our tears which drench the feet of Jesus.  The desert fathers used to talk about the gift of tears.  There were stories of monks who coming into full awareness of what Christ had done for them would weep, sometimes for weeks           

            We may not walk around weeping, but there are other ways that we can show our gratitude to Christ. St. Ambrose said that we kiss the feet of Christ when we spend time reading his words.  He says that we anoint the feet of Jesus when we care for the wounded and weary.   He continues to declare that. “They are the feet of Christ whom he himself says, ‘what you have done for one of the least of these, you have done for me.’”

            William Cowper was an 18^th century priest and poet who was also a friend of John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace.  Cowper penned the following lines.

Hark my soul!

 It is the lord

Tis my savior,

 here these words:

Jesus spake these words to thee,

Say

 poor sinner,

lovest thou me?

I delivered thee when bound

And when bleeding healed thy wounds

Sought the wondering,

 set thee right

Turned thy darkness into light.

Thou shalt see my glory soon when the work of grace is done

Partner of my throne shalt be.

Say

 poor sinner

 lovest thou me?

Lord,

My chief complaint is my love for thee

 is faint.

Yet,

I love thee

and adore

Oh for grace to love thee more

Homily on Luke 7: 36-50 in Three Parts: Part 1

Imagine that you are at a party.  Better yet, imagine that you are at an important work party. Perhaps it is the house of your boss’ boss or at an event for an important client.  You have just bought a new outfit.  It was a pretty pricey outfit, so you feel pretty good about yourself.  You are walking with your chin a bit higher.  You see everyone looking at you, and you think how envious they must be of you.  Then, you see a person in the corner who looks a little shabby.  In your mind, you think that they should be more like you.  You pity the person.  How awful it must be to only be able to wear those shabby garments.  Furthermore, how dare they show up to such an important event looking like that?  If they didn't have decent clothes it would have been better if they had stayed home.  Just then, someone taps you on the shoulder.  The person looks a little squeamish.  They are not making eye contact.  How intimidating you must be to then.  The person says, “I don’t know how to tell you this…” then proceeds to tell you that you have been walking around all evening with an embarrassing wardrobe situation.

            In today’s gospel, we see Jesus interacting with two people.  They are as different as can be.  In fact, it would be rare for these two characters to cross paths.  Let’s take a look at these two people.

            In this passage, we see Jesus at a dinner with a Pharisee.  It was a more formal dinner.  It might have been a case of inviting Jesus over after he spoke in the synagogue, much like one might invite an important visiting speaker out for dinner afterwards.  It might have been a banquet for Jesus who might have been seen as a local celebrity.  At any rate, this was more than having Jesus over for a little KFC.  It was a big t’do.

            The Pharisee was cordial, but did not go out of his way to be extra courteous.  He did not wash Jesus feet, which would have been a relief after a day on the dusty roads.  He did not give Jesus a kiss, which would have been like a hearty handshake.  He did not anoint Jesus head with oil, which would have been a symbol of blessing.  These were not required.  He was not being rude by not doing these things.  He had thrown a dinner for Jesus after all.  He just was not taking those extra steps to show respect to Jesus.

            Perhaps he was skeptical.  Jesus was viewed as a prophet, but was he really?  In the following events he seemed rather unaware. 

            We don’t know much about the woman, aside from the fact that she was called a great sinner.  Some have speculated that she could have been a prostitute, but she could just as well been in some other business that would have been seen as less than righteous.  Remember that tax collectors were also seen as being closely tied to sinners.  Whatever it was, it might not have seemed that great to many of us.  The reality of it was though that she was subject to intense shame, both personal and from others.  She would have been restricted from going certain places.  She would not be allowed so socialize with the “holy people.” 

            Perhaps now, you are thinking about Hawthorne’s novel, the scarlet letter. In that book, a woman, Hester Prynne, is found to be pregnant as a result of an extra-marital affair.  She is condemned by the town to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her dress for adulteress.  This woman in our story today may not have had a big red letter on her chest, but she was known for what she was in the town.  The Pharisee knew her and her story.

            But, something had happened. We don’t know where or when, but she had met Jesus and he had changed her life.  This woman crashed the party.  For a woman considered to be a sinner to enter a Pharisee’s house was just not done.  It would have been unthinkable.  She says nothing.  As she fell at Jesus’ feet, the scriptures say that she wet his feet with her tears.  In the original language it literally meant that her tears fell like a drenching rain on Jesus’ feet.  She then let down her hair, which would have been most inappropriate for a woman of that day.  She dried her tears from his feet, kissing them repeatedly - kisses full of emotion, like the father who welcomes home his prodigal son.  She then broke open a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet.

To Be Continued

Returning to Prayer

Today for the first time in a while, I am enjoying a quiet morning.  It has been a busy week with study, my day job and my ministry preparations.  I have worked hard.  In my off hours, I have been so tired that I have come home and filled my free time with TV and radio.  I began to feel that I had not heard the voice of God in a while.  So this morning, I am on my back porch with a couple of good devotional books and am enjoying returning to a place of prayer.

I often wonder how Mother Theresa handled it all: being both a contemplative and in a very active order.  How did she find those moments of spiritual retreat while caring constantly for the suffering?  I still struggle to find that balance.  I find myself rushing through the Daily office, rushing my prayers and rushing off to the next task.  When is the last time that I read the Psalms slow and let them sink in?  And I find myself forgetting to pray as I get busier and busier.  I had grown accustomed to having prayer rise in me like a spring, but as I get more distracted, it happens less.

Perhaps this is the quest of the contemplative in a busy world: to constantly strive to find a way to be both a person of prayer and a person of service.  Perhaps the struggle is the point.  At any rate, I will continue to try to learn to live both as God enables me.  

A Few Simple Words

Through Christ our mediator;
On Christ our foundation;
In Christ our life
With Christ our brother;
Unto Christ our goal;
For Christ our desire.

Living as if the Resurrection Happened: A Homily on Romans 8: 5-8

Picture, if you will, two cities.  The first one is on its way down. It has long ago lost its former splendor.  Its streets are full of potholes.  Its once stately manors are barely holding together.   Its currency has fallen to drastic deflation.  In the air there is the stench of pollution.  Businesses are failing one by one.  It is a city living on the edge.

Many of its citizens are still living as if it were still a thriving town. The nearly worthless money is earned and spent with great pleasure.    The aristocracy still tries to maintain the appearance of success.  The mayor still touts the city’s virtues.    The board of tourism works hard to make it look like the place to be.   The buildings, which should be condemned, are painted and plastered.   We might call its citizens delusional.  We might say that they are out of touch with reality.

Just a little way down the highway is another town.   Its lawns are perfectly manicured. Its smooth streets are lined with one beautiful home after another.  There is no poverty here.  Everything is on the gold standard because gold is the currency.   In this city, everyone is regarded as family.  In fact, every new resident is taken to city hall where the mayor personally adopts them into his family. The mayor makes sure that their every need is met.

This second city is bursting at its seams.    Its walls cannot contain it.  Soon it will engulf the first city. It will raze the run down structures of the first city, and from their foundations, rebuild them as a piece of itself.  The two cities will merge, and the first, dying city will be resurrected more glorious that it has ever been before.  This simple parable, in many ways describes what Paul is talking about in today’s epistle reading.   We are given two ways of living:  these too ways he calls “living according to the flesh,” and “living by the Spirit.”    One way leads to death, and the other leads to life.

*What does Paul mean when he talks about the flesh?    Are my skin, organs, bones and muscles evil?  When I pinch my skin, am I pinching something sinful?   What does he mean by living according to the Spirit: does he mean that we are to, in some way, escape matter and live on some ethereal plain?

When Paul talks about the flesh, he is not saying that the flesh is evil per se.  Chrysostom says, “Paul is not speaking here about the nature of the flesh… for in many ways we are indebted to that.  We have to give it food, warmth, rest, medicine clothing, and a thousand other things.” [1]  Instead, what Paul is talking about is living in present age, which we experience mostly through our senses, as if it were all that there was.   “The world is out of joint,” N. T. Wright warns us in Surprised By hope. [2]  Our way of life is not to be one that seeks the maximum comfort, prestige and enjoyment in this life.  To do so is to embrace death. 

Instead, we are to live with the Holy Spirit as our guide.  To live by the Spirit is to have our life oriented to the will of the Spirit in the same way that a compass needle always points north.  To live in the Spirit is to live on this side of Easter.  It is to live in the Kingdom of God

---

[1] Gerald Bray, editor. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament vol. VI: Romans p. 214

[2] N. T. Wright. Surprised by Hope. P. 279

The Gospel and Business

I recently talked with someone who had worked for a major Christian company.  She said that she would never work for Christians again.  I can understand this.  I grew up in a ministry family.  I have seen the worst of it, and I am sure that I will see more.  It seems too often that when we enter the work place, even sometimes a Christian one, we check the gosspel at the door.  Then there are those who see themselves as “right” who run roughshod over others in the name of their rightness.   In looking to serve Christ, we stripe him.

 Someone that I worked with once a while ago said, “You know, the difference with a Christian businessman is that he will bless you before he cheats you.”  Actually, he used more colorful language.  What are we playing at?

There has to be a better way.  If Christ is Lord, then he must be Lord of all, including how we work.  There are worse things than failure.  I have failed many times, and I am sure that I will fail again. 

 For me, this highlights a huge problem with the church today.  As we have bought uncritically into the American economic system, we have adopted its values and ways of doing business.  Unfortunately, many of the modes of operation of the business world are more based on being opportunistic than being virtuous.  In fact, many perfectly acceptable business practices may be in direct contradiction to the teaching of Christ.  We should be motivated by higher ideals.

 We should seek to produce a product that would please the Lord.  We should pay our employees enough that a full-time worker can reasonably support a family.  We should avoid cutting corners or trying to work the system.  This may not be the way to "make it in America," but it is the way of Christ and the church.

Calling into the Storm

·        Sometimes sorrow breaks into our life

Like a storm after a holiday,

Tossing our dreams about

In its terrible winds,

It crashes our castles

And levels our lives.

“Where is God in all of this?” we ask.

We call to the corners of heaven

Hoping to hear an answer.

Stillness is all.

We wrestle and doubt,

Wondering if we were wrong.

How can we continue to hope?

What powers move beyond the universe

We cannot know:

 Worlds not seen by the human eye.

Creatures beyond imagination may exist

In this cosmic conflict, dimensions won and lost.

We are but a speck of pollen

On the wings of an eagle,

But we are carried as careful as diamonds.